I quickly covered ground until the roaring and the sounds of trees snapping like twigs faded. My heart pounded in my chest as I slowed from my mad dash to a jog, then finally a walk. Sweat dripped down my back from the weight of the cloak, and I wiped the wetness from my forehead as I paused. My hands trembled as I pulled out my canteen to sip some water. All of the heavy breathing from my long sprint caused my mouth to feel like sandpaper. For once, I felt thirsty, and not hungry.

I needed a moment.

“This jungle is rather busy,” buzzed Noseen. They weren’t wrong.

It took a moment for me to respond after swallowing. “It's because of the meteor shower. It killed a bunch of things, and shook up the normal hunting territories of the predators.” That was my best guess about what’d happened, and it matched what we’d seen so far.

“That makes sense, though I hadn’t been warned about a meteor shower happening.” Noseen sounded almost thoughtful.

That opened up a can of worms in my head. “How would someone have warned you about a meteor shower? It's not like they’re scheduled…” My voice trailed off in confusion.

“Things like that are tracked on most habitable planets, though this is a bit of a backwater place.”

“I mean, I’d say. It's covered in a jungles full of dinosaurs.”

“Only parts of it…” Noseen cut off their sentence abruptly, like they’d said more than they’d intended to.

The sounds of fighting far behind me vanished completely and I wondered if one of the two giant predators was dead. More than likely the smaller one had fled, but hopefully not in this direction. I didn’t want to have to try and tackle something that big. Maybe someday soon, but not today.

Today, I had to find a freaking crashed shuttle and my brother.

Part of me wondered at what point could I take down a creature that big, that high level. If I could set a trap, it would be easier. Or, if I was high up in a tree it probably wouldn’t notice me. I’d need to have multiple knives ready, one probably wouldn’t do it. Or cut off one of its legs, maybe? That would take it out pretty fast, since I’d bet it couldn’t keep upright on just one. It was just too big. My mind raced, trying to come up with a way to take down one of the big dinos. The tasty heart inside one of those beasts had to be huge. My mouth started watering just thinking about it.

I shoved those thoughts away. First, I had to find the shuttle, and we had to be closer to it than we were before. I was pretty sure I’d run in the right direction, at least.

“What’s that?” asked Noseen, slightly confused.

The words caused me to look up, and warmth flowed through me. Finally, my luck had changed, and I knew this was the right track.

The tips of the trees up ahead had been taken off by something, leaving the jungle floor a mess of fallen trees and broken branches. It clearly led toward the east, and would be hard to miss.

I smiled brightly for the first time since I’d woken up from my bender and chuckled to myself.

“That’s how we find my brother.”

The destroyed treetops slowly led us in the correct direction. I forced myself to stay on guard, despite our turn of good luck. The thick underbrush and canopy made for slow going with the sled, but even from the ground I could see the right way to go. We didn't travel directly under the path, since the fallen trees and branches from the destroyed jungle made the ground impassable. This area of the jungle was less wet and more rocky, which helped, but also caused the sled to get caught on occasion, which was frustrating.

The physical reminder boosted my mood, confirming that this was the right track, but made it hard to focus on my surroundings. Still, I moved slowly, keeping my ears open. I didn’t need to run into any more giant predators. Not before I leveled up, at least.

Either way, shortly I’d be able to get this crystal unloaded and regroup with John. Being this close to the end of the journey filled me with such joy I almost forgot how hard the last couple of days had been. I couldn’t wait to show him the progress I’d made so far with my class. Yet, he didn’t know what my class was, and it needed to stay that way. But did it really? My family were open books to one another. John could keep a secret, as could Dad and Benny.

Maybe I’d tell my family.

The day wore on, and I had to detour around a destroyed section of the jungle that had been slammed with rocks from above. Somehow, it felt like we should have arrived already, but my mood stayed high. The sun beat down as I kept to the edges of the splintered wood, shattered stone, and dried shredded leaves. The bright light warmed me, but the shade of the remaining trees helped keep it manageable.

Then we came across a simply huge crater, far larger than any we’d seen so far.

I paused, staring down at the giant divot in the earth. The rock that had created it was still intact, and it reflected the bright afternoon sun. Rock didn’t reflect light like that, usually, but crystal did. I dropped the rope after a second and scrambled down the hole, sliding on the gravelly ground. Unfortunately, it was neither a rock nor a crystal. Instead, it was some sort of melted metal. It had twisted into a rock-like shape, but it was pretty solid.

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“That doesn’t look like a meteor,” said Noseen. The buzzing grew soft, then louder. “Not a rock at all, it's almost pure metal.”

I poked it with a finger, my mind racing.

Then it hit me.

I glanced up at the sky like it would tell me its secrets. Dark clouds edged closer on the horizon, warning of the storm that was on its way. I’d bet my knife that it hadn’t been a meteor shower at all. Pieces of the spine had fallen from orbit. Everything inside me rebelled at the thought that we had caused this, us showing up on this planet. All of the destruction in the jungle, and the damage of our own settlements. Images of the crashed shuttle and the broken compound fence came to mind.

The irony.

