Seeking history

He had waited impatiently all day for nighttime! He had wanted to try this for a while, and tonight he would have the palace and gardens all to himself. As he watched the sun set over the gleaming crystal towers in the distance through his futuristic bedroom windows, Bastao paced nervously around the large space. Why am I nervous? He thinks to himself. I’m the prince! Literally only my dad can tell me not to do it! I’ve wanted to try just once ever since learning in history class that thousands of years ago we used to fly nude at night! I always found those flying suits to be annoying! The bedroom door chime makes his massive ears twitch. He hurries to open it. The door glides into the wall to reveal a tall muscular alligator with body armor and multiple weapons! “Evening my prince.” He says. “With so many foreign dignitaries visiting and the recent threats against some of them, your father has ordered all the guards to attend the meeting, even the junior guards! I advise you to stay in the palace. I might be able to spare someone to come check on you.” “Thanks commander, I know.” Bastao replies. The alligator gives a slight bow and leaves. Bastao peaks into the corridor before closing his door. As he waits for it to get dark, he sees the royal planetary transport craft flying away through the window. The meeting was such short notice that there was no time for any planning, the emperor had to just leave for planet Vispa right after he was informed!

It’s a while after sunset now. The garden is pitch black and even though the city has many lights, they are designed to restrict light pollution as much as possible. Bastao turned off his bedroom lights and began removing his clothing. He folds everything up and places it on his bed. He steps to the windows and looks about again, thinking. The garden is really just a recreation of how the area of the palace was thousands of years ago! About two hundred thousand acres of forest surrounds the palace. The towering umbrella shaped trees make it very dark at ground level even in the day! My fur will make me invisible! And it’s just for a few minutes. He opens the window and feels the cool night air. It makes his fur bristle. That’s about as cold as it ever gets on the planet though! He steps up onto the window sill, then looks down at the tree tops. He feels no fear about the height, he’s jumped out of his window plenty of times! Never naked though. He leaps into the air! His membranous wings catch the air and he glides over the forest. He’s flown nearly every night since he was first able to do so. The feeling of the air rushing over his whole body is incredible, although the feeling of his male parts being exposed makes him nervous again. He finds an opening in the forest canopy and dives in. It truly is pitch black under the trees! No matter he just echolocates and easily maneuvers around the trees! He smiles. It’s just like it always is! He thinks. Once I get used to the feeling, there’s no problem! He continues to fly among the trees, occasionally rising above the canopy and diving near the ground. So, this is what my ancestors felt when flying? It feels good! I might do this again sometime. He continues flying nude for a lot longer than he intended.

He’s hanging upside down from a tree branch. He tried grooming his fur the natural way, and decided he likes that too! It doesn’t make his male bat musk go away though. I got myself pretty sweaty, even in this cool air! Anyone with a decent sense of smell could find me! He thinks. Then he spreads his wings and let’s go of the branch. He glides through the air once more. He glides down in a big spiral around the huge tree. He lands gracefully on the soft groundcover. Even his sensitive eyes have trouble in this level of darkness! He starts walking, not as gracefully as he fly’s though. His bare feet make no sound at all. Wow, I never knew I could be so quiet! I never noticed how much noise clothing and shoes make. He thinks. He walks around on the ground for a while, thinking about how freeing it is and how natural it feels. He stops when he realizes something. This isn’t actually the ground! It’s just a big platform holding dirt! The real ground is several miles below! No one’s been down there for at least two thousand years! He continues walking and comes to a small clearing, not that’s its much brighter since the moon isn’t out tonight. He