pets
"Hmm. This planet's pH levels are odd. Or it could just be my equipment, but…" He trailed off, continuing to gather information.
Emanuel moved a bit closer, stepping lightly and looking down every now and then to make sure he didn't step on anything. The trees blocked out enough light to help hide them; he could see movement ahead but couldn't tell what the aliens looked like just yet.
school
"No, I don't think so. It is another planet after all, with differing ecosystems and animals," Beta remarked. Seeing a fox dart through the bushes behind him, they whipped around. Searching through the Earth Dictionary the Council had supplied them with on tablets, they finally found what it is they'd seen. A fox.
pets
"What was that?" Vega had looked up quickly, his ears perked. If they had to deal with humans or anything of similar caliber again, he was going to scream.
school
"The humans call it, a… a fox," Beta explained, testing out the new word.
pets
"Is it dangerous?" Vega's fur stood on end at the thought of another dangerous creature near them, though the ship's scan said the majority of the living creatures in the area were docile.
school
"Only when attacked," they read off. "No need to be wary."
pets
Vega sighed, moving further into the trees to scan some smaller plants. "Beta," he called in the clearing, "tell me about the creatures on your planet."
Their planet… so they really are aliens! The thought made Emanuel simultaneously excited and nervous. He looked over at Stephanie, wondering if they should try to get closer.
school
Stephanie was unaware of Emanuel looking at her, she was busy peering through the bushes, trying to see what the aliens looked like, crouched down.
"The creatures on my planet… well they all have four eyes, no quite literally four eyes," they started. "Why do you ask?"
pets
"Curious, I suppose. I've been to your home only once and don't know as much about it as I, as your partner, should." Vega explained.
Emanuel patted her arm and nodded toward the clearing, silently telling her he was going closer. He went between the trees and ducked down, hiding in the shadows; his eyes widened when he saw one of them - the one who was asked about their planet - a little clearer.
school
Stephanie nearly reached out an arm to pull him back but realized that might get them found out. Choosing to tap him on the shoulder instead, she shook her head and beckoned him back with her hand.
"Ah, so I see," Beta commented. "What about your home?"
pets
"Well, Tillion is riddled with plants and large trees, and majority docile creatures." Vega smiled. "It's near an asteroid belt that often prevents others from trespassing."
Emanuel backed away to her, shrugging apologetically. He took out his phone and pulled up the notepad, typing in, "What do we do?" He handed it to Stephanie and turned to keep watching the aliens.
school
Stephanie widened her eyes and snatched the phone from Emanuel, dimming the screen to its lowest setting. She quickly wrote, "You can't have the screen that bright!!!! They might notice!!!" and a second later, she added, "We're doomed."
"That's nice," Beta commented, his voice emotionless. Out of the corner of his eye, they spotted a flash of light. "Hey, I saw something over there," they nodded towards Stephanie and Emanuel's location. "I'm going to go check it out," and they headed over towards the humans, parting the bushes. "HEY! HUMAN ALERT HUMAN ALERT!" they yelled immediately, running towards the ship to get a weapon.
Stephanie gasped and looked up at Beta before they ran away. "Now see what you did," she hissed to Emanuel.
pets
"I-I'm sorry! I didn't think it would-" Emanuel cringed, then looked over at the other alien, who was staring at them. "We gotta go. Gotta go, now." He jumped up and grabbed Stephanie's arm, pulling her back and away from the clearing.
"They are starting to get on my nerves." Vega growled. "Lieutenant, they are going to alert more humans! I'm going after them!" Turning off his equipment, he left it by the ship and headed into the trees.
school
"Careful!" Beta called out, and made sure to grab a weapon before taking off after Vega.
Stephanie let out a little yelp as Emanuel dragged her but realized the danger and took off, no longer requiring his assistance to drag her along.
"Halt humans," Beta yelled after the humans, pointing the weapon at them. It was long and thin, completely black, and the noise of the machine hummed and the open end, pointed towards the humans glowed light blue. "This machine here can seriously hurt humans."
pets
Vega rushed ahead of them, cutting them off and crouching on all fours in an attack stance, his tail lashing. He figured that these humans, though young, might not be intimidated by a creature half their size, but he hoped the fact that he looked physically equipped to harm them, with his claws and sharp teeth, would be enough.
