Bouncing back and forth on her feet, Firi cheered along with the crowd as the short, orange and white bunny roamed back and forth across the stage, extorting the crowd to join in and not just stand there. It was so different from an avali show, there was no sitting around listening with your eyes closed, oh no the whole crowd was like one giant party, an energetic rumpus of moving bodies, shouting and on at least two occasions now the lead singer had encouraged them all to join in and sing along. He’d even taught his alien audience how to make something called a circle pit and he certainly wouldn’t take no for an answer. Firi was having a blast, so far the yellow Avali had spent most of the show dancing energetically with Chantelle and Selenu as “Moumantai Motherfuckers” played their set. Seinu was nearby dancing with Taran and the crowd was a myriad sea of different aliens, all of them lively and energetic, it was loud too, the bands opening line of “Let’s make some noise” was very apt.
The band had an awesome style as well; they were dressed in long black robes, and both the bassist, a creature with antlers they called “D” from Earth and Rowi himself had skull patterns painted onto their fur and feathers as living masks. It was an incredibly striking look, a costume that made them look somewhat like monsters from Avali folk-legend come to life. Sher, the cute vampire bunny that Seinu had met a couple days ago while stuck in an elevator, was wearing a matching robe, an Avali visor and had dark paint circling their eyes that leaked down into tear tracks across their cheeks. It set him apart from the other two and Firi was sure there was some cultural reason around the makeup, probably something Earthian although she didn’t bother to look it up. The visor she was wearing was more than capable of querying the nexus but she was wearing it to help compensate for the bright lights and flashing strobes; this was neither the time nor place for boring research! Instead she threw her hands in the air, feathers fluffing up and cheering with everyone else when the antler sporting creature did some fancy thing with his bass guitar, the tune rumbling along in a new direction as the key changed. The bunny frequently talked to the crowd, commanding them to do things and encouraging them to dance, jump and have a good time, while also reminding everyone that “If someone falls down you pick them up!”.
The song they were playing (a song about a person sentenced to death for killing someone else) featured all the members of the trio singing, although mainly Sher and D. When the song was ending Rowi started smashing the cymbals of his drum kit while the low beat of the pedals kept speeding up. Suddenly the pedals stopped. Rowi hit the cymbals four more times, and the band started the next song right away, without announcing it. That song, a metal tune about puppets and a master pulling strings, was extremely long and featured several sections that varied the rhythm wildly, something that this band seemed to enjoy doing. Finally, the song finished with Sher laughing madly, with Rowi’s wings moving rapidly as he rattled his sticks across his drums, speeding up in a flurry of rumbling beats and then smashed his drumsticks down on the cymbals, producing a crashing chord of metallic sounding jangling. After a few seconds, it was over. Or almost. The avali got off his chair, extended his hand up holding the drumsticks high for a few seconds, the crowd roared their approval at the drummer’s fancy style and with a flourish Rowi sat back down and gave the song a fancy finish with a small set of rapid beats. Firi joined in the roar of approval from the crowd, stamping her feet and cheering. The whole concert had been great so far, but the last two songs (that she learned later were covers of two Earth songs, “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Master of Puppets”) had been one of the highest points of the show so far.
“That was a fun one,” Selenu shouted out over the crowd, her lime and white sister smiling broadly.
“Yeah! I liked when…” Firi never got to say which part of the song she’d enjoyed as suddenly without warning the lights dropped. The stage and auditorium was plunged into darkness and the cheers from the crowd died out in confusion. As silence fell a single spotlight snapped on illuminating the lead guitarist Sher.
The bunny began to speak, using two languages, Avali core and something her translator tagged as English, an Earth language, which made sense considering this band had learnt their style on the Human world. There was more than just words however, someone, she wasn’t sure who was playing a deep chord that had a reverberating echo behind it, a lyrical pulsating sound that rose and fell as the song unfurled. A sorrow that reached into the soul and touched despair. There was a cadence, a musical harmony to it that was ever so slightly wrong. A jarring off centre balance that made the mind wander and take a moment to truly comprehend what Sher was saying.
