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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 1840217" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 35: No More SurprisesShadow and Akan waited for nearly twenty minutes in the alley. Akan had gotten used to being Human again...which was odd, because one never thought that they’d have to get used to being themself in such a way. The biggest problem was balance. He’d never really understood how a tail assisted in this, but it obviously was something he’d gotten used to, as without it he was stumbling and pretty much unable to run. Shadow, who had adapted quickly, but she was used to this kind of thing somehow, had been forced to help him walk.     If anyone had been around to see, they would have most likely gotten a holo of it and displayed it in some local news as some kind of joke. Even part of Akan wanted to see what it looked like. Though he was smaller as a Human, Shadow was, too. In fact, the top of her head only reached just under his nose. This small, somewhat thin human girl with jet black hair and an uncomfortable look on her face was doing her absolute best to help a taller human who looked a good four or five years her senior. This was, of course, wrong, as she was nearly three times his actual age, but it didn’t detract from how she looked.    About halfway into the walk across the street to the entrance into the large warehouse, Akan starting walking on his own. He did his best not to look awkward, but decided to just try and walk and not care about how it looked. This proved a good strategy, as not thinking about it and just doing it seemed to be the best way. When they reached the entrance, Shadow punched in a short numeric code into a small console next to the door. A light went blue, and the door slid open. She stepped in, and Akan followed, looking around and not completely sure what to expect.    The interior was a large, open area. There was only one thing within it. A large, soft black and brown colored...ship? Had to be. It looked very similar in shape to the smaller one that they had seen on Garek V. The same, long, swept back wings that seemed to come off of the nose. However, these also looked to meld back into the large shape of the ship near the rear. Overall, the ship was teardrop shaped, tapering to a soft point at what he assumed was the rear. It was about eighty to ninety meters long in total. Akan hadn’t realized how large the warehouse was...of course, when he was running around, he wasn’t exactly measuring things or timing himself.    As Akan stood there looked over the large ship, Shadow walked over and put her hand on a section lower to the ground. [Loki...] when Akan heard her voice in his mind, he was sure she was speaking to him. He opened his mouth to ask what she was doing when something strange happened. Again. One day he’d make a list so he could just check things off instead of remembering them all.    [Marix?] another voice. Not Shadow’s. Now his. But masculine, somehow. It ‘sounded’ like a human about Akan’s age, with a somewhat more childlike tone to it.    Akan was walking over some and saw a smile on Shadow’s face. A real smile. It wasn’t like her grin that could make the Emperor wet his robe. [I’m back, Loki. I’m sorry for leaving you behind for so long...we’ve got things to do, though! Mind if I explain on the way?]    There was the equivalent of a ‘hmm’ sound in their minds, and then a small iris shaped hatch opened not too far from where Shadow stood. She looked back to Akan, and motioned for him to follow. The inside of Loki was generally ship like. Not the usual metal colours, but the same colours as his exterior. His? Well, from what Akan could figure, Loki was technically a he. Shadow showed Akan to a fairly large room with a nice sized bed and closet, but seemed distracted. She was speaking with Loki. Akan could hear it, but was tuning it out for the time as she was just explaining who he was, why she’d taken so long, and what they were going to do. Akan simply took this time to inspect the room. The bed was impossibly comfortable, feeling like it almost molded to him wherever he moved to.    [It does.] a cheery voice interrupted his thoughts. Not Shadow. Shadow’s voice would never be described as ‘cheery’. It was Loki, who had decided to be curious about this new person.    [Oh...um...anything I should know about?] Akan asked, not really sure of the kind of things one would talk with a ship about anyway. Especially one that had been in a warehouse for a while.    Another ‘hmm’ noise spread through Akan’s mind before Loki ‘spoke’ again, “Well...there’s extra clothes in the closet? Oh, but those are Marix’s. She probably wouldn’t want you messing with them.]    [Uh-huh...] Akan looked at the closet, then started over towards the door, which did the whole iris opening thing again as he stepped close an out into the long corridor. [Was that her room?]    [Ah...um...her room is next to yours.] Loki commented, doing a bad job at dodging the question.    Akan just ignored it, and followed a few directions to the cockpit. There were four large, Alraxian sized seats in front of a wide, unobstructed viewport. Lights, switches, and a few glowing things littered the area, and Akan was surprised that he found himself able to recognize a good amount of it. Strange...    “You might want to morph back,” Shadow commented from the front right seat, looking back over it. She was Alraxian again, and Akan was surprised to see she was about his height now. He hadn’t actually realized that last time he’d been...human. Again, an odd thought and one he was trying to avoid.    Taking a seat next to her, Akan shrugged. He didn’t mind being human. Once he’d gotten used to the no-tail thing, the ‘I’m not as strong’ thing wasn’t nearly as hard to deal with. He watched as Shadow was working out some controls. A small control yoke protruded from the ‘console’ in front of her, and in a moment, it lit up. She gave him a look, that dangerous grin on her face, “Hold on.”    Then, Loki started moving. Up. Straight up. Of course, there was a warehouse in the way. Akan wasn’t going to ask how Loki had been gotten INTO the warehouse, but he knew right away how she planned to get him out. After a loud crashing noise, a groan from Loki about being too rough, and a laugh from Shadow about Loki being a wimp, they were flying upwards into the atmosphere. After that, they soon entered hyperspace. It didn’t surprise Akan, as little did anymore. However, what did surprise him was that from the chrono on their time to Coruscant, Loki’s hyperdrive had to be at least twice as good as most. It was half the time he’d expected for the trip...    “Alright, time for work!” Shadow announced almost too happily. She got up out of her chair, grabbing Akan and starting to literally drag him down the corridors, “Going to teach you how to morph properly.”    “In just over an hour?” Akan asked, sounding both worried and surprised.    Again, that dangerous grin appeared on Shadow’s face, “Better learn quick.”</blockquote>

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