AN: I know I said I didn't know when I'd be able to get this chapter out, but I would still like to apologize for it taking sooo long. Things are tricky right now… And, No, this story is not DEAD… It's simply taken a backseat to my mind's wild operations, hence tricky. But I love this story too much to ever let it just die, so I will write for it and I will post…when I can.

To those of you who are still reading, Thank you…and thank you for your patience and understanding.

Now to the meat: Irot and Edaj cannot psychically speak so I will use '' for them as they speak telepathically…

Last time, Jade and Tori found out that Irot and Edaj are sentient and can speak to them, and in Tori's case has been speaking to her. Here is where that leads…


Holding a set of strange clothes Mrs. Vega inquires about the peculiar attire,

"Tori, whose clothes are these?" The d-mage glances at the dark apparel,

"Jade's. She had a tiny accident with her lunch, so she took a shower here and burrowed some of my clothes." And came up with an incredibly simple and believable lie…unless you actually think about what happened, then it would be more truth than fiction.

"Okay, well here you go." Mrs. Vega hands her daughter the clothes, assuming she'll get them back to their owner with ease.

"That actually reminds me that I have to get my clothes back from her…thanks, mom." Tori smiles before she departs for her room.

"Yeah, sure." Mrs. Vega goes back to her previous task…

Tossing Jade's clothes on her bed, Tori entered the room and waited for Irot to show himself. When he scurried up her and rested on her head she walked over to her mirror and stood there with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face,

"So…were you going to tell me you can talk?" Irot looked into the mirror and let a slow smile play across his lips,

'…Nope.' As the familiar voice floats inside her head her scowl deepens,

"Why?"

'Because I wanted to learn more before I decided to simply blurt out that I can speak to you telepathically.' The stern expression that had been painted on her face fades as she thinks over this excuse,

"…I actually get that, but I'm still angry." Then let's her scowl return. He chuckles,

'I know.'

"Are you going to apologize?" She starts tapping her foot, which causes her to start vibrating and consequently Irot. With his whiskers bobbing against his will he earnestly states,

'I could, but it wouldn't be sincere.' For it really wasn't in his nature to lie to Tori…and wouldn't be in his nature to lie to either Jade or Edaj for that matter.

She grits her teeth as her left eye starts twitching, so he physically sighs before,

'I have no reservations that I should have been more careful and done a better job of planning this out, but I would have done this again if I had the option.'

"…Fine, but you sleep in the closet tonight." She points at the closet he had scurried out of.

'That's cruel.' He pouts, which was rather adorable. But Tori maintains her stern stance,

"You omitted valuable intelligence. That is a breach of trust." Irot drops his head,

'You're right, I'm sorry.' The pout playing on his elongated face only increases. Still not wavering she eyed him warily,

"You cave too easily." Not fully accepting the apology. The pout disappears as he shows his fangs in a wide grin,

'I'm you after all.'

"…Arguing with you is going to be really hard isn't it?" Feeling very much the loser in this discussion, Tori looks up to the small head looking down at her. The owner of said head lets his grin fall more casually,

'It'll make you and Jade seem like toddlers spitting at each other.' She sighs as she drops her head,

"Frag me." He takes the action in stride as he simply leaps off her head to the side, landing on her desk with a gentle 'tink-tink-tink' tapping noise as his claws grace the desk's metal surface. Spinning around, generating more 'tinks', he looks up at her as he sits up.


Jade barely enters the house before her stepmother berates her with a kind,

"Jadie, why don't you wear more of those lighter clothes I saw in the laundry?" Loathing 'Jadie' as the worst form of insult Jade offers as kindly in return as she can,

"Because those belong to my girlfriend." Unfortunately her dearest stepmother doesn't take Jade's bait, instead she thinks that her having a close female friend is a good thing, but wonders,

"Oh, so why do you have them?" Jade smiles to herself, knowing this is a second chance to get her,

"Because I needed to wear them after…" But then she remembers that her stepmother still isn't going to get it unless she makes it painfully blunt…so instead she offers,

"Mine got stained with someone else's lunch, she graciously let me shower and change at her house."

"She seems like a good friend." Her s-mother smiles as she picks up her dog and leaves for the den.

"Yeah, the best." Jade tries to sound sarcastic…but fails when she realizes that Tori is her best friend, 'Epic Fail.'

Trying to wipe from her mind the epitome of a nightmare that is her stepmother Jade enters her room to have a conversation with one, who she hopes is more intelligent than marble. Upon her bed is the one in question, so Jade simply asks,

"I have to ask, why don't you talk to me like Irot talks to Tori?" Edaj lazily lifts her head from her paws as she fills Jade's mind with a sweet yet slightly husky female voice,

'Because they're idiots, and he has no real sense of tact.' She then shakes her head slowly, which garners a rather satisfied grin from Jade,

"Yeah, you're me alright." Edaj smiles with her head tilted to the side,

'I'm glad you approve, otherwise I might have to start talking to all the other humans I'm bound to.' Jade rolls her eyes,

"So there are two Jades?"

