The Felinites

Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Abby's POV

"Wake up. Abby, wake up," Princess Cleo demands from beside my ear. I blink my eyes open slow. "It's time to go."

I hop out of bed, stretching my tired limbs as I reorient myself. "We do not have any belongings laying around in here, do we?" I ask even though I am fairly certain that we do not.

"Not that I know of," Princess Cleo replies.

"Alright, let's go then. We will figure out our next course of action in our rescue Dexter mission as we leave the hotel and craft station."

"I found a Stepis alien who offered to repair our spacecraft," Princess Cleo says, "He is working on it now but there was more rubble than spacecraft left so he said it might take several hours."

"Why did he offer to help us?" I ask suspiciously.

"I told him we planned to break a friend out of the Edacion dungeon and he told me that several members of the Stepis army have been captured throughout the years and taken to those dungeons. He offered to fix our craft if we promised to at least search for any other prisoners being held there," Princess Cleo explained.

"Ok, I guess we can look and see if anyone is down there, but we will barely be able to free Dexter. We won't be able to help anyone else escape," I remind her.

"I know, we are not very prepared," Princess Cleo agrees. "I told him our plan and he said it is 'horribly pitiful, dreadfully stupid, and more dangerous than helpful.'"

I laugh, "He is not wrong."

"His sister will be training us to fight today and his brother is supposed to equip us with technology to help us," Princess Cleo informs me.

"Really?" I ask incredulously but at the same time hopeful. Maybe this plan has a chance after all.

"Yes. We start immediately with the female Stepis who will train us to fight," Princess Cleo replies.

"Great. Let's go," I tell her and start walking toward the gaping circle in the floor that had brought us up to this floor when we first arrived.

"One little problem," Princess Cleo says. "How are we going to get down?"

"Jump?" I suggest. Over the short time in which I had been a Felinite, I have learned that the catlike species is extraordinarily graceful. I would probably have a clumsy landing but Princess Cleo would land in the darkness below, which is exactly what happened. After clambering around blindly, Princess Cleo eventually found the access button that brought the narrative voice echoing in the tight narrow space of the cylinder.

"Thank you for staying in the Stepis hotel. Hope you enjoyed your stay. Come again soon," the voice said as it bid us goodbye.

Princess Cleo then led me outside and down the long winding paths on the surface of Stepis until we reached a group of three Stepis aliens. Two men were working diligently on our ruined spacecraft and the woman was polishing weapons and laying them out on a blanket on the ground. I suddenly saw a pattern in Stepis culture.

"Do all Stepis travel in groups of three?" I ask the woman curiously and sit beside her, helping her clean the weapons without being told to.

She raises her head to look at me, giving me an expression full of interest. "Most do. It is an old, old tradition that not everyone follows. Usually each group of three consists of two males and one female."

"Everything about Stepis is so fascinating," Princess Cleo comments, as she sits on the ground, taking me as example and helping clean the weapons.