The Tejina Chronicles: Ambush on the High Seas
By: Kioko the pirate
Chapter 1: The Invite
It was a sunny day on the island of Kauai, the ground was still damp from the previous nights rainstorms, and puddles still dotted the roads, sidewalks and trails of the island. The storms had also left the air feeling muggy, keeping most people in side. But one daring young Hawaiian girl and her alien friend weren't like most people. They took advantage of the lack of tourists and people out and about to do some training in town. This time around they hadn't been practicing spells, instead they had been training their bodies. But now they had realized they had made a big mistake.
The two friends stumbled through the door, Lilo practically kicking in the door trying to get into their air conditioned home. Lilo kicked off her running shoes, flinging them across the room and hurried over to the couch, where she flopped down into the soft cushions with an exhausted sigh. Stitch wasn't far behind, crawling up onto the couch with what little energy he had left, he looked in worse shape then Lilo anyway, fur, heat and humidity don't mix well. The two didn't speak as they huffed and puffed, trying desperately to cool off. After a few minutes the two of them managed to get comfortable.
"You just had to choose today to go running." groaned Stitch as he rubbed his sore legs.
Lilo looked over at the experiment out of the corner of her eye. "Hey, don't blame me. You're the one who wanted to train everyday."
It had been about a month and a half since the incident with Trey and Lilo and Stitch had been training even harder then before. Through all weather and conditions they had been spending the majority of their time on their training ground or doing other physical training around town. All of this didn't please Nani though; watching her sister come home on the verge of collapse almost every day drove her nuts. How ever she did not see all the good that was coming from it. In just a month and a half the duo had learned two new spells and had even added another victory against an experiment in that time. They now felt even more formidable, especially Stitch, who was constantly showing off his increasing strength around the house.
"I know, I know," sighed Stitch as he wiped the sweat from his furry brow. "But I'm still not to where I want to be, I'm starting to doubt that this training is doing any significant good."
Lilo looked over at her friend like he was crazy. "You've got to be kidding, Stitch, we've gained two new spells, we defeated that elastic experiment and you practically beat him with just your own muscle. How can you not call that progress?"
"I—I just don't feel strong enough yet. Yes I'm stronger then I was before but I just don't think I'm at a high enough level to take on the really strong experiments." Stitch now began rubbing his paws, plucking a tiny piece of gravel from between his toes. "All the weak experiments are almost gone, now it's just the strong experiments left. Things aren't going to be any easier."
"If all the weak experiments are gone, then only the best are still here and look," Stitch looked over at Lilo, who had a confident and even happy smile on her face. "You're still here," Stitch had to look away as he blushed slightly. "We can handle anything, I have faith in us, Stitch, I do."
Stitch finally looked back at Lilo with a smile of his own stretching across his fuzzy face. "I have faith too, Lilo." Stitch got up, walked across the couch and wrapped his arms around Lilo's neck in a gentle hug.
Lilo hugged the little blue experiment back. "Mmm, the smell of sweaty experiment, smells like wild flowers." smiled Lilo sarcastically as she rested her cheek on his head.
Stitch pulled away with a slightly worried look on his face. "I'm not going to get a bath, right?" Stitch said with a nervous tone to his voice.
Lilo laughed and shook her head. "No, no bath."
Stitch gave a sigh of relief. "Phew, that's good. Hey, you want a drink?" asked Stitch as he hopped off the couch.
"Water would be nice, thank you."
"Right," saluted Stitch as he turned and walked into the kitchen. But suddenly he popped his head around the corner, making Lilo jump slightly. "You sure I'm not going to get a bath?"
Lilo smiled and rolled her eyes. "Yes, I'm sure." Stitch gave a reassured nod and disappeared around the corner. "At least not until tonight." said Lilo quietly to herself.
The girl gave a sigh and grabbed the TV remote off of the end table and turned on the television. She began flipping casually through the different channels, cartoons, sports games, stock market stuff and other shows flashed across the screen for a few moments before Lilo finally settled onto a news channel. A red headed woman sat behind her news desk, staring intently into the camera as she began introducing the next story. Her voice was too professional in Lilo's opinion, her voice was low, much lower then she probably talks when off screen. Her monotone voice just made everything sound boring; Lilo doubted that the woman would have any emotion to her voice even if her hair caught fire. But she still found her self listening to the woman.
"Our top story this afternoon is about this nations billionaires and how they spend their vast wealth. One man in particular stands out amongst the rest tonight; Charles Vandercamp. The son of the late Henry Vandercamp and owner of the worlds largest oil company has recently announced the completion of his latest top-secret project," A tiny picture of a ship appeared in the upper right hand corner of the screen. "What he is calling a floating city."
