Chapter 3: Trance

Time passed incredibly slowly, sitting on his wooden and yet surprisingly comfortable bed, Thunderchild spent the time trying to figure out ways to escape from this cell and eventually this ship, he eventually threw all caution to the wind and helped himself to some strange looking fruits from the bowl on the table; they tasted quite nice and didn't cause him to be violently ill or fall into a sound sleep.

After what had to be hours, time meant nothing in an area without visibility of the sun, and Thunderchilds imp watch had stopped working ever since he'd arrived at this place because the imp hadn't been transported through with him; the ship lurched violently to one side and then shuddered, Thunderchild panicked and then attacked the door, after about three attempts the door gave way and he ran out into the corridor ready for action.

Meanwhile elsewhere on the Prima Vista, things were not going well, several monsters had appeared out of the mist and boarded the ship, at the first sign of them Zidane and Domino had rushed out onto the deck and attacked them. Domino managed to get several damaging blows in but had taken moderate damage as a result, Zidane had had better luck but the battle was still in the monsters favour; two versus six, never good odds. The rest of the Tantalus crew on board the Prima Vista were struggling to keep the ship under control as the mist whirled and eddied underneath them, plummeting the ship towards the ground and then thrusting it high back into the air.

Domino ran into the heart of the monsters, dodging beaks and talons thrust in her direction and swept her sword in a tight arc at the nearest monster; cutting a deep gash in it's scaly hide. As she turned around to run back out to safety she suddenly found her way blocked by another of the monsters which had moved in behind her, it struck across her arm cutting it down to the bone, she shuddered and felt a strong feeling of rage build within her, she knew she was about to go into Trance, the state of high emotional charge that heightened ones reflexes in battle. She prepared to receive another blow from the creature, ducking down and putting her arms up front of her face in a reflex action. The blow never came.

The stranger from another planet, what was his name again? Thunderchild, that was it, was slashing deeply into the creature with his large two-handed sword, I thought we'd taken that away from him she thought.

She then noticed with some level of astonishment that he'd gone into Trance, I didn't think that would be possible for him, she thought and then joined him in fighting the creature off and then returned to Zidane who was fighting another of the creatures that was threatening to snap the ships main mast in two.

Thunderchild followed her, typical he thought I save her life and does she say thank you? Hell as like she does! And then he charged another of the creatures cutting its head clean from it's body. Unusual he thought I never remember being this strong, or this quick, maybe it's the air here? Then he caught Zidane giving him a strange look and found that in the reflection of one of ships windows that his hair had gone a bright white; and his armour was positively glowing.

"What the hell's happening to me!?" he yelled at Zidane

"It's Trance Thunderchild, don't worry about it, just help me kill these things!"

Thunderchild shrugged and charged another of the creatures, killing it in one hit.

After another five minutes of fighting the deck lay strewn in blood and body parts, all from the creatures that had attacked; the ship had stabilised itself and everything was relatively back to normal, except for Thunderchild for who there were plenty of questions to be answered.

"What the hell is trance all about then?" he asked Zidane

Thunderchild looked back at the window and at his reflection, his hair had gone back to normal now and his armour no longer glowed, he felt his usual self, no more, no less.

"Trance is usually brought on by a strong emotion, that itself is usually brought on by a sustained period of hits from the enemy."

Domino walked over, her arm bandaged

"I was nearly in trance when you interrupted," she said looking at Thunderchild "I could have taken them on easily, you didn't need to get involved"

"Well, I'm sorry but from what I could see you were about to get massacred by those things"

"I could have gotten myself out of it, there was no need for you to interfere with things that you know nothing about, you don't even belong here Human!"

With that she stormed off down into the holds of the ship.

"Ok, that hurt"

"You'll have to excuse Domino, she's not too fond of humans, she's had a lot of history if you know what I mean"

"I think I understand, still she's got a point, what do I know?"

"Well, I think you kicked arse back there, if you can do that alright then you'll do fine here"

"Thank you"

Zidane went to walk away and then stopped and turned back to Thunderchild

"There's one thing I don't understand," he said "You hadn't been hurt by those monsters, why did you go into trance?"

"I'm not sure, I saw Domino; that she'd been hurt, and I knew I had to help her, even though she didn't appreciate it"

"You went into Trance over Domino?"

"Yeah, something like that"

Zidane smiled at him and then looked to where Domino had gone down into the hold

"You like her don't you?"

Thunderchild blushed and lowered his head

"Guilty as charged Zidane"

Zidane laughed and then looked long and hard at Thunderchild

"I think she likes you too, but she'll be damned if you'll get that out of her"

With that Zidane took the same way down into the hold that Domino had taken leaving a very confused Thunderchild sitting by himself on the deck.

Shortly after Zidane left, some other crewmembers came up on deck  to remove any valuable items from the corpses of the monsters and throw the rest overboard, Thunderchild helped them, and it was while he was helping clear out one of the monsters he came across a silver charm necklace which he put in his pocket for safe keeping, After all, he thought I might not be staying with these guys so why give them everything I have?

