Extraterrestrial Extravaganza! Avoiding Abduction on Aityaia

[Fox]

“Haha, I wonder where Nina went!” Ridley chuckled, playing along with her little game as she exploded into another giggle fit. Her exuberant energy lifted his spirits and made him forget just for a moment the gravity of their situation. Still, he couldn’t entirely forget it as he was the one responsible for keeping them both safe and getting back to Blair and Frankie in one piece.

“Excellent! Come, my tiny apprentice!” Ridley cheered, pumping a fist into the air.

As he did so, Nina sprang to his side and took his hand in her own. He blinked in surprise at the sudden gesture, but quickly smiled and gave her little hand a squeeze in return. His heart filled with a warmth that felt strangely nostalgic. Ridley didn’t ruminate on the feeling for too long, making a big show of taking an extra large step to kick off their adventure.

He bounced ahead, gently tugging Nina along and started heading back toward town. The first thing to handle was probably the suit that Nina had traded. Hm. Well, the first thing to do was probably go back to the place where she’d made the trade. Ridley just hoped that she’d traded it with a local and not some tourist that was long gone.

“Dr. Nina~!” Ridley sang out in a playful tone, “Do you think you can take us back to where you traded your silver suit? We’ll start our search there!”

Making this process fun for Nina instead of scary was important to Ridley. As long as neither of them were in any danger, it was fine for her to think of this as a game. She’d been properly remorseful for the potential danger that she’d unknowingly put another in, so he was content that she understood the gravity of the situation. He’d, of course, keep a weather eye out for any of Moreau’s people or hunters that happened to recognize Nina, but as long as he did that, everything would likely be fine.

---

Ridley | #800080 | Post Count: 16

[Bobbie]

As Ridley walked ahead, tugging the girl along, Nina smiled quite happily as she clutched onto his hand like her life depended on it. With another little giggle, she tried to mimic his large step, but, in truth, every step that she made needed to be large in order to keep up with his. Occasionally, she would throw in a little hop to close the growing gap between their gaits.

“Yes, Dr Ripley?” she replied in an equally sing-song tone, but she was not as composed as he was, and yet another giggle escaped her. As he asked his question, she offered a single exaggerated nod in response. “Of course! It was at the beach…” she muttered, but a slight frown soon replaced her big smile, the bandages around her face loosening as they were no longer held taut by her wide grin. “Erm…” she stopped walking, but held onto Ridley’s hand as she turned to look around and try to figure out which direction they would need to go. Worry washed over her – what if she couldn’t take him there? She would ruin the game and then he wouldn’t want to play anything with her again. “Erm…” she repeated, before she had a genius idea!

“This way!” as she turned back to Ridley, her frown was once again turned upside down as she smiled and began to pull him in one direction. Her ‘genius idea’ was, of course, to follow the butterflies, and this plan could become apparent to an eye trained to detect patterns, as each time the butterfly changed direction, so did she. Sometimes she would lose it and come to a halt, only to follow its winged companion instead.

Yet, perhaps by nothing more than a stroke of luck, Nina would eventually pull Ridley out into a clearing, the sandy shore up ahead and the waves gently splashing their way toward it.

“Here!” she exclaimed as a stray butterfly fluttered across the pair to reach a bush a couple of feet away upon which a kaleidoscope of butterflies of all colours had sought refuge and made their home. “Look.” Seeming to never run out of energy, the girl pulled Ridley by his hand once more to take him to a large boulder and pointed behind it in the sand, “Over here! I bet whoever left their bag here thought it was well-hidden, but I found it!” she exclaimed in a proud tone, as if she’d won a game of hide-and-seek.

Of course, the bag was no longer there, but that didn’t necessarily mean its owner wasn’t – surely nobody would place their belongings in the same spot to be stolen a second time, right?

---

Nina: #ffa516

[Fox]

Nina didn’t seem all that sure of where she was going, but Ridley wasn’t too worried. He trusted that it would come back to her eventually. As if his confidence in her had struck her with divine inspiration, Nina seemed to remember, shooting a smile back at him and tugging him after her. He went along, trying to keep pace with her. She was moving around sort of erratically, changing directions with seemingly no particular rhyme or reason. Ridley wondered if they hadn’t looped back on themselves a few times.

It took him a while to realize that her face lit up whenever she caught sight of a butterfly and would dart after it. Ridley was just about to say something when they came out onto the sandy shore, the butterfly that they’d been currently following fluttering over to a bush absolutely filled with them. Maybe this was how Nina had found this place before. He wouldn’t have put it past her.

