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Murem Sivaowl Ryggaus ki Capisten, third in line to the Seat of Capisten, was not having the best of days. Or the best of weeks, for that matter.
It had started, somewhat predictably, with his younger sibling Saphah Lelruye Ryggaus ki Capisten - fourth in line to the Seat of Capisten. He wasn’t quite sure what he’d done that Saphah disapproved of, but that disapproval had been violently conveyed by the no less than four assassins that had accosted him on his way back from the Place of Warm Waters.
Barely escaping with his life from the ambush, and leaving two of the killers mortally wounded in his wake, he had decided to pay a visit to his good friend Honyurha Kosres ki Capisten, nine hundred and thirty-fourth in line to the Seat of Capisten. Honyurha had been working for years on something she called a “Translational Instantaneous Movement Engine,” and had benefited a great deal from Murem’s patronage. It’d taken a while to convince her, but finally she’d agreed to let Murem use the device to escape the machinations of Saphah - a mistake, as it had turned out.
The ride had been absolutely awful, and the sudden cessation of it even worse. The T.I.M.E. machine had shattered on impact, and spilled Murem out into one of the most bizarre places he’d ever seen - whereupon he threw up the sthsssh he’d eaten for his break of day meal. It made an interesting puce stain on the yellow plants around him, and only when his innards had ceased pulsing did he have the wherewithal to look around.
His first thought was that he must be dead, and that Honyurha had been right in saying that the device wasn’t ready for live subjects. Still, he dismissed the thought nearly immediately for as much as no one returned to say what the far side of life looked like, surely it was not so strange as this.
A yellow sun beamed down from a bright blue sky - much brighter and more powerful than the old red giant that hung in the skies of home - while around him tall yellow vegetation waved in the slight breeze, bowing before the taller green and brown plants that completely encircled the area. Faint noises drifted through the air - strange chattering, piercing whistles, bizarre cackling, and a bewildering variety more nuanced sounds that had him pressing both sets of sound-directing appendages flat against his skull. The smells, too, were as unfamiliar as the sky and twice as disorienting.
It’d almost been enough to send him catatonic when a flicker of true color flashed in his thirdsight. He turned toward it with a glad cry that died aborning when he got a good look at what had actually attracted his attention.
It stood on only two appendages - how it balanced he could only imagine, but balance it did as it came through the line of tall green-and-brown vegetation - and used two more for gripping, with the only other visible protrusion from its trunk a head with only one set of eyes - how could it see?? - a mouth, two sound-directing flaps, and a large, fleshy protuberance that seemed to be partially protecting its breathing slits.
All in all, a more ramshackle animal than Murem had ever seen, yet it flashed in his thirdsight with the true colors of sentience. It had a mind complex enough to shine, a veritable barrage of colors that had him slitting his third set of eyes in wonder and pain. Not even the young of Murem’s kind shone so brightly - in public anyway. Kits were not shown to public society until they had at least a modicum of control over themselves, though Murem had heard from his older relatives that newborns shone more brightly than any sun.
Still, it was extremely clear that Murem was very far from home, and as the saying went “any cavern is warm when the sky cries.”
It sounded better when spoken.
“Help! I’m lost and I don’t know where I am!” Murem shouted as loudly as he could. The strange being stopped, turned its head to the side slightly, and cupped its forward appendages around its mouth and made a very loud sound indeed. Murem flinched away, making the plants around him rustle. What in the bleak red sky had that been? The true colors visible had modulated a bit, but the noise was completely unnecessary!
It was coming closer now, easily traceable by the noises it continued to make, and Murem could take it no longer. Turning, he fled ignominiously away from the strange creature - creatures, there were more emerging from the vegetation, and all making enough racket to wake the damned - as fast as his running limbs would take him, fighting and manipulating limbs tucked close to his sides and sensory brush pinned back to reduce his profile and wind resistance. This had the happy side effect of reducing the amount of disruptive movement in the plants around him too, and he made it to the shade of the green plants safely.
