This is a rpg between my friend Charli and I, and she and our friend Jack in Austrailia drew some excellent fanart for it, which can be found (among assorted others) here, http://www.anre.net/samsite/gallery/album49 I play Jack, Charli plays Keiko, and everyone else is NPC.
Jack walked nonchalantly into the blaze of neon colored lights that covered the club in a psychedelic twist of color, seeming to fuse reality and imagination together. He was unmoved by the display of colored lights and thought back to the fields where his greatest beauty lied. He was soon interrupted by a harsh assualt of bass to the ears, but he wouldn't shrink under the attack this time, he had grown accustomed to the fierceness of today's music. How he longed for the sweet songs of his day! Not even the drums of war would produce such a harsh sound. Aku's evil had no doubt influenced such a beat, and one day Jack would be the one to stop it.
This bar reminded him of the rave that he had saved the kids from months ago, but this time it was adults dressed in the strange clothes and with the odd color of hair. This world would never cease to amaze him, he would have never thought adults would be into this sort of thing. Then again, many of his predictions about what people can and cannot do in this world were proven to be wrong. This was not his time, not his place. He was an outsider, exciled here by Aku as punishment for opposing him. But not for long. He would be free of this Aku-infested world yet, it was just a matter of time.
He ignored the looks of the patrons as he made his way thru the crowd to the bar. Very early on he learned to expect them at all times, and his tolerance of them grew dramatically. He sat next to a woman dressed in the same fashion as everyone else, and asked the bar tender for hot water.
As the doors slid open, she looked up at the door nonchalantly. Her dark eyes were shielded from the array of colors by a neon purple visor, and she saw, much to her disbelief, the very man she had sought for so long. White gi, legendary katana...those unmistakable eyes...yes, this was definetly the one. Smiling a bit, she tossed her hair behind her and leaned against the bar, holding her chai tea in one hand. She nodded at the aliens that stood beside her, and set her tea aside, crossing her arms over her chest. Her attire was not out of the ordinary...baggy black bellbottoms hung lowly about her hips, held precariously but tastefully low on her hips, and her top was covered down to her stomach by a small black shirt that bore a simple kanji across the chest. Her arms were bedecked in a loose assortment of bangles, and she smiled a bit as he took a seat beside her.
"Hey there, samurai," she replied, and leaned on one elbow, letting her bracelets dangle carelessly from her wrists. "You're certainly one to dress conspicuously...you must be used to living dangerously..." She smiled faintly in a way that might've reminded some of a certain warrior woman from this samurai's past, and called for the bartender. "Here...let me buy you a drink..."
Jack sweatdropped. He was never good with women, only having two pleasant expierances with them: his friend Keiko from his homeland when they were children, and the CDF sisters in the jet repair shop. Ikra and Josie were evil, and the Scotsman's Wife... let's not say anything about her in case she can somehow hear this. In this kind of place, who knows where her loyalities could lie, and how far she would go to conceal the truth from him. No, it was better to immediately take her as a threat then to have his heart torn again. Still, her smile brought back the memories of long lost summer days where innocence and wonder chased locusts under the protective watch of the kamis of Japan. 'Neveretheless, you don't know what she could be, so it is better to play it safe,' He reminded himself.
"No, thank you ma'am. It is alright, I have it," He said, faltering a bit. Self-consciously, he poured the tea leaves into the cup before adding the water, making sure she didn't pull a trick on him.
"Well...have it your way then," she replied, and offered him one last alluring smile before turning back to her own chai tea. "I was merely offering a bit of my hospitality, but..." She trailed off, and though her back was turned to him, she glanced at him from the corner of her eye. Certainly, someone else...someone less than savory, would notice him soon...and for that ,she was dually prepared.
"HEY! Samurai!" came a coarse, overly masculine voice from the middle of the bar, "Aku's got a lot of money on your head, and I aim to make that googaplex and split it with my buddies and me!" He laughed hideously, and she groaned. They would never learn, would they...
"Gentlemen," she replied, leaning up against the bar in a stance very much like a rogue mercenary, "Such manners...but then, space pirates have no manners...I should know; I've fought many who were in the way of my goal..."
