Chapter 9, Part A

AN: Now we're getting into descriptions. And wacko weirdness. But there would be no such things as fanfics without wacko weirdness, so maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it because it's redundant… Ah, the hell with it! On to the fic!

It had been roughly eight o'clock p.m. when Armina and her Bish had started walking away from the campsite. When they finally stopped, it was 4:30 a.m. Ketric had long since fallen asleep on Heero's back. But Heero and Kiba both were far from sleepy. Heero had heard many disturbing rumors about the Samurai Deeper Kyo Bish, and Kiba had had experience with them. The SDK Bish were not the nicest of people by a long shot. So the two elder Bish had kept their senses extended for any hint of violence or threat. Fortunately there was none.

When they finally made camp, 'Mina was more than ready to drop. She un-Capsulized the Capsule house in an appropriate looking clearing, entered and flopped on the couch with a groan. Heero grinned at her and set Ketric down in on of the plush armchairs. The Chibi curled up into a ball, fluffy tail shielding his face from the dim light, and gave a happy sigh, all without waking up. 'Mina and Heero exchanged an 'isn't he adorable?' look, then Heero went back outside with Kiba to complete a border patrol. The two captured Bish were not about to take any chances that the SDK Bish might ambush them, even now that they were far out of the other's territory. But Kiba and Heero found nothing and went back inside.

Kiba first went to grab a big pillow and pulled it in front of the door so that he could sleep there. Heero went first to check on his Trainer and the Chibi that they were all protecting. He wasn't' expecting the sight that greeted him, not with knowing 'Mina as he did.

'Mina and Ketric were both fast asleep on the couch; Ketric curled up in 'Mina's arms, 'Mina cradling the Chibi in a very maternal-protective way. It was a very cozy looking scene and not at all like 'Mina. Didn't she tell me on the very first day I met her that she hated kids? Where's that 'I hate kids' attitude now? Heero sighted softly and shook his head, that was his Trainer, constantly contradictive and always changing her mood. Makes for an interesting life, to say the least. He noticed that 'Mina was shivering a little and grabbed an afghan blanket from the back of one of the chairs and tucked it around the two sleeping forms. After he did that, he gently tucked a lock of stray hair behind 'Mina's ear and carefully caressed her face.

Then he froze, completely shocked at his actions. He hastily, but quietly, walked away to the back bedroom he had claimed as his. After flopping on the bed, he stared at the ceiling, attempting to comprehend his behavior and feeling. I can't possibly be getting a crush on 'Mina, can I? It's ridiculous for me to like that semi-abusive, sharp-tongued, doesn't-give-a-good-god-damn harpy, and what's more, it's forbidden. 'No Bish shall indulge in any form of relationship with a Trainer, save one of chaste friendship and servitude.' That's the rule in all the Bish villages now, and has been for four years since that invasion of crazed Half-Bish. Never mind that it had been inarguably announced that the crazy Half-Bish had been mad and experimented upon by an insane Trainer. It was still forbidden for any Bish to indulge in any behavior that may possibly result in a Half-Bish. And for a health Bishonen to develop a crush on a healthy female Trainer definitely fell under that description. But…

But, I still like her, she's completely different from any female I've ever associated with before. Maybe she's got a sharp tongue and maybe she likes to use her tessen a little too much, but she never crosses the line between teasing and insulting, and there is no possible way she could hurt me physically and she knows it. Damn it all! Heero growled under his breath and tossed an arm over his eyes. It wasn't fair! Okay, I got a crush on my Trainer! That doesn't mean I have to act on it and I sure as hell am not admitting it to 'Mina. Besides, it's just a crush and it'll probably fade on it's own in a few days, or weeks. The only reason I noticed it at all is because she's being so cute over Ketric! Heero growled at himself this time. No! I did not just think that my Trainer, my Trainer, is cute. Nope, na-uh, didn't happen, you can't make me say it did! Heero rolled over and grabbed his pillow.

"Oh, who the hell am I fooling?" He grumbled into the empty, dark room. "I am such an idiot." He said as he buried his face into his pillow. He should probably try and sleep, they were going to have to reach the next Trainer Village the next day to try and find Ketric's parents. Or more accurately, reach the next Village today, in the morning. But it's already morning, technically. Ah, I need to get to sleep! He groaned into his pillow. Right, sleep, when I just realized I got a major crush on my TRAINER, who's sleeping in the next room! I hate you God, your sense of humor Sucks!

Kiba, in the mean time, could very clearly scent Heero's infatuation and had been wondering when Heero was going to notice it for himself. By all that muttering and groaning, I'd say he has. This was going to be interesting. My real-life soap-opera just got a new plot twist. Ah, I love reality; it's so much more fun than fiction! He lay his head back down on his paws and stifled a snicker at his friend's emotional dilemma. So what if I'm evil? It's not like I make the problems, I just enjoy the drama they cause!

