Chapter Text
Wanders small tail wagged with excitement at the sight of the planet.
They had been travelling through the purple blue expanse for a while now and Sylvia could feel Wanders restlessness as he shifted in the saddle.
"Oooh! Oh! Syl! There they are, I can see 'em! Oh wow, I didn't know they were big enough to be spotted even from here!"
Wander jumped up, pointing vigorously towards the planet from atop Sylvia's head, a small informational flyer waved in their other hand.
The zbornack sighed under him as she nodded her head backwards, making her small friend slide off, back down into the saddle. Wander continued to flip through the flyers pages, a familiar grin had spread on their face.
"That's century old trees for ya. Though I have my eye on those nice warm beaches!"
She replied, her eye was on the planets' many shores, which decorated the outskirts of the islands and jungles that littered it's surface.
The two giants stood firmly in the middle of the biggest spot of land, a large island that was almost completely covered in dense forests. The surrounding atmosphere was shrouded in puffy pink clouds, floating along the sky before the hues melted into the deep blues and greens of the overgrown wildlife.
"Actually Syl," Wander corrected with a point of their finger into the air "it says here that they're at least a millenia old!" He continued, reading the info aloud, underlining each sentence with his finger. "These ancient trees known as: The Colossus Inosculus grow by supporting each other as they survive the planets drastic weather shifts. These two at the heart of the jungle have reached colossal size, surviving for over a millennia!" Wander ended the last phrase with a squeal and looked up from the flyer to gaze down at the famous twin trees.
"Isn't that neat!? They supported one another for centuries and are now the biggest trees on the planet!"
Wander had once again climbed up Sylvia's neck, smiling down at her while tugging excitedly at her reins.
"Centuries? Oof! I don't know if I could bring myself to hug someone for that long."
She looked up at her small friend who was currently resting on the top of her head again. "Well I know you probably could."
Wander gave a smile in agreement, he stuffed the flyer back into his hat before she continued. "Now, let's just hope we get to the beaches in time before any bad weather shifts happen, the last thing i want is to nap in the rain."
With a dramatic lift of her foot she sped up, causing Wander to plop back down into the saddle again. He held onto the reins so he wouldn't go flying out the bubble and into the much much colder, expanse of space.
The small orbel bubble made its way down, through the coral clouds of the planets atmosphere and to the edge of its teal waters.
They landed with a pop onto the warm, yellow sands, the two suns having thoroughly warmed up the sunny side of planet.
Sylvia hopped in place at the sudden temperature change while Wander let out a giggle at her and hopped down onto the sand. They took a deep breath, their small nostrils became visible for a moment from under the fur, their chest fluff rising and falling. They exhaled with an equally exaggerated motion.
"Aaah, fresh seaside air.."
Wanders eyes immediately travelled towards the trees and the dense jungle past them. Even the smaller trees were enormous, tall and thin with wide leaves, and a few looked like the common but tall palm giants.
They created a sudden wall of overgrown plant-life, marking where the beach ended and the forest began. Some of the palms bent over slightly, providing some nice shady spots.
But even from where they stood, the massive hugging giants could still be spotted above the towering palms of the beach. Sitting in the middle of the jungle in the horizon like mountains, clouds and mist gathered around their trunks.
Wander couldn't help but point and gasp at every little thing wether it be a colourful bird, a funny looking plant or a particularly interesting looking stick in the sand. As usual Sylvia didn't share in his enthusiasm, letting out a long yawn.
She stretched with a lazy smile, which quickly disappeared at the sound of her back cracking, catching Wander's attention.
"Oof! I suppose the last few days helping those folks with their little housing problem have really taken their toll huh Syl?"
Wander offered a sympathetic smile as he pat and rubbed his friends back where she couldn't reach. He received a grateful pat on the head in return.
"I wouldn't exactly call saving a whole village from constant landslides a "little" housing problem." She said with a sigh, already removing her reins and saddle, her back cracked again as she set them down on the sand. "No thanks to her."
Helping planets recover from the galaxy wide destruction of Lord Dominator was getting tiring... Syl found herself doing even more heavy lifting than usual, her back ached again at the memory.
"Nothin' a nap or three won't fix! Time to enjoy a well earned, laaazy afternoon on the beach."
The dinosaur laid down, digging herself into the warm sand with a sigh. The feathers of her crest fell over her eyes, shielding them from the suns beams. Wander let out another giggle.
"Enjoy!"
They gave a wave and headed towards the water, leaving their friend to snooze on the beach.
"Mhm... don't go wandering too far."
Sylvia mumbled with a tired snort.
