[Marley]

Years of training had never really prepared Beck for a crash landing. Sure, there had been drills about what one should do if they should ever find themselves in such a predicament, but when it actually happened, when you actually crashed on some alien planet and were dismayed that you'd even lived through it all, it was different. Luckily Beck's suit hadn't been damaged too badly although he couldn't say the same for his ship. It was totaled and done for and he and the scraps of the once magnificent rocket were seemingly stuck out in the middle of nowhere. Beck walked away with a few scratches and a gash on his lip, presumably from biting it inadvertently during the crash, as well as a broken ankle, but they weren't anything he couldn't deal with. Glaring at the horizon of the planet be was on, Beck now wished he weren't standing here. His oxygen would run out and he'd suffocate in the middle of space. That's not how he wanted to die.

And he wasn't stupid either. He knew everyone at home would assume he was dead. No one could survive a crash like that, and if they had he was already too far from Earth to be sent the luxury of a rescue team. Beck wanted to scream and shout and rant to whoever was nearby but he was alone and thus left to wallow in it all. Taking what supplies he could, Beck began his journey away from his ruined ship. There was no use standing next to it all day, or evening, or whatever time of day it was. He wasn't sure what he was going to find on this planet but he figured he might as well be the first to explore some unexplored territory - he'd go out with a bang.

[Lovebite]

And in a bang, he would have went, if only fate had been feeling a little bit crueler that evening and a certain free spirited female hadn't been extremely pissed off from getting let go from her job at one of the few specialized technology plants and wasn't zooming, top side, on a beeline through the wreck of a landing strip the human's ship had made just prior. Spinning out momentarily when a rock kicked up and got caught up in the hovering propellers of her vehicle, she took dire measures and let go of the wheel shift for it to spin out of it's own accord for a few long breathless moments. Until it spunt to a stop finally and she was left gasping for air, kicking open the hatch and stumbling out after unbuckling her harness, panting and gagging in dizziness as she doubled over. Then tossed her head back, chest still rising and falling rapidly, the adrenaline passing slowly, leaving her twitching with the residue shock of almost crashing, until she calmed down again, pulling her dark hair back away from her face and horns.

Then turning away from her still smoking vehicle, kicking at the bright red dirt beneath her feet, hissing and clicking curses until she collapsed onto her driver's seat once more. Resting her scaled elbows on her thighs and hanging her head, to growl some more in irritation, almost wishing they were savages so she could rip her ex-bosses throat out. She sighed, knowing that killing was never the answer, no matter how much of a nook gobbler they were and no matter how much she wanted to. The alien female heard a slow shuffling, far off from her and grabbed the base of her shock baton, looking up off into the distance at a lopsided figure stumbling over the horizon. Her brows furrowed and she stood up again, watching it cautiously, what was another person doing topside? Was this a trap? She cursed and hurried to climb back into her car.

[Marley]

Beck was almost tempted to take off his helmet and test the air of this vast planet. Did it have its own atmosphere? Did it have oxygen? In the movies, astronauts would always be surprised upon landing and taking their helmet off only to find that the strange planet they'd touched down on did indeed have oxygen... except the thing about this was that it wasn't a movie. This was real life and if he took off his helmet now, Beck would be risking what precious moments he had left to survive. He wondered briefly what might kill him first - lack of oxygen or dehydration or starvation. He had food and water with him he'd retrieved from the wreckage, yeah, but it wasn't as if he could just unzip his suit so he could eat it. It was a hassle but Beck thought that if he were to go out any way, it might as well be in the middle of eating a candy bar, right?

He wasn't even sure what he was looking for up here honestly. There wasn't anything that he could see other than red, red, and more red. The stars above were annoyingly taunting and Beck cursed something under his breath as he shook his head and lugged his pack of supplies further over his shoulder. Bemused, Beck pondered what his memorial would be like. He was still young, not like many of the older astronauts back at base. His parents and sole younger sister would probably be devastated to hear the news, but that's where Beck stopped thinking about it all because he knew he'd just depress himself if he kept at it. Sighing frustratedly, Beck stopped momentarily to bend down to check his ankle. He couldn't see it but he could feel it. It hurt a bit but it wasn't the worst thing about this mess right now. He thought of splinting it... if only he could.

