The Wolves Ch. 034

We got to know each other a little better on the way, both of us taking turns asking each other questions. Before we knew it, I was pulling into the arena next to one of my old schools. It was a pretty unassuming building, and as a new arrival, I knew she wouldn't have a clue what the building housed. The parking lot was pretty empty, there only being a few cars parked, that being understandable as I had rented the arena for two hours. I parked as close as I could and shut off the SUV.

"What's this?" she asked.

"You'll see in a few minutes, let's go. You can leave the ice cream in here, it should be fine for a few hours in that box," I said, opening my door and stepping out. When she closed her door I hit the button to lock the SUV and we headed inside the building.

"Ooh, that's cold," she said crossing her arms in front of her.

"Oh, right. Did you bring the sweater like I asked? You'll probably want to wear it in here."

Nodding, a sweater appeared in her hands. It was one that zipped up, so she quickly put it on and zipped it all the way up. A moment or so after she put on her sweater, she noticed the rink in the middle of the large building, though the boards and the glass were between us and the ice.

"Is that-"

"Ice, yup," I said, interrupting her.

"Why is there ice inside of a building?

"Ah, you see, while football is very popular in America, it isn't as popular here. Instead, we have another sport that happens on rinks that look exactly like this. It's the off-season, otherwise I would've taken you to see a game, but alas, this will have to do. Come, I need to go talk to someone and then we can go out on it."

She nodded and then turned and started following me. It didn't take long to find the manager, he was sitting in his office doing what looked like paper work. I knocked on the doorframe and he looked up.

"Can I help you, young man?"

"Yes. I rented the ice from 20:00 to 22:00. Sorry we're a little late, we were at dinner and it took us a while to get here when we were done."

"Ah, don't worry about it. It's your money, not mine," he chuckled. "You can head out onto the surface whenever you like."

"Thank you," I said, turning around and walking back to the rink with Tessa in tow and moving over to the stands.

"Alright, take a seat and remove your shoes," I told Tessa.

"My shoes? Why?" she asked while doing what I said.

"Shoes don't work particularly well on ice, so people came up with something that works a lot better," I said, taking a pair of white figure skates out of my inventory and holding them out to her.

"Are those boots with knives attached to the bottom?"

"Pretty much," I laughed. "C'mon, I'll help you put them on. Your mom told me what size your feet are, so I had someone pick these up for you. They should fit."

I loosened the laces to the first skate and was about to hold it so she could put her foot in it when I saw the socks she was wearing. Ankle socks and skates do not mix. Luckily I also had a pair of long, thick socks picked up as well.

"Oh, you'll need to put these on as well," I said, the two socks appearing in my hand. "If you don't want blisters, that is."

She quickly removed her socks with them disappearing into thin air, before putting on the long ones that rose about halfway up her leg. As soon as they were both on, I held out the left skate so she could insert her foot. After she verified that it wasn't too big, or too small, I tied it up and then moved onto the second one. When I was done, she walked around the rubber-coated floor to get used to them while I put on my own skates.

Once I was suited up, I put on my own sweater and then led her over to one of the entrances to get onto the ice. After stepping on, I skated around a little to test the ice and then skated back over to where Tessa was standing and held out my hands.

"Grab onto my hands and then step onto the ice. I'll make sure you don't fall."

Nodding, she grabbed hold and then stepped onto the ice, with me keeping us both steady.

"Now, I want you to keep both of your feet straight. I'm going to skate us around the rink so you can get a feel for it, and then you can try, alright?"

"Fine with me," she nodded.

"Okay, here we go," I said, beginning to skate backwards while pulling her along.

While I had played football in the fall and spring, I played hockey in the winter, so skating backwards was as easy as skating forwards. We did two full circuits of the rink without Tessa so much as stumbling before she was ready to try on her own.

"Alright, I'm going to stay in front of you while skating backwards, if you feel like you're going to fall, reach out and I'll catch you. When you're ready, push off with one of your back feet while keeping the other one straight."

"Okay," she said, pushing off with her right foot almost immediately.

I backed up while holding my hands out in front of me, ready to grab her, but she didn't have the trouble that I thought she would. We did another two full circuits of the without any issue.