looks up at the towering cylindrical palace and sees his open bedroom window. Just then he hears a noise behind him. He spins around to see a massive alligator jogging towards him through the darkness! He covers himself with his wings and thinks it’s the commander of the guard for a second. Then he sees how different this alligator is. His taller and his scales are a brighter shade of green, and he doesn’t have body armor just a regular guard uniform. The alligator stops in front of the bat and says, “what the fuck are you doing?! I’ve been looking all over for you! Why are you naked out here? What if someone saw you?” “I uh you can’t talk to me like that! I just wanted to try it, since everyone left… Saul, why are you here?” Bastao says. Saul sighs and says, “I convinced my dad to let me stay behind! I can’t believe your dad just left you alone! I mean no disrespect to his majesty, but surly there should have been at least one guard left here!” “I don’t get along very well with my dad, even if I am the only heir.” Bastao says. “Maybe he is losing his touch after all, you must know the rumors that he’s going to step down this year! You’ll be the new emperor; you really shouldn’t do things like this! Just why though?” Saul says. Bastao gestures at the surroundings and then stops when he realized he exposed himself. “I wanted to try and connect with nature, to feel like an ancient bat!” He says. Saul steps closer, but stops when Bastao steps back. “Bastao listen.” He says. “This isn’t just a job; I actually care about you! I don’t want you to get in trouble or hurt ok, let’s just get inside.” Bastao turns away and spreads his wings. “Hey, stop!” Saul yells. Bastao wraps his wings around himself again and says, “what? I’m flying back to my room!” Saul gets closer to him again. “What if you hit a tree? Why can’t you just walk with me?” Saul says. “Are you kidding me? I’m a fucking bat, I’m made for flying at night! What’s wrong with you? You always act so weird around me!” Bastao says. “Let’s talk about it in your room. It’s not safe out here, alright.” Saul says. Bastao shrugs and says, “fine, just don’t tell anyone about seeing me like this!” “I promise.” Saul replies. Bastao spreads his wings again, then turns away in a huff as he exposed himself to Saul again! Bastao jumps into the air and flies to the open window.

A few minutes later Saul enters Bastao’s room. The bat is sitting in an imported luxury chair with his clothing back on. Saul walks over and stands in front of him. “So, what’s up with you?” Bastao asks. Saul sighs and replies, “please don’t be angry, it’s just I’ve um had a—a crush on you since the first time I saw you! And I don’t even know if you gay or not!” Bastao seems speechless for a moment, making Saul anxious. Then the prince speaks, “it has been twelve years! When where you going to tell me? So ok, I’m bi and leaning towards males. My father doesn’t care! Mother never knew… um I’ve never ah been with anyone. So, I guess you got a show out there?” The bats ears are turning red now. “I was going to wait and hope you asked me! I uh it was pretty dark out there; I didn’t see much. You do have good pecs though, must be all that flying!” Saul says. “So, you’re in love with me? That’s uh ok with me. It’s like a tradition too! You know, how can you trust your bodyguard unless there your lover!” Bastao says. “Is that a real saying and tradition?” Saul asks. “It sure is! It hasn’t been done for a few generations though.” Bastao says. Saul looks thoughtful and says, “maybe it’s time to revive it then. I’d be happy to keep you company and stay by your side all the time!” Bastao smiles and says, “are you asking to be my boyfriend?” “I sure am! You’re asking in a different way! Male bat pheromones are filling up this room!” Saul replies. “Oh, sorry about the smell” Bastao says. Saul chuckles then says, “it doesn’t bother me. I’ve got more musk glands then you anyway. Even some in my mouth, so the smell and taste are fine to me.” “Oh, that’s uh interesting and gross! Sorry. I like my smell, and I’ve tasted my musk but I don’t want that in my mouth all the time!” Bastao says. Saul takes a deep breath and says, “so, what’s your answer, do you want me as your boyfriend?” The bat gets up from his chair, not actually an impressive move as the alligator towers over him. “Yes, I do!” He says. “I’m pretty lonely and board staying here so much, I’d