A nice long chapter that I hope you all enjoy! Happy Monday! The Earthlings have finally landed!
Chapter Ten: Month Three, Day 90
Today, we entered the Outerrian Atmosphere. The planet now coming closer and closer. In exactly one hour, we would land on Outerra and begin our new lives.
There was strict protocol when landing. Since the ship was so big, three large chunks of it were falling off and would propel backwards from Outerra and self-destruct into nothing more than dust.
The remaining part of the ship would be the loading dock, the traveler sitting, and then the captains and crew quarters. When the ship and the crew would take off into space again, the traveler sitting section would be released and self-destruct like the other pieces. The smaller ship would be able to travel much faster back to earth.
When we hit the hour mark, all the travelers were sent to the traveler seating. A few androids walked around the room, making sure all the passengers were buckled safely into the chairs.
Alice and I sat by each other, holding one another's hand tightly as we ascended down to Outerra. My eyes were squeezed shut as the ship felt like it was falling out of the atmosphere, my stomach did nervous flips.
The ship jolted to a sudden stop. I opened my eyes to look out of the windows. A large lake and trees were now coming into view. I craned my neck to see several long lines of Outerrian's cheering. I smiled; we were finally here.
The ship bounced before settling, I could feel the jets shutting off slowly. The captain of the ship stepped onto the stage and commanded our attention.
"Our long journey is finally over. Your personal items will be sent to the Outerrian-Earth embassy, which you can pick up at any time," all of our harnesses unclipped, "Now, go enjoy your new life."
Everyone stood, hurriedly trying to move out of the ship. Alice and I continued to hold hands as we shuffled out of the ship.
We walked out in a shower of red and yellow surrexerunts. The Outerrian's were throwing surrexerunts and cheering as we walked in somewhat of a parade down a long lane of red and yellow surrexerunts.
We walked to the center of Islo, which was like the times square in New York. The center was filled with humans and Outerrian's as we gathered around a round stage where the Outerrian spokesperson, Carlisle, was standing.
"Friends, we humbly welcome you to your new home!" He said.
Everyone cheered and clapped. I was so overcome with happiness that a few tears dribbled from my eyes; I grabbed Alice in a tight hug.
"We're finally here!" Alice cried happily, "we're finally here!"
Islo was lit up with celebration. The Outerrian's had prepared massive amounts of food. Alice and I kept close as we walked around the festivities.
We ended up in front of an orchestra playing beautiful music. Alice and I listened for a moment before she was pulled into the arms of an Outerrian female. She placed her forehead against Alice's and grabbed her hands.
I was only staring for a moment before an Outerrian grabbed me by the hand and placed his forehead against mine. It was awkward, but I knew better than to jerk away. He was just greeting me.
He pulled away from me, smiling widely. I could see his tail whipping excitedly behind him.
"I'm Alexander, but you can call me Alex," he smiled, his four canine's sharper and longer then mine, "Welcome to Outerra."
I smiled, "Thank you, Alex. I'm Isabella, but, everyone calls me Bella."
"Bella," he said as if that name were foreign on his tongue, "Bella. I don't remember seeing that name in the name books earth sent."
"Name books?" I asked confusedly.
"Yeah, way before I was born, earth sent books that had names in it and the English language, so we can learn it and have easier names to pronounce," He said, "We also learned English, so earthlings could have an easier time here."
"Ah, you know, I had been wondering why a foreign planet had similar names to ours and why they spoke English." I laughed.
He smiled down at me, "Are you hungry? My life-partner had a hand in cooking." He said proudly.
"Of course, that sounds lovely."
Alice had managed to get back to my side. Her spikey hair was sprinkled with little white flowers. I smiled when I saw her appearance, she just gave me a look.
"Outerrian children are very cheeky." She chuckled as she swiped the little flowers out of her hair.
Alex grabbed her by the hand and pressed his forehead against hers. The stood there for a moment before walking to large rows of a variety of food. I scanned each row, trying to find something familiar.
Before I could even small Outerrian child held up something round and steaming up to me.
"Try?" She said, her voice resembling a bell.
I smiled at her; I didn't want to be rude, so, I plucked the bit of food from her hand and popped it into my mouth. I chewed a few times before smiling down at her and swallowing.
"Very delicious." Her tail whipped around in excitement before she pressed her thumb against her chest.
"I made them myself! My momma barely helped me." She said proudly.
"Well, it was very delicious." I smiled.
She ran away giggling, going back to a group of small children. I looked back to Alice who was speaking with a few Outerrians. I left her and went to the food. Alex was excitedly showing me to each plate that his life-partner prepared. He filled my plate up to the point where it was too heavy.
He helped me set my plate down on the ground in a circle of Outerrians. They smiled at me.
"Jane, this Bella," Alex said, as he introduced me to a woman who was openly breastfeeding two very small children, "Bella, this is my life-partner, Jane."
"Nice to meet you," I went to shake her hand, momentarily forgetting the greeting custom as I was caught off by her position, but she pulled me to her forehead, her hands staying on the children, "These must be your children."
"This one is our child, this one is a friend's child." She smiled, pointing out the difference in the two children.