Was there a time when life was hard.
Was there a time when we all died
Our flesh cut, our skin torn
Why did you do that?
The song stilled the crowd, the murmuring that had started up when the spotlight came on died away as the meaning behind the quiet, soft words reached the crowd and everyone sort of just stood still and listened. HThe bunny shut his eyes and continued, this time singing in Avali Core.
In the dark I can’t forget
Experiences, family
Shit's didn’t care for us all
They wanted our flesh to sell...
Then with a long chord from the bass the rest of the band woke up, with an extremely angry fast thumping beat on the drums accompanying the lights flaring back up as the bunny shrieked a loud "YEAH!". The band were backlit, mere silhouettes against a backdrop of gravestones covering the screens. Sher’s paw started to move across his guitar and it screeched to life, launching into a full rock anthem medley as he continued singing. It was a raucous, rapid, spiralling tune as if the band were trying to race one another.
Drawn from the journey through you
Everyone wanted a taste
You weren’t even from home, what?
What do you mean? Seeing us as cattle?
Fuck, fuck you well fucked
You have no idea
The chorus was being screamed in English. Firi had to use her personal translator to understand the words, and it sounded like a furious, disturbing screech of anger and rage, an Earth metal song, with an undertone to it that kept most of the crowd standing still and just listening, watching and wondering, but also moving their heads and feeling the anger the bunny was projecting inside of them. After the bunny doing a fast solo with the guitar, he continued singing
Your face, I wanna puke
I'm done feeling like shit
I just want you fucking gone
And never, never ever return!
The verse after that was angrily sung in Avali core, reverberating in time to the music and reaching beyond reason into the soul. Actually, each verse was in Avali Core and the chorus in English for some reason.
I know you're not done
You have no hopes of redemption
Your joy at our suffering
You're a huge piece of shit
Our screams make you horny
Your cries give you happiness
Our death soothes your heart
I wish you went through us,
Feeling the fear and scorn
Firi’s ears went up, she could hear something else, nearly drowned out by the guitars but slowly growing in prominence. A third tune, angelic and fluidic, a pure tone of symphonic harmony that jarred against the violent rock tune pouring from the drums and guitars. An additional creepy xylophone sound completed the scene.
You've no idea what it is
Being born to die!
It was there again, the humming tune, the angelic tone in the background, rising out of the wailing of the guitars and the thumping of the drums to wash over the crowd as they stood and listened and watched.
You have no idea what it means
Being born to die!
Born to die!
Born to die!
Another shriek of the angelic tune, it was jarring, it didn’t fit the rest of the song and yet somehow it did. Despite being entirely alien it somehow fitted in behind the English words. It was like a chorus of voices, an angelic choir singing into the spaces between words. After a few seconds, however, the chorus became distorted and creepy. Sher switched languages again and the rock anthem crashed over the crowd.
You have no idea what it means
Being born to die!
Born to die!
Born to fucking die
Sher was screaming the final line with a strength that made Firi ask herself if it was healthy for his vocal cords. Again and again, "Born to die" sixteen times and the last one including an extra curse word. The drums boomed furiously but then started slowing down; the voices echoed and the bass thrummed and then as Sher seemed to sag over the final shrieking iteration of Born to die the guitar kept playing very long notes for several minutes, until the music started to fade. There was a slow, quiet crossfading moment and the chorus of heavenly voices came back but this time there was another line.