Nina’s constant enthusiasm earned a soft chuckle from Ridley as she pulled him over once more. Ridley looked over at the spot and nodded, giving Nina a little pat on her head.

“Great job, Dr. Nina,” Ridley said playfully before casting his gaze out to the beach proper, “This is a great start! Now we just need to find the owners.”

Hopefully, they’d be right around the corner, but Ridley somehow doubted their luck would be that good. Stepping out from behind the boulder, he surveyed the beach.

“Do you see any clues, Nina?”

---

Ridley | #800080 | Post Count: 17

[Bobbie]

The gentle pat on her head elicited a wide toothy grin from Nina, accompanied by a little giggle as her eyes narrowed into slits. “Thank you, Dr Ripley!” she replied in the same playful tone that he used, trying to look as professional as he did, now that she had her own fancy doctor’s coat.

Having let go of his hand, she watched him step out from behind the boulder to survey the beach and get a good overview of the space they were working with. First she tried to peep out from behind him, then withdrew and found another solution.

While she heard his question, she didn’t answer it just yet as she began to let out a couple of laboured breaths, straining herself until she successfully climbed to the top of the boulder. Quite proud of herself, she sat atop her stony throne, out in plain sight for everyone at the beach to see her, as she raised one bandaged hand to her brow to shield her eyes from the sun.

“I don’t see any clues, Doctor Ribley…” her tone quickly grew to be more disheartened than anything else as she realised that this was going to be a long task, and perhaps one that would be a lot less fun than she originally thought... her smile soon returned, however, as the girl turned her head to spot something of greater interest - a dragonfly!

The girl began to sway in her seated position, her gaze following the movements of the winged creature that shimmered and reflected the sun’s rays in all sorts of beautiful hues, and no longer scanning the area for anything that would be helpful. It was getting closer for a moment, and then moved away, then it hovered closer again, almost within reach. Without warning, she suddenly hopped off the large rock with a giggle as she tried to catch it, and Nina proceeded to run through the sand after the flying insect that would take her into a crowd of sunbathers and closer to the waves that washed over the shore.

---

Nina: #ffa516

[Fox]

“Goodness,” Ridley muttered under his breath as Nina climbed on top of the boulder to get a better look around. It wasn’t long before she hopped off and scurried down the beach. With a soft amused sigh, Ridley walked after her. They were headed into the crowd of people that had actually come here for vacation. Various people in swimwear, playing around on the beach, and just enjoying their lives.

“Hm… oh!”

Ridley’s eyes went wide when he noticed a child in what was distinctly not swimwear. The flash of that silvery material he’d know anywhere. His first instinct was to run up to them, but he held off and looked for watchful parents instead. It wasn’t too hard to pick them out as they were nearby and calling out to the child on occasion. He walked over, making sure that Nina was always nearby and cleared his throat.

“Excuse me, but…”

While Ridley was speaking with the parents, the child spun and bounced across the sand, flashing the silvery material everywhere. They weren’t watching where they were going and bumped into Nina, falling backward onto the sand.

“Ah!”

---

Ridley | #800080 | Post Count: 18

[Bobbie]

Nina was not paying very much attention to where she was going, but despite being so distracted, she would occasionally pause and glance around to spot Mr Ridley, making sure that he hadn’t vanished and left her all alone. 

Leaping into the air, she managed to catch the creature, moving a lot faster than she could before Ridley had arrived and graciously given her some medicine, even though she wouldn’t admit the benefits of being pricked like that. “Mr Ribley, look!” She called out to him as he approached the parents and she giggled, giving her victory far more importance than the task of retrieving the silver suit. It was at this point that the child wearing said silver suit bumped into her and caused Nina to fall back in the opposite direction, releasing the dragonfly that had been trapped between her two cupped hands.

“Oof… No, my dragon!” Nina huffed as the creature desperately flew away from the girl, then she turned to look at the child.

“That’s my suit.” She uttered with a hint of annoyance in her tone for losing her catch, though she was anything but confrontational about it. Crawling over to them in the sand, she then sat down and lightly pinched the fabric, pulling it to stretch it away from their skin. “Mr Ripley says that we need it back, so can we please have it? Do you have other clothes to wear?” She asked, silently praying they wouldn’t ask for the t-shirt and shorts that she was currently wearing, assuming that if they had her suit, then she must have their clothes.

