Ivy was jostled awake, and found herself slamming into a metal wall. It was also carpeted, but her face didn't find that much compensation.
She reared around, and planted her roots rudely into the ground. Ivy stood up instantly, looking around a ship that was far too luxurious for her own tastes.
She spotted the professor sitting in a chair with three screens, focusing and tapping away at the controls quickly. His injured leg was encased in a bright orange tape, so at least there was that.
Talia was on the other side of the room, clinging to a chair and... Ivy wasn't sure if she was laughing, or crying. Probably a little bit of both.
The answer to the obvious question of what the heck was happening was answered by a gigantic mining shunt flashing by the viewing screen. Sudais was living up to her word and trying to kill them.
"Head for the planet!" Ivy said quickly, using her questing roots to ignore the gravity and walk across the floor.
The professor glanced at her, "Are you insane? Such a thing would -"
"Sudais is forbidden from interfering in the development of a lesser species." Ivy said testily, "Head for the planet. She'll stop shooting."
He growled and tapped his hands away on the interfaces, "You had better be damned well right about this."
Considering she had just pulled that out of thin air, she agreed with him. She had absolutely no idea what safeguards had been put into the AI, and even less of an idea if it had worked around them.
Her stomachs did not feel as secure as her roots. The professor's sudden change in direction had all kinds of vertigo and gut-punching nausea flooding her senses.
A flood of heat hit them as the cockpit pierced the upper atmosphere, a bright yellow mist-like set of flames flashing over the viewscreen. Streaks of violet, scarlet and mauve pierce through - speaking to the lands below.
"Well, they stopped firing! That at least is a thing!" The professor yelled, sweating nervously.
Ivy winced. She didn't even bother asking what had gone wrong.
The lakes on the surface below shimmered like molten glass, reflecting the sun's brilliance. Silver rivers meandered across a landscape that Ivy would soon be joining. They wove a beauty of life into the terrain... A beauty she wished she could appreciate a second time.
Behind her, Talia was still laughing. Tears running down both her cheeks, down her chin and falling off into the air. Those tears knew exactly what was happening, again.
Ivy had to admit that it felt like she might have cheated her death, last time she fell out of the sky. So now it was happening again.
No No to save her.
"Is that smoke?" Ivy spotted a trail of black clouds ahead of them.
"Would you shut up and let me drive!?"
To her disbelief, Ivy saw a trail of debris from a small crashed ship. One that was etched into her memories.
"Desdemona!"
"Shut the fuck up, or so help me!"
Talia stumbled up and clung to the driver's seat, "No freaking way."
"Would you please return to your seats, as we depart from the relative safety of the sky and into the rather uncomfortable firmness of the ground!?" The professor exploded, eyes fixed on his screens.
Ivy and Talia exchanged a look.
They weren't losing her a second time.
"Save Desdemona." They said as one.
The professor gave a sound of irritation and tapped away on the keyboard, "I do not know if I could even put down safely. But if you insist on this? Fine! Let's go down!"
Ivy quickly grabbed Talia, twisting a vine around her to keep the woman standing as the entire world leaned up into the viewscreen. Her own stomach was somewhere about her throat as the ship dropped, but she still felt it was the right choice to make.
The ship descended rapidly downwards. Ivy tightened her grip on Talia. The pressure was building, and Ivy could feel her hearts pounding with anticipation.
The professor, focused on controlling the ship, muttering impolite curses under his breath. Adjust the course of the craft and trying to slow down. At least Ivy hoped that was what he was doing.
The tension in the air was palpable as they hurtled towards the surface.
The ship thundered through a thick layer of clouds, and towards a lush and vibrant landscape stretching out as far as the eye could see. Ivy's breath caught in her throat as she took in the breathtaking view. It was everything she hoped of the Earth.
The ship jolted violently, and then the entire world dropped away, along with her stomach.
The craft touched down with a heaviness that Ivy could... Just about ignore.
Talia gave a laugh and tried to untwist herself from Ivy's vines. "Well, you weren't kidding that you knew how to fly. Just... Next time... Can we spare the death threatening fall?"
"I... Could not find the brakes." The professor said with no more of the strong and forward attitude, but a lot of embarrassment.
Ivy leaned over to him and kissed his cheek, "Thankyou. You saved us."
"Oi! Where's my kiss? I'm the one who took you out to dinner!" Talia complained.
Ivy shrugged and turned, heading to the boarding ramp and lowering it. She braced herself, wondering if she was about to get fired at. If she was going to die, just like No had.
No didn't deserve to be forgotten.
The smell of burning metal instantly hit her nostrils, and Ivy's flowers actually wilted as the wisps of smoke came in.
"Bloody hell." Talia gagged, stepping up beside her, "Reminds me of the blitz drills back home."
"Blitz?"
Talia shrugged, "Getting blasted from some space navy is a good way to scar a planet's memory. Dunno much of why - I'm just an actress."
The two of them headed down the ramp, towards the grass. As they got there, and Ivy spied several grass wildfires dancing away, she was surprised by the professor joining them.
The three picked their way silently across the blackened landscape, looking towards the distant ship and trying to guess if there were any survivors. And if said survivors might kill them for their own ship.
The smoke made her eyes water, and the smell of burning metal made her teeth ache. Every time she breathed in she could feel her lungs complain. Every system in her body was right on edge.
