___Chapter 45___
Damaiou opened his eyes, and immediately they met Oboe's. He was about to cry, but he saw an understanding in her that stopped him.
She knew how he felt, and didn't say a word, just handed him her doll and held his hand.
---
The rest of the trip was uneventful (except for the fact that Oboe's second dream wouldn't let up). That is, until about five weeks after their initial take-off.
---
Oboe awakened from another dream of death that wasn't death, shaking. After checking her surroundings for tails with fangs, she stood up and brushed the sweat off her forehead with her blanket.
Suddenly the silence in the cockpit was broken by a deep, droning noise, causing Oboe to jump and screech "WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!!!!" She braced herself, but when nothing happened she cocked an eye and looked around. The noise came again, but from a definite direction, and when she got to the source of it, she discovered-
"Damaiou!" Oboe scolded, slapping his head so hard he went tumbling off (what would be considered) the captain's chair. "Don't DO that! Do you have any idea how much you scared me?"
Damaiou, who had rolled over backwards against the wall, thought out-loud "What did I do? I was asleep!"
"You couldn't have been asleep. Noone can snore that loud naturally!!!"
Damaiou only stared blankly, and before Oboe could stop herself, she was laughing. It didn't help her to stop when his eyes started going out of focus because all the blood was rushing to his head either. Finally he got the sense to roll over and sit up, but he fouled that at step one by barreling right into her, knocking them both flat on their asses.
They both started cracking up then, Oboe nearly in tears. Damaiou managed to stand up by leaning against the window- he was still dizzy from being upsi-down too long. When he could finally see straight, he sighed, and glanced outside. The little namek's eyes widened, and he tugged on Oboe's shoulder. "Hey, look! What's that?"
She peered at the little blue sphere in the distance, shrugged, and said "Ask the ship."
"........."
"*bops* No, not like that, baka! I mean ask the computer! *points at it* "
"That's a COMPUTER? I've been putting my feet on it..."
"*mumbles* Why do I even bother...."
Oboe sat down, and opened her mouth to speak to it when she looked outside. And stopped. {{Who cares about where we are.... it's beautiful!}}
The little planet was a swirl of blue, white, and green, almost a little like her own home, but distinctly different. Stepping out of the seat, Oboe practically flattened her face against the glass gawking.
But soon that overall view was reduced as the ship drew closer to it's destination- a huge area, totally barren of anything but mesas and canyons with only the hardiest mosses and lichens growing in sheltered corners, giving it the appearance of the end of the world.
Damaiou, playing with the computer, muttered irritably "What the hell is a 'Yunzabit'?"
"What? Where'd you pull that word up?"
"Yunzabit heights is where we're gonna land in about fifteen minutes. Might as well read what they've got here on it." He began reading the paragraph aloud, but halfway through, stopped cold, his face pale.
Oboe pulled away from the window, putting a hand behind her head as she asked "What's wrong?"
"It... says this area is prone to random, sudden, and destructive storms." he mumbled, white knuckles clenched on the top of the computer. Oboe was silent, her blue eyes shaking.
"S~s~STORMS!!!" she shrieked, panicking.
Damaiou jumped up and held her tight, yelling "Calm down! It's ok, it's ok, calm down." Oboe, shivering, didn't answer.
Of course, she didn't really get a chance to, since at that moment the ship was buffeted by hurricane-force winds that sent it spiraling out of control.
They were thrown violently against the hull, Oboe screaming as Damaiou bit his lip to remain silent.
Oboe was still screaming, but stopped when she felt Damaiou's breathing was erratic. Glancing around, she saw his eyes were as large as hers- but he hadn't made a sound. Ashamed, she kept her mouth shut.
Instead, she asked "What do we do? I'm.... I'm scared."
"Me too." he whispered in a raspy tone, clearly terrified. Then his nose crinkled up- "Blood? Who's.."
He stopped at that moment, because he got his answer. When they'd gotten thrown, his claws had caught her arm and drawn a long, decently deep cut down it, about six inches long. She hadn't noticed it yet in her fear, but she would soon.
Before that could happen, Damaiou pulled off his vest, ripped some strips out of it, and wrapped them around the wound
"Huh? Why'd you do that?"
"You were bleeding."
