Initials I.T. Remix

Welcome to Ad Astra, an academy the likes of which you've never seen.

Ad Astra is a secret government-owned boarding school exclusively for the elite. In addition to normal classes, here you will learn marksmanship, piloting, mechanics and maintenance, hand-to-hand combat, weaponry, and an assortment of other skills. Your fellow students will range from upper-class to runaways and orphans; admission is based on a rigorous exam that tests your academic, physical, strategic, leadership, and moral skills.

Ad Astra is free to attend, if you are lucky enough to make it in. You will sleep, eat, and live at the school, and in exchange you will complete missions for the government. These missions can range from simple training to maintaining peace on warring planets to anything the government may need you for. These missions are often dangerous, but the rewards are worth it. After school, you will become a government operative, ensuring 100% job placement after schooling.

Do you have what it takes to attend Ad Astra Academy?



Ad Astra is located near the planet Osiris which is one of the central planets of the galaxy. The entire space station is roughly the same size as New York City on the Earth of Yore. Ad Astra is recognized as a trading city, military base, and school as well as a home for hundreds of thousands of people. The base looks like this.


--------------------------------------------------
• My characters:
Name: Abigail Robbins
Age: 17
Gender: Female
Status: Pilot
Skills: Piloting, fighting, and athleticism. Abby can't cook to save her life and she can't hold her caffeine.
Race: Human
Birth Place: Chicago, Illinois, Earth
Appearance:
Personality: On the outside, she's hot-headed, stubborn, and arrogant. Once someone gets to understand her and open her up a little more, she can be quite friendly. Abby may not be one of the easiest people to get used to. She's got a good head on her shoulders but sometimes ignores her conscience which leads to sticky situations. She's cool, collective, intellectual, and strong (mentally and physically) when in the face of danger.

She has plenty of courage and intellect, but sometimes she fools around too much getting her in trouble. She’s loyal, protective, stubborn, funny, athletic, etc... At times, Abby can get really competetive and angry. When people don't try their best and give up, she feels that they cheated themselves. She hardly ever gives up or walks away from a good fight and is extremely optimistic.
History: At the age of 6, little Abby Robbins was orphaned. Coincidentally, the day that Earth of Yore was destroyed was Abby's birthday. The small girl watched helplessly as her shuttle rocketed into space, leaving her parents behind. Just as the ship had made it safely into the fleet of other departing escapees, the world became enveloped in a ring of fire completely destroying everything.

At the age of 7, Abby was transferred to Ad Astra and taken into the world of intergalacitc justice. There, she chose to be a pilot and fly with the elite. While studying basics such as history of the galaxies and mathematics, Abby also chose to learn how to fight with various weapons such as an Energy Sword and hand to hand combat. Unfortunately, she never took an etiquette class and wasn't taught how to make a meal that was pleasing to the eye rather than hunger-quashing. 10 years later, Abby is still kickin' and rearin' to go. She is determined to be the best pilot there ever lived.

Name: Cavan "Glitch" Kilgour-Kavanaugh
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Status: Mechanic
Skills: Fixing anything broken, fightning and telekinesis.
Race: Gaiscioch
Birth Place: Central City, Goidelia
Appearance:
Personality: Glitch is the all around nice guy, but when something goes terribly wrong, he has the right to step up and not always be the most pleasant person to be with. A majority of the time, Glitch is easy-going, cool and smart (making him quite popular with the ladies). If you give him a broken clock, he can turn it around and turn it into a microwave. He's a gentleman and usually helps girl when they're being hassled. He has a lot of patience and listens to people when they vent.

Glitch is almost never seen without a smile on his face. He loves new challenges and exploring the unknown. A trait adopted from his home planet is his British-sounding accent, which makes the girls weak in the knees.
History: Unbeknownst to anyone except for the headmistress of the academy, Professor Kara Nuual, Glitch is the next heir to the thrown of Goidelia. Forced to escape from a vicious attack on his family when he was 5. His entire family was wiped out except for himself and his younger sister Sinead, who is still missing. Enrolling in the academy, Glitch decided to pick up becoming a mechanic fixing private ships and various other things.

Glitch also signed up for fighting classes, convieniently in the same hour as Abby. He's a strong and fast fighter, most skilled in hand to hand combat. Aside from his physical training, Glitch also does training that involves the mind. He is a telekinetic, a gene inherited from his family line. He is still getting used to his newest ability, but seems to have a lot of power that hasn't been tapped into yet.
--------------------------------------------
Rules:
1. No godmodding
2. Detailed and good length posts
3. Appropriate grammar and spelling for Level 2

Updates:
~ This is the section in which I place updated information or other kinds of info that might be useful throughout the course of the story. Check back here often.

Finally, we begin again! XD

Name: Tsukiko
Age: Unknown, estimated 16-17
Gender: Female
Status: Weapons Specialist
Skills: Though Tsukiko is known as the best sharpshooter at Ad Astra, she is also proficient with just about any other type of weapons, including poisons, explosives and blades. She is very nimble, and can beat most boys in hand-to-hand combat. Her grades are in the A-B range. She is in extremely good shape, and is a quick runner that can run for long distances without the physical strain that most people experience. She also has the ability to remain completely calm in the face of danger.
Weaknesses: Leadership and tactical skills are minimal, and nobody in their right mind would let her near the controls of anything more dangerous than a tricycle--she failed her piloting classes. She has a hard time communicating with others and working in groups.
Race: Human
Birth Place: Unknown
Appearance: Tsukiko has bright green eyes, long black hair, and fair skin. She is thin, but not unhealthily so.

Likes: Guns, knives, solitude, chocolate, books, milk, scarves, and long skirts.
Dislikes: Insects/spiders, other people, group projects, herself, life in general.
Personality: Tsukiko is a dark figure. She rarely speaks or makes eye contact with anyone. She dresses in plain black clothing, mostly because she doesn't have much money to buy things the school doesn't provide. She wears little to no make-up, which is just one of the many reasons she gets teased. She gets bullied a lot, and many students enjoy playing practical jokes on her. These jokes are usually anonymous, since most students are fairly afraid of her (see History). Tsukiko is shy, quiet, and a loner, and has no friends at all. During her spare time, she can usually be found at the shooting range.
History:

-------------------------------------------------------------

Name: Haru Anderson
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Status: Tactical Expert
Skills: Haru is very intelligent, and can come up with logical plans quickly. He is a natural leader and a people-person; people look up to him. He is good at sports and most physical activities. He's one of the top of his class in hand-to-hand combat, and is also good with bladed weapons. He's a decent pilot, but his classes focus on strategizing. He doesn't get very good grades because he prefers to socialize in his classes rather than learn, but his test scores always reflect his intellect. He's also an excellent chef, having cooked for his sisters for years.
Weaknesses: Haru is really clumsy and accident-prone, and never without at least two bandages somewhere on his body. He isn't very good with guns, explosives, or poisons, and he almost failed his stealth class. He is also deathly afraid of spiders, though not many people know.
Race: Human
Birth Place: Santa Fe, New Mexico
Appearance: Hazel eyes, silver hair, and a well-built body.

Likes: Jokes, girls, his family, apple juice, meat, pasta, beanies, comfy shoes, and tight clothes.
Dislikes: Being alone, spiders, stupid people, vegetables, and those hidden steps/inclines that he always trips over.
Personality: Haru is very clumsy, and not very good with delicate things. (He once almost blew up the entire science lab during an explosives class.) He is very loud and energetic, and rarely sits still. He is very good with people and has many friends. He grew up with three younger sisters and a younger brother, so he is used to taking care of people. He loves jokes and comedy movies, and has been known to play several practical jokes on other students. He is quite popular with the girls due to his charming personality and good looks, and is a bit of a player.
History:


Edit: I added Likes and Dislikes, as well as Weaknesses, to the list. It's not required, but it's nice to have more background on the characters.

That would be tomorrow, no? Gahhhh. That sucks. I wanna start this back up again. >_<

Name: Fleur Rouge

Age: 17

Gender: Female

Status: Camoflauge Specialist; Spy

Skills: She’s very good at cooking, sewing and computer design/hacking, so when she's got time she enjoys making costumes and/or cooking food. She's very flexible too, and quick on her feet.

Race: Human

Birth Place: Risconi

Appearance:

Personality: She tries to remain fairly calm but she is prone to emotional outbursts and even though she's 17 she often throws tantrums when she doesn't get her way. Nonetheless, she's very nice, though a bit eccentric, and prefers not to listen to rumors ("Rumors lead people astray, solid facts is what you need.") She tends to hold grudges a bit longer than she should, but she’s trying to stop that. So far she hasn’t succeeded much.

History: Fleur grew up in a relatively abnormal family. Her mother was a scientist who got infected with a disease after experiencing an experiment gone wrong that blew up in her lab. She was eight when her mother passed. Her father was a writer. He began writing smut after his wife passed. Smut that didn’t sell and so, gradually, the family began to starve, while her father laid waste to the rest of his life.

Fortunately, a woman noticed Fleur and her older siblings’ plight and took them in. Shortly thereafter, while getting acquainted with the woman and her new home, Fleur took an interest in mystery/detective stories and started applying her ability to sew to make detective costumes as she went around solving "crimes." Her older brother, Theo, took an interest in computer design and so, when he realized that she enjoyed designing costumes and things, he taught her everything he knew about it.

After she received her acceptance letter to Ad Astra, her sisiter, Delaila, taught her how to cook (her baby sister wasn't going to starve at some military school). She set off for Ad Astra and once there, she eagerly took to her classes. While her eccentric personality scared some people off, she took to several others.

~ ~ ~

Name: David Johnson

Age: 18; just turned

Gender: Male

Status: Battle Tactician

Skills: He is very skilled at "seeing the bigger picture" which makes it easy for him to make plans that will work in the long-run. Some of this can be attributed to his natural Lyconian abilities (i.e. being able to see into the future at times). He is a very good artist and skilled at disarming people.

Race: Half-Lyconian (a race of "angels" that are rumored to have the ability to see into the future and project images of themselves places)

Birth Place: Atlanta (Home of the largest Lyconian population)

Appearance:

Personality: David is a quiet, reserved. His large brown eyes make him look innocent, and because of his wings (which he usually tries to keep folded) he often feels isolated from everyone else. He is soft-spoken, and that means louder people can usually dominate him a conversation as he's too shy to try and speak up and make himself heard. However, he is very very intelligent.

History: David grew up in a normal family. His father was a scholar and his mother was a lawyer. He has a younger brother and older sister, both of whom he cares for very much and tries to keep in touch with as much as possible. He learned a lot of what he knows from his father. He likes drawing pictures and tries his hardest to make friends, even though large crowds of people make him slightly uncomfortable.

After receiving the acceptance letter of Ad Astra, David departed from his home world and flew there, where he learned self-defense skills and took classes to help him with his tactical skills. Being as shy as he was, he hasn't made many new friends at the Academy, but he is strong of spirit and thus he has worked hard to stay in the school. His appearance and personality are kind of feminine so that's another thing that sort of isolates him from other boys in his classes. He has learned to use this to his advantage as people usually underestimate him in battle. He is very skilled at disarming individuals.



EDIT: Added some info to David's skill section.

((Bio accepted! Great! We can start right away... just as soon as I get an idea. It won't be long, I promise.))

((How about this for the basic plot of the first arc: we all get sent on a training mission together, something goes wrong, big trouble, blah-blah-blah. Good?))

~Abby~

"The Aladai skyplex is the first of it's kind, manufactured in 2510. In 2516, a group of architects decided to update the machine to--" the teacher continued on, but Abby payed no attention. Instead she stared out the window, her hand barely holding her head upright. The black space sky displayed hundreds of tiny white dots that were the stars of the galaxy. Abby's mind wandered and journeyed those stars from her school seat.

A voice danced across her mind, but she continued to wonder at the marvel she saw everyday. The voice grew louder and Abby blinked.

"Abigail Robbins. Compare the significant aspects of the Ita and Da-Xia religions. I'm sure everyone would like to hear, since you seem to feel that you're too advanced to pay attention in this class," the teacher said, not looking up from her book. She was trying to catch her off guard... and it worked. The other students quietly giggled.

Abby sat up and looked down at her text book. Whoops. Busted, she thought. She glanced back up at the teacher again and took a deep breath, the only thing she could think of was definitely not the answer to the question she was supposed to answer. With an idea, Abby smiled sweetly and said, "Far be it from me to intrude my humble intelligence upon such a delicate subject of great controversy. Instead I think I should explain the significance of such a more valiant subject as say... the Kadeem Revolution of Qiana."

The students stared in amazement as Abby continued. The Kadeem Revolution was considered to be a joke compared to the history of the world. It only lasted 4 hours and injured only 1 person... in the behind. "The Kadeem's views of trying to take over the government were so determined, they didn't consider all of the consquences such as personelle, weaponry, or even common sense."

"That's enough," the teacher said, getting stern.

Abby ignored her, "The Qianian government swooped down and smashed the enemy into submission." Abby pounded her fist into her palm and made various sound effects to add the needed dramatization. The students laughed at her attempt to disrupt the teacher's plight and stared at one another, wondering to see what she would do next.

"That is quite enough," the teacher repeated.

"Then POW! The poor bloke was shot in the ass by his own weapon. How does that work out? I mean, that's just embarrassing. The only injury in the entire fight was someone getting shot, in the butt, by their own gun. I feel sorry for the guy but come on!"

"Abigail!" the teacher shouted, slamming her own text book shut. Abby stopped her speech, still grinning. "I will see you after class," the teacher hissed.

Just then the class bell rang and everyone got up to leave. The teacher remained at her desk, hands clenching the outer edge making her knuckles turn white.

Abby sat politely at the desk and said after the last straggler had left, "You wanted history, I gave you history."

"That was clearly insubordinate and disrespectful of my time. You made a fool out of me and and even worse one out of yourself. Do you know why the other students aren't friendly to you?"

"Because I'm just so nice," Abby said, giving a sarcastic smile.

The teacher gave an exaspirated sigh and moved around to the front of her desk, "You're a smart kid, Abby. You've got the knowledge, but you just don't want to use it, why?"

Abby didn't reply, she only scowled and turned to stare out the window again.

"I've seen your records! You're one of the highest ranked students in my class...." she scanned Abby's face and finally said, "I know you don't want to be cooped up here the rest of your life. You want to journey the universe,... but so does everyone else. And you're not going to get anywhere if you keep this act up."

Abby stared at her folded hands under the desk and didn't say anything. The teacher sat on the edge of her desk a moment and didn't ask Abby any more from her. She sighed again and walked back around to the plasma board. She said quietly, "I pray for your future."

At that, Abby had had enough and stood up. She grabbed her bag and swung it over her shoulder as she stormed out of the classroom and into the hallway. She was going to be late for her fighting class.

~Glitch~

"So then she said to the teacher, "I feel sorry for the guy but come on!" " Glitch's friend said through laughs as he recounted what he had just heard in his class.

Glitch faked a smile and said, "That's really something." The story really wasn't all that funny, but since his friend was having such a fun time talking bad about her, he didn't stop him.

The hallway was packed with people bustling here and there, trying to get to class. Glitch and his friend were now heading to their fighting class, it was on the other side of campus but they had plenty of time to waste.

Just then, his friend stopped recollecting about Abby when she suddenly appeared in front of them. He shut up immediately but Glitch said smiling, "Hey, Abby."

She pushed passed him and continued down the hallway. Glitch's friend asked, "Why do you always try to be nice to her? Come on, she's the most anti-social person on Ad Astra." He continued walking towards his next class but Glitch watched after her.

Glitch stared after her, blocking out what most of his friend said. He then turned and headed towards his next class for Abby had disappated into the sea of bodies and became - once more - an invisible presence.

((Le grand fromage!! I love cheese. Alright, gotta go. I'll be back later.))

((Brilliant idea numero dos: that friend bad-mouthing Abby is Haru. XD And are we doing this in third person? I think I'll just switch back and forth whenever I feel like it. Variety is good.))

Haru

"So then she said to the teacher, 'I feel sorry for the guy but come on!'" I snorted.

"That's really something," Glitch answered, grinning as we walked to another fighting class. Hand-to-hand combat, to be precise. One of my favorites.

Suddenly, Abby, the annoying girl from the class before, just appeared in front of us. And to make matters worse, Glitch just had to blurt out, "Hey, Abby."

Of course, being the weirdo she was, she just ignored him. "Why do you always try to be nice to her?" I asked. "Come on, she's a freak."

"I don't know," Glitch said quietly. "Maybe she just needs a friend." I rolled my eyes and continued walking into the room. And, joy of joys, another freak.

"Psst!" I whispered, grabbing Glitch by the ear. "Look, over there." I pointed towards the girl dressed in black in the back of the room. "Her name's Tsukiko, right? What a loser. She always sits by herself. Doesn't she have any freakin' friends?" I scoffed.

((Wow, Haru is really turning out to be an unlikable character. But he's not as bad as he seems, trust me. ))

~Glitch~

Shrugging, Glitch watched the girl named Tsukiko and said, "Maybe she's just misunderstood. Like Abby. But come on Haru, they're not doing anything wrong. Probably one of the reasons why they don't talk to people is because of others like you." He nudged his friend in the arm with his elbow and raised an eyebrow.

Ever since he'd known both Tsu and Abby, he had noticed that they had distanced themself. Almost as if they wanted friends, but felt too insecure or uncomfortable to try. But Haru's fascination with them made Glitch almost laugh.

Staring at his friend incredulously, he said with a half smile, "If I didn't know better, I'd say you fancy them. You do, don't you!"

Just then, the bell rang signaling the beginning of class and everyone sat down in the raised stands that circulated the room. In the center was the fighting ring. The instructor came forth and started, "Today, you will be facing your classmates as opponents. This is a first taste of what it will feel like during the final exam. I will call two names at random and those two must fight. Now, if everyone would--"

At that very moment, the door opened and in came Abby. She glared gloomily at the floor and quietly apologized for her tardiness.

"Abby Robbins, so glad you could join us," the female instructor said and she flipped through her class sheet, "As a result for being late... I think... Mr. Kavanaugh would be happy to fight you." She grinned cheerfully and turned to Glitch who was sitting disbelievingly in his seat.

"You heard me, Glitch. Let's go," she said, beckoning him forward with her flipbook. Standing slowly to his feet, Glitch proceeded down the steps and unzipped his jacket revealing a white undershirt. He tossed it to the floor and glanced doubtfully at Abby and said, "Listen, I don't think she's really up for fighting."

"Backing down is not an option, Mr. Kavanaugh," Miss Johnson said, ending the conversation, "Begin."

Glitch faced Abby once more who was already in her fighting stance, hands out and clenched in front of her body with her knees bent. Glitch put up his hands and said, "I don't want to hurt--" but before he could get out the word "you" Abby was already charging forward.

With a swift fist directed toward's his face, Glitch instinctively put his fists up and caught her's with a crossed defensive action. Sliding her hand back out, Abby threw her elbow forward and stepped into the attack and Glitch caught her elbow in his palm.

Ducking a swipe from Abby's open hand, Glitch backed away and Abby charged forward letting out a shriek of apparent frustration. Thrusting her foot into the air, Abby aimed a kick for Glitch's chest but he countered with a swift elbow to her shin. She let out a yell of pain as her knee buckled and she knelt onto the floor. Using her landing foot, Abby spun her body around and kicked the feet right out from Glitch's legs.

His back slammed into the mat and his body automatically let out a grunt as air was pushed out of his lungs. Walking over to him, Abby stopped directly over his head and glared down at him. Grabbing his shirt, she brought him up real close to her face and hissed, "Next time we fight, don't let me win."

Clenching his teeth, Glitch brought his foot up and planted it directly into Abby's stomach and grabbed her shoulders as he rolled backwards so the pair were now in exact opposite positions they had just been in. The two stared at each other a moment, and suddenly Glitch smiled. Not a cocky, bragging sort of smile, but a genuine friendly sign of emotion.

Abby blinked in disbelief and released her opponent. No one had ever looked at her that way. That way meaning that Glitch had seen her as a formidable fighter.

"Alright, you two, break it up. Either that or get a room. It's a draw," the instructor said, flipping through her class sheet again. "Next up... Haru Anderson and... uh... Tsukiko."

((Urk, sorry my fighting scenes are so bad...))

Tsukiko

"Next up... Haru Anderson and... uh... Tsukiko," I heard the instructor say. I sighed. Clearly this teacher wasn't paying attention to who she was calling. Haru stood up, ready to fight. I didn't move. "Is there a problem, Tsukiko?" The teacher asked, slightly annoyed.

"Have you forgotten that I am unofficially banned from hand-to-hand combat with other students, Miss Johnson?" I asked in a monotone, without meeting her glare. Her eyes widened in sudden remembrance, and she looked almost embarassed.

"Oh, yes, last year... I remember. Sorry," she mumbled sheepishly. "Um, Haru, your new opponent will be..."

"No!" Haru cut her off. "I wanna fight her!" Surprised, I glanced up to see him grinning. "If she's good enough to ban from fighting, I wanna fight her! 'Sides, she said the ban was unofficial. Which means you're just supposed to discourage it."

"You probably don't want to do that," I said evenly. He probably didn't remember what had happened last year, and it was just my luck to get stuck with someone so naive and stubborn.

"Aw, c'mon! Are you backing down from a challenge? You afraid of me?" He laughed. I struggled to resist rolling my eyes.

"Well, if Haru wants to fight you, Tsukiko, I'm going to have to require that you do," the teacher told me apologetically. "Come on up."

Without a word, I stood up and walked to the front of the room.

----------------------------
Haru

Hah, great! Finally, someone challenging to fight with! I crowed in my head. I wonder what happened last year, though...

She stood silently in front of me, as if to say, "Ready when you are."

I assumed a fighting stance, and waited a few seconds for her to do the same. When she didn't, I just attacked. I delivered a strong kick towards her stomach, expecting it to hit since she wasn't in her stance. Instead of deflecting it, she just stepped backwards.

"Hey!" I complained. "Hand-to-hand combat! Are you running away from a fight?!" I charged at her, trying to land an uppercut punch to her abdomen. She didn't move away, but dropped into a crouch at the last second. Without any time to react, I tripped over and went flying. I landed in a sprawl on my back, and before I knew what was going on Tsukiko was standing over me with one foot lightly pressing down on my windpipe.

"You lose," she said with absolutely no expression at all, and went back to her seat. I got up slowly, rubbing my nearly-crushed neck, and looked at the teacher, who was shaking her head in pity for me.

"Rematch?" I offered.

The teacher glared at me. "No." So I returned to my seat too. I leaned over to whisper to Glitch.

"Dude, is it just me, or do we have some violent, weird chicks in this school?"

~Glitch~

Zipping up his black jacket once more, Glitch leaned over to Haru and whispered back, "I think it's just you. This is a fighting class... you're supposed to kick the other person's ass."

Feeling eyes boring into the back of his head, Glitch turned and saw Abby staring up at him. When she saw that he noticed, she jumped and quickly directed her attention back to her bag. The instructor yelled out a couple of more names as Glitch told Haru he'd be back in a minute.

He got up and proceeded around the level of the circular room and down the steps to where Abby was. As he passed a group of girls, they giggled and one grabbed his hand. He looked down and she said, with a sparkle in her eyes, "You did really well, Glitch."

"Thanks, Mandy," he said, trying to continue towards his destination but she grabbed harder.

"You don't want to sit with us?" she asked, and the other girls smiled hopefully.

"Sorry," he replied, not sorry at all, "I've gotta go now." Mandy was one of the many girls who fancied Glitch, but he felt too distanced from them. They were materialistic and snobby, not to mention Mandy went through four boyfriends in 3 weeks.

He squeezed his hand out of her's and proceeded down the steps. The other girl with out a disgusted noise and the other girls watched as Glitch approached Abby.

"Hey," he said, smiling kindly towards her. She only frowned, didn't acknowledge him, and continued to search through her bag.

Shifting his weight and licking his lips, Glitch said, "You know, I'm sorry about that. Didn't want to fight and all... I know you had a bad day."

"Like you care?" she snapped, folding the flap over, she sat down and continued watching the match.

Ouch... Glitch thought. He glanced up at Haru almost to ask for help, but he turned back to Abby. "Listen. You're a good fighter--"

"I was too slow. Besides that, my kicks weren't as powerful as I'd hoped," she said flatly, folding her arms.

"Well, I could help you, if you'd like. You know, to try and get faster," Glitch offered.

"I don't need your pity," she said, turning her attention away from the match to glare at him. "You were probably dared to come over to talk to me in the first place. Like you even care..." She turned back to the match just in time to see a boy being thrown over another boy's shoulder to land on his back.

Glitch stared up at Haru again as if you say, She's killing me down here. Taking a hard swallow, Glitch backed up slowly, tucking his hands in his pockets, "Alright... well... I'll see you later."

"Looks like Crabby Abby isn't as approachable as you would've hoped," Mandy sneered as Glitch passed.

"At least Abby isn't as easy as you are," he retailiated with a painfully kind smile.

The other girls laughed at their friend's dismay as Glitch plopped back down next to Haru and didn't say anything. He'd never been shot down by a girl before.

Haru

I tried to my laughter as Glitch sat down next to me. And failed.

"Dude! You totally just got shot down!" I burst out, giggling like a little girl.

~Glitch~

"Hey--" Glitch said, pushing Haru's head, making him nearly fall onto the bench in front. "It's not funny. I wasn't trying to hook up with her, I was just trying to be nice."

At that moment, the bell rang for the end of class and the beginning of lunch break. Everyone got up in unison as the intructor yelled over the cacophony something about personal training sessions from six to nine every day.

Glitch and Haru made their way through the crowded halls and Glitch stopped at his locker. He slid his hand through the slot and the scanner read his fingerprints. With three beeps, the locker opened automatically and Glitch began loading his bag into the compartment.

"It's just... I don't know what I was thinking. She was just looking at me and I felt like she was going to be more... friendly? Maybe I'm just crazy," he said, closing the door. "You know what I'm probably just hungry. Do you want to head into town for lunch? I hear there's this new place by the dorms."

Haru

"Sounds good, I'm starved!" I agreed. "I heard it has great burgers."

It didn't take long to get to the joint. The campus had more than just a school on it, but it wasn't like a whole planet; it was more of a large plaza. There were a few dozen shops, a couple places to eat, and in the middle was a public stage for bands and such. Nothing big, but enough to keep the student population entertained, as well as provide a few jobs.

We were seated in a booth on the far side of the restaurant, given plastic-coated menus, and left to our own business. I picked up the menu, but didn't bother reading it, since I already knew what I wanted.

"Y'know, if I didn't know better," I said slyly as I peeked at Glitch over the top of my menu. "I'd say that you liked that girl."

~Glitch~

Nearly choking on his water, Glitch hunched over and coughed. He wiped his chin clean of regurgitated water and stuttered, "Wh-What?" He took a deep breath and said, "I mean... I just thought it'd be nice of me to do that. But it backfired in my face, that's all. Just friendly conversation."

He took another sip of water to clear his throat and the waitress came over and took their orders. After that, Glitch just waved his straw around in the air lazily and said, "We should stop by the bookstore after this. Mr. Martin reminded us that we have that huge essay on old novels in our Galactic Literature class. It's stuff from Earth of Yore, right?"

Haru

"Ugh, I totally forgot about that!" I moaned, stirring my ice cubes around in my glass with my straw. "Yeah, I guess we should. Oh, food's here!"

Glitch and I all but inhaled our meals, and I have to say, that burger really was pretty darn good. We paid for the meals and headed over towards the bookstore.

----------------------
Tsukiko

Honestly, I thought to myself as I put yet another book back on the shelf. Would it really be that hard for somebody to put a book back themself, rather than just lie it down somewhere random?

I was working yet another boring shift at Binders, a strange place that was both a library and a bookstore. They bought used books to use in the library, but you could buy it new in the bookstore section. It was the only job I could get with my personality. At least I didn't have to wear a crappy uniform, like a waitress or something. Plus I got a discount on books, which is always a plus when you don't have much money to begin with. I had taken the job a few months back, when I realized that I really had no money left from the school's already generous allowance. Kids like me, orphans, get a yearly allowance to help pay for expenses like clothing, books, movies, that sort of stuff. And since I had already spent most of mine, I decided to get a job to help support myself. It wasn't like I had anything better to do anyway.

So there I was, putting books back on a shelf to make some extra cash and waste time, when I felt a small tug on my skirt. I looked down to see an adorable little girl looking up at me with big brown eyes. I liked kids, since they weren't scared of me like everyone my own age was. The students in the younger grades hadn't heard of me yet, and I planned on keeping it that way. I crouched down to her level and smiled softly at her, a rare occurance.

"What can I help you with, sweetie?" I asked her quietly.

"I can't find the book I want to borrow!" She pouted cutely.

"What book are you looking for?"

"Sammy the Space Snail!" She told me with a grin. "It's my favorite!"

"Well, I'm sure we can find it. Come on, let's go." Abandoning my basket of misplaced books, I led her towards the children's section of the library. "Okay, Sammy the Space Snail... that begins with an 'S'..." I ran my fingers across the book titles. "Surviving the Jungle, Skating for Beginners, Super Craft Ideas... here we go! Sammy the Snail!" I plucked the book from its place on the shelf and handed it down to her. She grabbed it with a huge grin.

"Thanks a lot!" She beamed, clutching the book to her chest. "Bye!" She gave me a little wave and ran towards the check-out desk. With just the slightest trace of a smile left on my face, I returned to my mundane duty of putting back books. I hadn't even got three done when someone tapped me on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, do you work here?"

I turned my head to see who was talking to me, and nearly groaned. Of all the people, it just had to be him...

-----------------------------------
Haru

"Dude, face it. You have no idea where that book is," I told Glitch, laughing. "We've been wandering around here for ten minutes and we haven't found it yet. Let's just ask where it is!" Without waiting for an answer, I looked around for someone who looked like they worked here. "Hey, she looks like she works here," I said, pointing at a girl with long dark hair putting books back on a shelf on the other side of the store. "Let's ask her!"

"Skirt-chaser..." I heard Glitch cough under his breath. I ignored him. But before I could go ask the girl where Tollenburg's Condensed History of Earth of Yore was, a little girl dragged her away. I pretended to be very interested in a comic book, while I watched as they went into the kid's library. I couldn't see her for a minute, but soon she walked back out and started putting books away again. I decided I better make my move now.

"I bet she's our age, man! And she's got a nice bod, she's probably hot" I said excitedly, rubbing my hands together as we walked. She had her back to us, and all I could see was a nice body and long hair. Very inviting. "Time to turn on the charm!"

"Skirt-chaser!" Glitch coughed again, louder this time.

"Oh, can it. You're just jealous because I'm so popular with the ladies," I countered. "Now, watch and learn!" I paused, took a deep breath, and crossed the final ten feet between me and Miss Mystery.

"Excuse me, do you work here?" I asked politely as I tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around and I gasped, my face twisting into an expression of recognization and horror. "You!"

Oh, I would not be hearing the end of this one.

-----------------------------
Tsukiko

"You!" Haru accused.

I blinked.

"Me," I agreed in a toneless voice. "And yes."

"Er, uh, that's not--ahh--not what I meant to say!" He stuttered, looking both nervous and traumatized.

"What do you want?" I was not in the mood to deal with this. Those three girls from my Explosives class had broken into my locker yet again. One of them specialized in Hacking, and even though the lockers were supposed to be fingerprint-recognition only, there were codes to open lockers too. Even the school authorities couldn't do anything about the problem. At least once a week I would find something missing from the locker; since I had to buy new things a lot, I was almost out of money by the first month of school. Really, those girls were the main reason I'd needed a job.

"Um, T-Tollenburg's Condensed--" He struggled. Clearly he was still in shock from seeing me.

"Tollenburg's Condensed History of Yore. Mr. Martin's essay, right?"

"Y-yeah...."

"Section 4D, towards the end of the second row." I even pointed towards the area.

"Er, yeah, we were over there, but we couldn't find it," he explained, grimacing at me like I was some sort of contagious disease. I sighed.

"Follow me." Without bothering to wait for an answer, I took off towards section 4D, considering all the ways to get out of this situation with as little awkwardness and embarassment as possible.

------------------------------------------------
Haru

I glanced at Glitch nervously as Tsukiko walked away. Only barely managing not to trip over my own two feet, I followed her to the section we'd already checked twice. (Not that I'd tell her that.) It took her all of twenty seconds to run her slim fingers over the book bindings and pull out the one we needed.

"Here," she said simply, handing me the book. I took it, my mouth hanging open in awe.

"How'd you do that?!" I asked in disbelief, glancing down at the book and back up at her. She shrugged expressionlessly, and I grinned. "Thanks!"

Apparently seeing that her work was done, she turned around and began to walk away.

"Hey, wait!" On an impulse, I reached out and grabbed her by the shoulder. She flinched violently, and I let go, as suprised at my actions as she was. She spun her head around, and there was the smallest glint of something like fear in her eyes. "Uh, nevermind!" I said, caught off guard. Eyes still wide in surprise, she continued walking back towards the shelves, albeit a bit faster than before. I frowned and stared after her, then at the book in my hands. "Let's get outta here, man, before I get any more freaked out than I already am," I told Glitch, heading towards the check-out lines.

Once outside, I took a deep breath of air and let it out huffily. "Damn, that was weird. Didn't expect to see her there. Kinda ruined my rep of being a smooth ladies' man back there, didn't I?" I asked, Rubbing the back of my head in embarassment.

~Glitch~

Smiling with amusment, Glitch watched as his friend stumbled over his words mercilessly, act like such a dork, and surprisingly become a bumbling fool. Folding his arms over his chest, he waited for Haru to finish getting the books needed.

"Damn, that was weird. Didn't expect to see her there. Kinda ruined my rep of being a smooth ladies' man back there, didn't I?" he said, as they left the store.

Raising a curious eyebrow, Glitch let out a half snort, "You are such a boob." He shook his head incredulously and added, "You are such a hypocrite, you know that? First you bother me about trying to talk to Abby, and then you go off and start flirting with Tsukiko."

"Like I said... You. Are. A. Skirt-Chaser," he accentuated, jabbing his finger into Haru's chest after every word. Continuing down the street, Glitch stopped suddenly and asked, "Did you get me a book too?"

Grinning malevolently (which is quite unusual for Glitch to do unless he was joking) and added teasefully, "I guess you have to go back and get another one from Tsukiko... Perv."

Haru

"Dude! I so did not flirt with her. She'd probably shoot me or something if I did! Besides, who'd wanna flirt with her, anyway? Total freak case." I paused, frowning. "And we're roommates. Why would I go back in there and buy a book I can just steal from you?"

"Haru!" I heard a girl squeal. "What are you doing here?!"

I turned around, flashing my best smile. "Kelly! Long time no see! How ya been, girl?" She wrapped her arms around me in the girly version of the bear hug, and I returned the gesture.

"Are you busy tonight?" She asked excitedly. "Because there's this movie I've been just dying to see, and I thought, if you had some free time on your hands..." She trailed off, the meaning was clear.

I considered it. Kelly was a fairly pretty girl, and she had a pretty nice body too. We'd gone on a few dates in the last two weeks, but I didn't consider it anything serious. I'd been a little worried, since I had heard that she was high-maintanence and prone to jealousy. But then there was the essay I still had to write, and after that whole episode with Freak Girl Tsukiko, I wasn't feeling the charm flowing. A final glance from Glitch cemented it in.

"Sorry, Kel, but I'm gonna have to pass. I gotta write an essay, and I'm exhausted. Another time?" I offered, but she still looked crestfallen.

"It's another girl, isn't it?" She said, frowning.

"What?" I stammered, bewildered. "What are you talking about?"

"You were talking about another girl, I heard you," she pouted. "Don't lie to me."

"Kelly, you must have misheard. I just ran into that weird girl from my Hand-to-Hand Combat class, and Glitch thought I was flirting with her. Which would be just gross," I tried to appease her. "She's a total nut job. Crazy."

"Tsukiko? You ran into her?" Kelly interrogated, still not happy.

"She works at Binders, and we couldn't find Glitch's book," I told her, gesturing towards the book in his hands. "We had to ask for help. But if I'd known it was her, I wouldn't have asked, trust me!"

"Fine, fine," Kelly said, finally satisfied. "I, er, have to go buy a book too. I'll talk to you later, guys. Good luck with your essays!" She waved and smiled as she walked into the bookstore, but there was something about that smile that worried me. I shrugged it off; it was probably nothing.

"Let's go back to the dorm, eh?" I said to Glitch. "We've got essays to write!"

-------------------------------
Tsukiko

Finally, I thought to myself as I placed the last book on the shelf, every one of those damn books are right where they belong!

Yawning widely, I picked up my empty basket and headed towards the front. We'd be closing soon, which meant I got to go back to my room and sleep. As I walked, I noticed a girl following me. When I reached the front desk and put my basket down, she came up to me.

"Hey, you're Tsukiko, right?" The girl asked me unhappily. I looked her dead in the eye, giving her a bored look. I didn't bother speaking, just nodded. "I'm Kelly Green, Haru's girlfriend. I heard Haru was just in here." I ignored her, walking past nonchalantly. Angry, she followed me. "Hey! I'm talking to you!"

"No, you're talking at me," I corrected without looking at her.

"Bitch!" She spat. "You think just because Haru talked to you for a few minutes that you can talk to me like that? Well I've got news for you! Glitch and Haru were laughing at you the second they got outside! Haru said that you're a total nut job, too. When I asked if he flirted with you, he said, 'No, that'd be gross!'" She giggled and smirked. "Guess you're not as special as you thought you were, huh?"

Sighing, I spun around to face her. "Binders closes in five minutes. If you're going to make a purchase, you should probably get in line," I said in a bored tone, gesturing towards the check-out.

"Geez, it's no wonder you have no friends, you little freak!" Kelly appeared to be on the verge of a panic attack. "You're like a robot! God! No wonder Haru was so freaked out after he talked to you! He looked like he'd seen a ghost or something. But now I know he saw something scarier--your face! You don't even wear any makeup, do you?"

"Four minutes."

"God! You're such a freak! Seriously, I'm surprised he even had the guts to talk to you! Is your weirdness contagious?" She sneered.

Another sigh. "Three minutes until Binders closes."

"You know what? I'm done with this. I'm done with you. Don't know why I was ever worried in the first place. But I swear, if you even come near Haru again, I'll make your life a living hell, got that, freak?" Kelly spun around, huffing away.

Finally, she's gone, I thought to myself, relieved. I wonder what that was all about...

It's not like I don't already know that they think I'm a freak...

Frowning only slightly, I made my way back to the dorms.

((Edited, because I was bored. ))

~Abby~

Abby opened the cabinet door above her sink and pulled down a quick ready batch of pancake mix. Sighing, she thought as she felt the nearly empty contents, Guess I have to buy more soon... Putting the bag on the counter, Abby pushed a small green button on the wall. The gears wherred as part of the counter flipped and morphed into a small skillet.

Meanwhile, Abby opened the fridge and bent down. Pulling out a jar of jelly, some butter and a small remainder of syrup, she stood up and closed the door with her foot.

By this point, Abby was thankful that she only took classes in the morning. She'd been fortunate enough to sign up early enough to get the best times. Now all she had to do for the day was mope about the apartment and maybe do some homework. She made the pancakes and poured four small sized cakes and waited for them to cook.

Listening to the calming sizzling sound, Abby walked over to her window, which doubled as the fourth wall, and looked out onto the street below. Her appartment was seven stories above ground level, giving her one of the best views in the city. From here, the atmosphere looked almost as if they were on a planet with a regular city, blue sky and a bright, phosphorescent sun. Even though it was a false sun, it could still burn one's skin like any other. Bur the view from the school was something that was quite remarkable. The school was underneath the city. All of the windows that one could look out of was an entire view of what could double as the night sky. With no false atmosphere to keep everything in, all you could see was space.

Abby drifted back to that place, back to the stars like she had before in history class, and stared at the bright blue sky. Abruptly a sharp popping sound and the smell of burning food swept below Abby's nose. She jerked back to reality and stared wildly at her lunch, "No!"

The automatic device that shut off an appliance if something began to burn clicked into high gear and shut the system down immediately. Abby rushed over and grabbed a spatula and furiously began to flip her pancakes over. The residual heat from the range cooked the pancakes nice and brown on one side, but the original flip wasn't as successful. It was a darker brown, but still edible.

"Shiny," she said sarcastically, putting extra jelly on her pancakes to difuse the charred taste, "Another '30 Second Combustion' meal, just for me."

Bringing the plate over to her breakfast nook, she gazed out the window once more and watched as electrically powered cars hovered down the street. A crowd of people filled the sidewalks as they shuffled forward, like every other day of their lives.

She sometimes liked to watch them for hours on end, making up tales of their lives, names, and secrets that she made for them. Once plasma television became too boring, sometimes real life was much more fascinating.

Swiping her hand over the touch pad on the wall, the glass fogged and became opaque, but light was still able to illuminate the glass. No one could see in, no one could see out; the ultimate temporary privacy.

She sat down at the table and opened the book she was in the middle of reading, but just as she became comfortable a sharp knock at the door disturbed her calm. She glanced at the closed door, the fork a few inches away from her mouth. Sighing, she placed the fork and contents down and approached. She pressed her hand on yet another touch pad and the screen blinked to life revealing a young messenger waiting patiently at the door.

Touching it once more, she unlocked the door and poked her head out. "Yes?"

The messenger was just about to speak before he stopped, sniffed the air, and said, "Is something burning?"

"I just got home this morning and hated everything," she said, smiling innocently.

"Right," he said, suspiciously. Without further stalling, he pulled an envelope out of his jacket pocket and handed it to her. "You're orders," he said, bowing slightly and leaving.

Abby closed the door and it automatically locked shut behind her. Staring at the envelope, Abby was amazed. Could this be... what I think it is?!
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
~Glitch~

"I'm going now, Haru. Try not to break anything again..." Glitch said, adjusting his music player around his upper arm. He was dressed for his daily run and ready to go. He opened the door to his dorm and proceeded into the hallway. His wireless, nearly invisible headphones blared rythmic rock music as he stood in the crowded elevator. He nodded slightly as the music cresendoed and increased speed, the woman standing next to him gave him a side glance and shifted her weight.

He was an attractive young man with bright green hair and stunning green eyes, which she noticed most. He was muscular but not built, he was designed to be a Koasati player.

Ah yes, Koasati; the sport of champions. It was a tough and dangerous sport, but Glitch loved to play and dedicated his spare time to it. To play one needed a hoverboard, great balancing ability, and be able to take and give a hit. The sport was fast, on occasion deadly, and played in enormous stadiums.

The squad Glitch was part of was just a street Kasati team. They played others in the middle of the road, sometimes blocking angry drivers from getting to their destinations. A lot of people say to Glitch that he's crazy for playing such a game, but he insists it was keeps him sane.

The elevator door opened and he jogged out before anyone could make a move. He increased the volume as he ran out the sliding doors and onto the street past various people walking along the sidewalk. His feet padded the ground in rhythm with the beat and he concentrated all of his energy into every step. Soon, he fell into a kind of mantra; a trance, one could say. He was in his running mode and it would take him running into a pole for him to snap out of it unwillingly.

Fortunately for him, Glitch did not run into a pole.

His feet carried him the regular three mile route around the city and then turned around and headed back. The songs had changed quite a few times by then but it was still the same rythmic tempo that kept him going. As he stared at the street ahead blankly, his mind raced with all of the things he had been pondering over the past day. Running, in a way, was a kind of journal for his brain. It reviewed all of the good, the bad, and the ugly. Before Glitch had realized, he was back at home. He slowed and walked into the apartment building, this time scaling the stairs to his sixth floor dorm he shared with his friend. He emerged onto the floor and pushed open the door. His shirt was patched with sweat and his brow glistened. He was panting slightly, still sitting upon his normal euphoria after exercizing, but faultered when he saw someone standing at the door to his apartment.

The boy was about to knock on the door before Glitch approached and asked, "Can I help you?"

The boy jumped a little and asked, "Cavan Kilgour-Kavanaugh?" Glitch nodded and the boy immediately handed him an enveloped with his name imprinted neatly on the white paper. "Also, if you would give this to Haru Anderson..." he handed him a second envelope, bowed slightly and left Glitch to ponder the contents of the letter.

He pounded on the door with his fist and said loudly, still staring at the envelopes in his hand, "Haru, open up. I forgot my key again."

