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Futuristic Starfall

Vampunk

sʇɐq ןooɔ ǝɥʇ ɥʇıʍ ƃuıƃuɐɥ

Nursery_of_New_Stars_-_GPN-2000-000972.jpg

Since the beginning of time Mankind watched the night sky, marveling at the lustrous clusters of far away stars. The entirety of the Universe gazing back at man as their little planet known as "Earth" wandered around the dim star that made life even possible. The small blue orb sharing the sun's light with the gigantic colossi made of galactic gas and dust, drawing their vast circles around the center of the solar system inside the Milkyway galaxy.

A galaxy devoid of any space faring civilizations, the species known as Homo Sapiens still trying to reach for the stars as they dreamed of one day traveling through the vast universe with countless galaxies to explore, filled with wonders they couldn't even comprehend.

But for now mankind was content with still gazing into the nightly sky, a few millenia having passed since the first man raised his head towards the brilliant stars glaring back, as if beckoning human minds to reach out and grasp at their light.

Yet these stars were more than a thousand lightyears away, some of them already having burnt out as their light still made its way through the darkness of space to uphold the illusion of them still glowing just as bright as they did for eons.

This night was different though, as even humans who hadn't watched the sky for the longest time had found a reason to do so on this fateful earth day.
The promise of a spectacle causing them to abandon their plans to watch television, to party or to just go to sleep early, instead staying up late to behold the foretold Meteor storm that would rush through the Milky way.

A rain of dying galactic bodies and shooting stars that would remind mankind that there was something more in the vastness of space.
Things that they only fantasized about but never were able to see with their own eyes.

And as the meteors passed by the insignificant orb of dirt and water known as Earth, something inside the galactic storm was thrown around, colliding with gleaming stardust before being expelled from the shroud of glimmering space travelling comets...

The fragment akin to the meteors it had traveled with entering the gravitational pull of earth as it breached the planet's orbit as its surface was set ablaze, falling from the night's sky like Icarus who had reached for the stars and burned his wings...

The shooting star unable to slow its descent as the galactic traveler was drawn towards the planet's molten core, fast approaching Earth's surface as finally, with a booming sound it crashed into a thick terrestrial forest, felling dozens of trees as splinters of bark were sent drifiting into the night's sky like a botanic meteor shower.
The meteor-like object's descent slowed by the many trees before creating an unnaturally long ravine as it met the forest floor, dragging along the earth as finally it came to rest.

And just as suddenly as the meteor had landed on earth, silence returned to the night, leaving a metallic shell buried in the forest's floor, its singed surface sizzling as smoke rose from the crater it left....




 
"Whoa! Did -- that big -- one?" Josh's voice came through staticky on the phone. "--ory?"

"I can't hear you." Mal frowned into the phone, standing on the back deck of their parent's home. The wood was worn from too many birthday parties, barbecues, and family picnics. Stepping down to the yard, the grass cut neatly, Mal meandered closer to the line of trees behind her house. "Josh? Josh, I can't hear you."

The signal dropped. Mal cursed under her breath, holding her phone away to see the No Signal sign at the top of her notification bar. Seemed the meteor shower must have screwed with the satellites or something. Mal didn't know for sure - science was never really her thing. Exploration, however, was. Tossing a glance over her shoulder to make sure the house lights were still off, Mal passed the edge of the woods. Pulled her jacket tighter across her chest in effort to fight off the oncoming chill. Fall had arrived, bringing with it a frosty nip to the air. While Mal appreciated the cute clothes of the season, she wasn't a fan of the cold. Just another thing her and Josh were different in; where he loved winter and freezing his ass off, Mal preferred to be warm. Nice and toasty, all snug.

"Bet he's cozy in his apartment," she murmured, crunching twigs underfoot and heading towards the wreckage. One of the meteors - a pretty large one - had crash landed relatively close to her home. With Mom and Dad out visiting Aunt Brenda for the weekend, Mal had the house to herself. Unlike her brother, she knew how to behave without parental supervision.

At least, she liked to think so. Somehow Mal didn't think her parents would appreciate her gallivanting the woods at night looking for a chunk of meteor to keep as a trophy of her exploits. Still, to have an actually meteor in her room would be cool. If people knew she'd been one of the first to the crash site she'd definitely get a lot of attention. Not that Mal was into garnering popularity but, well, she was a high school girl. Was it so bad to want the limelight just once?

The trees started to thin and, in their place, a heavy blanket of smoke drifted through the woods. Mal waved off as much as she could, coughing lightly. The woods were dark, save for the small light from the screen of her phone, but in the distance Mal could see a faint glow. She stopped at that. A fire, maybe? At worst radiation but if that was the case, she was likely already close enough to have been infected. She couldn't feel her skin reacting badly to the air, but something in the back of her mind told her to go back.

Mal's phone buzzed. She raised both eyebrows, surprised that she had signal this close to the meteor if at all. A text message from Josh flitted onto the screen. She grinned, typed out a response, and pocketed the device:

Josh
them
MALLORY!
them
that meteor landed by our house! get me a space rock :p
me
If I get abducted by aliens trying to get two of them I am so blaming you.

Comforted by Josh's presence even if he wasn't physically there with her, Mal pressed on. Eventually the trees disappeared all together, leaving in their absence a crater twice the size of a large car. Mal stopped just at the edge, right before the steep drop into the center of the crater, and looked on. The smoke stung her eyes a little and she waved it away best she could, though it still obstructed her view of the meteor itself. She still couldn't tell if it was genuinely glowing or simply on fire.

Carefully, Mal slid down the slope of dirt into the crater, hoping to get a closer look.
 
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The spherical interstellar traveller's oval shape was still scorching hot from having been pulled into Earth's orbit and shot through the planet's atmosphere like an actual shooting star, the intense pressure of the involuntary landing having left its hull smooth, every edge having been softened in its crash.

Giving it the appearance of some sort of gigantic egg, lacking the distinguishing rough shape of meteorites with their corroded surface. And as the smoke slowly rose into the cool autumn night's sky, almost as if trying to flee to the stars, the object was laid bare to Mallory's eyes.

A faded grey, nacre color, giving it the appearance of an overgrown pearl, resting in a still steaming crater of scorched earth and shattered trees.
Yet stepping closer Mal would come to realize that what she had found was far from being just some extra-terrestrial rock, the spherical shape gleaming a faint green in slow pulses, akin to a beating heart.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Each time the faint glow became more intense, allowing Mallory to watch weird shapes appear on the strange meteor's surface, just as refined as a stone that had been smoothed by relentless river currents.
The hieroglyph-like shapes glowing brightly before the extraterrestrial traveler ceased to glow.

A pause, seemingly dragging into infinity as suddenly a blurry shape appeared inside the spherical shape, something else stirring inside the egg-like construct as the green glow turned into a faint gray one, allowing Mallory to see the blurry silhouette of...something.

A hand-like appendage pushed against the glass-like surface as the entirety of the crashed meteorite began to vibrate, sending tremors from its resting spot in a bed of dirt and bark.
Just for the hull to stir, a circular outline appearing on its smooth surface as a misty haze was expelled, accompanied by a sucking sound of air entering the sealed confinements of the spherical construct.

Then, slowly and with what sounded like a low, bizarre gasp for air, a tall form rose from the mist.
Hunched over with unnaturally long, thin limbs and even thinner waist, its "skin" was a pure black, tube-like shapes rising from its curved back as the egg from witch it hatched glowed a tainted green, reflecting on the pitch black body and the elongated head devoid of eyes. A long, semi-translucent plate covering the entirety of its face as the bizarre figure twisted its unnaturally long limbs, hunching over as it inhaled yet another deep breath of terrestrial air, a wheezing sound escaping it as a hazy mist escaped the tubes on its back.


Raising its grotesquely shaped head devoid of any facial features skywards, to the stars it let its arms, with the thin, long fingers dangle off its thorax, its chest rising and falling as it once again inhaled deeply, expelling yet another strange mist from its back, slowly dissipating into the nightly air.

Only for the creature to suddenly spin around, its eye-less face fixating on Mallory as the creature let out an unnatural screech, rising to its full height of over eight feet as its spaceship's faint green glow turned a vivid purple, illuminating the alien's completely black frame, covered in various tube-like extrusions.

Whatever it was, it had noticed Mallory's presence as it pushed its thorax outwards, striking an imposing frame with it extending its long arm towards Mal, thin fingers reaching out to her as the creature came to take a first step outside of its spaceship, a muted thud making the oval shape vibrate and glow even more intensely as misty haze left the fuming hull of the crashed shuttle. The mist shrouding the extraterrestrial's frame in a mantle of vividly colored fume as its thin frame twisted in unnatural ways.




