A/N: AH FINALLY. My first fic! *cue victory dance* I'd promised I'd write something like two months ago. ^_^; Well, better late than never, right? ~

I actually had a bunch of Ideas before this one, but his plot bunny was apparently rabid, because I couldn't stop mulling over the idea. But I should probably shut up and let you read now, huh?

Disclaimer: I do not own Vocaloid. Or UTAU, or vip, or SRS. Enjoy~

The soft, silvery moonlight reflecting off the ocean's tranquil surface could make one unsure if what one saw was reality or simply a mirage. With the water so smooth and reflective, it was almost impossible to tell the difference between the sea and sky. Almost. A dark shape broke the horizon. A ship.

The ship's captain leant over the railing surrounding the poop deck. In one hand she clutched a steaming cup of coffee, and with the other she absentmindedly fingered the patch covering her left eye. She was, by most standards, quite tall, her dark hair pulled into two pigtails that went just past her shoulders. She was wearing a skintight strapless top which showed quite a bit of her midriff (not to mention her cleavage), black leather pants and boots, a navy blue knee-length coat, and, to top it all off, a triangular hat that just about matched the cerulean streaks in her hair.

Silently, Yokune Ruko studied the small ripples that her ship made on the otherwise glassy ocean. A soft noise made her look up, and she gazed with an unsurprised crimson eye at the large, tan dog in front of her. The dog stared back. It was quite ordinary-looking, big, light brown and non-descript. The only things that set it apart from any other stray was the mess of black-and-red hair sitting between its pointed ears , and the red coat it was wearing. Those, and the unnaturally intelligent ruby-red eyes it was studying Ruko with.

The two gazed at each other for a few moments, until Ruko broke the silence with a sigh, and spoke for the first time in hours. "Again?"

The dog tipped its head at her, as if to say, Isn't it obvious? Ruko sighed again, and then began searching through the pockets of her coat. Muttering "You're lucky I keep extras " when she found what she was looking for, Ruko ripped open the small paper packet and poured the fine black powder in to her coffee. Setting the mixture in front of the canine, she turned back to the ocean. When she glanced back a few seconds later, the dog had disappeared. In its place crouched a rather short young man with bronze skin, messy red-streaked black hair, and a long red trench coat. The boy - because, really, he couldn't have been more than seventeen - got up and dusted himself off.

Rook grinned at his half-sister. "Thanks, Ruko. Sorry about that." Aforementioned female sighed. "Just make sure it doesn't happen again," she said in a tone that suggested she had said the same thing many times before. Rook folded his arms, leaning against the railing next to the tall girl. "Really, I'm sorry. Big Al was fooling around, and Zuii was laughing, and Tsuya made this joke, and…." He trailed off, shrugging.

Ruko didn't look at him, instead staring intently at the horizon as if she could see past it. "I don't blame them. They're excited." She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "Aren't you?" The black haired boy stretched his arms above his head and sighed happily. "Yeah." He smiled at the sky. "It's been so long." Ruko squinted at the horizon again, then nodded and dropped her gaze to the ocean once more. "We'll be in sight of it by tomorrow noon. "

The two shared a companionable silence for a few more minutes, Ruko gazing at the sea and Rook at the sky. Abruptly, Ruko turned and fixed Rook with a piercing stare. "Have you checked Miko's prediction yet?" He flushed with embarrassment. "Ah…no." Inwardly, he swore. Crap, I forgot… again. "I'll do that right away." Ruko nodded approvingly."Make sure she gets some sleep, okay?" Rook saluted jokingly."Aye aye, Captain."

xXx

The worn oak wood door creaked loudly as Rook swung it open, making the occupant of the room look up.

Soft brown hair fell away from a pair of ruby-colored eyes opened wide with surprise. The girl was petite, barely four feet tall, around thirteen or fourteen. She was wearing a light pink hoodie (with fabric animal ears, no less) over a pale yellow dress. A long brown tail peeking out of the hem of her dress swished into view for a moment before sweeping back under the table she was sitting at.

