Unicorn Riders - Pinch (English)

Chapter 7: The loyal companion

Filled with little hope, but all the more determination Vera started on her long way.

She had the entire wide plains of Geshtachius Prime open to her - a kind of freedom she had never experienced, but had always longed for. Now it was a curse: Vera had no idea where to turn to. Still, the first part of her journey was the obvious one: She had to get down from this heightened spot. At one point not far from the crashed shuttle she was able to climb down and reach the valley without further injuring herself. Her palms looked under the sunlight like she had bathed them in a bucket of blood, but the blood began to dry up, showing that her wounds were nasty looking, but otherwise harmless scratches. Besides they were a lot smaller than Vera had guessed and already hurt a lot less than right after the crash.

Her head on the other side was an entirely different matter. The dent on the back of her head gave her a really unpleasant pulse, and Vera felt dizzy again after just a few steps. She sat down on a rock and pulled out one of the water bottles from her backpack. A few sips from the bottle did make her feel better, but she was worried. Maybe she was in worse condition than she was ready to admit, and maybe it would have been better had she stayed with Tammy and the shuttle. But who else would look for help then? Vera had no choice.

Using a small piece of cloth she had also found in her backpack and some water from the drinking bottle Vera washed away the blood from her hands. It felt like burning when she touched the scratches, but afterwards it looked so much better. Those scratches were tiny, compared to the pain she had to endure in the shuttle. Vera was a little miffed about herself behaving like a little child. A mercenary, even a trainee mercenary, should have been able to endure more. She put the water back and continued on her way.

Over and over again she had to take a small break when she felt her sense of balance and orientation fading and her becoming dizzy again. It didn't last for long, and she managed to cope with it by sitting still and closing her eyes. But she didn't make much progress with that. After arriving inside the valley she headed for the small forests. Behind those she had made out parts of a mountainside and made it her destination. Out here she wouldn't find any settlements or something similar, but on a mountain the chances were bigger to be found if she could send some sort of signal. At least she would be able to picture a way she would be taken. It was better than nothing.

The sun already leaned towards the horizon when she finally arrived at one of the small forests she had seen from her elevated point. It was shadowy and cool here, and she had exhausted herself so much that she planned to take a longer rest now. Arriving at the edge of the forest she had the strong urge to just drop and stay down to rest. But she went on a little further, deeper into the woods to find a safer spot surrounded by trees. It was a really nice, idyllic spot she had found there. Under other circumstances she might had even enjoyed being there.

She put her backpack down and rubbed her aching shoulders that had gotten worn out from the long marsh. Still she was glad to have picked it up after all. Like many times before she took another drink, this time from her juice bottle, and she felt really thirsty after this long way. The plain with the crashed shuttle was not out of sight yet, but it was quite distant. She felt like drained out thinking what distance she had already walked without seeing any end to it. And soon it would be dark around here...

Once more Vera dug into her backpack and decided that it was time to eat something. It could only be helpful, even when it only decreased the weight. She pulled out a sandwich from the pastry bag and sniffed it. Her mother had thought of everything and had packed her a number of sandwiches with her favourite toppings. But as soon as she had taken two bites, she felt sick - her stomach acted up, she felt dizzy and nauseous. She lowered the sandwich, having lost her appetite in a moment's notice.