-
Meanwhile, through the dense trees and past the winding rivers, past the two tree giants, on the other side of the jungle a familar skullship had parked in what looked like a makeshift clearing.
Burnt leaves and broken tree trunks made way for metal support beams, heavy machinery and an army of exhausted watchdogs, sweating in the heat of the suns. A small construction site had been set up, trees were chopped, dirt was dug up and machinery sporting the Hater Empire tech logo was everywhere.
After the Lord Dominator incident, planets that were crushed and destroyed now teemed with new life, and were in the process of being rebuilt and fixed.
Although, some people noticed that during her short reign through the galaxy, she had mostly left the planets devoid of civilisations alone. Maybe there wasn't any point when there weren't any cries of fear and tears of terror to enjoy.
Or maybe the dense forests and wildlife would quickly have gotten tangled and have to be burnt away over and over again from the ships drill systems. Or maybe she couldn't be bothered.
Whatever the reasons for it, she had left alot of wild planets that hung out on the very edges of the galaxy alone. This one was no different, who cares about hugging trees? There was nothing but stupid animals and a terribly dense forest. A waste of time not worth venturing near.
Peepers had also not paid too much mind to wild planets like this one, but soon realised quite how many there were, left empty and bare, ready for the taking.
It could turn into a quick way of establishing infrastructure and expanding the empire better.
This definitely didn't have anything to do with when they did try to conquer populated planets...
People kept being.... nice? Friendly? They kept smiling or waving at the sight of the Skullship.
It was very annoying, being bombarded by grateful citizens welcoming them to their planets and thanking them for "Saving the day".
They wouldn't shut up about how "Heroic" they had been, showering them with gifts as a reward for their "Good deed".
One joyful citizen had exclaimed how happy they were that the Hater Empire had turned over a new leaf and were now joining the side of good, which earned them a blaster to face and the smoke of the Skullship's firey engines all over their tent when the ship flew away in embarrassment.
Peepers shuddered at the memory.
It confused the small commander to no end. No one had seemed to see the over throwing of Dominator as a display of the Hater Empire's true formidable power! A sign not to cross them! They should be cowering in fear! Handing over their kingdoms with shaking knees! Not greeting them with cheers and applause!
Not to mention a certain two nomads' constant thwarting of their plans.
All this added up had really slowed things down for the Hater Empire.
Peepers shook his head.
No! Now wasn't the time to dwell on things that didn't matter! He couldn't miss this opportunity to grow the empire, anything was better than nothing at this point!
Clicking his pen incessantly, he ordered the watchdogs about, hounding any he saw slowing down or slacking off. This, was at least a familiar routine.
He spotted a few at the side of the construction site trying to take a break in the shade of a palm tree, and let out a loud groan as he walked over to them, clipboard at his side.
"And what do you three slackers think you're doing!?"
He shouted, loud enough to startle them and throw one off balance and onto the ground.
"Uh- trying to take a break?" One of them replied timidly.
Peepers iris narrowed, a clear sign to the other three. "And what, may I ask, gave you the impression that taking breaks was allowed!?"
Another one of them replied from under their lop-sided hard hat.
"But sir-"
"But what?" Peepers interrupted, crossing his arms, his foot tapping impatiently. The watchdog continued, gesturing towards the sky.
"It's way too hot at this time of day," they replied, removing their hard hat to wipe the sweat from their brow, "we were thinking about maybe fetching a water cooler or two from the skull ship." They held their hard hat nervously, the other two standing behind them cautiously.
Their commander replied in a seemingly calm tone:
"You want drinks?"
"Yeah!" The three of them perked up, their eyes wide with surprise, one of them nodded vigorously.
"THEN GET BACK TO WORK!!"
The three watchdogs jumped up and saluted, before rushing back to their jobs.
Peepers sighed and looked at the clip board again, the heat waves shifting the environment around him slightly. The commander sighed and looked upwards, the two burning suns shone brightly in the sky.
At this point in the planets rotation they shone just overhead, shaving away the trees and shrubbery had left an unprotected area behind, practically baking the watchdogs where they stood.
Come to think of it, drinks and a break didn't sound like such a bad idea...
The small commanders head spun around as he scanned the site, searching. And sure enough, there Lord Hater was, sitting on a rock next to the trees, where Peepers had left him.
As Peepers approached he noticed that Hater was scribbling in the sand with a stick, clearly bored out of his skull.
The smaller alien leaned over, clipboard at his side. One doodle looked like a simplified drawing of a certain nomad, getting blasted by lightning. Another was a skull and crossbones, a few lightning bolts here and there and a scribble with sharp teeth that seemed to be a doodle of Captain Tim.
