Legal Disclaimer: I don't own Outlaw Star, any of the characters from Outlaw Star, and I don't intend to claim ownership for anything but my one definably original character (Drakeem Sraconid) and the general ideas of this storyline.

I know it's been awhile, but I've had other things that needed taken care of. Like college, family problems, and personal issues. Not to mention writer's block. Of course, most people probably haven't read the first two chapters until just before reading this. Either that or they didn't review. Please, review. You can do it anonymously if you want. Just read and review.

Outlaw Star: Drakeem Sraconid of the Dragon

'by Draco Serpens'

Chapter 3=The Long Way There

Aisha ClanClan carried Jim in her arms while at the same time carrying her and Jim's bags in her hands as she walked with the others towards the docking area where the Outlaw Star was kept. Jim was still unconscious, and Aisha was trying to cuddle him despite this and despite her full hands. Gene had recovered nicely from the initial surprise, but was keeping his eyes away from the two to avoid any aftershock effects (including nausea).

Drakeem noticed this and picked up his pace to catch up with Gene. "What's wrong, Starwind?"

"Nothing," was Gene's response.

Drakeem frowned. Something's wrong. He was hardly this introverted earlier. Not the type of individual to give one word answers if everything's looking up for him. I may have to do something to get a more honest answer from him.

Drakeem would have done so, except that his question and Gene's response had attracted everyone else's attention. Which means they get to do the prying for me. Drakeem slowed his walk until he was back closer to Rella so the others would approach Gene unhindered.

Melfina was the first to approach Gene, a concerned look on her face. "Gene... something is wrong, I can tell. Why don't you tell me about it?"

Drakeem smiled secretively as Gene once again crumbled to 'the look.'

Gene sighed, then returned Melfina's hug. He spoke quietly, but the only person who really couldn't hear him was the unconscious Jim. "The whole thing with Aisha and Jim... it just makes me sick..."

"What do you mean SICK?!" Aisha hissed at him, holding Jim tighter defensively.

Aisha and Rella glared at Gene, Melfina looked confused, Suzuka maintained an indifferent look, Drakeem looked curious for a moment before he figured it out, and Jim didn't react (obviously because he's unconscious). Drakeem, having guessed what was coming next, zoned out and began thinking about other things.

"Aisha, look at you two! Does it even occur to you how much younger than you he is?" Gene snapped at her, and the group stopped walking to let the fight work its way out.

"Hmph! You're one to talk. Melfina's a bio-android, so she was hyper-aged up to maturity. She might be eight years old at the most!" Aisha snarled back at him.

"Leave Melfina out of this!"

"Why should I? Why don't YOU leave Jim and me be, Gene. Even though Jimmy's young, he's a lot more mature than you are."

\\I'll vouch for that.\\ Jimmy thought.

"Even if I overlook Jimmy's age for his maturity, there's still the fact that you're a *great* Ctarl Ctarl and Jim's a *lowly* Terran. Isn't that how you put it? Huh?"

\\Gene knows he's losing. He'll do anything to win something from this argument. Even if it is Aisha recanting her degrading of Terrans.\\ Jim felt Aisha hold him tighter again before she responded.

"Jim's incapable of being *lowly*, Gene. He's too good to be brought down by his species. Suzu's the same way for different reasons."

Suzuka looked about to say something about her name being shortened yet again, but she decided that she would fare better waiting for another day to wage that battle.

"You, Gene, you were lowly. If not for the ways Jim and Melfina have changed you, you still would be." Aisha was smirking, confident of her victory.

Jim did his best to keep from blushing, smiling, and laughing at this. Fortunately for him and his facade, everyone was paying the argument too much mind to notice what he couldn't contain.

"So what's so great about Jim?"

"Wh-what?" Aisha stammered, taken aback.

"You heard me. What do you like so much about him? I'm not going to let you just take up with my partner if this is just something based on *heat*."

