[IC] Beyond Expectations [AHeartlessNobody & Summer]

[Rogue Sloth]

Caeyin itched to stand and stretch his legs.

He wasn’t sure how long he and the other Scouts had been sitting in the pitch black, metal box that was the cargo hold, but it had been long enough that he was growing restless. His luminescent eyes flicked across the faces of the other Lunairans in the room. Aside from their bright, violet irises, he wasn’t able to see any of them clearly in the darkness, but he could tell that they were just as agitated as he was. Faint shuffling sounds came from the other side of the hold as they shifted and fidgeted with nervous energy, every one of them eager to get out of the enclosed space. They were all footsoldiers of the Lunairan military, born and bred to fight, so none of them were used to sitting still for prolonged periods of time. To Caeyin, the flight to the Earth bordered on torturous.

He drew his legs to his chest and closed his eyes. The cargo hold wasn’t properly insulated, and he was beginning to feel a bit cool. He gauged the room to be at a temperature where water would freeze, as he could see faint traces of his breath in the darkness as it warmed the air in front of his face. There were plenty of other, better ships the Higher Powers could have let the Scouts use for the trip, but they didn’t want to “waste resources.” At least, that was their excuse for sending the Scouts on their mission in the old cargo ship. Supposedly, the military-grade crafts were currently being used to protect the Lunairan mother ship, located just beyond the planet’s atmosphere, and none could be spared for such an anecdotal assignment.

Caeyin suspected that in truth, the Higher Powers didn’t believe all the humans had been killed in the Plague, and they didn’t want to risk losing an armed ship to the Earthlings if the Scouts came under attack. Of course, they would never hint at such a possibility to the Scouts. It would cause some unwanted setbacks if anyone tried to abandon the mission for fear of encountering living humans, and they wouldn’t want the Lunairans on the mothership to worry that their potential new home was still infested with the primitive, violent beings.

Shifting uncomfortably against the wall of the cargo hold, Caeyin stretched out his legs again to prevent his muscles from growing stiff. Between the length of the flight and the low temperature of the hold, it was no simple task. He let out his breath in another puff of warm air, fighting the urge to get up yet again. There was no telling when they would hit the Earth’s atmosphere, so all of the Scouts had been instructed to remain seated for the duration of the trip. It was a difficult order to follow.

In an attempt to stave off his restlessness, he opened the bag of equipment he had been provided with before he had boarded the ship. He still couldn’t see very well in the darkness, so he used his hands to figure out what the objects inside were by touch. He reached in and picked them up one at a time, tracing his fingers carefully over each item. From what he could tell, he had been given three empty containers, a recording device, and a few packets of dehydrated food. There was another object at the bottom of the bag as well, but he couldn’t tell what it was, so he left it alone for now.

Caeyin startled slightly as the ship began to rumble and groan. It seemed they were entering the atmosphere of the plant, and he was suddenly glad that he had followed his orders and stayed seated. He looked to the eyes of the other foot soldiers in the hold, which were alight with a mixture of fear and excitement. It was the first time in many years that a Lunairan was going to set foot on the Earth, and none of them knew what to expect. Caeyin was even more enthralled by the idea of exploring the new planet than the others were. His father had been amongst the last group to travel to the Earth—he had been one of the soldiers assigned to spread the Plague—and he had told Caeyin stories about the humans and their home. Everything about the creatures had fascinated him, and now it was his turn to see this mysterious place with his own two eyes.

The ship lurched as it landed, and he could hear more shuffling as the others stood up. His heart began to race as he followed their lead, but his excitement was interrupted when the door to the hold slid open, and he was momentarily blinded by a flood of light. He squinted and shielded his eyes with one hand. Their Pilot stood in the entryway, silhouetted against the sunlight. After taking a moment to adjust to the brightness, the Scouts moved to stand in a line before him with the rehearsed efficiency from their military training.

Caeyin fell into the end of the line, slightly more distant from the rest of the Scouts. He wasn’t well liked by any of them due to a physical discrepancy that set him apart from what was considered “normal” in their society. For that reason, he often hovered away from the masses whenever they were called into formation. He had found that whenever he did this, they casted him less dirty looks, and he was able to get by without drawing as much attention to himself.

Once all of the soldiers were standing at attention, the Pilot began to address them.

“As you already know,” his violet eyes swept over them. “We will only linger here long enough to verify the extinction of the humans before we return to the base. You have each been provided with enough food for two days, containers to collect physical samples if you find anything worth noting, a recorder for visual and audio samples, and finally,” the Pilot’s expression turned cold. “In the rare event that you encounter any living humans, you have been provided a Silencer to exterminate them on site.”

Caeyin adjusted the bag that he’d slung over his shoulder. So, that was what the unknown object had been. He had never wielded a Silencer before. From what he knew, they were about the same size and shape as a ray gun—small enough to fit comfortably in one’s hand—but they used high-voltage electroshock projectiles that were powerful enough to knock a Lunairan unconscious... or stop a human’s fragile heart.

“You will all be working separately to cover more ground,” the Pilot continued. “Record any significant findings with your devices and collect samples along the way. Stay close enough to report back to the ship every other day to replenish your food supplies. You will repeat this process until I receive orders to fly us back to the base. Are there any questions?” His eyes landed on one of the Scouts whom had raised his hand, and he nodded to give him permission to speak.

“What if the humans overpower us?” the Scout, who Caeyin recognized to be his peer, Griirax, asked in a tone laced with nervousness. “We’re at a disadvantage if we travel by ourselves.”

“Overpower you?” the Pilot echoed with a slight chuckle. “If a disease-ridden, physically and intellectually inferior being overpowers you, then you deserve to die. However,” he gestures at a small electronic device on his own belt. “There is a system in place in the event that this does happen. If you ever find yourself in danger, just press this button. The rest of us will be alerted to your position, so we can come to your aid. Are there any other questions?” No one moved. “Very well then. I will be in the ship. You may begin scouting.” He stepped aside to let them file out of the hold and went back to the cockpit, closing the door to the hatch once they had all stepped out.

Caeyin didn’t waste a moment. With no reason to linger around a group of Lunairans who all hated him, he took off as soon as the Pilot had finished speaking, heading for the nearest cluster of buildings in the distance. To him, this planet was a fresh start, and he couldn’t wait to see for himself the world his people would soon be inhabiting.

[AHeartlessNobody]

It seemed like forever since the world had turned into this wasteland. The streets were often empty and quiet during dawn and sunset. That was usually what Evelynia called 'the in-between time'. The animals that ran around and hunted anything they could eat were kind of like humans in some ways, in terms of they slept. And like humans, they had different sleep schedules; some sleeping during the day and others sleeping during the night. Usually during sun rise and sun set, they were all either getting ready to sleep or just waking up, meaning not many of them were out on the streets, giving the short blonde haired girl a moment of having less risk in moving about outside of her makeshift home. If she was quick enough, sometimes she would be able to go out without running into any starving animals wanting to eat her. Or worse than those animals that were still normal; The Beasts.

That was what she called those that had been affected by the virus, yet had not perished due to the sickness itself. They turned into beasts. They were always unrecognizable as what they once were, yet due to the basic body shape you could guess what they could have been. Humans, dogs, cats, birds. Animals were less likely to catch the virus, as it seemed the virus was more directed to take out the humans, but that didn't mean a few stray animals here or there caught the strand and suffered the effects. Changing into those things. One good thing about any of the beasts, no matter what they came from, was that they all shared the trait of being blinded and couldn't see. On the other hand, they had super sensitive hearing and if they heard a single sound, would hunt that person down in an almost unstoppable force.

Which was why this 'in-between' time was perfect, as even The Beasts didn't come out at this time. And right now, it was perfect for what she was trying to achieve. She watched outside of the plane's window as the sky took on an orange tint, meaning it was time to head out. She threw her bookbag onto her back and pushed down as hard as she could on the heavily sealed plane door. If one thing was good, it was the safety this plane provided her. If she had a hard time opening that door, then it would be impossible for those animals to break it down. It was also sound proof, meaning that the Beasts couldn't hear her if they came close by so long as she was in the plane. Or any of the plans in the airport for that matter. Many of them had different uses for her, her having set up each one on the runway for different purposes. This airport was smaller, meaning the planes were smaller. But for her, it was all just right.

