Star Trek: Eventide 777

Jessil pushed a few branches out of the way, wincing when one came back to hit her. A thin line of red on the cheek of her face indicating the scratch that had come from it. At the very least it was a small scratch, nothing compared to the pain that had come directly following the crash. Well she was unconscious afterwards for the most part until being awakened by the Doctor's scream for help but the seconds before being knocked out? That pain and panic the moments before...she almost thought that it might have been the end. That all her hard work, that desire to be worthy enough to be called an Emin, her extra-early promotion! That it was all for nothing. That with one painful sharp pain...the light would flicker out and it would all be for nothing. But the prophets had been good to her, and she'd awoken, albeit with a bum ankle and a throbbing pain in the head but still...awake. And awake meant alive, and alive meant she could still do more in life. Because there were still things she wanted to do in life that had not yet come to pass. And she was grateful, especially since it gave her yet another opportunity to prove herself. The beat-down but not broken Bajoran scanned the horizon for anything that could be of use. Firewood would work, especially once it got dark. She didn’t know how cold it would get but if they still weren’t saved by then, it could be useful to at least cook dinner.

02:56

"I need some firewood to be brought back to camp, um..." She squinted her eyes tightly, trying to remember what her afah (grandfather) had said to her. "Dense hardwood, tiny sticks for tinder, and...medium sized sticks to help the hardwood burn." There it was, a small smile formed on her face and a quiet thank you to her afah came next. He couldn’t hear her of course, but she needed that little movement of her lips. Just for herself, a reminder that she knew what to do. "We'll need to split up into two teams, one collecting firewood to bring it back to the crash-site, camp-site, whatever it doesn’t matter because that's where everyone is and if anything it's both. The other team will come with me to see if we can find any sources of water, food, and or shelter. I don’t know how long our ration packs will hold out since there are so many of us but it’s best to get as much food and water as we can find." That sounded about right....But why was everything getting so dizzy for the moment? She blinked the feeling away and leaned against one of the trees again, awaiting her teams response. It was a small team of course, only a few well enough to join and the others who were good enough were in fact medical or could help with medical if anything. Jes knew enough of first aid on her own, the basics anyway but at the moment this seemed more important. Especially with others with more expertise than her already doing their job. "So, who's coming with me and who's collecting the firewood?" (edited)

Bright was accompanying the others right behind, looking around in wonder at how beautiful everything was outside of the crash site. His eyes were darting around in a mix of both astonishment, curiosity and precaution, because... Who knew what roamed in this planet. To him, everything was like a very strange dream he had to wake up from, but he knew this was actually happening and needed to help his friends, aka Saren and the rest of the people he's never met before. "I'm coming with you, hold up." He ran after her, his green eyes turning to the trees as he noticed how far up they stretched. Beams of light fell down to him and provided him with the warmth he hadn't felt in ages, and it all felt almost... Relieving. Who knew he'd feel at home again in the planet he crashed into.

Jessil nodded towards the red head and begun continuing deeper into the forest with a hobble. Her ankle, while obviously not getting any better wasn't becoming worse either and with it treated and done it felt like one less thing to worry about. Not saying that it didn't make her vulnerable, it absolutely, one hundred percent made her vulnerable! But she had her phaser, was on..high-ish alert (as much as she can anyway), and a red haired Ensign for backup. Plus she had enough sense to get down when she needed to or what not. And yet...she winced, a certain nausea coming over her. It was a concussion wasn't it? With her growing headache, fatigue, dizziness, nausea, it was a pretty bad one too. But it would go away with time if she just rested right? Not that it mattered, she couldn't exactly rest at the moment. "What's your name, Ensign?" She asked curiously, he hadn't given it before when they had just been leaving the camp and to be completely honest she didn't know him. Then again, she had been couped up in security for a bit recently. Her own green eyes, although leaning towards hazel and brown near the iris, flickered to the Ensign. She blinked and stopped for a moment, flashes of the gore of the crash cascading back for one sudden moment.

15:30

"Are you...are you sure you can do this?" Her voice was doubtful, a little shaky although that in of itself was less than noticeable. Jes was of course trying to hide it though the cause was more likely her concussion than anything. Though the gaping space where a hand should be didn't help. A wave of embarrassment passed through her, she couldn't believe she didn't notice this before! Sure, it was technically only a scout out since the others were collecting the firewood but...it wasn't right that her only backup consisted of an Ensign with only one hand. And a recent wound at that! It would have been fine if it had been cauterized and long gone, the hand would be replaced with a synthetic one soon enough...if they ever get rescued but that was besides the point. Jes leaned against the tree, the forest starting to spin again. No, no, if it had already been treated it should be fine right? She pushed her slight panic down, twas alright. Everything was alright. "It's been treated, right?" If it got infected…

Roughly 100 meters into the forest was a large concrete path, seemingly it had been well maintained and illustrious though now the path remained bare. In the distance down the path a large and beautiful monument stood lit up in the distance. The lighting almost beckoned them towards it.

Bright followed right behind the lieutenant, his remaining hand clutching his wrist almost too tight for it to be comfortable due to the fact that his nerve endings had been severed at the base of his former hand, so no signals went to it. But even so, he was in mental agony and tried to push it away from his mind, so he was subconsciously blocking out the shock due to both the hypospray applied to him earlier for his previously broken leg, and the fact he was determined enough to die for his fellow crew members. Sighing heavily, he tried pulling what was left of his sleeve to cover up his wound before he soon turned to the other alongside him. "Hm?? Oh, i.. I didn't introduce myself, again. Sorry, lieutenant. My name's Jack Bright, but everybody just calls me Bright or says 'oh god no.' When i come nearby." He replied as if it was normal, and didn't even hurt him anymore because of it. But seeing how she turned to him and saw his wound, he instinctively pressed it closer to his body and looked down in shame. "I… I can do this, lieutenant. It was treated not long after it all… happened, and the nerve endings were severed… So it's like a ghost hand now." His forest green eyes turned back to Jessil and noticed how strange she was walking. "Are you okay, lieutenant..?" And that line of thought was too severed when he saw something... Strange. A path? His red eyebrows furrowed and he walked towards it, soon having his attention caught by the light almost like a moth. "...wait, what the hell is that...?"

