Triccity's Travels: Terror Mountain

     “Welcome back! Did you find the wreckage alright?” Snowflake greeted me at once.

     “Yes, and I’ve come to a decision!” I announced.

     “Oh?”

     “I’m going to repair the airship and resume my travels across Neopia!”

     Snowflake raised her eyebrows in surprise at this. “So, it’s not a totally lost cause as you initially believed, then?”

     “Oh no, it’s pretty bad,” I said with a grimace. “The balloon is torn, the undercarriage is in pieces, and I don’t really know how I’m going to go about repairing all of those things without help or supplies, but I’m going to try anyway.”

     “That’s quite an undertaking! Are you sure it’s really worth it?”

     “I can’t give up my dream.”

     “Very well. Where do you start?”

     “I have to figure out how to transport the wreckage down the mountain to a more accessible area. It’s completely impractical to trek up and down the mountain every day to work on repairs or try to figure out how to get supplies there.”

     “Happy Valley has an airport. I don’t know what sort of equipment they have on hand, but they might have an idea on how to transport something large like that through the snow.”

     “Yes, that does sound like a good place to start. I have the directions. It was actually where I was headed before I got caught in the blizzard.”

     I left my duffel in the room I was staying in before heading out. This was the first time I would be headed towards more civilisation and not less during my stay on the mountain. While the airport was on the outskirts of the village, it was still more activity and populated than I had been exposed to in over a week. I located the office and told the Pet running it who I was and what I was hoping for.

     “No kidding! You flew here all the way from Moltara and then crashed somewhere in the mountains?!” the Bori looked at me in disbelief. “And then walked all the way here?”

     “Well, I had some help along the way. I’ve been staying with a Blue Bruce in her cabin for the last week,” I clarified.

     “Oh, Snowflake! Everybody knows her,” the Bori said with a wave of his hand. “So, are you wanting a flight back to Moltara?”

     “No, actually. I want to repair my airship and continue travelling Neopia. Snowflake recommended I start here at the airport since you have experience transporting large machinery through the snow.”

     The Bori’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh! Huh, okay…let me call my manager to see what he says.” A few moments later, the Bori directed me down a hallway to an office.

     I entered to find a Green Chia sitting at a desk. “Ms. Truebow? My assistant didn’t know quite what to make of your story. What are you hoping we can do for you?”

     “Well, at the moment, I’m just looking for advice,” I began. In a few moments, I had told the airport manager, Mr. Greenfellow, my predicament.

     He listened intently and waited for me to finish explaining what I wanted to accomplish. “Well, the good news, Ms. Truebow, is that I believe we can help you with this problem of yours. We have equipment on site that we use to move planes from hangar to hangar, even in adverse conditions. They can handle snowy and uneven terrain just fine. What are the dimensions of your craft?”

     “It’s thirty-five feet long and under full operation stretches to a height of twenty-five feet, but the balloon is now deflated and will need to be transported separately, I imagine.”

     “So, on par with a small plane like we’ve got here. That’ll be fine. When were you thinking of moving your airship?”

     “As soon as possible,” I said.

     “And we’d transport it here, of course, since we’ve the space for it.”

     “That would be ideal, yes, as I’ll need a place to house my airship long-term while I make the repairs.”

     “I’ll get a crew together and they’ll be ready to move tomorrow bright and early.”

     “That would be wonderful!”

     I left the airport, pleased that things had been sorted out so well. Though, I knew that this was only the first hurdle. Tomorrow, the real work would begin.

     The next day, I left Snowflake’s cabin to discover a behemoth of a vehicle awaiting me. It reminded me of a tank, all blocky and squat with giant tyres. Trailing behind it was a large sledge. I had never seen anything quite like it but knew at once that, if anything could handle the job of moving the airship down a mountain, this would do it.

      A Woodland Kyrii popped his head out of the door. “You Triccity Truebow?”

     “I am,” I confirmed with a nod.

     “Then hop on in. You’re going for a ride.”

     I stepped forward and a second door opened to reveal a Christmas Bori and a Striped Kougra.

     “I hope you don’t mind the close quarters but I wasn’t sure how many hands we’d need for the this and better to be safe than sorry,” the Woodland Kyrii explained over his shoulder from where he sat up front beside the driver of the vehicle, a Speckled Zafara.

     I clambered in and situated myself between the Bori and Kougra. “No, I don’t mind. I’m just grateful that I was able to get the help I needed.”

