Everyone looks at him blankly until Abel finally speaks up.
“Wait what?” Abel asks, staring blankly at Hibiki.
“Well when I was communicating with these two, They drew this diagram,” Hibiki says, pointing at the diagram once more. “Just now I realized that this is the alien I took a sample of and sent to Earth,” Hibiki says before quickly adding on. “We gotta head back to Earth now! If that thing spreads then-” Hibiki starts before being cut off by Mohan.
“Calm down bro,” Mohan says, shaking him gently before continuing. “Listen, if those things are on Earth, they’re probably in some lab somewhere. Right now we gotta focus on surviving and getting off this planet” Mohan says as Hibiki nods, taking a deep breath.
“Well ya I guess you’re right,” Hibiki says with a sigh.
Håßü and Æøxç§, who were observing the group, finally speak - well not speak but growl, to get the attention of Hibiki and the others. Everyone goes silent as Håßü motions to the door. Miku chuckles nervously as she quickly puts the door back onto its hinges, giving the group privacy against the commoners - or whatever the other aliens of this civilization would be called.
Æøxç§ dryly chortles at the group’s stiffness and slides a drink to them. The group sits down at the round table along with the two aliens. Håßü then dips a carved bone into a purplish pigment as they begin to draw once more. Hibiki also grabs a carved bone, dipping it into the pigment as he waits for Håßü to finish drawing. Håßü draws some stick figures of varying heights before drawing 5 versions of 正宗(Masamune) with an odd marking, which looks similar to “⋬”. Hibiki assumes that the odd symbol could be their equivalent of a question mark, as Håßü had a questioning look on its eyeless face.
“What’s he trying to say even” Abel asks with a confused face.
“I think he’s asking us if we have weapons” Elena whispers to him, as Abel nods as Hibiki begins to draw a response to Håßü’s question.
Hibiki drew the different tools the group had and arrows pointing to the corresponding stick figures. He then drew what certain tools are used for, such as a picture of a pickaxe hitting a stone. Æøxç§ speaks to Håßü, likely describing the images to him in their shared language. Håßü nods, a perplexed frown forming on his toothy maw. Seeing the leader’s confusion, Hibiki adds some more images. He adds an arrow from the stone and draws a brief and rough outline of taking material to turn it into weapons.
Æøxç§, who was previously just as confused, his eyebrow ridges(Yes ridges for he is indeed hairless) were furrowed in confusion but as he continued to look over analyze Hibiki’s diagrams, his face softened as he understood. He begins to excitedly tell Håßü, describing the images in a language unknown to their human guests. Håßü’s face contorts into a toothy grin as he begins to draw quickly. He draws 5 stick figures and then drawings of himself and Æøxç§, facing the stick figures. He then draws the stick figures creating weapons, similarly to how they were described in Hibiki’s original diagram. His carved bone moves swiftly across the page, which was made from the protective covering of underground plants, as he depicts a scene of many Perversi Viri and even some Luminare Reptans, being armed with weapons. He depicts a scene of these armed alien soldiers, taking on the flesh spires.
“Huh, they really hate those things. Can’t blame ‘em but if they tried to kill it like that, wouldn’t they just get darted immediately?” Abel thinks aloud.
“Good point,” Hibiki says with a nod as he begins to depict the scene of them getting darted before using the “⋬” symbol that Håßü made earlier.
Æøxç§ nods before explaining the drawings to Håßü who also nods as the two begin to discuss before Håßü begins drawing once more. He draws the “⋬” symbol once more next to the scene Hibiki depicted. Hibiki looks confused looking at the rest of the group, trying to figure out what they were asking. Luh looks over the scene before getting an idea.
“Maybe they’re asking ‘how?’,” Luh suggests, pointing at the paper.
“Oh, yeah, true. That makes sense,” Hibiki nods before giving the aliens shields to protect them from darts. Once more, the two kings discuss in their unknown language before nodding, and Håßü begins to draw lines connecting the stick figures to alien figures along with the “⋬” symbol.
The group looked at each other in pure confusion, unsure of what the two alien kings were trying to say.
“I’ve been lost for the past 10 minutes, don’t even try looking at me,” Miku says, scratching her head.
