After the boys spoke, the entire room fell into an awkward silence. The girls glanced at each other before Miku finally spoke up.
"What do you want to talk about? . . ." Miku says meekly.
"Don't play dumb, where's the page?" Hibiki says in a direct and cold tone.
Miku sighs before reaching into her skirt pocket and taking out the folded page which had all of Hibiki's notes on the "flesh".
"Why did you take it?" Hibiki says, taking the page from her.
"I uhm well I didn't want to freak you guys out and I mean it did get your mind off it . ." Miku says, trailing off.
"What was the point in hiding this from us though?!" Abel suddenly exclaims. "It would've been so much more helpful to know there's some fucking zombie making alien out there!" he adds on, clenching his fists.
"Well I was gonna tell you but if we were all freaking out then it would be harder to survive-" Miku stutters out but before Hibiki could respond, Elena speaks up.
"Well if we want to talk about hiding things, why did you hide the page from us in the first place Hibiki?" She says, crossing her arms.
"What do you mean? Hibiki tried to show us the page but before he could Miku stole the page" Mohan says in an irritated tone.
"Well that page has been around for almost 2 weeks! Ever since when you guys went to that creek!" Elena exclaims, Luh's face contorts in surprise and confusion.
"Wait what" Abel says flatly.
"Wait did you see that in the creek? Was that why you were so freaked out? . . ." Luh inquires.
Hibiki breathes a breath in before responding. "Ya-" he starts before being cut off by an even more pissed off Abel.
"WHAT THE FUCK!" He yells, nearly punching a hole into the shack's wooden wall. "I- how- the fuck could you!" he yells, stumbling over his words before storming off.
Hibiki stays silent as he storms off, Mohan glances back at him and at the girls before sighing and going after Abel. Now in the main area it was just Miku, Elena, Luh and Hibiki. Elena looked down in shame and embarrassment while Luh looked pissed off at both Hibiki and Miku. Miku looked both ashamed and irritated.
"Why were you looking through my journal?" Hibiki says, breaking the silence.
"I . . . I was just curious and I just stumbled onto the page" Elena says softly, still looking down.
Hibiki sighs. "Fair enough-" he says before being interrupted by Luh.
"Don't try to change the topic here Hibiki, why'd you even hide the page. Do you not trust us or something?" Luh inquires, crossing her arms.
"It's not that, I just wanted to gather more info so I don't sound like some type of lunatic" Hibiki says, shoving his hands into his pockets and not looking at Luh directly.
Luh rolls her eyes and scoffs. "Do I look dumb Hibiki? You're not that great at lying" She says before walking off, leaving Miku, Elena and Hibiki in a silent and awkward standoff. This standoff is short lived as they all go their separate ways. Miku goes to her bedroom, Elena heads out to the balcony while Hibiki heads outside and walks off the beaten trail before reaching a small hammock with drawing and writing supplies.
Hibiki had built this little area for himself a week or so prior. It was a nice area for him to get away from all the chaos and bustle of the small cabin. As much as Hibiki enjoyed everyone's company - especially Luh's, he still needed to get away from it all.
He lays down in the hammock, it overlooked the grassland that was surrounded by the mountain range like a giant circular valley or a caldera as Luh had called it, since these mountains were made up of volcanic rock meaning thousands, maybe millions of years ago, this beautiful and lush grassland surrounded by woods was once covered in volcanic rock and lava. It was something that intrigued Hibiki, he liked that about Luh, she always taught him something new and unique. It just made it hurt all the more with how she had scoffed and disregarded his explanation.
He was frustrated at everyone, how could they overlook Elena snooping through his field guides? How could they ignore how Miku was most differentially hiding something? It was all very illogical to him. It didn't make sense in his head how everyone had turned on him so quickly. All he was trying to do was collect more information before sharing, Miku had known more than him but hid it for the very much same reason at the end of the day. They had more pressing matters and panic over an unknown threat could lead to panic.
"So why did I get so mad at her? . . ." He mumbles to himself. Well it was simple - she had lied and he had trusted her and he had done the same to the others. "I guess I really am a hypocrite," He says with a tired sigh. "They must really hate me now" He thinks aloud, reminiscing to moments when he was younger.
