Shadow Avery Winters-Alister's Story

Koishi Komeiji stood in the Wing City space port, once more caught within an unfamiliar area, swaying softly as she walked - each step accompanied by her humming. She was alone - as per her usual predicament - and watching all of the surrounding nobodies go about their daily business. A carefree smile was plastered upon her face like it always was, her hands behind her back while she thought to herself. Certainly, people around these parts are interesting. Especially since there are quite a few foreigners here visiting Terra from afar! Curiously, she watched those around her.

Gina Inviere approaches Wing City Spaceport inside a Condor VTOL

Walker Nicolau disembarks from the latest shuttle, having arrived at his destination.

Hrm, Wing City...

he mused before flipping out his personal navigator.

Gina Inviere steps down the boarding ramp of the Condor VTOL, her eyes glancing about as she took in her surroundings. "Been awhile since I've set foot on this place." She commented off-handedly, making her way towards the main concourse.

Gina Inviere looks around

A wind swept her hair as Spyri disembarked her new friend's strange, but awesome, vehicle. She grinned at Prince Niku and jerked a thumb over her shoulder at the looming Spaceport. There were guaranteed to be answers inside. In the air above, ships of all kinds arrived and departed. There was a sleek golden one ascending out of high orbit. Looking close she noticed it charge up to warp out. Spyri gave a whoop as it disappeared into thin air.

“This is where I came in,” Niku indicated, peering around at the impressive ships. They were all designed so differently than the ones in his corner of the galaxy. He stayed on his vehicle and drove slowly after Spyri, intending to take his kilitholulgulth with him wherever they went. It did have the ability to fold up, after all. “Tell me, were you born on this planet? You seem not intimidated at all by idea of venturing into space. I sense you have done such before,” he remarked, eyes widening at the sight of the ship that had just hit warp drive.

Suddenly, he felt himself shudder. Remembering his dream from the night before, he glanced around suspiciously in hope that they would not encounter any Aschen. He sniffed the air and his ears flicked around as he watched and listened. He turned the volume down on his translator slightly and leaned over toward the girl he had come with. “We must make sure our route does not enter Aschen territory,” he uttered to Spyri. “I think some extra caution is wise.”

“I am sorry to hear of what become of your people. I do not know what I do if it happened to the feliyans. Not sure I would want to go on living,” Niku lamented. His greatest fear was that it would, in fact, happen to the feliyans. For all he knew, Emperor Pit might be committing a genocide upon them right now in revenge for the crown prince fleeing his master. He could only hope they would be okay until his return. Niku walked with his hoverbike by his side as they moved up in line, noticing as the officials seemed confused by what Spyri had presented them.

He picked up the golden paper, scanning the inscription with his universal translator. “It says I am invited to study Multiversal Energy Constructs at the Temple of Giana, coordinates on the back,” he said, turning the page over. He read out the coordinates. “Fascinating… With my translator, it is hard to tell languages apart. I wonder what tongue this is written in. Oh, but, now we know that this is where we must go,” he added, pointing to the coordinates.

The young prince grew alarmed the moment that Spyri shoved him around the corner. He peeked back around stealthily and noticed the parade that had alarmed her. The familiar uniform worn by the many officers had him literally biting his nails through his white gloves. “Oh, no! We need to get out!” he whispered loudly, yanking his bike around the corner too along with them. He hit a button on his wrist controls and it started to fold up into a compact form, which he easily lifted up like an oversized piece of luggage. It even had a handle on it for convenience. The feliyan remained in a crouched position among the crowd, hoping that his ears or tail would not give him away. He wrapped the latter around his waist.

Then he slapped himself on the forehead. “I am fool. I should have thought to bring disguise,” he murmured to himself. Suddenly, he gasped, remembering something. He opened a compartment on his compact kilitholulgulth and pulled out a royal red cape, unfolding it. “Ah, ha!” he said, wrapping it around himself like a cloak. At the very least, it would conceal the most recognizable traits of his race, the ears and tail. The slitted felinoid eyes would not be a problem so long as he was not looking in any Aschen’s direction. He would have to be discreet. When Spyri whispered their location to Niku, he fervently nodded and immediately started to follow her, also doing his best to blend into the crowd. “It leaving soon? We best hurry.”

The feliyan took the pamphlet and scanned it. “Hm,” he said, thinking out loud. “This must be stop on way to final destination. Should be interesting.” He started looking through it, scanning the text as he went and examining the pictures. “There is something called botanical garden with strange plants. I hope they have tasty animals too,” he remarked, stashing the pamphlet in a compartment of his ‘luggage.’ Keeping his head low and his cloak wrapped around him, he peered around through narrowed eyes in hope that the Aschen were not around the terminal.

It was hard for Niku to overhear conversations cause the translator only translated little snippets here and there until one voice was overpowered by another louder voice. It was very disorienting. He wished he could shut it off because it made it more difficult for him to hear whatever Spyri might be trying to say. He considered tinkering with it later on to see if he could get it to zero in on a particular voice, but that would have to wait until later.