“Uhh, maybe they’re asking to trade??” Elena says.
Hibiki thinks for a second before nodding and drawing a diagram of the two groups trading. He drew them giving the aliens weapons before putting the “⋬” above the aliens.
Æøxç§ looks confused at the diagram and points at Hibiki and then at himself.
Hibiki looks just as confused and doesn’t respond. Mohan and Abel grab two objects and do a demonstration of trade with each other before motioning to Æøxç§, who nods in understanding before communicating this to Håßü, who lets out a dry chortle and nods before he begins to draw. He draws some stick figures giving them the tools Hibiki had drawn before drawing food and other raw materials, which surprisingly included what looked to be metals. Afterward, Håßü connects the two with a light line before motioning to the group, as if he were a businessman, asking them to sign a contract.
“I mean do we even need their food and materials? We can get that on our own plus we don’t even know what they’ll do with the tools” Miku asks, looking up from the paper.
“I agree and if they attack us like last time, we’ll be completely unprepared” Elena adds with a nod.
“I mean I wouldn’t mind some alien food,” Mohan says before Abel adds on.
“If he’s having some food then I might as well you know-” He says.
“As much as I would also want to eat something other than Indian food, I’d rather not get murdered by these goons, there’s way more of them than us,” Luh says.
“Hmm . . . well their main enemy is the flesh, maybe with some tools they can kill whatever it is?” Hibiki says.
“Well, I think that does makes sense” Elena nods in agreement.
“Ya lets go for it,” Luh says as Hibiki begins drawing a few symbols that Hibiki thinks would show agreement, such as “⋗”, “∹” and a checkmark for good measure.
Æøxç§ looks at the symbols with confusion and whispers to Håßü, whose features make him look just as perplexed as Æøxç§. Æøxç§ points to the symbols and looks at Hibiki as if he is asking what he is trying to say.
Hibiki looks just as confused but before he can try writing a few other symbols he’s seen, Håßü gets an idea and writes down two symbols, “⌬” and “⌹” in a large font.
“Oh I think he wants us to choose between yes or no,” Abel says.
“Damn, thanks sherlock,” Mohan says teasingly, to which Abel sighs.
Hibiki nods as he looks through the paper and identifies the “⌹” as an agreement symbol. Plus, it is on the right side, making it make more sense to him. After doing so, he circles the symbol. Æøxç§ grins and tells Håßü about what Hibiki put, causing Håßü to give a toothy grin.
After that, the group left the building and into the main village. Håßü and Æøxç§ split off and head to their separate homes, giving the crew some time to relax before they spearhead this alien industrial revolution.
The group walks through the village in an awkward silence. Ttownage was a walled settlement with a large 100ft tall wall. Thorny plants were grown on the top like natural barbed wire. The houses were carved out of the natural formations of the caves and monolithic trees grew around the settlement. In these trees were houses that were connected by large wooden bridges. For a small village, it buzzed with life as Perversi Viri and members of the two Reptans species bustled about. Some worked in markets, others in workshops, and some on the outer edges of the village worked on farms. They stop by a small wooden shack where an old male Perversi Viri and a younger male, presumably father and son, serving roasted meat.
Mohan and Abel stop by the stall excitedly.
“Wanna grab some food?” Abel asks Mohan.
“Well . . . If you are I might as well too” Mohan replies as they both chuckle and split off from the group and head to the stall. The others glance at them but shrug as they continue to walk around.
As they walk around, many Perversi Viri turn their heads and look at them. Younger ones with curiosity while older ones with a cautious gaze. The Reptan species sniff the air curiously as they pass, their scent unfamiliar to the village. The group’s silence only persisted, not sure what to say after everything they just learned. Finally, Luh breaks the silence.
“So uh how do you feel Hibiki?” She asks cautiously. Hibiki doesn’t respond at first, looking around, deep in thought. Luh sighs. “Hello? Earth to Hibiki?” She says, waving her hand in front of Hibiki’s face, finally snapping him out of his trance.
“Huh?” He mumbles, turning to look at her.
“You ok man?” She asks him.
“Oh uh ya, I’m fine,” He responds.
She nods before Miku speaks up. “So uh what did you find out, while you were out here, exploring and all” Miku asks him.