A screaming sound woven throughout it, a harmonious shriek that echoed around the sorrowful, quiet chorus of whispering angelic voices. A soft tone started, and Firi noticed that Rowi was playing a xylophone installed at his side. He was punctuating every scream, every warbling hum of that other music with a slow methodical tink tink tink of the xylophone until the whole tune stopped. As the music ceased the lights dropped and there was silence as the crowd stood still, the entire crowd felt alive, poised, breath held as Firi and everyone around them soaked up the raw emotions that had poured off the stage during this performance. In the darkness Firi’s visor showed her Sher the bunny staggering off stage, to Avali eyed the dark wasn’t impenetrable, she saw him throw his arms around a pair of Vampire Bunnies standing in the wings with Sawi and the rest of the Ouakkia pack. They must have been family membrane as they clung to Sher in the darkness. It was almost terrifying, the auditorium was silent for a moment then hushed whispers rose from the crowd slowly filling that quiet void.
“That was some song,” Taran whispered, her brother seemed scared to raise his voice too much, “Those screams, you could see the singer was pouring all his emotions into that.”
“It was certainly something,” Seinu chirped, “We aren’t used to screams like this; I wonder about the story behind this song… it felt super raw, even more than the songs they played before. We don’t see this kind of anger in Avali music. Is this the kind of emotions Rowi was looking for when he went to Earth?”
“We’ll have to ask them later if we get the chance,” Selenu said, “Did you see how the other Vampire Bunnies reacted to those angelic voices?”
“I saw,” Seinu said quietly, “I was watching the young female standing next to the Sleriki in the wings, she practically dived inside him to get away from that chorus.”
“A Sleriki?” Taran queried and turned to peer into the wings, “Oh gosh… how did I miss them, I never thought to see one, I’ve only read about them on the nexus, I wonder what they’re doing here?”
“I think he works for MMF,” Firi said, “Eikomi mentioned him, but listen, they are starting something else.
The next song took a while to get going, the Avali on the drums set the beat, the bassist joined in by “slapping” the strings of their instrument rhythmically with either their fingers (usually their thumb) or the palm of their hand making it sound playful and funky. The crowd started clapping rhythmically along with Rowi’s beat. Sher returned to the stage after a minute or two. The audience roared in approval, stamping feet and clapping their hands together enthusiastically; the bunny looked at the crowd and bowed his head slightly to acknowledge his audience though Firi noticed his fur was now a scruffy mess and his makeup appeared to have run, it made him look way more wild in her opinion which oddly suited him and the atmosphere he was building with his performance. He seemed to count a couple times, and then joined in the next song, one that swung the mood back up. The song seemed to be about not surrendering, fighting until the end and being invincible.
Eventually the set came to a close with a long instrumental piece; the band bid farewell to everyone promising to return and asking everyone to take care of each other. D said some words in an Earth language about them finding love and appreciating their family (Firi’s visor identified the language as “German”), and after that they left the stage. A few minutes later the crowd began to disperse. They noticed groups of aliens sitting down around avali crystals like they were fireplaces, talking happily about the show and how they would have to wait around half of an hour for the next artist. Selenu led her pack over to claim one of the crystals for themselves, a blue one that was radiating cold air, it was delightful. They settled in to wait for the next band and Chantelle piped up as she got comfy.
“During the concert, did you notice how Rowi and the bunny looked way closer than I thought they would?”
“Of course, you need to be close to your friends to play in sync like that,” Selenu replied, “They’re one hell of a band”
“No, i mean *way* closer,” Chantelle chirped, “What do you think Seinu?”
“I think it’s not nice to gossip about my new friend,” the silver Avali glanced at his sisters, “But that was a very good show, who’s up next?”
“Apparently a band of Neokoriths named “Krkykkoikod”,” Taran said as he checked the schedule, “then there’s another band from Earth named ‘Anaphylaxis Shock’ and after that it will be mainly soft environmental music for at least 10 hours after.
“We’ll have to catch that one,” Firi said, “I really like the way this Earth music sounds, like I can just let loose and dance to it, way better than our music.”
“I loved how they involved the audience,” Chantelle said as the pack settled down on several piles of cushions around the frigid crystal, “Like I’ve never seen anyone do that before, he had us singing along like we were part of the show.”