A small chuckle escaped her lips at his introduction before his answer to her worry came. He wanted to do help didn't he? He couldn't just sit around while everything was going on, she could understand that. That feeling of helplessness that can only be pushed away by actually doing something. Jessil found that feeling, if not actually doing something that matters would grow into a restlessness that dwelled within you. And at a certain point it turned painful, which was something she'd like to avoid. "Got it, Bright. Just remember to be careful, it wouldn't do anyone any good if it were to get infected." A warning that was immediately followed by his own worry about her gait. "I'm fine, I've already splinted it and everything." An assurance, although if anything it was her concussion that was of more concer... Dizziness. That was disorienting, she shook it away and kept going. She couldn't be distracted by these things, pressing through was the best thing to do in her eyes. Rest would come later, for now there was more important things to do then lay around do whatever. "I-" Her eyes followed to where Bright's voice was pointing towards. A concrete path that didn't exactly look overgrown and missed over like one would suspect. And where was light coming from? The light was blinding almost, it hurt her eyes and headache to look at it but she was curious. What was this thing? "I thought this planet was abandoned, why does this concrete structure look so...well maintained?" Then again, she could be wrong. Her brain was still full of the fuzzy strangeness that had followed soon after the crash. She covered her eyes with a caramel colored hand and the other waiting to grab her phaser if anything were to go wrong. If there was help down the path it would be foolish not to go but if there was trouble? They should at least be prepared, they were in a bad enough condition as it was.

16:32

"What do you think Bright? Should we keep going?" Her own thoughts was leaning towards the concrete path but she would rather not go if her partner was against it. She wasn't the most experienced officer ever and was doubting herself because of it, it was better to get others opinion rather than just her own. Even if the both of them were young, two heads heads were better than one probably concussed fuzzy one. (edited)

Bright turned to Emin and hummed softly in thought. "Well, what do we do then? Do we just go back and do nothing or actually go and do something, lieutenant? Because I'm up for going and checking what the hell is that thing. After all, it's not every day that you contact a previously uncontacted planet's survivors." He grinned and ran over to see what the hell the glowing thing was, making sure to keep the injured lieutenant in his line of sight always.

As Jack got closer and closer to the naturally illuminated object it became very apparent just what it was: A statue, no, a monument. Specifically, of a Ferengi bearing gifts, surrounded by an unknown species graciously accepting said gifts and seemingly worshipping the Ferengi.

5

"I suppose we go check it out then." Jes nodded, pushing herself off the tree she had been leaning on and picked up her pace in her wobbly hobble to make sure she didn’t fall too far behind the ensign. The increase in speed did wonders for her headache! No, just kidding it actually made it worse but at least her ankle was fine for the moment. It did make her feel more awake though, which was good. She couldn’t exactly do her job half-asleep could she? Her eyes were more alert now anyway with the increase of mobility although the bright light from sun wasn’t doing her any favors. A few feet away she paused, staring at the Ferengi statue with the unfamiliar species surrounding it in worship forever etched in stone. "What the heck?" The Bajoran blinked in surprise, had the Ferengi tried to interfere with species not capable of warp again? If she thought back to her classes at the Academy, she could find at least one good to honest example of why one should never mess with them both involving the Ferengi. One example being from a wormhole that had transported two Ferengi into the Delta quadrant and then completely transforming their economy! Was this a situation similar to that? If so...where were the people that had lived there before? Had the Ferengi driven them to ruin? Or was it something else she wondered. Even so, that was no cause to lower her guard. Simply made her curious as to what happened, she hobbled closer to get a better look at the new and strange aliens supposedly worshipping the Ferengi handing out gifts.

23:11

"I wonder how long ago this statue was made." She mused thoughtfully. "What do you think, Bright? Anything can look new enough if its well kept, but if that’s the case that means that someone was here keeping up this...memorial? Tribute perhaps, probably made to honor the Ferengi depicted in the statue." "If there is someone here...they might be able to help us back at camp." A tilt of her head helped her study the statue at another angle. "Where do you think the gifts the Ferengi got came from? Did they just haul it all here? Or do you think that the Ferengi might have exposed them to warp and they all just flew away? Then again, would they have all left? Because the scans showed there was no one here right? Maybe the remaining people are cloaked." Jes shook her head with a chuckle. Speculation was fun and all but looking for help was probably a better use of her time. Her gaze moved off the statues and towards the surrounding area, looking for someone or something that might be useful to them. She hobbled back a few steps to look around.

Bright had expected to see something, anything else, but.... The statue of a Ferengi and the unknown species they were looking for? Who knew we'd have a crossover episode. "This statue looks almost as old as my great great grandma. Or even older because she's dead. But it's well made... And well, looks like we're not the first ones in here!" He replied as he scooted closer to the statue, looking to see if there was a base made out of stone so he could try and determine its age judging by the cutting marks. Because surely they had to have at least a nice pillar of stone, right? He knelt down and hummed, scooting around the statue to see if there were any clues about its age. But then again, he wasn't a linguist, so he wouldn't be able to read anything if there were writings on the statue. "I don't think the Ferengi hauled it all the way here. And maybe... Maybe they're deep underground? If they're still here, after all... I have no idea, but all of this makes no sense." He sighed angrily, furrowing his eyebrows in frustration.

"No, it doesn't. It's all very strange. But if the statue might be as good as your great great great grandmother or whatever, would the Ferengi even have access to replicators? Because I'd they didn't bring all these...gifts with them then they must have made them somehow. And, you took the class on the Prime Directive right? Back in the...2370s there was an incident similar to this one but in the Delta quadrant where the Ferengi used their replicators to replicate things for the inhabitants." She murmured to herself, one hand tapping her chin in thought. "But if it's as old as you're saying...maybe it's more likely that they took the technology that they had to create a monopoly of goods that they gave, well not freely but to the people to make them worship them." Another guess, though who knew if she would ever find out if she was right or not. Jessil continued her scan, moving from next to where the illuminated statue was to behind it to try and get a better view of the surroundings. She also tried to hear anything close to them too, sounds of rushing water, animals close by, those kind of things. Her headache feeling only slightly better for a moment although that probably wouldn't last long. "Underground is a good theory, what else could shield them from our sensors? Ion storms are generally more temporary right? So we would have known they were here eventually if that was what blocked them. Maybe there's high amounts of a certain substance it would mess with that? We should ask science when we get back, oh wait. Aren't you science? Hear anything about a high peak in something?" She turned to him curiously.

23:38

Whatever it was, it was possible they just... weren't there too. Or that they had all died out somehow. She didn't really know but it was certainly a mystery for sure. (edited)

"Well that's...uh, they probably made this monument by hand too, since this seems like something actually... Special. And yeah i did take that class, and i saw it, but- But all of this is so strange! Where is this connected?! This is like a puzzle thrown at the wall! And a CLEAR one at that!!" He exclaimed out, getting up and sighing in defeat after he hadn't found anything determining its age and why it was even there. "And maybe so, maybe so. Maybe they're using a never before cloaking technology? Because until now we didn't know this planet even existed." Bright turned to her and tilted his head, "And... Uh, sorry to say this but I'm a geologist- I'm science, but my specialty is geology." He shrugged.

