RR
Orionastro
Thankyou! Hope you enjoy the new update! (And andromeda if you get it)
After quickly checking the craft one more time for other potentially alive aliens Pebble returned to the single alien that had survived, and with a bit of a grumble and scowl she dragged it out of the fallen ship and pulled it a good 50 meters away, that way if the heavily damaged ship exploded from the inflicted damage, then she might be safe from the explosion, but as she does not know what substance fuels the crashed ship she can not be sure, after all, it could be nuclear or something else far worse that she can not even begin to imagine.
With the injured alien laying up against a tree Pebble paced back and forth while occasionally glancing towards the alien, her mind conflicted on what she should do. Should she drag the alien back to her home? If she does that and the government finds out then she knows that they will put her down quicker than she can batter an eyelid, and what is to say the alien would not be hostile when it wakes up? For all she knows this alien could be some sort of mass murderer on the run from some absurd galactic police force.
Pebble paced for five minutes straight, everything she knew and every instinct in her body told her to leave the alien to die in the cold, that way she could live out the rest of her life in peace with no looking over her back for killer aliens or government agencies, but every glance at the alien broke her resolve to leave it. Why she did not know, maybe it is because of how young it looks, with some facial features Pebble would put on a 18 year old.
The ex operative continued to pace as her mind raced through everything she knew, and questioned if she could just leave it to die? She had done it countless times with other humans, but those humans she was fighting brutal battles against, this thing here had seemingly done nothing but fallen from the sky in a ball of flames.
With a decision made the human kneeled down in front of the alien and assessed its state to find it has a heavy cut on the crown of the head and is seeping blood from a deep looking laceration on the leg. Calling Russell over Pebble took off its collar and wrapped it around the injured spot on the leg and pulled the collar as tight as she could to slow if not stop the blood loss. With the head wound only trickling blood despite its rather grizzly appearance she ignored it for now.
Standing after applying the makeshift tourniquet Pebble took a few deep breaths, knowing that what she is about to do would cripple her knee for the next few days. With the few deep breaths in her system, Pebble leant down and pulled the alien up and over her shoulder.
Some time later
With some music rocking out in the background Pebble raised her left foot onto a pedal and kicked downwards hard, causing an old engine to spit and splutter, and after kicking the pedal downwards five more times the engine is still not showing any signs of coming to life. Grabbing a flat head screw driver she played around with some 'needles' on the engine, adjusting the fuel to air mixture and tried again, this time the engine did start to turn over on its own accord, but it did not last long and soon coughed itself out.
It took another 30 minutes but eventually, she found a sweet spot that allowed the engine to idle without the need for her to rev the motor or apply the choke. With the engine happily spluttering away Pebble swung her right leg over the bike that is far older than herself and sat down in the seat, hands loosely gripping the handlebars. She could not wait to get the mid-1900's bike that she is in the middle of restoring on the roads, and while she could probably take it out for a spin in its current state, she wanted to wait till the weather is warm, that way salt won't be on the road and won't eat the chrome on the bike.
After killing the engine so that it wouldn't overheat Pebble continued to sit on the motorcycle just thinking of what else she needed for it to be 'complete'. A short list came to mind, including a new chair, alternator, dampeners, and while not essential for operation, a few chromed pipes for the exhaust would be nice.
Looking at her wrist sometime later Pebble sighed, the alien had been out nearly two days now, and Cerberus are crawling all over the countryside, searching for any items that may have fallen from the alien craft. Fortunately, after getting the alien home she went back over her tracks and removed any blood that had dropped from the alien as she carried it, along with any evidence she had been there, but she knew it would not be long now till they came knocking on her door, asking if she had seen or heard anything, and if she is lucky, then they will take her word for it and leave her the hell alone.
Dismounting from the bike, she grabbed a cloth and rubbed her hands that are now black from oil and dirt. Just as she started to put back all the tools and kit she had been using in their respective storage spots she heard a crash and a screech come from inside her home. Knowing that it could only be one person, or alien, as the locals learned the hard way not to pester her, she dropped what she is putting away and approached her home.
Before entering she took a few deep breaths, it is now that will dictate if she kills the alien and hides its body in a deep pit somewhere in the woods where it will never be discovered, or if she will allow it to live.
Opening the front door Pebble limped into her kitchen slowly and kept her eyes open. The kitchen had no alien, but it did have a few things moved from where she left them, notably a cup is now in the sink, and from the looks of things it has recently been filled with water. Moving through the kitchen she came to the door that led to the living room and slowly opened it, and inside the living room, she found the alien cowering in a corner, holding out a broken arrow from a compound bow in defence as Russell tried to sniff it.