Once she had the door open, she pushed it closed and rushed down the runway, toward the tall gate. She scaled it pretty easily and was on the ground in a flash, running once more. There were plenty of stores in this area, she found, that still had a lot of supplies in them. She guessed it was because this was a big city. Back when the virus had first started spreading, everyone fled the cities, thinking staying there would make it spread faster. They had all moved to the country or left the nation all together, leaving all these stores abandoned and quite easy to break into. She stood in front of one of the windows and was quick to pick up a rock and bust it out, stepping into the store. Once in, she immediately opened her bag an began to throw anything she needed in there, mainly water and food. Stocking up the way she did usually lasted her a couple of weeks, so this would be her only raid for a while, making the risk of actually going through some of the items in the store worth it.

Once she had her bag filled as much as possible, she hopped out of the window one more and started running again down the street. It was only when she turned a sharp corner that she came face to face a rather large and growling dog. It wasn't one of the Beasts, but still dangerous. The wild dog gave a snap right in her face(if it weren't for her jumping back it might have even taken a chunk out of her) and tried to jump at her, to which she flinched back with a yelp and threw her hand out. An invisble forced shoved the dog back from her, causing it to hit painfully against the ground. At first, she thought maybe she had killed it, but it was soon the starving animal was on it's feet and stalking toward her once more, growing and unwilling to let its potential meal go. Eve gave another shove with her powers again, this time the dog hitting against the wall of a building, a distinctive snap being heard as the invisible force slammed it into the bricks. It fell to the ground, lifeless and instantly Evelynia turned and started running the other way, thankful for the speed she had inherited from her mother. She had learned that animals like this tended to travel and packs and she didn't want to stick around to see if this particular dog did.

She was pretty fast moving, faster than any human she had ever known. Even her uncle praised her for it, and he hadn't given many compliments to people in his life time. Her speed was always giving her the advantage. That was, if she hadn't turned another corner and come face to face with another wild dog. Soon, she was surrounded by them, all the animals snapping and growling. They seemed more aggressive than the animals normally were. Even as she took out her pistol, which usually sent them running, they still continued to try and size her up and look for an opening. She continued to turn in a circle, pistol held up in one hand, her free hand outstretched and ready, her powers gripping invisibly and ready to push and shove.

Yet, before anything could happen, she soon found out what might be making them so aggressive.

There was a loud noise that made her cover her ears at first and made the dogs stop their advances to look up at the sound that had been causing their agitation. It was almost as though the animals feared this thing, because they began to whimper and ignore her presence, the wild dogs instead skittering off into the nearby buildings. It was as if they were hiding from whatever this was. She stood there, looking up at the sky, squinting to see what it was. It took a moment from the her eyes to fully make out what the faraway and noisy object was, but when she made it out, it didn't take long for her eyes to go wide with fear. Up in the sky, coming down to land, was a type of ship she remembered well. It was a horrifying memory. The last time she had saw that type of ship land here on earth was the same day she had lost her family.

The Lunairans.

In an instant she was running, heading back as fast as she could for her airport, scaling the fence and making it back into her plane even faster than she had left. She pushed down on the plane lock as hard as she could, letting it airlock before she took a moment to sit in one of the seats and catch her breath. Evelynia had no idea what she was going to do. She was the last person alive on this planet as far as she knew, and if those Lunairans were back, who knew what they would do to her? Kill her? Experiment on her? Keep her as some pet? The threats were endless and so were her fears.

After a moment of being glued to her seat, she shakily stood to her feet and moved back to the door of her small passenger plan. Looking out the small round window, the area seemed clear. No one was in her airport or on her runway. With that, she forced open her door once more and quickly made her way to her supply plane, a plane she had set up completely of shelves upon shelves of supplies, all varieties. They all ranged from food, to drinks, to household supplies. She stocked up a lot, just in case. Once inside, she began to put her supplies on the shelves above the many seats of the plane, where other supplies had been stacked. Once they were stacked, she moved to entrance of the plan and made her way back out, securing it shut to keep out the weather and other living creatures. She made her way quickly back to her home plane and once she had shut herself inside, she moved quietly to the the back of the plane to her makeshift bed. It was a bed she had made from unscrewing seats from the floor and moving them out. From there, she had managed to later on, once she began to make this her permanent home rather than a hide out, drag a mattress from a nearby furniture store into the plane. There were other furnishings she had added over the years to make this plane more comfortable, but the mattress was the most useful of all obviously.

She moved there and laid down on it, expecting to sleep, though found herself wide awake. She kept getting up and moving the windows of the plane, peaking out for any signs of life. When she wasn't doing that, she laying on her mattress, ears listening for any signs of what the Lunairans might be doing.

And more importantly if they were coming close to the abandoned airport she had claimed as her home.

[Rogue Sloth]

The Earth was different than anything Caeyin had experienced before. It was both new and strange, yet also hauntingly familiar, like the whisper of a dream.

He walked between the buildings, taking everything in at once. It was all so foreign, this planet that once belonged to the humans, but he found that it stimulated him in exciting ways. The sights were exotic. He had never seen such massive structures before. They were all laid out in a grid-like pattern that indicated careful planning and reminded him of the tales his father had told him of the humans’ ingenuity. Lower to the ground, he also saw wheeled vehicles of different shapes and sizes. They didn’t look like crafts that could fly, and he wondered if the creatures had ever advanced enough to create machines that would carry them through the sky. It was a pity if they hadn’t known what it was like to see their own world from above before the Virus took their lives.

The curious inventions of the humans weren’t the only things he enjoyed about the planet. Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply a gust of air caressed his skin. He had spent his entire life on a spaceship filled with stale, stagnant oxygen. The air on the Earth was much more invigorating. It moved and flowed in invisible waves, carrying with it the smells of everything around him. He had never experienced anything like it. It made him feel alive.

Opening his eyes again, he continued to observe his surroundings. He noted the long, creeping tendrils of plants that seemed to be taking over the abandoned area. They reminded him of the poisonous plants that had killed the life on his home planet, although it was hard to tell if these ones were as dangerous. Deciding to be safe, he carefully collected a sample to bring back to the Pilot. If the Pilot thought this plant was concerning too, then they could send it back to the Luniarans on the mothership for testing.

Just as he finished stashing the sample back in his bag, Caeyin heard a noise behind him. He turned to see a hairy, four-legged creature standing with its head low and its legs splayed. It emitted a deep rumble from its throat that resonated through the air. He studied it curiously. While he had never encountered such a beast before, his instinct told him it was hostile. Even so, it was no threat to him. Earthborn creatures were no match for a Lunairan.

Moving without hurry, he stepped away from the wall where he had retrieved the plant sample and drew his Silencer from his bag. He raised the weapon in his right hand, taking aim at the beast’s head. As he did this, he noticed it seemed to waver. It was almost as if it understood that the gun was dangerous. He wondered how the creature could possibly know the weapon was a threat, but unfortunately, he didn’t have time to puzzle over the thought.

In the next moment, the hairy beast overcame its brief hesitation and leaped towards him. There was a bright flash of blue light from the barrel of his Silencer, and the creature tumbled to the ground, either dead or unconscious. He lowered his weapon and stepped over to the body, unwilling to take any chances. However, as he approached, he heard rustling sounds from between the buildings around him. He guessed that there were more of the creatures lurking nearby, but they were fleeing after he had shot the first one.

He knelt down next to the best and ran his hand over its side. The hair that covered its body was short and soft. He also noticed that it seemed to be rather thin, as his fingers traced the ridges of what appeared to be the creature’s ribcage. He almost felt sorry for killing it, as he was sure now that it was dead. Even though it had attacked him first, it had probably only done so because it was hungry.

Rising to his feet again, he dusted himself off and snapped a picture of the creature for the others to look at later. Once he had put his things back in his bag, he continued walking down the road to see what else he could learn about the planet.