“Well I found all of this obviously,” He says, motioning to the village around them before adding on. “We also know that they hate the flesh spires too, since they’re burning them down,” He says, pausing as he thinks of how to word what he would say next. The color from his face drained and his throat dried as he spoke. “And it might be on earth because of the sample I picked up” He finally spits out, after the long pause.
“Wait it is on earth??” Miku exclaims.
Elena nods. “If the alien’s diagram is right, then ya, it is, but even then, it's probably in a lab somewhere and not in the wild,” she adds.
“Well, that’s not too reassuring, who knows what the hell the government is doing with it” Luh responds with a sigh.
“Ya true, honestly best case scenario is that the ship crashed and killed it,” Miku says.
Hibiki nods silently in agreement. The group falls under silence once more as they continue to walk around the settlement. As they continue to walk through the bustling streets, a loud and commanding voice breaks through the crowd.
“HIBIKI” The voice yells out. Hibiki looks over and sees the gigantic form of Håßü emerging from the sea of the citizens. Next to him was a female Mauis Reptans, who was covered in all sorts of jewelry. Next to them was Æøxç§, who also had his mate next to him.
“Oh I’ll be right back guys,” Hibiki says. Miku is about to say something to him but before she could, he had already left and joined the two kings and queens. Miku sighs as Luh and Elena wave goodbye as they leave.
While all of this was going on, Mohan and Abel were munching on some roasted meat.
“Man this is pretty good, not gonna lie,” Abel says, his mouth full of food.
“Agreed, this is better than the shit you cook,” Mohan responds as he chews.
Abel grumbles out something in response and Mohan chuckles. The two continued to eat and after about half an hour, bones had piled up on the rudimentary table they were eating at.
“Man, I’m stuffed” Mohan groans, patting his stomach.
“Same here,” Abel says, stretching as the two get ready to leave but before the two can get going, the father and son step in front of them, holding their hands out.
“Oh shit, we gotta pay, what the hell should we give them?” Mohan says as he checks his pocket.
“Don’t worry bout it, food is on me” Abel says in a deep voice, putting his hand on Mohan’s shoulder before giving the aliens some minerals he had collected from the cave. Mohan stifles a laugh and the aliens’ eyes widen in surprise as they quickly accept the gemstones and let Mohan and Abel leave.
“Why did you even have those gemstones?” Mohan asks curiously as the two leave.
“Well uh I was thinking of making something for Elena,” Abel says, fidgeting with the gemstones in his hands.
“Oh you don’t say,” Mohan says with a teasing grin, causing Abel to roll his eyes.
“It’s because she gave me a gift too,” He says, showing a bracelet made of small gemstones.
Mohan looks at him in shock. “Wait Elena made you a bracelet?? Why?” He asks.
“I’m not sure,” Abel says looking away with a shrug before hiding the bracelet. Mohan decides not to push it further and changes the topic.
“I see, I see. Well no gems for me?” Mohan says jokingly as Abel tosses him a gemstone, hitting him square on the forehead before running off as Mohan chases after him. “Get back here bro!” Mohan says, the two laughing as they ran through the streets but unbeknownst to them, they had gotten the attention of some Perversi Viri with their riches.
Hibiki was dining in a surprisingly fancy establishment. The floor was made of a polished stone - presumably granite. There were multiple servers, consisting of either Luminare Reptans or Perversi Viri, and sunlight from above beamed into crystals in the ceiling, creating a primitive chandelier. Hibiki presumed that they created this based on Miku’s house, after all with the alien’s tech resembling their tech, it wasn’t a stretch to say that they had been observing them. It was an unnerving thought and it did prove Mohan’s superstitions about the forest but Hibiki didn’t dwell on it long, as Æøxç§ called to him.
“Hibiki” Æøxç§ says in a raspy voice.
Hibiki sits up straighter and looks to his left, noticing a waiter - well more accurately, a royal worker since this was most likely more like a dining hall for the royal family instead of a fancy restaurant.
Æøxç§ points to the plate with a questioning look. Hibiki assumes that he’s asking what Hibiki wants to eat so he shrugs and points to what is on Æøx秒s plate.