At that moment Lilo looked over to see Nani strolling into the room and stopping near the doorframe. "Well I see you and Stitch are back, how was your day of training?" asked Nani with a surprisingly calm voice.
"It was exhausting, it's so humid out there we practically swam around the town. Speaking of Stitch, what's taking you so long in there?" shouted Lilo toward the kitchen.
"I'm trying to get the ice out of these dang trays!" there was a sudden snap and crack, a single ice cube slid into the living room stopping on the rug. "Never mind, I got the ice."
Lilo looked back toward the TV and so did Nani. "What are you watching?" asked Nani casually.
"They're just talking about some rich guy and his fancy boat." said Lilo with a disgusted and bored sigh.
"Mr.Vandercamp plans on launching his latest investment from the Hawaiian island of Oahu late next week. The enormous ship, which has been named 'World 1', will take its first passengers on a two week trip around the Pacific Ocean before returning to Oahu. However, Mr.Vandercamp has been taking fire from local eco-groups, claiming that the ship will disrupt the delicate ocean life and will further the polluting of our oceans with the waste that will be generated during the two week voyage. Mr.Vandercamp had this to say."
The screen flipped to a picture of a refined looking man standing behind a podium littered with microphones. The man had a thick head of faded gold hair, molded with so much hair gel that it looked fake. His cheekbones bulged out from his face, reminding Lilo of a Hammerhead shark. He had a heavy cleft chin that he kept raised as he spoke. He had narrow bluish-grey eyes that made trusting him seem impossible. He wore a very neatly kept grey suit with a red tie as well.
"I promise to all that my ship is at the peak of eco-friendly technology. I've spent hundreds if not thousands of hours with my engineers making sure that the 'World 1' brings no harm to our beautiful planet. I didn't spend millions of dollars to create a danger to our oceans, I spent that money to create the worlds greatest resort, the worlds first floating resort!" the man lifted his arms in the air in a proud fashion as he was bombarded with flashes from cameras.
The screen switched back to the newswoman. "Tickets for this monumental cruise will be nearly impossible to find or even afford for most, only the wealthiest are expected to arrive for the first sailing. Mr.Vandercamp, however, has already mailed out at least a hundred free tickets randomly to people across the nation, in a show of kind generosity. At the same time a rash of concerns over fake tickets is spreading through out the country, we'll show you how to spot these fake tickets tonight at 11:00."
Stitch was now sitting next to Lilo with a cold glass of water in his and her hands. Lilo rolled her eyes as she turned off the TV, disgusted by the whole thing. "Kind generosity my butt, rich guys like him wouldn't know generosity if it jumped up and slapped them across their snooty faces." Lilo took a sip of water and set it down on the end table. "I actually feel sorry for whoever gets one of those 'free' tickets. They'll probably be stuffed into cheap rooms in the bowels of the ship and kept out of the way of the high society folk."
Nani gave a small laugh as she looked at her sister. "Now you can't tell me that you'd be thinking that if you got one of those tickets?"
"Oh yes I would, I wouldn't go even if I got ten free tickets. I don't want anything to do with those stuck up tight wads."
"Right, besides, we don't have time to relax at some resort, we've got to keep training!" cheered Stitch as he raised his glass.
"Right!" agreed Lilo raising her fist in the air.
Nani rolled her eyes; just then the mail slot in the door opened up and a series of letters fell into the house. Nani walked over and grabbed the mail off the floor; she began shuffling through it as she walked over toward the couch. "Let's see, bill, bill, bill, bill, junk, bill, we could be the father of Anna Nicole Smiths baby, bill and junk."
Lilo looked at her sister in apparent disbelief. "How in the world do we rack up so many bills?"
Nani just looked at her and shrugged, suddenly there came a knock at the door. Nani went back to the door and opened it to find the postman standing there with an embarrassed smile on his face.
"Sorry ma'am I almost forgot to give you this," the man handed Nani a large brown envelope. "Well, have a nice day, ma'am."
"You too." responded Nani as she looked at the envelope curiously. She stepped back inside the house and shut the door behind her.
"What is it?" asked Lilo just as curious as her sister.
"I don't know, it doesn't have any company label on it or anything." said Nani as she examined the package.
"Is there anything on it at all?" asked Lilo as she saw her sister pause.
"Yeah—it's addressed to you."
Nani walked over and handed the envelope to her sister, Stitch sniffing it inquisitively as it was exchanged. Lilo looked at the envelope for a moment before slowly ripping one end open.
"Well what is it?" asked Nani anxiously as Lilo pulled a rather thick packet out of the envelope.
Lilo just shrugged and set the packet on her lap before looking in the envelope again. She reached in and pulled out a series of other papers, which she began examining. Stitch grabbed the packet off of her lap and read the title: "Your guide to the ultimate vacation."