[AHeartlessNobody]

A few hours had passed since she had spotted that ship coming down from the skies and yet she had yet to hear anything outside of the plane. It was dark out, pitch black, but she had yet to fall asleep. Instead she lay awake, waiting and listening. Why was it the silence outside worried her more than hearing evidence of those Lunairans? Maybe it was the not knowing. Being unsure of what was going on was something she wasn't used to and it made her feel so weak. She shouldn't feel weak. She was powerful. Far more powerful than any human that had once lived on this planet. After all, her mother had been Lunairan. Lunairan blood ran through her veins.

And yet...she was afraid. Afraid and angry at these Lunairans. And, as strange as it was considering what she is herself, she hated Lunairans. She wanted them to leave, both out of fear for her life and for the hatred she felt toward all of them.

Yet...what if they didn't leave? What if this arrival of the Lunairans...was permanent this time?

Very slowly, Castiel sat up from where she lay on the bed and moved from the end of the plane to the side door, reaching up on her tip toes to sneak a peak out of it. Nothing. Maybe the Lunairans hadn't come to this side of the city yet? Maybe it was still safe to travel? It was possible. After all, they may have had a lot of ground to cover and hadn't made it this far into the district yet. Whatever the reason they weren't near by, she needed to take advantage of this and gather more supplies and weapons. Who knew how long she might be cooped up in this place when they finally did start searching her area. She needed to be prepared when that happened.

Nodding to herself once she had that in mind, she rushed over to grab her backpack, throwing it onto her back. Pushing open the heavy metal door for the second time that day(which was more than she had in months), she quickly made her way down the runway and climbed to the top of the fence. Once at the top, she scouted the area, looking around with wary eyes for anything that might seem suspicious. Once again spotting none of the Lunairans.

She moved quickly, hopping down to the other side of the fence and landing gracefully before she continued to move toward the city, "So far so good..." She moved into the thicket of the city, first moving to go to the supplies store, hoping to grab mainly water bottles for now and just a little bit of food. Food she could ration and find easily, water though was something she couldn't go without.

As she headed toward the food store though, she saw something she didn't expect to see. Approaching the creature laying on the ground, she slowly crouched to look at it. Dead animals was nothing new. Animals died all the time of either starvation or of being eaten by other animals. But this dog looked at least fed enough to not have starved and there was no blood to show he had been attacked by another animal. She curiously ran a hand over his fur and mumbled to herself, "What happened to you....?" Maybe coming here wasn't such a good idea. She needed to get her rations and leave.

Quickly rising to her feet, she moved to the food store right up the street and went around back. This particular store she had found years ago and while there was no windows to break and both doors were locked. There was a place there that had a metal door to which the food used to be brought in and though the metal door was down and barred, she had learned years ago that she could pry a small corner of the metal door up big enough for her to crawl through. She smirked to herself as she approached it, doing just that, prying the door up and when she had crawled through it slammed back into place. She crawled into the dark and dusty storage room, making her way from there and into the main market section of the store where she set her bag down before going to her gathering.

She put water bottle after water bottle in her bag, stacking and fixing them so she could fit as much as she could in there as possible. She moved quickly and quietly, not daring to make a sound. Though it was as she did continued to fill her bag, that she hear the very familiar sound of the metal door. Someone was pulling back the corner she had pulled back to get into the store, and whoever this was, she didn't want to meet them.

A Lunairan.

Her heart beat fast in her chest and she could feel her panic rising as she crouched there next to her bag full of waters. What could she do? If she ran surely, she would run into them on her way back to the storage room. What if she hid? Would they find her? No. No, she couldn't hide. She would be a sitting duck and then this person would find her and kill her with ease. She had to be smarter about this.

Hastily zipping up her bag, she put the strap over one of her shoulders and crawled to the end of the isle, peaking around the edge of the shelves to see a silhouette with glowing eyes enter into the dark store. Evelynia was frozen with fear for a moment, but she was quick to get a hold of herself and back back down the isle, and move toward the other end of the store, where many of the outdoor supplies where. There she saw some fairly sturdy looking shelves. She was light and they would surely hold her.

Silently climbing up the shelves, she found they were very tall and sturdy. She was able to get to the top shelf, and hidden in the dark of the store, she was hidden in the shadows. She crawled swiftly and silently along the top shelves, high enough and close enough to the ceiling to go unnoticed. She traveled this way, going unnoticed until she was at the section of shelves high above where the Lunairan was standing.

She crawled behind a large and heavier set of boxes, pushing and attempting to move the things with her physical strength. When that failed her, and she found she couldn't. She placed her hands against the boxes and concentrated her abilities. With both a physical and mental shove, the boxes came tumbling off of the high shelf, raining down on the Lunairan below.

She moved quickly, leaping down from the top shelf and landed gracefully into a crouched position, looking up at the alien, on blue eye meeting the stunned and dazed set of purple. That didn't last but a second though. She needed to leave before he came out his daze caused by the pile of heavy boxes falling on him. Soon she was scrambling to her feet and running back toward the storage room. She had made it to the entrance when she heard the shuffling of boxes being pushed from the Lunairan and felt his presence just a bit behind her.

She swiftly made her way through metal door and in the process, the corner slammed down in the aliens face, giving her more time to make her escape.

Evelynia knew this city very well. After all, she had been living near here for four years and that was an advantage to her because this alien chasing her didn't. Yet, he seemed to be doing very way at catching up to her which was why she was throwing things back at him and in his path every chance she got. She moved from the streets to the alley ways, turning corner after corner, hoping to throw him off, but so far it wasn't working very well. Turning another corner she moved to quickly pull on something on the side of one of the buildings, the ladder sliding down with a rough tug at the rusted metal and she began to climb swiftly up. The Lunairan was right on her tail and, looking down, she kicked out her foot, knocking him unexpectedly in the head, causing him to fall back off of the ladder and land on his back. Not high enough to really injure him unfortunately, but enough to stun him once more and given her more time to run. She scrambled onto the roof of on of the buildings and even when she was up, she could hear the metal of the ladder shaking as the alien began climbing up as well, already recovering from the kick and the short fall.

She cursed and started running again, jumping down the one of the other roofs and doing the same across some of the other roofs as well. She was doing well at this at first, that was, until she felt a body make impact with her back. The two went tumbling and she was struggling against him, the two struggling with one another to pin the other down on the rooftop. In her tumbling about, she somehow managed to grab her pistol from her waistband and struggled with him more, attempting to get it pointed to this Lunairan on top of her. She had it pressed to his head for just a moment, yet by the time she pulled the trigger, her arm was shoved just slightly, so that the bullet went right past his head, the bang of the gun causing them both to go momentarily deaf.

Clearly the loud noise of the gun worked to her advantage, as she was able to shove the man off of her so that she could scramble to her feet, and backed to the edge of the building, holding her gun out in front of her so that it was pointed to him, finger going back to the trigger, pressing down to shoot and kill this Lunairan.

[Rogue Sloth]

Caeyin’s exploration of the human’s world wasn’t as productive as he had hoped it would be. Most of the buildings were sealed off, preventing his access, so he was restricted to the outdoors and the few spaces that were unlocked. Of course, he could have easily broken into the closed buildings through the fragile windows, but he was tentative to damage anything. His people could salvage and reuse most of the materials he came across. If the glass from the windows proved to be valuable, he didn’t want to be the one to destroy them.

On the other hand, his curiosity to see what was behind the sealed doors gnawed at him like the sharp teeth of those hairy creatures. Perhaps it would be worth it to shatter one window in exchange for the valuable information he could gather by going inside. If he found something more valuable than the materials that made up the shell of the structure, he was sure the Pilot would praise him for it.

Having made up his mind, he picked up a large, square rock from the ground, tossing it in the palm of his hand as he assessed its weight. It was definitely big enough to smash a window. He turned back to the nearest building and cocked back his arm to throw the rock. However, just as he was about to let it go, he froze in his tracks. In the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of movement. Lowering his arm, he looked just in time to see a figure slip inside of a building with a metal door.

