Happy Super Bowl Sunday! I don't care about pro sports, but I'm rooting for the Patriots for obvious reasons. Also, happy birthday to Talkingbirdguy, my inspiration for writing!
Singlewave asks: What is the scariest experience you have ever had?
SnowLucario asks: Inner tubing in Maine is up there. Other than that, I don't know what I would say. Some things involving heights, like climbing 47 feet up a pine tree to do a zip line.
This is my longest chapter yet. Hope you enjoy.
Also, for the name of the minor character you are about to meet, I simply used a random name generator. Eventually, however, I got to a point where I had to give Dr. Howler a first name.
I know that it might feel like too much happens for the amount of words, even though this is the longest chapter so far, but trust me that I felt like this was a good amount of events. If you disagree, feel free to tell me in a review or PM.
One last thing: Zaravan! You're awesome! For those of you who don't know, he submitted Konstantin for this story. He wrote a one-shot about Konstantin's time in the prison cell. It's called "Spite" and it's on his profile. It's also in my favorite stories list, at the very top (I believe it's sorted by latest update). PLEASE check it out, it's great!
Disclaimer: My family is pretty well off, but one thing: We didn't make our fortune through Star Fox.
LUCAS'S POV
We didn't know what to make of this man, if you could even call him a man. Like I said, he appeared to be a Bengal tiger like Dr. Howler. As to who he was...well, we would only have to wait for him to say it.
"We've been expecting you" the elderly tiger said. The way he said it, I thought that he was angry at us or something. Well, it wasn't our fault that the Anglars attacked the school! This man should not have been angry at us, and yet he seemed to be.
"I'm not mad at you, you know" he said. "Sorry if I sounded that way. It's just...the fact that you're here is not good news".
"Why not?" Konstantin asked.
The older tiger chuckled. "You, young man, of all people, should be able to figure it out. Supposedly, we're all allies in the war against the Anglars. And yet...you're Konstantin Brockenbough, aren't you?"
"The one and only" he said.
"The Cornerians are still out for your blood" the old tiger said. "As long as you don't get pardoned, you're not safe here, or anywhere else for that matter. We'll still take you in, though".
"What can we do to get Konstantin pardoned?" Will asked. Being from Louisiana, he was clearly struggling in this cold weather. Just try being trapped underneath hundreds of feet of snow and ice for fifteen hours! I thought.
"Have him help in the war effort as much as possible" he said. "By the way, I didn't introduce myself. I'm the head of the Fichinan military, have been for twenty years. My name is Bernat Homeros. I know, a weird name for a Bengal tiger".
Homeros then looked at Dr. Howler. "In case you're wondering, no, she is not my daughter. I've never been married, never had kids. Who are you, by the way?"
"I'm Tigre Howler, and I'm a physician at the Grey Clouds Flight Academy. Or, at least, what was the Grey Clouds Flight Academy. We had to evacuate to a different location because of those Anglars".
"I was going to ask you something else", Homeros said, "but at this point I think we should just get out of the cold. It's forecast to be five degrees above zero this afternoon, and this is our warm season. It's the opposite as Corneria. Come in! We have a lot to talk about".
Homeros seemed to be very conversational for a man as old as he was. He started by asking Dr. Howler what type of medicine she practiced. "Are you a gastroenterologist? An oncologist? An obstetritian?"
The doctor didn't seem to be offended. "I'm a general practitioner. I can pretty much do anything you need me to do, medically speaking".
The older Bengal tiger led us through a door at the end of the hangar, which led downstairs. "It gets a lot warmer the further down you get in the base. In the sleeping areas, it's maybe forty-five degrees Fahrenheit most of the time...which is quite warm compared to what it's like outside!"
"You do have warm blankets, right?" Dr. Howler asked him. "The health and safety of my students is paramount to me".
"Yeah" Homeros said. "I'm going to give you a tour of the place right now".
At the end of a snowy staircase, the air began to grow warmer, just like Bernat Homeros had said it would. The snow was packed to both sides, making it look like some kind of mining tunnel. It had to be at least fifteen or twenty feet from the floor to the ceiling, so I didn't feel too trapped.
It really was quite beautiful, especially considering that it was an army base underground. I wasn't too much a fan of underground. And, I'm sure, Konstantin did not like the memory of wasting away inside that underground cell.
