The only light source was the flickers from the pod-doc screen. A light tinge of red encompassed her world, a gleam of ivory spottable at times.

Fi was in the maw of the beast. She didn't want to think herself lucky, but she was swallowed whole. A tight passage squeezed the pod-doc, producing a creak.

The squeeze was short lived and with a gulp, she was on her way again. She wasn't about to get squeezed to death and she breathed out, hoping the worst had passed.

The pod-doc entered a bigger chamber and started jostling around. Bang after bang rained on the pod-doc. Fi couldn't see much but caught glimpses of stones crashing into the pod-doc.

Fi tightened her right hand and her knuckles whitened. Her lips quivered and she grunted at every hit. She braced herself not to get flung around inside the pod-doc.

A stone struck the dome and cracks like spiderweb spread. Fi screamed turning her head away from the cracks. The pod-doc had warning lights flashing, it wouldn't hold for long.

"I hate you world, why can't you let me make my choices in peace!" Fi yelled her face red with fright and anger.

She opened up the Dream and called Pruet, the stronger of her two master candidates. Her chest heaved fast, she was getting sick from all the tumbling around, yelping at every jolt.

Pruet answered and got yelled at.

"Come and save me, I'll be your disciple, just save my life" Fi yelled holding to the walls of the pod-doc. The doc was bouncing as it got hit by two rocks.

Fi lost her grip and hit her head. Blood seeped out from her nose and her sight blurred.

"Now or I will really die" Fi yelled and protected her head while getting rummaged again.

"On my way..." Pruet said and continued after a moment's pause

"Disciple."

Seconds after she heard the affirmative answer the beast shook hard, throwing the pod-doc against the wall of flesh. Fi hadn't had a good opportunity to gather water into her core, so she was essentially helpless.

Fi protected herself the best she could. She got banged up, hurting her shoulder in the process. Fi's face contorted and she screamed in pain.

The same procedures happened a few times and she got more banged up every time. Pruet seemed to have some trouble dealing with the beast since it took so long.

Fi felt her grip on reality loosening and was about to fall unconscious from the continuous impacts when the impact which she futilely struggled against never came.

Fi held her hand covering her face for a long time, before accepting that she was safe at this instant. The pod-doc was in an even worse shape than Fi. It was mangled throughout and it gave off the impression that it would crumble any minute.

Breathing out, Fi waited for the rescue and checked her condition. Bruises all over, but no lasting damage was noticeable. Her shoulder didn't seem worse for wear either, but had the dull ache back, which the pod-doc had graciously alleviated.

The wall ahead of her split open and light flooded in. Fi shut her eyes, blinded by the sudden influx of light.

The pod-doc shook slightly and rose in the air. It drifted through the gap as Fi's eyes got used to the light.

A smiling Pruet was the first thing Fi saw. Pruet's too perfect face hovering over the pod-doc. The dome was forced open with a creak and a soft wind picked up Fi and the creature.

They flew in silence southward, away from the campsite. Fi was too beat up to have time to process anything. She let herself be carried and hoped everything would be okay.

Under them the ground passed fast, trees turning into a blur. It didn't take them long to appear in the middle of the island. What opened before them was a big lake. The lake lay seemingly in the middle of nowhere with big trees covering it on every side.

Before landing, she inspected the monster she had been eaten by. It had gray skin like a rhino, small green eyes a and a head too big for its body. The creature was about the size of a bus and had no tail. It looked like a mix and match of monster creatures.

They slowed down and start approaching the ground. Pruet raised up her hands and in response five big trees fell, creating a clearing.

The two women and a dead creature touched the ground in the new clearing.

The ground was dry and was covered in soft moss, which was soothing to lay down in. Fi did just that and closed her eyes, enjoying the softness under her. She knew she couldn't wait forever and opened her eyes.

Fi looked at Pruet and saw her inspecting the creature.

"Do I need to do anything special to formally become your disciple?" Fi said, asking the first question that came to her mind. Pruet held her chin, with her hand, stroking the too smooth skin.

"Hmm… No. You are my disciple now. I'll tell you more soon. Now I need to go figure out how this creature attacked. It shouldn't be awake yet." Pruet said never laying eyes on Fi.

Pruet started turning white, almost disappearing, before adding.

"I'll give you the manual for the second form of silver exhaust and instructions on what to gather to soothe your wounds. I'll be back in a few days."

As Pruet finished talking, she had already disappeared in white. Fi was alone again. Dumbfounded, she lay there on the moss and read through the material she got from Pruet.

She couldn't concentrate on either of the documents and sat up. Fi didn't know if she should laugh at her new master or wallow in misfortune.

'What is done is done. I need to get up, inform Blue I'm alright and achieve the second level of silver exhaust. I did pay for it with my arm after all' Fi thought and then laughed.

She had never imagined she would think something like that. Pay for something with a body part sounded so much like fiction, it's like she was in a movie.

The laughter eased some of the pressure on her. It was time to learn silver exhaust level two.