"How do you even have the energy to be so... frustrated?" The Bajoran chuckled weakly, turning her head towards the Ensign again. Another wave of dizziness came back again and she groaned, pressing her hand to her face before looking back up again. "But the cloaking technology is also a good theory, honestly I don’t know. And you know what? We might never find out but at least we know this happened. It makes me wonder how prevalent Ferengi influence is on random non-warp planets." She mused thoughtfully.. "And I'm not asking if your a geologist or not, just if you heard anything while in the science center. Oh, wait...unless you guys have different rooms? I've never been down there I suppose I wouldn’t know." And if she had known then she clearly forgot about it, the memory lost in the fuzzy cloud of fluff currently occupying her brain. This concussion thing certainly wasn’t a very fun thing. "Um..." Her eyes blinked, she had been going to say something right? Wha-Oh. "We should probably get going and start looking for water and food again. Do you have a tricolor with you? If you want you could take a scan of the statue or something before we leave but everyone back at camp's relying on us to bring them those necessities. Water being one of the more important things? I'm not sure but it’ll help disinfectant wounds and help them from getting dehydrated if anything." Unless the water was poisoned, in which they were absolutely and completely screwd. Her stomach lurched for a moment and she pressed a hand to her abdomen to keep her from throwing up. Shoot, this wasn’t good. A decision to wait out the nausea was soon made and she leaned against a nearby tree again. She'd talk but...perhaps it was better to be silent as of the moment.

"Trust me, Lieutenant... I get even more frustrated when I'm out of energy." Bright replied before he noticed how strangely she was acting... He wanted to say something, but she spoke out first and he shut his mouth as to not seem rude. But when she asked if he had a tricorder, he soon began rummaging through his fucked up satchel and found one, but also found a bottle of water. "Hey, uh... I found this in my satchel. I must've forgotten it when I was going out of the station." He handed her his polka dot thermos filled with water and smiled before whipping out his customized tricorder (he put stickers on it. he puts stickers on everything) and running a scan on the monument. He was about to turn away when he saw her on the verge of throwing up and immediately went to help hold her hair and/or pick her up, but that wasn't needed.

Jes accepted the water bottle gratefully before pausing. She didn't...want to throw up on his thermos or anything. I'm fact she'd prefer to either not throw up at all or without company but life just sucked sometimes. "Thanks." A whisper was all she could muster. Her gaze lingered on the polkadot thermos, examining the round dots on it quietly. It was her chance to help everyone...all the injured...and what? Why did she have to feel this way? Her head have to throb this way? And her nausea to puncture her in the gut like this? She absolutely hated how this was turning out. If only she was as right as rain she might actually be of some use. Maybe...maybe it wasn't the worst idea to just rest for a moment. Only until the nausea died down anyway. Jes gagged briefly, Bright quickly coming to help her but she... swallowed it with a shudder. Ew...at least it hadn't been all too much. Not yet anyway, the nausea was still there swirling around her insides. The Bajoran sank to the ground and deciding it probably would be best to drink some of the water, took a gulp. "Thanks Bright, for the..." She closed her eyes briefly before they flickered open again. "Water and everything, I think I'll just stay here and rest for a moment while you scan the statue. Mkay?" Jessil suggested tiredly.

05:50

"Probably would be best anyway, you need time to take a good look at it and I need time to just...I just need a moment."

"Yeah, no problem." He smiled kindly at her and went back to scanning the statue, absentmindedly humming a song that was passed on from generation to generation in his family through a centuries old music box. Even when losing his hand and seeing how flakey their future would be, Bright would never stop helping and never stop looking towards the lighter side of things, even if he was being pulled down by things he couldn't control. Death, maybe? Or even worse? Only so it could stop his spirit from shining through. Pain, agony even, those were no match to what shone inside. He was there to help his friends, and in no way in hell that he'd let such a trivial thing like wounds or even death stop him from doing so. "You stay there, lieutenant. As soon as you feel less dizzy, I'll help you back to the.... Camp crash thing, whatever." He turned to her and for the first time in a while, his signature grin shone through.

Upon being scanned it revealed that the statue was made of gold. It was fairly new as well, being only about 5 years old.

"...wait. What the hell...? This is... Holy shit, this is brand new almost!" Bright exclaimed out in surprise and stepped back, a little shocked as to how it was so new. So this planet wasn't abandoned, after all... Or maybe they left this behind and got out of there? But no, wait! That wouldn't make sense! Groaning loudly in frustration, he realized that he'd be going nowhere in this path. Time to explore even further.

13:16

Follow the unknown colored brick paaaaaath.

The path continued towards the sound of flowing water. It wasn't long until the #river, and a bridge across it, was found by Jack.

"Nice song." Jes mused, listening to the tune being hummed by the Ensign. Another gulp of water was taken before she paused at the suggestion to go back to camp. "I'm fine Bright, it's no big deal. I should be back up in a moment or two." She protested, fighting the rising panic coming up. It was almost over, she'd be fine! Being left by the statue and eventually the crash site would mean being a dead weight she really didn't want to be. If anything she wanted to at least go a little farther before going back. Contribute in someway. She pushed passed the dizziness and nausea. "Thanks for the concern but I can do this, really." Forcing her voice to sound more like her usual self and using the tree she had been sitting under to stand up, Jes pulled herself up before taking a look around. She'd have to try and at least look like she was fine. A jump came when Bright exclaimed the age of the statues. So young? That really did beg the question of what happened here? It also meant that the Ferengi who interfered with the civilizations development should have known better. "I wonder what happened to the Ferengi if anything..." She murmured under her breath, Ferengi's themselves had a long enough lifespan and if the statue was built recently did that mean they perished somewhere? Found new places to exploit? What did they do to the people living on the planet? "Um, wait in coming with y-" Oh who was she kidding? She was too tired and beaten to go. Plus he had already disappeared into the trees. The Bajoran slumped back down under her tree and took another gulp of water whilst staring at the Ferengi statue.

Bright ran all the goddamn way up here and proceeded to collapse from exhaustion against the path, panting heavily and trembling with cold. He was on the verge of passing out, his breathing ever as fast. Well, at least there was the sun to dry him up.

Jessil lifted her head up when she heard the commotion, her hand on her phaser in preparation. She didn't know who it what it was, and considering she was just sitting down relaxing by a tree it was better to be safer than sor-Oh it was Bright. Dripping wet and shivering from the cold. What happened? The Bajoran pulled herself up off the ground, admittedly feeling a little better from her rest. "Bright? Erm, are you okay? It looks like you fell into a pond or something." She noted thoughtfully. "Did you find anything interesting?" The Junior Lieutenant picked the water bottle he had given her up from the ground and straightened up her uniform assuming they were ready to move on. "I didn't see anything come through here while you were gone, although I might have passed out at one point but I should be good. I can keep going unless you found something that we need to report back to the ship?" She had to admit it had been kind of peaceful just sitting there in the sun, she had been too out of it too be bored although it had been nice enough that she probably wouldn't have been even if the circumstances had been different.

"there's.... There's... There's people in here...!" He breathed out heavily and tried sitting up, but he had little to no strength to even do that anymore. His whole body ached and his handless arm was hurting pretty badly. His hair was drying up nicely, but even his uniform- That was fucking waterproof, was wet.

