Tales of Nagi: A Bounty Hunter is Born This is a work of fanfiction, based on the characters Nagi and Ken-Ohki from the Tenchi Muyo Universe (TV) series. It is a work of fiction. Nagi and Ken-Ohki are copyrights of AIC/Pioneer. The author takes no credit for their creation, nor does the author wish to have credit for their creation or usage, save for the characters that he created. Comments, suggestions, flames, insults, and/or death threats will be accepted only at Platinum_Dragon@usinternet.com Tales of Nagi: A Bounty Hunter is Born, is intended to be the first of a series of fanfictions about Nagi, the bounty hunter after Ryoko's head in the Tenchi Muyo Television series. Depending on response given after this is submitted, more may or may not come. * * * "Hey Nagi, would you get me the ultrasonic plow?" The Falarin nodded, and began walking toward the shed. At eight, she was tall, but all knees and elbows, her torso having yet to begin to fill out into young adulthood. Her hair was a near white platinum, long and soft. Her features were fairly plain, save for her eyes. A dark red, piercing as blades. She and the rest of her family lived on a small plot of land, and they were on the outskirts of it that day, getting ready to plant for the new season. It wasn't an easy life, but they were together. Reaching the shed, she flipped on the switch, and looked around. Just as she found the plow, she heard an explosion. Running out of the shed, she saw a fireball rising into the sky from the area where her family was, leaving a column of black smoke behind. Nagi ran towards it. "Mom! Dad!" she called, reaching the spot. She received no reply. The smoke was thick, and she started coughing. She tried to wave some of it away. A soft breeze came up, and slowly, the smoke began to thin. Suddenly, Nagi wished that it hadn't. "Mother!" Nagi knelt beside her mother's prone form. Her father was nowhere to be seen. The older woman's eyes fluttered open. "Na... Nagi... You're safe... Putting down seeds... Ship came, with strange men..." She stopped, and started coughing violently. Dark red blood came up, spilling onto her blouse and Nagi's hand. Nagi stared at the fluid, unable to comprehend its meaning. "Mom, just be quiet... I'll call the hospital, they'll come and help..." Nagi's mother smiled gently. "Dear child... I think that we both know the answer to that... I want you to promise me something. Promise me you'll follow your heart, no matter what you do..." She struggled to raise her hand. Nagi took it, not noticing the blood on her hand getting smeared all over. "I promise, mother. Mother?" The older woman's eyes were open, but they weren't focused on her. They weren't focused on anything. Nagi stared, as slow understanding came to her. Then she stood, backing away. She looked around the scene once more, and then turned and ran, as fast and as hard as she could. Overhead, storm clouds rumbled ominously, and a slow, gentle rain began to fall. For the next eight years, Nagi became one of the nameless, faceless millions that can be found on all worlds. The ones that survive because its all that they can do. They carve out their tiny little niche in the streets, and they hang onto it and life with a fingernail's grip. And yet, the ones that came to know the budding young woman sensed something more to her, a difference that separated her from the rest of the street. She roamed from street to street, growing up in a world where a trip could mean death or worse, and your next meal could mean selling wares no woman should be asked to. She learned quickly the importance of silence, and the reality of death. The second major change in her life come on a dark eve, filled with a pounding rain. Nagi was terribly hungry. The pickings that month hadn't been very good. She was considering what should have been unthinkable. She'd seen other women do it, of course, offering themselves on corners to men that drove or walked by, and had many a time turned a corner to find a pair together. But until now, she had never had to face that choice, had never been forced to that low. Hunger drives a person to unthinkable things. She thought that she could do it. There was no doubt in her mind that her offer would be accepted. Her years on the streets had kept her thin, and her body had developed from that of a child to that of a young adult in her prime. Her arms and legs were trim, her features pleasing to the eye, and her breasts were large, heavy and firm. She had overheard some of the street women speaking in envy of her form. She was practicing the strange way that they had of walking, the sway they put into their hips as they moved. It felt unusual, and quite unflattering. She was just about certain that she'd never like it when she heard a crash. Cat reflexes given to her by the streets reacted automatically, and she flattened herself up against the wall. Two men fell into the alley. One held a blaster, and was dressed in sleek black body armor, the likes of which she had never seen save on the police that occasionally came through in an effort to clean up the streets. The other wore a long cloak, with the hood up, leaving only his eyes visible, and carried a crackling energy whip in one hand, and a thin forceblade in the other. "Criminal Alpha-C469, Zacto, I hearby arrest you under bounty rights. You can either come with me, or die and have your head carried back. Either way, I get paid," said the man with the whip. "Suck eggs, bounty hunter!" replied the other. He leveled his blaster, and fired. The bounty hunter calmly sidestepped the blast, letting it slam harmlessly into the wall. "I'll give you one last chance. Come with me, or die." "Gee, let me think about that. I go with you, I die. I don't, I live. Wonder which I'll take." Suddenly, Nagi took a closer look at the wall behind the hunter. She could see large cracks in the mortar. If another blast hit it, it would fall, and hit the hunter. Before she knew it, she was springing out of hiding to warn him. "Look out!" But even as she did, Zacto fired. The bounty hunter had enough time to stare at her in surprise before the wall crashed down. The criminal turned to her, and she froze like a deer in headlights. The number one rule of the streets was that you helped only yourself, and she had just broken it. "What have we here? Looks like a little street bitch trying to play at a hero." Nagi tried to will herself to move, but she was frozen in terror. Zacto moved forward, a nasty smile on his face. "Mmm, you look like you might be fun." The meaning to his words were not lost on Nagi, and the thought of him touching her shocked her into movement, and in just enough time. Zacto leapt at her, but instead of catching her, he only got a handful of tattered clothing. The fabric ripped