"You don't think it could be…" started Nani.
"No, no, it's probably just from some travel agency." blurted Lilo. A small slip of paper suddenly fell from the bundle she was holding. Lilo picked up the piece of paper; her eyes suddenly grew with disbelief. "Ok—this has got to—be a fake." stuttered Lilo.
"What is it?" asked Nani as she furrowed her brow and walked over to her sister. She sat down on the edge of the couch and leaned over next to her. Nani's eyes grew just as Lilo's had and her mouth dropped slightly. Stitch growled in frustration as he tried to see over the two sisters, he finally crawled up onto the back of the couch and got a clear view of the paper and just like the girls, his jaw dropped.
It was a small rectangular shaped piece of paper, outlined in a rose pattern of gold. The words "You are cordially invited to join us on this once in a life time journey aboard the magnificent World 1." Were written in an artistic fashion across the page in oily black ink. Every one almost instantly thought it to be a fake, but their doubts were questioned when a gold seal was seen stamped onto the bottom right hand corner of the page. And right next to the seal was the signature of Charles Vandercamp, flowing elegantly across the bottom of the paper. With just a glance one could tell it was the signature of a man who thought he was the worlds savior.
"This couldn't possibly be…" stuttered Lilo, her hand trembling slightly from the excitement welling up deep within her.
"But it is, Lilo! It's one of those free tickets! You get to go on that super ship thing!" Nani's grin was from ear to ear, it seemed that this ticket had pulled her out of her seemingly continuous funk.
A nervous look began to appear on Stitch's face as he saw Lilo smirking slightly. "But she's not going to go, right, Lilo?" blurted Stitch with an uneasy smile on his face. "Me and you are going to keep training, right? Lilo?"
The girl was silent, she seemed almost petrified, only her slowly broadening smirk animated her. Suddenly and from out of nowhere the young Hawaiian gave a girlish squeal that caused Stitch to nearly fall off the couch. "Training shmaning, Stitch, we get to go on a luxury liner!" grinned Lilo ecstatically as she looked at her friend.
"But just a moment ago you were saying what a joke that trip was?" Stitch said with a confused tone.
"But that was before I knew we were going to be on it!"
Nani took the paper from Lilo's hands and began examining it carefully. "But what about our training, you said we'd train every day?" continued Stitch.
"Stitch, we have been training everyday and you know what, I need a break, I need a vacation. I'm only human; I'm not an alien experiment. I need time to recharge. Besides, you could probably benefit from so relaxation time too."
"But—but…" started Stitch but he was suddenly cut off by Nani, who tapped her sisters shoulder frantically.
"But Lilo, look, it says you can bring only one guest."
Nani pointed the line out to her sister and like a knife cut the girls excitement down to nothing. The girl now took the paper in her hands and looked at it sadly. "Aww, man, this stinks." Lilo looked over at her sister and her furry blue friend. "I can't go if both of you can't come."
A moment of silence passed as the three of them looked around at one another. Finally Nani took the paper from her sister and looked at it one last time. "You and Stitch go, I'll stay here."
Both Lilo and Stitch looked at her with stunned expressions on their faces. "But Nani…" blurted Lilo.
"No but's young lady," replied Nani with a surprisingly motherly and forceful tone. " You and Stitch can go on the trip, I'll stay here. You two deserve it more then me. You and Stitch have been working your rear ends off lately, and while it may be for a cause that I think is ridiculous, you two still deserve a break."
Lilo was struggling to find something to say now. She couldn't understand her sisters behavior, Nani was the one always working hard to support their ohana, Lilo did nothing to help and as far as the training, her and Stitch didn't need to train as much as they do. Lilo was slowly shaking her head, hoping that the words would be shaken loose from her head. "But, Nani I…" blurted Lilo.
"I said no but's, Lilo. Besides, look at the date of the trip." Lilo looked down at the paper and quickly found the date, May 20th. "I couldn't go anyway, I'm leaving on a business trip with Mr. Jameson to Los Angeles to help him promote the hotel, remember?"
Lilo looked at her sister, still trying to comprehend her decision. "But, are you… are you sure?" asked Lilo in an almost timid voice.
Nani smiled and gave Lilo a brisk rub on the head. "I'm sure, you and Stitch just go ahead."
With that Nani turned around and walked out of the room and into the kitchen. Lilo stared at her sister as she left until she was out of sight; she then looked back down at the ticket. Meanwhile, Stitch was now standing on the cushion next to her, his arms folded over his chest and his foot tapping on the soft material.
"I can't believe you're actually going to break up our training regiment just for a little vacation." blurted Stitch angrily.
