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Description
Chapter 1: A Childhood Nightmare

"Give it back!"

The creature somewhat resembling a rabbit with a long bushy tail just tilted its head in confusion. It sat high above on a tree branch holding my backpack. If only I was maybe a little older, I could climb up the tree myself and get my pack back. They were called Rabbilis, a cross between a rabbit and squirrel in appearance; they seem to have the same habits too.

"What a bad boy!"

As I continuously jumped, trying to reach the impossible height of the branch, two of my school friends came from the edge of the forest clearing.

"Samus!"

I turned in curiosity, forgetting the past twenty minutes.

"What are you doing out here?"
"Everyone's going to the docks"
"The docks? What for?"
"A new ship came."
"It looks kind of weird; they called it a Chozo ship."

"Really? Where, where?"

At that, I ran towards the two and together, we headed to the docks.
We lived on Star Colony K-2L, a major mining colony supplying the Galactic Federation with Afloraltite, a mineral used to power the ignition modules of space fairing vessels. Here I lived with my mother and father, Virginia and Rodney Aran; my father was the chief, organising and ordering the transportation of Afloraltite. He tells me that the Galactic Federation is the joining of many species to form a large group that helps maintain order in the galaxy. I have never seen an alien before; father rarely lets me visit unless his shift is over. I should be old enough now; at the age of three, I can take care of myself.
At the edge of the forest, we noticed the large crowd of people gathering. To the side, there rested an odd looking ship; it was flat-like in shape with two long ignition thrusters on its sides. It looked a bit like a manta ray.

"Race you there!" I yelled.
"Hey no fair!"

We sprinted across the empty sector towards the commotion. The gap between my friends and I grew larger and larger; my parents tell me I'm quite the runner. I looked back, sneering as I made more progress when suddenly, I ran into someone and squealed. As I stood up from my fall, I noticed a cloaked figure, dark and concealing. Further up, I realised the hood was no longer covering their face; I noticed a beak, feathers then wrinkles until I realised they were not human. I stood back, shocked.

"Samus? No! You're not allowed here!" cried father.
"Papa…"

The 'bird' gestured towards my father then focused back to me and smiled.

"Oh my, what an energetic little one. Are you hurt?"
"Ah… no…"
"Is this your first time meeting a Chozo?"

He crouched to my height level and stared with wide eyes at me. I couldn't help thinking he'd squawk and bite me.

"There's nothing to fear; we look different, but inside, we have the same 'heart' that you do, so be at ease."

It was then that I realised he had a most serene voice; it was peaceful and wise.

"I am called 'Old Bird'; would you like to be friends?"
"I'm Samus Aran, three years old, and sure."

A past thought came rushing back to me; that bad boy still has my backpack. I looked back at Old Bird and realised something; he's a bird.

"Come over here, I need some help."

I grabbed his hand with both of mine and dragged him towards the forest. He hesitated at first, confusingly but then gave way.

"Ah, very well."
"Samus, wait!" my father yelled.

He exclaimed more but I was already too far away to understand him. As we journeyed through the forest, I couldn't help but smile; I had just met an alien for the first time in my life, and he's nice. We reached the clearing and I looked up to see the thing still up on the branch holding my pack. I pointed up at him and looked at Old Bird.

"Can you fly up and get my backpack back? I can't reach him."
"I wish I could Samus; sadly, I cannot fly.
"You can't fly?"
"That's right; we lost our wings long ago. I'm sorry."
"Then I guess you're just like me…"

I looked back up, saddened. The little rascal remained on the branch, staring back at us both.

"What'll I do? I need it back. That bad boy…"
"Hmm… perhaps he refuses to come down because he thinks that you are angry with him."

I looked at Old Bird in confusion. Why wouldn't I be angry at him? He took my backpack.

"Why not make friends with him, just as we did earlier."

Old Bird pointed his finger up and smiled.

"Let's start by giving him a name."
"A name?"

I closed my eyes and put my brain to work. After a few seconds I reopened them as Old Bird stared at me in curiosity. I stared back at him and smiled.

"How about… Pyonchi?"

The Rabbilis looked straight at me and squeaked. Old Bird and I looked at each other, before the creature made its way down the tree and stood a metre away. We both smiled then started laughing together while Pyonchi ran around us. The sun was descending as the skies turned orange.

"I wonder how the negotiations are going."
"Should we be heading back now?"
"That sounds like wise idea young Samus."

I crouched down and picked up Pyonchi with him still grasping my backpack; his fur was extremely warm.

"You can hold onto it this time."

He squeaked back.

