The clouds passed them as the old ship sunk through the sky. Roxanne tried clinging onto something, eventually choosing what was left of the chains on the walls. Julian and Cassandra clung to each other in a desperate attempt to hold onto anything. Xander was still furious, bashing the shield against anything he could for some kind of relief. He looked out the window to see dragons soaring through the sky, no two the same colour. As they descended further, trees larger than anything on the surface were made visible, each with thick vines connecting them. And finally, murkiness. A bright yellow murkiness covered the ship, brown specks dotting the window, until they emerged out of it. The door was on the underside of the landing site, so opening it wasn't an option. Xander tried smashing the window with the shield, but the damn window wasn't giving a dent.
"Is everyone alive?" Roxanne yelled after the ship stopped moving.
"I am." Julian nodded through a spinning head and pained stomach.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm alive." Cassandra sighed.
They stayed at the bottom of the ship, watching Xander hang onto the wall through what seemed to be sheer anger, endlessly bashing away at the window, while the other three had to avoid the blood pouring out of where his arm once was.
"You think you could try breaking the window?" Roxanne asked.
"I…I don't want to use the weapons anymore." Cassandra whispered.
Julian gave Roxanne a concerned look, before turning back to Cassandra.
"Uh…something happen on the ship?" Julian asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.
Cassandra took a deep breath.
"I'm Chelic's niece." She whispered.
The words felt like vomit to her. And as she faced her friends, Julian just shrugged.
"Okay? Cassandra, we've been over this. Just because you were connected to them at some point doesn't mean you should let it define you."
The two embraced with a casual kiss. When it was done, Roxanne hugged both of them.
"Okay, I'm glad you reunited, but maybe we could come up with a way out of this thing?" Xander asked.
"I mean, is it even safe out there?" Roxanne asked. "What are the chances of something like a deadly creature of some kind?"
"Or the place in general is poisoned." Julian added.
"Well, what do you suggest we do?" Xander yelled.
As he turned to try against the window again, a hand pressed against it. Xander jumped back, and the others hid behind him. The ship began to move, and they felt it hit solid land. The door opened, and two people were in front of them.
Neither of the dark skinned individuals said anything. The taller one was a slender woman in an oversized blue jacket and baggy trousers with military jeans, and her hair was a simple buzz cut.
The shorter man behind her was a boy in a red jacket and trousers made by attaching extra leg fabric to a pair of old shorts, with his hair styled in a man-bun alongside some patchy facial hair. Both were wearing goggles and necklaces similar to Roxanne. The girl had a red gem in hers, and the boy had a white one.
The girl held a rifle in her hands, which she held slightly higher than she normally would, perhaps as a subtle suggestion not to mess with her. The guy stood behind her with arms crossed, sizing up the situation.
"Did you come from the sky?" The woman asked slowly.
"Correct." Julian said from inside. "We got thrown out."
"Thrown out?" The man asked."
"Well, it was an accident on…everyone's part, but point is, we're stuck here."
The two looked to each other. The guy shrugged.
"Code still applies, right?"
The girl nodded, so the man stepped in front.
"Okay. We got a policy of not leaving any humans behind, so now you're a part of our family!"
"Yes, that. Mind if we guide you back to our city?"
"Well, it's not like we have much of a choice." Xander said, stepping out. Julian and Cassandra stepped out, and Roxanne was the last to leave. The two natives took a discreet glance at her chest, exchanging a discreet look at each other.
"Excuse me, is something off?" Roxanne asked.
"It's nothing, we were just making sure nobody else was in there." The guy responded with a dismissive hand wave.
In front of them was a deep jungle. Trees taller than anything any of the main four had ever seen stretched out and blotted out the clear blue sky. The ground was brown and wet, and they sank into it a little with each step. Roxanne's leg already wasn't the best, so she was constantly catching herself while trying not to trip. This failed, and she felt her foot get caught in something and almost fell to the ground. The guy caught her, helping her back on her feet.
"You okay?" He asked. Their eyes met, and Roxanne got a glance into his. Eyes as deep a brown as a particularly well made chocolate bar. Like, the type she saw stars eat in movies for the product placement that was way too expensive for chocolate.
And as Roxanne looked into his eyes, she felt…nothing.
"Yes, I'm fine. Please let me go."
The man let her back on her feet, and she kept going.
"Just watch out, and you'll stay standing." The girl said without turning back. "It shouldn't be that hard."
