Adam blinked. At first, he didn’t understand what he was seeing—just soft strands of hair near his nose, the faint smell of some kind of herbal soap, and the rise and fall of someone breathing against his chest. It wasn’t until he shifted slightly that everything came back. The nightmare. The panic. The arms that had held him like a lifeline.
Oh God.
He froze. His heart jumped into his throat as the fog of sleep evaporated. Sammy—he was lying on top of Sammy.His head was pressed against her collarbone, and his hand was splayed across her stomach. That’s when he felt it. Muscle. Solid, defined, lean muscle beneath his fingertips. She was only wearing a sports bra.
His face ignited into a fiery red.
He scrambled internally. I am literally lying on top of a girl. Not just a girl—a strong, beautiful girl. And my hand is on her abs. Kill me. Someone kill me right now.He didn’t dare move. Every second of contact was a new wave of panic—and something else, something warmer that made his chest tighten. Sammy felt like stone and heat under him. He could feel her slow, calm breathing. The softness of her skin where muscle met curve.
He was going to die.
Then she stirred.
Her arm shifted around him, stretching slightly. Her fingers brushed across his back, and her legs shifted under the blanket.Adam held his breath. Sammy’s eyes blinked open lazily, like a cat waking from a nap. She looked at the ceiling for a second, yawned—and then she glanced down.
She saw him.
Their eyes locked.
Adam panicked.
He pulled away so fast he nearly rolled off the bed, hands flying up like he was trying to prove his innocence. “I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean—I woke up here—uh—I didn’t—!” He knew she couldn’t understand a word, but he had to try. His hands waved frantically as if trying to mime ‘not on purpose.’ Sammy blinked at him once, sat up slowly, and then a mischievous smile curled across her lips.
“Oh?” she said, her tone sing-songy and amused. She stretched again, arms up, showing off the defined curves of her biceps and shoulders. Her abs tensed slightly with the movement, and she definitely noticed his eyes linger.
He tried to look away but couldn’t. Sammy chuckled. Not a mean laugh—just amused. She pointed at her own abs, then flexed one arm casually.
Adam’s soul left his body.
She flexed again, this time on purpose, watching his reaction. Adam turned bright red and slapped a hand over his eyes. Sammy only laughed harder. She said something teasing in Shalanese that he didn’t understand, but the way she winked at him was all the context he needed.
He peeked through his fingers.
Sammy stood, grabbing her clothes from a small drawer, still in her sports bra and shorts. As she turned to head to the small closet attached to the room, she glanced back over her shoulder and smirked. Then she flexed again—back muscles this time. He groaned and fell back on his bed, hiding his face in the blanket.
“I hate how good that looks,” he muttered under his breath.
A few minutes passed. He heard her getting dressed, fabric rustling and the occasional thump of boots. When the door opened again, he looked up. Sammy stepped back into the room in full uniform—fitted white doctor jacket over a dark blue undershirt, tactical pants, and boots laced tight. Her hair was pulled back into a short, efficient ponytail. She looked like a soldier, a warrior, a goddess of some kind.
She looked at him and grinned.
He sat up slowly, still flustered.
She walked over to his side of the room and crouched down to his level, meeting his eyes. Then she poked his nose. He blinked. She smirked. “Yutiku,” she said, then stood back up and flexed again—this time both arms. He let out a strangled sound somewhere between a gasp and a laugh. She just looked so smug about it. Then her comm buzzed. She glanced at it and sighed.
Duty called.
She turned back to him, giving him a two-fingered salute. Before leaving, she paused by the door, looking back over her shoulder. Then, one more time, she flexed with a wink and disappeared through the sliding door. Adam collapsed backward onto his bed with a groan.
“I’m in so much trouble.”
But he was smiling.
A few hours passed.
Adam sat on the bed, knees drawn up, staring at the floor. He ran a hand through his hair, heart still trying to process what the hell had happened this morning. Sammy’s presence lingered in the air—her laugh, her strength, her warm arms around him from the night before.His face heated again just thinking about it. Every time he remembered how easily she held him—how safe he’d felt—he swore he was blushing like a teenager. And yet… that comfort, that closeness... it made everything harder.
Because he couldn’t stay.
