(I recently got inspired to do some more background to my main character. Snowraven has been my title character since I started playing Starbound so I've started writing a bit of a story. All of the characters in the story are mine except my friend's glitch, Rusty Bolts. I'm gunna be posting the first chapter I came up with I'd love some feedback, ideas, and maybe some of your characters to introduce to the story? Let me have it!) Chapter 1My name.. is Snowraven. Ever since I was a chick I longed to fly among the stars. My parents were loyal worshippers of Kluex but their beliefs never quite sunk into my heart. My best friend lost her life jumping from one of our many towers to meet our maker and I'm pretty sure that's what made me finally decide I didn't belong here. I worked as a merchant's assistant through out my adolescent years and by the time the last of my prepubescent feathers molted away I had enough for a small starhopper. The only problem.. my people didn't believe in taking to the stars and I'd never find a ship on my home planet to buy. But my luck changed. Every year a large transport ship would come into orbit over our village and bring things to trade. Avian power crystals are apparently a very valuable thing to star-merchants and they sell for a lot. In exchange we got sweet fruits and salty treats, occasionally minerals and ores we couldn't find on our planet. In the late afternoon I snuck out of my parent's home with my pack full of pixels, food and the few tiny fragments of our unrefined crystals that I always managed to find on the ground. I made my way through the back alley ways of the village towards the drop-off where the star merchants were making preparations for take off. I knew if I got caught there would be serious consequences but the pull in my heart was no longer something I could ignore with the opportunity to escape so close. I came to the wall and proceeded to climb it, falling roughly to my knees on the other side. "Halt!" I froze mid-step, letting out a tiny audible trill of horror. "You're far from home kid," a voice chuckled behind me. I turned to find a tall creature who looked to be made of the stars themselves. But regardless of his fiery appearance the strange markings on what I could assume was his face seems twisted into a kindly expression. My feathers gradually settled back down. "Here, help me with this." I only just realized the creature was holding a large unstable stack of crates that he struggled with. I leapt forward to take some off his... hands? and begun to follow him to the ship I had just been sneaking towards minutes before. "You know.. some ships don't take well to stowaways. Some people kill intruders," he looked back over his shoulder at me briefly and I got the impression he was smirking. He had no eyes or mouth, just some strange symbol that resembled horns that moved around his 'face' like a fish in a pond. I wasn't even entirely sure how he was speaking. "I wasn't... I just wanted t-to look at it," I stumbled over my words to form the lie, clutching the crate to my chest. "I know a runaway when I see one. Been down that road myself." He stopped short and dropped the crates next to a ramp, brushing the sawdust that came off onto his shirt, away. I set my own crates beside them and followed suit before dropping my arms awkwardly by my side. "I wasn't... exactly just going to steal a ride... I was going to offer crystals in exchange for a trip to the nearest outpost... I want to buy a ship." My words came out so fast my beak clacked with the intensity of my explanation. He paused and seemed to gaze at me carefully. A long moment of silence past between us and suddenly, "Well let's see em, kid." The sudden words startled me, ruffling my feathers again but it was ignored as I quickly shrugged off my pack and dug for the small pouch inside that contained the fragments. I handed it to him and stood stiffly, gripping the strap of my bag in my fingers. The creature emptied the red crystals out of the tiny pouch into his hand and ran a pinky through them. "This isn't much.. but I'll make you a deal." He poured the crystals back inside and tossed it back to me. "Do our next run with us, help with unloading the product at the next stop and then I'll take ya to an outpost." I could feel the excitement overwhelm my face, despite my effort to remain expressionless and professional. I nodded briskly. "Good. We have a contract then. The next stop will take about... three star weeks. It's a long way off, on the other side of this galaxy and it's gunna require a lot of jumps. You'll be fed and kept busy and have a place to sleep till then. You up for hard work?" I nodded again, too wound up to form proper words. "Well come on then. Move it! Get to work, kid!" There was a smile in his voice, I stuffed the crystals back into my pack and put it back on and snatched up the crates he had me take earlier, shuffling them up the ramp onto the ship. I later found out that the man creature