2: Jim's Proposition

After surreptitiously making their way back to the Benbow Inn, everyone retired to their separate rooms. Jim awoke to chattering just as the sun was rising.

"I have to go!" Rune's voice protested.

"Well, really, I've never heard anything so selfish. I mean, after all we've done for you…" Sarah snapped back.

"I don't want to put you all in danger!" Rune cried, stomping her foot. "My crew was attacked because of that mark. That was why they abandoned me… if I stay in one place for too long, more people will suffer…"

"Rune, listen to me…" Sarah pleaded gently.

"No, I have to go," she cut in. "Jim saved my life, so it's only fair that I spare his."

"Sparing a life is not the same as saving it," the brunette boy, who by this time had wandered downstairs, commented. "If that's the repayment you're talking about, I won't accept that. It's downright cowardly."

"This doesn't concern you," she hissed, the hair on her tail bristling.

"Yeah, it does. You said you wanted to repay me for saving your life, and running away isn't a solution," he scoffed.

"You don't know what I've been through! Don't go around saying things that will only cause trouble!" she snapped, golden eyes flashing.

"I've traveled through the whole universe practically, with a whole horde of pirates right under my nose. I almost died a few times and I blew up a planet!" Jim recalled. "Don't even go there."

"Did you see you village get pillaged and burned to the ground? Were you chained to a wall watching, transfixed with terror, as your best friend was tortured and raped? Were you flogged repeatedly and then branded because of someone's obsession?" she shot back. "Don't even go there," she mimicked. "Don't judge my life until you've lived it."

He watched as Rune grabbed a black jacket a bit shorter than her red dress and donned it, slung a satchel over her shoulder, bid Sarah farewell, and walked out the front door. His mouth flapped open and closed a few times, along with his fists.

"I can't stop you, can I?" Sarah asked softly.

"Mom, she said she was going to kill this Overlord guy. What if she dies in the process? I…" he stalled, trying to force back the words climbing up his throat. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if that happened when I had the power to do something about it," he blurted, heat rising to his cheeks.

"Jim…" she started.

"Mom… I have to do this. I have a feeling it's what I should do," he said gently, placing his hands on her shoulders.

"You better go now before you lose her," she said, nodding her head towards the door. He hugged her swiftly and darted outside.

"Ah… our little Jimmy's growing up…" B.E.N. sighed dramatically, clamping his hands together and gazing dreamily off into the distance.

"It certainly seems so, doesn't it?" Sarah agreed.

Rune wound her way through the crowds around the marketplace, ducking and weaving to avoid being hit by passerby and any items they purchased. She had no idea where to begin even looking for the Overlord… or Sedna, to whom she made a promise to find and rescue. She bought a bun filled with a sweet purple paste and sat on a rooftop, eating it idly and waiting for an idea to hit her. Maybe she should buy a ship… okay, maybe more along the lines of a motorized rowboat… but where would she get the money to do that? And where would she get clues as to the Overlord's location? Everything she had ever heard had been some tale spun by a drunken sailor or a creepy fortune teller who was higher than heaven on foreign incense. She only knew that he was real because she had seen him. She had… been touched by him. She could clearly recall his eyes, which they were bluer than the ocean and underneath the harshness and cruelty that there was the slightest fragment of kindness. She remembered his long hair, bleached almost white but brown at the roots and clearly showed that his hair had grown in length recently. She remembered his voice and Sedna's desperate cries as she was tortured and raped…

"Rune!" a voice called, jerking her out of her reverie and nearly making her tumble off the roof. "Rune, I need to talk to you!"

"Jim?" she asked uncertainly, leaning forward and peering into the crowd below.

"Rune!" he called again, trying to make his way through the mobs without shoving people aside. "Where are you?"

"I'm up here, smart one," she sassed. He whirled around and around, completely confused. "On the roof, genius…"

"Come down, I need to talk to you," he repeated.