//Fleur//

Fleur walked silently down the street. Her arms were loaded with groceries. She was so glad she didn't have to work today, but she did have that essay for Mr. Martin to do. Fortunately, though, she'd planned ahead and picked up the book she needed earlier that day before heading into the city to shop. She stared into the bag smiling. Perhaps Abby would open up to her a bit more now. She'd bought the girl some more pancake mix, noticing she was running low.

Fleur sighed. "I'd like to try and be her friend, but for some reason she doesn't like me. Maybe it's because of the joke costume I decided to go to school in once." Though she'd been severely reprimanded for making a fool of the teacher when the woman had told her to go back to her room and change, she'd had a good laugh out of seeing everyone's faces. The costume had consisted of a red spandex body suit, bright lemon yellow panties (which she'd worn on the outside), and an equally bright lime green bra (also on top of the spandex). On her feet she'd worn repulsive looking blue cow-boy boots she'd seen at a flea market and picked up for just such an occasion. Over her eyes, she'd worn those cheap 3-D glasses you could get in the lunches you could by that just required you to assemble them. They'd been painted back and she'd taped them to her face with two brightly colored Superman band-aids.

She giggled again just thinking about it. She'd looked glorious that day. Of course growing up when she tried something like that, her sister and adoptive mother had both told her to stop wasting her beauty wearing ugly costumes. Her brother had been the only one to appreciate the humor of it. Perhaps Abby was on the side of her mother and sister. She entered the apartment building and pressed the button to go up. There was a boy inside the elevator with her, casting glances at her. She shifted nervously. Suddenly he turned and spoke to her.

"Are you Fleur Rouge?"

She jumped upon hearing his voice, but managed a "Yes I am."

He held out his hand. In it was a white envelope. "I was just at your apartment a minute ago, but for got to leave this envelope with your roommate. I was on my way back up to leave it with her." Her heart pounded a bit, but she reached out and took the envelope.

"Thank you," she said, dropping it into her bag, careful to make sure it stayed on top where it wouldn't get wet. She twirled some of the shocking red hair around her finger as she waited for the doors to open again. When they finally did, she stepped out into the hallway, nodded a word of acknowledgement to the boy and headed off down the hall. Fitting her key into the keyhole to her room, she unlocked it and stepped inside, shutting the door behind her.

"I'm home," she announced just in case Abby was there. Smelled like she was. "Did something burn?" she asked, walking into the kitchen. She set her bag of groceries down on the counter and removed the white envelope, placing it on the table top. As she unloaded the groceries she spoke again, "Have you had a chance to read what's in the envelope? I've never gotten one of these before. It must be pretty important."

//David//

David stared at his laptop. He needed to finish the essay but he couldn't concentrate. Impatiently, he tapped his finger on his desk. He glanced over at his cell phone which was lying on his bed. He could call his dad and see what was up at home. No! David you really need to focus! Get this essay done and then do whatever you please.

"All right, all right," he said to no one in particular. He leaned forward, poised to finish typing when he heard a little knock on his door. What? I wonder who could be visiting me, he thought. He was so shy that he'd barely mustered the courage to greet the girl who sat next to him in class and that was after he'd been sitting next to her for three months! Bah, he was sick of himself sometimes.

He heard the knock again. He stood and walked towards the door. "Coming!" he called. Reaching out for the knob, he turned it and opened the door. A younger messenger girl was standing there. Instantly he felt his face flush. He cursed himself quietly as she began to speak.

"You've been assigned a job. The description is contained in this envelope." She held out the object in question and waited for him to take it. It took him a minute to realize what was going on. Carefully he removed it from her fingers and looked at her.

"A job?" He spoke in a whisper.

"Yes." She smiled at him. "Have a good day." With that, she turned and headed down the hall leaving, leaving him to do nothing but stare after her. Finally, he shook his head and stepped back inside his room, noticing his next door neighbor, Glitch, coming back from his daily run. He was sweaty. David smiled a bit in case he looked over at him, but closed the door behind him.

He stared at the envelope for several minutes before he tossed it on his desk and headed for the bathroom. He needed to shower. He couldn't think and before looking at his orders, he wanted to make sure he was relaxed. Grabbing some clothes on his way, he shut the door behind him and adjusted the temperature to something that suited him, stripped off his clothes, and stepped in.

Twenty minutes later, he was tossing his dirty clothes in the hamper and sitting back down at his desk. He stared at the envelope a little longer and ruffled his hair so it stuck up a bit (though for the most part it continued to lie down flat), before picking up the envelope. Sticking his finger under the flap and slitting it open carefully, he removed the folded white papers and began to read.

((Er, I don't have time to post at the moment, since I gotta leave soon, but Jane, I thought it was just a campus? Is there a whole planet, or is it just a school floating in space? I'm confused.))

((Ad Astra is a space station. The regular city is situated on top but the miliatary base, school, and offices are located on the lower levels. I thought I told you... huh... *blink* Oh well! Now you know!

As for you, Eba: Your post is fine. No need to change. And it's okay that you didn't know we'd already started.))

~Abby~

Abby sat at the breakfast nook, her burnt pancakes hardly touched. Laid in front of her was the opened envelope and in her hand was the letter. She heard Fleur come in, but didn't acknowledge her. She was too deeply in shock to care. Setting the note down, Abby rested her chin on her interlaced fingers and simply stared at the wall in thought.

"Have you had a chance to read what's in the envelope? I've never gotten one of these before. It must be pretty important," Fleur said as she unloaded her groceries.

Abby deeply inhaled and finally said, "Yeah... I read it." In fact she'd read it many times over in case she'd misunderstood. Running her fingers through her hair, Abby picked up the letter once more. Clearing her throat, she found the right passage from the text and read aloud, "Due to outstanding work in the academy, the Meria hearby decreed your abilities in the service."

She looked up at Fleur and said, "We've been recruited."

She got up abruptly and began pacing back and forth between the kitchen and the living room. "We're going to be on our own. No one to tell us how to think, how to feel, how to act... except for our orders... but we'll be out there--" she pointed her finger at the large window that was the fourth wall of the living room "-- doing whatever we can to win."

She walked over to the window and stared down at the people below. This is what I've been dreaming about ever since I got here... to help people like them, she thought. No one will ever have the same fate as my parents ever again... not if I can help it.

She tore her eyes away from the window again and turned to Fleur, "It also says that we're to meet with our commanding officer at 7 tomorrow morning."

A sudden emotion swept over Abby's stomach, and she began to smile. A real, sparkle in the eye smile. It would've been the first time Abby had ever really done this since she'd been roommates with Fleur, "We've made it to the top..." she paused a moment and said, "Well that's at least what mine says. What about yours?"

((Er, graduated? Like, no more classes? Oh, that's no fun at all. My folks are just getting assigned a mission. They HAVE to go back to school! C'mon! And I'm just assigning my kids a mission in about a week, so y'all better come. Not sure what it is yet. Oh, and welcome, Ninahata!))

Haru

I stared skeptically at the letter as Glitch handed it to me. "Er, what's this?" I asked. He shrugged.

I stuck my finger under the edge and ripped it open, pulling out the paper inside.

- - - - -
Haru Anderson,

Due to your outstanding performance at Ad Astra Academy, you have been assigned to new mission. Please report to your commanding officer at 07:00 tomorrow for a debriefing and quick introduction to your teammates.

Ad Astra Administration
- - - - -

"Hey dude, what does yours say? Mine says I've got a mission," I told Glitch.

~Glitch~

He curiously watched his friend read his letter before Haru said, "Hey dude, what does yours say? Mine says I've got a mission."

Glitch's heart skipped a beat and he furiously ripped his letter open. He unfolded it, his stomach doing acrobatics all the while.

He read over the letter twice in shock. Sitting down on a nearby chair, Glitch stared at the floor and whispered, "I knew it... I knew it."

He brought his gaze back up to Haru, who was watching him cautiously, and said, "It says... It says..." he gulped, "that you're a skimpy skirt chaser." With a moments pause of seriousness, Glitch's lip began to twitch. He gave Haru a devious grin and added, holding the paper to face his friend, "Oh and it also says I'm on a mission."

Getting up, he began laughing heartily and gave Haru a strong high five. "This is great! Our first mission...." he walked to the bathroom door and set his letter down on a small coffee table. Beginning to take off his gnarly shirt, he added, "After my shower, we're going to celebrate with pizza. My treat." He pulled his shirt over and off his head and finished, "I wonder who else is on our squad..."

((Oh, BTW, Tsukiko doesn't have a roommate. She might have at one point, but she must've got scared and moved out. ))

Haru

"I knew it... I knew it," Glitch whispered. I gave him a funny look. "It says... It says..." he gulped, "that you're a skimpy skirt chaser." I rolled my eyes as he grinned deviously at me. "Oh and it also says I'm on a mission. This is great! Our first mission! After my shower, we're going to celebrate with pizza. My treat."

"That's more like it!" I cheered.

"I wonder who else is on our squad..." He wondered as he walked into the bathroom. I shook my head, turning on the TV. The guy worried too much. Besides, I was getting pizza!

-----------------------------------
Tsukiko

I had been in the middle of eating my cafeteria-bought dinner on my bed when a boy knocked on my door and delivered me a letter. I frowned as I read the paper.

- - - - -
Tsukiko,

Due to your outstanding performance at Ad Astra Academy, you have been assigned to new mission. Please report to your commanding officer at 07:00 tomorrow for a debriefing and quick introduction to your teammates.

Ad Astra Administration
- - - - -

I sighed. Just what I needed, a new mission. I'd had one a few months ago, and considering how it went, I was surprised to get another. The mission had been a terrible failure, due to the fact that no one on the team could cooperate with each other.

But maybe this one would be better, I told myself. Maybe these people won't know you, or won't mind you. It can be better.

Then again, maybe they'd just see me and freak out. But as I like to tell myself, que sera sera. What will be, will be. And that was that.

((Ashton and I collaborated our ideas for this one. This is both of our posts.))

~Abby~

Abby tucked her hands into her jean pockets as she walked along the dark sidewalk street. It had been a few hours since she'd attempted to make pancakes and she was hungry again, the charcoal rich diet wasn't suiting her lifestyle by far.

The streets were crowded with more people than usual. A couple here, and a group there... yet Abby felt as lonely as ever. The band on the center stage of the plaza had just ended their song and the crowd erupted in cheers. The blinking pizza sign hovered over the sidewalk, it's purple and green lights beckoned visitors inside, which just so happened to be Abby's destination.

She entered the pizzeria and successfully ducked into the crowd of other teenagers waiting in line. It was a busy night for business because of the band outside.

The lead singer, a girl roughly about 20 years of age, moved up close to the microphone. Abby could hear her as she addressed the crowd, "Alright, guys... The music's starting to get a little slow. Why don't we pick it up a little." People clapped and she glanced back at her band, "How about a little Blue Man Group?"

The crowd applauded excitedly and the band started up. Abby tapped her heel to the music as she mentally sang along with "I Feel Love". She loved the oldies.

Meanwhile, oblivious to the company behind her, Glitch and Haru walked in through the pizzeria doors, laughing heartily.

~Haru~

"...so then Angie says, 'Hey, that's my bra!' And the rest of us were just like, 'Dude. Didn't need to know that!'" Haru recalled to Glitch animatedly, moving his hands along with the story. "So I guess it's kinda over with Angie, after that." He sighed. "Man, am I hungry. And that has got to be the longest line I've ever seen. Are the lines longer when I'm hungry, or is it just me?"

"It's just you," Glitch told him. "But the lines really are long tonight. It must be because of that band." He gestured towards the girl singing on the stage outside. "They're pretty good, eh?"

"I guess," Haru agreed, not really paying attention. "Hey, who's that?"

"Who?"

"Her!" Haru dropped his voice and pointed towards the girl with reddish-blonde hair that was up in a ponytail right in front of them. "I hear redheads are pretty wild, y'know?" He grinned. "Watch and learn, my friend."

Clearing his throat, Haru put on his best 'good-guy' smile and tapped her lightly on the shoulder. "Excuse me, Miss--YOU!"

The girl, Abby, turned around to see Haru's face twisted into a hideous expression of shock and horror. "Actually, it's Miss Robbins, thanks," she said. She raised her eyebrows and gave a fleeting look between the two boys before asking, "Are you two a gay couple or something? I never see one without the other..."

Glitch and Haru glanced at each other, and Haru immediately jumped into Glitch's outstretched arms. "How could I ever have lived without you before?!" He cried. "Take me, Glitch! Take me hard!"

Abby just blinked, and Glitch dropped his idiot friend to the floor. Haru groaned as he slowly got to his feet and Glitch smiled awkwardly, basically apologetically, to Abby.

~Abby~

She folded her arms and tempermentally asked, "So what the hell do you want?"

Haru replied, grabbing onto Glitch's shoulder for support, "You don't gotta be so rude!" He straightened up and cracked his back.

Abby snapped in reply, "Rude? Rude. You freaked out once you saw my face. How's that for being rude?" She looked Haru up and down and said, with a sneer, "And if I didn't have any sense of politeness, I wouldn't blame anyone for freaking out upon seeing you either."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Haru asked, stepping forward.

"Oh, you know exactly what I mean," she jeered, stepping up to him as well.

Glitch said quietly, "Hey, guys. Cut it out."

"What're you gonna do, huh? Hit me?" Haru taunted.

"I just might," Abby said, raising her fist but Glitch grabbed onto her wrist. He held firmly but not enough to hurt her.

"I said stop," he said, glaring at the both of them. By this time, a majority of the people standing in line stepped backward and watched as the scene unfolded. "You're acting stupid. This is no place to start a fight," Glitch said, lowering Abby's wrist. The sound from the band outside eerily echoed through the room, due to the fact that the majority of the people there dared to breath.

Abby's eyes narrowed at Haru and he returned the gesture of loathing. Glitch continued, looking between the two, "Now stop it."

Without being told again, Abby pushed through Haru and Glitch and stomped off to the door. She left in a huff, leaving the observers slightly disappointed they didn't get to see any action. Some muttered to others, "A lover's quarrel? Gay couple? Who was that?"

Once outside, Abby shoved past bystanders trying to watch the show and emerged into the clearing of the street. She ran down the lane and ducked into an alleyway. Smacking her back against the cold bricks, Abby panted and glanced into the street to make sure she wasn't followed. Certain of it, she slid down the wall and slumped to the ground. Once there, she felt that foolish pain well up inside of her again. No, stop. Don't cry. You're not allowed to cry, she told her self, clutching her hands over her face.

But the emotion was too powerful, even for the stubborn Abigail Robbins. It started as shuddering gasps and then turned into a river of salty tears streaming down her face. I hate him, she thought. Both of them. She tucked her legs into her chest and buried her face into her knees.

The once indestructible Abby was now no more than a small, little girl being teased on the playground.

((Damn! I love long posts! Great job, Ashton! Bonus points for teamwork! ))

((Why McDonalds? Because people will always love greasy, nasty food. Long Live Micky D's.))

Haru

"Dammit, Glitch, what did you go and do that for?" I huffed as Abby Robbins stomped off towards the exit. "I'm outta here."

"But the pizza--"

"Lost my appetite!" I called angrily from the doorway.

Which was, of course, a lie. I was starving. Which meant it was time to hit the nearest fast-food restaurant and inhale some grub.

Five minutes later, I found myself sitting alone in a McDonalds booth, scarfing down a hamburger and a plethora of greasy fries. Not the healthiest choice, to be sure, but the tastiest. Eating alone, as I was finding out, wasn't all it's cracked up to be.

"Haru!"

Ah. Not alone, then.

"Like, omigod!" Kelly squealed loudly. I winced. "What are you doing here?"

I nodded towards the food, throwing another handful of fries into my mouth.

"What a coincidence, that we met twice in one night!"

You could call it coincidence, or you could call it desperation, I thought to myself. I'd heard stories about this girl. She was fun for awhile, but she was needy and clingy. Two bad things for any guy. Plus, she wasn't exactly the brightest chick around. Her last boyfriend, Todd Ruskus, was a friend of mine, and had told me all about her. She probably can't even get dates after she broke up with Todd. Bad move on her part, if you ask me.

Out loud I said, "Did you get your book?"

She looked confused. "What? What book?"

"The one you went into Binders for," I reminded her.

She blinked a few times, then realization dawned on her face. "Oh yeah! That book! No, I couldn't find it. But I did run into that girl that was talking to you, the weird one. And you were right. Boy, is she a nutjob!" Kelly laughed, but it was more out of malice than amusement.

I frowned. Ran into her? Oh, I doubt that, I thought. You probably didn't even need a book, you just wanted to scout out every girl I've ever talked to. She's probably a stalker.

"What did you guys talk about?" I asked between bites of hamburger.

She froze, but recovered quickly. "Oh, you know, this and that!" She swashed her hands in the air, as if waving the topic away. "But enough about that! I thought you had an essay to write?"

"I do," I answered truthfully. "But I didn't feel like writing it." I shoved the last bite of burger in my mouth and licked my fingers.

"Oh? Then do you wanna go see that movie with me now? I promise it'll be fun," she said in a sultry voice. "Movie theaters are nice and dark, and nobody can see you..." She trailed off, grinning seductively. But I wasn't buying any of it.

"You know what? It's getting late, and I have to be somewhere tomorrow morning," I told Kelly, walking past her as I got up to throw my wrappers away. She frowned.

"A date?" She asked suspiciously.

"Yep," I lied easily. Her eyes went wide, and her frown became a pouty scowl.

"With who?" She insisted.

I turned my head around around, gave her a serious look, and said, "Cavan Kilgour-Kavanaugh." Then I walked away, grinning to myself. I wondered how long it would take her to figure out it was Glitch. I could hear her behind me, whipping out her cell phone to call her friends and find out everything she could about this mysterious person.

Definitely a stalker, I told myself. Definitely.

Fleur sighed and sat on the bed. "Ignored...again," she thought. She stared at her open letter and flopped down onto her back, letting out another loud sigh. She could try calling someone, but who? Abby was her roommate. How weird would that be?

\\Enter Dream Sequence\\

The phone rang and then a moment later a familiar voice answer, "Hello.

"Hey Abby. It's me Fleur. You want to do something?"

"Why are you calling me?"

"Well, I, um... you know. I'm bored. I figured that since--"

"We're roommates. We see each other all the time."

"--we're roommates, we could go do something together and get to know each other."

Silence.

"Abby, you there?"

"Stop wasting my time." Click. And then silence once again.

//End Dream Sequence//

She sighed and rolled over in bed, staring at a picture of her family: mother, brother, and sister.

"I made it," she whispered to it. "I'm on my first mission. I know you guys would be proud." And then, the picture of her real parents, before her mom has passed away. She didn't cry about it anymore, not really. She'd been told that sometimes she did in her sleep, but she didn't recall. Bored out of her mind with no place to go, she pushed off of the bed and went to make herself some dinner, hoping that Abby would be back soon, so that they could talk.

((Sorry it kinda sucked. I can't really think. I'm very sleep depraved right now. Thanks for the welcome, blonde_warning!))

~Abby~

Abby shuffled down the street once more, occasionally wiping her cheeks clean from any remnant of crying. She hung her head low, staring at the sidewalk in front of her. The lights from store signs or street lamps illuminated her path, almost like a virutal walk of shame. She'd nearly lost her head in the pizzeria, and she was thoroughly embarrassed about it. That jerk Glitch told her off for doing it too, which didn't help the situation either.

Before she knew it, Abby was climbing the stairs, a long way up to the seventh floor. She didn't mind the walk, instead it let her clear her head. She skipped out on her run today on account of being too excited to concentrate. Her heart skipped again and she suddenly felt a little better, That reminds me... I've got a mission tomorrow. At least I might be able to get along with the other recruits.

Abby stepped up the last set of stairs and pushed the door open and walked down the hall to the corner apartment. She slid her key into the slot and entered the room. She found Fleur in the kitchen, busily working away at a dinner that Abby wouldn't want to eat. Closing the door behind her and stepped inside, moving past the kitchen entryway she said gloomily, "I'm going to bed."

At that, she changed into her pajamas and tucked herself into bed. She faced the wall, wide eyed, pretending to sleep but the excitement was just too overwhelming. Her stomach twisted and churned inside her body, making her feel sick; but Abby just knew that it was nerves. Her mind raced with predicitions about the mission, adventures they'd have, and finally acceptance into a group.

She also realized, to her dismay, that Fleur was to be on a mission as well. Abby hoped that she wasn't on the same squad, for some reason Abby felt that Fleur seemed stuck up. It could have just been because Abby's not too kind to her as well.

She closed her eyes and slowly fell asleep, impatiently awaiting the next morning.

~Glitch~

Stretching out on the couch, Glitch gripped onto the video game controller and watched the opening animation to the beginning song. A half-eaten pizza laid in the opened box next to him, slowly cooling off. Haru still wasn't home yet, but Glitch really didn't mind. Having the place to himself once in a while was nice, quiet.

Almost as if thinking too soon, there was a sharp knock on the door. Glitch grunted and got up off the couch. "What, Haru, forget your key, too?" he asked, opening the door.

But it wasn't Haru staring back at him. It was a group--no, a mob--of three girls, all looking like they wanted to kill him.

"Uhh... hi?" Glitch said, smiling awkwardly.

"Is it true?" one of the girls said, pouting.

"Come again?" Glitch asked, rightfully confused.

"Is it true that Haru is bi?" a second demanded.

Glitch's eye twitched, massaging the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on, he asked again, "What was that?"

"Is it true that Haru has a boyfriend?" the third piped in.

"I heard his name was Cavan..."

He blinked and began, "Who ever said that--?" Suddenly, Glitch sagged and grabbed onto the door in support, "I'm going to kill him... I'll kill him..." The girls stared at each other wildly then back at Glitch. Regaining his composure, Glitch asked, barely audibly, "Who told you to come here?"

"Kelly. She said Haru told her," one said, watching Glitch carefully.

He took a deep breath and remembered that this must have been the clingy girl from before. With an idea, Glitch voiced, "What was that name, again?"

"Cavan Kilgour-Kavanaugh," the first said, nodding.

"Cavan... Cavan..." Glitch said, tapping his hands on his chin thoughtfully. "Wait, isn't it that one guy who was exiled from the throne on his home planet after some terrorists invaded the palace? It was all over the papers when it happened. I thought he was dead."

"He's dead? Then what was--"

"Sorry! Can't help you there! I don't know any other Cavan. Bye!" he quickly shut the door in their faces and pressed his back against it, almost expecting them to barge through demanding more answers.

He heard the girls leave, talking about him. "He was cute." "Cute?! That's Haru's room mate, Glitch. You should see him out on the Koasati field. He's amazing." "Really?" "Yeah! You should see him sometime..."

Glitch rested the back of his head on the door and took an angry deep breath. Judging from the look in Glitch's face, Haru was bound to find a horse's head in his bed that night, for sure.

Other than that, Glitch was grateful that the girls didn't know that it was actually his life story they were talking about. If they had delved into the school records and found the boarding list, they would know most definitely he had fooled them.

He pushed off the door and walked back over to his game. Suddenly too distracted to play anymore, he flicked the power off and walked into his dark bedroom. He pulled off his shirt and pants, and stepped into bed with his boxers. He tucked his hands in behind his head and stared at the ceiling.

His thoughts went through the excitement of the mission, to his fury with Haru, and finally rested upon the mystery that was Abby. There was something about her that Glitch found interesting, although her brashness seemed to be getting in the way. He couldn't explain his feelings. Did he like her? He shook the thought out of his mind and concluded that Abby was too independent and stubborn for being even remotely approachable.

He drifted off into sleep, patiently awaiting the next morning's events.

((Ugh, finally done with my fic chapter. Finally. I am SO glad that's done.))

Haru

I snuck back into the room as quietly as I could, thankful that I'd remembered my key for once. I didn't want to wake Glitch up, especially after our fight. I didn't think he would hold a grudge or still be mad at me or anything, and I knew it had been my fault, but there was no way in hell I was gonna go apologize to him.

Silent as a squeaky door, I brushed my teeth and climbed into my bed, letting sleep take me.

((Those last two words made me laugh. Sleep took him? If sleep were a person that'd be dirty. Ahahaha. Oh, and it's short, but what could I do? My brain is dead from action-y scenes. That and watching Zuko's Agni Kai sequence in episode 3 of Avatar. *drool* Somebody wanna post for the next morning's meeting? Cuz that'd be great.))

~Abby~

Abby's eyes snapped open at the sound of her alarm clock radio. She threw the covers off of herself and tapped the radio off as she hurried across the room to get to the closet. There, she pulled out a clean uniform and began to get dressed.

She jumped into the blue pleated miniskirt and pulled on the jacket with the school crest on her arm to match, buttoning it up, she walked over to the door and brought out her black shoes. Moving back into the bedroom, she pulled on her thigh-high white socks lined with two strips of blue running length wise. Quickly fiddling with her tie, she made her way into the bathroom and did her daily business.

Emerging with her hair in the usual ponytail, she walked over to Fleur's bed and tapped her shoulder. "Fleur... Fleur. You have to get up now," she glanced at the clock and saw that they had roughly forty-five minutes to go. Plenty of time left for her to get ready. "Come on, Fleur. Get up or else you'll be late."

~Glitch~

Glitch's morning however was even less exciting. He sat on the couch, eating cereal and watching the television. He barely got any sleep the night previous, due to his racing mind.

"Hey, Haru," he called over the news man's voice, "Get up." No reply. Getting up, Glitch set down his bowl on the cluttered coffee table and moved into the doorway and said, "Get up now."

Haru groaned and rolled over, smothering his face into the pillow.

"You're going to be late for the meeting!"

"Nnnugh. Five more minutes."

Crossing his arms, Glitch said loudly, "Kelly Green is out here waiting for you to explain yourself about last night." Haru's head snapped up, rolled out of bed onto the floor. Glitch laughed and said, "That was easy."

He walked back into the living room and continued eating his cereal. He was already fully dressed in his uniform. Blue pants lined with double stripes running the length of the legs, a high collared blue uniform with the school crest on his left upper arm.

"So," Glitch said, spooning another mouthful of cereal into his mouth, "I had some visitors last night... Apparently they were some of Kelly's friend..." Glitch let himself trail off, hinting the fact that he knew what Haru had said. After a night's rest on it, Glitch actually found the whole ordeal to be quite amusing.

((Another collaboration with Ashton. ))

//Fleur//

Fleur sat up quickly, speaking in her energetic voice. "I'm UP! Now please let me have five more minutes of sleep!" And with that she fell back down and rolled over. She'd only been half awake. However, Abby would not let her rest. Continuing to shake her, Fleur eventually half rolled, half stumbled out of bed and staggered to the bathroom. Her long red hair swayed as she did so, touching itself to the top of her bottom cheeks.

When she got in the bathroom, she glanced at the mirror and jumped. There were tears on her cheeks. Had she been crying? She tried to remember what she'd dreamt about the other night. Her parents. Her real ones before everything went wrong. She shook her head to clear her mind and then got into the shower. Twenty minutes later, she finished tucking the last bit of hair up into her bun and walked out of the bathroom, dressed in the school uniform.

"Thanks for waking me Abby. You want some juice?" she asked leaning into the refrigerator and pouring some orange juice into a glass she'd just retrieved from cabinet. Downing it in a couple gulps, she put the dish in the sink, and pulled on her socks and shoes before heading for the door. She stopped to wait for Abby. "We better get going. Fifteen till." Fleur was looking forward to this mission. It was her chance to get Abby to open up. Perhaps we can become friends after all.

//David//

David set at the breakfast table looking over his notes one more time. Already dressed in the school uniform, he was sitting down to breakfast. He sighed. "0700 hours. He glanced at the clock. 15 minutes. He placed his cereal bowl in the sink and headed for the door. He hadn't been able to eat much because he was nervous, which definitely wasn't good. Breakfast was the most important meal of the day, after all.

He turned back around and grabbed two granola bars that he shoved in his pocket and then headed back out the door. Locking his room behind him, David headed to the elevator and stepped in, pushing the down button.

~Abby~

"No thanks," she said when Fleur offered her a glass of juice. Instead she picked out an apple and a banana from the counter and tucked them into her jacket pockets. Slipping on her shoes, she waited for Fleur to finish before she opened the door and grabbed the keys on her way out.

Following Fleur out the door, she heard the click as it locked and the two made their way down the hallway. It was still pretty early for anyone to really start getting up yet, so the halls were quiet. At the end of the hallway was the elevator, Abby jammed her thumb into the button and didn't say a word as the whirring of the air combustion shafts shifted into motion.

She moved up against the wall and rested her flat foot against the wallpaper, picking at her nails. The excitement was now beginning to wear away, sleepiness taking it's place. She kept waking up throughout the night, worried that she had overslept.

Suddenly the elevator binged and the doors slid open. Pushing off the wall, she and Fleur walked into the elevator and pushed the lobby button. The doors slid shut and they began to descend.

Abby watched the numbers decrease until suddenly it stopped on the sixth floor. The doors slid open to reveal...

~Glitch~

"Haru, I'm not waiting any longer," Glitch said, halfway out the door, sticking his foot through the crevice to keep it open. He did up the gold buttons to add the last finishing touch to his uniform. The apartment door next to his suddenly opened and emerged from within was David.

Glitch nodded to him in acknowledgement and watched as he walked down the hallway to the elevator. "Haru! Now!" Glitch said, uging him on so they didn't miss the trip down.

The elevator doors closed and David disappeared. Groaning, Glitch reached inside the door and grabbed Haru by the collar and practically dragged him down the hallway. He pressed the button and waited patiently, patting down his stunning green hair, he tried to make it somewhat presentable.

The elevator rang and the doors slid open to reveal Abby and her room mate whom Glitch was not yet familiar with yet. He amiably nodded to them both and filed inside. Abby, however, didn't seem all that happy. She inched away from Glitch who stood next to her and tried to stand in the back of the small box.

Glitch's face fell a little and thought, She must be embarrassed about last night... Regaining his usual personality, he said cheerfully, "Hi. I'm Glitch. I don't think we've met before." He held out his hand to Fleur, his green eyes sparkling, almost enchantingly at her. It was accidental, but it was one of his charms with girls. Apparently it didn't work on Abby.

//Fleur//

Fleur glanced at Abby, eyeing her strange response and then offered a hesistant smile. "Hello. I'm Fleur. It's a pleasure to meet you." She glanced him over. Fairly attractive. She took his hand firmly and shook it. "And you are?" she asked, extending a hand to Haru as well.

She stared at them both and then glanced at Abby out of the corner of her eye. As she waited for Haru to respond, she watch the numbers decrease as the went down, the elevators finally dinging open as they reached the first floor. There, a blond boy stood in the middle of the lobby looking confused.

//David//

David looked as his watch and then returned to watching the numbers descend until they reached floor one. He stepped out of the giant metal cage. "Plenty of time to make it...to wherever I'm going." He stopped. All the letter has said was that he was to meet his commanding officer. He couldn't recall where it told him to go though. He looked around confused. Where woulda a commanding officer be?

He heard the elevator ding behind him and he turned to see Glitch, Haru, and two girls he didn't recognize, though one reminded him suspiciously of the girl who had pranced into Tactician class one day dressed in the most eye opening costume he'd ever seen. He stepped forward.

"Er, excuse me... would any of you happen to know where the Commanding Officer's office is?"

Haru

"Officer's office..." I snickered. "That sounds funny." Glitch elbowed me in the side. "Oh! I almost forgot!" I turned to Fleur, grabbing her hand and shaking it firmly and giving her a flirtatious smile. "I'm Haru Anderson, and believe me, the pleasure is all mine."

Resuming seriousness, I thought hard about where the commanding officer would be. "I think he'll be at the school, won't he?" I suggested. "Isn't that where all those government big-wigs are at? I bet he'll be there." I glanced at my watch. "Yeah, we'll have plenty of time to get there. No problems," I said, taking off towards the door.

((Short, yes, but I need breakfast. Pronto.))

~Glitch~

"Wait, hold on," he said, looking at the paper in his hands. "It says here that the office is down 4 main levels to the military base in section 7B. From there we take 2 lefts and a right and it's at the end of the hall."

Glitch looked up smiling only to have Haru staring at him. "What?" he asked, his face faultering.

"How do you know that?" he asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"Map," Glitch said, holding it up to reveal that it was on the back of the letter that they had all received.

Abby rolled her eyes and walked away towards the exit. "What?!" Glitch said, half-laughing as he followed her out the door. The only way to get down to the lower levels was a high-speed elevator. Although this elevator could go at extremely high speeds, it wasn't burdened by the usual up and down movements of any regular shaft. It could to sideways, diagonal or around in circles; wherever the destination, it could take you there.

There were two versions of the elevator, one for a maximum of two people or one for at most 12. The group filed into the larger one and their journey down to the lower levels began. The navigation panel was just a simple key pad with a series of numbers and letters. Glitch tapped in the right level and section and they were wizzed off to the meeting. The elevator was different on the interior as well. It was a circular pod with a row of seats lining the curved wall. In the center was a table for any sort of object to be placed upon it. The walls were made mostly of glass, allowing the passengers inside to watch as the lights zoomed passed and other tunnels branched off from theirs.

Before anyone could have guessed, the pod slowed and the door hissed open to reveal a white lobby with a lone secretary sitting at the circular desk at the back of the room. Approaching the desk, Glitch said, "Uh... hi. We're here to see Lt. Nuual."

The skinny woman looked up over her glasses and glanced Glitch up and down. She went back to filling out some sort of paperwork and said, "To the right all the way down the hall, make two lefts and the office is right at the end of the corridor. You can't miss it."

Glitch navigated the route through the air with his finger and said, "Thank you," as he walked to the right of the desk and proceeded down the hall. Following the woman's directions, the group found themselves standing before a door.

Glitch rapped lightly on the glass and it opened automatically. Entering cautiously, Glitch stuck his head inside and called out, "Hello?"

From the corner of the room out sprouted a woman with a firecracker and exploded it in Glitch's face. The colorful paper erupted into the air and fell back down to the floor. "Congratulations!" the woman said, opening her arms wide.

Glitch rubbed his face and blinked, surprised, "Wh-what?"

"You've been promoted!" she said, grinning widely. She was a tall woman, slender, but fit. Her skin color was dark, but her eyes were a shining purple. Her hair flowed down over her shoulders and covered some of her many badges that flourished her white jacket. She wore a long white skirt with black high heels. She was very attractive, and not to mention young.

"I'm so glad to finally meet all of you in person!" she said, clapping her hands together. She glanced over every one of them before finally saying, "Oh my you've all grown to be a bunch of attractive lookin' kids." She pointed her finger at Haru and added, "Let me tell you, you were one goofy looking kid when you arrived here, Haru Anderson."

Glitch gave Haru a side glance and his lip curled into a teasing smile. "And your hair!" the woman said, coming over to Glitch and attempting to pat it down.

"Umm... can I ask for you name, please?" Glitch said, bowing his head down to try and escape her hands.

"Sure you can," she said, smiling. She tucked her hands behind her back and continued to grin down at the lot of them.

Glitch watched her patiently before realizing she wasn't going to answer him that way. "I'm sorry, what is your name," he said.

"I'm Lt. Rebecca Nuual, your commanding officer," she said cheerfully.

Tsukiko

Dammit, I'm late! Of all the days to forget to set my alarm clock...

I glanced at my watch. Yep, definitely late. I ran down the hall, knocking into at least two military men on way and coming to an abrupt stop just before the doorway. My hair was disheveled, my skirt was crooked, and I looked a mess.

"...Rebecca Nuual, your commanding officer," I could hear from inside the room.

I took a deep breath, fixed my skirt and patted down my hair, and stepped into the office looking cool as a cucumber.

"Tsukiko!" Exclaimed a tall woman with dark skin, walking towards me. For a horrifying moment, I thought she was going to hug me. "You were such a timid little thing when you first came here! But from what I've heard, you can stand your ground just fine now, eh?" She grinned at me.

Clearly, someone got their coffee this morning, I thought to myself as I stared impassively at this overly-cheerful person. Who the hell is that cheery at 7:00 in the morning?

"Y-You!"

I groaned.

--------------------------------------
Haru

"Y-You!" I cried, pointing an accusing finger.

"Actually, Haru, her name is Tsukiko," Lt. Nuual corrected me politely. "I take it you two have met?"

"Er, yeah," I muttered, dropping my arm limply to my side, blushing and averting my eyes in embarassment at my outburst.

"That's great!" Lt. Nuual said excitedly, clapping her hands together like a child. "Now, let's all introduce ourselves, and then I'll give you your mission overview, okay? Okay! I've already told you who I am, so let's start with... Haru!"

I had to remind myself not to swear in front of my commanding officer. "Uh, Haru Anderson," I said lamely. But hey, you can't be charming all the time.

"Wonderful!" Nuual said. "Next?" She pointed to Tsukiko, who looked none too happy to be there.

"Tsukiko," she responded tonelessly.

"Fantastic! Next?" She pointed at Glitch.

~Glitch~

He jumped a little as Nuual moved to him and paused before saying, "Sorry for breaking the routine or anything but... we kind of already know each other already. No need for introductions. And since you apparently know us," Glitch faultered and tried to find the right words, "isn't it kind of... frivilous when there is something more important that you obviously needed to tell us about?"

Nuual looked at Glitch for a moment before smiling, "I like you already, Mr. Kilgour-Kavanaugh."

Glitch averted his eyes and thought, Great. She knows my real name... meaning she must know about home.

Nuual walked around the desk and pulled out a small disk about the size of a nickel. She then proceeded to the pure white wall and placed the disk into a small holding unit. The lights suddenly dimmed and Nuual turned back to the wall and, believe it or not, walked straight through it.

Glitch stared in disbelief at what had just happened and stared wildly at his squad mates. Nuual poked her head back in through the wall and said, "Well come on! Time is of... well, it's just important." She ducked back through the wall and Glitch cautiously approached. He slowly extended his hand and stuck his fingers through the apparently solid matter. It felt cool, almost like water, but when he pulled his fingers back out they were still perfectly dry.

An arm shot out from the wall and grabbed onto his own, ripping him inside. An involuntary noise escaped him as he straightened and saw that he was now inside a different room-- or at least what he could guess was a room. It looked like--

"A galaxy," Glitch said in amazement. As everyone else appeared behind him, Glitch stepped forward and circled the 3-D illusion. From what he could tell, it was a hollographic image projected into the center of the room.

"Precisely. The galaxy Andromeda," Nuual said, following him. "Right now, we are here," she tapped onto a center section of the galaxy and the billions of stars exploded outward to zoom them closer into the picture. Nuual continued to do this until the entire space station they were standing on was right in front of them in a tiny hollographic image.

Glitch saw Abby walking through the stars, careful not to touch any one of them incase she ruined the picture. But she backed up, amazed at the scene displayed in front of her, and passed through a large blue planet. The planet distorted and wharped until it renewed it's original shape. She smiled slightly at what she had done and saw that Glitch was watching her. Her face immediately fell and she turned away.

Glitch only tore his eyes away from her when he noticed Nuual began speaking again, "Ad Astra is a sanctuary for those unfortunate enough to share the same fates that so many like them have. Like myself, you have all found this place to be a safe haven. It's our only home now.

"We help those who are lucky enough to escape our fate and fight to make sure it doesn't happen again," Nuual continued, her voice strangely calm from how it was a few minutes previous. "You six, plus another two who will meet with you later, have been chosen to complete a mission on the planet Goidelia."

Glitch's stomach flipped and he turned away, walking to the far sides of the room. He put his hand on the wall and stared at the ground with wide eyes. His breathing became short and ragged. He turned and said, almost a hint of fear in his voice, "Why are we going there?"

Nuual's eyes fell and she said, "I know it may be hard, Mr. Kilgour-Kavan--"

"It's Glitch," he snapped, interrupting her. Glitch almost never snapped at anyone, but this time he had a personal reason.

"Right. Glitch," Lt. Nuual corrected herself, soothingly smiling. Her eyes displayed compassion and understanding, which oddly enough seemed to calm him. "Goidelia is a planet on the brink of a deadly civil war between the current dictator and various rebellion groups," she continued, addressing the rest of the squad. "Although this has been raging for years, this is the time when we are truly needed most."

At this piece of information, Glitch blinked a few times and stared at the floor once more. Nuual saw him and paused for a second before continuing, "Goidelia--" she tapped on the illusion of Ad Astra once more and the picture zoomed back to the original galaxy. Grabbing onto the edge of the galaxy, Nuual pulled the image closer and zoomed in on the large green and blue planet with two large moons orbiting it. Also, two rings encircled the planet, crisscrossing at the polar points, "--is located on the outer region of the galaxy. It is one of the most powerful planets in the galaxy and is heavily depended upon for trading and resources. You will be deported on a small Setali aircraft that will take you directly to the planet.

"From there you must find The Bitheadh, ask for shelter, and in return help them achieve the goal they've been dreaming of for years."

Abby spoke for the first time since they had arrived, "But why should we help them revolt? How do we know that it'll be best for them?"

Nuual said after a moment's thought, "You will see in due time, no doubt." Abby's brow furrowed and she glanced at Glitch before quickly looking away and watching the two moons of Goidelia orbit.

"Your transport is leaving tonight in approximately twelve hours from now. They will expect your expertise and help while on board so I hope that you give them no reason to throw you overboard." From her front pocket, Nuual distributed small holographic chips to each person and said, "This is your homework for today. It's a list of everything you may need for the trip. It also has a culture background to help give you some idea about how to blend in. Any questions?"

Haru

"No, ma'am," I said, grabbing Glitch by the arm and darting out of the room. I dragged him down the hall until I was sure no one was around to listen. "Dude, what's your problem? I've never seen you snap at anyone like that. And at the commanding officer? I know something's up, now tell me what it is!"

((Shortness! w00t!))

~Glitch~

He observed his concerned friend with sadness in his eyes and he took a deep breath. Running his fingers through his hair, he drew his gaze up to the ceiling and admitted quietly after a moment, "That's my home."

He massaged the back of his neck before letting his hand fall to the side, "I promised myself I'd never go back there. Not after..." Glitch trailed off and something glistened in the corner of his eyes, he turned away quickly and wiped them away. He continued to face the wall, and put his hands on his hips, trying to keep it together, "When you see what I have... something like that never leaves you. You have no idea..."

At that, Glitch walked away leaving his friend stunned behind him. Right then, Glitch wanted to be alone for a while. He stepped back into an individual pod and was rocketed back to the surface, back towards the apartment.

~Abby~

Abby turned around the corner and saw Glitch walking away, back to the main lobby. She paused for a second and considered turning right back around again, but thought that being nosey was more interesting. "What's his deal?" she asked, approaching Haru from behind. With a devious little grin she added, "Did you break up with him?"

Haru

I frowned, not amused by Abby's joke.

"Can it. I don't know what's wrong with him. I guess Goidelia or where-ever was his home planet, and some bad stuff happened there. He said he promised himself he'd never go back. Why the hell am I telling you this?!" I wondered suddenly, angry at myself for telling this random girl something Glitch clearly didn't want known.

Geez, if he didn't tell me... this must be pretty big...

"Crap. I wasn't supposed to tell you that, so don't go blab to all your friends, okay?" I paused, thinking. "Oh, wait, you don't have any friends, do you? Er, wait, that came out wrong... just, don't tell anyone, okay?"

Well, so much for the charm...

"Is something wrong?" Tsukiko asked impassively, stepping out of nowhere and scaring the living daylights out of me. I jumped about two feet in the air.

"Would you PLEASE not do that!" I cried, feeling my heart race.

"Do what?"

"That! That sneaking up on me thing!"

"I didn't sneak up on you. You just weren't paying attention."

"What do you want?!" I was really getting sick of this girl. Didn't she have any emotion at all? Her expression never changed the entire time she was talking!

"You're blocking the exit," she pointed out. I blinked, looking behind me to confirm this claim.

"Uh, there's probably room for you to get by, y'know," I said, giving her a funny look. "It's not like I'm fat or anything, I'm not blocking the whole thing."

"Your girlfriend might get mad if I accidentally brushed against you," she said, sidling past me, careful to avoid contact. And was the the slightest hint of sarcasm in her voice?

"Girlfriend?" I asked cluelessly. She glared at me. "Kelly Green?" She nodded. "Not my girlfriend. Stalker, maybe. Girlfriend, no."

