Facing The Sun

A Warm Welcome

"When the numerous intelligent species of Andromeda began to discover one another, conflicts were bound to arise. Many planets were much further in their advancement than others, and thus had an unfair advantage.

For a great deal of time, the people of the Andromeda galaxy were at odds with each other. Entire wars were fought, won, and lost—causing mass devastation to many of the less-advanced planets in particular. Of course, there were plenty who opposed these battles and the damage they caused, but their voices were lost in the sounds of battle.

It took the genocide of an entire species and the destruction of their planet for them to be heard."

- Zenith Arraly, The Elaborate History of Space Travel

~ * ~

Easy my ass, was her final thought before she hit the ground.

The last thing Vedrith saw before she passed out was an odd winged figure standing over her, which was also the first thing she saw when she woke up.

She opened heavy eyelids, wondering if she had been drugged. Vedrith stared upwards at what should be a ceiling, but was instead a face with black markings looking down at her.

"Hey"

They looked at her with almost curious eyes.

Vedrith wanted to believe she was dreaming, but her shoulder hurt, so she wasn't dreaming. Instead, she let out a long, annoyed groan. Her first instinct was to yell, and maybe curse. Her second was to examine her surroundings.

She went with the second.

Vedrith was shirtless, but still had on her bomber and bra. She'd prefer it if the bomber were taken off though, because it was uncomfortably hot. Vedrith could see bandages wrapped around her wound, so this person must have saved Vedrith from whoever shot her. Her hands were tied behind her back, they were being cautious. They did not trust her. Her legs were also tied.

It seemed they were in a small home, probably in the trees judging by this... girls? Wings. It would only be practical for a person with flight to live in the sky, so it wasn't much of a surprise. She must be strong to fly her up though, no matter how high up they were. They also looked like another version of Whitlock.

"Um" Vedrith thought for a moment. "Hi?" What was she supposed to say to her–what, captor?

She stared at Vedrith, eyes narrowing slightly. Vedrith felt the urge to recoil, and turn the other direction. But she stayed still as the winged person studied her.

"Hello" She replied in a heavy accent like Whitlock's, taking her sweet time to do so after studying Vedrith. "Sorry for shooting you, it was purely instinct and I was aiming for your head, but I changed my mind."

Vedrith had a rather blank look on her face, and was left feeling dumbfounded. She openly admitted to shooting her..? And then healed her afterwards? Vedrith found this confusing, to say the very least. Why not just lie and say you fought someone else off? It would be so easy to do considering she passed out. The only thing Vedrith could think of was that she wasn't the brightest.

"Um, okay. I'm not sure why you would admit that outright." Vedrith spoke, raising an eyebrow.

She looked at her for another moment, then responded. "I don't see a reason to lie." She spoke flatly, but then continued almost... curiously. "Why did you come here?"

Vedrith furrowed her eyebrows. "Why do you want to know?" She countered defensively, not wanting to be cooperative given the state she was in. Which may or may not have been a good decision, but Vedrith lacked a good sense of self-preservation.