of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars — Khalil Gibran
It doesn't apply to just Sera, our protagonist of the story, but to most people in Terra II—a world steeped in pain and misery. In this world, you can never know when you'll draw your last breath. All you can do is keep pushing forward. Koda, in particular, had the cold truth thrust into his chest. So let's rewind time for just a moment to see how Koda and Sera first met.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Koda's small limbs moved as fast as they could carry him, propelling his little body forward with each desperate step. He could feel it. The dread that crawled through his bones, the fear that tightened his chest. He turned his head for just a moment, his eyes wide and terrified as he watched his mother locked in a vicious struggle with a monstrous creature of the forest. Every strike landed with a sickening thud, some connecting, some missing, but each blow adding to the chaos of the fight.
The reality was clear: they were just bears. In this forest, they were merely prey—another set of lives waiting to be extinguished.
Koda's mind struggled to comprehend the horror he witnessed, every second burning the scene deeper into his memory. His mother's roars echoed through the trees, a sound of defiance that turned to desperation with each breath. Her strength faltered, and with one final cry, she fell silent—a life snuffed out in a moment that felt both too quick and painfully drawn out.
The predator's eyes, cold and calculating, shifted their gaze to Koda. The same eyes that had mercilessly taken his family were now fixed on him. He was lucky to have survived this long, and they all knew it—the beast, the forest, and even Koda himself. Just another pebble lost in the vast ocean.
The creature roared, charging at him with the force of a storm. Koda's instincts kicked in, and he turned to run once more, his small legs pounding against the forest floor. He tried to lose it among the trees, weaving in and out of the dense undergrowth. But he was a cub, too young, too weak, too inexperienced. Every step he took felt heavier, each breath more ragged, the forest closing in around him as if it sought to consume him whole.
Shhh~
Every sound in the forest turned into a haunting symphony of pain and despair. Each rustling leaf, each snap of a twig underfoot, echoed in Koda's mind like the toll of a bell. His small body ached with new wounds—cuts and bruises from the chase—and the scent of his own blood filled his nostrils.
And just like that, the chase ended. The monster turned away as suddenly as it had appeared, its shadow receding into the forest's depths. Koda was left there, alone, with nothing but his thoughts and the fading memory of his mother's last stand. Dying alone in the cold, dark woods, he felt his heart break as he closed his eyes, his life slipping away as he lay there, waiting for the end.
But that was then, and this was now.
"Wake up, Koda! It's time to eat!" Sera's voice broke through his dream-like haze, dragging him back to reality. He groaned, his small body refusing to move even as she gave him a shake. He remained stubbornly still until Sera reached down and tugged on his fluffy ear.
"Took you long enough! Hurry up," she scolded, though her tone carried a hint of warmth beneath the gruff exterior. It had only been a few days, but already, Koda was doing better than anyone had expected. His chances of survival had been slim, yet here he was, given another chance at life.
Nothing much had changed in the last few days—Sera and Zyra continued their daily hunts for food, while the rest of the crew focused on exploring the landship, trying to make it a functional base of operations. The routine was their shield against the chaos of Terra II.
Snore.
Koda wolfed down his food quickly before curling up on a small bed that had been made for him. As he settled in, his eyes grew distant, filled with the memory of what he had lost. He still couldn't shake the vision of his mother, her final moments burned into his soul.
Why…? he thought, his small body trembling as a single tear slid down his cheek.
Can there ever be a reason for anything that happens in life? No, it just does, whenever it pleases. Koda knew that he couldn't go back, that he could only move forward. But the pain of not even getting to say goodbye, not even seeing his mother one last time—it was a wound that wouldn't heal.
As he lay there, more tears followed the first, soft and silent. Ava noticed and, without a word, gently picked him up and placed him across her lap. She began to hum softly, a lullaby her father used to sing to her when she was just a child. It was a quiet melody, one filled with bittersweet memories, as if trying to coax Koda's pain into something softer, something bearable.
Koda's eyes fluttered shut, the exhaustion of the day finally winning over, lulled by the comforting sound of Ava's voice. He fell asleep, his small form rising and falling with each steady breath. Sera watched them in silence, her thoughts hidden behind her expressionless face, her eyes unreadable.
Zyra approached quietly, standing next to Sera. Without a word, she reached out and gently patted Sera's head in a gesture that once might have been comforting. "I'm not a child anymore, Zyra. You don't have to cradle me," Sera said softly, though a faint smile touched her lips.
But while her lips smiled, her eyes did not. They were distant, almost hollow, as if something inside her was still locked away, hidden from view. Zyra held her gaze for a moment longer, then looked away, not wanting to confront the reality that Sera was no longer the same girl she once knew.
Just then, Alaric strode into the room, holding a small box in his hand. "Here—I found some batteries in a few places we haven't explored yet," he said, his eyes darting around as he took in the scene. He raised an eyebrow, noticing the somber mood. "What's with the mood in here?"
"What mood?" Sera replied, her voice distant, as she stood and headed toward the entrance of the cargo bay. "What are you all waiting for? We're running out of resources, so let's get moving."
Sighing, Zyra was the first to follow her, with the others slowly trailing behind, one by one. "Wait! Bossu, wait for me!" Ava called out, scooping Koda into her arms as she jogged to catch up with the rest of the crew.
The day was only beginning, and the journey ahead was bound to get rougher. There was no promise of safety, no guarantee of peace. But even in this broken world, they would keep moving forward, after all…what other option did they have.