Back in elementary school, he was part of a group of kids who he was friendly with because he always gave them answers to tests and they thought he was generally chill. One day, he refused to give answers since he didn't want to get into trouble after seeing another child getting detention for doing the same. He was scared and didn't want to get into trouble. Later he asked this same group for help with the homework since he missed a couple of classes and they mockingly gave him the same response he had given him along with the added criticism of him being a hypocrite.
Looking back, he thought that it really wasn't that big of a deal, which it really wasn't but it still resonated with him. Hibiki lets another sigh, looking over the valley and begins to draw, getting this off his mind before he falls further down the rabbit hole of his own thoughts.
Meanwhile on the balcony, Elena had taken out her binoculars and had begun to observe the flying fauna of the planet. It took her back to when she was a child, using those toy binoculars from the local corner shop of her village to look at all the different types of birds from her window. She saw many different types of birds back home, since her family lived at the edge of the woods she saw many different types of songbirds her favorite of these songbirds was the Common Rosefinch. They had dark brown feathers on their wings, white feathers on her belly, but the most distinguishing feature was the rosy-red feathers on its head making it stand out among the green trees like a rose flower standing out of a rose bush. While that was her favorite songbird that she commonly saw, her favorite bird that she ever spotted was a majestic white tailed eagle. She had encountered it while hiking by the lake, she watched in awe as it swooped down with powerful wings and caught a fish straight out of the water before flying off. She ran home to tell her mom.
"Мама! Мама! I saw an eagle catch a fish!" said a young and excited Elena, who was pulling on her mother's dress.
"That's great, Dochen'ka(little/precious daughter)" She says absent mindedly as she continues to cook dinner.
Elena smiles as she continues to talk in depth about every aspect of the eagle, which her mom responds to with various combinations of "mhms" and "uh huhs".
Once Elena is done explaining everything about the white tailed eagle, her mom asks her something. "Did you do your homework yet?" she asks in a soft tone.
Elena's eyes widen slightly, realizing that she hadn't and looks down ashamedly. "No . . ." She mumbles out.
"Go do your homework now" Her mother says in a stern tone. Elena nods and heads up to her room.
After this memory flashed through Elena's mind, Elena snapped back to reality. She goes back to looking through the binoculars and observing the flying animals which only made her miss her small home back in Russia more but it also made her acknowledge how far she had come. Her mother was against her becoming an astronaut, wanting Elena to find a good man to settle down with. That's why she went to live on her own. It had been so many years but even now she doesn't have the will to confront her parents, just as she didn't have the will to tell Hibiki she had snooped in his journal. Maybe one day she will talk to parents, afterall she did miss them but instead she was stuck on a planet where even watching the birds felt wrong.
Abel was outside, taking out his anger in the best way he knew how, punching a tree as hard as possible. Chipping away at the gray armor of the organism which happened way after his knuckles had begun to bleed. He didn't know what to think, he wasn't as angry anymore but in response to his flare of anger, his head began to ache as if his body was punishing him for his anger. This has always happened to Abel, ever since he was a child but even so, he never learned how to fully regulate his anger despite his body's punishments. Eventually he was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard a loud thwack coming from the tree next to him, where he saw his best friend of 4 years, Mohan Bhat, now also punching a tree.
"What the hell are you doing dumbass?" Abel grumbles as he stops punching.
"Just doing what you're doing bro" Mohan responds as he also stops punching.
"Well you look retarded-" Abel says before cutting himself off, realizing what Mohan, who now had a small smile, was doing. "God dammit" Abel says, a grin creeping on his face.
Mohan chuckles. "Well now that you're done throwing a tantrum, wanna talk?" he says, his tone getting more serious.
Abel lets out a sigh. "Bro I'm fine" He says as he sits down on a rock, wrapping his bleeding knuckles in some bandage wrap.
Mohan sits down next to him. "Man, don't bullshit me. Just tell me what's wrong for once. I've known you for so long yet I know so little about you" he says before adding on. "You know you can trust me right?" he questions, putting a hand on Abel's shoulder.