'Four if you count your unborn children.' Jade swiftly recalls her previous conversations in Edaj's presence and just a quickly reminds her,

"Imaginary." Edaj shrugs,

'If you say so.' Jade sighs,

"I wonder if this is what Tori meant by annoying?"

'You could ask her.' Edaj offers flatly.

"I don't think that'll be necessary." Jade replies as she walks over to her desk…but is stopped half-way by the next thing to dance through her mind courtesy of the black cat,

'Because I'm fairly certain Irot and I could create a link.' The d-knight looks over to the mini-tigress,

"…Are you talking about…telepathy?" Edaj chuckles,

'And what do you think we're doing right now?' Jade drops her head,

"…So this is what it feels like to talk to me…no wonder people want to skin me." Chuckling a little more the tiger asks,

'…So?' Raising her head Jade grunts,

"Do it." Edaj smiles,

'Okay.'

After a minute of silence Jade thinks loudly,

'Is it active?'

Now laying on her bed Tori sits up sharply as the unmistakable voice of her leathery partner echoes through her mind. Looking about her room she asks,

"Jade?" Jade's answer comes after a brief pause,

'Tori?' Recognizing that the voice isn't in her room but instead in her head just like with Irot and their earlier bout of telepathy, she answers internally,

'Yeah…why are you in my head?' Now sitting on her own bed Jade looks over to a smiling Edaj and answers,

'Irot and Edaj are creating a link for us.' At that Tori immediately looks over to Irot's head popping out of the closet, and sneers,

'Great, something else he didn't tell me.'

'At least yours spoke to you.' Jade offers as she falls back on her bed while keeping an eye on the tiger, who speaks sweetly,

'I had other influences on you, Jade.' Before Jade can ask what the hell she's talking about, Tori cuts her off to inquire about the new voice in her head,

'Is that Edaj?' Her answer doesn't come from Jade as she expected but instead it comes from the new voice,

'And who else would I be, Tori, The Prince of Wales?' The playful tone has Tori sigh,

'…She's definitely you.' Jade response is an eerily similar sigh,

'I'm aware.' Noticing the absence of a supposed talkative voice, Jade asks,

'So, is your chatty friend going to speak?' Her answer comes quickly from the only masculine voice to now be occupying four separate minds,

'Yes, but I was waiting for a more interesting opening.' Tori grunts,

'Sure, now you use tact.' Edaj quips,

'Says his master.' Jade counters,

'Says the mute.' And Irot completes the circle,

'Says the mate.' With Edaj laughing and nodding in agreement. This brings both Tori and Jade to shout, internally,

'We are not mates!' As they sit up and stare at the offending duet, who chuckle as they offer in unison as well,

'Sure, whatever you say.' Sighing Tori maintains her stare on her dragon,

'We've already discussed this.'

'Yes, yet it's still fun.' He offers casually. And is supported by Edaj,

'Indeed.' Exhaling Tori falls back and stares at the ceiling,

'This going to be a long eternity.' Feeling that she never really will get used to this strange life. Feeling much the same way, Jade does the same thing as she agrees wholeheartedly,

'Yep.'

Jade and Tori didn't carry on much of a conversation after that, they preferred to simply let everything digest as they simply laid there staring at their respective ceilings.


Despite their companions' reluctance to continue speaking that didn't stop Edaj and Irot from speaking to each other.

'So, how goes the dream-weaving?' Irot inquires curtly. Unfazed by his direct nature the tiger smiles,

'It's hard to draw out her true self when she falls asleep elsewhere, but I think I laid a pretty fair groundwork. Her fantasies are now as true to me as they can be.' She was rather proud of what she had already accomplished, despite Jade's tendencies to not sleep within range of her mind. He states flatly,

'You are the meticulous one.' And she offers with a sly bite,

'I suppose I do like to plan things out.' Easily catching that she was referring to him speaking to Tori somewhat recklessly, he offers solemnly,

'…She needed me, so I spoke.' He still doesn't regret what he did. Edaj chuckles,

'You two have too big of a heart.' Slyly Irot counters,

'I'm not sure why you're speaking as if you two don't have one just as big.' Not being baited into a petty argument the tigress coolly remarks,

'Because we hid ours, where as you show yours on your sleeve.' Then she muses at the thought of him wearing a shirt…tropical themed.

'Yeah I suppose we do…' The dragon smiles as he looks at the girl on the bed before him, they both have such compassion for the lives of others that he can't help but be glad to be her soul. His emotions are conveyed to the tigress, who herself looks at the girl before her and smiles, feeling very much the same.

They continued for a bit, catching up on each other's lives and events over the past day…since they had been carrying-on like this since Sunday. But ultimately Edaj had fun she needed to tend to within her master's head,


Lady West's time aboard the Jade Empress was not nearly as bad as it could have been, for Captain Oliver and Miss Valentine had heeded Mr. Cole's words and left her be…of course in order to maintain that she hadn't left Valentine's cabin since she entered it. Mr. Cole brought her meals daily and spoke with her on occasion.

