Kurogane wandered absently through the halls of the Phoenix, his mind just as lost as he was in this unfamiliar maze. He appreciated the freedom that came with no longer being a prisoner of the Starfleet, of course, but in accepting that his fate was tied to Captain Fai's he had still given up control in many other aspects of his life. The Dragon was one of them; the ability to command his own crew was another. He had no position, no rank, no standing. He was fed, quartered, and respected, but never obeyed. He was nothing more than a guest on this ship, really, or perhaps just a privileged prisoner like Fai had been. Either way, it was beginning to bore him.

Footsteps echoed behind him and he turned around to see Yui. Kurogane had been surprised to learn that he was the only one on the entire ship who could tell Yui and Fai apart without hearing them speak. To him it was obvious, though he never said why. If you pressured him about it enough he would have eventually told you it was because Fai was most definitely cuter- if he had been the kind of person to say things like that, which he wasn't, so all you really would have gotten was a stubborn silence.

"Anything interesting going on?" Kurogane asked as Yui fell into step beside him.

"Maybe. Captain Fai wants to see you."

When Kurogane entered the cabin- which was remarkably similar to the Dragon's- he saw Fai, Syaoran, and Sakura bent over the center console, plotting something on a holographic map. He noted with some satisfaction that Syaoran seemed much happier and more content now that he was back with Sakura. Fai looked up as he approached and smiled brightly.

"Ah, Kuro-tan! There you are! We've been waiting for you."

Kurogane had given up, for the most part, telling him to stop with the ridiculous nicknames, except for the really embarrassing ones like 'Kuro-cakes' and 'Kuro-bear'.

"What are we looking at?" he asked as he took his place next to Fai.

"A map, Kuro-silly! What else?"

Kurogane grit his teeth in annoyance. "A map of what, exactly?"

"The stars."

Kurogane closed his eyes. He had barely been here for a minute and already he was resisting the urge to strangle a certain blonde-haired idiot.

"Treasure," Sakura told him before Fai could dig himself any deeper into the hole of Things That Piss Kurogane Off.

Kurogane was not born a pirate. He was not raised a pirate, as he assumed Fai, Syaoran, and Sakura had been. But in the past few weeks, he had learned that while the life of a pirate was not for everyone, it just might be for him. He discovered that he enjoyed boarding other ships and fighting in hand-to-hand combat as he and Fai had once done- except now, he and Fai fought side-by-side, even altering their fighting styles to compliment each other's.

So when Sakura said 'treasure', Kurogane decided that he might not be so bored, after all.

"Not just any treasure, Sakura!" Fai reminded her, holding up one gloved finger. "Specifically, somewhere on this map is the infamous Pasillo de Muerta."

"The Aisle of Death," Syaoran translated for him. "Sort of like the Bermuda Triangle on Earth- almost every ship that's passed through there has never been heard from again. It's-"

"I know what it is, kid," Kurogane interrupted, frowning. "But Starfleet Confederation won't reveal it's location. They won't even confirm such a place exists."

"Of course they won't. Wouldn't want their precious captains running off in search of easy treasure," Sakura muttered darkly.

"That's true of any commodore or large organization, Sakura," Syaoran pointed out gently. Fai ignored the two of them and enlarged a small portion of the map, pulling it up into a 3D view.

"We don't exactly have to worry about what the Starfleet says or doesn't say exists. Using the information we already have, we've been able to narrow it down to somewhere in these three solar systems."

"That's still a lot of area to search, Fai." Everyone looked up when they realized someone had failed to call Fai 'Captain', but when they realized it was Kurogane they resumed their work. They knew better than to mess with him. Fai tilted his head to the side and smiled.

"Yes, it is."

"Why are we looking for it?"

"I was raised on stories of the Pasillo de Muerta and the treasure that resides there. Recently a piece of information has come to my attention that leads me to believe those stories are true."

"So?"

"So I was not the only one who received such information. There's more than treasure at stake here, Kuro-sama. If such a treasure exists, I intend to find it- before Commodore Ashura or anyone else."

~Ooh, cliffhanger! Sort of. Okay, not really T.T But whatever. I hope you guys enjoy this as much as you did Captive! If you haven't read Captive, please do.

Also, a challenge! (dun, dun, dun) I'm such a sci-fi geek that I keep putting in references to relatively well-known sci-fi stories. One has already been caught by an anonymous reviewer. There aren't any in this chapter, but there were several in Captive and there will be many more to come. If anyone can catch all of them, and tell me what they belong to, they will get a prize… not sure what yet ^^

Reviews will be loved, polished, and displayed on a shelf. Reviewers will be given a free copy of Twilight and some matches to burn it with.

Oh, and... no new chappie until I get at least five reviews! Already two people have subscribed but apparently both were too lazy to review . (no offense- it's just I always try to take the time to review and I feel like if you liked it enough to subscribe, you should review and say so)~