He nods and speaks to the worker in their unknown language. The worker nods, writing down whatever the king told him, and hurries off. Once he leaves, Håßü goes back to talking to his mate and Æøxç§ does the same with his mate. Hibiki sits awkwardly and his eyes drift back to the royal dining hall, specifically the carvings on the wall. At first glance, he thought they were just patterns but quickly realized it was a story.
The first carving shows 5 figures, each of varying heights, descending from some type of . . . Square? He wasn’t entirely sure about it but he continued to look at the carvings. The next carving shows the Perversi Viri attacking the figures, only to be slaughtered by a 6th figure. It then shows the Perversi Viri being attacked by what Hibiki assumes are the flesh spires. It then shows the 6 figures gifting fire to the Perversi Viri which they used to fight the flesh but they were fighting a losing battle. That is until it shows the Reptans showing up. It then shows two figures, a Perversi Viri and Mauis Reptans fighting. This then becomes a carving of the two shaking hands. The last carvings depict the two species working together to hunt down the flesh spires. Just as he finishes reading, he’s snapped out of it as the worker returns. He is served a platter of various roasted meats, chopped-up vegetation, and a soup of some kind.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Håßü noticed that Hibiki was looking at the walls before speaking. “Good to see?” He says with a rumbling chuckle, each word seemingly from a different voice.
Hibiki chuckles awkwardly as well and nods and to his surprise, Håßü responds once more in English. “Good, made to Hibiki,” He says before eating.
Hibiki blinks in surprise as he tries to figure out what Håßü had meant while digging into his meal. The meats were nothing like anything he tasted - even for the aliens that they had eaten. The vegetables had an odd flavor and texture, one was as if you took the texture of a potato and the flavor of broccoli and maybe a truffle. He wasn’t sure, it wasn’t something you could fully describe. As he chewed, he continued to think through everything. The carvings and what Håßü said and he finally realized what it meant. He waits for everyone to finish eating before clearing his throat.
Everyone turns to face him. Then just as Håßü did earlier, he imitates their language, basing it on things he had heard. Æøxç§ eyes widen in surprise and Håßü chuckles in an amused tone.
Æøxç§ nods before speaking, his accent far worse than Håßü’s but it was still understandable. “Yes, to Hibiki and others,” He says, motioning to the carvings.
Hibiki nodded as the group stood up. Hibiki stood up as well and followed the group as they left the dining hall.
The girls continued to walk through the town, bored out of their minds.
“Man, I’m bored” Luh groans.
Miku nods. “Ya, everybody dipped and now we’re just stuck here until something happens” She groans in response, leaning her head back and staring at the ceiling.
Elena sighed and looked around before her eyes landed on something, she shook both Luh and Miku quickly guys wanna go on a shopping spree?” She says giddily.
Luh and Miku perk up and immediately turn to look at a marketplace. Small stalls carved into the cave walls lined the sides and the middle was filled with citizens buying and some carrying their products with them to sell them. On the walls of the cave, there were banners colored with various pigments and carvings etched into the walls of some of the stalls.
“Finally! C’mon lets go!” Luh beams, rushing over to the market street with Elena and Miku in tow.
They walk along, looking at all the different stalls. After passing a couple of stalls selling food and raw materials, they came up to a stall selling jewelry mainly made up of polished stones and metals. Luh picked up a ring made up of iron and had a large bright red gemstone in the center.
“What do you guys think of this one?” She asks, trying it on and showing it to Elena.
Elena looks it over and nods. “Not bad, the purple one is better though,” She says, picking up a similar-looking ring that had a dark purple gem in the middle.
As Luh and Elena chatter with each other about various pieces of jewelry, Miku zones out, staring at the jewelry.
“Hey Miku you ok?” Luh suddenly asks her.
“Hm? Oh ya, I was just wondering what Hibiki is doing right now,” She says with a shrug.
Luh raises her eyebrow and shares a knowing glance with Elena. “Uh huh, well are you gonna buy something?” Luh asks Miku.
“Nah, I’m not really. C’mon, lets head to the next stall!” Miku says and the group treks to the next shop.
The next shop was a group of Luminare Reptans selling statues of many other aliens that they coexist with and even paintings of sunsets.
