Speckle (working title)
Monday, 5 March 2018 12:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
keaalu"Speckle" is a working title. You'll note I've attached the tag (Edit: Now it has a proper title, so it's been edited to "Runs from silence", woo!) to a couple of other entries, to save re-linking them...
"Speckle" is the working name the characters give the strange white creature they rescue from the spaceport, because, well... she's speckly? From their point of view, no-one's completely sure if she's sentient or just a smart/-ish animal.
Link to pictures (tumblr)
Yes, Speckle is Pulse. She doesn't understand their language, and they wouldn't understand hers if she could speak it, so there's a lot of confusion in the start. The crew rescue her from the spaceport, from which she was going to be shipped off to a mysterious buyer somewhere, leading to a chase between the planets and the discovery of a mysterious society (hint: might be dragons) at the centre of the galaxy.
But not all is as it seems in the green oasis she might have discovered. Onlythis little white dwarf our heroine might have the key to finally defeating the growing threat at utopia's heart... and only if she can find her confidence and believe in her own abilities.
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Jess (Jevics a'Sekilus) is a cargo handler, member of a small freighter crew of about seven. He's a laima spur with no real plans for life except drifting his way through it.
Mara (full name undecided) is Jess's cousin, and got him the job on the ship. She's highly unimpressed by how undisciplined he is. She's the first mate, and deals with logistics and accounts.
Pip (again, I don't have her full mame) is an albino DuSkai; albinos are outcasts in her society as they're considered duplicitous as they can't change their skintone, but the freight crew don't mind. She's a good all-rounder, deals with navigation, cargo handling and piloting.
The captain – a jet black ondras, who still doesn’t have a name yet – is also their medic.
There's also a vulline with the wokring name of "Kit" (which will probably change when I can think of something because I have far too many samenames right now), who I think is a pilot+cargo handler.
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The big white animal sat awkwardly on the floor next to the tub and dripped, refusing to look up at anyone. Now all the mud and blood had been washed away from its oddly-coloured skin, it had become clear that it had rather been through the wars; florid purple bruises blossomed on its flanks and bracelets of raw skin encircled its ankles.
“Would you find her a place to sleep?” the captain asked, gently, not looking up from his work. “Perhaps she could stay in your room, for now.”
“Captain…” Jess sighed, blowing out a long exhale through pursed lips. “I can’t even keep a plant alive. What do you expect me to do with an actual pet?”
[Captain] didn’t look up from his work, applying disinfectant to their unexpected guest’s sore feet and bandaging the worst of the raw patches. “I’m not asking you to adopt her. Just give her a place to sleep, and maybe some food, until we can figure out her story.” He let one foot go, and waited while the big animal gingerly set the paw back down on the deck before lifting the other one. “Do you think you can cope with that?”
...
The captain glanced up, and smiled, in that vague, stiff ondran way. “She called for help, and you answered,” he said, softly. “And yet she can’t speak, and you’re the only one that heard her. Don’t you think that’s a little… strange?”
Jess stood and considered it, a moment. The animal still hadn’t lifted its gaze off the deck. “I suppose…?” He folded his arms, uncomfortably. “What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.” The captain rose to his feet. “And I’m fairly sure she doesn’t even know how she did it. But I do know it means that we have done more than accidentally adopt a stray animal.”
"Speckle" is the working name the characters give the strange white creature they rescue from the spaceport, because, well... she's speckly? From their point of view, no-one's completely sure if she's sentient or just a smart/-ish animal.
Link to pictures (tumblr)
Yes, Speckle is Pulse. She doesn't understand their language, and they wouldn't understand hers if she could speak it, so there's a lot of confusion in the start. The crew rescue her from the spaceport, from which she was going to be shipped off to a mysterious buyer somewhere, leading to a chase between the planets and the discovery of a mysterious society (hint: might be dragons) at the centre of the galaxy.
But not all is as it seems in the green oasis she might have discovered. Only
-------
Jess (Jevics a'Sekilus) is a cargo handler, member of a small freighter crew of about seven. He's a laima spur with no real plans for life except drifting his way through it.
Mara (full name undecided) is Jess's cousin, and got him the job on the ship. She's highly unimpressed by how undisciplined he is. She's the first mate, and deals with logistics and accounts.
Pip (again, I don't have her full mame) is an albino DuSkai; albinos are outcasts in her society as they're considered duplicitous as they can't change their skintone, but the freight crew don't mind. She's a good all-rounder, deals with navigation, cargo handling and piloting.
The captain – a jet black ondras, who still doesn’t have a name yet – is also their medic.
There's also a vulline with the wokring name of "Kit" (which will probably change when I can think of something because I have far too many samenames right now), who I think is a pilot+cargo handler.
-------
The big white animal sat awkwardly on the floor next to the tub and dripped, refusing to look up at anyone. Now all the mud and blood had been washed away from its oddly-coloured skin, it had become clear that it had rather been through the wars; florid purple bruises blossomed on its flanks and bracelets of raw skin encircled its ankles.
“Would you find her a place to sleep?” the captain asked, gently, not looking up from his work. “Perhaps she could stay in your room, for now.”
“Captain…” Jess sighed, blowing out a long exhale through pursed lips. “I can’t even keep a plant alive. What do you expect me to do with an actual pet?”
[Captain] didn’t look up from his work, applying disinfectant to their unexpected guest’s sore feet and bandaging the worst of the raw patches. “I’m not asking you to adopt her. Just give her a place to sleep, and maybe some food, until we can figure out her story.” He let one foot go, and waited while the big animal gingerly set the paw back down on the deck before lifting the other one. “Do you think you can cope with that?”
...
The captain glanced up, and smiled, in that vague, stiff ondran way. “She called for help, and you answered,” he said, softly. “And yet she can’t speak, and you’re the only one that heard her. Don’t you think that’s a little… strange?”
Jess stood and considered it, a moment. The animal still hadn’t lifted its gaze off the deck. “I suppose…?” He folded his arms, uncomfortably. “What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.” The captain rose to his feet. “And I’m fairly sure she doesn’t even know how she did it. But I do know it means that we have done more than accidentally adopt a stray animal.”