Misfortune Favours the Bold

Tharin stared at the landscape one last time before kicking his space ship. It was an unworthy vessel, built out of access radioactive titanium that had probably stolen half his life span. It had died out the second he had entered the atmosphere. It was easily beyond repair and the plants were starting to eye him hungrily. Some were creepers, slow moving spores that would, if he stood still for more than an hour, begin to grow roots around him, and if he stood for a day, half his body might be submerged. Some were not plants but interesting species disguised as plants. He shot those before they could even try. The animals were scared off by the sound. He threw on a back pack from his ship and began to head out. He took with him the rescue beacon from the ship set on high. but he doubted he would be picked up. There was very limited signal range in this part of the world.

He started heading to one of the dump centers hoping to find something useful to either build as a more efficient weapon than his half empty gun, or to boost the signal in his beacon.

because of the almost legendary nature of the planet few dared to roam besides to dump the trash then leave. Metal eating bugs and plants were rampant in these parts. It was a lot easier to survive on Mercury than most people thought. Whole colonies had developed. Of course it required a more survivalist and scavanging nature than the average city, but it was a living. Where there was life support there were humans. Although somethings did bother Thatin. For example, there were spores that, if breathed in would explode with plant life, tunneling into you and growing out. You would remain alive for days, feeding the plant. But Tharin had pills for that. He stared at the bottle. Expired on March 8 3001. He paused. Best not to breath in when near monster spores. Besides, the nose hairs would catch them before they reached the lung. And the climate inside a nose wouldn't be appropriate for growing monster plants, he hoped. But to be on the safe side he avoided most spores.

He reached a large pile of scrap metal. He avoided a man eating plant that looked like metal and when he was certain that there was nothing in the scrap heap that would be helpful, he set it on fire. It didn't scream, it didn't feel pain, it had no nerve system, and it had no lungs. There was no movement of any kind. It simply died. Tharin liked plants which did that.

Tharin continued walking. He had a job to do, he needed to find something called the crystal of osiris. He had been given a beacon that would direct him to it. But if he found a way out, that could only be a bonus. He rubbed some plant repellent on his body. It was old surplus that hadn't been manufactured in a while because of complaints from some about flesh eating properties, THAT, he noted with satisfaction had never been conclusively proven. It was a little past its expiry date but it seemed to do the trick as the plants began to fan away from him. He paused to see if his flesh was disintegrating. It didn't seem to, so with a cheerful whistle he began walking.