The colony's nurse, a large albino draconic Tark'ee with floppy ears who went by "Matter", didn't talk much. Kestrel had noticed quickly that she much preferred to type out words on one of the electronic tablets that the colony had laying around. She seemed to have a personal one which she carried around, just for communicating. Kestrel had been weirded out at first, but had soon decided that it wasn't worth raising a fuss over. Whatever worked for the other, she supposed. There wasn't much issue with it, regardless. Kestrel and Matter didn't end up interacting much either, but at some point the other Tark'ee had apparently insisted that all of the ones found in the bunker would need a medical check-up, just in case. Kestrel hadn't liked being poked and prodded, but ended up reluctantly agreeing when the colonists began to be more instant. As it turns out, she wasn't the only reluctant one, because Quartz and Citrine seemed to have been dragged in that exact same day, and now the trio was awkwardly sitting together in the cold reception area of the small clinic. The other two Tark'ee awkwardly tried to make small talk, but Kestrel honestly wasn't

feeling it. She just wanted to be back out as soon as possible- preferably without being prodded too much. Matter had been hunched up behind the little desk in the room, which was filled with stacks of paper. Having already noticed Kestrel sideyeing her, the albino Tark'ee had explained that she had some things to file, mostly supply requests, and would be with them shortly. "Apparently nobody else knows what we found in the swamp the other day." Citrine said hesitantly. "A lot of the Xunari here seem to think we made it up, or that it was some sort of prop for a play or something, but those bones definitely looked real to me." Quartz frowned "They were telling me the same thing!" she sighed, rolling her eyes "Some even told me that it couldn't have been nearly as big as I told them, and that it was probably just a Shriiv." Kestrel snorted "That thing was definitely no shriiv, it was far bigger. Unless Shriiv get a lot bigger than anyone had told us- in which case I have things to say about keeping them as livestock." Matter had been eyeing the trio curiously, but hadn't said much

yet. "Should have just brought the bones with us." Quartz huffed "Maybe then people would've believed us." Kestrel made a curious noise, looking trough one of the windows. It was raining outside, the rain falling onto the stupidly tall mushrooms and cascading down, off the sides. The mushrooms were nice in the rain, as they essentially worked as a giant umbrella, but moving between them was a bit of a pain when you'd occasionally just have an entire bucket of water tossed onto you. "Maybe when the rain clears up we can go check if it's still there, then." she suggested. She usually wouldn't have cared much, but she despised the implication that she was supposedly lying for attention. Matter perked up at this suggestion. She started typing something on her device, and when she was done flipped it over to show the Tark'ee. "That sounds interesting! If you don't mind, I would love to come with you. I haven't heard of anything like what you're describing- would love to come see!" Quartz was the first to react "Of course you can come, Matter!" and was quickly followed by an excited Citrine. Kestrel was less thrilled at having another member

join the investigation parade, but she supposed it would be weird to retract the invitation now. She sighed, not saying anything. Matter typed something up again. "Great! I'm excited. It'll be good to be outside, I haven't left the camp in ages. Thank you for letting me tag along :)" Kestrel rolled her eyes, mildly annoyed. She hoped that Citrine and Quartz would be able to keep Matter entertained, because she did not want to have another trip filled with needless chatter, and it seemed the white and yellow Tark'ee had finally backed off. At least the Xunari of the colony would believe Matter when she told them about the submerged beast.