It was almost dark now; only a small thumbnail-like portion of the higher sun was poking above the horizon. Stella knew she should be heading back toward the base if she was to make it to the mandatory meeting Zane arranged for the evening but her feet kept on pulling her forward. It was humid and her clothes stuck to her skin as she walked so when she reached a hill she considered turning back after all so that she wouldn't have to exert herself. Her legs seemed to have a mind of their own, however, and she hiked up the hillside anyway. Upon reaching the the top of the hill she saw a curious site that made her glad that her body had gone against her mind and brought her here.
In the rapidly fading light any human would only have been able to make out the silhouette of a human body leaning against the lone tree that stood there, but she was no human and her heightened senses were able to let her see so much more. It was a man, one of the ones that had come from the ship, Godspeed, and he wasn't so much leaning against the tree as he was propped there, his body seemed to be sitting there limply like a doll. Around his body were scraps of meat that were usually fed to the pteros as snacks. It was no mistake that this man was left here to be devoured, and perhaps he'd been knocked out or killed first, which would explain his limpness.
She had no idea how long the man had been there; how long ago a ptero had been called and released. It was highly probable that the beast was on it's way there at this very moment and the logical thing for anyone to do would be to turn and run as fast as possible. She put a hand to the tiny whistle she wore around her neck, double checking that it was there (which is silly because she was never without it), before dropping her hand back to her side and walking toward the man. She didn't fear the pteros, she was the one who raised them, a job she loved and took pride in, but she wasn't a fool either. She knew they were wild animals and her having a motherly connection to them didn't change the fact that they could still snap at her if they chose to, and that was why she always kept the whistle used to control and tame them on her at all times.
She stopped in front of the man, who was definitely a site for sore eyes. He was bloody, his skin ripped in odd ways, bruises marked his body. His eyes were closed and his eyelids had dried blood on them as if they too had bled, which was probably the case if the rest of his body was in a similar state. She knelt down by the man and placed her ear by his face, listening for sounds of breathing. She heard none. She went to lift his wrist, but upon touching it she realized something was off. His skin had a spongy feel to it and that sensation mixed with the sticky blood that caked his wrist caused her to drop it. She placed two fingers on his neck instead, and placed her hear against his chest.
There it was. A pulse. Whoever left him here must have either wanted him dead or thought he was dead. She knew it was one of her people who had brought this man here, since no one else would have had the scraps of meat for the ptero, and she had to give whoever it was the benefit of the doubt that they had no idea this man was still alive. One of us or not, she didn't want to think her people were murderers. Still, she wondered what happened between this man and one of her people that left this man bloody and dying on this hilltop.
She didn't have time to think of the reasons now, however, and without wasting any time she gently scooped the man up (which would not have been so easy, as he was bigger than her, if she hadn't had the strength of two men) and ran, as carefully as she could as to not hurt the limp man in her arms any further, to one of the tunnels that ran to the underground base.