'You seem to be holding up well, Lady Weston.' He chuckled a little as he handed her the tray containing some harden bread and a piece of over salted fish. She smiles kindly as she takes the 'food',

'As best I can, given the predicament I find myself in.' Mr. Cole frowns as he looks about the room, that still unnerves him,

'Yes. I'm sorry about that…but at least you had the sense to borrow his name.' He then smiles slyly. Jade could feign stupidity and hope he was bluffing, but the chances were rather high that he wasn't bluffing…and if there was anyone on the ship worth trusting it would be him. So Jade concedes the façade,

'…I suppose it would have been too much for you to not know of Captain Weston's life.' He nods,

'I have served with him for a rather long time.' Given this she wondered,

'Then may I inquire as to why you are betraying him?" One would expect such service to have some modicum of loyalty…even at the lowest level. To her question he smiles,

"You may." This little joke made it abundantly clear to Jade that this man had not only stood before the elite scholars but also crossed wit with them, but she still cast him a feint glare. He laughs,

"But who said I was betraying him?" Before winking and leaving her in the room with a thought, 'He certainly is not what he appears to be.'

9Dread9

Having received the blessing of the princess, Captain Vegaria and her first-mate Mr. Harris return to the Maria Rae. As he boards Mr. Harris announces in a bellow,

'It is done. We leave immediately at the princess's order.' At this many of the many are eager to set sail and claim revenge…but the largest of the pirates steps forward,

'And is she our captain?' He points at the new captain while sneering. Mr. Harris had not the patience for this oaf,

'You heard Weston.' Leveling his tone to dead calm. Snarling the large seaman barks,

'Well, I refuse to follow the orders of one who feeds the sharks with her supper.' Then he laughs heartily, joined by several others. With anger gracing his tone and eyes the first-mate growls,

'You will and love it, Mr. Powers.' Holding his ground the beast of a man points at the girl once more,

'I challenge her for the right to lead me.' Mr. Harris despised this custom and was grateful that Weston could easily defeat any challengers, because it could be a messy and wasteful affair, especially in such a situation. He grits his teeth and offers,

'We have not the time, we shall do this en route.' As he moves off to get the ship sailing before the inevitable brawl. Mr. Powers grins,

'Fine by me, sir.' He shows some respect as he turns to attend to his duty.

Trotting beside Mr. Harris, Vegaria inquires,

'I have to fight him don't I?' Already knowing the answer but hoping that there was even a chance that she wouldn't have to fight the muscle bound brute. In a sigh Mr. Harris informs her of the answer to her fear,

'Yes, ma'am. I'm afraid so.' She drops her head with a sigh, 'Great, I have to defeat that ox.'

9Dread9

Not an hour to sea the main deck is filled with the entire crew standing loosely around Mr. Powers and Captain Vegaria.

Vegaria rolls out of the way as he stomps his boot at her head. Circling around behind him she punches him in the side twice before he swings his arm around. She narrowly ducks in time to keep her head. As she rises she delivers an uppercut to his jaw. He steps back as he shakes his head. Vegaria uses the opportunity to jump on a crate then leap off punching him. He staggers backward catching himself on the railing. Snorting he charges at her. She rolls to the side and springs up after he passes. Delivering several more punches to his back, then leaping back to await his next attack.

The crew starts laughing, where he has failed to land a single hit against her while she has landed at least a dozen on him. Mr. Harris speaks up,

'If she had a sword you'd be dead, Powers.' The crew's laughter increases. He snorts then charges again. This time she throws herself at his legs, tripping him up. Her impact sends him headlong into a few crates with a loud crash. The crew is momentarily shocked, only to laugh twice as hard as before.

He rises from the wreckage shaking off the bits of debris. Standing at his full height he begins laughing hardily. Vega doesn't let down her guard.

'I surrender.' He tosses up his hands as he continues to laugh. One of the others hands him a drink, which he shallows in one gulp. She only relaxes her stance when Mr. Harris approaches with two drinks,

'Excellent work, Captain!' He directs his shout toward Mr. Powers, who grins before shouting back,

'Indeed, Captain!' The rest of the crew all shout in agreement holding up their drinks.

'I think you have a crew, ma'am.' Mr. Harris states smiling, utterly surprised at what this girl was capable of. Nodding she asks,

'Then we can save Lady West with no more distractions?' He shakes his head,

'Unless you wish them.' Though it did feel good to beat-up a bruiser, being somewhat surprised herself at just how good she was, she had a mission to complete,

'I won't.' She states flatly. At that Mr. Harris turns to the crew and shouts,

'Then men! We keep pace to recover the Captain's stolen Lady.' They quickly finish their drinks and move back to their posts. Vega smiles to herself, 'My lady…seems to have a different meaning to me now.'


AN: Jadie…aahahahaha… No wait, I'm sorry, Jade. There's no reason to hurt me…I'll undo itttttttt-aaaaahhhhhhh *author being hurled through wall, violently*.

I'll try to be quicker next time…I hope.

NC: Just Friday…. (No, Ice Cube will not be in it.)

-May Dread watch over you-