Drake didn't have to spend much time searching. He found a snow mu wondering around and slashed its back before it even realized he was there. Drake didn't take his time in getting back to the camp, he went as fast as he could.

 

By the time he got back, Severo had cleaned out the pots Drake had used, ready for whatever he brought. He also had some water boiling, so just as he saw Drake walking towards the camp, he had tea poured into two mugs.

“Welcome back!” Severo greeted, then added when he saw the Mu, “Wow, good thing you didn't want the fur...”

 

“Heh. Yeah. I didn't even think about that...” Drake lectured himself.
Garnet might have wanted a purse or a hat... that was out of the question now. Should have just shot it, “It was the first thing I came across.”

 

“It will do,” Severo decided and gave Drake a wink and a small smile. It was a reasonably large Mu, but shouldn't take long to cook. The wolf man took a sip of his tea, then set the mug down and took the Mu from the boy so that he could prepare it to be cooked just outside the camp.

 

Drake let Severo take it and sat down, picking up the other cup of tea thankfully.
It was always too cold here, but he kept coming back.
If he were at home, he'd be warm... but at home he'd be in trouble and that was no fun.

 

It wasn't long before the Mu was roasting over the fire. It was a great irony! These creatures were struggling every day to stay warm this time of year, but right now, he doubted it would appreciate the warmth.

“Shame this one didn’t run into the fire for us…” Severo half joked, half recalled the experience with Drake’s father.

 

Drake laughed. “Chaucer still brings that up. It horrifies him. 'The thought of something burning itself on purpose'! He goes on and on, at every meeting and every dinner and... probably other times as well. It's as if that is the most interesting thing to ever happen.”

 

Severo just nodded and gave the Mu a few slow turns. Severo was ravenous by the time the Mu was properly cooked, but he didn't complain, just helped himself and then laid back to watch the stars.

 

Drake let his mind wonder yet again. It irritated him how worried he was getting. It had only been two days since he’d been told to go home… there was no chance Eclipse would realize where he was, not yet. He would probably still be in Alexandria, and if, by some odd chance, he were back in Daguerreo, he wouldn’t know where Drake had gone… The pilot was bribed, and wouldn’t be back in Daguerreo for a while, and Ellipsis… hardly ever told on Drake. In fact, he never did.

The prince kept telling himself to stop worrying about it, but in the back of his mind, he always heard this little voice noting how far from Daguerreo he was, and how long it would take to get back to the tower even if he did try and fly there himself… which he couldn’t do. There were no thermals over the ocean, and no places to land. It was too cold for him to build up enough energy anyway. He was stuck on the ice-covered island until the ship returned. If Eclipse put up the barrier… he’d be in big trouble.

It was annoying. He should be having fun, but he was too busy worrying.
He’d came here to disobey the rules, and to have fun…
His ideas of fun were simply different than normal. He’d realized this when he was forced to spend time with people his age…

 

 

 

Drake did not want to go to this birthday party. On the ride over, he made a list of things he’d rather be doing; including counting sand and trying to dry up the ocean with a sponge; visit Hades domain, rub salt in his eyes, and choke on mushrooms.

Because any of that would have been better than attending Pricilla’s seventeenth birthday party.

“Ellipsis, can’t you just kill the pilot?”

 

“For the hundredth time! No!” Ellipsis snapped. He was no more thrilled by this party than Drake was.

 

Of course, he had expected to be the one to accompany Drake for this, but he was still angry about it. His only comfort was that Pricilla had no real interest in him, so at least she would mostly leave him alone. He almost pitied Drake.

 

“... Can you convince him to come out on deck, then?” Drake offered.

He was debating jumping. Maybe he could fly back... Or maybe he could just keep asking and eventually someone would kill the pilot.

 

“You should know there are two backup pilots who know not to change course... Since the 'accident'.” Ellipsis informed Drake. Besides, there was no way he could help him.

 

“I know…” Drake grumbled.