He thought that over. Could he trust Mohan? I mean Hibiki, Miku and even Elena had lied and hid things from him to some degree. Could he really trust Mohan too? What if he was lying like all the others? What if he was lying like his parents? Abel shook his head, forcefully snapping him back to reality before he plunged into the depths of his own mind. Some memories were better forgotten.
Abel sighs before he nods his head. "Ya I trust you bro" He says, turning his head to look at Mohan.
"So wanna tell me what's going on in your noggin?" Mohan says.
Abel took a moment to gather his thoughts. "Well I mean I'm just fucking pissed. I mean they all lied to us" Abel says, resting his elbows on his knees.
"Well that is true but I don't think it was malicious" Mohan replies.
"It doesn't matter, they still fucking lied." Abel says, clenching and unclenching his fists.
"I do see where you're coming from bro but let's dissect this bit by bit, ok?" Mohan says calmly.
"There's nothing to fucking dissect but I'll listen" Abel grumbles, leaning back.
"To start off, Hibiki did hide something from us but we both know that he only did that until he got more information on it. I mean we both know that he's obsessed with getting all the facts perfect. It's more of a bug of his versus him lying on purpose. For Miku, well I think she's insecure about everything and probably didn't want to scare us away. I mean we are the only people she's talked to after 10 years. And for Elena . . . I'm honestly not sure, I don't know much about her but I know that you know her more than I do so I'm sure you can think of what led to her hiding her discovery from you" Mohan explains to Abel.
Abel took a moment to soak in what Mohan was saying and as much as he wanted to brush off his points, Mohan had a talent at just dissecting people. It was pretty scary to him but he completely agreed with Mohan about Miku and Hibiki. As for Elena . . . he did talk to her quite often, mainly since they had to as they were the only two soldiers sent here. He didn't know too much about her other than she loved birdwatching and that she used to like to draw.
"Maybe I should talk to her more" Abel thinks to himself before finally responding to Mohan. "Ya you're right bro" Abel responds in an exasperated tone.
"Ya but I want to know why you got so mad about them lying" Mohan asks inquisitively.
"Well cause they lied obviously" Abel says with a scoff.
"Ya but I have never seen you get this mad about anything plus whether you want to give yourself some credit or not, you have been getting better at regulating your anger" Mohan says.
"Fucking hell" Abel mutters, Mohan seen straight through him and he knew that Mohan wouldn't give up on the topic. "Well I just hate when people lie to me, I guess it's just a pet peeve" Abel says, not entirely a lie but a generic answer. He didn't want to remember everything so he could tell Mohan everything. Some memories were better left forgotten.
"Well that's pretty obvious but we both know there's more to it. If you don't want to tell me you don't have to, I'm just here to help you bro" Mohan says sincerely, putting his hand on Abel's shoulder.
Abel mulled over Mohan's words, he knew they were truthful. Mohan was an open book after all but he knew that he wasn't ready just yet. He would tell Mohan eventually but not right now, it wasn't the right time.
"Ya uh maybe another time, we gotta focus on not dying on this god forsaken rock" Abel responds before standing up to head inside.
Mohan nods. "Well if you ever need to talk, you can always come to me brother" he says, looking around the odd forest of this planet. Forests always freaked Mohan out, it was like they were living entities. Being able to swallow you up whole and ensure that you'll never be found. Mohan shakes off these thoughts before turning around and heading in. His analogy wasn't entirely off, the forest did seem to be alive and just like any entity, it had eyes. These eyes were everywhere and unbeknownst to Mohan, multiple pairs of eyes stared at him, peeking out from behind the trees.
Miku was flopped face first on her bed, it was her favorite part of this house she had built being shockingly comfortable in this uncomfortable planet. Thoughts swirled around in Miku's head like a thunderstorm, she was feeling many different emotions all at the same time such as sadness and frustration but most of all, fear. She hadn't felt fear in a very long time but just like a childhood friend you haven't seen for years, it was still very familiar to her.
