Disclaimers: I do not own The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Shannara Series and "The Shannara Chronicles", "Star Wars", Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, The Unicorn Chronicles, Ella Enchanted, The Snow Queen, "Moana", and "Maleficent". They belong to J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Terry Brooks, George Lucas, Disney, Douglas Abrams, Bruce Coville, Gail Carson Levine, and Hans Christian Andersen. All other canon material belongs to their respected owners. All original material belongs to me, the authoress of this fanfiction story.
Warning! This chapter is Rated M for sensual content and intense images.
*.*.*
Katrina climbed aboard the ship. She looked back at the ramp, the moment she had climbed inside the ship. The ramp climbed up, locking onto the ship and keeping the outside elements outside and the inside elements inside. She sighed, wondering what else there was to see on the planet, Nathema.
She looked up at Parker, as he smirked at her.
She sighed, closing her furry mouth, as she spoke to him, "Don't give me that look. You're lucky we're here."
"I know that," Parker said, kindly. He turned to her with a knowing expression, "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," Katrina said, beside herself. "I'm fine. No need to worry about me." She moved away from the ship's entrance/exit ramp, watching Parker follow her down the metallic grey hallway.
She looked back at Parker, curious to see what he was about. He patted her on the back in a sharp manner. She huffed, closing her eyes momentarily from the force of Parker's pat against her back.
Parker smiled at her, laughing as he said, "What? I'm lucky to have you here with me and Eliza, too. We make quite a team."
"We do?" Katrina asked, curiously. "How did you get here? How did you acquire a ship? Here, I thought Frodo would have wanted you home, in the Second Seven Realms."
"Well, that is a question," Parker said, shrugging. He turned to her, telling her, "You see," he huffed, explaining to her, "Frodo had just gotten married to Bethany, his wife—not his new wife. They'd been together for a really long time. It was their wedding day and I performed the marriage ceremony. Then those two departed down the hallway, into their suite, and…" his voice faded. He looked away from Katrina, his mind sullen.
Katrina looked at him, determined. "And what?"
Parker looked up, determined, too. "And nothing." He shrugged, nearly dismissing the moment as fake. "Frodo bit me. He turned me into that thing, that monster." He looked up, turning his gaze away from Katrina. He spoke to her again, keen on making his voice heard, "I met up with the vampire couple who turned Frodo and Bethany into vampires. Ever heard of Edward Cullen, and his beloved mistress Isabella Swan, who goes by Bella?"
Katrina looked away. Her eyes widened. "Oh!" She said, revolted.
Parker turned to her, smiling. "Oh, you know them?"
Katrina shrugged, saying, "They were at my wedding. A wedding that I don't understand. It was as if Edward and his beloved bride Bella had traveled through time to get to my wedding with Valentino. It's a terribly long story."
"I would like to hear it," Parker said, as if he was whispering to her. "Please, tell me."
Katrina brushed his scaly, light red dragon-like arm with her furry head. "We'll talk about this tomorrow. Right now, I just want to get out of here."
"Look!" Eliza cried, shouting at them. "Come to the cockpit! You both have to see this."
Katrina stared at Parker, quizzically. Katrina turned to Eliza, asking her, "What happened?"
"Just come on. We must have done something, the moment we got here," Eliza said, heading back to the cockpit.
Parker turned to Katrina, nodding to her. "Go to her. It must be something."
"Well… what?" Katrina asked, confused.
"Just go!" Parker cried, leading her through the ship's passageways.
Katrina followed Parker's wife down the hallway, into the crew quarters, and heading all the way back to the cockpit. They made their way past the med bay and had now proceeded into Parker and Eliza's cockpit.
The cockpit was metallic. The walls were wide apart and the grey metallic ceiling reminded Katrina of being inside a metallic rectangular box. There were four seats nestled in the cockpit. Two of those seats were for passengers, while the other two were for pilots. All four chairs were cushioned in a dark grey color and looked very comfy. There was also a navigation chart resting against the wall of the ship, while the cockpit had a control panel with a lot of buttons and levers.
