Kay could feel his consciousness stirring, which was weird because it felt like his third time waking up that day: once in his old life, another in the void, and now. After passing through the shining gateway, he'd apparently passed out.
The ground beneath him felt soft and damp. Wherever he'd ended up it definitely wasn't a bed. Yet, the sensation that was rousing him came from his pockets. He felt a hand that was not his fishing through them.
"Hey, I'm not dead!" He sprang into a sitting position.
Fully alert, he looked to his left, only to see a pale skin little with short silver hair holding his smartphone in her hands. However, she wasn't an ordinary little girl. The first thing that caught his attention were the girl's wings.
At the moment they were folded, barely visible over the girl's form, but they looked like when unfurled they'd be at least as big as the girl herself. Colored a solid white with a golden border, they were definitely the most flattering aspect of the girl.
Spreading from the girl's hand to her elbow were whisky tufts of white fur and atop her head was a set of short black antennae that branched out like the teeth of a comb.
Kay flinched and averted his gaze. He had been looking at the girl's bug-like eyes. They were big and dark, with no pupils to speak of.
The girl strategically backed away.
"I'm sorry, mister. Figured you wouldn't miss anything I took."
Though she apologized, no effort was made to return the stolen phone. Instead, she appraised him from several feet away, hovering hear a grove of trees.
"Don't worry about it." Kay said nicely. He figured the girl hadn't meant any harm.
The girl didn't respond. Between her slender fingers she held his cellphone, seemingly having lost interest in the oversized man lying on the ground. It looked like she had never seen one before, which was weird to Kay because on earth parents had started giving toddlers phones as playthings.
Though he hadn't meant to let her keep his phone, he shrugged it off. He doubted he'd get any reception out here anyway.
The two were in a swampy forest with towering trees in every direction. Small lights broke through the oppressive canopy, giving his eyes the bare minimum brightness. He guessed it was daytime.
"Do you know where we are?" he asked the moth girl.
"No. Haven't been here long." the girl replied in short bursts between tinkering with his smartphone.
Suddenly the girl let out a small growl of frustration. Any pretenses of unfamiliarity gone, the girl angrily stomped towards him.
"It says 'locked out'. Where did all those numbers go?" she extended the phone towards his face, but wouldn't let him touch it.
Kay guessed that she had entered the incorrect passcode too many times. He found it oddly endearing that she came to him for help. After all, she'd just stolen the thing from him. It was like complaining to a store that the bananas you'd stolen were rotten.
" It takes a couple minutes to unlock. We should probably look around in the meantime," he said, trying to take the lead. It was the least he could do.
Kay wasn't used to talking to strangers, but he was able to manage given that it was only a little girl. Given his age, he'd have been embarrassed if he'd let the moth girl take the lead. He hadn't even been lost in a jungle before, but he figured that gathering information about their surroundings took priority.
The girl looked at him hesitantly, clutching the smartphone in a tight embrace. It looked as though she had very little faith in him.
He and the moth girl walked around, though it quickly became apparent who was in the lead. Over the course of an hour, Kay had almost found himself in danger several times and if it wasn't for the girl he'd almost certainly have died.
Kay had started walking into a clearing with trees marred by large claw marks, when the girl had suggested that they try another direction. Although he insisted that they continue, they were soon confronted by a pack of wild jaguars.
He gallantly tried to protect the girl, though was soon on the receiving end, as the girl unfurled her wings. Speckled throughout the wings were patterns of eyes.
Kay had heard that moths spread their wings, revealing patterns that dismayed predators from targeting them. The girl's defense mechanism succeeded in deterring the beasts from attacking.
Later she dragged Kay away from a river with floating logs. He was convinced the pair could find water, though the girl explained that it was infested crocodiles.
Then he showed her some mushrooms he thought were edible, and it turned out they weren't. According to the little girl, they were poisonous.
After their first hour traveling together it was decided that the girl would lead and Kay would follow, lest he get them both killed.
At this point the faint light that had begun to fade, leaving the two to find shelter for the night. The girl found herself a secure tree branch, which she had nimbly climbed to.
Kay asked her why she didn't fly up. Apparently her wings were only for intimidating predators, the girl explained. They didn't let her fly.
Panting with exhaustion over the most physically exhausting day he'd had in decades, Kay looked worriedly up at the moth girl.
"And where am I supposed to sleep? There's no way I can climb up a tree," He said between haggard breaths.
"I don't see how that's my problem," said the girl as she puffed her cheeks, though she did hover down from the tree to help him anyway. After weaving him a leaf blanket and starting a fire to keep him warm, the girl returned to her tree.
"Thanks for the help." said Kay, embarrassed. "Good night."
"Good night, mister" came the girl's soft voice from the tree.
Kay closed his eyes and drifted to sleep, unaware that the next day would prove much more challenging.