From the Vast

Chapter 1: Cold Open

The gentle glow of the earliest dawn bathed the inside of the tent in just barely enough light to make out the several figures spread around the space, most of them concentrating more so on staying awake over anything else. Everything that needed to be said had already been exchanged, an expectant silence lingering in the room as they awaited the arrival of the final person they were waiting for.

The quiet was only interrupted by an occasional held-in yawn and some muffled steps on the other side of the flap that separated the chambers of the medical tent, several medics busy moving around as they tended to the sole reason behind all this commotion. And as much as most present would've preferred to get an hour more sleep, or four, they all agreed that said reason was... significant enough to warrant being there, even if begrudgingly.

If only Aria could finally show up so that they could finally discuss this mess they were in now-

"^Apologies for the delay, had a bit of a hard time putting Bell back to sleep but I'm here now. Anyone care to fill me in beyond 'oh no, human'?^" - The crystal clear words filled the minds of everyone gathered as a pale, tall figure stepped through the flap into the room, red eyes glowing dimly in the barely present light.

"Well, so far there's not much beyond that really. Sprout found it crashed in the ravine east of village, dying, and managed to carry it over to the medics in time before waking us all up to help with cleanup and to watch over it while she finishes her shift." - The quieter, rougher voice woofed up from the corner as Lumi picked himself up from the carpeted floor and into a sitting position, black fur arcing lightly as he stretched.

"^The ravine near their path? That's... rather close, considering.^" - Aria answered with concern in her voice, at least as much of a voice as there was without her ever moving her mouth.

"That's what we ended up at, yes. Too close for comfort, though if they were trying to spy on us Sprout would've found them eventually, and I would imagine even a human would be competent enough not to crash like that if they were pulling something like that off." - The source of the words was all but invisible in the shadows, with only a faint golden sparkle on Ruby's forehead and the tiniest hint of red piercing the darkness where the morning sun did not shine.

"Perhaps their contraption might have malfunctioned on them. Though that in itself does not explain their reason for being there in the first place." - The source of the final, harsh sounding voice was downright hard to miss, the matte red metal clearly visible in the faint light as Ori's yellow eyes investigating the nondescript object laying in the far corner.

It was very narrow and mostly made out of metal, with the exception of two wheels, one now bent at a harsh angle, and a T-shaped segment that seemed to be made out of a completely different, wholly unknown material, black and soft to the touch. Its purpose was completely unknown to anyone present at a glance, though since it had wheels it might have been meant for carrying things? Didn't look like it had room to carry literally anything though... At least the other object next to the metal contraption was more self explanatory, some sort of closed bag with a pair of straps.

"No it doesn't indeed. Hopefully Sprout has enough experience with human watching to know what... this is, and help us figure out some sort of a plan for this mess." - The psychic responded, her own attempt at categorizing the mysterious object failing so utterly it threatened to give her a headache.

"Plan? Not sure what there is to plan Aria, at least beyond the 'we help them not die over here and then dump them off back at the human village'." - Lumi said dismissively, flicking his paw off to the saw.

"What if another human comes looking for them? What if they had managed to find what they were looking for before getting themselves injured and we're at risk of our cover being blown now? What if they wake up and start fighting?" - Ruby cut back in, eyeing the Luxray down.