"What-people!? But I thought-but there were no sentient life forms picked up on the planet!" Jes limped over towards the Ensign. "Are you certain that's what you saw? It wasn't like a rustle and you assumed it was someone?" She asked making sure he wasn't overreacting, chewing on her lip in anxious thought. "That changes everything doesn't it? If there's people here, probably pre-warp then we can't...Oh gosh. We should get back to camp and tell the others. Where'd you see the person?" Jessil noted the way his stump of a hand and everything else about him screamed pain and tried to help him up the best she could, leaning on her good foot rather than her bum one. "Come on, Ensign. We should probably get out of here before we're either spotted or worse. Do we have a Ferengi ok board? Probably not right? Commander Dagis is probably back on the station...if we did we might have been able to get supplies that way. I mean, tricking them wouldn't be the best idea but there's no harm in exposing them to something they already know. And what about the crash sight? There bound to notice that sooner or later!"

"There's a whole village!!" He turned to her and brushed his semi-wet hair away from his eyes, staring right into hers. "They're- They're too many, i didn't know if they were on pre-warp, but i actually entered the village to see what the hell was up! There's too many of them!!" He replied urgently, hissing out in pain as his hand stump pressed itself against his body. "I entered through the river, but barely managed to get out... We're breaking the Prime Directive by simply staying here..." He whimpered, but then made a funny face and sneezed out loudly due to his poor sinuses being attacked by all the pollen.

"A whole...why didn’t we detect them? Oh gosh, okay let’s just calm down and get back to camp. Um, any major physical differentiations between the aliens and ourselves? If they do spot us it’ll be useful to know what places to cover up or not." The Bajoran explained before wincing as he hissed in agony from his stump. * "You'll need medical attention too, probably need to disinfect it since you went through the river...And bless you."" *She sighed, her hazel green eyes shutting close for a few moments before opening them again. Jes then limped closer and helped to stabilize him since he almost looked like he was about to fall over from the pain combined with his bout of sneezing. "We really should hurry in case someone saw you go through the river and decided to follow you for some weird nose-digging reason. We need to get out of here, worst comes to worse we'll have to move to a less populated area. This whole planet can’t be to populated right? Let's just...let’s get back to camp, crash, something like that. Try and contact Eventide or something if we can, we have engineers right? Or at least officers who know how the system works anyway." Jessil ran a hand through her dark messy hair that had fallen out of its misshapen bun while resting by the statue. "We'll tell them about the village and the Ferengi influence and see what the Commanders have to say." This was bad, she didn’t explicitly say it but she absolutely knew it. They couldn’t really move camp with the critically injured and large broken pieces of ship lying around and...what if the villages had already seen the ship falling from the sky and it was only a matter of moments before they were to find the crash site.

He sniffled and groaned loudly, holding his side due to the hard sneeze. "Thanks. But lieutenant think with me on this: We're in dire need of help. They might be able to help us out, man! Come on! And no, i didn't see any until now... Luckily." Bright turned back towards the path and looked at it, his eyebrows furrowing slightly. ".... I don't think we have any choice. From what I've heard there's a whole lot of people in there, while we're..-" He counted with his fingers and tried to remember if there were more, groaning. "Damn it... Look, we're few. Extremely few."

21:23

"It's clear that we can't hold out on our own."

"Bright..." Jes started...a worried look on her face. "But the Prime Directive." She winced, it felt like it might actually physically hurt her to break the rules. And a whole cascade of worries came crashing down before she viciously blocked them out. "If we’re going to do this we have to do it smartly alright? We can’t just...walk into the village and yell out Hey, we're aliens that crash landed on your planet. Mind getting us some medical supplies? Oh, and what’s with the Ferengi statue back there? You know these guys?" "Because that would go well, no. If we do this we're going to first tell our commanding officers and then try to do it secretly. Alright? Kidnapping!" A dramatic pause happened before her shook her head, an amused smile on her taffy colored face. "No, I'm kidding...kinda. If we do this we'll just need one person right? So they can sneak medical supplies out and drive the others away from our crashed ship? Someone with importance and would be willing to help. Like a...Vedek or something. Mayor? Someone with a lot of influence. That way we can at least try to contain the damage." A suggestion, one she'd rather not do but...they didn’t even have contact with the other ships and the critically wounded might not have enough time if they didn’t do something soon. "We can’t do anything brash, Bright. Even if things seem slim and nothing’s working out the way we want it to..." Plus possibly getting court martialed if they screwed this up to badly, that would be horribly not fun. "Now, how humanoid are they? Standard or do they have different skin colored features or what not? I couldn’t exactly tell from the statue."

"Look! I know, lieutenant, but... There's people who risk dying back at camp. And i didn't see much, but from afar i saw that they were humanoid and i think different colored at the very least." He turned to her, having the same reaction to disobeying the rules of superior officers. "And i know!! I was in the village!! And they'd probably freak the hell out if they saw any of us!!" Bright covered his face with his hands and leaned onto the monument, sighing heavily. But then... 'If we do this well just need one person'.... That struck an idea in his mind. "...holy shit, you're right! Holy FUCK! Man we gotta do this. We absolutely have to do this. I'll go, you keep watch."

22:23

"....but I'll need a Ziploc bag and a rope for my hand this time."

"Wait, but we are going to tell the superior officers right? And I'm fine now, not the best shape but none of us are really." The headache and nausea had died down to a more manageable dull pain and the adrenaline that was coming from the risks about to be taken was helping combat it too. She would be fine probably, better than Bright if he got caught in the village. "I say we go back to the camp first and tell them before going to the village and telling just the one important person. And it would be better if I came along to you know? I'm pretty sure the only Security Officer here is me and you might need someone along in case things go bad. If a random alien came up and kidnapped me and I was pre-warp I'd freak out and get violent too." She reasoned. "Unless you bring along Lieutenant Ughaz'udan but the last I saw him he was unconscious on the ground. Who knows if he’s in any better shape than I'm in." She paused. "I'm not sure we have a Ziploc bags but...would wrapping your stub in the outer garment of our uniforms work? At the very least it would keep things from going in and out right? Mine would work best since it’s dryer compared to yours anyway but if we do go back to camp they might have more. Or actually, they could re-bandage it right? Since they might have used the uniforms for other things." Jes pondered thoughtfully. "Do they even have bandages anymore? I mean..." Her mind flashed to all the injured officers lying on the ground and being treated by the medical staff. "Considering the amount of injuries."

"Hey, if you'd like to tell them that we're going to kidnap an alien, go ahead." He snorted and crossed his arms, opening his waterproof satchel and whipping out his broken glasses before putting them on. Even so, Bright would probably be the first insane one to volunteer and go nuts in the village. "And hmm... Alright. And yeesh, i don't think Lieutenant Ughaz'udan is going to be better any time soon. From what i saw, he was in pretty fuckin' bad shape. So maybe we should bring along someone else? Say... Commander Marcus? He's huge, and probably pretty strong too." Bright shrugged lightly and yawned, scratching his red hair. "And mmmmm... Let me see if i have anything in stock." He opened up his bag and rummaged around again, letting out a happy noise when he grabbed onto something and pulled out... A bag of his lucky D&D dice! But he wasn't looking for the dice now, nuh uh, it was the bag!