'I'm sorry,' Jack mentally apologized to her. 'I can't trust anyone anymore, not with that bounty over my head.'
"HEY! Samurai!" Called a rough voice from behind.
'Speak of the devil.' He finished his tea with one gulp, left some coins on the countertop, and with a disgusted sigh, spun his seat around so he was facing them. Mentally, he yawned hearing their speech, who hasn't said it before?
For one thing, the woman's was new; while they were roughish brutes, she was a lady. However, Ikra and Josie were ladies too. 'I knew it! She wanted to poison me when she offered me my drink and collect on the money herself. But I'll show her... no one makes a fool out of me.'
The bartender ducked as the men grabbed their guns and opened fire. With lightning quick moves, he got to safety, jumped into the air, and landed with a heel kick straight to the leader's face. He stuck out his sword and said, "Come and get me."
Whoa! He moved like lightening! Hopping up onto the top of the bar as the fight begun, she watched Jack nail the leader with a well-placed kick, then waited until the fight had strayed to the foyer outside. Putting her hands on her hips, she smiled confidently. They would never learn, would they?
"Oi! He went that way!" the wounded leader yelled as he rubbed his swollen, bruised eye. He pointed erratically towards the door, and several of his minions leapt after the nimble samurai, their large clumsey blasters ready for the kill. They burst upon him, aiming their blasters...
She laughed to herself and tossed a few coins to the bartender before hopping nimbly down from the countertop and rushing out a back door where her speeder sat. There were things to take care of...
Jack smirked at the crowd of thugs and brutes that gathered in front of him. With amazing accuracy, he counted 24, the missing one their leader still inside. He could take them, an army of beetle drones would be more of a challenge. The blasters, no matter how up to date, were no match to Jack's speed as he dodged everyone, and the metal provided no defense from Jack's katana cutting thru them like butter. Everything was going fantastic, but Jack was too wrapped up in his fight to detect the growing swarm of fresh bounty hunters eager to take claim to his head behind him.
THe engine revved magnificently; it hadn't taken her *too* long to get used to the unnatural speed of a land speeder. Furrowing her brow a bit, she peeled out of the crowded parking lot and sped off into the night. The wind blew past her ears, ruslting her ebony hair behidn her as she drove closer to the brawl..and she reached behind her, readying her weapon. She strapped it on with an effortless movement of her hand, and grinned to herself.
Perfect.
Meanwhile, the swarm was preparing an ambush...several were creeping stealthily from the shadows as the samrai battled in the neon glow of the lights, unaware that he would soon meet his Fate...
As the orginal gang of bounty hunters lost members as they ran, or never would again, the new one smiled evilly to themselves, waiting for the moment when Jack would be off his gaurd, and Aku's thorn in his side would finally be pulled. The leader was thrown out onto the pavement by angry bar patrons. They didn't need a fight during their one chance a week to relax and let loose. "Kill him!" The leader cheered on his men, though it failed to do anything for them. As the last one fell, Jack shook the sweat from the loose strands of hair that had come to rest against his forehead like a claw.
"NOW!!" The men shouted from behind, and Jack turned to see a mob of men ready and willing to take him down. He resigned himself to his fate and waited for their first move, had not an arm reached out and pulled him to safety onto the back of a speeder. He could hear the curses of the hunters behind, and breathed a sigh of relief.
She sped by and with an agile hand, reached out and nabbed him from the fight. Setting him haphazardly but firmly on the speeder, she zoomed down the crowded street, smiling to herself.
"Quite a close call there, Samurai! You should learn to watch your back a bit more carefully next time!" she called, looking over her shoulder at him. Her dark eyes shined with an unplacable light, and she pushed her hair aside, revealing a long, skillfully slung katana against her back.
Hey! She was the woman who sat next to him in the bar! 'But I though she was a lone wolf mercenary,' as always, he failed to predict this world once more. Her Japanese features astounded him, rarely did he have the privledge to meet one, but the most surprising thing of all was her katana. In an age where technology had taken over, to see a sword was a rare privledge, especially one such as this. Even sheathed, it still radiated the aura of the Japan Jack knew and loved so much. "Thank you for saving me," He said, though he wasn't completely convinced yet she was a friend. "Tell me, what is your name?'
