Disclaimer: I do not own Metroid, but all orginal characters are mine.
Authors note: Yeah, this story will updated frequently for the fact that it is the most fun to write. Don't complain, because for some reason, there are some people out there that actually like to wait two weeks before a new chapter comes out. (Definately not me)
Rista Nevaria was a pest and a tricky one to exterminate. She had been chasing Bill since she was sixteen, along with her adoptive father, the infamous Darryl Strummins, demanding revenge for the deaths of her family. Bill had been nothing but amused by her efforts. How ironic it was that one of the people he purposely wanted to murder in the Massacres had survived, at the mere age of ten.
'She had always been a crafty one, much like Ream,' Bill thought to himself as a Pirate summoned him to the Security room. For a few days now, they had been aware of her presence in the valley, but so far, she had posed no threat. Bill was biding his time before he swooped down and snatched her. He knew exactly what Colleen was doing with Samus, and now Rista Nevaria was here as well.
When he watched the screen of the bounty hunter and the pest talking, he smirked to himself. This was going to be interesting...
Xxxx
Of all of the Space Pirate bases that Samus had infiltrated, this was definitely the best hidden. After a day of searching, there was nothing to be found. She returned to her ship, placing the security on maximum level. Taking off her suit, she stared at herself in the one mirror she had on board, near the shower, taking notice of her own straw colored hair and azure eyes.
"You look just like your father," Samus's mother said, gently brushing back her hair. "And since he was a very handsome man, you will turn out to be a very gorgeous lady, Sammy." Samus giggled as her mother started twisting the strands into a braid. "When you grow up, all the boys will be crazy about you."
"Nuh uh," She countered, sticking out her tongue. "Boys are icky." Her mother laughed.
When she was little, Samus had prided herself with her long hair that reached her waist. It was a rare occasion when she let her mother cut it, and even then, the decision was a result of a large squabble. Shutting her eyes, Samus recalled back to when she first was with the Chozo and had accepted them as her new family.
"I look like a baby," Samus commented, fingering a very short strand of her freshly cut hair. It was a tomboy cut, something she certainly was not, and it stuck up in all sorts of funny directions. It did not help that she was short for her age, with baby fat still filling her cheeks. The Chozo, never having to deal with a human girl her age before, had given her a pair of footie pajamas, which she just detested.
"In our years you a are," Her caretaker told her. "The hair had to be cut for your treatment," She then reminded her, stroking it with a bony finger.
"I know," Samus said with a groan before snapping. "But everyone else was dead, why did you bother to save me? So I would grow up miserable and lonely and ugly, like the evil ladies on HV!" The tears the young girl had been trying to surpress for the last month were back at full force. The Chozo maiden clucked her sympathy with her tongue.
"My dear girl," She said, pulling her into a deep embrace. It did not help. "Will you ever forget the pain?" Samus shook her head, but as her body was pressed against the Chozo, she winced from the pain. Her wound was still healing.
Samus' eyes tightened to keep out the tears anew. She was not as strong as she let on to be. She had her faults, and the emotional pain and trauma she went through when she was so young was her biggest weakness.
Xxx
"Dagnabbit!" Rista muttered to herself. "Where the heck is the way into this place?" The sun had disapeared long ago, and there was no moon to light the valley. Rista's only source of light was a small lantern. Now the battery was beginning to die, and the glow of it was flickering on and off. Rista would just have to rest here. She set up camp the best she could in the dark. It was stupid of her to go out alone without candles or matches, but then again, she never thought her ship would be blown up.
'I've got to be more careful next time' She scolded herself. Now she had no way out of the valley. Sure, she was on good terms with the Termis Bandits, who settled a few miles from this very location, but the valley walls were steep and near impossible to climb.
'You could always ask that bounty hunter,' A little voice inside her head chimed. Rista quickly silenced it. She hated bounty hunters. It was not that she herself was hunted by them; from the day she was born, she had never broken the law. However, Darryl was the classic scum of the universe, and she grown up hanging out with the other shady characters that were his friends. She had lost many of her "second-family" to bounty hunters, and that was what quite literally they were. After she lost her first one, they filled in the gap.
Rista sighed and took out a small compact mirror she just remembered she kept in her bag. When she opened it, a tiny light lit up. She looked at her reflection. Her hair was stringy and the her face, grimey. 'Appearances are everything' , she thought to herself. Avenging her family would not be nearly as much fun if she appeared that she had sweated alot over it. The wily heroines in the theaters were always so slick and clean about their duties. She searched her bag for a comb and struggled through the tangles.
