Kagome is a 18 year-old space pilot in training, she lives in the year 2351 and has just been assigned her very own ship. But she crash lands on a strand planet with only a small group of bandits, and their leader is a certain Hanyou.
Shades
Chapter one"Mother! Please, NO! Don't let them! Please!" The young girls scream echoed through the court. A woman with long brown hair looked at her kindly and said, "I'm sorry daughter, this is for your best interest." Her words froze the young girl who was entangled in one of the many guards' arms.
She swallowed hard and looked for one last time into her mothers eyes before saying, as cold as she could manage, "I'm no longer your daughter." The words hurt her mother, but she didn't show it, instead she bowed her head and ignored the screams coming from her daughter as she was dragged away.
"Helen, it was for the best, she'll be a fine pilot one day." The girl's mother, Helen, was sitting in a hover cab with her husband who was trying to make her feel better. "Houshi, it'll never be ok! I just lost our daughter, damn the government! It isn't fair! Why? Why did they have to take her?" Helen collapsed into tears and hugged her husband.
They didn't notice the cab driver put a in an immediate call to the police. Moments passed until they arrived, the red and blue lights swirled around their cab, it pulled over and the driver pushed them out, leaving them to the cops. "Helen Higurashi, you are under arrest for insulting your government, you will have a hearing in a court of law in two days." One of the cops said through a speaker.
Helen gasped and looked to her husband who was watching the police hover cars speeding away with his mouth slightly ajar.
XxTwo days laterxX"Hello Helen Higurashi, it's August 12, 2345. Your agenda for the day is as follows:
Court hearing, 12:00 Have a nice day…"
Helen turned off her alarm and wiped the sleep from her eyes. She slowly got from her bed and walked to her dresser. She grabbed her favorite suite and slipped it on. Slowly she clipped the Uversion clip onto the chest of the jacket. She pinned her hair back in a very professional looking bun.
She straitened her shirt and walked over to her door. She clicked a button and said, "Cab Company." It dialed and soon there was a beep coming from her door. She sat silently in the cab as it flew to the courthouse, the whole time all she could think was how un-fair it was that the Uversion people lived under a dictator.
She arrived at the national court and waited for her trial to begin. They played a clip of her voice saying the same thing over and over, "Damn the government, Damn the government, Damn the government." She felt fear building in her gut as she waited for the final verdict. Guilty as charged. They cuffed her and took her to the execution room.
She stood in a long line of people like her, caught saying something negative about the government. A man with a laser gun stood in front of the group. Quick swipe, a scream, then silence. They were all dead, along with Helen.
XxSix years laterxX"Mother! Please, NO! Don't let them! Please!" Kagome's scream echoed through the court. Her mother looked at her kindly and said, "I'm sorry daughter, this is for your best interest." Her words froze Kagome who was entangled in one of the many guards' arms.
She swallowed hard and looked for one last time into her mothers eyes before saying, as cold as she could manage, "I'm no longer your daughter." The words hurt her, but she just bowed her head and ignored Kagome's screams as she was dragged away to be trained to become a pilot.
"Kagome! Kagome wake up! You're scaring me." The Klahanie Prime pilot said as she tried to shake Kagome awake, she had soaked the pillow with sweat and was rolling around whimpering random words. "Hmm.." Kagome's eyes cracked open. Beads of sweat dripped down from her forehead.
"Oh, Kahilia." Kagome whimpered her friend's name and tried to grab a hold of her. Kahilia smiled down at Kagome, "Was it the dream again? The one of your mother?" Kahilia had an English sound in her voice, which was because the people of Klahanie Prime were descendants of earth, which was destroyed in the battle of 2023, just after human kind found life on Jupiter. But that's another story. (A/N: If you want the full story on that e-mail me at: we need to get going, the finals are TODAY! I completely forgot!" Kahilia pulled Kagome out of her bunk and threw her shirt, badge, and pants. Kagome threw them on and followed Kahilia down the white washed halls. They soon hit a huge mass of teens all wearing the same pilot training uniform, a gray shirt, whatever planets badge they were from, and black pants.