I yanked the metal into the inventory stone. John might be able to do something with it, given how heavy it was. Plus, if it was the metal from the ship, it wasn't like we’d found any more of that. Shaking my head, I slowly made my way back up the side of the crater to the sled. I’d need to mention my theory to John about the spine. He would be the one who understood what it meant more than anyone. Especially if not all of it had fallen. Maybe large pieces were still up there? He might be able to fix a shuttle to reach orbit to salvage anything aboard. It wasn't like anyone could have survived this long up there.

“I think it’s a piece of the ship that brought us here,” I whispered to Noseen, feeling shaken. “I think the whole meteor shower was pieces like this. That’s why you weren’t warned.”

“Ship?” Noseen sounded confused. “You weren’t born here?

“No, my people crashed here a few months back.” I shook my head. “It’s been interesting adjusting to the system. Where are you from?”

“Not here,” he buzzed. “I own my own planet, rather far from here, that has prospered. You will see it someday.”

Me, visit a different planet? That’s what got me into this situation in the first place. Going with my family to colonize the stars and save the human race. Right now, I couldn’t imagine leaving this planet, but Noseen sounded certain. We’d need to discuss that before it happened. The only thing keeping me here was my family. If they came with me? I’d be tempted.

“How does someone own a planet?” I asked.

“You become strong enough to say you own it, and kill anyone who disagrees.”

This wasn’t the first time Noseen had referenced their power. They’d mentioned the gap between us was vast. I couldn’t sense him at all, and that meant something. The idea of being strong enough to own a planet sparked something in me. I wanted strength like that.

Noseen said nothing else after that. Now and then, I’d hear a buzz, but super soft.

Climbing out of the crater didn't take too long, then I resumed my trek through the jungle, leaving the giant holes in the ground behind. I almost searched out the next one to see if there was more metal, but as I walked around it I couldn't see anything left in the center worth grabbing. Finally, the jungle resumed its normal foliage. Ferns took over in the underbrush, along with other bushes and vines hanging down from the canopy. The increase in vegetation slowed me down, but I had to be getting close. The broken sections of treetops had gotten much closer to the ground.

Soon.

Then I saw it. Something in the distance, surrounded by ferns and dirt. It shimmered in my vision. One moment, it looked like a rock, and the next like the back corner of the shuttle. I hurried forward, making sure to keep an eye to the jungle around me. I wouldn't mess up this close to being done with my journey.

“Finally…” I said.

The shuttle flickered more than once, giving off the rock appearance, but I figured John must have something to do with that. I dropped the sled next to the side of the shuttle where the handholds began and scrambled up the side of the craft.

This was finally over. Or rather, this part of it was.

The hatch on top wasn’t locked, but I didn’t expect it to be. I slowly opened the lid and then whispered inside. “John?”

There wasn’t any answer.

I dropped down into the hole, landing on the cargo crate. My eyes slowly adjusted to the light. The shattered crystal was gone, and the intact one was still on the other side. The two golf ball-sized holes were fixed. I moved toward the pilot area, but no one was there. The hole in the corner of the window, along with the glass on the floor, had also been fixed.

“John…” I whispered to myself.

He was gone.

On the dashboard sat a piece of paper, and I rushed toward it.

'Alex, I went out to find a freshwater source. I headed south, and will be back by dark. John.'

There wasn’t a sign of how long ago he had written the note, but the charcoal stick he’d used sat next to it.

Panic rushed through me, and my hands shook. He was out there somewhere, and might be back by dark. The afternoon sun slowly headed toward the horizon, and it wouldn’t be long until dusk. But he could have left this yesterday, and be in trouble. I’d have to wait and see, and then figure out what to do next.

I had to move the crystal inside the shuttle, then I’d do my best to wait for John. I had to trust him. After all, he’d trusted me to make my way back with a crystal.

This time, I moved faster through the shuttle and back out of the hatch. I stood on top, glancing in all directions and trying to spot anything moving. Anything that might be him.

The smell of rotting meat had drifted away, but the air was pretty stagnant. Now was not the time to go stomping through the jungle searching. First, the crystal, then I would decide what to do about John. Hopefully, he’d show up at any moment.

I turned my attention to the sled down below and the crystal attached to it. There wasn’t a chance I could climb up the side of the shuttle while holding it. Then again, my strength had drastically increased. At the very least, I could try to carry it inside. The ramp off of the back of the shuttle was an option, but it hadn't looked like John’d cleared the dirt away. Given that I didn't know if it was safe to lower the ramp without damaging the shuttle, I didn’t want to try it. He'd kill me if I damaged the ship after he’d fixed everything wrong with it.

After remembering how I'd fallen from the fence carrying that crystal, I decided to try something else instead of carrying it in my arms. I wrapped it up in my cloak and tied it to my back using rope to create a harness. It wasn’t as heavy as it had once felt, back in the compound, but that was only to be expected with my stat increases. Carrying it on my back left my hands free to climb up the side of the shuttle, and I felt a lot better about my chances. Getting it inside turned out to be quick and easy. The same went for the sled that we needed to return to the compound. I set the crystal down near the side where it would eventually go. Since I didn’t know how to hook it up, and more importantly I didn’t want to break anything, I figured that was the best I could do.

Breaking something would only upset John.

I headed back to the pilot seat, my fingers tapping on my thighs. “John, where the hell are you?”