Tsukiko roostered an eyebrow at me. "Stalker. Yeah, that makes more sense," she said, more to herself than to me. Having finally gotten past me without touching me, she turned and continued down the skinny walkway.

"Hey, wait!" I called. To my surprise, she stopped and turned around rather than ignoring me. "How do you know Kelly Green? Are you guys friends?"

A blink and a glare.

"Ah, okay. No." I paused. "Lemme guess. She came in and threatened you after I talked to you?"

"Yeah."

"See? Stalker!"

"Yeah," Tsukiko said, sounding completely disinterested. "Bye."

And she left. I turned to Abby.

"Dude, something is wrong with that girl."

Fleur stepped out from behind Abby. "You shouldn't be so hard on her," she said. "She just seems quiet you know? Perhaps she needs a friend." Fleur examined the chip in her hand. "Homework, all ready..." Carefully she turned to go, but stopped when she noticed a blond boy standing by himself.

"Er...hey. Are you just gonna stand there? Come on, we're all going back." The boy jumped when he heard her speak.

"Are you talking to me?" he asked in a voice just above a whisper.

Fleur nodded and walked over, grabbing him by the arm. He cringed, involuntarily. She pulled away. "Well, I can take a hint," she said with a small grin.

"No, I'm sorry. I'm just...not used to girls grabbing me is all," he replied. He glanced at Abby and Haru, apprehensively. "Are you sure they don't mind me accompanying you?"

Fleur shook her head. "And if they did, I'd punch them in the nose. Come on, since we're going to be teammates, we might as well start getting to know each other, even if we can't become friends." She sent a pointed look at Haru and Abby before grabbing the boy's arm and pulling him towards the other two. His face was flushed but as they stepped out of the galaxy, he fought to keep the blush off his cheeks.

"Say, you never told us your name. I'm Fleur."

"David. David Johnson," he replied quietly. He felt awkward as Fleur waved to the Officer and then stepped out of the office, proceeding back to the elevator. She paused, trying to decide if she should wait for Abby or not. David finally pulled back and said, "Perhaps I should go with Haru and you can go with your friend."

Fleur crinkled her lips and pushed the button. "Abby doesn't seem to like me very much, and I don't know why. I'd apologize but I don't know what I'd be apologizing for." She noticed the quiet girl stepping into an elevator and she hurriedly jumped in with her, waving goodbye to David. He lifted his hand awkwardly. As Fleur reached out to touch the ground floor button, she turned and extended a hand. "I'm Fleur. What's your name?"

Tsukiko

I didn't turn my body to face Fleur, just my head. I staring at her hand for a moment but didn't take it.

"Tsukiko," I told her tonelessly, turning my head back to it's normal position.

((Short!))

~Glitch~

Leaning the seat of the chair backward, Glitch stared up at the ceiling and silently sighed to himself as Johnny Rzeznik's "I'm Still Here" played softly on the stereo.

This mission wasn't turning out as well as he would have preferred. Going back to his home planet meant that everything that he'd worked so hard to push out of his memories would come flooding back and drown him. You're making this trip too personal. Pull yourself together and get the job done, he told himself.

In front of him was the screen displaying the holographic information database that Nuual had given him. He was taking a break from studying what he had so long forgotten. This can't be about you. This is about Goidelia, he reminded himself again. Getting up, Glitch moved to the fridge, pulled out a Sprite and pressed it open. Taking a small sip, he then proceeded to the large window and looked out over the city.

His mind wandered and he suddenly revisited an all but unforgettable memory.
---------------------------------------------
A 5 year-old Glitch rounded the corner to his bedroom and squealed in delight as he crawled hurridly underneath his bed and turned himself back around. His large green eyes fixed themselves on the door as he held his breath with anticipation. Suddenly, footsteps could be heard coming from the hallway and a figure clad in a deep maroon robe. His barefeet were visible from Glitch's position under the bed.

"Now, where on Goidelia could he be? He's so fast, I could barely see him..." a man's voice said playfully. Glitch clamped his hands over his mouth to stiffle his giggles. "My son has just vanished into thin air!" the man exclaimed, turning on his heels and walking back out the door.

With a warrior-like yell, Glitch scrambled out from under the bed and grabbed onto his father's leg. "Oh no!" his dad laughed, falling dramatically to the ground as Glitch held tightly. "I'm being attacked!"

Glitch shrieked with laughter as his father grabbed onto him and lifted him into the air. Mr. Kavanaugh spun around towards the bed and fell down on top of it. He grabbed onto Glitch's pajama shirt and pulled it over his head. "I'm gonna getchya. I'm gonna getchya!" he said, taking a deep breath and blowing a long, loud raspberry on Glitch's bare stomach.

"Now what are my boys doing this late at night?" a woman teased, putting her hands on her hip.

"Mummy! I surrender! Tell daddy I surrender!" he barely managed say due to laughing so hard and trying to fight off his father's tickling fingers.

"William. Let your son go. It's far passed his bedtime... and yours as well," she said.

"Alright, alright," he said, lifting Glitch up and setting him down on his bed. "You win this time, twerp, but just you wait. I'll be there in a few minutes, Alana."

William Kavanaugh was a tall and fit man with brilliant green but uncontrolable hair that he had passed onto his son, as well as his stunningly enchanting green eyes. He had a strong jaw but a fair brow. The most interesting part about William's façade was a scar just below his right eye. It curved downward in the shape of the letter 'U' and ended just near the bridge of his nose. It seemed to define all of his other features and also claim attention to itself.

"Dad..." Glitch said, bringing the warm covers up to his chin, "How did you get that scar?"

"You want me to tell it to you again?" he asked, smiling warmly at his first born and only son. He scratched his scar nonchalantly and said, "Why don't you tell me this time... I seem to have forgotten."

"Okay!" Glitch said, scrambling to his feet and standing heroically on his bed. "Some men were in the thick of battle, fighting all of the bad guys away," he animatedly began to reenact what he thought had happened. "When suddenly, out of no where--" Glitch climbed up to his headboard and balanced on the thick wood. "--you swooped in--" he jumped off the board and landing in a bellyflop onto the covers and crawled deep underneath them "--and took the bad guys by surprise."

William sat at the edge of his bed, smiling at his son's acrobatics routine. "Oh really?" he said.

"Yes really!" Glitch said, leaping to his feet once more with the blankets still resting on his head. "And while you fought, you got cut with the edge of a sword," Glitch said, spinning around and sprawling himself on the sheets.

William shrugged admitedly and said, "A casualty of war, I'm afraid."

"But help arrived and you were okay!" Glitch said, grabbing onto the blankets and pulling them back over his body.

"If I weren't you wouldn't be here," he said, tucking Glitch tightly into bed.

They didn't speak for a moment, both looking down at each other with love in their eyes. Finally, Glitch said, "Will I... ever be as strong and brave as you?"

William smiled and said, "I'm certain of it. Now go to bed or else your mother--"

Unexpectedly a bang erupted from outside the door--

Glitch shook his head and didn't realize that that bang had happened in reality as well until he turned and saw Haru standing in front of the closed door.

"Hey," he said, walking away from the window and setting his Sprite down on the table. He straightened and took a deep breath, "Listen... I'm sorry for losing it like that. I was just..." Glitch couldn't find the right words to explain.

((Yay! Long posts rock.))

//Fleur//

Fleur's expression dropped slightly at the terse reply. But she wouldn't give up. "That's a pretty name," she said with a smile. "It reminds me of flowers." She tried to judge what Tsukiko was feeling, but her face was void of emotion. Fleur tried again.

"So, um... what do you like to do? I hear you're pretty good at martial arts and stuff. I'm fairly skilled in gymnastics and stuff. I'm glad to have a chance to work with you on this mission. If you ever need costume help with the espionage, I'm your gal!" She let out a nervous giggle.

"So, enough about me. Tell me about yourself. How are you feeling today?"

((Sorry for the short post. Gotta go. Dinner.))

Tsukiko

"Fine," I replied in a dead voice. I paused before speaking again. "Fleur. Flower, in French. Are you French?" I asked, still using a monotone.

----------------------------
Haru

"Uh, it's fine, man," I told Glitch, trying to wave it off. I changed the subject. "We got any food? I'm starving." He nodded towards the fridge, and I took the silent suggestion. While rummaging through the half-eaten boxes of pizza, I pulled out the salami spread and the cheese spread. Apparently, in the old days, people used sliced meat and cheese on sandwiches, but that sounded so much harder. Spreads are convenient.

"So..." I started lamely as I pulled a knife out of the drawer and began putting spread on the pieces of bread. "Does this mean I can expect homework help from you?" I grinned.

((Gah! Tsu's so short-spoken that it's hard to make dialogue for her! And I think we've got a time-inconsistancy here, but that's okay. The Haru/Glitch stuff is taking place a bit after the thing with Tsu and Fleur.))

~Glitch~

Glitch's tense emotions finally wavered away and he smiled, "Well, that depends." He sat down on the couch and put his feet up on the table, "What do you want to know?"

((Short? Oh you bet.))

Haru

I stared Glitch right in the eye.

"Okay. This is a really, really important question, and there are serious implications that will go with your answer." I paused, letting the moment grow pregnant with importance...

"What are the girls like?"

((To fix the time difference, I'm going to put them out on the sidewalk.))

//Fleur//

Fleur paused. "Well, I guess you could say I have some French heritage. I'm fluent in the language. My great-great-grandmother was French and passed it on through my mom's side of the family. My mom made sure to teach me and my siblings the lanugage that her mother's mother's mother had been so proud of."

Fleur smiled as she thought to herself that Tsukiko showing a slight interest in her was good, even if the question had been asked in a flat voice, completely void of emotion. She kept the sigh pressed down in her gut and replied, "So Tsukiko, you never answered my earlier question. What are your hobbies? Do you need to pick anything up to pack for the mission? If so we could go pick it up together." She glanced down the street eyeing several possible candidate stores. "What do you say?"

//David//

David looked at the holographic screen in wonder. So many interesting things he'd never knew. Commanding Officier Nuual had been kind enough to include a map and description of the general terrain of the planet and already his mind was racing thinking of possible escape routes should the mission not go as planned and secret crevices they could hide in to make emergency swap-outs on their weapons.

"I should pack to make sure I have everything," David said as he stood, but kept the screen up so that should he decide to glance in that direction, he'd be able to see the map. He could barely keep a smile off his lips. His hard work and sacrifice had paid off. He was moving on up.

Tsukiko

This girl is never going to shut up, I thought sadly to myself. Never. She has followed me from that meeting, I have no idea where she lives, and I hate the French.

Out loud I said, "My hobbies are reading and shooting. I work at Binders. I don't need anything for the mission." Which wasn't entirely true, actually. I needed to go grocery shopping, but I doubted she wanted to go with me.

Honestly, I was surprised she was even talking to me. I wondered if she'd heard the rumors--and not all of them true, mind you--about me. The latest was that I was a wannabe-boyfriend-stealer, started by none other than Kelly Green. Of course, the ones about me nearly killing a boy, and being able to shoot a moving target from over 200 meters away, and never talking to anyone; those were more truth than lie. And yet here Fleur was, chatting away like we'd known each other our whole lives.

Suddenly, I stopped walking, cold-turkey. "Why are you talking to me?" I asked, but not unkindly. "Most people wouldn't come near me with a ten-foot pole."

~Glitch~

Glitch laughed out loud and said, "Why didn't I see that coming?" He shifted in his seat and casually put his feet on the wooden floor. Resting his elbows on his knees, Glitch pondered Haru's question, choosing his words wisely, "Well... When I lived there, I was young enough to still think girls had cooties. I don't think I ever put much thought into it before.

"But just to humor you, I'd guess that the women there are much like any other on the next planet," Glitch said, finalizing the answer.

Glitch pressed his lips and tapped them with his clapsed hands and continued, "But I do remember the style of clothing; fairly conservative-- not exactly your type. But you know those pictures in our history text books about the medieval era back on the Earth of Yore?"

Haru nodded and Glitch added, "I suppose one could say that was the fashion. Comfortable and simple clothing made simply for function. It was basically ancient Europe to the history fanatic. We had our knights, our famers, our merchants, and our royalty."

Glitch uncomfortably cleared his throught and kept going. "The technology, though. You wouldn't expect it to have been primative in the least. Goidelia had some of the fastest growing technological advancing companies in the surrounding galaxies. It was heavily depended upon by most other planets."

He rose to his feet and began pacing, "I do remember the music and the food..." Glitch began to smile and began, "I... I remember for my fourth birthday, they had made a cake for me. It was vanilla. They left it alone for a second and... heh... my dog, she jumped up and ate the entire thing. I remember I was so angry, but my father just laughed. Pretty soon everyone was laughing, including me. We have--... had a picture of it as well."

Pretty soon Glitch was off, exploring the memories he had worked so hard to supress but now it felt good. He felt releaved, almost as if a pressure had been taken from his gut and was meant to be released. The good, the funny, the sad, and the thought provoking; but they were all meant to be heard. He talked about his first hoverboard experiences, his night-time stargazing with his parents and little sister, and even his (most of the time) humorous moments of being in time-out. He also recalled the time when his father taught him how to play the draoi (a form of percussion instuments).

The main part that Glitch left out was the night he left his home. It was still too raw for him to explore just yet. Those memories were better left for some other time.

"I think I may have bored you senseless," Glitch said, plopping back down on the couch, "Any other specifics you have in mind?"

Fleur shrugged. "I figured since we're going to be on this mission together, we might as well get to know each other." Fleur could tell she was not wanted. Though Tsukiko's face was impassive, her body language was not. She couldn't decide if she should press on, despite the girl's feelings or not.

She went on, "And besides, I am not most people. I've heard the rumors about you, and quite frankly I don't really care. Even if you did almost kill a boy, he either A.) deserved it, or B.) it was an accident. It's not like you go around attacking people with the intent of bringing about their ultimate demise or anything. Everyone needs a second chance." I should know. I never gave Dad one and then, only recently, he'd sent me that heartfelt letter. Even if it had been written while he was drinking. That probably meant he believed in what he was saying even more.

"Look, if you don't want me around, then just say so. I was just hoping we could be friends. If we're friends, we'd trust each other more, and the mission would probably go smoothly." Possibly. If everyone did their parts correctly and trusted each other it would. "But I'm not going to go around forcing myself on people. I don't mind running errands with you, but if you don't want me to come, then just tell me. I can do something else with my time." Fleur crossed her arms and waited for a response.

((10000 points for Tsu NOT being able to use commas. XD))

Tsukiko

I eyed Fleur suspiciously. There was a strong possibility that this was nothing more than a ploy to do something bad to me, but I wasn't getting any sort of bad vibe off of her. Nor could I remember a single time seeing Fleur hanging out with those girls, the ones that tried to make my life hell.

Aw, hell. We're gonna be on a mission together anyway. Might as well try to get her to like me. Or at least not hate me.

"It was an accident," I told her, referring to the almost-killed-the-boy incident. I refused to meet her eyes, choosing instead to stare off to the side. "And I need groceries. You can come if you want. I don't mind."

Without waiting for a reply--though fully expecting one from this talkative girl--I started walking again, thankful that Stan's Foodmart was on the way home. On the other hand, though, it wasn't all that bad to have someone talk to me. It was actually nice, in a loud and unusual way. I just wasn't good at talking to people.

----------------------
Haru

"Well, not quite senseless, but pretty close," I admitted, rubbing the back of my head. "How's the food?"

((Sorry about not giving you a prompt, Eba. (Or should I call you Nina nowadays?) Tsu's just not good at asking questions. ))

~Glitch~

He faultered at Haru's comment. He was a little hurt by it, but he had to remind himself that Haru wasn't raised there. But Glitch admitted that he could have at least pretended to be interested. Hiding his true feelings, Glitch smiled and said, "The food?! It shouldn't even be called food it was so good. The word just doesn't do it justice.

"Want to know what our ship looks like?" he asked, and without waiting for an answer he moved over to the holographic screen and pressed a few buttons on the pad. Instantaneously, the screen disappeared and in it's place rotated a 3-D image of their ship. If anyone from the 21st century on Earth of Yore had seen this, it could have easily been mistaken for a regular commericial airplane. The wing tips were pointed vertically and the tail was oddly shaped, but most would have thought it was for use on planets.

"It's one of the latest models, the IPS Titania," he said, standing back and admiring the details. "We'll be having a smooth ride all the way there."

Haru

"Sweet, man!" I said, resisting the urge to touch it. Holograms were always shiny and pretty, but they gave me a weird feeling when I stuck my hand in them. "Dude, I can't wait. Food, girls, and a pretty bird," I said, referring to the ship. I rubbed my hands together in excitement. "This is gonna be a good trip. How long is the flight gonna be? And who's our captain?"

What's the point of doing homework when you can just get the answers from Glitch?

~Glitch~

"Our captain's name is Peter Easton," Glitch said, tapping on the screen and the ship was then replaced with a picture and some statistics on the captain. "Apparently he's recommended highly among the ranks at Ad Astra. He's a people person," Glitch said, giving a wry smile.

The man on the screen was clean cut and young. Any woman would have said he was mysteriously attractive, with his sweeping blonde hair placed elegantly along his deep brown eyes.

"By saying 'people person', I really mean he probably has the same skill that you do with talking to women," Glitch said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Strangely enough, though, I did not seem to find any recommendation from Nuual. What do you think about her anyway?"

"I went shopping this morning, but I think I could use a few emergency supplies," she replied, falling in step with the girl. Fortunately, it was the way back to her apartment as well. She didn't say much as they walked, not until they entered the store.

"What do you need?" she asked. "I'd like to stop by the fabric area. And some hygenic stuff." She turned to Tsukiko to wait for her response.

((Yay for shortness! And as I already told LE, I'm going to be in Dallas this weekend. So please feel free to use my characters as you need them, though I'll try to post using my brother's laptop.))

((Sorry it took me so long, my internet's been down since friday! Ack!))

Haru

"Nuual..." I began uncertainly. "Well, she's very... energetic? I don't know, she's just a little too perky for someone who sends kids to kill people. Kinda bothered me. But I wonder why she didn't recommend this guy... Maybe he's an ex-boyfriend?" I offered with a grin.

---------------------------
Tsukiko

"I need fruit, bread, toilet paper, and toothpaste," I said blithely. I pointed to the left. "The fabric area is the closest, that way." As we walked, I tried to think of a question that was appropriate for the situation. "So, what is the fabric for?"

((Short, yes, but I have to leave for cross country in like, 5 minutes. Blegh.))

((I think we should start hurrying up. I don't want this to go no where fast. So let's start wrapping it up and get on the ship.))

~Glitch~

He shrugged and walked away, "Who knows." He rested his shoulder on the sturdy glass window and once more looked out across the skyline. He frowned as the memories, mostly bad, danced through his head. "We should probably start packing soon," he said, pushing himself off the wall and taking another swig of his drink.

"We'll be on the mission for a few months at most," with a smile, he added, "But look on the bright side, we get a long break from school."

Putting his empty can in the sink, he said, "You know what, I've got something to do. I'll be back in a few minutes, alright?"
------------------------------------

~Abby~

Back in her dorm, the punching stand swayed and wobbled as Abby hit each point with precision. She let out a final grunt as she kicked low on the stand and backed away. The screen positioned at the top bleeped and her statistics were displayed. It showed the number of hits and how much damage it would have done. Unfortunately, the numbers weren't as good as Abby would have hoped.

The male-sounding electronic voice of the computer asked, "Distracted? You need to work on your high kicks. Maybe if you got someone to train you--" but the computer didn't have time to finish.

It was instead met with a foot colliding into the topside of it's padding. The stand toppled to the floor and Abby stared at the machine with a scowl. The computer added, "Never mind."

Abby grabbed the towel that had been draped over the back of the chair and threw it over her shoulder. She moved over to her stereo system and turned down the loud work-out music, only to switch it over to relaxing ballads for her cool down.

She stood in the center of the room, she closed her eyes as she focused on her breathing. The soothing music began to cresendo slightly and Abby began her Tai Chi meditation. Her entire demeanor transformed from a brash and angry girl, into a graceful and calm warrior. Her bare feet slid across the soft carpet as she smoothly danced through her techniques. Her hands gently circled through the air, gathering her energies and expelling them outward.

Her eyes were still closed as she gently bent her knees and slightly outstretched her right foot to have her big toe touching the carpet. Her hands were extended in front of her, catching and keeping her meditative state. The music began to pick up the pace and Abby's movements matched the tempo. She pivoted on her left foot and brought her arms swinging around to the front and gently pushed the Chi from her body. But her palm suddenly felt something solid. Did I hit the wall? she thought. She opened her eyes and looked up.

It was Glitch.

He stared down at her with a small smile. Abby's hand was still pressed against Glitch's stomach. She blinked up at him, her mouth slightly open but she gathered herself together and snatched her hand away. Glitch began by breaking the uncomfortable silence, "Carrickfergus..."

"What?" Abby asked, backing away, still startled.

"That's the name of this song," Glitch said, listening to the music. "One of the classics from home. My mother used to sing it."

"How did you get in here?" Abby snapped, interrupting him.

"The door was open. I heard music and knocked, but you didn't hear me," he said, gesturing towards the open door. Abby grabbed her towel once more and wiped her brow, "Well what do you want?"

Glitch stepped forward and asked, "About the other night... are you okay? When we met this morning, you seemed sort of... hostile."

"It was nothing," Abby said, arrogantly as she tossed the towel to the chair, "I'm perfectly fine now." She put her hands on her hips impatiently and said, "Now is that all you're here for?"

Glitch stared at Abby and said calmly, "I know you're not so forgiving about something like that. I hurt your pride, I'm sorry. I embarrassed you, I'm sorry. Haru can be a jerk some...times..." Glitch faultered at the intolerant expression Abby was giving him. "What?" he asked.

"I already told you I'm perfectly fine. And if it proves anything else, I don't even recall what happened that night," she said.

Glitch stared intently into her eyes and scanned for any sign of fibbing, "You're sure?"

"I'm sure," she replied, her face stoic.

"Right..." Glitch said, still staring into Abby's eyes. She ignored the fact that they were brilliant and very attractive. "Well, I guess I'll get going now... got a lot of packing to do," Glitch hinted, backing out. "It was nice talking to you. See you later tonight."

Abby nodded and smiled sourly, "Buh-bye." She shut the door and stared at it. Glitch... he was here... He was... in my room! He saw me meditating, she thought frantically. I totally froze in front of him. I could have talked to him like a normal person, but I had to completely freak! God, I was even touching his abs!

She admited to herself and herself only, He did have really nice abs... but that's beside the point! He tried to apologize and I threw it in his face. What the hell was I thinking?

She grabbed her forehead and plopped herself down on the couch. She completely lied to Glitch about being okay after her confrontation with Haru. Even though Glitch was the medium between the two, she had to admit that he had his best intentions to stop the fight from becoming violent. Glitch wasn't a bad guy, but he was still friend with that bum bum named Haru. And any interaction with Haru put anyone one Abby's blacklist.

Still fuming at her cowardice, Abby got up and proceeded her meditation movements to the song "Orinoco Flow." Although her concentration wasn't as deep as it was before, she carried through the techniques as before. Her thoughts wandered to Glitch and she began to think how absurd it would be...

((I hope you don't mind me moving this along, blonde_warning, so I can get Fleur back to pack and on to the ship.))

//Fleur//

Fleur nodded. "For disguises. You can never tell if they'll be handy and just in case we lost contact with the main base and can't get some, it's great to have some on hand. Once I get an idea and measurements, I can whip them up in a couple of hours. Besides, it's always better if we can camoflauge into our surroundings for espionage missions, isn't it?" They reached the fabric area and Fleur quickly moved through it, selecting the fabrics she wanted. And then they headed to pick up Tsukiko's stuff.

Picking up a few hygenic products herself, Fleur paid for her items and stepped from the door. "Well, we'd better hurry home and pack. We haven't got much time and from the position of the sun it looks later than we need it to be." She laughed and smiled before she suddenly jumped like she'd just had an idea. "I know we'll be meeting back up with each other soon and that we'll probably be together for a while, but here's my number, just in case." She scribbled it on the bottom part of her receipt and tore it off, before handing it to the girl. She waved and then ran down the street, hurrying as fast as she could.

When she entered her room, Abby was finishing up her Tai Chi relaxation routine. Fleur edged along the wall to ensure she didn't disturb her and then headed to get her bag. When she came back in the front, it was then she noticed Abby's troubled expression. "What's up? Something bothering you?" She empty her grocery bag and placed the carefully folded fabrics inside, before she went to retreive her sewing materials and small portable machine from a desk. She placed these in her bag too and then began packing clothes, food, and other necessary items for the mission." She hummed in her head while she glanced up waiting for Abby's response. This could be their chance to connect.

//David//

David plopped down on his sofa. He pressed the can of soda to his lips and smiled as he looked at his bags which were stacked neatly by the door. He was once again reading through all the material again, familiarizing himself with the landscape and the necessary plans, just as he'd been doing before he interrupted the activity to pack.

"Ah," he said quietly as he reached out to poke the screen, having just discovered a route he had not seen before. "So if we go through here we should cut about five minutes off of our escape, which could be invaluable. The more time we can save the better. And then if we cut through here we could save another couple minutes. I wonder if there are any guards who know about these routes. If not this could put us at a major advantage. And the best way to go in is through here..." He couldn't help himself. His mouth curved into a smile as his mind continued to piece things together. His heart was beating fast cementing the obvious fact that he couldn't wait to get going.

((Sorry for not posting in a while. Soccer and garage sales have been killing my time.))

~Abby~

"Nothing's bothering me," she replied, taking a sip from her water bottle and shutting off the music. "Let's just say I've been thinking a lot. Nothing special," she added, finalizing the conversation. With that, she walked into the bathroom and closed the door. She began to undress and proceeded into the shower to freshen up.

All the while, Abby continued to tell herself that Glitch's charm was nothing more than his usual personality. Why would anyone in their right mind try to be nice to her? It was probably just some ploy to put her guard down. Most likely he was another skirt chaser like that Haru-ass. When there's one, there is usually a second.

When she got out of the shower, she stared at herself in the large mirror as she combed her hair through. Glitch is just looking for trouble. That's it. He's got no interest in me at all. If he's smart enough, he'll stay away from me, she thought, glaring at her reflection.

With that final thought, she walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom to get changed into comfortable clothing; it's cold in space, so Abby then continued to pack appropriately.

"What took you so long to get back anyway?" Abby called to Fleur. Not that I'm interested, just curious, adding the thought.

Tsukiko

"I know we'll be meeting back up with each other soon and that we'll probably be together for a while, but here's my number, just in case," Fleur said quickly, writing her number on a her receipt and ripping it off for me. Then she turned and ran.

Damn, did I freak her out that bad? I half-laughed, half-sulked to myself. I shoved the paper in my plastic shopping bag and started for home.

Once home with the door safely locked, I grabbed myself an apple from the fridge and munched on it as I began packing. A few pairs of black shorts and pants found themselves tossed messily into my bag; I'd fold them later. Moving farther along my miniscule wardrobe, I took out several shirts and threw those in. Finally, I grabbed all my skirts. I had roughly ten. Skirts, I must admit, were and still are my guilty pleasure. Most people wouldn't expect me to love skirts, since I had such an apparent lack of personality. Skirts weren't practical, per se, but I loved them. A majority of the aforementioned clothes were jet black, though--gasp!--I did have clothes in other colors sprinkled among the ebony. Nothing bright, just deep reds and blues and purples. Still dark, but not colorless.

Sitting on my bed, I tossed away my apple core and began the mundane task of folding clothes. Suddenly, the phone began ringing. Cursing, I shot up and ran towards the phone.

"Hello," I said in a monotone. "Tsukiko speaking." Now tell me who the hell you are and why you're interrupting my clothes-folding.

"Tsukiko!" Cried a relieved voice on the other end. Joe, my manager. "Thank goodness. I need you to come in right away."

"Can't. I'm leaving on a mission tonight," I told him apathetically. Honestly, though, I liked Joe. He hadn't heard the rumors about me, so he treated me with the same respect as all his other employees. He was about 28 years old, acne-faced and always had greasy hair. I suspected that he'd gone to Ad Astra once, but either got kicked out or was 'let go', and afterwards had just stayed behind and worked at Binders. He was nice, but more than a little on the dorky side.

"Please, please, please, Tsuki, I'm begging you!" He whined, and I winced at the use of the nickname. "No one else can come in! I need you!"

I rolled my eyes. They probably just don't want to come in. I'd bet anything that Jenna is off partying with her boyfriend and Ed's playing some weird card game with his geek friends. "How long of a shift?"

"From now until six," Joe told me. "Ed comes in after that. Please, Tsukiko, I need you today!"

Sighing deeply, I said, "Alright. I'll be there in ten. And you better pay me extra for this, I have to leave at seven tonight."

"Thanks!" He practically screamed. I hung up the phone, glanced sadly at my unfolded clothing, and took off for work.

-----------------------------------
Haru

With the room to myself, I decided that I'd better stop being such a lazy ass and start packing. A pair of cargo pants here, some jeans there, a shirt and some socks that didn't smell quite clean. With nearly my entire dresser shoved messily into a suitcase, I had to sit on it to zip it shut. I figured that since my mother had never been around long enough to show me how it was really done, this would be okay.

Speaking of mothers, I wondered about Glitch's family. We'd never really discussed our backgrounds, and even though I considered him my best friend, we didn't know much about each other. Now, knowing that his planet was in turmoil, I wondered if there was a reason he never wanted to talk about it. Because as the saying goes, shit happens.

Arms akimbo, I resolved to try to use this mission as a way to bond with Glitch. In a manly fashion, of course.

Fleur shrugged. "I went to the store with Tsukiko. Bought some fabrics and hygenic stuff. Why?" Jealous? she added in her mind jokingly. She knew Abby would never be jealous of anything she had. She was plain. Jeez. So far, everyone she'd talked to seemed afraid of her (or at least they disliked her). Was that costume that frightening? she wondered. She glanced up at Abby, awaiting a response.

((Yay for shortness! And sorry for not posting. I've been in New York delivering my brother to college with the rest of the family.))

((It's alright. I just thought something might have happened.))

~Abby~

"Just wondering why I had all the room to move," she said, folding up a final t-shirt and laying it into the dufflebag. Zipping it up she looked around herself and heard a small beep alarming the time. She glanced over at the projected image of a digital clock and said aloud, "It's six o'clock. Have you finished packing? We should be heading out soon."
---------------------------------

~Glitch~

Closing the door behind him, Glitch proceeded into the apartment and found Haru sitting on his suitcase. "It's a first, Haru is actually being productive," he said with a wry smile and continued on to his own dresser and begin pulling out clothes and throwing them over his shoulder into his open backpack.

Despite what most might think, Glitch wasn't much of a neatnick. If his clothes were wrinkled, he always reasoned, They'll straighten out once I put them on. If the dirty dishes no longer fit inside the sink, he'd possibly consider putting them into the ultrasonic washer. [Note: The dishwasher uses ultrasonic sound waves to clean the dishware.] He's been getting better about picking up after himself, especially when it came to the living room, but old habits die hard.

"It's just after six. Are you ready to go?" Glitch asked, shoving his hand through the opening and pushing the bundles deeper inside.

((Shortish post.))

//Fleur//

Fleur nodded. "Yep, I'm all set. You ready to go?" she asked as she grabbed her large bag and slung it over her shoulder. She grabbed her keys and her phone and slipped them into the front pocket of her bag and head to the front door, turning the handle and opening it. "Let's go then."

//David//

David tossed the soda can away into the compactor and stood. He slipped the holographic chip that contained all the relevent information into a small bag which he then placed in his traveling case. He picked it up and after ensuring everything was in working order, he headed to the door, turning out the lights as he went. Last time he'd see this room for a while. Nonetheless, he passed through the threshold, and closed his door behind him, heading to the elevator.

((Sorry, Kesenai, but we're already too deep into the story to incorperate another member of the academy. It'd be too difficult. Sorry for your trouble.))

~Abby~

"Interplanetary airlines announcing the arrival of Flight 9435, IPS Titania, to Goidelia. Customer service representative please report to gate C42," a female announcer called over the intercom as both Abby and Fleur strode through the entrance gate and into the large hangar filled with bustling people and stationary planes of all shapes, colors and age.

Hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people strutted passed them. Some were filing into awaiting vessels, others were walking up the ramp to the upper levels of the complex to rest and await a transfer flight. As Abby proceeded through the mass of people in the gigantic hangar, she overheard snatches of conversations from all different species from the farthest reaches of the galaxy. She passed a family of orange slugs talking with each other using various forms of squeaks and grunts; while a couple with purple hair received directions by a security guard.

"Don't eat that sweetheart; you don't know where it's been--" "That flight was too long--" "Zijn wij aan de juiste poort?" "Momma, I'm hungry!" "Dove la stanza da bagno più vicina è?"

Abby dodged out of the way of a large transport moving luggage from one end of the wing to the next. Just when she thought she was safe, she found herself being swept away with a group of gossiping Pettegolezzo women. Ducking back out, Abby emerged to find herself in the center of the hangar. Oh no. I'm going to miss it, she thought before making her way towards the far end of the wing.

A small tug on the back of her shirt made her stop and turn. A little boy, not much older than four years old, with black cat ears situated on the top of his blonde little head was staring up at her, his eyes swimming in tears. "I can't find my mom," he said, nearly sobbing.

Abby stopped and just gazed at the boy in confusion, "Come on, kid. I can't help you. You should go find a security guard or something." Abby gently twisted the boy's hand from her shirt and walked away. She was more concerned that she would miss the flight. But suddenly a small wail made her stop again. The boy had officially begun crying.

Shoulders collapsing, Abby took a deep breath and did something out of character. She turned once more and grasped onto the little boy's hand with gentle force. The boy stopped crying abruptly and stared at her in amazement. "Let's go, kid. I'll take you to your mom," she said, not meeting his eyes. Her jaw was set, but determined, as she lead the child away to the customer service desk.

A smile inched it's way through his lips and the boy beamed at her. She was his guardian angel.

"Fahim!" a woman shrieked just as Abby emerged from the crowd. She bolted from the service desk and embraced her son whimpering, "I thought I'd lost you!"

The boy replied saying, "The pretty girl helped me."

Fahim's mother looked up to Abby and said with tears glimmering in her eyes, "Thank you. Thank you so much."

Abby was stunned. She didn't expect any sort of thanks whatsoever. "Y-Yeah... no problem..." Turning away, Abby felt a strange sensation in the pit of her stomach. What was it? Joy? It couldn't be anything other. But mixed into that feeling was another, not so warm. It was a sense of lost. She could never have a mother's embrace again.

Bowing her head low, Abby walked towards her flight.
------------------------------
~Glitch~

"Haha! Come on, Haru!" Glitch said, sprinting through the crowd of people, holding his duffle bag in front of him as a kind of sheild. They had left a bit later than expected and the first two accouncements told them they had roughly 10 minutes left. He ducked under a crane hauling trade shipments and bolted through to the gate.

Using his identification, he was admitted through and proceeded into the tunnel. Meeting him on the other side was his first glance at the ship. It stood magestically waiting for the crew to board.

Near the front wheel, Abby and Fleur were standing with their bags, waiting for something. "Did we miss something?" Glitch asked, grinning.

"We were told to wait here. The captain will be down to introduce himself," Abby said, resting her back against the clean tire.

Glitch and Abby's gaze met, but they both quickly looked away. The previous encounter was still fresh in both of their memories.

((Okay, I have to go. I'll be back to finish this up later. I promise.))

((Hey Jane? What's an "accouncement"? It's kinda fun to say... XD))

Tsukiko

Somewhere I'd heard that Earth, before going interplanetary, had a bunch of weird laws about the universe that they later found were false. Apparently, Murphy's Law was not one of those.

I'd had to work later than I'd thought, and when I finally off my shift, I had exactly 23 minutes to get home, pack, and get to the airport. There went the folded clothes and healthy snacks.

The first thing I heard as I practically ran through the doors of the airport were these:

"Interplanetary airlines announcing the arrival of Flight 9435, IPS Titania, to Goidelia. Customer service representative please report to gate C42."

Mumbling curses in every language I knew, I sped towards the security checkpoint. Since I was on an Ad Astra mission, they just waved me through. Probably don't wanna know what I have in this bag, I thought to myself. Yes, some clothes, feminine care products, a few guns and knives, maybe a grenade or two... nothing to worry about.

I took a deep breath of relief as I saw the gate ahead. I looked for the somewhat-familiar faces of my so-called teammates, spotting Abby, Glitch and--joy of joys--Haru. Groaning, I wondered if I could get past them and onto the plane without them noticing.

Damn you, Murphy, whoever you were...

((Edit: 1000th post. w00t.))

((Shut up. I was rushed.))

~Glitch~

Almost eager to break the silence between himself and Abby, Glitch nodded in acknowledgement to Tsukiko and said with a small smile, "Hey."

A hissing sound from behind them made Glitch turn to see the long metallic ramp descend to the floor and transform into a set of stairs leading up and into the hull of the ship.

Sleek black boots appeared from the confines of the ship and padded down to greet them. The wearer was a tall woman dressed in an all black suit, similar to a Chinese high-collar. She was stern in appearance, her dark hair pulled back into a tight bun and her long face was stuck with a permanent pucker-like expression.

"The captain will see you now," she said, raising a contemptuous eyebrow. She looked them all up and down with a visage of disgust before letting out an exhaspirated groan. Without waiting another second, she turned sharply on her heels and proceeded back up the loading dock.

Glitch heard Abby mutter as the woman disappeared, "So much for first impressions."

Hurridly grabbing his back, Glitch lead the way forward and followed the bitter woman into the ship.

Once inside, Glitch got his first glimpse at the interior. The deep blue carpet was accented richly by the pearly white couches that just begged to be sat in. In the back of the long room was a large white screen for projection images of any kind. Two darker hallways led into the further reaches of the plane that Glitch could only assume were the bunks and kitchens.

"Hurry up," the woman snapped from the front of the plane. Glitch jumped and turned to follow her, shrinking from her annoyed gaze. She stomped away into another longer and darker hallway.

As he passed through Glitch saw the infirmary, the toilets, and a number of other rooms used to one's needs. Before long, Glitch found himself standing on the bridge. Two figures were already waiting there. One sat in the pilot's seat, another stooped behind, giving coordinates.

The irritated escort cleared her throat and the second person turned to see the new members of his crew. It was the captain.

"Welcome aboard the Titania!" he said, beaming. "I'm Captain Peter Easton. You've already met my first mate Bianca Chafulumisa--" he nodded his head at the woman, who stood up even straighter "-- and this is our pilot Violeta Vita a.k.a. V."

The female pilot didn't turn around, but instead waved over her head and continued setting a course for the mission.

"Not only am I the captain," he continued, "but I'm also the ship's surgeon. I can heal from so much as a paper cut to a bullet wound. Oh! And here's Mr. Zale Tawno, our mechanic..."

A large, hairy man pushed through the room holding an emense box and setting it down on the floor. "Where do you want these canned peaches, sir? There's not enough room in the cargo hold or the galley," he explained.

"And he's also our resident cook," the captain added. "Right there is fine," he said to Zale. "So! It's a pleasure to have you on board and I hope you can get to work straight away."

"Wait a second. Work?" Abby asked, stepping forward. "No one told us we had to work."

"Well of course! Why else would they call you Grunts? You do all the grunt work. You honestly didn't expect you to just waltz your way through, did you, princess?" Bianca snapped.

Abby glared daggars at her.

"That's fine. We'll do whatever we can to help," Glitch said sharply, attempting to finalize the situation.

"Good," Peter said shortly and turned back to the front of the controls. "Bianca, if you would so kindly show them to their quarters..."

"Aye, sir," she said, striding past Glitch and back through the bridge to the main part of the ship.

"I thought we were going to be doing our jobs around here. You know, like the jobs we've been trained to do!" Abby stated, following the group back to the bunks.

"There is no need for petty amateurs to run this ship. We've got enough skilled hands to keep things running smoothly. The last thing the captain wants on his mind is an incompetent Grunt ruining the flight," Bianca said, nasaly.

Glitch rolled his eyes and glanced back at Abby, giving her a glance as if to say, "What a real piece of work..."

((That's enough for tonight.))

Fleur followed, unnaturally silent and calm, carefully mulling over everything taking place. Zale, V, and the Captain all seemed like perfectly normal nice people. Bianca, on the other hand, did seem like she would take lightly to a Fleur if she pranced out of her room wearing an outfit like the one she'd worn to school that last day. And working as a grunt? It sounded boring.

Before she could stop herself, her mouth twisted into a disappointed frown and her brow furrowed. She had not come on the spaceship just for this. She was almost tempted now to try coming to work in outrageous costumes, just to annoy her. A light touch on her shoulder made her jump as her mouth straigthened back out. She turned to see David looking at her with large brown eyes.

"Are you all right?" he asked, sincerely.

Fleur felt a heat rush to her cheeks as she looked at him. His blond hair partially covering one of his eyes. "U-uh. Y-y-yeah. I'm fine! Why would you ever think otherwise?! Ahahahaha!" Nervous laughter. Her face flushed even more as she realized how stupid she sounded. "U-um... Yes. Thank you. I'm fine. Just fine. Perfectly fine. I'm so fine, I'm finer than a sunflower on a fine sunny day! AHAHAHAHA!"

David stared at her blankly. "Oh, um, all right. That's good."

Oh my god, what the hell was that? I'm such an idiot! Fleur exclaimed mentally. As soon as he moved away her shoulders slumped. God. This is not cool at all.

Tsukiko

I sighed as I dropped my suitcase onto the pitiful excuse for a bed. In fact, this whole room was a facsimilie of a sham of a bedroom. It was barely seven square feet! I thanked my lucky stars that I didn't have to share a room--though I had heard that those were a little bigger. I wondered if I would fit on the bed, or if I would have to scrunch my body up.

"Miss Tsukiko! Get out here!" I heard a stern voice yell. I flinched. Bianca. Great.

"Yes, ma'am?" I asked politely as I stepped out of the room, folding my arms behind my back.

"As of tonight, you will be on kitchen duty," she said curtly. "Report at seven o'clock, and you'd best be prompt and punctual. You will be expected to--"

"Er, that won't work," I cut her off with a wave. "You don't want me in the kitchen."

"How dare you interrupt--"

"Trust me," I tried to persuade her. "You do not want me cooking your food. You'll get food poisoning for sure. Don't you have anything like, say, cleaning or box-moving or something I can do?"

"You have been assigned to the kitchen, Tsukiko!" I didn't miss the dropped title. "Everyone on this ship has a job, and yours--"

-------------
Haru

"Dude, is this room cool or what?" I exclaimed to Glitch, pressing buttons and flicking switches. The beds folded into the walls, the closet doors were automatic, and the lights were clap-on clap-off! "Awesome!"

"How dare you interrupt--" I heard an indignant voice in the hall. I peeped my head out, trying to eavesdrop. Bianca was yelling so loud, though, that I didn't really need to listen for her; it was Tsukiko's small voice I had to strain to hear.

"Trust me. You do not want me cooking your food. You'll get food poisoning for sure. Don't you have anything like, say, cleaning or box-moving or something I can do?"

"You have been assigned to the kitchen, Tsukiko!" Bianca insisted. "Everyone on this ship has a job, and yours--"

"Can be reassigned," I finished, stepping out of my room.

"Mister Anderson, this matter is none of your concern. Please return to your lodgings," Bianca instructed crossly.

"Tell you what, Bianca," I said casually, leaning against a wall. "How about you give me kitchen duty, and you have Tsukiko here do whatever you assigned to me." I paused. "What was that, anyway?"

"Dishwashing and kitchen maintenence," she said, checking her chart.

"Fantastic. Tsuki here can do the cleaning, and I'll do the cooking. I'm a pretty good cook, y'know," I winked suggestively, and the girl flinched at the nickname. "Sound good?"

"But--"

"Miss Bianca, do you want edible food on this trip or not?" I asked plainly. "Because I highly doubt that she--" I jabbed my thumb towards Tsukiko. "--can cook. She's more of a blow-stuff-up kind of girl, I think." I grinned.

Nearly shaking in anger, Bianca stomped off. "Fine! Let's just let this whole ship go to chaos and anarchy! See if I care!"

As soon as she was gone, I broke out in laughter. "Ahh, that woman is so funny! I can't wait to press her buttons..." I doubled over, holding my stomach in mirth.