Aisha stared at Jim for a moment, curiosity etched on her face. Drakeem noticed that it seemed she had suddenly become aware of the signs that Jim wasn't fully unconscious. Instead of saying anything about that, she snapped up her head at Gene's snort and responded, almost angrily, to his question.

"Not only is Jimmy a cute genius, he's kind, sensitive, honest, hardworking, self-sacrificing, loyal, brave, and he's been the best friend I've ever had." Aisha growled the words at Gene.

"Excuse me..." Rella started.

"With the exception of family." Aisha said.

"Thank you." Rella finished.

Drakeem took all this in interestedly, since he figured he may well have to spend quite some time with the crew waiting to get to the Galctic Leyline. I may as well get to know these people. To be fair, I ought to remind them of something... which will conveniently change the subject.

"To change the subject to something altogether different, and thus prevent any further unnecessary argument, in regards to the whole business deal I should remind you that the 17 and a half million wong will not be paid until you have completed the task I set." Drakeem said.

"We expect as much." Suzuka said.

"I figured you did, but I would like to ask how you intend to support yourselves while searching out the location of the Galactic Leyline. I won't be loaning you any money off of what I'll pay you later, and I only intend to pay for my fair share of room and board."

The group was silent for a moment, then Gene grunted, "a true businessman. We'll do what we always do- bounty hunt for cash. However, when we get back to the Outlaw Star, I want Jim to check out your account information to make sure you have enough to pay us when the time comes."

"I have absolutely no problem with that, Mr. Starwind." Drakeem smiled. "In fact, I would be disappointed if you failed to conduct that very basic matter of business. However, I have my account information on hand, so take a look for yourself." Given that Jimmy is still faking unconsciousness and will probably have to explain to Aisha WHY he was later, he won't be available to check my account later anyway.

Gene took a look at the account's numbers, paused, looked at them again, and blurted out "YOU HAVE 350 MILLION WONG IN YOUR ACCOUNT?!"

Everybody else on the street took an interest, and one C'tarl C'tarl man shoved his way past Sazuka to get a look at the figures to be certain he heard right. Even with C'tarl C'tarl hearing, he couldn't believe his ears. He looked down at the account info, up at Drakeem, back at the info, and then he snarled. "Drakeem, I know there's no way you could honestly make that much money at your age. No Terran could. You've been on our planet for several years, and I want to know right now what you've been doing here while we failed to pay attention to you. What did you steal, and who did you steal it from? Who'd you kill to make that much money?"

Drakeem looked at the man, brimming with aggression, and he was about to answer when he felt his mind slipping from Korta to Lunis. His body and eyes shifted forms as his mind did, and in the place of the young man stood a much older, but also much stouter, man. The crowds on the street gaped, then they disappeared in a flurry of activity. "Sheriff Clout, I understand your concern on this matter. Maybe it would help if I told you that I'm much older than I look. And not as Terran as I seem."

Sheriff Clout stood there, uncertain of what he had just seen. The crew of the Outlaw Star and Rella did the same. Finally regaining his ability to speak, Clout muttered, "I... uh... well, y'know... sorry." He turned and walked off, still wondering exactly where his day went weird.

As the situation changed, Drakeem's mind slipped back from Lunis to Korta. His body followed the transition again, and for a moment his face was blank. After that, he blinked, then turned to Rella and said, "I suppose more explaining is necessary, yes?"

"You'd better believe it." Rella said.

The crew of the Outlaw Star seconded that. Save for the still acting Jim.

"Let's save it for when we get to the ship and can sit down for a good discussion." Drakeem said. "So, shall we continue forward?"

===================================================

At the Outlaw Star, the crew and it's two additions stopped and were checked over by their new Gilliam security droid. "Gene, who are these two?"

"They're two semi-temporary additions to the crew."

"Semi-temporary, Gene?"

"They may be staying with us for a while. This one is Drakeem Sraconid," Gene indicated Drakeem by shrugging his shoulder towards him, "and this is Aisha's sister, Rella."

"Pleased to meet the two of you. I trust that Jim will fill you in on the basic security here when he gets the opportunity."