We made our way back to the docks, where Old Bird joined his younger comrade in negotiations. There wasn't much I could catch while they were talking; Pyonchi kept licking my face, tickling me. All I know is that father could not supply the Chozo with Afloraltite without knowing what they needed it for. Old Bird turned to me; I knew they were going to leave.

"You're going already?"
"Yes, I'm afraid I have a very important job to do."
"But we just started being friends."

He crouched down again, and smiled.

"I'm sure we will meet again, young Samus Aran."
"Come back soon Old Bird."

With that, he stood back up and nodded at both my father and his young comrade. Father nodded back and walked towards me while they made their way to their ship.

"You little energetic bunny."

He rubbed my hair and smiled.

"I see you've made two new friends today."
"Yes dad."

I looked at Pyonchi and smiled. Then I looked over to Old Bird who had just entered the ship. The engines came to life and they slowly rose, ripples of dust emanating from underneath. It turned around then soared off into the distance of the stars.

"Now, go play until my shift is over then we can go home to mum's cooking, deal?"
"Deal!"

I ran back towards the forest, holding Pyonchi in my arms. Once we reached the clearing yet again, I sat down to take a rest. All this running back and forth was making me tired. Pyonchi placed my backpack on the ground then snuggled up in my lap. His warm fur was so comforting that I managed to fall asleep.

I woke up to Pyonchi licking my face. I immediately sat upright and grabbed his little paws.

"Ha ha. Pyonchi that tickles."

Just then, I heard small boom in the distance and turned around; from this high clearing, one could see the urban docks. Curious, I stared until I realised it was smoke, the aftermath of perhaps an accident. Suddenly, I could hear a high pitched sound growing louder until 100 metres away, the grass gave way; the area flashed up and all sound deafened. I yelled and quickly turned the other way, Pyonchi held in my arms. Just 100 metres away, anything within the radius of 50 metres was obliterated immediately. The colony was under attack.

After a few moments, I slowly sat up from the ashes. Pyonchi was squeaking in desperation, licking off dirt on my face. Brushing off dust on my clothes, I realised the forest was on fire and quickly panicked. I grabbed Pyonchi and ran back towards the docks to my father. As I sprinted, all I could hear was the crackling of the flames, the snapping of branches, explosions in the far distance and worst of all, the screams of people. At the edge of the forest, a thick dust cloud revolved; the moment I ran into it, I breathed in the dust and slowed down, coughing. From this moment forth, I was incredibly frightened; I could feel Pyonchi shaking, which I made worse for I was too. Without sense of anything, I tried to call out to mother and father.

"Papa. Mama. Where are you?"

As I made my way through the dust, I noticed a large tall figure in front of me.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Clearing the dust cloud, I looked upon a figure of a terrifying being. Pyonchi turned and dug his head onto my shoulder. There was so much destruction: towers were collapsed, buildings no longer standing, torn apart ships and chaotic debris on the floor. Among it all, sat a dragon, crouched and still four times my height. I stared in horror as it looked back, before another fearsome came up to the dragon.

"Lord Ridley, we have captured the facility. We have begun transporting the containers."
"Good."

"A-Are you Mr Ridley?"

The dragon stared back with an almost sad expression on its face as the humanoid alien walked away, claws opened. I found it hard to speak amongst all this devastation.

"I-I'm Samus… th-three years old. You're not scary… I'm perfectly fine, e-even if you look different. W-We can still be friends!"

The dragon began to open its mouth; my entire body was shaking, ready to be eaten, but all that came out were words; I looked at him, frozen in confusion.

"Mhmm. You're so cute. I'm sorry miss but that's impossible! Because…"

His expression changed from sympathy to anger as he rose and spread his wings.

"You're about to die!"

I screamed in terror as light began to emanate from the dragon's mouth. From the commotion, I heard a familiar voice growing louder.

"Samus?"
"Mama!"

From the dust, mother ran towards me without looking back. As she reached me, instead of holding me, she pushed me away.

"Run Samus!"

She grew further away and before I knew it, she was engulfed in flames. What used to be mother was now a large cloud of smoke and ash.

"MAMA!"

The explosion knocked me back a large distance and made me unconscious. I woke up once again to the licking of Pyonchi. All I could hear were his squeaks, the scorching of dying flames and the calm breeze. I stood up and brushed myself down, with Pyonchi looking back up at me. All of a sudden, his ears went straight up and he looked across over the field. My eyes followed and I noticed two figures in the distance.

"Papa? Mama?"

As I trudged closer, I realised who they were.

"Old Bird?"
"SAMUS!"

Everything after that was a blur, until we reached another planet that I then called 'home'.

