I sat on the fence made out of stone, letting the wind breeze through my hair while the sun shone just right to give me enough light to let me keep reading my book. It was an interesting book about formal leaders of Marcadia that my father had given me to browse. He hadn't expected me to fully read it, but this was my fifth time doing so. It was an interesting book and all these people that had been in power... It was very amazing and I could only wish I could stand along with them one day.
The clouds began playing around in the sky, playing hide and seek with the sun and preventing me the perfect lighting. I huffed lightly and jumped off the fence while holding on to the book as tightly as I could. It was something I didn't want to lose or get dirty.
I held the book behind my back, watching the scenery as I headed back for the house dad and I lived in. He was a big man on this planet. Well, on this galaxy, to be specific. I was so proud of him and I only wished that he was proud of him. He was a very good father and I loved him dearly, but he was often quite busy.
Once I got closer to the building of my destination, I noticed a ship had parked near the entrance. I huffed again, wondering who would park like that. Once I noticed and recognized the symbol, I rolled my eyes. Of course, Captain Qwark would. And he could. He didn't care what others said. I haven't met him that many times, but I could tell he had quite a lot of charisma. I don't know how reliable he truly is and how great he is in reality, but my father sure liked him and his work. He always said that Captain Qwark was a true super hero. Heh, well, perhaps.
I got closer to the ship and inspected it with a smile. It wasn't that gorgeous, but it seemed reliable. It would definitely need some work, though. If outside the ship was this messy, with the paint ripping off and rust showing here and there, who knows what the inside would look like.
With a snicker, I made it to the front, the entrance of the ship and the door had been left open. It lay against the ground like a bridge and there was someone sitting on top of it. He was leaning his arms against his knees, watching the building me and dad lived in. He seemed pretty happy about it.
"Hi." I greeted and instantly got his attention. He looked at me a little confused, as if he had never seen anything like me before. Not like I looked like anything too special. "I have never seen you before." I said, trying to get him to continue the conversation.
"That's because this is my second time being here." He replied with a shy smile. I walked closer to him, stopping next to the door and placing my hand on it.
"Around this neighborhood?" I giggled and he laughed.
"Nah, on this planet." His answer surprised me, but since he was probably here with the ship, it was no wonder. I watched him curiously while he did the same.
"Are you with Captain Qwark?" I asked.
"Kinda." He answered, his tail slowly swinging side to side. Now that I got a better look at him, I noticed he was not that familiar looking. Not just generally, but his race; I couldn't recognize it. "What are you doing here?" He then asked, which got me off guard just a little. An awkward laugh came out of my throat that I failed keeping in.
"I live here." I tried my best forming a smile, but I could feel it came out all wrong. This was just going to be like other times. "I'm the president's daughter." I said and he gave me a strange look. He was not really surprised or astounded. He acted like it was completely normal.
"Must be nice. To live with your dad." He smiled like he had no care in the world. I just let out a soft chuckle and walked over to him and sat down next to him.
"Yes. He is a good father." I said, quite happy that I got to talk to another person around my age. "Ah, I'm sorry..." I laughed in an awkward manner, again. "My manners are just all over the place today." I raised my hand towards him. "My name is Sasha."
He grinned, raising his hand and taking a firm hold of mine, giving me a rather strong hand shake. "I'm Ratchet."
"Hey, Ratchet..." I began, giving another weird laugh. "I don't want to sound offensive or anything, but... What exactly are you? I have never seen... Well..."
"I'm a lombax." He chuckled, waving his feet a little. "What are you?"
"I'm a cazar." We both nodded and shared a quiet laugh. This was certainly weird. "So, you travel with Captain Qwark, huh? Or what did you mean with 'kinda'?" I asked, not wanting our conversation to fall into an awkward silence. I truly hated those.
"Well, he certainly is around, but he doesn't care for me." Ratchet laughed as if he didn't care himself. "There's Al and Helga... Al's kinda fun, he let's me play holovid games." He explained as his grin grew, only to grimace right after. "Helga on the other hand... She scares me and she hates me." Again, he began to grin. "But I hate her back, so there!"