love your company! Just be careful with my wings please. Actually, be careful with my whole body!” Bastao says. Saul gets close to the bat and says, “I promise I’ll always be careful, And I swear I’d never hurt you! I’ve never touched you ever! I—I really want to!” Saul hesitantly reaches out to Bastao’s shoulder. The prince smiles and nods. For the first time since they met, Saul touches Bastao. He lays his scaly hand on the bats shoulder, gently feeling the muscle. Then he rubs up the side of Bastao’s neck and to the side of his face. Finally, he reaches the top of the bats head and gently strokes his large ears. Saul slowly takes his hand away from the bat and says, “I’ve always wanted to pet your ears since the first time I saw you! You really do have nice fur.” “Thanks, that felt nice. As long as your always gentle, you can touch me anytime you want. I really have been lonely.” Bastao says. Saul moves to hug Bastao, but the bat puts up a paw to stop him. “Let’s get some more privacy first!” He says. Bastao fast walks to the windows and presses the button on the wall. The windows darken becoming completely opaque. “I never liked those windows, their too big! It’s a security flaw! Remember a few years ago when that creep broke in through them?” Saul says. “Yeah, I remember you beating him into a coma then getting an award for excellent service from my dad! Back then that scared me and I thought that was unnecessary for you to do that! But now I know you were in love with all this time. Wow, we could have had some fun when we were children if you had told me how you felt about me!” Bastao says as he walks back to the alligator. They look at each other for a moment. Saul speaks, “are you afraid of me?” Bastao looks up into the alligator’s eyes and says, “no I trust you and I—I love you!” Saul puts both hands on Bastao’s shoulders and says, “I love you too!” Then he gently draws Bastao into a hug. Bastao returns the hug and they embrace for a long time. When they finally pull apart, they don’t let go of each other, they hold each other at arm’s length. “I’ve wanted to do that for a very long time!” Saul says. “What else do you want to do?” Bastao says with a grin. “I want to do this!” Saul says, then leans in and kisses the bat! Bastao is surprised, but then returns the kiss. They embrace again, Saul gently holds the back of Bastao’s head as they get passionate. First Bastao gets his tongue into Saul’s mouth and tastes the alligators mouth musk! Then Saul gets his tongue inside Bastao’s mouth. When their kiss ends a string of saliva connects them for a moment. “Wow, that was…wow!” Bastao says. “Was that your first kiss? Um I hope my musk doesn’t bother you.” Saul says. “Yeah, it was! And no, its fine. I’ve tasted mine plenty of times!” Bastao says. “You uh suck yourself off? Sorry I shouldn’t—” Bastao cuts him off, “no its fine! I do it all the time, I like the taste.” “Ok, so you like your musk and cum! That’s cool, I like mine! Can I get a taste of your cum?” Saul asks. “You want to give me a blowjob? Um I don’t really want my cock in your mouth! I thought alligators bite when you feel something on your tongue?” Bastao asks. “That’s a speciesist myth, I swear! I suck myself off too, and haven’t bitten my dick off! If your nervous maybe I should just do a hand job and some licking?” Bastao looks nervous as he replies, “yeah, let’s do that first. Honestly aren’t we moving pretty fast? I am horny though!” “We’ve known each other long enough, it’s not like we’re strangers about to have sex! Sorry I hope you don’t feel rushed?” Saul says. “Like I said, I’m horny and I really want this. Just be careful!” Bastao says, starting to remove his clothing. Saul watches happily. When Bastao drops his pants Saul can’t help but stare. “So, it’s true! Bats really do have big balls!” “Ha-ha, well I guess we do! What do you think of my uh dick?” Bastao says. “I like it, you seem to be a shower! Can I?” Saul says reaching out with his hand towards the bats junk. Bastao nods. Saul gently strokes the prince’s length making him let out a little moan and start getting hard. “You’re a shower and a grower, damn!” Saul says, then with his other hand fondles the bats large balls making him gasp. Saul gently rubs Bastao’s growing member and slides his foreskin back. The alligator leans in and takes a long sniff, then says, “you’ve got a great smell down here, and I love the