The dapper adventurer strode down the bridge. He wore a black atmosphere suit, protecting him from asphyxiation. The form-fitting suit also showed off his muscles very well. He was very handsome, with a strong chin, high cheekbones and a rugged look. The most noticeable and special were his eyes, with their silver irises and black sclera. He smiled brightly, revealing his perfectly white teeth. He felt proud at the prospect of being the first to explore and discover this planets secrets.

Following him was a smaller figure. Her skin was a dark purplish color and her black eyes squinted in the bright light. She didn't need a suit since she could stand this atmosphere. She straggled under the combined weight of her backpack and the four bags she was holding, one in each hand.

"An'hlj!" She hurried to catch up with him, despite the extra luggage.
"Yes sir?" Her eyes shone, looking up at her leader in awe.
"Hold this for me, will you?" He handed his own satchel to her. She barely caught it in time.
"With all due respect, sir, is all of this necessary?" Her voice was soft, extremely careful.
"Of course! It's essential for the strenuous journey we are taking." Her eyes lit up at the use of the plural. She nodded profusely. 'It's only natural that Macan has thought this all through.' She thought, trying to keep up with his pace.

The two entered a thick forest? They weren't completely sure what it was supposed to be. Ajs studied the tall plants, covered in what looks like brown plates. She handed one bag to another hand that was already holding one. She carefully peeled one off. Underneath are tiny creatures, which have made holes in the plant. They were red, with six limbs. Perhaps eight, if the things on the heads weren't antennae. They were carrying matter much larger than themselves. She immediately felt somewhat of a kinship with them for being small, but still strong. That and they were kind of cute, in her opinion. One climbed onto her finger. She giggled, watching the little creature explore.

Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her finger. It had bitten her! She shook her hand wildly, trying to throw it off. When she was sure it was gone, she sighed in relief. It hadn't penetrated her skin, luckily.
"An'hlj!" she heard Macan call out. She was immediately filled with worry, as she rushed toward him.
"What is it?" She panted.
"Do try to keep up."

After a few hours of walking, it was decided that a break was in order. The two of them sat down on the remains of a fallen plant. A tree, but she wasn't sure what kind.
"Hey, An'hlj? Do you still have the blue bag?" She nodded, handing the heavy thing to him. He opened the bag. When she saw what was inside, she had to bite back her anger.
"Why have you taken the V.Com along? You don't need to answer messages in the middle of the wilderness." He smiled his disarming smile, and replied.
"I didn't catch up when we were flying here, since someone needed to fly and you were sleeping." His tone was accusatory as he said that.
"What about the autopilot?" She responded tersely. "And I was sleeping because I thought it might be better to get into this fully rested, since we don't know what might be out here." He didn't give an answer. Macan scrolled through the mails his adoring fans had sent him.
"Hm. I don't know any Ajs, right? I don't know the sender, T'yv, either." His finger seemed to go in slow motion towards the delete button as she called out.
"Stop!" He turned to her, rolling his eyes.
"What is it now?"
"That's for me," His eyebrow rose.
"Then why are they sending it to me? Use your own communicator then." He replied, deleting the mail.

"T'yv is my mother." Ajs hissed at him. She didn't want it, but she felt tears well up in her eyes and for once, she actually hated Macan. She hated that stupid, proud, selfish emerian, who had seemed such a smart and brave hero. She'd been crushing on him for ages, justifying all of his bad decisions because she didn't want to see reality. "I don't have a communicator, but I told her your adress, so she could reach me when it's absolutely necessary. I told this to you two days ago." She spat. He was still looking at her with that look of ignorance. Deciding that she couldn't bear seeing his face any longer, she stormed off.

It might not have been the best idea, but in her anger, she hadn't taken any note of her surroundings. Ajs was standing in front of a large cave, which was richly decorated. All kinds of objects were stacked everywhere. Animal skins, utensils, shiny objects, bones, clothes. The creature that lived here seemed to have a fondness for hoarding. She walked in some deeper, curious to see who or what was inside. She had come along with Macan as the biologist of the group, but she never actually got a chance to study anything. She was too busy carrying luggage, cooking and acting as scout, bait or nurse. From deeper in the cave, she could hear a low buzz. Ajs followed the sound, walking into the next 'room'. She was stunned as she beheld its contents.

There were skeletons of many animals, scattered throughout the room. There were also bipedal skeletons among them. There was old technology...and some new. At least one spacefarer had perished here, judging by the suit lying on the rest. A swarm of creatures were on the wall opposite her. The movement of their tiny wings created the buzzing. They were crowding around a giant structure, almost covering the entire wall, reaching from the ground to the ceiling. The material looked organic, slimy and partially dissolved. She screamed, when they all swarmed her simultaneously.

'Calm down.' She couldn't tell where the voice was coming from. She ignored it and continued to hit the air around her in an attempt to ward off the bugs. Despite this, she could feel them crawling all over her.
'Listen to us, we did the same for you.' What was it talking about?
'We know you, we have heard your call. Let us make it right.' They knew what they were doing, right? She stopped moving.
"An'hlj? Are you in here?" She heard Macan, not too far away.
'Our enemy is coming.' She felt her anger return as she heard his footsteps come closer. Swiftly, she turned around to face him when he arrived.

Finally, Macan arrived. His mouth fell wide open when he caught sight of her. She could guess by the slightly ticklish feeling she felt that it was because of the insects crawling all over. She simply looked him in the eye, waiting for him to speak.
"A-are you okay?" He stuttered.
"Yes."
"I came to...apologise. I'm sorry." She glared at him, how could she believe a word he was saying? He always fell short of her expectations in everything. Her swarm surrounded him, ready to attack.

"We don't need you. Your apology means nothing to us." She spoke, though she had definitely felt something when he apologized. She barely noticed that her voice sounded like many speaking at the same time, and she didn't care. All she cared about was the blind rage she felt. Macan raised his hands defensively.
"I guess you're right to say you can do it all alone...but I do need you. I guess I never really did thank you for all your help," He had ceased to look at her, instead, turning his gaze to the ground.
"and I am truly sorry for that." He raised his head again, meeting her eyes, hope in his own.

'Crush him. He deserves it.' She smirked,
"Beg." For a few seconds, he didn't do anything, but then he went down on his knees.
"Please, I...beg you to come back. This is not you."
"It isn't? How would you know? You can't even remember my name!" She shrieked. As a response, the swarm closed in on him even further.
"Y-yes, I do." He paused for a moment.
"Ajs, you are extremely curious about all kinds of lifeforms, really intelligent, always reading scientific reports I can't understand, really hardworking and reliable too." He smiled at her. Her expression was unreadable.
"You kept bringing in stray reii when we were staying on Deidana, and even found good homes for them." Her eyes closed.
"You are always willing to help anyone, and do it with that really sweet smile of yours." She attempted to cover her ears with her hands,
"That is why I am confident in saying that this isn't you."

'Kill him!'
'No!' She struggled, and the insects all returned to her, ceasing to surround Macan.
'This solves everything!'
'No it won't!' Suddenly she felt a hand around her wrist and she was pulled out of the swarm.
"I think we need to run!" And run they did, with the swarm on their heels. A body of water appeared in their peripheral vision.
"Jump in!"
"No, keep running, they'll wait for us to come up to breathe!" After a lot of running, they finally lost them. They had given up, returning from where they came from.

It was completely silent when they returned to the ship. Ajs fiddled with her hair.
"Did you really mean all those things?"
"Of course."