starpeople

19- The Stranger

We set down on a busy street corner, the edges lined with dust and trash and a distinct smog in the air. There was so much diversity between the aliens I wondered what this planet even was. It didn't seem like an original planet- meaning a planet that had sustained native life. It looked more like some race had made the place habitable, and then aliens from across the galaxy had found there way here. 

It looked more like a truck stop of sorts, countless ship repair shops at every corner and a large amount of bars to match. James pulled me into what looked like a dance club, shoving me into the large volume of aliens and quickly finding a seat at the bar. The place smelled weird, a mixture of alien perfumes and drinks. There were creatures of all sorts dancing to a melodic sort of music, it was a mixture of violin and a deep voice that sounded more like a bass guitar than anything else. 

James regarded me with some uncertainty, "We should be safe here, there's too many... creatures here for them to possibly find us." I nodded, looking at our makeshift fur clothing. Sewn with dried animal tendons and probably smelling like what they were- dead things. It wasn't the worst smell in the entire joint at least, I knew of a certain type of reptile alien that used the scent of compost as a cologne. By the smell of the place I guessed that there were some around.

Our clothing fit at least, most of the creatures in the club were wearing various furs and leathers. Everyone was dressed in long clothes to avoid the sand storms outside. I wondered how we'd ever get off of the sandy planet. "James," I patted his shoulder, he looked almost lost, "we need to find someone with a ship."

"I know," he muttered, looking hastily around the room with a frown. Everyone seemed too drunk to talk, stuttering broads walked by passed out fat alien folk. It hardly seemed like any of the aliens here were trustworthy enough to actually board a ship, let alone fly one.

The door to the club opened, and in walked a man wearing entirely black clothes. A mass of black seemed to flow around him like wings, even his face was covered by the dark cloth. Only his eyes were showing, they were a deep black color as well; yet somehow they reminded me nothing of the crabs on Exion, his eyes were somehow... warmer. Curiosity washed over me suddenly, a feeling I hadn't been allowed to feel since before I'd landed on Exion. On the planet of death if you got too curious, you died. 

Suddenly he looked right at me, our eyes connecting. As soon as he saw me his eyes turned a coppery color, like pennies shining in a fountain. So he wasn't completely human after all. The man walked right up to me and sat on the empty stool next to me. A woman returned from the bathroom and scowled at him. "That's my seat," she huffed. Her skin was green, she didn't have arms but instead tentacles.  

"Not anymore," he murmured. His voice was low, almost as if he was purring, daring her to challenge him. She stared, before turning away swiftly to another seat far away from us both. The stranger turned back to me, his eyes back to their initial black color. He slowly unwrapped the dark scarf from his head, revealing smooth pale skin and curly black hair. 

I smiled at him, my cheeks flushing at how disgusting I must look. I'd never been one to wear makeup; I could never afford it, but still I normally looked pretty when my curly hair was co-operating. 

"What's your name?" the stranger's voice was deep again, filled with confidence. I stared at a stray dark curl falling from his forehead, wondering briefly if he did anything to his hair in the morning of if it was just naturally perfect.

"Lara," I paused, "who might you be?" He smirked casually and unwrapped more of his dark clothing, laying it on the floor before his booted feet. Black. Again.

"Fox," he replied simply. 

"Can you fly?" I asked hopefully. Fox sat up and almost laughed at me, although I couldn't tell why. Only when he regained his composure, did he speak.

"Depends where you need to go," he cryptically smiled. I was about to slap him in frustration, but he continued. "I'm going to the Milky Way to my home planet for a visit in a day or so. Nowhere near earth, it's a stargazer planet called Tonic."

That explained the black, people that lived on stargazer planets only came out at night and many of them wore black constantly to disguise themselves. It also explained the eyes, adapted to see at night perfectly. He might have been human after all, sometimes planets in the Milky Way mysteriously contained species shockingly similar to humans. Species on stargazer planets were sometimes almost exactly humans with simple tweaks; like adjusted eyes. 

"What makes you think we're from earth?" I scowled, before begging, "Would you take us with you?"

"Sure, if you're willing to work for me for a month or so." Of course there was a catch, but beggars can't be choosers. We needed to escape the planet before the bounty hunters caught our trail. 

"Deal," I murmered. I turned to James, who was staring at Fox with a look I couldn't quite explain. It wasn't a friendly look. "James," I elbowed him, "this is Fox. He can fly us to his home planet in the Milky Way." 

James' eyes lit up, and he was suddenly hopeful. I smiled at the pure look of joy on his face, a kid on Christmas day. When I looked back at Fox it seemed like he was reconsidering the offer after meeting James.

"Thank you!" I exclaimed, hugging the stranger suddenly. He smelled like clean cotton and sand, everything on the planet smelled like sand. Fox stiffened, before reluctantly pulling his arms around me. "You don't know how much this means," I whispered into his ear. 

When I pulled away and looked at James, my friend from Exion didn't seem so happy anymore.  

***A/N

I'm finally on time updating!! Thanks so much for reading! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was fun to write.

Vote, comment, and listen to the album So Red The Rose because it's reaaaaaly good. I literally wrote this entire chapter listening to it on repeat. Seriously. Listen to it.

Have a good night my beauties, tell me if you'd like more updates of this book in a week because I'd be open to it... 

Byeeeee