Ch 1: Unluck Girl I

My story starts off on a plane ride. Some fancy transport that me, my dad, and younger sister were all on to head to some sort of science summit. Dad was a pretty big deal in his circle of researchers, or at least that's how he usually chops it up. Something about finding energy solutions that could power entire civilizations for generations. All of it for the sake of giving the Endless Frontier a new lease at life with better access to that kind of energy source they were messin' around with. We usually travel together a lot considering my younger sister has pretty weak constitution, and to keep mama's wish to stay as a happy family no matter what. If only that would stay together in the future...

I tried to keep myself preoccupied with something considering the flight was a long one. Dad even noticed I was getting bored to tears, so he struck up a conversation with me.

Dad - I know the plane ride can be quite a bore, but we'll be there before we even know it.
Me - Oh, I'm not to concerned about that. Though I do wanna know about that energy source you're trying to work on.
Dad - Well, there are a variety of energy sources we're experimenting with at the summit in Tartaglia. One of them being a very unstable one. If we can master the means to harness that power, we can power a lot of civilizations for generations on end.
Me - And if not?
Dad - Let's keep the glass half-full, sweetie. Your pops here is lookin' to make the future a better place.

I nodded and grunted in agreement. Though, none of the science stuff really interested me as much. 16 year old me was more concerned about having as much fun as possible. Prime definition of young and dumb.

The plane intercom sounded off:

"We'll be reaching our destination relatively soon. Just making some last minute course corrections to make our landing a bit smoother. For now, enjoy your low-altitude flight."

From that point, I decided to check out the cargo hold and see what was there. Anything was better than just sitting around the entire flight. The plane was spacious enough to warrant that too. My mistake was not telling everybody else. Because the next thing that happened... BOOM. One of the engines sputtered out. Or at least, that's how it sounded like from the cargo hold. Truth of the matter was that something went through the engine. Something... explosive. Low grade enough to inconvenience the plane, but just enough for them to drop cargo. It was all happening too fast for me to process. Cargo was falling, I was being left behind, and the thoughts of whether or not I was going to survive the impact flashed into ideas of what I wanted to live for if I did survive. I looked around as quickly as I could and noticed a small, glowing button on the side of the cargo hold. Must've been a way to fire up the parachutes, or at least slow the descent down. Only problem... I was practically up on the ceiling of the hold. I looked around everywhere to see if there was a something I could grab a hold of, in which I did find a set of ladders near the button. I hugged as much of the wall to get closer and closer to the button until I finally reached it. Slowly, I oriented myself so in the case I did succeed, I wouldn't fall face first and bust my ass in an embarrassing way. Not like anyone was there to look. I pressed the button, felt a sharp jolt on the cargo hold, and everything started to level out with the occasional thudding of boxes and equipment hitting the ground. It wasn't long before hearing the crushing of trees and branches until hearing and feeling a loud thud reverberate through the container.

I still remember that feeling of adrenaline that was rushing through my body once I hit landfall. Thousands of thoughts racing through my mind. "What do I do now? I'm not anywhere safe here? What am I going to do for food? Shit, my phone is broken."

I knew for a solid fact that my day was gonna get even worse than before. No one was going to come to my rescue. Not even dear ol' dad would save me since Noin is a higher priority to him. I couldn't count on anyone... I was all alone. The last thing I would ever do is leave the cargo area in case someone did come. At this point, all I wanted to do was sleep. I didn't want to give up hope, but my body was fighting against me. So, I succumbed to the sensation as I laid down on the cold, metal floor, staring blankly at the dimly lit ceiling.

The next day rolled around and I felt something rumbling. The sounds of heavy machinery and revving engines started to echo throughout the cargo hold. That's when I saw the cargo door being slammed repeatedly.

*thud, thud, THUD*

The claws of a loader penetrated through the door, prying it open wide enough for some vehicles to come through.

??? - C'mon, there's plenty of spoils to go around in here, boys and girls. Don't be shy.
??? - Right on. Bring the loader close. There's some heavy duty cargo that can get extracted little by little.

Scavengers... Just my luck. But I didn't have many options to get out of an increasingly sticky situation, so all I did was hide behind the containers until they left. Or at least, that was the intent until one of them, a beastman, sniffed me out.

??? - Hey boss, someone is here.
??? - A stowaway? Smell any weapons on them?
??? - No. But they certainly didn't take a bath with this weather being so humid.

Well shit, not only did I get spotted, but I got called stinky too. Nerve of that motherfucker. So, in the end, I had to reveal myself. Though in the process of that, I stumbled over due to my injury I now noticed once the adrenaline settled down: a broken arm and ankle.

Noa - *groans* I'm here. I'm here.
??? - A girl? Hey Kas. There's someone that needs medical.
"Kas" - Get her outta here. Have the ladies take care of her. I'll follow up with the girl later. I trust you can handle that, Daz?
"Daz" - I gotcha. I gotcha.

I was hoisted over Daz's shoulder and taken off of the cargo hold. I had no idea where I was going, but if I could forget what happened at that moment, I wish I never went with them looking back at it now. A scar that would never leave me.