away, leaving her shirt hanging half off, exposing a breast. "Slippery little bitch." He lewdly licked his lips at the sight of her. As the initial shock of being attacked wore off, she got ready to fight. Nagi tensed, and, as Zacto sprang at her, ducked, her leg flashing upwards, to catch him in the throat. He flew up and over her, to slam into a wall. He struggled up, and looked at her, snarling. "Now that wasn't very nice," he said, and coughed, bringing up a little blood. She watched him warily, and, for the first time, he acted as though she might be a threat. In a blur, he brought up his blaster. On instinct, she ducked, jumped, and dodged through the blasts. Faster than he could follow, she punched him in the jaw, kicked him in the stomach, and kneed him in the groin. He doubled over in pain, dropping his blaster. Nagi looked at him a moment, and then turned his face toward hers. "I am not a bitch." Then, she poured all her strength into a kick, which took him on the chin. There was a sharp crack, and he did a triple flip into the air, and then landed flat on his back with a thud. He did not get up. "Not a bad kill, miss." Nagi whirled, to see the bounty hunter struggling up against the wall. She didn't drop her guard, but unconsciously shifted to cover herself. He grinned. "Relax, I was just making an observation. I don't bite. Unless you have a price on your head. You don't, do you? I do so hate to arrest somebody that has just saved my life..." She stared at him. "Just kidding, really," he said. He slowly started moving over toward her, using the wall to hold him up. She shied back, and he stopped. "Relax, please! I won't hurt you, really." She stopped, still watching him. Moving slowly, he removed his cloak, showing the light body armor underneath, and extended it out to her. "You look a little cold," he said, and then looked pointedly at the wall. She looked at the proffered cloak, and then at him. Reaching out quickly, she grabbed it, and swung it around her shoulders. Decently covered again, she felt a good deal better. The bounty hunter looked back toward her, but stayed where he was. "May I take a look at the body?" he asked. She nodded, but backed away from him so that they stayed at the same distance apart. He knelt before the body, his hands moving over it in an experienced manner. While he was, she studied him. He was of average height, with sandy- blondish hair. Dark green eyes searched the body carefully, not missing any details, she was sure. He had a solid build, and, unless she missed her guess, he was fast, as was suggested by an extremely fine tone to his legs. "A cleanly snapped neck, even with his metal neck implants there to protect it. Impressive, especially for someone untrained." He stood, turning. "You should be proud. You've just killed one of the most wanted criminals in the universe. Do you have a name to write in on the bounty certificate?" "Na... Nagi. Who are you?" The bounty hunter bowed. "My name is Aarin Shirow. Would you allow a lowly bounty hunter to buy the lady that saved his life a meal? You have talent. I might be able to offer you a chance to leave this sort of life." He gestured at the street alley. If he had of just left it at a meal, Nagi probably wouldn't have gone with him, starving or no. But the suggestion that he might be able to lift her above the streets... Until that point, it hadn't occurred to her how much she was beginning to hate street life. And so began the third period of her life. Aarin told her over that small meal, that if she was strong enough, he thought she would make a good bounty hunter, and offered to take her on as an apprentice. She accepted, and he began to train her immediately. As she had no money of her own, he took her to a clothing store, and bought her a closet full of clothing. While they were selecting items, he noticed the small locket that she wore, and asked her about it. She touched it lightly. "It's my family. My mother and father. They were killed eight years ago." "I'm sorry, I didn't realize." She looked at him, shaking her head. "Neither did I." They finished their shopping, and for the first time since Nagi had come to the streets, she was dressed in her own clothing. Clothing that wasn't in tatters, or stolen, or taken off a dead body. He took her off Falaris, in his ship the Juugoya. There, he taught her how to fight. He didn't change the skills she had earned on the streets, he molded them, smoothed out the rough edges. He showed her tricks to use with her agility. Aarin was amazed at her feral instincts, more than once remarking that, if she had had a tail, she could have been a cat. He only had to show her a move once, and she had mastered it. "YAAH!" "Whoa!" Aarin smacked hard into one of the training room walls, but came up laughing. "End practice, final scores." Nagi grabbed a pair of towels, and tossed one to him, using the other to wipe off the sweat beaded on her brow. -Nagi final score forty-seven. Aarin final score forty-six. Winner: Nagi- said the computer, in a metallic voice. "I'll be damned. You won," he said, grinning. "It wasn't as easy as you make it sound." She had come a long way from the scared little street girl that he had found three years before. "I promised you a special surprise when you beat me at practice, Nagi." He disappeared from the training room for a few minutes, and then came back with a large black box. "What is it?" she asked him. He grinned. "Open it and find out." He set it down before her. She looked at him, puzzled, but his green eyes gave away nothing. She saw that it was a stasis box, the seal still intact. "1-20-81 is the code," he said. She punched it in. With a hiss of steam, the catches released, and the top of the box rose up. A small cloud of vapors puffed up and out of the opening. Nagi looked at him again, and still, he said nothing, so she reached in, and pulled out the object. It was a sphere, made of some strange material, black onyx in color. She pulled it out, turning it around, but she could find no flaw in its shiny black surface. Curious, she tapped it lightly with a fingernail. The ball jumped in her hands. Startled, she tossed it upwards. In mid-flight, it exploded, and a streak of white flew away from the center. Nagi followed the streak with her eyes. It flew to a wall, reflected off it, into another wall, and the rebounded straight at her. She tensed to catch it, but before reaching her, it stopped, landing just before her. It was small, and furry, the short hair white. It had large, red eyes, and what looked to be a diamond shaped gem in its forehead. Its ears were huge, with longer, even whiter hairs. The mouth was lined with sharp looking teeth. It looked, she suddenly thought, remarkably like a cross between a rabbit and a cat, right