Straying from the Milky Way

To most people, waking up in a cold and unrecognizable room would've been nightmare worthy. To Loralie, it was her new reality.

Waking up, she made sure to keep her eyes closed, listening in first. The jolt of items was the only thing filling the silence. Deciding that it would be worse to stay in the dark, she opened her eyes.

There was a lot she was expecting in this situation, The five foot raven like alien in the corner was not one. The creature seemed to not expect her attention on him, making a low croak out of surprise.

After a few moments, the creature broke the silence. He quietly walked over to Loralie, sitting down in front of her.

"Greetings, I am Onzu and this ship's translator."

Loralie hadn't gotten used to his appearance yet, her eyes wide. The fact that a ship was mentioned went over her head for a second. Meaning her next words weren't fully controlled.

"What are you?"

An amused caw came from Onzu, if it weren't for his black beak, he'd probably be smiling.

"I am a Cordivalis, we are well known for our help in communication between species. Most ships have one of my kind if different species are on board"

"Ship? What ship!"

Wordlessly, Onzu stood up, gesturing to the door. Taking the hint, she stood up as well to follow him.

"Come, I figure it's better to show you and I'm sure the others are waiting for you" Onzu stated calmly

Following silently, Loralie took in all the different rooms and halls. Onzu would point out the important ones to her. Soon they stopped in a large open room. It looked like a living room, with three different creatures already inside. The room included many trinkets she had never seen before. The final thing she noticed about the room was the large bay window in the back, the outside showing a black void filled with something glowing.

She was stuck in space. This wasn't good, how was she supposed to get home? And from what she'd seen so far, It didn't look like they were in the Milky Way anymore.

Onzu then decided to speak up. His voice helpfully pulled her out of her internal panic.

"Greetings everyone, as you can see the death worlder has woken up. I think introductions are called for," Onzu spoke, grabbing the attention of the room.

One of the creatures, resembling much like a centaur aside from spikes in certain areas, walked up to her. The centaur was at least six feet tall and staring down at Loralie.

"I am Nurni."

"She's the driver of this ship," Onzu piped in.

Loralie, ever the polite one, especially around unknown beings, smiled at Nurni. In return,  she just looked uncomfortable.

"Do not worry Nurni, It is a common greeting for them," Onzu said before turning to Loralie.

Nodding, Nurni went back to where she had been.

"To most species, baring teeth is seen as a threat. It may take a while for the crew to get used to your specie's....stranger traditions," Loralie nodded, keeping that in mind for the next creature to walk up to her.

The next one looked like a dragon with aquatic animal features.

"My name is Narei. I'm a controller. I do all the heavy lifting here," He said

"I'm sorry?" Loralie responded, confused.

"A controller! We latch onto other species and take over their body. Otherwise, I'm a small, almost mindless creature," Narei was clearly getting excited by talking about his species.

Their conversation quickly ended, leading to the last person in the room introducing themselves. This one had six arms with scars that littered their body.

"Endrien, I am the defender," Short and to the point, Endrien did not waste time. Soon he was back in his seat as well.

By the time it was getting late into the night cycle, Nurni led Loralie into her new room.

That night she didn't get much sleep. She wanted to go home. Tossing and turning for what felt like hours, wishing this was all a bad dream. Unfortunately, no matter how hard she pinched herself she never woke up at home.

Somehow two months had passed by quickly, especially when there was no sun to tell time. The first few weeks were filled with silence and when she did talk, it was desperate begging to bring her home.

For a while, there was always something tense in the air. It was hard to be at ease when it felt like one wrong move would flip the attitudes of the friendly crew. Especially after learning the term death worlder was because of humans' tendency to destroy. Most species viewed them as feral monsters, terrified of them even with limited knowledge. Why wouldn't the crew turn on her if she did something that proved the name?

By the second month, Loralie realized that she couldn't continue like this, it was self-destructive. Once she finally gave the crew the benefit of the doubt, she grew much more comfortable. It was hard to remember the last time she was open with people that quickly, especially with the horrible start.

She even started having fewer nights wondering about home. Of course, she still wanted to go back, everything was weirder in space after all, but she could learn to be happy in her situation. That doesn't mean she would ever stop yearning though.

"Nurni says we need to restock the ship, we'll be stopping at a market in a bit," Endrian says, shocking Loralie out of her reminiscing

She hummed a conformation, picking up one of the only books on the ship in English. Endrien decides to silently join her.

Sooner than expected, the ship landed. Looking out the window, the market looked huge. She quickly ran towards the exit, Endrien following behind. She was not surprised to see the rest of the crew already waiting for them.

When all five were out in the open, the first thing Loralie noticed was how much heavier the 'air' was. The second thing was the bustling market, It felt like every species was there.

The crew decided to split up halfway through walking around. It was nearly impossible for Loralie to stand by as Onzu, Nurni and Endrien looked for ship requirements.

Narie and her chanted as they left to explore. In the middle of a conversation, Loralie suddenly stopped. One of the booths was selling overpriced objects from Earth. A sudden pang of want had hit her but...it wasn't as bad as she would have thought. Narie ended up getting her a toonie, the cheapest thing sold. She was overjoyed when she received it.

Deciding that their exploration was done here, both returned to the ship. It was the meet-up point discussed before splitting up. When the two got there Endrian was spotted holding a child-sized species.

"We found her on one of the streets. No one was claiming her and she can't remember where she came from. We couldn't leave her there," Endrien said fondly.

The three head onto the ship with the others, Narei cooing over the sleeping child. On board
was pretty relaxed, mainly for the sake of the child. This left time for Loralie to slip into her thoughts.

While true, the yearning for home would never quite leave, she wasn't as homesick anymore. The day had made her realize she was happier than ever. Her crew was expanding, they had just adopted a child. Deep down she knew she could never truly leave her wacky family. Her moments of doubt had turned into just that, moments.

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I hope you enjoyed it!

Oh and If a second chapter is made it would be for imagery of each character. :)