Barely giving the child a chance to reply, Nina got an idea and she rose to her feet. “I’ll help you find something else to wear!” Grabbing the poor child’s hands, she pulled them up onto their feet as well. “The first person to find one gets to choose the other person’s outfit! It will be like dress-up, and I know where to start!” with a big grin, Nina giggled, the idea of having someone to play it absolutely thrilling her. Without thinking of any consequences, the carefree little ginger started to lead her new friend further toward the back of the crowd where she knew a lot of beach-goers would leave their bags unattended.

In the meantime, the parents of the child wearing the silver suit were engaged in conversation with Ridley, passing only one glance toward their child when they bumped into Nina. Assuming Ridley was simply another parent who brought his daughter to the beach, they didn’t think much of it and having an only child, they decided to leave their child to their own devices, allowing them to make a new friend. Their body language, however, soon changed when they got a better look at the person they were engaged in conversation with - the bandages wrapped all around him, covering him from head to toe, and his eye colour were enough to make the couple recoil into each other, until they would finally look to end this interaction, turning their heads to call for their child.

---

Nina: #ffa516

[Fox]

The parent’s call fell on deaf ears because their child was having far too much fun with the idea of playing dress up with Nina. Ridley had been a little saddened but understood their cautious reaction. He’d made up his mind to try to reassure the parent, but when the parent stood up, Ridley sensed something amiss. He swiveled around to look for Nina and when he did not immediately see her, had a minor heart attack. It didn’t take long for him to calm down, spotting a flash of silver and orange hair moving through the sand toward some unattended bags. Oh dear.

“Nina!”

He wasn’t sure if she could hear him so far away, so he jogged over to catch up with her, followed swiftly by the other parent. It wasn’t too hard to catch up with her. Ridley stepped in front of her to stop her and kneeled down to look at her on eye level.

“Nina, please stay where I can see you,” he chided gently, ruffling her hair, “I was worried something had happened.”

The other parent arrived, slightly more out of breath than Ridley, relaxing a little at the sight of Ridley interacting with Nina like a parent. They grabbed their own child by the arm and gave them a short talking to, much to the same effect as Ridley. Ridley stood up, looking for all the world apologetic and contrite.

“I’m sorry about that… but as I was saying, I think Nina here might have taken your child’s clothes in exchange for her silver suit. It was… expensive,” Ridley lied, “So I’d like it back please. I’m willing to pay you to replace the clothes that were taken, of course.”

The parent relaxed a little as Ridley explained himself and then tapped their child’s shoulder, telling them it was time to do the ‘magical transformation’. Ridley raised an eyebrow. But the child’s actions soon explained it. They spun around while taking over the silver suit, revealing their swim suit. They looked rather proud of themselves and immediately started running off toward the ocean, which had their parent telling Ridley not to worry about paying them back before they chased their child down. Ridley felt like he could relate.

“Nina! Look! We got your suit back!” Ridley cheered, looking over to Nina. He opened up his bag and held it open to Nina. “Go ahead and put it here for now. All that’s left now… are your papers and medicine.”

---

Ridley | #800080 | Post Count: 19

[Bobbie]

Nina was clearly enjoying herself with the other child, a wide toothy grin on her face that revealed her razor sharp teeth. That smile disappeared when Ridley intercepted their path, however, as she feared she was in trouble.

Her lip protruded in a bit of a sulk until he ruffled her head and she giggled once more, offering a nod but no verbal confirmation.

“Magical transformation?” The redhead repeated after the parent and watched the wearer of her suit spin around and remove the silver suit, before turning around and running toward the ocean. Her first instinct was to run after him to go and play in the water, but Ridley’s voice brought her to a quick halt.

“Oh… I don’t have to wear it, do I? I don’t really like it.” Nina uttered as she stared at the suit with a look of childish disgust on her face that ran a little deeper than face value. While she had no distinct memories associated with the outfit, her body seemed to automatically recoil from it.

With a huff, however, she did as she was told and put it in the open bag. Quickly withdrawing as soon as the task was done, she wiped her hands on the sides of her shorts after touching the suit as if it carried dirt and disease.

“I don’t want more medicine or boring papers…” her gaze dropped down to the sand, her hands now behind her back as she swayed on the spot with pouty lips. “It’s not fair, I want to play in the ocean with my new friend… they’re all swimming too.” She gestured toward the gathering crowd as the beach was beginning to fill up with beachgoers, adults and children alike, her eyes large and longing to be in the water.

