Turning to Stone (Rewritten)

Chapter 11: Galvana

La positioned herself behind the steering wheel, making sure the ship didn't crash. "It'll take a couple days to get to Celestial Island, considering we're on Fire Oasis, which is pretty far away. Do we have the rations prepared?"

Loola checked the back of the ship where they had stored their supplies. "Yep! It should be enough to last if Pickle doesn't eat it all." She joked. "Hey!" He wiggled around in his seat, trying to get comfortable.

The skyship was actually pretty big, considering that it was made for a larger group of monsters. Pickle stretched out across his seat and the seat next to him, able to curl up and take a nap if he really wanted to. Matatum and Ross were in some seats near the back, being all lovey-dovey with each other. It made him wish Thrum was here.

Loola was drawing something, using some paper and a pencil that she found lying on the floor. Perhaps a student had dropped them on the original trip to school.

"Hey Pickle, look at this." She got up and handed the paper to him. It was drawings of all of them, of all of their friends. Matatum and Ross looked exactly as they were now, cuddling with each other. Pickle looked happy, a hopeful look in his paper eyes. Bap was frantically typing, La at his side. Torb was there too, looking over his shoulder with a determined look on his face. His eyes seemed to pierce into Pickle's very soul.

"When did you get this good at drawing?" He asked, handing the paper back. "I practice. A lot." Loola replied nervously, rubbing the back of her neck in mild embarrassment. "You should show this to the others." He said, before curling up on the seats. A nap did sound pretty nice, after all.

When he woke up, the first thing he noticed was that he could barely see. It was dark out, and he was hungry, so he carefully walked to the back to grab something to eat. A small loaf of bread would be perfect.

Digging around near-silently, he fished out his midnight snack and ate it, scattering crumbs onto the ship's floor. Oh well, it wasn't a big deal. Looking towards the front, he saw La, still awake and steering.

"Shouldn't you give Loola a turn or something?" Pickle asked. "I'm good, I can steer." La insisted. "You look tired." He remarked. "I am." She squawked back.

Since there weren't any lights or clouds obscuring the view of the sky, Pickle could see the stars better than ever. "Wow." He murmured. The stars almost seemed to have shapes, if he imagined lines between them. "See that group of stars over there? That's 'Immortal Jolt', Galvana's constellation. It's not as high up now because it's November, but during July, it'll be right up there." She pointed almost directly above, the top of the ship blocking the view.

"My birthday's in July." Pickle said, not noticing Loola waking up and walking behind them. "Or at least, the day I was woken up. I guess that counts as a birthday because we celebrated it like one."

"Same here, except for the 'waking up' part, I think that's a Wublin thing." Loola said, startling the other two. "I didn't know you were awake." La said after she caught her breath. "I wasn't, until recently. Here, give me the wheel. You need sleep."

The tweedle reluctantly stepped out of the driver's seat, allowing Loola to take control of the skyship. "Now go get some rest. I got this." She smirked, and La walked to the back of the ship, too tired to even flap. Within seconds, she was fast asleep.

"That goes for you too, Pickle." Loola said, startling them. "Pshh, I don't need sleep. See? I'm wide awake." They gestured to their body dramatically, posing a couple times, but their attempt at stifling a yawn gave away their act. "Go." Her voice was firm, but not unkind.

He sighed, finding his original seat and curling up again. It was comfortable, and he too fell asleep very quickly.

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