But these snowy walls were something that a New Englander could appreciate. I felt like it made Willow's eyes stand out more, too. With the memory of yesterday's date fresh in our minds, even though Cole had caught us, her eyes were also fresh for me. It seemed so clear; this girl was mine.
Right now, though, that wasn't important. What was important was that Homeros was giving us the tour.
"This is the dining hall" he said, opening a door in front of us.
And then our jaws dropped.
The dining hall of the Fichinan army base made that of the flight academy look childish. If that was the little Unitarian church that was just struggling to stay afloat, then this dining hall was Notre Dame.
The ceiling must have been a good five hundred feet tall, and I could literally see three hundred yards across, there were tables there. Since it was about the time of the day that we ate breakfast on the Great Fox, we could see people munching on eggs, bacon, bagels, and all your other breakfast foods.
"There's no way we could've just gone 500 feet underground through that staircase alone" Mike said.
I had to agree with him. How could we have gotten here like that?
Then, I remembered the mountain that the entrance to the hangar bay had been situated near. We must be underneath that mountain right now, in order to have a ceiling so high.
The walls were made out of cyan ice, much like you see in pictures of the ice underneath glaciers. It was beautiful and yet terrifying at the same time.
The last time I had been underneath so much ice, it had been because it had collapsed on top of me. I was trapped there with Fox during a mission that was undertaken to defuse a bomb underneath the glacier. It hadn't ended up working out too well, and Fox and I had been the only two stuck in a seven-foot sphere of air. I'd become so hypothermic that I had fallen asleep and woken up in the hospital wing. For a few days, I had felt very sluggish indeed.
I wasn't eager to experience that again, to say the least.
"Lucas...are you thinking about...?" Willow asked, tapping me on the shoulder.
I turned around and nodded discreetly, making sure that none of the others were able to see.
"That's enough side conversation!" Homeros snapped. He could really be demanding when he wanted to be.
"Sorry" my girlfriend said, trying to defuse the tension in the situation.
"Of course..." the older Bengal tiger said. "In any case, you will get a temporary tattoo each day of what you will be supposed to do. You will eat breakfast here, in general, at 7:30 every morning. Lunch is at 12:00, and dinner at 18:00. You will be expected to attend evening meetings at 20:00, before going to bed at 22:00. Do you understand, or do I have to repeat it to you again".
All of us confirmed that we did understand Homeros's instructions. He had been very clear on them, after all.
"Your jobs will involve anything and everything that you can do to help us with the war effort. And, as I would remind you all, you're all highly motivated to do so, because it might be Konstantin Brockenbough's best chance at getting pardoned".
This angered me a little bit, but I didn't let it show. It seemed like this Bernat Homeros fellow was trying to manipulate us using the fact that we wanted Konstantin pardoned, but I couldn't be quite sure.
"In any case", Homeros said, "it is time to go and show you the place you will sleep for the duration of your stay at the military base. It's not quite a five-star hotel, but it's not too far off from it".
Bernat Homeros led us down a hallway where it was illuminated red and purple, thanks to the lights set up every twenty feet or so. Eventually, he led us down a second fork to our room.
"This is room 1652791, and it's where you will be staying. I hope it is to your liking".
As he opened the door, I saw that it was, indeed, a very nice room to sleep in.
There were ten beds lined up next to each other. Somehow, they must have made it so that each one was adjusted to our height. If so, that meant that they must have known to a reasonably high degree of certainty that we were coming. At the foot of each bed was a trunk with a name on it, like COLE or WILL.
As to the beds themselves, the frames were made of ice blocks up from the floor, and they would not look comfortable at first. However, they were covered in so many furs that I doubted that my pajamas would get wet.
Wait...my pajamas?
"Falco", I said, "do you have our clothes with you?" Since he wasn't holding anything in his hands, it wasn't hard to guess the most likely answer to that question.
"I'll get them from the Great Fox" Falco replied, but then Homeros cut him off.
"A bellhop is coming to take your clothes here. That's why the trunks are here. You'll keep your clean clothes there. Laundry is done every Saturday...which is today. It's February 7, isn't it?"
"That's correct" Mrs. Hooter said.
"There is also a laundry bag, colored #C4CA19, that is for your socks, pants, shirt...anything you've already worn, that you judge as dirty".