"Holy crap!" Emanuel looked back at Beta and moved closer to Stephanie. "That's a gun. Dude, t-they have a gun, they- oh my god, oh my god, what do we do, we messed up-"
school
"Umm, follow my lead?" Stephanie said in a stage whisper. "Though you should know I'm winging it," she added. Holding up her hands tentatively, she said in a small voice, "We come in peace?" She knew it wasn't very good, since that was the cliche line everyone used. "Uhh don't shoot… please?"
pets
WE COME IN PEACE?! Putting his hands up as well, Emanuel watched Stephanie and the aliens, his eyes wide.
Vega narrowed his eyes, then looked over at Beta, flicking his ears. "We can understand them; do you think they can understand us?"
school
"Perhaps, we could speak in a human language if not," Beta replied, glancing over at the humans suspiciously. "I'm going to try to communicate with them." They hesitantly lowered the weapon and took a step forward. "And why should we believe you?"
Stephanie breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the weapon being lowered. Her eyes had been carefully watching it ever since she first spotted it. "Um, what do we say?" she whispered to Emanuel. [That last sentence can be interpreted in two ways that I can think of - a) Steph understands, but cannot come up with a good reason, or b) Steph doesn't understand and isn't sure what to say]
pets
Emanuel shrugged. "You're the one who said 'follow my lead.'" He whispered back, his eyes trained on Beta and their weapon.
(It was kind of implied they could understand since Emanuel heard when they were talking about their planets, so I dunno.)
school
(Oh yeah, I forgot)
"Yeah well I need a second set of brains!" Stephanie replied.
pets
"Um…w-we're sorry for spying on you." Emanuel said slowly. "You're not gonna hurt us, are you?"
Vega tilted his head. "We wouldn't harm the young of any species." He stood and gave them a serious look. "State your names and your purpose."
Emanuel looked at Vega, then leaned over to Stephanie. "Our purpose?" He whispered.
school
"Um… we could say it was for a school project? Or just interested? I don't know, I ran out of ideas!" she whispered back. But straightening her back, she replied, "I'm Stephanie and that's," she pointed a thumb at Emanuel, "Emanuel."
pets
"Stephanie. Emanuel." Vega repeated with a small nod to himself. "And your purpose? Why did you follow us?"
"Well…you are on our planet. And we didn't even know alie- um, extraterrestrials existed until now. We were curious." Emanuel explained.
school
Beta turned to their partner. "Vega, do you think they are like their seniors?" they asked.
"Yeah, um, what he said," Stephanie said quickly.
pets
"In what sense?" Vega inquired, shooting the children an upset look. "That they could turn hostile at any moment?"
Speaking of hostile, Emanuel was surprised these creatures from space who possessed weapons from space hadn't shot them yet and just gotten it over with. He supposed that was a bit stereotypical, though.
school
"Well, yes, but perhaps these children, perhaps they are different," Beta mused, putting a small emphasis on 'children'. These humans might've had a different upbringing than the others.
pets
"Um, may I ask what your purpose is? On our planet?" Emanuel asked.
Vega crossed his arms. "Perhaps." At Emanuel's question, he flicked his tail dismissively. "You may not. Not now, at least."
school
"Not now?" Beta asked. "What, are you planning on telling them why we're here later? For all we know they could be spies…"
"Then what about why you're chasing us in the first place?" Stephanie inquired, as a followup to Emanuel's question.
pets
"It is too dangerous to let you run off; as far as we know, you were going to tell more humans about us." Vega answered, then he looked over at Beta. "Lieutenant, we are on their planet, so it's only fair…deadly species or not. If they prove harmless then yes, I intend to explain, vaguely, why we are here unauthorized."
school
Beta raised an eyebrow, or the equivalent of raising an eyebrow for their species, but responded politely, "As it must be, captain."
Now it was Stephanie's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Deadly species? Haha, we're harmless, except for the government…"
