She clung to a piece of her beloved dead planet for fear of her life. It had all seemed so perfect; Using the planet's energies to make their lives simpler, easier. But all good things truly did come to an end. The planet had decayed before their very eyes, over the course of a millenium, and they were all too arrogant to admit it, preferring to live in luxury than to accept what it cost them. It cost them their world.
And now she was the only one of her people left.
Her race was special: Each of them recognised each individual cell in their bodies, and could move them and reform themselves on a grand scale. To survive her journey through space, she simply changed herself into a liquid form that didn't need to breathe, and slept. She slept until she found a new planet where she could live out the rest of her days. Her journey was long and dark.
At some point, after a long sleep, she found herself filled with urgency and panic. She had found a planet. A beautiful young world, with blue oceans and vibrant landscapes. And she was falling towards it.
Quickly she dove into the center of the rock that had been home to her twice over, and awaited the inevitable. The impact shook the world all over. She was afraid the new world might die from her arrival. She stood up, taking on her bipedal form for the first time in... Decades? Centuries even? She couldn't tell. She focused, and slowly her pale blue skin took form, her silver fur coating it soon after. She hadn't come out of the crash completely unscathed, however, her red leathery wings had been mangled beyond recognition. She slowly climbed out of the rock, delicately placing a four-fingered hand on it's surface and moving carefully. She peered out with slitted blue-green eyes.
She was in the bottom of a large crater, undoubtedly made on her arrival. She let out a sigh. "I leave one dead world only to cause another's suffering," she spoke in her alien tongue.
For several days she surveyed the damage, trying to heal it with what she could remember from her magic. It was taxing, and she had slept too long. She could hear the faint cries of the planet beneath her, and it was so depressing, she often found herself tearing up in her fits of despair. What have I done? Surely this wound is too large, the planet won't be able to heal itself. At times all she could do was mourn the death of her world, concluding that she should've stayed there and died with the rest of her race.
A short while later, five days by her estimates, she heard new sounds from the planet. A cooing, relaxing sound. She wasn't sure what it meant, but it was clear to her the following day, when she saw the first signs of sentient life: 'Help is on the way.'
A group of six or so bipedal lifeforms, with pinkish hairless skin, all the fur of their bodies seemingly collected on the tops of their heads, and carrying fire in their hands. They were so strange, but soon she came to realize that she must look even stranger. She quickly transformed into a likeness of them, noting the mouths, noses, and the flaps of skin on the sides of their heads. Her fur became long and silvery hair, unsure of what the norm was for them, and her eyes remained about the same. Satisfied that she wouldn't send them away screaming, and when they had made it down to investigate her rock, she came out of the shadows and approached them.
They were taken aback, amazed to see anything living in the massive crater. One woman took a step forward. She had beautiful long brown hair and emerald green eyes, and bore a smile.
Not sure how to make first contact, the silver-haired woman stood in silence, suddenly aware that she didn't know the first thing about this race. For all she knew, they could cannibalize their young. She certainly didn't see any children with them. She froze on the spot, speechless, as they wouldn't understand her anyway, and could swear they could see her sweat forming on her face.
The woman smiled wider, understanding her confusion. She pointed to herself. "Ifalna" she said, in a language that was both spoken and telepathic. It was amazing for the poor confused outsider to hear a strange voice in her head. Ifalna then slowly pointed at her.
Slightly reassured, she pointed to herself, too. The silver-haired woman took into account the way Ifalna's mouth and neck both moved to create the sound. She reworked her own vocal chords to be able to produce similar sounds. After a moment, she slowly said "Jenova."
Ifalna smiled wide, showing pearly white teeth. The man next to her smiled in much the same manner, and one of their number erupted in a frightening "Hah-Hah-Hah" sound. Ifalna then handed off her torch and took the cloak off her shoulders for the timid alien. Then she took a couple steps back, and gestured to the rest of the group. "Cetra" she said, both in Jenova's ears and mind.