”It was great,” Selenu chirped, “And that song in the middle, the one about being born to die, that gave me shivers! How did he switch tracks like that, from upbeat to despair and then back to bouncy again, it was great. Now I can understand why Rowi wanted to go to Earth so much.”
“He’s very good, they all are,” Seinu chirped, “I wish I had that sort of musical talent. But you know me I am all thumbs, I’ll stick to singing, that I can do, it is why I leave the instruments to you guys.”
“I wonder if you can replicate any of this Earth music on your harp sis,” Firi chirped at Selenu.
The Trail pack remained around the stage; the next band didn’t use instruments, but their voices were deep and very powerful; the aliens had big chests that would open and close to let the air come in and out, making their whole bodies act like resonance boxes. After an hour long show, the other band from Earth started. Then they noticed that Sher was there too! This time the bunny was just playing the guitar in silence. After a couple songs the singer explained that their guitarist had gone missing and that Sher was covering for him. Everyone cheered, and while the music was good, it was noticeable that the bunny was very serious, completely focused on playing his parts correctly without botching anything. After an hour of fast “punk rock” music this new band bid their farewells and left the stage, with the applause of most of the people present. After that the pack decided to leave.
“I like this style,” Firi brushed back her braided crest and smiled, “It is loud and fast and makes you want to move,” she clapped her hands together and swayed her waist from side to side, “You guys should try listening without ear protection, it is so good.”
“And way too loud,” Chantelle retorted, “We’d all be deaf, I don’t know how you listen to it raw like this, but come on. That was the last show for us, we have a dinner reservation to get to.”
Seinu and his family wound their way back outside together into the greater areas of the station, their minds still thinking about the music they had experienced. “It’s this way,” Seinu said as he checked his visors directions and led the way across a plaza, “I picked a local specialty restaurant that sounded fun.”
The restaurant itself was pleasant, the whole pack had a blast trying the local delicacies and chattering away like any family gathering. The food itself was fascinating to the Avali, a mixture of steamed vegetables from about six different planets. Not something they were used to but tasty. There was a meat dish that had been roasted, glazed and then sliced and rolled around a sort of bean-paste. Then there was fungus, it was a wide yellow cap that had been grilled and filled with a broth to create an edible soup bowl.
Seinu loved it and after they’d eaten they moved to a large conversation pit full of cushions, drinks and snacks and an actual fire! Avali usually didn’t usually get to experience fire; they would warm up with actual crystals. This fire gave the place a nice cosy mood and a spot for people to chill out, mix and talk whilst watching the flames.
“So what has everyone bought for themselves so far?” Firi asked brightly to “break the ice” as the humans would say, “I admit I have been sampling the online records for Earth music,” she grinned, “They have so many bands like MMF! So much ‘Noise’ for me to enjoy, I looked up Rock and Metal for beginners, the Nexus suggested a band called Hevisaurus, they are brilliant.”
“Oh no,” Chantelle sighed, “Well I haven’t purchased anything yet but I am going clothes shopping tomorrow with Taran, they have some very nice looking clothing stores here.”
“I really don’t need new clothes,” Taran protested.
“You are going,” Selenu said firmly, “As for me I found this thing called an Ice Lamp, it is so pretty, it’s full of Ammonia and it slowly grows colder causing the chemicals inside of it to separate into clumps that float around, it is going in my office.”
“Oh neat,” Seinu smiled at his twin, “I wanna see it, that sounds cool, I found the MMF merchandise shop on the UMF nexus-site, I purchased their entire album collection digitally, including the new one they released for the festival and got a couple of MMF ponchos and a headband, they’ve already been delivered to the hotel.”
“Well I found this old junk computer shop on the lower levels,” Taran smiled, “I got several old computer models to play with from Nartalan, Fordel and a Yorgan liquid data transfer device! It needs restoring to work again but I can’t wait to tinker with them.”