[Lovebite]

Nori stopped trying to flee after a moment when she looked back to see the figure kneel, now it was going through her mind that it wasn't a raider or a rebel but someone who needed assistance. Or they could just be reloading their gun, she thought and sighed as she bit onto her lower lip with her sharp teeth. She did it often and had the scars to show it, her mind was always racing in hundreds of ways per second, but right now she decided just to help this person. Civilization wasn't above ground, whatever it was would have a much better time below ground at a hospital or with other people.

She stepped out of her vehicle again and stood with her hands on her hips, she was short like most of her race and just stupid enough to call out to whoever it was. She chirped as she jumped up and down to gain the strangers attention, waving her arms boldly as she tried to communicate with them the only way she knew how. In her native tongue.

[Marley]

When Beck first heard the lilting chirping sound, he was thoroughly confused. There weren't birds here, we're there? No, that was stupid to even think. He then thought that maybe it was his suit warning him of something but he'd never heard a sound such as the one he was hearing now be emitted by any of the suits back home. He straightened again, looking down at himself momentarily before he turned and he was shocked to find another figure not too far off from where he was. He should be even more so surprised that he was seeing another life form on some uncharted planet, but Beck assumed that it was possibly his mind messing with him. After all, he had just been in a shuttle crash. It was very plausible that he'd suffered some kind of brain injury during it; that made the most sense.

While he didn't have a weapon, Beck didn't even think he needed one. This was all a figment of his imagination and if it got too dangerous the figure would just vanish into thin air, or so he prayed. Pursing his lips, Beck began the trek back to where this humanoid-like form stood waving at him. He wasn't sure what to even say. "Uh... Who are you?" He'd almost asked what are you but he'd corrected himself at the last minute.

[Lovebite]

The short female's slitted eyes widened and she backed away from the human, tensing up defensively and almost hissing at him. Humans were not to be trusted, they were arrogant and evil, all of them. She backed away even more until she was pressed against her vehicle while glaring at the male, her ancestors warnings ran through her head repeatedly. She didn't know human language, maybe she should have paid more attention in school. She stared at him for a while, frozen in place almost, not fearful but apprehensive. She had no recognition of what he said in her eyes and just stared at him silently, not as willing any more to help him now that she saw what he was. A human. She couldn't help a human. No one would help a human. What was he even doing here on this planet?

[Marley]

He'd sort of been expecting for this figment to at least speak his language. It only made sense. When instead she - or they? he wasn't totally sure - backed away instead, beck frowned. Not that it hadn't been what he'd expected but damn couldn't his imagination be a little comforting? "I don't have anything on me," he continued nevertheless, placing his bag down and showing his hands to prove his point. Beck probably wouldn't use weapons in this scenario even if he'd wanted to. His eyes flickered towards the machine behind the other, and if be was right it looked like some kind of car. No car like he'd ever seen before. He tentatively pointed towards it behind her, tipping his head curiously. "Can I see?" he posed the question slowly and then turned to point back at his ship. "Mine is... broken." He hoped they might understand what he was saying to some extent but he didn't put too much hope into it.

[Lovebite]

Nori watched him, looking him over when he lifted his hands then looking to the bag he dropped before meeting his eyes again. Nostrils flaring before her pupils rounded out just slightly, she could fight him if he attacked, she was small but could be viscous. Though for now she tried to process what he was saying to her, he looked to be really wishing to communicate but she could only understand a few words. "No."She said, she knew enough human language to know that was universal,"How...ship break?"She asked just as slowly, hoping the words she strung together were full of enough sense for the human to understand.

[Marley]

If his mind could make up stuff like this, like this... car, especially, then Beck figured he should get to understand it. This should all be related to some deep buried subconscious memories or something, if any of the shows and pre-requisite classes he used to have to take had taught him anything in that area. "I don't know," he goes on, glancing back at the wreckage of his ship with a frown. He hadn't a clue as to what had happened truthfully. "It died." That was the only logical explanation Beck had right now, that it had died on him in the middle of his travels. "Here..." He made a hand gesture to the general world outside. "Oxygen? Safe or no?" Because maybe if she could breathe, he might be able to as well.

[Lovebite]

She looked even more skeptical again at what he said, turning her face the other way and looking at him with her opposite eye. Everything that would make her less humanoid looking like her horns and tail were short and nubbed. She could pass off as a human woman if not for her smooth bronzen skin that held patches of scales in some areas like her elbows, knees, as well as her belly and neck.

