Cyan Falling

Lost at Sea

Much like the first time that Cyan had gone through one of the Vortex Gates, the journey was strange and unpleasant. It wasn't quite as physically taxing as his first trip had been, but it was still jarring. It was less of a straight passage, like it had been when he had driven through the last one on his bike, and more of a freefalling, tumbling sensation that felt never-ending.

Then, in an instant, he felt a lurch and, just like that, he was being spat out into a new dimension with Jaesong falling not far behind him.

Immediately, they were plunged into a deep body of water and they were sinking fast. Cyan could see the light refracting through the surface of the water as he worked to turn himself around so that he was facing upwards. Jaesong was sinking down next to him, seemingly knocked unconscious from the impact, a trail of tiny bubbles following him down.

Why couldn’t they ever end up anywhere nice? Like a beach maybe?

Cyan started swimming immediately, propelling himself through the water as fast as he could in order to get to his companion. The last thing he wanted after all they had been through was to watch him drown. He couldn’t bare to see anyone else that he cared for die.

Soon enough, he was reaching out and securing an arm around Jaesong’s waist before kicking as hard as he could and pulling himself upwards as quickly as was possible with only one arm free and another person weighing him down.

As soon as they reached the surface, he took a deep breath, filling his lungs with oxygen and his eyes were darting around, looking desperately for any kind of land or even a passing boat, but there was nothing in sight. There was nothing but ocean for as far as the eye could see, the waves rocking against them as they floated there, Cyan working desperately to keep them afloat.

This was bad. The longer Jaesong remained unconscious, the more likely it was that he would die there. There was no way that Cyan would be able to administer CPR while they were floating and his visor was in the middle of rebooting and recalibrating, so he had no way of knowing whether or not removing their masks for such a thing was even viable.

The sky above them was blue, only a few white clouds were dotted around. There was no sign of any seabirds above them and Cyan worried about the types of creatures that could have been lurking beneath the waves, let alone above them.

Time ticked by and all Cyan could do was wait for his visor to finish recalibrating, keep them both afloat and pray that Jaesong wouldn’t die right there in his arms while he was incapable of doing anything to save him.

“Please don’t die…” Cyan spoke, struggling to keep them above water.

He cursed under his breath as he felt his arms and legs growing weaker from overuse. He was running out of stamina.

His visor flickered to life and was starting to display new information about the planet. The first thing he saw was that the air was breathable. The second thing he saw was that the whole surface of the planet was water; there was no land to speak of.

He realised belatedly that Callus must have had a boat or ship or even a submarine of some kind waiting for him on the other side of the portal, ready for when he got there. Wherever he was, he was long gone and there was no way to tell in what direction he had travelled. That was the least of his worries though.

Priority one was making sure that neither of them died. He just didn’t know how the hell he was supposed to even begin thinking of a plan when there was nothing around them for miles and miles. There was nothing on the horizon but more water. No boats could be seen, no convenient pieces of driftwood floating anywhere, not even a simple clump of seaweed, just an endless ocean that stretched on infinitely in every direction.

It was then, when he was amidst his panicked thoughts, that his visor finished recalibrating and information about the planet flashed up in front of him, tinged with the familiar orange hue. Immediately he saw that the atmosphere was breathable, but also that the entire surface of the planet was water.

He felt a sinking at that and lamented the fact that the Vortex Gate was too high up for him to get them back through, back to the safe, solid ground of Yandraven.

A warning flashed up before his eyes, a message and it just seemed fitting somehow that on top of being close to drowning, there would be an unidentifiable mass approaching them from underneath, something large and right below them.

There was a rumbling and humming that vibrated through the water and suddenly the thing from below was breaching the surface. They were forced out of the water and onto its back, from the way it rose out of the sea. It immediately became glaringly obvious that this thing wasn’t, in fact, a monster ready to eat them, but some kind of submarine.

Cyan spluttered and shivered at being out of the water and feeling the bite of the air. Still, he kept Jaesong close to him. He couldn’t do anything else yet in fear that this vehicle would plunge back down without warning.

It was then that he registered a tapping coming from nearby and he looked over to his right. A short distance away, there was a hatch opening and something - or someone - was poking their head out to look around before spotting them.

“Shassa! Shassa mae wh’ent.” It, or they, said in a thick, foreign accent. Cyan didn’t recognise the language at all.

“I don’t understand! But please, help us! My friend is hurt, please!” Cyan pleaded, hoping at least something would get across.