Kagome talked with Kahilia as they maneuvered through the crowd, heading for their own classes. "So! How do you think you'll do? I've been itching to get behind one of those 45 cDs's for a while… I can't believe the day's come!" Kahilia was saying. They entered the large room already half filled and took a seat in the front row.
They all talked until a man walked into the room wearing a black shirt, an Uversion badge, and black pants, a pilot's suite. He quietly handed out the final exams. Kagome bit her lip when hers was passed to her, she hadn't studied at all. She'd have to wing it, again. The room was silent except for the scratching of pencils on the paper; the test was pretty standard, stuff she already knew.
She could feel tension hanging in the air like mist, wispy and thin, but there. When she finished Kagome looked around the room, a lot of the people were already done and were sleeping on their desk. She slowly stood from her seat and worked her way through the maze of desks, once she got to the front she smiled at the pilot and handed him her paper.
He looked it over for a moment, sighed, and looked Kagome in the eyes. A smile graced his lips and he winked at her, he WINKED at her, she wasn't sure if he was trying to flirt with her, or if he was failing at being friendly, She walked back to her seat at a brisk pace. Sat in her seat and waited to be dismissed.
When the last person was done everyone hurried out of the room, all talking about the same thing, how they did. "Oh my god, like, I so didn't get number 12, god." Kahilia said as they shoved their way past everybody. "Yea, I guessed!" Kagome said as she pulled her bag over her shoulder. Later that day…
"And that is why when your ship is in pre-light speed you always, Kagome? Are you asleep? WAKE UP!" Kagome jerked her head up from her desk and looked around the room at the faces now staring at her. She blushed slightly and turned her attention at their virtual teacher who had been giving them a lecture on light speed.
"Where was I? Oh yes, And you always jump shift in pre-light speed. Now, you may be dismissed to lunch." The hologram flickered away and left the class to their lunch. Kagome stood and headed out of the room when she felt a tap on her shoulder, she turned around to find Sango looking at her. "You have drool on your chin Kags." She said with a smile on her face.
XxLater...xX
Kagome immediately wiped her lower lip, witch indeed did have slobber on it. She laughed and continued her decent down the hall. They arrived in the cafeteria and sat down in a double booth. Kagome pressed the button that was incased in a luminescent see-through box. She watched as a hologram sprouted from the projector in the box and looked at her face, "And what can I hydro up for you today doll?"
The hologram asked while smacking its virtual gum. It blew a bubble and tapped its pencil on the clipboard she had in her hand. "Uhh, I'll have, hmmm, a number 7 please?" Kagome said, then she turned to Sango and motioned for her to place her order, Sango sighed and looked over the menu on the wall. "Uhh, I'll have a 4 thanks." She said.
Almost immediately the table sprang to life and two glasses of what looked like water sprouted out, next to the glasses were something pill-like. Kagome picked up her pill and examined it, it was small, round, and it had the number 7 on it. She dropped it into the water like substance and watched as it started to bubble.
Sango did the same with her pill and moments later they were looking at a plate of food. Kagome grabbed her burger and began eating, it had a distant taste of water, but it was still good. Sango had ordered a salad with ranch, she picked up her fork and dug in just like Kagome. The hologram coughed to get the girls attention, "Uhh, would like, like anything else?" It asked. Kagome shook her head to signify she was satisfied with her burger. They finished their meal in silence and soon had to leave for their last class, science.
XxIn science…xX
Kagome sat between Sango and Kahilia, they had been talking about how much fun it would be to get Pilot. The test they had taken earlier that day was going to decide who got Pilot and who got Crew.
Science was the only class with a real teacher, Mr. Imahawkalugie, he was a scrawny man with a retreating hairline and bottle cap glasses. He was a mere 54 and always wears a whitewashed laboratory coat and black tux pants. Mr. Imahawkalugie walked into the room at a slow pace, as always, and took a seat at the front of the room.
He coughed for a moment then placed his hand in the air to silence the chatting class. "Today -cough- we're going to -cough- dissect a -cough- Samarian Dui alien." The guys in the class started whooping while the girls, or most of them, started protesting with excuses such as: But I JUST got my nails done! That disgusting! Ewww! And so forth. "Silence!"
