The best word she could use to describe that night, would be fast. Like, one second things were normal. The sun was setting and she was tending to the crops outside before supper. She remembered that she was barefoot, she was always barefoot, it was common for her. Her mother yelled out at her to come in soon, she said she would, but she wanted to stay a bit longer, just to watch the sun set over the colony. Then, she saw the ships landing. It was normal for ships to land here, cause of all the trading, but those ships weren't normal. They didn't look like the ones that normally came for pickup and drop off.
She brushed her hair from her face, she kept it long so it was always getting swept in her face by the wind, "It's awfully late for trading." She noted to herself, remembering that usually her and the rest of the family would have to wake up really really early to get everything ready for trade. Her parents would've told her if the times changed.
Jane began to jog at a light pace towards her house, stopping when she noticed people exiting the ships. All batarians. That was odd. Usually only asari or other humans would come, but never batarians. In the sixteen years she'd been alive, she'd never seen a single batarian step foot onto the planet. They had a hatred for humans, so of course they'd do everything in there power to keep away from human planets. Then why were they here?
One of the ladies from a few houses down stepped up to the batarians, she couldn't say she knew her well, but she'd seen her a few good times. She began to speak to them, Jane figured she was probably asking why they were here. That was probably the number one question. When the woman stop talking, awaiting an answer, Jane took a few steps back. Something about them, just didn't feel quite right. Their demeanor and the way they stood. She wasn't good at reading alien body language, seeing as the only aliens she'd ever met in person were asari, but they just rubbed her the wrong way.
After a few more minutes of silence, one of the batarians stepped forward and pulled a gun from it's holster. The woman was afraid of course and Jane expected her to run, but she just stood there paralyzed with fear. She was shot through the head, point blank and she fell to the ground with only a light crinkle of grass. Her eyes were open and wide, she was staring directly at Jane, or at least that's what it felt like. She looked so dead, it was ironic to say, but she'd only been alive just a few seconds ago.
She was stuck in place, like she couldn't move even if she wanted to. She didn't want to end up like that woman. She didn't want to die where she stood. She got one of her feet to take a step backwards. Then she thought, what about her family. Her mom and dad, they were in there. She wanted to run back, to help and warn them, but the batarians we're growing closer. They started hacking people's doors to get into their houses and soon enough they'd be upon her. She wasn't thinking when she ran away, she just ran. Her feet carried her, they apparently knew their way to safety. Her house got farther and farther away in the distance, but far wasn't far enough. They would search the entire planet, she was sure of it.
She was crying, her vision was blurry, so so blurry, she couldn't see where she was going anymore, she just hoped she got there soon. She tripped over a rock, of course and tumbled down to the ground. Jane took this time to look back at where the colony was. It was barely visible to her, but she could still see that they were still there, tearing apart the colony. Dragging people onto their ships and shooting other. Her foot hurt really bad, it was bleeding, not a lot, but enough to be worried. She didn't know what to do. Too many things were happening at once. Where was she supposed to go, or do. Were her parents still alive? How long would it be before those batarians found her and killed her, or worse.
She dragged herself into a tall patch of grass that was unkempt because it was so far away from the colony. She hoped that it was enough to her not visible for a while, at least until she could figure out what to do. She pulled her knees up to her chest, and sobbed. She cried until she thought she couldn't cry again, then she cried more. She placed her head atop her knees and closed her eyes. Maybe this was all just a bad dream, maybe she was just have a really bad nightmare and soon enough, she'd be back home again with no more worries. She hoped for that to be the answer.
When she awoke from her nap it was dark. The sky was full of stars and she could hear the gunshots. They aren't gone yet, she told herself, but something about this was different. She could see the flashlights out in the distance as they walked closer to her hiding spots, scouting the area.
"Hello, anyone out there!" One of them called.
She jumped. What if they knew she was there and was trying to lure her out with the thought of safety. She had no idea what she'd be able to do had they found her. She couldn't run, her foot was hurt so badly she could barely walk.
"We're not batarians!" Another voice assured.
She thought about how hungry she was. Of course this all had to happen right before supper. Maybe they had food and she could get some sort of meal before being killed. Of course she wasn't thinking straight, but everything was still a bit of a blur.
"I'm here," she said. Her voice was so hoarse, it hurt to even speak. She stood with her hands above her head, to show that she had no weapons. Jane wobbled a bit on her injured foot, but kept steady enough to not topple over right then and there. She looked into the eyes of her saviours. Not batarians, but turians. Turians in heavy armor with big guns. They stepped closer to her and rested their weapons, seeing that she was basically harmless. She could tell she looked like crap. With how messy her hair was and how dirty her clothes probably were. Her eyes were red and puffy from tears and she had dried blood all over her foot. She was a mess.
"Are you hurt," the man asked when he finally reached her.
"Yes," she whispered.
"How badly?"
She shrugged, "I haven't looked at it."
"Where is it?"
"My right foot," she said, gesturing downward, "it hurts too bad, I don't think I can walk on it."