The figure walked on two legs.

His heart beat a little quicker with excitement. Could it be that he had stumbled across a human? They were all supposed to be dead, but perhaps this one hadn’t succumbed to the virus yet. His lip quirked upward in a smile. Finding resources in a building would earn him praise from his Pilot but bringing back proof that he’d killed a human had to be worth quite a bit more. This could be the opportunity he needed to prove himself.

Leaving the oddly shaped rock behind, Caeyin drew his Silencer and made his way towards the door that the two-legged creature had disappeared into. When he reached it, he gripped the edge and gave it a sharp pull, grimacing slightly at the low groan it made in response. Any chance he had of catching the human by surprise was gone now. At least he knew who or whatever was inside didn’t stand a chance against him. The Pilot had made it perfectly clear that none of the beings on the Earth were as genetically advanced as their kind. Even if this human heard him coming, it didn’t stand a chance.

Once he had pulled the metal door open far enough, he slipped inside. The space on the other side was dark, illuminated only by the violet glow of his luminescent eyes. He stepped carefully down an empty aisle, holding his weapon at the ready to shoot at the first sign of motion. Strangely, he saw nothing. It was like the human had disappeared. He frowned to himself, slowing to a stop as he tried to figure out where the figure had gone. There weren’t that many places to hide that he could see, except…

His eyes widened as he heard a scraping sound above his head. Inhaling sharply, he looked up just in time to see someone push some heavy boxes off the shelf he was standing beneath. He scrambled to get out of the way but wasn’t quite fast enough as one of the boxes clipped his shoulder and knocked him into the shelving on the other side of the aisle. Recovering from his surprise at the sudden attack, he shook his head and looked up again, only to lock eyes with the human.

The moment didn’t last long before it took off again, sprinting for the door. He blinked as he realized it was getting away. With no time to think, he took off after it, only to come to a halt when the metal door was slammed in his face. This human was starting to grate on his nerves. Curling his lip in annoyance, he pushed the door open again and chased after the human as soon as he caught sight of it.

Of course, the creature continued to be a nuisance during the pursuit. It threw small objects at him as it ran, seeming to try to keep him at bay. While he cared little about the faint bursts of pain that came whenever one of her projectiles hit its mark, its efforts made it harder for him to aim his weapon. After a bit, he gave up on trying to shoot the human and decided to focus on catching it the old fashioned way instead.

Eventually, the Earthling made its way to a ladder on the side of a building and began to climb up. Caeyin smiled to himself. It looked like it was going to trap itself. Shoving the barrel of his Silencer in his pocket, he gripped the rungs of the ladder and followed the human up. However, he didn’t get far before he felt a sudden jolt to his head and lost his grip. Unable to regain it in time in his momentary dizziness, he dropped back down to the ground, landing hard on his back in an impact that knocked the breath from his lungs.

His annoyance turned to frustration as he got up again to keep chasing the human. It was going to pay for that.

With renewed energy fueled by his desire to kill this irritating creature, he reached the rooftop in no time at all. Taking a quick look around the space, he saw that the human was already sprinting towards the edge of the building. He was mildly surprised to see it clear the gap between the building they had been standing on and the one directly adjacent to it, but he didn’t have time to marvel at the sight. Hurrying to catch up, he followed the human’s lead, jumping across the gap onto the next rooftop and repeating the motion every time it slipped away again.

Unfortunately for the Earthling, its efforts weren’t enough to get away. Just as it landed on another building, Caeyin hit the rooftop as well, using the combination of the momentum from the jump and his own weight to force the human to the ground. For a short while, they wrestled as he tried to pin the creature down and reach for his Silencer, while it fought back relentlessly to break free of his grip. His eyes darted to its hand as it drew an object that looked similar to his weapon and aimed it at his head. Instincts screaming that the unknown item was dangerous, he abandoned his effort to retrieve his Silencer and instead pushed the human’s arm away just as the object let out a deafening noise that rattled his teeth.

Ears ringing from the shock of the sound, he shook his head in an attempt to clear the incessant noise away. Unfortunately, the human hadn’t been quite as affected as he had. It took the opportunity to slip out of his grip and climb back to its feet, aiming the loud object at him again. He narrowed his eyes. If this human thought it was going to get the best of him after pulling a dirty trick like that, it had another thing coming.

Finally able to slow down and clear his head, he looked up to meet the creature’s gaze. His pupils dilated as he tapped into the ability that was the reason why he was so despised by the other Lunairan soldiers. Reaching out telepathically, he seized control of the human’s optical nerves, forcing a vision over its eyes like a curtain. He rose steadily to his feet, now in no hurry as he knew the human believed he had disappeared from the rooftop. It was the same trick he used in all of his sparring matches—the reason why he was unbeatable in a fight. No one could fight an enemy they couldn’t see.

Curious to get a better look at his enemy, Caeyin circled the human inquisitively, though he was careful to avoid its frantic movements as it tried to find him. Now that he wasn’t caught up in chasing or fighting with it, he could see that it was a female with blue eyes and long, yellow hair that fell across one of those eyes like a veil. The features were interesting to him. He had never seen colors like those before. All of his people had the same dark hair and violet eyes. He wanted to take a closer look.

Drawing his Silencer from his pocket, he raised the weapon to put an end to the human. However, before he pulled the trigger, he hesitated. This female had caused him quite a bit of trouble. Killing her now would be more merciful than she deserved. He smirked, quietly sneaking around to stand behind her. As soon as he had reached his position, he stepped forward, disarming her of her weapon and pinning her arms behind her back in one swift motion.

Now that the human was unable to get away, he broke the vision to allow her to see once more. “Disappointing,” he said with a click of his tongue as he lifted his silencer to her head. “I was hoping you would put up more of a fight than that.” He wasn’t sure if she could understand him, but even if she couldn’t, he wanted her to fear for her life before he ended it.

“Oh well,” he sighed, slowly pressing down on the trigger of his Silencer.

[AHeartlessNobody]

Evelynia was ready. She had her finger on the trigger and was in the process of pulling it, when suddenly...the Lunairan disappeared. It just vanished in thin air! But...how was that possible? It certainly wasn't any ability her mother had told her Lunairans had. She turned, as if expecting to see the Lunairan behind her or off to the side. Yet, even in her frantic turning, wide blue eye scanning the area, she could see no sign of the man that had once been before her. Her mind was trying to wrap her head around where he could have possibly gone, and for a moment she considered running.

Yet, as she took her first step to do so, suddenly her gun was knocking from her hand, clattering to the ground as her arms were grabbed. She struggled against the hold of the Lunairan as he pinned her arms behind her back. Once she was disarmed and in his grasp, the Lunairan appeared again, pressing his weapon against her head.

What were those things called again? Her mother used to have one. A Quieter? No, no. A Silencer, yes. That was the word. A deadly weapon. One that she had the misfortune of coming face to face with years ago. Would the same thing happen now if she was shot with it? Especially at such a close range? It was a possibility that it could have the same effect as then, only knocking her out. But, there was a chance they could have further improved these weapons and it could kill her. Either way, she didn't want to take that risk. Yet, she had a feeling she was going to find out anyway.

This Lunairan spoke to her, and it was in a language she understood. Her mother had taught her the Lunairan language. She had grown up just as fluent in it as she was in English. He was saying how disappointing she was and how he thought she would put up more of a fight. It was as thought this was all some sort of thrill for him. And, honestly, that's probably exactly what it was. Just a game of cat and mouse, where he would get the 'honor' of finishing off the last of the humans. Unless...he thought there were other humans. Would he be able to resist the temptation of hunting down a whole group of humans versus just killing one?

Despite him wanting to make her fear, she showed none. Death was something she had been knocking on the door of for a long time. She had seen it over and over again, and had even considered bringing herself to death time and time again. Death was a friend to her by now, so if this little scheme didn't work and he didn't believe her, then at least she tried and would finally be with her family again.

"Disappointing indeed." Evelynia spoke, clicking her own tongue in mockery of his own little speech, "You only found one measly human."