"Oh," I said, somewhat confused as to why she was breastfeeding both. She must've noticed my confusion.
"My friend has trouble producing, so, I help her out when I can. Do human's not do this?" She asked.
I sat down in front of my plate, "No, we don't even breastfeed on earth anymore. We use formula. A breastmilk substitute."
They all gave me very strange looks. The thought of not breastfeeding a weird concept to them. Breastfeed was all but outlawed back in my mother's time. So, to me, formula was just the natural way of doing things.
"I'm sorry that that's such a strange concept for us," An Outerrian female said, "I hope we haven't made you feel out-casted."
I shook my head quickly, "Oh no, not at all. Everyone here has been so welcoming and nice. I hope I didn't offend you."
They all smiled and fell back into cheerful conversation. I looked around to find Alice, but, she had disappeared somewhere.
"I do have a question, Bella," Alex said as he helped Jane pull the children away from her chest. They scurried off into the crowd.
"Ask away," I smiled.
"Why are the earthling's skin different shades? You very light, but, your friend was a little darker." He asked.
Outerrian's were all one skin tone, so, it's not surprising that they would be confused about the difference in human's skin tones.
"Well, on planet earth, a long time ago, there were different races of people, who just had different skin tones. My family has a large mixture of white, but, I also have small traces Indian and Asian mixed somewhere in my family tree. My friend, Alice, her family was possibly mixed with a different race, which, gives her a darker skin tone."
"Oh, okay, I think understand. Is everyone mixed together?" He asked.
I nodded, "There used to just be strictly races, but, somewhere down the road, the races just all became mixed with one another, now we all just identify as human. Just some people have more of one race mixed into them than others."
Alice appeared at my side, sighing happily as she found me. She started plucking food off of my plate.
"Thank goodness, I was starved." She chuckled.
I snorted, "Well, go ahead and help yourself to my plate."
When we finished eating, Alice and I stood to walk around the festive center some more. Alex and Jane wished us well, and that they'd hoped to see us again.
We found a place where a bunch of humans were lined up. We craned our necks to see a several Outerrian males and females, adorned in what looked like different colored body paints, flowery head ware and necklaces.
One woman was standing in the center, smiling happily at everyone who was lined up in front of her. The body paint was covering her naked upper-half, luckily, she was wearing a long skirt.
I tapped the person beside me, "What is going on here?" I asked.
He shrugged. I frowned, wondering what these people were doing.
The woman, who seemed to be the leader of the group, walked around to all the humans who were lined up and swiped orange paint across their foreheads. She did the same to Alice and me, smiling widely.
The other Outerrians placed their hands on our backs. The female Outerrian who had been wiping paint across everyone's forehead stood back in her place, raising her hands up high.
"When a new Outerrian is born, we like to take crushed acini and smear it across their foreheads to welcome them to their new world. We wanted to extend the same ceremony to you, as you are now all, officially, Outerrians." She said.
Alice and I smiled at each other; that was a sweet gesture. The Outerrian's were nothing but nice and welcoming. I can feel myself becoming more emerged with their niceness and culture.
Alice linked arms with mine and lead me off to a small tented area where an Outerrian was passing out a somewhat large backpack.
"Please, those of you who are building your homes need these. Today, they will cost you nothing as a gesture of good will and welcome."
I stepped up to him, "What are these?"
"They're rursus; while you are building your home, you set the rursus up as your temporary living space. It has an eating area with working cooking equipment, an area for a bathroom, as well as a sleeping place. They aren't very big, but, it'll keep you protected and safe." He held one out to me.
I took it graciously; I was glad these were available, I thought I was going to have to sleep on the ground. It was very heavy, I felt weighed down as I placed it onto my back.
"Thank you very much." I smiled.
He smiled back, "Of course, now, when you go to set it up, make sure it's rooted properly so it doesn't fall apart. Once it's rooted, press this button. It'll take about thirty minutes to set itself up. Just stay back."
I nodded and walked off with my rursus. Alice helped me lift it.
"Wow, this is heavy," She said, "Why don't you just stay with me? My place is all finished."
"I don't want to intrude on your home, plus I need to get cracking on mine." I said.
She smiled, "Alright, sounds good. But, tonight since it's getting late you should stay at my place."
I chuckled, "Okay, sure. Sounds good Alice."
We walked back into the crowd, dancing and celebrating with the Outerrians. The entire time all I could think about, was that I was finally here. I can start making my home.
Now, remember, this story is based way far into the future. I hope no one is offended by my take on the future, such as the human race all being considered just humans instead of separate races. The Outerrians were somewhat confused because they're all one color and have extremely similar features.
Now, when you think of the Outerrian party, think of bright colors, lively music, and just an all around welcoming, fun vibe. Yes, the Outerrians are closely similar to hippies. They have a strong sense of community and believe that everyone is vitally important (kinda like the Vikings).
The rursus is basically like a tent. I kind of got the idea from Dragon Ball, the first episode where Goku meets Bulma and she shows him her little capsule that literally have a giant home in them. The rursus are more like small studio apartment/tent. They aren't very big and can only fit one person at a time.
Thank you for reading!