Smiling faintly, she nodded. "No need to thank me, Jack," she replied, and with a sudden jerk of the speeder, she turned the speeder around and began to rush forward, back towards the fray. "As for my name..." she tossed her hair into the wind and reached up, moving her visor away from her eyes briefly. "You may call me Keiko."
Offering a grin, she reached back and pulled the sword from its scabbard, bringing it expertly to bear. "Come now...This isn't any time for pleasantries; we have a mess to clean up! Shall we?"
"Yes," He drew his sword and prepared himself to turn these fools to mincemeat. Figuring her out would have to come later. He was safe, for now.
One of the men laughed cruelly as they came back, "Here they come, fellas! Kill the samurai, but save the biker chick! She's the first of the bounty feast."
All the men chuckled evilly, happy at their leader's announcement.
"Go!" He barked as the bike came close. The men piled around it like a dogfight but Jack and Keiko were expecting them. Swords flew with an air of dance and poise as angry shouts and curses filled the night air. Blood and oil littered the ground, marking the path of the motorcycle. Jack couldn't help but smile as Keiko, she was a great warrior!
Narrowing her eyes as they jeering at her, she sneered at them. Uncouth heathens...how dare they say such things. With a great hiss of steam the bike came to a stop and she leapt without question, somersaulting through the air, blade spinning. Her agile, nimble form twisted elegantly in the old ways of the martial arts, and she came down with her blade tobear, her voice shouting angrily at them in a language that was once thought long dead...
"Take me for a feast, will you?!" she cried, and spun, a deadly dance of knives. "You'll find that I don't taste as sweet to the barbaric, uncouth tongue!"
A blur of black against the neon lights spun about, and blood mingled with oil on her blade ashe finally landed expertly, a few feet from where Jack fought.
Jack sweatdropped watching her. She was amazing! He would love to someday face her in a sparring match, and he wouldn't be surprised if she beat him. It was wonderful to have her as an ally, for he was sure this girl from the future was indeed a friend. Her language certainly rivaled the way she dressed, but it only added more nobilty to her. She was the samurai of the future.
After spinning around, her heeled boots moving amazingly well for their make, she held thesword aloft and saw Jack, looking quite amazed.
And quite oblivious to the mob coming up behind him. Gasping, she stood up fully and leapt.
"Jack, watch yourself!" she cried, and pirouetted in the air, spinning her blade. She landed, and three of the mob fell at her feet. She looked over at Jack now that they stood back to back, and smiled. "You should watch your back more carefully, Samurai," she said with a smile. "Now...let's blow this popsicle stand; what do you say?" she asked with a grin.
Jack shook his head and snapped out of it. He couldn't get distracted in battle, how many times was he taught that?! Especially by a woman, his senseis always said, never get too close to a woman! Dangerous creatures they were! Well this was one dangerous creature he wanted to get to know a lot better. There was something about her that was so alluring, so intoxicating about her. She was beautiful, and had the air about her of both modern women and those of his homeland. It was wonderful!
" What is this 'popsicle stand?' " He asked, still ignorant of much of the world, "But if what you mean is we leave, then yes." He grinned sheepishly.
Hmm. Good point. She had never quite understood the popsicle stand comment either...but, it seemed to apply to the club currently. "The club, Samurai...we're getting out of here," she said with a smile and a wink. "And all that it implies...Go!"
With a cry of defiance in her native language, she leapt forward, and this time, she mixed a few well-placed kicks with her katana swings. Oh, how exhilerating it was to finally fight side by side with the legendary samurai...After so long, she'd finally caught up with him.
Jack smiled in victory as the last of the men went down, leaving only the leader with a black eye that he had nailed earlier. With a confidence in his stride, he knocked the man down to the ground with a punch to the jaw. The man wiped away the blood that now spewed from his lip, glaring at Jack and his raver friend.
Jack placed a geta on his torso and pushed down, eager to hear the man's cry of pain. "Now get this thru your thick head," Jack said harsly, increasing the pressure on the man's chest. "I am not some animal that you can bring down. I am the greatest warrior that ever lived, and no one will ever bring me down." He thrust the hilt of his sword onto the man's head, knocking him out. Jack sheathed his sword, and with a smile said, "Yes, let us blow this popsicle stand!"