Jenova managed a small smile. This was going to work out after all.
Over the next few days the Cetra and Jenova spent plenty of time in the bottom of the crater. The Cetra were busying themselves studying her rock with their strange slim pink fingers, and talking amoungst each other. Some ran their hands along the ground, then promptly sat down on the bare hard ground and took on a very relaxed look. Jenova spent that time studying their language, or at least the spoken half of it; the telepathic half frightened her and so her Cetra friends refrained from using it around her. She heard the word "Knowlespole" tossed around a few times. Ifalna took it upon herself to teach her some small words when she needed them. At one point she brought over a basket with some strange brightly coloured plants inside. Jenova gave her new friend a strange look.
"Food" Ifalna attempted, then picked up a red fruit and bit it with her mouth, showing Jenova the yellowish-white wet inside part.
Jenova picked up a yellow piece of 'food' which reminded her of the crescent shape her homeworld's moons took on at certain times of the year. "Food" she repeated, and attempted to bite into the strange nutritious article. Ifalna laughed at her poor confused friend and peeled the banana for her. She kindly took a moment to name each fruit to show her that there was a difference.
Jenova thought this might been a good opportunity to ask what they were doing. She pointed to Kavaren, another of the Cetra, who was running his hands along the ground and talking in a hushed voice to another young man nearby. Then she looked back at Ifalna.
The woman sighed, her green eyes moving back and forth, seemingly staring at nothing. Finally, she turned to Jenova, opening and closing her hand infront of her mouth. "Talking" she said, then bent down and patted the ground twice. "Planet" she said.
That's incredible! Jenova thought. These people can communicate with the life energies of the planet itself! She looked on at the strange activites of the Cetra in a newfound awe.
If her people could've heard her own world's cries, perhaps they would've been more inclined to at least slow their use of the spirit energy of her planet. But no, instead they wanted powered lights at night to take on the role the sun played during the day, they wanted machinery to travel and to take care of every small inconvenience. And figuring the world's energies infinite, they used it without care. They didn't notice that their world was almost completely devoid of vegitation, not needing it much anymore thanks to synthetic manufactured foods. Nor did they even notice the dramatic drop in the birth rate. Jenova herself was infertile, she would never have a child so long as she lived, as if she could take a partner in the first place. In reflecting back on this, Jenova felt herself become angry, and started to cry out of despair.
The first time Jenova reached the surface, she dropped to her knees overwhelmed. The world was green with plants she had never before seen, in an amazing quantity she could have never imagined. Her nose was assaulted with many fragrances, almost putting her in shock. Kavaren offered his hand to help her up, and Jenova took it and climbed back to her feet. "Beautiful planet" Jenova said. She got her grammar wrong in their tongue, but Ifalna turned and smiled.
Ifalna gestured for Jenova to follow her. As the other Cetra continued along the new path, created from travelling back and forth to the crater, Ifalna walked off the path to a small shrub with coloured spots on it. Upon closer inspection, she discovered the spots to be part of the plant. They were very pretty. Jenova couldn't tell what their point was, though. Could they be food? They were flat with seperate, thin pieces to them, brightly coloured and fascinating to look at. Ifalna crouched down infront of them, and looked to her friend. "Flowers", she said.
Jenova timidly touched the plant. It was soft to the touch, and delicate. She turned to Ifalna, pointing at the small colourful appendage of the plant, and said the word she found herself saying a lot: "Why?" What are they for?
Ifalna shruged. "Beauty" she said, then picked the flower off and handed it to Jenova with a smile. She took a flower for herself and held it to her nose, and Jenova heard an intake of breath from her nose. Jenova repeated the action, and was pleasently surprised.
So, in this world, there are even plants for the simple purpose of looking nice and smelling wonderful. This truly is a magnificent planet. "Beautiful," she said again. That would be the other word she found herself using quite often.