way your fur is more course down here!” “Thanks, k-keep going!” Bastao replies. Saul wraps his fingers around Bastao’s impressive erection and begins to pump him. He also carefully massages Bastao’s oversized balls. The bat puts his hands on Saul’s shoulders and is now panting. Saul gives Bastao’s tip a squeeze and a drop of clear liquid appears. The alligator licks it up making the bat gasp again. “Nice taste, I can’t wait for the main course!” Saul says with a smirk. “Just keep doing that and you’ll get it!” Bastao says, clearly enjoying what he’s feeling. Saul continues to pump the bat and gets in close to lick and nuzzle the bats balls. Bastao is panting now and dripping a lot of precum which Saul happily licks up. After a few minutes of this Bastao’s face scrunches up, and he says, “ready for it?” Saul nods and opens his mouth, aiming the bats cock. Bastao makes an almost growl like sound as his seed spurts out into the alligator’s mouth! Bastao pumps out a surprising amount of cum, even considering how large his balls are! Saul’s snout and face get splattered with musky bat seed! When he’s done Saul lets go of het bats male hood and licks cum off his lips and swallows. Bastao is panting heavily but looks happy. “Thanks, that—that was great!” Bastao says. Saul gets up and says, “your welcome! You taste great! I really want to do a real blowjob on you sometime!” “Maybe next time. But I want to see your body now! You’ve been looking at me nude this whole time!” Bastao says. “Sure, but I’m not showy like you!” Saul says as he starts undressing. Bastao watches as the alligator’s muscular body is revealed. “Well, here I am!” Saul says when he’s fully nude. “Not much to see, my parts are internal.” Bastao looks over his boyfriends’ body and says, you look great to me! I want to check out what you’ve got!” Saul smiles and says, “go right ahead!” Bastao reaches down and gropes Saul’s crotch. “I like your slit, it’s different and cool to see and touch! Your also wet down here!” “I don’t get aroused as easily as you, but you’re getting me there!” Saul says. “There you are!” Bastao says as Saul’s cock peaks out of his slit. Bastao sniffs at it and says. “Smells pretty different than mine. I like the smell; I want a taste!” “Oh wow, you’re really eager! I guess it’s true that male bats are lewd! Help yourself to me then!” Saul says as his cock fully emerges from his slit. Bastao is looking closely at Saul’s cock and crotch, his nose almost touching the alligator’s cock. “You’re maybe a third of my length! Where are your balls though?” He asks. “Oh, their internal. Even if they were external, they wouldn’t be as impressive as yours! Mine are a fourth the size! So, uh is your cock average for a bat?” Saul says. “No, actually! Mine is a few inches longer than my dad’s!” Bastao says. “Wow! You know what, I think your bigger then Brackston! He’s always showing off his horse cock in the male guards locker-room! His balls are like half the size of yours!” Saul says. Bastao gets up and says, “um, Saul do you have a ball fetish?” Saul looks embarrassed and his cock starts to slide back into his slit. “Well yeah! Mine are up in my abdomen, so I don’t get to play with them like Brackston does in the shower! I’m really glad I got to hold yours, their the biggest I’ve ever seen!” He says. Bastao looks down at his malehood and says, “well, as long as your careful, you can play with my balls. Oh, you want me to jack you off or something?” “Sure, if you want to. Can I uh, ask for a blowjob?” Saul says. “Uh, sorry I’m pretty tired now, maybe tomorrow. I want you to sleep with me though!” Bastao says. “Aw sure, and yeah we can do more stuff tomorrow.” They walked to the prince’s bed. Saul crawls unto it first and says, “I want to hold you, we can spoon.” Saul says. “Alright.” Bastao says as he gets into the bed too. The bat lays on his side next to the alligator. Saul pulls the blanket over them, and then wraps his arms around Bastao. “You’re really nice to hold.” Saul says as he rubs the bat. “Well, this really does feel nice. I think I’d like it if you moved in here with me!” Bastao says. “Aww, I will then! I want to stay by your side forever! Hey maybe you can come to the guard locker room and shower with me and the others?” Saul says. “Um, I don’t really want everyone staring at my junk and ass! I’d just be uncomfortable being naked with a bunch of big guys!” Bastao