Ears Aboard

Ears Aboard

Fire tugged at the tab at the top of an aluminum soda can, grunting as it wouldn’t budge. He gave up without seriously trying and handed the can to Nyandeux. The legendary opened it for him. According to legend, it was a near relative of the first Capmon ever born. Nyandeux had been worshipped by some primitive cultures as a god, or at least of one of Deiiarch the Creator’s primeval enforcers- an archangel. Even Deiiarch himself was a Capmon. Someday, a champion would have the power to seal him away in a Capture Ball. It pulled open a bag of potato chips and passed it across a little table to Zane.
I watched as Zane stuffed his hand in the bag, jamming a fistful of chips directly into his mouth. Crumbs spilt out over his chin, “Phhfanks!” He said with a mouthful of food.

“You need not thank me, Child.” Nyandeux’s voice curled away from its body, existing in the air without the legendary even opening its mouth to speak. It hunched over completely, and its head was still touching the roof of the train car above as it awkwardly sat on the red-cushioned seats in our private room. “You are as burdened as any.”

I laughed to myself. Even this thing beyond mortal life got Zane completely wrong. He’d never known a real burden in his life. My thoughts were interrupted by the same, low-pitched voice playing in the back of my head, “I am of half a mind to disagree with you, Girl.”

“Respectfully, you’ve only just met him,” I squeaked. Fire looked at me funny. A champion like him could understand the speech of Capmon at more than a rudimentary level.

“I can hear you even if you just think the words.”

“What if I don’t want you listening to my thoughts?” I heard my own words in my mind without saying them aloud.

It stopped for a second, “That doesn’t make sense. I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t want me to.”

I shook my head, “Nyandeux. I just don’t want…”

“Are you afraid I’ll tell Fire what you are?”

“I don’t! I… He would never look at me the same way again.”

“Indeed. Never again will a soul in the world see you as they once did. They won’t, truth or not. Besides, everyone changes day-to-day, what does it matter? What’s there to lose?”

“I’m a celebrity. Like this, like a Capmon, people would come after me. They would want to capture me for… for who knows what?”

Nyandeux reached across the table to grab another drink. It clicked it open and handed it to Zane before he could even ask for it. “To handle their beverages? Indeed, a terrible, comfortable fate.”

“Will I be like this forever?”

“I don’t know. I don’t care,” It said firmly, “if you wanted me to, I could make you human again, but I will only allow it to last for an hour.”

“Do it.”

“Wait,” it held its paw up, “of course, I could do it right here in front of everybody. Or, you could excuse yourself properly, first.”

I hopped down from Zane’s shoulder and ran toward the door of our room. He reached down, “Hey, where are you going?”

“Let her,” Fire held a hand up, “Kachi get feisty when they can’t explore the area around them.” His eyes narrowed on me. I’d never heard such a fact before.

Zane shook his head, “What if something…”

“It’s a train,” Chii flicked her hair, “she can’t exactly go anywhere.”

As soon as the door shut behind me, a green and violet light sparkled in a circle, dancing around my body. I blinked, and I was standing much taller, my hand twitching over the doorknob. The train cars were almost silent exceptfor  a single, darkly dressed man walking down a hallway far ahead of me. I took a deep breath, then yanked it open, “Ha! I thought I’d find you here!” I pointed at Fire accusingly.

“What’s with the costume?” He blinked. My reflection flashed back at me in the window. Two furry, yellow ears poked off the top of my head, and the tail of a Kichi extended out behind me. In the folktales that mentioned it, Nyandeux was always a trickster. He couldn’t even be gracious enough to make these additions to my body resemble the more-powerful Kachi I’d become.

I tugged on one of the ears, “This thing?” I smirked, “I was preparing for a Glamor Contest! That’s something you’d stand no chance in.”

“Those Capmon beauty contests?” Zane rolled his eyes.

Fire stood up. He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me strongly, “It’s been a while.” He whispered, “Where have you been? You ran away from that tournament.”

“I’ve been busy,” my tail flicked behind me.

Chii stood up sharply, “I want to finish our battle.”

“On a train?” I shrugged, “No. Our Capmon could derail the whole thing.”

She clenched her fist. “I could have won, still.”

“Not a chance,” I sighed, “Twiglo was practically eliminated, and anyone else couldn’t have contested with my Capmon. It’s not a fair sport. The bigger, nastier team wins once all other tactics have been eliminated. I hit harder, I last longer, so I make any kind of tricks impossible.”

Fire yawned, “What if Nyaro managed to sweep?”

“Even you couldn’t have made that happen.”

Zane scratched his head, “Well, you know Nyaro is really strong, right, Cyan? She’s really caused problems for my team before.”

“She has?” I hissed, “Nyaro is quick and powerful, more than strong enough to overpower a rodent without any trouble. Against something larger than herself, she can falter.”

Nyandeux popped open a bag of chips and shoved it into my hands. My mouth watered as I looked down into it. They were wavy chips seasoned with sour cream and onion, and the little, sour smell coming off them was almost sweet in my nostrils. I nodded my thanks and carefully took one chip at a time from the bag. “You need to rotate in and out more, Zane,” I mumbled, “it’s how you make your composition more effective.”

“Doesn't it waste time when attacking is possible instead?”

“No. It gives the next attack more potential.” I held my hand out, “and it limits the power of your opponent’s attacks. A win-win if you time it right. You wouldn’t loose an arrow before you’re aiming at the target.”

Fire snickered, “You’re always overcomplicating things! Hit hard, don’t get hit harder. That’s it.”

I pretended to yawn, “Yeah, anyone would love the intuition of a prodigy to guide them as to how to actually do that. Humans have to think.”

“I thought you were also a prodigy,” he poked me, “champion at ten.”

I looked out the window, my cheeks turning red in my reflection, “Well! I was always better anyway!”

“Whatever you say,” He adjusted his hat. We were both thrown back to the seats beside us as the train jolted to a stop. The lights shut off. Nyandeux smiled.

A crackling voice echoed throughout all of the train cars, “This is your new captain speaking! This train now belongs to the Starlight Gang! Yee haw!” The train started chugging under us again.

Fire looked out the window, “We’re coming up on a junction in just about fifty minutes. They could derail the train.”

I snatched a Capture Ball off my belt. “Hey, Chii. You know what I said about battling on a train? Don’t try this at home.” I pushed the door open.

Fire stepped out after me, “Starlight, huh? Just like old times.”

“They’ve changed.”

“I know.”

“SolveCorp?” I asked, “What did they…”

Fire took a deep breath, “Doesn’t matter. There are innocent people on this train.” He checked the gold-and-diamond watch around his wrist, “Forty-nine minutes… about…”

“Perfect. I need just that much.” I nodded. Nyandeux’s voice echoed in the back of my head, laughing. One hour. That was no accident.