I want to thank all of my reviewers. - I'm really glad you like it
so far, and I hope I can continue to please you all with this fanfic, so
please keep telling me what you think! I really hope to improve myself and
such. You all can still IM me if you want to talk. I really enjoy all
feedback. And I wouldn't mind it at all if anyone wanted to request
something to see in this fanfic – as I plan to make it a long, slightly
continued series. Also the disclaimer still stands – I own NOTHING. Except
for Kio. She's the only one here that belongs to me.
Kio was running back to greet Jim happily back on the cliff. Delbert had given in and granted her permission to come aboard the RLS Legacy with them both. She was practically busting with joy. The alien scurried up the cliff and looked around for the familiar boy. It was a little ways into the night, so it was beginning to darken outside, and with the sun down under the canyon cliff, it was hard to see up there. She was gone quite awhile, as Delbert was off continuing the organization of a crew when Kio went looking for him. So she had wait awhile, and didn't want to leave on the off chance that he came by.
"Jim?" she called out and squinted, trying very hard to see if he was still there. She was so excited to be able to go along with them to find this 'Treasure Planet' and was discouraged to see that Jim had left before she had come back. The alien sighed and let her cattish ears droop lowly as she seated herself upon the cliff, but in the center with her legs crossed, this time, staring off into the sky again. She wondered where he could have been if he was not at Delbert's house. Maybe he left the cliff as she was coming back so as for her not to bother him. That was her best guess so far, and with that in her mind she sighed defeated. Kio was beginning to favor the small friendship. Or at least she thought it was a friendship. She was still ignorant of the ways between humans and other human-like species. She decided against leaving so soon and continued her gaze to the cloudy night sky.
Delbert's house was once again warmed by fire, but quieter that evening. Anxiety growing strong within the household, the three who were leaving were mainly ready to leave at any given time, besides Kio who was extremely nervous about the ordeal, but otherwise was quite excited herself. She was perched by the window once more, staring off into the sky how she always enjoyed and trying to search it all for something more to see, but the night itself was good enough for her to stare at for hours. Delbert was bustling about the room scooping up un-needed accessories to bring along the trip and explaining how wonderful it was, how he had always wanted an opportunity such as this, and chanting his name in pride. 'Go Delbert! Go Delbert!' One thing that he had mentioned was new to Kio though – the Crescentia Spaceport? "What is that?" she asked, turning away from the window and blinking in curiosity. "Crescentia? Why it's a... a um... basic, docking bay? Yes, yes I think that's a good way to put it... But we'll be heading to there in the morning, so explaining it wouldn't help much," Delbert fumbled with his words, still getting around the room collecting various objects. Kio returned to staring out into space – now with a small mission – to find this 'Spaceport.' Crescentia, eh? It must be shaped as crescent then. With this in mind, the spaceport was easy to spot, even from afar. Although doubting from anxiety, Kio was coming to believe that leaving Montresser, as Jim had called the planet, and going for a trip, whether finding their destination or not, was going to be the best experience that she would ever have.
They arrived at Crescentia early the next morning. Kio was no longer full of doubts, and now ready to go. As they were strolling amongst the other many aliens and humans alike on their journey to find the RLS Legacy she was almost everywhere at once, off gazing at sites she found fascinating, admiring a cute pet she had never seen before, or just left behind while exploring for a moment or two getting caught up in tourism. It was almost like trying to keep a dog without a leash to sit still in a city park. Kio finally caught up with Delbert and Jim once again as they had stopped to ask directions, and as they had stopped she had noticed what an odd outfit Delbert was wearing and was caught staring at it with a slight sympathetic expression mixed with humor. Doppler then begun to explain about a 'pushy two-headed saleswoman' one saying it fit him and the other saying it was his color (Kio chimed in to state that it was his color) and about him getting so flustered so that he didn't notice where he was going and bumped into Jim, who in return glared at him. "Look! That's our ship! The RLS Legacy!" Delbert ignored Jim glaring and pointed out the ship being readied for its trip. Both he and Kio immediately followed Delbert's gaze and were amazed at the wondrous sight of the Legacy. The three boarded the ship in search for the captain and Delbert spotted Mr. Arrow. Fancied up in uniform he looked more regal than the crew who were