down to the puff of a tail. She knelt down, and put out her hand, palm outward, toward the little creature. It sniffed at her palm a couple of times, and then mewed. It was a happy seeming sound. It hop-walked forward, jumped into her lap, and started purring. She idly started stroking its fur, and looked up at Aarin. "Ken-Ohki is his name," he said, and the rabbit ears popped up. "Cabbits are very rare. I found him on a bounty's ship, and decided to keep him, in stasis, of course. He's a very special pet, Nagi. I think you'll find him a very close friend." She grinned, and, picking up Ken- Ohki, stood. "Thank you. I love him," she said. On impulse, she walked over and gave him a little kiss on the cheek. Aarin blushed a little, and cleared his throat. "Well, um, we should go get washed up, and then we can go over the new bounty lists over dinner." "Sounds like a plan to me." "Miya!" They looked at the cabbit, and laughed. For his part, Ken-Ohki just snuggled into the crook of Nagi's arm. "This one looks promising. Alpha-C83, Garan. Bounty is sixty thousand Juraian credits, and he was last seen in the area." Aarin looked at her in surprise. "That's just what I was thinking. You have a talent for picking hard ones. He's wanted on some 26 different systems for mass murder." He stood. "I'll set a course for his last known location..," he paused, scanning down the info list. "Oh... Looks like Falaris." Nagi raised her eyebrow. "It's no problem for me. I've put that behind me." Aarin nodded slowly, but he had a troubled look. Ken-Ohki picked up on the sudden tension, raising his head from where he was sleeping at Nagi's feet and mewing softly. She bent to pick him up. Aarin turned, and walked off in the direction of Juugoya's cockpit. Nagi went down to her cabin, leaving the ship to clean up the dinner plates. Ken-Ohki hopped down from her arms, walking beside Nagi. Her room was sparsely decorated. A low bunk, a wooden stand with a lamp, and a dresser with a holoture of Aarin on it were all that was there. She sat down on the bed, and Ken-Ohki hopped up and curled himself at the edge. She pulled out the locket, and, slowly thumbed the catch. The locket was in the shape of an old shield, the type that one of the knights would have carried when armor was made of forged metal. On the shield was a heart. Slowly, it opened, activating the tiny holoture of her mother and father that was on the left side. The right was still empty. For a moment, just a one moment, she closed her eyes. "Nagi, get me the ultrasonic plow, please." It was strange... She was looking at her father, but at the same time, she saw the whole scene from above. She saw herself walking toward the tool shed, finding the plow. She saw the explosion. She saw herself turn, and run back, towards the immense smoke column. She saw herself find her mother, dying on the ground, and then she noticed something that she had missed on that day. The necklace that her mother had always worn was missing. Her mother had never taken it off. She heard her mother talking, and then, she began to feel lightheaded. The scene began to break up, and then fade into darkness. Nagi woke to find Ken-Ohki looking down at her. Was it just her imagination, or was there concern in his red-eyed gaze? "Meow?" -Are you all right?- Nagi blinked at the sudden thought, certain that it wasn't hers. "Meow?" -Are you alright, Nagi?- "Are you doing that?" she asked. "Meow!" -Yes- "But how?" she asked, feeling like a nut for talking to an animal. "Me meow miya." -You are my bond-mate. All cabbits can speak to their master telepathically. You were crying in your sleep, and I was concerned that you were hurt.- "No, I'm...," she trailed off a moment, remembering the dream, suddenly realizing that she was drenched in sweat. She finished her thought, not wanting Ken-Ohki to worry any further. "I'm fine." "Meow." -If you are sure.- She nodded, standing, and crossing the room to her closet for some fresh clothes. Slowly, she pulled out a sheer, long dress that she had picked up on the last planet they had stopped on. It had been an impulse buy; she had forgotten about it afterwards until now; because she had thought it was pretty. And, she suddenly thought of another reason she might have gotten it. She had thought that Aarin might like it. She put it on, and regarded herself in front of the dresser for a moment. The dress was cut low, revealing a good deal more bosom than she was used to, and the material was only just opaque enough to hide her skin, and it clung to her body, almost as though it were trying to reveal the secrets it was meant to keep. The material was an extremely light blue. "What was I thinking? Oh well, I suppose that it can't be helped, now," she told herself. Ken-Ohki looked at her. -Is it your kind's mating season?- She stared at the cabbit, shocked, blushing slightly at the fact that she knew that she'd had one or two dreams that would have given the cabbit's question more than a slight bit of truth. "What do you mean, mating time?" -Pardon the question, Nagi. Among my kind, one would only trumpet one's self if they were trying to attract the attentions of a mate.- "No, Ken-Ohki. Aarin is a brother to me." Even as she said it, she realized how true that statement was, she realized that she wanted something more. She shook off the thought, but even so, a tiny seed remained, now quite firmly planted in the back of her mind. Shaking her head, she took off the dress, and put on something more practical, a skin forming jumpsuit, light red in color. The alarm on her nightstand went off, signaling breakfast. She turned it off, and walked to the galley. Ken-Ohki followed her, and she had a sudden thought. "What do you eat?" -Just about anything, although things with high protean are better.