And yes, an olive yellow sack was placed at the foot of each bed, next to the trunk.
"There's a bathroom over there. We get a lot of snow, so each of you are allowed one bath a week, the others can only be showers. Our goal is to make your stay here as comfortable as possible".
"I'm not so sure about this place" Ian said, wrinkling his nose. "It seems kind of...dirty to me. What if someone decided to mark their territory in the snow?"
"That's no way to talk, Ian!" Willow exclaimed. "You've got to do whatever you can to help in the war effort. Whether we're winning or losing, isn't it worth it to know that if we do lose, it's not your fault? At least we're going to be doing something here".
Personally, I didn't see what all the fuss Ian was making was all about. It sure seemed pretty comfortable to me, and, if not a five-star hotel, probably at least three and a half.
COLE'S POV
After we spent some time checking out our accommodations and unpacking, we were told that we were each going to be heading to individual rooms for medical examinations. This was important, because our height and weight would determine what we were going to be served for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
My individual examiner was not a Bengal tiger. Instead, it was an anthropomorphic elephant. Let me tell you: I'd seen some crazy things. I'd seen a wasp nest explode, a monumental avalanche, and of course a tiger as my physician. Not only that, but we'd rescued a death row prisoner, who was standing right near us at this very moment.
But I had never seen an athropomorphic elephant.
I was taken into a medical room, the walls of which were thankfully not made of snow.
"Cole McCallen, my name is Dr. Tuskland, and I'm going to measure and weigh you to determine everything that we will need to know. First off: Do you have any life-threatening allergies?"
"No food allergies, but I once almost died from getting stung by about a bazillion wasps. I'm deathly allergic to those".
"You don't have to worry about that here" Dr. Tuskland said. "There are no wasps on Fichina. I mean, how could there be? It's a freezing ice planet! Anyway, do you have any other physical or mental health conditions we should know about?"
"No" I said.
"Very well, then. Please step on the scale, then".
"Isn't there a height board as well?" I asked.
"No, the scale is all that's needed".
I stepped on the scale, and Dr. Tuskland read the numbers floating above my head, practically three-dimensional and scarlet in color.
"Five feet, nine and a half inches, one hundred and forty-five pounds" she said. "This is a healthy weight for your height...and I want you to know as well that we don't mess around here. You'll be given exactly the amount of calories you need to get through the day while maintaining a healthy weight. I think you are just about good to go, Cole. I don't have any special concerns for you".
I had grown half an inch since I had started at the Grey Clouds Flight Academy, but the examination in general was pretty similar to how it had been the first time, on the very same day as Lucas and Willow.
"It's time for you to go to lunch. I hope you enjoy it".
After my examination was complete, I was told the way back to the cafeteria, which was not too hard to find. There were arrows pointing the way, which was hard for me to notice the first time. I also saw that, just like there had been at the original school, there were those red Swiss crosses pointing to the medical area.
In any case, I reached the cafeteria, and the 500-foot ceiling was just as magnificent the second time as it had been the first time. One thing I did wonder, however, was why it was necessary to built it so tall. Whatever it was, though, I didn't care.
I found the table where Lucas and Willow were sitting at. Apparently, the others were going to join as well.
"She said that our meals will be delivered to us individually" Lucas said. "Based on our caloric needs".
Did Lucas just sound like a total geek or what! I thought.
"Cool" I said. "Let's see what I get".
Eventually, our waitress, I guess you could call it that, came by. On my tray there was a ham and cheese sandwich, an apple, and a bag of Cape Cod potato chips.
"Well, cheers" I said to Lucas, clinking my glass of water against his.
"Cheers to you, too" he replied, taking a swig from his.
"What about me?" Will and Willow asked together, then both laughed.
However, I was feeling anything but light-hearted at the moment. After all, we were now at this foreign army base. Hopefully, we would be able to defeat the Anglars and get Konstantin pardoned...but who knew whether or not either of those things were even possible? And how dangerous would our daily work be? Would we go on combat missions much like we had at the GCFA? If so, would we get trapped under another glacier?
Once we were finished eating, Homeros came back over to our table. "It's time to give you guys a more thorough tour of the base. I don't want any of you getting lost, and I want you to know more about the place that you will be spending some time in".
