Chapter 3
Late into the night, the major part of the passengers were sleeping on their seats. The ones, that were awake busy with something else, to have the time pass by faster. Rollan sat on his place with his head leaned to the side against the corridor of the airship. Gerda was leaning against the wall of the ship with Luta lying around her neck resting too. A loud thunder rang across the sky shrieking the weasel up, which gazed at the window to see the raindrops on the glass and Luta tried to readjust herself around the blonde facing the Spaniard now, which had his eyes closed. Luta watched by the corridor an adult man accompany his child hand by hand to the front of the airship, where the cabin was split from another room, which was the location of the ship's' cockpit. By the entrance was a large map of the European continent and a member of the cabin crew stood there moving a pin with a ship sketch on it, which he placed away from France over a small country located by the ocean. The one kid pointed at the map, then looked up at his father.
"Papa, what country is that?" Questioned the little boy, then the man, that had placed the pin on the card bowed down to give the boy his hand.
"That's the Netherlands," Commented the man. "Ever heard of it?" Questioned the man making the kid shake his head.
Luta watched the reflection of the lightning flash on the window, followed by a loud crack causing Luta to jump off Gerda to land on Rollan's lap, waking him up.
"What happened?" Murmured a perplexed Rollan to spot Luta on his lap looking up at him in fear, then Rollan placed his hand gently over the weasel's back and tried to caress her. "Que passa, amiga?" Questioned Rollan, then looked out the window to see it was raining and watched a light flare across the sky, followed by a loud bang. Rollan understood the weasel's worry, then held her closer to himself and kept patting her. "It will go away. It's just a bit scary over here," Commented Rollan while the weasel whined in fear.
Rollan sighed not knowing, what he was meant to do to help the weasel, and looked at Gerda, which was resting on her seat. Rollan placed his hand on her arm to shake her gently, then heard her groan softly making Rollan raise his eyebrows up curious at the noise, then smiled finding the deed adoring by the woman. Rollan held Luta up to watch the weasel get back on her shoulder to see her nudge the woman on her face making her chuckle.
"Luta…."Commented Gerda jerking her shoulder off, by sensing the weasel around her neck, and grabbed the weasel with her hands to see the weasel sniff the woman by the face, then moved her head down wanting to get into Gerda's arms, which she then allowed. "Why are you scared?" Questioned Gerda hearing another thunder, earning Gerda's attention. "Oh, it's the bad weather, huh?"
"She begged for help, but I think she didn't feel safe with me," Commented Rollan making Gerda nod.
"It's alright. The thunders here just sound louder, than when we're on the ground,"
"They really are," Confessed Rollan. "It does make you feel quite a little alarmed,"
"I have to agree with you on that," Commented Gerda looking out of the window to see the airship sink down very slowly.
"Ladies and gentlemen. As you have noticed we are descending. Due to the bad weather, we have decided to land the airship in order to keep everyone's safety in order. The current descent is calculated to be around 10 minutes and our stop will be for about an hour, depending on how much the weather changes. I beg everyone to remain seated during the entire flight and to stay inside the airship, unless it's ordered otherwise. Further pieces of information will follow next," Spoke the head of the cabin crew and moved to the other side of the airship to inform the other part of the guests.
"Perhaps after the landing I will take a walk around the ship and soothe Luta down. Are you interested to come?" Questioned Gerda making Rollan nod.
"I could use a little movement," Confessed Rollan making Gerda chuckle. The duo looked out at the window to see a light illuminate the sky and heard something above their ship crack making the ship suddenly begin to fall making the inmates notice the sudden change of the velocity.
"Uh what is going on? This isn't a normal sinking maneuver," Commented Gerda and Rollan stared out of the window to see their ship turn aside, during the fall making Rollan wide his eyes, seeing that the two were locked up in the danger zone.
"Oh oh," Commented Rollan, followed by watching a few people fly off their seats against the wall beside them and got scared about the situation. Gerda noticed that a father held his kid together along with the mother, both fearing the ending near of everyone's life at the ship. Gerda transformed into her dragon form and glided above the room towards the exit of the ship and kicked the door open causing a wind to enter into the ship scaring the people even more, than they had been.
Gerda flew beside the falling airship to see the balloon had gotten bursted, then approached the remaining ropes from the ship and grabbed the few she could reach and tried to hold it up as fast as she could, causing her to growl loud putting all her strength together to slow down the fall of the ship, then observed the ground for a safe way to place the body of the ship. Gerda positioned the ship by its ski on the ground slow, watching one of them fall down due to being damaged and Gerda moved the ship differently giving it a different position. By the end, Gerda managed to park the ship with help of the remaining cords and dropped them down as she saw the ship was standing on the ground with a low amount of damages. Gerda approached the windows to glimpse through them to see several people hug each other happily, others had gotten up from the ground slightly hurt from the spin above the sky, afterward Gerda encountered Rollan sitting with Luta on his lap, watching a young man get up from then floor and Rollan noticed the man was hurt, then helped him to sat up on the chair beside him to check him out. Gerda knocked on the glass, calling Rollan's attention which recognized Gerda and smiled relieved about seeing her safe and sound. Rollan placed his hand on the glass, making Gerda smile, which placed hers from the other side, seeing her hand was thinner than Rollan's but as an inclusive Gerda in her dragon form had pointy dragon-like claws stand out. Rollan watched Luta move to the window which wanted to look at her owner and gave a happy squeaker making Rollan grin amused by the pet, then patted her on the head. Gerda,who had mirrored Rollan's facial expression remembered that she needed to enter into the ship again to take a look at the passengers and left Rollan back, which smiled at her amorously. Luta noticed Rollan's face, then bit him on his hand making him yelp quietly.