"...You didn't need to do that- I could have healed it."
Damaiou glanced away. "Oh... yeah. Forgot." NOW he felt stupid.
"But that was sweet of you. *smiles* "
Damaiou looked back up, surprised. Then her face went quiet and she said silently "Damaiou, we have to get out of this thing before it hits if we want a chance."
He nodded sullenly, and called out the password to open the door as he clenched her hand and moved toward their exit. "Now, don't let go, whatever you do."
Oboe nodded, looking out into the darkness beyond the ship. But then she glanced back at Damaiou next to her, staring at him. She didn't know why, but had a feeling that there was something she had to do before they jumped, something that couldn't wait, but something she didn't understand. So when it came time for them to go, all she did was grip his hand tightly as they plunged into the open air, with a half mile of air to the ground.
---
Several hours later, a pair of sapphire eyes opened, their wearer awake in a strange place. Huge trees (at least, she THOUGHT they were trees) that she had never seen the like of before surrounded her, blocking out the sky. Moaning, Oboe slumped up, bringing her arms around herself and noticing something on her right arm. {{How did this get t-}}
Suddenly she thought of Damaiou and jerked up, screaming his name into the night. The only response she got was the haunting echo of her own voice. Oboe tried to remember what had happened when they leapt from the ship, but that was only an eternity of screams and winds and fear. Then an image flashed into her mind- a huge gust blowing her away from him, and his distraught voice calling her name out after her as he disappeared into the distance.
Oboe shuddered. {{Might as well figure out where I am...}} she thought to herself as she stood up and began walking in what looked like the right direction.
---
After about four hours, she was hopelessly lost, freezing and dehydrated. Suddenly she collapsed from exhaustion, her mind reeling between consciousness and death. While looking forward, she noticed something she noticed something she hadn't before- a little creature that blended in almost perfectly with the groundcover.
{{Like the one in my dream...}} But then her thoughts were cut off by the scream that split her lips as it struck forward, digging it's fangs into her arm.
Things proceeded as they did in her dream, and the last thought in her mind before blacking out was {{Where are you Damaiou?? Damn my life sucks.}}.
And then all was silent. All was still.
Damaiou opened his eyes, and immediately they met Oboe's. He was about to cry, but he saw an understanding in her that stopped him.
She knew how he felt, and didn't say a word, just handed him her doll and held his hand.
---
The rest of the trip was uneventful (except for the fact that Oboe's second dream wouldn't let up). That is, until about five weeks after their initial take-off.
---
Oboe awakened from another dream of death that wasn't death, shaking. After checking her surroundings for tails with fangs, she stood up and brushed the sweat off her forehead with her blanket.
Suddenly the silence in the cockpit was broken by a deep, droning noise, causing Oboe to jump and screech "WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!!!!" She braced herself, but when nothing happened she cocked an eye and looked around. The noise came again, but from a definite direction, and when she got to the source of it, she discovered-
"Damaiou!" Oboe scolded, slapping his head so hard he went tumbling off (what would be considered) the captain's chair. "Don't DO that! Do you have any idea how much you scared me?"
Damaiou, who had rolled over backwards against the wall, thought out-loud "What did I do? I was asleep!"
"You couldn't have been asleep. Noone can snore that loud naturally!!!"
Damaiou only stared blankly, and before Oboe could stop herself, she was laughing. It didn't help her to stop when his eyes started going out of focus because all the blood was rushing to his head either. Finally he got the sense to roll over and sit up, but he fouled that at step one by barreling right into her, knocking them both flat on their asses.
They both started cracking up then, Oboe nearly in tears. Damaiou managed to stand up by leaning against the window- he was still dizzy from being upsi-down too long. When he could finally see straight, he sighed, and glanced outside. The little namek's eyes widened, and he tugged on Oboe's shoulder. "Hey, look! What's that?"
She peered at the little blue sphere in the distance, shrugged, and said "Ask the ship."
"........."
"*bops* No, not like that, baka! I mean ask the computer! *points at it* "
"That's a COMPUTER? I've been putting my feet on it..."
"*mumbles* Why do I even bother...."
