W.R.E.C.K. - 3. Exploring

Cyrus's POV:

Everyone around me saw a ship, if a very oddly shaped one, coming towards us. I saw a nightmare of an unstable form of transportation. It had taken me months to simply adjust to walking through arch-passages, from one dimension to another. I had traveled by water whenever we visited Idlers Makith and Itharos, our friends living in a civilization of nymphs. But, I had never been forced to travel in the sky before. In an attempt to distract me, my mind brought Verity's dragon into focus. "How are we going to board her into the ship?" I asked aloud as I motioned towards the arctic dragon.

As if to spite me, the ship easily opened up a hatch that was even wider than the combined roads of a highway. Everyone stepped back as the pathway latched onto the edge of the tower. All I could think of was 'unstable, unstable, unstable.' I felt Revelin's arm around my waist as he began to quite literally walk me onto the ship. I forced myself not to look down or around as we walked, but as soon as we were inside, I gaped at everything.

A loud smack startled everyone. When I looked towards the source of the sound, it took me a moment to figure out exactly what happened. A male, crimson dragon had apparently rushed towards Verity's dragon, and the arctic dragon had immediately swung her tail to slap him into the ground, as he was half her size. She let out a warning roar right into his face.

I looked on as Verity lowered herself to look the crimson dragon in the eye. "Serves you right for startling Crystal like that." She chided as she stared down at brown eyes. "She does like anything that deals with chocolate, though. So, if you stare her down with your big, puppy eyes long enough, she might forgive you."

"I let you out of my sight for a few hours and you come back sporting a black eye, Kazren?"

We all turned to the source of the sound and I barely managed to fight down the urge to snicker. Unlike Kazren, the man before us looked downright like a pirate. He wore an opened, tattered tailcoat of a captain, with no shirt underneath, and buckled brown pants tucked into top-heavy black boots. He wore a gun holster and his hat featured a long, golden feather that had seen better days. He had a black goatee with a sharply shaped mustache that made him appear downright devious with the short, messy black strands on the top of his head. His eyes were a startling shade of pale green.

"It was a misunderstanding, Gar." Kazren replied. He didn't even look our way as he said it.

"Where are my manners? My name is Garridan, I am the captain of this ship." He introduced himself with a slight bow. "Kazren here is my unwilling first mate and co-pilot. We don't quite agree with the actions of our home dimension at the moment, so we are quite the homeless outlaws."

"You were able to leave your home dimension with all of this?" I questioned as I motioned to the enormous ship.

"Have you told him nothing, Lin?" Kazren wondered aloud.

"I haven't had the chance," Revelin replied through clenched teeth beside me.

"I'm certain that any past tales are on a need to know basis," I said. "I'm already used to the fact that I will never know what is going on until it happens."

"Wait, Cy, it's not like that," My partner told me with a slight frown on his face. He lifted my chin so that I would look him. "They are just very bad experiences that I didn't want to relive just yet."

"Honestly!" Kazren hissed in an indignant manner. "They weren't all so bad."

"Knowing you, I'm certain that they were." Garridan teased the redhead. Our attention drifted towards them once again.

"You know nothing about me in that way," Kazren growled.

"Only because you won't allow me to," Garridan retorted.

"You two are almost as fun to watch as Lin and Cy," Alexandra purred.

I saw the two of them take a step back, as if they had forgotten that we were there, and the captain finally returned to the subject at hand.

"My apologies," Garridan continued as he turned his attention to Alexandra. "Lexie, I'm certain that 'Ren has told you what we've seen. They are convinced that you're actually there, in hiding. It's like they've taken the entire country hostage until they find you."

"Stubborn, stupid, Luis. This is why we don't have any Wanderers or Idlers left, they refuse to believe what's right in front of their eyes." Alexandra responded. "It's just...if it's me they want..." She let out a sigh of defeat. "Take us there."

"I had a feeling that was going to be your decision," Kazren commented. "Follow me, everyone. It will take us a few hours to get to Wight-Led. I think we have some empty rooms in B4."

"Verity would you be a dear and keep an eye on Ronin for me while I pull up the invisibility shield and get us ready to depart?" Garridan asked.

Verity let out a soft snort. "And I thought I was bad when I named mine Crystal." She said as she shook her head and led the dragons away.

Revelin and I followed Kazren and Alexandra to an elevator. As we stepped into the shaft, my fingers subconsciously began to clutch at my partner's arm. When he didn't make a single noise, I looked up to find his blue eyes distant. His close group of friends were the only family he had. I was worried, but not to the extent that Rev seemed to be worried. I tugged on his arm for him to bend down and whispered into his ear. "Have a little more faith in the strength of your friends." When he looked at me, I sent him a reassuring smile, one that he knew was rare. He answered with a half-smile of his own, which made the effort worth it. But, the moment was broken by Vianis finally making his presence known.