He closed his eyes, taking a slow breath. You knew this wasn’t permanent. The mission. Earth. President Merida. He was sent here for a reason. He wasn’t some stowaway hiding out in a foreign land. He was a scout. A soldier. A representative of Earth. He couldn’t let comfort—and a strong, beautiful girl with a teasing smile—distract him.
“I’m not from here,” he whispered to himself. “This isn’t home.” Even if, in some quiet, unfamiliar way... it was starting to feel like it. He stood slowly and walked to the door, peering through the thin glass section. Two guards stood just outside, talking softly in Shalanese. He backed away and let out a long sigh.
No way out that way.
His eyes scanned the room. Then he noticed the window. He walked over quickly, heart pounding. He twisted the handle.
It was unlocked.
Relief surged through him like a spark. His hands trembled slightly as he opened the window, careful not to make a sound. The cool breeze from outside rushed in, carrying the scent of wild trees and distant smoke.
He paused.
His gaze drifted back to the bed.
Her bed.
A faint imprint still rested in the blanket where she’d laid with him. A memory etched into soft fabric. Part of him didn’t want to go. Part of him wanted to stay, to see what tomorrow brought with Sammy. To learn her language. To laugh at her teasing. To maybe tell her the truth about everything, one day.
But his loyalty—his mission—demanded more. With a deep breath, Adam climbed out, slipping through the opening with practiced care. He pulled the window closed behind him, sealing off the last glimpse of safety. And then, without looking back, he disappeared into the wilderness.
Facing the jungle that lay before him, he winced, feeling apprehensive about entering.
Nevertheless, he made his way around the building, staying vigilant and checking over his shoulder frequently, just in case one of the guards had noticed his absence. He finally saw the stables where he heard the roars and hisses of the Sorhebi, he was debating whether he was going to take his chances out in the jungle or sneak around in a heavily guarded facility
. He needed to find out information, but it would be useless because he couldn’t read any of their documentation or even understand it. He thought back to the tour guide and remembered there were actual humans on this planet.
Which didn’t make any sense to him
But it gave him an idea. If there were humans on this planet and they spoke English, then all he has to do is find a human population and get information that way. He knew he was going to have to get a map of some sort, so he could at least brave the jungle with some sort of direction.
He knew he had to go back to the room and wait for the right moment. He went back, and nobody had noticed he was gone. He decided to take a nap in the meantime and started to make mental plans. He drifted off to his bed, thinking about Sammy.
A cold hand woke him up; he groggily sat up and shook his head, his sights set on Sammy. She wore a small smile and shook him again. He groaned and got up, shaking off his tiredness and looking at her with confusion. She was wearing her white coat like she had been patching someone up. She then suddenly picked him up.
He didn’t complain but tilted his head at her. She didn’t say a word, so he just sat there and looked at Elvis, who was lying on the bed, sleeping. Sammy started to walk out of the room, and she closed the door behind her. It was no use to say anything, so he just looked ahead and waited for Sammy to put him down.
They walked to another room, a way away. Once she opened the door, he saw someone familiar. He started to squirm in her arms to get a closer look. He saw Emma, one of the people he had talked with before the journey to Bishingo. She looked at him and exclaimed, “So you're captured too? Well, sorta; you have this creature carrying you like a princess, quite odd.”
He felt a pang of embarrassment and tried to get out of Sammy’s hands. Sammy chuckled and let him onto his feet. He approached Emma and said, “How did you escape and get captured?” Emma sat up and explained herself, “Well, I knew when it was time to run. I kinda roamed for a while, trying not to be caught and survive. There are all kinds of creatures out there. Then I saw this place and started to scout it out. Then I got caught by another creature like that one.”
Adam sighed, saying, “Her name is Sammy; she’s… been good to me. They have taken care of me, but has Merida contacted you?” Emma looked up at Sammy and sneered, “Can she understand us? The one that captured me spoke a different language.”
Adam explained, “No, she cannot. Some speak English, like her sister, and there are other humans on this planet.” Emma wore a pondering expression and said, “Well, that’s interesting. I wonder how they got here. Other than that, no, she has not reached out to me. I’m guessing she has to you; no wonder she always favored you.”
Adam rolled his eyes and looked over to Sammy, who was talking to a guard. He looked back at Emma and said, “Okay, well, I’m planning to escape and find a human civilization to get more information, but to do that, we need a map so we won’t be lost out there.”