The doors to the Outlaw Star's interior opened to them, and the full crew (Drakeem and Rella included) entered the doorway.

Immediately, Melfina headed to the kitchen to prepare it for their new additions, and after a moment's pause, Gene followed behind her. Aisha took Jim off to his bedroom to lay him down. Which left Suzuka to show Rella and Drakeem around the ship.

She started off by taking them to the bridge, took the long way around to the cargo hold, and went by the crewmember's rooms. She then took them to the new section of the expanded Outlaw Star. Several locked doors were in this hall.

"This is the new storage area for personal items of the crew that are too 'fragile' for the cargo bay. Meaning that Gene uses his for his private stockpile of alcohol."

"I see." Drakeem said.

"Say, Suzu..." Rella said.

For a moment, Suzuka considered fighting it out over the proper way to say her name for the second time that day. But then, she decided that as long as Aisha did it, it would be pointless to ask Rella not to. "What is it?"

"Where are we supposed to sleep?" Rella asked.

"Each of these rooms belongs to one of the crew members here. Since neither Melfina nor I tends to get attached to material possessions, our belongings are small enough to be kept in our bedrooms. So we'll give you some spare mats to use for beds and you can sleep in our storage rooms."

Rella blinked. "We'll be sleeping in storage?"

"It's not as bad as it sounds. The storage rooms were made to serve as emergency guest rooms with electricity, lights, temperature control, all the things a real room has except furnishings."

The tour then continued on until the three of them reached the kitchen, where Aisha had joined Melfina and Gene. Much to Gene's annoyance. "Why'd we have to get stuck with that feline food-vacuum?"

Aisha's only response was a snicker. She knew Gene was just sore over the debate on Jim and her, and she knew it would only annoy him more if she didn't retort to give him the chance to win back his self-pride in a verbal sparring match.

As Suzuka, Rella, and Drakeem entered, Melfina turned to greet them with her usual hospitality. She offered both Rella and Drakeem two chairs opposite each other at the table, and Rella plopped into hers. Suzuka took her usual seat. Jim's seat remained empty.

Drakeem sat in the chair offered to him by Melfina, and immediately noticed Rella staring straight into his eyes, completely serious, demanding he jump straight what they all wondered about. He sighed, and took a deep breath to speak.

"Tell us about what happened earlier," Rella said.

Gene turned to her. "Shouldn't we wait for Jim?"

"I'll tell him later," Aisha said.

"I bet you will..." Gene muttered.

Aisha screeched. "What?"

"Enough!" Rella shouted. Silence. "Now tell us, my Drakeem."

Having effortlessly held his breath through all of this, Drakeem immediately started speaking. "I should tell you that I have not one mind in my head but, rather, four. Furthermore, each has its own personality, way of thinking, powers, and forms, the last of which you bore witness to on the way here. The four minds originated from the four dragons which were sealed into my body."

"How were these dragons 'sealed' into your body?" Suzuka asked.

"Well, the basic gist of it is that each of these dragons sealed their body's power and their general way of thinking into a tablet. These four tablets came to be collectively known as the 'Four Tablets of Dragon.' Not an original name, was it? But regardless of the name, some scientists discovered a way to imbue these things into a Terran, and specifically they realized I was their best bet at a success." Drakeem shifted his weight and looked purposefully at each of them.

"What is it?" Rella asked.

"What I say next cannot leave this room, save to tell Jim."

"Why not?" Suzuka asked. Gene looked suspicious.

"I can't explain it without telling you too much, but that is the way it is. The way it must be."

One by one they all agreed, Melfina last.

"Okay, After they sealed the four tablets within me, I lost consciousness for a while. Originally, I thought it was because of the pain of the procedure, but I now understand it was because my consciousness- my mind, my spirit, my very soul- was being divided by four very different mentalities. Each carried its memory of its original name, as well as its way of thinking."

"What were their names?" Melfina asked. "And how did they divide your mind?"