He could already see Shivel up ahead.
He couldn't even stand the other people his age on the ship. They were all acting insane. They actually seemed excited about this little trip. It was disgusting! So he spent the time stalking after Ellipsis and trying to get past the barrier to get to the pilot.
“I'm going to go jump off the back of the ship.”

 

“No you're not…” Ellipsis told him in a bored tone, though he really hoped the boy wouldn't try anything. He had a headache coming on from being around all these kids already.

 

Drake shuddered again as someone announced that the ship was landing. He slunk off back to the cargo hold as quietly as possible.

This whole trip was his parent’s idea. Drake had gone to all of Pricilla’s birthday parties since she was four… This time, he was ready.

Where is it? Where… is it? Drake asked himself, looking around the hold.
As soon as he found he was, in fact, being forced to attend another one of her parties, he’d snuck onto the ship.

And hidden his bow and arrows.

 

Now he just needed to find them again.

 

Ellipsis glanced around. Where has Drake gone?!

 

He might have disembarked already, but Ellipsis seriously doubted Drake would have that enthusiasm. Besides, he thought he could see Pricilla on the dock. Drake would never be able to sneak past her.

He wouldn't be on the bridge now, it was too late. He could try to convince the pilot to fly him back, but it would be no good, the airship needed to be refueled.

So, Ellipsis headed toward the quarters. Maybe Drake was hiding in his room…

 

Drake found the bow, but not the arrows... He'd left the arrows in plain sight, but now they were gone.

“I hide the bow I find the bow, I don't hide the arrows and they're the things that vanish?” It wasn't fair... unless someone found them and put them in his room?

He sped there and only slowed to glare at the pilot and curse about the barrier... then he stopped at the door to his room and moved his bow behind his back. “Heh... hi, Ellipsis...”

 

“There you are!” Ellipsis accused, crossing his arms in an effort to emulate the authority that Eclipse demanded. “What are you doing here? We have to disembark now...And why do you have your bow?”

 

Drake took his bow out from behind his back and stared at it as if he, himself, were wondering what it was doing there. “I was... Well... I was putting my bow back,” Drake nodded. “And... and getting Pricilla's gift. In an unrelated matter, have you seen my quiver?”

 

“Your quiver? I don't even know how you got that bow onboard!” Ellipsis yelled.

 

 

~~Meanwhile~~

“Hmm, these aren't my golf clubs...” Doctor Tot said as he adjusted his spectacles at the start of the first hole.

 

 

 

 

 

“Timing and practice...” Drake grinned. “Arrows?”

 

“No,” Ellipsis said, narrowing his eyes. The answer obviously had a double meaning attached to it.

He just wanted to get to the party, so he could let Pricilla have Drake, and he could just go and... stand in a secluded corner or something.

 

“But one of them is her gift,” Drake reasoned.

 

“Tell me you're joking,” Ellipsis begged. Usually Drake’s mother organized the gift for Pricilla, but he hadn't seen her prepare it this time...

 

“Well... one way or another, she's getting it.” Drake grinned wider, almost demonically.

 

“I think you better give me that bow,” Ellipsis decided and held his hand out for Drake to give it to him.

He was not going to have the blame put on him for Drake killing Pricilla.

 

“I... think I hear my name,” Drake headed for the cargo bay.

 

It was full of stuff; he figured he could hide there. Pricilla would probably think he didn’t come, unless some sadistic jerk sent word that he was coming—… Eclipse.

 

“Drake! Come out!” Pricilla called.

Drake eyed a wooden beam. “… Bet I could make an arrow.”

 

Partly because he had no choice, and partly because going down into the hold would mean he was away from Pricilla, Ellipsis headed down to the hold to find Drake.

 

Drake tore off a hunk of the ship and burnt it into the shape of an arrow. Without feathers, it wouldn't fly far... but it didn't need to fly far.