Emma nodded and said, “Well, I can try and find one. I’m not too injured; just an ankle sprain and some scratches here and there. I’m sure we can get out of here soon.”
Adam nodded and agreed, “Yes, I’ll try and find one too. If I find one, I'll let you know. Sammy trusts me a little, so it won't be too hard to come over here. Good luck trying to find one.” Emma said goodbye, and he approached Sammy, who was waiting for him by the door.
Over the next four days, he had been trying to find a map, but he had no luck until he saw one on Yazmina’s desk. Sammy was working on her computer, and he had been sitting on the ground bored out of his mind. He spotted the maps on the desk behind Sammy and got up. Sammy glanced at him for a second but ignored him and continued to look over the documents.
He looked at the maps and saw one map of each of the town names and one of the whole world.
There were pins around the towns, and a red one where they were; he could tell because he had picked up on some of the words and saw their base name at the red one. Base Mudoshi is the one that they were at; there were around three other bases and what seemed to be four cities.
There were what looked like descriptions of each city and pictures. He turned to Sammy and tapped her shoulder. She looked at him in confusion, and he pointed to the map and himself. Sammy seemed to understand, and she pointed to each of the bases and pointed at herself, but she pointed at two cities and pointed at him; they were called Humaran and Cushino. He smiled and watched as she clarified which countries had more humans or Keno.
The country they were in had both, which differed from the rest; most had a single majority, but where they were, it was half and half.
She turned back to her computer and started typing away. He waited until she had left the room, then started making notes on the map, reminding himself where everything was.
He sighed in relief and couldn't wait to tell Emma. He grabbed the map and folded it up, then waited for Sammy to come back. Sammy had gone to retrieve documents and came back with a big stack. He was glad she didn't notice the map missing, so he just waited for her to finish her work. For tonight, they would escape; the day went as usual. He would spend some time with Sammy, then go in for more questions and eat fruits that tasted like chicken. Once he was dropped off from questioning, his eyes fell upon his room, and he took it in. He was taking one final mental snapshot of the place.
A few hours later, everyone had gone home except the night guards. The moonlight shone through the window, signaling it was time to get Emma, who was in the room next to him. He slowly opened the window and climbed out. Slowly closing it, he looked around, making sure nobody was out there. Going up to the next window, he knocked on it lightly.
A moment later, Emma answered and whispered, “Do you have it?” Adam pulled out the map and nodded. Emma pulled herself through the window and closed it. Adam, a little nervous, said, “So are you sure we can make it to the next town?” Emma smirked and said confidently, “Hell yeah, I can. Don't you worry, nerd.”
He grumbled and rolled his eyes; something silver caught his eye, and he looked in its direction. Emma must have grabbed a gun of some kind; its unique colors caught his eye, and he asked, “How did you get that?” Emma looked at the gun attached to her side and said, “Oh, one of the guards left it on a table, so I stole it. We could use it out there anyway.”
Adam nodded and opened the map to see which direction they should head in. “Okay, we head southwest; we should come across a river before getting there”. Emma nodded, and they started to trek their way through the forest. He was quite fascinated by the variety of colors and plants. He tried to be as quiet as possible, but Emma defeated that by stomping around and cutting down the plants in the way. He grumbled and said, “Maybe we don’t want to attract every animal out here, just a thought”.
Emma glanced at him and rolled her eyes. “Well, we do have to find something to eat for breakfast. I have a gun, so stop being a baby”. Adam wanted to talk back, but he decided to stay quiet and pay attention to his surroundings.
He pulled out the other map that zoomed in on where they were. They were on one of many continents called Fucoshima. It listed the big cities and where the bases were, as well as more of the smaller cities around. He noticed most of the smaller cities were along the coast and not so much where Base Mudoshi was. Emma suddenly stopped, bumping into him.
He looked up and around; everything was super quiet, and he could hear some rustling ahead of them. He tensed, and Emma crept forward, pulling out the gun. She jumped forward. Adam had adrenaline pumping through his body, triggering his flight instinct.
He braced himself for shots, but didn’t hear any.
