I rolled my shoulders back and clicked my tongue as right on time, just as Tempest had said, two people adorned in the same bubbly suits stepped out of...well nowhere and began walking through the sand. "And they do this every day?" I asked quietly as if I thought they could hear me from where they were.

They were far enough that they shouldn't be able to but I could never be too sure. "Twice a day," Tempest replied, her brown eyes focused on them "Always in groups of two, never stay out for long. Every day they come out, open that-

As if in time with her words the two in the distance crouched over a random portion of sand and dusted it off before lifting what looked like a metal door. "-, Do whatever they do there and leave," She explained. I tried to stretch my neck to see what they were doing there but they were both crouched in a way that gave me only their backs.

After a few minutes, they stood up again and kicked sand over it before leaving out of the same random opening they had entered from. "You'll have any idea what they're doing there?" Astra questioned.

"Not a clue, I found the latch but for the life of me I couldn't get it open," She admitted. Astra nibbled on her nails as she watched the people kick sand over the latch they were working over before walking away from it and disappearing into the random door that opened up for them again.

I got to my feet and dusted off my pants "Have you ever tried when it's already open?" I suggested. She quickly grasped onto what I was implying and shook her head.

"Maybe it's just me but the odds of a two against one are quite risky."

What she meant was she didn't want to risk getting caught again.

"Well there's no time like the present," Astra got to her feet as well "At least we've levelled the playing field a bit more."

Tempest snorted "As if you'd be any help chained together like that," She raised an eyebrow at her "You also seem to be forgetting your broken hand."

Astra waved her off "I don't need two hands to inspect whatever's in there."

I eyed her cast "But you will need both if we stand a chance against them in the first place, we would be stupid to assume they don't come out with weapons," I glanced down at our torn and dirty attire "And we're not exactly dressed for the occasion."

"I have some spare suits that I've collected over time, not exactly in optimum condition but they should help," Tempest offered, "But all weapons I've stolen from them have either run out of battery or..." Her cheeks darkened "I couldn't figure out how to use them."

Astra frowned "Where are they now?"

"Why would I keep something I don't know how to use?" Tempest asked, "I don't exactly have space to gather useless items, I barely use the furniture I have now."

"I noticed your bed felt a bit flat," I tilted my head "You don't sleep?"

"I don't need to sleep," Tempest corrected, "I get the majority of the things I need for energy from the nutrients in the air, soil-

"-You eat dirt?" Astra blurted.

"I take the absorb the things in the dirt, through contact with my flesh," She explained.

"So you like... rub it on you?"

Tempest opened her mouth and raised a finger as if about to reply before letting out a deep breath "You... don't need to know that. I get most of it from the air anyway," her feathers vibrated slightly "So yes, stuff like sleeping isn't a necessity for me but it does feel nice." She admitted.

"I couldn't imagine not needing to rest," I probably had eyebags right now "Must be nice."

She shrugged "Well, I don't exactly have time to rest when I'm being hunted, so it's more a blessing or anyway," She said it naturally, like it was something normal that we all experienced.

"They're still hunting you?" My jaw dropped "What more do they want?"

"Something only I can give them," She said, "They're not a small race, and the ones that aren't inside of there," She pointed in front of us "They're looking for me. Hundreds, scattered all over the planet, right now."

I blinked "But you're right here."

She smirked "They don't know that," She pressed her lips together as if holding in a laugh "Hiding in plain sight is the name for it I believe, the last place they expect me to be is so close. It's fun finding the ones looking for me though, at least Deimos thinks so."

The look on her face told me that although Deimos didn't have to eat meat, he could.

"Why did you say they're looking for you by the way," Astra pressed.

"I didn't," Tempest snapped, "My point was, I have many spare suits that you guys could use instead of...whatever it is you're wearing."

Astra looked like she wanted to ask where the bodies that were once in those suits were but seemingly decided against it.

She hasn't asked why we're handcuffed, we can let the skeletons in her closet stay hidden.

I rubbed my fingertips across the material over and over, trying hard not to complain about its rough texture. "That's unfortunately the biggest one I have Sol," Tempest expressed regretfully, "Humans don't typically come in your size, at least not the ones I've met."

I'd gathered that after I'd asked her where I was supposed to put my extra set of hands and she sheepishly smiled at me and gestured for me to tuck them into my sides and keep them as flat as possible.

A foolproof plan indeed.

The suite was uncomfortable in general but the tightness in the areas where my limbs met made it nearly unbearable to be in. The fabric allowed no air to pass through it and although it provided me protection from the sun wearing it was more an inconvenience to wear than anything else.

And don't get me started on the helmet piece.

Astra had her fingertips curled underneath the heavy metal on her head, stumbling around a bit as she harshly tried to yank it off her head "It's not coming off!" She planted her feet in the sand and hunched over, her knuckles turning white with effort.

"The sides, curly," Tempest instructed grabbed her head "You remove it by the switch on the side."

"I touched the stupid switch and something snagged on my hair but it didn't come off!"

I took a step behind her and slipped my hands underneath her helmet "The mechanism probably got jammed in your curls, wait," I fiddled my fingers a bit making her whine.

"Don't comb out the curls, it takes a long time for them to look like that."

Tempest and I locked eyes and she snorted before slapping a hand over her mouth to muffle her laugh. I curled my lip into my mouth to bite back my smile as a loud sound of shifting metal finally reached our ears and the helmet detached itself from her head.

"Stars, I'm free!" Astra cried, taking in dramatic gulps of her air. The sight of her hair which had moulded itself into the shape of the helmet was the last straw for Tempest and I however and we burst into laughter, which had Astra rolling her eyes and fluffing her hair back into shape.

Tempest wiped an invisible tear from her eye "Thank you to Astra for giving an example of what not to do," She picked up Astra's discarded helmet "A lot of these pieces are quite fragile so I'd heavily suggest treating them as such," She examined it before reaching into it and pulling out a white lock of hair "We're going to have to do something about this however."

A few minutes later Astra was wearing what looked like a black sock on her head, the material was stretchy but tight enough that it contained her hair, and Tempest and I were trying especially hard not to collapse to pieces.

She'd made us promise we'd not laugh and swore that if she even saw us crack a smile we'd regret it. Her hair still poofed up from underneath the material and left a curly imprint on it that just tied in the look of her little bobblehead.

"Okay I think I've tucked in every piece," She patted it and turned around to face us making me take in the deepest breath and Tempest immediately turned around.

"I-I think! I have a mirror around here somewhere!" She spoke in a high-pitched voice and immediately left the tent, leaving me with Astra who then turned her attention to me.

My bottom lip wobbled.

"You guys just think I'm a joke don't you?" She scowled. My eye twitched at the way her material-wrapped head bobbed to the side with every slight movement of her head. Tempest finally returned, looking like she'd left her laugh outside "Let me see, it can't be that-oh."

She reached forward as if to touch her reflection but as soon as her fingertips touched the smooth glass she raised her hand to touch her bobble head. A snort left her lips "I hate this planet."

"I can't believe you're going to infiltrate the human base dressed like that," Tempest admitted, an amused smile on her lips. A silence fell over the both of us and Astra glanced at me, her eyes shouting 'I'm going to do what?'

Tempest sensing our awkward tension grasped the mirror tighter and pulled it closer to her chest "Did I say something wrong?"

I shook my head "Oh no, no of course not, I think it's my ears. It almost sounded as if you just said Astra's going into that dome," I brushed off, starting at her face that melted into a frown.

"Well not alone of course," She gestured to the metal around our wrists "Obviously you'll be going together."

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