CHAPTER THREE.
I'd follow you into the darkness.
    

      " I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU CONVINCED ME TO DO THIS. " KP muttered under his breath as they approached the Ceren's School of Science and Technology from behind, coming up to the garage where they kept the training spaceships.

     " Oh, come on, think of it like flying practice. " Mars insisted as they crept up to the large door, where a small screen was built into the wall beside it; she glanced around the empty lot before asking, " There are no security cameras or anything? "

     " No? I mean, I don't think so, at least. " KP answered, uncertain as he approached the panel, which started up, a sharp green line growing across the screen.

     " Ceren School of Science and Technology spaceship parking garage. Retina scan required. " An automated female voice spoke monotonously, and KP obliged, standing in front of the screen as a bright, holographic light scanned over his eye, disappearing as quickly as it came. " Retina scan confirmed. Welcome, Mr. Barnes. "

      Mars gave him a light shove on the arm as the door rose, all the way to the top of the building, allowing them inside. He was taken by surprise, his bulky build nearly toppling over with the slight push, to which he glared at her.

    " After you, Mr. Barnes. " She mocked, a slight smile on her face as he sighed, walking inside with her right on his tail, trailing just beside him.

     " Wow. " Mars said in awe, glancing around the big warehouse full of spaceships; she had never really been interested in ships themselves, but rather where they took you, but she could see the appeal. They came in all shapes and sizes, different colors, and even had names plastered along the sides. There were probably a dozen or so parked in the large building, but she imagined they kept more around somewhere.

     " Let's make this quick, okay? I don't want to get caught. " KP announced, walking through the runway as he tried to decide on one of the ships.

     " You're the expert here, I don't know which one to pick. " She persisted, absentmindedly following him as he took a few seconds before almost instantly deciding on one; he didn't say anything, but Mars felt him pull gently on her elbow, dragging her to the right, until they were standing in front of one that looked as if you poured a can of 'Kenton Phineas Barnes the Second" all over if.

    It was a dark green color, was an odd circular shape, and while it wasn't all that small, it wasn't very big, either. It was enough to hold the two of them, at least, and it didn't exactly look like it was going to fall completely apart on them. So, that was a plus in Mars' book. Along the side, it read Vienna. She had no clue what it stood for, but it was a nice name.

    " Alright, stop your staring, let's go already! " Mars urged, wrapping a hand around KP's jacket-clad arm, trying to pull him with her towards the entrance of the spaceship, but he didn't budge; she stopped her attempts and crossed her arms, looking at him expectantly, " Hello? Mars to KP? You do realize this is a piece of metal and not an actual person, right? It doesn't get offended by you staring too long, but you still look crazy. "

     " Maybe we shouldn't do this. " He suddenly said, panic and worry lacing his voice; Mars almost immediately groaned at his sudden resistance, to which he continued, " I'm serious, Mars, what if we do get caught? We could be suspended, or, or worse- "

     " Ha, funny you would say that, actually.. " Mars interrupted, seeing her opportunity to slip into a confession and hopefully brush past it. KP looked at her with a questionable expression, waiting for her to elaborate, but before she could even continue, she saw the processing and realization pass over his face like gears turning in a machine.

     " Wait, Mars..did you get suspended? " He asked in an alarmed voice, to which Mars shushed him, not wanting to get caught a second time, and surely not when they were doing something far more important (and dangerous) than changing grades. When she didn't say anything, but rather held her hands near his mouth, KP's eyes widened. " Mars! You got caught? "

     " Listen, can we talk about it later? You know, so we don't get caught and you don't end up suspended right along with me? " She suggested, raising her brows in an almost annoyed gesture; she didn't really want to talk about it all, but that was asking a lot from KP.

     KP didn't say anything in response, but gave her a look that told her he was willing to put it off for the time. He began walking around to the entrance, where the stairs were already laid out and ready, the side door raised; Mars followed him, and they began quickly climbing the tall staircase leading into the ship; after they both climbed inside, KP turned to face the wall of the ship, pressing a small button surrounded by various other buttons, which caused a loud ksss noise as the side door to the ship came down, closing the opening airtight.

     The dark skinned pilot-in-training moved towards the front of the ship, sitting down in one of the seats and instantly buckling himself in, as if he was going through one of his simulations or practicing with his teacher. Mars just followed his lead, sitting down in the copilot seat beside him, struggling a bit more with her seatbelt than he did. Still, when she actually did manage to securely clasp it in, she looked up to see KP watching her, waiting for her to finish.

