Welcome to Gaia! ::

Erinome lay beneath the brush, staring up at the lights of whatever structure stood just outside of the tree line. It buzzed and hummed with some sort of energy and that soothed him a bit as he lay there tired and hungry. None of these plants seemed familiar so he wasn’t sure if eating them would make him sick like the ones that had ruined his planet. How much time had passed here was beyond him but until now nothing had come across him other than a few small creatures.

The sound of a stick skittering across the ground made him curl up and try to hide more in the brush even if that feeling of chaos wasn’t present anymore here. Something felt familiar but it had to be a cruel joke after all this time so he tried to ignore it and stayed very still as the sounds got closer.

Seeing a familiar glow, Erinome peeked out from beneath the brush and watched the senshi carefully. It had been a long time, longer than he felt was possible to remember since he’d seen someone like that. Laying there, he called out softly, voice cracking a bit from how long it had been since he’d last spoken.

It couldn’t be them, no way could it be Amel, but they felt like him and they were a senshi like him that was untainted by that chaos that had taken over his world. “Help.”

“Tired… hungry…” Voice hoarse as he spoke, Erinome didn’t struggle as they picked him up. Tired eyes looked up at the other senshi as he tried to figure out what was going on. They weren’t him, but they felt like him, and the whole situation was a bit much for him to think through right now.

“Erinome,” he said softly while pulling his hands together on his chest. Looking back over at the structure, he hummed along with that sound he’d felt. It was still soothing even if he hadn’t found anywhere to eat or rest safely near it.

“Just tired, not hurt.” It was weird speaking again after so long, he’d been used to the silence but now he had to try getting words out as they were taking him somewhere away from the humming but it would probably be alright. That soft glow was just as nice, it reminded him of better times. Back when he would visit the neighboring planet and its senshi.

When they set him down and changed, he curled away for a moment as everything felt different. Erinome stiffened as they picked him up and summoned some sort of machine to transport them both to their home. Face pressed to the transparent glass, he watched as sparkling lights of every color moved quickly passed them.

The ride over, he let them carry him as he blinked in confusion at their question. “Just a senshi, not chibi.” Tilting his head and taking in the new environment, his eyes flitted back and forth between all the glowing lights and new things he’d never seen.

Sitting on the countertop they’d set him down on, he rested his hands in his lap and watched as they grabbed things. Poking the brightly colored fruits, the one that they had peeled seemed especially appealing to him. Picking it up, he nibbled at it cautiously for a few moments and waited to see if anything bad would happen. Some of them seemed familiar in appearance but the flavors were very different. The peeled one had a sweetness he really liked and once he felt like nothing bad would come from it, he inhaled the thing and went through some of the other offerings with much of the same steps.

Nothing seemed to make him sick and he felt less weary now that he had something in his stomach. The mention of chaos had him jolt and look around, trying to feel for anything like what he’d experienced back home. When nothing seemed to be nearby, he settled down and pulled his knees up, and rested his chin on them. “Power down? This is how I am always?” The other seemed to be able to be more than one way, which was still a bit unsettling but he wondered if that was some sort of safety thing here.

Reaching forward, he poked them in the chest softly. “Amel?” It was worth a shot, as he spoke the name sadly. After that, he remained quiet while watching the blinking lights and glowing numbers that were on some of the metal devices in this room. Everything was so foreign here but there was still a soft hum, like that structure but much weaker. It buzzed and vibrated through the walls and metal things that had those glowing lights. It reminded him of the humming sound of the magic that ran the medical stations back home before everything had happened.

Taking the fruit, he peeled it like the other had and ate it quickly. It felt good to have food again but when they said that name, the name of the planet he remembered visiting so very long ago, the peel fell from his hands as he hung his head. “Nothing? Nothing left?” It couldn’t be, he thought it had just been his planet but there hadn’t been a way to find out with how cut off everything had been. And now they brought up that name, the planet that neighbored his own. “I knew Chaldene… Amel. Erinome, I was nearby and visited before…” Trailing off he pressed his hands into his face and tried to breathe, he’d survived how long? How many years floated by as he had been left sleeping in that coffin of vines while the people of his world were poisoned by those plants?

“I need to go back, I need to fix things.” Struggling, he tried to get off the counter but he was still too weak and just slumped a bit. “There has to be something left Ian, if I’m still alive.” Looking up at them, he rubbed his eyes and tried to clear his bangs from his face. It was tiring saying so many words, his throat hurt from the effort so he clammed up again and felt very very small as he pulled his knees back up.

It sounded so hopeless but he wanted to try, wanted to keep doing something like he’d tried to stop it in the past on his own. “No, I’m going to try, I have to.” Mustering up as much firmness as he could, he wanted to fight back and keep going even if he was so very tired.

Repeating the years they spoke, he couldn’t even fathom that much time. It felt like a haze where he’d been trapped until the vines withered away as well. Nodding, he picked up some of the odder fruits that they’d cut for him and nibbled on them. At least these were nice, something he could get used to after whatever had happened.

“Thank you for helping… A… err Ian.” He caught himself before calling them the wrong name, it felt odd though but they’d said senshi from out there were reborn here so maybe both things were right. But this wasn’t them, they were someone else but he could see bits of the person he knew in them as he stared at them.

“I hope there are, I wonder if anyone I knew is still around…” Shifting a bit, he went ahead and started picking the leaves and sticks from his hair and antennae. The fluffy things twitched slightly as he freed things from them.

Erinome’s eyes sparkled at the jar of golden syrup, it looked amazing and he opened it and sniffed it carefully. Dipping bits of fruit into it, he made a happy sound as he ate. Everything was so sweet and tasted so good. The jar was now his favourite thing and he refused to put it down even as he juggled things to drink water. It helped with his throat and he coughed a bit to clear some more of the dryness. After managing his way through the rest of the fruit, he picked at the other greens. They were good too but not as sweet so he ate them slower, making a face at the poor combination they had with the syrup.

“It was beautiful there, Amel would visit me or I would go to Chaldene and visit him…” Shaking his head, he tried to focus on the truth of the matter. “Ian is your name, not Amel.” It was a bit sad but they still had helped him and that was more than he’d expected from a stranger in a strange world. Listening to the names they listed off, none of them sounded familiar and everything sounded very complicated.

“Full…” Closing the lid on the glass jar, he still didn’t let go of it and just tucked it away where he hid other things. After all this time he wondered if the herbs he had were just dust now, it would be something to look at later but now he wanted to sleep. Yawning, he leaned forward and lay on the counter, pressing his face against the cool surface. “Sleepy…”