He walked forward and saw what looked like a bunny, but it had six legs and fangs. Emma had the gun pointed at it, but she didn’t move, almost like she was daring it to move. He stepped forward and waved his hands, saying, “Shoo, you pesky thing.” It ran back into the forest, and Emma regained her posture and continued. They soon stopped to sleep; they stopped at a large tree.
Emma then said, “I’ll take first watch and set up a snare for breakfast. Sleep up in the tree just in case.” Adam looked up at the tree and nodded. Trying his best, he started to climb and got onto a bigger branch that was sturdy enough to hold his weight. He got comfortable and soon fell asleep, thinking about their journey ahead and Sammy.
He felt bad for leaving, but he had a duty to his country and his president. He woke up due to Emma shaking him. “Hey, sleepyhead, get your ass up! You’re lucky I let you sleep. So that means you’re cooking us breakfast.”
He groaned and stretched, his body sore from the hard surface he slept on, cracking his knuckles, and started to climb down after Emma. He accidentally missed a branch and fell. He landed with a grunt and lazily picked himself up, cracking his back. He looked at the fire Emma had already started and the food that she had caught. It was a large mouse, but deep green, and had huge teeth.
He then told Emma, “You've got to skin that and drain it of its blood first, and I don’t know how to do that, so go ahead”.Emma sighed and grabbed a small knife she had on her. She started to skin the mouse-like creature, and he couldn’t watch.
He decided to climb the tree to the top, and as his head popped out of the leaves, he saw a large amount of vegetation ahead of them. He spotted a river far away from them; they had a long way to go, but it would be worth it if they could figure out how humans got here or if they have always been here.
They could have evolved here like on Earth, but it was a 1 out of a billion chance. He was deep in thought before static from his ear appeared, snapping him into focus. He heard Merida’s voice: “A-Adam, are you t-there?” He answered, “Yes, we have escaped the base and found a map. We are heading to a city full of humans and hybrids. I’m still trying to figure out how humans got here.”
Merida seemed to hesitate, like she knew something, but then said, “Yeah, it’s weird. Maybe they just evolved like we did here on Earth. Besides that, we are sending a decoy shuttle tomorrow. They will be looking for you, so stay hidden and keep a low profile.”
Adam started to think. He did not know the customs of the humans, so he figured they would have to observe them before completely going into town. He said, “Yes, we will. I’m with Emma, who was also captured. If I may ask, what do you plan on doing? If you do go to war with them, why can’t we reach an alliance?” Merida sighed and said, “They killed our own; besides, we could use a second place to populate if Earth ever gets overpopulated, and the resources gained from taking over the planet would be immeasurable.”
Adam was taken aback; he didn’t think she wanted to take over the planet, but he didn’t question it and said, “Alright, well, I will report back in a couple of days.” Merida then went silent, and he could hear Emma yelling at him to come down. He started to make his way down the tree. Once he reached the ground, Emma said, “Food is skinned and drained; now I’m starving.”
They waited for an hour for the meat to dry out; in the meantime, Emma went on ahead, scouting the area. He looked at the map and messed with a stick. Checking the meat, he heard Emma’s footsteps crunching loudly, which was unmistakable.
He asked for her knife so he could start to cut up the meat into pieces, and looked around for a long and sharp stick. Finding a perfect one nearby, he took the meat and started to cut nice, large squares and stuck the stick through the pieces. Emma got what he was doing and went off to find other sticks to support the meat above the fire; she came back right on time as he finished cutting up the rest and giving it to Elvis, who had been following them.
Sticking the wishbone-like sticks on each side of the fire, he set the meat stick on top and started to slowly turn it until it was done. It took about another hour for it to cook all the way through. Elvis was in the tree looking down on him. Adam called to Emma, “Hey, food's done; we've got to get going soon. I don’t know if they noticed we are gone yet.” Emma agreed, saying, “Yeah, you got a point; let’s take it on the road.” He started to cut off pieces for both of them, making sure not to get too close to the middle because of the dirt on the stick that the meat was on.. He gave her their share, then started to eat his.
They began moving southwest again, and Elvis hitched a ride on Emma's shoulders; she didn’t seem to mind and enjoyed his company. For Most of the day, they trenched through the trees and mud. he wasn’t a fan of it, but knew it was necessary, so they didn’t get caught. Elvis would switch between them.
