E.U.R.O Chapter 3
Chapter 3: The Journey
The noise of trains and the chaos of furs in suits running around the station going about their busy lives is what Arthur had witnessed a few hours ago. Since then he'd found a comfortable carriage and was now well on his way to the port at Dover, having passed the fantastic and beautiful green English countryside, the train journey was not a long one at all and it was not much further to the port when Arthur decided to cast his gaze out of the window. The green hills and farmland had swiftly and suddenly changed to industrial buildings, some old made of red bricks and dilapidated which hadn't been used from what looked like the Victorian era.
The train slowed down at the station and Arthur retrieved his bag from under his seat, He walked out onto the station and looked around observing all the ships at the port. To his left were large cruise ships their neat and welcoming staff ready to greet all of their passengers and help them move their holiday luggage to their cabins. The Husky went to a smaller part of the port where a far smaller ship was docked, Arthur glanced at the side of it where it read: "EURO Dover" It was unlike any ship the Husky had seen. It was dark and modern, if it were night there was no doubt that it would be near invisible when out at sea. He boarded the ship and was guided below deck to a small cabin by a uniformed Tiger, his left arm had the European Union flag on it. Arthur put a paw on the cabin door "Thank you." Arthur smiled at the Tiger before entering the small cabin which was lit with a florescent rod in the ceiling, he shut the door quietly behind him and put his bag on the bed. "EURO huh? I'm not sure what that stands for, and I'm pretty sure the Euro is not in all capital letters..." Arthur shook his head. He then sent a text to his brother to say he had arrived safely arrived and was aboard the EURO Dover, however when the text sent it read: "Hi Owen, I've just got on a ship and we're going to the new school now" Arthur could have sworn he had texted the name of the ship to Owen but he shook his head and decided to walk out of his cabin, locking the door behind him and he walked out up onto the deck. The ship was barely leaving the harbour and the wind was quite calm, the warm clear blue sky was a welcoming sight and the sunlight hit the deck in a pure glow.
This was the first time Arthur noticed that the only adults on the ship were the crew members who were all in the same uniform as the tiger he met earlier. The rest of the passengers, he observed to be around the same age as him and all seemed to have similar concerned yet excited expressions on their faces which Arthur shared. Here he was on a ship sailing out to some unknown location with twenty or so other teenagers. He had just gone up the stairs to a higher deck when a white blur collided with him and he heard a yelp then a thud as he stumbled, gripping the railing with both of his paws tightly. Arthur then looked down to see a winded white furred cat looking up at him with golden eyes, Arthur immediately offered him a paw to help him up, "Sorry I didn't see you there."
The cat smiled and took his paw, getting back up on his foot-paws as he looked back to the canine. "Oh don't worry, it was my fault" The cat, to Arthur's surprise spoke with an Irish accent.
"Not at all. I should have been looking where I was going" He smiled at the cat who he noticed was a bit shorter than himself.
"Well maybe you should in future." The cat smirked at him "I'm Rinus by the way."
"Good to meet you Rinus, I'm Arthur." He smiled back at Rinus and then looked out at the sea, they were well into the English channel now and were heading south west.
"Well that's weird..." Rinus said, Arthur turned back to the cat who was frowning at his phone. "Stupid thing" Rinus was tapping furiously at the screen.
"What's wrong Rinus?" Arthur raised an eyebrow and stood next to Rinus looking down at the screen.
"It's my new phone, its GPS isn't working, I'm not great with technology." Rinus shrugged and put his phone away into the pocket of his jeans.
"Well, you know what new phones and things are like." Arthur looked about the deck. "Perhaps we should take a look around the ship?"
"Sure" Rinus replied and the two set off below deck the corridor between the cabins were fairly dark, Arthur noticed that the cat walked a couple of paces behind him despite the corridor being big enough to allow them to quite comfortably walk side by side.
"These are just cabins... let's try another deck" Arthur said as he walked swiftly down the metal staircase to the lowest deck and Rinus followed after a slight hesitation. The lowest deck had fewer rooms, the corridor was darker still yet bright light flooded under the few doors that were along the corridor. They padded down the corridor to the one door that was open slightly. Arthur smirked at the cat behind him, his plan was quite clear and the two were soon next to the door gazing into the room. Several monitors lined the rooms walls, and uniformed crew were sat at desks. The monitors were filled with what looked like the view of cameras, some on the ship but others were at a harbour, fairly different to Dover, similar black ships were docked at this harbour on the screens. At the far end of the room was a gun rack filled with the latest modern day weapons and gear. Arthur nearly jumped when he felt the cat's paw grip his shoulder.
"A-Arthur let's just go upstairs.." Rinus whispered in his ear, Arthur nodded and they slowly and quietly went back to the top deck.
Once on the top deck Arthur turned back to Rinus, the cat had very pure white fur which shone in the bright sunlight. "So why do you reckon they have this equipment on the boat Rinus?" The Huskute looked at him with a quizzical glance.
"I don't know, maybe it's just for defensive reasons." Rinus shrugged and turned to walk to his cabin, Arthur followed as it appeared that his cabin was on the same deck. Arthur put his paw on his own door's handle and frowned.
"What if it isn't?" He gazed to the cat, his green eyes now full of questions.
"I'd rather not think about it Arthur." And with that Rinus entered his cabin and a click from the door indicated that the cat had locked the door behind him. Leaving the Huskute in the ship's metal corridor. He began noticing the force of the waves and the impact that was having on the ship, a slight rocking that kept Arthur shifting his weight from one footpaw to the other. A small smile crept over his face as he spoke to himself quietly. "If Ruby were here, she'd be sea sick by now, poor girl." He padded off down the corridor to pass some time.
Arthur frowned as the rocking of the boat began to get rather tiresome it now caused him to take a step to balance himself every so often as he padded down the corridor so the huskute entered his own cabin, locking the door behind him and sat on the bed. He didn't know what to do now, and deciding that there was indeed very little to be done Arthur laid down on the bed and closed his eyes, there was so much to think about. Where exactly am I going? Why me in particular? What exactly is going on here?