- "Ok, some sort of meat, then. I think we picked up some Juraian beef at our last fuel stop." The reached the galley just ahead of Aarin, and she punched up a small plate of meat for Ken-Ohki, and a small meal of eggs and ham for herself. "You're up early. We should reach Falaris in about a week," said Aarin, trying unsuccessfully to hide a yawn. They ate breakfast while discussing strategies, and went down to the gym for their morning sparring. When Aarin called for final score, Nagi was behind by some fourteen points. "Don't worry about it, Nagi," said Aarin, consoling her. "We all have our off days, and if that's an off day for you, I pity the criminal that tries fighting you." He grinned, patted her on the back, and then went to shower. Nagi stayed another hour, running through practice routines, but her timing was badly off. Forms that she had perfected on her first try were leaving her flat on her back today. She eyed one of the practice swords for a moment, but decided against trying it, figuring that she'd probably end up spearing herself in the foot if she did. Sighing, she went to her room, and took a very cold shower. After, she walked down to the garden. No matter how many times she thought about it, she knew she'd never get used to a garden in a ship. The Juugoya wasn't a small ship, but it wasn't exactly a star cruiser, either. Nagi's room had been a storage closet, before Aarin and she had cleared it out and added a small shower stall, and Aarin's was only bigger for the reason that its shape was extremely irregular. The garden, however, was another story. Aarin had sealed the Juugoya's storage bay, and built, by hand, a small green house. He had installed special lights, and a separate power generator for them. If the Juugoya was ever destroyed, the garden could be jetisoned and keep going just about forever. He tended the various plants almost religiously. There were trees from Jurai, Cerulian wild roses, Ardonian golden vines, to name just a very few. He even had a sparse variety of birds, like the rare silver fenix of She'n'tal, and insects to help pollinate the plants, such as the jeweled grasshopper of Bekal Alpha. It was one of the strange things about him. But the garden was a peaceful place on the ship, and she went there to relax every once in awhile. She walked along the carefully made path, stooping to remove the occasional dead blossom. Reaching the center of the garden all too soon, she sat down in the small clearing. It was just barely big enough to have a picnic in. Ken-Ohki sniffed at one of the flowers, and sneezed. Nagi laughed quietly at the sound. The cabbit looked at her, and then scampered back the way they had come. Nagi closed her eyes, and leaned back, letting the sounds of the garden wash over her, and fill her. For how long she sat there, she didn't know. Hours, minutes, they all washed together, and at the moment, she really didn't care. Something in the garden changed. She didn't so much hear it as sense it, a presence that complimented the garden rather than filling it. She opened her eyes, to see Aarin, leaned up against a tree. She sat up slightly almost before she knew it. He watched a moment longer, a contemplative look on his face, and then walked over and sat next to her. "When you didn't show up for lunch, I figured you'd probably just stayed in the gym to practice. When you didn't show up for dinner, though, I had a feeling that I'd probably find you down here. You want to talk about it?" Nagi looked at him for a moment, not understanding. That was another thing about the man. He seemed to have a knack for knowing what was wrong with you before you knew it yourself. After a moment, it came to her what he was talking about. "That obvious, hmm?" she said. He grinned. "No. Just an educated guess. You've never really said what happened to your family, and I never wanted to push the matter. I figured you'd tell me when you were ready, and if not, well, it is really none of my business anyway. I lost my parents young too, although I had my grandmother there to help me through it. But she always told me to wait until I was ready to work through it, not to work through it when she told me to. Call me crazy, but I've just got a feeling that you're ready," he said, his expression turning a little more serious. She looked away from him a moment. "I was eight. We owned a small farm..." she started. She told him it all. Her father asking her to get the plow. Walking to the shed. Hearing the explosion, and turning to see the smoke cloud. Running back to find her mother, laying on the ground, and the promise that she had made. She told him everything, and when she was finished, she was crying. She turned to him, and grabbed onto him. "There was nothing I could do. She just died in my arms. I couldn't help her," she sobbed. Nagi buried her head into his shoulder. "I know," he said softly, patting her on the back of her head. "There wasn't anything you could have done, even if you had of been there. You would have been killed with them." He held her, shushing her and comforting her as best he could. She raised her head, slowly, and looked into his face. It held such an expression of caring, of understanding that it took her aback for a moment. Their eyes locked, and, far and deep in his, she saw for the first time the emotion that he had kept hidden for so long from her. She became aware of how close together they were with a very sudden, shattering clarity. She was so close that she could hear the constant beat of his heart. "A... Aarin, I..." She couldn't finish the thought, was absolutely terrified of it. In a surge, she pushed away from him, springing to her feet, and running from the garden. She ran down the hall to her room, and locked the door, flinging herself onto the bed and crying into the pillow. Two days after the incident in the garden, a light knock came at her door. She still hadn't left, no knowing if it was out of fear of what she might say, or what she might do. During that time, she had been thinking, long and hard, but she had only come to one conclusion. She loved Aarin, but it was more than the sort of love that one would feel for a brother. "Nagi?" came the quiet call. She remained silent. "Listen, I... wanted to apologize. I had no right to force you to tell me. I hope that you can forgive me that. Anyway, I thought you might be hungry, so I brought you a try. I'll... leave it here for you." She knew that she had to face him, no matter what might come of it. Slowly, she stood. She looked at her face in the mirror. Her eyes were red, her cheeks puffy, and yet, somehow, she knew that it didn't really matter. When she opened the door, he was already halfway down the hall.. "Aarin... Wait." He stopped, and turned to face her. -Have to face him.- "I... It felt good... to... to tell somebody," she said haltingly. More than anything else, more than ever before in her life, she was unsure of herself now. She took a few steps toward him. "I've held that in for so long that it became a weight, holding me down." A few more steps. -Have to face him.