"You're getting better and better at those dirt drawings sir."
The skeleton let out a sigh looking away at his commanders compliment.
"There's nothing to do here."
The watchdog stood up straight, and suggested an idea with that bright yet cautious tone. "Well you knooow, we could really use those powers of yours for the heavier work.."
He pointed towards the site, just then a big tree fell, some of the watchdogs ran out of the way to avoid getting crushed.
Hater let out a small snort of amusement at the little builders' plight, before turning away and crossing his arms. Peepers rolled his eye, he hadn't really expected Hater to help with the construction, even out of boredom. Though, every time he asked he did try and avoid the use of the word help when he could, the word being associated with... a certain someone.
"Ugh! No. That takes too much focusing, I can't just use 'em whenever I want you know!"
"Yes sir, how could I forget," The commander replied with a sigh, choosing to look over the many times Hater had used his powers that morning alone.
"Its just been boring without any stupid civilians to pick on ya know..."
"This plan does cut out a lot of the usual work we have to do. Evil landing, evil introductions, overthrowing the civilians and any defenses, attacking and taking control of their leader ectcetera.."
Peepers replied as he looked over the schedule on his clipboard again. A slight lift of his eyelids indicating a smile at everything going to plan so far. He was happy to be doing something different for once. Hater didn't seem to hear his small commander.
"And the suns are too hot, wish we could just blow 'em up," Hater continued, scribbling away at the dirt again.
Peepers watched a small drop of what looked like sweat travel down the skeletons face. Yikes, it was sweltering.
Hater had been doing nothing much except complain the entire day so far. Which was normal behaviour from the immature space lord, but especially recently more and more things seemed to annoy him.
Peepers figured it was the rush of having defeated the galaxies worst threat with the disappointing reality of trying to conquer planets being as tedious and fruitless as it had always been,, being a responsible leader to his empire just wasn't in Hater's priorities still. The commander had also been feeling his patience start to run thin, but he replied as calmly as he could.
"We'd end up with three less planets if we even escape the supernovas blast.."
"Stupid suns, why do they have to have supernovas about it. And its way too loud with all the machines."
"Uhuh. Well I was thinki-"
"And the dust keeps getting in my eye sockets-"
"Yep. And what if-"
"And the stupid birds won't shut up,"
"Sir,"
"And there's so many bugs buzzing about!"
"Siiir,"
"And there's too many smells-"
"SIR!"
Hater jumped slightly at that, stopping his complaining in its tracks, he dropped the stick he was holding. The skeletons brow furrowed, he opened his mouth to let out a loud "How dare you", but was interrupted before he could target anymore of his sour mood towards his small commander. Peepers cleared his throat.
"Since you've been so horribly bored all afternoon, I have an idea for what you could do instead participating in the construction."
He looked up at Hater, who's expression had turned into one of confusion.
"Wh- huh?"
"Now I know its not a very overlord-like job buuuut, how about you head back to the ship and get some refreshments? We could all work faster and more efficiently with something to drink! And then the most tedious part of this plan will be over before you know it!"
Peepers suggested, carefully leaving out the detail that it was a watchdogs idea. He pushed Hater to stand up from the rock and towards the forest.
The skeleton looked down at him with a puzzled expression, before letting out a laugh.
"Oooooh! Aha ha I get it! That was a joke. Very funny Peepers! But I remember something like that being a job for you."
He smiled and gave Peepers a condescending pat on the head, then waved him away to go do what he was told. The small alien simply crossed his arms, a half lidded unamused expression on his face. "I'm not joking sir."
"Wuh?"
"I'm too busy dealing with the schedule, and the planning and keeping an eye on the soldiers and machinery and literally EVERYTHING ELSE!" Peepers took a moment to breathe. "So, why don't you stop complaining all the time, stop being useless and GO GET US SOME DRINKS!"
Hater put a hand up to his chest, leaning back, surprised and offended by the small commanders orders. An outburst like this would have earned Peepers several lightning strikes in his general direction not even a few months ago, but the skeleton had been finding it difficult to just blast at his commander recently. Too much weird stuff was had been happening, too much new stuff to get used to. He found himself feeling even more tired than usual with all these new changes. His reply came out confused and stuttered.
"Wh- huh- How dare you Peepers! I- wh- I'm not useless!"
"Then go fetch us drinks! Its a simple job!"