 
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The shape of a large, glowing egg cut through the remainder of the smoke and blew Mal's eyes wide. "Whoa..." She'd never seen anything like that before. Whatever it was, though, it wasn't a meteor. At least not any meteor she'd heard of. Then again, high school science classes weren't the most advanced.

She dared to step closer, only to stumble back with a yelp when something moved. Before her eyes a figure seemed to grow from the egg, uncurling to a terrifying height that Mal had to crane her neck back to follow. By then the smoke had more or less cleared; she should tell that the thing resembled humans, but only so much that it was bipedal and had two arms. Everything else was...

Nightmarish.

Frozen in fear, shock, and a myriad of other emotions Mal stared on until the creature - alien - took noticed of her. Her breath hitched. The creature extended its arms towards her and that's when she finally reacted:

Mal screamed louder than she'd ever done before. "No!" She retreated backwards so fast the earth underfoot gave way, sending her crashing to the soil. "No, please-Someone, help!" She scrambled away, to her feet, and tried climbing the steep slope of the crater's wall. It was higher than she'd thought. Too high.

Tears welled in her eyes, stinging against the residual smoke, and Mal choked on another cry for help. They were far out in the woods and, while the suburbs were relatively busy places in comparison to rural areas, it was a Saturday night. Date night, for young people and old. If there was even a chance of someone being home, they likely wouldn't hear her this far away.

The thought that she might never see Mom or Dad again hurt, but Josh? That would kill her if the alien didn't.

She slumped in the dirt, back towards the alien, and whined a pathetic series of: "Please don't kill me," and "I don't want to die," accompanied by several other variations and apologies. Mal didn't want to see it approach - didn't want to see her life flash before her eyes, more than it already was.

She just wanted to close her eyes and wake up at home, safe and sound.
 
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As the Alien slowly stepped out of its molten ship, nudging oh so ever closer to Mal the girl jolted up, trying to scurry away from the extraterrestrial creature. Her loud yelps echoing through the abandoned forest with the Alien's labored breathing and the sizzle of its capsule's circuits accompanying Mal's pleading.

With one swift jump, the Alien crawled out of the oval-shaped construct as the ship shut down, ceasing to emit its bizarre light before shutting down with a sharp sucking sound, sealing the ship as the circular entry melded back into the smooth surface. Leaving no trace of ever having opened.

Slowly the extra terrestrial made its way over to the covering human, slender legs carrying its tall frame ever closer to Mal, yet taking painfully long to come standing just in front of her. As if every step it took served to gauge the planet's gravity as its legs grew accustomed to the terrestrial environment it was subjected to.

Its triple-jointed legs came to a halt just in front of Mallory as the creature towered over her, obstructing the view towards the cloudless night's sky as the last few meteors shot by earth's orbit. Just for the alien to crouch down in front of Mal, its strong legs bending as its eye-less face came dangerously close to the weeping girl's own.

The alien slowly tilting its head from side to side as its breathed heavily, the tubes on its back causing a hazy smog to escape into the chilly night's sky. Being this close to Mallory she would be able to notice a severe lack of details on the creature's visage, a dark, mirrored shell covering most of its head as it nudged even closer.

Resting its hands on the black thighs the alien exhaled deeply, the sound of shifting joints echoing through the deathly silence of the forest as the creature's long finger came to trace along Mal's cheek.
Making the extraterrestrial traveler raise its kneeling form off the ground as it reared up, stretching its thin limbs before a bizarre sound similar to stretching plastic ended the silence.

The Alien's "face" detaching as the ashen, grayish skin underneath came into view, revealing the alien's head as it removed its suit's visor.
Two oval shapes, a dark purple, almost black, mirroring the night's sky's starry pattern came to blink at Mallory, adjusting to finally being able to see things without the aid of a protective visor.
First blinking lazily before the spherical orbs rolled around in its sockets as if the Alien tried regaining control over its eyeballs, the pupil-less eyes finally coming to rest on Mallory.

Leaning down again, the Alien came face to face with the young woman, the artificial breathing apparatus on its back ceasing to expel its cloudy mist as the extra terrestrial inhaled deeply, the purple-ish organs running down its neck bulging with cool, nightly air before pressing the excess oxigen-less gas out of its lungs, exhaling through the crevices in its thorax.

Nodding towards Mallory with its elongated head, the Alien let go of a series of clicking sounds, its fingers tipping against its muscular thighs as it took a few steps back, giving Mallory enough space, and time, to adjust to what she had just witnessed.
The extra terrestrial stretching its limbs, fingers running along the tube-like breathing organ on its neck as it once again took a deep breath of terrestrial air, gazing over to the now lifeless shuttle, still sizzling as its scorching hot surface started to cool down...




 
Upon hearing footsteps, Mal slowly looked over her shoulder. She knew what it was - the alien, of course - but she couldn't stop herself. Couldn't keep her eyes from trailing from the ground up, settling on the creature's oddly featureless face as it came closer. Her mouth went dry; tongue heavy behind gaping lips. Unable to summon more than a faint whimper, Mal's watery eyes spoke for her:

Please don't hurt me.

And then the alien reached out. Trailed an abnormally long finger across Mal's cheek. She flinched, shut her eyes tight, and felt her lips quiver again. She didn't want to die; Mal had so much to live for still. Barely eighteen, the girl had plans for her future. Graduate high school, attend university. Meet that special someone and hopefully settle down. Mal had always wanted to adopt a kid or two - being a mom had been a dream of hers ever since she was little. The alien's finger disappeared, leaving in its stead a gaping vat of dread that filled Mal's stomach to the brim. She felt nauseous. Dizzy, almost.

Cracking her eyes open a little, she watched as the alien stretched. Breathed in air and exhaled mist. Mal's eyes opened fully, wide and doe-like at the shifting of the creature's face. Felt her stomach lurch at the way the alien rolled it's eyes around. She turned, pressing her back into the soil and dirtying her jacket further as the alien leaned in again. Tried to speak, tell it No, no stay away! but couldn't; it had tried talking to her. A series of clicks later the alien stepped back, giving her space.

Mal let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

She stared at the alien for what seemed like hours but, in reality, was only a handful of heartbeats. Shakily, she made to stand, still leaning against the wall of dirt trapping her in the crater. Her knees buckled, wobbly as Jell-o, but Mal remained upright. A faint, blue blinking several steps away alerted her to the flatness of her back pocket. Her phone was gone, partially buried in the ground. It had probably fallen when she tried running.

Eyes darting between her cellphone and the alien, Mal took a painstakingly slow step forward. Testing the waters. She raised her arms in mock surrender, showing she had no weapons, claws, or whatever she thought the alien may consider a threat.

"I- I'm just going- I need- It's buried," Mal stammered, nodding to the small device she inched closer to. "M-My phone. I am only r-reaching for my ph-phone. Please don't hurt me."

Hardly an inch or two away, Mal crouched low, nice and slow, until she wrapped her fingers around the plastic of her phone case. Rose just as carefully, eyes still glued to the alien, before stepping back with her hands in the air again.
 

Eyeing Mallory out of its dark eyes, the opal-like orbs slowly blinking with translucent eyelids, the extra terrestrial carefully watched the earthling raising her arms high above her head in a manner that made the alien tilt its head to the side.
Whatever the human was doing it did not seem to have the intended effect as the Alien took a few steps towards her, dark purple eyes examining the strange fleshy creature with evident curiosity.

The creature spoke, its lips curling into odd shapes as they revealed rows of bizarre ivory teeth, its tongue clicking in various tones as the alien leaned down to Mal, resting its long fingers on the wasp-like hips.
Exhaling deeply, the creature seemed to realize that their languages might not exactly be compatible, making the Alien take a step backwards as its fingertips ran down the constantly bulging and contracting purple tubes that lined its neck.

For the most surreal thing to happen.
Its purple eyes wandering over to Mal, her arms still raised, the alien creature's long arms twitched slowly, hesitating for the smallest of moments before the extra-terrestrial raised its own hands to the sky in an attempt to convey a very simple point.

Mallory had nothing to fear from the Alien, if it had harbored any malicious intent she would have already been subjected to the monster's sinister ploy.

Yet the Alien instead just stood there for a few moments, stretching its slender arms into the nightly sky, as if reaching for the stars, its long neck raising the grotesquely elongated head skywards as those purple orbs eyed the stars gleaming in the far distance.
A few clicking sounds escaping the alien's throat as it turned its attention back to Mallory, taking a few steps closer to her as the extra terrestrial's tall frame towered over her, resting a long finger against Mal's forehead before letting out a brief click accompanied by its head motioning over to the crater's edge.

It was clear that whatever the creature wanted from her wasn't to experiment on her or abduct her, instead there was a hint of...inquiry, a desire to communicate, in the alien's mannerisms, as if it was trying to establish a common ground between the two.

