Chapter Text
"Ahhh!" Ryley took a deep breath as he surfaced near his base. He took in a few deep breaths, slinging his wriggling pack over his shoulder and taking in the surroundings for a momentary rest. He would have to go back down; this was a fact, a certainty on this planet. But he needed this little bit of air, of waning sunlight that touched his face as the two stars of the binary system set over the watery horizon.
4546B's sunsets never failed to make Ryley marvel. Each one painted the sky in shades of bright orange and amber and fiery reddish-pinks that faded into sweet lavender and eventually the deep black-blue of night. Even the night sky was different, with the iridescent colors that swirled around the areas of the sky that were heavy with stars.
This planet was harsh, deadly, savage and fierce. But she was fiercely beautiful.
Oxygen tanks filled, Ryley dove once more, dropping deeper and deeper to where his base lay. He had built it in the heart of the kelp forests, surrounded himself with the warm glow of Creepvines and their luminescent gold seed pods because the light gave him comfort.
Not to mention he was on good terms with the locals. After feeding the Stalker pack that lived near his home, playing with them by tossing scraps of metal and shot equipment, they'd completely stopped being hostile. Though the creatures' long jaws, adorned with many long sharp teeth, were quite imposing, Ryley discovered that the beasts' lives were far more intricate than he'd thought. They had complex family structures, communicating with frequent vocalizations, and were playful and curious. They would cavort in front of Ryley's base windows, bathed in the golden-orange glow of Creepvine seeds, sinuous bodies twisting in a dance that Ryley just couldn't help but stop and admire. When he left his base at night, when the Stalkers were most active, they would swarm him, rubbing their bodies all over his and purr-growling happily, knowing they could get food for good behavior.
Ryley grinned as the alpha of the Stalker pack, an enormous, lavender-streaked female, swam towards him. She nudged his shoulder hard as he stopped by the hatch of his base, sending him off-balance and making him giggle.
"All right, all right," he said, reaching to stroke the female's head, though she shied away in a gesture that said "not just yet - you don't know me that well." He pulled a plump Peeper from his pack, live and wriggling, offering it to her. She snapped it up in a moment, powerful jaws crunching it and swallowing it down. Satisfied with the offering, she swam languidly away, the rest of the pack's eyes glinting from between Creepvines in shades of greens and blues and purples.
"There we go." Ryley closed his pack. "The rest of these are for me, Tiger." he said, using the name he had given to the female Stalker. It was simple, and she'd been named for her fangs and her stripes. He didn't think the Stalkers would take so quickly to names, nor that they'd even respond to them - but this was just another surprise that the planet held.
After peeling off his wetsuit and changing into more comfortable attire for the evening, Ryley picked up his pack. He carefully emptied out the contents onto a table, cracking his knuckles at how best to approach this.
When he had first landed on the planet, Ryley had been cautious about eating the local fauna. Poisoning was certainly a real threat here, after he had seen the colorful and highly toxic Rabbit Rays, the Gasopods with their acidic defense systems, and all the dangerous flora (he still burned himself on the occasional acid mushroom!)
However, after spending a few weeks, he had noticed that his diet of Creepvine greens, Violet Beau, and roasted Brain Coral had taken a toll on him. He had lost weight, and he felt sick. His cough, likely from all the water in his lungs from trying to swim ill-equipped, had even gotten worse.
So he was going to try it out. Eating meat, fresh from the alien ocean. It was a first for sure.. but if people had done it in the past, then he could do it.
He would do what he needed to survive. That was for sure. This planet may be fierce.. but it wasn't about to bring him down.