I come to, my eyelids fluttering wide, and for a moment, I can’t really understand my perspective. See, I’m lying on the ground, that's for sure, but everything else kind of confuses me. I’m looking up at the chin of someone, lying on the floor, my head on top of something soft. Hm. People are speaking.

“Sir, forgive my tone, but if that creature is truly the same creature we just watched explode out of that creature’s skull, then, respectfully, I want him off my ship as soon as possible! Damn your loyalties, if he’s more of a danger to the Empire than a help, I’m not carrying him anywhere!” the lieutenant shouts red-faced, pointing accusingly out of the window at-, oh, is that me? Man. I look like a purple fishnet. Weird.

A voice above me speaks. “Although I respect your opinion on the matter, this is a direct order. Until Mort has recovered, we will not-,”

Typhin’s eyes meet mine. Uh. Hi!

In a flash of a moment, Typhin throws himself to his feet, allowing me to tumble everywhere and anywhere, going so far as to bump my head on the floor. It doesn’t hurt or anything, but I still feel like rubbing the back of my head. Silence chokes the air, and when I look up, I can’t dismiss the fact that everyone is looking at me. Which is. Um. Uncomfortable. “Uh, hi again, sirs?”

The Lieutenant seems torn between anger and resignation. “There. It’s awake. Can we leave this carnage now, sir?”

His words are just dripping with venom, but, for once, Typhin has nothing to say.

I sit on the ground, watching loose-limbed as the Lieutenant grunts and gets to ordering his men around.

Meanwhile, Typhin leans down and pulls me to my feet. “Thank you, sir, I was really-,” his eyes are glued to the window, staring at the leviathan and me. Hm. He doesn’t seem to be listening much. Now that I look around the cockpit, it seems a little bit more crowded than usual? Like, there are troopers inside here, just sort of standing around, staring outside. Uh, hm. I guess it only makes sense? From afar like this, it really does look pretty large, I guess.

The ship bursts into motion once the Lieutenant barks enough orders at enough people, getting the troopers out of the cockpit and getting the pilots to work properly.

My body and the leviathan soon shrink in the distance, becoming little more than another part of the night sky as we leave the solar system I’ve been in for so long. During this entire time, both I and Typhin just stand there in the cockpit, side by side, looking outside.

That is, until a hand falls on my shoulder. I glance up at Typhin. “Well done, Mort. Well done. If it weren’t for you, we’d all be dead.”

Although his voice carries no real emotion, the words themselves make my chest puff up in pride. “Hehe, I only did as ordered, sir!”

He looks at me, for once. Eyes conflicted. He breaks our shared gaze. “Sure.”

...What’s up with this heavy atmosphere? It’s like someone grabbed an iron sheet and just choked the whole room with it. If I could breathe, I’m sure it’d feel hard to do so right now. Everybody seems shifty, shooting uncertain glances my way. Even the lieutenant, during these few moments when his tongue rests, takes the time to look my way. Eyes sharp, distrusting. Is there-, did I do something wrong?

Okay, okay, let’s think here.

We got attacked by the leviathan, almost got eaten. I used my large body to get everyone out of the way, and then I ate the leviathan. Right. No fault there.

Hm. Let’s see, if I was a human, and a giant octopus grabbed me… I guess I’d be a little scared? Maybe. I’m not sure.

But it is a pretty good reason for people to act a little shifty.

...Uhuh. Right. There’s exactly nothing I can do about that, so I think, if I want to continue making friends, I should probably just ignore that this happened at all. Yup. Sounds about right. But until something else happens, I guess it’d be best for me to just keep my eyes on the window. Space is pretty, after all. Watching stars and things flash by… It’s nice.

That is, disregarding the oppressive atmosphere that seems to permeate the whole room. If anybody tried to say anything, I’m sure nobody would respond. Not that anybody would dare speak a word.

It’s that kind of situation we’ve got.

Like the strained, silent peace following a big argument where both sides just got more and more frustrated until they gave up on reconciling.

“Commander,” the Lieutenant says, the first word spoken in an hour. “May I speak to you? Without… it.”

Huh?

In accordance with my theory, there’s no verbal answer to the Lieutenant’s request, but it is answered in other ways. See, Typhin turns to me. Eyes digging into mine. And then he nods towards the door. An unsaid cue for me to take my leave.

Uh. Uh, okay! Will do, I guess?

I nod back at him and turn around. The door opens automatically for me, letting me outside, where I’m granted the exclusive benefit of standing in a hallway, looking down both sides, questioning the point of my life. Maybe I should find somewhere to sit. Is there even anywhere to sit? It doesn’t look like it. At least that Jedi temple had cute benches everywhere that you could sit on. This place is just a bunch of stale corridors, all empty and stuff. I’m sure it’d be a drag to look at if it didn’t also look so cool. I mean, steel walls?? That’s-,

The door behind me opens with a hiss and I turn around to catch a glimpse at the inside of the cockpit. My view is mostly blocked by a young man, though.

“-Return in a standard hour or so, Ensign,” the lieutenant calls out from within the cockpit as the young man dressed like an officer stumbles out nervously, holding his hat to his chest and bearing the facial expression of a man who’s about to step onto a very scary rollercoaster. The door slides closed behind him, and for a moment, he and I just stand there, both equally confused. Until our eyes meet.

“-By the Emperor!” he breathes, stumbling back to bump into the closed door of the cockpit. He glances back at it in surprise before turning back to me, eyes wide. “Uh, um, er… Nice space ranthar, nice space ranthar…” I’m not sure why, but he says those words in that kind of whispery hush you use when talking to a feral cat, and with those arm movements, too…

But there are more pressing questions to deal with. “Hi! Did we shake hands before?”

He flinches. “Right. It talks. Um-, yeah, well, no, but-,” He stammers for a bit, wiping at his forehead with his hat until he finally decides to put it on fully. “I’m Fern. You’re the creature aboard the ship. That’s the situation and I’m not sure if I should be talking to you.”

“Why not?” Feels like a kind of rude observation to say right to my face. “Also, my name is Mort, not ‘the creature aboard the ship’.”

“Right. Mort. Sure. You know, Mort, everything considered, I just haven’t got the clearance,” he says like I’m supposed to understand what the heck that means. “From what the Lieutenant and Commander said, all I know is that you’re likely to be brought before the Emperor himself. That is, should your worth really be as high as the Commander reports.” He takes a moment to rub his chin, eyes squinting. “Not too surprising, I mean, considering what just happened, I mean…”

He’s heard everything, huh?

“-Though, again, I’m just… I’m nobody. Fresh-out-of-the-academy, soft-foot, yet to have my knees scraped. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but in rank of importance, I’m somehow below even a creature like you!” Uhuh, uhuh. So you say. I swiftly turn my back on him. “You’re-, yeah. I can understand that. I guess I’ll head to my quarters, too, if-,” I don’t really go that far down the corridor, just far enough away from the guards outside the cockpit doors. And then, I sit down. Back to the wall. I catch his gaze. He seems confused, which isn’t too surprising. “What are you-,” I pet the floor part at my side with my hand, inviting him. “Are you-, is that… I’m not sure if,” I nod, just to convince him better. “Oh, curse it all. But if the Lieutenant comes along, I’m saying you threatened me!”

Kind of weird, but, okay? Come on. Just sit down, hehehe.