- "I thought that I had dealt with it." Now only a few feet were separated them. "I was wrong." They stood before each other in the hallway, and yet, Nagi felt a block still there. It was... an awkwardness suddenly there, between them, and yet, Nagi could sense that this was the final one, but also that it would be the hardest to overcome. "I still shouldn't have pushed-" Nagi stopped him. "No. I'm... Glad you did." And there, suddenly, that invisible block was gone again. She took one last step closer, bringing them chest to chest, and that awareness that she had felt in the garden came suddenly rushing back. An awareness of -him-. She knew the next step, then, would take all of herself. Every ounce of strength that had kept her going since her parents died, the strength that had kept her alive on the streets while she grew up, that had kept her from giving in. Every ounce of strength that she used to train with, she summoned up. She leaned forward, and kissed him. Not a slight peck on the cheek, the innocent kiss of a child, but a true kiss, and, to her surprise, Aarin didn't pull away. She felt his arms slowly circling around her. They held onto the kiss for what seemed like a long time, and when they let go, Nagi felt just a little heady. Aarin looked at her, mouth open to speak, but not saying anything. He tried again, but still didn't quite manage it. He paused, worked up a little breath. "Nagi, are... are you sure you want this?" he asked after his third try. "I haven't broken my promise yet." She led him to her small room. Nagi woke to find herself in a tangle of bed sheets, arms, and legs. "Miya?" -Rough night, Nagi?- came the mental sending. Nagi chuckled wordlessly, and began to try to dislodge herself from Aarin. "You... might say that, Ken-Ohki." She was getting to like the cabbit's straight-forwardness. "Reow!" -You were making enough noise to be heard outside the ship.- And then again, there was such a thing as too much straight- forwardness. Suddenly something in his comment jumped out at her. "Outside? You mean, outside the room, right?" -Outside the ship.- Nagi sat up, quite suddenly, forgetting that Aarin was still asleep beside her. "Outside the ship! What are you talking about?" Aarin sat up slowly, yawning. The action tugged the blanket covering her torso. The sudden chill that touched her as it slid off brought a shiver to her body. -Didn't you know? I have the ability to become a battleship for extended periods of time.- "A battle ship!" she exclaimed, turning to Aarin. He had a small smile. "I did say that they were rare, and there's a reason for this. I can think of only two others in the universe. One is named Sui-Ohki, and the other Ryo-Ohki. I think." In answer, she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. -Humanoids!- It had the sound of exasperation to it. "Mmm... I could get used to that," he said, as they broke apart. Nagi grinned seductively. "That wouldn't do, would it?" As they moved together again, Nagi caught the end of another sending. -Humanoids!- "We'll be pulling into Falaris Port in a few minutes. Better go get ready." Nagi nodded, and then left the bridge. She walked to her room, and then stopped, shaking her head. She backtracked, and turned down to their room. Nagi pulled out her battle suit a body clinging suit that covered her torso, down to her pelvis, and her back. It was a light gray fabric, with a fine mesh of wiring woven into it. The mesh was meant to absorb and dispel the power from a blaster shot, but all the same, Aarin had also given her bodyforming armor. It was molded to her, an alloy of titanium plastic, and triclidium. Extremely light, but extremely strong. It was silvery colored, with golden tooling. Thigh-high boots with the same type of mesh wiring as her battle suit, and over the heels, half shoes that, when activated, generated a small anti-gravity field. To protect her thighs, greeves made of the same alloy as her body armor. On her left arm went an electro-mesh glove that stretched clear to her elbow. A small sensor over the wrist would pick up on electrical impulse in her nerves, and activate a shield when her wrist was in the correct position. The shield was strong enough to deflect even a high- powered blaster shot. Around her waist, a black belt, hung with a force blade on her left, and an energy whip on her right. Neither were as fine as Aarin's which had been gifts from an old friend of his, a master weapon smith of Jurai, but as Aarin had long said, it was not the weapon that made the hunter, but the hunter that made the weapon. She felt the Juugoya shake as it came to a landing. She walked over to the window, and looked out into the port town. Hundreds of people milled about outside, some Fallarins, some Juraians, Altarians, Danitails, Veulusians, and more going about their business. Aarin came down, Ken-Ohki trailing behind him. "Are you sure you want to go through with this, Nagi? There are plenty of other bounties out there." Nagi grinned. "If I didn't know better, I'd swear you were afraid." She paused, and then went on in a more serious tone. "I won't run, Aarin. I've been doing that all my life. It's time that I faced what I ran from. Whether that's Falaris, the streets, or my home, I have to face it. Now, do you intend to stand there all day, or are you going to get ready?" Aarin simply nodded, and started to pull on his battle gear. They stepped off the Juugoya together, cloaks covering all but their eyes. Ken-Ohki rode on Nagi's shoulder, looking around as if he were bored, but actually keeping a close look out for trouble. They made their way through Calinora, to a small bar often frequented by perps with connections. Nodding to each other, they split up, Aarin going into the bar, Nagi circling around, to the back. It was a classic pincer trap. Ken-Ohki hopped off Nagi's shoulder, and hid in the shadows to watch for anybody that might come down the narrow alleyway. As she reached the back of the saloon, she sensed someone watching her. Turning slowly, she scanned the wall. Nothing- She stopped, and looked again. There, in a corner, so covered in filth that she blended in with the dirt covered walls almost perfectly, huddled a young girl, trying hard to avoid notice. Nagi's throat caught, as she looked at the little girl. She was dressed in rags, rags that seemed about to fall apart, rags that Nagi remembered all too well. They were a little too big for the child, and hung down in places. The girl shivered in fear, and had a caught in the headlights look to her eyes, yet, through it all, she made not a sound, not even the light rasp of air being drawn into lungs that had likely already been wracked by half a dozen forms of disease. Nagi stared a moment longer, and then, slowly, shrugged off her cloak, and set it down on the ground before herself, with a reassuring smile, then backing off slowly. The child looked at her suspiciously for a moment, but the temptation of warm clothing in the air, which, although it was only late summer, already carried a hint of a very long, very cold Falarin winter, was too strong. Slowly, she came forward, never taking her eyes off Nagi. She picked up the cloak, and, for one precious second, felt at the thick, warming fabric. Then, with one last look at Nagi, she bolted away, the cloak flailing away behind her. Nagi smiled sadly, and then borrowed the girl's former hiding place. Just as she got ready, the back door banged open, and a skinny little runt