 

“Drake!” Ellipsis exclaimed, spotting the boy through the now-diminished stacks of luggage, crates and barrels. He headed over, trying to find a route where he could keep face by not having to climb over things. It had been a practice he’d exercised for the last fourteen years; the prince was like a cat… he climbed everything, so following him, at times, was a challenge…

 

Drake hid the arrow up his sleeve, slowly. “I can't find my arrows... But I found someone’s golf clubs next to where my arrows should have been.”

 

“Good!” Ellipsis said gleefully, hoping some moron had picked up the wrong bag.

 

“Good? Some blind fool is playing golf with my stone tip oak arrows! Do you know how much those cost me? ... Nothing, but they could have been expensive!” Drake ranted while trying to figure out how best to win an argument to get to keep his bow.

 

“But on the plus side, you and the Empress can play a romantic round of golf now.” Ellipsis snickered evilly. “Now, give me the bow.”

 

“Oooh, I'll get you for that remark.” Drake grumbled, backing up. “And no, it's my bow not yours.”

 

“Oh, then you'll want me to look after it for you then.” Ellipsis said, and reached for the bow. “I'm sure you would hate for it to get broken at the party...”

He was still smirking at his remark.

 

“Foolish man says this while standing in front of a crate of dynamite,” Drake warned.

 

Ellipsis looked around to see if there really was a case of dynamite. Even though it was fairly unlikely.

 

Drake had lied. It was fireworks, not dynamite. Regardless, Drake took the opportunity to climb over a crate and duck down, out of view while he searched for the fastest exit.

 

Ellipsis growled,  “Now where did you go?!” He demanded when he turned back around and Drake seemed to be gone. He started to search.

 

Drake didn't reply, just crawled to the exit and then stood up.
Gotta find a place to hide... Stupid tiny ship!

 

“Draaaaake!” Ellipsis yelled again. He started searching behind large trunks that smelled somewhat funny.

 

Drake found some sort of... vent in the hall, and was determined to find a way to get to it. Who would possibly look in there?

 

Ellipsis wasn't having any luck finding him in the hold, so he decided to check out in the hallway...

 

Through pure determination and passion toward NOT going to this party, Drake had actually found a way into the vent.
“Muahahaha! I win!”

 

“What the hell are you doing in there?!” Ellipsis demanded, finding the boy easily now that he had shouted.

 

“Shut up! I win, give up, let me go home!” Drake... ordered.

 

“Never! Now get out of there before I make the crew get a hose!” Ellipsis countered, and banged on the grate with his fist, causing a swirl of dust.

 

Drake coughed, backing up as far as he could in the vent during the mini dust whirlwind. No air, no vision, and no room! It sucked for the whole ten seconds before his wings grew from his panic and the vent broke.

“... ow...” Drake groaned from the floor.

 

“Look what you did! You broke the ship! We might have to stay for longer now!” Ellipsis threatened with a growing smirk. “Now come on, and get outside, Pricilla is waiting... oh, and give me that bow!” He added, and tried to snatch it.

 

Drake snarled, baring his fangs. “I hate you, you know that?”

 

“Not as much as the Empress, or Eclipse.” Ellipsis pointed out, grinning, while clutching the bow so that there would be no assassination attempts...at least, not with that bow. He was sure Drake had at least two others hidden somewhere.

 

Drake flapped his wings, once, causing the dust that was on him to go everywhere else before his wings as well as the rest of his TF disappeared in a fiery blaze.

 

Ellipsis sneezed on the dust, and his eyes watered. “Come on, let's go,” he requested, his voice somewhat more hoarse from the sneeze.

 

Drake got up while grumbling about how he hated everyone. Then he paused for a moment and got depressed when he realized he couldn't think of a single human he liked... then resolved that he didn't hate quite a few people and didn't mind his fan group most of the time and that was good enough because humans just suck.

 

Ellipsis brushed some of the dust off his robes as they walked. They neared the steps up, and Ellipsis knew that Pricilla would be standing outside that door.