"Why, so you can lecture me again about your 'grand adventure'?" she drawled. "I'm not interested; I have my own problems that need solving."

"I know, that's what I want to talk to you about," he said. "I… I want to help you."

"Come again?"

"I want to help you get rid of the Overlord. You can't repay your 'debt' if you wander across the universe," he said as he scaled the drainpipe.

"You're that desperate, huh?" she chuckled.

"Yeah…" he grunted as he hauled himself onto the roof. "I'm that desperate. So will you let me help you?"

"Hey it's your life. If you wanna throw it away, who am I to stop you?" she shrugged, crumpling up the pastry wrapping and tossing it into a dumpster on the side of the building they sat on top of. "See? Just like that."

"You know, you're kinda funny," he chuckled, ruffling her hair.

"My crew thought otherwise. Every time I cracked a joke they would roll their eyes and tell me I needed a new hobby," she mumbled.

"Did you get one?" he inquired.

"Nah, nothing really interests me…" she shook her head and smoothed out her hair. "Even Sedna didn't think I'd be a comedienne…"

"You talk about Sedna a lot," he noted.

"She's my best friend," Rune said a bit absently. "She's tall ad has this really shiny and long blond hair and her ears and tail are a really pretty soft white and her eyes are huge and blue and she's absolutely gorgeous… unlike me. Honestly I always was a bit jealous of her."

"I like you just the way you are," Jim muttered.

"Huh?" Rune asked, blushing a vibrant red. Jim's face matched the shade and he quickly hid his face.

"I mean… I was just trying to make you feel better. You seemed so upset when you described her, like she was superior to you…" he babbled.

"Outta the way!" a gruff voice snarled viciously. Rune sucked in a breath quickly and grabbed Jim's wrist, dragging him behind the building's chimney. Carefully, she peeked out from around the side and watched as several men in dark green uniforms stormed through the marketplace, pushing aside anyone in their way. "We be lookin' fer a cat-girl and none of yous better be hidin' her, 'cause the brass don't take kindly to stealing what's his," the leader, a stout man with a shock of age-whitened hair barked.

"Damn, how'd they find me?" she whispered as they marched past and vanished into the crowd.

"Who were those guys?" Jim asked, scooting closer so he could whisper back, lest they overhear them somehow.

"The Overlord's minions," she replied. "The leader has a photographic memory so he can easily spot me. That's why we hid when they passed. I nearly died breaking out of his ship; I do not want to go back there anytime soon."

"Rune…" Jim started. She turned to look at him and he found himself lost in her golden eyes. He could see anxiety, fear, frustration, confusion, anger and something he wasn't familiar with swirling around inside them, and he suddenly ached to erase those emotions from her.

"We better go. We'll take the backstreets and alleys until we reach the inn. I'll leave it to you and the others to arrange transportation. It'd be best if we left Montressor as soon as possible," she said quickly. He couldn't help smirking as her face turned the slightest bit red.

"Hey," he said when her tail hit him in the face.

"Sorry," she grinned sheepishly, looking over her shoulder. "C'mon, before they catch my scent."

They snuck through the dark alleys and dimly lit backstreets, darting across open areas swiftly and as silently as possible. Once Jim stepped on her tail and she yowled in pain, alerting the green uniformed men at least of their existence. He pulled her towards him and crouched behind a stack of boxes and garbage cans, one hand over her mouth and the other firmly around her waist. He let her go only when she bit him, piercing his skin with her teeth and drawing a bit of blood.

"Any idea where you want to go?" he asked eventually.

"Far away from here, at least," she shrugged. "I didn't get past the 'leaving Montressor' part yet."

"Anything yet, Hondo?" the stout officer demanded. A man with spiky sand colored hair stopped sniffing the air and shook his head.

"Nothing sir," he replied, his pointed dog ears lowering in shame. "Her scent is too dispersed to catch onto quickly in this mob."

"Keep at it," he snapped, adjusting his silver-rimmed monocle.

