~ 5 YEARS LATER ~

Position: Earth

The sudden heat and violent shaking indicated her arrival in Earth's atmosphere. Within seconds, the girl's capsule pierced through the dark clouds and saw the lush green and brown of the surface rushing towards her. Red lights and alarms blared as the machine tried frantically to slow down and maintain oxygen levels. She caught a glimpse of a huge, skeletal city to her left before the capsule crashed, puncturing violently into the pavement and shattering the long, glass window as it skidded to a halt. She steadied herself, still cradling her twisted arm against her chest. She felt her demise was close nevertheless. Her soft, white lashes closed over her lavender eyes and she breathed in the wet, damp air. Her once sturdy figure was emaciated and ghastly, covered with burns, bruises and whip marks, and her legs were swollen. She longed to feel the rain on her skin, and, though the glass sliced her knobby fingers, clumsily crawled out of her capsule and collapsed onto the scraping, rough pavement. Shakily she rolled onto her back, and struggled to regain her ragged breath. Her chalky hair clung to her face with moisture, and the dark red stains on her frayed hair faded slowly to pink as the sky released a sudden flood.

She blinked, and when her eyes reopened, there was no rain. Only warm sunshine, and softly swaying grass and flowers she had never before seen. She lay, completely numb, and listened to the birds sing beautiful, unfamiliar tunes. For what seemed like a lifetime, she savored this paradise, and began to feel as though she was slowly drifting off to sleep...

With a terrific crash and a blast of light, it all vanished. The clouds above her shuddered and blinked with energy, and the heavy rain made its way through her uniform and pricked at her stinging wounds. Drearily, her eyes stared into the sky and begged it to release her. At the very edge of her periphery, a shadow moved silently. She turned her head slowly towards it, but the darkness and the rain made it impossible to recognize. With a sigh, she gave up, a slight smile touching her lips, thankful to know there was still life on this planet, and that her body might feed it for another day. Though the thunder rumbled overhead, it could not block out the sound of feet on gravel, moving stealthily closer.

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