Laughing, she nodded and leapt astride her speeder. "Hop on, Jack, and we'll be out of here in no time flat!" She revved the engine smartly and sheathed her blade upon her back, and tossed her hair away from her sweat-sheened face.
She smiled at him as he finished his business, and inwardly sighed. After all these years...Yes, well..this was something she refused to dwell on just yet.
With the hearty laugh of one who conquered, he jumped onto the back of the cycle, held on to Keiko, and smiled wildly as she took off faster then a cheetah. The ground blurred together in a mass of black pavement and the streetlights turned to wild streaks of comets that chased them in their travels. He thought he had died and gone to heaven as her hair flew wildly behind her, but gently licked his face. It was strands of silk that was the crowning glory of such a beautiful woman. How he enjoyed this so... his hands slid from her sides down to connect over her torso, enjoying the closeness.
As the landscape flew past, turning from technology to countryside, she closed her eyes, enjoying the freedom of not having a road to follow...only a goal. Sighing a bit as the wind whipped against her, she became aware of a certain closeness behind her. Adrenaline shot through her system and she jumped in surprise, nearly swerving erratically as she drove. But she caught herself just in time, and remembered the part of herself that, once, would've been comfortable with this...She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against his, smiling...
Then she remembered herself.
"...Oh! Jack; are...er..." she began to sound a bit flustered; the first time she had lost her cool in his presense. "Er...Jack...are you uncomfortable with speeder rides...rest assured I can slow down; you needn't hold on so tightly..."
Jack's face turned a bright red as he loosened his hold on her, placing his hands back on her sides, barely at that, the boy was so nervous. "I... um... sorry about that. I'm perfectly fine with this speed... oh crap." He dropped his head into his hand, kicking himself mentally for what he did. Her hair still flew into his face, and he was happy about that.
She laughed gently and shook her head. "Not to worry; no harm done," she replied, and was quite glad that he couldn't see the rather attractice shade of pink that her ivory face was turning. The sun was beginning to rise now, and the morning light bathed her features, clarifying what had been shrouded in darkness the night previous...
Jack walked nonchalantly into the blaze of neon colored lights that covered the club in a psychedelic twist of color, seeming to fuse reality and imagination together. He was unmoved by the display of colored lights and thought back to the fields where his greatest beauty lied. He was soon interrupted by a harsh assualt of bass to the ears, but he wouldn't shrink under the attack this time, he had grown accustomed to the fierceness of today's music. How he longed for the sweet songs of his day! Not even the drums of war would produce such a harsh sound. Aku's evil had no doubt influenced such a beat, and one day Jack would be the one to stop it.
This bar reminded him of the rave that he had saved the kids from months ago, but this time it was adults dressed in the strange clothes and with the odd color of hair. This world would never cease to amaze him, he would have never thought adults would be into this sort of thing. Then again, many of his predictions about what people can and cannot do in this world were proven to be wrong. This was not his time, not his place. He was an outsider, exciled here by Aku as punishment for opposing him. But not for long. He would be free of this Aku-infested world yet, it was just a matter of time.
He ignored the looks of the patrons as he made his way thru the crowd to the bar. Very early on he learned to expect them at all times, and his tolerance of them grew dramatically. He sat next to a woman dressed in the same fashion as everyone else, and asked the bar tender for hot water.
As the doors slid open, she looked up at the door nonchalantly. Her dark eyes were shielded from the array of colors by a neon purple visor, and she saw, much to her disbelief, the very man she had sought for so long. White gi, legendary katana...those unmistakable eyes...yes, this was definetly the one. Smiling a bit, she tossed her hair behind her and leaned against the bar, holding her chai tea in one hand. She nodded at the aliens that stood beside her, and set her tea aside, crossing her arms over her chest. Her attire was not out of the ordinary...baggy black bellbottoms hung lowly about her hips, held precariously but tastefully low on her hips, and her top was covered down to her stomach by a small black shirt that bore a simple kanji across the chest. Her arms were bedecked in a loose assortment of bangles, and she smiled a bit as he took a seat beside her.