"Hey!" Complained Rollan making the weasel chuckle, making Rollan shake his head about the hermine's amusement.
Meanwhile, Kai sat awake in the other passenger airship painting on a canvas beside a foreign person, that was sleeping with his head leaning against the wall. Kai looked out from the glass to see it still was raining and all he could see was the grass on the ground, which had a few water puddles. Kai sighed, then got up from the seat and placed his canvas on the seat with his painting box, then walked across the corridor his way back spotting one man getting up so his seat neighbor could leave, which noticed Kai coming along and smiled at seeing Kai.
"Hey…...uh Kai, right?" Questioned the short-haired man making Kai nod.
"Oh you're the friend of Rollan," Spoke Kai making Pastor nod. "I had no idea, where you were sitting in this ship as well,"
"Yes, Gerda and Rollan seem both to be on the other ship," Commented Pastor making Kai nod.
"Yes, well I didn't see him around here, so I think he's there with Gerda," Mentioned Kai. "I'm relieved, that she's not alone. I still don't like Rollan the way Gerda would probably have wanted me to, but they've been friends and pen pals for a few years. I trust him more than any random stranger in that ship,"
"Are you expecting someone to harm her on the ship?" Questioned Pastor curious making Kai shake his head.
"No, but in case something happens, she's not alone," Commented Kai making Pastor nod.
"Sounds good," Commented Pastor. "By the way, why are we on the ground? Is it because of the rain?" Questioned the Spaniard.
"About 20 minutes before we landed, the head chief of the cabin crew warned due to the thunder, that it was safer for us to land," Commented Kai making Pastor nod.
"Okay, do you think Gerda and Rollan had to land as well?" Questioned Pastor. "I think they departed about ten minutes later,"
"I think so. I don't know where or if we can see it from here. Anyway it doesn't really matter if we want to look for it, it's pretty dark and the only thing I could see is wet grass,"
"Okay. I'm going to go to the front to see, where we are currently. They're using the map there of Europe to show our location, right?" Questioned Pastor making Kai shrug his shoulders, then Pastor walked forward to head to the front of the ship. "I will check it out. I'm curious," Commented Pastor, then Kai followed the Spaniard and reached with the Spaniard the front of the ship to see three cabin crew members stand together by the map talking together.
"Their ship has been hit by a lightning and broke their balloon. Captain Alain has communicated the nearest Dutch harbor for help. The only thing they can expect for now are just a few rescue teams to help the hurt ones. Until the weather has improved they will have to overnight in the ship and wait for a second transportation," Commented one of the cabin crewmen.
"Did everyone survive?" Questioned the second man making the first one nod.
"Yeah. Apparently, something appeared and held them back from crashing. It was described as a woman in a dragon suit. No one seemed to have recognized or seen, where that person came from," Stated the man making the duo nod.
"Dragon lady?" Questioned Pastor looking at Kai, which had dropped his mouth from hearing the conversation, then approached the trio to interrupt.
"Sorry for interrupting the conversation, but is this ship wreck you're talking about the other one heading to Malmö?" Questioned Kai making the men nod. "My sister was on that ship. Is she good?" Questioed Kai worried, then the third man placed his hand on Kai's shoulder to comfort him.
"We have received the notice, that the entire fleet survived. A couple of people were hurt slightly, but who all got hurt we don't know. It's currently being checked up," Commented the man making Kai nod. "You don't need to worry about your sister. An emergency team was notified about the incident and in a few hours, when the weather has improved the rest of the passengers including your sister will be brought to the nearest Dutch city. You might have to see by yourself how you'll get to see her or the other way around,"
"Okay, I will see, what I can do," Stated Kai, then moved away from the trio, followed by Pastor, which had listened to their conversation.
"Well, we're here in the Netherlands and her ship must be around here as well. It sure will take a day or two for her to get to Malmö now," Mentioned Pastor making Kai nod.
"I think, when I arrive in Malmö first I will see if I can call my parents and ask them for advice," Mentioned Kai. "Perhaps I shall wait for Gerda in Malmö or maybe, when she's at the harbor, she might even find a ship, that goes straight to Murmansk,"
"Yes, we don't know that for sure. But look my friend Rollan is there with her. I stick with you until we find both. You're okay with it?"
"Yes, thank you. It's easier for both of us," Responded Kai. "I'm going to sit down and work on my canvas. Are you going to sleep again or anything else?"
"I will walk around and stretch my legs. I could use it a little bit," Stated Pastor making Kai nod, that watched the Spaniard walk back to his seat and Kai looked up at the map to see the pin of their ship above Netherlands.