Oboe sat down, and opened her mouth to speak to it when she looked outside. And stopped. {{Who cares about where we are.... it's beautiful!}}
The little planet was a swirl of blue, white, and green, almost a little like her own home, but distinctly different. Stepping out of the seat, Oboe practically flattened her face against the glass gawking.
But soon that overall view was reduced as the ship drew closer to it's destination- a huge area, totally barren of anything but mesas and canyons with only the hardiest mosses and lichens growing in sheltered corners, giving it the appearance of the end of the world.
Damaiou, playing with the computer, muttered irritably "What the hell is a 'Yunzabit'?"
"What? Where'd you pull that word up?"
"Yunzabit heights is where we're gonna land in about fifteen minutes. Might as well read what they've got here on it." He began reading the paragraph aloud, but halfway through, stopped cold, his face pale.
Oboe pulled away from the window, putting a hand behind her head as she asked "What's wrong?"
"It... says this area is prone to random, sudden, and destructive storms." he mumbled, white knuckles clenched on the top of the computer. Oboe was silent, her blue eyes shaking.
"S~s~STORMS!!!" she shrieked, panicking.
Damaiou jumped up and held her tight, yelling "Calm down! It's ok, it's ok, calm down." Oboe, shivering, didn't answer.
Of course, she didn't really get a chance to, since at that moment the ship was buffeted by hurricane-force winds that sent it spiraling out of control.
They were thrown violently against the hull, Oboe screaming as Damaiou bit his lip to remain silent.
Oboe was still screaming, but stopped when she felt Damaiou's breathing was erratic. Glancing around, she saw his eyes were as large as hers- but he hadn't made a sound. Ashamed, she kept her mouth shut.
Instead, she asked "What do we do? I'm.... I'm scared."
"Me too." he whispered in a raspy tone, clearly terrified. Then his nose crinkled up- "Blood? Who's.."
He stopped at that moment, because he got his answer. When they'd gotten thrown, his claws had caught her arm and drawn a long, decently deep cut down it, about six inches long. She hadn't noticed it yet in her fear, but she would soon.
Before that could happen, Damaiou pulled off his vest, ripped some strips out of it, and wrapped them around the wound
"Huh? Why'd you do that?"
"You were bleeding."
"...You didn't need to do that- I could have healed it."
Damaiou glanced away. "Oh... yeah. Forgot." NOW he felt stupid.
"But that was sweet of you. *smiles* "
Damaiou looked back up, surprised. Then her face went quiet and she said silently "Damaiou, we have to get out of this thing before it hits if we want a chance."
He nodded sullenly, and called out the password to open the door as he clenched her hand and moved toward their exit. "Now, don't let go, whatever you do."
Oboe nodded, looking out into the darkness beyond the ship. But then she glanced back at Damaiou next to her, staring at him. She didn't know why, but had a feeling that there was something she had to do before they jumped, something that couldn't wait, but something she didn't understand. So when it came time for them to go, all she did was grip his hand tightly as they plunged into the open air, with a half mile of air to the ground.
---
Several hours later, a pair of sapphire eyes opened, their wearer awake in a strange place. Huge trees (at least, she THOUGHT they were trees) that she had never seen the like of before surrounded her, blocking out the sky. Moaning, Oboe slumped up, bringing her arms around herself and noticing something on her right arm. {{How did this get t-}}
Suddenly she thought of Damaiou and jerked up, screaming his name into the night. The only response she got was the haunting echo of her own voice. Oboe tried to remember what had happened when they leapt from the ship, but that was only an eternity of screams and winds and fear. Then an image flashed into her mind- a huge gust blowing her away from him, and his distraught voice calling her name out after her as he disappeared into the distance.
Oboe shuddered. {{Might as well figure out where I am...}} she thought to herself as she stood up and began walking in what looked like the right direction.
---
After about four hours, she was hopelessly lost, freezing and dehydrated. Suddenly she collapsed from exhaustion, her mind reeling between consciousness and death. While looking forward, she noticed something she noticed something she hadn't before- a little creature that blended in almost perfectly with the groundcover.
{{Like the one in my dream...}} But then her thoughts were cut off by the scream that split her lips as it struck forward, digging it's fangs into her arm.
Things proceeded as they did in her dream, and the last thought in her mind before blacking out was {{Where are you Damaiou?? Damn my life sucks.}}.
And then all was silent. All was still.