4

"I mean it’s one of the more logical things to do at the moment so telling them wouldn’t exactly be all that bad. And Commander Marcus does sound like a good choice, medical right?" She nodded in approval. "If we just tell him that's good enough for me, we can justify it to the rest later but as long as one Commanding officer knows I'm good." Jes admitted warily. It would be better to tell everyone but if at least one experienced Commander approved? Well it would probably be fine! Probably anyway. After watching him pull out his bag of dice she tilted her head curiously. "You brought a bag of dice? Huh, well at least you have a bag now for your stub now." The concussed Bajoran mused. "We have to swim across right? How deep are the waters anyway?" Not too deep, right? If Bright was able to swim across it with only one hand anyway, unless he was just a really good swimmer. Jes was good enough, well good enough that she had passed her survival classes anyway. "This is...going to be very interesting." Emin chuckled. "And I wouldn’t do this in any other situation but it does seem like the best thing to do at the moment. If we can’t simply just blend in by covering up a few features then we gotta do something...the risky thing is if A). we get caught, or B). the person we pick bails on us or fails." That wouldn’t do any good, so observation would probably be good but...how would they do that? If they were so different from the aliens living in the village at least, they didn’t have the resources to blend in through any means at all!

"Hey, you're a lieutenant junior grade! You're doing waaaaayyy better than me right now." The redhead gently took out the dice from the bag and placed them into a pocket in the satchel that was separate from the rest. Soon enough, he took out the bandages from his hand and winced, groaning silently and cursing under his breath. He then took off a part of his already ripped sleeve and bit down on it before pulling his arm away with all his strength and managing to rip out a decent piece of fabric from his uniform. When he was satisfied with the size of it, he ripped the rest of it out and began self bandaging his own arm. "Mmhm. The river's actually quite calm, but pretty deep too. And also, be careful with the rocks." He finished tying up his hand stub and put the bag of dice on it before tying it twice around his wrist. "And ta-da! Here's my masterpiece. What do you think-?" Bright turned to Emil and gave her his proudest crooked grin. "And mwahahah, it definitely is! Also: A. We probably could escape if we've got phasers. Not to kill or anything. But eeerrrr, according to B.... Not if we scare them enough for them to not tell us!-" He made a scary face and made grabby hand(s) just like a playing older brother would do.

"I only got promoted recently!. In fact I still feel like an ensign at times... I bet you’ve been in Starfleet way longer than I have." Jessil pointed out, with a wry smile. "I only graduated, er 5 or 6 months ago? I think? It’s kinda hard to remember since it almost feels like I've been here for ages yet only a couple of weeks? Time is absolutely crazy sometimes." She said with a genuine chuckle before noting the facts about the river. "That doesn’t sound too bad..." The Bajoran nodded thoughtfully. "And hey, that looks pretty good! Let's hope it won’t hurt as much this time." She laughed, giving him a smatter of playful applause. "And don’t worry about phasers, I've got one and I could hit a bullseye a mile away if I had to!" An exaggeration only slightly, her practice had started long before Starfleet and her aim was one of the things she had perfected the most. And not only with phasers but knives and the like wouldn’t exactly be helpful at the moment since, evidently, they had none. "I don’t have any extras though, maybe they have a few back in the broken remains of our ship? But hey, at least we have-" Her breathe wavered slightly, okay...note taken, don’t put pressure on that leg. "Um, what were we-Oh, right! I bet we can threaten them to get the information! Even without my phaser I'm pretty dangerous..." A sneaky dramatic smirk appeared on her face. "We totally got this!" Jes nodded confidently. "We have to get this right, for Jack um, McLellan and everyone else."

"Come oooon, you still got promoted! I've been here for what, 3 weeks? Or so??-" Bright howled with laughter and smacked his knee before sitting down at the base of the monument. "And hey, time's relative anyway. Anythin' can be crazy if you look hard enough." He grinned and sniffled again. "And thank you, thank you." He made a mock bow and even flapped his hands a little like a bird's wings, before quickly returning to his crackhead acting self and snorting before bursting into a fit of laughter. It was impressive as to how he could find good things in situations like this. "And ouch, are you okay there? Also- Yes! I can show my teeth and get all threatening!" He gave her his scariest grin and showed off his... Actually pretty sharp teeth. Not all of them of course, just some places. "And yeah, we at least owe them that."

"That's true." Jessil laughed. "Time is relative, everything about it seems weird. Sometimes it goes wayyy too fast and other times it goes waaaaay to slow? I-" And a pause, her laughter dying into giggles which were dying down into a smile. "Shoot, we should probably get going soon." She admitted with a sigh, reality kicking in. The Bajoran retied her messy dark hair, better for it to be out of her face for what they were planning. "Time may be relative but it doesn’t wait for anyone either." "And, yeah. I'm totally fine." If one could say a slight headache and broken ankle was fine, then yes. "Just a little something from my bum ankle." She shrugged. "It'll be fine, but hey. Those are some pretty impressively sharp teeth for a human. What, do you use teeth sharpeners like Klingons do?" Jes said with a playful smirk. "We'll scare the alien into submission for sure! They won’t know what's coming." She chuckled. "In all seriousness though, the plan is to go back to the camp. Snatch Commander Marcus, go back to the village, snatch an important dude and persuade them to help us cover up the giant pile of debris and aliens at camp and give us medical help? And I'm assuming the people at camp are already working on a way to contact either the Sebastion or Eventide."

"Yeah, in that you're right. Time's a cruel lady." Bright chuckled and his smile faded away, but only slightly as his look shifted to... Something else. But that was quickly replaced with a bored look as he got up and cracked his back, groaning out loudly. "Fuuuuuuck. If even crashing into a planet didn't fix up my back, i don't know what to tell to my chiropractor." He joked slightly, but it was true.... ish. "Huh?- Oh! Not at all, sharp teeth genes are just strong with me. Seriously, you should see my older brother- That one's got some nasty sharp teeth." Bright grinned again and adjusted his glasses. But again, the last question puzzled him a little and he hummed softly in thought. "Hm... Yeah, that's basically it. But I'll actually let myself get seen this time! Just be on the lookout for me, okay? And probably, yeah."

Quiet, distant talking could be heard in the, well, distance. Someone was coming, and they weren't getting translated by the UT, which was a sign that it was, in fact, a native. Uh oh.