"Are you guys ready for another tour?" Falco asked. "I, personally, don't really need it, since I've been here before".
"That's fine" Homeros said. "You don't have to go with us. But everyone else will be coming with me".
Nobody looked like they were about to protest, which was good. Because I could tell that you did not want to get on the bad side of Bernat Homeros.
We left the cafeteria, and Homeros led us up a flight of stairs, which I recognized as part of the one we had gone down in order to get in here. Then, he turned us left and led us down another hallway. This one was more teal than cyan or white, and it thus had a much creepier feel despite not being as far underground. I just hoped that it would not be where we would be spending so much of our time.
"This here is the gym. Look in the door to your left".
I saw a series of exercise machines backed into one corner of a large cyan room, which had a rock-climbing wall on one side that extended thirty feet up to the ceiling. Other than that, its floor looked just like a basketball court you would expect to see in any grade school gymnasium.
"And then, here is the place where you will discuss war strategy. It's a nice, comfortable room, and there is a SMARTBoard up there that we will put up maps of the galaxy on. There, we can help to figure out what the best things we can do going forward are".
He led us past bathrooms, offices, and other hallways before he showed us into a magnificent room. It might not have been quite as grand as the cafeteria, but it was still quite a sight to behold.
It was the library.
There were ten stories of bookshelves and catwalks, with ladders available to access whatever books you wanted. There were attendants all over the place, but the important thing to keep in mind was that all of this was made of ice, so I would probably break my neck if I tried to climb the stairs.
On the part where a window would be, there were paintings, much like you would see in a cathedral of Jesus and his disciples. The floor was covered in tables, with chairs made of ice. Even the bookshelves were made of ice, albeit dyed purple.
"It's pretty awesome" I said.
"I know" Homeros said. "I've been working here forty years, and it never fails to amaze me even today. Sometimes, you might be here. Who knows?"
"This is like District 13!" Ian said excitedly.
"Yeah, it is" the older Bengal tiger said. "This is pretty much like that. In fact, it's where we got the idea from".
"Wait..." Lucas said. "You read books from Earth on Fichina?"
"Yeah" Dr. Howler said. "At the GCFA, there was a library of Earthly books too".
Looking at Konstantin, I could tell that he would probably be good for any jobs involving the library, but I didn't say that to him.
After the library, we were led back up a staircase that had eight levels. The first three were lime green, the next two were orange, and the top three were blue just like the rest of the place.
"For now, you guys are free to explore. And just so you don't get lost...".
He dug into the pocket of his jacket and produced what looked like nine mobile phones.
"Enter your room number, and it'll tell you where to go. Remember; it's 1652791. Dinner is at eighteen hundred hours".
We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the underground base, amazed that there was all this below the surface of such an icy planet, and yet it was a rather comfortable temperature. The phone/GPS things also were top of the line, so it was easy to find our way back to our rooms when it was time to get ready for dinner.
As I ate with my roommates, I got the feeling that tomorrow was going to be a very big day. Our first of an indeterminate number of days at the Fichina base.
LUCAS'S POV
Even though it was an unfamiliar environment, I was tired enough that night that I slept pretty well. As I had predicted, the many furs lain over the icy bed frame made it far more comfortable than one might think. Even the chilling factor of the ice was negated by the blankets.
When I woke up, I was the second one after Willow. We didn't go over to each other's beds, even though we were completely out in the open as being together. That would have just been a little odd, and there was the fact that we didn't want to wake the others up if we didn't need to.
Eventually, though, everybody was up, and we were thus able to get ready for breakfast. Today, I chose to wear a purple shirt and turquoise pants. How ironic was it that I had found the GCFA weird, and now saw it as normal?
In reality, it had been nearly three weeks since we had been forced to leave that location due to an invasion from the Anglars. It wasn't exactly the most desirable scenario for us, but it had been what had to happen. And this was the reason that Konstantin had been imprisoned; they had needed a scapegoat to pin the blame on, and, for flipping off the Cornerian flag, Konstantin Brockenbough was right in the firing line.
Once everyone else had gotten up, Falco showed us where the tattoo machine was. Much like the hand stamper at a lot of museums you go to, we were each stamped with navy blue ink that spelled out our schedule.
"All right" I said. "I've got 0730, Breakfast first. Then it's 0830, Strategy. How about you guys?"
