The elevator carried Cal down, down, down the length of Winter Bane tower. The glass wall of the lift-car gave the bunny a splendid view out over the city. The wide plazas, parks, pedestrian walkways and the other towers that rose to the heavens all around.
Pressed up against the glass the vampire bunny watched the pretty colours in awe. The sky had clouded over again but it had not started snowing which meant the lights of the city reflected off the underside of the cloud cover creating a silvery dome of light above the city. It was like nothing he had ever seen before, he could have watched it for hours, but all too soon the elevator stopped moving and the door swished open letting him out into the lobby of Winter Bane tower.
Stepping out into the great entry hall he paused as some piece of tech tucked in the pouch on his belt started to beep. Hooking the small device out he held it gripped firmly in one paw and tapped the flashing icon. A light flickered on and a holographic image of Firi appeared.
“Cal, where are you? The pack system says you’ve left the apartment?”
“I am going out,” Cal chirped in the Avali language, “We have a day off, Cri is spending it reading but I want to see more of the city.”
“Ok,” Firi said with a smile, “Just be sure to call us if you get into trouble, do you have everything?”
“Yes,” Cal sighed fondly at how overprotective she was being, “I have this communicator, my ID card, my credit chip and a map, I will be fine.”
“Have fun and remember we are having dinner together tonight, on the Totala it is…”
“Airship dock 4, Aurora Spires,” Cal finished for her and smiled, “I will be fine see you there.”
He closed off the call and tucked his communicator away in the pouch on his bandolier. It was a leather and nano-fabric length that crossed from shoulder to waist decked with several small built in pouches for him to store stuff in. It was then attached to a belt that was snug about his stomach to help hold it all in place. It was a good piece of kit for a fluffy bunny like him, he really had too much thick fur to wear most other Avali clothes. It let him keep all the stuff he needed for a day out to hand and not get in the way or restrict his movement.
Checking one last time he had everything he needed, Cal pulled out his tablet and loaded the map as he stepped outside. The swish automatic doors of the tower shut behind him and Cal looked around the street curiously, excited for his first day out and about on his own.
The plaza outside the towers was wide and had a large purple tree curling out of the middle of it. The bronze leaves gently rustled in the wind that was blowing out of the north. The building on the far side of the plaza was a dark mirrored spire of reflective glass and the streets were not designed for vehicles but for people to walk. As he stood looking around a breeze blew down the gap between buildings, a cutting, cold wind, much colder than he had been expecting. The frigid air cut through his thick fur as if it wasn’t there. Shivering slightly Cal buried his paws into his thicker neck fur and huffed, his breath misting slightly.
“I always forget how much colder Avalon is to home,” he muttered to himself, “But it’s not that bad… I’ll be fine.”
Refusing to let the chill drive him back inside for some clothes the vampire bunny pulled out his tablet. If he went back upstairs for clothes Firi or someone else would notice and tease him. Selenu would tell him off for being impulsive and going out without making a plan. Well he had made a plan! He just hadn’t counted on it being this chilly, but he would be fine! He didn’t enjoy it when the others started teasing him for not thinking things through and Selenu in leader of the pack mode was scary! He’d be fine.
Checking his map Cal turned left and started to walk, he’d read all about cities during their lessons. He wanted to experience one and was looking forward to it. Leaving the plaza behind the vampire bunny made his way out onto a boulevard lined with Kokori trees, their long silvery fronds swaying in the breeze off the river. The whole Illuminate district was built on a five mile long island in the centre of the river. A cluster of swaying spires that according to Cal's tablet housed the Avali Government.
Ignoring most of them he made his way to First Memory Plaza where an alien craft was displayed. It was a tall, blue and black ovoid, with five long ridges along the outer edges. The top was a cluster of five sensor modules and five ancient struts held it up. This was apparently the probe ship left behind by the Alien race who originally uplifted the Avali. Thousands of years ago the aliens who built this ship and others like it had seeded them across Avalon to teach the basics of technology and help the hunter-gathering tribes of the Arctic wasteland progress out of a dark age. It put the Avali tribes on the path that eventually turned into the Illuminate and the technologically advanced Utopian society they had made.