Seinu smiled and leant forward to listen to Taran explain what the hell liquid data transfer was. It was turning into a really good evening, everyone was clearly enjoying both the station and the festival. It had been a great idea to divert here before they headed off into deep space. Seinu even had plans to slip off before they reached the hotel to enjoy some of Warfaisser’s night life before turning in, but for now he would just sit with his family and vibe the evening away with them all.
Sat at a floating Avali style table at breakfast the next morning, Seinu was picking idly at his breakfast reading the information coming in across his visor when Selenu wandered in, his twin sister draped herself against him and ruffled his feathered mohawk.
“You were out late, did you have fun?”
Seinu flicked his ears and grinned up at his sister, “Yeah, the club was just as fun as promised, you’d have enjoyed it.”
“Maybe,” she chuckled, “I was sleepy after that meal, I don’t know how you have the energy sometimes and still get up early after partying until late.”
“That’s just me,” Seinu smiled, “How is your morning going?”
“Not bad,” Selenu said as she settled down in another chair and started helping herself to the tray of breakfast meats, rolling the thin slices around chunks of cheese and fungus, “I had a meeting with the Illuminate first thing, just got done,” she gestured and a hologram appeared, “Once we are finished here we have our first itinerary of destinations for the Odyssey.”
“Oh nice,” Seinu glanced up at the data, “A systems survey on the rim, whilst I prepare for a diplomatic conference. Hmm a border dispute between some of our trading partners oh joy and then an anthropological survey?”
“It should be an interesting first year,” Selenu said and leant back in her chair, “We still have a couple of days here left to enjoy. But I’ll share our itinerary with everyone so people can start to make plans.”
“Sounds good, though six months for an anthropological study,” Seinu expanded the info on that job, “Is it a new species?”
“Relatively new, our Nexus info is severely lacking or… redacted and not for public consumption,” Selenu said, “Some of it is pretty horrific from when this species was enslaved by another and used as… cattle.”
Seinu’s ears wilted, “Damn… ok so they want us to set the record straight by learning about their culture and society? I’m game for this; sounds like something the Odyssey was designed for. Wait a moment,” Seinu sat up, “We know one of the members of this species. Sher, MMF’s guitarist! The guy I got stuck in a lift with a few days ago.”
“Yes of course!,” Selenu sat forward and looked at the info, “Well, the Director wants us to research their species to update the records; seems like Sher has been formally adopted into Sawi’s pack and is dating Rowi. The Illuminate is starting to take note and are sending you to find out more.”
“Well how about that,” Seinu chuckled, “I’ll have to let Sher know if I see him again before we leave. Thanks for the files, I better go start reading about this border dispute.”
“That can wait,” the lime Avali said, “We still have a few days of holiday left, why not join me? I’m going to explore the station a bit and have lunch with an old friend. Then I promised to go shopping with the girls, you should join us, you could do with some new clothes.”
“Ah ha nooo,” Seinu protested, “No. I went shopping with Chantelle the other day, that was quite enough. I wanted a new mantle and kilt but nope, she dragged me to about eight different shops and wouldn’t let me buy anything until I’d tried on enough options to satisfy her that I wasn’t just picking the first thing I saw.”
“You can never have enough clothes,” Selenu chided, “You are a representative of the Illuminate! You need to look your best.”
“I can turn up naked and still look my best,” Seinu protested, “I am an Avali, come on. Anyways, I promised Firi I’d go see a band at the festival ground this morning. They are playing something called “Synthwave” and it sounds quite interesting,” Seinu waved a hand, “It is being billed as an epic show for those with quadraphonic hearing and since that is what we Avali have I am very curious to see how it sounds.”
“Have fun,” Selenu smiled, “I will buy you something nice to try on later bro… you really need more formal outfits.”
“Ughhhhh,” Seinu groaned and hopped up out of his chair, “Nope! I am going before you start talking thread count with me, later sis.”
Warfaisser Station had a very large shopping district, spread across 9 levels with styles, equipment and clothing from hundreds of different races and species. Taran was currently wishing they hadn’t bothered and maybe built an amusement park instead of a space-mall. Seinu had been right to run off with Firi and go to a concert at the UMF: his sister Chantelle was in no mood to let him just “Pick the first thing he saw and buy it.”
