A/N: Sorry for the awfully long wait but like I said earlier this isn't exactly at the top of my priority list. I write it whenever it strikes my fancy so… erm yeah. Anyhow, once again, this is not the beta'd chapter so read at your own risk. Though I'm pretty sure you won't find any glaring errors. ^_^;

Enjoy!

"What do you think, Gene?" Jim asked as he observed the auburn-haired girl hand out bowls of stew in the galley as Stalk filled them up for everyone. Unlike most captains, Jim preferred to dine with the rest of his crew instead of eating alone in his cabin.

"She doesn't seem like much of a threat." The alien responded.

"Thought as much," the brunette nodded, watching Sakura walk back towards Stalk to get more bowls. "So how are the language lessons going?"

"So you heard about that, huh?" Gene gave him a sheepish grin, taking his dinner as Sakura handed it to him. "Thank you." He told the girl before turning his attentions back to the captain.

"I am the captain of this ship, what good would I be if I didn't know what my crew is upto?" He grinned.

"Aww, come on man. Do you have to rub it in my face?" the alien whined.

"What?" Jim answered a little too innocently.

"One stupid test. I failed one stupid test… I wonder what I did in my past life to deserve your pompous ass as my commanding officer?"

"Now now Gene, you shouldn't insult your Captain." Jim admonished his best friend in a teasing manner as he took the bowl from Sakura. "Thanks." He nodded at the girl, who beamed brightly, bowing her head in his direction as she answered him in a thickly accented tone. "You welcum Captain-san."

"You are welcome, Sakura," Gene corrected her as the girl straightened.

"Hai." She nodded enthusiastically at Gene with that bright smile still plastered on her face, though her cheeks flamed a little. She turned her attention back to Jim, repeating the motion of bowing towards him once, "You are welcum, Captain-san."

"Err…No problem." He replied, feeling a little overwhelmed by her fervor.

"She's like BEN in that manner," Gene laughed as the jade-eyed girl moved away from their table. "It takes a while to get used to her eagerness but I think she's a sweet kid."

"Hm…" he nodded thoughtfully watching the girl move and bow to the other crew members as she handed out their meals. Reverting his attention back to his friend, Jim dipped his spoon in the bowl. "Still no sign of those friends of hers?"

"Not aboard the ship, no." the alien replied.

"I see." He said, bringing the spoon to his mouth.

-0-

Syaoran's whole body felt as though it had been trampled on by elephants, his limbs stiff and his muscles sore and aching. His body itched slightly due to dried sweat and his throat felt like it was scraped on the inside with sandpaper as swallowed painfully. He licked his lips and discovered that they were dry and cracked, with a bit of blood clotting one split. Through hazy eyes he tried to take in his surroundings and realized he was in a cabin of sorts. The roof and the walls seemed to be made out wooden planks and there was porthole to his right showing a pitch black sky dotted with tiny pinprick like stars.

"Ah an' so deh lad finally awakens," he heard a rather loud voice boom jovially as the door to his cabin shut and a large man strode inside at the same time as Syaoran managed to push himself into a half sitting position. The sheet that had previously been covering his torso spilled into his lap making him realize that someone had taken off his shirt.

"How're ya doin'?" the man asked as he walked closer to Syaoran, the brunette's eyes widened in surprise as he saw the newcomer's right eye give a mechanical whir before turning red. A beam of that color shot out from it, beginning to roam over Syaoran's body as the giant of a man got closer. The amber-eyed teen had the strangest urge to hide under the thin cotton sheet that had previously been covering his body. Thankfully though, the eye returned to normal or rather its previous non-glowy form a couple of seconds later.

"Wherrre am I?" he asked in a scratchy voice, his tone slightly slurred as though drunk.

"Eh?" the man cocked his left brow before scratching his head with his right arm, which happened to be mechanical! "Aye, ya passed out before we boarded deh ship." He muttered, moving towards Syaoran's bedside, picking up a jug of and filling up a metal mug with water. Holding the liquid out for the brunette to take, he grinned. "Yer aboar' deh Jolly Morph an' we're headed out ta someplace ta look fer dat girlfrien' o' yers."

Syaoran who had been drinking the cool liquid rather hungrily, immediately turned red, spraying the water out in shock as he spluttered. "S-Sakura-hime is not my girlfriend."

