Zoruru woke up, feeling something poking his tummy.

He was able to move his head just in time to see that it was a stick, but it was quickly pulled back just as the person who was holding it saw the alien moving. Zoruru knew that it was a person holding it – he could hear their heavy breaths, and he heard them stepping on a loose branch -, so it didn't take him more than just a couple of seconds to compose himself and to press his scythe to his victim's neck, who immediately took a few steps back before his back hit a wall, something that Zoruru really appreciated.

"Dude, what the hell!" He heard de human say, which made him press his scythe even closer to his neck. "I literally saved your life!"

"You poked me with a stick." Zoruru growled, spitting the last word as if the mere thought of someone doing such an undignified thing to him made him want to throw up. He paid close attention to the kid, thinking about how chopping his head off would be much easier than going through the torture of listening to him whining. However, the boy – at least he thought he was a boy – took on an irritated expression and pointed at his own neck, looking more than a bit panicked.

"You have a freaking scythe!" He yelled. "This is exactly the type of thing that I was trying to avoid!"

"Watch your tone." Zoruru spoke again. "It would be extremely easy for me to just separate your head from the rest of your body."

The grey alien could, despite the fact that it was dark, see the human's expression change to one of slight amusement. Zoruru was trained not to show any kind of emotion, but he would be lying if he said that he didn't feel slightly confused in that moment. He just threatened to kill the kid, and he was acting as if that was the funniest thing he had heard all day.

"I'm not saying it wouldn't." He spoke, still with a slight smile on his lips. "But if you haven't done it yet, I don't believe you will."

Zoruru thought about what he had just said for a few seconds, and ended up admitting that he was right. He didn't tell him that, however, so he just lowered his arm as he mentally complained about how dry the weather was as he felt an uncomfortable sensation on his skin.

"You're an alien, right?" The boy asked after a few seconds, probably getting tired of the awkward silence that fell upon them. Zoruru thought for a few moments before answering to him – who did he think he was to address him like that? He certainly wouldn't act like that if the Lieutenant…

The Lieutenant.

A wave of sadness ran through him as he remembered his superior. Zoruru wasn't the type of frog that felt sad, or even the type that felt anything at all. War casualties happened all the time, but with the Lieutenant, it was different. The fact that he was actually concerned about the purple frog was the biggest proof of his loyalty and respect towards him, and even though he knew that Garuru was a tough nut to crack, he also knew that the chances of finding his superior alive were very little.

"Um, dude?" The boy's annoying voice was heard again, making Zoruru let out a discontent noise. He was still extremely disgruntled about the fact that the boy didn't seem to feel slightly intimidated by him, and if he noticed his displeasure about that fact, he didn't show it. "Are you an alien?"

"What do you think?!" He snapped, folding his arms over his chest and raising his head so he could look the boy in the eye. He didn't seem to be very tall, and had tan skin and dark eyes and hair. The kid rolled his eyes and him and shrugged, probably done with his attitude.

"Well, I'm sorry, Mr. Grumpy-Pants." He said sarcastically. "Goddamn the hour mom told me to wait for you to wake up…" He murmured the last part, but it was still loud enough for Zoruru to hear. He decided that it was easier not to say anything since that, if he was being honest, he was too tired to do anything.

"My name's Vicente." The boy said, and after that he turned his back to the alien and started walking away without saying anything else.

"Where do you think you're going?" The frog growled, but the kid just shrugged one more time.

"It doesn't look like you want my help, and even if you did… Well, your attitude sort of ruins it for you." The boy smiled at him and then turned around once again, waving. "See 'ya!"

Zoruru stood motionless for a few seconds, not knowing what to do. He didn't want to ask a human for help, but he wouldn't be able to make it on his own, either… He muttered something under his breath and closed his eyes momentarily, trying to prepare himself for what he was going to do next.

"Wait." He said lowly, but he knew that… Vicente had heard him. The boy fought the urge to smile and turned around, looking at the alien as if he was extremely uninterested in the conversation. Zoruru mumbled something that he kid couldn't get, and the frog, seeing his furrowed brow, forced himself to repeat what he said. "… I need your help."

Vicente smiled brightly and stared down at the frog, looking amused with the situation. "Was that as painful to say as I think it was, or nah?"

Zoruru rolled his eyes, mentally slapping himself for thinking for even a second that this was a good idea. He was hoping he'd find his platoon mates fast, since he didn't want to spend more time with this annoying human kid than the one that was absolutely necessary.