"I've got the same thing as you" Ian said.
"Okay, everyone" Dr. Howler said. "Let's go to breakfast, and then we'll figure everything else out".
After we were finished eating, Ian, Willow, and myself headed to Strategy. I didn't know what this would entail, but I was excited for it nonetheless. I wanted to know the actual state of the war for once, not just wander aimlessly, following my schedule.
It wasn't too difficult to find the room. Following Homeros's instructions, as well as the directions from other people we found around the base, we were able to work together to find it.
Once we got there, we were briefed on the current state of the war.
"So," Willow said, looking into the eyes of the person telling us this, "will you bring up the map of the Lylat System on the SMARTBoard for us?"
"Sure" the instructor (for lack of a better word), who seemed to be some kind of bull, said. He pulled a remote out of his pocket and turned on the SMARTBoard. "This is how things are going" the bull said.
We saw the planet of Corneria, a blue planet that much resembled Earth, on the left side of the screen. This was the home planet of Fox, Falco, Katt, and Dr. Howler, among others, so it was definitely an important place. Evidently, the Anglar forces, after taking control of the original Grey Clouds Flight Academy, had begun to utilize the arsenal there. Luckily, we had managed to take a decent bit with us, so it wasn't like they had everything. Even so, I could tell why they wanted somebody to blame.
"Meteo is definitely pretty dangerous" the bull, who had told us his name was Mr. Bighorn, said. "I know that the group with Konstantin Brockenbough, still at large on Corneria, traveled through here. In doing so, they took quite a bit of risk. There are enemies hiding out everywhere, although whether or not they are affiliated with the Anglars is not known at this time. It's also not very valuable territory thanks to the meteors and meteorites that cover the place".
Mr. Bighorn continued by telling us that this planet was pretty safe for now, and the base, pretty much the only inhabited part, had a lot of defenses. We would most likely be safe here.
"Sector X has all sorts of space junk all over the place, and the key thing to remember is that most of it can be weaponized. This is pretty valuable, and we are luckily winning this battle at the moment. However, the tides can easily turn. We'll be doing as much as possible to win that battle".
Mr. Bighorn zoomed in on the red planet, Titania. In the game, this is the planet that Slippy gets shot down to if you take too long to defeat the Sector X boss (which I always did). If that happens, you end up getting the bad ending, which is that the Andross you defeated was fake.
"This is Titania. Since it's desert, it's not very valuable, so we're not delegating too many troops and resources to it. Even so, any little bit helps, but it's not a priority for us".
Willow looked kind of bored, which wasn't surprising to me given that she had never even played the video game. I, on the other hand, was excited. I got the same feeling as I had nearly two months ago of being inside a video game. That's not a feeling you get very often, let me tell you.
"The Bolse Defense Satellite has been destroyed, but it was replaced by another one. This is another place that is quite important to control, and since we're losing there, it's not a place that we can afford not to allocate resources to. This is another place that people are going to be heading to and from a lot, and yet it's just about a week away from here. That's an important thing to remember".
Mr. Bighorn then went back to the beginning of the Lylat System and pointed at a planet that slightly resembled Jupiter.
"This is Katina, and we have a base there. It's not under too much attack at the moment, but we need to station some troops there to help deter an attack. Rest assured, we are doing that. Solar, on the other hand, is absolutely useless, due to literally being an enormous ball of lava. We can pass on that".
Finally, he pointed to a gray planet.
"This is Macbeth. No, not that Macbeth. No, this is the enemy base. As it was pivotal in the first Lylat War, surely it will be in this one as well.
"That's it for the medium route. We now move onto the hard route, or the upper reaches of the Lylat System".
Mr. Bighorn showed us a green cloud shaped like a Y.
"Sector Y is dangerous with all its magnetic energy, so it's not likely that the Anglars will try to get to it. Aquas is similar, and Zoness is so toxic from all that Andross did that the Anglars would never want it!"
"And Sector Z?" someone in front of us asked.
"That area is also not too important, with all the debris. But, like Meteo and Sector X, it could be weaponized. And Area 6...that's dangerous for us. That's their main defense zone. We will plan to attack it".