replies. “Don’t be nervous, we all adore you! Well, at least the gay ones do. Some of them have been talking about asking you out. I got to you first though.” Saul says. “Hey, uh I’m not interested in a one-night stand! I want a serious relationship!” Bastao says. Saul hugs the prince close to him and says, “oh I’m serious about this! That’s why I told my dad today, so I could come here and be alone with you. I really do love you!” “Well, I love you too and I’m feeling pretty comfortable right now. If you want you can hold my balls tonight, I trust you.” Bastao says. Saul moves his hand down to the bats crotch and gropes his long cock. Then he moves his hand lower and gets a gentle hold on the bat’s large balls. “The imperial jewels are safe with me! The fur on your sack is really velvety by the way, I like it!” Saul says. “Thanks. Well goodnight Saul.” Bastao says. “Goodnight Bastao.” Saul says.

Bastao wakes up to the feeling of muscular arms around him and a large hand fondling his balls. “Good morning Saul. How long have you been awake?” He asks. “Good morning my prince. I’ve been awake for a while; I just like holding you.” Saul says. “It does feel nice, but we should get up. Also, if everyone is still gone there’s something I want to do today.” Bastao says. Saul lets go of the bat, stretches and says, “oh, what is it?” Bastao stretches and replies, “when I was a kid sometimes, I would sneak into the palace’s sub-basements and wander around the archive. I found a staircase that goes under the palace and I think to the roof of the old place! I was always afraid to actually check it out though, I only ever looked out from the bottom of the stairs. I always wanted to try and get into the old palace, and now that you’re with me, I just feel like I’d be safe. Also, you know about the urban legends about people finding ways into the old city and even to the ground? Well according to the palace archives the only real ways are under the Grand museum and under the palace here! I want to try and see if the even older palaces are still down there. So, will you come with me? I won’t go alone.” Saul sighs and says, “well I guess we can. Just promise that if I say it’s too dangerous, you’ll get out. Even if you have to leave me! I’ve been trained to spot danger! And you could be the emperor soon, I’d get in trouble if something happened to you!” “Alright I promise. Just try to get out too, I hope to have you around! So, um we both kinda stink, want to shower with me? Then we can get breakfast and head down. Don’t worry if the servants are back, they can’t tell me not to go down there.” “I like your smell! But I know you have to be all princely, so sure let’s wash up and eat.” Saul says. They get out of bed and admire each other’s naked bodies for a moment, both getting aroused. “So, is that as big as you get? I think I can take that!” Bastao says looking at Saul’s erection. “Yeah, that’s it! So, is it true you bats can cum like ten times a day?” Saul says, noting just how big the bats balls are. “I’ve occasionally done twelve!” Bastao says as he walks towards his bathroom. “Wow, I really want to see you do it! Hey, your tail and ass are cute.” Saul says. Bastao chuckles and says, “think you could keep up with me? I wonder if you could take me? Anyway, you coming in with me, you can wash my ass if you like it so much!” The alligator quickly follows the bat. Inside the prince’s large bathroom Saul takes a look around as Bastao gets the shower running. “Wow, this is really nice! I guess it’s just normal to you. I still think you should come down and shower with the guards sometime, we could put on a show!” Saul says. “I don’t know about that, just being nude in front of those big guys would make me nervous.” Bastao says as he steps into the shower. Saul steps in next to the bat. “I thought bats were supposed to be lewder then even my kind! You know what historical emperors did right? Not to mention the traditional male bat mating displays! Besides none of the guards would lay a paw on you! They’d probably jerk and suck you off if you told them too and lift their tails for you too!” Saul says. “Maybe as long as your there, I trust you.” Bastao says. The two fondle each other and jerk off together. Then they wash each other, learning about each other’s bodies. Bastao’s fur is really fluffy and soft after they dry off. They get dressed and head out to get breakfast.