But this wasn't Katrina's concern. The moment she looked up, Nathema had sprung back to life. She observed her canister with Nathema's air. All at once, she decided to release the air. She opened the tube, sending the air back out into the atmosphere. Nathema's air vanished into the skies, evaporating out of the ship, as wildlife took over Nathema's surface.
Granted the skies still looked like a foggy greyish-white color, but there was now wildlife on Nathema's surface, complete with its own foliage, flora and fauna, as well as a place with waterfalls and a valley.
Katrina shook her head several times. She hadn't expected this by a long way. Nathema… it was like new. "I've got to check this out!" She rushed away from the cockpit, making her way back to the entrance/exit ramp.
"What?" Eliza asked, confused.
Parker reasoned with himself on whether or not he should follow her. He decided to, telling Eliza, "I'll follow her. Can you stay here for a while?"
Eliza nodded. "Go. I'll stay here."
Parker looked at her with a kind heart. He returned to her, kissing her on the lips. For a moment, he felt his wife's lips turning into pink, dragon-like lips. Oh, how he missed and loved this new form of hers. She truly became the best shapeshifter he knew, and he loved her for it.
Parker smiled, releasing her, as he said, "We'll be right back." He rushed away, leaving her breathless and confused. The moment Eliza stayed in the cockpit, Parker followed Katrina outside the ship, where they witnessed the atmosphere become breathable.
.
Parker turned his gaze to Katrina, who walked about the area close to the ship in circles. Parker looked at her, telling her, "We should go! We don't want to stay here unless…" his voice faded out. There were other ships coming to the planet. Parker grabbed Katrina, moving her back towards the ship, out of sight from any pirates that might come and stop them.
Parker whispered to Katrina, "Can you run?" Katrina nodded. She was scared, frightened, and didn't know what was going on. Parker nodded, too. All he could do was say this: "Then run. We'll catch up with you." He swung Katrina off to the side, forcing her to land on all fours, shaking.
Katrina looked up at Parker. She watched him pull out his grey blaster pistol. Parker fired the pistol at the Weequay pirates. Parker moved behind his ship, ready to shoot more blaster lasers at the pirates.
Parker huffed, snarling at Katrina. He told her, loud and clear, "What are you waiting for?! Run! Run! Go now!" Parker blasted more red laser beams at the Weequay pirates. Katrina ran as fast as she could, but it wasn't fast enough, for the Weequay pirates tossed a rope net into the air. The rope net landed around Katrina's body, forcing her to the ground.
Katrina struggled to get up, stunned to see the first Weequay pirate to cross her path. It was Hondo Ohnaka and he looked pleased to see her. "More weary travelers! We'll take them with us!" Hondo shouted, laughing up a storm.
Katrina looked at him, shaken, "You again? I thought I'd gotten rid of you."
"Katrina! What are you doing here? Untie her!" Hondo stated, confusing the pirates. Hondo tried again, giving up at once as he loosened up the net around Katrina's body. "Do I have to do everything myself? There now. You're free. Now, what brings you here?"
Katrina looked at him, saying, "We were bringing Nathema to life. The Shaman of the Whills says so. We're also going to bring the First World back to life, but that's at the heart of the Shapeshifter's Universe."
"Huh? Ahh! I remember that place. There was a black hole there, the last time I looked. I didn't want to go there. But since Nathema is waking up, then we must go there, too," Hondo said.
Katrina looked at him in amazement. She asked him, "Did you time travel to get here? You're not even born yet."
Hondo laughed, even as Parker was slapped on the wrist by a Weequay pirate's sturdy hand. Hondo looked at his comrades, admitting to them, "Did you hear that?! This cat thinks we didn't time travel to get here, but we did! I'm after valuable jewels."
Parker snarled, saying to them, "Then this Universe is doomed, unless time travel is done right here in the galaxy."
