The Night Train

-Chapter 4-

Maurine could feel the air rushing past them as they plummeted downwards. Her stomach did a flip, and she nearly vomited. Ivy was still on the train, probably getting her soul sucked out!

Kat's arms flailed wildly, trying to pull the parachute cord as she screamed. Maurine sighed, clutched Nibbles tighter, who was flailing around in fear, and reached under Kat's arm to tug on the black cord. Before they had put the parachutes on Maurine had tied them together. Below them, Maurine could see that the ground was covered in islands filled with palm trees and what looked like blue snow. Marine almost smacked herself to see if her eyes were working correctly. Nibbles hissed, as a strange-looking colorful bird flapped by, and he swiped at it, slicing at Bea, who yelped in fear, clutching Dirty Dishes, who was looking incredibly awkward, strapped into a harness built for humans, as the cat's greenish eyes fixated on the bird's blue tail, with its stringy feathers dangling. Maurine pulled Nibbles back before he jumped to his death trying to catch a rainbow chicken.

"Is that blue snow?" Kat asked the question that Marine would have asked if she didn't think that Kat would just reply with some snarky comment.

"I don't know," Bea responded. They were getting closer to the ground by the second.

"It sure looks like blue snow." Marine pushed her way into the conversation. "But I guess we will just have to find out." Kat looked at Maurine, disgusted.

"I will not stand to just find out." She sputtered "I am a princess, and I have already been forced to jump out of a flying train!"

Maurine did not like Kat.

"Well I'm sorry, Princess, but if you hadn't jumped out of that train, you would have died, and it's impossible for you to not just find out." Kat huffed at Maurine's outburst but didn't respond. They were only a few feet from the ground now and, as they landed Maurine realized that they had landed in blue snow. Maurine squinted at the large blue sun half above the landscape line and searched for a sign that Ivy had made it.

Then someone shot at them.

Namely the giant evil monster, and his friend, Mr. Fireball.

Kat screamed loud enough for a whole angry mob.

"How did it know we jumped?" She yelled in terror. Dirty Dishes glared at her, and Maurine agreed with the goat.

"Probably because you were screaming half the way down," Maurine answered, picking Nibbles up off the ground from where he had been sniffing the blue snow, looking predatory, and then ducked a fireball. She still was scanning the horizon for any sort of sign from Ivy.

Maurine looked around and saw that her earlier evaluation had been correct. They were on a foreign island surrounded by more islands. The island was filled with palm trees and miles upon miles of blue snow?

Her first thought was to run, but as she considered the idea, the Night Train fell from the sky and landed more gracefully than she had expected on the ground barely five feet from her, even though it had landed gracefully, snow still splattered on Maurine's face. It was cold. Very very cold. track magically formed in front of the train. Everyone was staring at the crazy world in front of her. Then more fireballs started falling from the sky and everyone started running around crazily.

Although Marine's mentor hadn't taught her very many spells, she could tell that a frozen wasteland wasn't exactly an ideal place to land.

Especially if you are on a baby blue snow island

Especially with fireballs falling on you.

Especially when someone next to you is screaming that she is not old enough to die.