"Uh," Tsukiko began, looking uncomfortable. "Thanks. For, you know... doing that."

"No problemo, Tsuki," I told her. She didn't flinch at the nickname this time, and my grin widened. "'Sides, I woulda broken all the dishes anyway. I'm a klutz. But I'm a good cook!" I assured her. She looked away. "Are you really that bad in the kitchen?"

"Yes."

"Really?" I asked, not completely believing her. She looked like all she wanted was to go back and hide in her room--and I wasn't gonna let her off the hook that easy, no way. "What do you eat, then?"

"Easy stuff," she said slowly. "Sandwiches and cereal, mostly."

"Can't you cook anything?"

"Um... does ramen count?" She asked shyly, leaning away from me anxiously.

"Psh, no! No wonder you're so skinny! When was the last time you had a decent meal?"

"Like what?"

"Steak?" She shook her head. "Spaghetti?" More shaking. "Pancakes?" A frown this time.

"Tried it once. My apartment smelled burnt for days."

"Once? You mean you've never had any of that stuff? Ever?"

"No," she said simply, shrugging her shoulders. I gawked.

"Didn't your parents feed you or anything? What did you eat growing up, PB and J sandwiches? How have you survived this long?" I half-laughed, half-cried.

She looked away. "I don't know," she said softly, staring at the ground with her hands clasped in front of her. Realizing that I'd said something wrong--because I wasn't quite as dense as Glitch often thought I was--I tried to make amends.

"Tell you what," I said earnestly, grabbing her hands and sandwiching them between mine. "I'll see what I can scrounge up in the kitchen tonight, and when we get off this god-forsaken boat and we're back home, I'll make you my specialty, okay?"

She glanced up at me, her eyes meeting mine for just a second before fluttering back down to our hands. "That sounds... nice," she whispered. She offered me a tiny smile. "Thanks."

"Haru!" I heard Glitch calling me from my room. "Get in here!"

I grimaced. "Aw, sounds like I'm in trouble. I'll see you later, okay?" I grinned and ran back to my room to see what Glitch wanted.

----------------------------
Tsukiko

I stared at my hands once he was gone, turning them around in the light to see if something had changed. I was almost surprised to see that nothing had, as if I had expected them to be burned or a different color or something. Pretty stupid, when I thought about it. But for some reason, they felt... tingly?

Going back to my room, I laid down gently on my bed to stare at the ceiling. Haru's words had more of an effect on me that I'd liked to admit, even to myself. It'd been a long time since someone had tried to carry on a real conversation with me, especially a boy. It was a pleasant change. I didn't expect him to follow through with his promise, but it was still a nice experience.

And dammit, my hands still tingled.

((V/Bianca mistake fixed. Gracias. ))

((The mean lady's name isn't V, it's Bianca. V is the pilot.))

~Glitch~

"Haru!" Glitch hollered again, just as his best friend stepped back through the door. With a flick of his wrist, Glitch tossed a crumpled shirt into one of the open drawers to his dresser.

"You should probably put your things away," he said, grabbing another shirt. "The primary thrusters are starting to warm up. If you don't you'll have a helluva time picking it all back up."

He started at Haru's reaction and made up for the confusion, "You can feel in it the floor."

At that instant, the ground shifted from under their feet and Glitch lost his balance and grasped onto the edge of the bed.

"Uhhh... sorry about that," the captain's voice said slowly over the intercom. In the background, Glitch could hear V cursing angrily. "That was just a minor mistake on--"

"IF THEY PUT SECONDARY SHIFTERS IN THE NEW MODELS, DON'T YOU THINK THEY'D HAVE THE COURTESY TO TELL ME?! THOSE SONS OF--"

The intercom clicked off before V could finish.

Getting slowly to his feet, Glitch laughed and said, with a twinkle in his vivid green eyes, "I'm going to watch the launch. Come if you want."

He turned and bolted out the door, flying down the hallway past open doors leading to who-knows-where and surprised faces. He had know idea where he was going, but it didn't matter to anyone-- at least to Glitch, for the most part.

At the end of the corridor was a narrow staircase circling up into oblivion. Glitch grabbed onto the railing and scaled the stairs two at a time. Before he knew it, he was standing on the uppermost level of the ship. The space in front of him was roughly the size of a football field and the ceiling gently curved downward to embrace the room in a snug fit.

The ceiling, duely noted, was compeletely transparent. Everything from the hangar could be seen almost as if there was nothing separating him from the outside world.

The room was littered with hundreds of boxes used for storage, various hovercrafts were stationed in different corners of the room for private voyages on foreign planets, and no one else was around...

No one else except for Abby Robbins.

She was sitting upon one of the larger crates, quietly watching the scenery pass by as the ship readied it's position for launch. The ship slowly turned and faced the long tunnel used for departures.

Glitch stepped forward and climbed one of his own crates and plopped down a few yards away from her. He looked her way for a moment and gave her a friendly smile before staring out the colossal window again.

"It's re-inforced glass and steel," Glitch said, breaking the silence. "Specially designed for this model. The glass is strong enough to stand the pressure of the vacuum of inifinite space. The steel is 10 times more dense than anything previously made. Another one of this ship's quirks."

"Oh really?" Abby asked.

"Really. The wings can also collapse into the frame to make it almost like a missile. Used in ultimate high-speed travel and evasive tactics."

"You could gather that from just looking at the hull?" Abby asked, disbelieving.

"Sure. It's a simple, but competely zinky* idea. What a fascinatingly modern age we live in."

Abby nodded, "Yeah..."

And you could care less, Glitch thought. Sighing, he turned his attention back to the phenomenal view in front of him.

The box he sat upon slightly began to vibrate as the jets turned on, signaling the 'all-clear' for launch. Not long after, the jet began to accelerate; slowly at first, but quickly gained it's momentum. The lights surrounding the terminal tunnel flashed by at a blinding speed. Almost too quickly, the sound of the tunnel air bufeting the ship ceased and they were spit out into the blanket of space.

The glittering stars were more vivid than anything that Glitch had seen before. He'd never been this far from home before-- or at least what he considered home. The streaks of blue, green and red star dust floated in long streams across the empty mass above them. This was one of the most aweinspiring sights Glitch has ever remembered.

But the feeling was short lived due to the fact that Glitch realized he was no longer sitting, but floating in mid-air. He whipped his head around to see Abby was doing the same. The boxes around them hovered and spun in the anti-gravity atmosphere.

His surprise suddenly turned into a feeling of joy and he actually cracked a wide smile at Abby who was struggling to keep herself upright.

"Gravity control coming-- on!" the captain's voice said cheerfully as he flipped the switch for the activation. But this warning came too late to save the two, who unfortunately fell to the floor in crumpled heaps amongst the skewed storage boxes.

Groaning, Glitch clutched onto the top of a nearby box and heaved himself up. Staring at him from the opposite side of the clear wall/ceiling was a large yellow eye.

He yelled in shock and leapt backward, bringing his hands up in self-defense.

Abby giggled from behind him and said, "I think she likes you."

The massive creature slowly inched away and Glitch got a good look at the beast then. It was an enormous--

"Leeth Ruiz," Abby said, stepping forward and watching the great animal join it's school of other creatures. "They're a sign of good luck for travelers."

The Leeth Ruiz resembled a giant blue whale, but with obvious differences such as the deep red color and the spikes running down it's spine. They were gentle giants of fortune and surprise. Lucky, Glitch.

Abby stepped up to the glass and pressed her hand against the surface as a baby Leeth pulled up to the hull. The baby then changed direction and playfully shot up and over the ship. Abby and Glitch watched the entire sight until the baby disappeared from view. It came out from under the ship and rejoined it's family.

Abby smiled after it and saw that Glitch was staring at her. "What?" she asked, suddenly frowning.

"Nothing," he said, turning away and clearing his throat.

((*zinky- new, modern

I should stop now. I'll post more later.))

Fleur sat quietly on her bed. She was bored, and she'd been on the ship for a total of a little over an hour. Sighing, she folded her arms behind her head and pressed her head back into the pillow. Her mind kept drifting back to her earlier outburst of insanity. 'Finer than a fine sunflower on a fine sunny day? God, could I have stated it any worse?' He probably thinks I'm insane. She sighed.

The ship shook violently as it launched into space. Fleur didn't have much of a desire to go watch it from the observation area, but she could see a bit of it from her window and that was enough. As they burst from the launch center, Fleur suddenly felt herself floating. Flailing, she could feel herself float from the room and over the railing that lead down towards the storage areas.

"Gravity control coming--on!" came the captain's voice. Fleur's heart dropped as she fell like a rock... conviently into someone's arms. A masculine grunt met her ears and she carefully pushed open the eyes she'd squeezed shut in terror. She saw David's large brown eyes staring back at her.

"You all right?" he asked, smiling down at her. Fleur nodded and let out a shaky breath. "You sure?" He asked concerned. She curled her fingers into his shirt and tried to compose herself. He frowned and patted her arm awkwardly. A moment later, Fleur was back on her own two feet beaming up at David. "Thank you."

"You feel up to exploring the ship a bit with me?" David asked, shyly. His cheeks flushing a little bit. Fleur felt her own face grow increasingly hotter.

"Sure. I'd like that."

Tsukiko

I could feel the bile rising in my throat as the ship lurched violently out of the atmosphere. I had never been able to handle weightlessness.

Crap, do not throw up, Tsukiko! I told myself sternly. The gravity will come back in a few seconds!

I grabbed onto the bars of my bed and hung on for dear life, breathing in and out of my nose slowly. Thankfully, it didn't take long for the artificial gravity to activate, and I let out a deep sigh of relief. No matter how many times I did it, weightlessness always made me sick.

Not to mention the skirts. How much fun was anti-gravity when you had a skirt on? No fun at all. Ugh.

Next door, though, I heard someone yell as the gravity came back on. Sighing, I decided I'd better go make sure the idiot was alright.

-----------------------
Haru

"Ahh!" I screamed as I plummeted to the steel floor. "Damn, that hurt!"

I was still rubbing my sore bum when I noticed Tsukiko standing awkwardly in the doorframe, staring at me.

"Er, hi?" I asked, embarrassed.

"I heard you yell," she explained plainly. "Thought I should make sure you hadn't killed yourself." She paused, as if debating whether to stay or not. "Are you hurt?"

"Nothing more than a bruised ego and bottom," I replied cheerily, standing up shakily. Damn, did my ass hurt. "Pretty rough launch, eh?"

"Yeah." She stared at the ground. "Uh, I'll be in my room, if you need me."

And then she was gone. I sighed, wondering how bad I'd screwed up this time. I climbed onto my bed and wondered why exactly I cared.

It's not like I like her, I reasoned. She's weird. Cute, but weird as bucket of fried squid. She hardly ever talks or smiles or anything, and she has no friends. So why do I care that I just made a complete idiot out of myself in front of her?

I decided that it was probably just because she was cute. But the more I thought about her, the more I realized that I really didn't know anything about her. That bothered me. I decided to ask Glitch when he came back.

~Abby~

Her confusion was short lived thanks to Bianca who had just charged into the room. Her lips were so pursed, Abby could have sworn her entire face would be sucked through her mouth.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded, sourly.

Glitch whipped around, startled. Abby, on the other hand, spoke first, "Something you obviously think is inappropriate and utterly ghastly, so maybe you should just scold the naughtiness out of us." Abby shook her finger mockingly.

Annoyed, Bianca said through gritted teeth, "You are not on this ship to fraternize with other members of the crew. You are ordered to report to your duties."

"And what are my duties?" Abby asked, standing up straighter.

"Polishing the hull. Extremely dangerous. It would not be wise to become distracted."

"And me?" Glitch asked as Abby scowled.

"You are requested to work in the engine room in place of Zale. He has been ordered to surpervize kitchen duties." Finally finished, Bianca turned to leave but paused and gave the two a deathly glare before descending the stairs.

"Well," Glitch said, following after her. "See ya 'round."

Abby nodded and smiled. He waved and quickly disappeared through the narrow passage.

The instant he left, Abby collapsed onto a nearby box and let out a sigh of relief. Her mind raced with the possibilites. Excitement completely drowned out suspiscion of conspiracy. That feeling in the pit of Abby's stomach, warm and energized, seemed to grow up and through her chest.

She sprawled herself on top of the box and tucked her hands behind her head. Gazing up at the stars, she admited to herself that this trip wasn't going to be as bad as she had imagined.

Haru

"You've got to be kidding me!" I fumed to Zale. "How am I supposed to cook anything with this?"

"What's wrong with those?"

"These are cans of celery and fish!" I paused, shoving the cans in his face. "Didn't they stop canning fish, like, a millenium ago?"

"Apparently not," Zale replied bluntly, shoving the cans back at me. "Now quit complaining and get to work. We're making casserole tonight."

"With what?"

"With that." He pointed at the fish I was holding. The piles of fish meat floated around disgustingly in the glass jar. I grimaced. "Now are you gonna stand there all night, or are you gonna start dinner?"

Yuck.

-------------------------------
Tsukiko

I had decided that the bed was more comfortable than it looked. Which was good, because it looked really, really hard. In any case, it was a good place to lay down and think, because while everyone else was busy with their chores, I had nothing to do. The kitchen hadn't been used yet, so Bianca had nasally informed me that I should remain in my room until the dinner call.

I considered pulling out one of the books I had packed, or polishing one of my guns, but in the end I opted for simply sitting and thinking. With my back to the wall my legs indian-style, I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind. Before I knew it, the dinner bell rang, and I jumped up to go to dinner.

((Whoa, lame ending. But my mom's screaming at me to go to bed. XD))

~Glitch~

While Glitch sprawled himself underneath a large generator, whirring as it spun rapidly, keeping the ship afloat in the vastness of space, he reflected upon the past few days:

Several days passed without so much as a hiccup out of order. Things went by pretty smoothly; everyone did their part on the ship and it left very little opportunity for Bianca to yell at us. Although somehow she managed to find some excuse to do so.

Most of the time it could be shrugged off with an apology quickly followed by a "Yes, ma'am" but other times it wasn't that simple.

Most of the trip, if we didn't bother her, she didn't bother us. Kind of a mutal and tacit understanding.

We didn't really see much of the captain, or a majority of the other crew members as well. They were busy, locking themselves up in a cabin and not coming out for hours. I suspected they were sleeping or playing cards while making us do all the work, but I have no place to challenge the captains orders. I don't know about the others but I wouldn't want to be chucked out into the black because of a simple "Bite me."

Glitch pulled himself out from beneath the generator and wiped his greasy cheek on his equally greasy sleeve, adding to the dark smudge of a face. He rifled through his set of wrenches, eyeing each one before setting it down to find the right fit. Once he did, he laid himself under the generator once more and worked away at the faulty stability flash booster.

The only time when I truly enjoy around here is when we all sit down to have dinner. It's like one big family. We all sit around the large dining table and talk. Just talk. And it's nothing like what I've experience before.

I felt... like I was finally accepted somewhere. Before, it was just me. I was on my own, with nothing more to live for except maybe Koasati, the sport of champions. Sure, I had a great friend like Haru, but that can only help so much. I still felt alienated and forgotten in this sea of great nothingness.

But this time, the future is mine. It's in my hands. I can choose my own path to follow... of course, I'm still under orders by my senior officers, but this mission seems to make me feel free at least.

Right now, I don't think I'm capable of going out there in the real and scary universe to be on my own. I'm not ready. I'll admit that much. But things have to change sooner or later... but I'd really rather it to be later.

Alright, I guess I'm a coward, but what's a coward to admit his own faults? Noble? Nah, sounds to... blegh. Heroic? Pft. Yeah right. Pig-headed for even thinking about this? Bingo.

Oh well. I guess in a way I'm my own hero. I know I'll end up facing my fears in the end, knowing it will only better myself. I know what I'm afraid of, but I won't let it hold me back any longer. This mission will prove that.

Just as he finished his thoughts of personal accomplishment and goals, he pulled his body from underneath the generator once more and stood up. He hummed to himself quietly as he dropped the wrench back into his tool pack and folded the beige fabric together.

A small rumble echoed around the engine room, but was deaf to Glitch's ears due to the machinery. Followed closely by the rumble was a violent and terrible shake of the ship. It was so shocking, Glitch lost his footing and his tools went flying into the air.

His body smashed forward, cracking the side of his head against a nearby work bench as his tools scattered all around him. The lights flickered and the ship rocked even more violently as it was struck with another wave of disturbance. Again, the lights flickered once more and finally burned out. As Glitch slowly regained consciousness of only a moment's disorientation, he found himself in pitch darkness until the low beam lights of blue ignited his surroundings.

A small red button blinked quietly over the door frame. Bad signal.

Glitch's heart raced and he nonchalantly wiped the blood that slowly trickled from his hairline as he scrambled to his feet and sprinted out of the engine room and down the dark hallways illuminated by a blue hue.

"What's going on?!" Abby shouted from a branching corridor as she saw Glitch sprint passed. He ignored her, too frantic in his own thoughts to even realize.

He quickly descended a set of stairs and found the other Grunts looking stunned. "Is everyone alright?" he asked, quickly rushing through and scaling another set of stairs before anyone could truly answer. As long as anything didn't look too serious, he wasn't all that worried. What really worried him was the fact that the ship was without power. The engines had stopped.

He heard shouts escalating from the bridge and he immediately darted toward the sounds of frustration and tones of fear. "GET US MOVING, V!" the captain screamed, furiously trying to pump the reset switch.

V shouted back, "It's impossible! I can't get this bloody ship to move! They've knocked out our engines with an EMP. We're space snails in a bowl!"

"Who knocked out our engines?!" asked Glitch, gasping for air due to his panic stricken state.

"Pirates," V said, frantically pressing various buttons and flipping various switches, but Glitch knew they weren't going to do any good.

"Pirates?! What do they want with us?!" Abby asked, appearing behind Glitch and grasping onto the door frame for support. Her legs looked like they were going to give out from underneath her body.

V got to her feet and began manually shutting down all resources in a frantic attempt to rebooting the system. Just at the very moment V stood on her toes to reach the switch, another wave of electromagnetic pulses shocked through the ship, rocking it violently back and forth more vigorously than ever before.

Everyone was knocked to the floor. Glitch grabbed onto the pilot's chair and Abby clutched harder along the door frame. The captain grabbed onto a metal bar attached to the ceiling and swayed with the movement, trying to regain his balance. V, however, was the unluckiest of all.

Glitch didn't know if it was her feet that slipped out from beneath her, or if she lost balance. But she tumbled backward, almost in what seemed like slow motion. Her eyes were wide with shock as she plummeted to the floor, the nape of her neck smacking into the corner of the control panel.

Her body convulsed as her back arched, her fingers twitched and a dark pool of liquid began to creep from the back of her head.

"Oh my God!" Abby shrieked, rushing forward although to mentally stunned to do much help. She kneeled down beside the fallen pilot and quickly wrapped V's head in her jacket. "Someone help!" she screamed.

By this time, the captain was at her side. He calmly, although his hands were visibly shaking, opened up the jacket to see the wound. "We need to get her to the infirmiry," he said, his eyes wide with terror.

Swiftly, he picked her up into his arms and carried her back through the bridge and vanished.

Glitch, his hands interlaced tightly on the back of his head in shock, ordered Fleur to follow him and see if there was any way in which she could help. Once she left, he turned to David and said, "Go to the telecommunications room. There you'll find a beacon that can signal a distressed message to nearby planets. Maybe, if we can capture some of the electromagnetic energy, we can send out a signal for an emergency rescue. Later, you'll meet with us back on the bridge. Be prepared for them to try to board us." By 'them', he meant the pirates, the mysterious attackers who left them deserted in the middle of space.

"Haru!" he said, quickly, getting his friend's attention. "You're coming with me. Tsu, stay here with Abby."

"What am I supposed to do?" Abby cried, her hands covered in V's blood. She was also visibly shaking, her hair was also speckled with remnants of red.

"You're going to pilot the ship once Haru and I get it back online. Can you do that?" Glitch asked, a look of fierce determination in his sharp green eyes.

"I-- I think I can-- but... there's--"

"Can you do that?!" Glitch asked again, more ferociously.

Abby swallowed what she was trying to voice and instead nodded, wiping her eyes with her unbloodied arm. Why she was crying, she had no idea. Frustration? Shock? Fear? Maybe a combination of all three. But Abby Robbins never cried in front of other people.

In a flash, Glitch and Haru disappeared into the blue abyss.

((Yes... Über power-post!! XD I really hope no one minded that I completely took control of their characters. It was only necessary for ))

Tsukiko

I watched apathetically as Glitch and Haru ran out of the room, leaving me alone with a slightly-hysterical Abigail Robbins. Frowning, I mulled over what would be the best way to calm her down--it wasn't like I could pilot the ship.

"Um, Abigail, it's okay?" I tried uncertainly. I hesitantly reached out to pat her on the back. "V will be fine." I tried rubbing her back instead, moving my hand with a circular motion. She didn't stop crying, and her eyes seemed a bit blank. I sighed, and moved directly in front of her, bringing my eyes directly into contact with hers.

Eye contact, there was something I didn't do often...

"Abby. Stop crying and calm down," I said sternly, my voice lacking anything even remotely resembling sympathy. "V's hurt, so we need someone else to pilot this ship, and I failed Piloting 101. That leaves you. Now suck it up and get your ass in that chair and do whatever you can to get this ship moving once Haru and Glitch get the power back on." I lightly shoved her into the chair and moved towards the door to leave.

"Where are you going?" She asked, slightly panicked.

I grinned. "Somebody's gotta fight the pirates, and I've been just itching for a fight!"

---------------------------------
Haru

"Dude, this looks bad. I don't know a thing about mechanics but this looks seriously, seriously bad." I made a face at the destruction. "Is that even fixable?"

((Sorry about the minor take-over, Jane. Hope ya don't mind. I can fix it if you want.))

~Glitch~

Glitch didn't answer Haru because he truly had no idea. There was no way to tell how much damage had been done until he shed some light on the subject. The smell of burnt plastic filled his nose as he bent down and opened a small compartment on the underside of the workbench which he had smashed his head against earlier. From inside, he pulled out a large glowstick and cracked it against his knee.

The yellow neon light blinded him temporarily before he could see how seriously the EMP had knocked them out. Fortunately, it wasn't as bad as Glitch had imagined. He expected to see melted plastic oozing down the walls, exposed wires hanging from the ceiling and complete disaster. Instead he found everything to be almost completely normal, except that the power was nullified.

"Help me with this," Glitch said, putting the glow stick between his teeth. Moving over to the wall, he felt around the ridges of he plastic and found a good hold on the edge. He grasped firmly and he and Haru both tugged together to reveal the complex system of wires beneath.

"Holy--" Haru began, but Glitch cut him off.

"Shut up," Glitch said, taking the glow stick out of his mouth and putting it close to his work area. From above their heads, low thuds echoed around the engine room. Glitch looked up and stared at Haru. His eyes wide, he whispered, almost as if he were afraid they would hear, "They're going to board us."

Without any kind of discussion, Haru jumped into action, "I'm on it."

Glitch turned back to work, wiping his brow and realizing that he was still bleeding from his previous spill to the floor. He wiped his bloodied hand on his cargo pants and set the glow stick inside the panel, "God help us all if Haru's on anything."

Glitch immediately got to work.

Haru

"I'm on it," I said, practically skipping out of the room. Man, you can give me combat over mechanics any day, I thought happily to myself.

"God help us all if Haru's on anything," I heard Glitch mutter as I left.

I resisted the urge to yell 'I heard that!' back to him; I couldn't be giving away my location, after all. Not this early in the game.

I moved swiftly but silently, silencing my footsteps as best I could on the cold metal floor. (Which is easier said than done, let me tell you.) I snuck into mine and Glitch's room, shoving every bladed weapon I could find under my belt and into my pockets. I lifted my mattress to reveal my favorite sword, a two-and-a-half foot katana, encased in a dagger-tipped iron sheathe.

I had tied on my katana and was just about to leave when something caught my eye: my broadswords! How could I have forgotten them? I grabbed them and slung the shoulder-strap across my back, then raced out of the room.

It wasn't hard to find them. Pirates aren't exactly reknown for being quiet or sneaky. They sure were making an awful lot of noise, though. Had someone beat me to them? Fleur was probably still helping with V, and chances weren't good that David had made any progress with the beacon signal. Glitch was fixing the power, Abby was supposedly piloting the ship, and I was here, which only left...

"Dammit, Tsukiko!" I yelled as I burst into the room. "I wanted to be first!"

------------------------
Tsukiko

I had to admit, Haru's outburst took me by surprise. So much so, in fact, that I nearly lost my balance and got a fist to the gut for my troubles. I grimaced, but otherwise I was fine. I'd gotten worse injuries than this in class.

I dodged another punch lightly, delivering a forceful hand-chop to his throat and effectively collapsing his wind-pipe. He went down, clutching his neck and gasping for breath. I had no weapons on me at the time, so I had to settle for hand-to-hand combat. Which was fine by me.

Pivoting on the toes of one foot, I pirouetted like a ballerina and kicked another pirate in the chest, stunning him backwards. Without a moment of hesitation I crouched and kicked one leg out from under him. He toppled over, landing hard on his arse. He raised his arms in defense, but it was useless. I somersaulted foward and resumed my crouch, clapping my hands together on his temples. He immediately slumped backwards, unconscious.

I leapt gracefully over the pirate's body, and found myself face-to-face with one Haru Anderson.

------------------------
Haru

"Hey!" I cried, pulling my broadswords back. "Are you trying to impale yourself?!"

Tsuki simply stared at me like the proverbial deer in the headlights, clearly surprised at our sudden proximity. Then, without a word, she cocked back her arm and punched.

"Whoa!" I said, thinking she was aiming for me. Instead, her fist flew by my face, missing me by just centimeters, and she rabbit-punched a pirate sneaking up behind me. He fell backwards, disoriented by the force of the blow. She lightly stepped past me and delivered three swift kicks to the mans groin, neck, and forehead. Now it was my turn to be the deer in the headlights.

I recovered quickly as she moved past me, ready to take on another pirate. Shaking my head in near-disbelief, I slashed blindly at the nearest pirate.

"Don't kill them!" Tsukiko yelled at me from across the room.

I froze. "Why the hell can't I kill them?!" I asked furiously.

She practically danced over to me with a kind of fluid grace that reminded me of water, spinning between dropped bodies and weapons easily. She halted just inches away from me, and I could see her pupils wide with adrenaline. "Because if the Academy finds out you superfluously killed someone on a mission, the whole team gets taken off the mission list for two months." Her dark eyes stared deep into mine. "Don't kill them."

I backed away from her, intimidated. "No killing. Got it." She nodded once and then was gone. I shoved my broadswords back into their sheathe angrily and kicked an unconscious pirate a few times, just for spite. This particular pirate would probably be waking up with achy ribs tomorrow. It made me feel better, at any rate.

~Glitch~

Suddenly sprayed in the face with a shower of sparks, Glitch backed away as the wires attempted to electrocute him. "Well," he said aloud, "at least I'm making some progress."

He stepped forward cautiously and quickly tapped the wire, to make sure it wasn't hot (it wasn't) and got back to work. From further into the ship, Glitch could hear yells and shouts of surprises followed by thumps of bodies hitting stationary objects. Apparently Haru was doing well.

He picked up a blue and black wire and mentally calculated, The intermittent resistor and the power field phased through the amplitude therefore frying the secondary non-linear interface reactor so... he rearranged a few wires and held up another, the fusion redirection and the analog flux should rewrite the system and bring us back online.... Either that or I electrocute myself.

Praying that the former was more likely, Glitch pulled out a packet of chewing gum he always kept in his tool set (helped him calm his nerves) and put it in his mouth. He rapidly chewed and quickly took it back out and wrapped it around the exposed wire of the fusion wire and pressed it into connection with the analog flux. The electricity generated through the saliva of the gum reacted positively.

The lights suddenly flickered back on and Glitch whooped in victory. The engine began to whine back to life and he secretly thanked the gum companies of the galaxy for ever existing.

But more pressing matters were at hand. Pirates were boarding the ship. Actual pirates. He never thought that they were still around, let alone seen in the more journeyed trails of military units. Nothing of real value could come out of this. At least not one that he realized immediately.

Brining himself back to the ship's needs, he moved over to the intercom and connected to the bridge. "Abby. I've rewired the system. Hopefully it won't fry again. Check everything before you do anything."

"Alright," came Abby's reply. "I can do this..." she muttered, inspiring herself.

He left his tools where they were and replaced the panel in the wall. He heard sudden footsteps behind him and whipped around, ready for the attack. Instead, the captain stood in the shadow of the door. He looked sickly, his eyes dark and his skin pale. His brow was wet from sweating.

Glitch's stomach dropped, the worst had come to pass. He didn't even have to ask him what happened.

"It's V... she didn't make it," captain Peter Easton said darkly. "I couldn't do anyth--"

Glitch was the one who kept his head, he stepped forward and said calmly, "Listen to me, captain. Pirates have boarded the ship, that's something you can do something about. We need to take care of those who need our help right now."

The captain's head was bowed low, but he still stood straight. He still retained composure of pride. But his demeanor otherwise changed completely. After a few moments of silence, he finally spoke, "Sorry, kid."

Confused, Glitch was about to ask him what he meant but was instead staring down the barrel of a gun. Automatically, he retreated, stepping a few steps back toward the melted panel of plastic. Now fear, more than confusion, pulsed through his veins. "Captain?" Glitch was beginning to question his captain's sanity, had he finally snapped?

"Do everything that I say and it will all be okay," he said, menacingly.

//Fleur//

Fleur staggered from the infirmary, her hands covered with V's blood. Her mind was racing. They had been unable to stop the bleeding. And yet, though the lights had just flickered back on, she knew that the ship was still under attack. She had to figure out something to do. She noticed a metal pipe leaning against the wall. She picked it up and hurried down the hallway. It slipped through her fingers and nearly clattered on the ground, but she managed to catch it between her legs.

She was so busy trying to secure the pipe in her hands that she didn't even notice the large pirate sneaking towards her until he was looming above her like a large unmovable wall. She squealed and swung the pipe like a bat into his belly. He buckled to the ground gasping in pain. She brought her heel down on the back of his head, knocking him unconscious and dashed down the hall. The sounds of combat met her ears now. A sudden pain shot up her back as a large fist crashed down onto her back, her legs giving way beneath her under the large weight. She rolled out of the way of the large foot that was coming down to stomp on her chest. She swung the pole again, hoping to knock him off his feet, and used her own leg to sweep him when she realized that it had done nothing.

As he crashed to the ground, she rolled back up to her feet and balled her hand into a fist and threw it forward into another's jaw, watching him drop like rock. She was caught by surprise when an arm dropped down around her neck and yanked her back into the body it belonged too. She gasped for air, freeing one hand from the pipe to yank at the thing obstructing her windpipe. She gasped again when she saw the pointy object he was raising to chest level. Instantly, her hand shot out, grabbing the knife and twisting it, ignoring the pain of the blade cutting her skin. She struggled to get it out of his grasp, but once she'd succeeded, she tossed it away and then grabbed hold of the still outstretched hand. She dropped the pipe to the floor and used the other hand to steady herself and then reach back to grab his garment. She flipped him over her back and onto the ground. Before he could react to that, she struck him with her leg and staggered on down the hall.

As she approached the engine room, she thought she heard a voice that sounded like Glitch's. She began to speak, "Glitch, I--" she trailed off when she stepped into the doorway and saw the scene before her, eyes wide.

//David//

David leaned over the communications panel, rapidly punching in buttons. The power had come back on, thankfully, but so far, he hadn't been able to contact anyone. He paused in his button punching and leaned over to examine a map of the system. He'd marked with a blue dot, their position and was working as fast and hard as he could to contact all the surrounding planets. Even if he did get someone though, it could take them thirty minutes to and hour to reach them.

He was currently trying to call Goidelia. He leaped for joy when a voice answered. He quickly leaned into the comm. unit and explained their situation, providing their coordinates. "The pirates that attacked us have boarded the ship. We've just managed to make get our power back."

"Understood. We'll send som--" David stopped listening when he heard the door opening. Several men stepped into the room and rushed forward to destroy the communication system when they realized what he was doing.

"I'm sorry," he said as he rushed forward as well, "but I can't let you do that!" He jumped and swung his left leg in an arch, hitting one in the chin as he went up and the other on the top of the head, knocking his head down causing him to fall flat on his face. As he spun around a second time, he extended his right leg and slammed it into chest of the third man. He completed his second revolution and landed on his left leg, bring his right down quickly to balance himself.

By this time the first one was getting back up, rubbing his jaw with an angry expression on his face. He swung his fist forward and David leaned back, bending at the knee and flailing his arms to keep his balance. When he straightened, he dodged to the left and then the right to avoid the other punches the man threw at him. On the fourth punch, he grabbed the first, pulled the man towards him, twirled around so that his back was facing the man and slammed his elbow back into the man's face. He collapsed, as blood spattered the floor from his now broken nose.

The other two men were up now, both grumbling in pain. He leaned down and yanked the gun from the unconscious pirates holster, took several steps back and ran forward, flipping towards the men. When he reached the height of his flip, just as he'd hoped, his knees were on either side of the man's head. He clamped them down around it, and twisted at his midsection, making the man begin to twirl as well. Dizzy already, he lost his balanced and began to fall back with David, which allowed the blond boy to easily finish off his throw. The final man followed David with first his eyes and then with his head. David took advantage of this and shot back up as soon as he landed, swinging the gun. He clobbered him with the butt of the gun and watched him fall like a hefty sack of potatoes.

Satisfied with his handy work, David headed back over to the communications control panel, leaned forward, and calmly asked, "I'm sorry. Could you repeat that?"

((Long post to make up for lost time. Tell me if anything needs to be changed.))

Haru

"Dammit, Tsuki, that one was mine!" I yelled angrily as she beat me to yet another pirate. Where were all these guys coming from?!

"Too slow!" She called back, grinning maliciously at her current opponent. It was a toothy kind of grin, definitely not the 'ha-ha-funny' kind. Her face is kinda scary when she fights, I thought soberly to myself. She might be fun to spar against, it's been awhile since anyone took me seriously when I wanted to fight...

"Haru!" I heard from the doorway. I turned to see Glitch and Fleur standing there, the captain right behind them.

I grinned. "Glitch, Fleur, Captain! Good to see some reinforcements!" I greeted them happily. But Glitch wasn't smiling, and neither was the captain. My grin dropped. "What's wrong? Did V..." I trailed off. I didn't need them to answer to know she was dead.

Belatedly, I noticed that the fighting had stopped. All the pirates had switched to defense and were slowly backing away from Tsukiko--no surprises there--and towards the captain. Realizing that they must be going after our leader, I jumped in to protect him.

"No, Haru, don't!" Glitch yelled, but it was too late. I had already thrown myself in front of the captain. It was only when I felt the cold metal of a dagger pressed to my throat that I realized anything was wrong.

"Don't move and nobody gets hurt."

--------------------------
Tsukiko

I knew something was wrong. The moment the captain had entered the room, the pirates stopped fighting.

The captain's in on it, I realized. Damn. We got played.

I could have smacked myself when Haru leapt in to 'protect' him. Stupid boys, always needing to protect something. Wasn't he supposed to be the smart one of the team? How had he not realized what was going on?

The captain growled to Haru, "Don't move and nobody gets hurt." I swore silently. That meant the captain was armed, for sure.

The captain eyed me cautiously, evaluating me with intensive eyes that missed nothing. "Tsukiko. Put down your weapons."

I glared at him, but said nothing. I had no weapons to put down, after all. He seemed to realize this, and relaxed slightly. Apparently I wasn't the only one who noticed this, since Haru immediately thrust his elbows backwards into the man's gut, and quickly found himself in a headlock for his troubles. It seemed as though the captain was a little tougher than he looked.

"Try that again and you'll find yourself very dead, Mr. Anderson," the captain growled into his ear. Haru grimaced in discomfort as his arm was twisted behind his back. "You boys," he said louder, addressing the pirates, "tie her up. That one's dangerous."

I frowned as they approached, lecherous grins on their faces. Disgusting, really. I settled into a defensive stance; I wasn't going down without a fight.

------------------
Haru

Crap, I thought. I screwed up. Big time.

My first idea was to try to escape again. Probably not the best plan, since I was already in a rather uncompromising position, but the only plan I had. I stomped on the captain's foot, spun around to make him release my arm, and tried to make a mad dash towards Tsukiko. In the movies, it would have worked out perfectly: good guys always triumph over the bad guys. But this was real life, and nothing ever happens the way it should.

And so I found myself staring straight into the barrel of a gun. A shiny gun, not very big. But I didn't doubt that it could easily blow a hole through my face. I squeezed my eyes shut, nervously waiting for him to pull the trigger. I heard the safety-catch of a gun, and made a silent prayer as I waited.

After a few seconds of maddening anticipation, I opened my eyes carefully. The captain was no longer looking at me; neither was the gun pointed at me anymore. Now, his gaze and gun were focused quite intensely on something across the room--or rather, someone.

"Put the gun down, girlie," he said menacingly. "Or I'll shoot you."

I turned slowly to see Tsukiko pointing a minigun at him. Not a powerful gun, to be sure, but still close enough to do some serious damage to him. And she wasn't moving. The solidarity and resolve was set deep in her eyes.

"I mean it, Tsukiko. I won't hesitate to shoot a little girl." He flipped the catch, as if to back up the validity of his words.

"Tsu! Put down the gun!" I hissed. She didn't budge. "Tsuki!"

The captain noticed that she wasn't moving. He grinned, and moved the gun to face me. "Tell you what, Tsukiko. Either you put down the gun, or I shoot your friend here."

Crap, I thought to myself. Is she gonna let him shoot me?

Then I saw her eyes. There was a glimmer of uncertainty gleaming there, a shadow of a doubt. But she still didn't lower the gun.

"Put it down," the captain said calmly, like a trainer with a spooked animal.

"If you shoot him, I'll kill you," she said solemnly. Anyone could tell that she wasn't bluffing. Not that this helped me at all--I'd still be dead either way!

The captain considered this, and after several seconds of deep contemplation realized she wasn't joking. "Fine, I guess I'll just shoot you first."

BAM!!!

"That was a warning shot," Tsukiko said calmly. "Next time I won't miss."

The captain stared at her, bug-eyed, did a double take at the bullet lodged in the metalwork behind him, and then went back to staring at her. "Not kidding then, eh, missy?"

And that was when a pirate hit her in the back of the neck. She collapsed immediately.

"Tsuki!"

~Abby~

A gunshot blast made Abby whip around in her chair. It was coming from somewhere deeper in the ship. The eerie silence leading up to that had been unnerving, but she still had to keep her head and do her job.

She turned back around, reassuring herself that everyone was okay. The captain would take care of us, she thought, pressing a few thrusters forward and locking her position on the nearest planet. Goidelia.

Catching the corner of her eye, Abby spotted a reflection in the metal to her left. It was bending and bulging in some spots due to the heat emitted from the EMP, but the reflection was useful because it could be used to view out of the control room and into the branching hallways.

From what Abby saw, two dark figures were approaching silently.

Dropping everything, Abby jumped from her seat and hid herself.

A few milliseconds later, one of the dark figures emerged to reveal that it was in fact Bianca. But Bianca was wielding a gun, something that would obviously make anyone nervous. "Where's the girl?" she sharply asked the man standing behind her.

The man remained silent as she pulled the chair away from the consol and looked under the control panel. Abby watched silently from her hiding spot, holding her breath. Something wasn't right. She could feel it in her gut.

"The captain told us not to hurt them yet," the man finally said, speaking with a strange accent.

"Yes... but this girl is different... She's a handful. If we're going to take them all hostage, it's best to get rid of the troublemakers quickly," Bianca said.

Hostage?! Abby thought frantically, her mind racing.

"She can't have gone--" Bianca stopped in mid-sentence as she turned to the man to see Abby's hiding spot.

"Tag. You're it," Abby said, cooly. She knew it was the time to act, either now or never.

Abby had pulled herself up into the corner between the ceiling and the wall, plastering her hands on the metal bar and the wall. Her feet secured her position. With her head ducked to avoid smashing it into the ceiling, she grinned down at Bianca.

Without another moments hesitation, Bianca raised her gun towards Abby but Abby had already leapt from the wall and tackled her. Abby latched onto Bianca's back and grabbed the hand holding the gun in the process. Squeezing the woman's hand, Abby redirected the gun to aim at the man in the door and fired.

The bullet flew true to target and struck directly into the man's leg. Although, she was originally aiming to kill, this would have to do for now.

Bianca tried to fight Abby off as her partner keeled over, screaming in pain. Abby kept trying to wry the gun free of Bianca's grip, but it wasn't easy. Abby continued to clutch onto Bianca, refusing to let go.

They both screamed in frustration, drowning the man's shrieks. Bianca backed up and tried to smash Abby's back into the wall. She did this two times, both making Abby shout in agony, but she still held on, instead grasping around Bianca's neck with her arm.

Bianca lurched forward, gasping for air and tried to throw her off. Losing coordination, Bianca stumbled for a minute, gaping like a fish. With a last strain to get her off her back, Bianca stumbled backward and slammed Abby into the throttle, controlling the ship's movement.

This caused a great surprise to everyone an board.
-----------------------------------------------
~Glitch~

Knocking Glitch back to his senses, a strong hand grasped onto his shoulder as a pirate pushed him against the wall and to the floor. Tsukiko was unconscious next to him, still clutching onto the gun she had shot just a few seconds before.

The pirate took care of the threat and picked it up, tossing it to Peter who caught it. Glitch eyed Tsukiko with a worried expression as Haru and Fleur were also thrown to the floor next to him.

This was enough. He wanted answers, "Why are you doing this? What are you going to get out of killing a bunch of kids?"

"Oh, we're not going to kill you just yet, Mr. Kavanaugh," the captian said, still holding his weapon pointed at the four of them. Seeing Glitch's surprised expression he added, "Yes, we know who you are."

Just at that moment, Bianca had slammed Abby into the throttle and sent the ship hurtling forward, knocking everyone off balance.

Now was a perfect opportunity to take action.

((Wow. That post didn't come out as well as I'd hoped. Ew. Sorry. Hopefully it made sense.))

((Okay, since Ashton is dying due to a Spanish essay, I guess I'll continue? She's given me permission to write this and she will edit/approve.))

~Haru~

I lunged forward, taking the advantage of the chance to become the hero. Propelling myself through the air, I grasped firmly onto the wrist of "Cap'n Crazy" and twisted the barrel away from us, the targets. A shot rang out as it rocketed harmlessly passed me and lodged itself in the wall just above Glitch's head.

Ducking and rolling, Glitch followed my example and went for the two other pirates, who were stumbling backward due to the sudden acceleration of the ship.

I pushed "Cap'n Crazy" backward and slammed him into the wall, smashing his gun-wielding arm into the door frame repeatedly, until he unwittingly released his grip on the handle.

The pistol clattered to the floor and slid to the opposite side of the room on the ship's angle, landing innocuously by the wall near Tsukiko's still hand.

Raising my arm, I swiped my elbow across Peter's face and slammed his body to the floor, ramming my fists into every inch of his face I could have possibly touched. He threw his arms up to defend himself but I pushed them away and continued to hit him as hard as I could. All of the anger that had built up inside of me during this frustrating hostage situation went into my punches. They’d double crossed us, they wanted Glitch for something and they were going to do anything to get money for it, but the thing that made me the angriest was the fact that these sonuvabitches hurt Tsuki.

I could see her bleeding at the base of her neck, a painful bruise forming on her pale skin.

I was too busy pummeling his face even harder to see a flash of silver just before I felt a stinging pain on my upper arm. I screamed with a mixture of agony and vexation and backed off of him, clutching my arm. I felt something warm streaking down my fingers and lifted my hand. It was soaked in my blood, dripping down my wrist and onto my shirt.

I staggered backward feeling myself grow weak and leaned against the wall. My knees felt like lead and they began to shake violently. A cold sweat almost immediately appeared on my forehead as my body began to shiver uncontrollably.

"What did you... do to me?" I asked, my words coming in gasps as I slowly slid down the wall, my legs finally giving out beneath me.

Cap'n Crazy (Peter) slowly got to his feet and wiped his bleeding lip on his hand. He was breathing heavily, his blond hair was strewn in front of his eyes and streaked with specs of his own blood. His expression reminded me of someone who felt he had nothing more to lose. All of his aspirations had disappeared long ago, and any chance to regain them was through someone like me-- and Glitch. It gave me a chill, reminding myself that desperate men will do desperate things, and won't let anyone get in their way.

