Cowering in a dark alley, hiding from the police with a captain of what could be a band of space pirates, was not quite how Velia had imagined her first visit to Nox. No, she pictured a calmer, peaceful trip to a small town near Nox's capital to settle in at her new school.

The whole reason she was here in the first place was because she was accepted into some prestigious interplanetary exchange program, apparently only available to a select few in the Orbit. It entailed two years of free travel, six months in each of the four other planets that was not her home, and a full experience to go along with it - including an education. Naturally, Velia's parents could not resist signing her up and sending her application in, much to her discontent.

They assured her it was the best chance she would ever get to leave, travel, get out there and see what the Orbit had to offer. To do what they never got to do themselves.

This better be good, she thought grumpily to herself when the sealed letter arrived in the mail that day, if I have to go this far for it.

Indeed, the first school Velia would attend for six whole months was all the way over in Nox, two planets over from her home on Omnia. Which, she had never been to. Or heard of. Or wanted to go to. In fact, she had never even left Omnia, and was not planning to so in the near foreseeable future. At least not until she got her future all decided upon.

However, no amount of passive-aggressive pleading could get Velia out of this one, and not even two weeks later she found herself at the airport, luggage on the tiled floor around her, a displeased frown on her face, and her large family waving goodbye as they left.

Her flight went as well as it could have for someone who had never left her planet before, or so she figured. Takeoff left her terrified, almost in tears really as her knuckles turned white from clutching her chair, but the passenger next to her, a kind elderly lady with skin darker than her own and wrinkles by her eyes from smiling so much, talked to Velia the whole time in a language she could not understand, and it soothed her immensely anyways. The lady was her companion for the rest of the flight, though the language barrier seemed to pose no problem for either of them.

Velia was in a seat that faced the ship's windows better, which meant she could give into her childish urges to point at every unfamiliar star and ask what it was to distract her from the ever-present fear of the ship. The lady was more than happy to oblige, saying something in her beautiful language every time Velia looked back at her with a question on her face. The simple actions made Velia smile. She vowed to somehow contact the lady when their flight was over.

One confusing translation and a name, number, and address scribbled onto a stray piece of paper later, Velia got her wish. In her opinion, that was the best part of the flight. She got off the ship with a little smile on her face and one last wave to the kind lady, ready to face whatever would come next.

Nox was an interesting planet, she thought. It was constantly darker than back home, with shadows seeming to cover the sun itself. The cities were far larger than she was told of, and the buildings were very tall in the capital where she had landed.

She had no more time to explore further, even though she wanted to, because she was required to catch a ride to get to the school, and more importantly, the dorm she would be staying in. Apparently, it was a smaller school, meaning she would have a roommate or two. Just what Velia wanted. (Not really.) She preferred to spend more time by herself, in the quiet, and she hoped whoever she had to spend the next six months living with would understand that.

That aside, her ride appeared to be late. In the letter she had received, it was stated that there would be a bus of some sorts to pick up all of the chosen candidates and bring them to the school where a short tour or something of the like would commence. Maybe. The acceptance letter was suspiciously vague, but Velia's family didn't either notice or particularly care. Velia had not shrugged off the lack of clarity, but stored it away for a later time.

Within the next thirty minutes, she was standing quietly under the cover of the bus station from the packet included in the envelope, tapping her foot to an unheard beat. No one else was in sight, not a single soul.

Velia's luggage was been taken when she got off the ship, assumingly to go to the school ahead of her, so she was left with nothing but her carry-on bag - which was a small backpack filled with her wallet, a change of clothes, a little bit of food, and a couple of books. Her black and grey hoodie was already taken out and on her, the colder temperatures of Nox not particularly bothering her, but it put more space in her backpack.

She had stood there, alone, for longer than she cared to admit. After another fifteen minutes, she started to think she either had missed the bus and would be forced to wait until the next one came, or this whole exchange program was a scam and she was officially abandoned on a foreign planet. Due to her nature, she leaned towards the second reason, which put a sour frown on her face. Her hands shoved further into her pockets, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

A couple of minutes after that was about when she got knocked out.

