Tobi Valade
"Defeat is a state of mind, no one is defeated until defeat is accepted as a reality." -Bruce Lee
Steady inhale. Steady exhale. Repeat. A young man resting in one of the fifty pods almost looked serene in the abyss of unconsciousness that he was currently in. Tobi surfaced from his slumber abruptly and his solace was shattered like glass hit with a sledgehammer. Sharp inhale. Fast exhale. His eyes shot open and his arms flung out in the cramped space to brace himself as the ship spiraled downwards. A voice echoed through the pod chamber, and the words stuck in Tobi's head like glue.
"Listen; go North! I repeat, when you land, GO NORTH! Go-" Even with this new information, Valade was sincerely confused as hell. The only thing he was certain of was that he was going to die shortly. It was glaringly obvious that their ship was going to crash, and his life would burn up with the ship in what would be an agonizing death if the impact didn't kill him immediately. Tobi searched for anything, the last thing he would see with his own two eyes. He was hoping for something poetic, a moment of wisdom before his life was cut off too short. Finally, his eyes focused in on another pod from across his own. Inside was a person he knew all two well, red hair, freckled face, Violet. Well fuck, that was a little
too poetic for a final moment. Silently he cursed the universe and the ship continued to fall through the air, to the end of Tobi Valade's life.
Eyes squeezed shut. Sharp inhale. Sharp exhale. Perspiration beaded on Tobi's forehead, he had never been more angry in his life. He was too young. Too fucking young to die a death like this. Yes, he's made mistakes, but he definitely didn't deserved to die after only 18 years.
The moment of impact. Tobi had never broken through a planet's atmosphere before so he had no idea what was happening when the ship landed. Instead of a swift death, he was greeted with a harsh slam into the top of his pod. The expression, "that was going to hurt in the morning," was bullshit, it hurt right at that freaking moment. Dumbass quotes...
With a hiss, in the darkness, the pod doors were released and Tobi was free. He quickly joined the crowd of kids surging through the ship, eager to exit. Tobi was a little skeptic, what if the air was poisonous, or something dangerous was waiting outside? Where the hell were they anyways?
As the door opened, Valade had to cover his eyes from the blinding light. Once adjusted, he took in all in, and damn it took his breath away. Never in his life had he seen anything more beautiful, and he had been with many a dimes, if you know what I mean. One girl eagerly bounced off the ship onto the ground below. One small step, one giant leap for those 50 criminals. More people followed her, Tobi gleefully jumped off and landed for the first time on a real planet. Many questions rang out, along with joyous comments.
"Well? You coming out or what?"
"Wh...where are we?"
"I think we're right where we were meant to be."
"I must have been a saint in a past life to have deserved this."
"Wow."
“Maybe I did die after all."Tobi rubbed the sore spot on his head, that was definitely going to bruise, he thought absentmindedly. Valade leaned against a tree and fumbled for the pack of cigarettes in his front pocket. He lit a slightly bent cigarette with shaky hands and exhaled a large cloud of smoke. The young man closed his eyes momentarily and smiled, making his face look warmer than usual.
"Well damn, if I knew being a criminal would land me here I would have broken the law earlier," he joked aloud. Yes, he was using humor but he knew the reality of the situation. They were stranded on an unknown planet with a broken ship and the only resources were the ones they had on them and the stuff on the ship. To be fair, it was better than being dead. Not to mention there were a lot of nice lookin' prospects in the pool of 50 teenagers. Leave it to Tobi to be thinking about sex after a near-death experience while being stranded in a survival situation. Valade took another puff of his cig and let it hang in his hand while exhaling. Well, he guessed it was time to start this adventure, hopefully he would survive.
Hopefully.