scurrying about the deck, and was assumed to be the head of the organization. "Good morning captain! Everything ship shape?" Doppler asked with much enthusiasm. "Ship shape it is sir, but I'm not the captain," Arrow told him. "The captain's aloft." As he said that a felinid buttoned up in an even fancier uniform than Arrow's own bounded down the masts with a couple of flips here and there, fancy footwork, and she landed swiftly and held her head high with pride. Delbert and Jim were left speechless however Kio grinned and clapped for the captain's performance. "Mr. Arrow, I've checked this miserable ship stem to stern and as usual it's, spot on. Can you get nothing wrong?" Amelia said slyly, perhaps showing off to the new three who stood watching her. She then made her way to Delbert. "Doctor Doppler, I presume?" she asked loudly in case he would not hear her through the suit's helmet. "Well, I uh... ahem," Delbert began. "Hello? Can you hear me?" Amelia asked and banged on the front of the helmet. "Yes I can, stop that banging!" he said, brushing away her hands in frenzy. "Hm, I believe this works so much better when plugged in," she said and arranged Delbert's suit quickly for him. "I believe I can handle my own plugging, thank you!" Doppler unplugged the cord from behind him and shook it firmly. Amelia took Delbert's hand and shook. "I am Captain Amelia, and I do believe you've met my first mate, Mr. Arrow. Sterling, tough, dependable, brave and true," "Please, captain..." Arrow said modestly. "Oh shut up, Arrow, you know I don't mean a word of it," Amelia teased. "Excuse me – sorry to interrupt this lovely banter, but let me introduce Jim Hawkins. You see, he's the boy who found the treasure –"Delbert was cut off sharply as Amelia and grabbed his muzzle to refrain him from continuing his explanation. She told him to join her below deck.
After a word or few with the captain Jim, Kio, and Delbert were directed to meet with the cook, as Jim would be working for him, and Amelia had simply ordered Kio to do the same. "That woman – that, feline!" Doppler began angrily of Captain Amelia's sharp tongue and equal personality. "I don't know, she didn't seem so bad," Kio said, being in the front of their 'line' she had to look up behind her to see Delbert as she countered. "It's my map, and she's got me working for it!" Jim was also angry with Amelia. "I will not tolerate an ill word about our captain!" Mr. Arrow snapped at mainly Doppler and Jim. They had stopped, reaching the galley and noticing the cook was probably ignoring them, off in front of them gathering a few items that were probably used for cooking. "Mr. Silver," Arrow began. "Why Mister Arrow, sir," the cook, Mr. Silver, began to talk to Mr. Arrow, but mainly ignored by the three newcomers. Silver stepped out into the light, now it was obvious to see his robotic arm and leg, along with a few parts to the right side of his head. Jim inwardly gasped, realizing it was whom Bones was warning them about. "Cyborg..." he said, slightly with disbelief. Kio wasn't ignoring Silver mumble on before, but hearing what Jim had muttered to himself caught her attention. "Cyborg?" she whispered, leaning to the side a bit. "Think back to the salamander," Jim told her, whispering also. Kio stopped leaning and stood firmly once again, thinking back as was ordered. She was motionless for a moment or two, but then it hit her like a brick. And like getting hit with a brick Kio jumped back out of reactions to fear, remembering what had happened that night. When she had jumped back she had also gasped quite loudly, causing silence directed to her. She held still for a moment, and slowly went back to where she was, but slightly hiding behind Jim. The tension left as Silver stuck his hand out to Jim, which was a knife at that point. "Jimbo," he said, acting friendly, then noticed his mistake. He rotated the knife to a mechanical hand. Jim glared at the cook. "Eh, don't be too put off by this, hunk 'o hardware..." Silver said and started on his duty to prepare food, cutting here, and snipping there. As he was chopping some sort of vegetables in rows he pretended to chop off his own hand, sending Kio into slight startle. "It takes some time getting' used to, but it comes in mighty handy from time to time," he joked, set aflame a pan full of the items he sliced and diced and poured the innards into a pot. He grabbed a ladle scooped some of the stew up and took a taste for himself, then poured it into three bowls, handing each of them one. "Try me famous bonzabeast stew," he said, walking over to Doppler, who was cautiously lapping some up. "Hm, tangy, yet, robust," he said, seemingly enjoying it. "Old family recipe," he mentioned as an eyeball surfaced in the concoction. "In fact, that was part of the old family!" Silver laughed, grabbed the eyeball and popped it into his mouth. "Heh heh, just kiddin' doc," he mentioned, noticing that Doppler was appalled by the grotesque humor. Kio was watching that scene and had noticed that the 'cook' had not been chopping or grabbing, or spooning any sort of eyeball into the mixture. She decided