Slowly making its way over to the wall of dirt and bark, the Alien turned towards Mallory, nodding briskly as it vaulted over the obstruction with seemingly no effort, its tall frame coming to crouch at the crater's edge, a long limb extended towards Mallory.



 
Mal watched as the alien reached skywards both with arms and, eventually, its eyes. At first she'd assumed it was mimicking her stance of surrender but, then again, Mal wasn't entirely sure; in the process the alien had also looked as though it were stretching. Her eyes flicked towards thee meteor - rather, spaceship - and wondered how long the interstellar traveler had been cooped up inside. Regardless of the alien surrendering or not, Mal felt a little more at ease. If it had intended to hurt her, it likely would have already.

She remained cautious, though, because there was always the risk of it changing its mind.

There was an obvious language barrier between them, but even so Mal stood stock still when the alien came closer. Blinked wide eyes up at it when a slender finger pressed against her forehead, dragging her gaze over her shoulder to the top of the crater with a soft, foreign click.

Turning, eyes following the alien as it stepped out of the crater with ease, Mal was suddenly struck by how tall it was. Significantly more so than herself. Even Josh, though he wasn't that tall for a guy to begin with. No, the alien was exactly that - alien. Its height was inhuman, much like a majority of its features. Still, as foreign as it was, the alien offered her a way out. Probably her only option unless she wanted to stay overnight, waiting for a search party that likely wouldn't be initiated until well into the next day when her parents returned from Aunt Brenda's to find the house empty.

Tentatively, Mal took the hand and let it haul her over the edge. For a split second she felt as though she were flying, feet trailing through the air behind her. She stumbled at the top some, soil loose beneath her boots, but steadied herself by tightening her grip on the alien's hand.

And then, as if burned, he pulled her hand way. "Sorry! I didn’t mean- I just-… Sorry." Mal licked her lips nervously, swallowed the dryness in her mouth. Looked upwards. Blue eyes met dark purple and she smiled weakly, lips closed and awkward lest the alien misinterpret her as barring her teeth.

"…Thank you."
 

The extra terrestrial's thin frame didn't really convey the true extent of her strength, effortlessly hauling Mallory out of the rather deep crater and back onto solid ground as its long fingers remained wrapped around the girl's hand what seemed longer than just a few seconds.
Mallory pulling away as the Alien blinked at her with translucent eyelids, the membrane stretching across the starry purple orbs that were the space traveler's eyes as it tilted its head slowly to the side, curiously eyeing Mal as she hesitantly thanked her with a rather odd facial expression.

One that the extra terrestrial swiftly tried mimicking, its grey lips stretching across the rows of bizarre dentures as the Alien imitated a human smile, albeit a lot more bizarre and not really a sight that would invoke feelings of joy and convey happiness.
Instead it was just an Alien sight, the purple tube-like organ running down the sides of the creature's neck only adding to its bizarre appearance.

Mallory thanking it, did not fly past the extra terrestrial, something in the way the girl voiced her gratefulness managing to convey its meaning to the alien, making it turn towards Mal with a soft nod of its elongated head, its thin lips once again attempting to form a smile.
A lot less awkward and unsettling than the one before that as it turned towards the crash site, its purple gaze wandering to the softly humming spacecraft before its long fingers met the center of its thorax.

A pulse radiating from the oval shuttle as it ceased to glow, shutting down as a faint purple glow shot towards the Alien's chest, meeting its black skin-like suit before the sound of a low thudding echoed through the deserted woods.
An eerie silence ensuing as the ground shook for the briefest of moments, dirt, rubble and plantlife being dragged away from underneath Mallory and the creature's feet before burying the spaceship under a mountain of forest soil.

A satisfied click escaping the alien's throat as it turned away from the crash site, eyes wandering towards the sky as it rested the long fingers on its thin waist, tipping against its protruding hips.
Turning around to face Mallory the extra terrestrial inhaled deeply, the purple tubes on its neck bulging as it took in terrestrial air, exhaling a far less noticeable mist from its breathing apparatus due to it slowly adapting to earth's atmosphere.

Resting a hand on its chest a soft pulse of purple light illuminated the alien's frame for the briefest of moments as its purple eyes rested on Mallory.
Its lips twitching before mouthing a few...words.

"Safety...."
"Hiding
..."

The Alien's voice unsettling as it failed to properly inflect the words, low, annoyed clicks accompanying the human words as its long fingers came to rest against its tube like organs, awaiting the effect its little attempt at communication would have on the specimen inhabiting the planet so much smaller and less technologically advanced than the one it called home.

"Home." Weighing the human word on its tongue before raising a finger towards the starry sky, the remaining meteors shooting through the night, to never be seen again by human eyes.



 
Finally noticing the rows of ivory teeth, Mal openly stared at the alien as it attempted to smile - or, at least, that's what Mal assumed it was trying to do. It looked awkward but, then again, Mal felt as though her own effort was also a bit unorthodox. She'd never really had the prettiest smile - something her and Josh shared was their crooked teeth, fixed only slightly by the braces they'd been wearing for several years. Still, those teeth looked awfully sharp... The alien's second smile put her more at ease, though; it looked more practiced, more natural.

"You need a place to stay?" She asked, then scrunched her nose. "You probably can't understand me."

With apprehension subsiding to something more manageable, questions roared and rolled in her head. What is this creature? Who are they? Why have they come here? Do they intend to stay? Why, why, why... Her curiosity reaching an all-time high, Mal felt more like her brother than herself. Still, her interest aside, Mal hadn't bolted - yet - due to the possibility the alien may be friendly and in need of help. She'd always been the charitable sort. It was nice to know that good will extended her hand beyond the realm of planet Earth.

Eyes falling to the direction of home, Mal hummed low and bit her lip. Mom and Dad would be gone until well after noon, which would give her ample time to fix up the old tree house she and Josh had when they were kids. It was pretty dilapidated now - mold colored the interior green and the tree it sat in's branches had been long overgrown. Still, even cleaned up, the tree house did little to fight the biting cold. Mal wondered if this alien could get cold. Was it warm blooded, able to regulate its body temperature?

Regardless of the alien's ability to resist the biting weather, Mal wanted inside pronto. The dirt from the crater had been warm from the impact but now it was cooling, leaving in its wake a shivering human girl. "Um... okay, uh, well... follow me, I guess?" She stepped towards home, beckoning the alien to follow with a flick of her wrist.

It was much too cold to work on the tree house tonight, but under the warm sun of morning Mal could be productive. In the meantime... there was a garage, recently emptied of its Odyssey minivan the alien might could use.
 
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Blinking slowly with those eerie transparent eyelids of hers, the Alien watched Mallory as she asked if the extra terrestrial needed some place to crash other than earth. The inquiring tone giving away that whatever the human had said was indeed a question, on that the Alien did not understand as it slowly turned its head from one side to the other, starry purple eyes still glued on Mallory, gazing down on her from its elevated position of almost 8 feet.

Letting out a soft click to reassure the terrestrial that she wasn't just talking against a wall, the alien's lips shifted, trying to mouth a human word, but deciding to rather let Mallory lead, slowly trotting behind her.
The extra terrestrial's long limbs proving to be too fast for Mal as the creature had to slow down here and there, letting the human lead the way as it used those small pauses to look around the strange planet.

The tall trees reaching into the nightly sky oddly fascinating as the alien creature gazed skyward. Watching the cluster of stars adorning the nightly sky look down on them through the canopy, an approving series of clicks escaping the creature before it turned to follow Mallory.

Every breath of earthly air making the creature's purple tubes adjust more to the oxygen-rich atmosphere, allowing it to breath easier and a lot less erratic. Whatever alien world the creature originated from, it was bound to be nothing like earth as the creature came to stop every few steps to take in its surroundings.
Like a toddler marveling at the first snowfall, it spun around slowly, purple eyes watching the nightly forest as the two of them soon returned to where Mallory had made the fateful decision to seek out the crash site.

Standing still for a moment, the alien examined the human's home, raising its chitin-brow in what looked like a curious glance as it ducked under the roof, almost hitting its elongated head on the porch's roof as it entered Mallory's home.
Glancing around intrigued by the terrestrial living conditions, so very alien to the creature as it looked over to Mallory.
"Home..?"

The alien spoke, its voice bizarrely distorted and unlike its appearance suggested not as low and threatening as one might have thought. Akin to a smartphone's AI's, but warped and alien to human ears.
Following Mallory through her house they arrived at the garage, the vast chamber with the huge empty space making the Alien eye the human with an intrigued glance, wondering what had occupied the spare space. Was it some kind of hangar for their space craft? Or did these fleshy beings usually rest in empty chambers? Whatever it was, the alien was grateful having some place to shelter it from the harsh atmosphere of this planet as it slowly bowed its elongated head, its thin lips curling into a smile-like gesture, hiding its bizarrely formed teeth.

