Author's Note:
My Beta just graced me with an idea for the next chapter...
THANK YOU Whisperwings!
Chapter 9: Gyrogga
There was a long procession of them following in each other's footsteps; the vicious cold was biting at them briskly. Heavy snow piled up on their boots as they wadded through the drifts. The wind toppled the unready every few minutes, but they continued zealously trudging towards the port.
Silver walked between Doctor Doppler and Jim, his hands shoved in the outer pockets of his long billowing coat. Morph was floating at Silver's shoulder, constantly zooming between they cyborg and Jim to keep himself warm. The cook, cabin boy and astrophysicist dragged their boots behind the leading trio of troopers. Captain Amelia, Mister Arrow and the one who was navigating them all, Ariah.
"Just another hour of walking and we'll be there." Ariah stated more to herself than to anyone else, but the wind was likely too loud for anyone to notice her ramblings. The teenaged sailor toddled slightly behind Mister Arrow through the snow, so she wouldn't get stuck in the drifts.
Captain Amelia, of course, was so light and agile that she could walk atop of the surface of the snow, barely making an impression in the snow. Their only concern was of her getting blown away, but that was out of the question considering her natural instincts.
Every once in a while Ariah would stop to plant a beacon stake of light. It was tall enough to avoid getting buried by the constant blizzard of snow and bright enough so she could clearly see their path to and from the Legacy.
Soon enough, as Ariah had predicted, they had arrived at the Snow Burst Inn, the main inn and eatery in Winterchill's capital city, Gyrogga.
Ariah sighed from fatigue and retrieved the last lantern she had been given. She hit a button at the centre of the collapsible stake. The lantern hanging from its end jolted to life and the stake extended to its full length. Ariah planted the last stake into the icy ground as the rest of the crew gathered up around their commanders.
"Right then." Captain Amelia straightened out her blue coat. "We'll be staying the night here. At the first sign of the eclipse's passing, everyone is to head back to the Legacy, no exceptions. We have a generator to repair and other such vital issues." Captain Amelia nodded curtly to permit them to leave.
Most of the crew lumbered into the eatery and pub of the inn. Mister Arrow, Doctor Doppler and Captain Amelia went straight to the inn to book their rooms. That left Silver, Ariah, Jim and Morph standing out in the chill of the dark.
"Well." Ariah shoved her hands in the outer pockets of her ivory coat. "Why don't we get something to eat now, before the rest of the crew empties the kitchens?" She offered with a reassuring smile.
"Sounds good to me." Jim stated, hungry from the long walk.
"I'll take a rain check, Ariah." Silver cut-in. "I've got teh refill this arm before she empties."
"Get real Silver…" Ariah rolled her eyes. "You haven't eaten all day."
"I 'ave so!" Silver retorted. He crossed his arms over his chest.
"And when would that have been?" Ariah asked with flat eyes.
"I sample what I make…" Silver rubbed the back of his neck.
"Yeah, and the last thing you made was lunch." Ariah snapped. "Seven hours ago!"
"I ate some purps on the walk 'ere." Silver nervously backed away from the two teenagers who were closing in on him.
"You gave them all to Morph." Jim interjected.
Before John Silver could come up with another comeback, the two teenagers and Morph heaved him towards the Snow Burst Inn's eatery.
"Look at yeh two…" Silver chuckled to the young teenagers and stopped resisting their strength. "Babying me as if I was yer own."
"Well we wouldn't have to if you didn't act like such a big baby." Ariah reprimanded.
Silver laughed heartily and pushed open the door to the inn. Ariah removed her earmuffs, stuffing them into one of her coat pockets, and she shook the snow from her hair.
They kicked off as much of the packing snow from the bottoms of their boots on the front entrance's welcome mat before locating a table.
Once they sat at one of the tables a speedy alien scooped up some soiled dishes and gave each one of them a glossy menu. The patrons were silent for a moment as they each examined their choices of foods.
Morph casually zoomed out of Ariah's pocket, looking at her menu and pointing at the most elaborately coloured meal.
"You sure Morphy?" Ariah enquired. "It's the spiciest food in this galaxy." Morph squeaked with determination, nodding his blobby head. "All right then." Ariah closed her menu and shrugged.
A new alien waitress with long white curls piled up in a loose bun at the top of her head and rubbery neon green skin pulled tightly over her face walked to their table.
"Purp juice?" She offered a jug of the violet liquid clutched in her yellow elbow-length glove, her uniform was a long dress in the same colour edged in deep blue.
The three sailors nodded.
The green-skinned waitress quickly filled their glasses with purp juice and answered smoothly. "I'll be back soon, to take your orders." She smiled.
Jim looked up from his menu. "What are you getting?" He asked Ariah.
"Volcanic Lava Bursts." Ariah smirked.
"Ariah…" Silver scolded.
"Hey." Ariah retorted. "It wasn't my fault that Morph turned into a fireball the last time we were here!" She stated pointedly and sighed. "Apparently he can handle it this time."
