Aliens: Finding Void

Chapter Two

Daeus' POV

When Vri came back, he motioned for me to follow him and dissapeared back through the door. Slowly, I stood up from the bed, further disorienting myself and causing everything to spin in my vision. But after a moment, I stepped forward and took another step and another until I was confident enough that I didn't have to look at my paws to walk. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Vrillyn off to the side of the hut when we entered the main room, but Vri took me past her and out through the front door. The moment the sun touched my skin, warmth shot through me. I raised my arms up and stretched as if I were reaching for the sky. My front paws had slid forward and there were a few pops as my body let out tension it'd been holding for a while.

When I stood straight again, I could see Vri smiling at me. "I bet that felt nice. You've been unconscious for a long time." Vri started forward again, and I got beside him. "You wanna know about where you came from and what you are, right?"

"I don't like not knowing anything," I admitted, looking towards the village. I could see many other beings just like Vri and Vrillyn walking about. Doing their own thing. Caught up in their own lives. It hurt to know that I had a life out there, somewhere there was a home I could go back to.

"That's understandable." Vri paused and turned around. We were a decent ways away from the village and I looked around, but in the other directions from the village, it was nothing but plains that led to trees and beyond that, I think I could see mountain tops. The view was stunning actually. "I brought you out here so you didn't have a bunch of children bombarding you with questions." Vri explained, folding his legs under him as he sat on the ground.

I sat down as well, but as I had an animal body, I was still taller than him sitting, so I let my front paws slide forward and I rested one over the other. Technically, I was lying down, as you would see most four-legged animals do, but with the upper half, this was somewhere between siting and lying.

"You see, Daeus. My kind are called Vrox. We live in tribes of families and we're peaceful towards one another. There is no currency or government to control us or make us greedy or start wars. Each and every one of us are unique in our own way, but you could say we resemble house cats." Vri held up a hand and sharp, pointed claws emerged from his fingers. It shocked me for a moment and Vri laughed. "Your kind could be compared to a large feline mixed with a two-legged creature. You're called Ekhad and you live on a planet called Cera. I'm not an expert on extra-terrestial life, so forgive me for not being able to provide you with in-depth information."

The sound of chirping caught my ears and I looked up. High above where we sat, two large birds circled above us. Large birds with four wings and wickedly curved beaks that flashed in the sunlight. "I don't know your family, I wasn't with Vrillyn during that time, but I know that Cera is at least 3 light years away from this planet. We're the furthest planet in the Vrox's group of three and closest to Nothing. Normally, contact to your planet would go to the first Vrox planet and then we'd hear back in about a week's time. But our message has been sent out and we've yet to recieve a response."

3 light years away? I didn't know what 'light years' meant, but I knew it was a large distance. My expression must've changed because Vri put a hand on my lower shoulder. "We will contact them one day, but that probably won't be for a while."

"Where will I stay? What will I do? I know that I have someone out there waiting for me to come home, I can feel it. I can't live my life here." I looked over. "No offense or anything."

Vri's small smile was enough to let me know that he understood. "You can either stay with Vrillyn and me, or you can stay at the inn, there should be some rooms open."

"I'll stay with you and Vrillyn. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I had to stay amongst a bunch of other strangers." A pounding resonated in my head and I squinted my eyes, sighing in annoyance.

"Are you okay?! You should be healed?" Vri asked with a sense of worry and urgency to his voice.

Nodding, I rubbed the side of my head. "Just a headache." I muttered, but it was more than that. It felt as if a big gaping void had just opened up inside of me and swallowed my heart whole. I couldn't possibly tell Vri that, this was mental, not physical.

Vri's silvery eyes were skeptical. "Are you sure? If you're not okay, no one's going to rush you into anything. We're not going to have you work if you're still hurt." He stood up, his posture serious. But I couldn't worry him over this, there was nothing he could do to fix whatever it was that I was feeling. Nothing in the world could fix me.

"I'm alright." I told him, standing up and putting up a smile. The pain subsided, but the whole in my heart didn't. "I'm as ready to work as ever. I can't be here without putting in work to stay here and repay your tribe for saving me. It's the least I can do."

"Then we'll head back and tell the chief, as well as Vrillyn. Chief can give you a job to do while you stay here. Maybe you can get Vrillyn to tell you her past and why she kept you when you were abandoned." Vri started walking, his tail swaying in a slow, lazy manner. "Until we can get you back home, I think you'll fit in just fine here. I'm merely an apprentice, but I can tell you that the Acolbi tribe is lucky to have you."

We headed into the village, but as we walked, I couldn't help but think. Maybe I could fit in here. If I never returned to Cera, I couldn't dwell on the past. From what I've gathered from Vri, they don't have ships able to travel that far and take me back. If they never get a response, I'll be stuck here. Watching the black and white feline, I let myself smile. At least I had a friend.