"How far is it?"

"Not too far."

They were pushing their way through a very dense part of the forest, a part of the forest that actually lay on the other side of the large hills beyond Anisse's cabin. It was a several months after the night that Anisse had met her unexpected guest, several months after Shep had explained to her the reason for his being on Earth. Anisse had taken some well deserved personal time off from her job at the school, feigning that a family emergency had come up and she would be gone for an unknown amount of time. After all that she had learned from Shep, she felt that he needed all the help he could get from a native of the planet.

Apparently, back on his planet, there had been a very popular music band that had been kidnapped by unknown antagonists. It had fallen on him to chase after the ship that had taken them and bring them back. He was their only hope seeing as his sector had been the closest to the kidnapper's ship. He had followed the ship through space, followed them right through a wormhole that led to this star system. The ship that he had been chasing had disappeared somewhere on this planet but unfortunately he couldn't follow them because his ship had sustained damage. He had crash landed here in this forest. After which he had spent some days and nights wandering around in circles, trying to find some semblance of civilization until he was almost run down by Anisse's car.

Shep had told the story through that special ability of his, that mental connection that he could make. Anisse had seen through his eyes, his planet, his civilization and his people. It was all beyond her wildest dreams to know that there were beings in another part of the galaxy, living and dreaming and hoping. She had felt honored that he had trusted her enough to share this with her. She had decided right then to help him in his quest to rescue that band that had been kidnapped. Though how she had no idea where to start. She had a better knowledge of this planet and could help to translate any information that he might need, if he needed it. Shep had no idea who the people were that had taken his favorite band and seeing as there was an entire planet to look through it was going to be like finding a needle in a haystack.

"It should be just beyond these trees." Shep said as they slipped their way through some bushes and thickets. Shep led the way as he held a strange triangular device in front of him. The device gave off a pink glow as it blinked with random info while trying to locate his ship. They emerged passed the trees and into a clearing. Anisse took in a breath as she looked at the downed star ship, knowing about it was one thing but actually seeing it with your own eyes made it a different story. She could see that it was a fairly large ship and if one looked at it close enough, it kind of resembled a blue electric guitar.

"Geez… I didn't think it would be this bad…" He said as he stood in front of her and rubbed his forehead, his gloved fingers disappearing in that thick head of brown hair. Anisse looked over his shoulder and studied the machine. It looked all right except that what looked like one of the engines on the right side of the ship was severely damaged. She chewed thoughtfully on her lower lip as the worry that she held at bay since they had left her cabin began to rise up.

"Will you be able to fix it?" She asked as she walked around him and headed toward the front of the ship that looked like the cock pit. Shep watched her then turned his dark blue gaze back to his ship.

"If I had the right materials… but I'll worry about that after I find them."

She glanced back at him and nodded in agreement, now was not the time to worry about the ship when his friends were in danger. She followed him as he walked around the edge of the ship and headed toward the back. He stopped at a certain area and pressed his palm against the hull of the ship. A light flashed in response and a section of the hull opened to show a hallway. He looked back at her to make sure she was following before disappearing inside.

Anisse hesitated at first then went in after him. Bright white lights lit the floor and ceiling of the hallway. Shep was already halfway down the hall and she rushed to follow him, her sneakers thumping against the metallic flooring. "Wait for me!"

He flashed a smile back at her just as he stopped in front of a door and pressed a button on the wall. "You shouldn't walk so slow Neesy."

"Hmph." She stopped beside him and folded her arms, not saying anything else. The door slid open and he walked inside to another room. She followed behind him and looked around with keen interest. It was a bedroom; there was a bed on the other side of the room that faced a large window that gazed to the forest outside. There were various pieces of furniture that dotted the room; ones that she understood housed his belongings. There were also a few consoles that flashed with different colored lights, computers that had access to certain parts of the ship. It was an incredible thought that she was standing in an actual alien star ship. However, that awe was hampered down by the sight of the garbage that lined the corners of the room. There were funny shaped bottles and various dishes as well as articles of clothing tossed here and there among the mess. She hoped that there weren't a pair of black briefs that she saw sticking out from one pile.