"Like I said before, I'm Vicente." The boy tried again, but the only thing he got was a glare from the space frog.

"Yes. So?"

Vicente stared at him like he was an idiot before face-palming. "Don't they teach you good ways, wherever the heck you're from? You're supposed to tell me your name! Geez…!" He stared at the alien again, who in turn seemed to be considering chopping his head off for the tenth time in five minutes. "Unless you want me to refer to you as "the ugly and grumpy alien that landed on my backyard.". 'Mom, the ugly and grumpy alien that landed on our backyard is trying to kill me for the fortieth time!'. Does that sound good to you?"

Of all the places where I could've fallen, it had to be on this idiot's backyard.

"Zoruru." The frog ended up saying, making the boy's eyes widen slightly. You didn't have to be a body language expert to know that Vicente wasn't expecting it to be that easy to convince him to collaborate.

"Um… Cool. Yeah… Nice name." He scratched the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable with the situation. "So… my mom asked me to wait for you to wake up and to take you inside after that, so we should do that… um… yeah, yeah… that's probably a good idea."

He's starting to understand an alien's right in front of him. Zoruru realized with satisfaction.

Little did he know, the boy was just surprised that he hadn't threatened to chop is head off. Again.

Vicente started walking without saying a word, and the gray frog, not seeing any other options, followed him. Once they entered his house Zoruru was able to see a small woman with dark hair whose expression was very similar to the boy's, and when she saw him her whole face lit up.

"This is Zoruru and he is just like dad when he wakes up early." Vicente told her, which made her happy expression turn into one of confusion. "Except that he is like that all the time."

"Careful." The frog threatened, which made the boy roll his eyes one more time.

"He also has the cute habit of threatening to chop your head off every five minutes."

The woman sighed and started walking towards Zoruru, which made him look at her suspiciously. "Pardon my son, he can be extremely annoying when he wants to."

"Hey!"

"Is that all the time?" Zoruru muttered, which made the woman laugh.

"I can hear both of you!"

"He's not that bad." Vicente's mother said, ignoring her son. "Now, why don't you start by telling us why you're here?"

Zoruru raised the arm that had the scythe and stared threateningly at the woman, who didn't look slightly frightened in return. "Why would I do that?"

"Because this is the only condition that I inflict to let you stay with us. You're a frog – you won't last two days outside if you don't have any kind of water supply."

It was like one of those simulations they did back in military school, where the enemy made them an irrefutable offer in order to get information about their platoon and teammates, except that this time, Zoruru didn't really have a choice. He couldn't contact none of his platoon mates, and he doubted his superior was even alive. He had to find a way to survive, and in that moment, that woman and her son were his best option.

"Fine." He muttered, making the woman smile as the boy pushed a chair and sat in it.

"Story time."

o – o – o – o – o

The two humans kept quiet even after Zoruru told them what happened, which made him feel extremely annoyed. Vicente's mother had to leave the room to take a phone call, but not without sending Zoruru a pitiful look, one that he absolutely despised.

"I-" Vicente began, but was quickly cut off by the frog.

"Don't. I don't need your pity." He spat, but the boy just shrugged.

"I don't pity you. I was just gonna say that Garuru… He sounds like a really great guy." He said, which made the frog's head snap in his direction. Vicente's eyes were sincere and had a little spark in them that conveyed confidence, and Zoruru found himself agreeing with him.

"Yes, he was."

"Why're you so sure he's dead?" He asked, which made Zoruru glare at him angrily.

"Did you pay any attention to what I said? The ship exploded!"

"So what? He's a sniper, a great soldier and strategist, and above all of that, he's a very intelligent guy, according to what you told me and mom. I'm sure he found a way out. But you" He said, standing up and putting the chair back to its place. "You gotta be a bit more optimistic. And above all of that, you have to think that even if your superior is gone, you still have to find your other teammates. The girl… Pururu, right? You said she jumped last. I'm sure that if we find her, we'll be able to learn more."

"If we find her?" Zoruru asked, a bit taken aback by what the boy just said. He thought he was an air-head when they first met, but… maybe, just maybe, he wasn't as bad as he thought. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that, Lance Corporal Zoruru, I'm gonna help you find your platoon mates." The boy said, resting his back against a table and looking down, straight into the frog's robotic eye. Then, as if he was remembering something funny, his face took on an amused expression. "We're gonna be like Batman and Robin."

Zoruru started at him as if he was insane. "Who?"

Vicente looked at him for a long moment before shaking his head and starting to walk towards the room's door. "Nevermind."