that it was not edible, no matter how hungry she was. Right after that observation she noticed that she was starving, and hadn't eaten for days. Kio still was definitely not going to eat the stew. Maybe something else some other time. Jim however was not as picky as Kio and was thinking about trying it. As he reached for the spoon it acquired a pinkish, blob-like head and soon shaped into some odd little pink thing that you might find in a lava lamp. It changed into a straw and ate the stew that was left in the bowl, and turned itself back to the form of something inside a lava lamp. "Why Morphy – I was wonderin' where ye had gotten to!" Silver said as Morph flew over to him and sat upon his finger, nuzzling the human side of Silver's face. The creature flew over to Jim, curious of the new comers. "Heh, what is that thing?" Jim asked, Morph mimicked him and was lightly poked, went into pieces and returned as an exact replica of Jim but small enough to stand on his finger. "It's a Morph. I rescued the little shapeshifter a while back. Took a shine to me ever since," the cook said as Morph went over to Kio, whom was intrigued by the odd creature, forgetting about Silver. Morph transformed to mimic Kio's head as she turned to look at him from different angles, Morph doing the same, almost as a mirror. He changed back to his original pink form and went back to Silver. Mr. Arrow left with Doppler to go see the launch. "So... Cap'in's put ya me, eh?" Silver asked the obvious, not really in a question's form. More along the lines to point the fact. Jim went over to a barrel that was filled with odd little purple objects in shapes of lemons. "You know... These perps remind me of the ones back home. On Montresser..." he said, grabbing one and taking a bite out of it, beginning to interrogate Silver. Kio noticed him taking a 'perp' and grabbed one herself. If he had eaten it then it must be safe, even if it was in this kitchen. She nibbled on it a moment and noted it to be delicious. She grabbed a few handfuls of them and stuffed them into the pockets of the trench coat. She had worn it since it dried, so it wasn't as heavy, despite the material it consisted of. After about four armfuls went into her pockets she stopped taking them and let it be at that number. "Bones? Bones?" Silver asked Jim in a way of ignorance. Kio realized that she had missed a few sentences of questioning, and decided to listen from then on. "Hmm, 't'ain't ringin' any bells. Must have been a different cyborg. There's a sea o' cyborgs, roamin this part," the cook continued on his string of lies, Kio believing every word. Silver sent them out to watch the launch, not wanting to be questioned any further, and was thanking God for Mr. Arrow's call.
Kio and Jim clambered up on deck, Doppler already far ahead of them with the Captain. They stopped a moment as the ship began to rise from the spaceport, and both began to float upwards.
"Mr. Snuff, engage artificial gravity!" Amelia ordered sternly. The alien said a few unknown words in his own odd language and pulled down a lever, landing all that were beginning to fly upwards.
"Brace yourself, Doctor," Amelia warned Doppler, who in return mocked her. As the ship took off nearly suddenly it sent Doppler flying into a wall. Kio too unfortunately went flying back, and as she had strayed near a higher floor in front of the railing, she flew backwards, hit the railing and fell and skidded on her back on the lower floor. She groaned and slowly sat up, rubbing her back and gritting her teeth, her eyes shut to keep them from leaking out of the pain she felt. Jim quickly went to aid her, having watched everything.
"That looked like it hurt. You okay?" he asked, kneeling beside her. Kio looked over to him opening her eyes and nodded, however it was clear to see the tears welling up in her gray, with a hint of blue, hued eyes. Yet she still slightly smiled.
"I'll be fine," Kio winced, "It doesn't hurt that bad." She was lying through her teeth. Suddenly a lonely yet beautiful call echoed out amongst the galaxy and both Kio and Jim looked up to see at least fifty orcas galacticus swimming on by, afloat of the air.
"Wow," Kio said in amazement, gazing upon them. They both went over to the ratlines to have a closer look at the majestic creatures. Both fascinated by the species relating to a whale.
"Jimbo!" Silver called out seemingly anger at the cabin boy, causing immediate attention of both 'cabin' ranked.
"I've got two new friends I'd like you to meet," he said, Jim looking around anxiously with delight. Then was very disappointed as Silver tossed him a mop and bucket.
"Mr. Mop, and Mrs. Bucket," he said, enjoying the boy's devastation, "Kio – your two new friends are waitin' for ye down 'ere." Silver pointed to a mop and bucket leaning up against the main mast. Kio was slightly disappointed herself, but then again she was expecting work among the trip as a 'cabin girl.' They began to mop as ordered, Morph 'watching these here pups.' Suddenly a very large, muscle-bound, scary-looking alien walked by and pushed Jim out of the way and against the ship's border.
