openmisc | Kent/Feldspar

Uh

Uuuuh

There’s something alive in there. Feldspar watches the side of the vehicle suddenly open, and a being - similar to a Hearthian’s size and shape - hurl themselves outside of it.

The Nomai were all dead. That’s been common knowledge among generations of Timber Hearthians - the Nomai were all dead, and they were otherwise alone in their solar system. Feldspar looks at the EVA suit and the legs of the being, and finds…more Hearthian anatomy. At least, no strange looking legs.

Feldspar isn’t naturally fearful. To the point of idiocy sometimes, sure, but they’ve never understood why they should be scared of the unknown and not excited about it.

Then it speaks. It speaks, and Feldspar can understand. What the…

“Hey,” Feldspar calls back. “That was a pretty nasty crash. Are you okay?”

The first thing that Kent feels is disappointment.

He knows that language. He didn't even manage to make it out of the country? What a disappointment. Maybe something had gone wrong. Maybe something had - no. He's not going to start to jump to those conclusions. It only will lead to borrowed anxiety.

"I'm alright," he tells him, standing up and automatically brushing himself off. He reaches for his cane that isn't there.

"I just - where did I land?"

And now they’re being asked a question, and Feldspar isn’t really sure how to answer. They’re supposed to be the first Hearthian to land on Brittle Hollow, but now there’s this other astronaut from some unknown village -

“Brittle Hollow,” they answer, frowning. They take a few careful steps forward, though pauses when they see the number of fingers on their hand. Four fingers, one thumb.

“Gotta say, I wasn’t expecting company out here. Where are you from?”

"Brittle Hollow," he repeats, taking in a deep breath of filtered air. "What sort of a place is this?" He takes a hesitant step forward, trying not to trip. "This isn't where I was supposed to end up."

He feels trapped - excessively so. He can't see, obviously, but all of his other senses are completed dulled, as well. He can't touch anything outside of his suit, he can't breathe in smells.

The astronaut with five-fingers seems disoriented to the point their movement’s a little stunted. Feldspar hops their way over to them, careful to keep space between them but close enough to offer help.

“Brittle Hollow’s an uninhabited planet,” they explain. Clearly they’re not from here. Or this solar system, for that matter. “Are you…uh. Okay, weird question, but where are you from?”

"Oh. Uh. Oklahoma?" he says cautiously, hearing the sound of hopping. "The gravity here feels - odd. Not like what I'm used to at all."

Oklahoma. That's not a thing.

"Gravity's about .8 less than it is on Timber Hearth," Feldspar tells them. "Which is probably less than whatever you're used to on...Oklahoma."

Kent tilts his head in the helmet. "What is - Timber Hearth? Where's that?" He's getting an interesting feeling. A terrible feeling.

A feeling that something shitty has happened.

“It’s…in the solar system. In space. In the universe.”

The more they talk the more they feel their heart sink. This is not helping.

“Uh. It’s where I’m from. Where…you’re not from, now that I keep talking and…there’s no place called Oklahoma here, so why are you here? Where were you expecting to land?”

"I don't know," he admits. "We didn't know what this Machine would do."

He takes another hesitant step forward. "You've never heard of Earth, have you?" he asks in a hush.

No, they've never heard of Earth. Earth sounds a lot like Hearth, but they suspect that's just a coincidence.

"No," Feldspar answers quietly. "You didn't know what your space craft would do? You couldn't pilot it?"

Kent hesitates a moment, wondering how much to say.

But if his hunch is right, then it doesn't really matter. "No. It's just a sphere. No controls. The - beings who gave it to us didn't tell us how to pilot it. Only how to turn it on."

Jumping into alien technology without knowing what it does. Feldspar begins to smile behind the helmet, ever-so-slightly.

There’s still the matter of all the other questions this being brings up

“And it launched you…here.” Feldspar dares to get a little closer. “There’s no life on this planet. Just the relics of a long-dead civilization.”

He hums. "You are here," he points out.

"Perhaps that's the difference? Perhaps they wanted me to meet you."

Well it would have been nice if Feldspar had been a part of this plan. If either of them had, really!

"Maybe. I don't know what you're talking about, so I can't really weigh in on any of that. All I know is that I just finished landing my ship for the first time on this planet and then heard this crazy crash behind me! But...guess that means you can't exactly go back to your home."

Kent laughs. "No, I don't think so. Uh. Don't suppose you have the fuel to get me back to somewhere...habitable?"

It's all he can do to stave off the feeling of doom and disaster looming in his chest.

It's not as though Feldspar wasn't going to take this alien back with them. They're stranded here, it would be cruel to leave them to die.

"I've got the fuel. The ship's sorta crowded, and I was going to do a little exploring, but I should probably take you somewhere with breathable air, huh?"

They rise up and jerk their thumb towards their own chest. "Name's Feldspar."

What an odd name.

"Kent. And - I'm not really good for exploring, but I don't want to keep you from it. I have plenty of breathable air here."

Kent. They haven’t heard that kind of name before.

“I mean, it’s all relative, right? Why worry about exploring a bunch of dead alien relics when I have an alien, alive and well, right in front of me?”

"An alien."

He laughs, a little in disbelief. "Yeah. Uh. I guess. But - "

He doesn't have an argument against that. "Well, I'll follow you. You've got the advantage."

“You’re an alien. You meet the definition! You’re not from this solar system.” Duh!

Feldspar laughs and stands up straight to have a look around at this particular plateau. The Lantern isn’t directly overhead so it’s a little dark, but probably a lot safer despite the visual issues.

“Ship’s behind me. Just be careful - there’s a reason we call this Brittle Hollow. The ground isn’t very sturdy.”

"What makes it that way?" he wonders. "I don't know much about the other planets. Just the ones in our own system," he says, his hands out as he walks.

Feldspar sees their unsteady movement on the ground and walks a little closer. It’s really dark on this side of the planet.

“There’s a volcanic moon that circles around this planet, occasionally spewing flaming asteroids at the surface. We think most of the alien settlements here are below ground.”

Well. We as in the archeological-minded among the Hearthians.

"A what? Why?"

He leans down and places a gloved hand on the dirt. "Why bother?"

“No idea,” they say, hopping up the small ledge. They lean down and hold out their hand to the alien, brushing the tips of their gloved fingers against theirs. “We haven’t figured it out yet. Out any of it yet, honestly. The civilization is old and we’re not even sure they’re native to our solar system.”

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