“You are Earth folks? You are coming through the portal? We were thinking you were done.” They asked, this time in broken, heavily accented English.

“Yes! Well, I am Terran, he is not. We came from Yandraven, please, can you help us?” He pleaded again, hoping that they would be aided.

“Yes, yes. You are coming onto the ship. Your su’quay will be dying otherwise. Come.” They said, disappearing back into the hatch.

Cyan cautiously moved along the vehicle’s serpentine back and manoeuvred Jaesong more heavily onto his right shoulder so that he could climb down the rungs of the ladder with minimal jostling. He didn’t want his friend to awaken with any unnecessary bumps or bruises.

As soon as he had his feet on solid ground, he lowered Jaesong and himself to the floor and felt for a pulse and in the background, he vaguely registered the stranger who had rescued them talking into some kind of communicator in that unfamiliar language.

Nothing.

A feeling of dread and urgency filled Cyan from head to toe. In a moment of panic, he pulled off the mask that had been covering Jaesong’s face. He didn’t even fully register the magnitude of that action as he leaned over to feel if his companion was breathing, but it was faint and barely there.

Without wasting another second, he began administering CPR, remembering the process from part of his mandatory training for the USF. It was like muscle memory. He hadn’t needed to use it before that very moment, but his body remembered it all for him.

Time stretched on with the over-awareness of the seconds ticking by. Each moment that passed, Cyan felt his heart clench, felt himself become more and more desperate. It had to work. It had to. He couldn’t lose somebody else. Not again. Not the man who had saved his life so many times, put his life on the line despite not even having known him all that long.

While he kept trying, the stranger placed a hand on his shoulder.

“You are needing to stop now. It has been too long. He is gone.” They said.

“No. No. He’ll be okay. He’ll survive. He can’t go.” Cyan shook their hand off as he replied, unevenly, pausing to breathe air into his friend’s lungs before continuing compressions.

“It is too much. You must stop. Too late. He is not returning.” They insisted, voice strained, but Cyan ignored them, breath hitching and tears welling up in his eyes in grief and desperation.

“No. He has to come back… he has to… I need him.” Cyan replied, his voice rawand pleading. He couldn’t hold it back any longer.

He couldn’t stand the thought of being without Jaesong now that he had come to know him, now that he had come to care for him. He couldn’t allow Jaesong to become another flicker of flame behind his eyes, another shadow following him wherever he went.

As those thoughts began to consume him, Jaesong lurched and coughed up sea water all over the floor and subsequently Cyan’s lap. He couldn’t bring himself to care about that though, as he patted Jaesong’s back, the latter sitting up, hunched over, coughing and hacking as his body ejected all of the salt water in his lungs.

When the coughing died down, Cyan pulled Jaesong closer to himself, a massive sense of relief rushing through him and washing away the fear. Jaesong reached up weakly, in an attempt to return the embrace, understandably lacking any strength in his limbs after having drowned and then been resuscitated. And all that after having experienced the physical turmoil of passing through a vortex gate for the first time.

“I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.” Cyan said.

“It’s not… I’m okay.” Jaesong replied breathlessly.

“He is needing to go to the hospital wing. The medics are here.” The stranger said, just as two more of their kind approached with a stretcher carried between them.

“Come. You are needing help.” The one at the front said as they lowered the stretcher.

Jaesong was being quickly loaded onto the stretcher and carried down the hallway, with Cyan following closely behind. He didn’t want to let his friend out of his sight, not in this new, strange place and definitely not before he could confirm with his own eyes that Jaesong was going to be okay.

By the time that they reached the medical ward, Cyan was feeling the exhaustion hitting him. He had been swimming for so long, the Vortex Gate had made him feel jumbled and his limbs were heavy with fatigue.

To top it off, his visor was telling him that he was showing signs of dehydration, as if he wasn’t already aware of that fact. His mouth was dry and tasted like sea water. Without the energy to respond or resist, he allowed himself to be led down the hall after the medics. If they were going to patch them up, then he wasn’t going to complain.

The next few hours passed incredibly slowly for Cyan. He was lying on a bed in the medical wing, adjacent to Jaesong, who was unconscious and hooked up to an IV. He glanced at his friend, feeling a pang of guilt at his condition. He wouldn’t be in this mess if it wasn’t for letting him join the mission. He would still be safe in his apartment.

