Diamond Wings

Chapter 5 Lost

   She erupts from the box just as she entered it, in full swing. Her overhead swing comes down, splitting some kind of a workbench in two. Strange tools and trinkets, cascade and scatter from the broken, rusted metal slab, landing all over what appears to be some sort of a workshop.
   Panting heavily, sword still extended down through the split workbench, tip resting on the floor, confusion surrounds her. Not a moment of time passing for her, as her evil brother is replaced by a tinkerer's table. And the great hall of her home, replaced by a mechanic's lab.
   Strange clicking noises to the left steal her attention. Slowly turning her head to investigate, she sees a small green man holding his hands up, and speaking a strange clicking tongue. Standing only four feet tall, a large bulbous head tops a thin frail body. Big, oval-shaped, black eyes faceted over a small, thin mouth. Goggles sitting atop his head, a toolbelt held up by suspenders.
   Startled by the strange man, Sarena yells and moves to her right, backing away and holding a sword up between them. Skitterishly, she backs up into some shelving, as more tools and trinkets pour down around her, crashing into the ground.
   A large sigh and frown accompany his clear disappointment, as his hands fall to his sides, sadly clicking the strange tongue.
   "What?" she yells, uneasy and confused. "I can't understand you. Who are you? Where am I? What is this place?" she asks, in a panicked state.
   "Calm down, it's OK," he says.
   "Wait! What? I can understand you now?" Her confusion growing.
   "Universal translator," he explains, patting a strange object on his belt. "It works off of a form of telepathy, used to read a speaker's brain waves and translates their language."
   "Huh?" she asks, confusion growing.
   "It doesn't really matter. My name's Glik, and your OK. It's safe here. This is my workshop. What's your name?"
   "My name's Sarena," she says hesitantly.
   "Well, Sarena, nice to meet you. I gotta say, you are the last thing I expected to pop out of that box. Can I ask you to lower your sword?"
   Still hesitantly, she looks down at her drawn, extended sword, and begins to slowly lower it.
   "Ya, I'm sorry," she says slowly, trying to recall what happened in her swirling puzzlement. "You freed me? Thank you."
   "Your welcome," Glik says, smiling.   
   "Thank you for not killing me." He smirks.
   "Ya, sorry about that," she apologizes again, slowly sheathing her sword, and rubbing her head, trying to piece everything together.
   "How did you get in there?" he asks.
   "I don't know. The last thing I remember, I was fighting my brother. He betrayed us, and I was attacking him, when suddenly, I sliced through your table."  
   Both of them slowly turn their heads, to look at the destruction and mess on the floor.
   "Ya, sorry again about that," she apologizes, yet again.
   He lets out another sigh of disappointment, as he offers forgiveness. "It's OK, it was pretty old and rusted anyway."
   "I was attacking my brother . . ." she slowly recalls. "When I was sucked into the cube!" she declares, remembering what happened. "I remember now, he trapped me inside that prison. He betrayed us, and killed my father. He killed my . . . Arthur."
   Recalling her last image, she slowly sits in dread and despair, uncertain of her love's fate, but aware of what probably ensued. She starts to cry in her infinite sadness.
   "I'm sorry Sarena. I can fix almost anything, but I can't fix something like that. There's no way to tell where the cube came from or even how long you were in there for. But, you can stay here for as long as you like, or need. I live here alone, and my workshop is secretly hidden underground. You're welcome to go up to the top, but there isn't much to see there.
   "This is a junk planet. Junk and trash as far as the eye can see. Other worlds dump their garbage here. But one's trash is another's treasure. I'm a junker and a scrapper. I manage to salvage some amazing things, like the cube.
   "I'll give you some time to process things. Please let me know if there's anything I can do for you," he says, before taking his leave into the next room.
   Time passes as she mourns in a defeated pile on the cluttered floor. Sounds and shadows reach out, as Glik tinkers in the next room.
   More time passes as he brings her a bowl of strange exotic food and a bottle of a foreign liquid, and sets it on the floor beside her.
   The day grows late, as he brings her bedding, and sets it next to the untouched food and drink, before exiting to another room for the night.
   Morning comes and Glik enters, finding her in the exact same spot. Almost catatonic, she huddles in her pool of sadness. Bedding and food untouched.
   "Sarena, did you manage to sleep at all?" he asks, answered with silence. "If you don't like the food I'm sure I can find you something else. You'd be surprised at what you can find up top. I forage what I can and occasionally catch a scavenger from time to time. They're scarce, but you do come across the occasional wild dog or bird. The bottle is just water. I made a machine that can distill it from the air."
