| Fan Fiction |
by Aelk
The proud Juhna collapsed to the floor dramatically and sobbed like a distressed widow with a darkened aura surrounding him.
“Kazo is always a drama king, but really, there is nothing wrong with his head.”
A cool Juhna came along to the bridge and assured Azure of Kazo’s sanity. His scruffy hair was of the same color as with all his other tribesmen, and his smooth facial skin brought out some kind of naivety and childishness from him. The most important thing of all, he stood at no more than four feet tall... even his pointy ears did not look as obvious as the others’.
“A child… what is your name?”
Azure bent lower so that their eye levels matched as he began to take pity on him being sold as a slave.
“A child?” he closed his eyes and repeated the words in annoyance, “Sorry Mister no-name, I’m no younger than Kazo. Anyway let’s just skip that part. Piloting this thing should be easy… let’s see…”
As he walked to the control panels, he sets his short fingers over a key each and began to input a series of complicated symbols. All of a sudden, Kazo recovered from his trauma and sprang to the location beside Azure.
“He’s Gunter. Like he said, he is just slightly undergrown ---”
Kazo dodged an incoming projectile which then pinned deep into the white walls of the ship, sending cracks all the way to the ground.
“--- but nonetheless, he is the brain of our tribe, a master in symbology, linguistics and ancient rituals.”
Hearing that, the way Azure looked at the Juhna who was now busy cracking the security codes changed forever.
”Alright~!”
He pressed a final red button and the huge crystalline screen spoke to him.
“Master system renewed. Searching for a new energy source…Hangar… negative… slave cabin… negative…”
“I will be the pilot, but there are no more energy source left~ Oh geez---”
“Bridge, positive.”
Just when Gunter sulked like a child, the screen shone a light onto Azure suddenly and began scanning him thoroughly.
”That evil beam’s eyeing you, handsome boy!”
Kazo screamed in excitement while Gunter appeared indifferent.
“I see, by using Azure’s Mu, it is possible to power this ship infinitely… After all, it was a human Machina.”
Gunter thought deeply as he recalled that in the past, Captain Sowell used the slave’s life force to do the work. He would always drain away their energy to a point where a little bit was left for them so that they would not die instantly. Such is the way of the treacherous Empire.
“Alright Mister no-name, we will have to use your Mu as the power supply. If you want to, please give this ship a new name. ”
Just a few minutes ago, the dreadful ship was still named ‘Iron Maiden’.
“Call her ‘The Destruction’!!”
“Kazo, that’s very ugly for a name.”
Gunter’s words shot his fellow tribesman hard, leaving him on the grounds to sob dramatically yet again. Azure rubbed his chin for a moment and stared at the floorboard with his mysteriously-colored eyes.
“The majestic steed…bears the tablets of Destiny… Tiamat.”
An image of a slate gray dragon and its name appeared in his mind instinctively. The gigantic Machina seemed to have captured his thoughts, and the blueprint from his mind was projected as a small hologram in the middle of the room. Gradually, every white wall within the ship faded and changed into steely-blue ones, and the outer coverings of the ship changed from the woody older version into a slick, grayish-blue amour which enveloped the ship like scales.
Although Azure mentioned that he knew naught about the meaning of the word, Gunter was surprised by what he had just heard.
“You know the ancient Human lingo? That’s strange… Anyway, fellow Juhnas in the other cabins… ”
The little Juhna spoke to a cone-shaped device (which humans called a ‘microphone’) as he cupped his palm over a button which looked more like a yard-stick.
“Be prepared as we enter the skies which we longed for so long… Take flight, Tiamat!”
As Gunter gave the yard-stick a backward pull, the dragon soared to the skies in high speed. Azure was taken aback by the sudden increase in magnitude initially and almost lost his balance. Kazo plastered his face onto the side windows. The blurry images of fleeting objects confused the beholder’s eyes, but as the Machina stabilizes with Gunter’s skillful grip, the scenery of the atmosphere surrounding them emerged from a homogenous mixture of colors.
“Hey Gunter!!”
”Quiet, Kazo. The Humans are coming.”
Kazo locked his mouth shut and watched the screen which now depicts the geographic map of the place they were at. To his horror, numerous little red dots shown on the map were all labeled with a ‘Machina’ tag, and they were all catching up with their speed.
”Azure, let me apologize first.”
“Wha---“
Azure could not finish his line when the sudden drain in energy from him made him all dizzy and weak. As he fell to his knees and was about to be thrown to the windows due to the meandering course Tiamat took, Kazo grabbed him right on time. Their airship dived into the clouds beneath and a distance is soon drawn between the pursuers and them. With a clever steer from the yardstick, Gunter managed to divert their attention and the group of slaves was now temporary free from their captors.
“To match Tiamat’s speed, go and learn some Mu before coming back, ahah!”
Gunter smirked while watching the little red dots lagging further behind. This is only a temporary victory for them. Even though they knew, that they will have to lead a fugitive life from now on, they did not regret their decisions.
Tiamat soared high into the skies. Like a dragon, its scaly appearance glimmered in the sun.
It took the company only a day to reach their destination due to the constant acceleration. But upon glancing down at the scenery below from the window panels, Azure could see nothing but a huge stretch of jungle which stretched all out to the horizons beyond.
“We will land here to make use of the mountains as the natural barrier, and walk in from here.”
Despite Gunter’s words, Azure could not find any entrances to the supposedly-there civilization. When Tiamat was brought to a safe stop amongst the mountainous region, Azure and the Juhnas disembarked from her and entered the green labyrinth which combed the entire land. Most of the sunlight has been blocked by the thick canopies from the trees which have grown to gigantic proportions, and the fog surrounding them was almost too thick to be normal.
”The trees are huge…”
Although his face did not show any amusement, he could not help but felt like a dwarf in this mysterious place. Dark brown earth is what they stepped beneath, and the logs of the trees were of the rosy brown, with the part nearer to the roots slightly more blackish. Matured spring-green leaves sprouts from the thick branches, while younger ones curls up in shyness like little lime-green pixies.
With the thickening fog, the intensity of the sunlight ebbed and there was a scent of deadwood.
The fog got thicker as they inched forward in the unseen path, and only the sound of some strange birds taking flight could be heard. The humid atmosphere added to the pressure, and everything does not seem really normal.
“What happened to this place?”
Azure questioned Kazo while being distracted by the sound of crickets. Whilst the latter heaved a sigh and looked up to the trees, he stopped dead in his path.
“Nothing much, I think we’re being ambushed.”
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A/N
Finally, winglin's back!
This chapter is a little funny XD
i was hesitating on the introduction of Gunter, really.
Anyway, for readers who do mind Winglin' problem
(and looking for mroe fanfics to read)
Do visit the brand new webpage Eversnow and I published !!
http://www.freewebs.com/aelkmoon
We'll be updating there as well as here
You can post up your stories there too!!
*Okay, advertising complete lol*