"It was laced with poison," he said, almost nonchalantly, holding up the blade to the light, making it shimmer down at me. "Specially designed," he continued, "to slowly and painfully kill the unlucky soul it has penetrated."

I gulped, finding my throat already dry. My chest heaved up and down as I tried to breathe, but with much difficulty. I grasped harder onto my wound and tried to gather my racing thoughts. I'm going to die...

"The poison is quite fast acting, is it not?" he asked, resheathing his knife. "It paralyzes its victim quickly, but shutting down the primary organs... no, it takes its time. But it appears you don't have that now, do you? Time?"

His fingers twitched toward his blade handle and he licked his lips before saying, "You know, I wasn't planning on killing anyone..." He quickly grabbed his knife again and twirled it between his fingers. "But, if I killed you now, this would be a good death. The death of a hero. That is what you wanted, right?"

My eyes became very heavy, despite the fact that my body was trying to pump adrenaline through my poison soaked veins but to no avail. I quickly changed the subject away from myself, stealing some time that I apparently didn't have.

"What about V? Was V a part of your plan? Why did she have to die?" I asked, my head bobbing.

"V wasn't a part of any of this," he snapped, his eyes narrowing. "Nothing was supposed to happen to her."

"Then what did happen?" I asked, struggling to keep upright.

The captain took a moment before answering quietly, "I loved her."

"Then why did you bring her into this?!" I asked, clearly furious that an innocent was killed on this mission. Killed for no good reason, too.

"You know, Mr. Anderson," he said, his eyes turning malicious. "You're really starting to annoy me." And with that, a last look of crazed guilt and denial, he raised the knife once more.

I was too tired to even look away, or keep my eyes off the blade. I had finally come to accept what was going to happen. I guess it was time. Nothing more I could do now.

But sudden thoughts swirled into my mind. An image of Tsuki. Playing Glitch in the virtual fighting games. Bothering Tsuki. Hanging around the pizzaria. Slacking off in class. And finally,...

Tsukiko and Glitch were smiling at me.

“You did good, Haru,” Tsuki said, brushing the hair away from my face with a gentle hand. “You did good.”

I watched the blade sweep down, almost in slow motion.

"Haru!" I heard Glitch yelling, almost from a distance, as he knocked out a pirate with a strong punch to the face and barreled him over to get to me. "HARU!"

But before Glitch could take another step, a shot echoed around me, the sound blasting through my eardrums and leaving me temporarily deaf. Peter still stood above me, the knife raised but unmoving. It seemed as if time itself had stopped.

I stared up at him and he stared down at me, his eyes unblinking. A slow trickle of blood crept from the corner of his mouth and drizzled down his chin. His knees buckled and he collapsed to the floor. Behind him was Tsuki, Peter's own gun still aimed in her hand.

In a flash, Glitch was at my side, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me. "Haru. Come on, Haru. Look at me."

I slowly did as I was told and gave him a small, but wry grin. The cold sweat was still sopping my brow, and I could feel that my hands were shaking, but I pretended like everything was okay.

Glitch returned the smile and said sincerely, "You did good, mate."

I coughed, my lungs heaving to jump start themselves, "I did good..." I coughed, half laughing this time and rested the back of my head on the cold wall, my smile slipping away... and everything went black.
------------------------------------------------
((That was a lot of fun! Wow. I'm glad Ashton let me do that. Please note: Ashton said I could.))

((Part 2. See above for Part 1. I figured no one would want to read a five page excitement driven post so I had to naturally split it up.))

~Glitch~

"Haru?" he asked, uncertainly. His eyes were still open but staring blindly at the air behind him. His lower lip quivered and he took a slow but shuddering breath. "Haru?" he asked again, the corner of his eyes beginning to grow wet. "N--... No... Don't..." A pit of helplessness grew in the center of his stomach, almost as if a hole had been ripped out of him. Gaping and dark, the sensation seemed to swirl like a demon inside.

His friend was dead. His best friend was dead.

Psychologists say that a person who witnesses the death of someone close to them goes through five stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and finally acceptance. Glitch, however, was quickly bypassing denial and charging right into anger like an out of control bus heading for the edge of the cliff. Bargaining was out of the question. There was only one thing left to do, and it made perfect sense to him.

By this time, he couldn't hold it in any longer. His shoulders began to shake and he openly began to cry. Everyone around him were being taken away. First his parents, then his sister, and now his best friend. How could he have ever been so careless as to try to move along with his life? Move along and only meet the same end that he had so many times before?

He clutched his hand over his face and hunched over, still kneeling beside Haru. He almost didn't realize that a long shadow appeared in the doorway. It was another pirate. He analyzed the situation before him and immediately flicked on his communicator device wrapped around his ear. He spoke loudly and frenetically, "We have a code black! Repeat: Black! The hostages killed the captain!"

At this, Glitch raised his eyes and stared maniacally at the shadow. Revenge. It was all his thoughts could process. He wanted revenge and he wanted it badly. Maybe it could make it stop hurting.

Tsuki was also kneeling beside Haru, her face solemn, but upon hearing the man's voice she whipped around and reached for the gun that she had dropped to the floor on sight of Haru's limp body. But when she fumbled for the pistol, she only met blood speckled floor.

Glitch had already grabbed it. Something had finally snapped.

His knuckles were white, his grip was as hard as steel and an expression of pure malice was plastered like a mask upon his face. Only once before had he felt so dangerous. Dangerous and vindictive.

Mercilessly, he raised the weapon and pulled the trigger.

But nothing happened. The chamber was empty. He was out of ammunition. The gun clicked innocently, and infuriated Glitch even more.

He threw down the weapon and strode viciously towards the panic stricken man. He raised his arm in a weak attempt to protect himself and was only met with a double kick to the chest as Glitch leapt into the air and scissor-kicked his opponent. The man was shoved back through the doorway and was sprawled into the hallway, lying in a heap on the floor.

Tears now streaming down his face, Glitch grabbed the man's shirt and ripped him upward to be met with a punch to the face by Glitch's fist. He screamed in pain as Glitch stood over him.

He watched as the pirate slowly got to his feet.

He staggered for a moment before raising his fists and taking a swing at Glitch, which he easily avoided. Quick as a flash, Glitch shifted his feet expertly and let the punch fly clean over his shoulder. Instantaneously, he grabbed the man's arm and released an equally quick punch to his face, knocking him senseless in return. With another shift of his weight, Glitch wrapped his arm around the back of the man's neck and twisted his body so the man was forced to look at his feet.

A quick spin to the side and Glitch had the man wrapped in a headlock, instinctively he whipped his flailing body clean over his shoulder, throwing him mercilessly into the floor, making the pirate land flat on his back.

The man tried to plead with Glitch, but he wasn't listening. He refused to. By this time, the demon of helplessness swirled even faster and Glitch couldn't bear it any longer.

With a cry of fury, he stomped over to the man's body and began fiercely kicking the man in the side. The pirate’s screams echoed over Glitch's own empty ones. He blamed the man for everything that had happened a few minutes previous, even though he was indirectly involved, "YOU KILLED MY BEST FRIEND! I'LL KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD! I'LL KILL-- HEY!"

He stopped as someone grabbed his arms from behind, holding them firmly behind his back. He whirled around to face Tsuki, her face set with stony determination. He tried to wriggle out of her hold, but it was useless. He glared at her for a minute, but when her serious expression didn't change he felt his blind anger fade. Even as he stopped struggling, she held onto him, effectively preventing him from killing the pirate.

If she hadn't have stopped him, Glitch would most definitely have ended that man's life. He rationalized that if he killed this man, then maybe Haru would have some chance. But it wasn't logical. Nothing Glitch was thinking was logical.

Accepting Haru's fate, he slumped to the floor and choked back another wave of sobs, only to stifle his emotions temporarily as he began to weep. He tightly gripped his green hair and buried himself along the wall. Never had he felt so alone.

But he was forgetting someone who would stand with him through thick and thin.
------------------------------------------
~Abby~

Bianca was sprawled unconscious on the floor of the hallway along with her partner in commandeering the ship. Abby had efficiently knocked the both of them out and threw their bodies onto the bridge. She was fortunate enough to be oblivious to the commotion going on in the main hall down stairs, but unfortunate enough to have to steer them all through the thick of action.

She sat at the controls, jerking the steering wheel, avoiding a number of shots coming from the pirating ship she had spotted from the camera; nestled comfortably on the hull of the Titania was the dangerous ship that was trying to take over. Not if Abby had anything to say about it.

When Bianca had slammed the ship forward, she unwittingly broke the connection between the two, sending the pirate ship rolling through space as the new model rocketed towards Goidelia. It regained its course and began firing ammunition at her. Apparently they didn't care about their crew that had boarded anymore. Something else had definitely happened.

She heard yelling coming from down the bridge but couldn't make out what was being said.

Blocking out her disturbing imagination about all the things that could have possibly gone wrong, she decided to make a direct course towards the planet they were originally sent to. Goidelia. The end of their travels.

Abby swerved the ship right and then left, spinning the ship like a drill downward towards the atmosphere for the mostly green planet. Taking evasive action and ignoring the number of alarms ringing around her as she shot through the burning atmosphere at a highly dangerous speed and righted the ship, pulling up, narrowly avoiding the tips of the trees in the ocean of forest below.

The pirate ship was quick on her tail, grazing the tops of the trees that she had missed and temporarily lost control. It wobbled uncertainly, from what Abby could see in the rear cameras, and tried to regain its balance. Abby, seeing her opportunity, directed the ship towards a colossal tree, standing awkwardly atop the lower canopy and swerved out of the way just in time.

But the following ship didn't see it in time to pull out. The tip of its wing caught on the massive trunk that must have been as thick as four speed buses and lost control. It went into a death roll and nose-dived into the forest, shattering trees as it crashed. A huge explosion of fire erupted from the forest and dissipated into a cloud of smoke.

But just before it crashed, it released two of its last missiles. One of the heat-seeking missiles, fortunately enough, circled back and detonated upon reaching the burning inferno of the ship. The other, unluckily for the remaining crew of the Titania, decided to stay on course.

Before Abby realized it was still on her tail, it was too late. She tried to avoid it, but it had already made contact with the engine suspended on her right wing. The wing exploded into a million pieces and flames littered the forest as Abby steered the ship, the controls shaking, into the forest. Branches smashed against the ship's windshield and broke off as it plummeted to the ground and crashed, it's nose buckling into the damp earth.

The mound of dirt, leaves, trees and ship slid a good half mile before slowing finally to an eerily quiet stop. Alien birds fluttered in fear from their trees and screeched in horror.

Abby sat, still buckled in to the pilot's seat, her head hanging forward, drooped low. She slowly looked up and saw the pile of dirt mounted to the front of the windshield, blocking the sun's light. She only then noticed that she was breathing heavily.

"Whoa..." she said to herself, appreciating the now silent cockpit. Without another moment to lose, she unbuckled herself, crawled over the interior debris from the crash and went to look for her teammates.

Tsukiko

I released Glitch as he sunk to the floor. He wasn't going to be killing anyone today. When I stopped him, I had moved without thinking. I knew he would regret murdering a man in cold blood, even if he was somewhat less than innocent. I turned away from him; I wasn't used to such great displays of emotion.

Instead, I looked for Haru. He really did look dead, and I was surprised to find a sadness welling inside me. I knelt beside him, propping his head up with my hand and taking his pulse at the carotid artery. I was surprised to find a pulse there--sluggish and weak, but a definite sign of life.

His forehead was dripping with fever-induced sweat, and his clothes were noticeably damp. Blood trickled from his wounded shoulder, but his heartbeat was so slow that not much was coming out. I considered trying to suck the poison out, but I knew it was much too late for that. He needed medical attention, stat. And I was no medic.

Suddenly, the ship lurched violently downwards, and I dropped Haru. I was thrown harshly against a cold metal wall, and the force of the impact left me breathless and dizzy. Just as suddenly the ship came to an abrupt halt, and I found myself lying facedown on the floor. I reached for a gun on the floor next to me, dropped by a KO-ed pirate. Wherever we had landed, it couldn't hurt to be prepared for the worst.

"Glitch! Tsukiko!" Abby yelled from the doorway. She looked out of breath but alert.

"We have one man down, two unknowns, one in shock, and the two of us," I called, grapevining towards her, on the lookout for more intruders. "What's your status, and where the hell are we?" I asked calmly.

((All I got for now. Feh. Oh, sorry for the brief take-over, Jane. I'll change it if you want.))

~Abby~

"Man... down?" she asked slowly, looking over Tsukiko's shoulder to see Glitch slumped on the floor in the hallway and Haru laying motionless in the next room. Her mind raced, Oh my God! Haru!

Abby may not have liked the guy, but he didn't deserve to die. He wasn't the greatest guy on earth, but Abby still felt that pang of sadness well in her stomach and spread quickly to her chest. Mostly, she felt sorry for Glitch. He looked pretty upset.

She swallowed hard, feeling a lump in her throat but said, as calmly as possible, "We crash on Goidelia. I knocked the pirate ship out a few miles back but a missile got us." She combed her fingers back through her hair, pushing the stray strands from her face and continued, feeling distraught, "We're in the middle of the forest. I have no idea what the planet's terrain is like. For all we know, we could be sinking in quick sand."

"Where's Fleur and David? Shouldn't they be here by now?" she asked, suddenly remembering the missing team members.

((Hope you don't mind the takeover, Eba, we just wanted to get your charries in the game!))

Tsukiko

Just as I was about to open my mouth, Fleur and David appeared at the door, breatheless.

"Are you two okay?" I asked, and they nodded. "Good. Stay here with Haru. Abby, Glitch, and I going to scout out the area."

"Not going," Glitch muttered from the corner.

"You'll go if you want to save your friend," I responded sharply. Glitch looked up expectantly, tears still running down his face in tiny wet rivulets. "He's not dead--but close. Too close. He needs medical attention, stat. And since you're the only one who speaks the language, we need you. You're the only one who can help us save Haru," I told him. The heroics thing usually worked on boys, at any rate.

He nodded fiercely, wiping the tears from his face with his arm and standing up, a newfound determination in his eyes.

"Abby, grab some weapons. We don't know who's out there. Or what," I added somberly. "Make it quick, we leave in five minutes. Grab anything you can conceal, you don't want anything bulky. I'm going as defense. Glitch, you go unarmed," I said quickly. "You're just the translator, and you're emotionally unstable. No weapons for you." He nodded mutely again.

Five minutes and twenty-seven seconds later, the ship's doors popped open with a pneumatic hissing, and light filled the ship's holding cell with an ethereal glow. I heard rustling in the bushes, and immediately I aimed the gun in my hands at the source.

"Stay back," I warned my partners. "If they shoot, they'll go for me first. Keep your distance from me." The agreed silently, and I slunk farther away from the ship, into the clearing. I kept the gun pointed skywards, but my eyes alert. Suddenly, fog began rolling in. I glanced at Abby and Glitch, and promptly found myself aquainted with the ground.

~Abby~

"Tsu!" she screamed as Tsukiko was brought to the ground by long, thick vines shooting out from the fog like whips. No sooner had they brought Tsu to her knees, more vines shot out from the darkness and grazed past Abby, latching onto Glitch and slamming him onto his back into the dirt. He yelled out as the air was punched out of his lungs, and thin vines wrapped themselves tightly around his arms and legs.

Before she could even blink, even more of the sharp vines directed themselves toward her. She let out a few shots from her weapon, shredding the nearest vine, but it was futile. The tight cords wrapped roughly around her body and wrenched her to the ground, her face pressed firmly into the dirt. She grunted as she tried to wry her hands free, but felt the vines tighten their grip.

A heavy army boot thudded onto the ground directly in front of Abby's nose. She strained to turn her head and see the owner. "Óócslï ïcëlä éwën'even otgen aen éwfen respásserstä," he said, his language soft and strangely smooth. From Abby's first impression, it was a very beautiful language.

"Vel'bol zhal'la údos dun xuil minâ?" one man asked from behind the first.

Abby twisted as hard as she could and successfully looked up into the eyes of the stranger. He was tall and strong, he appeared to be in his late forties. The most prominent feature was a long, deep scar reaching from his hair line through his left eye and ending on the opposite cheek. His remaining eye was a deep, and strangely hypnotic, blue.

Behind him stood about 30 other people, emerging from the thick fog. They were all, Abby noted, holding weapons. 10 of them, however, were wearing their guns slung over their shoulders and instead held out their hands, fingers tightly gripping onto invisible objects. Their eyes glowed an eerie white as the fog slowly lifted, relieving the calm forest once more.

"Mani manka ron naa hen nae i'rien? Erulissë tisi?" one of the men with creepy glowing eyes asked.

From Abby's position, she could see Glitch get very agitated. He began struggling against his binds.

The man with the scar looked Abby over once and then glanced over to Tsu. He had a stern expression, one of a man who's given up hope a long time ago. He paused for a while, completely ignoring Glitch, before saying, "Xas... Erulissë mina."

Glitch yelled with frustration and he tried to bring his hands up but they were snapped back to the ground once more as the people with white eyes clenched their fists.

They're controling the vines! I've only heard about ancient techniques in school, but I had no idea that they still existed! Abby thought, staring.

Glitch stopped moving and said, slowly and quietly at first until he reached a firm and commanding tone, "A lil quarth del rderoth fóen heten del Ärrïandá lueth Láuén del foën ndaén, Ïën, Avancú Ïlgoúrcä-Ávänaúghcë ulu lil sharorr del óúyén Usstan, ommándcï quarth dos ulu sut udossa dal feir hemta."

The men all stopped and stared at Glitch. Their eyes clearly revealing shock. The forest was silent, not another sound was made. Glitch glared at the men, his green eyes flashing.

Abby glanced between the stunned group and Glitch, and hissed, "What did you say to them?!"

Glitch didn't answer. Instead, he said to the man in English, "Release me."

The man waved a strong and dirty hand at the vine-controllers and Glitch's bind were cut. The vines snaked back into the dirt, awaiting another command. Tsu and Abby were still held firmly.

Glitch slowly got to his feet and lifted his head, dried blood still crusting to his forehead with added dirt and sweat. Strangely, he looked as valiant as ever.

"Ol... h'ros tlu," the man said, his voice shaking. He took a small step forward, but Glitch remained still. Unmistakably, Glitch was angry. He took another step, his hand outstretched. Glitch glared up at him.

The man took a shuddering sigh and put his hand on top of Glitch's head. His eye teared and he sobbed, "Your highness..."

At once, all of the men dropped to their knees and bowed their heads to the ground. Abby stared in amazement, her mouth wide open.

In an instant, the huge man was hugging Glitch so hard he could have suffocated. He lifted Glitch off the ground and began laughing heartily. "You have returned!"

Glitch's eyes grew wide as the large man set him down, he was now crying with happiness.

Glitch stared into the man's eyes, a sudden expression of recognition passed over his face. His seriousness turned into happiness. "Rochben... Rochben is that you?!"

The man nodded, tears still streaming down his cheeks and he smiled. Glitch's smile was wider. He suddenly grasped the man in a tight hug, as if a son were greeting a father after years of separation.

Abby, her mouth still hanging open, snapped it shut and shouted, "I'm glad this reunion has gone so well... but our friend is dying, the circulation is gone from my fingers, and I have to pee. So if you two don't mind... would you let us go?!"

Fleur and David watched the display from the corner. The vines had neither come to attack them nor had the men. It had all happened so fast. Now, they were calling Glitch king. Fleur looked at David. He was looking back at her. Fleur leaned towards him.

"This is like something you'd see in one of those cheesy Star Galactica movies featuring Ritana Ruby and Hal Timburtan," she whispered.

David nodded, "Except that it's not quite as cheesy when it's happening in real life." He had a gash on his temple from where his head had bashed into the control panel when the ship had lurched forward from the collusion of the missile. Fleur, who had ended up in front of the door where he was, had come in and doctored him up slightly (ripped her shirt a bit to wrap his head) but he was still bleeding considerably.

"I hate to interrupt," David began, unsure if the others could understand him or not, "but we have several people who could use some medical attention, so if we could hurry, that would be ideal." He himself was beginning to feel light headed and found himself leaning against Fleur as he clutched his head. His breathing felt a bit labored.

Fleur turned back and spoke as well. "I've got limited medical skills. I've done all I can with the materials I had at hand. It's probably best we move out of here as soon as possible. Especially if that ship decides to send any more pirates after us."

((Sorry it's kind of short. I'm suffering from a killer headache right now.))

((w00t! Eba lives!))

Tsukiko

I had to admit that, for outcasts, these folks had a pretty good setup. The Goidelian rebels home consisted of a plot of land filled with tents, but these weren't your average weekend trip tents--these were made to last. From what I could gather, these rebels, who called themselves the Fronde, lived in seasonal encampments. Whenever the Aina Eruanna found them, they would simply pick up and move.

The Aina Eruanna, it seemed, was the government of Goidelia, and translated roughly to "holy grace" in English. I hoped the name didn't mean this was a religious group--those were always the most difficult to deal with, because they assumed what they were doing was for a god or something like that. The common people normally referred to them as the Mortumba, however, which was Goisech for "deep dark valley". A fitting name, if the stories were true.

And stories there were. The Gotharon and Morbereth, as the king and queen were called, were Glitch's aunt and uncle. Their names, respectively, meant "Enemy King" and "Dark Queen," and I assumed that these names were used only by the Fronde. They were cruel, totalitarian tyrants who stopped at nothing to gain power and keep the people under their rule. Tales of imprisonment, torture, and the occasional public execution kept the people subdued, but the rebel ranks were growing each day.

This was not the only camp. There were several more sprinkled across the countryside, hidden deep in the forest. This camp was called Rhun Minas in Goisech, but it was not uncommon to hear it referred to by its English name of East Tower. Goisech was a beautiful language; it was a shame that the people often refused to use it. The camp of Dun Alda was a few miles away, and it took me a while to realize that this was synonymous with West Tree. Dun Alda was the base of operations and the largest, most well-hidden camp. Compared to Rhun Minas, a small temporary lookout post on the outskirts of the kingdom, Dun Alda was supposed to be immense, nearly two-hundred times its size.

Glitch, along with the rest of his mission group, needed to head over to Dun Alda to meet the Fronde leaders and discuss his position, as well as formulate a plot with them to overthrow the Mortumba. We would have left by now, if not for Haru.

And so there I was, sitting in the healing tent in a small, partitioned-off section, watching the blanket on his chest move up and down in a steady, hypnotically rhythmic motion. For two days we had waited for him to wake, but so far he showed no signs of changing condition. The healers had managed to treat and counteract the poison in his body, and though he was in stable condition, we weren't sure if he was going to make it. The healer kindly suggested that the poison could have caused brain damage--and had promptly run away when I pulled out my gun.

Truth be told, I felt responsible, at least partially, for Haru's coma. I'd had the chance to shoot the captain, and I had hesitated. If I had just shot him, none of this would have happened. In a way, I could have prevented the wreck of our ship, Haru's injuries, Glitch's grief. Well, I told myself gently, at least you shot the bastard.

"Ugh," I heard a moan from the bed. "My head kills." I looked up sharply and stated the obvious.

"You're awake." He sat up.

"How long have I been out?" He groaned, covering his eyes with his forearm.

"Three days."

"...did you get him?"

"The captain?" I clarified.

"Yeah."

"He is dead."

"So whatever happened to no extraneous killings?" He teased. I said nothing. "Where is everyone? Did everybody make it out okay?"

"You're the only one here, if that's what you mean," I told him. "Poison, you were in a coma. They said you might have brain damage," I deadpanned.

"Y-you're not serious!" He cried in alarm.

"No, I'm not," I agreed complacently. Haru rolled his eyes and slumped back into the bed.

"Where's Glitch? Where are we?" He asked.

"He's here. We're in a camp called Rhun Minas," I informed him.

"Tsuki?" I heard Glitch call from outside the tent. "You still here?"

"Glitch?" Haru called back. "C'mere!"

((Here's the listing of the Goisech I've invented so far:
Mortumba = deep dark valley = "more-tomb-uh"
Aina Eruanna = holy grace = "aye-nah air-ooh-ah[/b]-nah"
Gotharon = Enemy King = "gawth-ahr-ahn"
Morbereth = Dark Queen = "more-burr-eth"
Rhun Minas = East Tower = "roon mee-nah-ss"
Dun Alda = West Tree = "doon ahl-dah"))

~Glitch~

Glitch politely began to pull away from the mass of people trying to talk to him at once, demanding to know where he'd gone to, asking if he's here to stay, weeping upon his return. If Glitch had known everything would be like this, he probably wouldn't have revealed his true identity. But drastic times call for drastic measures.

Rochben had supplied Glitch and his teammates with all the appropriate accomidations, even ordering The Fronde's healer to help Haru. Rochben had been a great friend, even before the revolt. He didn't have time to talk to him ever since they were brought back to camp, but he hoped they would have a chance soon. There was so much to catch up on.

Haru, on the other hand, was what was concerning Glitch the most. His best friend, the guy he practically grew up with, was laying nearly comatose on the hospital bed and there was nothing else he could do. That feeling of helplessness was the worst part of the entire ordeal; it's what drove Glitch to snap on the ship in the first place.

Just as Glitch was able to get away, he approached the tent were Haru was resting and called out, "Tsuki? You still here?" He remembered leaving her in the tent while he was being shuffled out to make a public appearance (to his great distaste) and quickly asked to stay informed of any change.

Surprisingly, from inside the tent he heard Haru's voice instead, "Glitch! C'mere!"

His heart leaping, he pulled open the flap and ducked inside the tent. There, sitting up in bed, looking utterly exhausted was Haru. Tsu was sitting next to him, staring up at Glitch expectedly.

All he could do was smile. Quietly, he said to Haru, "Glad you're amongst the living again. For a minute, we thought we'd lost you."

Haru scratched his head, wincing slightly at the pain in his arm and replied, "I think you nearly did..."

There was a moments pause, reflecting on the incident, before Glitch cleared his throat and said, "Well, there's going to be a feast tonight. Rochben has pulled out all his connections to celebrate my return..." His cheeks flushed, "... Not like I really want it... but are you up for it?"

"What, are you kidding me? I'm always up for a party, you know me!" Haru said, grinning.

Glitch smiled and bowed his head slightly, glancing at Tsu through the corner of his vivid green eyes. A sudden thought occured to him and he asked it immediately, "Hey, Haru..."

Haru stopped fiddling with his bandage to look up quizzically.

"When you were... you know... did you happen to see or... remember anything that happened during that time?" he asked slowly, staring at Haru through his still dirty emerald hair.

Haru raised and eyebrow and pondered this for a moment before finally saying, "No... I don't think so. I just remember everything going white and then waking up here about 2 seconds ago... Why?"

Glitch blinked a few times and took a relieved sigh before smiling softly, "Nothing. Never mind."

"Alright!" Haru shouted, clearly excited to get out of bed. "When does this thing start?!"

"Not for a few hours," Glitch said, walking over to a chair in the corner of the tent with Haru's clothes folded neatly into a stack. He tossed his belongings to Haru and gently touched Tsu on the elbow, he nodded his head out the tent and held the flap open for her.

She gave him a curious expression, then exited the tent as Haru was pulling on his shirt. Glitch followed closely after Tsu. He spoke quietly, but sincerely, "Listen... back there on the ship," he said, stopping just outside the tent entrance, just beneath the over-hang. He licked his lips, trying to find a voice to his thoughts, "I snapped. It-- It wasn't... I wasn't myself."

Tsu just stared at him, not replying or even blinking. A little unnerved, Glitch continued, "I never really thought of it before, but after what I did... I realized that everyone has the potential to kill. It may not be there consciously, but... things can change. No matter how much I don't want to admit it, but I think if you hadn't have stopped me... I would have killed that man."

"All in all," Glitch said, running his fingers through his bangs and pushing them away from his eyes, "I... thanks. For helping Haru. I was as much useless as I was crazy." He smiled slightly as his joke but continued with all seriousness, "I just wanted to ask you one thing... could we keep what happened back there a secret, between you and me? Please don't tell anyone, especially not Haru. He'd be on my case so fast I won't know what hit me."

Glitch's pleading green eyes gazed deep into Tsuki's equally vivid ones. He scanned her face for some sort of answer from her stoic expression, but to no avail. Finally, she spoke, "Sure." She smiled softly and reassuredly.

"Thanks, Tsu," Glitch said again, smiling back. Just then Haru stepped out from the tent and stretched, grunting.

Glitch backed away from Tsu, realizing he was so close to her.

"Well, my friend," Haru said to Glitch, coming over and squinting in the bright sunlight and grinning deviously, "I think it's about time you introduced me to the local ladies."

Haru

I frowned as I peered out of the healing tent. Glitch and Tsukiko were standing awfully close to each other, talking in low voices. Glitch looked distressed, and Tsuki was apathetic, as usual. Then, to my surprise, she smiled at him. And for some unexplicable reason, that didn't settle too well with me.

"Well, my friend," I said, stepping out of the tent, "I think it's about time you introduced me to the local ladies."

Glitch rolled his eyes, and Tsukiko frowned.

"I really don't think you should be going to a party," she suggested softly.

"Aw, don't be such a square!" I laughed, clapping her on the shoulder. "It'll be great, I love parties!"

"You just came out of a three-day coma," she protested. "You should be being careful with your body. You almost died."

I made a face. "I don't really see how that's any of your business," I said coldly. Her eyes widened by a fraction, but I didn't miss it.

"Just... be careful, okay?" She warned, then turned and walked away without so much as a 'goodbye'.

"What's her problem?" I growled to Glitch, suddenly in a bad mood. "It's not like what I do is any of her business." Glitch grimaced slightly and looked at the ground. "Why are you making that face?" I demanded. "What is it?"

"Well," he began uncertainly, still staring at the ground. "I can see why she'd upset."

I frowned back at him. "And why is that?"

"She probably wouldn't want me to tell you this," Glitch confessed, "but she spent the last three days by that bed, waiting for you to wake up. I think she felt kind of guilty for what happened to you." He paused for a few seconds to let this sink in. "And then you just woke up and announced that you were going to a party after a three day coma, no wonder she's worried about you."

I was silent for a minute, trying to collect my thoughts. For some reason, finding out that she spent three days sitting by my bedside made me feel bad--I hadn't even thanked her. And she felt responsible for what that damned captain did to me? That only angered me--it hadn't been her fault at all. And the idea that she had been worried about me only made me feel guilty, especially after how I had treated her.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Dammit, Glitch, these are things you need to tell me just a little bit earlier!" I moaned. "Crap, I guess I should go apologize... or something like that..."

"Don't bother," Glitch sighed. "She's probably gone already."

"Gone where?"

"Well, whenever I came in to see you--and they never let me stay long, it was really just Tsuki looking after you--she would take off for a while. I'm pretty sure she went to talk to some of the Fronde's strategists who live here in Rhun Minas." He winced. "She kinda seems like she wants to get this mission over with as fast as she can."

I was silent again, pensive. An awkward silence fell upon us, and I finally broke it by saying, "So, for this party, do I have to dress up?"

~Glitch~

Glancing at Haru out of the corner of his eyes, Glitch thought incredulously, First time he's actually admited to doing something wrong. Tsuki must have some sort of influence... I'm surpised.

"If you want to, no one's stopping you. But Rochben pulled together spare clothing for us to wear. We won't look like such outsiders," he said.

A few hours later, both Haru and Glitch emerged from a nearby tent where they were going to be stationed while on Goidelia. It was already past dusk, and the stars above were glimmering. Glitch looked up and smiled, remembering the past when Haru came up next to him, jolting him from thought.

"Hey, what's with the unicorn?" Haru asked, pulling at his own shirt.

Glitch blinked and looked down at himself. He was wearing long kakhi pants, an earthy green short-sleeved tunic with a high collar with traditional armor strapped to his chest revealing his family crest, which hasn't been seen publically for over 10 years. The crest contained both a lion and a unicorn adorning a golden shield above a crashing sea, and a radiant light extending from behind.

Glitch flushed and glanced Haru up and down. He was wearing black pants with a sleeveless vest and silver buckles striped horizontally across his chest.

"It's my family shield... Rochben asked me to wear it," Glitch admitted, still going red, the crimson clashing horribly with his hair.

Haru just shrugged and walked off towards the glow seen from just above the tree tops. Distant sounds of drums and people laughing lead the pair through the forest and to the clearing where the party was being held.

It was a spectacular sight. A giant bonfire cracked and reached it's long fingers into the sky, illuminating the masses of people. And there truly was a mass of people. Some stood near long tables covered with foods of all kinds of variety, some sat talking to one another loudly and jovially, but most danced around the fire to the upbeat tune coming from the little band in the corner.

The tune, if it were to be described by anyone else, would sound sort of like an Irish jig, but with tiny variations here and there. Everyone near the fire were all twriling, jumping and laughing loudly. Apparently Glitch's return was greatly appreciated.

He grinned broadly, watching everyone moving around him when he suddenly felt a nudge on his arm. He turned to see Haru, wide-eyed and gaping. A group of girls not much older than them were waving at both boys, with almost seductive eyes and swinging their flowing dresses.

Both Haru and Glitch gave a small wave back and Haru whispered with a broad grin, "Oh yeah... this is why I go to parties."

Tsukiko

It would be safe to say that I was in a staring contest. With a saree. Well, this was a new low.

It wasn't as if the saree was ugly or anything. On the contrary, I quite liked it. It was a full saree, long and bright green, and matched my eyes perfectly--the girl who had delivered it about 10 minutes ago had told that my eyes were the reason she had chose this color for me. I, for one, was appreciative of the genuine hospitality of the Goidelian people. It was a nice reprieve from normal school life.

Or would have been, if I hadn't still been stuck with my schoolmates. To be fair, Fleur and Abby seemed nice enough, and I hadn't even spoken to David yet, and Glitch did his best to be polite around me, at the very least. Haru, though, I wasn't sure what to think of. One minute he was offering me dinner, and the next telling me to stay out of his business. I couldn't figure him out.

But there were more pressing problems at hand. Like the saree. It was not ugly or ill-fitting, but the problem lie in the lack of places to conceal weapons. The long strip of cloth held no pockets or straps for knives or guns. And while I didn't think I would actually need these particular items during this festival, I hated to go anywhere unarmed.

Finally, I put on the saree and chanced a glance at myself in the mirror. It fit well, and brought out my eyes, just as the girl had promised. For some reason, wearing the saree made me nervous. I wasn't used to wearing such colorful clothes, or getting so dressed up, or going somewhere without a weapon.

Well, at least the last one could be remedied; I strapped on two forearm extendable sliding sword-knives. Then I put my hair into a high but loose bun, leaving a good-sized chunk out, and secured it with darts doubling as hair pins. I didn't feel completely safe without my guns, but I figured this would have to do for now. Feeling only slight more secure, I stepped out of the tent and headed towards the loud festival.

---------------------
Haru

"Oh yeah," I whispered to Glitch. A few pretty girls were dancing and waving at us, obviously wanting us to join them. "This is why I go to parties." I nudged him in the ribs. "Hey, where's your girlfriend, anyway?"

I got a blank stare for my troubles. "Who, Abby?" I nodded encouragingly, and he sighed. "She's not my girlfriend. And what about Tsuki?"

"Nah, I don't think she likes me very much. Besides," I added, "she's a little too weird for me."

Glitch grinned. "Oh yeah? Look behind you." I turned around, and nearly lost my jaw. There she was, standing next to a cluster of trees, in a long green dress-thingy.

"Oye, that isn't really her, is it?" I exclaimed, turning back to Glitch, who just nodded. "But... she's not wearing black! And she doesn't have any guns! It's can't be her!" Glitch smirked. "I refuse to believe it!"

"Too weird for you, eh?" Glitch laughed. "Go talk to her."

"W-what?" I spluttered. "Why?!"

"Because she's all alone," Glitch said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"B-but if I go, you'll be alone," I tried to protest. But Glitch wouldn't have any of it.

"I'll be fine, just go ta--oh, wait." He frowned. "Too late. Sorry, mate."

"What?" I asked, mirroring his expression and turning to look. At first I thought she had disappeared, but then I realized that it was only that my view of her was blocked--by another person. A guy person. That bothered me for some reason. I grabbed Glitch's arm and dragged him covertly closer. "Time for recon."

--------------------
Tsukiko

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked, not sure I had heard the request right.

"Would you like to dance with me?" The young man repeated. He appeared to be a year or two older than me, and was garbed in the same vest-like clothing as everyone else. Much friendlier than most people, I noted.

"I don't know how," I protested with a soft smile, hoping to deflect him. It was useless.

"That's okay, dancing is all about the leading," he answered confidently, grabbing my hand and putting his other hand on my waist. I immediately panicked and reached for the release button on my left sword. But before I could press the button, a firm hand grabbed mine and pushed the boy away from me.

"Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Haru demanded of the other boy. Haru had a few good inches on the mystery man, who looked a bit spooked. "Can't you see she doesn't want to dance?" The boy mumbled something intelligible, and scuffled away. A few moments of shocked silence on my part ensued, and finally Haru broke the silence by saying, "I think thanks are in order, no?"

This stunned me even more. "For what?" I asked, baffled.

"For saving you," he answered obviously. My eyes narrowed.

"From what?"

"That guy. You didn't want to dance with him."

"And how do you know that?"

"I could tell. I could read it in your face."

"You must be a pretty crappy reader, then."

"So you wanted to dance with him, is that it?"

"No!"

"Then what's the problem?" I could see it in his eyes. He was having fun, teasing me like this. He probably figured I couldn't fight in this outfit, and that I was unarmed. Fortunately, I had a few surprises up my sleeve. And in my hair.

----------------------
Haru

"Then what's the problem?" I asked, slightly annoyed. I had come over here to rescue her and make her like me, not get her mad at me! Although, I doubted she could do much damage right now, in a dress and without any weapons.

In a flash I found myself pinned to one of the trees, a sword at my throat. Oh, where did that come from? I thought meekly, staring at the shiny silver with wide eyes.

"Uh, Tsukiko?" I mumbled, straining backwards and going nowhere. "C-could you put that down?"

"Stay the hell away from me!" She hissed through clenched teeth, before clapping the sword back into its holster with the blunt edge of the opposite one. And just as quickly as she had appeared, she was gone.

I rubbed my neck possessively, glad it was still in one piece. Glitch came over to me, looking both amused and startled.

"Y'know, mate," he remarked, "I think you might have been right about her not liking you."

((If you don't get how Tsuki's swords work, look at this picture:

~Glitch~

A heavy hand thudded on Glitch's shoulder armor and startled him. He looked up to see the bearer of the hand was Rochben, he was resting his other hand on top of Haru's shoulder as well.

"I hope we're not already getting into trouble, young sirs. The party's only just begun," Rochben said jokingly.

Glitch stammered, his heart still beating rapidly from the scare, "N-No, sir. Just... making friends." He glanced over at Haru and raised an apprehensive eyebrow.

"Rochben, sorry," Glitch said, turning to face him. "This is Haru Anderson, Haru this is Rochben Paur. He's an old friend of mine before I left home."

"Ah yes! Mr. Anderson! Mae govannen!" He grasped Haru's hand firmly and shook it strongly. When he released it, he said with concern, "You gave your friends quite a scare. I'm surprised to see you here. Would you not like to rest?"

Haru smiled and admited, "I was in a coma for three days. I had plenty of time to rest."

Rochben laughed deeply and said smiling, "Well, then! On to the feast!"

He lead Haru and Glitch through the hoards of people and emerged to the tables upon tables of food. There were plates of Killala Oat Shrimp, Limerick mushrooms, Bangers and Mash (sausage and potatoes), Pride of Erin soup, and Ballydebob Halibut with Lim and much more expanded over the other tables. Glitch's mouth immediately began to water. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen so many of his favorite dishes on one table. He couldn't help but pile as much as he could on one plate.

He slowly passed the dessert table and began to fawn over the mounds of Óre Amon (chocolate covered cherry-like fruits), Lass Peich (a sweet flavored drink), and Caer Luin Loth (Lemon-like custard and whipped cream nestled between layers of sponge cake).

And then of course there was the famous-- or maybe infamous-- Goidelian wine. Strongest drink in this corner of the galaxy. A group of rosy cheeked older men, sat around this table laughing loudly, apparently enjoying the effects.

He heard a distant voice in the back of his mind but gently pushed it away. Again, the voice pursued, calling him by a strange name. "Cavan."

He furrowed his eyebrows, now fully aware that he was being summonded. He turned and saw Rochben waving over to him to sit on a log, one of four placed in a half-circle facing the dancing ground.

Oh yeah, he thought, bashfully. I guess that's my name, isn't it... I should get used to that.

He walked over to Rochben, carrying his food, and sat down next to him. Haru was already seated on the ground, resting his back against the log. He was nibbling on a bit of Wilwarin cakes before shoving the entire thing in his mouth. Glitch laughed, surprised that Haru was enjoying the food. Goidelia wasn't famous for it's meals.

But to Glitch, it was home. And home always had the best food, no matter what.

"So, Cavan! We have a lot to catch up on... but first things first..." Rochben said, slowly leaning close and lowering his voice, "Are you plynnet a natha van wen?"

Glitch's eyes bugged out of his head and he stammered, "W-What?! No! Not right now. Right? Right, Haru? No wait, I shouldn't be asking you."

He turned back to Rochben and said, "I'm sing--"

But someone behind Rochben made him fall short. Abby had appeared, holding a plate of her own and looking stunning in her blue tank-top and colorful cerulean warp around her waist. Her hair was down and draping gently over her shoulders. She gave him a small, half smile before sitting next to Rochben on the opposite side.

Rochben saw what had just happened and a devious grin spread over his lips, "Oh, I see."

Glitch quickly changed the subject, not exactly caring if it was too personal, "Rochben! I haven't seen you in years! The last time I did, I don't remember anything about the scar. What happened?"

Rochben grew serious and said, tracing the long crease along his face and through his eye, "I got this the night your parents were murdered, your highness."

An eerie silence ensued. Haru stopped in mid-chew and looked up at Glitch, Abby sat quietly and still beside Rochben and Glitch was at a loss for words.

"It's no trouble at all, really, your highness. I completed my mission to protect you, and that's all that matters."

Glitch suddenly lost his appetite.

"Why do you keep calling him 'your highness'?" Haru asked, taking a sip from his goblet of Lass Peich and breaking the uncomfortable silence.

Rochben looked down at him, confused, "That is the respectful way to address the heir to the throne of Goidelia."

It finally clicked for Haru and he immediately spit out the drink that hadn't quite made it down his throat. A fine mist of juice sprayed into the air as Haru gasped, "Glitch! Wh-Wh--...?!"

Glitch closed his eyes and turned his head.

"When were you planning on telling me this?!" Haru demanded, his eyes wide.

"Uhh... I kind of forgot..." Glitch half-lied, wincing as Haru yelled into the stars. He really did forget that Haru wasn't there to encounter his initial confrontation with the Fronde. It just slipped his mind as the days passed...

"Forgot?! Forgot! What am I supposed to say to that, Glitch?!" he stood up and waved his arms wildly in the air.

He scooped up his goblet from the ground and stomped off to the beverages once more. But instead of filling his goblet with Lass Peich, he was filling it with Goidelian wine. He was too distracted to notice, "Royalty! I mean, come on, man! It could have been nice to once say, 'Oh yeah, did I mention that I'm of royal birth?'"

"Err,... Haru?" Glitch asked, reaching his hand out in an attempt to stop Haru but he was completely ignored.

Haru downed his drink in a few gulps and slammed the goblet down on the table, "What, Glitch?"

"That's--..." Glitch stood up slowly and continued, "That's not for minors."

((Yes, I'm aware that this is not how drunk people act. I wrote it at 12:30, gimme a break. 'Sides, can't be any worse than Jane's "wasn't known for its reknowned food." Right?))

Haru

"That's not for minors!" Glitch said slowly. I stared at my cup.

"It's just juice," I replied, confused.

"No, that was wine," Glitch corrected. "Goidelian wine. Strongest this corner of the galaxy."

"Oh yeah?" I challenged. Ahh, what was this warm, tingly feeling? Yummy yummy juice. "I want more." I stumbled towards the drink table again, grabbing clumsily at the pitcher.