Lilo looked over at him with a glare. "Oh hush, just because we're going on a vacation doesn't mean we can't train. I'm sure they'll have gyms and running tracks on the ship. Lord knows it's big enough and besides, wealthy people are always concerned with their image."
"Well what about the fact that people look at me like your pet? Do you really think they'll let me on the ship?" said Stitch trying to deter his friend from her crazy vacation idea.
"Wealthy people and celebrities are always bringing their pets along with them. I'm sure we'll have no problems getting you on board. Besides," Lilo looked away and smiled a sly smile. "Even if they didn't let you on, I'd still be allowed to go."
Stitch's jaw dropped slightly as Lilo began to giggle childishly. The experiment just flopped down onto the cushion with a huff and a pout. The girl couldn't help herself as she leaned over and hugged her furry blue friend; he just looked so cute when he was upset. Just then the telephone sitting on the end table began to ring, Lilo let go of her friend and grabbed the phone off its cradle.
"Hello, Pelekai residence, Lilo speaking."
"Hey, Lilo!" greeted Victoria from the other end of the line.
"Oh hey, Victoria. What's up?"
"Oh nothing much, I just called to ask you if you saw the story on the news about that rich guy and his boat?"
Lilo smiled and gave a short laugh. "Yeah, I saw it, why?"
"Isn't that the stupidest thing you've ever seen? I've never heard of a guy flaunting his money so much."
"He does seem to be showing off." responded Lilo with another small laugh.
"And that whole, sending free tickets out to random people, what a joke. I feel sorry for anyone who gets one of those stupid tickets."
"Well then, bring on the sympathy." blurted Lilo as she looked at the ticket.
"What are you talking about, Lilo?"
"I uh… jut got one of those tickets in the mail a few minutes ago." The line fell silent for a moment. "Hello? Victoria?"
"You got one of those tickets?" yelled Victoria so loudly that Lilo had to hold the phone away from her ear for a moment.
The phone fell silent once more and Lilo returned it to her ear. "Yep, I did."
"Please tell me you're not actually going to go on the trip."
Lilo smiled nervously and rubbed the back of her head. "Well actually, me and Stitch are in need of some relaxation, some down time, so we are going."
"I can't believe that you'd give in to that guys heartless charity!"
"Hey, you can't tell me that if you got one of those tickets you wouldn't skip out on it. Victoria, you love being out on the ocean, and seeing the pacific in luxury like that, please."
"Are you kidding me, Lilo, if I got one of those tickets I'd tear it up!"
"Uh huh, sure you would. The ticket itself is probably worth a couple hundred bucks, I mean it's got gold trim and everything." said Lilo as she rubbed her finger over the gold border.
"That doesn't matter, I'd still tear it up!" there was a short pause. "Hold on my Mom wants me."
"Ok." responded Lilo casually.
"I always thought Victoria had some good common sense," mumbled Stitch, which just got Lilo to roll her eyes. "You could learn something from her."
Lilo suddenly heard some muffled noises from the other end of the line. A confused look appeared on Lilo's face as she was met with silence, at least for a moment. Finally the silence was broken by Victoria's now calm voice. "So… do you think we'll get rooms close to each other?"
Lilo raised an eyebrow. "What?"
The calm tone that had inhabited Victoria's tone disappeared just as quickly at it had appeared. "I just got a ticket too!" yelled Victoria excitedly.
Stitch gave a sigh as he hopped off the couch and walked out into the hallway, heading for his and Lilo's room. "So much for common sense."
Lilo just gave the experiment one last glare before returning her attention to her friend. " You got a ticket too, that's incredible! But, what happened to your whole 'tearing it up' bit?"
"Well I guess I'm not as strong willed as I thought."
"This is awesome nonetheless! But did you see that you could only bring one guest? What are you going to do about your family?"
"Oh don't worry about them, they wouldn't mind having the house quiet for a week or two."
"What about Snooty?" asked Lilo curiously.
"I'm taking him with me, duh. I'm looking at that booklet that came with the ticket right now and it says in the rules that pets are allowed, so… are you bringing Stitch?"
"Yep, even though he's not too thrilled about it." giggled Lilo.
"Cool, him and Snooty can hang out while we go poking around the expensive stores that are bound to be on this ship." A girlish squeal leaked out of the red head at the mere thought. "This will be so cool!"
Lilo gave a bit of a girlish squeal herself, though nowhere near as loud as Victoria. "You bet it will, nothing but fun in the sun on the high seas." smiled Lilo as she looked out the window toward the setting sun.
Wow, long time no post. Well fear not, I am back with my latest story in the Tejina series. Sorry for the long long wait, I was preoccupied with a story on DeviantArt. Feels good to be back though. Now, I'll be updating as soon as possible and trust me it'll be a lot sooner then this chapter. Please review.