“Damn these are actually pretty good,” Elena says, picking up one of the paintings.
“Ya, look how cute this is,” Luh says, holding up a small sculpture of a Sol Comedentis.
“How the hell did they make this without eyes,” Miku wonders aloud, holding a small statue of the Mauis Reptan’s king.
“No clue but this would look amazing on my wall back home,” Elena says holding the painting.
“Same here, im buying this dumbass thing,” Miku says with a small giggle, holding up a carving of a Rostra Pascentis in a rocking position and wide-open eyes.
“Hmm, I want this,” Luh says, holding up a small painting of the Smoky Fores biome at night. Biomluincant plants on the painting sparkled with the use of a glow-in-the-dark pigment and everything else was darkened like the towering Dator Vitae themselves.
“That’s pretty,” Miku says, nodding.
“Ya exactly! It’s the perfect souvenir,” Luh says with a small smile.
Elena nods too as she barters with the Luminare Reptans running the stall using food and gemstones. Eventually, after roughly 15 minutes of heated bartering and Russian slurs, the Luminare Reptans and Elena finally agree and Elena gives them 2 gemstones and half a pound of aromatic plants.
After about an hour, Elena, Luh, and Miku carried a bunch of goods in a makeshift cloth bag. Elena counted how many goods, mainly gems and plants, they had.
“Well we only got enough for one more stall,” Elena says, putting the goods back into their pocket.
“Can we grab something to eat and drink, I’m pretty hungry,” Miku grumbles.
“I could use some food too,” Luh says.
Elena nods and as they look for somewhere to eat, when their eyes fall upon a stall with citizens of all species, drinking and eating. They walk in and are immediately surprised by the strong smell of alcohol, it is like walking into a bar that was drenched with Vodka.
Elena looks a little giddy. “Wanna grab a drink?” She asks Luh.
“Hell ya!” Luh says with a big smile. “What about you Miku?” She asks her.
“Uhh, well I’ve never actually drank before,” She says with an awkward chuckle. “But sure, I don’t mind trying some,” She says as Elena buys 6 drinks and some food.
“Why’d you get 6 drinks? I’m only gonna have one-” Luh says.
“Ya same here-” Miku adds on.
“Well if im gonna have a drink, I’m gonna drink,” She says with a chuckle as they sit down and wait for their drinks.
“You sure? 4 drinks sounds like enough to put down a bull-” Luh says before Elena cuts her off.
“Ah watch these drinks won’t be shit,” Elena says with a chuckle.
Meanwhile, Mohan and Abel chased each other through the streets. Abel looks over his shoulder to see Mohan hot and his trail and grins before turning into an alleyway and jumping off from one wall and to the other then finally pulling himself up onto the roof of the building.
“What’s wrong can’t get your way up here big back?” Abel say, laughing his ass off as Mohan looked up at him and laughed as well.
“Fine fine, you win bro. Now cmon, we gotta find the others” He says as Abel hops down from the roof and onto the floor.
Citizens looked at them oddly in the background while children of all three species, pointed at them, speaking in an excited tone.
The two of them walk around the streets, making small chit-chat chit-chatander around, looking for the others. As they did, the Perversi Viris that had noticed them earlier, 3 females, stood up ahead, pretending to talk with one another.
Mohan and Abel were about to walk around them when they suddenly surrounded them. They speak to Abel specifically, Abel and Mohan obviously don’t understand them and just look at each other in confusion.
“Uh sorry but we gotta go-” Abel says trying to squeeze past them but they start yelling and making motions outlining their curves when Mohan and Abel look at each other, immediately understanding. Mohan and Abel quickly escape with Mohan boosting Abel up onto the roof and Abel pulling him up onto the roof.
The 3 Perversi Viri yell and immediately begin following them up, Mohan and Abel immediately begin to run away, jumping from rooftop to rooftop. The three girls were right behind them.
“WHY’S THIS HAPPENING TO ME,” Abel complains as they run.
“WELL MAYBE DON’T FLEX GEMSTONES,” Mohan yells back at him.
“HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THEY GOT GOLD DIGGERS HERE TOO,” Abel snaps back.