"Haru, I think you've had enough to drink," Glitch said placatingly, guiding my hand away from the juice. But I wanted the juice! It was yummy!

"I think he's drunk," Abby laughed.

"I'm not drunk," I protested. "I'm just... tipsy!"

Rochben grabbed the pitcher before me and carried it away. But I wanted more.

"Ah, Haru, wait!" Glitch cried, but he was too late. I was already in the crowd of dancing people.

"Ah, juice," I said triumphantly. A warm hand grabbed mine.

"Haru, what are you doing?"

G "Tshuki!" I slurred. "Try the juice!" I shoved the glass at her, and she grabbed it from me, sniffing the top.

"Haru," she began warningly. "This is wine." I frowned and tipped my head sideways. Wine? It was juice! "How much of this have you had?"

"Second," I said, pointing at the cup in her hand. She immediately turned around and dumped it on the ground. I gaped at her. "Tsuki, you're mean!"

"Yeah, yeah," she muttered, grabbing my wrist and leading me away. Nice, warm hands. I pulled my wrist away and grabbed her hand. "Hey, the hell are you doing?!"

"Warm hands," I explained, holding up our hands to show her. She wrestled hers out of mine, and I pouted. "Tsuki, are you mad at me?"

-----------------------
Tsukiko

"You're drunk," I snarled contemptuously.

"I'm sorry," he said. I froze. "I always make you mad at me."

"I'd say you have a knack for it," I said after a moment. Haru smiled.

"You forgive me?" I looked at him uncertainly, but he was giving me puppy-dog eyes. Honest to goodness, puppy-dog-eyes. Weren't we too old for things like that?

"Yeah." I sighed, and looked away.

Suddenly, without warning, he had his finger under my chin and was gently forcing me to look up at him. For one terrifying moment I thought he was going to kiss me, but then he frowned and said, "You're still mad, Tsuki!"

"No, I'm not," I tried to persuade him, backing away. He put his hands on my shoulders and pulled me back towards him.

"You look purdy t'night, Tsuki," he smiled at me, pressing our noses together lightly. I struggled to get away; I wasn't use to physical contact. "Greenzagud kuller on you," he mumbled. I could smell the alcohol on his breath.

He moved his hands up to my cheeks and cradled my face in his hands, and I panicked. I stomped on his foot and simultaneously shoved him away, spinning around on my heel and practically dashing away as fast as I could--which wasn't saying much, in this tight saree.

"Glitch!" I said breathlessly. "Haru is drunk, get him out of here!"

"What'd he do?" Glitch asked worriedly, exchanging glances with Abby at the sight of my flushed cheeks.

"He--he's drunk!" I repeated, flustered. Just then, I felt a pair of arms wrap around me from behind.

"Tsuki, why'd you run away?" Whined a voice in my ear. My eye twitched.

"Glitch, you have ten seconds to get him off me and out of my sight before I slit his throat," I growled with my eyes shut. Glitch must have moved pretty fast, because I only got to 7 before Haru's arms were gone. When I opened my eyes at 10, both of them were gone, and only Abby was left.

I took a deep, composing breath before muttering, half to myself and half to Abby, "...I think I need a drink..."

((Hey, you shut your mouth about that. It was around 12 when I wrote mine too, so yeah... I was tired. *losing rebuttle horribly*))

~Abby~

Abby gave Tsu and weak smile and suggested, "Why don't we go eat something? You look like you've starved yourself for days."

Abby guided Tsu through the crowd and emerged near the logs were Rochben was still sitting. He looked up and his eyes brightened, "N?Haretha," he said, bowing his head to both of them.

Abby pointed Tsu to the food and then sat next to Rochben, "How are the prisoners?" Abby asked.

The first day they had arrived, Glitch ordered for a raid on the ship to find surviving pirates. The plan had been completed successfully, finding seven pirates, all pretty beaten up. One of them was Bianca, who Abby had knocked out before the crash.

"They've been tied up on the outskirts of camp, strictly guarded by three of my top men," Rochben said.

Abby nodded silently and looked down at her plate which was still resting on the top of the log.

"He's a very smart young man, you know," Rochben finally said.

Abby looked up and said quickly, "Who, Glitch?"

"Where does this name "Glitch" come from, anyway? I am intrigued," Rochben said, putting his elbows on his knees and resting his chin on his fist.

Abby quietly laughed and explained, "It was when he first came to Ad Astra-- the space academy where kids like me go-- he had this weird tick..." she laughed again and continued, "He couldn't sit still. His legs would be bouncing non-stop, or he would tap his finger on the table. Most suspected that he had ADD or something, but as for me, I always thought it was stress, or nervousness. We all handled our parents deaths in our own ways and Glitch was no exception."

"The first thing people asked about him was usually "What's his glitch?" and it became his new name, because no one could really pronounce his real on. But he didn't mind, he thought it was funny. He said he never had a nickname before. Years passed and the ticks slowly ebbed away until they was finally gone, but the name stuck."

"You seem to know a lot about him," Rochben said.

"That's just because I've known him almost my entire life. We've had a lot of classes together and our apartments are not too far from each other, but that doesn't mean anything. At least, not to me."

She stopped short and stared at her hands folded in her lap.

"Give it some time," Rochben said, patting her knee. "His father was a great man. And I'll be damned if he doesn't look exactly like he did at his age." He chuckled before continuing, "If I know anything, I know that Cavan... or Glitch... will become just like his father, and that, N?Loth, is time worthy."

Abby stared at him, Is he trying to do what I think he's trying to do?! Suddenly a voice interrupted her thoughts, "May I have this dance?"

She looked up and saw a strange but handsome boy standing with his hand outstretched towards her. She blinked, wide-eyed for a moment and looked into his own deep brown ones. "Sure," she said slowly, standing and taking his hand.

As she was led away, she turned to look back at Rochben who only waved and smiled at her. The echoes of their conversation quickly faded as the boy showed her the dance. Swept up in the music, Abby began to enjoy herself.
----------------------------------------------
~Glitch~

"Haru, you're such an idiot sometimes..." Glitch grumbled under his breath, emerging from the medical tent that Haru had only left hours before. He was back on the bed that he had slept in for three days but was now being nursed for potential alcohol poisoning.

He walked back towards the party, running his fingers through his hair sourly and taking a deep sigh. He admitted that not telling Haru was his fault, but keeping his identity a secret on Ad Astra was entirely intentional and rational. Everyone would have treated him differently, like a prince. He probably wouldn't have been allowed to join the Koasati team, or he could have been denied some privelages that any other person would be able to do. Glitch wasn't one to abuse his title anyway.

He re-entered into the festivites, plopped himself down next to Rochben and buried his face in his hands, groaning.

Rochben thumped him on the pack and assured him everything would be okay.
-------------------------------------------------
Unbeknownst to everyone, a lone figure sat perched upon the highest branch of the tallest tree near the party. It's sharp golden eyes scanned the scene below with unnatural perception. It stopped suddenly, surprised to see a member of the royal family that had been missing for a decade. His green hair and eyes were unmistakable.

The shadow of a person narrowed it's eyes and disappeared in a silent whisp of smoke, snaking down the tree trunk and into the forest.

Tsukiko

"Why don't we go eat something? You look like you've starved yourself for days," Abby suggested with a weak smiling. She tried to lead me through a crowd, but I quickly lost sight of her. Alone and in a terrible mood, I decided that I'd had enough partying for one night. Social functions were not my forte.

It was a stroke of coincidence, really. I decided to take the long way back, through the forest. The trees were looming and dark, and a walk seemed like the perfect thing to help me calm down. It would be silent and peaceful. There wasn't a path, but the ground was flat and mostly bare of vegetation, making it easy to walk in any direction. I removed my uncomfortable shoes and, in the dark cover of the forest, untied my saree. I retied it much higher, and the fabric ended half-way up my thighs in a miniskirt-like fashion. It was for pure versatility--there was no one to impress in this forest, at any rate.

No one to impress, maybe, but there was someone there. I could feel it. Barefoot, I crept silently through the forest, not making a sound. It was mostly quiet for a few minutes, but I listened intently and was not disappointed. There was definitely someone here.

((Waiting to continue when Jane makes up her mind about what's going on. ))

//Fleur//

Fleur stared at the trees below her. She could see the party taking place and sighed before turning her back on the festivities. Reaching up, she pulled at the pins holding her hair up and felt it fall and fly out behind her as a wind picked up. She was standing on top of a hill, alone. As always.

It wasn't like her to be depressed, so she couldn't say those were the feelings of sadness she felt, but she felt so out of place. They'd been there for three days. David had gotten patched up after they'd first been brought to this place. Fleur had come up to this hill. She had rarely left it, though she had headed down a few times to see how Haru was doing. The last she had done that had been this morning.

Slowly, she lowered herself to the ground and sat. She longed to talk to her family, but there was no possible way for her to do that. And so she talked, just as if they were on the phone. "Hey Theo. I've been doing all right. My first mission didn't exactly go as expected. So far, it seems things have only gone wrong. We have been on our target planet for three days now, and nothing has been done for the mission. Glitch has been getting reacquainted with people he hasn't seen in years. Just like I haven't seen you in year.

"Let's see, I guess I should tell you about my mission team. I've already mentioned Glitch. His friend, Haru, who, I'm sorry to say, is not in good health right now. They're both nice I guess. I haven't really talked to them, so I don't know. David's nice. He's quiet though. Shy. He prefers to watch. Then, my roommate Abby is here, and another girl named Tsukiko. Two others were supposed to join us, but... I don't think they're coming.

"Now's not the time to be doubting myself, but... I can't help but wonder if my costume from last year really did alienate me from everyone else. I think they think I'm weird. I guess it's my fault. I haven't really been down to talk with any of them since we got here. I exchanged a few words with Tsukiko when I went down to see Haru this morning but, that's about it. I've been doing a lot of thinking about things and I--"

"Talking to yourself?"

Fleur jumped. She rolled behind a bush, grabbing a branch as she did so. Carefully, she peeked out from behind it. David was standing in the clearing, a smile on his face, his arms raised, his palms open. "I come in peace," he said with a grin.

Fleur felt her face flush bright red. Dropping the branch, I stood up and brushed myself off as I came out from behind the bush. "Sorry. I was...yeah. Just talking to myself. My brother actually. Or at least I would be if he could hear me." She looked at the ground and toed a pebble. What an awkward thing for him to hear.

"How much did you hear exactly?" she asked.

"I'm not sure when you started, but I did hear you talking about Glitch getting reacquainted," he said dropping his hands. His large expressive brown eyes seemed especially alive tonight. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. I'm just being silly. I kinda brought the isolation upon myself. I should be... more...normal, I guess. I don't know if you remember the costume I wore last year. I don't think many people appreciated it like I did."

"Oh yeah, I remember that. It was...er...yeah, no comment."

Fleur laughed. "I think that's what a lot of people would say." She turned and stared up at the sky. She was completly silent, lost once again in her own thoughts. She heard David come up behind her, but didn't think anything over until he swept her off her feet. Her face flushed again.

"David, what are yo--?"

"It sounds to me like you need some cheering up. What better way to do that than get a different view on things?"

"Huh? What do you mean? What are you talking ab...ou...t..." she trailed off as two huge, glorious white wings sprouted from his back. He smiled at her.

"It's a secret, so shhh," he said. He smiled down at her for a moment, and then with two powerful flaps, Fleur felt herself lifting into the air. She squeezed her eyes shut and grabbed ahold of his neck tightly, wrapping her arms around it in fear. 'Please don't drop me. Please don't drop me. Oh god, please don't let him drop me,' she prayed.

"This planet is gorgeous. The view is wonderful. Check it out!" he exclaimed as they flew. Carefully, Fleur squeezed open her eyes and looked down. Her first reaction was to scream, but after she'd surpressed that, she began to look around. David's grip on her was strong and constant. As she leaned against his chest, she could feel herself relaxing more and more in his grasp and really starting to enjoy herself.

"Oh my goodness!" The view was spectacular. Fleur spent a fourth of the time watching David's wings flap. They looked so soft. She wanted to reach out and touch it, but didn't for fear that it might interrupt the flying process and cause them to fall to their deaths. Another fourth she spent looking at David, watching his hair fly back in the wind, and his gleeful facial expressions. The rest of the time, she spent staring at her surroundings. It was wonderful. All too soon, it seemed to come to an end. He landed back on the hill where they'd taken off from with a small bump, before carefully setting Fleur back down on the ground.

"David, that was amazing!" she gasped. "I--I can't... Oh my god... It was just--Ah!"

He smiled. "I'm glad you liked it." He closed his eyes a minute and then suddenly his wings began to fall apart in a shower of feathers. Several brushed Fleur's face as they flew over the crest of the hill off into the distance. She caught one in her small hands and ran her fingers over it.

"It's so soft," she said.

He smiled. "Shall we head back?"

"Yeah." They started walking down the path, back into the trees.

"You look beautiful with your hair down, by the way."

Fleur blushed a bit. "Thank you." They talked as they headed down the hill, back towards the tents. As they got closer, Fleur could see a figure standing beneath the trees several yards away. "That looks like Tsukik--"

"Shh. Something's here," David whispered.

((Sorry for my absence. I don't really have much of an excuse. I hope this makes up for it.))

Tsukiko

There was definitely someone there. I could feel it. The hair on the back of my neck and my arms was standing straight up, and it wasn't from the breeze. I could hear rustling to my left, and with bare feet I crept foward. It was dark enough that the forest hid me, but the full moon left enough light for my adjusted eyes to see my surroundings.

And then I saw him. Crouched in a tree, holding a pair of high-tech binoculars, dressed in black. Very ninja-esque, aside from the apparant lack of a sword. Although these days, it didn't pay to underestimate the opponent.

I knew I couldn't climb the tree without alerting him to my presence. The only weapons I had on my person were my forearm-swords and my hair pins. The swords were next to useless, since they would make a clanging noise if I released them. But the hair pins, they had potential.

Of course, according to protocol, I should have a partner with me at all times to assist with this sort of thing. But it wasn't my style to go by protocol, after all.

Letting loose the rest of my hair, I cradled three hair pins between my fingers and took aim. Suddenly, I was struck with an idea. I silently wrapped my fingers around a rock and tossed it away. It landed on the other side of the branch the stranger was perched on, startling him. He was obviously an amateur; I could tell by his violent flinch.

Without a second to spare, I flung the hair pins at him. The hit him in the back, slightly lower than I'd intended. I made a mental note to work on my aim as he fell from the tree, at least fifteen feet straight down. He landed with a hard, painful-sounding "oomph" and was momentarily still. I didn't give him time to move. Within seconds, I was hovering over him with a sword at his throat.

"Who are you?" I demanded menacingly, nudging my sword closer to his throat.

Silence.

I growled and gave a slight jerk, just enough to draw a thin line of blood across his neck. "If I were you, I'd talk. I'm not in an especially good mood tonight."

Ah, there we go, I thought to myself as I felt the sword vibrate. Shaking. Fear. Good.

"Uh," the man mumbled nervously, his voice cracking. I could tell he wasn't very old--probably only in his mid or late twenties. "I... was just looking..."

"Liar," I spat, jerking the sword again. I felt him shudder beneath the sword's cold edge. "You're a spy. Do you deny it?"

"N-No," he whispered.

"Who are you reporting to?"

"I... I see-can't tell--"

"Did you miss the part about me being in a bad mood?" I bared my teeth. I was so not in the mood for this. Interrogation was never my specialty.

"Uhm, Lord Thavron, and he works for Chancellor Talagand, and he works for the Aina Eruanna, but--"

"Shut up." I'd heard enough of his nervous rambling. "What have you reported thus far?"

"N-Nothing!" He insisted. I gave the sword the slightest of nudges, and he squirmed under it. "I swear it! I just got here an hour ago, and all I saw was the party! I was told to find out why they were celebrating!"

I leaned down, bringing myself mere inches from his face. "And did you find out?"

"N-No!"

"Good." I elbowed him in the temple, hard, and felt his body go limp. And did it again for good measure. I retracted my sword and grabbed the mystery-man by the feet, dragging him back towards the camp. Not towards the party, but more towards our lodgings. All I had to do was bind and gag him for awhile, maybe rough him up a bit or give him some tranquilizers. I was sure I still had that bottle of chloroform in my bag...

((Uh, I guess I'll just post again? We'll skip to the next morning, but y'all can backtrack if necessary.))

Haru

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was that I had an absolutely splitting headache. It felt like my skull was being ripped into tiny little pieces, then stomped on and thrown into a blender. The sunlight seeping through the slits of the tent, and it burned my eyes. I was overly aware of every single noise around me, from the rustling of my sheets to the birds (or whatever they had on Goidelia) outside to the snores of the man beside me to--

"The hell?!" I cried, jumping off the cot. Leaned up against the wall beside me was a man I had definitely never seen before. He was bound with rope, his mouth and eyes covered with cloth. "Just how drunk was I last night?!"

"Relax," I heard from the other side of a divider. In these tents, cloth dividers served as walls, but they didn't work too well. "He's with me."

I tried to comprehend this statement, but my hungover brain just couldn't do it.

"Get your jaw off the floor, Anderson," Tsukiko growled exasperatedly. "And your mind out of the gutter, while you're at it."

"Uhhhh," I mumbled stupidly.

She sighed. "He's a spy, idiot. I captured him last night. Not very experienced, actually. A real pushover."

Why does everything sound really, really perverted right now?

"Because you're hungover," she answered flatly.

"Did I say that out loud?"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

"..."

"Oops."

"Yeah."

"I'll be in the other... room," she said, clearly as unsure as I was about this divider thing. "Call me if he wakes up."

"What, no nurse treatment?" I pouted jokingly, flashing her the puppy-dog face.

She wasn't buying it. "After last night? It's a good thing you've got such quick friends like Glitch, because you were three seconds away from getting your throat slit last night." She turned brusquely and walked past the divider.

Frowning, I laid back down on the bed and tried to concentrate on anything except my headache.

--------------------------
Tsukiko

About an hour later I heard Haru yell.

"Tsuki! Come quick!" And I actually came running.

"What?" I asked breathlessly.

He held up his index finger and whined, "I got a boo-boo!" It took him all of half a second after I reached for my gun to cry, "Joking!"

It was right about then that I noticed something was conspicuously missing.

"Haru," I began slowly. "Where is he?"

He stared guiltily at the floor. "Yeah, that would be the problem."

"Haru, how could you lose an unconscious man?" I asked in disbelief.

"I don't know!" He cried. "Honestly, he was right here a minute ago, and then he just disappeared!"

I pinched the bridge of my nose; freaking out was not going to help in this situation. At least, not until I felt cold steel at my jugular.

"Move and I'll slit your throat so fast you won't know what happened to you," growled a voice behind me. I didn't have to turn around to know who it was. The man was at least a head taller than me, and it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that he could easily crush me with sheer weight. I froze, staring down at the knife, and didn't move.

"What do you want?" I asked calmly, keeping my body completely still. In a hostage situation, it was best to remain calm. Haru, too, was frozen on his cot.

"I want you to be a good girl and go home," he hissed in my ear. "Get off of Goidelia, and take all your little friends with you. And don't. Come. Back." He enunciated each word carefully, and I could feel his breath on my skin.

"Uh, Tsuki?" Haru chanced. "I thought you said he was a pushover?"

The man laughed. "I only let her capture me so I could get into this camp without a hassle." I closed my eyes in annoyance and shame. How could I have let myself be fooled so easily?

"Why do you want us to leave?" I asked, stalling for time.

"You're in the way."

"So we're a threat?"

"No, just an annoyance."

"And if we don't leave?"

"I'll kill you," he replied simply. "Your choice."

"I don't think I like the choices," Haru groaned, never taking his eyes off me.

"Me either," I sighed, taking a deep breath of air. "All in favor of choice C, raise your hands." Before the spy could react, I jump upwards and smashed my crown into his chin. As I moved, the knife slip away from my jugular and lodged itself just above my collarbone. I cried out and dropped to the floor, ripping the knife out and applying pressure to the wound. It wasn't terribly deep, but it was bleeding profusely.

"Shit!" Haru yelled, running towards me. The spy was already gone, and I was willing to bet that he was on his way to capture Glitch. "Tsuki, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I grunted painfully. "Go find Glitch!"

"What?"

"He's going after Glitch! Go protect him!"

"But you're hurt!"

"Glitch is more important," I coerced. My fingers were slick with blood, and it coursed down my arms. "Go!"

"No way," he growled, rummaging through my bag. Failing to find anything but weapons and clothing, he turned back to me and asked, "Don't you keep anything helpful in this bag?"

It was rhetorical, but I answered him anyway. "Yes."

"Well I sure don't see it!" He shot back frustratedly. "Geez, what to use... I guess this will have to do for now," he said as he violently pulled a sheet from the bed.

"This can't be sanitary," I muttered as he pressed the wadded sheet on my collarbone. I pushed him away and stared him straight in the eye. "Look, I'll be fine. I can take care of myself, so go find your friend!"

"But--"

"Go!"

"Fine!" He yelled back at me, glaring at me with a mixture of concern and anger. And then he was gone, and I was left alone, feeling more than just a little lightheaded from blood loss.

~Glitch~

"Are you sure you want a rematch?" Glitch asked.

He and Abby stood in the middle of a small clearing in the woods near a serene river which curved into the distance of the forest for a few miles. There was a natural bridge made out of a fallen tree extending across the shores to connect the two together. The sun's rays peaked through the umbrage of green and shone onto the ground, illuminating some parts and sending others into shadow.

The only sounds heard were the rushing of the water and the birds chirping in their trees. The perfect spot for training.

"I did challenge you, didn't I?" Abby asked, taking a fighting stance. She turned her body, her legs shoulder length apart and her fists raised expertly.

"No weapons, I assume?" Glitch asked, taking the same position but more relaxed.

"When you assume you make an ass out of you and me--" at that she jumped forward. Glitch bounced on the balls of his feet and awaited the first attack.

Abby dodged left and then right at lightning speed and brought her right leg up for a roundhouse kick which was easily dodged with a quick side-step from Glitch. Her foot slammed back into the ground and she jabbed her elbow backward which was caught by Glitch's fist. He held it firmly and asked, "So... no weapons?"

Abby smirked and said, "No weapons." Without another word she swiped backward with her other arm and Glitch ducked underneath, swinging his legs to catch hers from underneath. As her feet left the ground, she quickly put her hands into the leaves and caught herself in a handstand.

Quick as a flash, Abby snapped both of her legs into a double scissor kick but Glitch blocked both with his forearms. Abby dropped herself onto her back and rolled forward as she sprinted towards a large tree. Glitch followed grinning at the competition.

She took two running steps up the bark and arched her back, sending herself into a perfectly controlled backflip. She landed with a grunt behind Glitch and gave him two swift punches into his spine.

He gave a short yell of pain as he was smashed up against the tree. He slowly turned his head to look at her, crouched in another low fighting stance. She had a confident smile cemented on her face, "Abby 1, Glitch... 0."

Glitch smiled back at her and pulled himself away from the tree, "I guess you're really serious."

"I'm really serious," Abby repeated, still in her low position.

"Alright," Glitch said, stretching his arms and cracking his neck, "I see how it is."

Glitch charged forward with flashing punches which Abby matched with each block. Their movements were so quick, it could have been hard for any spectator to watch. As Glitch advanced, Abby gracefully stepped backward, catching each hit. Before they new it, they were both on top of the natural bridge atop the flowing river. Glitch jumped and spun in the air as he released a powerful loop kick which was blocked by Abby's outstretched palm.

He landed on the ground as Abby flipped away from him and gave the pair space.

"You've improved," Glitch said, panting slightly. It was the fastest he's ever moved when sparring before.

"You just caught me on a bad day last time," Abby replied, panting as well.

Glitch didn't waste another second. He charged forward, shifting his weight from foot to foot and placing precise hits. He crossed into the left and Abby blocked it. He spun on his heel and brought his leg up for a vertical kick and hopped on one foot as he gave Abby multiple of these kicks in one motion.

She blocked every one.

He slammed his foot back into the bark of the dead tree and jumped into a front tuck. As he leveled out, he released his knees and shoved his legs out for the strike. His feet met Abby's abdomen as the momentum righted his body. Glitch made sure the force of the kick wasn't nearly as powerful to give her any kind of mark, but she felt it.

Abby stumbled backward, stunned. Glitch brought his fists up, ready for another stance when Abby's expression changed. Her eyes suddenly flashed.

In an instant, she reached into the back pocket of her jeans and threw something metallic directly for Glitch's head. He stood there stunned, watching as if in slow motion, the blade of the knife spun towards him and flew narrowly passed his left ear. He felt the breeze go by as it went and stood still for a full five seconds before saying, his voice cracking. "I thought you said... no weapons..."

Abby's firm gaze did not break. Instead, she growled, "I missed."

Glitch swallowed hard and screamed, "What are you?! Crazy?! You just tried to--"

"LOOK OUT!" In a flash, Abby grabbed Glitch by his shirt and pulled him to the ground. Just as she did so, five throwing stars grazed over Glitch's head just barely missing him.

Suddenly it all made sense. Abby wasn't aiming for him. She was aiming for his attacker. This was an assassination attempt.

Haru

I was worried about Tsukiko, but Glitch was more important right now--he was the target. Besides, Tsuki could take care of herself.

The first place I checked was our tent. I had been in the medical tent for my hangover, but our living quarters were in a special tent just a few meters away from the general occupation tent. Glitch, in the upholding of Murphy's Law, was gone. As were Abby, David, and Fleur. Just my luck.

Fortunately, Rochben was around.

"Rochben!" I cried. "Where's Glitch?"

"Training with Miss Abigail, I believe," he responded calmly. "Why?"

"He's in danger!" I waved my arms frantically. "There's an assassin here, the guy Tsuki captured last night at the party!"

"Assassin? She told me he was a pushover," he said doubtfully.

"Yeah, but it was just a ploy to get in without any trouble! Glitch needs help! Where is he?" I demanded.

Rochben was listening. Intently. "Let's go," he said brusquely, grabbing a sheathed sword from his bedside.

((I'll leave the fighting to you, Jane. Merry Christmas. ))

~Glitch~

Both Abby and Glitch scrambled to their feet, ducking low as they slinked off the trunk and dropped to the ground on the opposite bank. They dove behind a large boulder, an effective shield between themselves and their attacker.

"How did you see him?" Glitch asked, pressing his back against the wall, breathing heavily from his adrenaline rush.

"Something shiny caught my eye behind you. It must've been one of his throwing stars but that really isn't important right now!" Abby explained, peeking around the side to get a better view of the surroundings.

"Well, what does he want?!" Glitch shouted over the sound of more blades striking the rock as Abby ripped herself back behind their temporary shield.

"What else?! You! DEAD!" Abby said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Golly, I'm just so popular," Glitch said sarcastically.

"Well, what should we do now?" Abby asked, her voice uncharacteristically high.

Glitch was quiet for a moment before he said, "You have to get back to camp."

"Wait, me? Just me?! What about you?!" she asked, her eyes wide.

"I'm going to give you a chance to get out of here," he said, staring at her sincerely.

"That's suicide! Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"No," Glitch said, "but it's the best option we have right now. Go back to the camp and find Rochben. He can help."

"But--!"

"GO!" Glitch shouted. He got to his knees and raised his hands in the air. Slowly, he came to his feet, prepared to feel the sharp blades imbed themselves in his back; but the pain never came.

He turned to face the assassin, his jaw clenched. The man was standing on the log bridge, watching Glitch with a smirk. "I'm surprised, young prince. I never thought a member of the royal family would be such a coward to surrender so easily."

"I'm unarmed... I'm here to make a deal," Glitch said, ignoring the comment.

"Are you, now?" the assassin said, raising an eyebrow, "What might that be then?"

"I'm the only one you want. I promise to come with you if you let the girl go," Glitch said, keeping his hands raised. His gaze was steely cold and piercing. Abby's life was on his hands.

The assassin didn't respond for a few seconds before shrugging, "Okay."

Glitch nudged Abby with his foot and she too emerged with her hands raised. Glitch and Abby's gaze met one last time before she slowly walked out from behind the boulder and approached the log bridge. She stepped up onto the bark and began inching towards the assassin who was standing in her way.

He stepped to the side to let her pass and she dared not look at him. She kept her gaze forward as she strode passed him, taking as little time to cross but not too much to startle him. She held her breath as she crossed his path, expecting the worst; but when nothing happened and she had nearly made it to the other side, she finally exhaled.

The assassin watched her pass, and slowly turned back to Glitch, "You can't be serious."

In a flash, he grabbed her hair and neck and ripped her onto her back. She yelled out in pain as the wind was slammed out of her lungs.

"ABBY!" Glitch yelled, just as the assassin dug his boot into her neck, pinning her invariably and suffocating. She grabbed onto his boot, trying to breathe but it was a losing battle. Glitch sprinted from behind the rock in a panic and scaled the tree just in time to be met with a blade pointed towards him.

"You didn't really think I'd let your girlfriend contact backup, now did you?! Goibniu," he exclaimed, "you're not only a coward but extremely naive. It's very pathetic of you to be so trusting."

He laughed as Glitch slowly backed away from the point of the Abby's own knife. "Make any sudden movements," he threatened, the assassin's eyes narrowing, "and you both die." From his pocket, he pulled another weapon: a small pistol, and aimed it directly at Abby's head.

Glitch swallowed hard, What have I done?

"Now, young prince," the assassin said, with a disarming smile, "What shall we talk about?"

~Glitch~

Glitch was at a loss for words. He hadn't thought his plan all the way through, which lead to even greater consequences for his panic and irrational assumptions. It was his fault that Abby was in danger, and he couldn't do anything about it now.

"Let's start with you," the assassin said, an odd glimmer of insanity in his dark eyes. "Where have you been all these years?"

Glitch didn't answer him. He wouldn't even if he could. His mind was racing through all of the possibilities to get himself and Abby out of his whole ordeal in one piece.

"A lot has changed since you left," he said, smiling. "Oh yes, that's right, a lot has changed because you left."

"We all thought you were dead," he continued on, "But now, since I've contacted Aina Eruanna and gave them the coordinates to this camp's position, they'll have an army of a thousand men here in a matter of hours to take you away. I'm sure it'll be a great surprise to them that I've found their long lost exile, not to mention that I'd found one of the strongest rebellion groups in the nation."

Glitch's stomach dropped as if he had missed a step on the stairs. His arrival had not only brought his team mates into danger, but it could potentially cost the lives of hundreds of his own people. This was not turning out the way he had imagined it.

Abby made a sudden gurgling noise and Glitch looked down. She was still trying desperately to remove the man's boot from her throat but it was useless. Her face was already turning purple and blue.

"Aw, I'm sorry, sweetheart," the assassin mocked, looking down upon her as well. With a final glance at Glitch, he said with a smirk, "Might as well put you out of your misery."

Glitch's heart pounded in his throat. Abby was going to die and he was just standing there, doing nothing! The man's trigger finger twitched and Glitch bellowed, "STOP!" and charged straight for the threat. But it was too little too late. A small whizzing sound tore through the air from Glitch's left and an arrow quickly lodged itself deep into the man's hand, the hand holding the gun.

This inched his hand to his left as he released a single shot that just barely missed Abby's right ear. She closed her eyes as shards of bark ricocheted up and into her cheek, immediately drawing small trickles of blood that ran down her skin.

When the man's hand had been pierced with the arrow, he let out a scream of agony. He dropped his pistol, which bounced from the bridge and landed in the calm stream just below as he withdrew his boot from Abby's neck and staggered away.

Glitch was stunned. It had all happened so fast. Not wasting another second, he was at Abby's side, as she coughed viciously to regain her breath. She managed to gasp, "I'm alright. I'm alright." That didn't make Glitch feel any less responsible.

He stood up and glared at the assassin as he let out a roar of curses, ripping the arrow out of his hand and throwing it into the water. Just as he did so, from the neighboring bushes bordering the forest and the clearing near the water's edge, Haru and Rochben leapt out from their cover along with ten or so other soldiers. The woman who released the initial arrow was fitting her bow with a second, determination set in her eyes. Everyone else grasped tightly onto their own guns.

"Surprise!" Haru called with a grin, staring at the assassin.

Glitch's heart leapt. They were saved.

"Cavan! Get down!" Rochben hollered, raising his hand above his head.

He didn't have to be told twice. He knew what was about to happen. In an instant, he was on his stomach, ducking his head as well as keeping Abby's down with his hand.

The assassin, madness gleaming in his eyes, raised Abby's knife and was about to release it at the band of soldiers just as Rochben ordered, "Fire!"

They opened fire on the assassin, riddling him with bullets from their forty-fives. His body jerked as his chest and abdomen were showered with the deadly ammunition. Glitch raised his head slightly to see the wave of bullets end and the man swayed back and forth. His eyes were wide with shock as his weight suddenly shifted and he toppled backward and fell into the stream, facedown in the water. A large river of blood followed the flow of the water downstream and was carried away to who-knows-where, leaving its host laying motionless in his watery grave.

The forest was eerily quiet. An outstretched hand appeared in front of his face and he traced it up to see Haru, standing over him. He was wearing a friendly smile, offering to help Glitch to his feet, but Glitch waved him off and said, jutting his head towards Abby, "Help her instead."

Haru looked taken aback at first but did as he was told. He helped Abby to her feet who was still a little blue in the face, and still bleeding. She went through another fit of coughing before she gasped, "Thanks." She appeared to be alright.

Haru glanced at Abby and remarked nonchalantly, "Hey. Your neck is bleeding."

She rubbed her sore neck and took her hand away to see blood staining her finger tips, "Guess so."

A beat passed before Haru exclaimed, "Oh crap! Tsuki!" Before Abby could ask what was wrong, he was already gone.

Glitch, however, got to his feet by himself and walked over to Rochben who was waiting at the end of the bridge. His gaze was sharp and piercing as he gazed down upon the fallen assassin, but softened when Glitch approached. "Sire, are yu hurt--"

"They know," Glitch said, shortly, interrupting. "He said that he contacted Aina Eruanna and gave them information about our camp. We need to go. Right now."

Rochben turned pale upon this news and quickly turned to one of his men standing by, "Return to camp and tell everyone to pack their belongings. We leave in an hour."

Haru

"Oh crap! Tsuki!" I exclaimed as I suddenly remembered that I had left her alone and bleeding in a tent. Not a real great move, actually.

As I ran by, I heard Glitch say, "Return to camp and tell everyone to pack their belongings. We leave in an hour." It just kept getting better and better.

It took me a matter of minutes to get back to the main camp. "Tsuki?" I called experimentally as I peeked into the tent. No reply. "Tsukiko?" I called again, worried. Nothing.

I crept around the corner, seriously hoping that I wasn't about to find a body. Grimacing, I pulled back the curtain divider of the room I had left her in. It didn't look good. She was collapsed on the ground, and appeared to be unconscious. Her breathing was shallow, and the sheet wrapped around her shoulder was dripping in blood. There was blood everywhere--the floor, the cloth walls, her whole body.

"Tsuki?" Still no answer, so she was definitely unconscious. I gently lifted her onto the cot, the same one I had been sleeping in this morning. Carefully I unwrapped the sheet and looked at the wound. To my relief, it looked like it had stopped bleeding.

"Haru?" She asked drowsily, her voice just barely above a whisper.

"Hey, you're awake," I said gently. "Don't move too much, okay? You lost a lot of blood."

"No... shit, Sherlock," she muttered weakly, glancing at the wound. "Doesn't look... so bad." She sounded out of breath, not a good sign.

"Listen, that guy gave away our coordinates. We're moving out in an hour." She frowned. "Relax, I've got sugar pills. They'll help you recover faster." I laid her back down on the cot and rummaged through my bag. How convenient that I'd had a hangover last night; my bag was already in the room.

"An hour?" She repeated, shaking her head limply. "I should've killed the bastard when I had the chance."

"Gotchya," I whispered as I grasped the pillbox. I opened it and shook a few into my hand. "Eat these," I said, handing them to her. She grabbed the glass of water on the nightstand and took a swig, then popped the pills into her mouth.

"Thanks," she mumbled, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"No problemo. We'll get you some food before we leave, too. Are you all packed?"

"Yeah, I never unpacked..."

"Good." I grinned at her and remarked, "Y'know, this playing nurse thing ain't so bad after all."

"...what?" She asked, baffled.

"It's funny, isn't it? First you take care of me, and now I'm taking care of you." I winked at her. "Next time it's your turn."

She rolled her eyes, but I could tell she was smiling just a little bit.

"Will you wear a nurse outfit?"

She gave me a death glare.

"Fine, fine, I'm going! I gotta pack anyway," I explained as I left the room. "If you need anything just call, I'm only a tent away!"

I let the divider fall behind me and left, chuckling. I was growing on her, I could tell.

~Abby~

In less time than anticipated, the entire camp had picked up and left. On Rochben's orders, they headed west towards Dun Alda, the main foundation for The Fronde. If anyone needed to know about the oncoming threat, it was the rebellion leaders stationed at Dun Alda.

Abby found herself walking behind a large cart carrying supplies and a few of the older and weaker members of the company. She stared absent mindedly at the cart, lost deep in her own thoughts about what had happened in the last few minutes. A woman, amidst Abby's protests about her being fine, removed the splinters and applied a bandage to her cheek. Once that was completed, Abby quickly packed her belongings and helped pack up more tents. The local people were quite grateful for her help. Before long, they were on their way west.

She tightly clutched her pack as she trudged up a small incline. The sky was piercing blue without a cloud in the sky, prime in the sun's pinnacle. The rolling hills around them were covered with vibrant green grass which rose in peaks and fell into the distance. To the north of this valley was a thick range of snowy mountains. Over those, said Rochben to her, Orodé (the Goisech's word for mountains) sat the once great Ithilaear Ost, the city that was Glitch's old birth place and home.

Abby's eyes were drawn up to the mountain range and she began to think of Glitch's life as an exile. Why had he left? What was it that was so terrible to force him to leave? Abby slowed to a stop out of the way of the line without realizing it and continued to stare at the mountains, almost as if expecting an answer to appear on their faces.

Crowds of people moved in front of her, carrying their possessions and their children. More carts filed passed as children jumped aboard and rested their legs. Something caught in the corner of her eye and she turned to look down the river of people to see Glitch walking briskly towards her. His jaw was clenched, his eyes down as he made his way to the front of the formation.

As he passed by Abby, he made the briefest eye contact with her but quickly lowered his gaze once more. He was acting completely out of character, usually he would smile or something. Curious, Abby turned and followed him, running to catch up.

"Hey!" she called, jogging to keep up with his pace. "You haven't spoken to me since what happened earlier. What's going on?"

He didn't respond, instead he clutched tighter onto an apple he was holding.

Angry, Abby frowned and said, "Something's bothering you and to be honest it's starting to scare me."

They had finally reached the front of the line. Rochben was riding atop a horse-like animal that was blue and had powerful wings tucked close into it's body. Tsuki was riding a similar animal that had originally been reserved for Glitch but he had forced her to ride in his place. She still didn't have all of her energy back. A number of other guards from the palace rode along side, their swords strapped to each saddle.

Haru trailed behind mumbling a song quietly to himself as he kicked a few stones out of his way. Everyone seemed to be in lighter spirits, trying to keep attitudes positive and worry-free. Although this was normally a lively group, things were a few volumes lower.

Glitch still didn't say anything to Abby. Instead, he walked up to Tsu's winged horse and tossed her the apple. She caught it and bit into it eagerly.

"Fine!" Abby said again, growing steadily more agitated. "If you don't want to open yourself up, I can't help you!"

Glitch didn't reply at first, until he turned, his eyes shadowed by his hair. This startled Abby. She'd never seen him like this. "You don't get it, do you?!" he shouted.

Abby blinked, utterly confused.

Glitch stomped up to Abby and said, "I'm the one responsible for all of this. It's all my fault. If I hadn't been so... augh!" He turned his troubled face to the sky and closed his eyes, basking in rays of frustration.

"Tsukiko nearly bled to death because of me. You were nearly suffocated because of me. And now everyone is being forced to pack up and move because of, you guessed it, me!" he said, his voice littered with chagrin.

Abby furrowed her eyebrows. So that was all this was about?

"If I hadn't come, this would have never happened in the first place. It's all my fault!" he said again, clutching his hair.

Clenching her teeth, Abby knew what she had to do. In a flash, she threw her bag to the ground and--

SLAP!

Glitch and Abby had stopped walking. Glitch's left cheek was a nice rosy red and Abby's hand was still raised for another slap, if needed. Rochben's hand was protectively on his sword but he quickly relaxed after realizing what was going on. He'd noticed Glitch's personality change as well.

Everyone proceeded forward, but not without watching all the while with interest.

Glitch stared at Abby in amazement, his eyes as round as saucers. Abby's eyes, however, were narrowed.

"You're so selfish," she hissed, glaring at him.

Glitch continued to stare and asked quietly, "What?"

"You're so selfish as to think that this is all your fault! Well, guess what, Glitch! We're all in this thing together and we're all responsible for everything that happens during this mission. It's my fault. It's Haru's fault. And Tsuki's fault, too! Don't make me even mention Fleur or David! If you keep letting this plague you..." she trailed off, her eyes filled with emotion. But immediately, she raised her voice again.

"With this completely ridiculous attitude of yours, you're making it seem like this mission is all about you, when it's not! It's all about them!" she jabbed her finger at the sea of people streaming towards them. "You're here to help people like them and if you keep neglecting your responsibilities as a member of this team, you won't be doing your job. We're here-- all of us-- to help as many people as possible, and I intend to do it. Do you?"

Glitch was, again, lost for words. What was he supposed to say to that?

Abby picked up her bag and left Glitch standing in the middle of the group to flow with the rest of the people. She turned again, walking backwards, to add, "If you keep it up with this attitude, you're going to get yourself killed."

At that, she left him to mull over her words. Rochben found her amongst the crowd and trotted up next to her. He leaned down and whispered, "Excellent speech, m'lady."

"Thank you, Rochben" she said, still heated about the conversation.

Haru

"So, how's the view up there?" I said, cupping my hands around my mouth in a mock call. She was only a few feet higher than me, but I could tell she wasn't enjoying being babied. In fact, she seemed to be taking it rather bitterly--all I got back in response was a death glare. "Ooh, second time today. I might be getting a new record."

"Shup up, Anderson," she snarled, taking another bite from the apple. "It's your fault I'm up here, isn't it? I knew you were up to something when you talked to Glitch."

"Busted," I agreed. She turned her head the other way. "Whoa, am I getting the cold shoulder?"

No answer. I grinned.

"Aw, c'mon, baby. Don't be like that," I said smoothly. No response. Time for the heavy artillery. "Hey," I said, sounding serious. "Did it hurt?"

"What?" She asked, stunned into forgetting the cold-shoulder business.

"When you fell from heaven?" She blinked. Twice. Three times. "Do you have a map?"

"Wha--"

"'Cuz I keep getting lost in your eyes." I couldn't contain my smile any longer; a huge grin spread across my face. "Hey, I seem to have lost my number. Can I borrow yours?"

She rolled her eyes. Time to get serious.

"Did you know that there are 265 bones inside of your body?" She glanced at me, unsure. I leered at her and said, "Wanna get one more?"

Click. The cold metal barrel of a gun was smushing my nose against my face.

"Fine, fine," I acquiesced, putting my hands up in the universal I-Give-Up sign. "I was just tryin' to cheer you up." She withdrew the gun. "Look, I don't wanna get shot, so I'm gonna go talk to Glitch now, alright?"

Just as I turned to walk away, I could have sworn she muttered something that sounded a lot like, "Thanks, Haru."

Haru: 1; Tsuki: 0

~Abby~

It was a three days journey over the terrain of Goidelia towards Dun Alda. Rochben led everyone through great ravines between steeping plateaus, near enormous lakes that spanned for miles into the horizon, and over many more rollings hills of grass and flowers. And every night, the scouts circling behind their trail reported no sighting of the supposed advancing army of Aina Eruanna. Rochben and his men did well covering their tracks.

Although Abby was tired of walking, she truly began to appreciate the beauty of Goidelia. She was almost tempted to ask Glitch why he left such a gorgeous home in the first place, but remembered that it was a slightly touchy subject for him, even if she meant it as a joke.