Cal walked around the ancient ship, admiring it and noting the very subtle hints of technology keeping it safe. The whole thing was locked inside a preservation stasis field to make sure it did not decay. The fluffy bunny stopped by the info board and read the tag line emblazoned across a bronze plaque.
“Cooperation gave us the Stars”
Cal took a few pictures of the ship then headed for the entrance to an underground transport hub situated at the edge of the plaza. The cold was really starting to get to him, his paws felt numb and his ears too. The wind had been constant and according to his tablet it was about -25c which was really not good. Back home it only got this cold during the worst storms and they’d all stay inside. Shivering and somewhat relieved that the inside of the transport hub was if not warmer at least out of that biting wind he relaxed.
Looking around he found it odd how eerily deserted it was. The white panelled corridors were perfectly clean and tidy and the platform of transport pods was beautifully laid out. But it was deserted; he'd not seen a single Avali since he left Winter Bane tower. Clambering into one of the waiting pods he inserted his ID card and waited whilst the system scanned him and the card to verify his identity.
Cal couldn't work out why the city was so empty, there were plenty of shuttles whizzing back and forth overhead but no one walking along the streets. It was eerie and he was glad to be moving on as he ordered the transport pod to turn the heating up to -5c before he selected the main commercial district out in the city proper. This opened a menu and after a moment of slowly reading the options he picked the Tan'tru Emporium which was one of the places Chantelle had suggested.
With a destination selected the pod door closed and it slid out of the loading dock and down onto the magnetic rails. Cal clambered up onto a chair and pressed his paws to the window, watching in mounting excitement as it swished through the platform and into the tunnel. It was picking up speed, lights whisking past rapidly as it rushed out to join the main transport line. The tunnel dipped down beneath the river and a handy holographic map showed Cal where he was in relation to the city above.
The Illuminate District was left behind and they skimmed along the magnetic rails toward the commercial district. Cal loved Avali transport technology and how quickly it moved. His little transport pod was sliding into a queue of traffic at the base of the emporium within ten minutes. In no time at all it was settling onto a docking cradle and the pod door hissed open and Cal hurried out excited to see a crowd!
It wasn't quite the heaving bustle he'd seen in movies and TV shows but it was more of a crowd then he'd seen back at the start! There were certainly Avali here. All of them moving toward the elevators in groups, it didn't look like a single person was here alone. Two was the minimum and the largest groups were ten or twelve Avali walking together. Cal realised it was their packs, either part of it or the whole pack, though the ones moving in groups of ten or twelve he guessed were two packs together. He watched a group of four Avali emerge from a transport pod and walk past, chirping together casually in their own language, clearly together, a pack heading off to the shops as one.
“I should have known,” Cal commented to himself as he walked towards the elevators watching the packs, “They never do anything alone.”
Several of them were watching him in return, clearly interested in what or who he was. He smiled back at those who met his eyes but otherwise didn't interrupt them as he joined the queue for an elevator. It didn't take long for him to get inside one of the glass transport cars with a group of four Avali. They smelt young and Cal was experienced enough to recognize that they were all dressed in the trendiest of clothes. They were chirping away in Avali core and the vampire bunny did his best to follow along. They were talking really rapidly however and he was struggling to follow everything. The main words Cal could pick up were:
Lepe which he knew stood for Open
Pekk so they were talking about their pack or a pack
SkShoth the hissing Sk sound at the start of the word was a plural denominator, Cal had trouble following those but it meant Songs.
Geegkk: Voice, or someone's voice
Ch’rey Doda Doi was “Stay all Night”
From the words he was able to follow Cal could infer they were off to a club or show to hear a pack perform and were planning to stay all night. He could have turned his translator on to follow the whole conversation but he was trying to practise without it. Of course he’d get more practice if he spoke to them but he did not want to intrude on their conversation. That he knew would be rude, you were not supposed to interrupt another pack unless you had real business with them. Pack hierarchy was involved too, and as he had learned while being in the Odyssey, it got weirdly complicated with aliens; while normally high ranked packs like the Trail Pack had priority, he was alone and, in the hierarchy, at the same level as everyone around. So he just did his best to follow along and practise his Avali without his translator until with a ding the elevator car stopped and the young packed rushed off.
