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The following is a fan-based

FICTION

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Interlude 6

This place was bigger than she could have imagined.

Of the many things Xeanica had seen in her modestly short life, a Colony Ship was something she really had never seen with her own eyes. Remnants of it? There were aplenty at the bottom of the ocean where her previous home had been. It was quite impressive to see the 'working condition' of something after having grown accustomed to the broken parts of it. Still, the awe was matched by a degree of nervousness as the place was big. And she was small in comparison. But so were the others entering inside and preparing to use it as the 'spearhead' of their adventure.

And what an adventure they were up to, she wondered with a simple but honest tone within her mind. She had been told so many times that eventually one of the Water Crests would have ended up taking on the mantle of true Guardianship over her element. It was so baffling that it was her turn, that she was the one they had told was destined to represent what was good for her people. The Primes. It made her feel tall and yet short. A feeling that she confessed a bit to the one that she was closer the most among the group she had just joined. Theo was… open, and really experienced with words and thoughts of this kind.

"You're just afraid of failing," He said with a kind voice, bringing up a truth she felt she could rely on since it made sense to her. Failure was always a variable but… of this level? Never in her mind she would have imagined things becoming so complicated so suddenly. "Everyone is but… we have to learn to stand up for what is good even before the scariest thing in our worlds."

At first the Dolphin Prime was confused. 'Our worlds'? It was the human that explained himself, telling her that he was referring to our own opinion of what is around us. Our own fears that, in most cases, were shared by others, while some just had a unique brand of frights. Still, despite the simple explanation, Xea didn't feel any relief and happily stuck by clinging to the young man's side while the others tried to interact with her during the exploration. Adela, the Queen, she was nice. Really nice. She could see why the Chieftainess of the Community had been so open to her. So pleased with the way she was received. 'Our people', the elder woman had mentioned with a calm voice, 'were finally going to receive their long overdue revival'. So confusing and yet so fascinating. A revival… but of what? Of the legends? It was indeed a strange circumstance to study on her own.

Next was… the one she was also familiar with, but that she felt a little bit shy to interact with. Grace sounded like a lovely individual, no pun intended, but she was also… reluctant to speak with her? Could it be because she was easily attached to the human she was keeping by herself? It wouldn't be the first time she mistook the feelings of others and unconsciously hurt them. It was clear they were both close and Addie had told her how Grace had been saved by Theo, so maybe she felt a little bit forgotten due to her arrival? Maybe she should apologize to her somehow? Was this even her fault to being with? Decisions, decisions…

Next was Carmesi and… she was incredibly devoted to training. Which was nice. But she was also incredibly blunt, and really easy to rile up to show her short temper. In a certain way, the Water Crest realized why Theo had said that their attitudes were almost the opposite. While Xeanica wasn't shy enough to hide when she was irked or irritated, that didn't mean she was unable to hold her annoyance until she couldn't. And despite this seemingly negative connotation, that explosion of rage usually favored an interesting drive during combat, but also a way to discuss with the Fox Prime once training was over. Really deep at times, but offering little time to really entertain a conversation. She was definitely friend-material, but she doubted it was going to be either easy or quick as a process.

Pulsar was next. The Hamster Prime was quite the playful individual. He promised they were going to have some challenges once they had the chance to 'test their wits and skills through water games'. He said he was the best player in that regard, setting a minuscule but quite vocal interest within Xeanica to take on the challenge and show him off. It was personal since only the Water Crest should be 'amazing' in water-related games. She wouldn't have allowed this slight to pass without retribution.

But for now the main priority for her was to get accustomed to her new 'home'. Her 'temporary home' at that since they will eventually settle down to their destination. It was a question she had raised and Theo had answered basing his opinion on the matter rather than a genuine grasp of what was going to happen. There wasn't exactly an answer to it, but the smart decision was to set themselves on Earth and… Theo showed them how it looked like through Archie and the map system within the Colony Ship that connected with… Earth's own satellites. And Xeanica liked what she saw from this experience.

Nature, cultures, traditions, so many humans and animals. So many beautiful flowers and… then there were the conflicts. That world was far from being completely peaceful due to how many contrasting societies clashed with each other. But it would be a lie to say it couldn't be a pleasant place to live in. The wars were limited to petty reasons, and those were reduced to small portions of the planet as the rest of Earth lived in relative harmony. She wondered where she would want to live once they were there? Someplace hot or warm? Someplace with beaches or icebergs? Maybe a place away from the sea and in the major cities. While it would be unusual, maybe she should divert her entire existence to just water. It would be like imagining Carmesi being suddenly forced to live inside a volcano. The idea was amusing, but still a good reason why perhaps that whole thing would require more attention from her part.

A few weeks of peace and training passed. The various communities inside the colony ship started to slowly grow more friendlier with one another and some relationships were born from it. It was 'expected', just not as quickly as those came to be. Xeanica could only watch this unfold as she kept on training. She was told that there were some dangerous individuals on the other side that seemed to be particularly invested into hurting and hunting them. And that couldn't be accepted, not as her title of Water Guardian demanded. Which is why training was important and she realized how much she had to work on. Her skill with the Chakram was good, but her water-manipulation effort was well behind what other crests could do at the moment. She was also given the time to train hand-to-hand combat and… that was also quite troubling at first.

Her build was petite and her nimbleness didn't make up for the lack of strength. She needed to eat and go through some exercise. Nothing too straining on her body, but it definitely left her drained most of the time. Which meant lots of showering to get rid of the sweat and lots of cuddling and napping to get her energies back to her. It was almost amusing how simple it was, but it showed her how tense and tedious it could get whenever Theo decided for 'trick exercises'. Training with other partners, going through intense spars or even just spending the whole day exercising. Carmesi was also forced to concede a bit of her training time to start going through her task as the leader of the military force. Training, setting up routines and rules for the troops and… other military stuff Xeanica didn't know about.

All was going quite well in the ship as they were moving smoothly and quickly as they prepared to finally make the last moves needed to get to Earth… when a message arrived right from their destination. It was a curt one and it requested the opening of a secure communication channel. For now it was supposed to be a messages-only one, but maybe they were also going to get some video footage too. Still one thing in particular stood up to the rest of the group, something that increased the interest on this very matter.

This connection from Earth came right from Wisdom.

AN

Oh my gosh! It's happening… the Bear is finally here!