Emily Hare

3B

Archetypes Creative Writing

The Stranger
The forest was quiet. As Kri walked under the strange trees, only a single strange bird was
deciding to make itself known. She took a deep breath, reveling from the empty planets crisp fall air.
This systems star was a red one, so the leaves were orange all the time to receive the most amount of
energy, but even those turned into a red-brown that told the world of the end of summer. Kris feet
thumped against the tightly packed ground rhythmically; the old dirt road made by loggers that left the
planet long ago. The sky was full of dazzling colors as the star said its goodbye for the day. Oranges,
pinks, and reds dash the horizon. This is what Kri loved most about being between jobs, the ability to go
to an abandoned planet and just walk for miles without anyone bothering her.
A sudden rustling pierced the silence. Leaves crunched under someone elses feet at an
alarmingly rapid rate. Just when Kri wondered if she should pull out her beam sword, a figure burst from
the forest onto the road, straight into Kri. Swearing a little as she stood up, the wind knocked out of her,
Kri glared at the party crasher.
She was definitely an alien. A black mask with silver-gold engravings covered most of the alien's
face, leaving only the lizard like golden eyes and cheekbones exposed. Those cheekbones were covered
in an indigo skin, stretched taut and slightly scaly over the aliens face. A hood covered the rest of the head
and most of the neck, this was black too. The woman stood up, looking a bit dusty, which was even more
noticeable since the rest of her clothes and armor were ranging from black to a dark leathery brown. A
softer armored plate than Kri's own covered the alien's torso, along with gauntlets and greaves made of
the same material. Even with only the eyes exposed Kri could tell this alien woman was peeved at Kri
for blocking her path. Before Kri could open her mouth, the alien's voice cut through the relative silence.
"Who are you?"
"A sightseer."
"No simple tourist would come here, especially not with that high caliber light blade and armor".

Emily Hare

3B

Archetypes Creative Writing

"My job isn't 'professional planet hopper'. A mercenary can't even catch a break on deserted planets!"
The alien hissed in frustration before spitting "Are you with them?" Her eyes darted from side to side, as
if expecting "them" to materialize at any moment.
Kri's weight shifted, thinking for a while. Opening her mouth, she was cut off yet again. This time
however, it was the baying of dogs that stopped her. The alien tensed up, looking even more frantic than
before. Recognizing the universal look of oh god please help me Kri made a split second decision.
"No, I'm not with those dogs or their handlers, but I do have a way off this planet. It's a long ways off but
I can summon my speeder and we can get to my ship by about sunrise."
The stranger looked wary, or at least as wary as a pair of eyes can get, but before she could speak the
baying got louder and closer.
"Let's get out of here!"
Kri couldn't agree more, her speeder flashed into existence and the two were off. The forest melted away
into a massive steppe, the planets three moon's glow lighting the way across the grassy land. As Kri had
said, it took all night to cross the several hundred miles to her ship. By the time she and the alien hopped
off the speeder, the morning sun had crept above the horizon. The main hatch opened on the ship and the
pair prepared to go inside. Before that could happen, there was one order of business that had to be
finished.
"Hey, the name's Kri."
"Leka."
Kri grinned to herself as she plopped down into the pilots chair, happily decided that this seemed like the
beginning of a wonderful new friendship as she gunned the throttle. The small ship blasted off the face of
that planet as fast as it had arrived.