"Do we have enough time to explore this immense ship?" The serpent asked.

"Why don't you explore it on your own?" Revelin replied with sharp undertones. "Just think, you could wander into the kitchens, where the chef could be making eel soup..."

"Revelin," I chided when Vianis once again hid under my clothes. "Must you be so mean to him?"

"Yes."

When we were brought in front of two rooms, Revelin took Alexandra aside. I hoped that he was reassuring her, we came along to help her, after all. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up at Kazren.

"Hey, I'm sorry about before," He apologized. The shock on my face must have been obvious, because he elaborated. "I really didn't know. I'm still trying to get my head around it, even. The way Lin was before...let's just say that I know why Alexandra calls him 'Limber'."

I shook my head. "No, I know why Lexie calls him Limber. He's only ever bottomed for me."

"And now, you have not only physically wounded me, but also mentally scarred me all in one day." He admitted.

I couldn't help but laugh. "Then, I also apologize for both." I said as I extended a hand for him to take. "Truce?"

"Definitely," Kazren replied, taking my hand.

He smiled at me for the first time and I realized that it was just that kind of attitude that ensured his place as a future ally.

The girls settled into one room while Revelin and I entered another. Before I finished closing the door, Vianis resurfaced onto my shoulders.

"Actually, I think I do want to look around for a little while," He suggested. "May I?"

"Go right ahead," I replied. "Just keep out of trouble." I carefully lowered the serpent onto the ground and watched him scamper off before closing the door. I looked over at my partner. "Vianis is out exploring."

Revelin was already shedding his clothing. A feral smile formed on his face. "Why don't we take a shower together?"

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a/n: Introducing Vianis's point of view!

Vianis's POV:

Despite what anyone else thought, I was grateful to Wanderer Cyrus for many things. One of those many things was the fact that the young master granted me hind legs and paws with the ability to stick to anything, allowing me to travel faster than how I normally traveled, and on the ceiling. They were useful, as was my miniature size. I had developed quite a soft spot for the blonde Vim carrier. The others seemed to trust those pirates without question. But, I wanted to know more about them before placing any such trust in them. I clambered up the wall and over to the ceiling as I explored the hallways. I snuck into one of the elevators and started to explore the bottom floor.

The first thing I came across was the disturbing image of dragons mating rather fervently. Averting my gaze, I rushed back over to the elevator and explored the floor above it. Pirates of all kinds, along with several civilians that seemed to originate from other dimensions wandered the hallways. Not a single one thought to look up as I re-entered the elevator and moved on. The floors that followed revealed kitchens, laundromats, and a gift shop. Eventually, I ended up in the ship's version of a cockpit. Little did I realize that it had, quite ironically, turned into a 'cock'-pit indeed.

"Garridan!"

Such a lovely moan. I could feel my eyelids practically fluttering as I tilted my head back just in time to see our captain going down on his first mate. Thank goodness for autopilot. From where I was standing, the captain was certainly doing a great job.

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Cyrus's POV:

"Rev..." I gasped breathlessly as my partner's hands slid along my wet skin. The water was set a tad colder than lukewarm precisely because we planned on heating one another up. So far, I wasn't disappointed in the slightest. I reached over to pull him into a heady kiss, sucking on his bottom lip. "Mmm, why don't you put your Vim to good use?"

"With pleasure." I heard him growl in my ear.

Unfortunately, I also heard a completely different sound coming from somewhere above us. "Wait, do you hear that?" The sound became louder and sporadic. One particular echo caused me to jump. "What is that?"

"Sounds like plasma shots." Revelin replied with a sigh.

Concerned, I didn't hesitate to step out of the shower and wrap a towel around my waist. I started to gather the clothes that were tossed all around so that I could put them on and investigate. But, a loud buzzing noise began to come from the door. "Revelin..." I warned before hesitantly opening the door. I was met with the sight of a messy-haired Kazren holding Vianis up by the scruff of his tiny neck. He immediately dropped him and I had to scramble to hold my towel in place and catch the serpent with the other hand. "Vianis?" I questioned as I straightened back up and glared at the redhead. "Why...?"

"The shameless little voyeur interrupted something private," Kazren hissed. "You're lucky that Garridan's shots kept missing."

"Well, there's nothing quite like running for one's life that make someone move as fast as I did in order to avoid them," Vianis whined in a voice that cracked.

"My apologies," I told him with a slight frown. "From now on, he will not be left to wander alone." I looked at Vianis with a disapproving glance only to find him looking at the ground with remorse. "You should know better." Was all I said as I closed the door once again.