Finding itself a spot between some spare shelves and other Junk, the Alien crouched down, resting its back against the wall, pulling its legs towards its chest as it sat there, pulling the blankets Mallory had provided it with over its form before closing its eyes.
The translucent membrane turning a milky white as it hid the starry purple of its eyes, the tubes on its neck adjusting to more steadily provide it with oxygen.
Letting of a series of softer clicks the Alien nodded towards Mallory as if thanking her.
The crash landing and the lightyears traveled taking its toll on the extra terrestrial as it succumbed to sleep.

____________________________________________________


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The meteor storm wasn't just something humans would marvel at as a one-time event that would remind them of the wonders that lurked just outside their planet's atmosphere. There were those who dedicated their work towards exploring the vastness of space and invested time, effort and most importantly government funding in not only calculating the distance between earth and other inhabitable planets...but also the probability of extra terrestrial life.

A probability that had already been turned into a certainty for those affiliated with the Government Sector that didn't exist in most books, hidden from not only the public but other branches of secret services. They had already been preparing for the inevitable day where alien life would officially be revealed to the public, their labs and various bases all around the country housing countless scientists, engineers and other agents that would make sure humanity was prepared for first contact...

And nothing flew past them...

The anomaly in the meteor storm having been singled out in the hours after it had flown past earth, satellites having been subjected to strange wavelengths of data, or outright having their systems corrupted by the influence of the UFO entering earth's orbit.

Whatever it had been it was not a meteor, the reconnaissance branch already mobilized as Headquarters was shuffling papers and regulations around, consulting data on where the object may have landed as research teams would be mobilized for the days to come.

The door to Mrs. Connors office bursting open as a rather exhausted voice inhaled deeply, trying to catch its breath.
"M'am, we have a problem..."

"What is it..." The woman leading the government branch operating under the radar spoke, her back turned to the bearer of such bad news.

"The subject, it....it woke up." Making the Mrs. Connors exhale sharply, spinning around in her chair as her hands slammed onto her desk.
"What? When?"

"J..Just after the meteorite storm, M'am. We do not know why..." The scrawny scientist with the graying hairline mumbled as Mrs Connors brushed a strand of brown hair out of her face.
"It has to do something with that thing that entered our orbit during the storm. I want every available unit on deck, we need to find IT. This is our chance!" The head of A51-C commanded, turning around in her chair as she put a finger on the broadcasting device.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we've got Second Contact."



The milky white lenses slowly clearing, the membrane turning back into its (un)usual translucent state, the extra terrestrial slowly awoke from its slumber, blinking lazily as the purple of its eyes wandered around the garage.
A few clicking sounds escaping its throat as it recalled last night's events, its long fingers coming to rest against the pitch black chestpiece of its suit, checking the vitals.

No infections or otherwise alarming changes had befallen it during the night, the few hours of night being only a fraction of the darkness that befall its home planet when drawing its great circles around the bright sun that was the origin of her species' existence.

Rising to its full height, the alien stretched its slender limbs, feeling more adjusted to the terrestrial conditions that were what it would be faced with in the foreseeable future.
For the crash landing was not fully an accident....

Feeling no need to remain any longer in its protective black shell, the Creature's long fingers came to rest at the center of its thorax as the black layer covering most of its body slowly retreated back into the metallic chestpiece. Leaving its feet, most of its arms and neck exposed.
The ashen gray of its skin standing in contrast with the purple patches that lined its body.

The explorer's suit not exactly the most comfortable of clothing the alien did not have access to anything else, for the moment at least as it soon found more pressing matters to dwell on other than fashion.
The dark-hole like pit in its abdomen making itself known as the extra terrestrial let go of an annoyed click, exhaling deeply as the purple tubes on its neck pressed tightly against its skin.

Turning towards the door leading back into Mallory's house, the Alien made sure it did not leave anything important behind, making for the adjacent home as it almost hit its elongated head on the doorframe.

Entering the living quarters, the better light conditions allowing it to finally examine its surroundings in detail, the alien made for the living room, examining the various furniture as it came to find framed photos of its host's family.
Purple eyes making out the face of the human that had allowed her to stay as the creature's long fingers traced the weird two dimensional trinket, letting go of an affirmative click.

 
With the dawn of a new day, sun filtered in through Mal sheer green bedroom curtains, washing her room in a pale emerald bath. A lack of darkness accompanied by the sounds of her alarm - an incessant loop of a random song on her playlist - eventually stirred Mallory from the depths of sleep. She’d been dreaming.

Only, upon waking, Mal realized none of it had been a dream.

The fuzzy amalgam of meteor showers, dirt craters, purple eyes and screaming focused into something real when she finally collected her thoughts. Memories of last night. Sitting up, she thought back on the alien’s arrival and its overall appearance. The feel of it pulling her out of the crater with a strength no human could possess. It had felt like Mal was flying. Soaring, a bird through the sky; or, a funny thought, a spaceship travelling the universe. She looked down at her hand. Curled her fingers into a loose fist.

Meeting the alien had certainly happened and right now it was in her garage, hopefully still sleeping. Mal’s parents would be home around noon so she’d woken up much earlier than she’d ever like to on a weekend. She hadn’t slept much, having retired to her bed well after midnight, but that was okay.

She was… kind of excited. Eager to fix up the old tree house, not just for the alien - which, now that her head was a little clearer, was pretty weird but also crazy cool - but for herself. She and Josh hadn’t gone inside the treehouse since before middle school started, so it’d be nice to clean it up again.

Running a hand through short locks of greasy blond, Mal opted to wait for her shower until after the treehouse was hospitable. Crawling out of bed, she tossed on a pair of sweatpants and kept her pajama shirt on. It needed washing anyway, so might as well get it dirty. Who knew what kind of crap she’d have to pull out of the treehouse.

Stuffing her feet into a pair of sneakers, tying her hair up into a tiny nub of a ponytail, and then grabbing a pencil and notepad, Mal headed downstairs. First: assess the damage. Second: Grab needed materials from the garage. Hopefully the alien would still be sleeping when she got back, since she didn’t exactly want it exploring her house without her to supervise.


Heading back to her house, Mal looked over her extensive list of repairs. The swing out front, miraculously, was still intact but everything else had gone to the dogs. Literally. If she found out who’d let their canine crap all over the base of the tree and not pick it up, Mal would happily give them a piece of her mind. Just because the tree house was obscured from view didn’t mean it wasn’t still on her property. Dad had made sure of that before they started building.

Aside from a waste bin and several plastic bags for Crap Control, Mal needed to grab as many boards as she could find in the garage along with her dad’s toolbox. Some bed sheets, too, to act as curtains. Wouldn’t want Dog Man catching a glimpse of an enormous alien living inside. “No,” Mal mused as she lifted open the garage door, “that wouldn’t be good.”

What was even worse, however, was the significant lack of an alien in her garage. Mal cursed and hurried inside. “Hello?” She called, nearly face-palming because if I can’t see it, it isn’t here. There weren’t many places to hide, if any at all. Suddenly she was hoping for it to be in her house rather than outside. Outside was dangerous, filled with humans that wouldn’t understand the situation or even care enough to try. Quickly, she ran towards the door and flung it open.

“Hello! Alien?” Mal stepped inside the kitchen, the garage door connecting the two rooms. “Not here,” she worried her lip with blunt teeth. She hurried through the next door - this one a stylized archway that didn’t actually close - and stopped in the living room. There stood the alien. With a deep sigh of relief, Mal felt the tension in her shoulders evaporate.

“There you are,” she breathed. Communication was still difficult and Mal doubted the alien could understand - or would listen, if it could - to the words stay put. So, instead, she waved it over. “Come with me,” she said. She’d need help anyway to carry stuff to the tree house.
 


The young human's voice echoed through the house as the extra terrestrial traveler turned around to meet the origin of the strange sound, unable to make out specific meaning but picking up on the lingering hint of distress in Mallory's voice.
Its deep purple eyes wandered over to the small table again, from where it had taken the framed picture, as it put the photograph back on its rightful place, adjusting it to fit the exact angle it had been before the alien let go of a satisfied series of low clicks.

Turning its elongated head, the alien's purple gaze fell upon the small fleshy creature that had been her host for the night.
And yet she did look different than during their fateful encounter. The human obviously having shed its clothing and changed into some bizarre suit that only clung loosely to its form, making the alien tilt its strange head as it examined Mallory with obvious interest.

For her new suit did not seem to serve any purpose but to confuse the extra terrestrial, its purple eyes wandering over to Mallory's hair that had been rearranged into some strange crest.
Blinking slowly, the translucent membrane brought a new shimmer to the extra terrestrial's eyes as it leaned down slowly, its long finger poking Mallory's ponytail before pulling its thin pale digit back the moment the girl's frilly hair shifted under her touch.