Cal peeked out, it wasn't his floor but some sort of entertainment district, this floor seemed to be different clubs and bars. He wasn't here for those so watched the doors shut and waited as the elevator resumed its journey. The bunny stared at the counter, counting up with it as the Avali symbols increased step by step, speaking each number out loud to himself as another form of practice with the local language. He still struggled with speaking and reading basic numbers, maths was weird, unless it was cool maths like plotting orbital paths!
Which he knew was no excuse, the Trail pack were always trying to encourage him and help him learn. He just found it hard to focus on boring stuff. But Firi and Ki and the Odyssey computer Ifelse were very good at presenting information in fun ways. Smiling to himself Cal left the elevator car and walked up to the railing. Peeking over he smiled at the large, multi-floored atrium that made up the actual Emporium. From where he had entered it stretched at least six or seven floors up, ramps and staircases crisscrossed the space to give access to different floors. There were also open spots, spaces where there was just no railing at all and the platform stuck out into the open space a little bit.
As he was looking around trying to puzzle out what these gaps were for he got his answer as a group of three Avali walked out onto one of those open platforms and just jumped off. They drifted on spread wings down to a lower floor. At the same time four avali launched themselves up into the open space to fly toward the next level. Cal watched in awe and not a little bit of jealousy; he forgot sometimes that Avali could fly when living in the right gravity. Here on Avalon it was very much the right gravity so of course the interior of their buildings was made with flight in mind. Part of him really wanted to show off how strong he was, he was pretty sure he could use his bunny strength to leap the gap, but he would land hard and might hit someone so he refrained from showing off.
Cal started to walk along the path, barely paying attention to the shops as he watched the Avali flying. They looked pretty graceful with their wings spread, naturally gliding through the air like it was second nature to them.
After a few minutes of walking Cal reached the base of one of the staircases and turned his attention away from the flying Avali. Several of them had spotted him and were watching him and he was starting to feel a bit self-conscious. He’d been warned about this, to your regular, every day Avali aliens on their own would be a novelty to them. Not the fact he was Alien himself, Avali were used to aliens, though being a Vampire Bunny would garner some attention. It was the fact he was out and about on his own. To Avali this would be weird behaviour, visiting Aliens tended to move around in a group as part of their crew. Most Avali never went anywhere alone or if they did it was to hook up with other Avali almost straight away.
Cal was wandering around alone and they were starting to notice. Doing his best to ignore their looks and how self-conscious he was feeling Cal focused on the Emporium directory set into a board next to the stairs. He was feeling cold still, there was no wind inside but the temperature was still a bit below what he would have liked even with his EPP set to frigid. His instincts were also screaming at him to get undercover, predators were watching him,
Ever since the day he and Cri were considered old enough to leave the cave they had hatched in they had been taught to hide. To stay hidden, to not be seen and avoid open spaces. Logically Cal knew he was safe but he felt tense and on edge so he focussed on the words on the map, reading them outloud to himself as he tried to work out which shops he wanted to visit.
Once he had a few locations picked out he held up his tablet, transferring a copy of the map to his portable device and started up the stairs. He let out a soft squeak of alarm as the stairs started to move as soon as he stepped on one. The white metal and aerogel treads just started to slide upwards, carrying him toward the next level all on their own. Cal gripped the hand-rail and tried his best not to panic and flee. Reaching the top he jumped off to avoid the grill of metal the stairs were sliding under and as soon as he was off the steps they stopped moving.
“Ok… that… that was new,” he muttered to himself and took time to read the sign next to the stairs. There had been one at the bottom and he’d ignored it but yup it was explained in there, “Automatic Stair.”
