Heat rose around her, her body descending and burning up in the atmosphere as she went from panther to rocket in the span of a few short seconds. She tried to stay focused through the haze of clouds and trees she could see herself plummeting towards. GT couldn’t slow her down completely, but she didn’t need it to. She only needed it to hold out.

“Reserves at 10%!”

“Then get ready to blow through them!”

She aimed for the tallest thing she could find, her field launching her at it as she braced for the sudden impact. It was a pine tree. Not the softest spot she could have picked, but it would do. She dove feet first into the timber, her field magnifying. The plant split in half, but she felt herself slow down a bit.

She yanked herself back, smacking into bark and letting gravity do the rest as she focused on making herself light enough it wouldn’t hurt too much. But as she smacked from branch to branch, leaves and twigs cutting through her suit, the experience was far from pleasant.

She crashed face-first into the dirt, her field falling away as she laid in defeat.

“GT. Status report?”

“No energy remaining, Ms. Sasha. Going into recharge.”

The staff disappeared, Sasha pulling herself out of the dirt to check her surroundings.

Up in the sky, she could see a blaze of orange coming down a few ways off. She heard it crash down moments later, the panther slightly relieved to have jumped when she did. No way was she going to survive an impact like that. In fact, when she looked at herself, she realized just how much she had managed to survive.

Her suit was a mangled wreck with tears and burns. Even her helmet had cracked. The same helmet that had withstood giants and the legionnaire hordes.

“Well. Guess that’s another one I owe Mr. Erin.”

She pulled the suit off, half-considering doing the same with her helmet before the question of breathable air came about. Better check the commpad. She reached into her pocket only to immediately frown. The rectangular device was sparking and crushed.

“Perfect. Just perfect.”

She tossed it aside.

Alright, Panther. You just got attacked by pirates, and now you’re marooned. What now?

She looked around. Whatever planet she landed on, it was full of dense foliage. Mostly trees and flowers, the occasional insect flying by. She narrowed at them. They had bright yellow wings and tiny round bodies. They reminded her of the butterflies back on Shiny. One landed on a blue flower next to her. Sasha extended a hand, the creature landing in her palm.

“You wouldn’t happen to speak Islander, would you?” she asked the bug.

Its wings fluttered, the creature’s appendages tickling her hand as it walked over it.

“Do the lands of the sky speak to fauna?”

Sasha’s ears twitched.

The butterfly stood up on its small legs. Its wings continued to flutter behind it as the childlike voice repeated the question.

“Do the lands of the sky speak to fauna?”

Staring down at the creature for what felt like an eternity, Sasha finally realized the voice wasn’t coming from it. She looked up to see a considerably larger sapient lifeform hanging upside down from a tree. Her insect friend took flight, returning to flower testing duty.

“What?” Sasha asked.

The creature kicked its legs, twirling through the air and landing with both arms in the air. Sasha immediately considered pulling out GT. The creature was smaller than her, but there was no mistaking the hairless appearance. A human. A child, perhaps, but a human nonetheless.

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The sapient creature grabbed the edges of her blouse, both legs crossing as she kneeled down.

“All lives above are a pleasure to witness.”

The child looked at her with shiny green eyes. Was that a greeting? She relaxed slightly. Of the three humans she’d ever spoken to, she at least appeared the least dangerous. But then, she had just watched the child roll out of the tree like an expert climber. For all she knew, the little girl was a demon in disguise.

Sasha gave the girl a thorough look over.

“Has the land of cats produced an heir to claim us?”

Her concentration immediately broke.

“What?”

The little girl’s head tilted.

“Are the worlds above a crime of wisdom?”

Sasha didn’t respond. Mostly because her brain refused to indulge in whatever the child was saying. Is she a human? She noted the hairless skin, but the way the girl spoke was almost robotic. Like she was reciting off a screen. Sasha indulged it for all of two seconds before giving up.

“Ah okay,” she said. “No Islander speak. Gotcha.”