"Well... there was Lunis, Dragon of the Light. He was responsible for becoming the part of me that desires justice, order, rightness. Don't get me wrong, he has his faults. He doesn't care who he steps on to get justice done. Then there was his 'pupil,' if you will, Brakren. He took charge of the wondering, the learning, the curious parts of my mind. He's very wise and good, but he seems to think too much and act too little, sometimes." For several minutes, Drakeem sat in silence. How best to tell them about him?

Rella got fed up with waiting. "Well?"

"Hmm?"

"What about the other two? You said there were four," she spat.

"Yes... I suppose the best way is to just go straight to the core of him. Inanise took over... my evil side. He concentrated it to the point that he once again was pure evil. He even took my desire for power. Which meant that his former 'pupil,' Korta, wasn't able to claim his main negative personality traits for me. The result of which was him becoming good. A fact for which we can all be thankful, as he's the one who's out most often. In fact, he's me." Drakeem sat uncomfortably in his chair, reading their faces one at a time. Was it the right thing to tell them all that? Don't have much of a choice if I want their help.

"How often does Inanise make his... appearances?" Aisha glared at him closely.

"Not often directly. He's only taken control four times in the last 400 years and for a total of eight minutes tops. It was terrible, though. He only comes out when I experience extensive emotional pain."

"Why would anything so evil protect anyone else?" Gene asked. "It doesn't make any sense."

"He's not protecting me. He's protecting himself. Because of our connected memory, all of us experience the pain or joy of the others as if it were our own. Inanise didn't feel pain before, so when he gets really hurt, he gets enraged and takes control to get rid of the source of the pain. Once the source of pain is gone, he doesn't have the emotional edge to keep control."

"What do you mean? If he's one of four parts, it shouldn't be so hard for him to keep control," Melfina said.

"Alright, listen. Lunis is of equal power to Inanise unless Inanise gets spurned on by anger over emotional pains and stresses. Brakren aids Lunis, thus preventing Inanise from taking control over the lesser pains of life. Korta, who was once evil, was made innocent by not being able to gain any evil personality traits from me because Inanise had already taken them all. Korta is the Dragon of Power, and as long as he isn't distracted by emotional trauma, he has more than enough raw power to stop Inanise from taking control."

"So... the table is lopsided in favor of good because Inanise took all the evil traits and left none for Korta?" Rella asked.

Drakeem nodded. "Yep. That's the way it is."

"It's true. Irony does abound in life." Suzuka said.

"Huh?" Gene was left confused.

"Inanise went for more and got less," Melfina explained.

"Oh, right. I knew that."

Everybody looked at Gene.

"What?"

While Gene was defending himself from Suzuka's speculations and Rella's insults, Aisha silently left the room. Now that that is taken care of, I have to speak with Jimmy about a certain something.

=======================================

Aisha tiptoed up to the door and peered around the corner, spying Jim up and about. She silently stepped into the room and announced her presence with, "Feigned unconsciousness doesn't take long to recover, huh Jimmy?"

Jim's feet practically left his shoes. He then slowly turned to look at Aisha. "Uh... hi, Aisha."

"You know, I don't know what that pretending to be out when you knew what was going on was all about, but first of all..." She looked at Jim, who was blushing and looking away with the embarrassment of being chastised and deserving it. Aisha immediately wondered what exactly to say to get back on course with what she had planned for this conversation back when she first realized that she had fallen for Jimmy. A little inspiration later, and she knew what to say, "...first of all, how do you feel about me?"

Jim's blush became several shades darker right away as he stuttered out, "W-w-what?"

"You've got the advantage. You not only know how I feel about you, but you listened in and found out why, too. I've got my heart on the line, so are you gonna put yours down too or should I just take mine back?"

"I, uh... I-I um... I feel the same way you do, Aisha."

Aisha shook her head. "If you do, then just say it."

"Uh... I-i love ..."

"C'mon. Blurt it out if you believe it."

"I... I love you too, Aisha!"