raced out. He paused, and fired a couple of blaster shots back into the bar. As he turned to run again, Nagi introduced his face to her boot. The runt staggered back, clutching at a broken nose. She stepped forward, and impanted her knee into his crotch. The man fell to the ground in a boneless heap. "That had to hurt. Beautiful job as always, love," said Aarin, leaning against the door frame. "Simply the best, dear," she answered, hoisting the perp up. He groaned aloud, eyes fluttering open. He groaned again as Aarin came to stand beside her. "What the hell do you want from me! I told you, I don't know anything!" Aarin grinned, putting on his good-ol-boy act. "Hey now! Don't be so mean!" He moved to stand before the runt, and lowered the pitch of his voice. "See now, I'm on your side in this. But my friend here... See, she's still new at this, doesn't quite understand the need to be nice to a new friend." Nagi tightened her grip on the man, and his eyes buldged in pain. She and Aarin had been through this routine before. "Easy now, lass! Remember, he's a friend!" Nagi glared at the runt, and he shrank back a little. "I saw that we just kill him now, and get it over with. He won't talk," she said, biting off every word. A large drop of sweat rolled down his forefead. Aarin turned to her, and grinned a second. "Now, that won't help us much, will it? Just relax!" he said. Winking, he turned back to the perp. "You know, if I were you, I'd tell me what I wanted to know. Confidentally, I don't think I can hold her back much longer." His mouth stayed shut, but Nagi could see his resolve wavering. With a surprising suddeness, she pushed Aarin out of the way, and drew her blade. She lashed out at the perp, and he screamed in terror. "I'll tell you, I'll tell you!" Nagi's blade stopped, barely a centimeter from his eye. He stared cross-eyed at it for a moment, and slowly slumped against the wall. The perp out cold, Aarin turned to Nagi. She smiled slyly at him. "Yet another stunning performence, Nagi. Looks like he's coming back around." Indeed, he was starting to shake off the fainting spell. Nagi turned, her snarl already back in place. Aarin moved over to the perp, and helped him up, brushing off some dirt from the runt's clothes. "You're lucky lad. I managed to stop her at the last second. Now then, don't you think that you should just tell us what we want to know before something like this happens again?" he asked. The man's gaze slid over to Nagi, and abruptly bounced away when he met her eyes. "I don't know for certain where he is... Just where his first distrabution center is, what he sends the stuff that he gets from his plunder..." The perp kept talking, giving them quite detailed directions to the distrabution center. In fact, they were so detailed that Nagi asked, after they had dropped the runt off at the local detainment center, if they wouldn't be wiser to find a back door to the place. "You think we're walking into a trap, then? I agree, he told us just a little too much a little too easy. I imagine the first words out of his mouth when he used his vidphone call were, 'Bounty hunters are comming.'" "So the question is, how do we get him into our trap with out stepping in his?" asked Nagi. Ken-Ohki miyaed at her. -What about a spy?- Nagi missed a step, and looked at the cabbit. "That isn't a bad idea, and you're perfect for the job." Aarin pulled up short. "What isn't a bad idea?" he asked, confused. Ken-Ohki bounded away, in the direction of the distrabution plant, while Nagi explained his idea. Aarin nodded slowly, grinning. They waited until nightfall at the ship, and were just about to leave for the center when Ken-Ohki reappeared. -You were right, they knew that you were on the way in, and had enough guards to eliminate any threat that might come in. I don't think that even the Falarian police has as many avalible,- he told her. She asked if he had seen another way in. -I think so, although it might be a tight fit. There is a drainage grate near the center that leads in.- Nagi wrinkled her nose. The last time that she'd been in a sewer, it had taken a month to get the smell off, no matter how often she had showered. Nagi and Aarin headed back to the center, and Ken-Ohki lead them to the drainage grate. He had been right, it would be a tight fit. The hole was roughly four feet in diameter. Nagi squeezed in, dropping into the tunnel below, which was only a little wider, and began crawling forward, turning on a small flashlight. She heard Aarin grunt as he got in - "I think I need to go on a diet!" and then he too began crawling forward. Ken-Ohki squeezed past Nagi to lead the way. The sewer smelled terrible. A mixture of vile gasses, and a tiny, foul looking stream of water combined to create something that was truely undescribable. Swallowing back the bile rising in her throat, Nagi pressed on, looking only for the exit to the seemingly never-ending hole. Slowly, a dim light became visable. Nagi turned off her light, and they continued on, in silence. Finally, they reached another grate, looking down over a corrador. Directly below them was a guard. Nagi reached down, to her belt, and pulled a simple dart and tube out. Placing the dart in the tube, she blew through the tube, shooting the dart at the guard. He crumpled as the dart hit him without a sound. Nagi would have grinned over her shoulder at Aaring if she could have turned. Instead, she pushed the grate out, letting it drop to the floor. Sliding out of the tunnel, she rolled as she hit the floor, comeing back up gracefully. Resisting the urge to take a bow as if she were a gymnyst, she instead pulled her energy whip out and looked around for any more guards. Seeing none, she signaled Aarin. He slid silently out of the tunnel. "Which way?" she asked him. He shrugged. "You go left, I'll go right. If you need me, contact me on the communicator," he said. She nodded, and they went their separate ways. Ken-Ohki scouted ahead of her, warning her of guards that waited for her in the halls ahead. Eventually, she reached what she judged to be the core of the building. It was a huge, circular room, filled with huge cargo crates. She silently slipped over to one of them, and peeked in. In among packing material, she found several guns. She looked in a couple of the others, finding the same. Turning on her radio, she called Aarin. "Aarin, do you read me?" With a small crackle, his reply came back. "I hear you Nagi. What's up?" She told him, and he told her that he had made his way into what seemed to be a processing plant. "It looks like they're putting out enough drugs here to dope up half of the Juraian Empire. I think-" He suddenly broke off, and Nagi heard the sounds of a struggle through the radio. Then, alarm klaxons started going off. It