Finally, Mr. Bighorn pointed at the largest planet on the far right. "This is Venom, and you don't want to end up on the ground there. The air's toxic, the gravity is stronger than Corneria, and it's always dark there. Not to mention, it's their home court! We'll try to take it once we've taken Macbeth and Area 6. We're going to try to back them into a corner from which there is no way out".
Then, he turned to all of us. "And you will be facilitators in all of that. Who here is excited for the opportunity?"
Most of us raised our hands. Ian was a notable exception. I wanted to do everything possible to help us win the war against the people that had been indirectly responsible for Konstantin almost being executed. What better revenge?
You're not going to believe what I had next...Ice Skating with Cole. Yes, that's right.
The ice rink was some stories down, and it was added automatically to my GPS. That's handy, I thought. They had had good technology at the GCFA, but now it was even cooler. No pun intended.
"I'm not that great of a skater" Cole said. "Why do you think they are even doing this here?"
"Maybe we need to skate to get away from the Anglar forces on some occasions" I said, chuckling.
"Very funny".
We reached the ice rink, and before the instructor came over to show us how to put on our skates, Cole asked me, "So...how are you at skating?"
"I'm all right. My father taught me, since he plays hockey competitively".
Bringing up the topic of my father didn't make me happy. He had been a facilitator in sending me to the GCFA, and that was quite selfish of him. If, for whatever reason, we ended up getting out of this alternate dimension, I would not be sending him a Father's Day card anytime soon.
As soon as the instructor, who seemed to be some kind of a seal, came over, he asked us what our shoe size was.
"Thirteen" I said.
"Eleven" Cole said.
He went into a room with ice skates and retrieved a pair of each of those sizes. Expecting to have to painfully squeeze my foot in there, I was quite surprised when, just like magic, the skate landed on my foot in a comfortable position. All of the laces immediately tightened.
"What..." I sputtered.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" the seal said.
Personally, I had always had a problem with Clarke's Third Law. I always saw technology as something that humans could achieve given enough time, and magic as something that humans were, by some natural or supernatural law, barred from doing. It would always be impossible. After all, in the Harry Potter books, there are some people born with the ability to use magic, while most are not.
But that's enough about that.
We were led onto the rink, and Cole immediately stumbled. Trying to right himself, he fell on his rump.
I tried not to laugh. "It's okay, Cole. It just takes some practice".
"That's true, Mr. Enfield. With practice, Mr. McCallen, you will be able to be skilled at skating. On Fichina, ice skating is very important, just because of the whole fact that you're on ice and trying to skate away from the Anglars might be a very real priority. Don't laugh; it's happened before".
"In any case," the seal said, "skate three laps around this rink, just so I can see where you are all at. I want to know how confident you are on the ice".
Then, the seal said, "On your mark...get set...GO!"
I shoved off and managed to avoid falling on my ass. I didn't go too quickly, because I always preferred to be rather cautious when skating. It wasn't too difficult for me, since I had plenty of practice.
Within a minute, I had completed my first lap, and Cole had only gotten a quarter of that length. Wanting to show off that I would be the one to beat him on the ice this time, I picked up speed after lapping him. Feeling my purple jacket billowing around me, I felt the rush of air around me, and I remembered just how exhilarating skating could be.
By the time I was done with my third lap, Cole was just finishing his first. I didn't mean to rub it in, but I stopped short of crashing into a wall. Which was a good thing, because I didn't feel like breaking my arm or getting a concussion anytime soon.
"Nice job, Mr. Enfield" the seal said.
We had to wait for Cole to be done before we could proceed. Since there was only one instructor, we had to pander to Cole a lot, which was a little annoying to me. However, I understood that he was fairly new to ice skating, and so we had to be lenient and try not to resent him for that. Even so, it was hard not to be pissed off at that.
"All right" said our instructor once Cole was done with all three of his laps. "It's time to do some skulls. Can you?"
For those of you who don't know, in ice skating, skulls are when you start with your feet close together and spread them out as you go forward. It's hell on your knees, and you can't skate very quickly while doing that. At the same time, it is incredibly rewarding to know that you are capable of doing such.
All in all, it was a pretty good lesson for me. For Cole, not so much. However, I consider myself a fairly selfish person in general, in that I don't care what other people think that much. I care mostly for myself, thank you very much.
Unlike many other people, though, I'm proud of being selfish. Or, rather, being honest enough to admit that I am selfish. It's interesting, really.