"Hey there, samurai," she replied, and leaned on one elbow, letting her bracelets dangle carelessly from her wrists. "You're certainly one to dress conspicuously...you must be used to living dangerously..." She smiled faintly in a way that might've reminded some of a certain warrior woman from this samurai's past, and called for the bartender. "Here...let me buy you a drink..."
Jack sweatdropped. He was never good with women, only having two pleasant expierances with them: his friend Keiko from his homeland when they were children, and the CDF sisters in the jet repair shop. Ikra and Josie were evil, and the Scotsman's Wife... let's not say anything about her in case she can somehow hear this. In this kind of place, who knows where her loyalities could lie, and how far she would go to conceal the truth from him. No, it was better to immediately take her as a threat then to have his heart torn again. Still, her smile brought back the memories of long lost summer days where innocence and wonder chased locusts under the protective watch of the kamis of Japan. 'Neveretheless, you don't know what she could be, so it is better to play it safe,' He reminded himself.
"No, thank you ma'am. It is alright, I have it," He said, faltering a bit. Self-consciously, he poured the tea leaves into the cup before adding the water, making sure she didn't pull a trick on him.
"Well...have it your way then," she replied, and offered him one last alluring smile before turning back to her own chai tea. "I was merely offering a bit of my hospitality, but..." She trailed off, and though her back was turned to him, she glanced at him from the corner of her eye. Certainly, someone else...someone less than savory, would notice him soon...and for that ,she was dually prepared.
"HEY! Samurai!" came a coarse, overly masculine voice from the middle of the bar, "Aku's got a lot of money on your head, and I aim to make that googaplex and split it with my buddies and me!" He laughed hideously, and she groaned. They would never learn, would they...
"Gentlemen," she replied, leaning up against the bar in a stance very much like a rogue mercenary, "Such manners...but then, space pirates have no manners...I should know; I've fought many who were in the way of my goal..."
'I'm sorry,' Jack mentally apologized to her. 'I can't trust anyone anymore, not with that bounty over my head.'
"HEY! Samurai!" Called a rough voice from behind.
'Speak of the devil.' He finished his tea with one gulp, left some coins on the countertop, and with a disgusted sigh, spun his seat around so he was facing them. Mentally, he yawned hearing their speech, who hasn't said it before?
For one thing, the woman's was new; while they were roughish brutes, she was a lady. However, Ikra and Josie were ladies too. 'I knew it! She wanted to poison me when she offered me my drink and collect on the money herself. But I'll show her... no one makes a fool out of me.'
The bartender ducked as the men grabbed their guns and opened fire. With lightning quick moves, he got to safety, jumped into the air, and landed with a heel kick straight to the leader's face. He stuck out his sword and said, "Come and get me."
Whoa! He moved like lightening! Hopping up onto the top of the bar as the fight begun, she watched Jack nail the leader with a well-placed kick, then waited until the fight had strayed to the foyer outside. Putting her hands on her hips, she smiled confidently. They would never learn, would they?
"Oi! He went that way!" the wounded leader yelled as he rubbed his swollen, bruised eye. He pointed erratically towards the door, and several of his minions leapt after the nimble samurai, their large clumsey blasters ready for the kill. They burst upon him, aiming their blasters...
She laughed to herself and tossed a few coins to the bartender before hopping nimbly down from the countertop and rushing out a back door where her speeder sat. There were things to take care of...
Jack smirked at the crowd of thugs and brutes that gathered in front of him. With amazing accuracy, he counted 24, the missing one their leader still inside. He could take them, an army of beetle drones would be more of a challenge. The blasters, no matter how up to date, were no match to Jack's speed as he dodged everyone, and the metal provided no defense from Jack's katana cutting thru them like butter. Everything was going fantastic, but Jack was too wrapped up in his fight to detect the growing swarm of fresh bounty hunters eager to take claim to his head behind him.
THe engine revved magnificently; it hadn't taken her *too* long to get used to the unnatural speed of a land speeder. Furrowing her brow a bit, she peeled out of the crowded parking lot and sped off into the night. The wind blew past her ears, ruslting her ebony hair behidn her as she drove closer to the brawl..and she reached behind her, readying her weapon. She strapped it on with an effortless movement of her hand, and grinned to herself.