Mr. Imahawkalugie's voice was surprisingly forceful for such a small man. Everyone shut their mouth and waited for the lecture on respect, but it never came, instead, he motioned for the group leaders to go to the storeroom and get tools and such for the experiment.
Kagome was her group's leader, so she stood and walked down the stairs to bottom of the room. She, along with about five more people, walked through the hall towards the storeroom. Once Kagome got there she grabbed three laser scalpels, three dissecting plates, and three sets of gloves.
She headed back to the room and when she got there she found that the already deceased Samarian Dui, which were pretty much just like what the people of Earth thought aliens would look like was back in the olden days. They had humongoushead, long thin arms, lengthy legs, and a short torso.
Kagome slipped her gloves on then began heating the laser scalpel. Mr. Imahawkalugie stood from his seat and began his riddle, "You must find the puzzle piece in these Samarian Dui, each piece is in a separate part of its body, the pieces have a clue on them to find the next piece, you may begin…. NOW!"
Kagome clicked on her laser and tried to decide where to cut first when she heard Mr. Imahawkalugie cough, she looked up at him, he smiled and pointed to the back of his neck, as if to scratch it. Kagome turned the alien over and began making a clean incision on the back of its neck.
She slowly removed the skin from the back of its neck and smirked at the blue puzzle piece. She tried to grab it but was to disgusted by the blue blood seeping from the incision. She looked at Kahilia who shook her head to say 'Not me!'.
Then she looked to Sango who then grabbed her Laser and burnt the area around the wound to stop the bleeding; she muttered something about freaking pussies and just a little blood. Kagome slowly lowered her hand to the piece and picked it up, she looked at it closely, and found that it said 'She's left me, and now I have a broken .'
Kahilia was next to cut hers open, she sighed cause she did NOT wanna dissect a poor little alien. Especially its heart. Kagome smiled her evil smile and handed Kahilia her laser, "Better hurry up before it gets cold." Kahilia scowled at Kagome then slowly cut down the Samarian Dui's chest.
Gooey blue blood seeped out of the incision as if she was going to hurl. Kahilia spread open the slice in its stomach; there was a squashy sound as she opened it. She cringed at the sight of the alien's ribcage. "Uh… What do I do?" She asked looking to Kagome or Sango.
Kagome opened her science book and looked up Samarian Dui, she read aloud, "Samaria Dui were known for their brain capacity, they were not known for their strength, but their ability to solve problems. Samarian Dui have very weak and brittle bones, one of the main reasons that when they challenged the late Earth to war, Earth won the battle. (E-mail me for the full story.)
Kahilia looked dumbfounded for a moment before realization reached her face, "So, We can just, break the bones away? But that's so MEAN!" Sango sighed, she, unlike Kahilia and Kagome, was going into space force. Where she was going to be able to fight crime and stuff like that. "Look, the thing is ALREADY DEAD! I don't think it's gonna mind, okay?"
Her words were forceful. Kahilia mock pouted then began to push at the weak bones, they broke away with ease revealing the heart. Kahilia winced and slowly began to slice the heart, she was lucky to find the piece on the first try, she pulled it out and made a face at the sticky blood clinging to her glove.
She wiped it off with a disgusting look on her face, after it was all gone she read aloud the clue. "Okay, it says, I spy with my little , Oh my god, I know! Eye! Like, who says that anymore." Kahilia raised her eyebrow at Sango and pointed to the aliens eyes, "Have fun!" . Sango scowled at her and simply said, "Oh I will."
Just to be mean she plunged the laser into its eye, the laser wasn't on, so she turned it on and they eye exploded. It sprayed the three of them, "Ewww!" Kagome and Kahilia said in unison, all Sango said was, "Cool." She bent over the alien and looked into its 'eye'. "Nothing, must be the other one."
Sango laughed and yanked out the laser, she was about to plunge it into the other eye when Kagome stopped her, "I don't think anyone wants more eye on them." She said as she wiped a chunk of eye off her shirt. Sango sighed and cut around the eye and removed it slowly, below where the eye used to be there was a small piece of the puzzle.
She picked up the piece and fit it to the other two. One the back it said: Congrats, you've made a 92! Class ended shortly after and they all headed back to the dorms.