"What the hell" Miku mutters to herself, she was so confused about it all. Why was her heart beating so fast when she wasn't even in danger? As Miku pondered upon what was happening to her, her mind drifted back to when she was 5 years old. She had an impeccable memory probably because of how she was designed so even though it had been 40 years since she was 5, she remembered the first time she felt fear in vivid detail.
The date was September 11, 2042. At 4:30am, a group of 5 scientists led by Dr.Erina Hayes or as the other kids Miku was housed with called her, "Ms.Era" since she looked like she was from another Era. Ms.Era wore clothes that were popular 50 years ago in the 1990s such as skinny jeans and leather jackets, this combined with the fact that she looked like she was over 100, led to the nickname.
"Rise and shine kiddos" Ms.Era says in an unnaturally cheery tone. All the kids, including Miku, wake up grumpily. "Good good, now move posthaste, tests start in 1 hour" She says, clapping her hands together. Once she leaves, all the children slip out from their beds and like robots head to the washrooms to begin their morning routine. Once Miku had finished her morning routine, she went to the cafeteria and joined the line for breakfast. She stared blankly into space when she was suddenly shaken out of it by none other than her best friend in the facility, he didn't have a name just like her and any of the other kids but his number was Eva-101.
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"Heya Eva-1!" He says with a goofy grin that consistently lit up her days in the facility.
"Good morning!" Miku says, her face instantly lighting up.
"What do you think they're gonna make us do today?" he says, practically bouncing on his feet.
"Hmm, probably some dumb stupid physical tests" Miku grumbles, rolling her eyes. Some of the kids around her giggled at her using a bad word which she was infamous for consistently using.
"Why can't that fossil give us some playtime" Eva-101 says with an over dramatic pout.
Miku giggles at that. "Maybe letting us play will undo her magic spell" She says, between giggles. It was an inside joke between them that Ms.Era used all of their suffering to stay alive. Eventually the duo reached the front of the line and got some breakfast which consisted of boiled eggs, pancakes, bacon and a bowl of fruits. Miku practically inhales her food while a picky Eva-101 takes his sweet time, almost making them late to the tests.
They walk into the testing room which is a giant white room with different areas for different types of tests. One corner is filled with desks and was used for mental tests, another had weights and other machines which were used for strength tests, the next corner had a running track and was used for endurance and stamina tests. The final corner were various puzzles and tools which were used to test problem solving. The kids stood in line based on their numbers, Miku was at the front since she was Eva-1 and Eva-101 was at the end. Then the buzzer rings, meaning the beginning of the test which today was endurance tests. Miku is confident, afterall she consistently and easily passed these tests. She easily passes once more and heads to the back of the line where Eva-101 was at. The two begin chattering and giggling as they usually would until it's finally Eva-101's turn. He begins to run at a good pace and Miku watches on happily. They all had to run 10 laps in 5 minutes and Eva-101 was on pace to finish and pass. Until lap 8, at lap 8 he began to slow down and tire out.
Miku's eyes widened. "Hey! Hurry up! You're running out of time!" She yells desperately at him. She knew what happened to kids who didn't pass. They disappeared. Miku's cries and pleas were left unanswered as the buzzer rings. Usually Eva-101 always passed, even if by a sliver but this time, Eva-101 never reached the 10 lap mark.
Miku suddenly snaps back to reality. Her entire body was in a cold sweat, her heart was going a thousand miles an hour and tears flowed from her eyes like a leaky faucet. She was so scared that day and she's scared for the same reason now. She doesn't want to lose her friends. Then for the first time ever since she was a child, Miku curled up and sobbed quietly into her hands.