Putting it out of his mind and conscious that a nearby pack had stopped to watch him, Cal hurried away toward the first of the shops he’d marked as interesting. The first shop was a visor shop, Cal didn’t quite feel up for going inside but he peered in through the window at all the visors, tech-specs, glasses and other options on display. He really wanted his own visor but had been warned by Firi and Taran not to try and buy some from a regular shop. They would need to do a custom order to fit his head shape and size, but he could at least get some ideas of what style he wanted when they did order him some.
The whole level was all tech-shops, there was a display room showing the latest artificial cybernetic limbs. Arms and legs, even wings, it was fascinating to Cal to imagine Avali replaced their limbs willingly. When he first met Ki he had thought he’d been attacked by a predator and lost his arm but no it had been a willing choice, Ki wanted to upgrade his flesh and so had opted to have a cybernetic arm installed.
Whilst Cal wouldn’t consider such a thing himself right then it was fun to look at all the cool tech! He wound his way around the level and stopped at a show-room showcasing the latest in Avali hover cars. He really wanted to try driving one of them! They looked like they could go fast and he did love going fast but there was no way they would let him pilot one of them just yet.
Moving away from the show-rooms on Avali tech Cal stepped onto another staircase and gripped the railing as it began to move again. It was still unnerving how the staircase just came to life like this. But at the top Cal hugged his arms around his body, he was definitely chilly but there was a music shop he wanted to look at!
He hurried across the level and ducked inside, hoping against hope it might be warmer inside! It was by like a degree or two the large open flying atrium was colder for sure. Brushing his claws through his fuzz he started to browse the store. There were mostly holographic displays showing albums, genres and various samples of music or songs that you could play. There was no physical media to purchase except for a locked display cabinet at the far end near the counter where various limited edition items were kept on display. There was no special MMF merch, but they did have their own holographic stand offering their discography for sale. However, Cal didn’t really need that because they owned all of their stuff already.
“Hello there,” the Avali behind the counter chirped and Cal looked up and smiled nervously as they rattled out something longer in Avali. He only picked up a word or three.
“Hello,” he chirped, “Sorry, did not follow that in full.”
At least that is what he tried to say, the white and purple Avali behind the counter blinked and lifted their glasses, “Sorry… Did you mean that?”
Cal sighed and reached up to his ear and pressed a finger against his translator. It made a beep as it turned on and he smiled shyly and spoke in his native song, well sung would have been more precise as he chirped away in Bunny Song, “Sorry, my translator was off, I was trying to practise my Avali, what did I say?”
The Avali smiled and spoke back, their rapid chirping being translated for him easily by the device attached to his ear, “That is ok, your pronunciation is good but you got the inflection wrong, it sounded like you were asking me to spank you.”
“Oh Great Protector, I am so sorry!” Cal blushed deeply, “I am trying to get better at Avali core without the translator.”
The Avali laughed and smiled, “It is ok, I am just glad to see you trying, most visiting Aliens rely entirely on their translators.”
“I am living with an Avali pack,” Cal explained as he rested his paws on the counter and stared up at the Avali, “So I want to get good enough to talk with my new family without needing the translator.”
“Good for you,” they tilted their head, “You look like Sher, the singer of MMF. Are you a Vampire Bunny?
“Yes,” Cal smiled, “I am Cal, I am living with the Trail Pack, they brought us to space with them when they left our home.”
“Oh Nice” she smiled, “Well if you want to practise your Avali want to try placing an order with me?”
“Sure, I think I know what I want, let me try this.”
“Sure thing Cal,” she smiled wider, showing off WAY too many predatory Avali teeth for Cal’s liking. There was no way ANY bunny would feel comfortable looking up into a mouth full of teeth, “I am Li’ase so speak slowly and take your time, speed comes with practice, for now focus on the words and take it one at a time.”
Cal nodded and turned his translator off again. He glanced at the catalogue and slowly, word by word formed a sentence ordering the three albums of Avali style crystal music he wanted. He got through the order with only a few corrections from Li’ase and she set the three Avali data modules with the requested albums in them on the counter.
“That was good Cal,” she said, speaking slowly, “You have a good grasp of our language, it is just speed that you lack now and that will come as you practise.”