As she did so, she brushed against a sharp rock, tearing her single pocket on her pants. In a moment of panic, Rista unzipped it to make sure the contents were safe. To her relief, the wrinkled piece of paper inside did not have a scratch or tear on it. The item's sentimental value to Rista was higher than anything she had ever owned in her entire life. Gazing upon it, she realized she needed help to get out of the mess she was in, and there was only one person that could offer that.
Xxxx
A message boomed over the computer's intercom for Samus. "Intruder approaching. Intruder approaching," it alerted. "Intruder identifies itself as..."
"Uh, hi, it's Rista Nevaria, remember me?" Rista's voice flooded in the ship. "I am guessing this is your ship and all because it's not of pirate craft, and after all, you're not one to give up so easily." She sounded nervous, and Samus knew she had every right to be. This was Samus' Aran's ship after all, and it had a very imposing appearance that did not dissuade the looker as to what strength it held. "I'll explain everything inside if you'll let me in."
"No," Samus said sharply, letting the computer relay the response. "Tell me right where you are standing, and I will see whether or not I am interested." She heard a sigh come in.
"Fine," Her voice became shaky."I know you are probably here to collect a bounty on Bill Werster, but the truth is, he has been my mark since I was ten. You see, I was a survivor of, um, the masscre on T08. Of the three colonies that were raided by the Space Pirates, I know it had the least amount of damage, but I was still left alone. My mom hid me and my little sister in a closet, and curiousity got the best of me; so, I peeked through the keyhole. I watched her get shot down." Her voice faltered. "They found us, but we were able to slip by them, but my little sister...she was not fast enough. They cornered her, and I listened to her last scream be cut short as I watched her body crumple to the ground. I was an orphan."
"I-I knew immediately who was responsible for this," Rista continued, her once strong tone now weakened. "Don't ask me how; it is kind of private. I had to avenge them. When the Federation ships came, I did not want to go to foster care or to an orphanage; so, I stowed away. When we reached a city, I forget which, I ran off. My adoptive father then found me, and he raised me, despite the fact that he was supposed to be 'cold' and 'heartless'."
"I have now realized, I cannot do this alone," She admitted. "I need help. Besides, my adoptive father, I have never told another soul that story. I told it to you because I trust you. I don't know why; perhaps it is because I trusted the Samus I knew. You may not trust me, but I know more about this guy than you do. You need my help, because this base is similar to other Pirate bases, but at the same time, it is a completely different maze. So what do you say? Will you help me and let me help you?"
Samus thought it over for a second. "Let her in," She commanded to the computer. She met Rista at the lower hatch, blaster in hand. She raised it as Rista entered. "Scan for weapons," She ordered the computer.
"You don't take any chances, do you?" Rista asked with a meek smile as a green light enveloped her. She took out her own blaster and threw it towards Samus, followed by two smaller guns and a knife. When the computer said it was safe, Samus lowered her blaster, collected Rista's weapons and set them aside.
"You know, I have been faced with few tasks more difficult than finding your ship in the pitch dark," Rista told her with an amused look. Samus nodded an acknowledgement of the statement, but offered little other communication. She led her to the small living room that was adjoined to the kitchenette. There were chairs there, not the most comfortable. When Rista sat on one, she found to be hard and unworn, the leather unaccustomed to heavy weight on it.
"I let you in for one reason," Samus stated. She paced in a distressed manner in front of Rista. "I always work alone. I never need a partner in anything. But I'll admit it. I cannot do this alone. Not that this is enough to make me take a partner." She stopped and faced Rista. "You said you were a survivor of one of the Space Pirates in the three colonies. We share common ground there; I'm a survivor too."
"Of what colony?" Rista asked, curious of what the answer might be.
"R630-X" Samus lied. She rather not call attention to the fact that she was a survivor of an incciddent of which all citizens were thought to be perished. K2L had definately been the worst hit of the three. The other two were two were to cover up the fact that the real target was K2L. Then again, they were not merely simple raids, resulting the deaths of a few hundred people, as the few attacks prior to then were like; they were full on invasions.
"You want revenge too," Rista said.
"For more than one reason, yes," Samus said. Ristra grinned.
"Some how Samus, I think I am going to like you."
Authors note: (sings) I left I major hint in here, but I'm not gonna tell you what it was. (stops singing) Anyways, I am responding to guesses in my profile. I want you guys to have as much fun solving the mystery as I am writing it. And the action will come in next chapter when they finally break in. Oh yes, and there was a reason both girls were looking in a mirror. The chapter is call Reflections after all.
