Chapter 1: Alone
Why the hell did we have to come to this god forsaken planet anyway? There�s not even anything here, except for me. And that�s all because she told me to get off the Maru, and go look around. So I went. I looked. And big surprise, there�s jack-shit on this planet. And then something really important happened, that drew Beka�s attention away from this pathetic rock, and she fucking left me here!
So here I am, wandering through the wilderness. I�m not even sure what I�m looking for. But I�m looking. Wouldn�t she be surprised if she came back here and saw that I was actually doing what she told me to. Then I see it. A building, the only one around. It�s built against the side of a mountain for reasons I can only guess at.
So I go check it out. That�s why I�m here, right? Then I find that it�s not just a building against a hill. The building is like a doorway into the hill. Past the front door, the building is just a small room with another door on the other side. That door opens onto a tunnel, which leads back into the mountain.
I follow this tunnel until it opens up into a cave with torches on the walls. There are chains and other such things attached to the wall. What the hell? Then I hear it. Footsteps behind me. And a voice, an angry one.
"You are not deserving!"
The next thing I hear is something solid connecting with the back of my skull. The world goes black as I wonder what I ever did to piss off the entire universe.
Now, I thought that was bad, but it was about to get a whole lot worse. When I come to, I find that my wrists are in chains. The same ones I saw when I first walked into this hellhole. My arms ache because I�m almost on my knees, but the chains aren�t quite long enough, so I�m just hanging in a pathetic slump.
I shift my weight onto my feet to take the strain off my arms. Then I make the mistake of looking up. There is a figure in front of me. I assume it�s the same one who bludgeoned me. I can�t see a face, it�s covered by something. A veil or something. But I can see the eyes. Bright green, and narrowed in anger. At me.
"Drop your eyes! You are not worthy!"
Before I can lower my eyes, a sharp blow strikes me across the face. In an instant I can taste blood as I feel it trickle down my chin. But I keep my eyes down. Then I get the bright idea to ask a question.
"Why are you doing th�" I am cut off by the sudden impact in my stomach. I can hardly breathe and I lose my footing. I come to an abrupt stop as the chains reach their limit, and I hear a sickening pop as my shoulder jumps out of its socket. I want to scream, but I still can�t breathe. So, I resort to making pathetic gasping sounds, much to the apparent delight of the figure in front of me.
Then they just leave. They leave me here, bleeding and broken. But I know they�ll be back. When they�re ready to torture me again. And now, alone, I start wondering. Not deserving, not worthy. Maybe it�s true. Maybe I�m not. But deserving of what? Life, a voice in my head offers. Sure, I think, why didn�t I die years ago? I�ve had plenty of chances. Sometimes I think the world would be better off without me.
Why didn�t I just give up? Every time I should have just laid down and died, I picked myself up again. And what for? So I could be abandoned on some pointless speck of a planet? Is that what my life has been leading up to?
I am left wondering as I lean back on the wall and slowly drift from consciousness.