Nori raked her brain for more human words she knew to be able to communicate with this man, brow furrowed for a moment before she said,"Machines do not die... If you keep them well."She watched him as he gestured, pupils slitting again until she realized he wasn't attempting to be threatening to her with the movements. Then she looked over the fancy suit he wore and it somewhat clicked inside of her head, she shook her head,"Not air for a human, no."She stood up straight, then turned to open the back door of her vehicle, she didn't trust him enough for him to sit close to her. "In."She said, looking at him as she held open the door.

[Marley]

He didn't think for a minute that any of this was real. Mankind had been scouring the universe for other signs of life for years and he just so happened to come across it in a half-assed expedition that he shouldn't even have survived from? He was either hallucinating like crazy or the luckiest guy in the world - no, the universe. Beck wished he still had some kind of communication with the space station back home but everything had been smashed and rendered useless in the crash. It was by some miracle his suit helmet hadn't even been shattered and that he could still breathe. He wouldn't be able to breathe for too long though, not if there wasn't any oxygen on this world which, explained by this woman, there wasn't any. She obviously knew about humans, and if this was actually real, it honestly unsettled him a bit that she did know how his kind. Suddenly the fast paced world back on Earth felt entirely minuscule compared to here.

Beck made no protests when she gestured for him to get into the car. He scrambled for his bag and slid into the back seat. A car in space? Not something anyone would expect yet here he was. "How do you know of humans?" he queried when they'd both eased inside the vehicle. "With no oxygen, I won't last long." Maybe wherever she was taking him there'd be oxygen?

[Lovebite]

"School."Nori replied,"They tell us...humans are...evil."She watched as he climbed inside of the back of her vehicle then closed the door again before she moved to climb into the drivers seat. "My people live without oxygen only for a limited time... They'll be oxygen where I'm taking you."She said, starting up the car and trilling as she sighed, language much like that of a birds, though she looked partly lizard.

The female's car hovered and swayed a moment as she clicked buttons on the dashboard before zooming off again in the direction of the hills. Where the entrance of the actual civilization was, underground to protect from being spotted and invaded by more dangerous species. She watched him in the mirror constantly until they were heading down the ramp to cover, her eyes adjusting almost instantly to the dimness as she now looked for people. Knowing they wouldn't be as kind to the human as she was being, she had to keep him from being harmed,"Get down."She said, waving a hand and driving slowly carefully with the other, everyone was still sleeping or about to go to sleep so they were okay for now to sneak into her home.

[Marley]

Her comment got Beck to wondering that if she knew so much about humans, from a school no less, if any humans other than himself had ever even been on this planet. It would make sense and it was a slightly better feeling than thinking of her kind having explored Earth instead. He'd always known there was other life out in the universe, humans couldn't possibly be the only ones ever, but seeing it with his own two eyes now felt surreal and almost as if he shouldn't be witnessing this whatsoever. "Only some are evil," he tried to joke, suddenly wondering if his humor would even get across. "Good. I need oxygen all the time."

When they'd gone under the surface of the planet, Beck was amazed. Were all planets like this? Did they all have some kind of underground civilization? That would certainly make sense, and was the explanation as to why humans had never found much life on any planets. It was sort of funny really; something so simple as an underground society had gone right over all of their heads back home. Beck ducked down a bit when she instructed him to do so, resisting the urge to pop back up and peek through the windows. "Where are we going?"

[Lovebite]

"All are evil."She corrected him,"Only some are less evil than others... Though that could be...said for all species."She looked in the mirror at him, tilting her head slightly then looking back to the road as she turned down the next tunnel towards a more well lit area of the underground city. It was much like a downtown area than anything and eyes around every corner, it made her worried that someone would see them. "We're going to my home... I need to...hide you."She said, while pulling into her vehicle parkway and climbing out to grab the human from the back. Helping him inside quickly before any of her neighbors could see them, shutting the door behind them then placing him down in a padded seat. "Stay....here."

[Marley]

Her comment got him to wondering if she knew about any other species. Beck had little hope that he'd ever get home, and there was a better chance of him dying here even on this populated planet than anything; if they taught that humans were evil here, he doubted they'd be so kind as to let him borrow a rocket or ship or anything that might be able to send him back to Earth. That wasn't to mention how he had no clue how he was going to survive here exactly. Oxygen was alright now, but what about food and water? Did they have the same kind of food here as they did on Earth? Honestly Beck didn't think he'd be up for eating some green alien gloop... if that's what the food was.