[Rogue Sloth]

Caeyin was just about to pull the trigger on his Silencer to end the human’s life, when she said something that made him freeze. It wasn’t just the words that gave him pause, it was the fact that she had not only understood him but had responded back in the same tongue. Curious. Was it possible that humans spoke the same language as the Lunairan people? It seemed odd, especially considering their two species had never interacted before his people came to inhabit the Earth. His violet eyes swept over her body. As unlikely as it was, he supposed it wasn’t impossible. They did look quite similar to Lunairans, so perhaps their native tongue was similar enough that they could communicate as well.

Having come to a conclusion that seemed sensible enough, he was able to think a little more about the content of her words. To his annoyance, she didn’t seem the least bit afraid of him. He had been hoping for some cowering or begging for mercy at the very least. Instead, she seemed like she didn’t care whether she lived or died. It was discouraging, since he didn’t want to let her get off easily after all the trouble she had caused him.

However, what held him back the most from pulling the trigger on this human was the fact that she had made it sound like there were more of her kind left alive. Part of him felt like she was probably just trying to save herself by telling him there were others of her kind, but what if she was telling the truth? If there were more humans out there, then that would mean the Plague had failed in a rather spectacular way. The Higher Powers had told them that it would kill of all of the creatures without fail. For so many of them to still be alive would mean their leaders had been wrong. They had never been wrong before. He had to find out if it was true.

“Well, I wouldn’t want to disappoint,” Caeyin said in a menacingly soft voice, speaking in the human’s ear from where he stood behind her. Shifting his hold on her, he lowered his weapon from her head and pressed the barrel between her shoulder blades before releasing his hold on her arms to allow her to move freely.

“If there are others, take me to them,” he instructed, pushing the tip of his Silencer threateningly against her spine. “Just know that if you try anything funny, I will kill you where you stand.” He kept his gaze fixed on her back, ready to shoot at a moment’s notice if she made any sudden movements. The human had made a fool of him during the pursuit, but he wasn’t going to allow her to do it again. Next time she tried to get the best of him, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill her.

“Go on then,” he gave her another harsh shove. “Get moving.”

[AHeartlessNobody]

“Well, I wouldn’t want to disappoint,” Came the menacing voice of the Lunairan, as he moved the barrel of the silencer from her head to between her shoulder blades. He released her arms, but of course she knew better than to try and run from him. That silencer would shoot her down faster than she could turn a corner. He gave her a harsh shove, "Go on then. Get moving."

At the order and the shove of her shoulder, Evelynia looked over her shoulder to glare at him, though did as he said and began walking. She only had the slightest idea of what she was going to be doing and how she was going to get out of this mess. So far, from what she could tell of this Lunairan, he was ambitious. Dangerously so. He seemed to be seeking glory, and rather than taking a small accomplishment of killing one mere human, he was taking a risk and trying to earn that glory ten-fold. Little did he know though, that there were no other humans. He was being lead right into a trap, where he would get no glory. He would be lucky if he even got a headstone when she was done with him.

She walked along, leading him down the abandoned and empty city streets, until finally they came to the tall fence that surrounded the perimeter of the airport. Due to there being a lock and chain around the main gate (and her wanting to keep it that way for security purposes), she had always taken to the habit of climbing the gate and hopping over it once she got to the top. Once at the gate, she looked over her shoulder at him once more, "Hope you're good at climbing. That's the only way to get into the compound." With that, she moved and gripped the chain-linked fence, hoisting herself up and climbing all the way to the top. Watching from the top, she waited until he too managed to climb to the top of the fence, and then she dropped down to the ground in one swift jump.

Once again, she was leading him through the runway, speaking to him with his Silencer still pressed to her back, "They all live in the different planes here in the airport. Easy to hide and secure. Though, everyone hide away and locked themselves in the planes when they saw your ship land down." It was a fair enough excuse as to why they didn't see any humans wandering about. After all, she had locked herself in her plane until she thought she should go stock up on supplies while she could. She was sure it would be a fair enough excuse to not make him too suspicious of this whole thing.

Walking up the steps of her plane that she stayed in, she turned the lock on the door and pulled it open, walking inside with him right behind her. She walked further into the craft, passing by seat after seat, until she made it toward the back of the plane.

Then suddenly, she had him.

She was quick and knew exactly what she was doing. Suddenly she had a stray pipe in her hand that had been laying on the floor, the pipe making contact with his head before he could even react, body falling with a thud to floor. She stood successfully over him as his eyes flickered closed and she knelt, looking closely at his unconscious form, "Damn. I was hoping that hit would kill you." She pulled the Silencer from his hand and tucked it into the waist band of her jeans before she stood and went over to pile of supplies she kept, just in case, in the back corner of the plane. There, somewhere in the mix of things, was a pair of handcuffs. She moved and dragged his unconscious form toward the back of the plane as well and connected one end of the handcuffs to the hand that had been holding the Silencer (taking this measure so that he wouldn't have the use of his dominant hand) and then locked the other end of the handcuffs to a metal pole connected to the sturdy interior of the plane. There was no way this guy was going to be able to get out of it and so Evelynia, after checking him over and making sure he had no other weapons, took a moment to catch her breath from all the excitement, taking a seat on her mattress, examining this Silencer that she had stolen from him.

A few hours passed before she heard a slight groan come from his person, and when he woke he would find her sitting on one of the nearby airplane seats, one foot propped up against the seat in front of it, looking lazily over to him, "Well, well. Look who's finally awake. Have a good nap, Lunairan?"

[Rogue Sloth]

The human was feisty, but at least she wasn’t dumb enough to continue fighting. Caeyin kept his Silencer trained on her back as she complied with his demand to take her to the others of her kind. In the back of his mind, he found it a bit strange that she was giving in so easily. Surely, she had to be clever enough to realize that he was just going to massacre them all when she brought him to their hideout. He wondered if humans lacked the loyalty to their own people that the Lunairans all shared? Perhaps she understood that he was going to kill them, but she didn’t care as long as she could delay her own inevitable fate. It was a bit pathetic to him.

On the other hand, he knew it was possible that this human was lying through her teeth and there were no others left. She could have been hoping to trick him or buy herself some time to think of a way to escape. If that was the case, then she was a fool, and he intended to make her pay for wasting his time. He smirked to himself. By the time he was through with her, this hardheaded human being would be begging him for her life.

Caeyin followed her closely as she led him through the maze of tall buildings. His right arm was tense, ready to fire his weapon at a moment’s notice if she made any sudden movements. Even though she claimed she was going to lead him to others, he wasn’t going to let her get away from him just to cling to the opportunity of killing more of her kind. If she tried to run or attack him, he wouldn’t hesitate to shoot her on the spot. Besides, he could find more Earthlings on his own. He wasn’t incompetent. Her help would just make the process of locating them easier, so he wouldn’t have to spend an unnecessary amount of time wandering around.

After a while of walking, they came to a barrier of some sort that blocked their path. There was a door built into it, but it appeared to be locked with a chain. He glanced at the human as she made a flippant remark about hoping he was good at climbing. The ridiculousness of her words made him scoff. His people could do anything that the humans could do if not more. Surely, she had to know that. He guessed that she had probably made the remark to strike a competitive nerve in him. Unfortunately for her, he cared little about what an Earthling thought of him. He wasn’t going to get distracted from his original goal by competing with someone he knew he could easily outmatch.

So, he said nothing in response as she began to climb over the barrier. The distance she put between them set him on edge a bit, and he kept his Silencer fixed on her form as she ascended higher. Once she was at the top, he noticed her pause to wait for him. He hesitated for a moment, reluctant to lower his weapon, but decided he couldn’t climb efficiently and point it at her at the same time. He slipped the barrel into his back pocket and climbed up the mesh wall, keeping the human in the edge of his vision in case she tried to knock him down like she had before. This time, she tried nothing of the sort, and he jumped down with her to the other side, quickly drawing his Silencer again to ensure that she couldn’t run.