“But this is what I want?” Taran protested as he held up the Avali style kilt and mantle, “It’s in my size and a colour I like I don’t need to try it on!”
“Shush,” Chantelle chirped and piled several more items into Taran’s arms, “I refuse to let you just eye-ball it, go try them on and then come out and show me! You’re not dressing like a tramp whenever you need to accompany Seinu to diplomatic talks.”
Taran let himself be herded into the changing room, grumbling all the way. As he pulled the curtain shut his ears twitched as he heard an almost identical conversation in Avali core.
“But I don’t need new clothes!” the male voice protested, Taran recognized it right away and stuck his head back out of the curtain to watch. “You aren’t making Kig buy new clothes! why me?”
“Because I brought nice armour with me,“ Kig rumbled in his deep soft voice, “You didn’t bring anything nice and we’re sick and tired of you looking like a bundle of rags, Kalani,”
Kalani grumbled, “I am an Avali, we barely wear clothes, how was I supposed to know you were going to drag us out to fancy restaurants?”
Eikomi chirped, “We are on holiday and celebrating Sher, D and Rowi’s big gig, everyone is wearing nice clothes, Naha has made an effort, even Sher’s parents are wearing clothes and they rarely wear anything other than hats so you are going to wear something nice.”
“But I picked something nice!” Kalani protested, holding up the clothes he was carrying, “I don’t need to try them on! What about Sawi? She didn’t get anything new and nice either!”
“Sawi bamboozled me with one of her stupid logic puzzles,” Eikomi sighed with an annoyed tone. “She said she’d go shopping by herself unless we could answer one of her riddles.”
“What did she ask?”
“If I try to fail and I succeed, which did I actually do?” Eikomi sighed, “Then she asked,” If we expect the unexpected, does the unexpected become expected?“
Kig chuckled and said “She got you”. Eikomi shook her head and chirped.
"Still, she promised to take care of getting herself something so I trust she will,” Eikomi pointed at Kalani, “But you get in there and try those outfits on.”
“You aren’t buying it until I’ve seen that it fits properly,“ Kig rumbled, folding his armoured arms and glowering at his brother, "I’m not convinced those are the right size. Now are you going to keep arguing with me or go try it on!”
“Fine,” Kalani grumbled and started for the changing rooms, he stopped after a few steps and turned back, “What about Mekari? He never wears anything but a scarf sometimes, why is that ok!”
“Because Mekari isn’t our responsibility, he’s a Sleriki and has proven he can look after himself,” Eikomi prodded the green and white avali toward the changing rooms, “Now shoo.”
Kalani chirped as he stomped toward the changing booths, “The big slime can go naked but not me! Aaaaah this is so unfair!”
Taran chirped at Kalani in sympathy and wiggled his ears in greeting and Kalani smiled hello before asking quietly, “Are your siblings this bossy? You’d think I had insulted everyone by wanting to wear something comfortable! I don’t see her forcing Rowi out shopping.”
Taran shrugged, “It’s easier to just go along with it I find, or they will all chirp at me for days. Besides, sometimes we do have to dress up fancy for Seinu’s work.”
“I wouldn’t even have to be wearing clothes if we were back home”, Kalani grumbled as he started to change, “I hate new mantles, the necks are always too tight.”
Outside Eikomi settled down in a seat and smiled at Chantelle, “Hello you, having a fun time?”
“Yeah, not bad,” Chantelle smiled, “I see you have as much trouble as we do getting your brothers to go shopping?”
“Just Kalani and Naha, Kig is always in armour and he takes good care of them to look respectable. As for Rowi, well, I think Sher has been a good influence on him, he makes an effort to dress nice. Though I wish he’d let us do something about his crest! He refuses to have it styled and just wears it clipped short.”