6

"You'll be the safest Ensign arou-shoot." Jessil whispered, hearing the noise of people talking. She motioned a 'hush' hand sign to Bright before motioning him to go hide along with her. The injured Bajoran then proceeded to duck behind one of the more fuller bushes and foliage around the statue, hopefully not one that was anything like poison ivy. She really didn't need uncessary itches to add onto her list of physical limitations. Especially when trying to hide from who knew what? Jes determined it was probably better to hide and see if the people talking would come this way, and who knew? Perhaps they would be a good candidate for being the person who'd help them? There was only one way to find out after all, besides, maybe if they seemed good enough they could confront them here rather than in the village. It was less risky that way. "Hmm..." Jessil hmmed under her breath, her eyes narrowing curiously. If anything this would give her the chance to see the native aliens herself rather than just a description of them. She rustled the leaves quietly by accident before stilling in a more comfortable position.

Bright immediately ducked behind another bush and put on his glasses, his curiosity bubbling inside as he clutched his satchel. He honestly wasn't even afraid, he was more curious as to how the natives looked like from up close. He wouldn't lie, he was extremely excited.

And they both took cover just in time, too, as two villagers came right up to the statue with what looked like some form of offering. The one with the offering placed it, before they both bowed, said something in their native language, and then left again. Thankfully, they were too occupied to notice Jack's wet boot prints.

When Jack made sure that he couldn't hear them anymore (which was impaired because he still had water in his ears), he slowly got out of the bush and went over to inspect what the heck they had left behind. It'd be pretty cool if it was food, he thought... He absolutely couldn't wait to eat something.

"Wait, Jack!" Jessil whispered fiercely. "Don't just...at least wait a few more minutes!" She remained ducked behind the bushes but moved over to the right more so that she could also see the offering that they had put out. What if...well Ferengi wouldn't want offerings to go to waste right? And if the statue was as new as Bright implied... "Bright, come back here! What if the Ferengi comes here to collect the tribute or whatever? Then they might have a ship and supplies! Or if not at least they'll have a way out of here, we could get the critically wounded better resources." She said in a low voice, loud enough that Bright could hear her but quiet enough that it wouldn't cause too much attention. The Bajoran then scooted out slightly from her place, though ready to dive back in at any moment.

Bright froze and skittered back to hide in the bush when he tripped over a fallen log and squeaked before falling down with a loud thud, directly followed by a pained whimper. "eeAAGH— -thud- ...ow." And off he went to get up again and hide elsewhere, because his position was compromised and he needed to go and hide. He peeked through the bush and made a 'sorry' motion with his hand before pulling it back and wiggling deeper into the foliage.

Thanks to Jack's elegance and poise when tripping over the log sounding an awful lot like the call of one of the native animals on this planet, the villagers didn't give a second thought to the sounds he made, and carried on their way.

8

Jack, being the naive little fucker he was, just thought they hadn't heard him and grinned to himself. Yessss!

Jes gave a breath of relief when the villagers ignored Bright for whatever reason, it probably wouldn't have gone very well for them to find Bright and herself who were obviously not...what they were. Not to mention there was more than one, which would increase the chances of things getting out of hand.

This time Bright stayed in his hiding corner until Jes said otherwise. So they were humanoid! But he was still kinda bummed because he couldn't directly see their faces and how they looked like. From the bush, Bright lightly moved one of the branches aside and stared at the fellow officer and waited for instructions.

Jessil waited until she knew for absolute certain that they had gone before quietly moving over to Bright. "We should probably head back to camp but first I want to see if a Ferengi comes along to collect the offering, don't you? It could mean a way outta here and get help without initiating a first contact with a pre-warp civilization. I'm thinking we wait about an hour and a half? Not too long but hopefully enough for someone to come by." She explained.

"Yeah... We probably should wait." Bright sighed and slowly got up from the bush, brushing the leaves away from his hair and removing a whole stick from it too. "Oh man, when we arrive at the station I'm so taking the biggest bath of my life.."

3

"Yeah, a good ol' sonic shower is exactly what I'll need when we get back. This whole thing just makes me want to scream and treat myself to something good. I mean, that’s not exactly the best mindset though is it? Then again, as long as I don’t grow too lazy and the like I should be good." Jes chuckled. "I'm just having a real hankering for some ice cream at the moment. Time like these..it kinda makes me miss a lot of my loved ones. Like, what happens if I don’t come back? What'll happen with them? My legacy? My parents, brother, cousins, friends from the academy, station, eventide...even here. Makes one think, really. To push for doing everything I can to get home or at least do something worthwhile before I pass."

"Honestly my parents wouldn't even want to get my body back, they'd just feel glad that i died and wouldn't be a problem to them anymore." Bright briskly replied, his voice tone dripping with something extremely unusual for him... Hate. "But... At least my brothers would miss me. Mikell, Sebastian, Benjamin, Archie..." He sighed and his eyebrows furrowed with sadness. "At least they'd inherit my vast collection of crystals."

4

"Though, i can imagine. Them standing at my grave, the tombstone back on Earth saying 'Jack Bright - 2383-2412. Ran fast, bit someone, died. May he bite someone in the afterlife too' and one of my brothers just letting out this wheezy cackling." He chuckled and lowered himself down to the ground again and looked at the sky. "Wonder how they'd react. But hey, the good side of me dying is that I'd haunt the everloving shit out of my birth giver and her bitchass husband."

2

21:56

"He he he, Polter-bright..."

4

Jessil became silent and watched Bright talk in a sullen and sad way. She realized she must have been lucky to have parents who loved her, even if they had been absent half her life. She had been surrounded by people who loved her and wanted her to grow instead of what sounded like people who barely even cared. "Oh Bright, what about your friends? The people who actually do support you, your brothers." Her own face was out into a little smile thinking about her own brother. "Who cares if your parents don't care? I'd certainly cared if you died and if I were to die along side you I'd 100% help you haunt them." She said with a smile. "At least we'd die to something exciting and worthwhile too. Not just quietly in bed out of old age but during an away mission. But you know what? We are good to make it, obviously we can't die without finishing this! We have to get everyone to safety." The Bajoran said confidently.

Bright's expression lit up and his face almost instantaneously went crimson red. That... That was the first time someone's ever said that to him, and tears already began brimming at his eyes as he ran at her and hugged her tightly, trying his best not to cry but failing. The poor man almost instantly broke down into a fit of tears and quiet sobbing, a trait he adapted to while living with his parents.

4

Jessil was startled at first, her family wasn't exactly one for physical touch except for a few annoying pokes and the like every now and then. But hugs? They were rare. Nonetheless, her arms wrapped around him after only a moment and she gulped as her own strong emotions that she had been holding back erupted forward and a tears began rolling down her face. Slowly at first before her face scrunched up and she bit her lip in an attempt to hold the tears back. Her attempts ending in failure however and a sob came out as her doubts and worries came out in a rush of tears. Jes buried her head in his shoulder to prevent the shuddering sobs that were shaking her from being to loud and attracting any unwanted attention from the natives. But also because it felt comforting in a way, she felt weak to cry like she was....but it also felt freeing in a way. Like all her fears and doubts were being unleashed from her person. Her confidence, although not exactly false before had faltered as she cried with the tears flowing down her cheeks. Why...and now she cried for the crash, the injured, Jack and Jack and the others along with the ones working hard to help them...and here she was sitting around in her tears. She felt useless, and it made her cry all the much harder.

