I do not own or claim to own any of the characters from the show Cowboy Bebop.
Song credits for Destination Unknown go to Missing Persons.
Thank you for the nice reviews!
I had a hard time deciding on how to write this chapter. I tried to write it kind of child like, the way Ed talks on the series. But it just didn't seem right. I guess the angle I ended up using is Ed acting a little more grown up. She is displaying the habits she picked up from everyone. So the writing is going to be just like the other chapters with Ed's actions and dialog being just a tad more grown up than the show. I emphasize the word "tad". I'm saying that she's really 13 or 14 but acts a little childish in my story. Also if your actually reading this poor attempt at a story, you might want to give a listen to the actual song I use. It's so truly Ed.
Life is so strange
When you don't know
How can you tell
Where your going to?
The redtail faded away into the distance and then twinkled out like a shooting star. 'Faye-Faye is gone' Ed blinked and then turned to Ein. She lifted up her right hand and stared at the pinwheel Faye had given her. She was going to miss Faye. Yeah sure she wasn't always nice to Ed, but she provided Ed with a little more insight and support on being of the female gender than Spike and Jet could. If it wasn't for Faye, Ed never would have gotten the feminine supplies that she so desperately needed on a monthly basis. Her mind zoomed back to the unmasked look of horror Spike had given her when she had asked him once to go and get her some tampons. If they had been planet side she would have done it herself. Faye had been out on one of her benders and left Ed with nothing to use. Although to this day she wasn't sure if Spike was horrified at the fact that she had asked him, or if it was the fact that she was actually old enough to need them. It seemed as though everyone thought of her as an eight year old or something. Just because she acted silly didn't mean she wasn't capable of puberty, did it? Obviously mother nature hadn't thought so. She let a small smile form on her face and then thought back to Faye's last words. She was right, Ed did have some where that she belonged. Her father had left her behind though. Edward didn't know where he had gone to. She figured that if she tracked the largest meteor showers she could probably catch up. Taking one last glimpse at the sky, Ed made up her mind. She was going to go and find her father.
Something could change
And then you won't know
Heading into the ship for her belongs, which weren't much, Ed happened upon Spike sitting on the couch. He looked like shit, her father had fucked him up pretty good. A smirk appeared on her face as she remembered the days events. She really shouldn't laugh, but it was so funny to see her father kick Spike's ass. That's why she let her dad work him over a bit before intervening. She had nothing against Spike, it was Spike's mightier than thou attitude. When it came down to it, anyone in general with that attitude in life needed a good reality check once in a while. You know to keep their head swelling to a minimum. Spike's tended to inhibit him from getting through the door way at times. It was either that or his hair. On second thought, she was one to talk. Her hair was only two sizes away from Spike-ness. But hey, she was only a child, she could still get away with it. Judging by the fact that he wasn't doing cartwheels around the room meant that he obviously didn't know about Faye's departure and if she had it her way, he wouldn't know about hers until she was long gone. Ed hated goodbyes. As she approached Spike he looked up at her with a sad look on his face. 'Probably a bruised ego' Ed assumed. She felt sorry for him, so she gave him her pinwheel. That way he could remember her and Faye at the same time. He took it from her and just stared at it. 'Poor pathetic Spike-person' she shook her head and looked down at Ein for a moment then remembered what she was doing in the first place. Ed had a short attention span so she often forgot what she was doing . Especially when she got distracted by too many things at once. But hey, they say that Einstein couldn't boil water.
After all of her things were gathered, Ed decided to leave a note so that Jet wouldn't worry. She didn't have the heart to look at him before she left. He was good to her and seeing his face as she got ready to leave would only stop her progress. Not being your average girl, she couldn't just leave your average note. Feeling the need to do something Ed-centric, she dug around the hanger for something useful. Rummaging through a box she found a can of touch up paint for the swordfish. Spinning the can in her hand to see the label, she noticed it read "magnificent melon" 'and Spike-person says that it's red' rolling her eyes at Spike's apparent color blindness she went out onto the deck. About ten minutes later she stood on the deck proud of herself and of her biggest trademark smiley to date, if you didn't count the one she had MPU make. Conveniently depicted in permanent paint. 'That should get their attention'. With that out of the way, she tossed the can back into the hanger and stopped to give the BeBop one last look. Grabbing her back pack and her tomato, she began to walk in the opposite direction of the ship.
A few minutes into her journey something caught her attention. As she looked back at her former home she could hear the sound of barking getting louder. She squinted and sure enough there was Ein running as fast as his stubby little legs would go. Once he had caught up to her she let him catch his doggy breath before she began to scold him. "No Ein, you belong here" receiving a whine in response she continued "go back to the ship". The dog wouldn't hear any of it. "Ed might never be coming back" The dog still wouldn't budge. The little girl bent down and looked at her best friend. "do you want to come with Ed?" Being the incredible genius that he was, Ein nodded his head in agreement. A large smile formed on Ed's face and she turned facing her previous direction. With out another word, child and dog started the long trek to civilization. Ein stole one last glimpse of the BeBop before it disappeared over the horizon.
(ask yourself) Where do we go from here?