Rising back to its full height the extra terrestrial gazed down on Mallory, its alien mind piecing together those oh so intriguing observations of terrestrial customs as its eyes fell on its own clothing.
The space suit still clinging tightly to the alien's form like a second skin, the metallic carapace around its thorax giving it an unusually bulky appearance and betraying its somewhat human form.

Baring its ivory teeth the alien seemed to be dissatisfied with its current choice of clothing as its purple glare shifted from its own body to Mallory and back before just letting go of a series of clicks.
Knowing that there would be a time and place to get acquainted with earthly customs.

For now her human host seemed to require its assistance, long triple-jointed legs making the alien creature effortlessly keep up with Mallory's pace as they made their way outside.
The bright sunlight making the alien raise its hand towards the sky, feeling the gentle touch of the earthly sun on its pale skin. Evidently less harsh than the star the extra terrestrial's planet would orbit as the alien's eyelid-like membrane darkened ever so slightly to allow it to directly stare into the sun's light.

A somewhat pleased click escaping its throat as the purple tubes lining its long neck pulsated with terrestrial air before its purple eyes met Mallory.
Its gaze trailing off to wander around its surroundings, the alien creature took in the sight of a rather peaceful mid-autumn morning, its eyes widening at the lack of large cities or anything else the alien must have been accustomed to.
Whatever world it came from, it differed a lot from what Mallory would consider normal if the creature's bizarre appearance was anything to judge its homeworld by.

Turning towards Mallory, the extra terrestrial took a step towards the young human, its hand coming to rest on her shoulder as she would feel the creature's cool touch.
"Name..."

The extra terrestrial's voice still alien but unlike the night before it was so much more genuine, as if the creature was slowly adapting to using human language, albeit very slowly.
Yet this inquiry was more than just that, the creature attempting to form a bond between their two races based on a simple exchange of names.
Something that would allow it to differentiate Mallory from other terrestrials the alien would come to meet...


 
Mal noticed the confused look on the aliens face - Well, it looks curious to me, anyway - and couldn't for the life of her understand where the confusion had come from. Self consciously, Mal adjusted the sleeves of her pajama shirt; was it too big on her? Too tight? Was there dirt on it? She didn't want to look specifically for any stains and such, for that would only draw the alien's attention further to her clothing, but Mal spare a glance down at herself.

Her ponytail rustled and she whipped her head back up, eyes blown wide. The alien was there - right there in front of her - with its finger pulled back, presumably from her small nub of blonde hair. Mal blinked up at it, blue eyes round with surprise and-... curiosity. She couldn't help the soft smile that split her lips. The confusion was for her hair, then. Noticing it now, the alien didn't seem to have any locks of its own. Perhaps it'd never seen hair before.

Without a word - Mal didn't want to unintentionally make it feel bad for it's lack of knowledge on humans, especially since she herself knew nothing about the alien's kind - Mal turned and guided it into the garage. There were neatly cut wooden planks against the wall, leftover from a project Dad never finished and had no plans to continue. Certain he wouldn't mind her using them, Mal gestured to the leaning pile and went to pick one up. Then another. And then, finally, one more. They were long, heavy, and even with her strong arms Mal had trouble carrying more than three at a time.

"Could you...?" She nodded her head towards the remaining planks, not waiting to see how many the alien could pick up. Mal assumed a lot, what with its height and the effortless way it hauled her from the crater the night before. Lifting the thick red handle to Dad's toolbox, Mal bent down and snatched it up with a hand before curling her fingers under the planks again. The toolbox was heavy, but the handle helped. After that, she lead the alien through the open garage door and outside. Glanced over her shoulder to see how many planks the alien had grabbed, but found herself distracted by its wide eyes and the way it looked at their surroundings as though it'd never seen anything like it before.

It made Mal curious about the alien's home world.

Slowing to a stop, for she'd seen the alien's hand reaching towards her, Mal suppressed a shiver at the cool touch. It wasn't warm like a human's but, then again, it was chilly out. Mal raised both brows in surprise at the alien's attempt at communication. It had spoken before but, as it just did now, only in short words. If it knew even the smallest sliver of English, did that mean it had visited Earth before? Were the crazy conspiracy theorists been right and had people been abducted? Or... both?

"I'm Mal. Erm... Name," she pointed to herself and then spoke clearly: "Mallory Douglas. Mallory." As curious and slightly wary as she was, mostly prompted as such by her own speculations, Mal didn't want to act brash until she had the full story. If only they could find a way to speak to one another without the language barrier.

She stood there, the hand on her shoulder still cool. Either the alien had a lower body temperature than humans or was more susceptible to the cold. Regardless, Mal would have to remember to bring down her electric blanket and some spare batteries. She would take Josh's, but he'd brought it with him when he moved to the city and the one for the guest bedroom had been lost several years ago. (Josh still thinks Aunt Brenda nicked it but Mal says he's biased because the two don't get along.) Regardless of where it ended up, it was not in the Douglas house and, therefore, was of no use to her.

Eventually she pointed to the alien. "...Name?"
 



The extra terrestrial blinked slowly at Mallory's response, her empathizing what had to be her name making the alien's lips twitch, revealing rows of bizarre teeth as it tried to imitate the earthling's speech.

"M...Mallo...Mallory?.." The creature spoke, the purple tubes on its neck pulsating as it exhaled deeply, weighing the words on its vividly colored tongue before imitating that grimace-like facial expression humans called a smile, nodding towards the girl.

"Mallory." Once again letting the human name roll over her tongue, the alien smiled more genuinely as its translucent eyelids applied humidity to its purple opal-like eyes.
Mallory asking for its own name made the creature hesitate for a moment, resting a long digit on its pointed chin, the claw-like nail brushing over the purple markings that stood out from its pale skin.

Its purple gaze fell upon Mallory once again, the star-sky like orbs blinking slowly as the creature...spoke.
Alien sounds, forming words meant for human ears instead of the natural tongue the creature was accustomed to produce.

"Fymnycrea."
A name just as bizarre as the alien itself, yet something feasible for human tongues, something that served to slowly make the creature a part of this strange terrestrial plane.


Nodding briskly, the creature imitated that alien smile, its lips shifting into a more grin-like expression as her thin lips revealed those ivory fangs.
"Fym!"

The alien exclaimed, evidently amazed by the strange human sound its vocal cord-like organs managed to produce.


A long finger came to rest on Mallory's chest as the alien's eyes met the human's.
"Mal."

Just for the long digit to tip against the creature's armored thorax.
"Fym."

But the creature's smile wavered for the briefest of moments as it blinked at Mallory, its kneeling frame allowing them to come face to face with each other as the extra terrestrial seemed to ponder on some matter.
Only for its eyes to dart towards Mallory's own, slowly nodding with its bizarrely elongated head.
Almost if trying to assure Mallory of its pure intentions, the creature rested its hand against its chest before both its wandered along the curve of the human's shoulders.

Slowly the cool digits crept along the nape of Mallory's neck, making their way up her strangely soft flesh to come resting on her cheeks.
Firmly, but gently framing Mallory's face in a cage of its thin fingers.

Then, without a warning, the alien closed its eyes, the translucent eyelids slowly turning into a milky white as the purple of its eyes disappeared.
The purple patch of skin situated on its forehead stirring as it emitted an eerie glow, not unlike the one Mallory was faced with the night of the crash landing.

Slowly, but steadily Fym's elongated head came closing in. A prickling sensation making itself known on Mallory's skin as their faces met, electricity surging through the spot of their union as, after a brief pause, everything seemed to go black...

Just for Mallory to be pulled through what seemed like an endless stretching tube of every imaginable, and unimaginable color, getting lost in the stream of time and space as flickering images passed by her inner eye.

Pictures of massive celestial bodies drawing their circles around large stars zooming past her on her journey through the known and unknown universe, images of ruined worlds and those blooming with all manners of life filling her head as Fym's kneeling form stirred, her lips curling into a somewhat pained snarl.

Suddenly being pulled through yet another passage in time, Mallory would feel herself being pulled into a vortex of memories as things she did not deem possible would be revealed to her.
A nigh-endless torrent of information as suddenly something seemed to grab her hand in the dream-space of her mind.
Fym's fingers wrapping around Mallory's celestial hand, guiding her through a gallery of alien imagery.
The picture of a large planet nudging into sight.
One surrounded by two large asteroid belts, purplish in color and oh so peaceful in its endless circles around the planet's gray and blue surface.

Inside her mind, Mallory would hear Fym's voice, gentler and less of a bizarre mumble than before.
"This is my home."
The alien voice echoed through her head as the planet peacefully wandered around a large star.
"I need to go home. But first I have to do something on the planet you call home."
Fym continued as her presence crept into the furthest corner of Mallory's head, as if their minds slowly melted into one, allowing the human to take passing glimpses of the extra terrestrial's memories, of its speech, flickering but yet oh so real.