Description
Chapter 1: A Childhood Nightmare

"Give it back!"

The creature somewhat resembling a rabbit with a long bushy tail just tilted its head in confusion. It sat high above on a tree branch holding my backpack. If only I was maybe a little older, I could climb up the tree myself and get my pack back. They were called Rabbilis, a cross between a rabbit and squirrel in appearance; they seem to have the same habits too.

"What a bad boy!"

As I continuously jumped, trying to reach the impossible height of the branch, two of my school friends came from the edge of the forest clearing.

"Samus!"

I turned in curiosity, forgetting the past twenty minutes.

"What are you doing out here?"
"Everyone's going to the docks"
"The docks? What for?"
"A new ship came."
"It looks kind of weird; they called it a Chozo ship."

"Really? Where, where?"

At that, I ran towards the two and together, we headed to the docks.
We lived on Star Colony K-2L, a major mining colony supplying the Galactic Federation with Afloraltite, a mineral used to power the ignition modules of space fairing vessels. Here I lived with my mother and father, Virginia and Rodney Aran; my father was the chief, organising and ordering the transportation of Afloraltite. He tells me that the Galactic Federation is the joining of many species to form a large group that helps maintain order in the galaxy. I have never seen an alien before; father rarely lets me visit unless his shift is over. I should be old enough now; at the age of three, I can take care of myself.
At the edge of the forest, we noticed the large crowd of people gathering. To the side, there rested an odd looking ship; it was flat-like in shape with two long ignition thrusters on its sides. It looked a bit like a manta ray.

"Race you there!" I yelled.
"Hey no fair!"

We sprinted across the empty sector towards the commotion. The gap between my friends and I grew larger and larger; my parents tell me I'm quite the runner. I looked back, sneering as I made more progress when suddenly, I ran into someone and squealed. As I stood up from my fall, I noticed a cloaked figure, dark and concealing. Further up, I realised the hood was no longer covering their face; I noticed a beak, feathers then wrinkles until I realised they were not human. I stood back, shocked.

"Samus? No! You're not allowed here!" cried father.
"Papa…"

The 'bird' gestured towards my father then focused back to me and smiled.

"Oh my, what an energetic little one. Are you hurt?"
"Ah… no…"
"Is this your first time meeting a Chozo?"

He crouched to my height level and stared with wide eyes at me. I couldn't help thinking he'd squawk and bite me.

"There's nothing to fear; we look different, but inside, we have the same 'heart' that you do, so be at ease."

It was then that I realised he had a most serene voice; it was peaceful and wise.

"I am called 'Old Bird'; would you like to be friends?"
"I'm Samus Aran, three years old, and sure."

A past thought came rushing back to me; that bad boy still has my backpack. I looked back at Old Bird and realised something; he's a bird.

"Come over here, I need some help."

I grabbed his hand with both of mine and dragged him towards the forest. He hesitated at first, confusingly but then gave way.

"Ah, very well."
"Samus, wait!" my father yelled.

He exclaimed more but I was already too far away to understand him. As we journeyed through the forest, I couldn't help but smile; I had just met an alien for the first time in my life, and he's nice. We reached the clearing and I looked up to see the thing still up on the branch holding my pack. I pointed up at him and looked at Old Bird.

"Can you fly up and get my backpack back? I can't reach him."
"I wish I could Samus; sadly, I cannot fly.
"You can't fly?"
"That's right; we lost our wings long ago. I'm sorry."
"Then I guess you're just like me…"

I looked back up, saddened. The little rascal remained on the branch, staring back at us both.

"What'll I do? I need it back. That bad boy…"
"Hmm… perhaps he refuses to come down because he thinks that you are angry with him."

I looked at Old Bird in confusion. Why wouldn't I be angry at him? He took my backpack.

"Why not make friends with him, just as we did earlier."

Old Bird pointed his finger up and smiled.

"Let's start by giving him a name."
"A name?"

I closed my eyes and put my brain to work. After a few seconds I reopened them as Old Bird stared at me in curiosity. I stared back at him and smiled.

"How about… Pyonchi?"

The Rabbilis looked straight at me and squeaked. Old Bird and I looked at each other, before the creature made its way down the tree and stood a metre away. We both smiled then started laughing together while Pyonchi ran around us. The sun was descending as the skies turned orange.

"I wonder how the negotiations are going."
"Should we be heading back now?"
"That sounds like wise idea young Samus."

I crouched down and picked up Pyonchi with him still grasping my backpack; his fur was extremely warm.

"You can hold onto it this time."

He squeaked back.