The next morning came way too early as far as 'Min was concerned. But she had to get up, not only was the sun shining right into her eyes (ragi-frackin ball of gas, I will destroy you one of these days) but Ketric was begging for breakfast and was being way too cute for his own good.

"You'd better be careful with those sad-puppy eyes or 'Mina's going to glomp you to death." Heero said as he came yawning into the kitchen. "Morning 'Mina, you look like you had zero real sleep last night."

"Same to you, buster. I thought Heero's could function optimally on only two hours of sleep?" 'Mina said as she attempted to tame her rat-nest hair. 'Attempted' being the key word here.

"Yes, but those two hours are critical and must be met." Heero mumbled into his folded arms. He was sitting in one of the kitchen table's chairs and was leaning over the table, not looking like Mister Sunshine. That was Ketric's job.

"'Mina-nee-san, I'm hungry. Those sandwiches were good, do you have anymore? I'm really very hungry." He begged in much too alert a tone for the two adults that were in the kitchen as he tugged at 'Mina's leg.

"K-chan, 'Mina works better if you don't try and pull her pants down while she's in the kitchen." Kiba said as he stretched his way off his pillow bed. "Morning mi-er- everyone."

"How come you look like you actually got sleep when we all went to bed at the same time?" Heero growled as he glared over hi arms. No morning lark here!

"Well, that's because I actually did get sleep." Kiba replied with dignity. If 'Mina had been awake, and if Heero's eyes had actually been able to focus, they would have noticed that Kiba was giving Heero a rather sly look. As it was, the only one who noticed was the one who was too young to know what a sly look was. And besides, all of Ketric's attention was centered on the fact that his tummy was empty, empty, empty and that the nice food provider was moving in slow motion. But 'Mina finally did manage to make breakfast; pancakes, eggs and bacon, with coffee, tea and orange juice, and the small group finally set off for the nearest village, which turned out to not be Llamgib. As it so happened, the city of Llamgib and the village of Emoh were only a day and three quarters apart by normal walking speed. At the rate that 'Mina was able to travel, and the extra distance that the group had put in last night, they were less then two hours away from the Emoh. Which was a very good thing, seeing as they had actually gotten up and 9:30 a.m., but hadn't gotten moving until around 11:30 a.m.

The adults had decided while they had been walking last night that the best course of action would be to got to the Trainer Village nearest to where they had found Ketric and report a lost Chibi. If the parents of Ketric were captured, their Trainer, or Trainers, would be looking for him and would have filed a Missing Person's report. If the parents were wild, Bish messengers would go to all the nearby Bish Villages and give the Village Heads the report. The parents would then accompany the messengers to a prearranged location and Ketric would be handed over to his parents and 'Mina and her crew would go off with the glow of having done a very good deed. Or so Kiba had explained, by then he would know, seeing as he had observed this before.

So they set off and entered a fairly steady flow of traffic, for the Bish world. It seemed as if all of the population was concentrated in the cities and villages, despite the fact that a good half to three quarters of the Trainers were nomadic. But it was in the flow that 'Mina discovered two things: A) a Trainer with a Chibi was the target of many a dirty look and vicious verbal interrogation, and B) none of the other Trainers seemed to be able to see Ketric!

'Mina first discover this when her group encountered a Trainer with a Wufei and a Miroku. Ketric was happily walking along between Heero and 'Mina holding both of the adult's hands, when Wufei launched his first attack.

"So who did you kidnap that Chibi from?" He snapped.

"He's not kidnapped or captured." Heero replied, his tone one of icy civility, "He's lost and we're taking him to Emoh to report him and return him to his parents."

"Uhm…." The Trainer, a shy looking girl with chin length black hair and glasses, said, "what are you talking about? Who are you talking about?"

"The Chibi right there with the ears." Wufei said pointing, and causing Ketric to hide behind 'Mina's legs, "What, do you need new glasses again, onna?" The girl blushed, then peered down between 'Mina and Heero, both of whom had stopped and turned toward the other group.

"I do not need new glasses; I just got new prescription last week." She said far more strongly than her looks would suggest. "But I still don't see who you're talking about."

"Well, he is hiding behind the lovely lady's shapely legs," Miroku said smoothly, smiling flirtatiously at 'Mina. Heero bristled unnoticed, while 'Mina rolled her eyes and ignored the complement.

"Where? I don't see him." The girl said, in spite of the fact that she was looking directly at Ketric.

"Quit playing games, it's not like you." Wufei snapped. Miroku frowned.

"It's… really not like you to do such a thing, Trainer-mine." He said, looking at the girl with a serious look, "Can you truly not see him?" 'Mina and Heero were also frowning, 'Mina resting a hand on the frightened and confused Ketric's head. Kiba came up and gently licked his face, also trying to reassure the Chibi.