“After you,” Ellipsis said pleasantly as they came to the stairs.

 

Drake hissed but reluctantly opened the door. He glanced around and saw... no one.

“HA!”

 

“I guess she got tired of waiting...” Ellipsis stated, peering around from behind Drake. He was sure that both of them would be shouted at for that sometime in the not too distant future.

 

“Yes! Time to go home!” Drake cheered.

 

“Yes!” Ellipsis agreed cheerfully, and gave a nod, “Pricilla's home.” With that, he gave a small chuckle.

 

Drake 'accidentally' stomped on Ellipsis's foot.

 

“Ow!” He cried. He was at least glad that Eclipse insisted they wore those big boots. That would probably have hurt a lot more if he had been wearing shoes of the normal kind.

“Get going!” Ellipsis snarled at Drake, tapping him on the head with the bow.

 

Drake stalked forward, surveying the town... it was creepy, like the abandoned ghost town in so many of the horror novels he'd read... No sound, not even birds, could he heard. He half expected the ground to suddenly cave or a storm to start, or a giant comet to strike.

He took that temporary distraction and then got to the real work… it was a big, though annoying, town. Unless he got to the center of town, he could be seen from the palace. Staying in the center of town wasn’t an option, either; he’d tried that before. That was the cheap seats and people got grabby. He’d lost his crown last time and all his gold, part of his cape, his right sleeve, both gloves, a shoe, and some of his hair before he’d gotten out, and he’d only been there ten minutes.
Same thing happened if he spent too much time with Pricilla and her friends, though…

Drake turned toward the palace… the main entrance was huge, towering over the city. Behind it were the gardens, stables, and arena. Inside, were the main dining hall, five ballrooms, and the main bedrooms. That place was off limits if he wanted to survive this.
To his right, behind the airship port, was the east hall. The guest room he usually stayed in was there, because it was the furthest from the main entrance. As well as the only library in the entire kingdom of prissies. It was the best part of this place, but he always hid there and this time she has reinforcements to find him.
A normal visit was annoying; mind numbing, but he could handle it. Birthday parties… sucked. It was like being transported to a new dimension where no one realized there was bad in the world, but if you looked out half the windows all you saw were tornados and mutants… figuratively. All Pricilla’s friends were just like her. Even the men. Drake couldn’t understand why she adored him so much when he was the opposite of what she keeps for as company.

The men knew nothing about what the world was like outside of high society, they didn’t stay involved in anything that wasn’t a popular hobby, and while they did thrive in sports they only did so to impress each other and everyone else. They spent the majority of the time at the arena coming up with new ways to kill each other and laughed about it while stabbing each other in the back.

All the girls cared about was fashion and beauty tips, who had the newest/best/frilliest whatever and how envious of it they were, then they hated that person enough to hurt them. They worshiped Pricilla because she was royalty, and she always demanded they treat her as such; it was like a flock of geese! They spent all their time gossiping and grooming and none of it doing anything else.

Yet they adored him and Drake had never figured out why! The other guys got to be left alone, why not him?
Everyone else seemed to think it was funny, and that just ticked him off more.
No, he wasn’t going to do this, he was going to hide…

Starting now.

 

 

Ellipsis stalked forward, surveying the town. “The food here is terrible,” he decided.

Wait, where had Drake gone? Damn it!

 

 

 

 

 

Drake held his breath, leaning against an open door. He’d snuck in, and just at that moment… Pricilla had opened a door he was heading for. She, and about seven of her groupies (all with gift boxes) stood on the other side.

“I know he’s here… I got a call informing me he was on the ship,” Pricilla said.

“… Maybe he jumped ship?”

Pricilla shook her head. “No, he did that last time, so I have someone watching from the docks.”

Didn’t work last time anyway… Drake sighed to himself.

“He sure likes this game,” some girl giggled.

“Yes…” Pricilla breezed, and then her voice got serious— dangerous even, “But I’ll find him.”

Drake took that as a challenge.