"It's nice to see that you keep a clean space." She remarked as she wandered further in and glanced with interest at all the posters that were stuck to the walls. They were various pictures of a group of blue skinned people bearing instruments that were eerily similar to those on Earth. There were three men and a woman posing with their respective instruments in hand. One man with dark curling hair stood behind a keyboard, a shorter man with long brown hair sat behind a set of drums. In the forefront of this band were a man and a woman that looked to be brother and sister. They both had bright golden hair and azure eyes. The woman looked to be holding a bass guitar while the man held an electric guitar. They all wore matching orange outfits with white fabric at the shoulders and collar and white shoes. White head bands with red jewels adorned their heads.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" Shep called out to her, a smirk playing on his lips. He was looking through various drawers and compartments, pulling out items and tools that he felt were necessary. He pulled out an perculiar item that looked like a white bracelet that had a blue stone in its center and several buttons on either side of it. He glanced at it with a thoughtful look then placed it with the rest of his supplies. He was equipping some of them as he turned around to find Anisse staring at a poster of the band, her grey eyes gazing at the man that played the guitar. She had a strange look on her face and she reached a hand out to touch the poster. There was something about this man that felt vaguely familiar though she had no idea as to why. For the past few nights she had had the strangest dreams. They all pertained to that first vision she had after Shep had touched her. The dancing people in the sea of stars, their forms that shifted with all the colors of the rainbow and that one person who would always emerge from the group, a hand held out to her. This man reminded her of that dream…

"That's Arpegius."

Anisee jumped at the sound of Shep's voice and glanced at him. "What?"

He walked over to her and pointed at the golden-haired guitar player on the poster. "The one you were looking at, his name's Arpegius, he plays guitar." He pointed to the man behind the keyboard. "That's Octave, he plays the keyboard and does vocals for their songs." His finger moved to the short man with the long brown hair behind the drums. "That's Baryl; he plays a mean set of drums." His finger then trailed over to the woman with the gold hair and his eyes took on a wistful quality. "And this… this is Stella. She plays bass…"

"I take it you're a big fan…" Anisse smiled, having just noticed the large poster of the female band member on the ceiling above his bed. She was in a rather graceful pose, the background a large field of pink and red flowers. Shep blinked at her and looked up at the ceiling. The deep blush that rose into his cheeks in response made her laugh. He threw her a look but said nothing as he moved to pick up what looked like an album from beside his bed.

Anisse noticed how quiet he had gone and she eyed the album he held before looking at him. "Shep, we'll find them." She reached out to place a hand on his shoulder and he looked down at her in surprise. She offered him an encouraging smile. "We'll find them, I just know it."

He blinked and then smiled in return, that she had said "we" and not "you" made him feel somewhat better. He wasn't alone in this and he was glad of that simple fact. Gazing down at the woman named Stella on the album, he turned the cover over then held it out to her. "Here Neesy. Hold on to this for me."

Anisse blinked in surprise as she reached out to take the album from him. "Why?"

Shep took in a breath as he stared at the ceiling, the poster of Stella staring back at him. "I just… have the deepest feeling you need it more than I do." He gazed at her and smirked. "Besides, from the way you were looking at Arpegius, I thought you might like to have a picture of him so you can stare at him when you want."

The deep blush on her cheeks didn't hide the sudden anger that rose up. He laughed just as she grabbed one of the pillows off of his bed and placed a well aimed throw his way. Of course he was terribly agile and he ducked out of the way. "Is that all you got?"

"Shep, that's not funny!" She hissed, terribly embarrassed at the fact that he had caught her staring at an otherworldly man like some besotted school girl.

"Oh don't feel so bad. A lot of women back home feel the same way you do." He laughed again as he dodged another thrown pillow then turned and darted out of the room. Over the past several months, after the mental connections they had shared, they had grown to be quite comfortable around each other. It was strange how when he looked at her now, he didn't see an alien with caramel skin and dark hair just as she didn't see him as just an alien with blue skin and funny clothes. They each saw a friend.

"C'mon Neesy, you can throw a lot better than that!" Shep called behind him as he ran down the hallway of his crashed starship, Anisse chasing right behind him.

"If you will stop running I'll show you just how well I can throw!" She said in turn as she ran to keep up with him, their footsteps echoing off into the distance...