Perfect.
Meanwhile, the swarm was preparing an ambush...several were creeping stealthily from the shadows as the samrai battled in the neon glow of the lights, unaware that he would soon meet his Fate...
As the orginal gang of bounty hunters lost members as they ran, or never would again, the new one smiled evilly to themselves, waiting for the moment when Jack would be off his gaurd, and Aku's thorn in his side would finally be pulled. The leader was thrown out onto the pavement by angry bar patrons. They didn't need a fight during their one chance a week to relax and let loose. "Kill him!" The leader cheered on his men, though it failed to do anything for them. As the last one fell, Jack shook the sweat from the loose strands of hair that had come to rest against his forehead like a claw.
"NOW!!" The men shouted from behind, and Jack turned to see a mob of men ready and willing to take him down. He resigned himself to his fate and waited for their first move, had not an arm reached out and pulled him to safety onto the back of a speeder. He could hear the curses of the hunters behind, and breathed a sigh of relief.
She sped by and with an agile hand, reached out and nabbed him from the fight. Setting him haphazardly but firmly on the speeder, she zoomed down the crowded street, smiling to herself.
"Quite a close call there, Samurai! You should learn to watch your back a bit more carefully next time!" she called, looking over her shoulder at him. Her dark eyes shined with an unplacable light, and she pushed her hair aside, revealing a long, skillfully slung katana against her back.
Hey! She was the woman who sat next to him in the bar! 'But I though she was a lone wolf mercenary,' as always, he failed to predict this world once more. Her Japanese features astounded him, rarely did he have the privledge to meet one, but the most surprising thing of all was her katana. In an age where technology had taken over, to see a sword was a rare privledge, especially one such as this. Even sheathed, it still radiated the aura of the Japan Jack knew and loved so much. "Thank you for saving me," He said, though he wasn't completely convinced yet she was a friend. "Tell me, what is your name?'
Smiling faintly, she nodded. "No need to thank me, Jack," she replied, and with a sudden jerk of the speeder, she turned the speeder around and began to rush forward, back towards the fray. "As for my name..." she tossed her hair into the wind and reached up, moving her visor away from her eyes briefly. "You may call me Keiko."
Offering a grin, she reached back and pulled the sword from its scabbard, bringing it expertly to bear. "Come now...This isn't any time for pleasantries; we have a mess to clean up! Shall we?"
"Yes," He drew his sword and prepared himself to turn these fools to mincemeat. Figuring her out would have to come later. He was safe, for now.
One of the men laughed cruelly as they came back, "Here they come, fellas! Kill the samurai, but save the biker chick! She's the first of the bounty feast."
All the men chuckled evilly, happy at their leader's announcement.
"Go!" He barked as the bike came close. The men piled around it like a dogfight but Jack and Keiko were expecting them. Swords flew with an air of dance and poise as angry shouts and curses filled the night air. Blood and oil littered the ground, marking the path of the motorcycle. Jack couldn't help but smile as Keiko, she was a great warrior!
Narrowing her eyes as they jeering at her, she sneered at them. Uncouth heathens...how dare they say such things. With a great hiss of steam the bike came to a stop and she leapt without question, somersaulting through the air, blade spinning. Her agile, nimble form twisted elegantly in the old ways of the martial arts, and she came down with her blade tobear, her voice shouting angrily at them in a language that was once thought long dead...
"Take me for a feast, will you?!" she cried, and spun, a deadly dance of knives. "You'll find that I don't taste as sweet to the barbaric, uncouth tongue!"
A blur of black against the neon lights spun about, and blood mingled with oil on her blade ashe finally landed expertly, a few feet from where Jack fought.
Jack sweatdropped watching her. She was amazing! He would love to someday face her in a sparring match, and he wouldn't be surprised if she beat him. It was wonderful to have her as an ally, for he was sure this girl from the future was indeed a friend. Her language certainly rivaled the way she dressed, but it only added more nobilty to her. She was the samurai of the future.
After spinning around, her heeled boots moving amazingly well for their make, she held thesword aloft and saw Jack, looking quite amazed.