"Yes Mr. Gooch," he muttered. A few moments later, he caught whiff of something. "Over there, over there!" he yapped, bouncing up and down like a child. "I can smell her over there!"

"Forward men," Mr. Gooch ordered. They cautiously approached the damaged labs that Delbert and Amelia had evacuated until it could be rebuilt.

"She was here," Hondo giggled. "She was here, she was here; she was all over this building!"

"Not anymore, though," an officer with jet black hair said apathetically. "Her scent has faded, meaning she hasn't been here in at least twelve hours."

"You're such a party pooper, Magnus!" Hondo whined. "I know she's not here now, but she was and that's something!"

"What will we tell the brass?" Magnus inquired dryly, his voice scraping against his throat.

"We'll tell the Overlord that we're closer than we were yesterday. Move out! We go to the next planet," Gooch commanded.

"But… sir…" Hondo started.

"We move out," Gooch enunciated, grabbing Hondo's collar and glaring into his eyes. Hondo whimpered and nodded.

"You got a ship?!" Rune exclaimed.

"Oh, we just had some money saved up. Besides, Jim requested it," Amelia replied. "I think he likes you."

"I do not!" he replied hotly. "…well, a little I guess…" he added.

"I'm coming too!" B.E.N. announced.

"Huh?" she asked.

"Oh please!" he begged, throwing himself at her feet. "Please! It'll be so cool to go on another adventure!"

"It's not going to be an adventure!" Jim snapped.

"Then what is it?" Delbert questioned.

"An assassination," Rune replied dully. "I told you I was going to kill him and I still plan to. It's also a way to avoid getting innocents involved. I don't want any harm to befall you."

"Right! I propose we leave tomorrow morning!" B.E.N. decided.

"We leave as soon as possible, preferably tonight," Rune interjected.

"Why so soon?" Amelia asked.

"The Overlord is looking for me," she replied bluntly.

"We encountered some goons of his in town. They were looking for her," Jim clarified.

"Sarah, take care of the kids for us, okay?" Delbert said to Sarah, who stood by listening to the conversation.

"You're going too?" she asked, slightly shocked. "Why?"

"Well, to be completely honest…" he started, "Rune is by far the most fascinating humanoid alien I've met to date. You know no one's ever encountered a native from Nekona Minor before. Outside the home planet, that is. Besides, it's practically at the edge of the galaxy! It takes several years to get there, even on the fastest ships."

"You're going to use it as a research opportunity?" Sarah demanded.

"What kind of ship did you get?" Rune inquired eagerly.

"Nothing extravagant. I figured that considering the situation, we should be as inconspicuous as possible. Jim, I talked to the academy and they've agreed to let you take a vacation from your studies. You have approximately a month and a half before your excursion will be dubbed 'unexcused'. Is that clear?" Amelia said sharply.

"Yes, ma'am," he drolled. Saying that made it seem like he was getting ready to search for Treasure Planet all over again.

"I'm driving," Rune stated.

"I'm the captain, I bought the ship; I'm driving," Amelia retorted fiercely.

"It's my mission we're going on," Rune hissed.

"I'm older," she replied snootily.

"Yeah, well, I'm cuter," Rune brushed her hair over her shoulders and batted her eyelashes.

"That's completely irrelevant though I have to agree," B.E.N. nodded.

"How'd you escape from the Overlord?" Jim asked as they swiftly made preparations to depart.

"Oh, some guy whose name was Hawkins helped me," she replied nonchalantly. Jim nearly choked on his breath.

o0o

Á La Bella Étoile: end chapter 2

A/N: how do you all like the story so far? I'm really enjoying it, though I seen to have a weird fascination with naming my characters 'Rune'… anyways, I'll draw up this 'Rune' and post her to my site soon. It'll be fairly easy to tell cat-girl Rune apart from pink-haired Rune, and I just explained that. Anyways, TP Rune has black hair and cat ears. Demon Rune is all pink like bubble-gum.

R&R pretty please!!

Until chapter 3…