"You've done this before, haven't you?"

"Nope!" she replied immediately. "I have done something similar, though this is rather crude compared to that. Hover skates are a pretty popular way for kids to get around on Veria. It's difficult to find a kid that doesn't have a pair in their dimensional storage, and they're quick and easy to put on and take off. You don't even need to take your shoes off to put them on, though you can if you want to."

"Aww, and here I was thinking I was showing you something new."

"It is new to me," she laughed. "Veria is a pretty warm planet, with the only cold areas being the poles and mountain peaks. I don't think anyone there had thought to strap a knife to their foot to skate on ice, simply because there isn't that much of it. It may happen on other Pygmaean planets, but not on Veria."

"Alright, let's speed up a bit then," I said, speeding up the rate at which I was backing up.

She didn't have any trouble keeping up with me, pushing off harder and harder as I did the same. After a few more circuits, I spun around and fell in beside her while reaching out with my hand. She grabbed onto it and we skated around while holding hands.

"So what is that sport you were talking about? The one popular here?"

"It's called hockey, and it is very popular here and around the world where it gets cold enough for ponds and lakes to freeze during the winter. I've never skated on either, but there is the Rideau Canal that freezes over during the winter, allowing people to skate, as long as it's cold enough. Hockey was created a long time ago, though modern hockey is comprised of twenty players on each team, with each team being allowed to have up to six players on the ice at any given time; three forwards, two defensemen, and one goaltender."

"Hockey is a very fast-paced game, and as such there will be people coming off the ice to rest, allowing another teammate to take their place. There aren't any nets in place right now here, but there would be one placed at either end, manned by the goaltender. Their sole job is to keep the puck out of the net, which isn't easy with how small it is."

"The role defensemen have played has changed over the years. It used to be that they just tried to prevent the other team from scoring, while the more modern defenseman needs to be more skilled, and be able to provide some offense, while still being effective at defending. Forwards on the other hand, haven't really changed at all in the way they play, though they are a lot more skilled than they were even twenty years ago. Their main job, though not their only job, is to score on the other team's goalie."

"Sounds complicated," she said when I was done describing it.

"It is, but it's my favorite sport. The other four most popular sports are football, soccer, baseball and basketball, though not in that order. Hockey is actually probably ranked fifth in terms of popularity, as it is so much more expensive to get into than the other sports, like basketball, where all you need is a good pair of shoes."

"I have no idea what any of those are," she said with a giggle.

"Eh, it's not important," I said with my own laugh. "I just really like hockey, the speed, the skill level involved, just everything about it. It's also the sport that is most random out of the five I listed, as anything than happen on any given night. In a sport like basketball, a couple of players can have a profound effect on a game, while that isn't consistently possible in hockey. Don't even get me started on baseball. I'd rather watch paint dry than watch that boring sport."

She laughed again and we switched to another topic while we skated around the rink, just enjoying each other's company. We ended up skating for about an hour or so before calling it quits, even though we still had forty minutes or so of time reserved. We changed back to our shoes, letting her keep the skates, before letting the manager know we were leaving early. We were the last group for the night, so that would let him leave early, after he resurfaced the rink.

I didn't have anything else planned, and Tessa didn't want to go anywhere else, so we headed back to the HQ so we could get back to the base. After parking the SUV in the parking lot, I waved to the security team and then led Tessa inside the building. A few minutes later we appeared in the lobby, and I was surprised to see that my friends parents were sitting on couches talking to my parents.

[Hey, mom, where are my friends?] I sent.

[Back already, huh? I believe they're in the cafeteria. The meeting went a little a little long, so they didn't get to eat until now. Your sisters are there, too.]

[Alright, thanks.]

"My friends are in the cafeteria. I'm going to see what they're up to, if you want to join me."

"Sure! We still have this to eat, afterall," she said, holding up the container that our dessert was in.

"True, alright c'mon."

We didn't get more than ten feet or so before there was a pop and Vixa appeared in front of me. I bent down to pick her up and then we continued walking.

"I don't think the two of you have been introduced. Tessa, this is Vixa. Vixa, meet Tessa."