His explanation was interesting, but not that self-explanatory. "So why are you with them?"
He looked down with such a soft smile. It was so true and so happy. He looked back up to me and said: "'Cause I need my dad." A weird kind of chuckle escaped from him that I couldn't understand. Even the sentence didn't make much sense when compared to his previous explanation. But I just decided to let it go.
"Is your father a good man?" I asked, oblivious to his odd laughter.
"Yeah." Ratchet said, laughing, then rolling his eyes. "Of course, he lectures a lot." He shook his head as he looked at me. My expression lit up.
"Mine does that too!" I huffed, giving Ratchet a playful pout. "Always going on about how I act way too dangerous!" I then showed him the book I was tightly holding on. "So I try to be a bit more calm. He gave me this book and I do like reading."
My explanation seemed to make Ratchet a little upset. He stared at my book and then forced himself to smile at me. "It must be nice." He turned his attention elsewhere, looking like he was feeling very awkward. I looked down at my book and then my previous words as well as his. I didn't get it, but I did have to try and get him out of that awkward state.
"So, you travel a lot?" My question seemed harmless and he looked more happy about this one. His expression was almost thanking me for some reason. Maybe he really felt awkward about books? Who knows.
"Yeah, it's not that often I get to step on some solid ground." He said as he gently began to wave himself from side to side while watching the presidential house. "It's nice to feel the breeze like this every now and then." He then turned back to me, grinning widely. "I haven't seen that many planets yet, but what I've heard and seen so far, each one is so different! We're going to Rilgar next!" His explanation made me blink. Planet Rilgar? It was the place with the hoverboard races going on, wasn't it?
"Going to see the race?" I asked with a kind smile and he nodded with glee.
"Yup! Skid McMarx is racing, so I gotta see it!" Ratchet's grin only widened. I could only wonder how wide he could grin, it just seemed to keep growing. Unfortunately, I didn't know anything about racing nor about Skid McMarx. Heh, boys. "What about you?" He then asked, but I had been unable to follow.
"What about me?" I tilted my head in confusion.
"Have you ever traveled to other planets before?" He asked more accurately, giving a light chuckle afterwards.
"Ah, no. We usually stay firmly on this planet and even when dad has to travel, I'm usually left behind." I told him and his curious look made me want to continue. "I want to... You know, some day... I want to be a captain of a ship. Then I could go anywhere, anytime." That was my dream. I didn't get to tell it to many people; I told my dad and he shook it off like it was just a phase. But I knew my dream was real and I would make it happen, one day.
"That's cool!" Ratchet cheered, which certainly got my hopes up about my dream. "Maybe I'll be able to fly with you?" He nudged me, laughing playfully.
"Oh yeah? What would be your position?" I sneered, while he just grinned goofily.
"An adventurer. I'll adventure places where no-one in their right minds would go." We both laughed at his words.
"Are you saying you're not in your right mind?" I just had to question him to see what he would answer.
"I guess not." He laughed once again. "I like danger. It can be pretty scary, but I like it. It feels natural to me." He said, which only made me raise my eyebrow in wonder.
"How can danger feel natural to you?" I couldn't understand this boy. He didn't seem any different from other kids I met, but his words and subjects were beyond different. I'd imagine anyway.
"It's something I grew up with. It's just something I got used to and became good at." He looked down with a weak smile, letting out a heavy sigh. "At first I thought it was the worst thing that could happen to me... I was alone and no-one cared that I existed..." He began to explain. "But then I was found by someone. He took me in and wanted to take care of me." He continued and I finally started to realize his situation. I finally understood what he meant by 'I need my dad'. "There has been dangerous situations, even worse so than before." He grabbed onto his shirt and only now I noticed the holes in his clothes, as if something had bitten him. Something huge. "It just feels so much more... Safe. I don't feel so bad about it anymore."