As they walked down a long stretch of pavement, Caeyin noticed that the area seemed far emptier than he expected of a place where multiple people would be living. He eyed the human suspiciously and opened his mouth to question where the so-called ‘other humans’ were. However, before he had a chance to speak, she did first, explaining that they were in hiding because they had seen the Lunairan ship land. It still seemed strange to him, but it was a logical enough explanation that he chose not to argue with her about it. The truth would be revealed soon enough as it was.

His violet eyes swept curiously over the crafts that they were walking past. Though he knew he was only there to kill off the rest of the humans, he couldn’t help getting a bit caught up in the strangeness of the engineering. All of the machines had large wings that indicated they had been built to fly, telling him that the humans had a way to take to their skies after all. The designs were quite different than Lunairan vehicles though. His people created spacecrafts that were much more organic looking than these big, metal tubes. He supposed he could respect the Earthlings’ ingenuity though. These machines were primitive, but they were still quite an accomplishment for an inferior species.

The human led him up a short flight of stairs that brought them to the door of one of the aircrafts. As she opened the door and stepped inside, he felt a bit nervous to follow. He didn’t like the idea of fighting in such a confined space, especially if he was outnumbered. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like he had much of a choice, so he entered the vehicle and followed closely behind the human. She led him down a long aisle that was lined on either side with rows of chairs. It seemed that this craft had been designed specifically to transport a large number of the creatures. He wrinkled his nose slightly in distaste at the thought of riding something like this. All of the seats were close together, giving hardly any room to move around. The design was quite flawed. Lunairan ships had much more space per individual, creating a comfortable travel experience.

Turning away from the cramped-looking chairs, he focused on the human again. She was leading him farther into the craft than he was comfortable going. The hairs on the back of his neck rose as he realized she was probably trying to lead him into a trap. So far, he had caught neither sight nor sound of any other humans, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t already contacted them. The image of an Earthling sneaking up behind him flashed through his mind, and he peered back over his shoulder, cautiously examining the rows of chairs for signs of movement. He wasn’t about to let these pathetic creatures ambush him. However, he could see nothing. It seemed like they were still alone.

He narrowed his eyes and turned back to the human, prepared to question what she was trying to do. Before he could, his eyes widened again as she suddenly whirled around with a metal object in her hand. He tightened his grip on his Silencer but didn’t have a chance to shoot the weapon when he felt a sharp burst of pain in the side of his head and everything went black.

--

The first thing Caeyin was aware of was an incessant pounding in his head. He groaned and moved to lift his hand to rub the sore spot but found that he couldn’t move his arm. Blinking his eyes open, he looked down to see that his wrist had been bound to a metal pole by some sort of foreign chain. He frowned and gave the device a tug. It didn’t budge.

“Well, well. Look who’s finally awake. Have a good nap, Lunairan?”

He bristled at the sound of the voice and hurriedly sat up, only to instantly regret doing so when the motion caused another splitting burst of pain in his head. He winced and looked up to see a light-haired female sitting in a chair across the aisle. For a moment, he stared at her in confusion, but then suddenly the events of the day all came back to him at once. Realizing what was going on, he pulled on the chain again with a bit more force, trying to break himself free of its cold grip. The stubborn thing held fast.

Deciding that wasn’t going to work, he looked for his Silencer, only to find that it had disappeared. The human must have taken it from him while he had been unconscious. He muttered a curse under his breath. He couldn’t believe he had let a human catch him off guard like that. It was disgraceful. Their kind were inferior to his, but he still shouldn’t have turned his back on her like he had. The mistake had left him trapped and at the creature’s mercy—exactly the opposite of what he had wanted to happen.

Turning back to the human, Caeyin curled his lip in a snarl. “Release me,” he snapped. “Or I’ll call the others here, and they’ll kill you where you stand.”

[AHeartlessNobody]

This Lunairan was at least smart enough to not show fear. Not that such a thing mattered. Even if he begged and feared for his life, it wouldn't change a thing. Sooner or later, he was going to die. She just needed to decide if she could use him first. After all, he surely had much information that she could use to protect herself. She just had to figure out that information and then get rid of him. It wouldn't be too hard. After all, he was her prisoner now and had no weapons. What was the worse that he could do?

At his command to release her, she gave a laugh, standing up from her seat and strutting over to stand just a few feet in front of him, arms crossed over her chest, "Oh really? You'll contact the others? I'm shaking in my boots." She bent down, getting close. Not close enough for him to reach out and grab her, but enough to taunt him, "I know Lunairans far better than you might think. You wouldn't contact them, and you know why? Because seeing you here, caught and a human's prisoner? That would certainly be a pathetic sight. One that would bring dishonor upon you. Besides, if a Lunairan was to have captured, do you think they would race here to free you? Risking their own people to save a pathetic solider such as yourself? They're not that stupid."

She stood and turned so her back was to him, pacing back down the aisle as she spoke these things, both pupils of her eyes, the blue and the hidden violet, expanded. There, as she spoke, she sent waves of fear into him. It was part of her own abilities. She used to use them to help her twin brother sleep when they were kids. Even once she had used it to strike fear into the neighborhood bully all those years ago, so that he was too scared to mess with any of the other kids again. And now, she used that on him, pushing onto him the feeling of fear, so that he feared the others coming here, feared this situation, and most of all, feared her.

Finally, letting her pupils go back to normal, she turned and looked to him again, raising an eyebrow, "Now, alien scum, how many soldiers are out there? And do they carry anything more deadly than these Silencers?" She asked, holding up the Silencer that she had stolen from him for him to see, waiting for the reply to her question.

[Rogue Sloth]

To Caeyin’s annoyance, the human was quick to call him on his bluff. Of course, he really could call the other Lunairans for help because of the alarm system the Pilot had installed in their belts, but there was no way he was going to face the humiliation of being seen, chained to a metal pipe at the mercy of an inferior being. The other Scouts already disliked him for being different. He wasn’t going to give them another reason to poke fun at him. It looked like he was just going to have to figure out how to get away on his own.

He held the human’s gaze unwaveringly as she got closer to him. It was obvious that she was trying to intimidate him, but he refused to give her the satisfaction of drawing a reaction out of him. Although, he was a bit surprised to hear how much she knew about his people. He knew there had been other Lunairans who had come to the Earth before the Plague, but they wouldn’t have told the humans so much about themselves. He wondered how she had acquired such information.

As she began to pace the aisle, he followed her with his eyes, not wanting to let her out of his sight for even a moment. However, as he did this, he felt a strange sensation in his chest, a tightness of sorts, that made it difficult to draw breath. He blinked, confused by the feeling. It was familiar to him. It was fear, but he didn’t understand why he was feeling it so strongly all of the sudden. All he knew was that he had an intense urge to get away from the human in front of him.

He fought the urge to recoil as she turned to him again and raised his stolen Silencer, silently chiding himself for his irrational terror of this creature. At her question, he gritted his teeth and took a slow breath to calm his fraying nerves. He knew now that she had only kept him alive to use him for information. Well, he wasn’t going to give her what she wanted so easily. All Lunairan soldiers underwent torture training as part of their education, and he was no exception. They were taught that there was nothing worse than giving up valuable knowledge to an enemy. So, forcing himself to ignore the rising bubble of fear in his chest, he tilted his chin up at her in a sneer.

“You’re wasting your breath,” he said defiantly. “I’m not going to tell you anything.”

[AHeartlessNobody]

To be honest, Evelynia would have been surprised if this Lunairan had given her information that easily. She had been expecting him to refuse. Yet, no matter how well he was hiding it, she could see past those 'steel nerves' of his and see the fright that she successfully pushed onto him. He was frightened. He had no idea why he felt that way, not knowing it was actually her making him feel that way, but either way it was working wonders. Though he wouldn't tell her anything now, things could change. They always did. The world never stayed the same for long, nor did people. Even Lunairans. He could play all tough now, but sooner or later, he would budge. Whether it be from fear, hunger, thirst, or pain. She just had to wait him out. And if not, then she would always have the pleasure of killing this Lunairan.

