He was Almost Absorbed by the System

Chapter Fifty Seven - Into the Depths

Xu Lin had never really interacted with natives of any worlds before. Her parents were Captain's (her mother would never accept anything but equal partnership, being as head strong as her Uncle) of a long distance freight transport. The huge ship usually accepted runs that no one else wished to tackle. Xu Lin was conceived at the beginning of one such journey and took her first cold sleep shortly after her first birthday. As they transported non perishable goods such as metal, plastics, electronics and the like, Xu Lin had only met people of her own race who lived on those worlds. Even then, Spacers tended not to make deep connections as due to the spells in cold sleep, the people she met more than once seemed to age before her eyes, while she stayed young.

Once she was old enough to want to be out on her own, she had simply left one ship for another, but did not get on with the vice-captain of that ship, who tried to lay claim to her being that she was female and he was the highest ranked single male. (The Captain of that vessel was an old Grandfather, who treated her as just another crew member, which she was grateful for). She had left the ship as soon as possible, working in a space station for a time, avoiding other amorous males until her Uncle had picked her up thanks to her parents concerns for her.

As such, she had not been sure what to make of Willow when she had first seen him. At first glance, there was not too much difference between the forest boy and her people; he was bipedal with two arms and two legs, similar facial features, above average height and whose frame would not look out of place for someone with administration duties or some other desk job. Sure his colouring was odd being tinted green and hair that couldn't even be purchased in a high level salon, but otherwise he appeared 'normal'. When he had leapt into the tree and began to climb it, she clearly became aware of those sharp little talons that emerged from his fingers in place of nails. It truly sank into her fibre at that moment that he was not of her species.

And then she had come to see the boy's friend, Slate, a cave person. She had never met anyone whose skin was a dark grey like brushed titanium. His body was thick with flesh, not fat for each muscle was clearly refined, and though she suspected he was of a height to match well his build, she could not tell as he sat upon real fur blankets. His eyes were cold and pure black when he observed them, not an ounce of colour nor white to be seen. His hair looked as if someone had painstakingly created each delicate strand from the purest silver before attaching it to his stone scalp. He seemed far more alien to her than Willow, appearing to her eyes like a moving chiselled statue. Just as her mind began to accept his appearance, two others appeared, who she assumed were cave people also from the way that Slate greeted them, but they looked somewhat different.

The male's build was not too much different, his muscles were less ropey, slightly smaller and his skin far smoother. But the flesh was brown not dark grey. Her people also could have brown toned skin, but it was an ashen shade as if bled of the richness of this man's colour. His hair was also a metallic shade, but a stunning copper and his black eyes seemed much warmer. The female with him shared the same skin tone, but she had an obviously feminine shape, despite it being thicker than what Xu Lin understood as normal, due to the slight shaped muscles in her arms and legs. Still she was very curvaceous, making Xu Lin feel as if her own body was lacking.

Upon hearing their mission, the man named Basalt, who turned out to be the village chief's son, decided to lead them to where his father lived. They did not leave straight away, however, the cave people were nocturnal and needed an hour or so to refresh, seeing it was already noon.

The tunnel's Slate used were narrow and not well defined, the soldiers were having a hard time catching their bulky garments and weapons from time to time as they walked. There was also a major lack of light. The soldiers pointed their torches towards the floor so not to blind their guides, but it did not relieve the pressing darkness greatly. Xu Lin tripped on a jagged raised step and Basalt caught her gently in order to prevent her from face palming the hard rock.