In the stylized breakfast room, the prince and his guard have a simple but good meal together. “Well, the message said the meeting is dragging on to tonight! So, we have plenty of time to go down there. I forgot to tell you, but I got in trouble with my dad for going there years ago.” Bastao says. “Alright if you insist. Just be careful and if we have to climb over stuff let me hold you! When I held you in bed you really did feel delicate, sorry.” Saul says. “Sure, and its fine bats are just like this! Just don’t drop me or hold me too tight!” Bastao says. Saul replies, “don’t worry, I’ll be careful with you. So, lead the way, I have no idea how to get down there!” They get up and Bastao takes hold of the alligator’s hand and leads him through the palace. They go to one of the elevators and Bastao selects the basement. “So, um four hundred years ago when they built the new palace, they didn’t bring everything from the old palace up here. They even left a lot of the old archive down there! Also, before they used DNA scans for security, you actually had to have a physical identifier. So, I was going to go into the archive in the subbasement and get something with the royal crest on it. Just in case the security in the old palace still works. Also, if we can I want to find the old archive and see if there is anything about the even older palaces.” Bastao says as the elevator takes them down. Saul shakes his head and says, “so you already knew there could be danger down there! Maybe you should wait until you’re the emperor and send an expedition down!” Saul says. Bastao sighs and replies, “but I want to make the discoveries myself! Nobody remembers what’s under the old palace, and almost no records exist of the old city! Did you know that the Grand museum stores all the old exhibits in the way of the old city tunnel? Besides here that’s the only safe way to the old city! You can’t go lower than the under-city anywhere else on the planet without having to crawl through the sewers and fight gangs! There could even be people living down there! Doesn’t that interest you at all?” Bastao says. “It is interesting, I just worry about you getting hurt or us being lost down there, or both!” Saul says. “Alright, how about we check out the roof and see if there is an easy way in, if there is, we just take a quick look and leave. If not lets at least try and see what’s around the old palace and if its separate from the under city or not.” Bastao says. “Ok, let’s do that. We can go back another time with the rest of the junior guard and do more. How does that sound?” Saul says. “I’ll accept it, I just don’t want to spend the rest of my life doing nothing but attending meetings and public councils. I want to do something cool!” Bastao says. “Being a prince and then emperor isn’t cool to you?” Saul asks sounding annoyed. “I just want to be the first to see what’s down there in centuries…” Bastao says. “I’m not angry at you, I just think you might be obsessing over this a bit.” Saul says. “I’d be scared if you were angry at me!” Bastao replies. “Don’t be, I won’t ever hurt you. Looks like we’re there.” Saul says as the elevator comes to a stop.

The elevator door opens to revel a plain corridor. It’s a stark contrast to the stylized ultra-modern corridors of the upper floors of the palace. “So, the elevators don’t go lower than the basement. You ok with taking the stairs through the subbasements?” Bastao says. “I’m good. How many subbasements are there?” Saul says. “There’s ten subbasements. They originally going to build nine, but the last one wasn’t up to the new street level, so they added one more before building the new palace.” Bastao says. “Well, lead the way my prince.” Saul says. The bat leads the alligator through a maze of corridors to an old-fashioned swinging door. Past it is a stairway leading ten floors down. Bastao stops at the sixth subbasement and opens the creaky door. It seems this floor is neglected as the lights are dim and flickering. Also, the corridors are crowded with pipes and wires! “Um, what is all this?” Saul asks as he steps out into the corridor. “I don’t know! Nothing below subbasement four is used anymore!” Bastao replies. The prince leads his guard through the tangled plumbing into what looks like an abandoned museum. There are shelves and display cases filled with old books, antique appliances, historic weapons, jewelry and odd little boxes with padlocks on them. Everything is covered with dust. Some of the shelves and cases have fallen. Bastao quickly walks to a specific case and opens it. The lock looks to have been broken for a very long time. He reaches in and grabs a very ornate ring. Saul has just been looking in from the doorway, he steps aside to let Bastao out. The bat gestures towards the opposite end of the corridor from where they came from. Both of them feel they need to be quite down here. The both wince each time they step on something that makes noise. When Bastao opens the door, it makes an afoul grinding sound! “You should have just left it open the last time you were here!” Saul whispers. “I did!” Bastao whispers back. “Who else comes down here?” Saul asks. “Nobody!” Bastao says as he looks down the stairs.