Luh was in the study room Miku had built into the cabin. There were no books but it was still a nice quiet area with tables and writing tools. Luh spent most of her alone time here to draw her map of the planet. She loved cartography, she wasn't sure why but even as a child she always made maps of everything. She made maps of her hometown in Brazil and even made maps of some parts of the jungle. She never went too far because as much as she loved exploring and animals, there were too many bugs. Plus, why go to the jungle when you can play with the stray dogs in the streets? She loved those stray dogs, they were always so happy to see her and the other kids. Mainly because they brought them food and the boys picked off their ticks, something she could never do. Way too gross. She missed Brazil but more than anything she missed her children - not actual children but her cat and dog. Her cat was named Nina, she named her after her favorite character in Mystery Manson, her favorite show as a kid. Her dog, a small and scruffy Pumi named Mel. She also missed her parents, as overbearing they both were, she still loved them. Her dad was a house husband - which she couldn't complain about since her dad made the best Brigadeiro, her favorite dessert of all time. Her mom was the most stereotypical girl boss type woman, which naturally led to a lot of teasing from her friends but she still loved her mom. She remembers specifically the last day she saw her parents. She was almost late for the launch of the rocket but they insisted on saying a thousand different good-byes but as annoyed as she was at the moment, she looked back at it with a smile.
She sighed deeply before resuming her cartography. Like some captain for the 1700s, she used a quill and ink to map the world around her. As much as she enjoyed this hobby of her's, she couldn't get her mind completely off of the subject of everything that happened. She liked Hibiki, he was a great friend of hers and overall a very interesting guy but it wasn't until recently that she realized that she knew very little about him. This made her mad at Hibiki but even though she was mad, she knew that she did overreact quite a bit. Knowing Hibiki, he was probably so freaked out by his own find that he didn't talk about it. She sighed. She should probably apologize and talk to him but she needed to calm down on her own. So until then, she shoved these thoughts about all of this to the back of her head and let herself get lost in the world of her maps.
The next day, the group stayed distant and apart from each other. Hibiki continued to lay down on his hammock, he was no longer thinking about what happened and instead was working on documenting what he knew so far about the infection but he still had too little information. He knows the only way that he can get more information is to go boots on the ground and go back into the cavern but he knew the others probably wouldn't trust him. He doesn't blame them, afterall he doesn't really trust Miku or Elena as much anymore. So after a bit of mental back and forth, he decides to head down into the caverns.
He walks for a good bit, the only thing keeping him company is his own thoughts. It was very relaxing but he did wish Abel and Mohan with him so they could mess around as they usually would. Eventually he reaches the backend entrance he had taken yesterday. Maybe it was because he didn't have the same adrenaline or sense of urgency he had that day but the entrance felt far more claustrophobic than it had that day. The walls were monotonous blue-ish black, dimly glowing creeping plants only added to the moist and uncomfortably warm atmosphere of the tight entrance. Even though Hibiki was extremely uncomfortable, he steeled himself and continued onwards. He could quit but it would be better if he kept going.
Back at the cottage, Luh wakes up groggily after having fallen asleep in the study.
"Ugh my neck" Luh mutters groggily as she rubs the back of her neck and rubs her eyes. She sits up straight and blinks a bit for a minute, her thoughts just as blurry as an off focus picture. Eventually, she gets up and stumbles to the washroom like a zombie from the last of us. After washing her face and brushing her hair to make herself ✨pretty✨, not exactly possible on a planet millions of miles away from her wardrobe at home but she makes do with what she has on hand. Luh was still thinking about what had happened yesterday as she walked to the kitchen, completely on auto pilot until she bumped into Miku.
"Oh uh my bad" Miku mutters, dazed and with eyebags that made it look like she hadn't slept all night - which she hadn't.
"It's fine, good morning" Luh says in a just as tired but slightly cheerful tone.
Miku simply nodded before heading to the kitchen, Luh walked next to her and decided to strike up a convo.
"So uh how're you feeling, girl?" Luh asks Miku, who seemingly didn't hear her until Luh repeated herself causing Miku to jolt up, as if she had been caught sleeping in class by a teacher.
"I uh I'm feeling good" Miku stumbles out, while staring off into the distance.
"Ya I just wanted to confirm with all the fuckery Hibiki pulled yesterday" Luh says with a soft chuckle.
"He didn't even do anything that bad" Miku says to her, now in a pissed off tone.
Luh is surprised by her sudden annoyance. "I mean I guess but he still lied to all of us for 2 weeks straight" Luh says with a shrug.
"Ya so what?! I held back info from you all too and Elena knew full well but didn't tell Hibiki that she snooped around! If anything, everybody had a hand in yesterday's fuckery" Miku says, glaring up at Luh.