The child continued to stare, but Sasha ignored her. If she was marooned, her first priority was finding a way to get back to her liaisons. She could still feel Mr. Erin and Mr. Xan nearby. In fact, as she shut her eyes in concentration, she was slightly surprised at how close they were.

Are they planet-side?

She smiled.

They must already be looking for me!

She leapt for joy, immediately dashing in the direction of the nearest signals. She heard the little girl calling behind her, but who cared about that? The sooner she got back to her liaisons, the sooner they could access the damage from that sudden ambush.

Finding Cici would be a problem if they were in the sights of some random group of space pirates. She didn’t know much about the cosmos, but she knew anyone calling themselves pirates must have been bad news. And that ship. Weren’t Erin and Xan supposed to be with AIC? How come they didn’t get a giant warship like that? Even Captain Mercury’s paled in comparison to-

“I know all things, but the world is a blur.”

Sasha jumped backward, the little girl previously in her face jumping back as well.

“Do you concur, world faller?”

Sasha’s confusion magnified. She’d been running at top speed when she heard the little girl suddenly in her ear. The kid smiled, her eyes shining despite the panther’s fright.

“H-how did you?”

The girl giggled.

“World fallers must love the grass.”

The kid took a step forward, Sasha taking a step back. Her eyes darted for cover. She immediately leapt to her element. The trees. She jumped for the highest branch she could reach, speeding away from the human.

She appeared next to her moments later.

“Is this a game?”

Sasha froze. She stopped on a dime, turning and leaping in a different direction. What the heck is- The girl appeared again. Sasha tried to stop in midair, but failed, missing her footing and careening into the ground.

She felt hands on her back. Her claws unsheathed, Sasha moving on instinct. They raked against flesh, the little girl stumbling backward.

“Wha-?”

She touched her cheek, looking from her hand to the terrified panther.

The child burst into tears.

Sasha’s heart rate slowed back to normal, confusion returning as she saw the kid who’d just chased her around the forest crying like a kitten. The cut wasn’t very deep. In fact, Sasha had barely drawn blood. But the girl was still bawling her eyes out all over the forest.

“W-why did you hurt me?”

Sasha frowned. So she can speak Islander. She sheathed her claws, slightly grateful for their assistance, even if she never liked making kids cry. And the fact that the human would get so loud off of a small cut was the biggest conformation that they were one in Sasha’s eyes.

The kid wiped her eyes, grabbing the edges of her blouse as she glared at her.

“Say you’re sorry!” she demanded. “It’s not nice to hit people!”

“It’s not nice to chase people either,” Sasha said.

She’d already forgotten her fear, standing over the kid triumphant for the victory. Her first major win against the humans.

“You’re a mean alien,” the girl said.

“You’re the alien here. I’m a panther. Sasha the Panther actually.”

“Then you’re a mean panther, Sasha.”

She shrugged. “I guess I’ll take that.”

She knelt down, offering the child a hand. The girl was still pouting, but she took it, sobs quieting into sniffles. Her chasing skills aside, the girl was back to being the least threatening human Sasha had encountered. Maybe all she needed was to start clawing the furless more often.

“What’s your name, kid?” Sasha asked.

“As if you care.” She wiped her eyes. “It’s Gabriella. Gabriella Del Tul.”

“Gabriella, huh? Alright. So what planet is this?”

“Omopoe.”

Sasha nodded. She assumed they missed the drop to Wonder, but it was nice to have confirmation.

“Is there a village around here, Gabriella? Or a city? Or something?”

“You think us savages?”

She looked at the child.

“Our city is to the south,” Gabriella said.

Sasha smiled.

“Mind showing me around? I promise not to scratch you a second time.”

The girl glared at her, Sasha batting her eyelashes in her best attempt at child-like innocence. Gabriella folded her arms, cheeks puffed out and wet.

“Fine,” she said. “But you better not be mean again.”

“I’ll be a perfect little angel,” Sasha said with a wink. “I’ll even race you again if you want.”

Gabriella still pouted, but that brought a little of her shine back.