It's another very short chapter, but the others are most likely far longer. More than 5,000 words in the next one, I promise. I didn't include an author's note at the end of it, simply because I didn't want to ruin the ending.
Also, I've said it before, but you get two chapters for the national holiday. So enjoy.
LUCAS'S POV
And so we walked out of the underground courtroom very disgruntled indeed. It wasn't like we hadn't expected this outcome, but we had not exactly expected it either. Konstantin was going to be put to death. It was hard to believe.
"I can't believe Konstantin lost, Dr. Howler" Willow said from in front of me. I was bringing up the rear, followed by Willow, with Cole and Will walking together. Mike was being led by Dr. Howler, who was being led by the one who was leading all of us, Mrs. Hooter. Just to give you a picture of what the scene looked like.
"When you think about it, it's not really that surprising" Dr. Howler said back. Maybe Willow did have a touch of Asperger's as well, because that is one of the things I do sometimes. Sometimes, I do talk to a person when they don't seem to be in the proper place to talk to me.
"What do you mean?" Willow asked, confused.
"Wolf O'Donnell can be very...charismatic" the Bengal tiger replied. "He can easily convince people of anything, and that was necessary. You see, before Wolf worked for this school, he was a criminal".
"Really?" Cole asked. "Man, we'd work well together!"
We hadn't talked much about what had been said in the courtroom about our pasts. I didn't know if Cole's activity, criminal as it was at times, was something that was a sore subject for him to talk about. I'd talked about my past, and so had he.
Really, there was no way to tell.
"Yes, he was a criminal, and Fox McCloud fought and defeated him. But now he's been a mercenary as well, and the only way he would get pardoned would be if he worked to help set up this school. And he did, and that's why you see him as the wrestling teacher now".
"Okay" Cole said.
With that, we reached the top of the winding tunnel, and then it was time for lunch.
After lunch, the six of us had Battle Tactics together, our first class of its kind. I didn't know what it would have been like at the original location, since I had never had one there, but it was apparently going to be held in the War Room here in this bunker.
I had no idea who was going to teach the class. Maybe Falco himself, but probably not Fox if he truly was off doing his own thing with the war effort. I would just have to wait and see.
Imagine my surprise when it was Slippy Toad who was teaching it. Slippy, the very same teacher that Willow had had a detention with several weeks ago. And, really, it was quite crazy to think about that.
It had been only five or six weeks since Willow and I had been captured, but since then there had been so much that had changed. Now, we were stuck with Konstantin on death row, with no idea what was going on with him right now.
Would he be mistreated severely before he died? Like so many other things I was thinking about, I could really only give one answer to that question: I didn't know.
Slippy said, "Hello, class. I know that a lot of you may have been distracted with everything that has been going on. However, that is by no means going to make it so that we cannot learn some battle strategy. Look in front of you".
The table Willow and I were sitting at suddenly lit up, and what looked like a virtual chessboard appeared on it. This was because it was, in fact, a chessboard.
I was okay at chess, not great by any means, but I didn't know what this had to do with Battle Tactics, or how Slippy would use it to teach us.
"War is a lot like chess" Slippy said. "There are so many different possibilities, many different variables, that you cannot be sure of. What we do know, however, is this: The main thing that makes chess so complicated is that each piece moves in a different way".
"I like chess a lot" Willow said. "I bet I could kick your ass at it anytime".
We shared a good-natured laugh, but it wasn't too loud to the point that we couldn't hear what Slippy said next.
"Our Cornerian weapons are also different in terms of effectiveness and range. Some are more powerful than others. Using which weapon at which time, that is what is important. With all the physical training that you have been doing, it is important to note that brains can be as important as brawn.
"Before you is a simple chess position. I want you to analyze it carefully, and discuss it. For those of you who don't know, I will be putting an explanation on the board of how each piece moves".
Slippy clicked on his remote, and an explanation of each chess piece and how they moved appeared on the screen at the front of the room.
And then, Willow and I looked at the display on our own table.
It was a very simple position, where each side had a king and a pawn. The pawns were facing each other, and the kings were each diagonally behind their pawns.
I was aware of the significance of such a position. This is called zugzwang, which is a German word meaning "compulsion to move". It basically means that it would be in your interest if you didn't have to make a move, because every single move you could possibly make would be bad for your position.
In this position, whichever side was supposed to move would be forced to abandon their own pawn, resulting in it being captured and the other side winning.
"This is an interesting case of mutual zugzwang" Slippy said. "And so it is in war sometimes. There are cases where neither side has the advantage by attacking, and one of the key things is to recognize when that is the case. That is important".