Luh was surprised further by Miku snapping at her. "Well I uh I just didn't want to make you feel worse about yesterday, that's why I didn't mention it" Luh mumbles out apologetically.
"It's ok," Miku says with a tired sigh, looking downwards. The two were now in the kitchen which was deserted. An odd sight as they were both used to having everyone, mainly Mohan and Abel, in the kitchen joking around and being dumbasses in general. Miku begins to make herself a cup of her famous purple berry brew.
"Can you make me a cup too?" Luh asks, leaning against the short counter.
"Sure" Miku says as she began to boil some water which she began putting herbs into before beginning to grind these purple berries, which gives the drink its name. She then puts the purple berry puree into two cups before straining the herb water into both cups before mixing it together, combining the two flavors to make a smooth, nutty taste that had a familiar calming property that one gets from a cup of homebrewed coffee. Miku slides her cup before heading up to the balcony, Luh follows close behind her and sits on the balcony next to Miku. The two enjoy the beautiful view from atop the mountain top, watching giants stride confidently in the open grassland while the smaller creatures scurry about as if their life depended on it.
Even though the scene was so uniquely alien, it felt oddly familiar to Luh. It reminded her back home when she and her friends would climb up onto trees and watch the animals scurry about down below, seeing big animals like capybaras and the occasional tapir or boar, roam about while small lizards and mice scurried about.
Even though the two had just fought, there was a comfortable silence in between them, at least Miku spoke. "Hey uhm sorry for snapping" Miku says meekly, looking down at the valley below.
"It's ok, I mean you were right," Luh says with a sigh. "I shouldn't have said all of that to Hibiki, I feel like an ass now," Luh says, taking a sip of her purple berry brew.
"It's ok . . . I really hope he's ok, I haven't seen him ever since the argument" Miku says, rubbing her arm ashamedly.
"Ya me too . . ." Luh starts before trailing off. Luh sighs before continuing. "I should've talked to him sooner, I hope he comes back soon so I can talk to him," Luh says.
"Same here . . . I kinda miss him, I liked hearing about his nerdy ass field guide pages" Miku says with a small chuckle.
"Same here plus he helped me with labeling my map" Luh says with a small smile on her face.
"Ya" Miku says with a nod. The two go back to enjoying their purple berry brew while enjoying the landscape and talking about random topics.
"Maybe they don't really hate me" Miku thinks to herself with a smile on her face.
Hibiki finally got out of the claustrophobic tunnel entrance and out into an open and broad area. This was a very different part of the cavern than the entrance the girls had gone through on that day. He only realized that now, considering he wasn't rushing through as fast as possible. He had called this part of the cavern, the Smoky Forest, due to the giant creatures called Dator Vitae, which towered over him and everything else in the forest as they emitted smoke like a bunch of giant chimneys. Even though you would imagine that it would be dark and the visibility would be close to none, it was quite the opposite - kinda. Bioluminescent moss that glowed bright white like lightbulbs on the sides of the Dator Vitae, guided him through this dark domain. As he walked through this biome like none other, he heard something up ahead. It was two distinct noises, some consisting of more shrill yells and other noises while the other consisted of deep and rumbling growls. Hibiki sneaks up, hiding behind an exceptionally large stalagmite. He suddenly sees and feels a warm, orange glow from a distance away when he looks and realizes what he is seeing.
"They can use fire? . . ." He mutters to himself in astonishment.
At the cottage, Miku and Luh continued to hang out and so did Mohan and Abel. Elena continued to look at the flying aliens just as she did yesterday, now atop the cottage roof. It was one of few things that kept her grounded, that and her routine. Which was to get up, make her bed, freshen up, eat breakfast, and then do her job. If she had some free time she would maybe bird watch or even draw. She hadn't drawn since she was a kid, afterall drawing wouldn't land her a job but she was really happy that Abel reintroduced her to it. She glanced down at Abel for a second, who as usual was talking to Mohan. She loved their dynamic, don't get her wrong but she wished Abel talked to her more. Though at the sametime she's nervous, especially after yesterday. Abel's anger reminded her a lot of her father, which scared her. She pushes these thoughts to the back of her head, she doesn't want to think about those things right now, so she keeps on watching the strange "birds" of this planet, grasping upon strings of familiarity which didn't exist.