     “So, you really have an airship?” the Bori asked me.

     “I do,” I answered with a nod.

     “Awesome!” the Bori and Kougra exclaimed together, exchanging a look of excitement across me.

      The Kyrii chuckled. “I had to draw straws cuz everybody wanted to come along.”

      “I can’t wait to see it!” the Zafara exclaimed.

      “Well, it doesn’t look like much of anything right now. It’s very much worse for wear,” I warned, hating to disappoint them but not wanting to build up any false expectations.

      “Don’t worry. Farrell is the best mechanic!” the Kougra declared.

      Before I could respond to this, the driver announced, “We’re here!”

      I was surprised by how quickly we’d gotten there. A trip that had taken an hour walking had taken maybe fifteen minutes driving.

      “Let’s see what we’re dealing with, shall we?” the Kyrii said before opening the door and hopping out.

      The rest of us followed suit, and we stood in silence looking at the wreckage.

      The Bori let out a low whistle and jerked his thumb towards it. “You survived that?”

      The four of them gave me looks that were both incredulous and admiring.

      “Alright, enough gawking. Let’s get this loaded up!” the Kyrii, who I learned was Farrell, the head mechanic of the airport, announced, beginning to direct the crew.

      Working together, they used a winch and pulley system to secure the two pieces of the undercarriage and drag it onto the sledge. Then, they helped me wrap up the canvas of the balloon into something more portable. Then, we gathered up as much of the debris scattered across the slope as we could find. At last, we stood looking at the bare slope, now greatly disturbed by all of the work we had done.

      Farrell looked over at me. “Is there anything else that needs done here?”

      I shook my head. “No, that is hopefully everything. I won’t know for certain, of course, until I’ve taken an inventory back at the hangar, but we’ve gone over the area pretty well, I think.”

      “Then, let’s get back, shall we?”

      We piled back into the vehicle and a short while later we had made it back to the airport. We set about offloading Fancy, the canvas and the collected detritus from the wreckage in the empty hangar. Seeing it all laid out this way helped settle my nerves a bit. It had looked so desolate out there on that remote mountain slope. Here, sheltered from the elements, it felt more manageable now.

      “Do you need help inventorying all of this?” Farrell asked me with a wave of his hand towards the now cluttered hangar.

      “I’ll take it from here, thank you.”

      Farrell nodded. “Right, if you need anything else, just let us know.”

      “I will.”

      The transport crew left me to it. I spent the next hour or so taking stock of the repairs needed, the supplies for those repairs as well as all of the debris recovered from the crash site. Looking at the list was more than a little daunting. Getting the supplies to Terror Mountain from Neopia Central or Moltara would be no easy feat and then making the repairs themselves was going to be just as challenging. I knew I could stop right then and no one would judge me for it; but the thought of stopping felt worse than the thought of going ahead.

      Even with the immensity of the project before me, I knew this was something I had to do.

      Someone wrapped their knuckles against a nearby worktable, pulling me from my thoughts.

      I looked up to see the Striped Kougra from the transport crew, named Ally, standing there with a gentle smile. “Hey, just checking in. Did you want to grab lunch with us?”

      Focused on the task at hand, I hadn’t paid attention to anything else. But now, my stomach made it’s demands known. “Yes, that would be lovely!”

      Ally laughed. “Farrell figured you needed a break after the full morning we’ve had.”

      “That I do. Much as I want to go full steam ahead, this isn’t a project that I’ll be able to complete overnight. I definitely need to pace myself,” I said, trying to push thoughts of repair out of my mind for the moment.

      “Well, we’re all willing and able to give you any help you need,” Farrell said, as he walked over with the others to join us.

      “I will be taking you up on that. I’ve got several things I know I’ll have to order and once they arrive, it’ll be easier to make the repairs with more hands than just my own,” I said.

      “Yeah, can’t wait for that,” Jesse, the Christmas Bori said with a sarcastic roll of his eyes, “but can we talk about something otherp than work?”

      “You work?” Ally asked in mock surprise.

      Jesse gave the Kougra a flat look. “Haha.”

      Taking the hint, I obligingly changed the subject. “So, what do you all do for lunch most days?”

      “We usually head to a nearby café for lunch or dinner if we’re working late,” Farrell answered.

      It was a short walk down the mountain to a squat stone building where we entered to some delicious smells.

      We enjoyed a good meal before heading back to work.

To be continued…