Something occurred to Niku and he turned his attention to Spyri again. “Hey, I have been meaning to thank you for acting as guide. I realize now I would not have a chance of finding this chi master without such assistance,” he said, wanting to slap himself on the forehead again. He really had had a very bare bones escape plan when he had fled from Emperor Pit. Some might think him stupid, but it was more out of desperation than stupidity. While he obviously had no idea what he was doing, he really had little other choice after being given an order to commit a certain unspeakable act for the tyrant’s entertainment. He had been ordered to do terrible things before, but this last command went beyond what even he could bring himself to do. For some reason, when he looked at Spyri, it reminded him of his reason for leaving and it made him shudder, not wanting to reflect on the past. “Anyway, if we are successful in this quest, I will see to it that you are heavi

“Vee-gan?” Niku repeated after her. The word had failed to translate, as there was no such word in his language. “What is?” he inquired, puzzled by her barfing gesture. Based on context, he figured vegan had to be some kind of really disgusting food. He laughed slightly and rubbed the back of his neck. He became instantly fascinated the moment they entered the shuttle. It was designed so differently than the spaceships that he was used to back in his remote corner of the galaxy. “Where to find sleep aboard this ship?” he asked, peering around as people funneled into various identical doors that lined the hall. They had to be going to some kind of sleeping quarters. He paused a moment and put his kilitholulgulth down on the floor, folding up his cape again and putting it away inside. He also released his tail from around his waist, feeling more relaxed now that they were away from the Aschen. When Niku noticed the flags hanging from the ceilings, he went over and looked at each of them, having no idea what they were for. All he could guess was that they were intended as some kind of adornment to pretty up the otherwise minimalistic design of the interior of the craft.

Niku looked alarmed. “I starve without animals! My body require animal protein,” he worriedly protested. “Many species can eat plants. I cannot, unless predigested by an animal.” Observing the purple and orange-lighted doors, Niku suddenly grabbed his kilitholulgulth and ran off in the direction that most people were going, disappearing into the crowd. He did not even wait for an answer. The prince found a violet-lighted door near the pilot’s location out in front of the ship, beating a young woman to it with his lightning-fast speed.

“Hey!” she protested when he appeared in front of her.

Niku snickered as he laid claim to the cabin, planting himself in front of the door as he waved Spyri over in his direction. “I faster! I get here first!” he countered before disappearing inside.

“Jerk…”

Once inside, Niku saw that there were two beds on each side, stacked one on top of the other. They were narrow, but they looked comfortable enough. Opposite the door was a wall that consisted of a massive curved window with a spectacular view of the sky. The menacing warship still hovered above, partly blotting out the sun. The prince had no idea who it belonged to or what it was for, but something about it gave him the creeps. Soon enough, Niku found the large luggage storage compartment over the entrance. He hopped up on a top bunk on the left side of the room facing the window and hauled his kilitholulgulth up there, setting it in the back.

The woman who had wanted the room glanced to the girl Niku had waved at. “Hey, are you with him? I hear there are four beds per room and this one has one of the best views. Would you mind if we share?” she inquired hopefully, waving someone over. It was a female friend. Both ladies were human in outward appearance with nothing particularly strange about them.

Niku peered down at Spyri on the bottom bunk, his head hanging upside down. He peered up as the women came inside. Then he flashed them a fang-filled grin and waved at them innocently. That was just before he had a bunch of mostly empty suitcases shoved in his face. “Be a gentleman and stow these for us, will you?” the first one said. She was clad in a pink miniskirt and white sleeveless blouse. The two ladies looked like they could be sisters. “April, would you mind if I took the bottom bunk? I can’t hardly climb in these high heels.”

“I’m wearing heels too!” April protested. “But I’m not a wuss, May. Just watch,” she countered, hopping onto the bottom rung of the small ladder gracefully. “See? Not hard.” She climbed up and got settled on the bunk, looking up at the imposing warship. “Must be the Aschen.”

Niku was in the process of putting their luggage away when he overheard the word ‘Aschen.’ “Who what?!” he cried, nearly tumbling off the top bunk in alarm. “Aschen? Where?!”

April was adjusting her ponytail when she pointed up at the warship. “There.”

Niku peered at it and swallowed. He glanced down at Spyri. “That ship belong to Aschen? Why so big?” He shook his head, almost regretting asking the question because he really did not want to know. “Never mind,” he said, taking off his translator. He readjusted the device and pressed a button, creating a ray that he shined all over his face and head as he ruffled his own hair. He stopped and raised a brow, glancing down at an extremely narrow door at the end of their bunk. He almost had not even noticed it before. The prince put his translator back on and hopped down to the floor, startling the woman called May in the miniskirt. He walked over to the small door and opened it. It was a tiny bathroom about the size of a shower stall. “Ooh! Lady at ho-tel say this thing is called toy-let,” he remarked to Spyri, pointing. There was a small sink behind the toilet, crammed against the wall. It looked like a tig

It looked like a tight squeeze.

