The Other Earth by Derek Schumacher (reading like a writer .TXT) 📕

It wasn't for another hour until something else came up. But this was something much more interesting then a few tracks in the sand. Upstream, off to the side and above the ridge of the river, was a hut. A hut made out of mud and rock for walls, and a cobbled together wooden roof. Whoever made this thing sure had been here a while. Stepping inside, he noticed whoever lived here must have slept on an old log, and used another similar fire pit to the one created down by the field. This must be the same person.

Leaving the little hut, Marcus stumbled upon something else. There seemed to be arrows on the ground, made of wood, that were pointing in the cardinal directions. He didn't know what any of the symbols near the arrows meant, and decided to leave this one alone. He was sure following these might lead him into something less desired. So, Marcus headed back down towards the river.

Once he made it back down, he saw something he completely missed when he first arrived. Someone made a bridge to get across the river. Looking across the river, he could see more prints, these much more profound. It must mean that whoever made the hut, the little thing by the field, must have made this bridge as well. And whoever this is, sure has a lot of unique ideas, and a lot of spare time to kill.

Marcus looked the bridge up and down. He wasn't exactly sure how he was supposed to cross it without getting soaked, since he could see that the boards were slightly submerged, and the current didn't look very forgiving. But, then he looked across the river again, and saw a large stone laying on the side of it. That must be it, he would need extra weight to get across safely, and to make sure he wouldn't be swept off his feet and into the water below.

The man climbed up the ridge, and began to search around for a decent sized rock. After a few minutes, he found a little outcove of a cave in the east area, and pulled a rock from a wall. Carrying it back to the bridge, Marcus thought to himself a bit. Was this bridge going to be safe, or was it somehow rigged by the creator to drop unwanted visitors in the drink? Guess he'd have to find out somehow, and that was to attempt to cross it.

Holding the rock in his arms, Marcus slowly began to cross the bridge. For as interesting it looked, it actually held up pretty well. He noticed it was tied together with a bunch of ropes, which seemed to be created by vines. Maybe they were from that cave he found the stone in, as it seemed some of the vines hanging down had been torn, the top of them torn up and still regrowing. It sure took a long time to regrow on this planet.

After a slow and steady paced crossing of the river, the man tossed his rock he used to the side of the one on the other side of the river. He looked over to the mountain, and then at the prints on the ground. They seemed to be pointing and headed up towards the mountain, which for sure must be a good long ways away. But it didn't bother Marcus much, even if it were going to get late, he'll be alright. The dark never affected the man, and besides, he had plenty of things to deal with the nightfall.

Before he headed off towards the mountain, the man stretched his legs a bit. He didn't want to end up cramping halfway to his destination, so it was always a good idea to stretch beforehand. Once he was ready, he started his walk. He wasn't sure why this person was headed all the way up towards the mountain, but maybe he would find them up there, and get a chance to ask.

He wondered to himself just how long this person walked for, especially on a daily basis. These were multiple hour walks, so this person must have either been decently prepared for an expedition, wanted a lot of exercise, or was trying to tire themselves to death. It was probably at least one of those three.

As he walked, he noticed the prints slowly becoming clearer and clearer, which shows that this person must have come up this way at least in the last day or so. Still the question of why exactly someone would come up all this way lingered in Marcus's head. He would never need to come all the way to a mountain for any reason. Too much hassell, he'd rather just stay at that mud hut, and expand off of that. Much simpler, and plenty less exhausting. For the most part at least.

Hour after hour, it seemed the mountain grew closer and closer in view. Marcus also noticed that the ground began to slowly incline, which meant his destination much be up on top of a ridge or slope. Was it maybe the source of the river? It would make sense, since the river had been widening every now and then. So, this person wanted to come all the way up for water? No, that can't be right. There couldn't be much wrong with the normal river water.

Maybe it was a personal journey, something only this person wanted, something another person wouldn't understand. Even if this were his brother, Marcus still had no idea why anyone would want to come all this way. Maybe it was a nice view? Or they wanted to scale the mountain? He was running out of assumptions.