"Watch it, twerp," the alien snarled and went on his way. Jim collected himself and went back to mopping, stopping to eavesdrop on a few suspicious-looking characters muttering almost inaudible words to each other. They noticed him almost immediately and stopped abruptly.
"What're you looking at, weirdo?" one of them asked Jim and then scurried off it's bulky body onto the other border of the ship, it's 'body,' which happened to be a different alien, acquiring eyes and mouth.
"Yeah, weirdo," it said. Jim raised an eyebrow and Kio began to back away, mopping in a different area a bit nearer to Jim and Morph.
"Cabin boys should mind their own business," Mr. Scroop, a tall scrawny, spider-like alien, hissed, coming down from the main mast to Jim.
"Why, you got something to hide, bright eyes?" Jim smirked as he asked Scroop the meaningless question that seemed as sarcasm. The boy had countered – that did not please Scroop.
"Why you little..." the alien snarled at Jim, grabbed his collar, picked him up, and slammed him against the main mast, ready to teach him a lesson he wouldn't soon forget, if live to remember it at all. Kio gasped, she didn't know what to do. What could she do? If anything be a distraction – she surely did not want to see Jim hurt at all, so she did what was her only option. Kio, being half felinid, set out her claws and ran for one of Scroop's legs, which she grabbed and latched her claws into along with biting his leg. She also set out the claws in her feet (her feet which were definitely more cat-like than human-like) and pushed them against Scroop's leg as well. The alien cried out in pain as Kio's claws dug deeper.
"You insignificant little brat!" Scroop hissed at her, flinging his leg trying to knock her off, and succeeded, sending Kio heading to fly off the ship. She winced, expecting to continue and be lost within the galaxy forever, until she was grabbed by the collar of her trench coat by none other than Silver. He set her down and Kio backed up, watching what he was going to do to Scroop.
"Mr. Scroop. You ever seen what happens to a fresh perp, when ya squeeze, real, hard?" he asked while grabbing the spider's thick arm and squeezing it until it looked as small as three inches. Scroop wailed and grabbed his arm once Silver let go, rubbing it vigorously. Jim fell from Scroop's grip and rushed to get away from him, joining Kio.
"What's all this then?" Mr. Arrow came into the scene demanding to know what the fighting was about.
"You know the rules. There'll be no brawling aboard this ship. Any further offenders will be confined to the brig for the remainder of the trip. Do I make myself clear, Mr. Scroop?" Arrow glared at the spider, waiting a reply.
"Transparently..." Scroop growled after hesitating.
"Well done Mr. Arrow, sir! A quiet ship's a happy ship! Sir!" Silver called out as Mr. Arrow left. He then turned to Kio and Jim angrily.
"I gave you two jobs to do!" he growled.
"Hey I was doing it, until that, bug thing..." Jim began.
"Belay then! Kio, what's your excuse?" he turned to a frightened- looking Kio standing beside Jim, whom only stuttered in reply.
"When I come back I want this ship swabbed spotless! And heaven help ya if it's not done! Morph! Keep an eye on these here pups," he ordered sternly and left, leaving Morph transformed to large eyeballs, moving from Jim to Kio every minute.
Morph had transformed to a miniature mop, helping out Jim for a minute or so, then went back to his original form, hiccuping bubbles. Kio went over to them both from the other side of the deck to be entertaining by the little shapeshifter, and laughed at his humorous antics.
"Well this has been a fun night. Making new friends... Like that spider- physco," Jim said sarcastically, Kio nodding in agreement. Morph shaped into a small replica of Scroop and jumped at Jim.
"Spider-physco, spider-physco!" he mimicked.
"A little uglier," Jim critiqued. Morph covered his fake spider face and let go, making Scroop look as a laughing maniac with huge teeth.
"Almost," he said with a smirk. Silver joined them up on deck, throwing out the left overs of the night's meal (which Kio still was not going to touch. She had eaten one or two perps for her dinner) and making a few comments on how the deck was still in one piece.
"About today... I just wanted to say thanks," Jim muttered to Silver.
"Didn't your pop ever teach ya t'pick your fights more carefully?" the cook asked sympatheticly. Jim kept quiet and turned away. Kio listened in carefully now, either thinking Jim didn't reply out of shame or didn't reply out of some other reason.
"Your father not the teachin' sort...?" Silver asked him.
"No. More like the, taking off and never coming back sort," Jim said angrily, leaving Kio pitying him. Even for one who would never know her father, the remark was just too upsetting.
"Sorry lad..." Silver had begun to say.
"Hey, it's no big deal... I mean, we're just fine..." Jim muttered in reply, inturrupting the cook.