Chirping in delight, Cal thanked Li’ase for her help and paid for his purchases using the credit chip Selenu had given him. It was linked to the Trail pack account, no one had their own money really and just pooled everything together. Not that they had to really keep track of spending, it had taken Cal a while to realise just how rich Seinu and the pack were. They got paid a lot of credits for their work and they didn’t have to spend much on supplies as the Odyssey could give them most of what they needed.
Cal wanted to find some way to earn his own money, it felt odd spending their credits without contributing. But for now he had to accept that as an alien from a backwater world without any tech he was very lucky to be living with the Trail pack.
“Thank you Li’ase,” he chirped, “Is there anything else you would recommend if I want to hear more traditional Avali music?”
She glanced around the room then nodded, “Sure, I would suggest the Han’so pack collection,” she pointed to a holographic display showing a trio of black and white Avali with yellow stripes, “They play a wide range of ancient and modern Avali tunes using all our traditional instruments.”
Cal nodded, “Can I buy one of their albums as well then to try them out?”
“Wise move,” she smiled, “If you like them you can buy more later.”
Chirping his thanks Cal purchased the extra Album then took the bag she offered him with the data crystals in. He then said his goodbyes and headed out of the shop back into the Atrium. He shivered as the cold hit him, it was distinctly chilly out here in the wide open space. Fumbling at his Bandolier Cal stuffed his new albums into an empty pouch and then took his water-canteen off the belt and unscrewed it. Lifting it up to his lips he frowned as nothing came out and lifted it up to his face and sighed.
“Why did it freeze!” he chirped in bafflement and prodded a claw into the top of the bottle, “Yup… frozen solid… I don’t get it, this is the same as the canteens the pack used back home.”
Grumbling at himself for clearly getting something wrong Cal walked over to the map and stared at it as he hung the canteen back off his belt. There was a “Food Court” three floors up so he walked onto the moving stairs and rode them up, crossing each floor hurriedly to take the next set of stairs. The food-court itself was a large open plan area with lots of tables and chairs and counters built into the walls where you could order food.
There were no Avali on duty or serving, just different vending points and interactive boards where you could order food and drink. Cal walked up to the nearest and stared at the moving images and scratchy lines of Avali text and started trying to work out how to order a drink.
“Now what do I do,” Cal grumbled as he managed to page through to the drink menu but couldn’t find what he needed. He hit a few buttons hopefully and sighed when it just re-routed him to the front page. He gave up and moved to the next kiosk, then the next but he had the same problem with all of them, he couldn’t find the option he needed. Sighing in frustration he was about ready to bang his head against the touch screen when a soft voice chirped at him from behind.
“You seem to be having difficulty, young one, what seems to be the problem?”
Cal turned to look up at an elderly Avali couple. They had the slightly frayed crest feathers and muted feather colours that indicated age in Avali. The one who had spoken was female, brown and black with a silver stripe. Her brother was brown and black with a blue stripe and they were both wearing beautifully woven Avali mantles.
“Sorry,” Cal chirped, “Am I in your way?”
“Not at all,” the elderly male chirped, “We could see you moving between screens. Are you having trouble?”
Cal sighed and held up his canteen, “My drink froze, I think I used the wrong canteen,” he then prodded the screen, “My friends told me if I needed to order food or drink I just had to tell the food order point that I am not an Avali and it would show me what I can safely eat or drink but I can’t work out how to tell it this or upload the Bio-Data on my tablet.”
“Oh,” the female Avali chuckled, “That’s because it’s already done that for you” she stepped up next to Cal and tapped the screen, “These models will have scanned you as soon as you approached and connected to your table to download your bio-data,” she swished the screen left twice and pointed at a row of text and grids, “See it has your profile here.”
“Oh,” Cal read the screen, carefully reading the data, “My friends said I’d have to tell the kiosk I was an Alien and upload the data.”
“Some kiosks do need to be told manually,” the male said with a smile, “But these are new, the Tan'tru Emporium just upgraded the food court two months ago and they switched to these new models.”