"Sure she aint," the man laughed heartily, thumping the younger male lightly on the back as he coughed. "Here." He held out a refilled mug for the teen.

"Deh name's Silver," the man introduced himself, "I already know who yeh are t'ough. Syaoran, righ'?"

"Yeah," the teen nodded, looking around for his companions. "Umm… how long have I been sleeping?" he asked, pleased to find that speaking didn't hurt his throat so much now that he had drank some water.

"Ye've been out fer t'ree days." Silver took the mug from his hand and pushed him back into bed when the brunette made an attempt to jump to his feet. "Whoa dere lad!" he warned lightly. "As I was sayin'. Ye've been out fer t'ree days. Bes' not be jumpin' about so soon."

"But Sakura-hime…" Syaoran protested weakly.

"An' ya said she wasn' yer girlfrien'." The man laughed once again, the rumbling sound making his stomach bounce lightly every time he did. Syaoran turned completely red on hearing him say that. "Yer friends are tryin' ta track her down usin' Mokona. We'll set course fer her as soon as we get a direction. Fai said tha' it be bes' if ya stayed in bed fer now."

"But…" he started to say only to find that he was beginning to drift off, exhaustion taking its toll on his body, forcefully sending him back to dreamland.

"Sleep now, lad." He heard the giant say as the door shut behind him.

-0-

Jim shot upright in bed, vaguely wondering what his dream had been about since the sheets had been tangled in his legs from his thrashing about. Whatever it had been, had not been pleasant.

No! the sight of a body falling to the ground with a muted thud, blood pouring from its wounds flashed in his mind's eyes for a second making him stiffen. What the heck had that been?

Shaking his head to clear his mind, Jim lay back down, untangling the sheets and pulling them back over his body as he turned on his side to go back to sleep. Almost fifteen minutes later, after a lot of tossing and turning, Jim let out a frustrated growl as he kicked the sheet off his body and sat back up.

Gazing at the digital alarm clock on his bedside, he noticed that it was only 3:00 a.m. Which meant it would be quite a while before any of the crew woke up. Sighing to himself, he pulled on his shirt before slipping into his casual brown leather jacket. Slipping his boots on his feet, Jim ran a hand through his disheveled hair and got to his feet.

He knew he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep now. Since he was nine years old, he had that problem. If he ever woke up in the middle of the night, going back to sleep was impossible for him. Knowing that it would be useless to try that again, Jim walked or rather staggered lazily towards his door. Peeping outside through the porthole his suspicions were confirmed that apart from one of his crew in the crows-nest keeping night watch, he was the only person awake.

Rubbing a hand over his face, he walked back to his bed, slumping on it as he wondered what he was going to do to pass the time. He had finished with all of his paperwork only yesterday. So he couldn't go and work on that. Suddenly an idea struck him and he sat back up. Walking over to the small cupboard affixed to the wall in one side of the cabin, Jim opened it, his grey-eyed gaze falling on a sleek, metallic board with a small jet like engine at one end.

With a reminiscent grin, he pulled it out, tucking it under an arm as he shut the cupboard with his other. Still grinning widely, he walked out on the deck, resting the board on the side rail. Waving his hand once at the alien in the crows-nest, Jim hopped on, his foot connecting with the small switch that turned on the engine before shooting off in space with a delighted whoop.

A pair of jade-eyes observed him silently from the crack of a cabin door as he disappeared from view.

A/N: At first I wasn't really sure about it but then I realized that it would be really fun to have a scene between Syaoran and Silver. Plus with him overworking himself to track down Sakura, this was the perfect opportunity. Would you like to see something of the sort between Jim and Sakura as well? Don't worry, I won't be pairing those two up since I really don't think it would work out for them. Plus, Sakura belongs to Syaoran (the only exception to this would be her being together with Fai in one of my fics but apart from that, she will always end up with Syaoran.)

Anyhow, did you like it? Hate it? Don't know what to think about it? Your questions, comments and constructive criticism would all be appreciated. I'm sorry if I messed up they way Silver speaks since I'm no pro at pirate-talk. Feel free to point out any mistakes if you find them.

Till next time.

-Nims.