Miana laid on her bed, listening to the whirl of the engines. Beanie laid on the floor, curled up by the door. He stayed silent and surprisingly unenergized for most of the day. Unwilling, he chose not to explore or lay in the control room. No, he chose to stay by her side and despite being far from her reach, he gave her comfort.
Irritated, by herself and by Abba, Miana got up from her position. She paced around the room, unable to quite focus on one thing as many came filtering into her head. It was like all 7 billion people of Earth came with her and stuck themselves in her mind. Instead of taking turns, they shouted out everything at her, drowning others out from time to time. They let her know of every flaw, questionable act, and judgmental critic about her.
"This is ridiculous!" Kicking at her bag, the swords slid from their positions. Without missing a beat, Miana grabbed them by their hilts and took her stance.
Twirling around to dance with a partner only she could see, she made her way back forth through the room. At times she'd slice and dice a weaker opponent, at others, she'd be dodging and twisting out the grapples of a brute.
Never missing the tempo of her own song, she jumped away from the invisible who were after her. Landing on just one foot, Miana curled the other around before shooting up and out to smack her opponent across the face. Gracefully, she managed to roll away before standing up, swords blazing their keen sharpness to cut anyone foolish enough to get too close.
She no longer felt like she was in her room or even on the ship. The dojo came to mind but instead of the friendly Master and his students, Miana found herself faced with faceless foes wearing black. Skillful ninjas of the feudal age came out of the woodwork, all surrounding her with fearsome numbers.
Miana did not back down, no, she twirled her swords before resting them at her side. No fancy movement, no remark, not even tensing for the battle. No, she waited with perfect patience. One that paid off as they charged in swarming darkness.
Catching the first few by her blade, she could feel the hot sweat of their bodies coming to push on her like an inevitable sandstorm. They would inevitably crush her. No doubt came across Miana's mind, neither did fear nor worry.
Pushing back, she flipped away, landing on one and cutting down the first who charged. The bodies piled like that, forcing her to continue to move around, needing more space. Her blades became extensions of her arms and for a moment, she felt like a dancer on stage. Her arms would gracefully extend out before tucking back in, ready for the arc and graceful jump of a gazelle.
She landed down, panting, one sister sword clanging against the metal floors she now kneeled on. Her enemy before, the very last of the horde, stood for only a moment before he too fell away. Miana opened her eyes, not realizing she had closed them to begin with and swayed into a stand.
The sister sword who had cut him down still pointed straight out in front of her, gleaming under the low lights. Its other half rested behind her, guarding her vulnerable back.
Taking in her surroundings, Miana noticed the parts of the walls and floors that had small slices into the delicate craftsmanship. The frame of the bed had even suffered a bit from her craziness. She must have bumped into it as she felt a few bruises forming on her legs.
Beanie, however, laid undisturbed from his perch by the door. He watched keenly as if actually interested before suddenly turning away in a bored fashion.
Huffing, Miana threw her swords down, ignoring the protest they made as they clanged with the floor. She pulled at her hair in frustration, kicking her bag once again before falling face-first onto the bed. Well, she tried, but because it was still higher than her hips, she hit the side and slid to the floor.
Unbothered, Miana leaned into it like she accepted her awkward position of failure. Eventually, she slid to the cold, hard floor that hummed under her cheek. She crawled to her bag and grabbed the tablet given to her by Night, the big, black brute of a warrior. Inside, the device held lots of information, including translations from Yautja to English.
Miana snuggled up to Beanie by the door, dragging a few furs with her to sit on. The tablet came to life with just the slightest push of a button. Words, both foreign and familiar, flashed across the screen. She tried to navigate through it, finding it difficult at first but after a few wrong buttons, she managed to get the hang of it.
The door behind her swished open suddenly, startling both Beanie and her. Her dog jumped from his perch, barking in surprise.
Abba stood on the other side, taking in the damage of the room before looking down to where she sat. He clicked curiously before, shaking it off.
"I need to land the ship. You must stay here until I return. Do not leave unless under life-threatening obligations. Do you understand?" When Miana just blinked at him, he wondered if he had spoken to fast.
"Fine, whatever." Just like that, she turned back to the tablet.
Abba almost felt the need to reach out and understand her negatory mood to him, but he pulled back and left her alone. He did not need her explanations and he did not need to explain himself.
Left alone, Miana refocused on the work in front of her. It didn't last long before she set it aside, no longer focused. She listened to the engines change their direction and felt the thrusters come to life. A vibrate rocked through the ship and to her bones. Beanie whined, not liking the change in pace.
The outer door soon shut, announcing Abba's departure.
Miana quickly left her room and Beanie curiously followed. She made sure he wasn't in his room before heading to the control room. Navigating the controls were a lot harder than she thought.
Thankfully, Beanie grabbed the tablet as if already knowing her dilemma.
"Good boy!" Miana patted his head and took the tablet. It made things much easier.
Abba had received a message most recently, just before he had come to her room. While she didn't understand every single sentence, Miana did manage to get the gist of his new assignment. Hunting a bad blood.
She pulled away, suddenly feeling as if she crossed a line of sorts. Intruding into something classified-looking put her on edge. Miana stood from the chair and searched the ship once more but Abba was not aboard. He truly had left.
Returning, she exited out of his messages, hoping he wouldn't be able to notice her intrusion.
To keep her mind off of things, she used the tablet to understand the rest of the controls. Miana practiced different protocols she read about like if the thrusters went out or basic evasive maneuvers. She couldn't physically practice without tipping off Abba and anything else on the planet.
It didn't take long before Abba returned. He didn't immediately come to the control room. In fact, Miana must have been sitting there for several hours before he returned. The minute he walked in, she could tell that he must have cleaned the skull, washed up and bandaged himself.
Some gauze wrapped around his bicep, armor removed to reveal the pale tones of his skin, and a loincloth more noticeably used when casually lounging around rather than the protective metal piece used for hunting.
His uptight demeanor had all but vanished and rather than walk with confident, long strides suited for his ranking, he ambled into the room.
Abba looked at her sitting in the co-pilot seat with the tablet guiding her. Purring in some kind of emotion she couldn't detect, he came to rest a reassuring hand on her head.
Not quite ready to be in a forgiving mood, or give in so easily, Miana shooed his hand away and turned away with a huff. Never dropping his purr, he greeted Beanie and sat in his chair. He fired the thrusters and set them back into space.
No one made a sound, excluding his purring that kept beat with engines. Once out into the atmosphere, he set them back out into hyperdrive, passing stars in a blur.
Gently, he reached over and rubbed his thumb on her cheek. His purring had made her sleepy and she readily dozed in the chair unknowingly. Miana barely felt herself being lifted and carried away or being laid into the soft furs of her bed, being covered with a spare one from the many drawers. Something a human would do as no Yautja ever felt the need for a blanket.
Beanie snuggled next to her, joining her for nap time. A dip in the bed leaned them into an odd angle but Miana just laid herself onto Beanie's belly for a pillow.
A hand came to rest on her head, soothing circles making her fall into a siesta. The hand lingered, petting her hair and letting the purr vibrate into her body. From time to time, it would scratch at her scalp before returning to the soothing circles.
How long this hand stayed there, no one could say for sure. But, when Miana woke again, she didn't feel the hand on her head or the rumbling of engines deep in the core of the ship.
Silence reigned.