“Oh…” Cal chirped, “I didn’t know that, it wasn’t very clear, I was told to make sure I didn’t just order and drink and eat anything as my biology is different to Avali so what is safe for you might not be safe for me.”
“Very wise,” the elderly female said with a smile, “But all of the options it is showing you should be safe, why not pick something now and then join us for lunch?”
“Oh yes do,” the male said with a grin, “We love to meet new aliens and we have never seen one of your kind before.”
“Ah sure,” Cal smiled and then prodded the touchscreen, selecting a drink and what the kiosk labelled as a selection of Avalonian fungus and fruit. He didn’t want any of the meat dishes, he still wasn’t used to protein that didn’t crunch with an exoskeleton when he munched it. Taking his tray once the food delivery point offered it he balanced it atop his head and walked over to where the Avali were sitting.
They watched him with obvious surprise at how he expertly balanced the tray atop his wide, flat head and grinned up at them as he slid it onto the table. “Thank you for helping me with that,” he clambered up onto a chair and rested his paws on the table, “My name is Cal and I am a Vampire Bunny.”
“I am Tre’ka,” the female Avali chirped, “And this is my brother Wek’ar it is nice to meet you Cal.”
“How did you do that?” Wek’ar asked with obvious delight and curiosity sparkling in his dark eyes, “You carried that tray flawlessly atop your head and didn’t spill anything.”
“Oh,” Cal smiled happily, it had worked. Seinu had taught him that doing the head balancing trick would be a good conversation starter when he met new aliens, “Back home we have to survive by collecting fruit, we do this in big baskets and every bunny is trained to balance them atop our heads to keep our hands free.”
“That’s fascinating,” Tre’ka said, “You said to survive, I assume you come from a world that has less technological help then Avalon?”
Cal smiled, it was kind of neat to meet some Avali who didn’t know all about them, “Yeah, we are what Selenu called a bronze-age society, we have or had no real technology, you see what happened about a hundred years ago….”
Cal launched into the story of the Vampire Bunnies, it was nice to talk about his people and explain what had happened, how they survived, what life was like back home and why he was now here on Avalon. He even talked a bit about Sher and MMF and how he and his twin brother had followed in his footsteps by heading to space with the Trail pack.
By the time he was finished with the story he had eaten his lunch and was doing his best not to shiver from the cold. Sitting still meant he had cooled down quite a lot and his paws were trembling a bit.
“Are you cold dear?” Tre’ka asked suddenly, “You are shivering, I can see it, is your EPP set to the wrong setting?”
“No it is set to frigid but… it is colder than I was expecting even with the EPP,” Cal said, “I’ve been sitting still too long, I should have brought a robe or something.”
“Oh well,” Wek’ar said as he stood up, “We can’t have that, come back to our shop we can get you kitted out in something warm.”
“Ah no you really don’t have to,” Cal chirped, “I will be ok once I start walking around again.”
“Don’t be stubborn dear,” Tre’ka admonished him, “We made you sit still and tell us all about your people, the least we can do is help you warm up.”
Cal tried to protest but the two Avali shepherded him away from the table, down a floor and over to a rather sedate store. The window was full of bolts of cloth and fabric of all kinds showing the patterns and materials they could make. Once inside Cal sighed in relief as it was indeed slightly warmer, in fact it was a lot warmer. He glanced up at the two older Avali who smiled at him and Tre’ka laughed.
“With age comes an appreciation of warmth,” she chuckled and moved across the room, “Now then what would suit you I wonder, ah I know Wek’ra?”
“The loom is already warming up,” Wek’ra responded as he pulled off his gloves, “You pick the collar, I will get Cal’s measurements.”
“Good plan,” She concurred and grinned down at Cal, “I am thinking of a level two thermal under-layer, something that will trap heat in and augment his fur?”
“That sounds about right,” Wek’ra brushed his fingers over Cal’s head, “And a built in hood he can choose to use or not as needed?”
