fandomweekly | [#268] Change Of Plans (The Fantastic Journey)

Theme Prompt: #268 – Sleeping In
Title: Change Of Plans
Fandom: The Fantastic Journey
Rating/Warnings: PG
Bonus: Yes.
Word Count: 1000
Summary: The situation is settled and the travellers plan to continue their journey first thing in the morning, but there’s an unexpected delay. Sequel to last week’s entry, just because I loved the idea of Sil-El playing guard cat.

It was over. Jonathan, against all odds, and at no small risk to himself, had shut down the Complex, hopefully for good, Varian, Fred, Liana, and the women of Coriel had kept the Watchers, those nasty little mechanical guardians, busy, and had permanently disabled several of them…

Under any other circumstances, now would have been the ideal time to say their farewells, collect the rest of their belongings from beside the stream where they’d left them, and head out of the zone as quickly as they could manage, hoping the next zone would prove more hospitable, or at least uninhabited. But Scott, after his ordeal with the poison, was probably still not well enough to travel, and Varian could no doubt do with some rest, so while Fred went to check on Scott, who they’d had to leave down in the cells, Jonathan and Varian made their way back to the room they’d all been sharing since their arrival in Coriel.

It didn’t surprise Jonathan in the slightest when Varian stretched out on the nearest bed and went straight to sleep. Considering he’d also suffered the effects of the poison, and then had to help deal with the Watchers, Jonathan thought his friend had probably been running on adrenaline and sheer willpower since they’d been released from their cells. A few hours’ sleep would do him good. In Jonathan’s opinion, Varian was forever driving himself too hard, taking responsibility for the rest of their small band.

When Fred arrived an hour or so later with Scott, who looked weary but a lot better than he had earlier, the doctor raised an eyebrow at their comatose de facto leader. Jonathan just shrugged.

“Out like a light as soon as we got back here. I’d wager that’s the last we’ll hear from our friend until morning.”

“He’s okay though, right?” Scott asked, sitting down on one of the beds.

“Just tired,” Jonathan assured the boy. “Which is hardly surprising. You should probably rest as well. With any luck, we’ll be leaving first thing in the morning. I for one will be glad to get away from here. Oh, I know Queen Halyana is most apologetic, not to mention grateful for our assistance, but I rather feel we’ve worn out our welcome.”

“Not that we were exactly welcomed when we first got here.” Fred turned to Scott. “Get some rest, Scottie. Willaway, you’re with me.”

“I am?” Jonathan sounded surprised.

“Yeah, we’re gonna fetch the rest of our gear. It’ll save makin’ a detour come morning.”

“I suppose that would be sensible.”

“We do this now, we can get an early start tomorrow, be outta this zone before evening.”

That was the plan, but in practice, it didn’t quite turn out that way. Jonathan sometimes wondered why they ever bothered trying to make any kind of plans in the first place. Something always managed to derail them.

Scott seemed back to his usual self by morning, kids bounced back better than adults a lot of the time. Varian, however, was still out for the count, it didn’t look like he’d moved all night, and now Sil-El, Liana’s cat, had taken up position beside him on the edge of the bed, lying there like a small, furry, black and white sphinx, green eyes fixed on the other travellers, following their every move.

“We gonna wake him and get on the road?” Fred asked.

“I thought about it, but Sil-El seems opposed to that idea,” Jonathan admitted. “Discretion, in this case, is very much the better part of valour.”

“What d’you mean by that?”

“Go ahead and try it yourself; you’ll see what I mean.”

Frowning, Fred approached the bed. Sil-El gave a warning hiss, but ignoring the cat, Fred reached out to wake Varian, only to feel the sting of Sil-El’s claws across the back of his hand. He jerked back.

“Ow!”

“I did warn you,” Jonathan said mildly, trying not to laugh. “I gave up at the first hiss. I wasn’t going to push my luck, but some people simply don’t know when to back off.”

“Guess we won’t be making an early start then.” Scott was grinning.

Fred shook his head. “Looks like Varian gets to sleep in, unless I can persuade Liana to call her cat off. Damn! I always thought that cat liked us.”

“He does. I guess right now, he just likes Varian more.”

“It appears we’ll simply have to stay here until sleeping beauty there decides it’s time to wake up. Unless we intend to gang up on the cat, but I’m not sure even that would do any good. If all the noise we’re making hasn’t woken Varian up yet…” Jonathan trailed off, shaking his head. “I’m not sure what will. He must need the rest; the last few zones have been rather rough on him.”

“On all of us, but yeah, I get your point. After the poison and all… He just seemed fine once the antidote took effect.”

“He always does.”

“Yeah.”

It was almost lunchtime before Varian finally surfaced, and frowned at his three friends, sitting around when he’d expected them to be bustling about getting ready to depart.

“I thought we were planning on leaving this morning.”

Fred leaned back in his seat. “Change of plans.”

“Is Scott not up to travelling yet?”

“I’m fine.” Scott grinned.

“We were waiting on you,” Jonathan added.

Varian sat up, looking confused. “Why didn’t you wake me?”

“Sil-El wouldn’t let us.” Fred held up his scratched hand.

“Wouldn’t let… Why?”

“How should we know why a cat does what it does?” Jonathan gave a wry smile. “It seemed prudent not to press the matter.”

“So much for our early start. Guess we’ll be setting out after lunch instead.” Fred studied Varian from across the room. “You okay?”

“Yes, fine.”

“We could stay another night.”

“That won’t be necessary.” Bemused, Varian stroked Sil-El’s head, earning a contented purr in response. "Three intelligent people, confounded by a cat!"

The End