It soon became dark, and Emma, who was out in front, stopped before a small clearing. She turned to Adam and said, “See how far we are from this river? If we aren’t far, then let’s keep going, but if it’s still far, then let’s stop here for the night.” Adam agreed and looked for a tall tree to climb. Picking one, he started to climb, and once he reached the top, he looked for the river.
It was still far away, and he estimated about another two days before they reached it if they sped up. He started to climb down, and midway down, he spotted a large creature in the distance. He froze, and trying to make it out, he called to Emma, trying to keep his voice low but loud enough for Emma to hear him. “Emma, there is something ahead. It looks like a large deer with fangs and huge antlers. Be careful; I don’t know if it’s aggressive.” Emma seemed to hear him and started to climb the same tree he was in. Once they met up, she looked in his direction, seeing the large deer.
She made a “mmmmm.” It moved from its spot and into the clearing, facing their direction. Its blue complexion caught his eye, black antlers, and long tail. It shed a lot; with each step it took, its dark blue fur shook off. It was grazing on the grass, so he suspected it was a herbivore, but its sharp teeth made him suspect it was an omnivore. As he started to go down, he was stopped by Emma; she pointed into the brush to the left of the deer. He couldn’t see anything at first, but started to see the outline of a Fuguto, its lengthy body giving it away.
He had learned the name from Sammy; she had told him it was a very aggressive creature that would eat anything and was very dangerous. Yazmina, who had translated for Sammy, told him that we was gonna be away for a while, so she wouldn’t be able to translate for them all the time.
They decided to stay in the tree for the rest of the night, They did not make a sound as the fugitive hunted down the deer.
They both watched as it tore into the deer. The deer did give up a fight, but in the end, it fell prey to the Fuguto; it ate in the clearing so they couldn’t speak or move too much. They both chose their branch and settled on the branch, his mind drifted to Merida’s work, “take over the planet”.
He thought it was a little harsh and didn’t see why they would need to go to the extreme. He shook off his thoughts and started to pet Elvis, who was in his lap, purring. He smiled and whispered, “You always know when I’m stressed”. He tuned everything out and pet Elvis.He soon got into a comfortable position and drifted off into the welcoming Darkness.
He soon felt the warmth on his shoulders, the bright sun in his eyes, and some rustling. He opened his eyes and whinced at the bright sunlight, looking up at Emm, who was still asleep. He noticed that Elvis wasn't near him, so he started to panic, looking around and climbing the tree up further, he found him on one of the branches, sleeping.
He sighed in relief and relaxed. He then looked back in the clearing before saying anything. The carcass was gone, and so was the Fuguto. He then said, “Emma, wake u, it's gone. We still have two more days to go before reaching the river”. She started to stir, and he whistled to Elvis. He jumped down to Adams’ shoulders, then down to the ground. Emma had climbed down, they were both waiting for him.
He nervously chuckled and started climbing down, landing on the ground, and reached for his bag he had grabbed before leaving. He grabbed the leftover food and gave some to Emma and a little to Elvis. They started trekking through the forest
once more.
They ate the last of their food, so they would have to stop for dinner and hope to catch something. Throughout the day, they sped up to make up for time, and they needed to scout out the city first. It was getting closer to nighttime as the sun set, and he was starting to get hungry.
They’d been walking for hours, boots heavy with mud and the scent of pine clinging to his clothes. The sun was bleeding out behind the trees, casting long, purple figures across the forest floor. He needed shelter before night closed in for good. That’s when he saw it.
Tucked between the roots of the hill and the dense wall of thickets, the bower looked like something pulled from an old storybook. A ring of slender trees had grown together, their trunks twisting into one another like braided rope, forming a dome of bark and shadow.
The branches arched overhead, laced with leaves that filtered the last of the light into a dusky green haze. He stepped through the natural archway, ducking beneath a low-hanging limb. Inside, it was quiet—eerily so. The kind of quiet that wrapped around your shoulders like a cloak. The ground was soft with old leaves, and the space was just wide enough to lie down, to breathe without the weight of the wild pressing in.
It wasn’t much, but it felt safe. Like the trees had bent and bowed just for them, offering a place to rest. He settled in, back against a root that curled like an arm around his side, and watched the light fade through the canopy, listening to the forest exhale.