“Yes that sounds good, now for colours…”
Cal let the older pack scan him for sizes and with a bemused smile spread his arms and let them drape different coloured cloth over his shoulders and arms. As he stood still on their scanning platform he let his eyes wander the shop and stopped to look at a photo hanging on the back wall. It showed Wek’ra and Tre’ka and at third avali. She had the same sort of brown and black fur and Cal realised the three of them were standing outside the shop and looked a lot younger.
“Can I ask who that is?” Cal asked, nodding at the photo, “Your pack-sister?”
Wek’ra paused and looked up at the photo, reaching out with one paw to take his sister’s hand, “That is Yae’la our sister, she passed away three years ago, that’s the day we opened the shop together about two hundred years ago.”
“Oh wow,” Cal whispered, “I am sorry I didn’t mean to be rude.”
“You aren’t rude,” Tre’ka wiped her eyes and smiled, “Old age gets us all in the end, Wek’ra and I have each other and the shop and plenty of loyal customers who visit us.”
Wek’ra smiled and stroked Cal’s ears, “And new friends like you! Now then I think the red is the best colour, with the copper thread to match his orange fur?”
“Yes,” Tre’ka smiled and shook herself out of it, four ears spreading wide, “Red is very much his colour, let's get the loom going.”
Cal watched the pair of older Avali bustling around, they clearly enjoyed being busy. The vampire bunny had read about how Avali suffered when they lost a pack member but he guessed at their age they were prepared for it. The Avali society looked after the old and prepared for it, in a way it was probably easier to lose someone after a long and loving life together then suddenly and in a disaster like what had happened to Ki’s family.
On impulse though Cal followed them over to the loom and hugged them both, gathering the pair of Avali up in his strong arms, cheating outrageously with Bunny strength and hugged them tightly, “I am sorry Yae’la isn’t with you any more, but I am sure she is watching and happy to see you both doing so well.”
The Avali froze for a moment and then hugged him back gently, both of them petting his ears, they seemed fascinated by the soft fuzzy covered lop-ears he was sporting, “Thank you Cal dear, it would be nice to think she is watching us,” Wek’ra said with a sad smile, “But we are used to it now, though we miss her every day we are not alone, we have plenty of friends to help us deal with the loss too now let us work.”
Cal smiled and let them both go and watched with fascinated wonder as their nano-loom printed the patterns and fabric together and created a long robe. It was amazing to see the machine work and as it worked he chatted with the other two Avali, listening to their stories about running the shop and living on Avalon.
An hour passed whilst the loom worked but Cal did not mind waiting, it was fun to get to know them and hear their stories. He even got to meet a few other customers as they dropped in to pick things up and in the end the robe when it was finished was amazing! Measured and designed for his body type and fur he was able to pull it on over his head and let it hang to the floor. The inside was a silky smooth black thermal fabric which trapped the heat between his fur and kept him warm. The outside was a riotous weave of red wool like fabric with a spiral pattern of copper thread around the base and around the edge of the hood.
“Now that looks good on you,” Tre’ka said with a smile as she adjusted the hood, folding it back over Cal’s shoulders, smoothing the fabric carefully, “Very good, you must come back and visit us next time you are on Avalon, we’d love to hear about your adventures with the Trail pack.”
“Of course,” Cal smiled and then glanced at his tablet as it beeped, “Ah that is my warning, I need to get going to the Airship dock at Aurora Spires, but this looks and feels amazing. How much do I owe you?”
“Here is the bill,” Wek’ra said, turning the tablet on the counter toward him, “With a little discount for your story,” Cal chirped and used the credit chit he had to pay the balance, he totally negated the discount by using the terminals in built tip system to give them a large thank you tip.
“Oh you,” Tre’ka laughed, “Naughty boy, thank you though, now scoot little one and be sure to stay in touch and tell us how you are doing.”
“I will,” Cal hugged them both again and scampered for the door, “I will stay in touch, have a good day now,” he waved, glad to have made some new friends and hurried out. He had to get a transport pod to Aurora Spires or he would be late and everyone would tell him off! At least he wasn’t cold now and he couldn't wait to talk to them again.
It had been a good day out, he couldn’t wait to tell everyone all about it!