But that is neither here nor there.
Cole and I headed back up the stairs towards the cafeteria with the ceiling that was five hundred feet high.
WILLOW'S POV
Lucas and I were both scheduled to go to Arwing Flight after lunch. I was looking forward to this, because of the fact that we'd been in this alternate furry dimension since December 13, 201X. Now, it was February 8 of 201Y. It sure had been a while, and now we were finally going to be shown how to pilot the most important ship in the arsenal of any Cornerian, or Fichinan, or any other planet for that matter.
The instructor of this was a dark blue cat who stood on her hind legs.
"My name is Krystal, and I am the flight instructor here. There are rumors that I might be dating Fox McCloud, but...let's just say we're friends. Really good ones".
Did she even need to say that? I thought.
"Today, I am going to show you the controls of the Arwing, so that you are able to fly it. It's not going to be the easiest thing for you to learn, but I think you can all do it, especially if you are originally from the Cornerian flight academy or somewhere else where they teach things like this".
Clearly, we were the youngest ones in the room. There were about twenty people in the room, but Krystal mainly seemed to be directing what she was saying towards Lucas and myself. In addition, there was an Arwing in the middle of the room, so Krystal would be able to demonstrate what she was showing us. This would be a big help.
Looking at Lucas, I could tell that there was a certain level of apprehension on his face. We'd been in the flight simulators at the GCFA quite a few times, but that didn't change the fact that, the first time he went in a flight simulator, Lucas was literally spun into unconsciousness due to someone tampering with the simulator. We still hadn't caught the culprit, although we had for a time thought that it might be Mike. Now, though, we figured that he had vindicated himself by not doing anything else suspicious. Whoever it was, they were still at large.
In any case, Krystal pointed out all the levers and buttons from inside the cockpit. She showed us the buttons for smart bombs, how to do a barrel roll, and other things, but she said that we would need more space to fully demonstrate it.
"There's a window here that we can use to get this outside" she said. "At some point, we'll go out to the snowfields and take turns flying it".
I was a bit nervous for that date, but I knew that we would hopefully learn more of what we needed to know before we did that.
After we were done with Arwing Flight, we were allowed to explore a little more. There were still several hours to go until dinner, so we could explore the halls for a while. I stayed with Lucas the whole time, and we even held hands.
"You know, if these people didn't figure we were a couple before this, they certainly will now" Lucas said.
"I don't know about that" I said. "Maybe they'll just think we're really good friends or something".
We passed another few offices and the gym before we made a right turn. After I prompted him to, Lucas added the location of our bedroom, room number 1652791, to the GPS. In case we got lost, this would help us find our way back.
"So...Lucas...how are you liking this place?" I asked him after a while. It had come totally out of the blue, at least from his perspective, so I would not have been surprised if he had refused to answer.
"It's all right. I think it's pretty cool how this entire place is made out of ice, don't you?"
"I agree. I read about this hotel in Canada where it's all ice, except for the bathroom fixtures. And apparently all that ice actually insulates the place. Can you believe that?"
"It's pretty amazing" Lucas said. "Just like this place...and just like you".
As he said this, he pulled me into a hug.
At the same time, a voice from behind us said, "Okay! They're a couple".
I just LOVE to end on cliffhangers. I think it keeps people reading, for one.
For the record, the Hotel de Glace is a real thing in Quebec City. It is made ENTIRELY of ice, except for the toilet and sink. I have a deck of 51 1/2 (the half is Half Dome) places you'll go. Yes, it is related to Dr. Seuss. The Hotel de Glace was one of them. Other places on that list I want to see are the Ithaa Undersea Restaurant and maybe even that rock garden in Japan.
I'll give you guys an ultimatum: I've been uploading every five days, but one reviewer (Zaravan) has said that it's too long a wait. The more reviews I get, the faster I'll update. I know a lot of people are reading this and not reviewing, so if you want to see the next chapter sooner than 5 days...REVIEW!
If I have 10 reviews before February 10, I'll post the fourth chapter right then and there. If not, I'll post it at the normal time. The choice is yours, readers.
One last thing: Labyrinth just hit 5,600 views. Read that story if you have not already. It's my first of two SYOTs, and I am not planning on doing a 65th anytime soon.
SnowLucario out.