May gave him an odd look and glanced at Spyri. “He’s… not from around here, is he?”

Niku went inside and poked around in curiosity, accidentally turning on the shower knobs. Cold water came pouring down on top of him. “Aaah! Rain!” he cried, gurgling as the water filled up his mouth. He scrambled out of the bathroom soaking wet and shook himself off like a dog.

Both women squealed as he sprayed them. “Are you some kind of animal?!” April blared.

He pointed to the bathroom in a panic. “It’s inside rain!”

Once Niku had shaken the excess water off of himself, he picked off his translator again and used the drying ray to start drying his clothes. First, he dried the outside of his armor and took if off, depositing it on his bunk, before drying his form-fitting jumpsuit and pearlescent hair. “Why it rain inside? What is for?” Niku inquired the moment he had put the translator back on. The shower was still going, so May reached inside the bathroom and turned it off.

“It’s called a shower, you dork,” April remarked while sitting on the top bunk. Geez, if the guy did not know what a shower was, she was surprised he did not stink to high heaven.

May threw a pillow at her before sitting down on the lower bunk. “Maybe he’s used to baths.”

Niku climbed up on the bunk and placed the smaller pieces of armor inside the chest piece, stowing it all away in the storage area. There was no need to wear armor aboard the ship anyway, but his jumpsuit was the only clothing he had otherwise. He peered down at Spyri again from the top bunk. “How long trip will take?” he inquired. “Maybe I go out and see more people. I like aliens, very interesting. Must stay inside cabin during launch?”

Both ladies ordered the chicken and glasses of red wine. Meanwhile, Niku peeked over the door and looked down at the stewardess, tilting his head at her in curiosity. “Greetings! I am called Niku. Is fish animal protein? If is, I want both. Make raw and whole if possible. And I have water to go with,” the prince decreed, dropping a coin into the woman’s hand as a tip. His tail hung over the edge of the bunk, the end gently undulating somewhere over Spyri’s head.

April giggled. “You said you’re Callisto? That’s beautiful,” she remarked. “Aschen origin?”

Hearing the word ‘Aschen,’ Niku froze. He grabbed his tail and hid it behind his back.

Once the stewardess was gone, the feliyan warrior swung down from his bunk, feeling restless. “I go see what else is on shuttle,” the prince indicated to Spyri. “You want to come? I go.” He enthusiastically bolted out of the small cabin, feeling a bit claustrophobic. Seconds had not passed before he had almost collided with someone. He screeched to a halt, coming face-to-face with Karma, and then he backed up a bit. “Sorry! I almost run into. Who you are?” Niku inquired, rubbing the back of his neck self-consciously. He sized the man up, observing his whole demeanor. The individual in question had a dark and foreboding appearance. Niku got a funny feeling about him, but he ignored it. “You… you are not Aschen, are you?”

Niku glanced back at Spyri. “All I care is that he is not Aschen,” the prince replied through his robotic-sounding translator, turning his attention back to Karma. He brought his left fist up to pat his right breast in a formal feliyan greeting gesture. “I am called Prince Niku III. What you are called?” he inquired, squinting his eyes at the man’s visage. He had something strange covering one of his eyes. “Why you hide eye?” he asked, covering one of his own eyes demonstratively. “Is not difficult to see with only one?” He peered around, still covering the one eye out of curiosity. “I think I run into things if I go around like this. Is hard to gauge distance.” He lowered the hand and then blinked his clear nictitating membranes, not wanting to take his gaze off of the new individual. He could scarcely help it. Aliens were so interesting. He had thought so ever since he was a small child. “What is Kura? I never heard of.”

“I am sorry too. You lost your people. It is horrible thing. I fear I lose mine if I do not hurry in my mission. My dad still sits on the throne last I heard, but there is tyrant who has taken control over us for over twelve Carneling years now. I was enslaved to him and so are my people. My family lives, but we are no longer sovereign thanks to Emperor Pit. His policies have devastating effect on our planet. My goal is to rid the universe of him, but to do that I am seeking out chi master for special training. Spyri is nice enough to help me!” Niku lauded, tousling the young girl’s hair. “I do not know what demon is, but you have my trust.”

Niku returned a fang-filled grin as well, though he observed the handshake between Spyri and Karma with confusion, not being familiar with the custom. “I appreciate,” he quickly replied. “But mission is not about the throne. It is about the people that I care. I fear Emperor Pit might commit genocide upon them in my absence. Of course, you are invited to join my quest. Maybe we find somewhere to sit and I tell you more?” he suggested, glancing around. There had to be a common area of some kind with seating that allowed people to converse and maybe get a drink. “Is a long story after all.”

Niku raised a brow. “Not used to being served? I think is standard onboard these flights. Come to our cabin. We talk more,” he indicated, turning to go back. He waved for them both to follow him. Once back inside the cabin, May was napping and the sound of the shower could be heard. Presumably the other woman was inside the bathroom. Niku hopped up onto his bunk and pointed to a sitting area by the window for Karma. He took off his boots and gloves for comfort.