didn't take long for her to figure out that he had either been caught or captured. She looked around, and found a small space between a couple of crates. She squeezed in, and was hauntingly reminded of dodging police by squeezing into a hole fairly similar. Seconds later, guards pounded by her position. She took a moment to asses her position, while Ken-Ohki kept watch for more guards. Aarin was almost certainly caught, and possibly killed, and the place had been alerted to her presence. The mission was a definate scrub. She knew that her top priority should be to get out, alive. There would always be another day to come back. She discarded that after only a few seconds. A week earlier, she would have left, as she had been trained. But a week earlier, she hadn't made the ultimate commitment to Aarin, and a week earlier she wouldn't have understood the fact that sometimes, the rules had to be broken. She slipped out of her hiding place, and began to back track to where she and Aarin had dropped in. Offering up a small prayer, she pulled out the small tracker unit that Aarin had given her. Unknown to him, she had placed the transmitter into his own armor. Switching it on, she sighed in relief as the small green dot started flashing to life. Quickly, she followed the blip, smiling breifly as she came upon half a dozen out cold guards. Ken-Ohki raced ahead of her in the rafters, signalling her as he saw guards. Finally, she made it to the plant. She slowed, and pulled out her whip. Slowly, she did a search of the room. Boiling concoctions spewed strangly colored smoke, which she stayed away from. She looked at the tracker again; it seemed to be pointing toward a small, out of the way door. She walked over to it, and opened it just a crack, looking into it. Seeing nobody, she entered. The new coridor was cramped, and Nagi could almost smell an ambush. Sure enough, a little farther along, she found the remains of Aarin's headset. She found a few traces of blood on the floor, still wet. She followed along the hallway, the blip on her tracker starting to get stronger. The corridor ended, and opened into a larger room. It was huge, drapped with long curtains. It occured to her that it reminded her of old style throne rooms. Indeed, as she entered the room, she saw a tall, high backed chair, with somebody sitting in it. The man wore a heavy chest plate, and electromesh leggins much like her own. A wide, hanging scar ringed his neck, as though he had once been hanged. She took a wild guess and named him as Garan. Garan was laughing, at the small knot of men before him. Nagi suddenly peered closer. In the center of that knot, Aarin was stooped down, forced into a bow by the toughs surrounding him, his wrists bound by strong rope. "Tell me where the bitch is, Aarin, and I might let the two of you out of here alive, albeit minus your tounges," roared the crime lord. She heard Aarin laugh at him. "If you know my name, than you should know that I work alone. My apprentice went off on her own a couple weeks ago." Garan nodded at one of the toughs, and he kicked Aarin, hard, in the ribs. Aarin coughed up a little blood, and Nagi resisted the urge to spring out of hiding to help him. She looked at Ken-Ohki, and pointed at the other side of the chamber. The cabbit scrambled off. "If you're alone, bounty hunter, then why were you talking to your wench when we caught you?" shouted Garan. Aarin just looked at him, a cocky half smile on his face. He was stalling, trying to keep Garan in one place while she got away. Nagi looked around again. Two of the toughs were holding guns on Aarin, and the other two were just watching, standing at ease. It was simple enough, then, she had to take out the gunners before they got Aarin. Yeah, simple. And maybe afterwords, she'd run for Queen of Jurai. -I am ready, Nagi.- She looked over, and saw Ken-Ohki's ear poking out from behind one of the curtains. She started to get an idea. "I'll ask you only one more time, Aarin." Quickly, Nagi tugged loose her electromesh, and reposistioned her battle suit so that she showed more than a little bosom. "Where is the woman?" said Garan, biting off each word. Aarin opened his mouth to reply, and she staggered out from behind the curtain. "If you want me, I'm here!" she called. The crime lord, and the toughs all turned to her at once. Garan laughed ruthlessly, sending a slight chill down her back. She limped slowly toward Aarin and the gunners, a hand pressed to her side as if she had been injured. In truth, she held a mini-blaster, not capable of much more than stunning somebody, and that at close range. If she could get close enough, she could use it on one of them. Hopefully Ken-Ohki could distract the other long enough for her to deliver the killing blow. "So much for your partner, Aarin. Looks like she's the one with the brains in this team." Aarin looked at her, a little sourly. "I'm starting to wonder about that myself," he said, dryly. She knew that if they did get out of this, she would have a lot of explaining to do. She continued her slow advance toward the brigands, the palm blaster hidden under her hand. The two guards flanked her, the one with the gun on her left. Perfect. They guided her to stand next to Aarin. "Well, wench, do you have anything to say for yourself?" laughed Garan. Nagi glanced at Aarin. His expression was unreadable. Did he know what she was going to try to do? "Lord, only one thing..." She ducked down, pulling the blaster and firing it pointblank into the man next to her. He looked down in surprise at the new hole in his stomach, then dropped to the floor, dead. At the same time, Aarin rolled forward, under the blast from the second gunner. Nagi's leg flashed outward, catching him in the neck. The criminal gasped, and fell to the ground, hands clutching at his neck. A quick kick to the side of his head, and he stopped jerking. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ken-Ohki run to Aarin, and chew through his bonds. Another of the toughs atacked; she side stepped, and threw a roundhouse kick, which he ran into. Stumbling forward, he ran into Aarin, who fired a solid uppercut to his nose. The man crumpled to the ground. Aarin grinned at her, and then his gaze shifted. She turned, to see the last of the men striking with a long, sharp looking knife. Before she could dodge out of the way, Ken-Ohki streaked out of nowhere, scratching and clawing at the perp's face. He dropped the knife in surprise, trying to pull the cabbit off, and Nagi delivered the finishing blow. As he dropped to the ground, Aarin and she turned back to Garan. "Criminal Alpha-C83, we hearby arrest you under bounty rights." Garan looked at them both for a moment, and then begin laughing. He laughed so hard, in fact, that he doubled over. Nagi looked at Aarin, and he shrugged. They turned back to him, and were quite surprised to find that he now held a heavy blaster, trained on them. "My friends, I'm afraid that I must cut this meeting short. It's been fun, but you see, I have a meeting with a merchant convoy." He laughed again, and then began to pull back on the trigger. Aarin tapped her arm shield. Nagi nodded imperceptably. "Good bye, now. It's been a blast!" Garan pulled the trigger all the way back. At the same time, Nagi brought up her arm, triggering her shield, and Aarin dove to the side. The blaster bolt crashed into the shield, and overloaded it. The force of the bolt was absorbed by her armor, but it blasted her back, knocking her a little senseless. Aarin rolled up to his feet, and grabbed a blaster off the body of one of the toughs. He fired a couple of shots at Garan, but it was a bad angle, so they went wide. The criminal laughed, and fired back, and then looked over at Nagi, who was just starting to shake off the confusion. He leveled his blaster at her. Nagi looked up, and saw him, and she knew that there was no way she'd get out of the way in time. Garan laughed, and pulled back the trigger. "NNNAAAAGGII!!" Aarin's body hurtled between her and the blaster bolt. The bolt blasted into him, tearing through the electro- mesh armor. He continued moving forward, carried by momentum. Nagi scrambled up, running to his side. She knew that it was foolish, but she didn't care anymore. Reaching him, she rolled him over. He laughed weakly. "I... Always knew a woman would be the end of me." Nagi stared at the hole in his side that was gushing blood, feeling like she had suddenly been stuffed into a dream... No, a nightmare. Her hand came away from his side covered in blood, and she stared, not comprehending it. Garan was laughing again, walking slowly toward them. "Come on Aarin, hang in there!" He grinned, but his eyes were sad. "Nagi... You've come so far since I found you. We always knew that this might happen. We could dream that it wouldn't, but inside, we knew. My garden... Leave me with my garden, love." He reached up weakly, and gently carressed her cheek. "Fitting that the most beautiful blossom of all goes on after I'm gone." A teardrop splashed down on his forehead. Aarin smiled up at her again, this time the smile reaching his eyes. "Good bye, Nagi. My blossom." Aarin closed his eyes, let out a final, sighing breath. More teardrops came down. Slowly, she bent down and kissed his forehead. "Oh!" said Garan. "Oh! That was so touching, so sweet! Hang on a moment, I'm getting a cavity." Nagi slowly looked up at him. Inside she wondered where her rage was. She should have been crazy with rage, but all that she felt was a cold, icy emptiness. A ball of nothing that she could almost feel growing bigger. She let Aarin's body down to the ground carefully. Garan smiled wide, and then laughed. "I get it. I've killed your lover, now you'll kill me, right?" He spread his arms wide. "I'm right here. Take your best shot." Nagi tensed. She knew that it had to be a bait, and yet, she just didn't care anymore. She had just seen her world destroyed; there was nothing left for her except revenge. But on the point of flashing forward in a blind attack, she paused, seeing a glitter around his neck. She suddenly looked closer. There, around his neck, she saw her mother's necklace. The rage that she had found missing moments before suddenly flashed white-hot into her breast, the hole filled with fury. "You..." she growled, a dangerous, icy tone to her voice, and something in her gaze made him take a step back. She stood, taking a step forward. "It was you." Garan laughed, but in his eyes, she could see the tiniest bit of doubt begining to rise. "It was me what? I've done so many things, you see. It's hard to keep track of them all." He laughed again, but the doubt remained. Suddenly, she sprang forward, somersaulting over him, and wrapped an arm around his neck, and pulled his arms back. "Let me see if I can remind you," she whispered into his ear. "Eleven years ago, a little farm." She used one hand to undo the catch on the necklace. "You killed the family, and stole a necklace." She tossed the necklace away from him. Ken-Ohki caught it, while she began to tighten her grip around his neck. He began to make small gasping sounds. She leaned forward a bit farther, so her mouth was right next to his ear. "You should have finished the job then." She began to crush down on his windpipe, slowly. Garan struggled in her grip, but she closed down on him relentlessly. "If you... kill me, you... are no better... than me..." he weazed out. Nagi grinned without mirth, and with a sudden twist of her arm, snapped his neck. As he exhaled the last of his life, she whispered one last thing into his ear. "I can live with that." Nagi laid Aarin's body into the center of the garden. Around his neck laid her mother's necklace. It seemed fitting that he kept it. She walked to the entrance, Ken-Ohki at her side. He miyaed at her once, as she activated the garden sealing system. -The cold of space holds the souls of those that leave before us, where they wait until the day we join them, and they are whole again.- Nagi looked at Ken-Ohki, and smiled just a little. A green light began to flash on the control panel next to her. She closed the blast door, and looked through the double- thick window. Her hand found the control, and she pressed down on the button. With a thump, the garden jetisoned, carrying with it Aarin's body. In the space of moments, it was too small to recognize any more. "Miyaaaa..." -Into the endless night they wait, living on as the everlasting stars.- With a final twinkle, the garden disappeared. Nagi touched her locket. On the one side, a holoture of her parents appeared. On the other, one of Aarin, smiling his mysterious smile. Collecting her small bag, Aarin's force blade and whip, and a thick, black cloak, she walked to the portal. Ken-Ohki phased through the ship's wall, and morphed into a huge battleship, and then teleported her aboard. She looked around the crystaline room, with its giant viewing screen. Ken-Ohki backed off from the Juugoya a short distance. Nagi looked at the ship. It seemed... empty. Dead. It wasn't the inviting place that she remembered anymore. "Ken-Ohki... Fire at will." A lance of purple plasma sliced through the Juugoya, and it exploded, some of the shrapnel bouncing off Ken-Ohki's shields. A single tear fell, and then no more. She touched the locket once more. "Set a course for Talooron. Let's see what's out there." --- The Platinum Dragon Hidden Guardian of the Dream World Dragon's Masaki Shrine of Tenchi Muyo - http://dragonsanime.dreamhost.com The Dragon's Horde - http://www.usinternet.com/users/platinum_dragon/