Sclartaran Productions Presents
A Talanane Creation
Kingdom Hearts Trinity Sight
Episode VIII: To Zelan Station.
After he had collected his bag and said his goodbyes to Odin, Ryo made his way through the hallways of the Mansion, occasionally encountering a fellow Esper who wished him well as he passed. He reached the entrance, where more students had gathered to see him off, some cutting class to do so.
"Thank you, thank you!" Ryo told them. "Now excuse me, I really have to go."
Finally, the young man left the well wishers behind and made his way to the windswept plateau where a medium sized ship waited. Standing outside the boarding hatch was the android Wren, whom he had met earlier. Standing on the ramp itself was a small yellow something. As Ryo approached, the something moved, revealing itself to be a living creature.
"At last!" the creature said, surprising the young man momentarily.
"Oh, hello there." the young man replied, as he realized that he was seeing a Musk Cat, a species Native to Dezolis, and unlike most small cats, quite intelligent.
"Welcome Journeyman Urawa." the Musk Cat greeted him, the line sounding obviously rehearsed. The cat continued, introducing himself. "I am called K'Panth, a Musk Cat from the tribe of Old Man Myau."
"Yes, I've heard of Musk Cats, and the role of 'Old Man Myau' in Algo history. I didn't expect to see one here today though."
"Meiu." the Musk Cat said. "True, our people do not often venture far from our caves. However, a few days ago the current Old Man, the one who followed when the Old Man died, had a dream."
"A dream?" the young man asked.
"Yes," K'Panth replied. "He says that he saw some sort of room or chamber full of great machines, then a great number of things like shadows. He did not know what it meant, so he sent me to ask the advice of the Lutz. When I met him this morning, he told me about you and the quest you were being sent on. He also suggested that the Old Man's dream may be related and that I should accompany you."
As K'Panth told him about this, faint memories of Ryo's own vision of a chamber filled with scientific equipment, and a young girl briefly resurfaced. "I see." He said. Then he said "I too have had visions, of some kind of laboratory, and of at least one young girl being held captive."
The young Musk Cat's tail twitched then lashed as he said "Yes! The Old Man did say something about seeing Alis in his vision, all frozen! Only Queen Alis died a long time ago!"
"That's what the history books say anyway" Ryo confirmed, but at the same time winking at the Musk Cat. I also know that certain powerful people or other beings do not always stay dead."
"Like Lassic." K"Panth stated as an example.
"Well, yes." Ryo replied. "The Profound Darkness' influence allowed him to return during the Final Cycle. But I was thinking about something more along the lines of Urabolian Transmigration, the rebirth of a powerful destined soul inside of a new body."
"Oh! What?" the Musk Cat replied. "Are you saying that the Queen could be alive?"
"I don't know." the young Esper told him. "It's just a hypothesis I heard in class one day. There's no hard evidence either for or against it. Anyway, we didn't come here to talk about reincarnation."
"We have to go." K'Panth replied.
"We?" the young man asked, then remembered "Oh yes, you did say something about coming along didn't you?"
K'Panth just meowed in a tone that suggested 'Of Course'. Then shrugging, Ryo bent down and offered to shake the Musk Cat's paw in a show of friendship, saying "In that case, welcome aboard K'Panth."
After accepting the young Esper's handshake sealing their new friendship, K'panth spoke again, admitting "Actually, I'm a little nervous about getting in that machine." as he gestured toward the spacecraft sitting on the ice field. "I know that the 'Old Man', did it in his travels, but still."
Wren, who was still standing beside the ramp spoke up, having heard K'Panth's concern. "You do not need to board if you are not confident. I acknowledge that there is an element of risk in any space travel. However you can rest assured that I have done and will continue to do all I can to assure your and the Esper Journeyman's safety during the flight."
K'Panth turned toward the android and replied. "I'm not scared, I'm not!" and dashed up the ramp into the ship. Ryo simply shrugged his shoulders and followed.
As the two of them boarded the vessel, the android Wren followed behind them saying "Welcome aboard the Landale sirs." Then indicating the direction with his left arm he added "Please proceed to your left to reach the bridge. I will show you to your quarters after launch."
Ryo and K'Panth complied, soon arriving at a rather old-fashioned pressure door, complete with hand operated locking wheel. Meanwhile in the distance, a rumbling and whirring sound could be heard as Wren closed and locked the outer hatch.