"Aww, what a cutie. Hello, Vixa!" Tessa said reaching over to pet Vixa's head. "I don't think I've ever seen a white Phenidae before. Usually they come in darker colors."

"She's a one of a kind. I can't remember it, but I was told that I found her on the palace grounds when I was around three years old. There was no sign of her parents, so my mother looked after her until she was old enough to eat solid food. After that, she followed me around everywhere. She was put in stasis when we fled Nedovis, and remained in stasis until early Tuesday morning."

"Why was she left in stasis for so long?" Tessa asked. "Weren't you taken out of stasis fifteen years ago?"

"Around fifteen years ago, yeah. I imagine that she was kept in stasis because we lived in the city while I went to school. It would have been odd if an animal that no one has seen before was spotted, and then teleported away."

"True," Tessa agreed. "I guess your parents could've said that they found it in a dungeon, but then that would require proof of some sort."

We arrived at the cafeteria and spotted my friends right away. I saw that there were exactly three empty places, one for me, one for Tessa, and one for Vixa. Tessa went over to grab a couple of spoons, while I walked over.

"Hello, everyone," I said, sitting down next to Aleena. "You're released already, I see."

"Yup! You're are back earlier than expected."

Nodding, I said, "We had dinner and then went skating. Neither of us wanted to go anywhere else, so we decided to come back here."

"Oh. Where is she?"

"Right here," Tessa replied as she walked behind Aleena and myself, before sitting next to me and placing the box in front of her.

"Oh. I thought he'd driven you off already. I was thinking that Alexis, Lucille and I would have to kick his ass," she said with a grin.

"Nope, it was a very enjoyable evening. Dinner was so good."

"Oh? Where'd he take you?" Aleena asked.

"Lone Star," Mason replied before Tessa could.

"I've been there, nice place, good food. I'm assuming the two of you had fajitas?"

"Mhmm," Tessa replied, opening the box in and taking out the dish that was inside. "It was different than I'm used to, and I might have my dad send over his personal chef to try it and see if he can replicate it. It would be something different to eat."

"Might have to bring some cows along to make that happen, unless you have something similar," Ben said.

"I wouldn't be surprised if my dad is working on something like that already. You wouldn't believe how much money he made when he was able to acquire some coffee beans and orange seeds after they were introduced on Nedovis and other Scyftan planets. People were paying a ridiculous amount of credits for even a small amount of the stuff.

"Wait, there is coffee and oranges in Scyftan space? How did they get there? And what is that?" Alexis asked, pointing at the bowl that Tessa had slid between us while handing me one of the spoons.

"Texas-Fried Ice Cream," she replied, taking her spoon and breaking the cornflake outer shell. "I was full after dinner, but I wanted to try this, so we got one to go. The seeds for both coffee and oranges were brought by the science team that was on Earth when the second group arrived, carrying you, your sisters and Jonathan. They meant to bring other seeds with them when they departed, but they got left behind, apparently."

When she was done talking, she spooned some of the ice cream with the cornflake outer shell into her mouth, trying it.

"Not bad," she said, quickly getting another spoonful.

"Well, that's just not fair," Anja said with a smile. "Where's our desert, Jonathan?"

I shrugged and got my own spoonful of ice cream, while Alexis got up and ran over to the buffet line. She went behind the counter and soon disappeared. She was back a couple of minutes later, with a man following her. She led him around the table until he could see the ice cream in the bowl.

"Ah, deep-fried ice cream. I'm familiar with it."

"Can you make it?" Alexis asked.

"Sure," he nodded. "I'll have to lower the temperature of the ice cream we have using a frost spell, so it won't be quite as good as if it was cooled naturally, but I can do it. I assume you'll all want one?" he asked.

There were nods all around the table, in fact, I think I even saw Vixa give a little nod out of the corner of my eye.

"I think Vixa wants one too," I said looking up to the man. "Can you make a smaller one for her?"

He nodded. "I'll have them sent out when they're ready. Shouldn't take more than ten minutes or so," he said, turning to walk back to the kitchens.

"Awesome! Thanks, Mr. Burton!" Alexis called out to him.

"You're welcome, Princess," he called back without turning.