4

Meanwhile Jack... He let out the agony of years building up these horrible emotions, his breathing not being able to compensate for the sheer amount of sobbing and breathing in that he had to muster. It felt so freeing, so absolutely liberating to just.... Cry, after so long of bottling up and reminding himself that he should be dead according to his parents. He was so, so glad to actually have someone's shoulder to cry onto, even if it meant being on a pre-warp planet without a hand and wanting to go home. Bright hadn't cried this hard since the loss of his brother, and... And that was saying something. So all the initial feelings came back with enough strength to be almost overbearing for the poor redhead.

4

Useless little... wasn't she? She couldn't imagine her parents, grandparents, or brother doing this. They were strong, unlike herself. Strong and efficient in their work. And here she was, she hadn't even found food or fresh water like she had originally set out to do! No, and she hadn't even contributed to the discovery of the aliens who were living on the planet. Bright did that while she sat around doing nothing but drink his water and stare at the strange Ferengi statue in the clearing. Bright...she was grateful that he was there with her. Her group had been small when She led them into the forest but she wouldn't have wanted to cry in front of anyone at all. But if anyone had to see her cry? Jes was glad that it was Bright. Funny and optimistic, if anything came out of this at least..she found a friend in the end.

03:26

Useless...she didn't have to be at the moment. Why was she so focused on herself? Bright, who had given her his water when she was thirsty and obviously concussed and set off on his own with only one stinkin hand! Not to mention the fact that he swam a deep river with it bleeding and hurting all without being spotted by the native villagers. Bright who was currently crying from... everything at once. The only person who, out of the two from what it felt like, actually did anything to help the people back at the crash site. It only made her feel worse to be absolutely honest but also...she could be uplifting couldn't she? Whatever doubts or fears he was also experiencing couldn't she at least try to put them at ease? Instead of sobbing for nothing, for her uselessness. At least he was crying for something that mattered, his family and for goodness sake he just lost a hand! Jessil pulled away, wiping the still flowing tears away from her puffy red face before looking into his dark green eyes. Her own watery and wet from the tears. "I don't know for sure what's going to happen next but thank you." She whispered, because she couldn't actually talk without bawling her eyes out further. "Thank you for actually doing something worthwhile here, for finding the village and swimming the river with... only one hand and a stump." She said with a sad chuckle. "For giving me your water and letting me rest because I'd have only slowed you down and for coming along with me here. I don't know if anyone's ever said this to you but, you matter Jack. Thank you for existing."

4

3

Once she pulled away, he took off his glasses and gave her a crooked smile as his reddened face got ever so warmer, big tears streaming down his freckled cheeks. Those words, those beautiful words... To think they were being directed at him? That was a concept that didn't quite reach his mind, but if she was saying this and didn't want anything from him... Then it must've been true. And that set his damaged heart ablaze with sheer happiness. Sniffling loudly, he cleaned his broken glasses and put them on before replying with a coarse voice from all the crying, "Thank you for... For being kind to me. For not finding me annoying, or wanting to see me gone..." He chuckled sadly and scooted closer to a tree before leaning onto, not being able to contain his happiness as his ears warmed up. "And i-i only did what any decent person would do... well, most of the time. Not everyone would jump into a river with one hand." He soon turned back to her and gave out, for the first time in quite a while, a genuine smile. "And... No one's ever said that to me. For this i thank you, because... I-I don't even know anymore! Nobody's ever trained me for this!" He laughed a little and wiped his tears away, still finding it incredulous that someone would actually say such kind things to him.

3

"Are you kidding?" Jessil chuckled before choking back a sob. "Of course I don't want you gone, all you've done while you're here with me has been so helpful! Much more than myself. Without you we first of all wouldn't have known the statue was only a few years old and that there's a village full of people not too far from here!" Jes wiped another tear from her cheek although it didn't help with the consistent stream of them flowing down. "And don't say you only did what any decent person would do, no one but yourself I'm sure would have come with me with only one hand and the river thing for sure was so brave and amazing...and besides, what have I done?" She asked, biting back a dam of another wave of tears as she curled up into a tight ball. "You're the one with only one hand and you've done so much more than what I've tried to contribute to all of this... I've been nothing but a bother, slowing you down with my stupid ankle and pounding headache while you do all the work. I say I'm only here for your protection and to help get useful things done for camp but what, what if I'm just a wimp? What if I'm only trying to hide from Jack...McLellan's wounds and Lieutenant's Ughaz'udan's unconscious body? Do you know what happened last time the Lieutenant got injured? It was the first time I had really met him and he seemed so...so sad. Like nothing he did mattered anymore and, oh gosh. What if Jack doesn't make it? You know, he was my first friend when I got here. We did this really fun holoprogram he created, we were...robbers... robbing a bank..."

04:09

The Bajoran sobbed, holding herself tighter in her little curled up ball. "And now he might not even make it..." She shuddered in her tears before they began to calm down enough that she could talk again. "I couldn't just...stay there and stare at all the bloody happenings going on there. Or even treat them! A broken ankle or arm? A small gash? I can do basic first aid but what the medical team has to do back at camp!? Why did I even think I would be useful out here?" Jes scoffed. "I'm sorry for being such, such a dead weight." Jessil bit her lip quietly, her eyes sparkling with tears as she lay her head on her knees.

4

He clutched her shoulders and looked straight into her eyes, sniffling and trying his best to keep it together to help the sobbing Bajoran officer... And his newest friend. "Are you kidding?! You're the one who inspire me to come anyway!! Without you, none of this would have happened!! You haven't been a bother in any way, you were hurt and you still are hurt in a debilitating way!! I wouldn't blame you at all for staying behind, what the hell!!" He got up and pushed up his glasses, holding out his remaining hand for her to take so they both could get up. "You're not a wimp. You're absolutely not a wimp or a bother to anyone, believe me when i say this!! They won't die because we've got these fucking amazing medical officers and they know what they're doing. You're not a dead weight, because without you i wouldn't be here either. We all have our limits, and it's okay for you to have reached yours! I have nearly hit mine too, c'mon..." He sniffled, his handless arm tightly pressed against his body.

3

Jes couldn't help but smile a small sad smile after hearing his words before grabbing his extended hand and pulling herself up. She used the motion to give the tall human a quick tentative hug and whispered a heartfelt, "Thank you." Before pulling away, a more confident smile on her face. She almost looked like her normal self other than the red puffiness to her watery eyes. Jes took a deep breath before her bright sad-ish smile returned to her face, directed at the encouraging red head. "Okay, that's enough dilly dallying for now. Though, you don't know how much I needed to hear those words Bright." She confessed. "And honestly, you really are an amazing and great person. I'm glad we're here together...but for now we should probably get moving and head back to camp." She said with a small chuckle. "Tell them about everything you've found and all that jazz, but really Bright. Thanks."