"Well, so as to that then! The captain's put me in charge, and you won't eat, sleep, or scratch your bum without my say first!" Silver told him sternly in light-heartedness.
"Don't do me any favors!" Jim said.
"Oh you can be sure of that, lad. You can be sure of that!"
Kio was running back to greet Jim happily back on the cliff. Delbert had given in and granted her permission to come aboard the RLS Legacy with them both. She was practically busting with joy. The alien scurried up the cliff and looked around for the familiar boy. It was a little ways into the night, so it was beginning to darken outside, and with the sun down under the canyon cliff, it was hard to see up there. She was gone quite awhile, as Delbert was off continuing the organization of a crew when Kio went looking for him. So she had wait awhile, and didn't want to leave on the off chance that he came by.
"Jim?" she called out and squinted, trying very hard to see if he was still there. She was so excited to be able to go along with them to find this 'Treasure Planet' and was discouraged to see that Jim had left before she had come back. The alien sighed and let her cattish ears droop lowly as she seated herself upon the cliff, but in the center with her legs crossed, this time, staring off into the sky again. She wondered where he could have been if he was not at Delbert's house. Maybe he left the cliff as she was coming back so as for her not to bother him. That was her best guess so far, and with that in her mind she sighed defeated. Kio was beginning to favor the small friendship. Or at least she thought it was a friendship. She was still ignorant of the ways between humans and other human-like species. She decided against leaving so soon and continued her gaze to the cloudy night sky.
Delbert's house was once again warmed by fire, but quieter that evening. Anxiety growing strong within the household, the three who were leaving were mainly ready to leave at any given time, besides Kio who was extremely nervous about the ordeal, but otherwise was quite excited herself. She was perched by the window once more, staring off into the sky how she always enjoyed and trying to search it all for something more to see, but the night itself was good enough for her to stare at for hours. Delbert was bustling about the room scooping up un-needed accessories to bring along the trip and explaining how wonderful it was, how he had always wanted an opportunity such as this, and chanting his name in pride. 'Go Delbert! Go Delbert!' One thing that he had mentioned was new to Kio though – the Crescentia Spaceport? "What is that?" she asked, turning away from the window and blinking in curiosity. "Crescentia? Why it's a... a um... basic, docking bay? Yes, yes I think that's a good way to put it... But we'll be heading to there in the morning, so explaining it wouldn't help much," Delbert fumbled with his words, still getting around the room collecting various objects. Kio returned to staring out into space – now with a small mission – to find this 'Spaceport.' Crescentia, eh? It must be shaped as crescent then. With this in mind, the spaceport was easy to spot, even from afar. Although doubting from anxiety, Kio was coming to believe that leaving Montresser, as Jim had called the planet, and going for a trip, whether finding their destination or not, was going to be the best experience that she would ever have.
They arrived at Crescentia early the next morning. Kio was no longer full of doubts, and now ready to go. As they were strolling amongst the other many aliens and humans alike on their journey to find the RLS Legacy she was almost everywhere at once, off gazing at sites she found fascinating, admiring a cute pet she had never seen before, or just left behind while exploring for a moment or two getting caught up in tourism. It was almost like trying to keep a dog without a leash to sit still in a city park. Kio finally caught up with Delbert and Jim once again as they had stopped to ask directions, and as they had stopped she had noticed what an odd outfit Delbert was wearing and was caught staring at it with a slight sympathetic expression mixed with humor. Doppler then begun to explain about a 'pushy two-headed saleswoman' one saying it fit him and the other saying it was his color (Kio chimed in to state that it was his color) and about him getting so flustered so that he didn't notice where he was going and bumped into Jim, who in return glared at him. "Look! That's our ship! The RLS Legacy!" Delbert ignored Jim glaring and pointed out the ship being readied for its trip. Both he and Kio immediately followed Delbert's gaze and were amazed at the wondrous sight of the Legacy. The three boarded the ship in search for the captain and Delbert spotted Mr. Arrow. Fancied up in uniform he looked more regal than the crew who were scurrying about the deck, and was assumed to be the head of the organization. "Good morning captain! Everything ship shape?" Doppler asked with much enthusiasm. "Ship shape it is sir, but I'm not the captain," Arrow told him. "The captain's aloft." As he said that a felinid buttoned up in an even fancier uniform than Arrow's own bounded down the masts with a couple of flips here and there, fancy footwork, and she landed swiftly and held her head high with pride. Delbert and Jim were left speechless however Kio grinned and clapped for the captain's performance. "Mr. Arrow, I've checked this miserable ship stem to stern and as usual it's, spot on. Can you get nothing wrong?" Amelia said slyly, perhaps showing off to the new three who stood watching her. She then made her way to Delbert. "Doctor Doppler, I presume?" she asked loudly in case he would not hear her through the suit's helmet. "Well, I uh... ahem," Delbert began. "Hello? Can you hear me?" Amelia asked and banged on the front of the helmet. "Yes I can, stop that banging!" he said, brushing away her hands in frenzy. "Hm, I believe this works so much better when plugged in," she said and arranged Delbert's suit quickly for him. "I believe I can handle my own plugging, thank you!" Doppler unplugged the cord from behind him and shook it firmly. Amelia took Delbert's hand and shook. "I am Captain Amelia, and I do believe you've met my first mate, Mr. Arrow. Sterling, tough, dependable, brave and true," "Please, captain..." Arrow said modestly. "Oh shut up, Arrow, you know I don't mean a word of it," Amelia teased. "Excuse me – sorry to interrupt this lovely banter, but let me introduce Jim Hawkins. You see, he's the boy who found the treasure –"Delbert was cut off sharply as Amelia and grabbed his muzzle to refrain him from continuing his explanation. She told him to join her below deck.