"No, I can't" The girl said, looking up at Miroku with a worried expression. Wufei started to growl something when Kiba interrupted him.

"She's telling the truth." The wolf said with total seriousness. "There is no lie in her scent, only honesty."

"Okay, I'm officially freaked out now." 'Mina said under her breath. That's when another Trainer and her group came along. The Bish in this crew though, were a little… different. The first girl's Miroku muttered uncomplimentary things under his breath when he caught sight of the new Miroku. He was dressed like a Prohibition age gangster and was flirting more than a little outrageously with the Sango dressed like a Catholic school girl, with her Kirara in her right, front, jacket pocket. Everybody else started to twitch. Then 'Mina caught sight of the short-ish Trainer with the two oddballs. It all suddenly made sense then.

"Brenna!"

"Eh? Armina?"

"What are you doing here?" The two friends chorused, pointing at each other.

To Be Continued…. Later….

A.S. #Deep breath# AAAAARRRRRGGGGGGG! I hate school and I hate work! They're conspiring against me and trying to prevent me from having a life! It's all their fault that I'm so late with PART A! PART A! I wanted to get something up before the holidays and I can't get a full chapter up because of my wacked out schedule! And my schedule caused me to have a nervous break down as well. Just ask God Of Darkness, he'll tell you aalllllll about it.

An-ee-way, I'm going to be workin' my but off for a while, so don't expect chapters to just spring out of the woodworks, ain't going to happen. I will try and get something up before Christmas (please god, let me get something up before Christmas!) but I don't know if I will. School's going to let out in a little bit, which is part of the reason I'm going crazy here, last quarter projects and whoop-de-shit finals coming up. And while Petco's not as crazy as Micheals arts 'n' crafts around the holidays (I hope) still... retail durin' the holidays? Not what I'd call a stress free occupation. Then I'm going to be cleaning house with my folks, 'cause the whole tribe is coming over for X-mas, and boy won't that be fun and stress free, eh? (note: cut sarcasim here with knife)

So, there's my reasons for the late and future late chapters. Now for the rest of the shtuff.

I am partly opening the fic to new trainers, there are conditions though. I need people to be the black-haired boy and brunette from chapter two, the Trainer with the Ryo's from the mall from chapter seven, and the black haired girl with glasses here. I need a full profile, like so:

Name: Armina

Physical description: Height, 5'6" Weight: 120 lbs Age: 21 yrs.

Apperance: Naturally multi-hued hair, brown eyes with glasses, skinny in all the wrong places with a too-long face. Favors tee-shirts, jeans and sneakers. Wears a Trainer vest and keeps spare Bish Ball in the vest pockets. Keeps her used Bish Balls on her belt.

Personality: Sarcastic and slightly cynical from having been at the bottom of the social pyramid, 'Mina is still very nice and courtious to people she meets and makes friends readily with those who respond favorably. She despises the 'Popular' crowd though, for all the grief that they put her through in high school. She's a really good cook, likes animals but isnt' too certain about kids until one special kid changes her mind

Bish 1: Heero Yuy-San (Gundam W, Endless Waltz)

Personality Deviations: YES! He has a personality and a sense of humor. He favors knives over guns, isn't a computer freak and has no will power when it comes to small children. Relena's give him hives though.

Bish 2: Kiba-Sama (Wolf's Rain)

Personality Deviations: Sorta, he's more social and talkative then the Series Kiba, and is somehow unable to shift into human form, which works for animal-lover 'Mina. His loyalty is without bounds for those who earn it. He is also wise beyond his years due to his earlier foray into the Trainer world.

Bish 3: Ketric-Chibi (no series, he's an Original Character)

Personality and Bio: Sssshhhhhh! It's a secret! For now!

Alright, there it is, the basic profile that I want from each and everyone of you who wants to be in my fic! If you skimp on this, you aren't put in. If you don't give me this, you aren't put in. It you try and be a Half-Bish Trainer, you aren't put in. If you try and be a Part-Demon/monster/vampire/anything-other-than-human, you aren't put in. Noticing a trend here? I'm serious here, I'm making an exception for Ryushi 'cause it's easy enough to ignore the inner demon part, but for anyone else... You have been warned!

Heero: you do realize don't you, that you probably aren't going to get a single useable profile?

A.S. Kyu? It wasn't a problem for my in-person friends.

Kiba and Heero: #sigh#

Ketric: Why's my bio blank 'Mi-nee-san? huh? why's it blank?

A.S.:'Cause I'm going to describe you in-depth in Chap 9 part B

Heero:So she says.

A.S.:Silence you! I'm having schedule difficulties!

Kiba:So she says.

A.S.:ARG!

Ketric: Why's 'Mi-nee-san pulling out her hair?

Heero: Trust me kid, you don't want to know.

Ketric:Kyu?