Chapter 1: Congratulations are in order?
Mars...fourth planet from the sun. On the surface, it would appear to be a dry and desolate planet. It's bright rust hue was made possible by the iron-rich minerals found in its dust and rock covered surface. It was because of these deposits that the Plutarkians decided to invade the planet.
According to Earth's scientists, Mars was suppose to be uninhabitable and no liquid water could exist on it. But, what they didn't know about were the hardworking Martian mouse population that lived below the surface. A massive underground realm that they had built to live, work, and play in.
It was in this hidden, war-torn paradise that a female mouse general and human mechanic made peace with each others races. The mouse was named Carbine and the human went by Charley-girl. Both of whom considered lovely by their own races. Carbine with her midnight colored hair, soft gray fur, and eyes the color of chestnuts and Charley with her auburn tresses, pale honey-toned skin, and turquoise colored eyes.
You would think that neither of these females would have anything in common. One being a General and the other a mechanic. But, it was the love of their respective planets and their friends and families that drew them together as friends. They both also had their own, unique explosive tempers if they were pushed to that point. But, they were usually sweet and caring individuals with certain people.
Today, we find our female heroines wandering the streets of Mars in search of a newly opened restaurant that they had reserved a table at and pre-ordered their meals and drinks. Carbine was tense and feeling out of sorts with herself which caused her friend Charley to look concerned.
"I've got some news for you girl" Carbine said calmly to Charley as they walked toward one of the newly opened Martian restaurant.
"Okay. Spill it and stop keeping me in suspense" Charley was so excited to be back on Mars. She felt more at home among the mouse population than she ever did on Earth. She was almost half tempted to get permission to build a garage on Mars and move here.
"Okay. Here it is. Throttle and I are getting married" Carbine just knew that Charley would be so happy for them. They had been together for so long that it was actually expected for them to finally tie the knot.
"That's wonderful. When's the wedding?" Charley couldn't believe her ears. Her two best friends were finally tying the knot after so long. She, herself, had no intentions of getting married so, her plan was to live vicariously through Carbine.
"Well, here's the problem" Carbine said as they made their way into the restaurant and were immediately seated next to a window.
"What's the problem? You two have been together for as long as I've know you" Charley couldn't think of any reason as to why Carbine wasn't bouncing off the walls with excitement.
"I know" Carbine felt a sense of melancholy as she looked out the glass window out at the busy Martian street.
"Then what is it?" Charley inquired as she placed a hand over the General's arm, bringing her back into the moment, and causing Carbine to look at her.
"You see, this wedding was never our idea" Carbine leaned the side of her head against the glass, feeling lost and confused.
"Then whose was it?" Charley could see that her friend had a look of loss in her brown eyes.
"Our parents" Carbine sounded less than thrilled over it.
"But, shouldn't it be yours and Throttle's decision" Charley was more than a bit confused over the fact that her friends were being forced to marry.
"Unfortunately, that's not how it works here on Mars with some of the wealthy classes. We're still a little backwards here on some things" Carbine murmured as she looked at Charley.
"I can see that. Is there anything I can do to help?" Charley offered as she watched their waiter bring them a couple of mixed drinks.
"You already are but, I would like you to be in my wedding. Please" Carbine knew she could use all the support she could get.
"Of course. What do you need me to do?" Charley knew that her friend was going to need her and she would be willing to do anything to help her out.
"I want you to stand by my side as my maid of honor, as they do on Earth" Carbine said as she grabbed one of Charley's hands in both of hers and gave her a pleading look.
"Definitely. I'll be by your side the whole time" Charley was delighted to actually be in her wedding as a major person in her life.
"Awesome. Cause we only have about six weeks til the wedding" Carbine decided to drop that bomb shell on Charley's lap.
"Oh my god. What all do we need to do?" Charley's jaw dropped when she realized that they were on a major time crunch.
"Our parents have taken care of everything else but, we need to find dresses to suit the affair and the guys are going to be suit shopping" Carbine stated as she grabbed her drink and chugged it down. She was in no mood to even speak to her parents about anything.
"Alright. Any rules that we need to abide by?" Charley asked as she took a sip of her drink. She and Carbine had called in their order earlier that day so this way they wouldn't have too much interruption while they ate and drank themselves silly.
"According to tradition, I am suppose to be covered from head to toe. That also includes anyone on the bride's side of the party who happens to be female. It's really stupid and old school in my opinion." Carbine explained with an exasperated sigh.
"Why's that?" Charley asked as she finished up her drink and started to eat her lunch. She smiled as the waiter refilled their glasses.
"According to what my mom explained was so that the groom and his men wouldn't be tempted" Carbine chuckled as she started to eat.
"Oh, that sounds ridiculous" Charley chimed up as she furled her brow. She had never heard of anything so silly in her life time.
"It is but, that's the way it's suppose to be. It's been that way for as long as I can remember" Carbine drank down her second second glass of wine as she conversed.
"We better not get too tipsy" Charley giggled as she felt the warmth of the wine spread through her body as she drained a second glass. She had to admit, they had really good wine on Mars and amazing food to go with it.
"Why not? After the day that I've had and the hell that those boys put you through on Earth...we deserve it" Carbine chuckled as she raised her glass and encouraged Charley to join her.
"To the freedom fighters!" Charley joyful spoke, raising her glass to meet Carbine's.
"To rocking and riding free" Carbine said as she and Charley clinked their glasses together and downed a third glass of wine.
Well, what does everyone think about this first chapter? If anyone has any questions or things that you would like to see in the upcoming chapters, please feel free to let me know. Cyber Hugs to all readers and reviewers. A special shout out to DinoDragonMaster.