Dark, why was it so dark? Then he felt himself moving. Was he flying? No that was silly. He didn't fly, well often.

"Hold-"

Why was everything sounding so tinny and distant? Was tinny even a word? Why was it 'tinny'? Why wasn't it tinnier? Or was that a word too? Ugh, his head.

"Hold on, let's get you out of here."

Here? Where was here? He had to open his eyes. That's when he realized his lungs weren't taking in enough air. He thought quickly; and by some odd ball grace of God above he smacked his chest across the sternum with his open palm.

It hurt like hell, but it got his lungs working just long enough to take in one small gulp of air.

He coughed, softly at first, but after something thick and syrupy cleared out, he bolted forward coughing and breathing like he'd never get enough.

Everything was so bright and blurry. He couldn't see at all, and his eyes were wide open. He raised his hands wildly as shapes pushed him down against something soft. He looked up as the shapes slowly became something like faces. One looked down at him and looked both surprised and determined.

"Hold on Gary, we're getting you out of here!"

There was an increased fervor in the movement around him as the other blurry faces looked at him before turning back.

Gary? Was that his name? He relaxed against the soft cotton at his back, and closed his eyes while he focused, hard, on his brain and tried to call up memories. Slowly in a trickle they came back to him. He remembered the Virginia sun on his back, racing up the mountains with his baby sister Sarah, their Mother reading to him from the bible.

"The Lord is the God that lasts forever, creator of the earth, He will not fail to be. Those who hope in the Lord will spread their wings like eagles, run and not faint. They will walk and not be afraid."

Those words seemed to catapult his spirit forward and he jerked his eyes open again, and was able to keep his breaths to shuddering gasps, as he looked up at the stars above. He thought he felt the group carrying him jerk to a sudden halt but paid no heed as he kept his gaze skyward. Slowly the stars became clearer and he could make out ships above as he willed his arm and then his hand to reach up.

It was met by a three fingered one.

He turned his eyes to the right and saw the most beautiful thing he ever saw, of course he hadn't told her she was, they'd just met after all. And Gary Vincent was raised rightly to respect women of course. He squeezed her hand with what felt to him was a weak grip as she looked down at him.

She had pale to light reddish colored scales, vibrant green eyes, and red marks adorning her face. God she was an image.

It was so strange to be holding hands with a species who wanted to kill him and the rest of Second Fleet, but here he was doing just that.

He felt something in their hands. Slowly he pulled his hand from hers and saw Sarah's picture that she had given him for good luck. He looked up at her eyes full of thankful tears.

He reached out and grabbed her hand as she made to step back. His grip must've been stronger than he expected to pull her forward just as the group moved.

"The stars."

He almost didn't even recognize his own voice, and its near willowy sound. He turned his blue tinged eyes to her, and tried to smile. He instead grimaced. Damn that hurt.

"Please."

He turned to that dual toned voice beside him as she bent closer to him. He noticed her neck and that an obviously large chunk of it was missing on the right side. Not enough to count as disabling, but enough to notice what would have been a grievous war wound. War? Was that why they were here? Were they really trying to kill each other over this place?

A name tickled at the back of his mind; Shanxi. That's where they were. He looked up again. The stars were still just as beautiful here as they were back home.

"Please."

She whispered it that time. He flicked his eyes to her. What did she think he was going to die? He let go of her hand and reached out, touching her cheek, or where it would've been.

"I ain't going anywhere yet, not till I show you the stars."

Her face did a strange fluttering motion as she stopped outside some structure. He looked around as others of her kind began helping his; some explaining tools, others helping them to wash, and the remainder making sure nothing would sicken him.

It took him a minute to realize he was in a hospital tent. He saw a reflective instrument beside him, and reached for it before anyone could stop him.

He looked at his face for a solid beat before blacking out.

Field Commander Hermisia Septus pushed past some of her still shocked troops as she made her way to her daughter Juveana as they watched some unneeded medics walk out. Humans were better at tending to their own, and with their supplies the human inside had a better chance.

She stopped at Juveana's shoulder, before gripping it softly. She turned and locked eyes with her Mother. Hermisia clapped her mandibles shut as she beheld her only daughter's face. So much like the Father she would never see and now so very much like hers. Her eyes had seemed to dim and her entire posture seemed to be held up by her will alone.

She looked at the right side of her face and saw something peculiar. It was a hand print, a human hand print. It was a much more vibrant shade of red than their own clan markings and made her realize that this human meant more to her child than she realized.

Spirits, he meant so much to them all. Not only had he saved Juveana's life, and countless others of her soldiers. He had saved hers.

They were meeting in the stretch of land between their two forces to discuss a ceasefire and lay the ground work for a treaty, all before the Council had even begun to consider acting to stop this skirmish. She was surprised when he ran forward and shoved her hard enough to back step several paces, before he dove onto the ground and threw an abandoned mine from a prior conflict clear of the party.

He had managed to hurl it a fair distance, but not far enough to escape injury from the blast. It had severely burned his face and they all had thought he'd died, until a human raced forward and knelt down beside him. He felt along his neck, before turning and calling out for a stretcher. This propelled others of his kind forward and they began to treat him. She actually saw several of her own soldiers shuffle their feet, as if they wanted to help this one being, but were either held back by her stare or simply knowing they wouldn't help with their lack of knowledge.

She wasn't even sure how it was possible for one to have such an effect on the many. She was still trying to piece that together as she volunteered her medical unit to the humans and pointed the way for them. Which brought them to now.

She gently tapped her forehead against Juveana's.

"Mom, please."

She looked into her eyes, wishing more than anything she could light that gleam in them again. But that would only truly happen if this human, Private Gary Vincent, lived.

'May the Spirits, and the Human's God please find enough favor to do just that.'

She silently prayed as a lone shooting star streaked across what had once been the epicenter of a raging conflict, but was now silently waiting and praying for one soul to live.