XxThe next day…xX
Kagome slowly opened her eyes to the blinding light in her dorm room. For a moment she felt disoriented, then she remembered where she was. With a heavy sigh she rolled out of the bed and hit the floor, pretty much the only way to get out of bed for her.
She stood slowly and leveled herself out before going to her dresser and pulling out a fresh uniform. She flattened out the creases in her shirt and headed out to the hall to meet up with Sango or Kahilia. She met up with Kahilia in the hall but Sango was no were to be found, they stopped by her dorm room, still nothing.
After looking in a few more places the girls gave up and made their way down to the auditorium where a presentation on being a pilot was going to be held. They sat in the upper rows, the auditorium had stadium seating. A girl with a mean scowl on her face and raven brown hair tired in a low bun slid past them wearing a Urranian badge, she shoved Kagome's knee aside with her leg and sat two seats away.
Kagome shot a glance at the girl before sliding on her Tresseas, a type of goggles that had a screen in the glass so you could watch movies and presentations. She pressed the play button at the top of the goggles and was greeted with the all to familiar sensation of gliding through the air. When she opened her eyes Kagome found herself in a flight simulation, she could hear a strong voice say, "Guide to you best, Kagome Higurashi, START!"
At that moment the stars visible through the windows of the small pod began to speed past. Kagome placed her hands on the wheel and turned slowly when she saw a fire ring, she guided the ship through it with ease. After getting past the first ring with suck ease, Kagome decided to amp it up a little, she slide up the acceleration shift to two. But in space flight, a little bit goes a long way.
The ship started speeding towards the next Ring of Fire. The speed got to her slightly making her move the wheel slightly to the left, the next thing she knew the ship was on fire from the ring. "Ahh!" Kagome screamed as the fire advanced towards her, she swatted at it to find that even though it was a simulation she could 'feel'.
She pushed her way to the very front of the ship. The flames flashing at her. "Help! End program! END PROGRAM!" Everything went black, Kagome could hear a distant voice saying, "Kagome? Wake up! Kagome!" Her eyes fluttered open and she found Kahilia leaning over her with a concerned look on her face.
"What happened?" Kagome asked as she slowly sat up and looked at her hands, just to make sure it WAS a simulation. "Well, I accidentally missed a ring so It kicked me, then when a came out you were lying on the floor screaming. I pulled the Tressea and here we are." Kahilia said, the same look of concern still on her face, "Do we fail then?" Kagome looked around, everyone else was silently sitting in their chair, all guiding their own ship. Kagome slowly slid her Tresseas on and re-began the simulation.
XxOne week later…xX
Today was the day, they were getting their test scores! Kagome and Sango had met in the cafeteria at breakfast. They were heading down to the testing lab to check their grades. As they walked through one of the many halls Kagome saw the same girl who had been there that day with the Tresseas.
The girl was huddled over the score chart, apparently looking for her grade on the masters. She turned away from the sheet with a smug smile on her face, probably got pilot. Kagome and Sango pushed through the people in the crowd and looked for their own grades.
"Higurashi, Higurashi, Higurashi," she said as she scanned down the list of name. She got to the H's and found her score, a 67. "Oh no!" She cried when she saw it, she shifted her eyes to the left to see if she made pilot, nope.
Tears threatened to fall from her eyes, she bit her lip and lowered her head, looking back at the list she saw that the score was not hers. But a Humarius Higurashi, her eyes lit as she looked lower down the page, and there her grade was, 89.kagome's face split into a smile and tears really did fall. She hugged herself and bounced up and down as she looked to the left, "PILOT!"
She nearly screamed, she pushed her way out of the crowd and saw Sango across the hall, she was smiling broadly at Kagome who rushed over to her, "I got PILOT!" Kagome screamed and she jumped up and down with Sango. "I'm so happy for you! I got Exterminator! Just think, I'll be out there kicking ass and taking names!" They hugged each other for a moment before Kagome went off to find Kahilia to tell her the good news….
Xx---A/n Okay, What'd ya think? PLEASE R/R I wanna know how its going so far? Ok? So your gonna r/r right? GOOD glares you better! For those waiting for more up-dates on different sorties, they are ON THE WAY I'm considering discontinuing Locked Away.. We'll see! BBFN InuTime –The evil Hamster----xX