was a race called Novakid and that his name was Arion. He was the captain of the Fire Trade vessel. I met a human woman who couldn't have been much older than me named Carra who was the engineer, a hyotl who was the cook with a name I really couldn't pronounce (I ended up calling him Kar for short) and a very quirky glitch who went by Rusty. His full name was Rusty Bolts... I thought it appropriate. The work I did for my first boss was nothing compared to how hard Arion worked me for the next three star weeks. I scrubbed that ship from head to toe, did dishes for Kar, did the crew's laundry and fed that weird beasty they kept in the hull of the ship. It was cute.. almost.. but it looked nothing like the creatures we had at home. I never once complained though, atleast outloud. Being on the ship was worth every ache, for I could lay in my cot at the end of my work and stare out the little window into the vast existence that lie outside the ship. Stars I'd never seen before and occasionally a planet close enough that you could view it like a moon. It was better than I could imagine. One evening, after I'd just finished the last of the dishes and Kar set me free, no sooner did I settle into my bed with a satisfied groan there was a rap at the door. I grabbed my face to muffle despair and less than quickly hopped up. I pushed the button on the panel beside the entry and the door slid open. "Apologetic. I am sorry to disturb you, madam. Excited! Sir Arion wished me to inform you that we'll be at Gaurti Alpha Five tomorrow." I let out a quick squeak and jumped up to hug Rusty vigorously in my glee. His hard chest make it a very uncomfortable move though and I let go rubbing my arms gingerly. "Thank you! That's wonderful to know!" Rusty's face contorted into a mechanical smile, "Pleased. Of course, madam." But he seemed to pause. "What is it?" "Uncertain. I wanted to ask you a favor, madam." "Sure?" "Eager. My contract with Sir Arion is up after this delivery. Uncertain. Would you be willing to let me accompany you to the Outpost, madam?" I was a bit shocked, staring at this brown and blue little robot I'd become rather fond of being around. I smiled around my beak and nodded, "Sure! I'd welcome the company." "Delighted! I look forward to seeing the ship you choose, madam Snowraven," and without another word he quickly disappeared down the hall. I let the door slide closed and flopped back onto my bed, imagining what this new planet would look like and what kind of people would be there till I eventually fell asleep. Edit: A bit of a peak at the newest chapter. It's gunna be a bit before I finish it so I thought I'd add this. Just wanted to show that I'm still working on it. Chapter 2 wipA loud alarm blared it's way into my dreams and woke me with a vicious start. I whipped upright, feathers puffed, eyes wide. Just then my door slid open and the human girl, Carra poked in her head. "Don't freak out Snowybird. It's just the alarm that alerts the whole crew that we're heading into planet atmosphere. Get up, get dressed, get yourself to the cockpit. We all gotta strap in." I found myself blinking at her kind of dumbly but nodded a bit. As soon as she slipped back out of my room I stumbled out of bed and pulled on some work clothes. "This is it..." I told my reflection in the ship's window. I found my way into the head of the ship and saw that everyone else was there and buckled into large industrial captains' chairs. I slipped into the back row, two empty seats, and put myself to work. "Ah! Glad you could join us, kid. Rusty. Start up the thrusters. We're right on time." The ship's nose slowly tilted down as the transport ship's engines kicked to life with an extra umph. I saw a large blue looking planet slowly rise up into the window's view to meet us. I found myself squirming in my seat, excitement flaring in my chest. This would be my first alien planet. The ship rumbled violently as it had the day I left my home planet with Captain Arion's crew. I saw what looked like the observation window starting to warp with the heat. I knew enough about ships to know I was more than safe however and revealed in the sight, watching the heat waves form around us and grow brighter and thicker. I thrilled, unabled to contain myself and was rewarded with laughter from the crew. "Hold on to your feets, kids. We're hitting the last layer." Arion seemed busy in his seat, hands moving all over the control panel until finally he leaned back and the ship exploded forward into the last layer of the planet's atmosphere and jerked into a withdraw. You could feel our inertia slowing as the ship itself pushed against the force of gravity. And finally... the ground rose up beneath us and we were officially landed on Gaurti Alpha Five. "That was Amazing!" I screeched. I caught Kar looking back at me from his chair and I recoiled with embarrassment.
This is shaping up to be a really great story. I'm excited to see what happens next to Snowraven. Keep up the good work.