All of the sudden, as she glanced at the watch face for Nox for the thousandth time, something wrapped around her waist and while she was stunned and incapacitated, dragged her into the alley directly behind the bus station.

Velia tried to struggle, of course, and the years of training she received when she was younger certainly didn't hurt, judging by the pained grunt of whoever - whatever - possessed the nerve to grab her. Though, she couldn't tell the gender of it, so she had no idea what it was.

Once Velia was apparently far enough into the alley where it would take her a moment to escape, the bruising grip on her waist loosened.

She took the opportunity given to her and, with a fleeting hope that whatever got her didn't have metal for feet, stomped down hard, and made a run for it.

...That plan worked for approximately three seconds, before a large arm made of what looked like from what Velia saw in the fraction of a second she did, black steel shot out and caught her head, pushing her backwards and causing her to hit her head on the unpaved ground.

The last thing she saw before everything went dark was a flash of pale yellow, maybe blonde, and the faintest smell of sea salt.

"This is the one we were looking for?" A deep voice, tainted with disdain, filled the small room.

Another voice, higher and more feminine, clicked its tongue. "Of course she is. She wouldn't be here if she wasn't, now would she?"

A pause.

"I suppose not. But still...she doesn't look like much." The first voice argued, softer this time.

"That's exactly why I - we - need her. You wouldn't expect to be ambushed by this poor thing in the dead of night." The second voice had a note of affection in it.

"...No…" Understanding dawned for the second voice. "I see."

"Mhmm. Now, help me move her, gently, so we can get her on the ship."

"Alright, Captain."

The first thing Velia saw after everything went dark was a high, fancy ceiling made of stained glass and engravings. Weak rays of sunlight tried to filter through, but given the fact that Nox was one of the farthest planets away from the sun in the Orbit, the sun was not very strong.

The next observation Velia made was that her head hurt, very badly, as well as her back. She had no idea why, but she figured it would be obvious soon enough.

The third was that she remembered she was knocked unconscious an unknown time ago, and moved from her position by the bus station. She assumed that was why various parts of her body hurt. She was correct.

The fourth was that she was not in shock, which surprised her. Normally, she supposed silently, one would be very much concerned if they found out they had been knocked out and dragged to a possibly suspicious location. She was not very much concerned.

The fifth, Velia was not alone. She felt at least one pair of eyes on her - always an unpleasant feeling, especially when she didn't know whose eyes they were. Velia figured it was about time to make her conscious presence known.

She sighed very softly, displeased of her current situation, and moved to get up.

"Ah ah ah, not so fast." A voice stopped her, amused and light with an accent Velia could not place immediately. "Wouldn't want to strain your injuries, mh?"

Velia's gaze snapped over to the source of the noise, which was a corner of the room nearest her. Dully, she noted she was laying on something softer than expected, possibly a bed, near the corner she was looking at, and there were no doors in sight. The frail light was in a position to cast upon it an even darker shadow, initially preventing Velia from seeing anything in particular.

"What-" Velia's voice was rough and scratchy, so she cleared her throat and started again. "Where am I, exactly?"

The voice now laughed, a nice sound Velia quite liked, though there was a hint of something more that left her slightly uncomfortable.

"You, dear, are currently in a ship dock used to, well, dock ships." Was the answer she got.

Velia hummed, not totally sure how to respond to that. "...It's fairly nice, for a dock." She eventually muttered, eyes back on the ceiling.

"Thank you." Another laugh.

"You're welcome." Velia replied automatically, manners somehow not forgotten.

"You...seem to be taking this astonishingly well, for a girl who has been kidnapped by strangers." The voice pointed out, sounding curious.

Velia shrugged. The action sparked pain throughout her back, and she winced.

"I'm sure the shock will set in soon enough. However, I might faint when it does, just as a warning."

"Duly noted."

There was a shift of what sounded like fabric, and when Velia looked back to the corner, a person-shaped outline stood up. It stepped forward with a clack familiar with heeled boots, and an actual person emerged.