Ever since Abby had, litterally, slapped some sense into him, Glitch was acting like his usual self. He apologized to Abby later that night, saying that he was foolish for putting Abby's life in danger; but Abby quickly said that it was nothing he had to worry about. No one was hurt, and that's what truly mattered. Mistakes were going to be made, and it was a learning experience for them all which would help better themselves later in life. She also mentioned that they all can't become a stronger team without first gaining each other's trust. "I trust you," she said to him, lifting his spirits.

Abby discovered something she hadn't seen before in Glitch. He had the biggest heart of anyone she had ever met; big enough to almost be a burden. As she walked next to him near the front of the formation, she glanced at Glitch who didn't seem to notice her gaze. She noted the way his vivid green hair swept with the breeze, his lopsided smile gave him a charming factor, and the way his emerald eyes lit up whenever he was happy-- which was almost always. She also suddenly considered, at the very moment Glitch turned his face towards the evening sky and closed his eyes to embrace his home land, that Glitch was very handsome indeed.

"Sire," came a strong voice from the front. The company had come to a halt, stopping just atop a small hill that overlooked the border to a dense forest which sat about a half a mile away.

Glitch opened his eyes and saw that Rochben was beckoning him to the very front. Glitch did as he was told as Abby curiously followed behind. Glitch stood next to Rochben's winged horse and followed Rochben's finger pointing down to the very edge of the trees.

They were difficult to spot, due to their camouflaged clothing, but Glitch quickly found them. "Who are they?" he asked, Rochben.

"Scouts for Dun Alda," he said, holding up a pair of binoculars. "They're armed and waiting."

"Waiting for what?" Glitch asked, squinting his eyes to get a more clear look at them.

"To shoot us," Rochben sighed, lowering his binoculars. One of the nearest guards slid off his own winged horse and gave the reigns to Glitch. "You're coming with me," Rochben said as Glitch mounted the horse.

Glitch nodded and Rochben galloped off towards the group. Glitch soon followed, descending the hill and dashed to catch up.

"Well, this is boring," Haru snorted, plopping onto a tiny rock formation nearby.

Abby glared at him and turned to the man who had given his horse to Glitch, "Can I borrow those binoculars please?"

He handed them to her and turned his attention back to the two horses galloping towards the now approaching troop of twenty.

"Thanks," she said, taking them and placing it to her eyes. She focused the high-powered lenses just as Glitch and Rochben slowed to a stop near the welcoming party. These people looked serious and she could tell they meant business. Their broadswords at their hips glimmered in the sun just before Glitch's horse moved in front of them.

She couldn't tell what they were saying because they appeared to be speaking in Goisech, but Rochben seemed to be taking care of things. Glitch suddenly started speaking and the guard's expressions changed from purly stoic to sudden shock and amazement. They all knelt down on one knee and covered their hearts with their right hands.

Abby could see Glitch's cheeks flush.

"We're in," Abby said, grinning.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

It took them only a matter of minutes to reach the edge of the forrest where Rochben and Glitch were waiting, but the sun had now already set and it was getting dark very quickly. The scouts had sent a messenger into the forest to alert the tower of their arrival. Glitch had the scout take his horse, explaining that he didn't want to ride while his friends walked.

By the time everyone had arrived at the edge, tiny lights illuminated from the trees extending deeper into the darkness, giving them a path to follow into the backwoods.

The crickets chirped lightly as the refugees followed the passage and began talking excitedly, looking forward to a comfortable bed to sleep in that night. People around them began laughing and singing as if they were going to some sort of sports tournament.

The path of lights curved and wound around the forest of tall trees for about twenty minutes before it took one last bend and opened up into one of the grandest sights Abby had ever seen. Looming before her, at least 50 yards in diameter and a breathtaking height up, was a collosal tree. Abby forgot to breathe, she was so amazed.

Carved into the trunk was an uncountable amount of windows, illuminated from inside as small apartments. People live in the tree! The thought nearly floored Abby but definitely made her feel small. Wrapping around the circumference were tightly woven planks of wood as terraces and boardwalks that scaled the entire tree up to the top. In the branches hung some of the same lights that had led them through the forest. They looked to be like fireflies.

The thing that nearly almost made Abby's knees buckle was to see that this tree was not the only one of its kind. Behind it were dozens more like it, all connected by tight bridges made of vines and more wooden planks. People were strolling along these bridges, moving from one to the next as if it were the most common thing in the world. Some people were sitting in their windows, watching the commotion below, others climbed up and down the trees using thick vines that clung to the bark as sturdy as anything, or some used vine-guided elevators to transport them to various places in the trees..

The ground floor was also covered with activity. Large tents as far as Abby coud see were erected for venders, restaurants, or any other thing possible a regular city might contain. It was like something from a wonderful, fantastic dream.

Glitch was just as stunned as Abby. He'd heard stories about the people who lived in the trees when he was growing up, but he never thought it was real.

A sudden commotion on the ground made both Glitch and Abby look down. At once, they saw people parting out of the way to make room for something approaching. Everyone stared in curiosity.

Finally, the last wave of people moved and walking towards them was a group of people clad in black full-body armor. It reminded Abby of the medieval knights on the Earth of Yore. The foremost of the group was the smallest of all, about a head shorter than herself, but strode with a certain confidence. Quite a large ego for such a small person.

The group proceeded forward, approaching with an evident purpose, and stopped a few feet from the newcomers of East Tower but the frontman marched directly for Glitch. He stopped just in front of him, sticking his nose up ward to get a closer look. Glitch wasn't sure what to do.

A second passed and the knight lifted his helmet to reveal that he was not a boy, but a girl. She had long double braids that fell over her shoulders and in the dim glow of the light, Abby could see that her hair was green.

"Where have you been?!" she shouted, punching Glitch in the arm, "You're late, big brother!"

Haru

I stared open-mouthed at the little girl who was, apparently, not a boy.

"Dude!" I exclaimed. "You have a little sister! You never told me that. And she's cute, too! Aww, looks just like ya," I teased.

~Glitch~

When his sister had revealed herself, most everyone from the West Branch gasped in unison. This was as much of a surprise to them as it was to Glitch. Immediately, people got to one knee and saluted her rank as princess of Goidelia.

Glitch couldn't say anything for a few seconds, he was so shocked. He couldn't even find the words to tell Haru off but his sister was already taking care of him.

She turned to him and frowned as she looked him up and down, but suddenly smiled sweetly, "Can I borrow your face for a few days?"

Haru looked confused and Glitch's sister took advantage of it.

"Because my ass is going on holiday," she said, giving him a disarming smile.

Glitch was too stunned to even laugh at her comeback. But once he found his voice again, he blurted, "CALLI?! You've-- When did-- OH MY GOD!"

Calli turned to Glitch and gave him a genuine smile, "I'm so glad you're here." She grasped him into a tight hug and continued, "When they told me you had arrived, I didn't believe them. Where have you been all of these years?!"

"Places," Glitch said, grinning as she released him. "But look at you! You're still the bothersome little shrimp that used to annoy Dad and I during training--"

"Hey! I've learned a few tricks since you left. Someone's gotta keep this place running."

"Do you remember the time when Dad first let you carry a sword?"

Calli started laughing light-heartedly, "Yeah! I could barely lift it."

They laughed together, revisiting their childhood memories before Abby realized that she was extremely exhausted and hungry.

Abby cleared her throat and interjected, "Uh, hi, Calli, right? Sorry to interrupt this family reunion but I'm Abby, this is Tsuki, ass-face Haru--"

"Hey!" Haru shouted, but Abby ignored him playfully.

"--and behind is Fleur and David. We all work with your brother."

"Work?" Calli asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

Glitch smiled nervously and said, "Yeah. Umm... let's talk about this over dinner, okay?"

"Sure," Calli said, smiling kindly.

Tsukiko

Dinner was... interesting. We'd all been seated around a huge table in the middle of a tree. Not the middle of a bunch of trees, but a tree, as in single. These people actually lived in the trees. It was fascinating to see so much wilderness--I'd never seen anything but pictures myself, and the closest I ever came to nature was a lone tree or two in the plaza or the flower garden at school.

In any case, the food was good. I'd recovered quickly from my blood loss stint, half from my good health and lots of food, and half from desperation to get off that damned horse-thing. Of course, that had been two days ago, and there hadn't been terribly much food to go around--or time to eat--while traveling. We were all glad to eat.

The only worrying thing was the wine. As soon as they'd set the pitchers of the stuff on the table, Glitch and I exchanged glances. I pulled one of the servers aside and carefully instructed him to not put any wine near Haru. ("Carefully" here having the meaning of "at gunpoint.") At least I wouldn't have to worry about him getting drunk again.

I did, however, worry about him getting his ass kicked by a certain princess who happened to be half his size.

--------------
Haru

So what's going on here?" Calli asked the crew of Ad Astra and added to Glitch, "Why haven't I been able to contact you?"

Abby spoke up first. "Well, our school is basically... off the map. According to the government, we don't exist... because we pretty much are the government. Our school is sponsored and run by government officials who send us on missions to various planets around the neighboring galaxies to maintain peace. We were assigned to Goidelia as our first mission without supervision since we are one of the senior members of Ad Astra. It was just purly coincidence... we think..."

Glitch nodded and added, "Rochben was the one who sent me there in the first place. It wasn't safe here for either of us but when we got separated there was nothing either of us could have done."

I took a huge chomp out of his bread slice and said with a full mouth, "It's not like it's entirely safe now either. Glitch nearly got kidnapped--twice! And who was the one who saved him?"

Glitch jokingly shouted, "C'mon, mate, shut up!"

""Shh! Quiet! I think he's trying to communicate with us!" Calli exclaimed quietly.

"What was that?" I asked, sitting up straighter, frowning.

"Nothing," Calli said, shrugging innocently and began playing with her food.

I gave her a funny look but continued talking. "Still, though, we've got the bad guys on our tail. We're not even sure if they're still after us or not, or if they know where we are."

"I thought you were here to help us," Calli commented, "not whine incessantly."

"You're right! We'd love to help you out," I exclaimed charmingly. "Now, which way did you come in?"

She glared at me but said nothing.

Glitch sighed. "Hey, can we at least eat in peace for five seconds?" I rolled my eyes and kept eating, but kept glaring at Calli.

"Nice place y'all got around here," I commented nonchalantly a few minutes later. "You must really like nature. But Calli--can I call you that? Calli? Or is it Princess Calli to inferiors like me?"

"Just Calli is fine," she stated with false sweetness.

"But Calli, how can you still love nature after what it did to you?""

"Someday you'll go too far, and I hope you'll stay there," she snapped back at me, all the while with a sweet girly smile on her face.

"Do you ever wonder what life would be like if you'd had enough oxygen at birth?" I retorted.

"You think you're a wit, and you're probably half right," Calli told me.

"I'm not going to get into a battle of wits with you; I never attack anyone who's unarmed," I said honorably.

She immediately stood up and gripped the handle of the sword sheathed at her side. "Who's unarmed?" She snarled.

"Calli," Glitch warned, giving her a look. She glared at him, but sat back down all the same. "Can we please get back to business?"

"What are we going to do about the Aina Eruanna troops?" Abby asked, prompting the discussion.

~Glitch~

His sister leaned back in her chair and said, trying to ignore the urge to leap over the table and choke a certain white-haired idiot, "My men are prepared to go into battle and raid the castle at any time."

"Your men?" Haru snorted.

"Yes, my men, wise guy. I'm one of the leading strategists of The Fronde so I'm responsible for each of these soldiers' duties."

"You're a leading strategist? That's incredible," Abby said, clearly impressed. "Where did you learn to do something like that?"

"The night my brother and I were exiled, we got separated, you know this. But instead of following him, I was placed here among The Edhel, an independent kingdom and a covert ally to my father. I didn't know they existed until I came here. Upon hearing word of the incident, they immediately wanted to help me; so they secretly began creating the Fronde. As I grew older, they trained me daily upon my request. This training did not only consist of physical conditioning-- like what your arrival interrpted, but also mental strengthening. They would give me various problems for me to solve, or give me riddles that no one could crack. To me, it just... clicked. Everything made sense. I quickly developed my mental abilities and attained my current position. Only just last year have we become the strongest force against the crown. We're ready for an attack as soon as the time is right."

"So how do you plan to infiltrate?" Glitch asked, leaning forward with anticipation. He couldn't wait to finally avenge his family.

Calli sighed and said truthfully, "We're still working out the kinks, but I'm not allowed to say anything even if I could. It's top secret."

"You'll let us know as soon as possible, right?" Abby asked, seeing Glitch's disappointment.

"Most definitely," Calli said, nodding assuredly.

Tsukiko

It was only a few minutes after Haru and Calli's argument that someone announced that dinner was over, and everyone ought to return to their lodgings. Fires were not allowed after nightfall, for fear that the Aina Eruanna might discover their hideout. Unfortunately, our party had no idea as to where said lodgings were. Thankfully, a respectful young man came to us as everyone else filed out of the tree. He led us to another, smaller tree, which he told us was used for guests.

A guest room in a tree. Goidelia never ceased to surprise me.

We were all given our own rooms, which were small but clean and comfortable. I was thankful for the separate rooms, although all the doors were connected by doors. I locked mine. Glitch was to my right, and Haru to my left. I was fairly sure that Abby was to Glitch's right, David to Abby's right, and Fleur to his right. The rooms were not in a straight line, but instead spiraled up the tree with Haru beginning the line.

Not a mere five minutes after locking my doors I heard the knob jingle, followed by a loud pounding. I sighed, but unlocked the door nonetheless.

"Can I help you?" I asked coldly as I opened the door. Go away. I want to sleep, I wanted to say.

"Whoa, what's with the attitude?" He cringed, and for a moment I almost felt guilty. Almost. "Can't a guy even kiss a girl a good night anymore?"

"If that's what I thought you were really here for, this door wouldn't be open," I retorted in an unfriendly voice.

"Aw, c'mon, not even a little one?" He tapped his cheek with his index finger, inviting me. I tried to close the door, but he caught it. "Tsuki, c'mon! Don't be like that, I'm sorry. I shouldn't tease you like that." He looked genuinely sorry, and I cautiously inched the door back open.

"So why are you really here?" I demanded. "Let me guess. You know that Glitch is on the other side of me, and why not kill two birds with one stone by annoying me and Glitch?"

"Ouch, harsh!" He cried, mimicking being stabbed in the heart. "Just let me through... please?"

I sighed again, but opened the door fully. He practically flounced in, like a puppy.

"Don't touch anything," I warned menacingly as I saw him veer from the door and go towards my stuff. "Just go to the door. And I swear if you wake me up there'll be hell to pay."

"Gotchya, need that beauty sleep, y'know?" He winked; I wasn't sure if he was teasing me or complimenting me. I decided that the former was more likely. Fortunately for him, before I could pull out a gun he was already in Glitch's room, the door shut soundly behind him. I locked the door again and changed into some nightclothes, and placed the gun under my pillow.

--------------
Haru

"Dude! Surprise!" I cried. "Now, spill. You've got a lot of explaining to do, mister."

~Glitch~

Glitch didn't even hear Haru coming in as he stepped out of the bathroom. Steam still billowed out of the door, evidence of a long, hot shower. He held the towel around his waist as he walked over to his bed and picked up a pair of boxers.

Just as he was about to drop the towel a voice said excitedly from behind him, "Dude! Surprise! Now, spill. You've got a lot of explaining to do, mister."

"Glu? leuth abod? Callionel!" Glitch swore, spinning around, but quickly calmed when he saw who it was, "Oh, Haru. I thought you were my sister."

Glitch turned back to his bed, grinning at his foolishness. His sister never said 'Dude'. "What do you want me to explain?" He asked, picking up more of his clothes and walking back to the bathroom.

"First, you can tell me why you never mentioned your sister before," Haru said to the empty doorway as Glitch changed from within.

"My sister?" Glitch asked, sticking his wet head out and raising an eyebrow. "I thought you'd be hating her guts right now. Why do you want to know?" he ducked back inside.

Haru

"Nah, I actually like a girl who can stand her ground against me," I replied. "But Calli's too young for me. I'm not a cradle-robber, don't worry. 'Sides, it'd be weird to date my best friend's sister." I winked at him. "But seriously, why didn't you ever mention her before?"

((AHAHA SHORTNESS FTW.))

~Glitch & Abby~

"Alright, to start off," Glitch said, rubbing his fingers through his wet hair furiously, getting rid of excess water, "she's only fifteen. If you had wanted to ask me permission or something, I would have had to toss you out the window. Secondly, that would be extraordinarily strange-- and slightly perverted, for that matter-- for you to date my younger sister. Third,..."

Glitch sat down on his bed and rested his back against the wooden wall and continued morbidly, his tone growing serious, "I didn't mention her before because I didn't know if she had survived the attack."

"What's with all of this secrecy?" Haru asked, leaning against the nearest wall and folding his arms on his chest. "Why can't you just tell me what happened?"

Glitch just stared at his best friend, wondering to himself if now was the time to finally open up to what's been tearing him apart inside for so many years. His words caught in this throat and his courage failed him. He slowly looked down at his feet and remained silent.

A knock at the door made them both look up curiously. Relieved for the interruption, Glitch got to his feet and opened the door. There to greet him was Abby. She nervously smiled at him and said, "Hey, uhh... sorry to bother you, but do you have any extra wash cloths? My room doesn't seem to have any."

Glitch nodded and stepped back to let Abby through as he went into the bathroom to fetch one. Haru's frustrated expression turned a devious one and he teased, "Oh, I see how it is."

Abby stared at him out of the corner of her eyes and asked exacerbatedly, "What?"

"What you're really here for. You were getting kind of lonely, weren't you..." Haru said, smirking.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Abby asked, raising her eyes to glare at him.

"Oh, you know what I mean," Haru said, his derisive smile growing wider.

Glitch returned just before Abby was about to lunge across the room and punch an idiot in the face. "Here you go," he said, handing her the tiny towel with a smile. She didn't take it immediately; she was still frowning at Haru. Glitch's face fell and he looked over at Haru to see him grinning like the idiot he was.

"I obviously missed something..." he said, turning back to Abby who took the towel.

"Not at all," Haru sang, walking toward Tsukiko's door and opening it as he said, "I should probably give you two some alone time. Remember, kiddies, use protection!"

He closed the door and both Glitch and Abby looked at each other. He laughed nervously as Abby rolled her eyes and walked back to the hall door before she stopped and turned, "How have you been?"

Glitch shrugged and said, "Not bad. A little overwhelmed I guess. Kind of a shock to find my sister again."

Abby nodded and said reassuredly, "At least you found someone. It's better than no one." She stepped away from the door and continued, "So, how're things with you and Calli anyway? Did you guys catch up after all these years?"

Glitch nodded as he sat on the corner of his bed, "Yeah, I've missed a lot."

"She's a real spit-fire. I gotta say, she can really stand her ground, even against the champion of insults himself," Abby said, referring to Haru.

"Calli's got a brash and brilliant mind and an even brasher and more brilliant tongue," he said, shrugging. "I guess that's what happens when you grow up like she did."

They sat in silence for a minute before Abby sighed, "Well, I guess I should get going. Thanks for the towel."

She was just about to leave before Glitch got to his feet and rushed to the door, "Wait!"

Abby turned with curiosity and Glitch said, "I never told you, but... thanks. For hitting me."

Abby grinned and said, "Forget about it; I already did." At that, she turned and left Glitch to himself.

Tsukiko

I struggled to keep my eye from twitching as Haru stumbled into my room.

"Didn't I specifically tell you to not come back through here?" I growled from my bed. I had been peacefully cleaning my guns, one of the best ways to simply lose yourself and just think. Until I was rudely interrupted, anyway.

"Uh, sorry," he muttered, grinning distractedly while staring at the door he had come through. "Glitch kinda needed his privacy, y'know?"

I glared at him, and to my surprise, he glared back.

"Hey, what's your problem?" He suddenly asked. "Why are you always in such a bad mood all the time, huh?"

"I'm not," I answered simply. It was true.

"You are! You're always grumpy, you don't like being around other people, and you never smile!" He accused. "What's wrong with you?"

I resisted the urge to cringe at his question; it was one I had already been asked far too many times in my short life. "I'm not grumpy, I'm short-tempered," I countered, "and it's not that I don't like other people--more like they don't like me."

"Even if other people don't like you, you sure don't make any effort to make them like you! And short-tempered my ass! You're just a psychotic freak!"

My hand froze halfway between the gun and my body. My eyes widened. I could hear my heartbeat speed up. After several uncomfortable moments of silence, a sad, sardonic grin wretched itself across my face. "Psychotic freak?" I stared blankly at the quilt. "Now isn't that original."

Another awkward silence passed, this one considerably longer. We must have stayed there, frozen in place, for at least five straight minutes. Finally, he spoke.

"I didn't mean that."

I bit my lip.

"Really. I'm just... tired."

"Then perhaps you should go back to your own room and get some 'beauty sleep'," I responded monotonously, echoing his earlier taunt.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" I asked emotionlessly. "For saying that? For getting stuck with me as a teammate? For having the guts to tell me your true feelings? For meeting me in the first place?"

"I'm sorry for barging in on you," he mumbled, making his way towards the door. Suddenly he paused, but did not turn around to face me. "You should smile more, you know. It's nice."

And then he was out the door, letting it swing shut behind him and leaving me alone again.

The next morning I was woken by a knocking on my door. By sheer force of instinct I managed to stumble out of bed and answer the door, only to find that no one was there. The knocking had been nothing more than a wake-up call. I glanced out the window to see that the sun had only just risen.

Why the hell are these people waking me up at the crack of dawn? I thought angrily to myself. I wasn't a morning person, and last night's exchange with Haru had left me unable to sleep.

Nonetheless, I managed to quickly shower, dress and drag myself to breakfast. The food was far less extravagent than it had been last night, which led me to believe that either the Goidelians had a love of feastful dinners, or we were no longer considered 'guests' but now only part of the rebellion. I didn't mind; I was used to simpler food.

But while the food was good, the company was not. Haru was sat across from me, and the mood was distinctly tense. He looked uncomfortable and unhappy, which was unusual for him, as far as I knew. And I wasn't the only one he appeared to be ignoring. I heard him say nothing more than "Pass that bowl, would you?" to Glitch. His frosty attitude seemed to be contagious, as the conversation was visibly dampened by his mood.

I, for one, was glad when it was announced that the meal was over.

((Alright, I know that previously I mentioned that Glitch was five when he left for Ad Astra but I've just suddenly recalled that it didn't make sense with Calli involved, so I've changed the age. Glitch was seven when his parents were killed and Calli was five.))

~Rochben~

That morning, while Rochben was chopping pieces of wood that were to be placed in a fire the evening's meal, he was approached by Haru. Rochben noticed as he came closer that Haru seemed to still have a chip in the shoulder since this morning's breakfast. Although he didn't know what was making the usually cheerful and mischievous teenager silent and brooding, he decided it was better to not ask anyway.

"Mister Anderson," Rochben called, beaming at Haru. "How are you this morning?"

Haru didn't answer, instead he got straight to the point, his expression stern, "What happened to Glitch's parents?"

In mid-swing of the ax, Rochben stopped and slowly turned to face Haru. "Why are you asking me?"

"Because Glitch refuses to tell me and you're one of the only people who, I assume, had a first hand account," Haru said, sitting down on an empty chopping log.

Rochben took a deep breath and looked over to Glitch who was helping a few volunteers lift a small catapult down from a platform positioned in a tree using a pulley system. Watching the young man he had sworn to protect since the day he was born, he wondered if telling Haru the truth was betraying Glitch's trust.

"Some things, Mister Anderson," Rochben said, still watching Glitch, "are too painful to recall so willingly, but... you have a right to know as much as anyone."

Rochben set down his ax and grunted as he sat down next to Haru. Rochben folded his hands together and sighed as he looked to the canopy, dotted with sunlight streaming to the ground floor. With a deep sigh, Rochben finally began to tell the tale.

It was a calm summer's night, as peaceful as any before. The stars blinked merrily above the guard's heads as they watched over the quiet city from their posts on the castle walls. Everything seemed to be normal, everything seemed to be fine... until the attack began.

Inside the castle, a ten-year-younger Rochben patrolled the west wing corridor, staring straight ahead as if seeing nothing at all. He was lost in thought about what he was going to do when his shift was over and officially on a one week leave. He and his wife, the head cook of the castle, were expecting a baby girl in the next few days and King William I, Glitch's father, was going to allow him to be there for her during the delivery. He understood what it meant to be an anxious father.

He was so caught up in his thoughts about what to expect in the next few days, he didn't register what he was hearing at first. It sounded to him like an explosion, although it was distant. He stopped and listened, straining to hear it again. But it didn't come. Now, he only heard the noise that made his blood freeze. Screaming.

Hand on sword, he turned and bolted for the eastern wing. All that was on his mind then was to protect the family and nothing else--

Rochben suddenly stopped, feeling a presence behind him. He turned and saw that it was Glitch. "Are you telling him?" Glitch asked, his face stoic.

Rochben nodded and Glitch walked around to their front and sat down in the grass. Rochben said, "Sir, I only know my story... it may be cathartic to remember yours." Glitch played with a blade of grass nervously and said, "I guess."

At that, Glitch began his story. He backtracked and explained to Haru what he had already relived after the debriefing in Nuual's office. He told Haru about his memory of playing with his father just before bed and how he reenacted his father's heroic battle.

"Will I ever be as strong and brave as you?" he asked.

William, Glitch’s father, smiled and said, "I'm certain of it. Now go to bed or else your mother--"

Unexpectedly a bang erupted from outside the door. Alana, his mother, was thrown to the floor as pieces of wall showered around her. William yelled out as Alana crawled into the bedroom, blood dripping from her hair. He rushed to her side and helped her to her feet and closed the door. He knew that it was no longer safe for any of them. “We need to get out of here,” he said, looking around frantically.

Glitch let out a cry of fear and ran to his parents, wrapping his tiny arms around his father’s leg. William grasped tightly onto his hand and directed them all to the window. “What about Callionel?” Alana gasped.

“I know, I know,” William said looking out the window, finding no escape route, and then turned back to the room. As the three of them stood there with nothing else to do, they heard heavy boots padding up the corridor followed by barking orders.

William Kavanaugh suddenly straightened, staring at the closed door. Alana started breathing heavily through sobs of pain. She was grasping tightly onto her only sons shoulders, refusing to let go. Little Glitch was as scared as anyone, nearly on the verge of tears.

William knelt down and looked straight into Glitch’s eyes, he said in a quiet but hurried voice, “I want you to hide under the bed. Do not come out until I tell you to, do you understand?”

Glitch’s lip quivered but he nodded. He didn’t want to go, but he didn’t want to disappoint his father. William gently shoved Glitch toward his bed and he scrambled beneath the skirt. At the time, Glitch didn't realize that was the last time he would ever speak to his father. Glitch's little heart was pounding so fast and so hard it hurt him, he had no idea what to do.

All at once, Glitch heard the door break open as the wood shattered. There was a lot of yelling, and things breaking but Glitch didn’t dare look. He covered his head and whimpered as more things were being thrown about the room and people were yelling even more loudly. Suddenly, everything went strangely quiet. Glitch lifted his head slowly as heard a soft thump and saw a shadow move passed his hiding place.

Summoning his courage, he slowly lifted the skirt of the bed ever so slightly and peeked to see what was going on. Was his dad okay?

What he saw made his heart stop. Laying on his side, staring at a shocked little boy was his father. He was bleeding from his mouth and his eyebrow, but his eyes were filled with compassion for his son. His time was over; Glitch would be the next king. Glitch began to silently cry as his dad gave him a weak smile of reassurance. Almost as if to say, “Don’t be afraid anymore.” A black bag was abruptly thrown over his head and he was jerked to his feet.

“Take the other. They’re waiting outside,” a harsh voice grunted as Glitch dropped the skirt to cover his mouth. Tears were streaming down his face, he was terrified for his family and for himself. His mom and dad were being taken away. He wanted to scream, but he was too frightened.

“Sir, there’s no sign of the boy or girl,” another voice said, entering the room. Glitch could see feet moving away and towards his hiding spot.

“Keep looking, they must be here somewhere,” the first voice said sharply. With that, the door suddenly closed and things were horribly quiet. Glitch didn’t know what to do next. Should he chase after them? Should he try to fight them himself to save his parents? Should he call for help? Either way, he was no good to anyone laying there.

He slowly crawled forward, sobbing uncontrollably. He shuffled forward, almost in a daze, through his broken toys and drops of blood. His room was completely in disarray. He outstretched his hand almost trying to pull his parents back to him and he wept, his shoulders shaking, “Mummy... Dad...” He grasped tightly onto the doorknob and was about to turn it when it flew open.

Glitch looked up in shock to see a large man, clad in black wearing a mask. The only thing Glitch could see was his dark, beady eyes piercing through his flesh.

In an instant, Glitch was screaming as the man grabbed onto his shirt and ripped him into the hallway. He kicked and slashed at the man, trying to escape, but it was no use. Glitch’s four foot five stature was incomparable to the six foot marauder. He squirmed and put his feet on the man’s chest and he brought Glitch up to the wall and began squeezing his hands around his neck.

Glitch immediately started seeing stars as he gasped for air, his legs flailing a few feet of the ground. The edges of his vision began to go dark as his body was ready to shut down. He tried to take one final gasp of air but only let out a small whine.

Glitch thought it was all over. He was done for. But just as he was about to give in to the darkness, his breath came rushing back into his lungs. A blue blur had rushed passed and tackled the man choking Glitch. He immediately fell to the floor as the two men wrestled on the floor. Glitch gasped, trying to breathe normally again when he looked to see who had saved him. For a moment, he hoped it was his father. He hoped somehow he had escaped and had come back to save him.

William was his dad, nothing could happen to his dad.

It wasn’t his dad. It was Rochben. “Cavan!” Rochben said, struggling to keep the man down on the floor. “Run! Get out of here! Get to the safe house!” Glitch was both relieved and crushed. Rochben was here to save him, but where was his dad? Where was his mom?

Glitch didn’t need to be told twice. He scrambled to his feet, stumbled on the carpet and grabbed onto the wall for support as he hurried down the corridor. He didn’t encounter anyone else until he reached the safe house in the basement of the kitchen. Waiting there were a number of other servants in the castle who were just as confused and distressed as he was. As soon as a plan was formed, the group made an escape into the surrounding forests and that was the last time he had seen the inside of the castle. Rochben made it back safely to the group with only a potion of his face wrapped in a makeshift bandage, but his wife wasn’t so lucky. She had been attacked by a group of the invaders and she and her unborn child were killed.

That was the night arrangements were made for Glitch to go to Ad Astra.

Glitch and Rochben finished the story together, adding different pieces of information to form a complete tale.

Glitch added in conclusion, staring at the grass in front of him, “That was also the night I learned that my parents were put to death; hanging from the tallest tower on the northern side for the entire city to see.”

Everyone was quiet, mostly out of respect for those who lost their lives during that night and also out of a loss for anything more to say. Enough had already been said.

Name: Ryuu Mahou
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Status: Technology specialist
Skills: Hand-to-hand combat, basic weapons training, and an vast knowledge of technology.
Race: Dracconian
Birth Place: Draccacia
Appearance:
Personality: Ry is a good guy. Some would describe him as a gentleman. He's always willing to help people. Though he's quiet, he's very observant, there's not much that he misses.

He's friendly to anyone he meets and is usually optimistic. It's hard to get him down, but when he is down, he's down for a while, always thinking about what he could have done differently.
History: When Ry was seven he was bannished from his home planet because of his peoples' tradition. His whole family had died and he was deemed as bad luck. His family had been attacked by an unknown source and his mother, father, older brother and younger sister were killed.

He had been hitchhiking for a year up until two teachers from Ad Astra found him and took him to the school. He was enrolled into some basic classes and was found to have a hand at technology. He didn't really have a knack for weapons but could program a computer like no other.

Name: Samantha Hopler
Age: 17
Gender: Female
Status: Doctor
Skills: minimal hand-to-hand combat, basic weapons training, and knowledge of the medical arts.
Race: Human
Birth Place: Titan
Appearance:
Personality: Sam is a pretty happy person all around. She enjoys talking to people and shopping, especially for shoes. But she does have one monster of a temper. When she was younger she was known for it, but as she got older, she learned to control her anger and mask it with her happy nature.

When in a sticky situation she is the last to panic. She can be forceful when she needs to be and likes to get her way. She doesn't take well to criticism and can show the ugly green jealousy monster sometimes.
History: Sam was abandoned when she was young by her parents. When in the orphanage she would constantly get into fights with the other kids. With one too many fights under her belt she was sent to Ad Astra at the age of six. When signed up for classes she excelled in hand-to-hand combat and the medical arts.

As she grew older, she focused more on the medical arts than combat training. She is at the top of her class.

Tsukiko

It was around noon when it started raining. I'd been helping my fellow rebels get set up in their new 'town' after the unexpected move.

A move which was undeniably my fault.

If only I'd killed him when I had the chance, I kept thinking. None of this would have happened.

Once the rain started the moving ended. Nobody wanted to be cold and wet, and the canopy above provided far less rain protection than one might think. By the time I reached the guest tree I was not only soaked, but starving--either the Goidelians didn't believe in lunch or I wasn't invited.

And I was tired tired. I hadn't slept a wink last night, and had spent the whole night staring out the window trying to fall asleep. There was nothing to see, really. The canopy blocked out all view of the sky. Pity; I loved the moon.

I carefully opened my door and closed it again, making as little noise as possible. I'd heard that Haru had come back to take a nap, and even if I didn't like him, that was no reason to be rude. (No matter how much I wanted to be.)

Reaching deep inside my pockets I pulled out a few pieces of fruit. At least, I assumed they were fruit. But on alien planets, who can tell? I had filched them from a box during the moving process, but the box had said "FRUIT" on the side in bad handwriting and I was hungry. It took me all of three bites to down the first one, which tasted like a cross between an apple and grapes. Not bad, just not familiar--and they left me feeling full, which was, of course, the desired effect.

Now for a shower, I thought pleasantly to myself. A nice hot shower will feel great after being in the rain. I'm still soaking wet.

--------------------------
Haru

"Well, today's just turning out to be a great day, huh?" I muttered sarcastically to no one as I opened the door to my room, slammed the door shut and flopped onto my bed. "How many years have Glitch and I been best friends, and he never told me this stuff! None of it!"

Through the window I could see that it was still raining outside. With nothing to do and no place to train, I decided to catch up on last night's lost sleep with a nap. Usually I didn't have trouble sleeping on missions, but last night I had been unable to fall asleep. I'd spent the night tossing and turning in my bed. Today, I was exhausted.

Funny, though, I thought as I drifted off to sleep. I thought I closed the window curtains.

--------------------------
Tsukiko

The shower was a piece of art in itself. It wasn't shiny or sensor-activated, like most things today were, but it was beautiful, all polished synthetic wood. (Real wood, I figured, would probably have rotted. But the plastic was just as nice.) The towel-warming rack was a nice touch, too. I'd always liked the rustic charm better than the shiny futurism.

I probably spent half an hour under that showerhead, just letting the hot water hit me. It felt so nice that I just lost myself in thought, mostly about trivial things back home. My Binders job, my apartment, the kind old man down the hall with the five cats--which he kept trying to shove onto me. It was a nice respite from the violence and hardship of the mission and school. I felt much better after the shower, and the warm towel left me feeling cozy. I reminded myself to see about getting one when I got back home.

When I opened the bathroom door, I immediately sensed something wasn't right. Someone was here, I could sense it, hear their breathing. I didn't have any weapons on me, and hand-to-hand would be a bit hard in nothing more than a towel wrapped around myself.

Where are you? I asked silently, my eyes searching the room for both the intruder and the nearest weapon--a dagger on the dresser. "Who's there?" I asked menacingly as I moved towards the dresser and grabbed the dagger.

Suddenly the bed moved. Or rather, someone on the bed moved. In a flash I was on him, the blade at his throat.

"...the hell, Tsuki?"

"Haru?" I didn't move the dagger. "What the hell are you doing in my room?"

"Your room?" He looked confused and sleepy. "Isn't this mine?"

"No, it is not," I hissed, pronouncing each word clearly.

"Oh." He paused, observing the knife at his throat. "Sorry 'bout that. I was really tired, must notta been payin' attention." Glaring at him, I drew the dagger back, sighing heavily. "Uh, Tsuki?" He asked nervously.

"What?" I snapped.

"What are you wearing?" I glanced down and blushed. I'd forgotten about the towel thing. Thank goodness I'd tied it tightly, it still covered all the important parts. I scrambled off the bed and he sat up, rubbing his throat protectively. "I mean, don't get me wrong, it looks great--"

I fled for the bathroom, grabbing my suitcase on the way. I locked the door behind me and quickly changed into my usual garb before he could get the chance to run away. It took me under thirty seconds to get in and out of the bathroom. To my surprise, Haru was not only still in the room, but appeared to have fallen back asleep in my bed.

I was almost speechless. Almost.

"Haru Anderson! Why are you still in my bed?" I cried, attempting to shake him awake. He pushed my hands away.

"Please? Lemme sleep?" He mumbled, giving me the puppy dog eyes. I rolled my eyes, but backed off. He smiled sleepily and turned back over, promptly falling asleep. Watching him, I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed.

I almost liked him better when he didn't like me...

---------------------
Haru

It was dinner time when I woke up. I knew. Don't ask how I knew, because I don't know how I know, but I always know when it's time for a meal. And it was definitely dinner time.

It took me a moment to remember where I was. At first I thought I was in my room back at Ad Astra, but then I remembered that I definitely wasn't. This wasn't even my own room on Goidelia. Nope, this was Tsuki's room. Of course, all these guest tree rooms looked alike anyway, so how could she blame me?

It wasn't raining any more, I noticed, but it was still drizzling outside, and very wet, which meant mud and humidity. Mud was fine and dandy, but humidity was not my thing--too hard to breathe in, made you sweaty.

The second thing I noticed was Tsukiko. My initial reaction was something along the lines of 'Whoa! Why is she here?!' but fortunately I remembered before blurting out anything dumb and/or suicidal. She was sitting in a chair across the room, sipping a mug of tea with one leg folded underneath her and a book in her hands. I couldn't see the title, but it must have been pretty interesting, since she hadn't even looked at me yet.

I stared at her for a few seconds before she muttered "Good morning" without even looking up. I blinked and asked for the time. She glanced at her watch and frowned. "Three fifteen in the morning. Ad Astra time."

"And local?"

"No idea. Probably dinner time, if you're awake."

"You catch on pretty fast."

"What were you doing before you fell asleep?" She asked suddenly, looking at me now.

"Er, what?" I had no idea what she was talking about.

"Before you fell asleep in my bed. What were you doing?"

"Talking to Glitch, why?"

She sighed in obvious relief and exasperation. "Because I have to sleep there tonight, idiot."

"So if I'd fallen asleep here after training--"

"I would have killed you in your sleep," she finished for me deadpan. I couldn't tell if she she was joking or not, but I had a sneaking suspicion that she probably wasn't. Best not to take chances, at any rate.

"Y'know," I said, grinning, "I think your bed is comfier than mine. Maybe I'll sleep here again tonight."

"Nu-uh. It's my bed."

"We could share?" I suggested.

"Not a chance in hell." Well, that cleared things up. "Aren't you going to dinner? I think it'll be in around half an hour."

"Tsukiko, darling, do I ever miss a meal?" I asked charmingly, smirking at her.

"Wouldn't know," she replied uninterested, staring at her book again. Well, that won't do. I want her to pay attention to me, not some stupid book! So while she stared at the book, I stared at her. A good five minutes passed before she sighed and closed the book. "What do you want?"

"I want you to talk to me," I answered truthfully. I saw a glimmer of suspicion flit across her face.

"About what?"

"Whatever you like," I offered.

"I don't talk much."

I laughed. "God, you're such a hard-ass! I don't think I've ever met a girl like you before."

"What, you mean you've never met a girl who didn't fall madly in love with you at first sight?"

"Pretty much. Should I walk by you again?"

She rolled her eyes. "You're not as charming as everyone says."

"Ah, so they do say I'm charming," I murmured proudly. She blinked. "Joking! Joking, jeez. I'm saving my good pickup lines for special occasions." I paused. "Fine. I'll start. What do you like?" I started simple.

"Guns," she answered. I nodded my head, encouraging her to continue. "Knives. Books. Skirts."

"Skirts?" I repeated. "Really?" She nodded. "I didn't have you down as a girly-girl."

"I'm not," she defended. "I just like them."

"Fine, fine. Okay, what do you do outside of school?"

"Work, mostly. Shooting range, combat sims, sleep." She sipped on her tea.

"Booooring! Don't you ever get together with friends?"

She glared at me. "Don't have any."

"Not even one?" She shook her head. "Do you have a roommate?" Another shake. "Don't you get lonely?"

"No. I've always been alone."

"What about your family?"

"None."

"...are they dead?" A lot of kids at Ad Astra had dead parents, so it wouldn't be a surprise. I'd still feel bad, though. Most people didn't like to talk about it.

She got a faraway look in her eyes for a moment. "I don't know. Never knew them. I can't remember anything before Ad Astra."

"Amnesia? That's one I haven't heard before. But really, you're not lonely?"

"Why should I be?" She asked, her eyes returning to normal.

"I hate being alone," I told her. "I have a big family back home, so I was always with everyone else. Even now, I'm always with people."

"You do have a lot of friends," she noted. I heard a hint of displeasure in her voice towards my friends; they didn't get along very well, I supposed. "And Glitch?"

"We've known each other for years. He came a little late in his first term, and I was the only guy without a roommate, so he got stuck with me. And look how he ended up!"

"Strange," Tsukiko agreed thoughtfully, taking another sip of tea. "I thought he was a fairly decent guy. Now that I know he's your best friend, I may have to reevaluate him."

"Best friend, huh?" I laughed softly, unamused, sitting myself up against the wall. "I don't know about that, not anymore. I don't think it's possible for someone to not tell you so much about themselves and still be your best friend." Tsuki said nothing, but her eyes were interested. "Y'know, all this time and he never once told me about any of this stuff!"

Now I was on an angry tirade. "So apparently, he's not only royalty, but his whole planet is in turmoil and his parents were murdered! His sister Calli? Never mentioned her, not once. Rochben? Never mentioned him either. I'd never even heard of Goidelia before this mission. And I never even knew his real name! I'd always just known him as Glitch! I never even bothered asking for his name, or why he came here in the first place! All this time, and I never knew! Why didn't he tell me?!"

I closed my eyes and let my head drop back against the wall; my rant was over, and now I was left feeling exhausted and sad again. Not a great combination.

"I'm sure Glitch had his reasons for not telling you," Tsuki reasoned after a few moments of contemplative silence. I opened my eyes and stared at her. "His real name is hard to pronounce, and he probably didn't want you pitying him."

"Pity?" I spat. "You really think that's what this is all about? Pity?"

She ignored my temper. "Pity, yes." Her green eyes bored into mine, and I got a strange feeling from her stare. I looked away.

"All the same, he could have told me," I pouted childishly, folding my arms and sitting cross-legged in her bed.

Then, to my amazement, Tsukiko smiled. It wasn't a huge smile, and she didn't show any teeth, but it was a smile nonetheless. Her eyes were crinkled at the edges; it was real.

"Now you're just being a baby," she admonished lightly, raising the teacup to her lips again. "Now get up and go get changed. They'll come get us for dinner soon."

I was definitely liking this 'us' thing. Even though I didn't really want to, I got out of her bed, and was promptly greeted with the cold air of the room. I shuddered and almost crawled right back under her warm blankets, but resisted. She'd probably make fun of me if I did, I realized.

Just as I was passing her on the way to the door, an idea popped into my head. I stopped right in front of her, making her glance up at me, confused. "Hey, is that tea good? I asked, and she nodded. Without warning, I grabbed the teacup from her and took a sip of my own, then held it back out to her. As she took it I commented, "You're right. Good tea."

"Apple cinnamon," she mumbled as I closed the door behind me.

Haru: 2 - Tsukiko: 0

((FINALLY! DONE! This took sooooo long, and there was a cat at my feet the whole time, using my left foot as a pillow. SO cute. XD))

((Sorry, guys. Took over for a bit. Wanted everyone in the same room for this. And sorry for stealing Haru, Ash. If you don't like it, I'll change it. ))

~Abby~

Abby leaned casually against the railing to her covered terrace, watching the falling rain drops rush past in a blur of mist. She had always loved the smell of rain. Down below on the ground floor, black blobs of people shuffled around quickly trying to save their products with tents.