"Princess, huh?" I asked when Alexis sat back down.

"What? Just because you don't like being called 'King' doesn't mean I don't like being called 'Princess!'"

"Why is that, by the way?" Anja asked. "What's wrong with people calling you 'King' or 'milord' or 'sire?'"

"Nothing, really. It's just that until five days ago I thought I was a regular person. Then I find out that not only am I an alien, but that I am the king of said aliens. To then have people bowing before me is just a little disconcerting."

"Well, better get used to it," Tessa said from my right. "While you may be able to get the Spectres and other Scyftans on this base to stop bowing before you, you won't be able to do that with the general population."

"I know, but the less people doing that, the better. Anyways, on to another topic; do the three of you plan on delving into dungeons?" I asked, looking to Aleena, Lucille and Alexis.

"We were going to shortly after you guys did," Aleena said. "This stuff with the dragons is keeping us too busy for that right now, though. Gabriel put us in charge while he works on finalizing the training program for crewmembers for the new fleet. We're planning on visiting one of the low level dungeons on Veria while we're there. Why do you ask?"

"I'm looking for a team," Tessa answered. "I was wondering if-"

"Absolutely! We'd love to have you!"

"Well, that was easy," I said, looking at Tessa, who simply nodded and went back to her dessert. Looking back over to my friends, I asked, "So what did your parents decide? Are you guys coming to Veria after we drop off the dragons?"

"They took it rather well, considering," Ben answered. "Our parents collectively agreed that we could go, if they could come along. Both my mom and dad have a bunch of vacation time they've been saving, and what better option is there than taking a vacation to multiple alien worlds?"

"Same with my mom," Mason said. "She has at least a month and a half in vacation time she has accumulated over the years. Her boss is an asshole though, so if he says she can't go, she'll just quit. She doesn't want to miss an opportunity like this."

"What about your dad?" Tessa asked.

"Don't know, I've never met the man, if you can call him one. He split when my mom told him she was pregnant."

"Oh. Sorry, I didn't know."

"It's no biggie."

Before that conversation to be continued, someone came over from the kitchen carrying a tray with a bunch of bowls on top of it. Placing the tray on the edge of the table, she began placing bowls in front of everyone, saving Vixa, who had her front paws on the table and tails going crazy, for last.

"Enjoy, everyone," she said, turning to head back to the kitchen.

We all thanked the woman as she walked away, including Vixa who gave a little yip.

I slid my bowl between myself and Tessa in case she wanted some, before looking back up to my friends. "I wanna get back into the dungeon nice and early tomorrow. We've got tomorrow and Sunday to level up some more, since we'll be starting training on Monday. It'll be the last chance we have before we depart in a week."

"When do you want to leave?" Sonja asked. "At around 07:00?"

"Sounds good to me. I'll see if Zaszi or Zogyr can open up a portal so we can get there a bit quicker."

"Cool. Our parents said that we can stay in our rooms here, so it will be nice not having to come a bit earlier."

"You can say that again," Mason said, his mouth half-full of ice cream.

"Cool. Our parents said-"

I think he tried to say 'I didn't mean that literally!', though all we heard we mumbles as he had shoveled another spoonful of ice cream into his mouth. We all burst into laughter before finalizing our plans and finishing our dessert. Mr. Burton's version was even better than the one Lone Star served, and that was with him using some sort of frost spell to freeze the ice cream. If it was this good now, I couldn't imagine how good it would be if the ice cream was frozen the proper way. Vixa especially seemed to enjoy it, finishing it faster than anyone else did.

We wanted to get an early start in the morning, so when all of us were done, we headed to our rooms. Tessa asked me to escort her back to our room, so after stacking our dirty dishes onto all of the other ones, Vixa and I did just that.

"I had a great time tonight," she said. "The dinner was amazing, and skating was fun. I'm sorry it wasn't an experience that was as new to me as you were hoping."

"It's alright, at least I was able to treat you to one new experience. So, when do you want to go out again? There won't really be enough time next Friday since we'll be leaving that night."

"I was thinking about that. How about we wait until we get to Veria? You treated me to something new tonight, so I'll treat you to something new one of the nights when we're there."