As did Fym as outside, in the cool autumn air, the creature's lips started moving on its own, at breakneck speed as it mouthed words.
Terrestrial words.
Words that they would need...

"Will you help me?.." Fym asked inside Mallory's dreamscape as the alien's home planet started to accelerate, thousands of years passing by the human's inner eye as the creature's voice became distorted.
As did the images inside her head as once again everything turned black before Mallory was pulled through a tunnel of bizarre imagery...

Resulting in Fym recoiling as, in the physical plane, the creature screeched, stumbling backwards as the gem-like structure on its forehead glowed brightly.
Wobbling on its long legs it regained its balance, the milky white of its eyelids slowly giving in as its purple eyes nudged into view, bizarrely rolling around alien eye sockets as Fym processed the information it had drawn out of Mallory's head.
Landing on its rear on the cold autumn soil, its hand resting on the curve of its elongated head, baring its teeth as it exhaled deeply, the purple tubes on its neck bulging comically as Fym tried regaining her composure.



 
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At the alien's attempt to recite its own name in human words, Mal couldn't help the smile that further crept onto her lips. Something about how hard the alien tried was endearing, kind of cute; like a little kid stumbling over their first words. It kind of was like that, though, she guessed. Mal would likely stumble if she had to say anything in the strange clicks the alien had spoken with before.

Fymnycrea, she rolled the name around in her head. Exotic, otherworldly, pretty. To English-speaking ears, it sounded feminine. Mal had tried not to assume the creature's sex or gender up until now - what if aliens had multiple biological sexes, after all? - but the name made it hard to do so. She supposed, for now, it would be okay to refer to Fym as a female.

"Fym and Mal," she repeated with an approving nod.

The moment wasn't over, though; after touching her own chest, a peculiar gesture of trust that had confused Mal at first, Fym placed both hands on Mal's shoulders. Her eyebrows lifted. A warmth, tinting her skin scarlet, followed the trail of Fym's cool fingertips up the nape of her neck. Mal wasn't sure what was happening - she couldn't trust her own speculations to help her, what with their cultures being galaxies apart and universally different. Literally. So instead of pull away, Mal stood stock still. Placed her trust in Fym.

And then Fym's face came closer to her, setting off warning bells in Mal's mind; Too close, too close, abort, abort! Still, the girl did not move. Just tightened her grip on the planks in her arms and froze, a deer caught in purple glowing headlights, her blue eyes wide and appropriately doe-like. When only their foreheads brushed Mal's breath hitched. Understanding dawned on her for a brief moment before her vision flickered into blackness.

From Mal's mind came a torrent of different images, clips of memory, that made her side of the exchange look more like a haphazard collage than something actively communicated.

It started with green and ended with green - every bit in between was green. Green. A dark image of rustling bushes and trees that kissed the sky, green; The algae-ridden water of a pool, unattended for years, green; A pair of eyes, creeping out of the algae-pool, illuminated by the moon bouncing off the water, green; Food flying through the air to stain a blonde boy's white shirt, green; The disapproving look of a man at a desk, glowering down at them behind thick-rimmed glasses, green; and then there was the pale green of bedroom walls littered with posters, looping like a broken record.

With a gasp Mal woke from the dreamscape. Light crashed into her still open eyes, blinding her against the warm colors of autumn that surrounded them. Her head felt like it was going to explode - a migraine coming on, no doubt. She blinked once, twice, before her eyes finally adjusted and she could shut them with the reassurance she'd see color when they opened.

What just-

All of Fym's memories, mingled with her own, flitted through her mind and Mal's eyes shot open.

How- No- She can't just-

For a moment Mal wanted to scream. Throw all three planks at Fym. Grab her, shake her, asking what did you see but the sight of the alien falling to the ground in pain zapped whatever red-hot anger having her mind poked around in had elicited. "Fym!" Dropping the planks, Mal rushed over and crouched down to Fym's height, brows furrowed. She made to reach out but paused, briefly, unsure. "Are you-... Did that-..." Mal frowned. Chewed her bottom lip. "I will help you," she agreed before finally resting a hand, careful, gentle, on Fym's shoulder. "Are you hurt, though?"

 


The process of assorting memories and emotional responses linked to those impressions was a grueling one, causing Fym to raise her long fingers to her temple as the gem-like organ on her forehead started to rhythmically pulse with a purple glow. Each accompanied by the extra terrestrial blinking lazily as purple eyes rolled around in her skull, her body relearning its various functions as Fym's mind processed the overwhelming amount of knowledge she had absorbed, like a sponge thrown into a vast ocean of information.

Slowly the seeds their little exchange had planted bloomed into fully fledged strings of logical information as each pulse of purple light signaled new neural matter being formed in that elongated head of hers. Even the very basics of human language took a while to fully find their place in the alien's head, causing Fym to mouth mute terrestrial words...

Just for her eyes to shoot wide open at Mallory's hand pulling her back into reality.
Her reassuring words asking if she was alright...

The words echoing through Fym's head as it dawned on the extra terrestrial. Their union had been successful. She had acquired a very basic set of human semantics, a corpus of words, the logic behind terrestrial speech unfolding in her head as Fym's grey lips stirred, shifting as they produced a very human sound.

"I...I am fine." The alien spoke slowly, its purple eyes wandering over to Mallory's own, blue ones as Fym's lips twitched in response to her uttering human speech.
Images of green, of emotional responses and memories tied to the very color the human planet was known for, still haunted Fym's mind, trying to find where they fit in.

And yet, the once alien sight of terrestrial plantlife and landscape felt less bizarre to the extra terrestrial, drawing on the very few human memories she had pulled from the depths of Mallory's mind when they had established a brief neural link.

"Fine." Fym mouthed again, exhaling deeply as those purple tubes of hers delivered another deep breath of terrestrial air into her alien lungs.
Her purple eyes blinking at Mallory, Fym's lips curled into a smile before the alien put its hand over the girl's own, a gesture that would assure the human of her being unharmed, or so Fym thought based on what she had learned from her visit inside Mal's mind.

Slowly getting back to her feet, the alien raised its tall frame from the ground, her purple gaze never leaving Mallory as she came to tower over the blonde girl.
"I am sorry... for... not warning you... beforehand." Fym spoke slowly, still trying to grow more accustomed to using her vocal cords and tongue in a terrestrial manner of producing such strange sounds.

"Are you... unharmed, Mal?" The alien added with a click of its tongue, Fym biting the purple muscle in response, not wanting to develop a bad habit of mixing her planet's tongue with terrestrial speech before turning towards Mallory again, tilting her elongated head lighty to examine the girl thoroughly.

"You have...questions?" The alien weighing its words as the two of them stood face to face in Mallory's backyard, the gentle autumn sun making Fym's gray skin shine an almost pure white, making the purple of her form stand out from her pale hide.
"I have...answers. Some at least."



 
Mal crouched there, eyes imploring and wide, only breaking eye contact when Fym rested a hand atop her own. Cool to the touch still, just like before. She glanced at their hands. Observed, in the few seconds before Fym made to stand, the similarities and differences. Where Mal's fingers were short and squishy, Fym's were long and slim. She stamped down the curiosity; berated herself for wanting to see their hands side by side. That's weird, right? Totally weird.

When Fym rose to her full height Mal followed, still impossibly small in comparison. She had to crane her neck back to look up at the alien. Noted the difference in her skin from nighttime and daylight. It was kind of pretty, like the Mediterranean geckos that show up from time to time in the summer, their albino skin looking almost pink. Staring wasn't appropriate, though, so Mal glanced out at the woods. Tried to find something more interesting than the extraterrestrial standing just a few steps away.

Fym formed human words, familiar sounds to Mal's ears. The click at the end surprised her; as foreign a language as it was, Mal could still understand it. How...? Beneath her breath she tried to replicate the sound, only to fail and glance up at Fym in hopes she hadn't heard. If she did, though, Mal did not let her comment on it. Instead, threw herself into the conversation with a nod.

"I am okay," she said. The migraine had settled sigificantly, falling back to a dull throb in the back of her skull. Uncomfortable but tolerable. "I do have-..." Mal trailed off, noticing Fym examining her. Self-conscious all over again, Mal fidgeted: tugged at the hem of her sleeves; bent down to grab the planks, securing them in her arms; lightly scratched her short bitten nails against the wood.

"I, uh, do have questions, yeah." She chewed the inside of her cheek. Where to start? She could think on the way to the treehouse; standing around in her backyard, while concealed from the rode, wasn't exactly the safest place. The neighbors were awful nosy. Came with the suburbs, she guessed. "We can talk about it at the treehouse, though," she said, stepping away and motioning toward the trees. "Josh- erm, my brother and I built a treehouse with our dad as kids. It's old and needs repairing, but you could stay there. Erm, if you want."
 