She inhaled deeply and turned her face towards the canopy. She was lost in the thoughts of the day, pleasantly enjoying this rare time of tranquility. At first she didn't realize the noise until it happened again. A strange buzzing was coming from inside her room.

She turned back into her warm shelter and saw that sitting on top of the dresser, untouched since they had arrived was a silver communications device. It was about the size of a credit card and blinking angrily at her with a little blue light as it vibrated in intervals, almost walking off the top.

Abby caught it just as it was about to fall over the edge and answered. She pressed the blue button and said coyly, "Galactic Morgue. How may we cremate you?" A small figure materialized before her, standing upon the device almost as if it were the ground. The holograph image flickered for a minute and Abby soon recognized who it was.

"Professor Nuual! Ah!" She straightened her posture immediately as Nuual said, giggling sweetly, "That was funny... like I haven't heard that ten million times before..." she added, teeth clenched together as her face grew serious.

Abby gulped, Busted.

Nuual's face brightened and she said, "Ha! Ms. Robbins you are great fun to tease! Alright, down to business."

Abby's attention was brought back down to the hologram as the miniature Nuual began pacing back and forth. "I've come to check up on the progress of the mission. Is everything going smoothly?"

Abby backtracked over everything that had happened over the past few days and said honestly, "No."

Nuual looked taken aback and stopped pacing as Abby continued, "The crew you hired to transport us to Goidelia turned out to be a whole band of pirates. We were nearly taken prisoner by the natives and a bundle of--" Abby clutched her hands expressively in the air, frustratedly trying to find the words, "weeds. And now we're here after learning that Glitch is the next heir to the throne! Thanks for telling us ahead of time, it really prepared us!"

Nuual explained, "It's not my place to give away personal information regarding my students. If he wanted to reveal his past, he would have on his own. Each person's business is his own."

She carried on, "Why haven't I been able to reach Mr. Mahou or Ms. Hopler?"

Abby paused for a moment and asked, "Who?"

"Who?!" Nuual repeated in disbelief. "They were the remaining two members of your team who were supposed to meet you all on Goidelia. I sent them a week prior to your dispatch to do some reconaissance work. I assumed their communicators were defective due to the solar storm near base. You're the first I've successfully contacted."

"I'm sorry, professor," Abby said earnestly, "I have no idea who you're talking about. We never met with anyone by those names."

Nuual’s face suddenly grew very grave. Her demeanor changed entirely. She was no longer the unusual, perky professor; she was now strictly serious and stern.

“Ms. Robbins, this is a very serious matter. Listen very carefully to your new objective...”
-------------------------------------
~Glitch~

“Ailin Abeducan came home drunk every evening toward ten,” Rochben began in a low voice as everyone seated around the table listened eagerly. Rochben was famous for telling his amusing and creative stories. He was often urged to tell at least one every night. Not in the best of spirits since earlier that afternoon, Glitch sat next to him as he quietly played with his food and Rochben continued telling the tale to Haru, Tsuki, Fleur and David as well as some of the knights from the West and East Towers.

“Now, the Missus was never too happy about it, mind you. So one night she hides in the cemetery and figures to scare the beejeezus out of him. As poor Ailin wanders by, up from behind a tombstone she jumps in a red devil costume screaming, ‘Ailin Aohd Abeducan, sure as I got me eyes on yeh, don't give up your drinkin' and it's to Hell I'll be takin’ yeh.’ ”

Rochben was brilliant. He played out each part so fantastically, Glitch wondered why he never took interest in theater.

“Ailin, undaunted, staggered back and demanded, ‘Who the hell are you?’ Too that, the Missus replied incredulously, ‘I'm the divil ya damned old fool.’ To which Ailin remarked, ‘Damned glad to meet you sir, I'm married to yer sister.’ “

The table erupted in hearty laughter as men banged their mugs full of spirits on the table as applause. Rochben grinned and slapped Glitch on the back, trying to liven his spirits. Glitch truly wanted to enjoy himself, but revisiting his past kept him quiet the rest of the day. He did, however, manage to push out a small smile.

“Good one, Rochben,” he said, looking up at the knight.

“Thank you, sir,” Rochben said, beaming. He looked around and asked, as he took a swig of his drink, “Where’s Miss Robbins? I haven’t seen her since this afternoon.”

Glitch looked up, also realizing that she was missing. “I don’t know,” he said as Calli came up sat down at the empty seat next to his.

“Have you seen Abby?” Glitch asked her as she reached over and served herself some Anorfëa.

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I thought she was here.”

At that moment, the door burst open to the dining room and in came the subject of coversation herself.

“Guys,” she said, looking serious, “We’ve got a bit of a problem.”

“What’s wrong?” Glitch asked, his ears perking up.

“Do you remember when Professor Nuual told us that we were to meet with two other members of the team when we got here?”

“No,” Haru said truthfully, his mouth full of half-chewed bread.

Calli threw a small piece of cheese at his face and struck true. The thin slice hung snugly against the white haired boy’s cheek. “Don’t talk with your mouth full,” she said, sneering.

His eyes flashed and he picked up an olive from his own dish and chucked it fiercely back at the offender. It hit her square in the nose and bounced into the air.

Calli scooped up a spoonful of mashed potatoes menacingly and was ready to aim before Glitch quickly ripped the projectile from her grasp and put it on his own plate. Enough food had gone to waste for one day.

Abby waited half a beat, making sure no one was going to make another move to begin a food fight, when she continued, “Yeah, that’s exactly the problem.”

“Come again?” Glitch asked.

“Two students of Ad Astra were sent here a week before us to do special reconaissance work to investigate the territory and gain some allies,” Abby said, hoping someone would get the hint.

Glitch stood up suddenly; he caught on very quickly. “Something happened,” he said, his eyes wide.

Calli said hurriedly, “I’m on it.” And just as briskly, she disappeared from the table and ran out the door.

Glitch soon followed with everyone else tight on his heels.

Rochben was left all alone at the table, facing an enormous amount of food. He sighed quietly and looked at the door, making sure no one was watching as he slyly dumped Glitch’s plate onto his own as well as Haru’s. He smiled cheerfully as he ate in peace.

((And this is where I come in!! Yes!))

"Damn, we screwed up bad," Sam commented, staring up at the ceiling of the cell she was in.

"No, ya think?!" Ry asked sarcastically, turning his head around to look at her the best he could. It didn't work too well, considering they were both tied to chairs, backs to each other, facing opposite directions of the metal cell that they were in.

"I hope that we didn't upset Professor Nuual too much..." Sam said absent mindedly, a smile on her face. "That would be bad!"

"I don't think that you have to worry about that much," Ry growled, straining vainly against the rope that was tied tightly around his wrists. "We might not be making it out of here alive."

"Really?" Sam asked, her mood still cheery. "They wouldn't do that silly." She smiled again at her comment.

Ry swore. "I can't get out of these stupid ropes!"

"Too bad they're not duct tape, I could get out of that in five minutes!" Sam said, smiling widely, bouncing as much as she could in her chair.

"Duct tape isn't made any more!" Ry was getting frustrated. Not even he could stand listening to Sam talk and talk for two whole days. He sighed, breathing evenly as he tried to calm himself down. "How are we gunna get outta this?" he asked desperately.

"Hmm..." Sam thought, scrunching her face as she thought. "Don't know!" She smiled brightly, humming quietly to herself.

If I was close enough to the wall, I would be banging my head on it right now in hopes that it would knock me unconscious, Ry thought, sighing deeply. Out loud he said, "I guess we can only wait." Sam made a noise of confirmation and continued to hum happily.

((Ohhh gosh. It's bedtime for me. My edited post is SOOOO long. Short version: Haru goes on a rant and Tsuki listens. Then he steals her tea.))

~Glitch~

Calli lead the group out of the Visitor Tree and onto the ground floor of the forest. It was still raining as they all ran across the path to a nearby tree that was considerably smaller than the housing ones, but it was still quite large.

"What do you have in mind?" Glitch asked his sister as they slowed under an overhang just outside the door to the base of the trunk. Two men with large semi-automatic firearms stood on either side of the entrance. The team from Ad Astra shook off the frigid water, confused as to why this door was guarded.

"I think I can track them down," Calli replied, just before she pushed through the door.

"How?" Haru asked.

"I've got my sources," she assured him. At that, she lead the way into the tree as the guards both nodded to her in unison. The guards, however, eyed the team as they quietly filed through after her. Something was obviously being protected.

When they stepped through the entrance, the first glance of advanced technology greeted them as a welcoming sight. They stepped into a large, circular room lit dimly by soft-glowing light strips in the wall. Situated in the center was a large round table with twelve swivel chairs positioned evenly around it. Lining the walls were tables of gizmos and gadgets half-put together or half-pulled apart. It didn't matter to Glitch, who's eyes widened when he saw them.

He walked over to one table and picked up a torn apart piece of metal and exclaimed in awe, "It's an old microwave that's been modified to produce positively charged ion energy into..." he traced the long chord running down the length of the table and found another piece he was absolutely thrilled over, "A quantization communication device! This is incredible!"

He held the contraption up to his eye and examined the wiring closer when he felt apprehensive eyes staring at him. He slowly turned and smiled nervously at his team as he set down the device and quietly walked back over to the group.

"Did you make all of these yourself?" Abby asked Calli.

Calli was on the opposite side of the room, shuffling through various bit-drives, reading each label. She moved back over to them, still reading each and said, sighing to have to mention it, "No, Specs did."

Just then, a loud explosion erupted from the corridor adjoining their own room followed swiftly by dark clouds of smoke billowing into their room. A figure stumbled out, waving his hands in front of his face as the smoke attempted to smother him.

"Guys," Calli said, smirking, "Meet Specs. Honorary hacker, inventor, and spy of the Fronde."

The guy titled Specs coughed once and pulled his circular goggles off his face. He was covered in a thin layer of soot and sweat with the exception of humorously clean circles around his eyes. He appeared to be about twenty years old. He had crazy orange hair that was sticking up in strange places, dotted with even more soot. His eyes were a fantastic blue that lit up when he saw his new visitors.

"C-Calli! Y-You didn't t-tell me we had visitors!" he said, approaching them, wiping his hands on his dirty overalls.

"Yeah, sorry. Kind of short notice," she said, still shuffling through the drives. "Specs, where is that damn map?"

"Which m-map?" he stuttered.

"The one of the city..." she said, thoroughly getting frustrated.

"Oh, it's st-still in the processor. I u-used it just last n-night," he said, shaking each one of the team from Ad Astra's hand.

Groaning, Calli walked back to the computer screen and input some numbers.

"You're a spy, too? So is Fleur." Abby said to Specs.

He nodded and smiled as he said, "I relay many p-pieces of information back to the Fronde from my p-positions in the c-castle. I was Prince C-Cavan to ascend the throne just as m-much as the next person, if n-not more."

"He's a master of disguise, too," Calli added, getting up from the computer and walking over to the table. "And I think he is the one who can help us with your problem."

"Wh-What's wrong?" he asked, turning to her.

"Have you heard any news regarding prisoners being taken into the dungeons of Ithilaear Ost?" Calli asked, tapping more information into a small keyboard panel on the table.

He thought for a moment before saying, "You know, I think I d-d-do recall something about a month ago. A y-younger guy and girl."

"Yes!" Abby said, "Exactly! Do you know their names?"

"N-n-no," he stuttered. "B-But it's not exactly n-new news. Prisoners are taken all the t-time."

"This is different," Glitch said. "They're part of our team. If we don't get to them..."

Specs frowned for a second before grinning, "I m-may have a solution."

He walked over to a desk covered in little moving robots, tossed a few onto a nearby box and sat down at his computer. He tapped furiously on the keyboard as he brought up hundreds of matrices. His fingers flew wildly over each keystroke as the others looked on in wonder.

Specs suddenly laughed out loud heartily and said, "I love my j-job."

"Did you get in?" Glitch asked, putting his hand on the back of Specs' chair.

"Y-You bet I did, sir," he said, grinning. He punched a key and suddenly an image of a long hallway appeared on the screen. He tapped again and a second angle of another hallway appeared. It was dreary and empty, cold and damp looking. Welcome to the dungeons of Ithilaear Ost.

Specs continued tapping the same key, changing each image from hallway to empty cell, until suddenly--

"That's them!" Abby cried out, pointing.

Two people tied back to back to each other remained on the screen. They were moving and apparently talking to each other. They seemed to be okay.

"How can you tell?" Haru asked.

"There's the academy seal on his jacket," Abby said, pointing to the small emblem just barely visible on the boy's upper arm.

"Damn, you've g-got good eyes," Specs said, grinning at her.

"So now we know for sure where to find them," Glitch said.

Just then, the lights dimmed to a deep blue and the room was plunged into the dark. They looked around for a second, the only bright light coming from Specs' computer and saw that Calli was still typing at the keyboard before she said, "Sorry. Nearly finished."

Everyone stepped over to the table and watched as she continued typing before she stood up and stared at the empty space above the table.

Just then, an image appeared hovering just over the table of twelve chairs. It was a holographic 3-D image of a city map. "This is Ithilaear Ost. The royal hell hole of the planet for anyone who gives a damn about what their lives mean to them."

Calli pulled out a small remote and clicked it at the image and the image morphed into an image of a grand castle with lush gardens and sweeping architecture that took Glitch's breath away. It had been the first time he'd seen the castle since the night his parents died.

"Glitch and I used to live here," Calli continued, almost as if this image didn't affect her in the slightest. She clicked again and the image morphed into a second shot of the great city. "It used to be the most beautiful and most prosperous city on the planet. It had the lowest poverty rate in history. You came here to make it big." The images were so beautiful, Glitch almost didn't want to see what it looked like now.

"As of now," Calli said, clicking again to show the most recent image, "It's fallen mercilessly to crime and corruption within the castle and temples. The tyrannical rule of the monarchical power in our castle has broken the city into pieces. Although the city is in shambles, they still have one of the most predominant armies in the nation. They also..." she clicked again and showed another map of the inside of the castle, "... have the strongest security staff surrounding the castle as well as the dungeons that circulate beneath the streets for easy access by the guards. It's almost impossible to penetrate."

"So how do you propose we get in and out without being noticed?" Glitch asked.

"Through the front door, of course," Calli said grinning as she slowly turned to Specs.

"Do we have any idea where we are?" Ry asked, leaning his head back and closing his eyes.

"Um...we're in, I think, some kind of cell. It's made out of some kind of metal...and oh! We were kidnapped and brought here by bad people!" Sam replied happily.

"I meant, do we know who these people are?" Ry asked.

"Um....nope!" Sam answered, fidgetting happily.

"Do you think we'll be rescued?" Ry asked grudgendly. He didn't like the prospect of being rescued.

"The possibilities aren't looking good!" Sam said.

"Great," Ry groaned. "Why'd I agree to go on this mission?"

"Raging teenage hormones!" Sam replied.

"I wasn't looking for an answer to that..." Ry really wanted to bang his head on the wall at this point.

"'Who else is going on this trip?'" Sam asked, immitating Ry's voice. "'Samantha Hopler will be accompanying you'," she said, immitating Professor Nuual's voice. "'Really?!'"

Ry sighed. "Leave me alone," he groaned.

"That's rather hard considering we're tied together," Sam pointed out. "And in a metal room. Somewhere underground. And in the hands of our enemies."

Ry sighed again. If there is a merciful God out there, strike me down now, I don't care if I die a virgin. Ry closed his eyes tight, and dug his fingernails into his palms.

"This isn't that bad really, I mean, we get food, we don't have to work, but I really would like a cookie. My favorite cookie is chocolate chip. I don't really like peanut butter ones, though. I don't think I like peanut butter period, but I could be wrong!" Sam jabbered.

Ry opened one eye, then the other. I'm still alive, he noted.

"Pecans are good, though. I love tree nuts! Yum! Except acorns. Those are yucky. I should have just left it for the squirrels to eat, but nooo, I had to go and try it. The squirrels were cute though. I remember this person back at the orphanage on Titan thought squirrels were the spawn of Satan! What a silly person," she laughed, smiling.

Ry sighed. There is no God...

Haru

"Uh, say what?" So I was right about this girl being touched in the head. Go figure. "How are we gonna do that, exactly? Don't we wanna be a little more secretive in this type of situation?"

"What were you planning?" Calli asked sarcastically.

"Okay, here's my plan," I started moving my hands, my voice confident and sounding very leader-y. "We're gonna tunnel into the castle, find these two supposed teammates of ours, and then go back out the way we came in."

"And what do you propose we use to tunnel in, exactly?" Calli mocked.

I looked at her as if the answer were the most obvious thing in the world. "Spoons, of course."

It was right about then that Tsuki conked me on the ear.

"Shut up, Anderson," she growled. I rubbed my aching head. "He has a point though, Calli," she continued. "How are we going through the front door?"

((Collab with Loren.))

~Glitch~

Specs' eyes lit up as Calli's gaze met with his and he exclaimed as he suddenly understood what she meant, "Ah! Princess Callionel, you are very clever indeed."

Calli turned back to the rest of the group and said, "Just last week, Specs retrieved information about a high society ball that will be held, in fact, tonight."

Glitch began to pace, already not liking the sound of these plans. He stared at the ground, his brow furrowed as he gently tapped his finger on his chin.

"At first, I didn't think twice about it, but upon hearing word of your new objective, I feel that this is our perfect chance to sneak into the castle without being too noticeable," Calli said, nodding affirmatively.

"That makes perfect sense. We'll attend the ball and once inside the castle find our way to our teammates," Fleur said.

"Fine and dandy," David said, waving his hand, "but I don't know if going as a group is appropriate. Too suspicious. Should we break off into pairs, like a date?"

"True," Calli said, pointing thoughtfully to David. "You've just made a very helpful suggestion. You and Fleur will be in charge of retrieving... what were their names again?" she asked, turning to Abby.

"Oh sorry. I never said in the first place. It's Ryuu Mahou and Sam Hopler," Abby said, starting slightly.

"Right. David and Fleur will pose as party guests together. I'm sure Specs can swipe some tickets," Calli said, hinting to the spy. Specs assured he could get them within the hour and disappeared into the corridor that smoke was still slightly eminiating from.

"But I don't think that everyone should go as party guests..." Calli said, still ignoring her brother's pacing.

"Maybe some of you can pose as personnel, or even perhaps performers--" Calli suddenly realized what her brother was doing. "What's wrong?"

Glitch looked up and said, "I can already see one flaw in your plan, Calli." He jabbed his finger and pointed to his head saying, "Having green hair and green eyes on Goidelia is supposed to be a sign of notablity and prominence; but if we're going on this mission, I highly doubt that we'd want to be so easily recognized."

"Precisely!" Calli said, her eyes shimmering with excitement. "That's where Specs, again, becomes even more useful."

Calli tapped twice on the remote and the lights returned to normal as she walked over to Specs' desk and pulled open a drawer. She riffled through it for a few seconds before finding what she needed. She pushed the drawer shut with her knee, holding a small object in her hand.

"This zinky little gadget," Calli said, walking over to Glitch and holding her hand up to him to reveal a coin-like chip, "will fix everything."

"What is it?" Glitch asked, confused.

"It's a sunüvîbétch," Calli said, smiling at her older brother.

"Why is it called that?" Glitch asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Let's find out," she said, suddenly raising her hand and slapping her open palm on the back of his neck. He yelled out in pain as what felt like tiny little teeth clamped down on his spine. He cringed as the teeth seemed to be nawing up and down his back. His eyes watered involuntarily.

"Sonuvabitch..." Glitch gasped, grasping onto the back of his neck, doubled over in pain. Glitch usually found that swearing when in immense pain helped ease it.

"That's why," Calli said, cheerfully patting her brother on the back. "Now, hold still." She placed her hand on the chip that had fused itself to Glitch's skin and input a small code before saying, "Get ready for it!"

She stepped back and let Glitch straighten up. As he did so, Abby just thought it was a trick of the light at first, but when she looked again she tilted her head to the side and grunted, "Huh..."

"What?" Glitch asked. It felt like cold goo had been poured over his head and was slowly dripping down his scalp.

"Hehe... That's cool," Haru chuckled, watching the spectacle unfold before his eyes.

Glitch brought his hand up to his hair and pulled down a few to see that they were no longer green. With shock, he brought a second chunk down to his eyes and saw that it was now a merry chestnut color.

"Like it?" Calli asked. "Specs has a ton but this was one of his spares. He uses it when he needs to alter his appearance slightly. I'm not really sure how it works, though. Something about little nanites swimming around your bloodstream and harboring themselves the roots of your hair follicles and also in your iris pigmentation to somehow modify the light refraction... I think," Calli shook her head, slightly lost herself.

"Interesting," Tsuki said, walking up to Glitch and closely observing his new hair color.

"This will come out, right?" Glitch asked nervously, his bright green eyes slowly darkening and changing into a deep brown.

"Of course!" Calli said, "Once the device is removed, it takes roughly one minute for the nanites to recycle themselves and shut down."

"So what's the rest of the plan?" Abby asked.

"Well," said Calli, "We're going to need people to remain amongst the party to make sure that all security is taken care of. Meaning, we have to have some sort of distraction. Abby, what do you like to do in your spare time?"

Abby thought for a second, biting her tongue, "Umm... I like to sing and dance."

"Perfect, you'll be a performer," Calli said, an idea already forming in her mind's eye. "And what about you, big brother?"

Glitch was standing in front of a small mirror on Specs' desk and pulling his eye open to get a better look at his new iris color. This is so strange, he thought. When he looked at himself, he didn't even recognize his own reflection. He pulled his gaze away to say quietly, "I... really don't know." He was still too stunned to think straight.

"Right, you'll be a waiter then," she said. Turning to Tsuki she pointed and said, trying to guess, "Dancer?"

Tsuki shook her head and said, "I hate it."

"Ah," Calli said, pressing her fingers to her lips, stumped as to what to do with her.

"I like guns," Tsuki said flatly.

"You must be the life of the party with a hobby like that!" she said jokingly.

Tsuki remained stoic.

Feeling slightly uneasy, she said, "We'll have to figure something out about you," She then moved on to one of her least favorite in the room. "Haru..."

He looked at her apprehensively and she said, "It seems like you've got a real knack for annoying people and what better job than to annoy people by taking away their spirits! I want to say... bartender?"

At once, Glitch, Abby, and Tsuki together shouted, "NO!"

Calli jumped and looked around in shock, "Alright, then. Tsuki, I assume you can be the bartender and Mr. Anderson can--... what can you do, anyway?"

"Don't underestimate him, Calli," Glitch said, finally getting used to the change long enough to move back into the group. "He's the school's best swordsman."

"Peculiar," she said, raising a speculative eyebrow. "Swordsmanship takes quite a lot of balance and discipline. Strangely enough, it's like dancing. You can be a performer with Abby."

Fleur spoke up, "What about clothing?"

"Ah yes, that may be a problem," Calli said, slightly defeated.

"Well, if it helps I'm quite skilled in sewing and clothes-making. I can have them finished by tonight, if you'd like," she said.

"Fantastic!" Calli said, her green eyes igniting with energy.

//Fleur//

Fleur, still shocked about the violent outburst from Glitch, Abby, and Tsuki when Calli suggested that Haru be the bartender, mumbled, “Man, Haru. You must be a mean drunk. Before you guys leave, though, I need a few measurements. It will only take a second. Do you have a tape measure?” she asked Calli.

“Of course,” she said, approaching another drawer. She opened it and retracted from inside it, the desired object. She closed the drawer with her knee and walked back over, holding the tape measure out to Fleur.

“Thank you,” she said, taking the measure. She moved over to each person and measured them in turn, memorizing the measurements so that she could write them down later. When she had finished, she nodded and waved to everyone and headed towards the door. “I’ll contact you when I’ve finished the outfits.” And then she breezed out the door.


Fleur spent the next several hours hard at work in her room. The first thing she’d done when she got back was draw out her designs, and then she dug the fabric she needed out of her bag and got to work. Though she was working hard, harder than she liked to work one projects like these, but she didn’t have much of a choice since she was cramped for time, she was happy. Designing clothes and making them. One of her favorite activities in the world.

When she’d started, she’d been worried about whether or not she’d be able to finish all of them in time, however, she was putting the finishing touches on the last outfit. She would finish with plenty of time. Running the vest through the sewing machine once more, she finished hemming it and double stitched the ends before pulling it from underneath her portable sewing machine’s needle, and cutting the thread.

“Awesome,” she replied as she held it up to the light and then turned to place it with the rest of the outfit. She surveyed each costume carefully, scrutinizing each piece to see if there were any parts that needed finishing touches. For Abby, she had created a somewhat revealing, yet culturally normal outfit. She made it a bit more revealing than the normal clothing as Abby was posing as an entertainer. The actual two piece outfit was an ocean blue color. It consisted of a bikini top and a wrap around skirt with a diagonal hemline. She had wracked her brain to find a way she could keep Abby covered up and still give the guise of an entertainer, but she had been unable to come up with anything and had thus resigned herself to creating this.

Haru’s performer outfit looked complicated, but was actually rather simple. It was a brown vest, laced with black string. She’d angled the sides to add a different shape to it, though she’d run out of fabric, so every time he would lift his arms or sometimes bend over, some of his skin would be exposed. The vest, however, was very simple. It was the pants that looked complex, when really they weren’t. Borrowing a bunch of belt buckles, Fleur created form fitting black pants which were ringed with belts. Just below the knee was a set of belts on either leg of the pants. They were connected with a string. It was a very stylish look, though granted, Haru’s movement might be hindered slightly, it was high enough on the leg that wouldn’t affect him too much if he needed to do some fast taxing physical activity.

Tsuki and Glitch had the most complicated outfits by far. The base of it was a cream colored long sleeve shirt with ruffles on the shirt cuffs (and around the waistline too for Tsuki). On top of that was a maroon vest laced with gold thread, a small bow was tied at the point of the “V” formed when the two pieces of fabric met. Her bottom piece was a brown miniskirt with flesh colored tights (Fleur happened to have a spare) and black lace up ankle boots. Glitch, obviously, would not be wearing a skirt. In place of that, Fleur had fashioned for him some brown pants. She didn’t have shoes for him, but she was certain he’d be able to find some formal dress shoes to go with his uniform.

For David, she had made a gray suit. It was simple and no different than the average suit back at Ad Astra. For herself, she had designed a silver silk form fitting number with black strips randomly slashing across the dress. There was a stylishly placed hole revealing a section of where her stomach would positioned. It was long. Longer than she was tall, meaning that it would drag on the floor when she walked, but that was all right, and so she shrugged it off. When she was satisfied that all of it was complete, she found six hangers and began assembling each costume on the hangers piece by piece. Once all the clothing was hung up, she cleaned up the scraps, put away all her sewing tools, including the sewing machine, and placed them back in her bag, under the bed. She grabbed her com. unit off the desk and flopped on her bed, before sending a message to all her teammates.

“I’ve finished all your costumes. I’ll bring them with me when we meet before heading to the castle.”

~Calli~

"Everything going smoothly?" Calli asked, speaking into a small microphone as she comfortably sat on Specs' desk. Specs was next to her at his computer, typing in more codes.

"Affirmative," came Glitch's static response. Calli looked over at Specs screen just in time to see an image angled downward of Glitch and Tsuki sitting in the small cabin of a catering ship. Glitch was driving.

"Alright, we've got visual," Calli said. She clicked a button on the microphone and said cheerfully as Specs found another image of Haru and Abby sitting in the storage compartment. "Everyone comfy?" she asked cheerfully.

"We're all good here," Abby said, balancing herself as the ship suddenly turned. She and Haru were dressed in similar white suits covering their fantastic costumes that Fleur had designed.

"Run this by me again," Haru said, looking up at the camera.

"F?Haru!" she exclaimed. "Do I ever listen the first time? You and Abby have to pose as caterers before you can get your way through into the stage area. There, you'll change. Fleur and David will make an appearance soon afterward. The signal either you or Abby give to begin the reconaissance mission is the song "LOVE" by Nat King Cole. Glitch will then lead Fleur and David into the basement floors of the castle which intercept the corridors that lead to the underground dungeons. That is also the signal that will tell Specs, here, to initiate the loop system he has ready for the security cameras. This will give them a half hour to get in and out without being seen."

"Alright, and what do we do after they're in?" Haru asked.

"I don't know," Calli said, shrugging. "Have fun with your job because then the hard part would be over. Just worry about getting them in, first."

"Right," Haru said, nodding.

"Oh, and one more thing to remember," Calli said before signing off, "If you screw up and get my older brother caught... I'll kill you."

At that, she turned off the connection and waited for them to get through the first wave of security.

Haru

Catering, it seemed, was easier done than said. Which was a nice change from the norm. It was easy to blend in with the scores of other caterers, and we slipped into a room unnoticed. It was too hard to find separate rooms, but I promised not to peek at her. I wasn't sure if she believed me or not, but she changed anyway.

"Well, damn," I muttered to Abby as she turned around, winking at her. "I gotta say, Abby, this top really suits you." I poked the material at the side, careful to avoid touching anything that might make her kill me. "You oughta wear this sorta stuff more often." She blushed--fuel for the fire. I leaned close and whispered in her ear, "Glitch would appreciate it, y'know."

BAM.

In all fairness, I probably deserved getting hit.

"Let's go," she huffed, walking away quickly. I was surprised how low-security backstage was; all we had to do was say we were the performers and they let us on stage, no ID or anything. (Of course, the real performers were currently bound and gagged in a closet, but the officials didn't need to know that.)

My act was first. We were a singing and dancing routine, a few songs each and a duet. Not too shabby. I wasn't nervous. Singing just happened to be another one of my innate talents, and dancing wasn't so different from swordplay. Cake.

As I stepped onto the stage I quickly glanced around the room for my comrades. The music began and I tapped my feet to the beat. Just as planned, Frank Sinatra. Classic.

"Now this could only happen to a guy like me,
And only happen in a town like this.
So may I say to each of you most gratefully
As I throw each one of you a kiss..."

I spotted Glitch serving some sort of hors d’oeuvres on a platter. I barely recognized him, but his face gave him away. I'd recognize his expressions from a mile away.

Fleur and David weren't dancing, but they were together by a wall, chatting merrily. I couldn't tell if the conversation was staged or not. It was hard to tell from this distance.

"This is my kind of town, Chicago is
My kind of town, Chicago is
My kind of people too,
People who smile at you..."

Tsuki was the hardest to spot. There were bars lining a whole wall, and the crowd in front of it made her hard to spot. Her black hair made her hard to spot, and I didn't know what she was wearing. Finally I found her serving wine to an older man towards the middle of the bar.

I kept singing, and the song ended. I nodded to Abby, who entered from left stage as I exited on right. I kept my eyes on my teammates from the sidelines, and waited for her to start singing.

~Abby~

Abby appeared just off stage, getting ready to go next. She had just finished setting up the perfect distraction for Fleur, David and Glitch to use to get into the basement. Just after she set the device, she approached the pyrotechnics assistant and asked for timed lighting and special fireworks at the end of her song. He agreed to do it whole-heartedly since he had the equipment set up and ready for another show but strangely they never checked in. He asked her what song she was performing and she told him. She left him to his own excitement and she walked up on stage to wait for Haru to finish. Now, all she had to do was sing.

Haru actually sounded pretty good. He was a talented singer, Abby would give him that. He was not bad to watch, either; he definitely knew how to put a show on for the ladies. Abby hid a laugh as Haru sang passionately to one woman who stood in front of the stage looking completely enthralled with him. Haru did ol' Frank justice.

Haru's song finally ended and the crowd clapped loudly for his as Abby stepped out into the blinding light. People cheered upon seeing her and she waved to the masses. She didn't realize how many people were attending the banquet. She walked over to the microphone and said with a smile, "Hello, I'm Abby Robbins, and tonight... I'll be your distraction." The crowd's teenagers suddenly erupted into deafening cheers, knowing exactly what song she was going to be singing.

She turned to the band members behind her, one of which was Haru who was pulling on his own guitar and asked, "Ready?" They all nodded. Ready? she asked herself. Without any more hesitation, she turned back to the crowd as the song "Distraction" by the epic band Angels & Airwaves began.

The room seemed to vibrate with the rhythmic stomp-clap crescendo as the audience added to the beat. Abby raised her hands into the air as the peak of the intro began and she began to sing.

"I'll be your distraction!
I'll be your distraction!"

She looked around the room for Fleur and David and spotted them easily. Glitch, however, was more difficult to find. Without his noticable green hair, he blended easily into the crowd. But she found him soon enough. He was standing at the back of the room, watching with interest as she continued. Suddenly, Abby felt very nervous.

"There's a field nearby
With words written in stone.
My love will not die,
Please let it be known.
This place is dead,
It echoes through town.
There isn't one voice,
I haven't heard a sound.
The planes flew in,
Their bombs did, too.
The city fell flat,
The fires, they grew.
When the smoke comes in
It'll color this town
But I'll still have you.
So I'll say it aloud."

Abby noted that she picked a very relavent song to perform. It reflected Calli's outlook on how distraught the city had become ever since the attack on the royal family. But hopefully, with the help from the team from Ad Astra, the city would be relieved of this poverty caused by corruption.

"The friendship we made
Is a waste of our time.
There's no one left here
To show future that's kind.
It's a world of hate
Gone incredibly wrong.
We cared too late,
We just followed along."

~Glitch~

Glitch smiled, amused of Abby's performance. He enjoyed watching her inspire the crowd. Even though he knew it was a ploy to get the attention away from what was truly about to happen, he found entertainment in her singing. He discovered that she was good. Very good.

He leaned lazily on the wall, temporarily forgetting the oncoming mission, when he felt a strong hand clamp tightly on his shoulder. "What do you think you're doing?" it was a fellow waiter, older and majorly uptight.

Glitch fumbled for a second, trying to gather his thoughts.

"You're supposed to be working, not watching! I told you three times before" he scolded snottily. "Get back to work!"

Glitch nodded and said, "Sorry, sir," as he hurriedly walked away. For a minute, Glitch thought he had been caught but realized it was a foolish rationalization in the first place. He went back to the bar where Tsuki was serving drinks and he asked quietly as he loaded empty glasses onto his tray, "How is everything?"

Tsuki nodded, pouring two tall lagers.

"If anything goes wrong, you know what to do, right?" he asked, double checking.

She gave the drinks to her awaiting customers and quickly reached down to the skirt of the bar. Lifting the fabric, she revealed an entire wall of various shotguns, pistols and knives.

Glitch smiled and said, "Well, you came prepared." He suddenly felt very exposed with only two hand guns.

Tsuki didn't reply. If she did, she wouldn't have been able to anyway.

An explosion suddenly erupted from the stage as fireworks sprang into the air. The crowd cheered as Abby spread her arms wide, becoming a sihlouette in the sparks. The explosion was almost as loud as a bomb going off.

Glitch didn't know how right he was.

~Abby~

Abby released her thumb from the detonator and quickly slipped it back into her skirt. The flash-bang bomb that she had set up near the closest exit leading into the underground corridors had gone off just as planned. The two security guards watching the door were knocked out instantly. When the fireworks timed with the song went off, she detonated the bomb to make it look like it was part of the show. No one was ever the wiser.

She looked out over the crowd and spotted David and Fleur again and also found Glitch standing near Tsuki. Everything was going smoothly so far. The second wave of security was taken care of. Now it was time for the hard part.

Abby turned back to the band and said, "I think it's time we slow things down again. How about we perform "LOVE" by Nat King Cole?"

Abby made eye contact with Haru and he nodded knowingly as he set down his guitar and stepped upstage with Abby. They were going to perform it together, and signal the beginning of the mission.

Haru

I set down the guitar I'd swiped earlier from another band, and joined Abby on the stage. This was it, the big moment. Security was out, and the plan was set into motion. This was the part where things usually went wrong.

I began the song, singing,
"L is for the way you look at me,
O is for the only one I see,
V is very, very extraordinary,
E is even more than anyone that you can adore...

Love is all that I can give to you,
Love is more than just a game for two,
Two in love can make it,
Take my heart and please don't break it,
Love was made for me and you."

Then Abby began her part of the duet.

"L is for the way you look at me,
O is for the only one I see,
V is very, very extraordinary,
E is even more than anyone that you can adore...

Love is all that I can give to you,
Love is more than just a game for two,
Two in love can make it,
Take my heart and please don't break it,
Love was made for me and you..."

Then I sang,
"Love was made for me and you..."

We finished the song together, singing in unison.
"Love was made for me and you!"

The song finished and I swept Abby into a deep dip and fake kiss. Instead of actually kissing her, I whispered into her ear, "I'm gonna keep singing. You go check on things, okay?" She nodded and I brought her back up, the two of us taking our bows as the crowd cheered.

She disappeared off the stage and the applause died down.

"And now," I announced to the crowd, "I'd like to dedicate this next song to a certain girl in this very room." I was very careful not to look at Tsuki at this point. "And if she doesn't know who she is now, she will after this next song!"

The music began and I sang,
"She's cold and she's cruel,
But she knows what she's doin'.
She pushed me in the pool
At our last school reunion.
She laughs at my dreams
But I dream about her laughter.
Strange as it seems
She's the one I'm after..."

I glanced at Tsuki, but she was busy bartending. Damn.

"Cause she's bittersweet,
She knocks me off of my feet,
And I can't help myself.
I don't want anyone else.
She's a mystery,
She's too much for me.
But I keep comin' back for more
She's just the girl I'm lookin' for..."

Oh, she was definitely looking now. I grinned at her and she turned away quickly. I could see her blush even from this distance. And that, of course, only encouraged me more.

"And when she sees it's me
On her caller ID
She won't pick up the phone.
She'd rather be alone,
But I can't give up just yet
Cause every word she's ever said
Is still ringin' in my head,
Still ringin' in my head..."

I sang the chorus a few more times, and ended the song with,
"Just the girl I'm lookin' for..."

I smirked at her, and the look she gave me back was something between a glare and a tiny smile, the kind that you have when you want to smile but you know you shouldn't. Oh, I was so on to her.

((HAH. Loren, I SOOOO beat you to this post. HA, HA, and double-HA. XP))

(( Oh yeah? Well, well, mine's cooler than yours, Ashton. B: ))

//Fleur, David, and Glitch//

Fleur glanced around in awe. “This castle is magnificent,” she sighed.

David nodded. “Yeah.” The two of them moved away from the door so that they would not appear out of place, (they were after all standing in the doorway and gawking) and headed towards the bar. Neither of them had much of a desire for alcohol, but figured it was the best way to fade in to the crowd. Fleur waved Tsuki over and requested some wine. When she delivered it to them, Fleur thanked her and turned to David, holding out his glass.

“I’ve heard this stuff is really strong,” David said, taking his glass. Fleur took a sip and screwed her face up for a split second.

“It is,” she replied as she lifted her hand to her chest. David laughed and they moved away from the bar, taking care not to make eye contact with anyone too long. They settled against a wall.

“You look beautiful tonight, Fleur,” David spoke up after a moment of silence. “I mean, the clothes you made for everyone look amazing. How you did that in such a short amount of time, I’ll never know. They’re comfortable too. Fabric wise, anyway.” Fleur flushed.

“Thanks. Yeah, baring my stomach isn’t something I usually do. I prefer sun dresses, when I wear dresses.”

“Why? Your have an amazing body shape.” He was silent a moment before his own face went wrong. “Not that I—I just meant that—I mean, I don’t… It’s not like that!” he protested.

Fleur laughed. “It’s okay, David,” she said, putting her hand on his shoulder. “I think I get what you mean.”

“Good,” he muttered. There was another space of silence before he asked, “Did you want to dance?”

“I’d love to,” Fleur replied, happy to have an excuse to put the wine down. They set their glasses down on a nearby table and proceeded out onto the dance floor. They chatted in low tones as they danced, laughing at each other’s jokes, but always keeping an eye on their teammates. Both of them were completely aware of the real reason they were there. Haru’s song ended, and Abby’s began, and about half way through it, both of them decided it was time for them to depart from the dance floor. They had no sooner made it to the wall when the lights went wild and fireworks exploded up from behind Abby.

“Wow, she puts on quite a show,” Fleur said as she watched her teammate’s silhouette moving across the stage.

“Yeah. She’s pretty good too,” David agreed.

Fleur giggled. “Haru’s not bad as Frank Sinatra either.”

However, as Abby’s song ended, Fleur and David both felt their hearts speed up as Abby announced that the next song would be LOVE. The signal. David slipped out into the hall. Instead of flinging her head around and searching for Glitch wildly, like she initially wanted too, she calmly surveyed the room, trying to spot his brown-hair. It would have been so much easier if it was his usual hair color. She jumped when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned with her best calm smile. “Yes?”

It was Glitch. “There’s someone waiting for you outside.”

“Oh. Thank you,” Fleur said as she followed Glitch out of the ballroom into the hall. They waited a moment and then hurried around a corner when no one was looking, and began rushing down the hall. David joined them a minute later. Fleur pulled off her high heels so that she could run faster. She winced as they turned another corner and the carpet abruptly ended. The stones of the floor were freezing. Regardless, she hurried on beside them until finally they slowed to a stop, and pressed against the stone walls.

“The entrance to the basement is here,” Glitch whispered. “From there we’ll have to find the entrance to the dungeons.”

Fleur peeked around the corner. “I suspect we can just follow the flow of the guards. Abby all ready took care of the ones at the entrance. Are you guys ready?” She hurriedly pulled her hair, which had fallen from its elegant hairstyle, into a bun, and pulled her dress up to allow her better movement.

“Ready,” they replied and dashed around the corner. They jumped over the guards’ unconscious bodies and disappeared into the dimly lit basement. They had been in the basement less than five minutes when a group of guards spotted them. Eager to down them before any of them could contact reinforcements, the threesome dashed forward. One of the guards already had his hand at his pocket when Fleur’s foot came smashing into his face. He fell backwards, Fleur going down with him, her knees on either side of his head. She didn’t have time to feel embarrassed (not that she would have anyway since the man was out cold). As son as he hit the ground, she grabbed his stun rifle and swung it powerfully, clobbering a nearby guard in the gut. He collapsed gasping for air. She put him out of his misery by administering a swift chop to the neck. She had been so busy dealing with that guard she almost didn’t notice the third one rushing towards her. Leaning back, she quickly pushed herself up backwards on to her hands, taking the opportunity to kick the man as she flipped backwards back onto her feet. As she straightened, she hit him in the neck with the butt of the rifle and watched him crumple.

Meanwhile, Glitch was back at the beginning of the hallway, engaging in a fast hand-to-hand combat exchange. The guard had already been disarmed and was attempting to hit Glitch in the neck, but the now brunet boy ducked and instead delivered his blow to the guard’s midsection, and lowering himself even closer to the ground, bringing his leg in a semi-circle, knocking the man off his feet. Apprehending the stun weapon he’d gotten from the guard earlier, he pressed the button and then moved on to his next opponent. This one wasn’t near as aggressive as the first one had been which led to his demise a lot quicker than his teammate. Two punches and a kick dropped him like a rock.

“Duck!” came David’s cry. Glitch turned and dropped to the floor as a man went flying over him. “Sorry,” came the boy’s response, before he returned to what he was doing. He disarmed one guard quickly, elbowed him hard in the face, and then flipped over his shoulders and hit him in the neck. He fell, but before he’d gotten very far, David caught him and used him as a large, heavy projectile, flinging the man towards two of his other teammates. It was very effective as the three of them flew into a wall, the two were knocked unconscious.

Glitch caught to his feet, and was immediately hit in the back of the head. “I wasn’t aware that one of you guys was still around,” he growled wincing in pain. He side-stepped the next attack and jabbed at him quickly, nailing him nose. Another dodge and he was able to deliver a more powerful punch, this time to the chest. The man wheezed, and though he had a gun, he had learned from his teammates that it was best not to pull it out, lest it be used against him. He threw his large fist forward. Glitch blocked it. Hoping this would be his chance to catch him with his pants down, so to speak, the larger man threw his other fist forward. To no avail. The skilled fighter caught it, flung both his hands to the side, throwing him off balance, and jumped, spinning in the air, right leg outstretched. The man went flying several feet, and landed on the ground skidding to a stop. He was unconscious.

“Let’s go,” Glitch said.

“Lead the way,” David replied and the brunet moved around the unconscious guard’s bodies and headed down the hall, Fleur and David following him. They had to pause every now-and-then to beat a group of guards, but not quite as often as would be expected. It appeared that the guards