It appeared to be a young woman, and Velia had gotten no farther than putting to memory her bright green eyes, blonde hair, and the golden buttons on her coat before putting true to her claim and passing out.

The woman, as she was female indeed, smirked, and placed her hands on her hip.

"You're going to be an interesting one, aren't you?"

Once again, Velia came to from unconsciousness. She groaned quietly this time, only to have a hand cover her mouth with urgency.

"Shut it," the voice of the blonde woman from earlier hissed, "unless you want to get caught."

Velia did not know what she would be caught for, but from the sound of the lady's voice, it wasn't very good. So she shut it.

She also took a gander at her surroundings. It was another dark alley, much like the one she had been dragged into the first time. Except for a few noticeable things.

The arguably most important one was the fact that lights were at the end that opened into a street, the one not by her and the woman, and looked very important. In fact, they looked fairly similar to the lights used by the police and, judging by the people standing by that end, were the lights used by the police.

Now, Velia prided herself on her intelligence. She was not dumb, and most of the time, she knew it. She could figure out that the police were most likely either searching for the mysterious woman crouching next to her, or both Velia as well as the woman. If the former was right, Velia had the choice to shout and give her away. However, if it was the latter, shouting would certainly draw attention, but given Velia was now assumedly part of the woman's plan for whatever, she might very well be a criminal herself.

Velia decided to just stay quiet, and hope for the best. As it would turn out later, that could have been the best decision of her life.

After a few minutes of the police throwing beams down their alley and apparently not seeing either of them, everything went dark and for a moment, Velia thought she had lost consciousness for the third time in a row.

"They're gone now." came the murmur from the lady. Velia was awake then, and it was just the looks of Nox. Goodie.

Velia would have responded with something, but her mouth was still out of use. The woman seemed to notice that after a moment, and promptly removed her hand.

"Thank you." Velia said softly, out of habit. "And also, why am I in another alley?"

The woman nodded from what Velia could faintly see. "You're welcome, and I'll answer that, once we get out. Hm. I suppose it won't be a valid question anymore when we do, actually. Is there something else you want to know?"

Although this was definitely the oddest experience of Velia's life so far, she found herself beyond intrigued, and so forced down any panic that came to her for later.

"Yeah." She did not have a question, so she thought of one very quickly lest the woman change her mind. "What's your name?"

There was no answer from the woman, not for another minute or so.

"That's what you want to know? Well, alright then. It's Paisley. Captain Paisley Kirkland."

Captain Paisley. That had a ring to it, for sure.

"I like it." Velia commented, nodding once in approval. "But-"

"But?"

"It's too much of a mouthful. Also, it doesn't seem to fit you well. May I just call you Captain?"

Captain Paisley Kirkland snorted. "Sure, girl. Whatever floats your boat, I suppose."

Velia smiled a half smile in the dark. "Would you like to know my name, then?"

"I would, if you please." Captain Paisley answered.

"Velia Vargas, at your service." Velia bowed her head briefly.

"Is that so? Nice to meet you, Velia Vargas. Welcome to Nox, then. I hope you enjoy your stay."

Velia's smile grew. "Thanks. Am I a criminal now?" She couldn't help but ask.

"Officially? Yes. You're in for quite the adventure. Now be quiet, the cops are coming back."

"OK."

Do I ever really edit these things before I publish them? The answer is no. I do not. I literally have no idea what I'm doing anymore.

This is an AU. In space, based off a picture I saw. Warning: there will be space pirates, as I am very fond of them. So there. Don't like it? What did the space pirates ever do to you?

This is also a (late) birthday present for the awesome JessicaStarCrossed. I hope she likes it. I have worked very hard for the past three days on this piece. Good thing I love space, am I right?

Sorry, I am very tired as well, and planning on sleeping at the nearest point possible. If you have any questions, or see any mistakes, shoot me. (A PM. Shoot me a PM. Get it? It's a joke. Sorry.)

Thank you, again, to my lovely and very helpful friend, Italian Skunk. She is literally a lifesaver, and this would not be a thing without her. You're the best. Really.

See you all sometime soon, or something. *finger guns into bed* Bye.