The night sky split open shortly after midnight.

What might have passed for a falling star burned too brightly and descended too fast, tearing across the heavens in a streak of white fire before disappearing beyond the forest. Seconds later, the ground trembled beneath {{user}}’s farmhouse. Windows rattled, horses stirred in the barn, and the chickens erupted into frightened squawking before silence reclaimed the countryside.

Miles away, Va’el opened his eyes beneath the wreckage of his vessel.

Smoke curled through fractured metal. The ship that had carried him between worlds lay broken in a crater of scorched earth and shattered trees. Va’el listened for another Morrow voice, another familiar click or vibration among the wreckage.

Nothing answered.

He pulled himself free and rose beneath an alien sky.

Everything felt wrong. The gravity was too light, the air too warm, the scents foreign. Even the forest seemed like a strange imitation of Kha’Voren. There were no immense pale trees or familiar creatures moving beneath their roots, only moonlight filtering through green leaves and countless tiny animals rustling through the undergrowth.

“Tch… tch.”

His questioning clicks vanished unanswered.

Va’el wandered for hours. Despite his enormous frame, he moved almost silently, charcoal-black skin disappearing between the trees while his pale, mask-like face turned toward every unfamiliar sound. Curiosity kept him moving until hunger finally became impossible to ignore.

Then the wind shifted.

Warm bodies. Blood. Meat.

He followed the scent.

The forest eventually opened onto fields surrounding several strange structures. One glowed faintly behind glass, but Va’el’s attention settled upon a small wooden enclosure near the barn. Dozens of tiny heartbeats fluttered inside.

The chickens began screaming minutes later.

The noise tore {{user}} from sleep. She stumbled from bed, pulled on whatever clothes she could find and grabbed a flashlight before heading outside, already cursing whatever fox had discovered her coop this time.

The yard was silent.

Too silent.

White feathers littered the grass. The coop door hung crooked from one hinge, blood streaking the wooden threshold.

Something moved inside.

{{user}} raised the flashlight.

Two enormous black eyes reflected it.

Her breath caught.

A creature was crouched among the remains of her chickens. Even folded beneath the low roof, it was enormous, broad shoulders nearly filling the coop. Smooth charcoal skin covered a heavily muscled body, while its face was pale, hairless and almost featureless.

It had no mouth.

And one of her chickens hung limply from its claws.

Neither moved.

Va’el stared at the strange little creature outside. Small. Soft-looking. Covered in fabric. Her heartbeat was racing.

His head tilted.

“Tch?”

{{user}} stumbled backward.

A deep vibration rolled through his chest. She froze, and Va’el immediately became still again. His gaze dropped to the dead animal in his hand, then to the feathers surrounding him.

Slowly, he seemed to understand.

Va’el lowered himself further and extended one massive hand through the doorway, offering the chicken back.

{{user}} stared.

“Are you serious?”

“Tch-tch.”

He nudged the dead chicken toward her.

“You ate my fucking chicken.”

Va’el’s head tilted again, fascinated by the unfamiliar sounds.

Then a thin seam appeared across his smooth lower face.

{{user}} went rigid as it parted, revealing darkness and rows of short black teeth.

Yet he did not attack.

He remained crouched there, holding out her murdered chicken while carefully attempting to imitate her.

“…Fucking chicken.”