"Huh, what kind of door is this?" K'Panth asked.
"Oh this?" the Esper replied. "This is in case there's ever a hole in the hull. You close and lock these doors to seal off the part of the ship where the hole is so that you only lose the air from that part of the ship, not all of it."
"Huh?" the Musk Cat said, confused.
"I'll explain it again later." Ryo replied. "Now if I remember those old movies right, you turn the wheel to the left to open it." The young man tried this, but the wheel would not turn. A moment later he found out that this was because the door was not sealed, as evidenced by its slight movement inward when Ryo put pressure on the wheel to get a better grip.
"Of course, the crew wouldn't seal these doors while the ship was on the ground." Ryo said with a touch of embarrassment.
They entered the bridge area, which more closely resembled the cockpit of a 1960's era jumbo jet in that almost all the controls and instrument displays were analog. Indeed, looking toward the pilot's station, Ryo and K'Panth found that there was actually a control yoke like those found in jumbo jets. Before either of them could comment on the layout, Wren entered the bridge.
"You probably wish to inquire about why the Landale's instrumentation seems so primitive. Most first time passengers do." Wren supplied.
The Esper and Musk Cat turned toward him, nodding simultaneously.
"If you recall your Algo history Master Urawa, you know that the Landale was originally constructed as a pirate vessel during the domination of Mother Brain. As such, she was designed without any on board computers or unnecessary electronic components, in order to be resistant to the Mother Brain's control. All navigation was done by feeding the relevant data into a portable self-contained navigation computer and the results fed into the control systems manually."
"I see." Ryo answered. "I thought they only did that in old Science Fiction movies."
Wren was confused for a few seconds while he searched his memory for the reference. Then finding it he said "Oh, I see sir. Rest assured that I can manage, even with such antiquated systems. If you and your companion would just take your stations, we will begin departure proceedings."
Ryo and K'Panth took the seats indicated by the android, which just so happened to be the navigator's and gunners stations respectively. As the Esper strapped in, (The restraint systems weren't made for cats, so the Musk Cat didn't.) Wren switched on the intercom, giving orders to the robots stationed in the engine room to start up the systems. A few moments later a low whine could be heard from behind and below and the ship began t vibrate slightly as the engines ignited. A moment later the whine and vibration increased as Ryo and K'Panth felt a slight increase in weight as the Landale lifted off the ground. Then they felt a slight twisting sensation as the ship turned. Then the android announced "Prepare for acceleration!" just before the engine whine began to ramp up to a roar, accompanied by a force shoving everybody right back into their seats.
The roar, vibration and pressure continued for several minutes as the ship climbed and accelerated into orbit. Then the noise and sensation of great weight eased as orbital velocity was reached. Wren announced "Estimated time until transfer orbit insertion approximately thirty seven minutes. You may want to use this time to use the head or take some motion sickness medication. The main crew facilities are at the end of the connecting passage, down one level, up another passage and to your left."
The journey to Zelan station was relatively uneventful, marred only by K'Panth becoming space sick once or twice. Ryo explained to him that his condition was simply "The information from your ears' gravity and acceleration sensors contradicting the information from your eyes. You simply have to learn to deal with it, since I don't know if the medicines aboard this ship would help you or kill you." K'Panth's reply to this led to a discussion about the differences in metabolism between species and that because of this, what may help one species could harm or kill another. The explanation only made K'Panth dizzier, as evidenced by the flow of vomit from the Musk Cat's mouth, which then proceeded to float inside the cabin. So in the end all Ryo got for his explanation and debate was the task of cleaning up the debris.
Rune Walsh, the Lutz of the Espers watched as the Landale took off and rushed away up into the sky. He sighed. Part of him wished that he too was going along with Ryo and the Musk Cat, to investigate and possibly fight alongside them and to possibly meet up again with his old friend Chaz Ashley. He shook his head. He knew he couldn't go, since his workload and responsibilities here at Esper Mansion took up too much of his time. Turning and looking up at the point in the sky where the ship had been lost from unaided sight, the Lutz said "My, and all of our hopes and wishes go with you young man."
Next time on Kingdom Hearts Trinity Sight: Captive, and with the Bends too!
Author's note: I know, I know. Another talky chapter of the Ryo arc, right. Don't worry, the next time this branch of the story comes up, the action will start heating up for our friends.
Cordially yours: Talanane.