Still, he didn’t dare slow down until he had put a great deal of distance between himself and his landing place, the claws on his paws digging into the strangely dark soil with every bound, and he eventually came to a stop next to a stream of remarkably clear liquid. A bit of careful testing established that while it was carrying a frankly bewildering amount of trace contaminants, the main component was sufficient to quench his thirst and the contaminants were not going to kill him immediately.
He lay down carefully on the bank with a sigh. Whatever this place was, it was an unholy distance away from his home. Just what had Honyurha been building? He’d been under the impression that her machine had been designed to move people between two geographic locations, not throw them across entire worlds! At least, that had been his understanding of it. There had been a few moments when her explanation had caused him to nod along until he’d nodded off, a fact about which she had given him an endless amount of grief. He hoped Saphah hadn’t done anything egregious to her….
A light prickle of burning pain brought his thoughts back to the present, and he looked down to his paws before being dumbstruck by horror. His fur - usually a beautiful gold - had darkened to a horrible spring green. Like some common fieldworker! Apparently this sun, with its much stronger rays, had done in minutes what his native sun would have taken months to do. Murem was mortified; not only was he now so far from home he barely knew which way was up, now he also had the complexion of some common peasant! Cruryth Ponqirun Ryggaus ki Capisten, Seat of Capisten - and Murem’s progenitor - would turn him away with a blow if he ever appeared with his coat in such a state.
So distracted was he by the deplorable state of his coat that he didn’t even notice the shadow growing longer.
“Kitty!”
Murem started, accidentally vocalizing in his surprise, and the object of his startlement made a high-pitched noise even as he rounded on it.
He stared down at the small alien in front of him, eyes whirling as his hearts pounded. Much smaller than the one he had seen previously, it was like looking at a sun with his thirdsight, true colors shining to rival that of the star above. Additionally, this one spoke much more clearly than the one he had encountered before.
“Growly kitty.”
Granted, it persisted in vocalizing, but its thoughts spoke to him clearly - projected out in such a fashion that even deaf old Qrarqieth Remkir ki Capisten, three thousand forty seventh in line to the Seat of Capisten, who had cleaned the Seat of Capisten for more years than Murem had been alive, would probably have been able to understand it well.
“I am not Growly, I am Murem Sivaowl Ryggaus ki Capisten, third in line to the Seat of Capisten,” he responded with as much dignity as he could muster, and the little alien made the high-pitched noise again. A sound of happiness, he realized, as he watched her true colors ripple and play about her.
“Murm She-owl Roars Key Hatstand,” she replied obediently, and Murem sighed.
“Growly will work,” he replied in defeat, and she brought her forward two appendages together sharply several times, the brilliant color of delight lighting the clearing.
“Growly! I’m Emma! Now we’re best friends!” She declared, and apparently overcome by her emotion she leaped toward him and clasped her limbs around his neck. His fur ruffled in response, and with no little difficulty he pinned his combat limbs back before he accidentally skewered her. This was, from what he could tell in a very light inspection of her mind, a sign of affection.
He brought his manipulating limbs up carefully and returned the gesture for a moment - which caused her to squeeze all the tighter; if his throat muscles hadn’t been as strong as they were he’d be much more concerned - before pulling her gently away. She giggled again - apparently the phalanges on his manipulating limbs were tickling her, and he adjusted his grip.
“I’m new around here, do you know some place I could stay out of the sun?” He asked her carefully and clearly; the longer he was in her presence, the easier it was to understand her thoughts and speak back to her in the same fashion, but he’d rather be safe than be sorry.
She frowned for a moment in concentration, her true colors dimming with something Murem couldn’t name but that pained him more than he’d thought possible for an acquaintanceship of nothing but a handful of minutes.
“Well, my mother doesn’t like animals, and Daddy says we have to abide by her decisions for now, and you’re a person but she doesn’t like fur or soft things, so you can’t come home with me. Um,”
The clouds across her expression - and the dimness of her true colors - lifted like a rising sun and she dazzled him for a brief moment.
“I know a place! It’s not far and really cool! Follow me!”
Not waiting for his response, she turned and marched off into the woods. Casting one final glance over his shoulder to the direction in which the remnants of the T.I.M.E. machine lay, he shook his head and padded after her. If that wasn’t the way back, this way forward as as good as any.
He could only hope he’d find a way home soon.