When morning arrives, I'm woken up by a jab in my ribs and an alien voice shouting at me.
It's still in the same incomprehensible language, so I have no idea what he's saying, but I scramble up to my feet as quickly as I can, anyway.
Mia has no trouble getting up, but she does yawn and rub at her eyes as she does so.
...I can't help but stare at her. It's unfair to me. I feel like a train wreck, and she looks gorgeous, even after being woken up so harshly.
How?
I have no clue, and it makes me feel a little insecure about my own appearance, but...
There's no time to really focus on that.
We're led to a central area with a big stone table in the middle of it.
Eric's sitting there.
"Good to see you." He greets, but he's clearly not happy.
I flop down beside him and sigh.
"I'm hungry."
"Me too." He says.
The alien makes another grating, guttural noise.
"Okay okay, I get it. You're gonna feed us. I don't need to understand to know that." I grumble, and the alien seems satisfied enough to walk off, leaving the three of us alone with the quiet girl and another human woman who looks even older than Mia.
I haven't seen her before.
She looks...
Strange.
Not in an alien sense - it's hard to find anyone strange in that sense anymore. But there's a look in her eyes I can't place and don't care to look at.
It makes me shudder, so I look away and try not to think about it.
The food they give us is some kind of mushy paste with what looks like nuts in it.
I squint at it. It doesn't look appetizing. At all.
But it is better than not eating anything at all. And I'm starving. So I grab a piece of the bread they gave us along with it and start to dig in. They also gave us cups of water. The bread tastes better than whatever the gruel is.
Still, the mushy taste being flavorless I can handle. It could be much worse. It's not that it's terrible. It just doesn't have any flavor at all. Which makes me miss home even more, and-
"Ah...?!" Mia gasps. "It's delicious!"
Eric hums. "You're starving. This is just...okay."
I blink at her.
She's...
Shoveling this into her mouth like she hasn't eaten in years.
It's weird. And a little creepy. She usually eats a little faster than normal people, but I've never seen her like this.
"...I'm jealous. Mine tastes like nothing." I mutter.
Eric squints at me a moment and then leans over to Hestia - I should still tell her that's what I want to call her - and points at her food. "Think it tastes good? Or bland?"
She tilts her head a little at him, and then at the food. She seems to be thinking about it. Then she points to me.
"Yours is bland too?"
She nods.
He frowns at that, and crosses his arms. "....So you two can't speak the language at all and it's bland. Mia's practically fluent and it's delicious. I'm okay at it and it's okay..."
I blink, looking over at him. "The food tastes different based on the language we speak...?"
He gives me a flat look. "More like they're giving preferential treatment and better food to the people who are further along in the training."
That-
"...That makes more sense." Mia agrees with Eric, setting down her bread. She seems less happy to eat now.
I sigh. "I don't care. If that's what it is, at least I'm not being shocked."
"Yeah. That's the bright side of it." Eric agrees.
Mia frowns, and doesn't continue to eat her meal. "I'm sorry, I can't. That's not fair."
Eric sighs. "Mia..."
"I can't, I won't. It's not fair."
Eric shakes his head. "We don't get to choose that. And starving yourself doesn't make a point. You should know that."
Mia stares at him, her lips pursing and her eyebrows coming together.
"Besides." Eric shrugs. "Whatever we're going to do, if they're feeding us first instead of after, we'll probably need all the energy we can get."
...That's...
Fair.
But I can also understand Mia's frustration at the whole thing, even if it's only a guess at this point. And even though I'm sure Eric is right, I'm also pretty sure that she won't eat anymore.
"...If we can, we'll mix the meals together next time and share them."
It's all just gruel-paste, so it should work to make everyone's food a little more flavorful, except Mia...
I guess she'd have a bit more of the gross paste in her bowl.
But maybe it'd balance out a little.
"Mix our gthruel, eh? Not a terrible plan." Eric snorts. "I can't think the guards would like it, but we can probably do it while they're not looking easily enough."
