Aley collapsed on the pile of blankets, exhausted. She had been screaming and kicking the door for a good five minutes, but no one even passed by the door on the other side. They weren't coming back.

She drew up her knees and rested her aching head on them. Hot tears gathered in her eyes, accompanied by a shuddering breath. Rocki is going to die and there isn't anything I can do about it. I shouldn't think like that ... Maybe the valicara will keep her alive and try to kidnap me. But maybe they'll kill Rocki just to keep the sariun from winning. What if they do kill her? What if I never see her again? Her jaw quivered. What about Mom and Dad? They don't know what's going on either. We're just gone. There's no way they'll ever find us. We're going to be stuck here if we survive the war. Maybe they'll take us home if we end everything. I really want to go home. A sob jumped from her throat, echoing slightly around the room.

She let her fears overtake her. The fear of Rocki's death; her own life; aliens; a war—The thoughts circuiting her brain made her heart pound and tears come in heavily. Her head was hot and throbbing, her wings uncomfortably sore, but she dared not take the medicine Tavl had supplied. There were too many things about it she didn't know.

She gave herself a long, hard cry before finally pulling herself together. I'm going to figure out how to rescue Rocki. I have to.

Her eyes landed on the blade still embedded in the wooden floor. The blade that had come from her body. It was long, thin, and plain, but clearly very sharp. She had seen similar blades come from the sariun during the fight where they lost Rocki.

As if I needed something else to let me know that I'm not really human. Her jaw clenched. She turned over her right wrist, staring at it. There isn't any mark. No bleeding or scar. Where did that freaking blade come from?

She heard footsteps.

Her head snapped up as someone knocked on the door. Xinn opened it warily, eyes darting around before landing on her. "Savioress. How are you feeling now?"

She rubbed under her eyes, sure he would be able to see how swollen they were. "The same as before," she said bitterly. "What do you want?"

"I've brought you the water you requested and something to eat."

She looked away, crossing her arms. "I don't want anything from you."

He took a few steps in, closing the door behind him. She could see now that he bore a tray ladened with food. "Is it less of a crime if I am merely the one delivering it and not the cook?"

"I don't want anything from you or your alien people," she practically snarled.

He raised an eyebrow. "You do want to get your sister back, correct?" he said coolly.

"Yes, of course. That's what I've been telling you."

"Then I advise you keep up your strength and eat, Savioress." He crouched, setting the tray in front of her. His eyes locked onto hers.

Aley frowned. "Don't call me that." Dang it, he's right though. She forced herself to grab some bread-looking thing, tearing it open to peer inside.

"You don't wish for me to call you by what you are?" His voice was languid and pleasant, as if he were having a conversation with a familiar acquaintance.

"It's weird. It would be like me calling you "alien" all the time. Call me Aley, or Aleyis, or nothing at all." She pulled off a small piece of the bread and popped it into her mouth before she could think any harder about it. It tasted like charcoal and pine trees, which was an odd flavor considering the trees here definitely weren't pines. Regardless, it was gross.

Xinn settled on the floor more comfortably. "All right. Did you take the medication Tavl left you, Aley?"

She felt almost guilty as she glanced up at him. "No. I... I wasn't sure how to take it."

"If I may." He waited for her nod before grabbing the medicine box from the floor. He opened it and took out one of the packages. She watched as he unwrapped it carefully, some of the paste sticking to the edges. He held it out to her. "Eat it."

She looked at the green gunk with distaste. "Like, swallow it and everything?"

A smirk tugged at the edge of his mouth. "Yes."

Aley slowly took it from him, frowning. She stared at it, debating the best way to put it in her mouth. Eventually, she used her finger to scoop most of it out and threw it in her mouth before she could hesitate any longer. It was like eating a bush. The entire thing tasted like dirt and leaves.

Forcing herself to swallow, she grabbed the cloudy liquid in a mug, not caring what it was, and gulped it down before she could gag too hard. Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew. Why is everything so gross here?

She though she heard an amused snort from Xinn, but when she glanced up at him, he was looking to the side, not paying her any attention. She shifted her gaze down at the mug. At least whatever was in there didn't have any taste.

"What is this?" she asked.

Xinn glanced over, slightly raising a brow. "I told you, water."

"This doesn't look like water."

"What do you mean?"

"It's cloudy. Did you give me dirty water?"

