Crash looked longingly at the Xunari over the hill. The small group of Xunari- mostly Tark'ee, but a belemoid and Tsabhua had recently joined them, had set up a small outpost recently, and Crash couldn't help but look out over them, watching them walk around between buildings.

Cecilia approached her, sitting down next to Crash. It was early in the morning, and the sun had barely started coming up. Soon, the young Tsabhua would wake up and go to the nearby river to get water, which was just barely visible from up on the hill where Crash would hide out. Crash already knew, having been watching their routines for a while now.

"I think it's safe to say that they're not a threat, Crash." She said, sounding more curious than anything. Originally, Olly had insisted Crash keep an eye on the outpost, claiming that their new neighbours were suspicious. However, Crash had seen nothing to confirm those suspicions. She hummed quietly, not really wanting to talk as she watched the colonists below.

Olly and Stella joined them, too, a bit after. "Any reason why we're being creeps today?" Stella asked, eyebrow raised as the yellow Tark'ee emerged from his quarters. He seemed to be on his way to cut wood, with a large axe by his side as he walked out of the outpost.

"We're not being creeps!" Olly insisted. "We need to keep an eye on them, make sure they're not doing anything weird!"

Stella, however, didn't seem convinced. "Riiight. And spying on them is not being creepy?"

Olly rolled his eyes "Well, maybe a little bit, but what else were we meant to do?"

Cecilia chuckled as the two bickered, and Crash couldn't help but feel fond of his friends as she listened to them. They were a strange bunch, really, but somehow they were also family.

He sighed, turning back to the outpost. The Tsabhua whelp had woken up, and was chatting with someone else. Surely they'd be off to the stream any moment now. When Crash looked over to the stream though his heart dropped. An adult Tsabhua was there, cradling a small, rust-coloured whelp. As he watched, the adult set the whelp down on the riverbank and then walked away.

Crash stood up "We have to go grab him, what if something happens-" he was quickly pulled back down by Cecilia. "We shouldn't get caught- who knows what they'll do if they catch us spying on them. Look, that pale Tsab is already heading over. They'll probably take him in."

Crash frowned, walking in the direction of the stream, making sure to stay hidden in between the tall grasses and shrubs. The others followed behind them, making sure not to draw unwanted attention to themselves. The pale Tsabhua ha arrived at the stream, and had begun filling the buckets.

"He's not seeing the whelp-" Crash started, filled with worry. Cecilia frowned, looking back at Olly and Stella, who shrugged. Neither of them seemed too concerned about what was going on. "We can just grab the whelp after that pale Tsabhua leaves, it'll be okay." Stella said, making sure to whisper so she wouldn't get caught.

"We can't wait that long!" Crash insisted impatiently, only to be shushed by both Olly and Cecilia.

Olly sighed, and grabbed a rock from the damp soil. Crash frowned at him- throwing a rock at either stranger would be no help, but surely Olly was smarter than that? Luckily, instead of throwing the rock at either Tsabhua, Olly tossed it to just besides the whelp. Luckily, the pale Tsabhua didn't notice the rock, but did notice the rustling of the grass where it hit the ground.

He looked over, noticed the whelp, and picked it up. Crash let out a big breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Can we go home now?" an annoyed Stella asked, but was quickly shot an angry look by both Olly and Cecilia. Crash shook his head. "Let's make sure everything is alright before we leave."

The pale Tsabhua stood around for a while, looking around likely to figure out how the whelp had ended up here. Eventually, however, rain started falling down from the sky, and the pale Tsabhua wrapped their arms around the whelp and started heading back home.