"Eh, lay off em." The guy responded, gazing at the sky. "I'm guessing their sky ships all have the most even flooring at all times."
"Hey, I fell down enough stairs to say otherwise." Julian replied, wiping fresh dirt off his face. "But otherwise yes."
"You get used to it quicker than you think." The guy replied. "I mean, I'm not even supposed to be out here. Just felt like taking a stroll!"
"What do you usually do?" Cassandra asked.
"Doctor. But that gets stuffy. And depressing. So sometimes you gotta grab a moment and let the wind flow through you!"
Suddenly, footsteps were heard through the trees above them, and a blur leapt below. It looked like a dragon, only a little more sleek, a little more moist, and with much smaller wings. It snarled and leapt at Xander, who blocked it with his shield. The creature expanded its wings to scare him off, but Xander just cut its neck with a single slice to the neck.
"Yo, nice one!" The man yelled, seemingly unfazed by the attack, picking up the body and draping it over his shoulder.
"Wyvern wings." He said casually. "You able to get em up there?"
"Nope." Cassandra said.
"Yeah, checks out. Pretty sure we only started eating them after you took off and they were deemed too tough beforehand. But boil the wings at the right temperature with some mint sauce and lake salt. That's just a good meal, I don't know what people were thinking back then!"
"I'll let them know we got something." The girl said, taking out a phone to text with.
"Oh hey, you guys have phone service down here." Julian noticed.
"It's limited, but it works." The guy shrugged.
After what felt like an eternity of trapsing through a muddy path, the city lay before them. It seemed like once abandoned buildings first reclaimed by nature, then the remaining humans made their attempt to reclaim it back, with both parties agreeing on a middle ground. Some of the vines gathered to connect to the nearby trees, but those had nets attached, probably to avoid more wyvern attacks. The group walked past the two guards in front of the cities main gate, dressed in leather and guns, as they stepped past and nodded at everyone who passed them.
"Miss Ngozi, Mr. Kwadwo." The left guard said calmly.
"Sup." The man, presumably Kwadwo, said back with a friendly wave.
Inside the city was people going about their day. In the centre was an unused fountain, with a girl sitting by it playing a worn down violin. A man sat next to her eating a sandwich, passing discreet glances at the girl. Children ran through the street and stole food left in shop windows, getting away before any owners could catch them. Overall, people of all races and ages seemed to be relaxing and soaking in the day. But Roxanne noticed that everyone was wearing a necklace. The violinist had a green gem while the man eating had a blue one.
"And, welcome to trampstown." Kwadwo said calmly. "First off, mind if I take you to the hospital? Just a check up for most of you."
"Most of us?" Xander asked.
"Yeah, I'm assuming that you had an arm a few hours ago." He said, wincing at the stump. "So you'll probably need a blood transfusion. Don't worry, we'll find a donor before more damage can be caused."
"So I can leave them with you?" Ngozi asked.
"Yeah, I got it. Gotta clock back in, anyway."
The six made their way through the city, with a couple people taking a glance at Roxanne, staring at her necklace. And when Roxanne noticed, nobody was wearing a purple gem.
"Hey, is something up with purple gems?" Roxanne asked.
"Eh, probably. I think they had a meaning in the olden days, but I slept through that history class."
"So the gems have meanings?"
"Oh, totally. I have a white one, which means I work in the medical field. Green means you're an artist, red means you're a scout. It's just convenient to know where someone stands, you know?"
"Eh, guess that makes sense." Julian nodded. He looked over to see Xander, looking ready to fire back at this system, but in the end he stayed silent. Maybe the Legion used something similar and they were all idiots, he'd have to think about it later.
The hospital's interior looked like one in the skies, but with slightly worse lighting. The four were all placed in a series of empty beds. Kwadwo took swabs from all of them, to see if they were related to anyone here. They all sat in an awkward silence. They tried finding something to talk about, but every time somebody tried, it would stop fairly quickly.
After what felt like an eternity, a nurse walked into the room.
"Excuse me, Cassandra? There's someone waiting to see you."
A pale woman in a white shirt and trousers came in after her. Her hair was a rosy blonde, and her eyes a deep ocean blue. And before Cassandra could think, she knew. She stuttered to get the words out, her mouth being filled with as many useless words as her eyes were filling with tears. But eventually, she managed to let one slip out.
"Mom?!"