"Apparently." Silver rolled his eyes.
Jim just looked at Silver and Ariah confusingly and then decided not to order the spiciest dish of the galaxy.
Eventually the men made up their meal choices; Silver with an order of Purpaya Sashimi and Jim with an order of Powdered Cosmo Cakes. The alien waitress returned to take their orders and they waited out the preparation and cooking time.
There was an awkward silence. The three friends couldn't do much but think about what had happened so far. Morph gave them a short entertaining performance across the table, often dancing with the salt and pepper shakers and parading on their napkins.
Finally a delicious aroma filled the air, their food was ready. The green-skinned waitress arrived at their table, carrying their three dishes.
"Powdered Cosmo Cakes." She placed the dish of chocolate-covered shortcakes with thickly diced fruits at Jim's place. "Purpaya Sashimi." She placed the dish of cubed purps, chopped fish and other galactic stir-fried vegetables at Silver's place. "And; Volcanic Lava Bursts." She placed a large, sizzling dish of spiced meats and vegetables in front of Ariah. "Enjoy!" The waitress nodded sweetly as she left to accommodate another table.
"Right then." Ariah's copper-brown eyes lit up as she speared a tiny vegetable on her fork and offered it to Morph.
Morph looked at the vegetable, narrowed his eyes determinedly and chomped it off of the fork in a mere second. It only took a split second after Morph had eaten the vegetable to realize that he was changing colour. Rather than his normal cotton candy pink, the tiny blob was flaring up to a brick red.
"Uh oh." Ariah and Silver said at the same time.
"WAH!" Morph squealed loudly, bursting into a fireball formation. He zoomed around their table in circles.
Silver quickly snatched the tiny fireball out of the air with his mechanical hand –before the burning transformer could do some major collateral damage, again- and he dropped Morph into his glass of purp juice. This resulted in a small cloud of steam rising from the mouth of Silver's glass, followed by a lengthy hiss as Morph cooled off.
No one was looking at them strangely, nor looking at them at all. This, or something like this, was usually something commonly seen at this inn.
Morph wallowed in Silver's purp juice, absorbing every last violet drop of it and extinguishing the flames from his body. Once his skin was back to its normal hue Morph lazily floated out of glass and looked at the three humans.
"Next time Morph." Ariah's eyes were flattened, without surprise. "We order something less spicy." She forced a smile.
"Mmm hmm…" The blob agreed cheerfully with a wide smile.
The tiny transformer carefully avoided Ariah's plate, as if it were a terrible monster. He was soon staring hungrily at Jim's cakes and Silver's sashimi.
The two men offered tiny chunks for the tiny transformer and they continued eating peacefully. Ariah seemed completely at ease eating the galaxy's spiciest meal.
Once they were done, they each footed their own portion of the bill and left the restaurant. They walked a ways through the streets of Gyrogga until they arrived at a mechanic's shop to purchase the appropriate fuel for Silver's mechanical arm.
It only took a few pieces of gold to refuel Silver's arm and then the group of friends were back off to the Snow Burst inn to book their room.
Something in the dark alleys of the capital city startled Morph and he zoomed to Jim's shoulder in fright.
"What is it Morph?" Jim asked the pink transformer.
Morph whimpered loudly. The pink blob looked into the shadowy alley fearfully with wide, terrified eyes. Jim couldn't see anything through the thick darkness.
"It's okay, Morph…" Jim patted the frightened transformer on the head.
"Oh, but it's not!" A voice snickered as a thin and scrawny alien emerged from the shadows, standing in front of them.
The three friends stopped their walk to the Snow Burst inn at the sight of this barbaric alien. The dusty dark brown furred alien was hunchbacked and was thin enough to see the spaces between each rib in its ribcage.
The twitching alien glared at them with a pair of large, bloodshot eyes and its mouth was frozen in a permanent smile of bloodstained fangs. The wolf alien wore tattered dark blue shorts with nothing to cover its scrawny torso, and it had paws for hands and feet –each with a set of very sharp-looking claws- to reinforce its canine lineage.
A brawny alien soon stepped out of the shadowy alley after the wolf-like alien, blocking the street behind the quartet. He wore ragged pants and an open-chest vest, exposing his large pectoral muscles. His skin was rubbery and had a light green hue. The massive alien had a square jaw and humongous shoulders.
A few more hefty green-skinned aliens surrounded the three friends, each with a bunch of wolf-aliens at their feet. The curs looked hungrily at the humans, and the green-skinned aliens looked to be around for a fight.
"Sick 'Em Boys!" The first wolf-alien howled. He and his brethren charged through the barrier of green-skinned aliens at the quartet.
Morph cried out in fright, Jim hollered and the two sailors stood back to back. Silver clicked at something in his arm, looking determinedly at the mobsters.
The first wave of wolves bounded towards them and Ariah shouted angrily as she knocked away three wolf aliens. Her loose hair whipped against her face as she turned to punch away another wolf-alien that was about to pounce on Jim's back.
