Imperial Orders

♕The Journey♕

"You have got to be kidding me." 

Tuofah crossed her arms at the sight of the so called "ship." Barely twenty feet long, it was made of more rust than metal. Two sorry-looking wings stuck out of the sides of its fat belly, causing it to resemble a sideways chicken. 

"Wow," the boy smirked. "You're picky for someone so poor." 

"My father was a cargo pilot," Tuofah retorted. "I know what a ship's supposed to look like, and this isn't it. I'd be surprised if this thing could get off the ground, let alone take us to Relorio! Now, I understand why you insist on keeping this piece of junk out here. I'd be embarrassed to be seen around something like it, too."

The boy frowned. "If you want your hundred thousand Marks, I'd suggest that you keep your comments to yourself." Tuofah couldn't help but notice that his nature was very cold and commanding for someone so young. He certainly didn't look like the average Nardyskian, either. He was a taller, with a more graceful build. That coupled with the fact that he refused to reveal his true name practically screamed suspicious. 

"I'm sorry," Tuofah sighed. 

"Come inside," the boy ordered flatly, not bothering to accept her apology. She followed him through the tall grass and toward the ship. Thickets of trees on all sides of them prevented the two of them from being seen, and the faraway towers of Nardysk were barely visible against the clear, blue sky. 

It had been almost a thirty minute walk from the city to this clearing, and the weather around Nardysk was less than pleasant now, at the onset of winter. Tuofah was more than ready to enter a warm space, regardless of how cramped it would be. 

As they approached the ship, the boy reached forward, pulling open a trapdoor that was so well-disguised, even Tuofah could barely tell it apart from the spacecraft's metallic exterior. 

"Get in," the boy said gruffly. "You'll have to crawl." 

One hundred thousand Marks, Tuofah thought to herself as she got down on her hands and knees, feeling the squishy mud between her fingers as she moved forward. The ship lay flat on the ground, without any kind of launchpad or even a pair of legs beneath it. This made the kneeling Tuofah level with its entrance. She crawled in as fast as she could, wincing as she felt one of her very few good pairs of pants scrape against the ground.

Tumbling into the ship, she rose quickly to her feet, not wanting the boy to see her laying muddy and helpless on the ground. She had hardly known him for a day, and he was already starting to get on her nerves. 

"You're actually here," Tuofah turned around to see Nut standing behind her, staring at her with wide eyes. The young girl held a broom in her right hand and a dustpan in her left- not that there was a floor to sweep. 

The bottom of the ship was made of random pieces of metal pieced together haphazardly, almost like a quilt of steel. As Tuofah walked over them, her Tactile senses flared to life, detecting the unique stories that each slab of flooring had to tell. Every object in the ship, from the nearly full storage racks that lined the walls to the two doors that stood at each end of the main corridor, was filled with life. Just from looking at them, she could tell that they had been through many adventures alongside an assortment of different owners. 

Oh, what knowledge she would gain, if she could only touch them...

Perhaps, she would discover the mysterious boy's secret. 

"Hello?" 

Tuofah was snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of a tiny voice. She looked up to see Nut looking up at her expectantly. 

"Oh, yes, sorry," she shook her head. "I was just...looking around."

"Nut, give Tuo a tour of our place, will you? We'll get going after dinner tonight," the boy announced, now inside the ship. 

"Yes, sir!" Nut saluted the boy, before darting toward the farthest of the two doors. Tuofah followed her, trailing her hand across the wall as inconspicuously as she could. 

Sensations rippled through her fingers, and her eyes widened. 

The wall was not an outer wall. 

This could only mean one thing. 

A secret room.