A/N: It had to be done. There are a surprisingly small amount of fics out there focusing on Krolia and Ken's (until Keith's father is canonly named, Kenneth seems to be the most common theory name for him) first meeting. Honestly, the only other one I have seen is Gravtron1's Two Worlds, One Family.This will be slower paced than Gravtron1's one-shot, so if you are here for a quick, intense meeting... go to Gravtron1's.
Ken did say it was months after meeting Krolia that he first saw Blue, so that gives me a lot of time to play with. There will be secrets, hiding things from the Garrison, teaching Krolia about Earth, and a whole lot of other stuff. Except for romance.
Yes, it will be possible.
Kenneth Kogane -most often known as Ken- bolted upright in his bed. He quickly switched on the light, blinking to adjust to the abrupt brightness. He swung his feet out of bed, then paused.
It was still night outside. The walkie-talkie beside the bed was quiet. A quick check found no one in the room, and there wasn't any sounds of an intruder.
Ken squinted and stood. His instincts were telling him that something was wrong. He crossed quickly to the window and swept the curtains aside.
There was a bright orange glow from over the hill. Smoke rose behind it, and the lines of smoke streaking from the sky were still clear.
A ship had crashed practically in his backyard! He didn't remember any Garrison flights scheduled for that night -night flights were rare anyway- so he guessed it wasn't a Garrison ship.
Ken pulled on a jacket and snatched up the axe he kept by the bedroom door. He ran outside into the cool desert night, hurtled his property fence, and sprinted up the hill. He came to an abrupt halt when he saw the crashed ship.
It definitely wasn't Garrison. Ken wasn't even sure it looked human, as ridiculous as that fleeting thought was.
The metal was a dark purple. The ship had a pointy cockpit that couldn't have held more than one or two pilots. Its long wings were snapped off and laid crumpled in the groove in the sand behind it. Fire crackled along where the wings had attached, and on the back of the ship.
After a moment, Ken shook off his shock. Whatever the ship looked like, there had to be a pilot inside who needed help.
First things first, stop the fire. Ken ran to the biggest fire and began throwing sand on it. Luckily, the fire was already dying down on its own, and Ken was able to put them out soon enough.
Once the fire was out, Ken circled the ship. He couldn't find any sort of door, and enough sand had been pushed over the top that the front port was hidden.
Ken climbed onto the sand in front of the ship, standing over where he guessed was the main view port. He kicked the metal, then crouched and pressed his ear to the ship.
There wasn't any sound from inside. Still, he made sure to yell a warning.
"If anyone can hear me, shield yer eyes!"
Ken stood and hefted his axe. Since he was a Garrison firefighter, the axe was specially made to pierce the thick metal of a ship. He struck the metal once, cutting a hole clear through the heat-weakened metal. A couple more chops, and there was a gap big enough to stick his hands inside. He braced himself and tugged it back with a screech of metal and peered inside.
For a split-second, it felt like Ken's heart stopped. He caught a glimpse of purple skin and thought he was too late.
But then, the pilot gave a soft groan. Purple eyes with yellow sclera opened and squinted in the moon's dim light as the pilot's head lifted ever so slightly.
"Dang," Ken whispered softly.
While humanoid in shape, the pilot was not human. Besides the purple skin and odd colored eyes, there was a darker line of purple skin on its cheeks, dark purple hair, and the one hand pressing against its middle appeared the have clawed fingers. The flight suit resembled armor, dark purple with red and lighter purple highlights. The pilot wore a purple helmet with a shattered visor.
Ken was startled out of his observations when the pilot gave another groan. Its eyes slipped shut as the pilot slumped back in the chair.
"Hey. Hey, you okay?" Ken murmured. "Sir? Er, miss?" Was this creature either?
Ken set aside the axe and slid inside the ship. He landed carefully in front of the chair, tense in case the pilot moved, and looked the creature over.
It was badly injured. Ken spotted a gash in its right leg, where a piece of console had been ripped out of the ship's frame and cut through the suit. The arm clutching its middle hinted that something was hurt there, and the right arm hung limp. Glass from the broken visor had given the creature multiple cuts on its face.
Ken sat back on his heels to think. The ship and pilot were nothing from Earth, meaning they were alien. Everyone joked about the existence of aliens, but Ken had never thought they actually existed!
Yet, there was a creature that was undoubtedly alien in front of him.
Ken couldn't help it. He peered up through the hole in the ship at the sky. Were there others nearby, or was this a lost one?
After a moment, Ken stood and looked back at the creature. Alien or not, it was hurt. He couldn't just leave it here to die.
Ken tentatively touched the alien's shoulder. He got no response, and quickly went to untangling the straps holding the pilot in place. Once he had it worked loose, he gently situated the alien to lay flat on the floor.
He began to work out how to get the alien outside, when he spotted the holster on the alien's hip. He carefully grabbed the handle sticking out, and pulled out a thick gun. The barrel was unlike anything he had ever seen -too fat with a narrow hole- but it was undoubtedly a gun. Ken shuddered and shoved it under the pilot's chair.
Ken repositioned and picked up the alien bridal style. With a good deal of balancing and tense moments, Ken was able to place the alien on the outside of the ship and climbed out beside it. He paused to catch his breath and check the alien.
It was breathing strongly, if a bit rapid. Ken found a pulse on its neck like a human. The pulse was steady, which Ken hoped meant the same in the alien as it did humans. It had begun to shiver, either from shock or the cold air.
While studying the alien in the better light, Ken noticed it's slight frame and a feminine build. In a second, Ken began thinking of the alien as female.
Ken stood and picked up the alien again. "Let's get you out of this cold, miss."
By the time Ken reached his house, he was panting. He was strong from hours of training, but the alien was about his size.
When Ken turned to push the door open with his back, he spotted lights in the distance. He recognized the location as the Garrison. He shrugged a bit -someone else must have spotted the ship- then stiffened.
Maybe he had seen too many old sci-fi movies, but Ken was suddenly worried for the alien he held. If the Garrison found her and the ship, there was no way Ken would be helping her in his house.
After all it wasn't like they would offer her an Icee and shake hands. No, he strongly suspected she would be locked up somewhere in the Garrison.
Even if the skittish military were willing to help the alien heal, he didn't think they would allow her freedom. At best, she would be a prisoner. At worst, a test subject.
Ken stared at the lights. Soon, someone would be coming to investigate. He glanced at the alien, then toward the shack at the house's edge. No one would search his shed if he was there, and there were tarps he could use to cover the ship…
On the other hand, he knew nothing about this alien. What if there were others like her in the sky? What if they were preparing for an attack? He thought back to the gun he had found on her. Peaceful aliens wouldn't carry weapons so obviously, he didn't think.
Granted, it was kind of hard to be intimidated by the groaning alien in his arms.
In the end, Ken shook his head and turned toward the shed. Even if the alien was potentially dangerous, he couldn't just hand her over to the Garrison. Whatever the risk, he determined the protect the alien until her motives became clear.
A/N: Today's obscure movie reference is thanks to Escape From Planet Earth, where two gas station attendants offer an alien an Icee to make peace and hopefully not get abducted.
I made Ken a Garrison firefighter because his house is relatively close to the Garrison and it just kind of made sense.