The pair arrive at subbasement ten. The place is a disaster! There is unidentifiable debris covering the floor, wires hang from the ceiling and there are holes in the walls! Very few of the lights work. “You really used to play down here when you were a kid? How was it that nobody thought this was too dangerous for the prince?” Saul says. “I was only down here a few times! I never got hurt, and as a bat I naturally don’t get lost in places like this.” Bastao says. Saul just swallows and glances nervously around at the mess. Bastao takes hold of the alligator’s hand and leads him through the maze of dilapidated corridors. The bat prince stops at a rusty door and says, “it’s through here! This place has been remodeled several times before they stopped using the lower floors. They sealed the staircase up behind a wall! I only found it because that wall collapsed.” Bastao says. “You saw it collapse?” Saul asks. “No, it has been that way for a very long time!” The bat says as he opens the door. The door creaks horribly. Beyond it is another corridor, none of the lights work. “I used my echolocation in there, but did you bring a light?” Bastao asks. “I did. So how much farther is it? I’m getting kinda creeped out.” Saul says as he gets his high-tech flashlight out. “There’s not much past here. This corridor leads to the exterior wall and it’s just some storage rooms. The one with the stairs is on the right in the middle.” Bastao says. Saul takes a deep breath and leads the way into the dark corridor with his light. Bastao points out another rusty door midway down the corridor. Saul opens it to see an empty storage room. The back wall has collapsed. They walk over the broken plaster and into the top of a spiral staircase. “This really goes to the old palace?” Saul asks. “I think so.” Bastao replies. “Only went down there twice and it looked like a roof to me. Even when I brought a light, I couldn’t see much from the staircase.” They begin the decent. After what would be one floor, the walls end and they see an expanse of darkness around them. The air is much staler then in the subbasements. “So how big is this space?” Saul asks. “Well, I think it’s as wide as the palace. If you shine your light up, you can see the ceiling is curved like it’s a dome. That must be how they built over the old palace.” Bastao says. “I wonder if all the buildings are on top domes?” Saul says, shining his light up and looking at the gray concreate. The light doesn’t travel all that far, and not much can be seen. They continue down the stairs. The staircase has held up surprisingly well. Although a lot of the steps creak, everything seems sturdy and the railings are intact.
After about thirty feet, they reach the end of the stairs. At the bottom they see a flat expanse of what appears to be ceramic tiles. It seems they were once colorful, but are now faded and cracked. Bastao stands on the last step looking around. “I never went any farther than this!” Bastao says. “I should go first, but I guess you want to?” Saul asks. “Just the first step.” Bastao says, then hops off the stairs onto the tiles. Saul steps down after him. Bastao crouches down and feels the tiles. “Alright, lets look around. I also want to fly and check out the supports and stuff.” He says. “Uh, maybe you shouldn’t, it could be dangerous!” Saul says. “Come on! It’s a wide-open space! Its less dangerous then flying in the garden! I your worried, I’ll take the light with me so you can see where I am.” Bastao replies. “Damn, we should have brought two lights! And I thought you were going to get a map of the old palace or something?” Saul says. “What? Oh! I guess I forgot. Anyway, How, about you keep the light and look around down here, and I’ll fly and try echolocating the shape of the place? Total darkness won’t bother me, I’m a bat!” Saul sighs at this and replies, “just be careful not to get lost! There’s not really any landmarks for you to follow, you could get disorientated in this empty space.” Bastao had started walking into the darkness, but stopped and said “Heh, your right. But how do you know that can happen to bats?” “The guards have to study bat physiology and psychology. It’s cool you can fly and impressive how sharp your senses are, but you guys are also pretty fragile!” Saul says as he follows the prince. Bastao grimaces and says, “yeah, hollow bones to reduce weight for flying.” The bat spreads his wings and Saul steps back. Bastao takes off and vanishes into the darkness. Saul can’t even hear him flying.