"It's because you're not lonely anymore." I stated with a smile, receiving another curious stare from Ratchet. "You were alone for a long time, I assume. You were surviving, but you didn't know why. You had no reason to." I explained as his eyes grew wider. "Now you do."
He looked away in surprise, slowly beginning to smile as he let the words sink in. "Yeah, you're... Totally right." He said with a laugh that almost sounded like he was choking in it a little bit.
"You're a weird kid, Ratchet." I said and he looked at me like it really came out of blue.
"Why?" This time he raised an eyebrow.
"You just seem like an adult at time." I stated, making him laugh once again.
"Speak for yourself!" He gave me a playful glare while I was a little surprised. It wasn't like this was the first time someone told me I acted like an adult considering my age, but it was still odd hearing it from him. But I smiled; I really smiled. I was happy to share a conversation with someone like him for once.
We both kept laughing until we saw Captain Qwark come out of my home, grinning wider than in his posters, but this one looked a little nasty. I didn't really like the look of it. "Another kid now, huh? Don't tell me Clank picked up a sister for you, Roger!" Qwark said to Ratchet, which made him snarl at him.
"It's Ratchet... And no, this is Sasha. She lives here." Ratchet shortly explained, but Qwark only waved his hand and walked past us into the ship.
"Doesn't matter, I don't really care!" He let out a laugh, which made us both snort. We looked at each other, rolling our eyes. We didn't need to even say it, but we both were thinking the same thing; what a jerk.
"Well, I suppose we'll be leaving soon." Ratchet gave a slightly sad smile as did I. Right when I gained a friend. "I'm sure we'll meet again." He then grinned, raising his right hand to me. I let out a giggle, doing the same and taking a strong grip of his hand.
"We better." We let go and I stood up, grabbing my book and walking down the bridge like door, turning to look at him again. "You, uh..." I started, a little embarrassed. "Are you my friend?" My question made Ratchet laugh as he still sat on the door, his tail wagging from side to side.
"Duh!" He replied, blinking a few times before turning his attention towards the ship. A small robotic figure walked to the entrance, which made Ratchet smile in a way that made me smile when I saw my father. So this was him, huh?
"Ratchet, we are leaving now. You better- Oh. Hello." The robot blinked as he saw me, obviously questioning my presence.
"Hello. I was just having a chat with Ratchet. My name is Sasha." I explained, which made his eyes light up.
"Oh, you are the president's daughter! He had mentioned you a couple of times, but this is the first time I have actually seen you. We never had time to look at any pictures, according to Qwark anyway." The robot chuckled. His words didn't really surprise me. Father never was the kind to show off with any pictures and even when he would want to do that, no-one really cared. "My name is Clank. Pleased to meet you." He continued with a smile.
"Likewise." As I replied, the ship began to hum and I took more steps back. Ratchet climbed on the ship and happily waved his arm at me, forcing me to do the same. Neither of us yelled anything, but we didn't really need to. We'd meet one day, so saying goodbye was silly. The door closed and the ship rose to the skies, soon disappearing in to space.
Chuckling to myself, I turned around and heading in to the house, walking along the long and tall hallways, my steps echoing in the wide space. I headed for my dad's room where he usually sat as he worked. He usually told me not to interrupt him, but maybe he wouldn't be too mad about it now?
I carefully opened the door, peeking inside to see where my dad sitting at his desk and since there was no-one else in the room, I entered. "Hey." I simply said and his attention was instantly forwarded to me.
"Sasha, my girl!" He smiled happily, standing up from his seat and making his way over to me. "My, you look cheerful today. More than usual!" He stated, and I giggled.
"I made a friend today." My answer surprised him and he raised an eyebrow.
"A friend, you say? You will have to tell me about it." He ruffled my hair and offered me his hand, which I gladly took and he lead me to his chair. He sat down and allowed me to sit on his lap. Sometimes he was so busy that he barely had any time to talk to me, so moments like this were really dear to me. "Now, tell me." He insisted with another smile.
"Well, there was this boy on Captain Qwark's ship." I began my surprisingly long tale.