At that moment, Gene passed by the door, supporting himself with Melfina's help. He was on his way to his room from the fight with Rella (at the end of the verbal part of which he had made an especially vulgar comment about female C'tarl C'tarls, thus causing Rella to start the physical part of it), but the sudden outburst from Jim caused him to change course for the bathroom. As Melfina helped Gene to the door, Jim heard her mutter something about 'always overreacting.'

Aisha of course heard the whole thing, but she wasn't listening. Finding himself the victim of one of Aisha's strongest death-hugs, Jim wasn't paying much mind to exactly what Melfina said. At that point, he was trying to conserve as much oxygen as possible for his brain until he regained his ability to breathe and hoping that nothing would break.

As Aisha let up and Jim gasped for breath, Melfina paused at the doorway. "I'm glad you two finally chose to come out with each other on your feelings. I was getting unusually tired of waiting for one of you to do or say something before it was too late."

Aisha said, "Thanks, Mel," with that big grin on her face. Jim just managed a nod and barely a smile through his attempts to get his breath back.

After about another minute like this, Jim finally caught enough breath to speak, so Aisha decided it was time to go ahead and get what else she wanted to know from him. "Jimmy, now that you've said how you feel, you gotta tell me what you love about me. Even for even, and then some for eavesdropping."

Despite the relative lack of oxygen in his blood at that moment, Jim's face managed to pull up yet another blush.

Jim stuttered for a moment. Aisha bent down, until she was nose-to-nose with him, and said in a voice softer and more loving than Jim had ever heard her use, "Tell me."

"You're you, Aisha. I don't see what's not to love."

"Then tell me what you do see." That voice again, sending shivers up Jim's spine.

"You're strong, honest even when it hurts, braver than any of us, and you care enough to worry over me. Your loyal enough that you'd die for any one of us, even that bonehead Gene, and you work hard to try and ease my burdens, willing even to take a low job as a dishwasher to pay some of the food bills for me. You seem to bubble with life like no one else I've ever met, and you always felt closer to me than any friend could." Jimmy let the words flow out of him, wondering at where some of them had come from, but astonished at the truth they all carried - a truth he hadn't even been aware of until earlier this day.

"And..." Aisha spoke in that same voice, but now it was breathless, and tears were brimming her eyes.

Jim knew what she wanted him to save for last, and since he felt it was true, he said it. "You're cute too."

The hug that followed was different than any he had ever shared - especially with Aisha. It wasn't one of her death-crushes. It was gentle enough to breathe in, but was tight enough and fierce enough that he could feel the heart behind it. And for the first time Jim could remember, he hugged Aisha back.

=to be Continued...=

Once again I apologize for not posting sooner, but it took me a while to figure out a solution to this little problem I've been having. You see, I want to explore both the JimXAisha story and the Drakeem Sraconid with Outlaw Star crew story, but I made a promise to not focus too much on the JimXAisha side. This causes problems when I feel like writing JimXAisha stories, as I try to force the other side of the story out of me and wind up with nothing, resulting in a so-called "writer's block."

The solution is simple - from now on, unless I get reviews to this chapter asking for otherwise, the JimXAisha parts of the story will have their own chapters in a 'separate' story I create for those who want to read that side of the story here and the Drakeem side of the story will be written in this story. Each story will definitely make reference to and effect the other, since they are just two different focuses on the same story, but this one will retain more of the linear-time held to it, while the JimXAisha will have gaps in time between chapters as they spend time in this story and away from the focus of theirs.

Now that I'm done explaining that, I'm going to state what few are aware of - my little brother, who chose the penname 'Brother of Serpens', is working on the first chapter of his first OLS fan-fic. Like me, he enjoys JimXAisha fics and prefers that he writes one. Unlike me, however, he enjoys writing Angst fics. I only like reading them a little. Just thought I would let everyone who actually reads this far know that when they see the penname of 'Brother of Serpens', it's a reference to my penname and he is actually my brother. Now I just hope he doesn't do anything to embarrass me terribly in those fics.

One last thing- REVIEW! Please?... And thank you again to those who have reviewed on my last two chapters.