The 300

Chapter 2

And so they did. The next day, in 6 spacecrafts, each carrying 50 people, they headed towards their home for the next few decades. Some would never leave it, and some would never forget it. But they would all remember why they needed it. And they hoped no one would ever forget.

"Will we ever be back?" questioned Amile, sadness and curiosity lacing her voice like one would lace their shoes as she watched her home recede through a window.

"I'm not sure, sweetheart," her father replied, determined to be strong for his daughter, "But I know that we're together, and we're safe, and there's nothing that can change that anytime soon. I love you, Amile."

"I love you too, dad." she said with a mix of contentment for being with her father, and sorrow for leaving their home. And so she and her father turned to look at their future rather than their past.

And as the land and sea expanded into one giant mass, and then one planet, behind them, Amile's misery morphed into elation. Because she might never go back to her home, but her children, or her children's children, might just get to live in a world surrounded by green. And, hopefully, they would be happy.

70 Years Later:

Their heavy combat boots landed on the ground with an expansive puff of dust adding to the already thick fog of it created by the landing of their ship.
A sombersome aura filled the air as the boy and girl looked towards each other for reassurance. They knew without speaking how the other felt.
Sad, for their ancestors who had to leave their home so long ago, the last of which was nearing death as they conducted this mission.
Scared, for what if their mission ended in failure, and they had to go back to the mothership and watch everyone's faces as they told them the bad news? What if they were to go back to the only life they've ever known, a life on a giant spacecraft with population numbers reaching the tipping point?

But most of all, excited. Excited to create a new home, a new life. One that their ancestors had spoken of so highly; a life filled with plants and animals and happiness. One where you didn't have to wear an uncomfortable spacesuit to go outside, one that was filled with wonders they had never seen before. And so they continued on, preparing for the worst, but hoping for the best.

And as the pair searched for any signs of intelligent life, they noticed something odd.

"What's that?" the girl wondered aloud, gesturing to what appeared to be a large, solitary rock peeking out from behind bushes and beneath vines, set slightly apart from the site where the last survivors left their home.

The boy followed her gaze and her arm, noticing the same as she had.

He paused, then "I'm not sure." was his reply, confusion evident in his voice.

"Let's go find out then!" the girl said, anticipation coating her movement as she rushed to uncover the 'something odd'.

And there, buried beneath ages of retribution, was an inscription carved in stone, and it read;