When they looked to be in front of some kind of house, Beck followed the other inside, frowning at how seemingly quiet it was. It must've been night here or something. He supposed that was a good thing. Beck had always believed aliens would live in some sort of creepy pod but this was a shock, to find they had houses. Everything was a shock. Beck sat down when instructed, closing his eyes for a moment as he tried to compose and calm himself. "What's your name?" he asked curiously, because he didn't know what to call this woman. "I'm Beck."

[Lovebite]

Nori stopped her motions, trying to pick up her reading tablets from around the room then place them on the shelf she had never really used for them. She looked around her reclining area and was a bit embarrassed by the state it was in, she collected things and put them away quickly before he could touch anything. Then left the room for a few moments before coming back with cloth and jars of liquids, powders, and pills with scratched lables. She wasn't sure what was wrong with him but this may help, their medicine was stronger than humans, it would keep him from dying at least. She didn't know what she would do with a dead human.

The female was standing and staring at the man for a moment as she held the things in her arms, pressing her lips together tightly then shaking her head. "Don't tell me."She said, shaking her head looking at him and then coming over to place down the things on the floor. Though he had already told her and she sighed, growling some and beginning to assess his state,"Nori."She said and looked up at him before reaching to tug off his helmet.

[Marley]

Beck hadn't really paid any mind to the mess in the room. He was more intrigued with all the different technology that he could see and if he didn't know any better he probably would've picked some of the stuff up to play around with it, but he did know better so he didn't even bother trying. No need to get kicked out now. This wasn't any traditional home but it was a home, and the chances of this ever happening had been very slim to begin with. He could've landed on a planet that didn't have any life at all and be totally screwed, or he could've landed on a planet that had life such as this one but they were violent man-eating creatures. All in all, Beck had definitely lucked out.

Beck reached up to loosen the helmet. "Tugging won't work," he said as he unscrewed it and set it to the side. He was hesitant to take a breath at first but when he finally did he was relieved to find there was oxygen. "Well now we have names." He tried for a smile and hummed, nodding at the things she'd brought out with her. "I'm fine, nothing is too bad." His ankle would heal on its own but he was alright otherwise. Or rather he hoped he was okay, that there was nothing internal going on. "So... What's going to happen?" He set a hand on his helmet. "I have to get back home, but meanwhile... I stay here with you?"

[Lovebite]

Nori looked at him as he smiled then looked away as she continued inspecting him, hands traveling over the charred fabric of his suit then noticing the swelling of his ankle. "Not good."She said and moved to remove his boot carefully as not to worsen the fracture,"How have you...walked?"She asked, she would think he would be in too much pain to do so but he had been and she wondered about him for a moment. Nori looked up at him, her pupils had widened again into circles instead of ovals, they were the true indicater of her emotions. "You...tell me."She replied,"Your ship is broken... You have no...friends here...besides me."She went silent then thought about a solution as she braced against the seat then took his foot before resetting the bone forcefully.

[Marley]

"Dedication," Beck shrugged as he rolled his ankle slowly to test the waters. It wasn't too bad but it certainly wouldn't heal right unless it was splint. "The will to live?" And maybe the fact that his mind had been more focused on how he'd even survived the crash that he didn't have time to think about an injury as small as a fractured ankle. "So we're friends?" Beck nodded. Whether she'd truly meant they were actual friends or acquaintances or whatever, it was nice to know that he wouldn't be in total danger without her being around... he thought. "I need to make another ship, find parts to do so. As much as I'd love to explore this place... Earth is still what I know." Before he could continue he was cut off by his own gasp when Nori fixed his ankle. Well he wouldn't use the word fixed, per se, but it was set for now. "Jeez, a warning would be nice." Beck reached up to straighten his short tousled brown hair. "Can I even live here for long?"

[Lovebite]

She took bandages and wrapped them around his ankle now to keep it steady if he were to walk on it any more, it was the best she could do with what she had. "Sorry."She said in reply, then looked up to him when he asked that and she thought about it for a moment. Then stood up, placing his foot down gently and standing up,"There...might be a way."She nodded,"But...it'll be strange."She looked at him,"Would you like to try it?"