At seeing her enter the alien moved the crossbow bolt rapidly back and forth between pointing at Pebble and Russell, her hands shaking so much that Pebble doubted the alien would be able to act if she tried anything out of fright. Clearing her throat Pebble pointed to the ceiling and spoke up, "Russell."
Russell did not need to be told twice, and the dog moved up the stairs, presumably to her room where its bed and toys are. With Russell out of the picture Pebble sat down on her sofa and looked at the alien, which is still cowering in its corner. She debated taking the arrow from it to stop it doing anything stupid, but she did not think to taking the arrow from the alien would help the current situation, it is apparently terrified and if it thinks the broken bow keeps it secure then so be it.
After a moment Pebble gestured to a single sofa chair a few meters away from her own. "Sit." She spoke with a soft non-intimidating voice when pointing at the seat, but the alien seemed reluctant. "Or don't," Pebble talked to herself. Moving from her chair she found a notepad and a selectable colour pen in a cupboard at the far side of her room and returned to her chair, and while keeping one eye on the alien, she drew a few stick figures with prominent human features, such as noses, eyes, hair and ears. An arrow pointing to the stick figures drawn with a pink ink had the word 'Human' next to it, and then she illustrated another set of stick figures, these stick men, however, are drawn with blue ink, had a nose and set of eyes each, but lacked ears. An arrow above them pointed towards them but lacked any text.
Turning the notepad around so the Alien could see Pebble spoke. "Human." She tapped the human figures and pointed to herself. Next, Pebble touched the blue characters and gestured to the Asari, hoping the alien would speak up.
Teor recognised the word human and was quickly able to understand what the native was trying to work out. "A..asari." She replied after a moment and in a quiet voice, before voicing "Asari." This time she spoke louder than before.
"Asari." Pebble mused out loud as she wrote down a set of letters that spells 'Asari' phonetically. Next Pebble drew a large blue orb and coloured in green patches with the empty space in the between green patches being blue; she then drew a double sided arrow between the human stick figures and the orb. "Humans." She tapped the stick people, "Earth."
Drawing another circle and using a second double sided arrow Pebble touched the Asari figures. "Asari," She then tapped the empty orb which is devoid of any features.
"Th-Thessia."
With a nod, Pebble wrote Thessia onto her sheet of paper. With a start made Pebble then pointed to her face. "Pebble," She then tapped the human figures. "Human, Earth."
She then gestured to the Asari with one hand while tapping the Asari figures with the other and saying, "Asari, Thessia."
When Pebble gestured again to the Asari Teor broke her silence. "Teor."
"Teor," Pebble responded, testing the name.
By now Teor had somewhat lowered the crossbow bolt, she had gained a little bit confidence that the big scary human is not going to flay her alive or do something else equally gruesome.
Pebble meanwhile looked at her notepad, what next? She wondered, till an idea spawned in her mind, the Asari has been out cold for two days now and is probably starving, but how does she ask the alien this? Trying to convey it in the same manner as she had conveyed her species name, home planet, and individual name is not likely to work, as a stick figure is pretty obvious as to what it represents, but what can represent food which can come in so many different forms? A knife and fork? What is to say Asari use knives and forks, and how do you tell the Asari you are asking a question, and not telling her the name of food? Or even the knife and fork itself? Trying to translate and learn a completely new and undiscovered language is not always as simple as doodling on some paper and grunting sounds back and forth in the hope some form of understanding can be established.
After slowly standing from her chair, partly because she did not want to move suddenly in front of a petrified alien, and partially because her right leg is still incredibly painful from dragging the alien back to her home, she moved to the kitchen and returned seconds later with a selection of fruit from the fridge. As Pebble sat back down in her chair she placed the various fruits on a table next to her sofa, and when she is comfortable in her chair she took a few grapes from a vine and casually ate them.
Pebble had wondered what food items to bring in for the alien, but the only thing she could think of is fruit she had in the fridge, this is because they did not need any time to prepare, and are entirely natural meaning there will be no artificial chemicals that might be tolerable to humans but not Asari. After eating a few of the grapes Pebble held them out towards the alien for a few seconds before placing them on the single sofa chair opposite her own, she did not approach the alien with them, fearing the alien would be more resistant to eating if she approached and tried to 'force' them on it, so by placing the grapes in the chair she allows the alien to approach them if it wants them.
Leaning back in her chair after placing the fruit on the single sofa chair pebble raised a hand to her chain, what next? She had gone through this moment in her mind countless times since taking the alien in, and each time she knew exactly what she would do in her mind, but now with the alien standing in front of her she is not sure what she should do, but she does not have much time to think on it as a knock on her front door gains all her attention.
Cheers for reading! Also Yabba-dabba dooooo! Only 8 hours 35 till you know what is released (At least in europe)