Jiang jolted upright, eyes wide. His heart raced as he glanced around the plane, packed with passengers, flight attendants casually moving about, and Aylin calmly staring out the window.
"Are you kidding me?" he muttered under his breath. The timer was ticking down faster than his panicked thoughts could keep up with. He leaned over, whispering frantically. "Aylin."
She turned her head slowly, her expression calm until she saw his face. "What's wrong?"
"I've got ten minutes. The system—" He swallowed hard, lowering his voice even more. "I'm going to turn back into a penguin in less than ten minutes."
Aylin blinked, absorbing his words for a second. "You're...what? Here? Now?" Her voice remained low, but the urgency was clear.
Jiang nodded frantically. "Yeah! And I have no idea how we're supposed to get out of here without causing a scene."
Aylin glanced around the plane, then back at him, lips twitching as if she were about to laugh despite the situation. "So, what do we do? You want me to toss you out the window?"
"Ha-ha, very funny," Jiang grumbled, already fumbling to pull out his phone. "No, we're going to need a plan. Here, take my phone and my card's info. When we land, you'll need to get us a taxi, check us into the hotel, all that stuff." His hands were shaking as he handed her the phone.
Aylin took it, her eyebrows raised. "You trust me with all this?"
"Not really," Jiang shot back, his panic rising. "But I don't have much of a choice, do I?"
She sighed, sliding his phone and card into her jacket pocket, glancing back toward the flight attendants. "Okay, so how are we supposed to sneak you off this plane? Because I don't think 'penguin smuggling' is going to go over well."
Jiang groaned, rubbing his forehead in frustration. "That's the thing. I don't have much time, and we need to stay low-key when we land. Once we get off the plane, you're going to have to handle everything. Use my phone to check in at the hotel—it's not far from where the priest instructed us to go for the shrine rod."
Aylin nodded, quickly absorbing the information. "Alright, hotel first, then we head for the shrine. What about the taxi?"
"Yeah, just use the app on my phone. My card's already linked, so it'll be easy. Look for a ride as soon as we land, and you'll also need to keep the priest's card on you in case they ask for it." He shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he felt the first telltale tingles of the transformation crawling up his spine. "And make sure the hotel staff doesn't ask too many questions. Just check in, and we'll regroup once I'm... back to normal."
Aylin tapped her chin thoughtfully before an innocent smile spread across her face. "Why don't we just walk you off the plane like one of those... what do you call them, pets? I've seen people with animals here."
Jiang blinked, staring at her in disbelief. "What? No, we can't just walk me out like a pet! People will ask way too many questions. Penguins aren't exactly... normal travel companions!"
Aylin frowned, clearly still processing the customs of Earth. "So, I can't just carry you in my arms and say you're mine?"
Jiang shook his head vigorously, panic rising as the system timer flashed in his vision—two minutes left. "No, no! They'll stop us for sure. You'd have to explain how you got a penguin, and that's going to raise a whole mess of problems!"
Aylin sighed, glancing around before her eyes lit up with realization. "Alright, fine. What if I... hid you under my shirt? You're small enough when you transform, right? It could work."
Jiang blinked, his face flushing as he processed her suggestion. "You mean... under your shirt?"
Aylin smirked, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, it's either that or you waddle off like a tourist attraction. Your choice."
Jiang stared at her, cheeks burning as he realized there was no better option. "Fine, fine! Just—just make sure no one notices. I'll be small, so it should work..."
As the last words left his beak, the transformation finished. A sudden wave of dizziness hit him, and before he could react, his vision blurred. The world around him darkened, and everything went quiet as his small penguin body went limp. He blacked out.