Hibiki gazed upon the flickering flames at the end of a torch, not being held by a human but by a Perversi Viri, these were the part of the same species of aliens that had attacked them. They had seemingly convergently evolved to have a similar stature and build to humans. Even more surprising was who - or what, the tribe of Perversi Viri was communicating with. Hanging from the ceiling by its powerful prehensile tail was a giant and ancient looking Maius Reptans, behind it were roughly 15 Luminare Reptans. It was surprising to see not two but three different species interact with each other. It seemed that the Maius Reptans had taken control of this pack of Luminare Reptans and were now communicating with this tribe of Perversi Viri who had tamed fire, likely from observing him and the others. He continued to stay hidden in the shadows, observing the two groups communicating with noises, gestures and even drawings in the sand. Then the Reptans pack disperse, with some of the Perversi Viri following each Reptans. Each group of Perversi Viri had at least one torch with them. Hibiki immediately began to trail one of the groups of Perversi Viri and Luminare Reptans, after all he wouldn't miss out on being the first to witness what could be the beginning of intelligent alien life.
Abel and Mohan were outside, chopping wood and kinda just messing around just as they always do.
"C'mon unc, having trouble with that?" Mohan says, holding back a laugh as Abel tired out since he wasn't as strong physically as Mohan.
"Ah shut up, you're built like the type of guy Chris Hansen would catch, you fata-" Abel starts before Mohan puts his hand on his shoulder.
"Wanna finish that?" He whispers in a dramatic tone causing the both of them to break out into laughter. That was one of the many inside jokes between the two of them.
"Alright alright, c'mon get back to work slave" Abel says as he chuckles and goes back to chopping wood.
Mohan, begrudgingly continues before beginning to sing. "Wading in the water" He begins before being cut off by hysterical laughter from Abel.
"Not the slave song bro" He says in between laughter, Mohan smiles and begins to chuckle as well.
The laughter between the two dies down as they fall into a comfortable silence, well not silence as you heard the thud as the two hit their axes against the trunk of the tree. Mohan glances up to see Elena glancing down at them from the roof before looking away, Elena was pretty obvious, so obvious as a matter of fact that he's surprised she was even able to hide the fact that she knew about Hibiki's field guide entry. Regardless, he knew what he had to do.
"Hey bro, Imma go use the washroom and eat something, you should probably talk to Elena" Mohan says and is about to leave before Abel stops him.
"Bro why're you going?" Abel asks him.
"I need to use the washroom and stuff plus didn't you say that you should talk to her more?" Mohan says, raising an eyebrow.
Abel sighs. "Well true but-" Abel begins before being interrupted.
"Just go for it bro, trust me. She'll be happy to have someone to talk to after everything that has happened" Mohan says, giving Abel a reassuring smile.
Abel begrudgingly agrees, not having any counter argument. "Well alright, I'll see you later then bro" Abel says, dapping up Mohan before he leaves. Abel sighs once Mohan leaves and then begins the parkour up to the roof of the cottage where Elena was at.
Elena looks over and sees Abel sitting down next to her. "Oh uh hey" She says, a small smile immediately showing up on her face.
"Sup" Abel responds.
"So what's up? What brings you up here" Elena asks him.
"Ah well I just wanted to see how you are doing and stuff, ever since the whole situation yesterday" Abel says, glancing at her before going back to looking at the scenery.
"I'm fine . . . Uh sorry for lying too" Elena says as she sits up straighter.
"It's all good, I overreacted in hindsight. My hand hurts like hell now" He says with a chuckle.
"Jeez you're such a dumbass" Elena says with a chuckle.
"So, you like bird watching? Or in this case Alien watching" Abel asks her, motioning to her binoculars.
"Oh uh ya, I watched birds a lot as a kid" Elena says.
"Ah I see, makes sense" Abel says with a nod.
The two sit in a slightly awkward silence for a little bit before finally Abel breaks the silence.