We made our way back to the docks, where Old Bird joined his younger comrade in negotiations. There wasn't much I could catch while they were talking; Pyonchi kept licking my face, tickling me. All I know is that father could not supply the Chozo with Afloraltite without knowing what they needed it for. Old Bird turned to me; I knew they were going to leave.

"You're going already?"
"Yes, I'm afraid I have a very important job to do."
"But we just started being friends."

He crouched down again, and smiled.

"I'm sure we will meet again, young Samus Aran."
"Come back soon Old Bird."

With that, he stood back up and nodded at both my father and his young comrade. Father nodded back and walked towards me while they made their way to their ship.

"You little energetic bunny."

He rubbed my hair and smiled.

"I see you've made two new friends today."
"Yes dad."

I looked at Pyonchi and smiled. Then I looked over to Old Bird who had just entered the ship. The engines came to life and they slowly rose, ripples of dust emanating from underneath. It turned around then soared off into the distance of the stars.

"Now, go play until my shift is over then we can go home to mum's cooking, deal?"
"Deal!"

I ran back towards the forest, holding Pyonchi in my arms. Once we reached the clearing yet again, I sat down to take a rest. All this running back and forth was making me tired. Pyonchi placed my backpack on the ground then snuggled up in my lap. His warm fur was so comforting that I managed to fall asleep.

I woke up to Pyonchi licking my face. I immediately sat upright and grabbed his little paws.

"Ha ha. Pyonchi that tickles."

Just then, I heard small boom in the distance and turned around; from this high clearing, one could see the urban docks. Curious, I stared until I realised it was smoke, the aftermath of perhaps an accident. Suddenly, I could hear a high pitched sound growing louder until 100 metres away, the grass gave way; the area flashed up and all sound deafened. I yelled and quickly turned the other way, Pyonchi held in my arms. Just 100 metres away, anything within the radius of 50 metres was obliterated immediately. The colony was under attack.

After a few moments, I slowly sat up from the ashes. Pyonchi was squeaking in desperation, licking off dirt on my face. Brushing off dust on my clothes, I realised the forest was on fire and quickly panicked. I grabbed Pyonchi and ran back towards the docks to my father. As I sprinted, all I could hear was the crackling of the flames, the snapping of branches, explosions in the far distance and worst of all, the screams of people. At the edge of the forest, a thick dust cloud revolved; the moment I ran into it, I breathed in the dust and slowed down, coughing. From this moment forth, I was incredibly frightened; I could feel Pyonchi shaking, which I made worse for I was too. Without sense of anything, I tried to call out to mother and father.

"Papa. Mama. Where are you?"

As I made my way through the dust, I noticed a large tall figure in front of me.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Clearing the dust cloud, I looked upon a figure of a terrifying being. Pyonchi turned and dug his head onto my shoulder. There was so much destruction: towers were collapsed, buildings no longer standing, torn apart ships and chaotic debris on the floor. Among it all, sat a dragon, crouched and still four times my height. I stared in horror as it looked back, before another fearsome came up to the dragon.

"Lord Ridley, we have captured the facility. We have begun transporting the containers."
"Good."

"A-Are you Mr Ridley?"

The dragon stared back with an almost sad expression on its face as the humanoid alien walked away, claws opened. I found it hard to speak amongst all this devastation.

"I-I'm Samus… th-three years old. You're not scary… I'm perfectly fine, e-even if you look different. W-We can still be friends!"

The dragon began to open its mouth; my entire body was shaking, ready to be eaten, but all that came out were words; I looked at him, frozen in confusion.

"Mhmm. You're so cute. I'm sorry miss but that's impossible! Because…"

His expression changed from sympathy to anger as he rose and spread his wings.

"You're about to die!"

I screamed in terror as light began to emanate from the dragon's mouth. From the commotion, I heard a familiar voice growing louder.

"Samus?"
"Mama!"

From the dust, mother ran towards me without looking back. As she reached me, instead of holding me, she pushed me away.

"Run Samus!"

She grew further away and before I knew it, she was engulfed in flames. What used to be mother was now a large cloud of smoke and ash.

"MAMA!"

The explosion knocked me back a large distance and made me unconscious. I woke up once again to the licking of Pyonchi. All I could hear were his squeaks, the scorching of dying flames and the calm breeze. I stood up and brushed myself down, with Pyonchi looking back up at me. All of a sudden, his ears went straight up and he looked across over the field. My eyes followed and I noticed two figures in the distance.

"Papa? Mama?"

As I trudged closer, I realised who they were.

"Old Bird?"
"SAMUS!"

Everything after that was a blur, until we reached another planet that I then called 'home'.