Them being able to finally converse like actual sentient beings, albeit stemming from different corners of the known, or rather unknown, galaxy, started to make Fym become more accustomed to the alien planet she had crash landed on.
For, if their roles were reversed, the extra terrestrial reckoned that Mallory would have felt similar to how Fym as feeling when she first set foot on terrestrial ground.

Anticipating the human inevitably bombarding her with questions of variable importance, Fym's purple gaze fell on Mallory's fleshy lips, not unlike her own ashen gray ones. The human's mouth shifting as Fym picked up on an attempt at...her own language.
The realization of their neural link having left a lasting mark on the terrestrial's brain made Fym wonder what it had been like for her, if her kind even experienced it the same way hers did.

But the alien wasn't left to ponder on whether to ask Mallory about it or just stay quiet and wait for the earthling to process those bizarre occurrences that had transpired in less than 24 hours.
It wasn't every day terrestrials would find crashed escape pods and got to form lingering neural bonds with alien creatures.

Mal suggesting them to talk somewhere else made perfect sense to Fym, who now questioned her own ability to think and assess the situation she was in. It was still an alien planet that wasn't prepared for what her very existence meant for the non-spacefaring humankind, with Mallory having been the sole terrestrial to be allowed glimpses into Fym's mind...for now at least.

A series of pensive clicks rolled over the extra terrestrial's purple tongue as she nodded at Mallory, before tilting her head slightly to the side as she examined the wooden construct hanging in the vividly colored canopy of a sturdy looking tree.
"Do these secondary housings serve a purpose? Are they some kind of outposts? If so, why is this one so close to your primary base of operation? And who is..Josh?" Fym asked, raising a jagged brow at Mal, before softly shaking her head. For despite some major insights she had pulled from Mallory's mind, Fym did not know every detail about human society, leaving a dark void whenever a terrestrial word didn't bring up images and relations that would allow her to pin down its concrete meaning and context in this strange human world.

"Right. Getting inside first, answers and questions after." The extra terrestrial mumbled, something resembling embarrassment lingering in her tone as long triple-jointed legs carried her over to the staircase that wound its way up to the treehouse.
Hesitantly Fym placed a hand on the railing, feeling the moss covered wood underneath the curve of her fingertips as she gazed back to Mallory as the extra terrestrial made her way up the stairs.

Arriving at the elevated position, Fym raised her elongated head skywards, her purple gaze wandering over the forest stretching out towards the horizon before turning back to Mallory, starry eyes remaining on the terrestrial before the alien turned towards the door.
Poising all of her five fingertips against it, Fym pushed as the creaky sound of rusted hinges made her pause for a moment, letting go of a disapproving click in the process as the shrill sound made the pain in her temple act up, still sore from having linked her mind with Mallory's.

Finally opening the door to the treehouse, Fym had to duck to enter the abandoned childhood lair, rising to her full height once she was inside as purple eyes examined the greenery covering most of the insides, wandering over stray planks and dirty windows.
And yet it was oddly fascinating to her.
A basic form of human housing that might have been what their ancestors had lived in. No central energy source, nor sturdy walls of metal and plastic, instead it had once been living, organic material.
Plantlife repurposed to serve as a terrestrial home.
Standing there in almost child-like glee, Fym made her way over to the window, its once translucent surface tainted with dust and other dirt-like particles.
Letting go of a low hum, Fym extended a hand and wiped away some of it, allowing her to gaze out of the tree fort unto the staircase leading up to what would be her new base of operations...for the time being.

 
When they arrived at the treehouse Mal took a deep breath, having already assessed the damage beforehand. "This is going to be a long morning," she murmured, setting down the planks and toolbox at the foot of the stairs. Bent low to pick out a matryoshka hammer with a smaller size tool inside each shell. When Fym spoke, Mal stood straight and looked over at her. Tapped her chin lightly with the handle of the largest hammer, thoughtful on how to answer.

"They're mostly for fun and made for children," she explained, stepping up the stairs carefully. She planned to start from the inside out, removing old boards and terribly rusted nails. Would go in replacing them from the outside in. "Kind of a home away from home, but close enough for your parents to know where you are."

Mal crouched and hooked a nail under the backside of the hammer, pulling until she freed it from its wooden bed. She started on the other three nails of the wobbly, molded plank. "As for Josh, he's my brother. Older than me, lives away from home in the city attending school to become a storyboard artist." Another tug, another nail freed. She grunted with the effort. "Kind of a weird dream job, but he's good at drawing and the job market isn't terrible, so I guess it isn't too bad. Dad is skeptical but it's not like freelance doesn't pay. You can actually earn quite a bit if-...

Mal didn't realize she was rambling until she looked up and Fym was gone. "Fym?" After tossing the nasty plank into a pile below, she stood and made her way up the rest of the stairs. Pushed open the door and peered in. There, by the window, stood the alien looking out at the trees beyond. Curious, Mal walked up beside her.

"I know it isn't much, but it'll be nicer when the repairs are done," she said. Mal firmly believed that, too. Back in its prime the treehouse had been her and Josh's castle. Granted, they were much smaller then, but even now it was rather cozy. She hoped Fym felt similarly - or, at the very least, didn't dislike it.

"So, uh, those questions... what do you eat?" If Fym was to survive there, surely she'd need food.
 


Gazing up to Mallory, Fym blinked slowly, the translucent membrane reapplying moisture to those bizarre opal-like eyes of hers as she tilted her elongated head curiously.
"What a strange question... Most lifeforms require a balanced diet of proteins for maintaining muscle mass, some forms of glucose and vitamins. I do believe this planet might offer a varied collection of all those things, or am I mistaken?" Fym spoke...

Spoke.
Formulating her alien thoughts into coherent human words that, while sounding somewhat forced and bizarre coming from her lips, portrayed the creature's sentience as she no longer was constricted to using fragments of human speech.
Raising her long fingers to her mouth, Fym's fingertips brushed over her thin ashen-gray lips, her purple eyes wandering over to Mallory.
"Excuse me. I should not have been so blunt." Fym mumbled.

"My turn." Swiftly, with bizarre alien elegance, Fym knelt down, taking a seat on the treehouse floor as her tall, somewhat imposing frame became so much more approachable sitting down.
Crossing her long legs the alien readjusted herself, resting her long-fingered hands on her athletic thighs before inhaling deeply, the purple tubes on her neck transporting large amounts of terrestrial air into Fym's thorax.

"You did mention your sibling having a choice in what he chose as his primary means of income, yes? Do terrestrials not have predisposed roles in their society then? How does your civilization even maintain their steady progress if not every one of your species' potential is fully realized and exploited?" Fym asked, evidently curious about the strange way of life these humans had.

"Do not take my inquiry as an insult, Mallory." Fym added, her gray skin underneath her eyes turning a faint shade of purple as she raised her hands defensively, waving in dismissal.
"I am just unfamiliar with how your planet operates, that is all." The alien creature spoke with a click that signified curiosity in her species' manner of speech.

"But it is your turn to pose a question, equal trade, that is the fundamental way of transaction." The extra terrestrial continued as her fingers came to rest on the metallic apparatus on her chest, readjusting the hardened carapace, its appearance being enough of an indication of how uncomfortable it must be.

 
Mal watched Fym as she answered, trying hard not to observe her lips as they formed human words. The sight was bizarre, though, and Mal began to wonder-... Stop staring, she scolded herself, you're being rude. She looked elsewhere, standing still, an effort to distract herself with scanning the room for needed repairs. Only, the girl didn't realize Fym had been openly doing the same thing to her just a few moments before. After Fym gave her answer Mal hummed. Shrugged, because despite Fym's apology she wasn't offended. "Don't worry about it. What I meant, mostly, was like herbivore, omnivore, carnivore, and so on," she explained a bit too late. Waved off the elaboration. "We can raid the fridge later, though."

She turned to Fym, then, when the alien took a seat on the floor. Leaned against the window frame once she checked its stability. Pondered her question. "I can't answer for all humans, since each country has it's own way of doing things, but here in America we emphasize freedom. It's kind of actually our motto: 'Land of the free, home of the brave.' Freedom of speech, expression, and so on. People have the freedom of choice and I guess being able to control their own lives prompts them to be productive?" Mal's voice lilted in question at the end, as if she did not fully know the answer herself. "We're kind of carefree in how we do things, I guess. A hit or miss situation." She smiled sheepishly, wringing her hands around the grippy handle of the hammer. "I hope that answers your question somewhat."

