Day Five: Morning

[Orion]

"Hey dad," Koola spoke as the two slightly revitalised Icers travelled, "something weird happened to me back there."

Cold kept his attention to the road. "Weird how?"

"It's kinda hard to explain. It just happened. I can't quite put my finger on it."

"Well, what is it?"

Koola suddenly became hesitant. Would his father even understand, or try to understand, what he was about to say? Was it worth putting his pride on the line? His mind raced for alternatives.

"Ah....uh...." was the most intelligible stall the changeling prince could muster.

"Come on," King Cold prompted. "Stop stalling."

There was no way out. Their new relationship was opening up lines of communication that Koola had never dreamed of before; perhaps it was time to open another.

The regal Icer took a deep breath. "Well... I had this... vision." He paused for effect, noticing that Cold was paying closer attention now. "Before, when I was in the dirt... well, it could've been a hallucination."

"Just say it," the horned emperor stated bluntly.

"When I was on the ground, I was... taken away. I wasn't on Dante anymore. It was a paradise; with a clean river racing by, green vegetation everywhere, wildlife passing through..."

"Sounds like a waste."

"What?" Koola asked.

"Wherever you went. It sounds like a prime place for expansion. Too bad it's probably not real."

"Yeah," the changeling replied, hoarding his love of nature to himself. "Anyway, while I was standing by the stream, this woman came out of it." He checked his father's countenance; it hadn't changed. Koola wondered if it was wise to mention the species of this particular female. He decided to keep it as a lie of omission.

"She was..." Again, his attempt to express himself truthfully was met by a wall of resistance, but Cold didn't know this woman was a human, "wearing this skimpy bikini. She looked really hot."

Cold nodded and grinned. "Oh yeah."

"Anyway, she walked up to me and kissed me. But the weirdest part was, it felt so... natural."

"What? Was that your first kiss?" the dictator poked. "You're in your thirties and your first kiss was from an imaginary female?"

"No, that's not what was so weird," Koola corrected without thinking.

"Then what?" Cold inquired.

"It was because she's a..." His brows arched when he realised he was about to say 'human'. Crap! What could he substitute in there to save face?

"She's a what? Don't leave me in suspense."

"Uh... it was because..." Koola's brain groped for ideas. What the hell was he going to say? "She's a..." His eyes scanned the immediate area, as if an answer could be found in his surroundings. They rested upon his shotgun.

"Shotgun!"

"What?"

Koola's thoughts congealed in a blurred hurry. "Yes! I mean, no! She was a shotgun... uh... wedding! Yeah! I was forced to get married by force." The prince sighed in relief.

King Cold chuckled. "That is weird. You, getting married?! Or anyone forcing you to?" He laughed again.

Koola giggled nervously. "Yeah. Weird, huh?"

He was a little annoyed at himself for chickening out. There was a chance for real connection with his father, but he wasn't willing to take the risk. Then again, after the tournament, there would be plenty of time for explanations.

He hoped.