"So uh do you think we'll get off this rock?" Abel asks, looking up at the sky above.
"I hope so, I wanna talk to my parents" Elena says with a sigh.
"Oh, were you close with your parents?" Abel asks her.
"No not really, I haven't talked to them in years . . ." Elena responds before trailing off.
"Why haven't you talked to them in years?" Abel asks her, raising an eyebrow.
"Well my mom wanted me to become a fucking housewife so when I decided to become an astronaut, I kinda just left them . . ." Elena explains, looking down at her hands.
"So you just left???" Abel says, his face scrunching up in confusion.
"Well ya . . . I do miss them but I think I did the right thing. I mean if I stayed then I wouldn't be here with y'all" Elena says, a smile appearing on her face.
"Ya, I get what you mean" Abel says with a soft chuckle.
Elena smiles. "Thanks for coming up to talk to me man" Elena says.
Abel is back to respond but he glances down and sees Mohan giving him two big thumbs up which in return, Abel flips him off and shoos him off. Mohan chuckles but leaves regardless. Elena raises an eyebrow at Abel but doesn't question it. The two then talk up on the rooftop about something that wasn't all that important as the sun set below the mountains, maybe there was some familiarity on this alien planet after all.
Hibiki had been walking for roughly two hours now, following the aliens. The aliens didn't take any breaks and were moving with a human sense of urgency. They were now part of a completely different part of the cave, now they were by an underground lake. The group stops as the Luminare Reptans chirp and use their heads to motion to the left of the bank and that's when Hibiki sees it. It was a cluster, a tumor almost, of Odienten Carnem. They consisted of hundreds of different aliens mainly made up of Fulgur Vespertilionis, it seems that they were a prime target for this . . . creature? He wasn't sure what to describe Odienten Carnem since he was convinced it wasn't a creature that evolved naturally. He continued to watch on as the two aliens communicated with one another, many of the sounds being repeated. Could he be seeing the development of alien language? It made Hibiki excited, he was at the frontier of human discovery afterall. After a bit of back and forth, one of the Perversi Viri hands the torch to one of the Luminare Reptans. The Luminare Reptans begins to slowly crawl towards the Odienten Carnem, keeping its unarmored belly close to the ground. The Odienten Carnem immediately began to fire venom filled darts at the Luminare Reptans which immediately bounced off the armored body of our little reptilian hero. Then it finally threw the torch onto the Odienten Carnem. It screeched violently and unnaturally as it shot off pieces of itself. Some attempt of self preservation from the looks of it but it was hopeless as each piece and eventually the main body was nothing but charred ash. The group continued this process, burning every single pillar of this cancerous flesh and after roughly 15 minutes, all that was left was the smell of rotten and burning flesh and the group of aliens now sitting around a fire, seemingly setting up camp for the night.
"Whoa" Hibiki mutters under his breath but that was his first mistake.
Mohan was in the kitchen and cooking up a storm of dishes, everything from fried Rostrata Pascentis(A common chicken like alien) to Coronatus Pascentem(Rhinoceros like aliens that are the size of small elephants) steaks. Drawn by the smell of cooking, like a cartoon character floating towards a freshly baked pie, Elena, Abel, Luh, and Miku poured into the kitchen.
"Holy shit you cooked up a storm!" Miku stays, practically drooling at the sight of the food.
"Hey you didn't make curry this time" Abel says with a grin as he sits down. Elena chuckles at Abel and sits down. Luh had already begun making her plate. The group all ate but not in silence, they were all cracking jokes and laughing, just like Mohan predicted. He knew that food was the way to somebody's heart and he was full on exploiting that fact to bring everyone together. That's when he glanced over at an empty seat and realized something. Hibiki wasn't here and it had been over 24 hours.
"Hey, have any of you guys seen Hibiki? . . ." Mohan asks them, his tone nervous and laced with concern.
Everyone's eyes widened. "Uh no we haven't . . " They all say simultaneously.
Right after Hibiki had murmured "Whoa", he heard something right above him.
"Hello?" A voice, a voice that sounded similar to one of the rescue crew members that had come to save them. Hibiki looked up and his blood immediately ran cold.