She was quiet for the next few moments, lips pursed to the side in thought. Mal could finally ask what gender Fym was - she did need to know if she were to ever refer to the alien with pronouns - but that seemed embarrassing. Invasive. Then again, it was considered rude to assume - especially if that guess turned out to be wrong. Mal looked at the extraterrestrial curiosly. If Fym was male, what did the females typically look like? Bulky and taller? More slender - which seemed impossible, considering Fym was already rather lithe - and shorter? She chewed her lip, deciding to go for it.

"Equal exchange. Alright. Uh, well... does your kind have gender? Like, gender identity and biological sexes. Male, female. Are there more than just two? What, uh... in regards to that, what do you classify as?" She asked, feeling her own face warm. "Like, uh, I'm female and identify as female. My brother is male, identifies as male. Sorry if the question is, uh, confusing."
 


Mallory's answer caused Fym to let go of several low clicks that would be best translated to a 'I see.' as the extra terrestrial's long finger came to trace the purple tube-like organ on her neck. Her mind processing the alien way of life the terrestrial pursued, Fym wondered if the predisposed caste system of her homeworld or this almost scary amount of freedom was better for a sentient race's survival, coming to the conclusion that for the moment there was no definitive answer to give.
What it did affirm though, was that this solar's system sole inhabitable planet was indeed fascinating, only causing Fym to hunger for more information.
But all in due time, as Mallory's next question made Fym's large purple eyes widen slowly as the thin eye-lid like membrane blinked at the human in confusion. The realization that earthlings would not be able to differentiate her species' gender simply by having one specimen as reference point made the extra terrestrial's lips twitch into a smile-like grimace, a reaction she did not intended, but for some reason seemed to best convey her apparent amusement over Mallory's question.

Rising once again to her full height of over 7 feet, Fym's slender frame towered over Mallory as the extra-terrestrial's fingers came to rest on her wasp-like waist, tipping against the jet black space suit's belt-like construct.
"You certainly ask strange questions, Mallory of Earth." The alien mused as its thin lips formed a curved arch resembling a smile, bizarrely unfitting of such a strange visage, but still genuine.

"My kind has three predisposed biological sexes. Male and female being what most terrestrial creatures seem to be divided in. Our ruling caste is comprised solely of those of the third variant, able to reproduce with anyone of the same species but also able to do so without any partner. Them making up most of our governmental sector ensures that their judgement is not clouded entirely by the biological need to sire offsprings."
The alien explained, allowing Mallory some glimpses into the strange civilization Fymncrea originated from, as the extra terrestrial continued.

"Our language does not distinguish between what terrestrial speech deems female and male articles, instead we just...refer to each other as a collective." The gem-like organ on Fym's forehead giving off a weak purple glow in response as she leaned closer to Mallory. The alien society seemingly not valuing the individual nearly as much as earth's, with Fym's already established caste system and predisposed place in the machine-like structure that was her planet's hierarchy.

"For your terrestrial norms sake, I myself would fall into what you'd categorize as...female, yes." Fym added. "Just like you." The alien closing her eyes briefly, a small smile forming on the extra terrestrial's pale visage as ivory fangs nudged into view.

"'Biologically female, identifying as female' , if that is the terrestrial term." The alien tilting her elongated head to the side as she once again examined Mallory, as if still amazed by how such a fleshy creature could exist without a tough skin-like carapace to shield her from danger. Fym's own skin, despite not feeling like it, being much more resilient than a human's as the hazardous environments of her home planet had spurred evolution into creating the apex creature able to survive the relentless solar storms.

"My turn." Fym clicked, a long finger poking Mallory's chest.
"Why did you shed your skin after having found me the night before? Is this some kind of defensive mechanism?" The alien asked as her fingers carefully tugged at Mallory's shirt, her fingertips brushing against the fabric, fascinated by such a loose second skin.
"This does not seem to be a sufficiently protective...."

 
At first Mal worried she'd asked the wrong thing, for Fym's eyes had widened. To Mal's relief, Fym appeared to look more confused and mildly amused than offended, though. She exhaled a sigh through her nose, tension evaporating. Thank God, she thought, otherwise that might have been insanely awkward. It came Mal's turn to widen her eyes as Fym picked herself up to a height at least a foot and a half taller than Mal. Again, she had to crane her neck back to meet the alien's eyes.

She visibly flushed, cheeks redder than a rose, at being called out on her questions. "Sorry, uh, I mean-... I guess I do," her brows arched, smile sheepish.

What Fym had to say about her homeworld and its structure was of more interest to Mal than any lesson she sat through at school. Three biological sexes, huh? Mrs. Whitlow would have a field day with that information. She thought back on the guidance counselor turned social science teacher with fondness. The seemingly strict structure of Fym's homeworld, however, inspired more questions. Ones a bit too personal, Mal felt, to ask right off the bat. She could hopefully ask them another time.

When Fym leaned closer Mal, on instinct, leaned away - only for her back to press lightly against the dirty window glass. The cold surface seeping through her pajama made her breath hitch - Crap, that's cold! - but was enough to remind her that perhaps the idea of personal space meant something else to Fym, as it varied with other Earthen cultures. She cleared her throat, willed herself to relax. Nodded. Offered Fym a smile. "Just like me," she repeated.

Then it was Fym's turn to ask a question. Which was fine with Mal, except for the fact that Fym was brushing her fingertips along the fabric of her loose pajama shirt. Mal had never been a touchy-feely type - that was all Josh, who wore his heart on his sleeve and loved interaction with others - so the close proximity on top of it all felt a little suffocating. "Um," she started, "well, it's-... I mean, I guess it's a second skin. Sort of. No, not really?" She swallowed. Darted out from between the window and Fym's curious gaze, able to think relatively clearly again with the again added space.

"They're called clothes," she said. Rolled up her sleeve to reveal pale, fleshy skin. "Some clothes can be used as armor, but civilians don't typically wear that. Usually clothing is used as a..." Mal paused, reflecting back on her tenth grade anthropology class. "As a means of expressing one's identity. For example, some people wear expensive clothes, which show their wealth. Others wear things with logos on them, to display their interests. Things like that," she explained. "We, uh, typically don't go without them. A lot of humans are... reserved creatures, I guess, when it comes to their bodies."

Mal chewed her bottom lip, thinking of another question. Only, she never asked it. Instead, gestured to the state of the treehouse. "I, uh... I should probably start fixing this place up. You can keep asking questions, though, if you want."
 


Mal ducking underneath Fym's extended hand to find herself no longer caught between the treehouse wall and the towering extra-terrestrial caused the alien to slowly spin around, gazing at the human with widened eyes and a smile-like expression adorning her long visage. The faintest bit of color appearing on Fym's pale cheeks as the alien seemingly enjoyed their little back and forth.

"Clothing that serves other purposes than simple protection? How peculiar." Fym mused, letting go of an affirmative clicking sound as her secondary purple tracheas delivered a deep breath of terrestrial air into her bony thorax.
"On my homeworld we do not engage in such ways of individuality, it would just distract from one's task and caste-specific attire. Adapting clothing to fit one's personal tastes and needs seems like such a terrestrial thing to do." Fym continued, watching Mallory intently with the starry purple of her eyes, blinking slowly at her new earth-born...friend. Not knowing exactly how to classify their relationship, as the alien settled on simply deeming it a positive influence and possibly important ally for the foreseeable future.

"Your species seems to not be too direct in their social norms, or am I mistaken? My world does not engage in rituals that mask one's actual motives as it is deemed counter-intuitive and an obstruction for a flawlessly functioning society." The extra terrestrial added with a soft hum, as if savoring the sound of human words produced by vocal cords accustomed to a direct, minimalist speech consisting of mostly click-like sounds.

And yet, for some reason Fym did not know, the extra terrestrial wondered if she would engage in such terrestrial customs during her stay on this planet, softly shaking her head as she felt the thoughts invade her mind. For the way of life the earthlings indulged in stood in complete contrast with what Fymncrea had known since she had been born under a star much larger than the terrestrial sun, a harsher world where survival was deeply linked to fulfilling the role society had already carved out for every individual.

Besides, she traveled to this lonely planet, galaxies apart from her own home, for a reason. A reason that would inevitable force her to leave this planet and disappear back into he dark depths of space.
And yet the purpose she had been sent to fulfill on this strange planet hinged on her not clashing with those terrestrials that had anticipated her arrival, knowing that the day her kind once again set foot on earth would inevitably come.

Blinking slowly with those translucent membranes of hers, Fym tilted her elongated head, watching Mallory go about fixing the hideout made of dead organic plant-cells for no other reason than to provide her with a place to stay, making the alien exhale deeply.
The purple organ on her neck pressing tightly against her neck as it pushed air out of her insect-like thorax as Fym examined the tiny earthling intent on helping her.

"I will. But first, allow me to help too." Fym remarked, kneeling down beside Mallory as she glared over to the blonde girl.
"Just...tell me what I can do."

 

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