At first, I didn't see that this was too pertinent to what was going on right now. But then, I realized something.
Chess, or more specifically the position of zugzwang, was a good metaphor for what was going on in my life right now. If we tried to rescue Konstantin, we might get captured and/or die doing it. If we didn't, then we would live the rest of our lives wondering what could have been.
It was indeed possible that there were no good moves.
Later, I was walking down the hallway when, like so many times before, I ended up meeting with none other than Willow Foster. Whether this was by coincidence or some divine intervention, I might never know.
"How is it going, Lucas?" Willow asked me.
The truth was, I didn't know how to answer her. "Not great, I guess. There is the whole thing about Konstantin being put on death row after being found guilty".
"I know, Lucas. The truth of the matter is, it just doesn't sit very well for me that seven witnesses can say that he didn't do it, and then one person can just change all their minds and flip things like that. Now, Konstantin is going to die. Unless..."
"Unless what?" I asked. "He's fucked, isn't he?"
"No" Willow said. "There is a plan going on, right now, to help free him. And you can help".
My heart leapt. I couldn't believe that we might have another chance to save Konstantin after all.
"What should I do?"
"Just meet us in the storage room tonight after lights out. Cole, Mike, Dr. Howler...we're all going to be there. She's in on it too".
"Really?" I asked.
"Yep" said Willow. "But you mustn't tell anyone! We would get in huge trouble if it got out that we were aiding and abetting a convicted criminal escape!"
I didn't want to end the conversation on that happy note. After all, there was something else I wanted to float to her. Something that might cheer both of us up.
"Do you want another night under the stars?" I asked her. "Just like that time on the roof of the original school?"
"I'd love to, Lucas...but I just hope that it won't distract us too much".
"It won't" I said. "We can talk about plans during it. I don't think that the others will mind too much, what with everything else that has been going on at this school".
Willow tensed up a little bit. "I know you're right, but still. The truth is, I don't want to end up in prison just like Konstantin. He looked terrible! Seriously, Lucas".
"Sure" I said. "But when do you want to hang out under the stars? We need a game plan for this date, you know".
"How about tomorrow night?" she asked. "That's just two nights before our plan to rescue him. Is that good with you? Does that work?"
"It does" I said, pulling her into a hug.
Even with all the turmoil going on around us, I will say this much: No hug from Willow Foster had ever felt so good.
COLE'S POV
That night, all of us managed to find the way to the storage room, where we were holding a meeting for one purpose: Figure out how to rescue Konstantin Brockenbough, an innocent youth convicted of a heinous crime.
Lucas, Willow, Mike, Will, Seventy-Four, and Dr. Howler were all there with me. It needed to be a group effort, or else we would never get this thing done.
"Konstantin is being restrained quite a lot" Dr. Howler said. "He is being guarded 24/7, and there is no way that we would be able to get past them without subduing them first. I just wish there was a way".
"I can help" I said. "I used to be a criminal. I'm good at martial arts and stuff like that".
"I'm afraid I can't help you with that" said Lucas. "I only ever got to yellow belt in karate".
"In any case", Dr. Howler said, "we're going to need a lot of things in order to rescue him. As the school's doctor, I have access to video footage of him occasionally. If it seems that he will be too weak to walk, we can bring a stretcher down here. Anything to carry him will work".
"Where will you get a stretcher?" Lucas asked.
"They carried you off the mountain on a stretcher, Lucas!" I said, rolling my eyes.
"Well, I was unconscious at the time!" Lucas said good-naturedly, rolling his eyes back at me.
"Guys, it's time to stop talking about it. But to answer your question, Lucas, we have plenty of stretchers in the hospital wing, and it was easy to get one from there for you back on the mountain. It's going to be all right in that regard".
"How will we get away?" Mike asked.
"It's simple, really" Dr. Howler said. "The Great Fox is going to be parked in the hangar. We have full endorsement to fly it".
"How-" I began to ask.
"I'll field that question" said a voice from elsewhere in the room.
From behind a tower of boxes stepped a tropical bird. Falco Lombardi.
Falco looked enthusiastic to fly again. I knew that his motto was, "Personally, I prefer the air".
"You've been here the whole time?" Will asked incredulously.
"That's right. I've been listening in on your whole conversation. And I'm helping in your rescue efforts. You're okay with that, aren't you?"
"As long as you don't snitch" Will said.
Falco held up his wing. "I'm not going to tell anyone that's not present in this room. Well, other than Konstantin. And I'll fly you guys out of here. I'll give you the speed you need".
"That's right" Dr. Howler said.
