already be occupied?
I look around me. The cliff has greenery, but it’s scrubby and twisted, designed to cling to the rock through the snow and the high wind. There’s nothing around here that would make a canoe even if I knew how to make one, or a raft. And the thought of getting into that sea-monster infested water scares me.
“Island, you’re going to have to wait for another day,” I tell it. House one eliminated. Now, in true House Hunters fashion, I need to narrow it down to two choices.
I ponder this even as another dark shape moves through the sky, the shadow rippling over me. Whatever I decide, it’s not smart to stay here. I give another quick glance through the spyglass at the cliffs below, but I don’t see a cave. Shit. I turn my glass back to the wreckage, in the opposite direction.
The red light winks at me.
If that’s the wreckage I’m thinking of, there’s no survivors.
But what if I’m wrong?
But…what if they have food? And guns? And things I can use to survive? Right now I’ve got a pocket knife and maybe a handful of trail mix left.
I chew on my lip, thinking, and toy with the spyglass, flipping it through my fingers. It’s been surprisingly handy, and it wasn’t even meant for this. Who knows what kinds of goodies the other alien ship will have? I put the spyglass in my pack. I sling it over my shoulder, put my snowshoes back on, and head down the cliffs, toward the wreckage.
If I’m here, I might as well see what I can salvage.
----
T he wreckage is a bit further away than it appeared in my stupid spyglass. Okay, a lot further away. I hike for the rest of the day and don’t make it there before the suns start to set. There’s not much shelter around, so I find a few scrubby bushes to act as a windbreak and spend the last hour before sunset pushing the snow higher into the bushes so they form a wall. I have a bit of a dugout and I build my fire there, spending the entire night shivering and feeding more fuel to it so I don’t freeze.
By the time morning comes, I’m exhausted. I let the fire die and take a quick nap in the sunlight until the bleating of a nearby dvisti herd wakes me up. I head off toward the crashed ship again, and when the suns are high in the sky, I arrive at the ship.
HAEDEN
It takes everything I have not to go to Jo-see’s side during the night and offer to assist. She would not appreciate it, and when I see her creating the windbreak with the snow, I know she is smart. She will be fine, if not comfortable. Still, I stay closer than I normally do, my spear at the ready, and watch over her. She is in the open, and if anything tries to approach her, I will gut it for daring to get near my mate.
After her morning nap, she takes off again and I follow behind her, far enough so she will not notice me. As I do, I notice that her path crosses other tracks in the snow. I slow, letting her get ahead so I can study them. I crouch low and touch one. The snow has not crusted, which means it is fresh.
And the clawed toes? Metlak. Many of them.
Jo-see’s in danger.
JOSIE
The flashing light I’d seen in my spyglass is a lot brighter the closer I get. It’s an exterior light of some kind, and blindingly bright, making me see spots every time it goes off. I shrug off a fur wrap and throw it over the light, only to hear my fur sizzling and the smell of burning leather. I quickly yank it off again. The light’s so hot the snow melts when it touches it. Well, that’s not a good sign.
I circle around the wreckage to give it a once-over. There’s snow piled up around it and so I can’t make out the shape, but the boxy end that’s torn open and sticking out of the snow? Yeah, that looks familiar. The mountains that looked like purple glass from a distance are clearly ice, and I’m amazed at the massiveness of them. This ice must be hundreds - or thousands - of years old to have formed mountains, and at the base, I see a tinge of green. Okay then, how did the
I look around me. The cliff has greenery, but it’s scrubby and twisted, designed to cling to the rock through the snow and the high wind. There’s nothing around here that would make a canoe even if I knew how to make one, or a raft. And the thought of getting into that sea-monster infested water scares me.
“Island, you’re going to have to wait for another day,” I tell it. House one eliminated. Now, in true House Hunters fashion, I need to narrow it down to two choices.
I ponder this even as another dark shape moves through the sky, the shadow rippling over me. Whatever I decide, it’s not smart to stay here. I give another quick glance through the spyglass at the cliffs below, but I don’t see a cave. Shit. I turn my glass back to the wreckage, in the opposite direction.
The red light winks at me.
If that’s the wreckage I’m thinking of, there’s no survivors.
But what if I’m wrong?
But…what if they have food? And guns? And things I can use to survive? Right now I’ve got a pocket knife and maybe a handful of trail mix left.
I chew on my lip, thinking, and toy with the spyglass, flipping it through my fingers. It’s been surprisingly handy, and it wasn’t even meant for this. Who knows what kinds of goodies the other alien ship will have? I put the spyglass in my pack. I sling it over my shoulder, put my snowshoes back on, and head down the cliffs, toward the wreckage.
If I’m here, I might as well see what I can salvage.
----
T he wreckage is a bit further away than it appeared in my stupid spyglass. Okay, a lot further away. I hike for the rest of the day and don’t make it there before the suns start to set. There’s not much shelter around, so I find a few scrubby bushes to act as a windbreak and spend the last hour before sunset pushing the snow higher into the bushes so they form a wall. I have a bit of a dugout and I build my fire there, spending the entire night shivering and feeding more fuel to it so I don’t freeze.
By the time morning comes, I’m exhausted. I let the fire die and take a quick nap in the sunlight until the bleating of a nearby dvisti herd wakes me up. I head off toward the crashed ship again, and when the suns are high in the sky, I arrive at the ship.
HAEDEN
It takes everything I have not to go to Jo-see’s side during the night and offer to assist. She would not appreciate it, and when I see her creating the windbreak with the snow, I know she is smart. She will be fine, if not comfortable. Still, I stay closer than I normally do, my spear at the ready, and watch over her. She is in the open, and if anything tries to approach her, I will gut it for daring to get near my mate.
After her morning nap, she takes off again and I follow behind her, far enough so she will not notice me. As I do, I notice that her path crosses other tracks in the snow. I slow, letting her get ahead so I can study them. I crouch low and touch one. The snow has not crusted, which means it is fresh.
And the clawed toes? Metlak. Many of them.
Jo-see’s in danger.
JOSIE
The flashing light I’d seen in my spyglass is a lot brighter the closer I get. It’s an exterior light of some kind, and blindingly bright, making me see spots every time it goes off. I shrug off a fur wrap and throw it over the light, only to hear my fur sizzling and the smell of burning leather. I quickly yank it off again. The light’s so hot the snow melts when it touches it. Well, that’s not a good sign.
I circle around the wreckage to give it a once-over. There’s snow piled up around it and so I can’t make out the shape, but the boxy end that’s torn open and sticking out of the snow? Yeah, that looks familiar. The mountains that looked like purple glass from a distance are clearly ice, and I’m amazed at the massiveness of them. This ice must be hundreds - or thousands - of years old to have formed mountains, and at the base, I see a tinge of green. Okay then, how did the
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