Emma seemed to be pleased with the place they stopped to rest, she started to set traps for dinner, and he got the fire started. About an hour later, they had caught and skinned another huge mouse-like creature. He prepared it and started cooking it. Looking at the tree, he started to think about everything that had happened.
His mind went back to how kind everyone was to him, he didn’t expect it because essentially they landed on their territory without warning. Countering his argument, he thought about the people they had killed on the shuttle. He went back and forth with himself, torn in two, his nation snapped at the sound of a stick cracking in the distance.
Emma, a who was roasting the food stopped and pulled out the gun. Adam froze, and to keep the food from burning, he made sure to put it up for a moment. He backed up into the tree and saw a glimmer of fur . He held his breath and knew it was the Fuguto from yesterday. It jumped out of the brush and growled, emma who jumped back opened fire on it, it only got more pissed off and trying to avoid it climbed the nearest tree letting out a ear slitting cry.
His hands pressed against his ears, and his head started to ring. Emma was looking up in the canopy, waiting for a sign on where it was. Adam knew he couldn’t be of much help, so he tried to stay out of her way. It pained him that he had to let Emma deal with it, but he didn’t have a weapon.
He stayed low to the ground and awaited the monster’s next move. It jumped down on Adam and, crying out, he scrambled from underneath, escaping its jaws. Emma had turned and started shooting again, hitting its shoulder. It cried out in pain and backed up from Adam, rearing on its hind legs. Emma aimed for its stomach and started filling it with bullets. He looked away and heard the thump when it hit the ground. He sighed and checked over himself just to make sure he didn’t get hurt.
He then started to cook the food again, he tried to take his mind off the attack, and he needed to eat. An hour later, when it was done, he started to cut through it and heard a cry; it sounded like a baby lion. He raised an eyebrow, and Emma, who had gone to scout ahead, wasn’t there, so he got up and investigated. He heard it again and got closer to the sound.
Clearing away some brush, he saw what looked like a baby Fuguto. He looked back at the dead one and started to realize the colors were the same. He started to feel guilty and felt bad for it, it was the size of a great dane, so he was cautious, but he stepped out and slowly approached it. It looked at him and growled, but Adam grabbed a piece of meat, sat down not too far from it, and held out the meat.
It sniffed in his direction and stopped growling. It inched forward but then suddenly growled and got into a defensive stance. Adam was confused and looked down at himself, he noticed the knife he used to cut the meat with was showing on his belt, so he slowly took it out and threw it away from him. It stopped and approached his hand.
Adam hoped it wouldn’t eat his hand, but it just took the meat and gobbled it down. It was quite skinny and looked like it hadn’t eaten for days. He sighed, and it started to get closer to him as if it were looking for more. He chuckled and said, “I don’t have more on me, hold on”.
It started sniffing his clothes and made a chirping noise, like it was demanding more.
It pushed him down, trying to find more. He laughed and got up, gently moving it off of him, and he started walking back to get more meat for it, picking up his knife and cleaning it off. It hesitated but started to follow him cautiously. h
He went to get the meat, and when he came back out of the tree, he saw it sitting by its mom, who was not too far from them.
He sighed and, cutting a large chunk of food, he approached the baby fuguto and said, “I’m sorry, little one, we were just defending ourselves”. It seemed to sign and it turned back to him and saw the food, its tail slowly wagging like a dog’s. He chuckled and gave the food.
He looked underneath it for a moment to figure out the gender, and said, “Mmm, okay, I’m going to name you Xavier”. He wanted to pet it but didn’t wanna be bitten, so he let it sniff his hand first, and he said, “I’m going to pet you, you're not gonna bite me, okay?”. It contained to chomp on the chunk, and he ran his fingers through its fur, which was unbelievably soft like silk. He gasped and said, “Okay, I’m definitely keeping you, Besides, you couldn’t survive on your own”.
It started to make a purring sound, and it licked his hand, a bright light flashed before his eyes, and he fell back. Shaking his head, he looked at his hand, which had a strange mark, and he started to hear someone’s voice in his head. He shook his head once more and heard “I want more foood.” he looked at Xavier and said, “Was that you?”.
(hoped you enjoyed it because I certainly enjoyed writing it)
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