FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The Wind of Change

Seiryu managed to fend the attacker off before he could do any damage, but some other attackers had started surrounding him. Seiryu took control of the nearest water from the sea and splashed it towards the now-solid ghosts, pulling them into the ocean. He didn't see a ghost behind him, who stabbed him through his shoulder. He managed to 'kill' that ghost by fashioning an ice from a nearby water. As it was stabbed, it vanished. Due to Seiryu's status of being a ghost, his wounds started regenerating.

The water Orient realized that he left Dairyu, but before he knew it, the older Orient managed to beat some of the assailants, making them vanish, which was something that he couldn't believe himself, owing to the fact that Dairyu was mortal.

"You beat the crap out of the ghosts? How is that even possible?"

"Beats me. Something about them doesn't seem right. Why are the Red Lotus Warrior Ghosts killing people?"

"This is the site of the first Feudal War," said Segata. He was approaching them from the dojo's gate. "This is bad. Very bad. Aitsuki is a land of war and conflicts for many years, and there are bound to be memorial grounds and lands supposedly used for the war hundreds of years ago."

"Well, you've just pointed out the bad news there, sensei," said Seiryu. "There were wars happening in this land alone, and..."

Suddenly a cannon shell blew up beside where Segata stood, throwing him off. Midori and the rest of the group weren't able to react, but sighed in relief when they saw that the old Albino Orient regenerated his lost limbs. Suddenly there were laser shots and rioters came out from nowhere and started wrecking up the district, causing massive chaos and confusion, with both the living and the dead fighting each other (the dojo was somehow near a military base).

"What the hell is going on in here?!"

"The dimensional gate is out of control! If this goes on..."

All of the sudden, the ghosts vanished, but they left a substantial damage that caused major chaos.

"It is unstable. Unless we can close the portal, this thing will happen again."

"Then we gotta find ourselves a ship and get the hell out of here!" said Dairyu.

"Don't worry, Dairyu, I've got that covered."

The group suddenly heard engines from a starship, and all of them, except Segata and Midori, were surprised by the reappearance of a starship known to them.

It was the older version of Azure, the one that Dairyu and the group decided to scuttle in favor for a bigger ship that they didn't really use.

"What is that ship doing here?!" said Let. "I thought Dairyu has made it into H'jradan (kind of a recycled metal)!"

"I don't know what you mean, but this old beauty suddenly appeared in front of me someday." Then Seiryu realized what happened. "You scrapped this ship?!"

"What can I say? They all want to scrap it, seeing that it's 35 years old and not space-flight-worthy," said Dairyu. "Don't worry, I took your pad from the ship, so I regret nothing."

"Whatever. Get on the ship, you guys."

Rose, Capisa, and Let boarded the old ship that the three of them once used. They were expecting a nostalgic reunion with their previous ship, but they were surprised when they saw the interior was clean and new. Even the console, while still running with outdated programs from 50 years ago, was still new and less cumbersome than the one the Aquros once use.

Meanwhile, both Dairyu and Seiryu were silently watching Segata, their sensei, walking to them. Seiryu went on board first, but Dairyu stood there and said, "Sensei, I..."

"Do not regret what you have chosen, my dear student. Your friends will be grateful. Our ancestors have given us the chance to meet again, but I wish we can meet in a better circumstances. Remember that all choices give you hidden opportunities, but with choice, comes consequences."

Dairyu took that in mind, knowing that it was the only thing that mattered to him. After he boarded the ship, he saw battleships at the horizon. The ghost apparition had started materializing again and took a major off-shore sea unit.

Knowing that they were attacking the shore, Dairyu shouted, "Anytime now, Capisa!"

But when the Aquros was starting the thrusters, Seiryu sat beside him and said, "Hey, you keep the dampers on!"

"You want the shore to be incinerated?"

"You'll overload the engines, Aquros! Come on, just turn it on and..."

"Oi, don't turn off the jet brakes!"

"We need it so we don't overshoot. Why are you lecturing me on my own ship?"

"I thought you know you can fly your own ship!"

"Well, not if it is configured for sharkies! Just let me fly this thing!"

"Hey, if you ladies don't stop arguing we'll gonna be blasted by those ships!"

Upon hearing that, Capisa and Seiryu, in an almost unison, said, "Activate jump thrusters!"

The ship suddenly took off vertically, narrowly getting hit by the attack. The two of them were still arguing about the controls, but since they were out of danger, Dairyu walked closer and said, "Computer, lock autopilot. Vitania space port."

Dairyu now glared on both of his younger crew members. Both of them looked embarrassed on their way on handling the ship. The older Orient then sighed, and said, "You know, Seiryu, as much as I admired your piloting, Capisa is a pilot candidate, while you're a Warrior. Don't get this wrong, okay?"

"I just want one question, Dairyu. Why do you have an Aquran console in Azure?"

"Federation ships have universal database for allied races," said Capisa. "It's standard issue after we made a Federation."

"But this is not a Federation ship!"

"Well it is, one month after your death," said Dairyu flat. Then, he asked the rest of the group to go to the kitchen area while he talked with Seiryu.

"At least...until the time comes for me to separate from you again...I'll give you the answer. Right now, 15 years of mourning is not enough for a draconian like me."

"I understand, Dairyu. I can't blame someone who's traumatized by close friend deaths. Sorry for slamming you to the ground."