After a word or few with the captain Jim, Kio, and Delbert were directed to meet with the cook, as Jim would be working for him, and Amelia had simply ordered Kio to do the same. "That woman – that, feline!" Doppler began angrily of Captain Amelia's sharp tongue and equal personality. "I don't know, she didn't seem so bad," Kio said, being in the front of their 'line' she had to look up behind her to see Delbert as she countered. "It's my map, and she's got me working for it!" Jim was also angry with Amelia. "I will not tolerate an ill word about our captain!" Mr. Arrow snapped at mainly Doppler and Jim. They had stopped, reaching the galley and noticing the cook was probably ignoring them, off in front of them gathering a few items that were probably used for cooking. "Mr. Silver," Arrow began. "Why Mister Arrow, sir," the cook, Mr. Silver, began to talk to Mr. Arrow, but mainly ignored by the three newcomers. Silver stepped out into the light, now it was obvious to see his robotic arm and leg, along with a few parts to the right side of his head. Jim inwardly gasped, realizing it was whom Bones was warning them about. "Cyborg..." he said, slightly with disbelief. Kio wasn't ignoring Silver mumble on before, but hearing what Jim had muttered to himself caught her attention. "Cyborg?" she whispered, leaning to the side a bit. "Think back to the salamander," Jim told her, whispering also. Kio stopped leaning and stood firmly once again, thinking back as was ordered. She was motionless for a moment or two, but then it hit her like a brick. And like getting hit with a brick Kio jumped back out of reactions to fear, remembering what had happened that night. When she had jumped back she had also gasped quite loudly, causing silence directed to her. She held still for a moment, and slowly went back to where she was, but slightly hiding behind Jim. The tension left as Silver stuck his hand out to Jim, which was a knife at that point. "Jimbo," he said, acting friendly, then noticed his mistake. He rotated the knife to a mechanical hand. Jim glared at the cook. "Eh, don't be too put off by this, hunk 'o hardware..." Silver said and started on his duty to prepare food, cutting here, and snipping there. As he was chopping some sort of vegetables in rows he pretended to chop off his own hand, sending Kio into slight startle. "It takes some time getting' used to, but it comes in mighty handy from time to time," he joked, set aflame a pan full of the items he sliced and diced and poured the innards into a pot. He grabbed a ladle scooped some of the stew up and took a taste for himself, then poured it into three bowls, handing each of them one. "Try me famous bonzabeast stew," he said, walking over to Doppler, who was cautiously lapping some up. "Hm, tangy, yet, robust," he said, seemingly enjoying it. "Old family recipe," he mentioned as an eyeball surfaced in the concoction. "In fact, that was part of the old family!" Silver laughed, grabbed the eyeball and popped it into his mouth. "Heh heh, just kiddin' doc," he mentioned, noticing that Doppler was appalled by the grotesque humor. Kio was watching that scene and had noticed that the 'cook' had not been chopping or grabbing, or spooning any sort of eyeball into the mixture. She decided that it was not edible, no matter how hungry she was. Right after that observation she noticed that she was starving, and hadn't eaten for days. Kio still was definitely not going to eat the stew. Maybe something else some other time. Jim however was not as picky as Kio and was thinking about trying it. As he reached for the spoon it acquired a pinkish, blob-like head and soon shaped into some odd little pink thing that you might find in a lava lamp. It changed into a straw and ate the stew that was left in the bowl, and turned itself back to the form of something inside a lava lamp. "Why Morphy – I was wonderin' where ye had gotten to!" Silver said as Morph flew over to him and sat upon his finger, nuzzling the human side of Silver's face. The creature flew over to Jim, curious of the new comers. "Heh, what is that thing?" Jim asked, Morph mimicked him and was lightly poked, went into pieces and returned as an exact replica of Jim but small enough to stand on his finger. "It's a Morph. I rescued the little shapeshifter a while back. Took a shine to me ever since," the cook said as Morph went over to Kio, whom was intrigued by the odd creature, forgetting