She huffed and flopped down into one of the airplane seats once more, clearly unbothered by his sneer and his defiance, "Shame. I was actually planning on giving you some food for information. Guess I'll just keep it to myself then." She reached over and picking up a small container that sat beside her bed, she continued to sit in the chair and pop open the lid. Inside was just some peanuts. Not the best thing in the world, but a good source of protein and surely better than the food the Lunairans dealt with on that God forsaken ship of theirs.

"Tell you what." She mentioned finally, after plopping a handful of the nuts into her mouth and eating them, "If you feel like ever changing your mind, for every piece of information you tell me, I'll give you either food or water. Your choice of course, depending on what you need more of." She didn't expect him to jump at her offer right now. In fact, she expected another sneer and comment. Yet, she knew sooner or later, no matter what torturous training they had, he would feel the need to save his own life, one way or another. After all, what was a few secrets to a life being saved?

"Get comfortable, Lunairan. You'll be staying here for the remainder of your pathetic life."

[Rogue Sloth]

Caeyin steeled himself for the blast from the Silencer in the human’s hand. After he had refused to meet her demands, it was only natural for her to shoot him. It was what he had been trained to expect in his military education on board his people’s ship: Withhold information; receive pain; repeat until one side caves to the other. That was the experience of a prisoner, and that was what he had prepared himself to endure. However, to his surprise, that wasn’t what seemed to be happening here.

He watched as the human sat down again instead of hitting him with a blast from the Silencer. She was surprisingly mild mannered about his obstinate response to her demand. He wasn’t quite sure what was going on in her head until she spoke up about giving him food in return for information. He rolled his eyes. It didn’t matter what method of torture she tried to use. Whether she shot him or starved him or did anything in between, he wasn’t going to betray his people. It was his duty as a soldier to protect any knowledge that could be used against them, and his leaders obviously thought he was up for the task, since they had assigned him to be in the military. He wasn’t going to let them down.

“Please,” he snorted after she had finished speaking to him. “If this is the best you can do, you might as well just get it over with and kill me while you still have the chance, human.” He spat the last word in a manner that was clearly meant to be derogatory.

With nothing left to say to her, Caeyin shifted to lean back against the wall of the aircraft, drawing his left leg to his chest and resting his free arm over his knee. It wasn’t the most comfortable position, but he doubted he would be able to get very comfortable at all as long as her ridiculous chain was fastened so tightly around his wrist. He looked away to avoid meeting the human’s gaze, unwilling to look her in the eye. She may have had him trapped, but that didn’t mean he was going to be a compliant prisoner. He intended to make her search for information as difficult as possible.

[AHeartlessNobody]

A smirk came to Evelynia's face as the Lunairan before her kept up his tough act, spitting vemonous words in her direction. Yet, after living years of living in this venomous world, fighting for her life, there was little these simple words could do to her. It was strange, just how easily a person could grow unempathetic and not care. How easily a person could harden their heart to the world around them. Yet, she wasn't complaining either. It was that sense of uncaring and the idea that she could only rely on herself that had kept her alive and thriving all these years. She turned her uncaring gaze to the young man that sat there, lifting an eyebrow as he spat the term 'human' at her, surely meant to be an insult in the Lunairan's tongue.

"Well then, alien. Isn't that what you though? For me to just end it so that you can be claimed a 'war hero'? Killed facing this strange human being for the progress of his people?" She laughed a short and non-humorous laugh, "No. No, I think I'll keep you alive longer. Watch you squirm and slowly die. Just like all my people did. At least then some justice will be served to them." It wouldn't bring her family back. Wouldn't help her father, mother, brother, uncle, or any of the humans that had once resided on this planet.

"Oh," She mentioned, lifting her gaze to him once more as she stood to her feet, grinning at the information she was about to tell him, "by the way. There are no others. Just little old me." She gave a bow, a mocking gesture as though she was the star of this whole show. She laughed, standing up straight, cold eyes staring down at where he sat, "You had the last remaining human on Earth in your grasp. And you blew it. Some solider you are."

[Rogue Sloth]

Caeyin didn’t bother giving the human he courtesy of looking her way as she spoke up again. However, he had to bite his tongue to keep from retorting to the nonsense that she spoke of. She didn’t have a clue what she was talking about. There was no glory in dying at the hands of an inferior being. The fact that he had allowed himself to be tricked by her was shameful enough, and if his blunder resulted in the end of his life, he would be mocked, not praised. If anything, he hoped that if he died as this human’s prisoner, the other Scouts would never find out. He would have rather been marked down as ‘missing’ as opposed to ‘killed by an Earthling.’

As she went on to explain how she was going to keep him alive as some sort of primitive form of justice for her people, he began to lose interest. He didn’t care how she planned to kill him. He had already accepted that he was going to die if he couldn’t figure out a way to escape or take the human’s life first. Sine he didn’t want the others to find out what had happened to him, he had already ruled out calling for help. His only option left was to rely on his own natural abilities to get away.

The creature addressed him one more time, and this time, he casted her a sideways glance. It seemed she had been lying to him after all. He wasn’t that surprised, since he had suspected she was just trying to save herself by telling him there were others. What he didn’t like was the fact that he hadn’t been more prepared to combat her when she had turned on him. He had gotten too distracted by his concern about getting ambushed by other Earthlings. Even if there had been more of them, he should have known better than to turn his back on her. At the very least, he should have taken over her vision before searching for others. His overconfidence had been the cause of his capture.

“I’m sure you’re quite pleased with yourself,” he said dryly, averting his gaze again. “Enjoy the feeling while it lasts, because it won’t be long before the others find you. You may have survived against me, but you can’t outlast us all.” He rolled his wrist uncomfortably against the metal chain, disliking the way it restrained him from moving. Though he had accepted his fate if he was truly going to die here, he hoped death would come quickly, if only to free him from the irritation of being tied to a pole.

[AHeartlessNobody]

"Oh, I'm not too worried. Once your friends out there see what the real threat is, I won't be the thing they'll be looking to hunt." The Beasts were ruthless. The sun had just set, meaning that the 'in-between time' as she called it was over. She knew the Lunairans would have come here expecting to simply hunt one or two remaining humans that hadn't died of the Plague. Oh, but they were so wrong, and didn't even know it. The Beasts would cause them more problems than little old her ever would. If she was lucky, they would all be eaten and slaughtered before the next sunrise.

Of course, even though she said this, she didn't go on. Didn't tell him exactly 'what' the real threat was. She would leave him wondering. So that, if he did manage to get out of here, maybe the Beasts would kill him off too. The less Lunairans alive, the better. Their race could go extinct for all she cared. At least then, in some way, the deaths of her father, uncle, mother, and brother would be avenged.

She smirked, looking over to him, "I may not be able to outlast you all. But, you all won't outlast them. And honey, if you can't outlast them, then I have nothing to worry about. It's just a matter of time. And as you can see," She stood and waved her arms about her plane, looking to all the supplies she had in the plane. On top of her plan that was completely full of supplies, she was set, "I can wait anything out."

Dropping her arms, she shook her head, "Have a good nights rest. Maybe you'll be more willing to cooperate tomorrow when hunger and thirst starts to hit." With that, she moved toward the back of the plane where her 'living area' was. It was a small little nook at the very back of the plane, one that was decorated in a rather adorable and homey fashion. A queen sized mattress with a sheet, fluffy pillows, a soft blanket. A shelf was some books and other items to keep her occupied in her boredom. In a way, it looked almost like someone had made an apartment out of an airplane. Which is basically what she did.

She pursed her lips as she looked over the bindings of the books, trying to decide which would occupy her time before bed. Finally, she grabbed one and flopped down onto the mattress, moving to sit criss cross on the blankets and pillows, ignoring the presence of her 'guest' while she opened up the book, trying to relax before it was time to sleep.

[Rogue Sloth]

Real threat. The words reverberated in Caeyin’s mind like an alarm bell, and it took everything inside of him not to press the human for more information. He couldn’t tell if she was telling him the truth or lying through her teeth again just to scare him. According to the Higher Powers, he and the other scouts had been sent on their mission specifically to wipe out the rest of the humans—if there were any survivors left—because they were supposed to be the threat to the Lunairan people. If there was something else that was more dangerous, it was an unknown variable, and they may not have been prepared for it.

