Stowaway (G/T) (Ongoing)

6

He had not been prepared for the relocation.

Accompanying Copper's shadow on the way to the botany lab was another, much larger shadow. Arden watched in apprehension as the captain's monumental figure paused for a moment before appearing around the corner, seemingly headed his way with determination.

His breath hitched in his throat as he remembered the last time he was subject to that- The alien hadn't necessarily hurt him, but it was still beyond traumatizing. Shivers wracked him as he remembered how easily those dark clawed hands had just plucked him from the air, how he was barely the length of one of them, how his pleas were completely disregarded as he was whisked away to be studied and then locked up like some animal. 

And maybe that's all they thought he was?

He could tell by his experience at ATMO5 and from his previous crews that Humans were by no means considered the smartest in the cosmos. He knew what the looks they gave him meant, knew when they skimped him on mission details, and knew the signs they signaled when they thought he wasn't looking. He knew more than he let on, but was still largely treated like the black sheep of the bunch.

At least he'd been roughly the same size as last shipmates, and was able to actually put in some legwork to prove his competence and earn his pay. But here, trapped alone and speechless in a glass container on a giant alien vessel, he was probably considered to be no more than a wayward shiprat. 

To beings so colossal he felt cosmically insignificant, and he wouldn't be surprised if they viewed him that way too.

He couldn't even speak to them, not coherently at least, but a small part of him was grateful that they couldn't understand the frantic string of curses that left his lips once his entire enclosure was suddenly lifted off the table. 

Everything was jostled, despite the giant's carefulness. The whole tent had shifted a few feet with him inside of it, losing some of its structural integrity in the process, and the berries he brought inside had begun to roll around the small space. Arden scrambled in surprise to the one side that wasn't collapsing as they started to move; Thankfully it was a side with holes to see through, and he shakily peeled back the fabric to peek out at his surroundings in fear.

His heart hammered away in his chest as he watched everything pass at a dizzying speed, trying to guess where they were taking him.

Were they still mad from earlier? Were they tired of him hiding all the time? Were they getting rid of him? Would they drop him off at some intergalactic prison, where surely he wouldn't last a night? Would they simply sell him? Auction off his life to the highest bidder?

How much would he even sell for? 

The racing thoughts and the sway of the room were damn near sickening, and Arden found himself pulled back to reality by flinching back into cover as another large figure stepped into sight and began to walk the halls with them. Voices filled the air, but he could barely hear them.

The trip was the longest two minutes of his life, and in his rising panic Arden barely realized when he'd been set back down. When he did notice the lack of movement he took a moment to right himself and slow his breathing, but he didn't dare crawl near the holes again.

Just beyond his glass prison the crew had once more gathered around him, peering in and discussing his fate in vastly different languages he only wished he could understand. He could hear the Arcken's voice, deep and gravelly like distant thunder, in sharp contrast to Copper's chirps and chitters. There was also a kind of omnipresent warbling, emitting from the smooth-skinned one, but everything went quiet at the captain's final remark.