Ooka Miko grinned at him. "Rook! You came!" Her normally shy expression had been replaced with a bright smile. Rook found himself smiling back.

" 'Course. Can't very well miss the weather report, can I? Sorry I'm late." She shook her head, dismissing his apology almost as soon as it had left his lips. "No, that's fine. I haven't even shuffled yet anyways. Wanna sit down?"

That was going to be tough. Miko's small, cramped room was stuffed with maps, globes, compasses (she was the ship navigator, after all), a telescope, but most of all, books. Her tiny bunk, built into the wall to save space, was overflowing with papers yellowing with age, and her desk threatened to collapse under the weight of the pounds of charting material it was piled with.

Quickly shoving the heap of navigation maps she had been working on out of the way, Miko gestured to the bench she was sitting at."I don't know why you trust these so much. They're highly unreliable." Rook patted her shoulder as he sat down next to her."You've never been wrong yet." Miko's face tinged slightly pink as his warm hand touched her arm, but Rook didn't seem to notice. "After you read the draw, go to bed, alright? Ruko's orders." She nodded, still blushing a bit as she withdrew the green satin bag from the pocket of her hoodie. Undoing the glittery gold drawstring, Miko let the shimmering deck of tarot cards spill onto the table.

She shuffled the deck quickly, her fingers agile with practice. Swiftly, she laid the cards facedown in an "X" formation. They were quite strange, Rook reflected, even for tarot cards. The back of each card was embossed with the puzzling image of a shiny golden watch and chain wrapped around the thorny stem of an inky black rose.

Carefully, making sure she did it in the right order, Miko flipped the twelve cards face-up. If the back of the cards had been weird, the fronts were even odder. An ox entwined with a pair of scales, a rabbit intertwined with a scorpion. Miko traced her fingernail down the painted surface of the cards, frowning slightly as she read some hidden message. "Hmmm ….. fierce winds…water….." She scrabbled for one of her various maps, her head wagging back and forth between the map and the cards. She looked up at Rook. "Steer a bit due northeast. There's a horrible hairy little tempest a tad west and there's a chance we could get caught up in the edge…."He nodded. "Affirmative. Now, how 'bout some sleep-"

Miko cut him off. "Just a minute, I want to check this…." She trailed off, her eyes widening as they flew across the elaborate illustrations. "…. wait." Rook stared at her alarmed expression, growing anxious himself. "What is it?"

Her eyes scanned the cards once more. "People." Rook relaxed visibly. "Just people? Jeez, Miko, you had me seriously worried there. Probably just some sleazy merchants or somethin-"

"No. Not merchants." Miko's finger shakily traced the line between two cards- one with a dog and lion, the second with a pair of identical people and a rabbit." Others. A…..girl. Some others. An accident…."As she spoke, her finger trailed down to a card with the picture of a sheep and a muscled man carrying a giant pot."Another girl. No….a boy." Miko's brow creased with confusion. "How can that be….?"

Her trail of thought was interrupted by Rook firmly grabbing her upper arm. "Okay, Miko. You're obviously tired out of your mind and seeing things. Time for bed." His tone left no room for arguments. She allowed him to lead her to her bunk, shoving the piles of paper on the floor as he tucked her in. "Don't stress, okay? It'll probably be nothing." Rook gave her a reassuring smile, and Miko's worry subsided a bit. "Good night, Rook."

"Good night, Miko."

And yet, as he dimmed her lamp and closed the door behind him, why did Miko have that gnawing feeling at the back of her mind?

A/N : AUGH LAME CLIFFHANGER AND ATTEMPTS AT FORESHADOWING. Orz …..

Did anyone get the reference with the back of the cards? The front of each card has one character from the traditional Zodiac and one from the Chinese Zodiac. Happy Year of the Rabbit ~

Although Taya and Rin don't make an appearance in this chapter, they will in the next chapter, I promise~

Tell me what you think! Constructive criticism about anything? Questions? Just ask ~

Thank you for reading ! ^_^

~Nyen-tan