theattic | PSL: SPACE HOSS

Something streaked across the red-gold sky and it was not the annual comet.

It careened over the treetops, sizzling several as it passed. The pod oblong with several ridges and seams and a single window that had crusted over with melted paint. The whole thing was blackened with entry. It fell lower and lower in an almost graceful arc before it stared hitting trees in earnest. It rattled side to side and finally started to tumble, end over end until it landed at the very edge of a bog. Steam clouded the entire area as half the pond evaporated right then and there.

Small fires smoldered in its wake and for a long, long time there was no movement beyond the occasional curious avian.

Suddenly there was a chime that would not be out of place coming from a microwave proudly declaring that it had finished heating up a hotpocket. The pod split with a hiss and the top lifted and slid backward with a smooth motion.

A robotic voice then said, Thank you for flying with the S. S. Funzone! It's been fun!

A miserable white and brown creature crawled out of the craft, took four steps, and collapsed onto the muddy ground. He did not have fun at all.

Edited 2015-12-25 18:21 (UTC)

Well, that was new. It was hardly an uncommon occurence when things burned in the atmosphere or even survived it to touch down on the surface, but this ... no, this was something else, and Ferus was immediately on edge as he ducked beneath a branch and jogged towards the crash site.

Because that's what he was already assuming: a crash site. It had looked like some kind of craft, anyway. None that he recognised. Which was worrying.

And he was alone, which was also a little worrying, potentially, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. Besides, having sent Wil back to base had been a good idea an hour ago. Nobody could predict the future and things were usually quiet in the Tanglewoods, because nobody in their right mind would try to navigate them.

Ferus would, but the reasons for why were a secret, and that's one he intended to keep.

Grabbing his blaster from his thigh, he put the stock against his shoulder and took aim as he sidestepped the trees that surrounded the clearing with the pond. One he'd known well, but that now looked quite different.

As did the ship.

And the creature.

He fixed the blaster on the - quadruped, was it? - but he straightened up from the half crouch, not really sensing any danger, even if he took precautions for a reason.

"Hey", he called. "What happened here?"

The ear with the brown blotch on the tip was the one that lifted and swiveled to catch Ferus's voice.

They didn't sound angry. Or very big. So Maurice saw no need to be in any kind of a hurry. His head was spinning and pounding and he was pretty sure he had a concussion. It wouldn't be his first or his last.

Wearily, the Sagittarian turned his head so that he was no longer sucking up mud and dirt. He coughed and said, "I wish I knew."

It had all happened so fast.

There had been buzzers and red lights and suddenly everyone was being ushered into a wing of the ship he'd never been in before. It was different from the teleporter bay and one after one they'd all been shoved into pods. And ejected. Maurice could only wonder what kind of threat could have been bad enough to cause that because one of the few non-robots he met arrived on board by literally crashing straight through the ship. The drones were quick to repair the holes and nobody got sucked out into space.

"I'm sorry if I landed on anybody's house."

Ferus gave a short, amused laugh at that. "You landed in a mess", he said, and straightened up a little, keeping his finger out of the trigger guard but the blaster still aimed in Maurice's direction. "This is called the Tanglewoods for a reason."

Not that Maurice would know and Ferus definitely wouldn't tell him, but he wasn't all wrong, either, despite what Ferus was saying, because The Eleven had a reason for being out here. They were clearing a path through the trees and setting up a handful of holograms in its stead to have a good flight path, should worse come to worse.

They were doing similar work beneath Cloud Lake, but that wasn't anywhere near as close to being ready yet.

The Tanglewoods were ideal, because the Empire still felt it was a hopeless case. Something they weren't entire wrong about. Which Maurice had evidently gotten a taste of.

That laugh gave Maurice a little comfort. It didn't sound cruel. He wasn't in trouble. His fear levels steadily dropped and suddenly he wished he were afraid because then he could focus on being terrified and not--

"Oooow. God." He pushed up his human half and let his head hang. He didn't have the money for medical attention. "This is gonna take a while to walk off."

Slowly, slowly the hexaped got one wobbly leg under him. Then the other three. He was covered in mud and it was impossible to see where his spots started or ended. His jacket was in similarly rough shape and he'd lost one of his colorful hoof coverings in the rush to the pod bay.

It was then that he finally decided to turn on his manners and face this stranger so that he could look properly embarrassed for the mess he'd made. Both ears stood up.

"You're a man."

A man with a weapon aimed straight at him. But still just. A man.

"... sure", he answered with just a touch of hesitation, not sure whether this was a good or a bad thing. "You don't get a lot of humans where you're from?"

At least this stranger was partially humanoid, but what really took Ferus by surprise were the many limbs. He hadn't seen so many on a creature before, or at least not arranged like that. This was ... hm. It was a strange mix.