about Silver. Morph transformed to mimic Kio's head as she turned to look at him from different angles, Morph doing the same, almost as a mirror. He changed back to his original pink form and went back to Silver. Mr. Arrow left with Doppler to go see the launch. "So... Cap'in's put ya me, eh?" Silver asked the obvious, not really in a question's form. More along the lines to point the fact. Jim went over to a barrel that was filled with odd little purple objects in shapes of lemons. "You know... These perps remind me of the ones back home. On Montresser..." he said, grabbing one and taking a bite out of it, beginning to interrogate Silver. Kio noticed him taking a 'perp' and grabbed one herself. If he had eaten it then it must be safe, even if it was in this kitchen. She nibbled on it a moment and noted it to be delicious. She grabbed a few handfuls of them and stuffed them into the pockets of the trench coat. She had worn it since it dried, so it wasn't as heavy, despite the material it consisted of. After about four armfuls went into her pockets she stopped taking them and let it be at that number. "Bones? Bones?" Silver asked Jim in a way of ignorance. Kio realized that she had missed a few sentences of questioning, and decided to listen from then on. "Hmm, 't'ain't ringin' any bells. Must have been a different cyborg. There's a sea o' cyborgs, roamin this part," the cook continued on his string of lies, Kio believing every word. Silver sent them out to watch the launch, not wanting to be questioned any further, and was thanking God for Mr. Arrow's call.
Kio and Jim clambered up on deck, Doppler already far ahead of them with the Captain. They stopped a moment as the ship began to rise from the spaceport, and both began to float upwards.
"Mr. Snuff, engage artificial gravity!" Amelia ordered sternly. The alien said a few unknown words in his own odd language and pulled down a lever, landing all that were beginning to fly upwards.
"Brace yourself, Doctor," Amelia warned Doppler, who in return mocked her. As the ship took off nearly suddenly it sent Doppler flying into a wall. Kio too unfortunately went flying back, and as she had strayed near a higher floor in front of the railing, she flew backwards, hit the railing and fell and skidded on her back on the lower floor. She groaned and slowly sat up, rubbing her back and gritting her teeth, her eyes shut to keep them from leaking out of the pain she felt. Jim quickly went to aid her, having watched everything.
"That looked like it hurt. You okay?" he asked, kneeling beside her. Kio looked over to him opening her eyes and nodded, however it was clear to see the tears welling up in her gray, with a hint of blue, hued eyes. Yet she still slightly smiled.
"I'll be fine," Kio winced, "It doesn't hurt that bad." She was lying through her teeth. Suddenly a lonely yet beautiful call echoed out amongst the galaxy and both Kio and Jim looked up to see at least fifty orcas galacticus swimming on by, afloat of the air.
"Wow," Kio said in amazement, gazing upon them. They both went over to the ratlines to have a closer look at the majestic creatures. Both fascinated by the species relating to a whale.
"Jimbo!" Silver called out seemingly anger at the cabin boy, causing immediate attention of both 'cabin' ranked.
"I've got two new friends I'd like you to meet," he said, Jim looking around anxiously with delight. Then was very disappointed as Silver tossed him a mop and bucket.
"Mr. Mop, and Mrs. Bucket," he said, enjoying the boy's devastation, "Kio – your two new friends are waitin' for ye down 'ere." Silver pointed to a mop and bucket leaning up against the main mast. Kio was slightly disappointed herself, but then again she was expecting work among the trip as a 'cabin girl.' They began to mop as ordered, Morph 'watching these here pups.' Suddenly a very large, muscle-bound, scary-looking alien walked by and pushed Jim out of the way and against the ship's border.
"Watch it, twerp," the alien snarled and went on his way. Jim collected himself and went back to mopping, stopping to eavesdrop on a few suspicious-looking characters muttering almost inaudible words to each other. They noticed him almost immediately and stopped abruptly.
"What're you looking at, weirdo?" one of them asked Jim and then scurried off it's bulky body onto the other border of the ship, it's 'body,' which happened to be a different alien, acquiring eyes and mouth.
