[indent][b][u]January 18th, 10:43 AM (Eastern Standard Time)
Outside Chicago, Illinois[/u][/b][/indent]

In the calm of the surrounding landscape as the Atuum landed, a serene quiet, it almost seemed as though it were natural for the spaceship to be there, invisible though it was. The rustle of trees from the landing once more stilled, and in the late evening only a faint drone of the nearby city permeated the air.

[i]Bang.[/i]

A series of crashes rang from the inside of the Atuum, muffled from the interior. At one point a particularly thunderous noise seemed to actually [i]move[/i] the ship an inch or two, if the small grooves on the ground were any indication. Then the door let off a low hiss as it opened to the Earth's atmosphere, beginning to lower.

Immediately, a pair of dark blue claws stuck through the top.

A whining chittering sound came from the inside, and the door was forced down a few inches faster. Then there was a vivid, glowing yellow gem, and a blue carapace pushing to make it go faster - and before the door was even fully down Kailani was scrambling out, landing with a shaking thump.

[color=yellow]"Where are the bipeds?!"[/color] The voice that came out of the creature would've been complete gibberish at best to over nintey-nine percent of Earth's 'humans', and a perceived threat at worse. The Devourer spoke in a series of chirps and chitters that echoed out of its broad chest, carrying easily in that once peaceful air. Speaking of, Kailani let in a deep breath through her mouth, and abruptly her stomach gurgled and a series of what seemed to be 'pops' vibrated through her body as it adjusted.

[color=yellow]"Lots of monoxide - delicious, does something here eat it? - but there's lots of oxygen too! You're right Ky, these people [i]are[/i] like yours! See, breathe!"[/color] Rather than let her companion take a breath of the air literally all around them, the large creature abruptly hopped around and came back to the ship, shoving her face directly into the Andorran's and exhaling on her. From the alien's face came a gust of warm, but completely purified oxygen. Of course, Kailani didn't even wait for a response before she was darting off again, hyperactive Devourer that she was.

Rather than easily climb over the metal gate blocking her way, with a [i]crunch[/i] it was ripped up in the beast's maw. Throwing her head back, Kailani chomped down on it before venturing further into the strange place, once more back on path. Bipeds, that's what they were after! And according to her nose, and Kyrona's research, they were buried here.

What curious creatures humans were!

It took mere seconds for the large alien to use her equally large claws to dig into the ground, tearing through it easily. She also may have eaten a mouthful or two of the dirt - the decomposition made it spicy! Kailani was soon pulling out a casket with a single paw, curiously tilting it this way and that curiously. Then she just bit the whole top off.

[color=yellow]"Their bodies are in little packages!"[/color] It took only a few seconds more for the casket and its entire contents to disappear into the gullet of the Devourer, ending with her licking her maw. [color=yellow]"That one had a couple worms, too! But..."[/color] The chittering trailed off as Kailani concentrated, her bulk seeming to puff up for a moment.

[color=yellow]"... Nope! Wasn't enough, I'm going to need a [i]lot[/i] of morsels!"[/color]

It took frighteningly little time for almost half the cemetary's once well-maintained lawn to become a pock-marked ravaging of holes in the ground. Every couple of them the Devourer stopped again, the plates covering her body seeming to puff out before she moved on. Sometimes she rolled her shoulders during this, othertimes she shook herself out, and once or twice a low echoing growl echoed from the beast's maw, until finally something different happened.

This time the popping sounded out once more, the large body shifting. Abruptly letting out a shriek, Kailani curled in on herself as her body began to shift. The yellow gem on her forehead shone brightly, covering her body with the glow as it shrunk down, and after a minute began to fade.

[color=yellow]"... Look how compact I am!"[/color] Indeed, in place of the very large, very voracious alien now stood a small human girl. The Devourer ended up with a tawny complexion and bronze eyes, over a foot shorter than her companion. She was slender, almost delicate looking, and-

[color=yellow]"Ack, too much hair! Too much hair!"[/color] Kailani spit out some of the dark brown strands that had gotten in her mouth, her strange accent thick on her tongue. Already she was padding back to Kyrona on bare feet, flexing fingers and stretching strange limbs. How odd to only have two feet, and her teeth were so flat! She had these things in other forms, but not quite this combination. But it was the [i]best[/i] combination, because humans looked like Andorrans, and now so did she!

[color=yellow]"Look Ky! I'm your people now! ... I'm still hungry though."[/color]