Must be from the Outer Rim, he thought, because that's where the most unexplored areas were, there or beyond. But then, he supposed he shouldn't assume. It was entirely possible he'd just missed or overlooked this type of species.

But still.

Maurice held his head and took a couple of lumbering steps toward Ferus before he remembered the blaster. His ears fell to the sides, but it wasn't fear he gazed at it with.

He wanted to hold it.

During his long, long trip throughout the multiverse, Maurice had not once come into contact with a gun to protect himself with. Luckily, he hadn't ever ended up on the business end of one either.

"Actually...where I'm from, we're number one. But. It's a long story. I'm gonna--" He sat down heavily on his backside and nearly went into a roll. "I hit my head. Is there a..." He looked around at the trees again with one eye and then he tried to figure out what kind of tech this place might have from the man's clothes. But that weapon. "A hospital?"

A hosp- a medcenter. Right. Of course. "Right, sorry", he said, and holstered the blaster again, feeling its reassuring weight against his thigh. Then he hesitated for a moment as he took another look around the trees.

He wasn't going to signal Wil or Roan, because whoever this guy was, he wasn't going to get to know about resistance business. They were probably not going to be able to walk the whole way. But he wasn't sure his speeder could carry both of them, not when Maurice had ... so much body.

No offense meant, of course.

He blew out a breath, then stepped closer to Maurice. "How bad is it? You're not bleeding, are you?"

He was coherent and mobile, so Ferus wasn't too worried, but he knew better than to underestimate injuries.

"I've got a concussion," he said with the utmost conviction. He was a football player, he knew his bumps. "And..." He turned his hands over, felt along down his side, bent his surprisingly flexible torso down and felt along his legs which got him into the most trouble.

"Not on the outside..."

With a loud grunt, he stood again and quivered his sides to get the dirt and grass off of them. He eyed Ferus again, the excitement of his crash now fading. Worry seeped into his expression and made itself at home. Maurice had the face of a man who was pretty used to being disappointed.

"This isn't Earth, is it?"

Earth? "This is Bellassa. You're in the Inner Rim."

Because if he didn't know Earth, Maurice might not know Bellassa, but he was bound to know the different sections of the galaxy. And wherever Earth was, it wasn't in this one. Ferus was pretty sure he knew every system near the Core.

"I'm gonna take that as a big ole' no." Maurice said and looked skyward as if he could somehow spot his little blue dot, shielding his eyes as he did. He made a face when he saw the fires his pod made and quickly decided to look somewhere else. His ears swiveled as the gears in his head started turning.

"I just crash-landed on a planet. I guess that makes me an alien. Ahah. Hah! Hah..." He held his head again. Laughing hurt right now. He reached into the little pack that would have been a fanny pack if he'd been a human and tugged out his network pad. The screen was cracked but it still came on.

"Google, what is Bellassuh?"

Google thought about it.

Did you mean: Bellossom, the Flower Pokemon?

"No! Bell ah suh!" Maurice stamped a forehoof in frustration.

No results found. Try narrowing your search.

"Uuugh."

Eyes widening slightly, Ferus took another step forwar out of pure interest. That looked pretty similar to one of his own datapads, but he hadn't seen one before that was that compact that could actually recognise commands in this way, and he'd never before heard of a system called Google.

And he had no idea what a Pokémon was, nor any of its subtypes.

But then, that wasn't exactly the priority right now either, so he waved a hand to get Maurice's attention, then gestured towards the woods.

"Look, you can get offplanet later. That thing doesn't really look salvageable right now. We'll have to walk for a bit. You okay to do that?"

Maurice ignored Ferus as he tried to ask Google for help two more times. Eventually he gave up and tucked the pad away in his saddlebag.

"You're right." He looked around again. He couldn't hear any vehicles or smell anything beyond burnt spacepod to tell him where civilization was. "I dunno." His head was pounding and he knew if he was going to be galumphing through a forest, it was going to make it worse. "But what choice do I have?"

"You can stay here and I can come back", he said easily enough, because that was another option and one he'd already considered. "I don't have a lot of supplies with me. I'd have to be gone a while."

It was tricky to balance this, because of course he'd help someone who had just crashlanded in what he more or less considered his own back yard, but he didn't want to call more attention than necessary to said back yard. Eyeing the pod behind Maurice and the smoke surrounding it, he grimaced faintly as he thought of what that might mean, too.

At least they were reasonably far from the secret path.

Maurice took his turn to think. He could try to crawl back into the pod where at least there was padding and rest...but what if the pod had a built in self-destruct. It had a built in opening mechanism after all. There was also the issue of was this guy even a doctor?

His tail swished as he thought.

"Let's give walking a shot...and thanks, by the way."

"I like to think that if I was lucky enough to crash land, someone would give me a hand."