As he was helping throw the last of the bodies overboard a shadow fell next to him, he turned to see a short and slightly fat creature with pointed ears poking through, with more of a muzzle than a face.

"You Thunderchild?" he asked

"Yeah, that's me"

The creature extended a furry paw/hand in what Thunderchild correctly presumed was a handshake gesture.

"I'm Baku, I heard what you did during the skirmish we had; Thank you"

"Not a problem, so you're the infamous 'boss' I've heard about, pleased to meet you"

"Likewise, you've presented us with quite a puzzle Thunderchild"

"You're not the only ones, I'm just as puzzled as you"

"Here, what are we doing talking out here? Come back to my cabin, we can have a drink"

"Thank you"

Baku and Thunderchild walked down into the hold of the ship and along to the back where they entered a large but modest cabin with some large windows facing behind the ship.

Baku poured both of them a drink and then sat down to a small round table, beckoning Thunderchild to do the same.

"So, Thunderchild, You were battling two Black mages before you came here"

"Yes, it was during the battle I was teleported"

"Ok, well, I'm glad in a way that we've met up because that information is very valuable to me"

"Really? How so?"

"Well, as Zidane no doubt told you, we had a rather large spot of trouble a year ago with black mages that were created by the Queen of Alexandria in a period of unrest. We thought that we'd sorted that mess out, but apparently we haven't, and now they're more powerful than ever. Thankfully they seem to be confined to a small number of mages"

"Zidane never mentioned this, so, where is this ship headed?"

"At the moment? Lindblum"

"Lindblum?"

"Yeah, it sounds a lot like that Ankh-Morpork you described only maybe a bit more advanced"

Thunderchild sipped some more of his drink, ach, it was strong and burned the throat but it was what he needed after recent events. He then leaned back and stretched his legs.

"So, what part am I playing in this?"

Baku shifted uneasily in his chair and then fixed Thunderchild with a shrewd look

"Well, after how well you performed in battle there's a berth for you on the Prima Vista, however should you choose not to join us, there's bound to be something to your liking in Lindblum"

Thunderchilds eyes widened slightly

"So there's no way I can be returned?"

"No, not at the moment"

"DAMN!!!"

Baku looked very puzzled at Thunderchilds outburst

"Is something the matter?"

"It's not your fault Baku, to be frank your hospitality here has been much better than I expected but I left a friend of mine fighting for his life, for all I know he could be dead by now!"

"I understand, during that period I mentioned earlier, we lost Blank a close college of ours, to a petrified forest, however, we got lucky and were able to revive him later but for a time it was as though he was dead."

"Aye, it's a tough thing, I've often lost friends"

"Really?"

"Yes, I'm a soldier, I fought for my country in a war that never should have happened, over a small strip of an island that had reappeared in the sea between our two nations. The powers in charge decided that fighting was better than talking and sent us into battle."

Baku leaned forward

"Please Thunderchild, go on"

Thunderchild sighed and took a deep draught of his drink and then put it down on the table before continuing:

"The war only lasted a couple of days, the island sank back into the sea less than a week later. It was long enough though. I was a member of the 101st Screaming Vultures magic carpet squadron, we were positioned far behind enemy lines in order to capture a key bridge while the 30th Camel corps pushed through the frontlines to us."

"But, it went wrong"

Thunderchild put his head in his hands

"Yes, badly wrong. Initial intelligence reports indicated that the area around our landing point was clear of enemy troops. They were very, very wrong. A strong enemy cavalry unit was resting from the frontlines there and we landed," his voice faltered

Baku reached over to Thunderchild and put his hand on his shoulder

"It's ok Thunderchild, you don't have to go on if you don't want to"

"No, it must be said"

"Ok, carry on then"

"We landed practically on top of them; it was a massacre. Not many of us survived the original cavalry surge; I was one of the few. I saw, I saw my best friends blood leak out into the noonday sand. There was nothing, nothing I could have done to save them. When the cavalry returned to finish us off, I just put up my hands and surrendered, I didn't want to see more of my friends die that day"

Thunderchild brought us head back up again and looked Baku squarely in the eye. In Thunderchilds eyes Baku saw pain, anguish and helplessness at a horror that there was nothing he could have done to avoid. In Bakus eyes Thunderchild saw wisdom tempered by experience, both men formed a mutual respect for each other there and then.

"Ok Thunderchild, thank you for telling me that, I can understand you a lot better now. Go back to your cabin, have a rest, help yourself to anything on this ship, it'll be another two days before we reach Lindblum so I think you'd better prepare yourself for what lies ahead"

"Thank you Baku, thank you for listening"

"We're all in the same boat now Thunderchild, pun unintended"

Thunderchild smiled and then walked out of the cabin, Baku finished off his drink and then walked over to the window.

Ah Thunderchild, what other horrors must we both see before we can rest in our quest for peace? He thought