For a moment, he was almost tempted to swallow his pride and call for help, if only to alert the other scouts to this new potential danger. However, being unsure if she was trying to trick him or not, he didn’t touch the button on his belt. It would have been even more humiliating if he summoned the others to his location to be freed from a single human who had managed to overpower him and then warned his comrades about a hazard that didn’t exist. The pilot might even decide he was too easily manipulated to carry on with his assignment and send him back to the mothership. He tensed at the thought, deciding inwardly that it wasn’t worth the risk. Even if she was being truthful, he was sure the scouts could handle the danger without him.

“Don’t get your hopes up,” he muttered as the human seemed to lose interest in verbally harassing him. When he was finally left alone, he was relieved, though he tracked her movement with his violet eyes to make sure she was really done with him for now. It looked like she was going to take her own advice and get some rest in what looked like a makeshift sleeping area in the back of the winged vehicle.

Taking the opportunity to examine his restraint again, Caeyin turned away from her as she settled on her bed and fiddled with the metal wrapped around his wrist. Unfortunately, it held fast, so he proceeded to inspect the pole to which the other end was attached. He hoped that he would find a weak spot that he could exploit to break himself free, but both the device and its anchor were sturdily built. He was stuck unless he could get ahold of the key for the piece that held his wrist.

Frustrated, he let out an irritable huff and glanced at the human again with narrowed eyes. She seemed to be ignoring him with her nose in what he guessed was a book. He wasn’t in the mood to strike up another conversation, nor did he expect that she would simply give him the key if he asked, but he refused to be a compliant prisoner. If she was going to tie him up and keep him as some sort of trophy in her hideout, he was going to make her life as difficult as possible.

Shifting on the floor, he did his best to make himself comfortable by laying down on his side and folding his unbound arm beneath his head. Instead of going to sleep, though, he looked up at the human once more, his pupils dilating as he reached out to her telepathically and seized control of her optic nerves. With the connection in place, he closed his eyes, feigning sleep while he overrode her sight with a vision of the contents of her book disappearing off the pages so that she was left with what looked like a binding of blank paper.

[AHeartlessNobody]

Evelynia was hoping to at least relax a little before going to sleep. Reading books tended to do that and she was good halfway through the chapter when...the strangest thing happened. She blinked in confusion as, suddenly, the words on the pages disappeared. What in the world? She flipped through pages in confusion and found that all the pages were blank. Her mind raced, trying to figure out how something like this could have happened, when suddenly, it clicked.

When she fought this Lunairan on the roof. He had vanished. While it was rare for Lunairans to have individual abilities and powers, it wasn't impossible. Especially for a solider. Once the Lunairans found out on of their own had a special ability, they would be put through training to use their abilities and fight for their people. This solider must have been one of those rare cases where a Lunairan did have a special power. He was making her see things. Or, in these last two cases, not see things.

She turned her head, glaring over at the Lunairan. He was 'asleep'. Ha, yeah right. He wouldn't fall asleep that quickly. Especially not in an enemy's clutches. He was messing with her. Well, fine then.

Standing up from where she sat, she closed her book, but didn't return it to its self. Instead, she drew her arm back, chunking the book in his direction so that it hit him square in the head, "Stupid Lunairan."

[Rogue Sloth]

Hearing the rustling of pages as the human frantically flipped through her book, Caeyin bit the inside of his cheek to stifle a laugh. He would sleep better knowing that he’d ruined her attempt to read. It wasn’t as good as killing her, of course, but while he was still figuring out how to get out of his restraint, it was the next best thing. Even better was the knowledge that she wouldn’t know he was the one interfering with her vision. Her kind didn’t know much of anything about his, and even if she did know a little, his trick was unique among Lunairans. Unless she was clever, she would probably assume she was going crazy rather than associate the phenomenon with him—

Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted as he felt a sharp pain in the side of his head. He yelped in surprise and scrambled into a sitting position, eyes snapping open as he reflexively looked for the threat. As he brought his free hand to the sore spot just above his temple, he spotted the human’s book laying haphazardly on the floor nearby. She’d thrown it at him.

Indignant, he turned toward her with a scowl as she went on to throw a petty insult at him. “Stupid human,” he spat in return, inwardly aware that exchanging snubs was immature but too irritable to care about maintaining a stoical image. He had already been in a foul mood before she’d made it worse by hitting him in the head. It also didn’t help that he was naturally competitive and refused to let her have the last laugh.

Tilting his chin upward arrogantly, he decided to step up his efforts and give her a scare. “I was going to stay here a little while longer to see what I could get out of you, but I’ve changed my mind,” he bluffed, forging a new connection with her mind as he spoke. In the next moment, he took control of her sight again and transmitted a vision that was more complex than the last. In it, he reached for the shackle around his wrist and pulled on it hard enough that the chain link that attached it to the pole snapped in half, freeing him from his tether. He rose to his feet and took a few steps toward the human, closing the distance between them menacingly.

“If you surrender, I’ll kill you quicker,” he offered, reaching around to draw a silencer from his back pocket and aiming it at her chest. In reality, he only had one weapon—the one she had stolen from him after she’d knocked him out—but unless she had searched his body too, he doubted she would know that. The vision of him simpered at her cruelly and gestured with the fake silencer, “Go on, get on your knees. Try anything funny, and I’ll shoot you faster than you can blink.”

[AHeartlessNobody]

Evelyn sneered at him and rolled her eyes when he called her a 'stupid human'. Was that really the best comeback he could come up with? She shook her head. She really should just kill this Lunairan. She probably wouldn't get anything good out of him and he was getting on her nerves. She had just turned, planning to go over to where she had stashed her gun, something shocking happened. It was frightening to see the strong pole of the plane snap and the Lunairan stalk toward her, pulling out a silencer. Ordering her to get on her knees. Telling her if she surrendered, he would kill her faster.

How had he done that? Lunairans were strong, but they weren't that strong. Was this Lunairan an exception? Did he have more than one enhanced ability? Had the Lunairans started to do some experimenting since her mother had been with them? She was sure her mother would have told her of such a thing. She knew such a stregnth as that wasn't normal. Her mother hadn't had such strength. And neither did she of course. So then, how was this possible?

She glared at him and if looks could kill, he would be dead where he stood. She would have to figure out a way out of this. She wouldn't show fear, even as she got to her knees. She didn't fear death. She knew death had been knocking on her door for a long while now. It was only a matter of time. If he wanted to use her or tourture her for his own gain, nothing would stop him. She knew that. Lunairans were horrible monsters in that way. Only seeking what they could gain. They always took, but never stopped to think about the creatures and people they were taking from.

"You don't scare me. Death has been chasing me as long as I can remember." She knew he woudl kill her, and had prepared herself for it. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of begging and crying. However, as she knelt there, it was then that she felt something...odd.

It was the same feeling she had before. When he had vanished. When the book had lost its words. She hadn't really noticed the feeling before, but now, she realized she had felt the same thing both those times. A dull prick in her head. Almost like her body and mind were trying to warn her. Trying to tell her that an intruder had begun to reach into the depths of her mind. He was trying to get into her head again. No. He was in her head again.

Her gaze looked up to the man before her, and she tilted her head as the vision wavered. Like ripples flowing across his form. This wasn't real. He messing with her. She felt her anger bubble up, not believing he was in her head. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to focus. To force him out. Her mother used to practice with her a little doing such a thing. Not much. Back then, she hadn't been able to keep her mom from her head. But, she was older now, and her mother had years of training under her belt. Maybe she could force this solider out.

Sure enough, when she opened her eyes, the vision was suddenly gone and her eyes moved over to the seat. Where, just as she had kept him, was the Lunairan. Still chained and her captive. She growled in frustration, getting to her feet, "Don't try that again, you Kokzud!" The last word was a very...profound insult and slur in the Lunairan community. Meaning freak. Abomination. Someone who didn't belong. To not belong was the worst thing to Lunairans. One did not want to be an outcast in such the small numbers they had left of their species.