“Well his kind of quill feathers can be tricky to do anything with, though Selenu and I have the same style and we have made great strides recently with some new tech from the Hallagran Colony, I’ll send you the details” Chantelle sympathised, “But I know what you mean, Taran refused to let us modernise his crest and clipped it all off and now he looks so scruffy! And don’t get me started on his wardrobe, he wouldn’t buy new clothes at all if we didn’t make him. Seinu at least has the good sense to dress well for his job but Taran… lord he is the worst, he’d be wandering around this station without anything on like we were back home if we let him.”
Chattering away happily and occasionally making one of their brothers parade back and forth in a new outfit they slowly outfitted the two Avali with new clothes. The first set was simple and traditional, a kilt and mantle that wrapped about the shoulders leaving their feathers free. The mantles had thick styled collars however that had avali symbology stitched into them. Kalani moaned about that the most for being too tight so Chantelle suggested something from a more modern range of Avali clothing.
The next set was just a kilt made from some sort of soft metallic weave with binary code stencilled around the hem. The top part of the outfit however was just several long strips of fabric. Each metallic-weave scarf was designed to wrap around the shoulders and interleave around their arm-feathers to make it look like they were fully dressed but in effect not apply pressure or restrictions on their movements.
Waiting for the boys to change into the new selection of outfits the girls chattered away happily whilst Kig was content to sit and listen. They’d just about settled on a series of outfits, including some full body robes which caused a near mutiny but both girls remained firm. The robes weren’t “all the same,” as Taran and Kalani insisted and ignoring their protests Eikomi explained how they had to be fitted and tailored for their size and shape so they didn’t trail on the floor and make them look like walking scarecrows. They had just about finished when they were interrupted by a new voice calling out.
"Chantelle Trail, is that you?” The speaker was a human wearing a neat maroon coloured ship suit with a heavy jacket and scarf over the top. She had long black hair tied up in a pony-tail and a pair of goggles covering her eyes, “It is you, Chantelle hey!”
“Diane!” Chantelle chirped and jumped up. “Gosh it’s been ages since I saw you, I’ve not seen you since we took our old ship to explore those asteroids with you!” the Avali chirped a greeting and turned to the others, “This is Eikomi and Kig, friends of my pack. This is Diane, part of the crew of the human survey ship the Ostrich.”
“Well met lady Eikomi, Warrior Kig” the human waved happily, “I trust you are enjoying the wonders and exotic goods this station has to offer?”
“We’re shopping for our brothers, ah here they are now.” Chantelle turned to look as Taran and Kalani came out. They had been sent back in to try on the kilts and scarf outfits again. The knee length avali style kilts were finally the right size after Kig had sent them both back to change into ones that were a bit longer so they fell below the knees. The set of long scarves that wrapped around their shoulders and arms were also now the correct length so the interwoven, back and forth threading across their wing feathers created a rather pleasant ensemble that was attached by bands of cloth anchored around their wrists.
“Very nice,” Diane complimented the pair, “The colours suit you both too.”
“Have you any idea how much of a faff it is to put these scarves on?” Kalani grumbled, “I’m hardly going to wear this for everyday stuff.”
“It’s good for formal wear,” Eikomi said, “This and the other two we picked are perfect plus the robes,” he opened his mouth to complain more but she cut him off, “You were the one complaining the collars on the mantles are too tight, this is the next best thing. So it’s a tight collar or a bit of a faff to wrap it around yourself. Now go change back into that new cloak and ring it up at the counter then we are done.”
“I’d just agree at this point,” Taran rumbled softly to his fellow Avali, “We aren’t escaping this until we agree to their clothing choices.”
Kalani sighed and grudgingly gave in letting the girls pack them off to pay for their new outfits, “I shall go make sure they don’t “forget” anything,” Kig said standing up, “See you all later.”
With the boys heading off the trio of girls departed the Avali clothing shop and made their way down the window lined pathways of the mall to a cafe. It was selling ice-cream floats served over a variety of different fizzy drinks and the two Avali and Human settled down at a table to chat.
