The Brave One

The brave one thought that there is something honorable about going out in a blaze of glory. Perhaps he was right. Perhaps he wasn't. Either way his parent's spoke of the first expedition to Karive with great admiration. If the brave one didn't know better he would think that he would like to be on that mission; exploring unknowns and venturing forth into uncertainty. Now they protected the other settlers from life on Karive, but they yearned to abandon the same.

You see the world around them had become too routine for them. They patrolled the same areas, and trudged through their past footprints in the sand. They returned to the same homes, and looked at the same landscape. Around the table with hushed voices they told each other "This isn't why I came here." or "This isn't what we're meant to do". The Brave one sat listening to these discussions. His head nodded when specific points came up, and his brow furrowed at the more nuanced ones.

He was young, and brave for his age. Being one of the first humans born on Karive some 17 years ago, he knew the area quite well. In fact this was the only area he knew, this was a limitation of oxygen supply. The others continued discussing, while he started to dream about new modifications for his oxygen tanks, and more efficient respirator designs. Those who had come to Karive were somewhat lucky, the atmosphere was thin. They only required oxygen tanks and respirators. Someone once had compared it to Mount Everest the Brave one remembered. Whatever that means. He dozed off, climbing mountains in his sleep while the others bickered.