Skylanders: Found

12. The Astronave

A patch of burnt grass was situated where Mags once stood. "I guess we're on our own now," stated Cali, already looking physically drained. Stump simply watched as Chill paced around. He took the cactus hat from his head and began to inspect it as he thought.

It wasn't uncommon for disaster to strike Skylands. Indeed, one might argue Skylands is in a non-stop battle with the forces of darkness. Kaos was the most recent fiend to represent evil, but he'd been stopped for good. Yet, Kaos had a good track record when it came to bouncing back to his devilish ways. Perhaps his prison wouldn't hold him forever. Nonetheless, he was by no means the only troublemaker who could be behind this mess. It reminded him of the tales told by Fiesta of Count Moneybone's botched attempts at a robot uprising. Yet, Count Moneybone was thought to be imprisoned in an infinitely deep chasm, so, surely, he could also not be responsible. Indeed, most other 'villains' had been rehabilitated, with some exceptional circumstances seeing prior villains turned to fully-fledged Skylanders.

The lack of villains had created a blissful year of peace, yet it always seemed to come to an end. So, who was left? Cluck, perhaps? After the crackdown on 'Captain Cluck's', the former CEO remained completely absent. Could he possibly be behind the attack on the portal network? Stump Smash shook his head; when it came to Cluck, well considered plans didn't seem to come to mind. It all begged the question: why? Who had the motive to disrupt the portal network and potentially destroy Skylands? All that came to mind was a servant to the darkness, which was quite a broad category. Whatever, it had to be stopped and, as Mags was suggested, a bigger team was required for such an operation.

One thing was absolutely clear in all the mess: the Skylanders were far too reliant on the portal network. It is true that the network is typically reliable, but it wasn't the first time the portals had been attacked. In fact, now that Stump was thinking about it, Kaos had used that trick once before. But – once again – surely it could not have been him. But it must have been?

A coughing could be heard. All three glanced over: it was Oro. Chill folded her arms and approached the fairy. "Do you have any transportation?" Oro, still a little dazed, shook her head gently. Her glow was still quite faint, but she was – at last – beginning to fly once more. Her eyes then widened.

"Although..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harmony was lost. The smell of smoke filled the air; powerful flames were only offset by a river running hazardously down the path. Vines, once tamed by mother nature herself, had begun to consume everything, growing thorns which dug into earth like leeches. Worse still, the air was fluctuating in density, making every breath a challenge for the group. Cali looked distraught, Chill even more so, but Stump understood that they had a mission and weeping over the injustice would only slow them down. Oro – to save herself the pain – simply flew with her eyes shut.

The Spirito Souls emerged almost immediately. Stella and her associates were still uniformed, but Stump could tell something was distressing them, even with their skeletal masks hiding their features. Stella spoke, "These are grave moments, Skylanders." She batted the ground with the foot of her staff. "Our scrolls indicated such a happening as this, but – in our ignorance – we rationalized these prophecies as a miscalculation."

"And you didn't warn us?" Chill criticised, raising her voice slightly. Cali placed her hand on Chill's shoulder and proceeded.

"Oro tells us you have a ship," Cali said, her voice clear and unshaken.

"Indeed," was all that Stella said in response. She removed her hood, exposing her wavy, blue hair. Thus, all removed their hoods. She turned to her nearest comrade – a spirito soul dressed in a crimson robe and poppy-red hair – before speaking in, once more, an unidentifiable language. "This is my closest advisor, Luce Solare," Stellar introduced, waving her unoccupied hand at the red spirito soul.

"You may call me Luci," she requested.

"The Lake of Legend is a sacred spot, I cannot allow myself to leave its defence," Stella explained, "However, Luci – and a crew – I send to you as an offering in these most abysmal circumstances."

"You're too kind," Stump Smash said, nodding in gratitude, "I must ask, though: do you know anything about what's, uh, going on?"

"I know only what the forecast implies," Stella said wearily, "Alas, I have nothing more to share with you. Our dear Magnolia has shared all knowledge and more than we could have provided you."

"Magnolia?" Stump questioned, turning to Cali and Chill.

"I believe she is referring to Mags," Chill clarified.

"Good luck on your voyages, my children," Stella said as she looked back upon the rest of the spirito souls and then exited into the rock. A few remained, including Luci. Stump looked to Chill and Cali, both of whom looked quite as bemused as he felt. Yet, there was a sense of relief that their troubles were slightly less bothersome than they had begun. A ship? Why, Stump hadn't travelled in a ship for quite some time. Obviously, he'd flew a few times in Flynn's balloon back in the day, plus he was abord the Dread-Yacht for some time – but since? He was going to have to muster up some old ship etiquette from those years ago in order to get through their next 'adventure'.

All the remaining spirito souls placed their various staffs to the floor in a powerful motion, causing the Earth around them to crumble slightly. However, the result was quite marvellous. The first thing they saw was the crow's nest, made from a shimmering purple metal, peeking out from below. As the ship moved upwards, more wonders were revealed. Stump described it best:

"The masts – oh great heavens the masts – were a collection of the most vibrant feathers sown together, glimmering even in the darkness. I was told, though I do not know who by, that the feathers were plucked skilfully from the backs of birdbrains, raven slicers and – allegedly – the phoenix chicken herself. The ship itself was decked in varnished wood, vaguely purple in colour; Luci assured me herself that the wood was harvested from trees already taken to the underworld. I could've worked this out myself, as the floor was quite chatty on occasion. The boat itself was lined with a thick, metallic layer to protect us from harm, making below deck the safest place for us. It was even equipped with six enchanted cannons, three on either side of the ship down in the weapon deck. And – most glorious of all – the bow of the ship was decorated with a silver sculpture of the Ancient Elemental Flashfin." - 'Barking up the Wrong Tree' by Stump Smash.

Simply, they couldn't have asked for a better ride. It was sparkling and quite beautiful. Cali thought of Flynn and how delighted he'd have been to be along for this journey. Chill was quite eager to get on board and get started with the saving of Skylands, and this was a shared goal between them all. One of the spirito souls grabbed a sturdy ladder, one seemingly carved with precision and skill, and placed it in position to board the ship. Luci was first on board, but she insisted the Skylanders (as well as Cali and Oro) follow before the rest of the crew. There was a sense of magic once abord, like nothing they had ever felt before. It was fine ship. The rest of the crew arrived on board and introduced themselves individually.

There was Bambinone (who insisted very much so on being referred to as 'Bam'), a green haired, sky-blue robed chef; Desiderio, with yellow hair and brown robes, and Tenerezza, with white hair and grey robes, led the operation of the ship with their children Meravigliarsi (Mera), Uovo and Luna; and finally, Squalo, a hairless fisherman in a more functional cloak, handled the actual obtaining of the food. Luci – taking the role of captain and 'Skylander advisor' – donned a more appropriate outfit, trading her robe for a crimson coat and a leathery-brown cap.

They were soon shown to their quarters, situated towards the back of the ship, in the main quarters, situated below Captain Luci's quarters and above the weapon deck. The quarters were very tightly packed, but spare bed meant that Stump Smash was permitted to take up two due to his rigid form. The crew was small – Luci said that historically the crew would have consisted of closer to twenty-five (with only roughly eleven of these spaces being filled) – but they would have to make do. Eight spirito souls for them to become acquainted with sounded plenty anyway. Oro slept in a little bed situated in the Crow's nest, still weakened from her experience with the portal.

They set off as the sun set, sailing into the night's sky. With the spirito souls at the wheel, they were heading for Leviathan Lagoon...