They had done it. They were free.
Free from the null void, free to wander the cosmos, free to not have to run from monsters every five minutes. Free to sleep without one eye open. Free to not fear bounty hunters gone mad from the isolation. Free to just... breathe.
Who gave a damn as to what planet they were on? Sure, it wasn't home, but it seemed better than the null void was. It was better than anything they'd seen in years.
All they could do was smile and hug each other and cry. The wind wasn't too hot or cold, the sky wasn't blood red, and there were plants decorating the landscape. Plants! How long had it been since either of them had seen plants? They'd forgotten how great flowers smelled.
"We made it," Kevin said, holding Argit's shoulders and also holding back tears. The ground beneath him was soft, so much more than the null void had been.
Argit nodded, and hugged Kevin again. There was some sort of clover growing in the planet beneath his feet. They sky was a gorgeous cyan, and so were the patches of clovers that blanketed the hilly landscape. There were scarlet leaved trees with white clumps of flowers. Neither boy knew color theory, like most people their age, so they couldn't quite explain why the cyan and red looked so nice together.
There were solid shapes in the distance, making a collection of differently sized triangles. "Are those buildings?" Argit asked Kevin. Not that Kevin would know any better than him.
"There's only one way to find out," Kevin replied. They walked towards the shapes. The walk there was the most pleasant thing they'd witnessed in years, much less experienced. There was a light trail leading to the village lined with smooth rocks. There were sometimes flowers lying on the side of the trail, seemingly having been blown there by the wind. The air smelt so distinctly pretty that they weren't sure if someone had secretly sprayed perfume at them while they weren't looking.
Perhaps they were overreacting, but they couldn't help it. They held hands, hoping it wasn't a dream, as they walked towards the village. They felt like they were floating. It was just so overwhelmingly not the null void that they couldn't help but be giddy.
The inhabitants of the small town wasn't too fazed by two dirty aliens walking into their midst, thank goodness. The place was seen by most of the planet's inhabitants as a small hick town in the countryside filled with nobodies.
"Do you think they'll have a spaceship, or have they not figured out space travel?" "How would we even pay for a spaceship?" The two boys whispered to one another, looking wide eyed at the natives of the planet. "Do you think they can understand us?" "What should we do?" "Do you think they'll give us food?"
Kevin decided to be bold. "Excuse me, do you know where we can find a spaceship?" The blue alien said something neither boy could understand, and waved in the direction of a lot void of any buildings. Perhaps there was something useful in the lot, but they couldn't tell over the buildings surrounding them. Together, arms linked so as to not get separated in the nearly nonexistent crowds, they made their way over to the lot.
The short walk felt long. What if all that was there was just a crappy computer? What if it was the police arresting them for escaping prison? What if it was an empty lot with nothing in it?
Luckily, it was a junk yard. Kevin recognized some spaceship parts. Apparently it was common etiquette to point aliens asking for help in the direction of spaceship and universal translator parts on this planet. Nice.
Kevin was able to spot a translator quickly. "Oh thank goodness we found this, let's see if it works!" He said. "If what works? What is that thing?" "It's a universal translator. They always have English on them, along with Galvan and Incursean and Irken and the like. Ooh!" He pressed a button and a holo screen popped up. Kevin scrolled through a list and was about to pick English when he got an idea.
"Hey Argit, see if you can find your language. Maybe if they knew how to put someone into the null void, they know how to get to space and get their language put into translators."
Argit couldn't find the language he'd grown up speaking. "There's more than one language on my planet. I don't really know the main one." Kevin set the translator to English.
"Excuse me, are the spaceship parts free?" Kevin asked a native walking along nearby using the translator. Argit heard English, but apparently the alien heard their own language, as they seemed to understand. The alien also replied in English, at least that's what Argit heard.
"I don't know, I don't own any of the stuff here." "Oh okay, thanks anyway!" Kevin said, and he looked around for more people that could help them. Argit waded through the scrap metal and broken circuit boards, hoping he could find something useful.
"Hey, let's just build a spaceship and if anyone stops us we'll say we didn't know any better, alright?" Kevin said. The sun was directly behind his head, and the outline of his hair seemed to glow to Argit. It looked kinda cool, he supposed. "Okay," he said.
They had barely just begun to build the spaceship when someone walked around the corner and yelled at them. The boys couldn't tell what he was saying, and Kevin rushed to turn the translator back on.
"...and messing up the order I had stacked my stuff in, ooh you brats are so in trouble, and when I'm through with you-" "Were Sorry!" Kevin shouted in response. "We couldn't find the owner of this place, and we figured we'd-" "Figured?! Just like kids to 'figure' they can just mess with my stuff, always making trouble..."