---

Nina: #ffa516

[Fox]

Ridley’s features softened into a frown upon seeing Nina’s disgust for the silver suit. He felt similarly to be honest. He’d have to dispose of the suit quietly later. For now, they couldn’t afford to leave any traces behind. He closed the bag up quickly so that Nina wouldn’t have to look at it anymore and slung it over his shoulder. He glanced down at Nina as she pouted. Hm. It was still bright out… Ideally, he’d want to steal the papers and medicine under the cover of night anyhow. The pod was… impossibly huge and on display.

Putting a hand to his chin, Ridley thought it over for a moment or two. Was it better to pretend like Nina was still on the island? He wouldn’t get the information that the papers offered in order to potentially help her…but just remembering Blair’s papers, they would be more likely to contain notes on their biological modifications than their medical or mental states. Moreau didn’t seem to have much care for that. Or there would be no papers at all. Maybe Blair was an outlier. Their escape… Ridley didn’t remember much, but he did remember panic.

“Hm… then… Let’s have a nice day at the beach, yeah? Afterwards, we can go home and meet your new… family. I can cook dinner. We’ll have a wonderful time. How’s that sound?”

Ultimately, papers and medicine were not as important as Nina’s safety. He could make more medicine. He wanted her to be happy and safe above all else. He offered her a smile and his hand, whether she wanted to take it or throw his coat back into it, he would happily follow her.

---

Ridley | #800080 | Post Count: 20

[Bobbie]

Hearing that they could have a fun day at the beach, Nina’s face lit up. Her pout immediately turned into a giddy smile, her hands closed into loose little fists and brought to her lips as she squealed with excitement and bounced on the spot.

“Really?” She asked in surprise, wishing to hear it a second time for confirmation. Giggling, Nina didn’t hesitate for a moment and quickly snatched up Ridley’s hand, her little one fitting so snuggly in his. Unfortunately, while all her attention was on his hand, this caused his coat to be discarded and neglected in the sand while the girl was overwhelmed.

“Mr Ripley, you’re the best!” the ginger girl hopped out ahead of him and started pulling him by his hand toward the sea. “What are we going to play first? Do you know how to swim? Can you smorgel? Do you think we'll find loads of seashells?” she asked several questions, her mind racing through all the possible beach activities they could engage in, including a mispronunciation of snorkeling. Of course, she didn’t need an actual snorkel to dive under, her gills providing her excellent ability to do so just fine without such any such device.

“What’s my new family like? You’ll introduce me, right?” the innocent-natured girl jumped from one topic to another, seeming to enjoying rambling more than listening to his answers, yet the one constant thing in all of her questions and topic of discussion was Ridley’s presence.

---

Nina: #ffa516

[Fox]

“Yes,” Ridley reaffirmed, “Let’s have some fuuu-!”

Ridley’s voice squeaked as Nina bounced ahead, tugging him all the while. He stumbled forward, snatching up his coat in a hand as he was dragged toward the water. Nina unleashed a barrage of questions at him. He chuckled at Nina’s enthusiasm, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. The tattered remnants of his memories offered few answers.

“Ah, you know, I’m not sure if I know how to swim or snorkel. I don’t remember. But! I bet we’ll find loads of seashells. Do you want to build a sand castle?”

Ridley wasn’t super keen to test his luck to see if he would sink or swim in the ocean. He, of course, wouldn’t leave Nina to go in there alone if she charged ahead. Instead of diving into the water, Nina instead turned her questions to the others.

“Of course I will! There’s Frankie and Lee. They live in the same body. Frankie is a little… shy. Lee is energetic and outgoing, a lot like you. They’ll be good big sisters. There’s also Blair! Blair is a little… grumpy, but he’s a big puppy dog at heart. He has a bit of a sweet tooth, so I’m always baking treats for everyone.”

Ridley chuckled as he reminisced. The more he spoke of them, the more eager he was to get back to them. Lee probably had things well in hand while he was away. Once they were home, he’d get Nina settled in and happy and try to help her work through things. A tinge of sadness crept into his heart at the thought of all of the other HGs fully recovered and back to their families, leaving him alone. While he’d be glad for them, it would still be bittersweet. Well. No use dwelling on things in the far future right now.

---

Ridley | #800080 | Post Count: 21