The legacy of 721

Chapter 2 - Sklish

The halls of the ship were brightly lit as we continued on. The smooth, metallic walls glistened and glinted.
Every now and then, we'd pass an andalite headed somewhere, they'd nod to Kalem, glance at me, and continue on their path.
"Well, it certainly seems that your popularity still holds its place doesn't it?"
I laughed,
Grinning at the latest andalite to pass us.
<Yes well, being a prince certainly has its perks it would seem. You should know that much. Atleast, given your own title.>
He responded, his footsteps sounding out through the now seemingly empty hall.
His statement took me aback slightly.
"Huh. I guess you're right. Then again, I thought we'd both agreed to not speak of my title."
I snipped, glancing over at him sharply.
<I remember our agreement well enough Sklish, no need to worry about that. The day we made it was certainly memorable on its own, I'm just prodding.>
He said with the slight smirk of his eyes.
We continued on, this time in silence. Looking to the andalite beside me, I could tell he was deep in thought. I myself was, well, suffice to say, was rather interested in spinning my bracelet around my wrist.

After a while, we finally found ourselves at the technical center of the ship. Around us, andalites bustled about, and before us, sat the dropshaft. It ran the entirety of the ship, both up and down. Strong currents of wind pushing whoever stepped out to wherever they wanted to go.
"We could race now if we wanted. Not like two extra legs is any good suspended in the air." I laughed, letting myself fall forward in the drop shaft.
The feeling was reminiscent of flying if you've ever done it, except if you were constantly being lifted up with thermals.
I looked down, the floor I'd just stepped from was quickly disappearing from view, and Kalem was a few feet to my left. I would've laughed at how crazed his fur looked, but realized my own hair probably didn't look any better than his.
<Well, this quickly went from a normal to a bad hair day very quick didn't it?>
I spat, swiping at the necklaces that were attempting to float themselves from my neck, securing them tightly in my fist.
Glancing about, I saw andalites stepping in and out of the shaft, many preoccupied with wherever they were going.
None returned my gaze.

After a bit of just awkwardly floating about, we'd finally made it to our stop at the top of the ship.
We'd made it to the dome.
Stepping out, I was met with the sight of an expanse of bluish green grass, and bright red and pink trees.
A small river passed through the meadow to our left, a patch of Derrishoul and Therant trees had rooted nearby.
Two miles of the Andalite homeworld's Countryside stretched out in front of us, the white of Z-space shone in through the transparent dome, making all of the colors around us that much less vibrant than normal.

I placed my jewelry back on my neck, and turned to Kalem.
"Well, lead the way. I'm sure they're starting to grow impatient at this point."
I smirked, combing my fingers through my hair to straighten it.
<Planned on it.>
Kalem remarked, breaking off into a trot ahead of me.

With that, I began to jog after him.
He'd made his way to one of the few patches of dense forest that dotted the dome, jumping over fallen logs, and ducking under lower hanging branches. I followed suit, albeit at an obvious slower pace. Above me, I heard a familiar flutter of feathers, and looking up, I was met with the sight of a small, about 3 foot tall creature. He gleamed against the pink of the leaves, his bright cream colored features accented well.
<YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Sluggish I didn't know you could run that fast!>
He shouted down to me in thought speak, gliding between the branches.
It was Orion. My friend, and partner.
He was a strighte. A normally small avian species that could change their size at will.
<Well, we've had enough practice with it Haha! Where you taking us for this little hang out of yours?>
I asked, nearly tripping over a gnarled root sticking from the dirt.
<Don't worry, you'll see it soon. You and Kalem are almost there.>
With that, he flapped his way up and out of the canopy above, and I was left to keep following Kalem.