"Please calm down, we didn't mean to mess up your stuff! We're just lost, and we need a spaceship to go home!" Argit said, trying to help Kevin out. "A spaceship?" Said the alien. "You can't find a spaceship in a junkyard! Are you slow in the head, kid? Everyone knows you find replacement parts in junkyards! A spaceship, who does he think he is..."
"Well, where do we find a spaceship?" Asked Kevin. "Oh, over there someplace." He waved his hand around. "Gee, thanks," Kevin said. He shared a look with Argit. They walked off with the translator, hoping the alien wouldn't notice it was gone.
XxxxxxxxxX
Kevin and Argit hadn't found any spaceships. The sun was going down, and the boys had no place to stay. They had no food or currency either.
"Excuse me, but where can we get some food around here?" Kevin asked someone walking by. They were shown the nearest restaurant, and the pair slipped inside.
"How will we pay for the meal?" Argit whispered to Kevin, away from the translator so nobody could hear. "We'll figure it out later."
They got a table, and were given some kind of bread. There was no time to consider whether there were alien bugs in the bread as the two scarfed down the first meal they'd had outside of the null void in over a year.
"Oh my god, this is so good!" Argit said. The waiter leading them to their table hadn't even left yet when they'd finished the plate.
"Um, would you like a refill?" The waiter said. "Is it free?" Kevin asked, his mouth full of bread. The waiter said it was, and the two nodded furiously.
"Is water also free?" Asked Argit, who'd almost inhaled his share of bread and was trying not to cough. The waiter again said it was, and they ordered more bread and water.
XxxxxxxxxX
Once they'd stuffed themselves to the brim with free bread, they had to decide what to do next. They had nowhere to sleep.
"Maybe we could sleep under the stars for once? We haven't done that in... ever, so why not?" Argit said. The alien clover had felt so nice earlier that day, and he was so tired...
Kevin nodded. "We can just sleep anywhere, as long as there's no laws against it." The waiter showed up again. "More bread? More water?" He said politely, his true feelings about some dirty kids getting free food hidden under a careful mask. For once, though, the two kids shook their heads.
"I'm stuffed," Said Kevin. "I think that's it."
"I'll... bring your bill," said the waiter. He left them again. Argit smiled to himself. "It's so nice to hear that. I haven't eaten at a restaurant and so long," he told Kevin, who nodded. "I know what you mean."
XxxxxxxxxX
They found a patch of clover at the edge of town. It was soft, and nobody told them not to lay there, so they laid themselves down to rest. It was so nice to rest.
Argit lay near Kevin, and they were close enough to feel each other's heat. The air wasn't freezing cold, but it was still nice to have each other's warmth. Maybe there was more to it than just temperature.
Argit rested his head against Kevin's shoulder. Kevin wrapped his arm around him. Alien crickets chirped, and the quiet town nearby hummed slightly with the sound of something, maybe people all watching tv for the evening? The boys could only guess.
They drifted off, feeling safe for once in a long, long time.
XxxxxxxxxX
Kevin awoke to Argit brushing his hair out of his face. He almost fell back asleep, the friendly intimacy felt so nice. His eyes barely fluttered, but Argit stopped.
"You awake?" He whispered. Kevin nodded, and got up. They smiled at each other. The sun was rising, and they got to enjoy the pink clouds of sunrise.
"It's like cotton candy," Kevin said. "Whats that?" Argit asked. "It's a food on earth. It's pure sugar in tiny little strands. It's delicious."
They sat for a bit. Argit continued brushing Kevin's hair. Despite not having washed it with actual shampoo and conditioner in way to long of a time, Argit found Kevin's hair incredibly soft. He had never really felt anything like it before. Kevin liked having his hair messed with. It was relaxing.
Again, he almost fell asleep, but the town nearby was waking up. People were walking about, going about their lives, heading to work. Kevin and Argit both knew they'd have to start their day too.
XxxxxxxxxX
They had asked around all morning, but nobody could really tell them definitively how they could get a spaceship. They were pointed around in circles, and felt like giving up. But what other option did they have?
"I'm hungry," Argit told Kevin. They weren't sure where the restaurant they'd gotten free bread was, but they weren't sure they'd be allowed back there anyway.
"Let's find some sort of store," Kevin said, and their search changed focuses from spaceships to produce. Eventually, they found a little market.
"We don't really have any money," Kevin said. Argit shrugged. He walked up to the shelves and looked for some sort of fruit that looked edible. They all looked equally good to him, but he pretended to care.
"Oh well, I don't really see anything good," he said, holding it up to his face, and making a show of inspecting it. Kevin wasn't quite sure what he was planning; he went outside the store with him anyway.
Argit took a fruit out of his pocket. Neither boy knew what the species was, but it looked like breakfast. Kevin decided he wasn't really the type who could judge Argit for stealing. He'd done worse.
