The wind was quite harsh as Xeno Dessaron One disembarked from the small shuttle. Thalsa Two wasn’t a particularly popular place to go outside of two particular species, Vrekans wanting to go on holiday and Lanex who wanted somewhere new to explore. Because of this, the large islands were nothing more than Vrekan tourist traps, while the smaller islands were mostly uninhabited, and the only way to travel to most of these places was by boat. But getting to Thalsa Two in the first place required a transfer flight from Thalsa One, which was a heavily inhabited planet where only Vrekans lived, and things weren’t designed with non-Vrekans in mind.
That was fine for Tenuk. He’d shapeshifted himself into a cute, lithe, bright blue Vrekan. Vrekans normally had dark plumage with varying bright neon patterns and small, glowing spots across their bodies, but Tenuk had decided to ignore biology and logic completely and keep his normal bright blue fur, and make the glowing spots running down his back and arms a bright red. He would have stuck out like a sore thumb if Retvik, Kayel and Nyssi weren’t all present. Sure, Nyssi fit in the seats, at least, but everything was way too big for Kayel and way too small for Retvik.
Thankfully, the person in charge of coordinating everything was a Lanex. Ilga Waverider was a very tall, very muscular, smooth-plated Lanex who wore specially made swimming gear at all times, and had augmented herself to the point that she had special extend-o-matic flippers built onto her feet. Ilga had lived on Thalsa Two for most of her adult life and was fascinated with the local island wildlife, and when she’d discovered a nest of monsters that had been killing off a large colony of penguins, she was desperate to get the problem sorted out as fast as possible. Lanex were larger than Vrekans, which meant that Retvik at least fit in the small truck Ilga had brought to ferry them to the hotel.
There was a small problem though. Ilga had never met a Rethavok in person before, let alone the much rarer Skyavok and Spast that were present. And Ilga was immediately fascinated by Retvik.
“So, you’re… like, a prime example of your species?” Ilga asked as she very much made sure that Retvik sat in the front with her.
“Uh… yes… I was part of a bloodline tradition. We, uh, ended that about a month ago though.” Retvik had been very patient so far and had diligently answered all of Ilga’s questions. It helped him keep his mind off the fact that they needed to take a boat ride to a smaller island where the hotel was.
“Have you REALLY not met a Rethan before?” Nyssi asked from the back seat as the truck pulled into a small garage located almost directly on a large pier.
“Nope, nope!” Igla beamed. “Seen them on telly, haven’t seen one up close! And what a fine first meeting this is!”
“And you’re not at all curious about the Skyavok or the fucking shapeshifting Spast?” Nyssi frowned.
“Oh, I am, but…” Ilga gestured at Retvik. “Look at them! Their higher-caste trims are literally metallic gold!”
“Uh… I use he and him as my pronouns…” Retvik muttered.
“You do? That is… most peculiar!” Ilga parked the truck, then climbed out. It seemed that she not only owned a few trucks, but she owned several small boats, all parked along the pier. “May I ask why? From what I know about Rethavok, you all mostly identify as non-binary, but you don’t?”
“I, uh, have spent most of my life among other races, and most people call me a ‘he’ so that is what I call myself…” Retvik did his best to explain.
“Ohhhhh! So Rethavok who are isolated from other Rethavok pick up gender traits from other species? Curious! Have you ever considered calling yourself ‘she’ or is a male pronoun the default choice for isolated Rethavok?” Ilga kept on asking questions as she led the four strange beings towards a motorboat. She handed everyone a life jacket, then forced everyone on board before climbing in herself, untying the ropes and getting ready to set off.
Thankfully, the trip to the next island over was relatively brief. The hotel they were staying at, the Golden Pearl Resort, was quite busy, but the Vrekan tourists were shooed off by the hotel staff, who knew to keep the tourists out of the way out of the Lanex researchers that regularly popped by. Ilga barely stopped for breath as she immediately helped Xeno Dessaron One check in and took them to their room. For some reason, they were sharing a semi-penthouse room that had four beds in it.
“You… seem to be in a hurry…” Kayel frowned as Ilga pulled sheets of paper out of her satchel and handed them out.
“I am!” Ilga tutted. “There’s a bunch of horrible monsters killing a bunch of penguins and I need you to help me stop them as fast as possible! A friend of a friend, a Kolasian researcher by the name Atuo, pointed me in your direction, said you were quick and efficient, and that is exactly what I need!”
Tenuk blinked, then swiftly turned back into his normal Spast self. This did briefly scare Ilga, but she quickly straightened herself out. “Uh, can I ask a stupid question?”
Ilga stopped tutting and started smiling. “There are no stupid questions here!”
“Well…” Tenuk hesitated. “There definitely are… But my question is, what the fuck is a penguin?”
Nyssi snorted, but this got her a very mean glare from the blue-armoured Lanex.
“What?”
“Do not insult your friend, he seeks knowledge! And he is not alone! After all, today, I met a Rethavok and a Skyavok for the first time!”
“You’ve met a Spast before?” Tenuk asked.
Ilga nodded. “A handful, yes. My university studies which brought me to Thalsa Two were sponsored by a Spast biology college. In exchange for guides around the southern islands, they helped fund my work. As for your initial question of what a penguin is, well, you are in for a treat! Because I’m taking you to the Floppy Isles where there’s a MASSIVE colony of pink-backed penguins that need your help! And we’ll get to see lots of other wildlife as well, like moas and terra-eagles and mosasaurs and all sorts!”
“Hang on… the… the Floppy Isles?” Kayel interrupted. “What sort of name is that?”
Ilga shrugged. “I didn’t name the place, the local Vrekans did.”
“But… why?”
“Because, from above, the islands look like three flaccid penises. According to the Vrekans. I don’t see the resemblance myself…” Ilga was slightly less amused now, but she quickly perked up. “I’m just glad they didn’t call them something beginning with the letter V… Anyway, you’re all probably a little jet-lagged, so I’ll let you all relax a little bit! I’ll be in the lobby at 1pm tomorrow to pick you all up and take you on an adventure!”
The cheerful Lanex got up and waved goodbye, then almost danced out of the room, she was so cheerful, glad that her penguin-based problems were finally about to be solved.
Retvik, Tenuk, Nyssi and Kayel all looked at each other, all of them feeling a flurry of emotions.
“Well, she seems nice!” Tenuk eventually smiled.
“She does…” Retvik wasn’t quite as sure. “Very… bouncy.”
“I have more questions than I have answers…” Kayel muttered. “Like, sure, I know what a penguin is, but what the fuck is a moa?”
Nyssi tutted, but quickly straightened herself out. “If they’re anything like Temthan moas, then they’re probably pretty cute. Anyway, shall we go get something to eat? We’re in Vrekan territories, it means we can stuff our faces with buttery seafood.”
Everyone else shrugged, then followed Nyssi down to the restaurants.
“Sure. We’re all hungry anyway…”