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Koko let out a small squeak when she was scooped off the back of her captor's bike & screwed her eyes up tight as she readied herself to be thrown into the dusty ground below. A couple of seconds passed &, since she hadn't collided with the ground, the little girl risked a look. Just in time to see a motorbike smash into the ground & skid across the dusty landscape. She whimpered a little, wondering who she was now with & how he must be even more scary since he'd so easily taken out the other man.

When the vehicle made the U-turn she gripped the back of her rescuer - or potential new captor - tightly, pertrified of flying off & meeting the same fate as the raider. This person smelled better than the previous one, but she was unable to see his face & could make no assumptions. She continued to shake, simply wishing that this whole thing would just be over soon. Bravely, she fought back the tears that threatened to fall & tried to ignore just how cold she was becoming. She was losing the feeling in her fingers, but kept hanging on.

Koko stayed very still & quiet when she was taken off the bike, her hands clenched & her body shaking. She stared at the ground & tried very hard not to look as frightened as she really was. She couldn't feel her hands or her feet & her face hurt from how the cold air had hit it while moving. When spoken to she flinched visibly & looked up, seeing the man's face for the first time. He was holding out his jacket & she was bitterly cold. Reaching out with one small hand she took the piece of clothing then moved back quickly, wrapping the warm jacket round herself tightly; it smelt of a foreign body, but at least it didn't stink like the raider had done.

Her large blue eyes stared at him but she didn't speak at all, not a sound. The man seemed almost familiar, as though from a long forgotten memory... Koko's eyes darted around, taking in her surroundings properly now. This strange place was cold, dark & frightening. What kind of a world had she woken up to?

The young girl simply stared at the man before her, seemingly studying him. Her bright blue eyes shimmered slightly in the light as she blinked away the last of her tears. This person didn't seem to mean her any harm & he had saved her from the other man. Maybe she could trust him? The jacket she was wearing was much too big for her, it came down to her knees & the sleeves trailed; but at least it was warm, fending off the cold.

When the man began walking away, Koko's eyes widened even further. The thought of being left on her own was horrible, but she still didn't know whether to follow him or not. He turned back &, when he stated his name, there was a faint tug at the back of the child's head. Again, she felt like she recognised something, but had no idea what. Still, she remained silent, not offering her own name. Instead she waited until Finn turned away again, then followed him at a bit of a distance.

Koko had continued to follow Finn as he made his way through the various streets. Her head turned slowly as she walked, looking all around. At one point she'd jumped & shied away from a fairly small creature rummaging in some rubbish at the side of the street; it looked vaguely like a cat or ferret, though it had a fin running down the length of it's back & a set of spines splaying out of it's neck - which came forward & made a bristling sound as it hissed. Though it had fur, underneath were scales, hinting that it was more reptilian in nature & had simply grown some fur to combat the cold. An adaptation no doubt.

Moving a little faster after Finn, the young girl caught up to him just as he was holding the door open for her. She stopped & looked about herself nervously, caught between the need to get out of the cold & her worry about what the man might do. Eventually the want for warmth won & Koko quickly slipped past him to go inside, making sure to step to the side & get as far away as possible again. Her wide blue eyes continued to watch him intently, her small body swamped by his jacket - which was now making her feel a little too hot.

Koko had shrieked & covered her ears when the assassin's gun went off, trying to hide herself in the corner. When she was scooped up the child clung to Finn, burying her head in his chest. The world seemed to be falling apart around her & she had no-one to comfort her, so she tried to find comfort somewhere. When she was placed down she immediately thought the man was abandoning her, so she quickly looked up as he entered a pub.

Practically running after him the girl stumbled into the pub, attracting the attention of a few other patrons. As they stared at her she whimpered & looked around frantically for Finn, finally spotting him at an empty booth. Trying to make herself smaller Koko quickly made her way towards the white-haired man, nearing his booth - though she still didn't get too close. She stared at him again with her bright, shining eyes. She was still being watched by a few people in the pub, some whispering to each other.

Koko continued to stare at Finn for a while, as silent as ever. When he gestured for her to sit down, she looked at the seat but made no move to sit there. Instead she drew his jacket tighter round herself & tried to block out the smell of smoke with the scent on the jacket. It was only when a drunken man stumbled past her that she moved. When he drew close to the girl, the man looked down at her & smiled - revealing a mouth with more than one tooth missing - he reached out to grab hold of her, but she ducked down & away, darting towards Finn. Clambering onto a seat Koko looked down at her small feet, one of her bare legs beginning to form a purple bruise from where she'd fallen over in the sleeper ship.

When Finn spoke to her again, asking for her name, Koko turned her head & looked up at him. Her rather large blue eyes gazed at him, sporting an innocence only found in the young. Her gaze travelled over the different features of his face, taking in his features. He hadn't done anything to harm her; instead he'd saved her multiple times & seemed kinder than all the other men she knew were around them. The child looked down at her feet again, kicking them ever so slightly. It seemed she still was not going to speak, until there was a tiny, sweet sound that could barely be heard over the various din in the pub.
"Koko...."

Koko continued to look down, shivering even though she was no longer cold. She wanted to cry; desperately she wanted to cry. But she couldn't. For whatever reason, something in her instincts, or perhaps her intellect, was telling her that crying was going to get her absolutely nowhere & would only make her look weak. She raised her gaze a little, spotting the same drunken man looking at her again. She shuddered. Looking weak here would no doubt get her killed, or worse, even she could tell that. As Finn 'welcomed' her to Ares she thought about what had happened to her within a hour or so of waking up. This place was a hell-hole.

The girl's thoughts shifted to that of her parents & her breath caught in her throat. There was no way they would have left her alone; she wouldn't have been left alone in that room if they'd been here... right? But if that was the case... then she was alone. Completely & utterly alone on this planet. Abruptly, as though it was now encased in ice, something inside Koko died. Though she could hear Finn saying something beside her, it was as though he was far, far away & she couldn't make out the words. It was like she was surrounded by darkness, so complete was her isolation.

Slowly, the child turned her head to look up at Finn, but her eyes looked strangely dulled. There was nothing she could say &, as she sat there in silence, a single, glistening tear slid down her cheek. Somehow, that one tear was worse than if she had begun crying, screaming or had lashed out.