Silver retrieved a laser pistol from his mechanical arm, and threw it to Ariah, and then he used his metal arm as a club to bash away the curs.
The laser pistol quickly charged up and Ariah fended off as many wolf-aliens as she could. After shooting a few rounds, Ariah was knocked aside by a rock-hard punch from one of the green-skinned aliens.
Ariah tumbled to the snow-covered ground. She curled up in a ball, to guard her stomach from the wolf-aliens that leapt on her. The dusty-haired wolf-aliens tore at Ariah's clothes with their serrated claws and nipped at what they could with their fangs.
Jim dived at the wolf-aliens attacking Ariah while Morph changed himself into a baseball bat and began mercilessly beating off the wolf-aliens. The brunette teenager kicked away as many of the beasts off as he could, before another green-skinned alien knocked him back into the centre of the circle at Silver's feet.
Angrily, Silver dove his mechanical arm through the pile of wolf-aliens and he fished out Ariah from the bottom. Jim and Morph fended off the wolf-aliens surrounding them as best as they could.
Feebly, Ariah pulled herself back onto her feet, trying to recuperate. She had a dreadful feeling about this fight. She was roughened up badly around her arms and legs, and she could already feel painful bruises forming along her back.
Suddenly, a shadowy figure skittered along the walls of the dark back alley. It launched itself at two of the green-skinned aliens that were standing in the shadows, viciously taking them out before they could even notice its arrival. Ariah glanced at the figure quizzically and then continued fighting off the wolf-aliens.
The figure made short work of the other green-skinned aliens and then leapt into the dim streetlight to finish off the wolf-aliens in the clearing.
All of the fighters could see that the shadowy figure was in fact Mister Scroop. The crimson alien defeated the last of the wolf-aliens and looked up at the quartet. He clicked his red and black pincers experimentally and the dangerous glow in his golden eyes slowly faded.
It was hard to decipher whether the arachnid had killed or knocked out all of the hostile aliens, but there was no doubt that he had saved them from the gang.
Ariah looked up, wide-eyed at Scroop, her black hair whipped about from the cold wind.
Scroop snorted, rolling his shoulders outwards. "You should take better care of the ones you care for…" He stated coldly. Then he crept out of the streets, back into the darkness.
There was a long pause between the three humans. They half-heartedly walked to the Snow Burst inn, hoping that there were still some decent rooms available.
"What'll it be?" An alien with an exposed hairy chest asked them in a bored tone of voice at the front desk of the inn.
"One room please." Ariah said tiredly. She eased her fingers through her loose bangs, now plastered to her forehead by sweat. She spoke for all of them.
"For all of you?" The alien asked, surprised.
"Yes." Ariah stated shortly, her temper catching in her throat.
"Gonna get lucky, boys?" The alien said rudely, winking with encouragement to Silver and Jim. They scowled back at him, controlling their own hot-headedness.
"O-Kay." Ariah leaned over the desk in a seductive manner. She placed her chin on her hand daintily and hooded her eyes mysteriously. "Let me give you a word of advice." She whispered lightly, tracing circles along the marble desk.
"Okay…" The alien shuddered; he was obviously one of those desperate types.
Ariah kept her whisper evenly strung. "You're going to give us nice rooms, and you won't charge us extra." She flicked on the charger for the laser pistol Silver had handed her during the brawl and pressed the barrel of the pistol against the alien's chin. "To avoid getting the small brain of yours blown out of your thick skull." She slipped the laser pistol away and leaned back from the desk. The flirtatious smirk was still on her face but was smugger than anything.
"Okay?" The alien was both confused and quite naturally intimidated by Ariah's actions, but he retrieved the room's keys without any other comments.
"Thank you." Ariah said shortly as she swiftly snatched the keys from the alien's grubby fingers. She spun them around on her finger in victory as she led her two roommates to their highly classed hotel room.
"Now this, is comfort…" Jim stated; leaping onto one of the two queen-sized beds, back first. He kicked off his boots and casually leaned back against the headboard.
"What did you have to coax that scumbag at the front desk with?" Silver enquired.
"A few threats, as always." Ariah pulled off her slightly tattered coat, pocketed her gloves and placed her damp boots against a wall. "Winterchill hasn't changed much since we were last here; they're just more gangs than usual." She stated as she lay down in an elegant lounge chair.
"Hey, you should get a bed Ariah…" Jim said, sitting up suddenly. "You're the one who got us this room for cheap cash."
"No way." Ariah snuggled up in her lounge chair. "This is my reward…" She paused and sighed happily while stroking the cushions of the lounge chair. "Velvety softness."
Both Jim and Silver rolled their eyes, each getting into one of their own beds and falling asleep. They had to admire the comfort of the hotel's facilities while they still could, at least for this voyage.
Author's Note:
The Capital city's name is pronounced "Gy-raw-gah" just so you know.
MG#6