The two jump down from the rooftop and run through a marketplace.
Miku was face-planted on the table, crying and saying random mutterings.
“A-and that’s how I lost my pet turtle,” She says, tears flowing from her eyes like a miniature waterfall.
“Pft- stupid turtle,” Luh giggles drunkenly, only causing Miku to cry harder.
Elena meanwhile had transformed completely, she had downed 4, 5, maybe 6? Even I the narrator have lost track of how many drinks she has fucking downed and hell she’s still drinking.
“XHAHAZAAHAHAAHA!” Elena laughs loudly, slamming an empty cup onto the table. “WAITER, I NEED ‘NOTHER,” She says in a terrible Russian accent, slurring her words. The poor Perversi Viri family that was running the restaurant shakes their heads showing the barrel they had stored their alcohol in which was empty.
Before Elena could yell slurs and make a fuss, Abel and Mohan barge in to hide from the 3 Perversi Viri. Their attempt fails and the three of them barge in before they can do anything, Elena steps in front of the Perversi Viri.
“AY! WHAT’RE YE DOINN’ HEEREE?? YA FUCKING-” Elena starts before me, as the narrator cut her off due to the sheer amount of slurs.
The three Perversi Viri, not understanding what she was saying but due to her tone and facial expression, quickly back off and leave.
“Oh thank god-” Mohan says, breathing a sigh of relief.
“Thanks, Elena-” Abel says but before he can finish Elena cuts in.
“Aaanndd, what’re yoou think yerr doin’?” Elena says but before Abel can respond she falls over and face plants, knocking herself out cold.
Abel blinks for a couple of seconds. “Uh what the hell-” He says before finally noticing the strong smell of alcohol. “Well that explains a lot” He mutters as Mohan checks to make sure Elena isn’t dying of fucking alcohol poisoning.
“Well she doesn’t have alcohol poisoning at least, well we should probably get the girls somewhere to rest,” Mohan says as Abel nods, picking up Elena while Mohan guides both Miku and Luh out of the restaurant.
Hibiki had now arrived back to where he had started in this village, a place he called the negotiations room. This is where had had first been brought and where he had first properly communicated with both Håßü and Æøxç§. He hadn’t taken in the room fully earlier since his body had pumped him full with adrenaline from his first encounter with Håßü. Now looking at the room properly, it was as if a trophy room and a library had been combined. Tapestries lined the walls and cubbies in the walls were filled with rolled-up scrolls. Shelves were carved out of the walls which were filled with various trophies, mainly consisting of giant aliens. Surprisingly, there was a young Sol Comedentis head mounted up there.
Hibiki finally sits down as the two kings bid their wives goodbye to join Hibiki in the negotiations room. Hibiki dips his bone quill into the pigment as Æøxç§ lays paper onto the large, flat stone in the center of the room that acted as a table. Håßü begins to draw once more, his quill moving gracefully across the yellowed page as he depicts the scene of a stick figure leading a group of Perversi Viri and Luminare Reptans to a giant mass of flesh. As Håßü draws, a scribe - or worker, Hibiki wasn’t entirely sure if this Perversi Viri was literate like a scribe but regardless, the worker hands Æøxç§ a scroll which he spreads out showing a map. Some parts of the map were painted red using pigment and blobs had eyes drawn on them. Some of these splotches were crossed off but there was a particularly large one that was circled with a large “⋬” symbol right next to it. Æøxç§ then points to the large mass Håßü had drawn and the one on the map, connecting the two with a thin line. In their written language - if you could even call it that, symbolizes one of a couple of things depending on the thickness of said line. Thin lines symbolize two things that are the same, similar to an equal sign, while thick lines act similarly to an arrow. Lastly, a line with another line through it means that two things are unequal. Hibiki nods and draws a “⋗”, which acts like a checkmark or sign of agreement. Æøxç§ tells Håßü this who nods before drawing another scene of, who he assumes would be Abel, Mohan, Elena, Luh, and Miku, leading different groups of aliens doing the steps on how to create metal tools that Hibiki had detailed earlier.