It seems so all too near
Just as far beyond as I can see
I still don't know what this all means to me
It had been three days since Ed and Ein had left the ship and still no sign of her father. They had sought shelter in different abandoned buildings along the way. She was tired and hungry. Having no money meant that this was going to be the case for a while. Ed hated to admit it to herself, but her dad obviously really didn't care about her as much as he thought he did. As much as she thought he did for that matter. Even with her never ending adolescent optimism, she was getting worn down. This was Ed's worst wake up call yet. The call that reminded her that life wasn't all puppies and flowers. This was the side of life that her adult shipmates dwelled on. Ed didn't like this part of life. Yeah, she knew it existed, but she tried to ignore it as much as possible. She was a kid for Christ sakes, this wasn't the kind of reality that a kid should have to deal with. Even though at times she thought that she was the smartest human on the ship. Without her Spike would still be kicking the computer to get information out of it. Faye would still be yelling at Spike to hurry up and get it done, and Jet would be still screaming at them to grow up. So in retrospect, Ed was probably the most realistic one on the ship. But this was different, this wasn't really a reality check. This was more of a feeling of not being needed. Her father didn't need her technical advice like the Bebop had. What it all boiled down to in the end was rejection and rejection sucked in a big way. Especially when it was rejection from your own flesh and blood. What made it worse was the fact that her flesh and blood preferred mapping meteors to his own daughters company. 'What an asshole' was Ed's only opinion at the moment. Even Spike had been more fatherly.
I don't know where to go
I don't know what to do
And I don't even know the time of day
I guess it doesn't matter anyway
While laying on her back and looking at the sky, she decided that they should get going soon. The sun was starting to set and they still had to find a place to stay for the night. Letting out a tired sigh she pulled herself off of the ground and gathered her things. She gently nudged Ein from his nap and strapped on her pack. The two lost souls trudged their way across the field they were just resting in towards the highway. Ed hoped to maybe find some loose change on the road. Her stomach ached and her feet were sore. At this rate she wasn't going to make much farther. She fought back the tears that threatened to come. They wouldn't do her any good. You couldn't eat them. Ed had tried eating grass along side Ein, but it wasn't very filling. ' It needs garlic'. She needed some sugar or something. Something to power her through another day. Feeling the need to rest yet again, Ed stopped in her tracks and watched the passing traffic. Ein sat down next to her feet and looked up at his sad companion. The cars whizzed by kicking up dust and debris into Ed's face. This was reality all right and reality apparently wasn't going to be making friends anytime soon with Ed. 'Reality bites!'.
Life is so strange
Destination unknown
When you don't know
You're destination
Something could change
It's unknown
And then you won't know
Destination unknown
Resisting the urge to throw herself in front of the next moving car, Ed stood up and placed her tomato back on her head. Getting ready to continue her journey, she decided that they should cross the street. She waited for the cars to pass before stepping foot in the breakdown lane. Preparing to make a run for it across the busy highway she heard a god awful noise at an excruciatingly high volume. Pausing to find the source of the disturbance, she directed her attention up the road. Coming over the horizon was what looked like one of the first cars every built. It was apparently traveling at a high rate of speed as well. Ed absently noted that from afar, it was sort of the same color as Spike's ship. Just when Ed was about to slip into one of those flashback sequences you see in old movies at the thought of Spike and all things BeBop, she was snapped into the present by the squeal of brakes. Closing her eyes she patiently waited for the impact 'God, it's Edward, I'll be there soon'.
"Ed?" a familiar voice shouted over the racket of the cars radio, apparently that hideous sound was meant to be music. Ed opened her eyes slowly to see the owner of the voice. The occupant of the Model T/swordfish mobile thing looked like Faye. It couldn't of been Faye, could it? Ed farted just to make sure she wasn't dreaming. Ein sniffed into the air in the direction of Ed's outburst of sorts, no she wasn't dreaming. "Faye-Faye" she squealed "you found Edward!". The dog did his little circle dance and barked for dramatic effect. "What are you doing out here?" Faye questioned. Ed and Ein both simultaneously lowered their heads as if they had just been punished. "Father-person is a dead beat dad?" exclaimed Edward. Ein whined as if it would get the point across any better. Ed had to give him an A for effort. After what seemed like an eternity Faye finally turned down the radio to a more tolerable volume and asked Ed, "do you want a ride?" A ride, a ride, did Edward want a ride out of the shit hole of a country side? What was Faye on, crack? Damn skippy she wanted a ride! 'Wait' chiding herself from almost blowing her cover 'remember to play the poor defenseless kid angle!' " Oh yes Faye-Faye" Ed replied with her best friend barking in delight at her feet. Faye smiled and unlocked the passenger side door for Ed. It would be nice actually riding inside of the car instead of the trunk this time around. After everyone was in their appropriate seats, Faye cranked the radio once more and gunned the car back down the highway. She threw a few candy bars and some drinks into the back seat for her weary passengers.
When will my time come?
Has it all been said and done?
Once Ed had inhaled her first meal since leaving the ship, she noticed a troll like doll riding shot gun on the dashboard. It was kind of dressed like Spike, it even had mismatched brown eyes. Upon further inspection, it also had a toy gun and a cigarette in it's hands. "Faye-Faye has a Spike-person doll!" the red headed child screamed to Faye over the radio. Faye just smiled back at her in the rear view mirror. Ed then turned her attention back to Ein, who was attempting to get his head out of the window Ed had rolled down slightly. She smiled and rolled the window down enough for the both of them to hang their heads out. Ed didn't know where Faye was headed and she really didn't care. All she knew was that she would stay with Faye until she either kicked her out of the car, or when Ed felt it was time to move on.
I know I'll leave when it's my time to go
Til' then I'll carry on with what I know
Life is so strange
Destination unknown
When you don't know
Your destination
Something could change
It's unknown
And then you won't know
Destination unknown
Life is so strange (life is so strange)
Life is so strange (life is so strange)
I know it was kind of rushed, but I wanted to get this out while most of it was still fresh in my head. I find when I wait too long in between chapters, I tend to forget what I wrote. Also if Ed's dialog is off from the original end of hard luck women, it's because I was just too lazy to put the dvd in and write down what she said. Sorry! This will be the last chapter dealing with the original end of the series. Even though it was wonderfully done, I some how feel like I got robbed at the end. So, I'll just change it for my own pleasure.