"In this galaxy and all over the Universe. You'd have to be fortunate enough to do that, to find ways around the rules placed for time travelers. It makes sense. Frodo Baggins is known for his time traveling experiences. Why not have the rest of us time travel, too?" Hondo asked, placing his hands on his hips in angst and lust. "Well, come on! We have treasure to find!"
"Do you think its safe to come out?" Eliza asked, curiously.
"No! Stay inside the ship," Parker hissed.
Eliza looked at him, stunned, "But I want to help!"
"Ooh, take her with us!" Hondo said, as he and his pirates made their way across the landscape.
"We should go," Parker said.
Katrina shook her head. "No, you two stay here. I'll go. It's my responsibility."
Parker looked at his wife with caution. He returned to Katrina, worried about her, "You don't have to do that. That's not your job!" Parker told her, amused by her decision.
Katrina shook her head. She slapped her thighs, telling them, "If I don't do it, then someone could get hurt. What else am I supposed to do? Go home? There's nothing for me to go back to!"
Parker raised his hands, trying to calm her, "I understand. But you're dealing with pirates! Weequay pirates. You sure you'll be all right."
"Yeah," Katrina faced him, saying to him, "Hondo's nothing I can't handle. But you should both stay with your ship. It's your ship and I don't want anything bad to happen to it."
Parker nodded. "Okay. If you say so." He made his way back towards his ship.
Eliza turned to Katrina, telling her, "Good luck. We'll wait for you."
Katrina laughed. "Hey! I might find something we need."
Parker nodded to her, stepping on the ramp, "I hope so. Good luck." He waved her on, hoping she would listen.
Katrina nodded, smiling, "I'll see you later." She walked on, hardly noticing Parker shaking his head and saying something to his wife that Katrina couldn't understand.
.
Katrina found herself exploring the lush green terrain that made up Nathema's wilderness. While the Force was almost emptied, the Force regenerated itself. The forests were alive because of the Force, as well as the waterfall that was presented.
The waterfall's crystal-clear pool shimmered right before Katrina's eyes. She smiled, knowing this was right. She sniffed the air, spotting a grey rabbit munching on a lush green leaf. Katrina licked her chops, diving in for the kill. She snatched the rabbit, munching down on it in a manner to please and satisfy her stomach.
She smiled, relief in her eyes.
"Oh, come on!" Hondo shouted, agitated. "Are we going to eat or are we going to keep moving?"
"Hmm?" Katrina asked, turning around and facing him. For a moment, she wondered what he wanted. Then he spoke again:
"Come now. We have to keep moving," Hondo said, pleased.
Katrina nodded. She stood up and followed him across Nathema's wilderness. She looked around, keen on meeting her destination. She sniffed the air, smelling a new smell: the one that smelled of granite and crystals. She glanced up, spotting a tall, arched brownstone cave with a gaping dark opening.
Katrina sneezed, finding it hard to keep the sneezes inside herself. She looked up at Hondo, as he shook his head. "No! That's a Jedi cave. We have no use for Jedi. Come on all! Let's find another cave!" Hondo said, declaring they move on.
"There's bound to be more caves around here, Hondo," a Weequay pirate said, making Hondo agitated.
"I know that! Let's go! We're bound to find more caves around this place at some point!" Hondo said, leading his group of pirates away from the cave.
Katrina shook her head. "Well, that's up to you to decide." That stopped Hondo, got him looking at her in fury.
"Come on! What do you expect to find? A mystery? Come on! You don't need that!" Hondo waved to her.
Katrina shook her head. "No, I have to do this! This cave is calling me. I must seek it." She approached the cave entrance, hardly paying attention to Hondo.
Hondo shrugged his shoulders. He had enough.
Hondo faced his group, telling Katrina, "Your loss." He looked to the pirates, telling them, "Leave her be. She won't be gone too long." He walked away with his group of pirates.
Katrina was alone.
*.*.*
References:
Hondo Ohnaka and the Weequay pirates come from the "Star Wars" Galaxy.