     " So, why this one? " She asked, trying to break the awkward silence between them; Mars hated silence, even though she experienced a lot of it at home. She didn't like it with certain people, and she definitely didn't like it with her closest friend.

     " It's the only one I've actually flown. " He told her, fingers scrambling across the control panel, consisting of many buttons, levers, and screens that Mars couldn't distinguish to save her own life. " Plus, I like the color green. "

     " Well, at least you've flown it. " She responded, watching as he pulled a lever down, and twisted the key that seemed to be left in the ignition; Mars didn't think that was very smart, but she also knew that KP didn't like it when she made fun of his flying club.

     And then, the sound of the engine roared loudly as he turned the wheel harshly to the left, down the runway as they began moving. The wheels were still out on the ship, and Mars was starting to realize that it was constructed like a plane of sorts; she only knew what a plane was because of her old history books, since they didn't have a use for them anymore except for war. They flew down the long walkway of the parking garage, then, nearing the exit, Mars felt the spaceship start to pick up speed and momentum before ultimately lifting off the ground.

     " Oh, shit, we're flying. " Mars muttered under her breath, leaning forward to the point where the straps of her seatbelt restricted her from moving any further; she turned and looked over at KP with a bright smile on her face, " We're flying. "

     " We're flying. " KP repeated, grinning from ear to ear as his fingers flexed along the steering wheel, keeping his eyes ahead of him, at the darkening dusk sky; it was now just past five, according to his junky old watch, but even then, there wouldn't be many people outside to see them, and, if they did, they'd most likely dismiss it as a test flight for a student.

     " Now, show me that map. " He ordered, and Mars, although a bit taken back by how confident he was behind the wheel, gladly pulled the paper from her pocket, unfolding it and attempting to smoothen it out before handing it over to him.

     KP briefly took a hand off the wheel to grab it, setting it down in front of him, near the scanner, which was picking up nothing and, in Mars' opinion, it's only purpose was to annoy her with its constant beeping noise.

      " Okay, " He exhaled slowly, glancing over at Mars, " Cave Pearson, here we come. "

     A beat passed between them, and Mars began biting at the inside of her cheek again as she stared out the glass windshield in front of them, seeing the many stars beginning to appear against the darkening sky. Then, she turned her head to look back at KP before almost instantly swiveling back around to gaze out at the night sky, her mind dwelling. She hoped that whatever they found in that cave would lead her to more clues about her father, whether or not that meant she had to pass the Elders' test or not to get them.

xxx

     THEY FLEW THROUGH THE AIR FOR WHAT FELT LIKE HOURS, but in reality it was probably twenty-ish minutes. The ride consisted of KP rigging the radio comm to find his favorite channel, AMT 32 — short for Andromeda Music Today — which happened to be playing some song spoken in a language that didn't come from Ceren, but he bobbed his head to the beat nonetheless.

     While KP was in his zone, calloused fingers drumming along the wheel and a wide grin on his face as they soared over the Ceren landscape, Mars rested her head on her hand, watching him with an admiring look. She was glad he had found something he loved to do, and the fact that he was training every day to get closer to being able to fly as a job made her feelings toward her expulsion a little less negative. And, even though she would never admit it, she was jealous of him. She wished she had something she loved that much, something she knew she would want to dedicate her entire life to. But, she didn't, and she most likely never would.

     Trying to push that dissatisfied feeling away, she turned her gaze to the window, feeling the cool glass against her forehead as she leaned on it. The sun had set, causing the sky to turn a deep violet color. They had passed many houses and buildings on their way, but now they were practically in the middle of nowhere, nothing but dry grasslands beneath them.

     The entire situation reminded Mars of Robin Hood. When they were little, she and KP would read and reread that book countless times, they were obsessed with it. They always pretended like they were thieves that stole from the evil, rich people and gave to the ones that really deserved it. At thirteen, they had made a pact to become just like Robin Hood when they were older. That story was the foundation of their friendship, and it was all they ever talked about. However, when Mars' father disappeared, that changed. A lot of things have changed. She couldn't remember the last time one of them mentioned the tale.

     Just as she was going to open her mouth and remind him of it, she saw what looked like the mouth of a cave, nearly out of sight but getting clearer as they continued to fly. She lifted her head away from the windshield, and had to squint to make sure that it was a cave, but it looked more like Cave Pearson than any of the small raises in the ground before then.

     " KP— " Mars was cut off by the pilot-in-training before she could even get a word out.