He gladly hugged back and gave her his signature crooked grin, but... Added with something else. It was a genuine smile. "You're welcome. And c'mon, you can always count on me if you want somebody to talk to." Bright lightly rubbed his neck and blushed, getting used to all the affection. "And yeah, probably... Also, don't doubt yourself when you feel like a waste of time... Trust me, you aren't." He gave her a soft smile before scooting back to camp and playfully calling out. "Last one to camp is the little earth slug!!"

Jessil smiled back. "And same to you Bright, after this? I'll always be there for you, you can count on that." She said confidently before chuckling at his last little comment. "I hope you like being a small wiggling slug!" The Bajoran called teasingly before moving to run towards the campsite, eager to get there first... except there was the fact of the injuries she had completely forgotten until that moment. Her eyes widened as her splinted ankle hit the ground painfully and she would have landed face first on the ground if it wasn't for her arms coming out to break her fall. She winced, her headache came back full force but at least she didn't break anything more than she already did. "Ugh." Welp, she got up and limped along after Bright.

6

"Thank yo— OH SHIT!" He squeaked out and ran back to help her up, sweating nervously as his face flushed with embarrassment. "Eheheh, sorry about that... I forgot about your leg..." 'Great, add +1 to times i have fucked up. Let's hope she doesn't mind...'

"It's fine, it's fine." Jessil laughed a little painfully. "It's probably my own fault for forgetting I literally broke my ankle in the crash...but thanks for the help. I should probably keep my injuries in mind before playing any games that includes any galavanting." She chuckled as she hobbled along with him towards the camp site.

"Hey, don't worry about it. Even I've been forgetting that I don't have my left hand, so I don't blame you." Bright chuckled and tried lifting her off the ground so her foot didn't touch it.

Jessil felt the pain lesson in her ankle when he lifted her up before she paused. "Er, thanks Bright but um...are you really trying to pick me up with only one hand?" She asked with a small laugh. "Thank you but I can walk, well limp well enough if it’s too much of a hassle. Besides, the crash site isn’t too far from here I think."

"Hey, I've still got my arms!" He replied, giving a short laugh before he stopped lifting her up. "Just making sure that you won't feel too much pain. And well let's hope so, because my legs are absolutely burning from running all the way here."

"Well thanks for trying even though you’re tired, you really are a good guy Bright." Jessil mused as she limped over to the #crash-site. "I honestly do wonder when we'll get out of here. And I know we will now, even if we have to kidnap a Ferengi to do so. But how long? A day or two? Couple of weeks? Months? Can't be years, right? I should hope not, I don’t think we could go years without alerting the natives here that we’re here and not exactly the same species as them...And I'd hate to see what that would do to them and us."

"Thank you, Jessil... That really does mean a lot to me." Bright smiled kindly and his ears went red again. "And oh! Well... That's a good question. If we don't get out, then maybe we can be the local cryptids and terrify the absolute hell out of the locals!" He made an evil laugh and made grabby motions with his hand.

"Call me Jes, that’s what my friends call me anyway. And I think we can be considered friends after all of the things that have happened recently." Jessil said with a smile. "And you are absolutely right! We can be the scary monsters they tell their children at bedtime so that they behave." She laughed at his cryptids impression. "Or like one of those things...what was it called? On Earth you have a yeti? Bigfoot? One of those things that lurk in the forest but you don’t know if it’s real or not?"

He had achieved nickname levels! That's never really happened before, so his grin only gained more happiness as he walked with her. "Okay, Jes. And mwahahah! Hell yeah! Imagine: Jack Bright the Fire-haired Demon!" Bright jokingly shook his head around and his now dry hair puffed up instantaneously. "And hey, maybe they are. Who knows?"

She giggled. "We'll terrify the children so much they'd pee themselves whenever they have to go into the woods! Ah, the Ferengi statue should be our hunting grounds. We can pretend it's haunted or something." Jessil laughed as she limped along. "And they might be, though it might be easier to look for them with scanners. Try and find their lifesigns and the like, though honestly don’t know if they've done that already. Our own myths like that are more centered around the Cardassians although we do have a few in the Hedrikspool Province that are around from before them, although those might just be used to scare the Cardassians rather than ourselves."

"In Earth, we've had all sorts of mythological beings and urban legends. My favorite was about the 'Runalongs', shadow people that followed you around in the dark as you rode around empty streets..." His voice tone became much darker, to make the whole thing seem creepier. "With needle sharp, transparent teeth and glowing eyes that could stare into someone's soul, they were said to follow after the cars of people who'd go missing in the desolate streets."

"Dang, that sounds scary." The Bajoran said with a grin. "Aaand pretty fun if I'm completely honest. I don’t think I've ever wanted to scare children anymore in my life! It's even better since we look different from them, people fear things that are different." She said with a mischievous and playful smirk. She was one hundred percent thinking of making it back to the station but if that failed? At least they could have fun joking about it now instead of sobering over all the things that had happened. That's what she liked about Bright, he always seemed to see the good things in a joking way.

"Something that every civilization has in common at one point in their history! And oh hell yeah it's wicked cool!!-" Bright noted and barely managed to crouch down and grab a cool stick he found, testing it by smacking it against his leg and a few trees as they made their way to the crash site. If there was one thing he liked to do, was to tinker around with random things. That was his durability test, and it passed with flying colors! That stick was going with him to the station.

"Oooh, what's the stick for?" Jessil asked curiously, watching Bright pick it up before he smacked his leg with it. "Firewood? Souvenir? We gonna use sticks to chase the natives around when my ankle heals?" She gasped dramatically in jest. "Wait! Wait, I know. Replacement hand, right?" She guessed jokingly. "I have to say, that’s a pretty sturdy arm you’ve got there. Most sticks would probably break as soon as it made contact with the tree." The Bajoran mused.

"None of those!" Bright laughed out loudly, his shoulders lightly bouncing. "I'm going to transform into a wand! Cool, right?-" He grinned and made a spell motion with the stick, dramatically wandering around and pointing at random trees.

"A wand? Like...a magic stick?" Jes asked curiously. "How do you do that? Combine it with a tricorder or phaser?" She tilted her head thoughtfully. If a stick could do what a phaser or tricorder or whatever wouldn’t that technically be a wand? Or was it something different? What was a wand anyway? "What are you going to use a wand for?"

3

"It's spiritual stuff, from the old earth." He replied, holding it over his head and balancing his body so it wouldn't fall as a joke. "And i dunno, i can tinker around with it and make it pretty! I like carving things sometimes."

"Okay, Gotta admit that does sound pretty cool." Jes nodded before smiling and increasing her limping pace. "Hey, I think I see the crash site just a little farther behind those trees!" Man was she glad they weren’t absolutely horrible at directions...

He took a deep breath of fresh air and grinned before quickening his pace. "Come on! Come on!-"