Challenge: Step Into The Light

[The Ark]

The Challenge for this thread is....

STEP INTO THE LIGHT

• Details: By Step Into The Light, we mean your characters first reaction when being exposed to the Earth's atmosphere.
  
  For Arkers: upon exiting the drop ship/station, what were their feelings, their first thoughts, etc.
  
  For Grounders: imagine they were born earlier in the shelter, what did they see and feel upon exiting for the first time - did they feel the effects of radiation or see others being effected/dying by it.
  
  For Mountain Men: imagine they were able to step outside for the first time, what would their initial thoughts, feelings and fears be.
  
• Post Limit: You can do more than one post in this thread, including more as the same character, or a different post for a different character you have. There is no limit to how many you can do, or for how many characters.
• Narrative/POV: You can either write in First Person (I, me, my, etc) or Third Person (he, she, they, etc).
• Length: There is no maximum length for your post, however it must be a minimum of one paragraph.

If you have any questions or require any clarification, feel free to PM the admin. Happy Writing Everyone!

[Gena Martin]

Her eyes were closed as everything came to a halt. For a second there was nothing. There were no feeling, no noises, nothing. And then hectic noises were heard. People shuffled around and slowly Gena opened her eyes. She looked around. People were getting up, looking around, bowing down to loved ones, helping them up. Gena herself slowly got up, finding her limbs a bit shaking, a bit weak, but she could still move. It took her a bit to maneuver through the people, towards the door. It took a bit longer until those there were let out. She was somewhere in the middle. 

Bright light streamed through the opening door. It was so different from the light she was used to. It held more color, it held warmth, it was almost blinding. Blinking against it, her eyes took a while to adjust and finally, finally she could move forward. The ground underneath her feet when she stepped out was soft, almost bouncy. It was entirely unfamiliar for her. Ground. Dirt. The first time she felt it. And then there were those small little plants, grass. 

To Genas surprise two other sensations were much more prominent to her: The silence. Gena only noticed now, how the low hum of machines, of the life support system was a constant undertone now that it was gone. There was nothing, no hum of machines, just people talking and to her surprise birds. There were birds and silence. It was peaceful, wonderful. The second was the smell. Compared to the Ark, this air was rich of scents, smells, odors she couldn’t even place. It was wonderful, amazing. It was bright, beautiful and entirely too much. Before she even noticed what was going on, her knees had given in and she sank to the ground, the soft earth softening her fall. Gena dug her hands into the earth, feeling it, allowing herself to feel. Now this, this was what hope felt, sounded and smelled like.

[Thalia Tait]

Filtered Sunshine Through Waking Senses



Thalia wasn't the first to leave the Dropship, but she certainly wasn't the last. She didn't run and she didn't yell. Instead she took each step slowly, one after the other, out into the golden light that was beaming down on the ramp. Pale eyes watched and widened as the toe of her boot was slowly covered by that warm light. Slowly her hand reached out and the sensation of gentle warm spreading over her fingers to the back of her hand almost made her shiver in delight. 

Her dark hair, wild and wavy, seemed to take on new shades and shimmering colors when she stepped into the sun. Lifting her face to the light, she let out a sigh of wonder and closed her eyes. It was so beautifully warm. Like the tendrils of every good feeling had spread down her face and neck, seeking out every inch of skin she had, to place warm kisses over her. The breeze that shifted through the branches of emerald green trees was the most musical sound she had ever heard...until something high and sweet replaced the shambled shouts of other kids. 

"Birds," she whispered to herself. Birdsong so sweet it was almost painful. Her boots hit the soil and the plants seemed to reach towards her, as if to embrace her in welcome. Flittering buzzing specks fell through the air lazily, and the girl realized this is what insects really looked like. Her body trembled under the newness of proper gravity, but every move she made left her feeling stronger than the last.

Dropping to her knees, she pushed her fingers into the dirt of the ground, marveling at the velvet feeling of cool damp soil. It even had its own scent, which she could only think was the smell of life itself all cool and comforting. Running her fingers over leaves, she realized they didn't feel as fragile as the plants on the Ark had felt. They were silken and strong, vibrant beneath her fingertips. The Earth was thrumming with life and it was almost overwhelming. Every beautiful sound and sensation, it was flooding through her and it was all so beautiful. She realized that she had never really taken such deep clean breaths before. Or felt so free and unbound. 

Thalia drew up to her feet and got the a very sudden and animalistic urge to...run. To just run. Run as fast and hard as she felt. So she took off, grinning as she felt the push and pull of ground beneath her boots. The slight shifting temperatures between full sun and canopy shade. The healthy flow of hearty air in her lungs and the burning in her legs with each stride. Finally she let out a whooping shout of delight. Never, never had she felt so perfectly free.

Home. Earth was her home. It was big and beautiful and freeing. Letting herself push through the air, leaping clumsily over stump and root and rock, Thalia raced through the forest. It was like she had never truly been alive until now. Stopping and staggering with the pull of gravity to keep her going, the girl pressed her hands to her heaving chest. Her body burned from the exercise and she sat down on the soft ground. Then with a breathless laugh she laid down, spreading her limbs out across the ground.

Looking up at the sky, she couldn't stop smiling. The sky was the most beautiful natural blue and the wisping clouds above came in so many colors of white and grey and gold and silver. The forest had a deep comforting smell, unlike anything she could describe. Thalia listened and while there were no familiar sounds of machines humming, there were new and more musical sounds to replace them with. And even while the sun was warm, the shadows from the trees were crisp and refreshing. Everything was alive. And it was as if she was soaking herself in that life, becoming alive herself. 

This place...she never wanted to leave it. This moment could go on forever. She was finally home and she could feel it in every fiber of her being. This, this was the start of her life. A life on Earth.