Ferus shot him a quick smile and started walking, stepping over a thick root and onto the soft ground. He wasn't worried about the small fires from the pod, given the wetness in the soil and how scattered they were, but he still took another look at the craft before he kept going.

The path would get increasingly more thin and winding, he knew. At least he had a good idea on where he was. He'd been here more than enough time to orient himself in a way most people never had.

It might get troublesome with four legs and two more appendages, he thought, taking another look at Maurice.

"I'm Ferus."

Ferus was right.

As long as he'd been a six-limbed abomination, he'd been on a ship with slick floors and wide hallways. There was a Nature Deck but it looked like a perfectly manicured park complete with tiny lake and sailboats. Even the strange woods they had gone camping in were sparse enough for the enormous robots to maneuver around in.

Here, Maurice was not so lucky. Briars tugged at his fur and scratched his knees and he had to duck several times, hands on his throbbing noggin. He really hoped his earring wouldn't catch on anything. He would have taken it off but after being electrocuted too many times by Chop Shop, it had fused shut. The mud sucked at his hooves and after about ten minutes the cheap colorful coverings were all gone.

"Hi, Ferus," he said a little lamely as he eyed the underbrush and found himself worrying what water moccasins on other planets were like. "I'm Maurice...and I guess I am pretty lucky, huh! The pod didn't explode and I wasn't instantly picked up by the government the second I popped out."

Maurice stopped walking. His ears slowly rotated so that they pointed straight back.

"Am I?"

Eyes narrowing slightly, Ferus shot a quick look back at Maurice as he led the way through. That kind of comment deserved a double take. Any kind of comment like that did. Because the government - the Empire ...

"I'm not with them", he said a little flatly after a second, then kept making his way ahead. The ground turned more solid and more dry. The chirps of birds became more common, as well as one or two rustles of the underbush that made headway even more difficult.

There were days he'd much rather stay out here than go back to see the Imperial presence all over his city. His planet. His home.

But you had to be careful in what you said and to whom, these days, so he didn't say much more, not just then.

For a long moment, the Sagittarian did not follow. THAT WAS THE EXACT KIND OF THING A GOVERNMENT PERSON WOULD SAY.

But he was being left behind and his hip was starting to hurt.

"Well...okay...but if you've got any plans to stick me in some test tube or cut me open and film it, I'd make other plans."

Ferus would hear the creature's footfalls following him again, but from further back.

Turning around and stopping, Ferus crossed his arms and fixed Maurice with a scowl.

"Why the kriff would I want to do that?"

Sure, Maurice was a new species as far as he'd seen, but even if Ferus had felt inclined to be morally questionable at best, he wouldn't have first extended a hand.

"If you don't trust me, you're free to leave. I'm not going to stop you."

One of his ears twitched.

Kriff? He tucked that away for later.

"Well..." Maurice pawed at the earth and lowered his gaze to Ferus's blaster. "That's what the government on Earth does to weird-lookin' guys that fall out of the sky. Or we think so. It's never really happened."

Shaking his head, Ferus turned to keep going, but he was keeping an eye on Maurice over his shoulder.

"Well, we don't do that here. Or at least the Empire hasn't thought of it yet. As far as I know."

There was still a little hint of warning there, but Ferus wasn't interested in holding a grudge. Besides, like he'd said, he wouldn't stop Maurice if he tried to leave. That just wouldn't keep him from thinking it was a dumb move.

"Where is this Earth of yours, anyway? Outer Rim?"

"The Empire," Maurice echoed as if it were a word he wasn't used to saying. He really wasn't. Empire belonged in history class. "Well...let's hope they don't."

His hand wandered back up to his head after being clenched at his withers into a fist. Ow, his head.

"I dunno how t' tell you, man. I don't think my solar system has a name." He didn't even know he was in the right dimension either. His stomachs started hurting at the thought of that. He was so far from home. Good grief. "Earth, Pluto, Mars, Jupiter...uh. Uranus. Neptune. There's one I always forget...Earth's the only one wit life."

Somewhat surprised, Ferus threw another look over his shoulder at Maurice, an eyebrow raised. Those were names he didn't recognise at all. And even if systems weren't named, they usually had at least a numerical designation.

"Alright", he said, as he went on ahead, spotting the speeder in the far distance and stepping easily over a particularly big root that wound its way partway up the ground. He didn't like repeating himself, more because he didn't wnat Maurice to think that Ferus thought he was dumb or something, but he did anyway. "But where's that in the galaxy? It's not anywhere near the Core, right?"

"Um..." He paused to watch the huge insect that buzzed overhead. Did he really want to go into alternate dimensions with this guy so soon after meeting him? A forehoof caught on the root Ferus skillfully stepped over and he nearly went sprawling. "I can't...I couldn't tell you. Would...you believe me if I told you that up until just a little while ago, we thought we were the only ones out here?"

