The Bell

by A.A.Maynard

Your Dreamship Pt. 2

Ritter slipped out into the corridor, flashlight in hand. This time the door swung almost effortlessly, much to Celestia’s relief. He shut it behind him, presumably confident she could work the handle by herself if she needed to. It was still dark, but it felt like it must be early morning. Celestia’s bones ached as if she’d slept for a very long time and the wailing storm was now a gently moaning breeze. Inside the cabin it was nearly frigid. Celestia thought she would relish being able to hog the blanket but getting back to sleep was impossible.

She occupied herself by stretching and walking in place. She was thirsty and the urge to relieve herself was growing, but wandering in the dark would be pointless. Ten minutes passed. Then twenty. At last after some forty minutes her meditation was broken by a soft clicking from above. Dim yellow light started to fill the room from a small domed fixture embedded in the ceiling. It grew brighter as the bulb inside heated up, though the current seemed a tad unstable.

She chanced a peek outside. The narrow corridor was gloomy but no longer pitch black. She could hear a faint sporadic thumping and squelching accompanied by gentle vibrations. It was as if the huge machine was meekly struggling to life, or stubbornly holding onto it. That was Ritter’s doing, obviously. What exactly did he intend to do? For that matter what was he capable of doing? It would be something else if he could somehow make the LUX KOENIG airworthy again, but Celestia wasn’t holding her breath.

The human was only gone a few more minutes. When he returned she noticed he was carrying both the canteens, one in hand, the other on his belt. They looked heavy. He wore a distant, thoughtful expression and something about the way he carried himself betrayed anxiety. Without saying anything he handed her the canteen and slumped tiredly against the bulkhead. He unhooked the canteen from his belt and took a long pull then fished around in his satchel for a protein bomb. He tore at the package with his teeth and began eating as if he were famished.

“Are you alright?”

“Hmm?” he mumbled, his mouth full. “Mmph. I jus’ never had to mesh’ ‘vith an alternator before.” He made an effort to swallow and spent a moment licking his lips sucking the rancid putty out of his teeth. “I’m trying not to get my hopes up. I had to er on the side of… not blowing up the ship. But, uh, now maybe I can start the ventilation working and we won’t… actually cook, tomorrow. Today. I mean, upstairs. Gods it’s going to be way too hot. Like an oven, up there. When the sun comes up. Just something I’m glad I thought of.”

That made some sense at least. In the kind of temperatures they’d experienced yesterday the upper floors -or decks, rather- could act like a big iron hothouse.

“What about you?” Ritter said, seeming a little more buoyant. Celestia was somewhat taken aback by this. It recalled a painful memory.

“I thought, maybe if I went to sleep… I’d be back.”

Ritter shook his head slowly. “It doesn’t work like that.”

Celestia nodded slowly. “No,” she said softly. “I suppose not.”

“Sorry.”

“It's alright,” was all Celestia could say. For the moment she had other priorities, namely food and a full canteen. She quickly undid the cap with her teeth and started to chug. She swallowed several mouthfuls of warm water before having a chance to chance to taste it. The next mouthful she very aggressively expelled.

“Uaghhh!” she exclaimed. Celestia the Princess wasn’t known for melodramatic outbursts, but for the moment that Celestia was missing. “Ohhh! Oh, it’s so metallic! Augh, it’s been sitting in a rusty tank for years!” She held the neck of the bottle up to her nose for a hard sniff. The scent confirmed her suspicions. The water wasn’t foul at least, but flat as Tartarus and swimming with corrosion.

Ritter’s smile was pained. “That’s what I was able to get off the top.” he muttered, looking down. "It’ll be worse the more we draw. I think it’s safe, though. I mean mostly safe. I added chlorine just in case. You can’t taste it.”

Celestia forced down a few more pained gulps. She coughed and sputtered when she next spoke. “What about washing?” Ritter looked thoughtful for a moment.

“I think we need to wait and see how much is in the radiators. Gods, this has been such a run of good luck I’m just waiting for something to try and kill me.”

“Is that… normal, here?”

“Yes,” Ritter said emphatically. “Gods, the things you have to watch out for in a place like this. There still might be something living here. I mean in here.”

Several minutes passed in silence while the two ate and drank. Outside it looked like dawn was finally breaking. “Ritter,” Celestia said in a tone of concern “I’m eating your food. I’m drinking your wastewater. I’m probably slowing you down. What can I do? What can I actually do to help you?”

Ritter seemed to consider this for a moment. “Just watch my back,” he said in a tone that suggested he couldn’t think of anything else. “It’s like I was saying, it’s better not to be alone here. All you need to do is keep your eyes open and tell me if you see anything.”

Celestia pondered this briefly. “Is that why you’ve kept me around?”

“A little bit,” he said bluntly. “I dunno’. To be honest I’m still not one hundred percent sure I can even trust you. Yet,” he added as a polite afterthought.

Celestia was both confused and ever-so-slightly injured by this remark. “Why?”

“You’re very pretty,” Ritter said distantly, staring at his booted feet as he gently tapped his toes on the floor. “Very sickly sweet, and that’s never a good sign. Never. Well… basically never. Not… not under… not the way things are right now.”

Celestia continued to speak plainly. “If you don’t trust me, why are you so kind? Why are you helping me?” Once again Ritter took a few moments to answer, and he still refused to meet her gaze.

“I had to,” he murmured pensively. He struck a thoughtful pose with his chin resting on his knuckles, finally looking her in the face. “I had to,” he sighed. “Couldn’t just blow you down on sight; had to give you a chance.” He gave her a warm, awkward smile. “And you haven’t gored me to do death with your face yet, so. Progress.”

Author's Note:

Decided to keep it short this time, to compensate for my bookishness. Let me know what you think, if you would be so kind. My thanks in advance.

Comments

[Timelugia]

Looking forward to more! Hopefully the water is lead free...

[keybounce]

Celestia lost in a realm of dreams, that she can't get out of, that Luna cannot find her in.

They have some shelter, and some water. They might have a way to avoid the heat of a metal oven.

And ... little to no food beyond emergency rations.

And a story description that portends of disasters yet to come.

So lets see where this goes to next.

[BuildYourLimits]

Really enjoying this, really want to see where this goes, if she ever gets back, goes back, what the human world is like in this reality, if they ever meet anyone else, ect. Please continue working on it. You've created a really interesting setting.

[A.A.Maynard]

9616142
Thank you, I will try.

[Zolgo]

An absolute hook of a read.
You’ve hit something marvellous, don’t give up on it, not unless you have to.

[A.A.Maynard]

9853546
It's been hard, and progress is very slow, but I will try.

[Zolgo]

9865230
Writing around life can be hard like that sometimes
Best thing about fanfiction though is that your upload schedule is your own!

Keep yourself alive and well first. When downtime and inspiration intersect, do what you can to put down what comes to you.

So long as you feel there remains potential here, so long as you have the will to see the potential made real, then the story is one you can work

[Split Flow]

My name is Split Flow and I order you to update

[Morgan Of Inspiration]

This is a great beginning to a story, and your vocabulary, spelling, and grammar are all exemplary compared to some other fanfiction authors. I look forward to seeing an update if it's coming. I am patient enough though, you can't rush art.

[Prince Polaris]

9875448

When downtime and inspiration intersect, do what you can to put down what comes to you.

I dunno man... I write some really weird stuff when that happens...