Well… as safe as one could be in a society where he was outcast and discriminated against by the bigoted locals. Cyan supposed to himself that he would have left too, given the circumstances. An uncertain future was a bit more appealing than a future guaranteed to contain a magnitude of scorn, harassment and vitriol based on things out of his control.

He stared at the ceiling and contemplated everything that had happened over the days and the hours since he had received his mission from that stranger in the bar. He thought of the bracelet that he had been given to contact his client when the job was done and a part of him wondered if he would ever use it.

The tracking and locator were disabled and useless. It seemed as though the communicator was still functioning, but there was no way of testing it without him giving premature notice of the mission’s completion.

The lights on the ceiling were a dull white, hidden behind frosted glass fixtures that were built into the panels. It reminded him of the sets of the science fiction shows that he would watch as a child.

He could barely recall it, the feeling of wonder and the innocence that had filled him as he watched his shows, or looked out of his window at the stars and dreamed. It felt fuzzy and distant… it felt lost.

So much had vanished from him over the years. Sometimes he wondered how much of himself he had left. He had people, but in quiet moments like the one he was in then, he felt so alone in the universe.

At some point, one of the medical staff brought him a change of clothing so that what he was wearing could be dried. He was told that he should hop into the decontamination shower in the attached room and change his attire.

His clothes were drenched and he was starting to really hate the smell of seawater, so he was glad of the reprise. Though, he was a little worried over how well he would be able to control his energy without the special suit.

He pushed his concerns aside for the moment, in favour of dryness and warmth. The clothes that he was given were of a soft cotton-like material and were a variation of light, muted seafoam in colour. It was a bit monochromatic, but he was far from complaining about something that was so comfortable when he put it on.

When he was done changing, he sat back on the bed and looked over at Jaesong. He was relieved. Confused at the whole situation that they were in, but relieved. Things really could have been a lot worse.

He took a deep breath and sighed a heavy sigh, burdened with physical and emotional exhaustion and unrest.

The room was tinged in muted white and pale, greyish green-blue that gave off the feeling of the foam atop a wave caught in the light, but with an uncomfortably clinical overtone that brought emphasis to the smell of chemical cleaning solutions and something coppery that swallowed the room.

One saving grace was that he was able to wash the salt from his skin before changing and brushing his teeth. He hadn’t had much opportunity for either bit of basic self-care while he had been in the jungle and he was sure that Jaesong would appreciate the luxury too, once he awoke again.

When he returned to his bed, he picked up his visor and turned it over in his hand. He was lucky that it hadn’t sustained any damage from being submerged. Not to mention having now survived multiple trips through the Vortex Gates to unknown corners of the universe.

He would have Jaesong give it a once-over when he had recovered properly. There was no one else that he would trust to look at his gear, especially not on a ship full of strangers with unknown motives. Sure, they appeared to be helpful and friendly enough, but he wasn’t going to put his trust in them just yet. He wanted to know where they were, what their circumstances were, and just who these people were that had saved him, and he wanted to know why they had gone to the trouble of saving a couple of stragglers who fell through the gate.

For all Cyan knew, they could be associated with Callus, doing his bidding under the pretence of an innocent rescue. They could very well be unsuspecting prisoners on this vessel.

As it was, there was nothing that he could do for himself or Jaesong. They didn’t have their own vessel and didn’t even know where they were. They couldn’t escape while in their current position if they were really in trouble.

For the moment, he would play along and hope that these people who had found them were good people, that they didn’t harbour any malicious intent. As much as it frustrated him, he couldn’t do anything else but wait and see what would happen.

“Ugh… where am I?” Jaesong’s hoarse voice cut through Cyan’s train of thought.

“Jaesong! Are you okay? How are you feeling?” Cyan asked, rushing over to his side as he sat up in his bed.

“Cyan… I feel exhausted… and soggy. Where are we?” He replied.

“We got picked up by a ship and we’re currently in the medical bay. They brought in some clean, dry clothes earlier for us. Yours are on the side table over there and you can shower and change in the bathroom.” Cyan paused for a moment, feeling conflicted. “You almost died, Jae.”

Jaesong sighed deeply and thought about what he wanted to say.

“I’m so sorry, Jaesong. This is all my fault. I got you into this situation. It’s my fault that you’ve been in so much danger.” Cyan lamented.

“I knew what I was getting into from the start of this journey, Cyan. I chose this for myself. I knew it would be dangerous and I was okay with that. I am still okay with that. I know the risks. What happened was not your fault.” Jaesong reasoned.