     " I see it. " He said, causing Mars to turn her head to look at him, a beaming grin on his face as he flexed his fingers around the steering wheel, " Prepare for landing. "

     Mars snorted as she leaned back in her seat, wrapping her hands around the straps across her shoulders just in case as she commented, " I bet you've always wanted to say that. "

     " Always. " KP agreed, the perfect smile on his face wide and proud as he began to push forward on the wheel as he added, " Cave Pearson, here we come. "

     Mars' attention turned to the windshield again, watching as they got further from the sky and closer to the ground. She could feel the change in direction in her toes like an unpleasant feeling, and she found herself glancing over at KP almost worriedly. Despite having several classes simulating a flight path, she had never been in a real spaceship before. She didn't know if this was how a landing was supposed to go, but she guessed she was too far gone to start doubting her pilot.

     As they started to get closer and closer to the dying brown grass, Mars felt a panic settle in the pit of her stomach as the small fighter ship began to shake, making her brain practically vibrate. KP must've noticed her sudden frightened look as he kept glancing over at her, trying to watch in front of him at the same time.

     " It's just the turbulence, Mar, we're okay, we're about to land, just hold on, " He tried to assure her, his voice seeming to bounce from the trembling of everything around them. " Mars, it's fine, okay? "

     She truly wanted to tell him that she trusted him, because she did, but the intense rush of anxiety that flooded her as they began to tip down made it nearly impossible for her to even speak.

     It wasn't long, just a few minutes after they started to initiate a landing, until they finally touched ground, but it felt like an eternity to Mars. She felt relief wash over her as the wheels ejected and hit the rough, uneven terrain of the deserted grassland. The landing was a bit bumpy because of the endless rocks and minor hills along the ground, but they soon came to a complete stop, and KP kept his hands on the wheel for a few seconds before turning to look at Mars with a smile.

     " See, it wasn't that bad. " He insisted, causing Mars to roll her eyes as she unbuckled her seatbelt, cautiously standing as her legs felt wobbly; KP followed her lead, taking the key out of ignition and getting out of his seat to help her with her first-time jet lag.

     The two of them managed to exit the ship through the exit hatch on the floor, KP dropping down first so he could make sure Mars didn't break an ankle or anything of the sort. When her feet hit the ground, Mars was glad to feel the long, crisp brown grass brushing against her legs. She attempted to shake her weariness out of her body, gripping KP's shoulder as she did so, but after her nerves were settled she looked up at her friend to see him staring in front of them.

     A few feet before them stood a cave, nearly thirty five feet in height, covered in browning grass. It was a bit scary to just stare at it, like you were waiting for some sort of creature to jump out of it and chase you away. But, when Mars pulled the map out of her back pocket and flattened it, they seemed to be exactly where her father wanted them to be: Cave Pearson.

     A big hand came down on Mars' shoulder, making her jump out of surprise, and she turned to meet KP's gaze looking down at her as he asked, " You good? "

     Mars nodded firmly, glancing briefly at the cave before looking up into the dark brown eyes watching her with concern. She wanted to ask him the same thing, but she didn't need to. She knew he was okay, KP never seemed to be afraid of anything, probably because of all the troublesome adventures she had dragged him along for. He nodded back before dropping his hand from her shoulder, starting to walk towards Cave Pearson. Mars followed close behind him, her eyes trained to the darkness of the entrance as they got closer to it.

     The inside of it, now that they were nearly at the entrance, looked purely black, and that's when Mars realized they didn't bring a flashlight or anything to light their unplanned journey. She silently faulted herself for not having a bag or anything prepared, especially since she often ventured off like this. They stopped, their feet just at the edge of the rocky path that led inside.

     " You wouldn't happen to carry a flashlight on you, " Mars assumed, already knowing the answer to be less than helpful.

     " Nope. " KP answered in the same, bland tone she had; he dug through his pants pockets for a moment, then switched to his jacket, which she assumed had a lot of room because of how bulky it was, whereas her red one was small and could barely fit her hands; she watched as he pulled out a lime colored lighter, glancing over at her with a shrug. " It's something, right? "

    " It's something. " She repeated, her gaze turning back to the cave as KP flicked the lighter on, a small, orange flame igniting. It wasn't much, but it did provide enough light for them to see a few feet around them.

     Without another word, but rather a nod of confirmation between them, the two stepped into the cave, and began to walk, slowly and cautiously.

     As they went deeper into the cave, their footsteps echoed along the walls, keeping Mars alert. She kept looking back and forth between the two, grayish walls of the cave, trying to make out anything in the dim light KP provided. The dark skinned pilot kept his head straight, eyebrows furrowed as he readjusted his grip on the lighter.