The skeleton wanted to argue more, but just then a drop of sweat slid down his chin. He looked up at the sky, shielding his eyes from the harsh sunbeams. One of the weird changes that had been happening recently was Hater realising that sometimes, occasionally, every once in a while, his commander was right. He looked down at Peepers again, who was tapping his foot impatiently again. The overlord let out a loud groan.
"UUUUUUGH! FIIIIIiiiiiiiiiinnneee. Ill fetch some stupidflarpin'drinks."
It was better than roasting in the sun anyway. He spun around towards the forest, in the direction of the Skullship.
Peepers eye closed and his brow lifted upwards into the eyeball head equivalent of a satisfied smile.
"Good! Glad we could sort that out!"
"Pff whatever..."
Hater stuffed his hands into his robe pockets and walked further and further away from the site, grumbling all the way.
"And be careful sir, remember that the skullship is on the left of that big log-"
"I KNOW WHERE THE SKULLSHIP IS PEEPERS!! GEEZ!"
The skeleton shouted from the trees, turning around again, disappearing into the jungle.
Peepers focused his attention back towards the site, he clicked his pen and stopped just before he wrote anything. The jungle was dense, the forest filled to the brim with untamed animals and Hater wasn't known for having the best sense of direction...
"Hell be fine." The small commander stared blankly at his clipboard. "Yeah. He'll be fine."
Big clouds gathered in the sunny sky, a refreshing breeze blew past rustling the leaves around them.
Hater had to admit, the trees provided some much needed shade which he figured was better than just sitting on that rock and frying. He continued muttering and grumbling to himself until he got to the big log Peepers had mentioned.
He held his hands out, making "L" shapes with each of his thumbs and index fingers. Had Peepers meant his left or...
-
Wander eyed the fish swimming in the shallow waters. He giggled as they quickly brushed past his ankles every time he moved.
Sylvia had been tossing and turning in the sand. Her rough skin was usually adapted to harsh weather, but as she wiped at her brow she noticed how dry her tongue felt.
"Hey uh, Wander!"
Wander turned aroud with a smile, waving from the shore.
"Yeeeaaah? How ya feelin'?"
"Parched actually."
"Aw, ya want me to go fetch you a drink?"
"Bingo. You don't mind do ya?"
Wander made his way back to the beach, placing his socks and shoes down next to Syl.
He bent down and took her big snout in his paws. Sylvia opened an eye and looked up at him through her feathers, her brows furrowed slightly.
"Syl.."
"Oh boy," There it was.
"You have been doin' aloot of heavy liftin' lately, and I know you're big and strong and you're used to it and all. But I think you deserve those three naps so I promise you, that I will find you the best most thirst-quenching drink that I can possibly find on this island! I will search the entire jungle if I have to my thirsty friend! For if I-"
Sylvia tucked her arms underneath her chest as her long neck stretched up to face her little pal.
"Its not such a big deal buddy. You really don't have to if-"
"No! No! Its not a problem at all! You stay here an' rest!"
Wander stood up and grabbed at her snout again, wrapping their whole little body around her long face, placing many brief pats on her head. Looking at that smile and those slightly pleading eyes Sylvia sighed.
"Then go!"
"Oop!"
She threw her head back making Wander slide off down her neck and across her back. Her tail curved up throwing her light weight friend into the air for a moment so they could land on their feet.
"Eh heh, I was doin' the worryin' thing again. Alrighty Syl! Ill be back as soon as I can!"
With an assured straightening of their hat they rushed off to the end of the beach and into the bushes.
"Take your time." She sighed with a smile and rested her head back down on the sand. She figured they wouldn't take long at all, they had demonstrated having some pretty good foraging knowledge gathered up from the years of traveling.
A thought struck her after a few moments of silence.
"They're not actually gonna search the whole island are they?"
-
The ground was littered with pebbles and dirt with some small patches of grass, it wasn't too harsh ground for Wanders padded paws.
Wander looked around, nose to the ground, they searched around the base of the trees.
Usually colosso-nuts fell from the giant palms, which, once cracked open made for an excellent refreshment.
"Hmm now usually there's at least a few, is it too early in this planet's season?"
Wander muttered to themself as they had trouble finding even one around most of the trees in the area. Thankfully, at the base of the final tree in the clearing they found two.
"Ah! Here we go, it isn't too early after all."
He approached the tree with a smile, happy that he wouldn't have to climb up and shake the fruit down.
Just as he took a hold of one of them and was about to store it in the hat he heard what sounded like a whistle, he looked around for any sign of anyone, maybe it was Syl.
No one was around aside from some birds. Huh, strange.
The next sound he heard was sudden and breif, a loud: THUNK!