“I thought Avali society was more balanced?” Diane queried over her drink, “I didn’t think your females had such tight controls over your males?”
“Nah, our society doesn’t really follow gender stereotypes seen in other cultures; our packs come first and foremost and we are equal in all ways as a pack,” Eikomi chirped, “But those two need a firm hand occasionally or they’d never buy anything new or nice. They even refuse to use nano-looms to make new clothes unless we make them.”
“Ah,” Diane laughed, “It is good to see that siblings are the same regardless of what species,” she smiled, “Admittedly I escaped my family and got out here into space to be free, it’s much nicer being a treasure hunter or resource surveyor than a model or a mother.”
“You’re happy to have left your family behind?” Eikomi chirped, “I can’t imagine leaving my family behind, it is hard enough with Rowi and Sher being away for months and months at a time.”
“I love my family,” Diane smiled, “Don’t get me wrong but living with them all the time? They’d drive me crazy,” she perked up, “Oh but whilst I have you both, are your pack-leaders around? Our ship has a tricky situation we could do with your advice on.”
“Yes Selenu is about,” Chantelle looked around the mall, “She went to go buy herself something nice whilst we made the boys try stuff on but she isn’t far away; I can tell her to come. What’s up?”
“I can call Sawi if you need me too,” Eikomi offered, “We’re not doing anything really until dinner tonight; some of the boys are asleep, resting up after last night’s concert.”
“That’s good,” the human said as she set down her drink looking sombre, “We picked up a distress beacon from an Avali ship a few months ago, we found it shot to shit and only one survivor, out of seven.”
“Oh no,” Eikomi’s ears wilted, “Oh no… How are they?”
“Not good,” Diane grimaced, “We’ve been trying to help, but he really isn’t well. He’s carrying around a lot of guilt, a ton of rage at the way his pack was murdered and he is drinking, like, really heavily.”
“Murdered?” Chantelle said in horror, “What happened?”
Diane sighed, “We recovered some logs, and have heard Ki’s side of the story and they mostly match,” she shook her head sadly, “Their ship was pulled out of warp, an attack by some pirate ship; they knew exactly when and where to attack and hit them without any warning.”
The human shook her head sadly, “Apparently there have been several attacks on Avali shipping in that sector, always well coordinated, supposedly the local pirates have been emboldened by some King’s announcement that the Illuminate won’t protect these independent trading ships. Ki managed to get them out of there by burning through their oxygen supplies but not before everyone else was killed.”
“I’m messaging Selenu now,” Chantelle said very seriously, “We can see what we can do to help.”
“Yeah,” Eikomi said, pulling back the sleeve of her robe to get at her wrist mounted computer, “I’ll message Sawi; we can see and work out what help we can offer, and if he needs a ride back to Avalon for care we can take him.” “Thank you,” Diane smiled, “We honestly have been trying our best but we aren’t Avali, I am not sure he knows how to connect with us properly, we are all aliens to him after all.”
“Pack-loss is a terrible thing,” Chantelle said, “Handling it is never easy; it’s a horrible tragedy that often has no escape unless well treated by packs who specialise in it. We’ll do what we can. Thank you for bringing it to our attention Diane.”
“No worries,” she sighed, “I am glad I bumped into you both, we were going to fly to Avalon next to try and get help but he really is unravelling and I am not sure he’d make it.”
Chantelle looked at Eikomi and the pair of Avali stood up, “Don’t worry Diane, we got this,” Chantelle said, “No Avali is being left alone on our watch, can you go find him and bring him to us? We’ll work out the best place for us to meet, I’ll send you the information in a moment.”
“Sure,” the human stood up, “It might take me a bit but I’ll track him down and convince him to meet with you all.”
“Ok,” Eikomi nodded, “We’ll grab Sawi and Selenu, thank you,” with that the two Avali hurried off in different directions and the human Diane started off to track down her lost, lonely Avali crew-mate.