The fruit was alright. "Maybe we can always get food like this from now on," Kevin said. The translator was off but still they spoke quietly. Argit nodded, and looked around. "I'm not sure we can take an entire spaceship without anybody noticing though."
The pair walked around again, asking everyone where they could find a spaceship. Nobody had a clear answer, but the junkyard from yesterday was mentioned quite a lot. It seemed they had no other choice.
"What do you kids want?" Said the jerk who owned the junkyard. Kevin and Argit tried to restrain their obvious disdain for the adult.
"We were looking for a spaceship," Argit said, trying to come off as adorable. The alien wasn't buying it. "Get out of here. I don't have a spaceship!" He said, and stormed off, muttering about kids these days making ridiculous demands or something.
"What an asshole," Kevin whispered, making sure the translator box was off. Argit nodded.
"Do you think he's hiding something?" Argit whispered. "I don't know, but now that you mention it..." they started following the man at a distance.
"The flowers here are pretty," Argit said in a light tone of voice. "Yeah, and the clover. They're nice," Kevin replied. They kept an eye on the alien, watching his every move.
"What do we do if he suspects us of something?" Kevin muttered, making sure the translator was off. "I can knock him out," Argit said. "If we find out he does have a spaceship, do we steal it?" Kevin nodded.
The alien walked into a building. The two walked by and turned a corner; they watched the entrance of the building carefully from around the corner.
"What do you think is in there?" Kevin said. "Maybe It's his house... or maybe it's holding a spaceship!" Argit said. The alien didn't come out for a while.
They waited about an hour for him to come out of the building. Eventually, though, they got bored, and decided to walk past and see if they saw anything inside. They stopped in the street, pretending to mess with the translator, while peeking through the entranceway.
They saw nothing but an empty room inside.
The alien was nowhere in sight, so they walked closer. Nobody was there. They walked inside, as casual as possible, with hands in their pockets like nothing was wrong. "What the hell? Where did he go?" Argit asked.
"Maybe its a trap," Kevin said, looking around the room. It seemed like an empty room with a normal dirt floor, and there was only one entrance! They were bewildered.
Argit dropped to his knees, and searched the dirt floor. "Maybe there's a trap door," he said, "and he's hiding illegal stuff inside!" Kevin jumped up and down in various places on the floor. "Maybe we'll be able to hear it if I jump!"
They heard nothing special. Every footstep just sounded like dirt. No metal, no wood, nothing.
"Okay, no trap door, maybe it's a secret door on the wall?" Argit said. He began tapping the wall, and listening closely. "Wait, if there was something there, we'd see a room from outside!" Kevin said, and he raced out of the room. He walked in a circle around the building, then came back inside. "Nevermind," he said.
Bewildered, the two walked back outside. They headed back to the junk yard. "Maybe we should have tried digging a hole," Kevin said. "Maybe the trap door is buried." Argit shrugged in response. "Maybe he teleported!" Kevin said. "Maybe," Argit replied.
They were pretty bewildered about the whole ordeal. They made it to the junk yard, and the alien wasn't there either. They looked around real hard (meaning they shaded their eyes with their hands and squinted) and decided to give up.
"I'm hungry. Let's just go. He probably doesn't want to be stalked anyway." Argit said. Kevin agreed.
XxxxxxxxxX
They sat in the shade of a tree, watching the town and eating stolen fruit.
"Maybe we should travel to a different town. There has to be a spaceship somewhere on this planet," Kevin said once he'd finished his bite of fruit. Argit shrugged. "Honestly, why should we go back to out home planets? They could have gotten us out of the null void and they didn't."
The truth stung. Kevin knew it was true, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. Argit saw the hurt on Kevin's face. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-" "No, you're right. They did leave us behind. They didn't do shit. Why should we go back? Let's just live a little. We haven't done that in years."
"Alright," Argit said.
XxxxxxxxxX
The pond was nice and secluded, with trees and vines around it. "It looks like an old painting," Kevin said. "What's a painting?" Argit asked. "It when they use paint to make a picture. They can make the picture look like whatever they want so they make it look nice." "So you're saying this looks nice... I guess you're right."
They left their clothes at the edge of the pond and swam about. "God, it's so nice to relax. The water is so nice..." Kevin trailed off but Argit understood the sentiment. Ponds in the null void were sparse and usually dirty. They were probably just monster piss, and they didn't dare actually go into them. There was some sort of fountain of water bubbling out of a rock they'd drink from, but too much always made Kevin sick.
Argit splashed Kevin with the nice clean water, and Kevin hardly complained. The water sparkled under the sunlight that was filtered by the tree above them. They floated about in the pond, dozing off, daydreaming about the clouds in the sky.
Despite all they'd been through, they felt like maybe, just maybe, life could be kind to them.
