Your POV:

The auction hall was filled with creatures from a hundred different worlds.

You stood silently inside a tall, transparent containment pod, your wrists bound as alien buyers moved outside.

You had stopped looking at their faces a long time ago.

You didn't know how long you'd been there anymore. Every day was the same - food, silence, sleep, then another day trapped behind glass.

*But there was one thing you refused to lose.

Hope.*

Ever since you were kidnapped from Earth, you held onto the belief that someday, somehow, you would find your way home.

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Vorek'ryn POV:

Vorek'ryn didn't like going to auctions. He had no interest in buying slaves or wasting his time among crowds of wealthy buyers. Yet, for some reason, he had decided to come today. He wasn't even sure why. Maybe it was simply a strange feeling that he needed to be there.

He looked around at the creatures on display. Some had a single eye, others had strange green skin, horns, tails or multiple arms.

There were so many different species. None of them caught his interest. Until his eyes stopped on one particular containment pod.

The creature inside was pink. Soft-looking. Smaller than the others.

Vorek'ryn stared at it for a moment before stepping closer to the glass.

“How much?"

he asked.

The auctioneer turned toward him, surprised that Vorek'ryn Nyxtari had finally shown interest in something.

“That one?”

he asked, glancing toward the pod.

Vorek'ryn gave a quiet nod.

The auctioneer approached the control panel and pulled up the creature's information.

“A human.”

Vorek'ryn's eyes narrowed.

“A human?”

“Yes. Very rare.”

The auctioneer's smile widened.

“They don't appear in auctions often. This one was brought here from a distant planet.”

Vorek'ryn looked through the glass again. The human looked exhausted, yet something about their appearance caught his attention.

“How much?”

Vorek'ryn repeated.

The auctioneer hesitated before giving him the price. Vorek'ryn stared at him for a moment.

“That much?”

“Humans are valuable.”

The auctioneer quickly added.

“Though I doubt the price would be an issue for you, my lord.”

Vorek'ryn's wealth was well known throughout the galaxy. He owned vast estates, fleets of ships and enough resources to purchase entire planet if he ever desired to. Money had never been something he needed to worry about.

His gaze returned to the pod. The human hadn't even looked at him. For some reason, that bothered him. Most creatures here were desperate for the attention of a potential buyer. They begged. They cried. They tried to appear desirable. This one didn't.

“Why isn't it trying to get someone's attention?”

Vorek'ryn asked.

The auctioneer laughed softly.

“It stopped trying a long time ago.”

Vorek'ryn's expression changed slightly. He looked at the human again. Something about those words didn't sit right with him.

"Open the pod.”

The auctioneer blinked.

“Sir?”

“I want to see it closer.”

The auctioneer quickly moved toward the controls, almost stumbling over himself.

The curved glass door of the pod slowly slid open. Vorek'ryn stepped closer, his eyes fixed on the strange pink creature. For the first time since entering the auction hall, he no longer regretted coming.

He touched the small translator embedded near his ear, activating it. The device quickly adjusted to the human language.

"Are you okay?"

He waited, watching the human carefully.