"Yeah, weirdo," it said. Jim raised an eyebrow and Kio began to back away, mopping in a different area a bit nearer to Jim and Morph.
"Cabin boys should mind their own business," Mr. Scroop, a tall scrawny, spider-like alien, hissed, coming down from the main mast to Jim.
"Why, you got something to hide, bright eyes?" Jim smirked as he asked Scroop the meaningless question that seemed as sarcasm. The boy had countered – that did not please Scroop.
"Why you little..." the alien snarled at Jim, grabbed his collar, picked him up, and slammed him against the main mast, ready to teach him a lesson he wouldn't soon forget, if live to remember it at all. Kio gasped, she didn't know what to do. What could she do? If anything be a distraction – she surely did not want to see Jim hurt at all, so she did what was her only option. Kio, being half felinid, set out her claws and ran for one of Scroop's legs, which she grabbed and latched her claws into along with biting his leg. She also set out the claws in her feet (her feet which were definitely more cat-like than human-like) and pushed them against Scroop's leg as well. The alien cried out in pain as Kio's claws dug deeper.
"You insignificant little brat!" Scroop hissed at her, flinging his leg trying to knock her off, and succeeded, sending Kio heading to fly off the ship. She winced, expecting to continue and be lost within the galaxy forever, until she was grabbed by the collar of her trench coat by none other than Silver. He set her down and Kio backed up, watching what he was going to do to Scroop.
"Mr. Scroop. You ever seen what happens to a fresh perp, when ya squeeze, real, hard?" he asked while grabbing the spider's thick arm and squeezing it until it looked as small as three inches. Scroop wailed and grabbed his arm once Silver let go, rubbing it vigorously. Jim fell from Scroop's grip and rushed to get away from him, joining Kio.
"What's all this then?" Mr. Arrow came into the scene demanding to know what the fighting was about.
"You know the rules. There'll be no brawling aboard this ship. Any further offenders will be confined to the brig for the remainder of the trip. Do I make myself clear, Mr. Scroop?" Arrow glared at the spider, waiting a reply.
"Transparently..." Scroop growled after hesitating.
"Well done Mr. Arrow, sir! A quiet ship's a happy ship! Sir!" Silver called out as Mr. Arrow left. He then turned to Kio and Jim angrily.
"I gave you two jobs to do!" he growled.
"Hey I was doing it, until that, bug thing..." Jim began.
"Belay then! Kio, what's your excuse?" he turned to a frightened- looking Kio standing beside Jim, whom only stuttered in reply.
"When I come back I want this ship swabbed spotless! And heaven help ya if it's not done! Morph! Keep an eye on these here pups," he ordered sternly and left, leaving Morph transformed to large eyeballs, moving from Jim to Kio every minute.
Morph had transformed to a miniature mop, helping out Jim for a minute or so, then went back to his original form, hiccuping bubbles. Kio went over to them both from the other side of the deck to be entertaining by the little shapeshifter, and laughed at his humorous antics.
"Well this has been a fun night. Making new friends... Like that spider- physco," Jim said sarcastically, Kio nodding in agreement. Morph shaped into a small replica of Scroop and jumped at Jim.
"Spider-physco, spider-physco!" he mimicked.
"A little uglier," Jim critiqued. Morph covered his fake spider face and let go, making Scroop look as a laughing maniac with huge teeth.
"Almost," he said with a smirk. Silver joined them up on deck, throwing out the left overs of the night's meal (which Kio still was not going to touch. She had eaten one or two perps for her dinner) and making a few comments on how the deck was still in one piece.
"About today... I just wanted to say thanks," Jim muttered to Silver.
"Didn't your pop ever teach ya t'pick your fights more carefully?" the cook asked sympatheticly. Jim kept quiet and turned away. Kio listened in carefully now, either thinking Jim didn't reply out of shame or didn't reply out of some other reason.
"Your father not the teachin' sort...?" Silver asked him.
"No. More like the, taking off and never coming back sort," Jim said angrily, leaving Kio pitying him. Even for one who would never know her father, the remark was just too upsetting.
"Sorry lad..." Silver had begun to say.
"Hey, it's no big deal... I mean, we're just fine..." Jim muttered in reply, inturrupting the cook.
"Well, so as to that then! The captain's put me in charge, and you won't eat, sleep, or scratch your bum without my say first!" Silver told him sternly in light-heartedness.
"Don't do me any favors!" Jim said.
"Oh you can be sure of that, lad. You can be sure of that!"