Spots flood my vision as I lift my head up, red warning lights flashing in front of me. Shaking my head, I look around dazed, taking in the blurred scene of the cockpit. My eyes land on the blank console screen in front of me. What, where is the– “WARNING, WARNING CRASH IMMINENT.” Autopilot.
“Great, just great,” I say as I slam the console screen with my fist twice, the view of a dull, white planet drawing closer. I turn around to see the empty coordinate grid with bright, flashing, orange lights. Wait, there shouldn’t be a planet there. “WARNING, WARNING–” I slam my fist against the speaker. “Shut up, Lola.” Increasing speed, absolute altitude rapidly dropping, think, Kit, THINK! Clouds crash against the glass, blinding my vision from the ground below as I spiral to come up with a plan. I pull back on the throttle with all my might, praying that the nose will lift into the air. I slam back into my seat, the plane lifting out of its descent. Thank the stars. The clouds fade away, revealing a pale gray landscape, and my eyes search for a place to land. Every inch of land is filled with buildings and apartments, no flat empty piece of land to be seen. Okay, Option 1, crash into a building, lose the ship, and possibly die. Option 2?
“Ground control, this is Athena3019 requesting permission to land. Do you copy?” Static answers my plea for help. “Ground control, this is Athena3019. Do you copy?!” Nothing. Well, if the locals get mad at me, OH WELL. I roll my shoulders back and brace myself for a rough landing as I turn a hard right, my eyes locked on a semi-empty lot. “Here goes nothing.” Gently, I ease the throttle down and the ship not-so-gracefully glides down into the lot. I close my eyes and pray to the gods that this isn’t the end.
Crash, bang, slam.
“And we have landing!” I shout out loud as I look around, astonished at the fact that I am still alive. Nothing seems to be on fire, so I take it the ship is still in one piece. I grab my worn brown leather jacket and open the cockpit. Squinting, I look around, the twin suns glaring in my eyes. A strange smell fills the air around me. Is that… damp fur? I look around and then feel a tug on my short hair. A small, golden monkey was perched on my shoulder and was staring at me with big, round, chocolate eyes.
“Ah! What, where, hi?” I stutter staring at the creature sitting on my shoulder. It tilted its head and blinked at my antics, clearly confused by me. Yeah, well, that makes two of us, Buddy. I try to see if there are any more creatures like the one on me around, but I don’t see anything. “Well, where did you come from, little guy?” He only blinks at me, and I blink back this time. No, I am not communicating with the monkey through blinking; it’s because of the sun! It’s, like, reflecting off of his fur.
“Huh, you know, little guy, there is a story about a creature who was born out of the sun and blinded everyone he met, and do you know what his name was? His name was Leo. You kind of remind me of him; granted that’s a myth, but that is besides the point. Anyways, I think I’m going to call you Leo. My name’s Kit.” I hold out my hand for Leo, and he latches onto it and climbs on using his tail. Cool and fluffy. “Nice to meet you, Leo.” Leo chirps in reply, and I can’t help but smile. His golden fur really does glow from the sun, which normally would be gorgeous, which it is, but there’s something off with it. I look around and then it hits. Nothing else is colored; everything is either gray, white, or black. I look down at my hand and it doesn’t look any different. The same rough tan that it always has been, and Leo certainly doesn’t look gray. Weird.
“Leo, I think we should head into town and figure out what is happening on this planet.” Leo bares his teeth in what I think is a smile, but it really looks more like a deranged grin with a bunch of sharp teeth. That will take some getting used to. Taking one last look at my ship, I close the cockpit door, pocket the keys, place Leo on my shoulder, and brace myself for whatever is about to happen on this crazy planet.
Even as I make my way closer to the buildings, everything is still in black and white. None of the stores has any color whatsoever, almost like it was stolen. Even the people seemed drained in some way, moving around in a haze barely registering what was happening around them. I walked up to a woman selling what appeared to be some type of fruit, but, to be honest, I wasn’t quite sure.
“Excuse me, madam, but what is the name of this planet?” The woman looks up from her fruit, the motion causing her large metal earrings to clang against one another. Her eyes narrow as she takes my lanky form in.
“Who’s asking?” she grunts at me.
“A traveler who has lost their way.”
“Hm, we don’t get travelers here.”
“Well, despite that, I am here. I simply wish to know the name of this planet,” I sigh, growing exasperated with the woman.
“It’ll cost ya, traveler.”
Rolling my eyes, I flick her a bronze and her eyes gleam with greed as she catches the coin.
“This planet is called Zilar. Now be gone with you and your tamarin.”
Zilar? I’ve never heard that name before. Stepping away from the woman, I stare at the crowds moving back and forth. All their expressions glazed, bored. My eyes flick from every one of their faces, finding nothing, but then my eyes land on…