The anxiety wasn't helped by finding perfectly rounded scorch marks as they got closer to the ship. No one said anything. They all knew it was gunfire, and they also knew the only other choice they had was to run back to their own ship.
Just sit there and wait for Sudais to finish crashing the cruiseliner, and then head for the nearest outpost. Feel stressed out, tired, but safe.
Instead she was shuffling along foreign soil, towards what felt less and less likely a ship crash, and more and more like a battle.
"Hathor." Talia swore hoarsely, spotting it before Ivy did.
The professor stopped, leaned over, and threw up.
Ivy wrinkled her nose, and wanted to do exactly the same. She kept it down, as she nervously approached the body on the ground.
Less of a body, more of a chaotic scene of blood, guts, and ripped up body parts. The person had been torn completely to shreds, as if some wild animal had got them.
"Earth's not this dangerous, is it?" Ivy asked nervously.
Talia shrugged, looking around wide-eyed.
"What be o' the devil!"
All three jumped, and then stared in astonishment at the ash-stained and red-skinned woman walking over the chaos towards them. A huge grin split Desdemona's face from left to right, her white teeth shining through the grim smoke.
Ivy stared, "You're... Okay?"
"Oh, I be hurting here and be there." Desdemona shrugged, tapping a few scrapes that were bleeding, "But no complaining."
"No complaining!?" Talia exploded, "Someone just tried to kidnap and kill you! What in the fuck, Des!?"
The red-skinned woman shrugged, grinning at them, "Mmm. My sister. She a right lil bitch. I being sure to tell her to her face, soon enough. But you being fine?"
"Nearly got eaten. Again. And again after that." Ivy shivered, "But... Yeah. We have a ship. This man is... A professor of history. He can fly."
"Oh, he the one you be crushing!" Desdemona laughed and hugged Ivy sideways, lifting her off the ground.
The professor looked at her weakly, "Were you... Head of security upon the ship?"
"I be maid."
He laughed in disbelief, and then stared when no one else did.
Talia elbowed Desdemona, "She's also in some royal family on a nearby planet. She was hiding by pretending to be one of us. Not that it stayed secret for very long."
"I be one of you." Desdemona said with a hint of insult.
"Can we get out of the smoke?" Ivy asked.
Desdemona picked her up, and started walking. "I... I do be sorry. This is... My sister's fault. I be happy to let each of you put a stone by her head."
"Your sister?" The professor asked in confusion.
"Mmm. She be thinkin' crown be heavy, and I existing mean I be taking." Desdemona nodded, not explaining why the heck she was carrying Ivy. "So she hack ship to crash, and send those be morons to try and take me home."
Talia winced, "Does that mean that more will be coming?"
"Might it be."
Ivy frowned, "So we get on our ship, and make for the nearest station. Don't tell anyone who we are, and sign on as a casual for whatever cruiseliner is still operating, and get the fuck out of here."
"No need to work." The professor said, shaking his head, "Whilst I cannot say I appreciate the situation, it is still true that my survival was by your hand. I have the resources to safely extract us to a kinder planet than this one."
"Your sister is going to hunt you across the 'verse though, isn't she?" Ivy tried and failed to squirm out of the red woman's grip.
Desdemona's tail flicked through the air fast enough to make a cracking noise, "My sister be bitching. I need be making a point of it, tell her to the face that she bitching, and I leaving."
"So we'll be splitting up, I guess." Talia sighed, "Too bad. I actually do like you, Des."
"Desdemona." The other woman growled back.
The professor shivered, "Oh. That Desdemona."
Talia shrugged, "I can get by, fine. An acting scene here and there, and every rich boy will want me on their ship. But I... I don't actually want to split up. Haven't known you two that long... But you're great."
"I beat my sister face, and then want see Talia upon the stage." Desdemona grinned.
"So no one is entirely interested in my offering of a safe refuge?" The professor said with surprise.
Ivy finally managed to squirm free and land on the ground. She stretched and started walking, "I am absolutely interested in it. I have been in someone's mouth - twice! Today! Fuck that noise. I wanna disappear."
Desdemona gave a small sigh, "That be making sense."
"I do like you. As a friend." Ivy tried to reassure her, "But... Kind of sick of the nearly dying? Sorry."
The woman laughed, "I be getting date out of you again. Soon."
"I made our date awful. Eating chocolate with you was a terrible idea." Ivy flushed.
The professor stumbled, "You two went on a date?"
"She went on one with me, too." Talia grinned at the hapless man.
Ivy rubbed her face tiredly, "I'm straight. It's these two who aren't. And they're wonderful... But I'm still straight."
The four arrived at the ship, and stood around awkwardly for a moment. Desdemona saved everyone the trouble, hugging Talia, and then hugging Ivy even tighter.
She gave an idle wave to the sky, "My people be coming. Someone need clean up mess. I be okay."
"They managed to kidnap you." Ivy pointed out.
Desdemona grinned, "Did they survive kidnapping?"
"Call me. When you're finished this yuck, and still alive." Ivy instructed, and then gave her a willing hug. "I mean that."
Ivy looked up through the viewscreen, as the ship rose slowly towards the sky.
She gave a small sigh, her tumbling thoughts finally managing to settle down. The woman gave a yawn and stretch, and then curled in on herself.
Her leaves wrapped around her slowly, and she fell asleep.