He holstered his gun on his back and extended his arms out to her, "It it okay if I carry you?" She nodded and he pulled her into his arms, carrying her bridal style. She was fairly small for her age, but she was still worried that she was too heavy
The walk back to where their ships landed was long and quiet, or at least it felt quiet. The two turians talked about something and she just stared up into the sky, watching the stars. When they passed her house, she looked back at it. It was dark, so she could barely see the inside, but all of the windows were shattered and their curtains were ripped. She wondered if her parents made it, she was hopeful, but she knew that it was likely they perished with the others or we're carried off on the batarian ship.
"Is anyone else left?" She asked, hoping that maybe one of her friends made it or even someone she didn't know very well. Just someone she felt close to, related to.
The turians got quiet, their conversation ended abruptly. She knew by their silence that she was the only one left. She looked at the shattered windows and destroyed houses, then she felt herself tear up again. Her mouth was dry and she honestly thought she couldn't cry anymore.
Arriving on the ship, she got so many stares. All of the turians stared her down like she was some sort of monster. She supposed she was, seeing that she was literally the only human on the ship. She felt so uncomfortable. She knew very little about turians, but she did know that she couldn't eat their food. She would just have to be hungry until she could get to a place with humans.
After taking a few stairs down she arrived at a med bay. There were a few injured turians there, but they kept to themselves. The turian placed her onto one of the empty beds, she noticed it was firming then what she was used to, then he just walked away with only a miserable wave.
A turian woman walked in next. She only hummed a few times as she worked in her injured foot. She tapped it a few good times, earning a whimper from Jane, then she tightly wrapped in a bandage and walked away.
She lie in the bed, her head turned to the side so that she wouldn't be staring directly the light. She was tired, but too afraid to sleep. Too worried about her mom and dad and all of her other friends to even let her eyes close for more than a moment.
Up the stairs, a young turian boy was happily exploring the warship. A glimmer in his eye. Most turians said that hierarchy serve was the worst, and most people got stuck with crappy jobs to do, but the turian boy got the best job yet. His father pulled a couple strings and got him to temporarily serve on a war ship, he knew it was to scare him out joining the military, but this only made him want to more.
"Garrus," one of the crew peeked their head into the weaponry room he was snooping around and he nearly jumped to the ceiling.
"I wasn't touching anything!" He sputtered nervously.
"The captain needs to see you up stairs,"
He was sure that someone saw him go into the weapons locker and ratted him out to the captain. One wrong move and he'd be kicked off the ship and back on palaven, but he was just so curious about what kind of weapons they used.
As he marched hesitantly up the stairs, he prepared his whole story. He tried to hide the nervousness in his mandibles, but he knew it was still obvious. Reaching the captain, he watched him turn and walk down the steps from the CIC, the pride in his steps always worried him. It made him feel so much more terrible about screwing up.
"Garrus," he always spoke proudly. It caused him to shiver a bit.
"Sir," he said back stiffly.
"How old are you?"
"I'm fifteen, sir,"
"Good good," he placed his hand over Garrus" shoulder, this was the most casual thing he'd done yet, "I'm sure you're aware of our new human guest."
"Yes, sir, I am, sir,"
"You too are about the same age then, I guess. So listen to me, she's clearly traumatized. Maybe someone of the same age group would be helpful to her,"
"I'll see what I'm able to do," he said softly, "Sir," he added to the end.
He stepped down the stairs to the medbay. He'd never really spoken to a human before, he'd only seen the people briefly. He saw her on one of the beds. Head tilted to the side. She kept her foot perched on a pillow. He noted how strange their fringes were. Her's was longer than most of the one's he'd seen, and a really dark red color. He wanted to ask to touch it.
"Um hello," he said, the only thing he could think to say.
She turned her head to meet his gaze. Even will his little knowledge of humans, he noticed the sad look she had in her eye, "hello." She sighed.
"My name's Garrus, what's yours,"
"I'm Jane,"
He stood there nervously, not knowing exactly what to say. He should've planned beforehand, but he wasn't thinking. He jumped back to the thought of her fringe, it was unlikely, but she would probably let him touch it. He hoped that it wasn't a insult to humans, or an erogenous zone as it was for turians, but his curiosity was getting the better of him.
"Can I touch your fringe," he asked nervously, taking a step back in case he offended her.
"My… my fringe?" She looked around her body.
"Yes um-" he pointed to the back of his head, "this."
"Oh, my hair," she lit up slightly, "of course you can."
His hands shakily reached over and touched her hair. It was so soft in his hands. Silky and smooth between his fingers "It's so nice."
"Thanks," she sighed again.
"I'm sorry, he said, pulling his hand from her hair, "about your colony and stuff."
"It stings a lot, but I'll live,"
"The captain sent me down her to, you know, talk to you, but if you'd like to be alone-"
She cut him off, "No no, I enjoy having you here."
She slowly took his hand, smiling softly. He didn't pull back or shy away, he just squeezed his hand in hers. Holding hands together until they reached the citadel.