"I can give you a tour of the Great Fox on the day after tomorrow" Falco said. "It'll help you to know the ship that you will be using as well as possible, because believe me when I say that you will want to get used to it. You understand that, right?"
We all nodded.
"So...how do you get all this medical equipment?" I asked Dr. Howler. "I mean...wasn't the med lab back at the old school taken?"
"That is true" the Bengal tiger responded. "However, we've been collecting supplies, perfectly legitimately, from hospitals around here. Truly, we are far ahead in terms of medical technology to the humans".
"So...when do you collect this stuff?" Lucas asked her.
"They understand that I need things for the new med lab. We've been building up a blood supply, stocking up on antibiotics, other things to treat wounds...that sort of thing. This is all going to work out, guys, if we can rescue Konstantin".
"But why do we need to get all the medical supplies?" Mike piped up.
"You never can tell what might come down" Falco said. "Truly, the far corners of the Lylat System can be some very dangerous places. So...let's carry out the plan three nights from now. Does that sound good? It's the last night we can do it, before Konstantin gets executed".
"I understand" I said. "But doesn't this all sound really dangerous? I mean, we have a moral obligation to do it for sure. But still-".
With the expression that Dr. Howler looked at me with, I got the gist of what she was trying to get me to understand.
It might have been a very dangerous plan. It might be totally irrational to think that we could succeed.
But it wasn't like we would have an easy time living with ourselves if we didn't try.
WILLOW'S POV
The following night, two nights before the plan to break out Konstantin, and two and a half days before his scheduled execution, Lucas and I snuck out of bed once again and followed the path outside.
Really, it wasn't too hard to find the roof. If you just kept on going up when you found staircases, you would get there eventually. The only question was whether or not we were going to get caught.
Thankfully, we weren't noticed by anyone. As it had been said before, I felt like with Konstantin being on death row and all, they would have bigger fish to fry than us.
I sat next to Lucas once again, and it was truly a rewarding feeling. Even though an innocent nineteen-year-old was about to be executed unless we managed to save him, and we had been run out of the Grey Clouds Flight Academy due to the Anglar forces, not to mention being sold here by our families, this was one of the few things that felt right anymore.
"Can you see the stars any better up here, Lucas?" I asked my boyfriend.
"You know, Willow, I can. It seems like being in the mountains, farther from all the city lights, makes it easier to see the stars and constellations".
"That's been scientifically proven, you know" I said.
"I am aware of that" Lucas responded.
We sat together for several minutes in silence, holding each other's hands. We didn't know how long we would be able to stay out here, because we would need to focus all of our powers in the morning on getting Konstantin out while also not appearing suspicious to the authorities here. I was glad that Dr. Howler was helping us, but I didn't know how much she could really do in order to do so.
"One of my dad's colleagues", Lucas said after a while, "owns a resort out west. Or, in the western U.S., to be fair. I don't know whether we are east or west on Corneria or what, but this resort is in the western part of America".
"What about this resort?" I asked him.
"One night, they got a professional astronomer came to the apple orchard with his humongous telescope. We each took turns climbing up the ladder to look through it, and the stars are so clear out in the wilderness like that. But this is on a whole new level".
"I know" I said. The stars in Corneria seemed to be far closer to the ground than they were on Earth.
"But, Willow", he said, "no stars can compare to your eyes. In this one moment, your beauty awes me more than the stars. I know that sounds like a cheesy pickup line that they use all the time, but that's really how I feel".
"Oh" I said, kind of laughing, as I pulled him into my embrace. We hugged, cuddling with each other on the rocky ground.
Of course, though, we knew that this moment could not last forever. At a certain point, we would have to get out of each other's embraces, and realize that reality would have to take precedence over sentimentality.
That moment did come, and Lucas pulled out of my embrace.
"Do you think this plan is going to work?" he asked in a far more serious manner.
"I don't know" I said. "But, Lucas, don't we have to at least try? If we fail, well...at least Konstantin won't be so lonely in his death row cell".
Lucas laughed wryly at that comment. But he still pulled me into his arms again.
We kissed each other, using the extremely dark blue sky as a canopy. We held each other, never wanting to let go.
The next morning, while treading water during Aquatics, I looked up at the bright blue sky. Konstantin had not seen this sky in a very long time, I could assume.
And as I looked near Solar, the Lylat System's sun, I got the feeling that if this worked out, this was where we would take him. At least, in this direction.
We could hope.
That's the end of your double dose of Wing And A Scare. There are only two chapters after this, and I'm already done with two chapters of the sequel.
One other thing: I have a Tumblr now. Same name. Now that I have a blog, you'll be able to see some more things about me. I hope you enjoy it.