Chapter 2 of Toska

(comments are appreciated; criticism is also welcome)

Slowly regaining his consciousness for the third time, Reinhart sat up. He was stupefied by what he saw.

Indeed, he awoke on a prison floor which had a cloth laid out; it appeared to be  a makeshift "bed."

But, more importantly, the prison bars were rusty; there were people outside chattering in some incomprehensible language.

Everything in his surrounding seemed primitively unsophisticated.

The dearth of technology astounded Reinhart.

Although the whole prison--all the prison cells and the lobby--was apparently windowless, there was light.

Thus, Reinhart's black hair, and brown eyes, along with his tall and solemnly figure, were dazzlingly illuminated.

Where is this light coming from?

Reinhart began glancing around to find the light source. But it was to no avail since he could not find anything bright enough to emit enough light to fill the whole interior of the prison.

Suddenly, one of the people outside noticed that he was awake and indicated that to his mates by pointing towards the prison cell.

As all the wardens--Reinhart had surmised that thosse garrulous people were such--.made their way towards him, Reinhart felt slightly uneasy.

He realized that the wardens' clothes were made out of natural fiber.

However, Reinhart's clothes, which were glossy white and similar to a stormtrooper's uniform, were made out of alloys formed after mixing metal with synthetic fiber--the clothes were entirely capable of safeguarding the life of the wearer from gun shots and radiation. Even if one tried to stab him, Reinhart's clothes would not allow for his body to be hurt in the slightest.

The wardens stopped before his prison cell slightly touching the prison bars. Each of them had an inquisitive--and a slightly foreboding--gaze. Their eyes analyzed Reinhart from head to toe; it seemed they were intrigued by Reinhart's appearance. Likewise, Reinhart was intrigued by the wardens' appearance.

Having seen the mutual intrigue in each other's eyes, one of the wardens said something.

Reinhart, seemingly having understood that the warden was attempting to communicate with him, shook his head and said:

"I don't understand you."

Despite knowing that the other party would not be able to understand him, he spoke in order to let the warden know that he speaks a different language.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

The warden evidently understood Reinhart as he began inquiring the other wardens. One of the wardens suddenly left.

The other wardens continued their conversation while occasionally glancing at their prisoner.

The prisoner, Reinhart, in turn began pondering about the world.

Interestingly, I was able to let the other party know that I cannot understand them. Yet they are still crowding around me. Indeed, it seems like they have a solution to this predicament since they sent an individual somewhere. Maybe they have a translator. But is this one of the undiscovered planets? Although they seem to lack technology, they have light. In other words, these people have a substitution for technology.

After about 15 minutes, the warden returned with another person--a well-endowed blonde female, about the same age as Reinhart but shorter than him.

This female apparently had a robe and a cane-like stick.

The cane did not seem like it was used for walking.

Suddenly, she nodded to the wardens and began conversing with them.

After about thirty seconds of chatter, she looked at Reinhart and studied him from head to toe. Apparently, she was intrigued by him even more than the wardens. In fact, her blue eyes were glittering.

One of the wardens began walking towards the slightly rusty prison door and opened it after chanting something and bringing out a slab.

The girl walked inside the prison and brought her hand towards Reinhart's head.

Reinhart stood in gaze. Although the female in front of him was mesmerizing, he was not enchanted by her beauty. Instead, he was pondering why the wardens let this person in.

Is this their solution to our inability to communicate?

However, Reinhart passively let the girl touch his head. Suddenly, the girl began conducting some ritual as she began chanting something unfathomable while swaying her hand, the one with the cane, in a practiced manner.

Reinhart felt dizzy; he was about to loose his consciousness for the fourth time when, out of the blue, everything became clear again.

However, he felt slightly different. There was a tingy feeling in his head.

The girl then let go of Reinhart's head and stood in front of him.

She said:

"So, what is your name?"

Reinhart clearly understood what she said.