~*~

There was silence.

Curled up on the ground with shaking hands over her eyes, she tried to cry but nothing came. Her eyes were dry, as was her soul within her. Indeed she was lifeless, the proverbial wanderer sent to a life of misery and weariness for scorning the truth. What price would she pay? What price would she set upon others?

Letting her hands drop, she snapped her head up to look into the frightened eyes of Yehella and the others. Even the one who received the neck wound was staring at her, unblinking. Something within her cried out to be accepted by these people, but she knew that in their eyes she was nothing but a freak.

Rising up from the shelter of the ignorance her eyes longed to close for, she came forward and pulled Yehella away from the wounded rabbit. Looking at the wound, she could tell that the object used to inflict the injury was poisoned and would certainly kill the rabbit if nothing was done.

She knelt beside him and put both hands over his wound. His lifeblood seeped all over the whiteness of her hands, reminding her so much of all the blood she had spilt in the past. She closed her eyes, and murmured a few words in her ancestral language.

As she felt her power leave her, she saw some of his memories, as if she were a part of his mind, watching through a mist. She did see the dread and fear that he had, but she saw endless hope, the hope of a young man looking heavenward and reaching out his fingers as if to reach to the stars. She saw the fingers fall down at his side, as he thanked his Deity in immeasurable faith, knowing very faithfully that someday either he or his descendants would reach those stars that formally could only be dreamt about.

Sighing, she brought her hands back to her sides. The wound was mostly closed up, with only a crust of dried blood around it. Looking down, she saw that blood was all over her as well.

She met his fearful eyes, and whispered, “You are going to be fine.” Unable to control herself anymore, she fled the room with eyes that gleamed in mournful hues.

~*~

There was no place of refuge for her here, so she went to the only place she considered solemn enough to flee to. Kneeling on the cold, unforgiving earth, she whispered fervently to her Deity in what seemed to be nonsense words, begging and pleading for forgiveness, or at the least for a silence of the guilt.

Tears streamed down her face as her prayers went unanswered.

Opening her eyes, she saw that Yehella had knelt next to her. With stinging eyes and a cracking voice she tried to utter an apology, but nothing came out.

“You saved Elt’ke.” Yehella said softly. Cobra raised her eyes and set them upon the cold blue light that made everything seem dismal.

“Yehella…have you ever wished for death? Have you ever felt so utterly lost that you were sure you had been forgotten? Have you felt the loneliness of the night and ever wished to not exist?” A melancholy tear dripped down her face as she whispered the words in a husky voice.

Yehella looked up, almost pleadingly, and then fixed her gaze upon nothingness.

“I have felt the cold of the night, and the emptiness of the dark. I have known the frailty of my own self and have suffered because of foolish choices in the past. But something always comes to mind, something that gives me hope; is it not in the darkest of nights when you see the stars brightest? Would the Deity who’s promised an everlasting watch over you forget you for what you have done? Or for His sake, would he lead you to the place where you are lost enough to do what He has in plan for you? It is mortal weakness that we all know that causes us to suffer and pine away because in our own lack of faith we have forgotten.”

Cobra looked at Yehella with shifting eyes. “But when will the dawn come?”

“I have lived on this planet all my life, and although ‘dawn’ is spoke of in legends, I have never seen it. The same darkness that sheds snow eternally is all we see – there is nothing but dark. I know that the likeliness of ever seeing a ‘sunrise’ is impossible, but I know that the hope I have in it will bring me through the darkest nights and let me live through the most painful of days. Someday the dawn will come, whether tomorrow or thousands of years from today, but someday it will come. And until it comes, I will be waiting. That is what gives me hope.”

Cobra lowered her eyes, letting the tears wash away the stray emotions. Here was a person who had never seen a light brighter than the lamps on their walls, but who could survive what the person in the brightest sunlight could not. How shallow her own life seemed, and how worthless her own victories were.

