The tiny figure that served as a conduit to the Clipper's systems had powered down for the evening, as the Clipper's power often hit a low during a Lunar Eclipse. Thankfully, they were rare-- and even rarer to be a complete eclipse like tonight.
Needless to say, Cieza was surprised when she found herself booted up before her internal chronometer reactivated her. Even more so to find the Elf, her Doodle, holding her in his arms with his tiny lips touching hers.
She blinked, confused-- a bit disoriented as she entered low power mode. She intended to inquire as to why she'd been reactivated early-- but the haunting echo of an alarm summarized things far better than any words could.
That alarm that had cut through the air the night her Captain and his First Mate met their demise-- and she'd been left to look after their tiny copilot.
Now the elf was on board-- a pleasant surprise, but one that filled her with dread as that alarm meant only one thing.
"Fearlings. Proximity alarm." She muttered, hands reaching out to steady herself on the Elf.
"Doodle-- danger!" Cieza intoned, a bit more urgently. Despite being so low in energy, she did her best to emphasize the danger.
In danger they were. The Nightmare King made his way ever closer to the fading light in the sky-- confident his darkling powered machine would be more than capable of siphoning the light from the moon-shaped ship.
It was nostalgic, almost-- finally he'd succeed where he'd failed previously. There was no Nightlight to protect the Tsar. He'd flood the friendly Man in the Moon's mind with so many terrors it would drive him mad!
The sack of fearlings formerly known as Kozmotis chuckled-- amused at how effortless this all felt.
"Fuck fuck fuckity fuck fuck fuck." Darkside had moved across the hall swiftly, into the rather cozy room of the Tsar. Fabrics were draped around the circular room from the ceiling, enchanted to look like the night sky-- seen by eyes far different from the humans down below.
Mani rested on his own circular bed in the center of the room, sleeping peacefully. He rarely rested as it was-- his breathing was even and relaxed, pleasant dreams dancing in his head. Beside him on [another circular] bedside table was a sack of dreamsand.
Darkside looked about the room-- nothing seemed out of order. The lights were dim and the moon-shaped nightlight on the ceiling seemed to be doing its part, casting a soft glow about the room. Just enough to see by.
Scrambling across the bed he gripped the Tsar's shoulders, shaking him roughly.
"Wake UP! Come on-- ding ding ding. It's time to get up, Lunar. I heard one of the moon mice say tea sucks-- I think you should have a word with them--" But it didn't seem to work. The white haired male remained asleep, frustrating the shade further.
With a growl of indignation, Darkside unceremoniously tossed the male over his shoulder, his counterpart's arms dangling uselessly behind the shadow as he stumbled off the bed, still swearing under his breath.
He scrambled down the hallway at half-speed, trudging forward as expletives fell from his mouth in a continuous stream that would undoubtedly fill any swear jar to the brim. It was his hope that the Tsar would wake up to scold him for speaking in such a manner-- to no avail.
He'd head for Cieza's room, hopeful they could find a way out.