Toshi’ko sat there staring, eyes unblinking at the face that stared back at her. It wasn’t what she had expected. She thought the creature under the hood would be hideous, monstrous, something from a nightmare. But what she saw looking back at her from under a fur covered hood was anything but that.
The eyes were the first thing she noticed. They were an intense blue and seemed to speak to her in a way that the harsh language it chose to use could not. Looking into those eyes she felt immediately at peace. And it’s face, although rough and leathery and covered in short dark hair, seemed to have the same effect. She longed to reach out and touch that face. To move her hand along its contours and feel the course bristles of hair touch her palm. It was a face hardened by the elements and more so from time. She could tell this creature was old, but it was still strong both mentally and especially, physically.
Realizing that she had been staring for too long, she quickly moved her eyes away from it. She felt her cheeks begin to warm and hoped the figure hadn’t noticed that she was blushing. The creature moved its hand to her face, she closed her eyes slightly, not knowing what to expect. She felt the back of the creatures hand brush across her cheek and then it quickly pulled the cloth gag from her mouth. She said nothing. The creature stood up, slowly pulling the gun away from her. It looked down at her a moment longer and then moved over to the corner of the structure and sat down, placing the gun across its lap. It moved its hand, extending a finger towards the still steaming object on the ground. It pointed to it and then placed its hand to its mouth and leaned its head back. Toshi’ko picked up on this right away. He, she assumed the creature was a he, was indicating that it wanted her to drink whatever was in the object. She looked at it, and then looked back at the creature. He said nothing, he just stared with his intense blue eyes.
Toshi’ko hesitated a moment and then leaned forward, toward the steaming object. Looking into it she saw green and orange chunks floating in a creamy brown liquid. What is this stuff?? Moving closer, she carefully picked up the steaming object, her hands still bound together and brought it up to her nose. Taking a quick sniff, she expected a pungent, repulsive odor to attack her senses. But instead, the smell of the liquid was amazing. Is this food? She felt her stomach rumble, she was starving. Her body knew immediately what it was. She looked up at the creature one more time, it wasn’t even looking at her anyone. It stared down at its hands which were folded together in its lap. She hated having to act like a scared animal, unable to trust anything or anybody, but she was on an alien world afterall and who knew what dangers were out there. But as for the creature, well, it could have killed her many times and chose not to. So the food in her hands was probably safe to eat.
Placing the object to her lips she took a quick sip, tasting the liquid on her tongue first, and then let it slide down her throat. She waited, expecting the worst. When nothing happened she took a larger sip, followed by another. The flavor was incredible, she felt her entire mouth explode with sensations she had never felt before. After living off of recycled food for many, many years this was a new and wonderful and very welcome experience for her. She finished off the food in four more gulps and placed the object back on the floor where she had originally picked it up. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and moved back into a sitting position. She felt awake, renewed. Her body felt energized, what the hell was in that food??
She looked over to the creature, he was staring at her. When she caught his eyes she noticed that he was the one to quickly look away this time. Bending over the creature picked up the round object off the ground and made a move to leave the structure. As it passed her Toshi’ko reached out with her bound hands and caught the cloth on his leg. He stopped suddenly, looking down at her with wide eyes. The gun was gripped tightly in its right hand, but at least this time it wasn’t pointed at her. She looked up at him, their eyes meeting. Only this time, neither of them looked away. She had a million questions she wanted to ask, but how do you communicate with someone when they can’t understand you? In her ship was a tool she could use to translate language, but it was there and they were here. She would never convince this creature to take her back there. Instead, in her musical, bird-call language she simply said to words, “Thank you.”

PART 2: THE ABYSS
When nightfall came, the air grew deathly cold. Robert stoked the fire he had built earlier, adding more and more wood to it. The fire grew taller, flames leapt into the air. He felt the heat pour over his body, it was a welcome feeling. Toshi’ko sat on a log next to him wrapped in a down blanket, her head covered in a wool hat. She stared into the fire, a look of fascination played across her face. Robert wondered if she had ever seen fire before. In space, maybe. But up there fire moved more like liquid, dancing in zero gravity like a jellyfish in water. Unlike here where the fire moved erratically, leaping in a myriad of directions. He almost had to laugh. She seemed so child-like, so innocent to everything he tried to show her. He could tell from the intense look in her eyes that she was extremely intelligent, but it seemed like she had never been introduced to…anything. Where did you come from girl? Who are you?
He looked at her seruptitiously from the corner of his eye. What a strange creature she was. Hell, she probably thought the same thing about him. At the age of 51, he was an old man after all. He must look terrible. He reached up and touched his face with a gloved hand. He’d been out here too long, his face was like leather. The elements had certainly done their damage. How long had he been out here, anyway?? Twenty one years? Damn. He thought back to the life he used to have, who he used to be. The wall street banker, the millionaire, the father, the husband, the cheater, the liar, the…killer. He tried to shake the memory from his mind, but it was stuck there, as it always had been. He came out to the middle of nowhere to escape the nightmares that plagued him but here they were again. The world he left behind was dead to him, and he to it. But there was no escaping your past. He knew what he had done, even though a court had found him innocent and cleared him of all charges (thanks to many, many bribes), he still new. Their blood was on his hands.
Robert felt anger begin to brew inside him. Even after all this time he still hated himself for what he had done to them. He picked up a log and threw it into the fire, a little too hard, sending sparks and coals flying everywhere. He saw Toshi’ko jump, a sound like a scream came out of her. He had forgotten she was there. She looked over at him, a startled look on her face. He nodded his head slightly and shrugged his shoulders in an apologetic manner, but he could see in her face that she wasn’t buying it. She began to stand, to come over to him but suddenly, from somewhere far away in the blackness of night came a shriek that made both them jump.
They both turned their heads to look, but it was impossible to see anything beyond the light of the fire. Robert waited, tense. Another shriek came, louder this time. It was like the sound a nail makes when its being dragged across a piece of glass. And icy, spine chilling shriek. In all the years Robert had lived out here he had never heard anything like it before.
He looked over at Toshi’ko, her face was a mask of anger. Whoa, he thought to himself, where did this come from?? She turned her eyes slowly toward him, her eyebrows slanted inwards making her look extremely evil in the orange glow of the fire. Robert took a step back. Toshi’ko took a step forward, her bound hands held out in front of her. She said something in her language, but he couldn’t understand it. She thrust her hands at him over and over, her voice rising. She turned her head to look into the darkness when she heard another shriek. She looked back at him and Robert almost screamed when he saw those eyes. They were red, bloodshot and filled with tears. She thrust her hands at him again, her voice quieter this time. She was pleading with him, please cut these ropes.
Robert looked to the darkness and then back at the girl again. Shit. He reached behind him with one quick movement and pulled forward the blade he had used earlier. He quickly bent down and cut the ropes around her feet and then the ropes around her wrists. She was free. He looked at her, she was smiling the most menacing smile he had ever seen. Oh god, he thought to himself. This was a mistake.
In the blink of an eye Toshi’ko had reached behind him, unclipped her gun from his belt and raced off into the blackness of night leaving him standing there wondering what he had just done.