He gave the two-legger an anxious smile.

Turning his head to give Maurice another puzzled look, he took the next two steps backwards.

"When you're sentient and have a spaceworthy craft? Not really."

Because ... no, not really. But Maurice seemed genuinely confused about the situation, and Ferus figured that there was no point pressing him on something he might not be able to answer - honestly, he was concussed anyway - so after another short stare he shook his head and turned around, gripping a low-hanging branch to help himself over another particularly big root.

"But alright, we'll deal with that later." He gestured ahead. "Speeder's right there."

Okay, Maurice really should have expected a reaction like that. He blinked rapidly and started following again.

"I was abducted, dude."

Did they say dude in space? Was he going to have to explain 80s earth slang? The Sagittarian's thoughts were interrupted when the speeder appeared. Maurice's ears stood up and an enormous grin replaced his perpetually worried frown. Oh man! Oh wow! That thing looked so cool! And super non-horse friendly but it was still so cool!

Maurice finally did trip over that last big root but his spirits couldn't be dampened in the presence of what was a legit space bike. Something occurred to him as he picked himself up.

"I'm an alien, huh?"

Again. Again Maurice needed a Look.

"... yes?" Ferus tried, just a touch uncertainly, because Maurice was throwing him for all kinds of loops. "You're not really human, at any rate."

At least that much was clear, for all the other confusions: that while Maurice was at least partially humanoid, he was definitely not human. Ferus, however, very much was, as were most Bellassans, and that made such things as speeders easy to maneuver.

For whatever Maurice was, they still had a problem.

Coming up to the speeder and digging through the small compartment, he picked up a small bottle of water, called a "here" and tossed it Maurice's way.

"Yes I am!"

Maurice's face changed to clearly show that he'd only just realized what he'd said as soon as the words left his mouth. He then made another face that suggested he wished he could breathe those words back in because his life had become one long story after another and suddenly he was so tired.

"Nevermind."

He caught the water and stared down at it dumbly. He remembered water. It was what people who couldn't find alcohol drank. He fumbled with the lid before turning it up. His stupid oversized body soaked it up like a sponge. It was hardly a swallow but it was cool in his throat and grounding. Water was everywhere, no matter the 'verse.

How poetic.

Oh, his head.

"Thanks. For all of this, by the way."

"It's not a problem", Ferus said easily, neatly hiding the one remaining projector while Maurice was occupied with the water - while at the same time taking quick stock to confirm that nope, he really didn't have anything here that would help this apparently-a-human out other than that.

Securing the blaster at the back of the speeder, he straightened up and pushed a hand through his hand, thinking.

The speeder wouldn't hold Maurice and any real craft wouldn't be able to land here anyway, so ...

"This would've been a lot easier if you'd crashed anywhere else", he said, not accusingly, just stating, and double-checked the fuel levels. "We have a medcenter in the city but we're a while out. I have a friend I could check with, maybe ... I don't suppose you're up to walking much more?"

"I'll remember that next time." Maurice rolled his eyes but it was obvious he didn't take anything Ferus said as an insult. It actually felt good to joke. But then the seriousness of them being out in the space boonies settled back in again.

"I wanna try."

He squared both sets of shoulders and steadied himself on his hooves.

"Let's go."

Shooting Maurice a quick grin in both encouragement and approval, Ferus climbed into the speeder and keyed up the controls. He kept the speeder at a slow pace as it glided forward, and once both Maurice and him were a few paces from that one clearing, he picked up his comlink to make a call, holding the small device by his mouth.

"Hey Wil", he said, lightly enough, navigating through the trees surrounding them but keeping an eye on Maurice, wanting to be sure he wouldn't hurt himself. With a concussion, you might easily miss some of those treacherous roots. "How far out are you from the Tangle? ... yes. Right. ... it was a pod, Wil. Our guest is a little beat up. ... No, nothing like that. Alright. ... yes. Thanks."

Pocketing the comlink, he slowed the speeder to fall back next to Maurice. "We'll get a ride from the edge. It's not too far."

Maurice was completely ready for the speeder to lift up and move. He'd seen things like it in countless sci-fi flicks, but his horsebrain was not ready. Once it booted up, the newcomer let out a little animal shriek and danced away several impressive paces before he got control of himself again.

He was just gonna...hope Ferus didn't see that.

By the time Ferus joined him at his pace, Maurice had already missed the conversation. He turned his ears toward him and brushed his mane out of his face.

"Good! Ahah, good." He had a thought and eyed the speeder. "What kind of ride? Does it have wheels?"

PSL: SPACE HOSS

COAST TO COAST

SAGITTARIUS

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject