Chapter Text
Ryland Grace and Rocky were hailed as heros on Earth and Erid. The Eridians were obviously devastated that 22 of their own had been lost to a threat they had no knowledge of, no way to defend against, but overjoyed to know that the engineer had found a solution. Their star would be saved, their planet would be saved. All from the help of this strange, gangly alien.
It had been many many many years since the Hail Mary, the alien’s ship, arrived on Erid, bringing with it knowledge from an entire other intelligent species. Statues had been erected in Rocky and Friend Grace’s honor. Friend Grace even taught pebbles about science and things the Eridian’s had no knowledge of until the human arrived. No one close to the alien could imagine life without Friend Grace in it, especially not Rocky or Adrian.
Grace’s decline had been slow by human standards, staved off for as long as possible by Eridian science and care, but they knew they were nearing the end of their short lifespan. Grace passed peacefully, surrounded by friends. By scientists, by his care team, by Adrian… by Rocky. He was buried in his bio dome, overlooking the beach he loved. A statue was placed above the grave, of Grace and Rocky together, holding hands. Rocky visited every day they could.
It was dark. Why was it dark? Was I sleeping? I tried to move, to push the blankets off me. It didn’t feel like a blanket. The texture was all wrong. It was too rough, grainy. Like sand… like a beach. I like the beach. But sand isn’t a blanket.
My limbs didn’t feel right. Too many. That sent a spike of fear through my heart. What was going on? Why did my legs… those were my legs, right? Or were they my arms? Both felt the same, I couldn’t tell them apart. Why did they feel the same?
I struggled against the weight that seemed to be compacted against me. Grainy sand shifting above me. It was so loud. Every little noise seemed to be amplified. I could hear faint wobbly musical notes. I still couldn’t see.
I scrabbled around, digging at the ground with my hands. I chose to ignore that it felt like I had fewer fingers than normal on each hand. I could only have one crisis at a time. Speaking of crisis, I really needed to reach the surface. If I didn’t get out soon, I might suffocate.
The more I thought though, the more I realized I couldn’t feel my chest rising and falling with my breath. Again, another thing I’ll save for later. The music was constant.
The air around me began to feel colder the more I dug. I could hear the sound of… waves? It was loud, like everything I was hearing, painfully loud. My hand broke through the sand, cold air hitting my skin. I grasped at the ground, pulling myself up, body trembling as I did so. I still couldn’t see.
The air was frigidly cold, but it began to become more bearable the longer I laid on the ground. The noises around me were still incredibly loud. I tried to cover my ears, too many limbs struggling to move how I wanted, clutching uselessly at a body that felt oh so different from what I was used to. The music was louder, more harsh. I could feel it in my core. I could see…
Well, not really. Everything was dark. What I “saw” was everything I heard. The waves crashing, the sand shifting beneath my body as I laid on the beach, the large statue shifting towards me. Wait…
Before I had a chance to react, the large statue came crashing down. On top of me. I tried to scramble out of the way, but my too many limbs got tangled in themselves, my center of gravity all thrown off. I couldn’t even stand.
Somehow, by some miracle, my panicked scramble had moved me mostly out of the way. A single limb, the one that felt most like my right arm, was pinned beneath the statue. A sickening crack met my ears, pain blooming up from the limb. I screamed. Or at least, I tried to. The sound that left me wasn’t human. It was broken and warbled. It sounded like musical notes.
After Grace’s passing, mourning Thrums had been held. Rocky attended every single one. They were at every event honoring Grace. They oversaw the construction of every statue. Every Earth day they would don the Xenonite suit and enter the bio dome, the quiet, lonely bio dome, and sit by Grace’s grave. They would talk about their day, as if Grace was still there to hear it.
In the early days Adrian would accompany them, not wanting their mate to fall into depression being alone with the grave of their best friend, the friend who saved their life. Adrian was the grounding force that kept Rocky from spiraling, from running into the Eridian made ocean and drowning themself.
Rocky didn’t like leaving Grace’s grave unattended during the human’s night cycle. They needed someone to watch them sleep. Adrian had finally convinced Rocky to build a statue at Grace’s grave, that way the human always had someone to watch them.
Rocky now heard that same statue, collapsed onto the sand, pinning an Eridian to the ground.
It had been 10 years since Friend Grace had passed away. Every other Earth day Rocky visited the bio dome, visited Grace. Adrian came as often as they could, having their own stories to tell Friend Grace.
Rocky had asked that Grace’s atmosphere be kept running, wanting to preserve their friend’s habitat. The scientists and care team were more than willing. Young Eridian scientists were occasionally allowed into the bio dome to study the atmosphere and learn about life on Earth, but it was rare. The main Eridians who entered the bio dome regularly were the care team, and Rocky and Adrian.
It was early Earth morning when Rocky and Adrian arrived outside the bio dome. Every Earth year, on the anniversary of Grace’s passing, the two would set aside the whole day to spend with Grace. Today was that day. “I hope Friend Grace doesn’t mind us showing up early today.” Rocky said, musical sounds flowing from them.
“Friend Grace never minded when it came to you, love.” Adrian replied, gently bonking their carapace against their mates. That was something they both picked up from the alien, physical touch. They would nuzzle, cuddle, playfully knock carapaces against each other, ‘hugging ’ as best they could. It was a bit difficult considering Adrian was larger than Rocky, but the two made it work, they always made it work. The human had changed their lives in so many ways.
The two slid into their xenonite suits, flexible panels easily covering their bodies. Soon they were walking towards the beach, towards Grace’s grave. They could hear the waves crashing in the distance, the sand shifting beneath their claws as they walked. It was peaceful. It made their hearts ache. Rocky leaned against their mate, a sad warble leaving them. Adrian leaned back against them, a comforting rumble escaping them.
Suddenly the peace was broken by a loud snap and a cry. It was shrill and pained. It was coming from the grave. The two Eridians jumped, startled by the loud noise. They hadn’t expected anyone to be in the bio dome, yet somehow someone was. Rocky shot off towards the grave, Adrian following close behind.
The statue was on the ground. The base of it had sunk into a hole in the sand. The hole that Friend Grace was buried in. An Eridian was pinned beneath the statue, limb crushed beneath the hand of the statue Rocky. They were the same texture frequency as the animals on Friend Grace’s sweater, the human animal called a “fox”. Grace had said they were orange or red. The Eridian was letting out panicked cries, limbs scrambling uselessly on the sand, trying to free itself.
Rocky felt hot anger run through them. How dare this Eridian desecrate Friend Grace’s burial ground?! Who even was this Eridian? How did they even get in the bio dome? “WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!”