Hibiki isn’t sure what to say and thinks for a bit before drawing the stick figures that Håßü had drawn, doing his best to replicate a one-to-one before drawing the “⋬” symbol simple symbol is similar to a question mark. After that, he connects the stick figures to the various drawings that Håßü had drawn using a thick line.
Æøxç§ tells this to Håßü, who nods before waving a hand to dismiss Hibiki. “Rest take, start rise sun,” He says in his rumbling and growl of a voice.
Hibiki nods but right before he leaves, a worker comes up to him and hands him a scroll. He unrolls it and sees that it’s a map of the village, including a hut that was circled red, that’s probably where they would rest for the next few days - or however long they would be down here. Hibiki wouldn’t mind staying in this village for a couple of days though, I mean it's nice having other people? Ya people, even though they were aliens, Hibiki saw them as people. Back to the point, Hibiki liked having other people to talk to other than his crew. Especially since they probably still didn’t trust him after what had happened, regaining people’s trust isn’t easy, that’s one thing he had learned the hard way. As he walks out of the negotiations room, he’s pulled out of his mindless wandering when he hears someone call his name.
“Hey! Hibiki!” Mohan yells out to him.
Hibiki turns his head to see Mohan and Abel, dragging the drunken girls behind them. Hibiki blinks a couple of times. “I uh what the hell happened?” Hibiki asks, raising an eyebrow.
Mohan sighs. “Long story, did the big guy give us a place to rest or something?” He asks Hibiki.
Hibiki nods. “Yup, it’s not too far from here,” Hibiki says showing Mohan and Abel the map before beginning to head over to the building. As they walked, Hibiki filled in Mohan and Abel on what Håßü and Æøxç§ had told him and anything else he learned.
“So they’re gonna split us up to start production of weapons tommorow?” Mohan asks Hibiki.
“Yup, so we should probably head to bed soon. From what he said, I think we’ll be starting early in the morning,” Hibiki says as they arrive at their home away from their home away from home. It was a small building made up of stones and a wooden door. They enter the house and there is a fire pit in the middle of the main room along with some furniture made up of wood, it looks extremely similar to the furniture of Miku’s home. They head up the stairs to where there are six rooms, each with a bed. Abel sets Elena down on one bed and Mohan leads Miku and Luh to their rooms.
Hibiki heads to his room, which has a bed and a wooden table. He sits down and starts to document what he has learned so far. Meanwhile, Mohan and Abel are chilling in the living room and talking to one another.
“Man, I’m bored bro,” Abel says with a sigh.
“Same, we should probably just head to bed,” Mohan says.
Abel nods. “Ya, Imma head to bed,” Abel says before heading to his room. Mohan stretches before also heading up to his room to go to bed.
A few hours later, Hibiki leaves his room and goes downstairs to grab some water from his bag. As he does so, he sees Abel doing the same.
“Oh hey,” Hibiki says as he drinks from his bottle.
“Sup,” Abel says, taking a sip from his bottle.
An awkward silence blankets them as they grab a drink of water. Just as Hibiki gets up to leave and head up to his room, Abel speaks up. “Hey uh Hibiki, I’m sorry about freaking out last time,” Abel mumbles out.
Hibiki blinks before speaking up. “Oh uh it’s no big deal,” Hibiki says, shruging.
Abel sighs. “It is man, I mean-” Abel cuts himself off with another sigh before taking a deep breath and continuing. “I got overly pissed when you lied, I mean I can tell that you were going to tell us soon,” Abel says, rubbing the back of his neck.
Hibiki looked even more surprised. “I mean ya, you did kinda crash out,” Hibiki says with a soft chuckle.
Abel chuckles too. “Ya, well good night man,” Abel says, dapping up Hibiki before heading up to bed.
“Good night,” Hibiki says before heading to his room as well.
While Abel heads to his room, he sees Mohan in the hallway. “Did you do it?” Mohan asks him.
Abel rolls his eyes. “Ya I did bro and you were right, he wasn’t as pissed as I thought he would be,” He says.
Mohan nods. “Ya, I told you so,” Mohan says, chuckling.
“Ya ya, I know,” Abel says rolling his eyes.
Mohan smiles. “Well good night bro,” Mohan says before heading back to his room.
“Good night,” Abel replies, yawning before flopping onto his bed.