And quite oblivious to the mob coming up behind him. Gasping, she stood up fully and leapt.
"Jack, watch yourself!" she cried, and pirouetted in the air, spinning her blade. She landed, and three of the mob fell at her feet. She looked over at Jack now that they stood back to back, and smiled. "You should watch your back more carefully, Samurai," she said with a smile. "Now...let's blow this popsicle stand; what do you say?" she asked with a grin.
Jack shook his head and snapped out of it. He couldn't get distracted in battle, how many times was he taught that?! Especially by a woman, his senseis always said, never get too close to a woman! Dangerous creatures they were! Well this was one dangerous creature he wanted to get to know a lot better. There was something about her that was so alluring, so intoxicating about her. She was beautiful, and had the air about her of both modern women and those of his homeland. It was wonderful!
" What is this 'popsicle stand?' " He asked, still ignorant of much of the world, "But if what you mean is we leave, then yes." He grinned sheepishly.
Hmm. Good point. She had never quite understood the popsicle stand comment either...but, it seemed to apply to the club currently. "The club, Samurai...we're getting out of here," she said with a smile and a wink. "And all that it implies...Go!"
With a cry of defiance in her native language, she leapt forward, and this time, she mixed a few well-placed kicks with her katana swings. Oh, how exhilerating it was to finally fight side by side with the legendary samurai...After so long, she'd finally caught up with him.
Jack smiled in victory as the last of the men went down, leaving only the leader with a black eye that he had nailed earlier. With a confidence in his stride, he knocked the man down to the ground with a punch to the jaw. The man wiped away the blood that now spewed from his lip, glaring at Jack and his raver friend.
Jack placed a geta on his torso and pushed down, eager to hear the man's cry of pain. "Now get this thru your thick head," Jack said harsly, increasing the pressure on the man's chest. "I am not some animal that you can bring down. I am the greatest warrior that ever lived, and no one will ever bring me down." He thrust the hilt of his sword onto the man's head, knocking him out. Jack sheathed his sword, and with a smile said, "Yes, let us blow this popsicle stand!"
Laughing, she nodded and leapt astride her speeder. "Hop on, Jack, and we'll be out of here in no time flat!" She revved the engine smartly and sheathed her blade upon her back, and tossed her hair away from her sweat-sheened face.
She smiled at him as he finished his business, and inwardly sighed. After all these years...Yes, well..this was something she refused to dwell on just yet.
With the hearty laugh of one who conquered, he jumped onto the back of the cycle, held on to Keiko, and smiled wildly as she took off faster then a cheetah. The ground blurred together in a mass of black pavement and the streetlights turned to wild streaks of comets that chased them in their travels. He thought he had died and gone to heaven as her hair flew wildly behind her, but gently licked his face. It was strands of silk that was the crowning glory of such a beautiful woman. How he enjoyed this so... his hands slid from her sides down to connect over her torso, enjoying the closeness.
As the landscape flew past, turning from technology to countryside, she closed her eyes, enjoying the freedom of not having a road to follow...only a goal. Sighing a bit as the wind whipped against her, she became aware of a certain closeness behind her. Adrenaline shot through her system and she jumped in surprise, nearly swerving erratically as she drove. But she caught herself just in time, and remembered the part of herself that, once, would've been comfortable with this...She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against his, smiling...
Then she remembered herself.
"...Oh! Jack; are...er..." she began to sound a bit flustered; the first time she had lost her cool in his presense. "Er...Jack...are you uncomfortable with speeder rides...rest assured I can slow down; you needn't hold on so tightly..."
Jack's face turned a bright red as he loosened his hold on her, placing his hands back on her sides, barely at that, the boy was so nervous. "I... um... sorry about that. I'm perfectly fine with this speed... oh crap." He dropped his head into his hand, kicking himself mentally for what he did. Her hair still flew into his face, and he was happy about that.
She laughed gently and shook her head. "Not to worry; no harm done," she replied, and was quite glad that he couldn't see the rather attractice shade of pink that her ivory face was turning. The sun was beginning to rise now, and the morning light bathed her features, clarifying what had been shrouded in darkness the night previous...