Bastao fly’s around using his echolocation to explore the dome as Saul walks around the roof of the old palace. After a while, Bastao fly’s towards the light he sees on the palace roof. He fly’s and lands so softly that he actually startles the alligator! “Whoa, that was creepy how you just appeared!” He says on seeing the bat. “Really, how can you be even slightly scared by me? Your two feet taller than me, and probably weigh five times as much as me!” Bastao says. “You sure you’re not scared of me? Anyway, I found a smaller palace on top this one!” “You’ve never given me a reason to be scared of you. Oh, that would be the penthouse, I saw it on the blueprints in the archive. I should have taken it; we could use it as a map. So, I found an open tunnel in the dome! I didn’t go in; I know you wouldn’t want me too. Also, the ground between the palace and the dome is gravel, I find it a bit odd.” “You landed down there! I thought you where just going to fly around. You know I can’t follow you when you fly, if something happened to you down there, I’d have to go through the palace to get to you” Saul says stepping closer to the prince. “What could have happened? The only scents I picked up are yours and mine, nobodies been here probably since the day the royal family moved out!” Bastao says. “I’m just nervous about being down here. We’re at the same level as the under city, that tunnel you saw could lead out into gang-controlled area or something! Let’s just check out the penthouse and then leave. We can come back with the junior guard sometime.” Saul says. “Alright deal!” Bastao replies. They walk to the penthouse, its hard to see in the darkness, but Saul’s light shows it to be ornate and very old. The old wooden door crumbles when Saul tries opening it. When Saul shines his flashlight inside, they see that the place is filled with dust and cobwebs! Bastao start to enter, but is stopped by Saul. “You really want o go in there? It’s filthy and you’re a prince!” he says, keeping his hand on the bats shoulder. “Lets just take a quick look around! You go first and clear the way for me. I just wanted to do this for years.” Bastao says. The alligator nods and gently pulls the prince aside before entering the penthouse. He brushes away the cobwebs and Bastao walks behind him. Saul shines his flashlight around to reveal what was once a very ornate room. They spot a crystal chandelier lying in pieces on the floor. Bastao wipes dust of the floor to see it is mosaic tiles! Their doesn’t seem to be anything in this room, and what appears to be the hallway has collapsed. Saul finds a door behind some thick cobwebs. When he opens it, he sees a staircase leading down to another hallway. “I found way into the main palace!” He calls to Bastao. The bat hurries over to look. He moves to take a step down when Saul grabs him and says, “nope! We did enough, its time to go back like you promised!” Bastao sighs and steps up. Saul puts his arm around the prince’s shoulders and leads him out. They make their way across the roof and to the spiral staircase. They climb up in silence and then Bastao leads Saul through the maze of subbasements again. In the elevator they finally speak. “Saul thank you for going with me, and for stopping me before I went too far. By the way, you’re not supposed to just grab me like that unless I’m falling or something.” Saul chuckles and replies, “let’s just say I thought the stairs looked unstable and might break. And your welcome. I love you my little bat prince.” Bastao leans against Saul and says, “I love you my big alligator guard.” The pair head back to Bastao’s room holding hands.