“What if I hadn’t been able to save you?” Cyan asked as he moved closer, resting his forehead against Jaesong’s shoulder, voice quiet and pained. “You have become someone important to me… I don’t want to lose you.”

“I don’t want to lose you either… you’re the first person that’s ever treated me like an equal, the only one who has ever seen good in me or defended me. I don’t regret my choices and my choices are not yours.” Jaesong reached up to lay his hand on Cyan’s upper arm, a gesture of comfort. “I would lay down my life for you one thousand times over.”

“But, I don’t want you to die for me. You are not expendable to me. If you’re really putting your life in my hands, then live for me instead.” Cyan answered.

“Only if you promise to live for me as well.”

There was a pause that had something passing between them, a feeling that bonded them, a knowing that each of them desired so strongly for the other to live and to be safe from harm. It was something deep and unyielding that had formed and solidified itself.

“Okay, I promise.”

Jaesong smiled at that, and Cyan withdrew from his position to look at him properly, his face glittering in the dim light, something unnamable in his gaze. It was in that moment that Cyan really took in the fact that Jaesong was no longer wearing any kind of mask, and that he could see the whole of his face without obstruction. The man was truly a marvel of nature. How anyone could ever say a bad word about him was utterly mystifying.

“Your mask is gone.” Cyan remarked, knowing that it probably sounded as though it came from nowhere. A second passed where he cursed himself for having said something tactless, not wanting to cause his companion to feel self-conscious.

“I know.” Jaesong said, simply.

“You are truly stunning, you know? Even more so without anything in the way.” Cyan said.

“It is because you think that way, that I don’t mind that it isn’t there.” Jaesong smiled softly, feeling light. “I think I had better go and make use of those dry clothes. I don’t want to catch a cold after all.” he joked.

“Of all the things to worry about, is a cold that high on the list?” Cyan smiled a half-smile and huffed in mild amusement.

“One problem at a time, right?” Jaesong replied, standing up from the bed and moving to scoop up the clean clothing into his arms. “Give me a few minutes. I’ll be done soon.”

With that, Jaesong disappeared into the bathroom and Cyan was left in relative silence, but for the quiet electronic whirring of the shower.

He was tired again, as he always was when the world allowed him a moment of peace or silence. Maybe things would work out, maybe he should be taking advantage of whatever fleeting time that he had to relax. But, he couldn’t do it, he couldn’t rest, not really. Not until his job was done.

A couple of hours passed with Jaesong having returned to the room fairly quickly after freshening up. They were just starting to discuss what their plan would be going forward, when the person who had opened the hatch for them came into the room.

“You are both awake. Good. The captain is wanting to see you both on the bridge.” They announced.

“Alright.” Cyan said, nodding once before walking to his bed and strapping his moonblades onto his thighs, over the sweatpants of the outfit he had been given.

“Why are you needing those?” The stranger asked, looking apprehensive.

“They were a gift from an old friend. I scarcely go anywhere without them if I can help it.” Cyan replied.

“Right…” They looked a little disbelieving, but seemed to accept the answer.

“Well, lead the way then.” Cyan prompted and, after a prolonged stare, they turned from the room’s entrance and started walking, expecting Cyan and Jaesong to catch up.

They walked down the corridor, not much sound but for the ambient humming of the ship and the thudding of their boots against the strangely carpeted floor. The walls were lined with a pinstripe of lighting in the middle and there was a line of lighting following the hall along its ceiling, right down the middle. The whole area was completely symmetrical in design.

It made sense, he thought, when the inside of the ship had to follow the shape of the inside of a giant serpentine sea monster. He assumed that the strange shape was to prevent the ship from being attacked by whatever else lurked in the depths of the waters on this planet.

He guessed (correctly) that it would be a long walk for them as the bridge was likely positioned right at the front of this beast of a ship, right inside the head. It was amazing, given the way it moved, that the inside felt so stable. There must have been some sort of internal gravitational effect keeping everything together and upright. He was sure that Jaesong would be thinking similarly, fascinated by the mechanics given his profession of choice.

Eventually, they arrived at the bridge and their guide scanned some kind of security badge to access the room. The pale silver metallic door slid open with a quiet hiss to reveal a large, layered room.

The upper section contained several computer terminals manned by people of the same species as the one who saved them. The same went for almost every other person on the bridge. The small middle section was only a platform with a small railing at the front and a large chair at the back.