The next morning, everyone was awoken quickly by a loud knock on the door.
“I’ll get it!” Miku, who was already dressed, says as she runs down the stairs and opens the door. At the door was Æøxç§, along with some other Perversi Viri.
“Hibiki?” Æøxç§ questions in his raspy, dry voice.
Miku blinks for a second. “Wait they can talk?!” Miku exclaims.
“Yup,” Hibiki says as he comes down the stairs and greets Æøxç§.
“Why’s he here even?” Miku questions.
“Well, while you all were drunk, I talked to Æøxç§ and Håßü and they told me that they want to start production of weapons with us leading different squads basically,” Hibiki explains to Miku.
“Ooohh ok,” Miku says with a nod as the others wake up from the commotion.
“What’s happening?” Luh and Elena ask simultaneously.
“Håßü and Æøxç§ want to get started on the whole weapon production thing so let's get ready and then meet them at the town hall,” Hibiki tells them. The girls nod as Mohan and Abel come down too. Everyone quickly eats breakfast before heading to the town hall. Once they arrive, they are quickly divided into different groups. Miku was leading a group deep into the caverns to collect materials, Elena and Luh led a group into deposits of metal closer to the colony, Abel and Mohan were tasked to set up a black smithery while they waited for supplies, and lastly, Hibiki was directed to what Håßü called “The Heart”, which Hibiki learned with a rough translation. The group says their goodbyes to one another before heading off on their paths.
Hibiki walks alongside a group of Perversi Viri and Luminare Reptans, The Perversi Viri carries torches. Hibiki looked around and he felt like he was like a man leading an army. It was a long and boring trek but along the Trek, Hibiki couldn’t help but feel like he was being watched. The cave’s atmosphere was moist and dark as always but the smell of burnt flesh filled the air, mainly due to the burning flesh pillars that were littered around the cavernous expanse. It was a revolting smell that burned Hibiki’s nose but he was still way too excited to get to The Heart. After a few hours, Hibiki finally arrived at The Heart, upon looking at it, Hibiki nearly threw up from the smell of it. It towered above them, being roughly 200? No more like it was 400 feet tall. It was made entirely of writhing flesh from hundreds of different species and thousands of individuals but they didn’t have time to look at this monstrosity. Hibiki draws a diagram in the sand, showing the aliens what they had to do. They all nod in understanding as they begin to collect some wood. Once they do so, with instruction from Hibiki they are able to craft a rudimentary catapult.
“One . . . Two . . . Three,” Hibiki mutters under his breath before cutting the vine holding the basket back, launching the flaming pile of vegetation towards it. It screeches violently as the part they shot at begins to burn and bubble but before the fire can spread, boiling blood pours out from the stiched-together bodies of aliens that comprise its mass and put out the flames. Hibiki’s mouth was left agape but before he could further process what happened, he saw something from the corner of his eye. It was some kind of metallic gleam coming from the area they had burned away. He quickly draws up another plan and with more difficult communications, Hibiki makes a wooden shield that should protect him from getting darted. He takes a deep breath before venturing out towards it. It notices him nearly instantly and launches a volley of thousands of darts toward him, the shield protects him and he quickly makes it to where the metallic gleam is coming from. He touched the area and felt that it was squishy, like flesh. Hibiki unsheaths 正宗(Masamune) and slices the material open. Then grabbing a torch, he heads in. The dim light from the torch didn’t illuminate very much and all Hibiki saw were tunnels made from the same material. As he continued to squeeze through the moist tunnel, he finally reached an open area, allowing him to catch his breath. He waved the torch to look around and his eyes widened and his throat dried. He looked around, seeing chairs, pods, and a control table but they were all made up of the same fleshy material. Cords pulsated like veins and the pods were ripped apart and rotting. The control panel’s design didn’t consist of buttons but instead of strange, fleshy knots. It was immediately clear to Hibiki that this wasn’t part of the creature, the flesh here was different. This wasn’t a creature of its own either. He wanted to say he was in a ship, maybe the rescue ship that was just consumed by the flesh but he knew that was false, it was far too different. It was clear to him now, he was in an . . .
“Alien ship,” Hibiki mumbles to himself, finishing his thought aloud.