   No response.
   "I'm going to go up top shortly to hunt for hidden gems and valuables, you should come with me. The sun would be good for you over this dreary dungeon of mine. You should check out your new home, even if it's only temporary. Again it's not much to look at, at first, but it is filled with treasures."
   He heads into the next room, leaving her alone in her misery. Clanking and clanging ring out from Glik's racket it in the next room, as he makes himself some breakfast for the days expedition.  
   He finally returns with a large backpack, even more tools at his side and in his cluttered belt.
   "Ready?" he asks, as she hangs her head and pays no mind. "Come on let's go. I'm sure I can scrounge up a stink bomb I found a while back, that'll flush everything out of here for at least a day. It's for your own good," he says, putting hands on his hips, trying to revive his newly found friend.
   She slowly and wearily starts to get up. A mixture of irritation and depression across her face.
   "Wise decision," Glik says, smiling. "I promise you won't regret it," he claims, heading over to the only visible door.
   Glik grabs the handwheel on the face of the door and starts to turn, unlocking and opening it. Revealing a hallway with a ladder heading upward, he heads down the hallway, Sarena reluctantly in tow. They ascend the ladder upwards, reaching a large round door with another handwheel attached. He cranks it around, as a clicking noise rings out, and frees the porthole. He pushes up, prying it open.
   They exit the hole, surrounded by mountains of junk and trash, just as Glik said. Sunlight can be seen peering over one of the garbage peaks, as they stand in the valley of rubble and rubbish.
   Glik closes the door to seal up his lair. He drags a few pieces of scrap over it, to obscure it from view.
   Putting his hands onto the straps of his backpack, he turns to Sarena and asks, "OK, ready to go scavenging?"
   "Thank you for everything you have done for me Glik, but I think I would like to, just be alone for now. I think I'll just hang out here taking in the sights, waiting for your return. Be careful out there."
   "Okay, suit yourself. You should at least climb up and look over that peak where the sun's coming from," he suggests, before turning away and heading up a mountain on the opposite side of the valley. As Glik starts to climb, he stops and turns to look back.
   "Oh ya, Sarena, one more thing. I almost forgot, but if you're going to be hanging out here by yourself, there's something I need to tell you. I escaped from some of my people, to be able to have my freedom and live my own life. They know I'm on this planet, but don't know where. There is an occasional patrol that flies around searching for me. Be careful, and try to keep your head low, if you see them. I'll see you later." He gives a wave, and returns to his climb up and away.
   She watches him scale over the junk pile and disappear. She looks around for a while in her solus, until looking up at the sun kissed peak of garbage. Deciding to investigate the sights over the hill, she starts to climb the side. The scrap and debris shifts around under her feet, impeding her ascent. Still, she struggles upwards, too depressed to fly.  
   The sun's rays shine upon her face, as she crests the large pile. Sitting upon the summit of trash, she peers out at her new surroundings. Just as Glik said, a sea of ruin. Heaps and mounds of junk, as far as the eye can see, in every direction. To her left, birds resembling vultures, in the distant sky. To her right, the echoes and cries of stray roaming dogs or wolves.
   Suddenly, far in front of her, towards the horizon, something cracks in the sky. Like a scar or rip in the air, she faintly sees a green glow, appearing as a ring in the sky. She curiously watches, as debris cascades down from the emerald ring. Trash raining down from the portal, as she wonders where it comes from.
   As the day goes on she witnesses other portals. Opening, dumping various junk, and then disappearing into the sky.
   As the sun begins to set, she hears something move through the garbage heap behind her. She turns to watch Glik coming back from his treasure hunting. He waves as he sees her. She waves back, allowing herself a half smile, happy to see her new friend. 
   They both begin to head back to their hidden hole in the ground. She asks him about the portals in the sky. He explains that they're only one way, just used to dump trash.
   Their day becomes routine, as Glik goes out to scavenge, and Sarena sits alone, atop the scrap heap daily. Days pass, as she begins to heal her soul, regaining a small appetite, and even getting a little sleep, now and then.
   One day, sitting atop her scrap heap, she notices something far in the distant sky, as she pans her gaze right. Too big to be birds, and what looks like two of them. As they grow larger on the horizon, she begins to realize, that they're getting closer.
   Maybe two ships, she wonders, remembering what Glik said about possible pursuers. Moving to hide from their view, she positions herself below the peak, on the side of the pile. Peaking over the summit, she watches them, as they approach.