"At least those ghosts came at the nick of time or you'll be giving me all your ghost credits."

The trip was uneventful, but was quick enough due to Azure's status as a starship. The quickly reached the hangar where the newer Azure was kept. After they disembarked from the ship, it promptly vanished. Dairyu made a smile to himself and opened the hangar. Seiryu was genuinely surprised when he saw the ship.

"Holy...shit! You bought yourself a goddamn warbird, dude!" exclaimed Seiryu in pure happiness. "My ancestors, it is even better than Azure!"

"Well, it's also named Azure, so yeah, it might be confusing..."

"No, don't give the same name as Azure! They are completely different ships! How about...the Wind of Change?"

"Wind of Change, huh? Isn't that too weird?"

"Nah, it suits you. You're the owner of this ship, so you can't name it from a long destroyed ship and someone else's ship. Besides, a wind can change things."

"Wind of Change can be different winds," said Let. "In my tribe, it can be called Redorin Varst, known in your language as 'Northern Winds'."

"We don't have any concepts of winds, but the phenomena of changing waves is called 'Wild Waves'," said Capisa.

"Let's stay at Wind of Change, okay? Let's rename it."

Due to the ship's status being no longer an official Federation ship (thereby making it a private ship), it was relatively easy to change the name of the ship. Yet, with the change of name, came the urge to change the livery of the ship so it looked different and for private use only. Yet, when Let mentioned that, Seiryu said, "We are currently in a crisis of the universe and you guys are talking about painting a ship?"

"We cannot act until we find out what actually happened in Crab Key Nebula," said Dairyu. "For now, though, maybe you want to consider looking around the current space age?"

Seiryu wanted to argue of the problem, but then, he relented since he couldn't give the reason, either. In fact, he would die again, anyway, so why wouldn't he take the time given for him and follow Dairyu in a peaceful space age?

The group departed with a farewell from Amhyr, who couldn't be with them since he was taking care of his sons. Since Rose insisted that she needed to go, the draconian gave her an old covert communication device he used during his agent days, which was appreciated by the rest of them, knowing that Amhyr wasn't into travelling anymore, seen when he actually retired from being an agent and mostly work at home.

Per Let's request, Capisa directed them to Adonis I, claiming that they were got in making requested livery, and it's an everyday's work aside from repairing engines and creating things. They didn't know that Let was actually trying to do something else.

While their ship was being painted, Let was addressing a crowd of Scyllas in an open podium. How the podium was standing there without any apparent reason aside from giving Let a place for delivering his speech was a complete unknown to them since Let didn't seem like communicating something back to Adonis I and his chiefdom.

Seiryu wasn't always a good listener to speeches. He once said it to Dairyu that most politicians were greedy back-stabbing liars. He was correct, at least for the former Terran world government that got overthrown 2 years after the Black Creatures Crisis. As such, the younger black Orient waited nearby while Dairyu addressed his crowd in his native tongue, which couldn't be translated with the universal translator due to the Scylla's collective choice not to record their ancient, native language. They just agreed for their more common language to be translated. I would be great, if not for a fish that can translate every subconscious brainwave all around the universe. They are quite rare and not many know it; only a select few even knew it exists. Someone like Capisa, which of course, he wouldn't be talking about it. He had one somewhere in the secret safehouse, but he chose not to use the fish.

After Let finished his speech, he approached Dairyu and the rest of the group. While he certainly lost his mood from earlier, his solemn face and apparent sigh of disappointment came out from him, troubling the rest of the group who knew him.

"What's wrong?" asked Dairyu to the Scylla.

"The planet...is also ravaged by the fantona (phantoms), and so, all of the kaf'rak offered a truce until the problem is over. Bad news is...all kaf'rak must be present."

Knowing this would mean that Let wouldn't join them, Dairyu lost his own eagerness, which could be seen by Let. The Scylla put both of his scaly hands on his best friend's shoulder, and said, "Don't be disappointed, my friend. I commissioned my replacement to your crew. He's as reliable as I am."

Let called a name, and then a Scylla approached the group. This Scylla looked a lot like Let, complete with the green scales and overall appearance, yet smaller in build and not as high as Let. He also had fully-grown, scale-covered wings and feathers on top of his head. He also had blue eyes, which was different from Let, too.

"Meet my son, Calventis Kaamoreta. He'll be taking my place in the Wind of Change," said Let, which surprised them.

"Wait...you're bloody married?!" said Rose in disbelief. "I thought you're that kind of chap who don't like companionship."

"Well, you know, things change, Rose. Anyway...Calventis is a mechanical and technological genius, so he can help with giving a boost to your ship and doing engine repairs and checks."

"Are you supposed to be in school? How old are you?"

"Uh...15?"

"You don't really hear me, aren't you?" commented Let. But he was given a stern look from both Dairyu and Seiryu, which made the Scylla uncomfortable.

"Hey, it's our culture! I can't just change it; it's ancient rite of passage, just on a bigger scale! Calventis is in age to do this, and he can take care of himself!"

After talking a little bit more, Calventis left with the group while Let waved goodbye to them, wishing them good luck and safe travels. Dairyu felt as if he lost one of his precious friends, but nevertheless, Let had responsibilities now, just like Amhyr, and his decision to stay with his people was the wisest thing a leader could do.

Still, it's hard to believe that he actually employed a 15-year old lizard/crocodile/dragon alien prince as an engineer and repairman on their ship.