     " So, " He spoke quietly, as if he was afraid to hear his own voice bounce off the walls, " what exactly are we looking for in here? "

      " I–I don't know, " Mars admitted, noticing some deep scratches in the cave floor as she glanced down, seeing the small pebbles and rocks scattered around them on the hard, dirt path; she wasn't entirely sure what they were supposed to find,  " whatever it is, he thinks it'll help me pass the Elders' test for the Prophecy. "

     " The what? " In hindsight, Mars should've known KP would react like this. The taller of the two wore an incredulous look on his face, eyes wide and jaw dropped in disbelief. He waved his hand around as he questioned, " Are you crazy, Mar? No, actually, don't answer that, clearly you are, but why in the hell would you want to take the test? Do you have an actual death wish? "

      " You're so dramatic, KP. " Mars muttered, rolling her eyes and placing a hand on her side, " I have to take the test, my dad is counting on me. Even if I had only the slightest idea of trying it in the first place before my mom gave me the letter, there's no way I can't do it now. "

    " Mars, this is- "

    " Crazy, I know, but.." Mars trailed off, looking up at KP with what he might've called the most serious look she'd ever given him as long as they'd known each other. The girl exhaled, tilting her head, " This might be my one chance to find my dad, KP. "

    KP bit his lip at that, his eyes cast downward at the cave floor as he raised his hand to scratch his neck, looking deep in thought for a moment. Mars watched him with anticipation, waiting for his response as she picked at the end of her jacket sleeve unnervingly. KP had heard Mars' many wild fantasies of how she could possibly find information on her father, and she had immense guilt for putting so much on him during the past few years of their friendship, so she wouldn't be offended if he didn't want to go further with her. Still, he was her best friend, her only friend at this point, and she would rather have him at her side.

    " Okay, so did your dad give you any directions or advice on the maps? " KP questioned, eyes darting to her briefly before the flame started flickering, both of them watching it cautiously, pausing in their advance deeper in the cave.

     " No, but he didn't necessarily write me step by step directions. " She responded, trying to hold back a slight smile as KP agreed to continue with her 'crazy' plan even as the lighter slowly went out, pure darkness now surrounding them.

     " Oh, come on, " KP grumbled as he messed with the lighter, trying to get it to work again; she could hear him shaking it as her eyes began to adjust, allowing her to barely make out the edges of the walls. " Damn it. "

     " Looks like we're on our own. " He sighed deeply, and there was a moment of brief silence until Mars' hand found his, squeezing tightly. She was not about to let one of them get lost in a dark cave, at least not alone. They began walking again, their footsteps seeming quieter now, almost as if the darkness acted as soundproof walls around them.

     Then, suddenly, they heard a loud, low howl. It died off almost as soon it began, sounding like a dog getting kicked in the middle of its nightly call. And a whirring sound, like a machine being powered down, followed it.

     " What the hell. . . " Mars muttered, gripping onto KP's arm rather quickly, gently yanking on him as she glanced around, seeing nothing but black and the outlines of the long path behind them.

     " Sounds like an animal, a wolf or coyote, or something. " KP commented, eyes also wandering around as he analyzed the area to the best of his abilities in the darkness. " Should we turn back? "

     " No. No way. " Mars instantly answered, shaking her head as she recalled the letter," My dad said something about a wolf, actually, and there's no way in hell I'm giving up that easily. "

     " Wait, what? " KP demanded, stopping in place to turn and look at her; he had an astonished look on his face, which Mars could actually see because of their close proximity. " Mars, do you mean that we're looking for the Silver Wolf? The mecha wolf that your dad piloted during the Damning War? "

     " Uh, maybe I guess— " Mars barely had time to register what had been said before KP tore his arm from her unintentionally as he threw his hands up in exasperation.

     " Mars, the Silver Wolf is one of the machines that destroyed the Titans! Your dad wants us to find what might possibly be the most important piece of Andromeda history! How could he possibly trust us with that much responsibility? Oh, my god, this is crazy! " He exclaimed, his eyes wide and lit up before he contemplated it for a minute, " And, also, most likely illegal. "

     The brunette tilted her head at him and shrugged as there was another mechanical howl, sounding closer than before, and she responded, " Add it to the list. "

     Mars took off, jogging further into the darkness, and, while hiding a giddy, excited smile, KP followed her into the darkness.

xxx.

note.

I like to tell myself that because I wrote most of this story 6ish years ago, that the more 'young' vibe to it fits because of mars' journey through the story..