Mia purses her lips, staring at her plate for a little longer. Then, she sighs and shakes her head. "Alright, alright, we can try it. I'm not going to argue. I just don't like it."
Eric grins. "Yeah, we noticed."
Mia smiles a little.
She really is a nice person. I would never have thought someone like her genuinely exists.
--Maybe they just all get abducted?
That's.
A dark joke.
Even for a groggy morning. Probably it's better I don't say it out loud.
I'm glad they're both here, though.
It's a strange thought. I'd never have imagined meeting either of them in any other situation, and even if we did, there's no way we'd be friends.
Mia feels like...
She's so friendly, but she's already 19. She'd be some out of touch college girl. That's probably all I'd see. And Eric? He's a classic, stereotypical. I'd bet my left hand on it. Jock.
I'd have nothing in common with either of them.
And yet...
These...
Months?
Weeks?
However long it's been here on this planet together, they've become some of my most important friends in my life.
...Hestia. too.
I wonder if we'd met on Earth, would she talk?
I glance down at her, but she just looks up at me, confused.
There's no way to really know. Maybe it's not a good question to even wonder. I have no idea of knowing what life was like for her before ending up here. I don't know her history or how she became the person she is now. But...
I can still wish that she could find happiness in her future, like the rest of us.
The guard alien walks over to our table, gesturing to us all to stand up.
Well.
Time to see what's waiting for us today.
The walk out of the cave and into the sunlight is brief. The heat hits me quickly and the light stabs my eyes. It's such a harsh shift in atmosphere and temperature that I can't help but gasp and cough.
It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust to the brightness, but I do manage, eventually, blinking rapidly.
And once I can see, the first thing I notice is...
"...A forest?"
Eric nods. "Weird seeing greenery on this planet." He mutters.
He's right, though. Ever since I've been here, I don't remember seeing much of it at all.
I glance over at Mia.
...She wanted to see all the forests in the world, right? And then the galaxy? Is that what she said?
"...Are you excited?"
Mia looks at me.
"...A little bit."
That makes sense.
It's an odd feeling.
We're being taken somewhere new, and we have no idea what to expect. On top of that, it's a place that is a little special for her, so I imagine it must be even weirder.
The older woman is standing next to one of the guards, speaking with them in a low voice in their language. They look serious.
"What do you think is going on...?"
Eric frowns, and crosses his arms. "...No idea. Too advanced for me."
The woman glances back at us. There's that strange look in her eyes again. The one I don't know how to read. Then she turns her gaze to Hestia, and there's something else. Something almost...
Pitying?
Her eyes soften.
Then she looks back at the alien and shakes her head. "....Bthak, rgn..."
She's talking to the guard. The one that's speaking in a soft, low tone, with fur that's grey.
She speaks for a few moments more and the alien nods, making some kind of noise, before turning away.
The older woman walks up to us.
She has an intense air about her.
She speaks, but it's in their alien language, and I can't understand a word of it.
Luckily, Mia seems to.
"Right now...she said she's been here for a very, very long time. She knows how this goes. She's going to explain what to expect from now on." Mia's words are careful, measured, and I can tell she's trying to make it so we understand as best as possible. Her brows are drawn together. "...Apparently the next few days are going to be really tough for us. They have to do something called...something like...a trial? Or maybe test? Some word that means like, trial, but also test. She said that it's hard to translate."
I purse my lips. "What kind of test?" I ask.
"She said that she's not allowed to say." Mia shakes her head.
"...Great."
"...Don't leave out the important bit." Eric rumbles suddenly. "If we fail, we're not gonna make it back alive. It's the kind of thing where there are no losers."
My jaw drops and I stare at Mia, and at the older woman.
The woman nods.
"...Is he right?" I ask, softly. My hands clench into fists at my side. I'm scared. How could I not be? I'm only 17, and...
I don't want to die. But...it sounds like...
If I don't do my very best in this trial, that's exactly what will happen to me.