The world smelled like a broken earth. Su Jing opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was a tree branch dangling over her face. A sad-looking crow perched on top, glaring down at her. For, a long time she just laid there in the mud blinking up at it.
Then she just sat up with a groan, spitting out the dirt. Her whole body ached. her arms were scratched, her clothes- unfamiliar, expensive silk were torn and muddy. A deep, throbbing pain bloomed behind the forehead where a cut was bleeding sluggishly. She coughed. The air was heavy full of the sharp smell of rain and crushed greenery.
"where the hell....." she muttered .
not far from her, a loud groan came from a thorn bush.
A girl in a ripped green dress, leaves in her hair and mud all over her face, stumbled out like a drunken squirrel. she looked around wildly, then spotted Su Jing.
"HEY!" she yelled, pointing dramatically. "you alive?"
Su Jing gave her a flat look "Barely".
"Great! Me Too!" the girl limped over, grinning despite a swollen ankle and a huge scrape on her arm. "We should form a survival party or something. I'm good at -uh- being useless".
Before Su Jing could answer, another voice pipped up.
" Ugh... who threw me off a cliff..." A soft whimper came from the piles of broken crates nearby. Out crawled a smaller girl, girl her dress ripped at the hem, clutching it like a treasure. She rubbed her bruised elbow , looking half-asleep. near the rocks a fourth girl peeked out- tiny trembling, her hands scratched and dirty.
"w-where are we?" she whispered, wide-eyed.
For a moment , the girls stared at each other. None of them recognized the faces they saw. Strangers, battered and bruised, thrown together by disaster.
"....Okay," Su Jing said slowly, standing with a wince. "who remembers anything?"
The bush girl scratched her head " I know my name is Lin Yao then its all blank ".
The hem girl looked around blankly." I.... thought I was dreaming. I am Tang Mi.
The terrified one shrank back, mumbling." I don't know how I came here and I'm Zhou Rui.
Su Jing exhaled, a sharp, tired sound. her instincts screamed " Survive first, figure out the crazy later".
"Alright, we're alive . that's what matters", she said gruffly. "We need to get off this place before something worse happens to us".
The others nodded .
Lin Yao picked up a stick spinning it like a sword ."I vote we beat up anything that come near us!"
Su Jing rolled her eyes." you can barely stand, my love".
Tang Mi looked at them," Can we focus on food for once? I'm starving". Her stomach grumbled loudly in a agreement.
Zhou Rui clutched her clothes tighter.
Despite the bruises, the ripped clothes, the aching bodies. They all started moving.
Slowly.
Awkwardly.
Together.