~*~

Yehella and her companions – who Cobra discovered were named Elt’ke, Shem’ever, Gachar and Hezyion – did not delay in showing her what they had in means of wreckage. The room was filled from ceiling to floor with many mostly-rusted objects. But among the rubble she found a distress signal that while old, still worked after she had messed with the wiring a little.

As she was putting it back together in the main room, Yehella watched her.

“Why did that creature attack you?” Cobra asked while scraping some rust off of the casing of the signal.

“They are the masters on this planet. Evidently they were angered that we took all the wreckage of the pod without paying them a tribute.”

“But why?” The thought of creatures attacking other, defenseless ones troubled her.

“They forced our race into slavery a long time ago. They still have many of us in captivity. We were given permission to leave, but only because our master grew disgusted of us. So, here we live, off the elements.”

“But why did he attack Elt’ke? That weapon was poisoned.”

“The laws of the fittest apply here – the more force you show, the more you are able to conquer. The more you kill, the less you fight later on. The more you put feat into the hearts of those under you, the more you can control them.”

“Yehella, that is terrible. Why don’t you rebel against them, or go someplace where they can’t find you?”

“All the rebellions ended in bloodshed. They control the planet, there is no way to escape their prying eyes and killing paws.”

“Yehella…I owe you and your people something for saving me and for providing me a quiet haven. If I can get off this planet, I won’t forget you. Where I come from we have armies that could free your people and bring you technology that could save so many lives.” She was going to continue, but Yehella spoke first.

“You have already repaid us.” She said softly, turning her head towards Elt’ke who was across the room, preparing more crystals for the constellation. “If you hadn’t come, we would have lost him, and maybe more.” A single tear ran down Yehella’s face as she tried to control herself. “For that we owe you a lifetime of servitude.”

“For what you have told me and for the impact you have made, I owe you all I can give. Please, let me give to you this promise that your people will not be enslaved without a fight. Let the dawn come, if not in sunlight then in freedom.”

Yehella looked up with a thankful look on her face. “Perhaps you were sent here not to die or live remorsefully, but to free my people?” Cobra almost half-smiled; the thought of helping these people was enough to make her smile, but the darkness within would not let her.

“Perhaps.”

The signal gave out a beep that startled both of them. As Elt’ke also came over to see it, Cobra saw the way Yehella reached for his arm as they both stood there, together. She knew they would be very happy together.

~*~

The signal worked wonderfully, and soon a ship landed. Although Cobra did not know anyone on it, they had heard and seen the missing posters and were very glad to find her there.

The Neptune Spider had been found orbiting a remote planet, and soon the Kzirin were caught and jailed for what they did. They had escaped a nearby prison planet, but had not planned far enough in the future to make a permanent escape.

Leaving Yehella and her friends loaded with gifts – food, blankets, and a communicator – Cobra promised that she would not forget them, and that soon they would no longer be under persecution. The foursome stood at a distance as the ship took off, waving.

Cobra watched them from a window that was nearby the place she had in the cargo bay. Raising her hand out from beneath the blankets that had been piled on her (it was discovered that she had caught pneumonia) she placed it on the window. Soon, they had left the atmosphere, and the planet slowly shrunk into a white globe over time.

She sighed softly and settled back. That frozen planet had left an impact on her that would forever change her.

The communicator beeped, and she reached for it with a worried look. Turning it on, she saw Yehella’s face in the screen.

“Is something wrong?”

“No. Look.” Yehella’s smiling face disappeared as the holder of the communicator turned it around to reveal the same white snow.

Only golden sunlight glistened off of ever crystal, giving Crystalis competition for the most beautiful planet.

“Something happened so that when you left, the sun came.” Cobra gaped at the picture. How had it happened?

Well, that wasn’t important. What was important was that it happened.

“Thank you so much…for everything.” Yehella said, then nodded a goodbye and turned the communicator off.

Looking down upon the gleaming planet she thanked her Deity for the experience.

Once they were slaves of a frozen planet. One she was imprisoned by the winter of her mind. But when they came together, Winter’s Slaves were set free.

~*~

The End

So goes the first chapter. There will be a new one soon.