"Of course not." He took it from her and peered into the mug. "It looks fine."

"Why is it that color?"

"That's the same color it always is."

She stewed for a moment before realizing. "Your water isn't clear."

"Water has always been opaque here." He shrugged.

"Well," she said, "on Earth, drinking water is clear. Large bodies of water like the ocean or a lake can be less clear though."

He raised his eyebrows. "Our ocean is never see-through.

She took the mug back from him, cautiously taking another sip. "It pretty much tastes the same." She was quiet for a moment. "Xinn..." The name felt strange, but she would have to start getting used to it eventually. "Do you think Rocki is all right?"

He met her eyes without saying anything. It was starting to get easier to look into his creepy black sclerae. He studied her eyes for several long moments. "I will be honest with you." He took in a slow breath. "I don't know. I don't think they will kill her, not if they want to conquer us. But I don't know what conditions she will be kept in. I don't want to scare you, but I can't lie to you."

A shaky breath left her lungs as she glanced away, cradling the mug to her chest.

Xinn tilted his head a little. "You seem very fond of your sister. You must have a good relationship."

She smiled, but there was no joy. "We do. She's my closest friend." Her eyes focused on the blade still stuck in the ground. "We aren't usually very far apart. She doesn't live far from me or our parents. This is probably the longest distance we've been apart in a while." She tilted her chin towards the blade, desperate for a change in subject before she started crying again. "How did that happen?"

He glanced over. "You did that earlier, remember?"

"Yes I remember, but... how did I do that?"

He readjusted his sitting position again so his body was tilted slightly in the direction of the blade. "It must be your sariun side. You got the valicara wings and the sariun blades."

She eyed him. His body was relaxed. He seemed comfortable in her presence. "Can you do that?"

"All sariun can." He flicked his wrist, grabbing the blade that flew out. It was thicker than hers, but much shorter. He flattened his hand, offering it to her, so she gingerly took it. "We use them for hunting and fighting, as well as simple chores, like cutting or pinning. It's hard to imagine what we would be like without them. These are what make us more predatory than the valicara, so by rights we should have won the war by now." His voice hardened. "But they have their knowledge of technology and machines that protects them." He flashed his fangs, but off to the side so it wasn't directed at her.

Aley didn't say anything, just flicked her eyes up to him, then back down to his blade. It was warm. Not hot, but more like room temperature rather than chilled like most metal was. It felt strong, and then edges were sharp enough that she accidentally gave herself a small cut.

"How does it work?" she asked. "How does a flesh and blood body create a blade?"

Xinn shrugged. "I'm a soldier, not a scientist."

She studied it for another minute, before sighing and giving it back. "How long do I have to stay in here? I want to do something to help find Rocki, not sit around and wait for someone to make a decision."

"We thought it was best for you to spend the night here," Xinn said, setting the blade to the side.

Her wings flicked back. "What do you mean, spend the night here? You want me to sleep in this room? I thought it was just somewhere safe to put me for a little bit."

"It is. Safe. Since this is our most secure location, it makes sense to keep you here."

She stared at him. "Are you serious?"

He got on one knee, tilting his head to the side with his eyes cast down. "Yes. I should attend a few more things. I'll leave you to your meal, Savioress." He grabbed his blade and stood.

"But..." Aley wasn't really sure what to say. She didn't want to be left alone, but did she really want to ask this alien to stay with her?

"Until tomorrow." He tried to pull her own blade from the wooden floor, but it snapped in half at the pressure, so he had to bend over the grab the other side as well. When he got to the door, he turned and nodded at her. "Aley." The door closed with him on the other side.

She stood, putting her hands on her hips. "Well, thanks a lot for making sure I was okay with that." She stepped over to the door, trying to open it, but he had locked it again. "Stupid idiot. What am I supposed to do now?"

Her eyes landed on the "bed" she had been sitting on. She let out a long sigh, suddenly feeling the weight of the day overcome her. "Sleep sounds good."

After making her way back to the pile of blankets, she pushed her uneaten dinner away so she wouldn't have to smell whatever weird stuff they had on there. She didn't think she could bear to try another horrible-tasting food. She used one of the blankets to cover her, but didn't close her eyes yet, allowing them to wander around the wooden room. The unknown that waited outside of those walls scared her.

She sighed again, screwing her eyes shut. It's an adventure anyway.