It took forever, but finally he had made it. He made it to the last leg of this long and incredibly boring walk, as the ground began to slope drastically upwards. This must mean that this source of water must just be up ahead, and the Marcus had made it. He was thrilled, mainly because he could rest once he reached the top, as he had been practically walking the entire time nonstop. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't feel the need to take a break whatsoever. Except now, a break would be very nice.

Climbing to the top, he rolled himself over and ontop the summit of the hill. If this was how mountain climbing was, Marcus wanted nothing to do with it. There were plenty of things he would do, but that, was most certainly not one of them. It's incredibly exhausting, forcing you to constantly lift your entire body over and over again. Especially since he wasn't exactly a small person, this was even worse for him. Not saying that he's fat, but his body was decently built, and muscle weighs more than fat.

After catching his breath, the man got back up and onto his feet. Glancing over the clearing infront of him, he could clearly see the water source. It was a giant lake, the reflection of the mountain clear as day, and very nice looking at that. No wonder the person came up here, it was a beautiful sight to see. Marcus was never a big person for nature, but he would admit this was nice scenary.

Once he was finished at looking at the water, something caught his eye. Or, rather someone. A figure stood at the foot of the lake, looking up at the mountain. Marcus's spirits rose high, and he smiled to himself. This could be him, his brother, who he had been searching for all this time!

"Brother, is that you? It's me, Marcus, I've come to be here with you!"

The figure jittered slightly, and then turned around. The figure was a man, had to be early or late thirties, his hair and beard were ragged, his clothes torn, and his body torn up badly, multiple wounds shown through his torn up shirt. Whoever this was sure had taken a beating throughout their journey.

"Can you hear me?"

The figure shook once again, and this time, looked directly at Marcus. He looked back, and then saw the man's eyes. They were gray, faded, and filled with sorrow. The figure stumbled towards him, and stopped a meter away. It's skin was pale, and clammy. Almost like it had been in contact with tons of water. Now that Marcus thought about it, the entire person was drenched. Were they just out for a swim, or something of the like?

"Neil, is that you?"

The figure stopped, and stared at Marcus. It's face was almost that of someone who had seen over a hundered horrors. But, soon that face of terror turned to one of sorrow and pain. The figure then waited for Marcus to look back up at it, and then, it nodded.

Neil was back.

Good Midday, Today is September 30, 2118.

"It's been too long, brother. And I have so many things I want to talk about with you"

Neil would nod slowly, and then point in the other direction, the direction of the field. Marcus was confused at first, looking at the arm, and then the direction, and then back at his brother. But then, he spoke.

"This way, Marcus. We will talk on the way. But we must go there, to the fields", Neil mumbled. His brother nodded, and smiled. It was so nice to have someone to talk to, and his brother of all people at that. It was truly amazing.

The two brothers then began to make their way back to the starting point of both their journeys. Neil would look over at his brother, and mumble quietly to himself. He felt wrong, something was very off. Something wasn't right, none of this should be happening, and yet, it is anyways.

"So, Brother, I want to make an apology. For a lot of things, too many things to count", Marcus spoke to his brother. Neil looked over, a bit confused. What was he sorry for, did he do something? He couldn't remember anything, even why he was still here. He shouldn't be walking right now.

"I have been weak all my life, not in physicality, but in mentality. There have been so many times, especially when we were younger, that I wanted to be there, to help you. But I couldn't, I couldn't force myself to do it, the reprocussians too powerful against me. I was weak, and put myself over you, and for that, I'm so, so sorry."

Neil looked at him, his eyes still gray, a somber, watered down color gray. Who cares about the past now? There is no way to return from whence we've come, this was it. The cycle was supposed to be complete. Birth, Life, and Death. Why isn't it working?

"I hope you can forgive me, brother", Marcus said as he patted his brother on the shoulder. His body was cold and wet, but he didn't pay much attention to it. Maybe he would treat him to a warm fire later on,