The captain was one of only two of the members of the crew who was of a different species, the other being one of the navigational officers who had almost iridescent turquoise skin and tall, twisted horns, a race that he had never seen or heard of before. The captain had dark brown eyes, a slim figure and a strong stance, her uniform prim and proper, with her dark brown hair tied back in a high ponytail. She was human.

When they entered, she turned to address them. She cast a cursory glance over them, looking them both up and down, as though analysing them, sizing them up. She then looked to her subordinate for information.

“Captain Hong, these are the two who we picked up. They were stranded after falling through the Vortex Portal.” They explained.

“Thank you, Menth, you may return to your post.” Captain Hong replied, and their saviour, Menth, gave a quick bow and promptly left the room. “So. What are the two of you doing here on Cyaquos? Why did you come through without a boat or anyone to receive you?” She asked.

“We are tailing someone very dangerous. Without a choice, we followed them through the portal without knowing what would be waiting for us on the other side. This person has a weapon like no other, one that he plans to use for mass g******e. It’s the same weapon that he used to destroy Earth.” Cyan explained.

The captain’s expression hardens, her face looking a little pale at the mention of Earth. She likely shared some of the trauma gained from the loss of their home planet. Cyan still wanted to know how she survived and whether or not there were others. He had thought that only a couple of escape pods made it from the planet’s surface in time and the only other survivors would have been members of the USF stationed off-world.

“Who is this person? Who exactly are you to be chasing them?” She demanded.

“Bellvarrian Callus.” Cyan said.

“You’re telling me you’ve been tailing the most prolific underground crime lord the universe has ever known? He is the one responsible for the destruction of Terra? How do you know all this and where did you come from?” She asked.

“That’s a lot of questions. How do I know that you don’t mean to harm me or my companion once you have your information?” Cyan countered.

“If I meant you harm, we would not have rescued you in the first place, we would not have taken you to our medical bay and used our resources to heal you and provide you with clothes. I will ask this only once again and if you do not answer, you can mull over your poor decision making skills in the brig. Who are you and where did you come from?” Captain Hong said with finality.

“I am Cyan Woods. I was once a member of the United Space Force and I watched my home burn before my very eyes while I could do nothing to stop it. I was sent on a mission to get rid of Callus by an anonymous client who hired me. I only found out about Callus’ plans from his base in the Yandrvenian jungle. He escaped through the Vortex Portal, so we followed him here.” Cyan answered, his words strained with the weight that they bore.

“Former USF? Are you not humiliated to have tarnished your former standing by becoming a mercenary?” She asked, looking down her nose at him.

“No.” He said.

“Hm.” She huffed indignantly. “And your friend? Who is he?”

“I am Jaesong Moon. I am from Yandraven and am accompanying Cyan.” Jaesong spoke up.

“You don’t look Yandravenian.” Captain Hong said, disbelieving.

This comment took Jaesong off-guard. He shrunk in on himself a little, taking a small step back, his light-speckled cheeks dim with self-consciousness and discomfort. He did not like the judgement and scorn that came with being a changeling.

“I am a Changeling.” He admitted quietly, sounding ashamed.

“Well then, two individuals who do not belong anywhere banding together. Quaint. And oddly fitting.”

“What do you want from us? Will you help us get out of here or are you just going to keep throwing insults and back-handed comments?” Cyan asked, frustrated at the captain’s attitude of superiority.

“You will be given temporary quarters for now. I will question you both further when we dock in the city and perhaps answer some of your questions. For now, Security Officer Leey will escort you.” She looked at one of the officers with a red uniform who was then standing to attention. “Take them to C39. They can stay there.”

Cyan frowned and seethed inside, but kept his mouth shut. He allowed himself and Jaesong to be led by the security officer to their temporary quarters. It could have been worse, he supposed. They could have been in the brig. However, he didn’t want to push things, especially when Jaesong was still recovering.

He didn’t know how long it would take them to reach this city that Captain Hong had mentioned, but considering the quarters, he gathered that the trip wouldn’t be a short one.

When the door was closed behind them, Cyan took a seat on the cot to the left and huffed out a sigh of irritation. He was glad that he hadn’t left his visor or moonblades in the medical bay. Now that they were confined to their room without their things, there was no guarantee that they’d ever get them back.

It made things annoyingly complicated, a whole lot less ideal and considerably more dangerous. He felt a headache coming on.