Thirteen

by Alei-Frozen-Ruby

It has been said that for every species on earth, thirteen have been chosen to be immortal and to rule over the species. When Ichigo of the iriomote wildcats leaves on a voyage, her world will change forever, but not in the way she imagined.

2. Paradise Lost

Translation Notes:

Hai: Yes

-hime: suffix meaning 'Princess'

Animals Mentioned:

Cats: Kanaria, Kasumi, Itaro

Birds: Barasuisho, Shojun

Disclaimer: I do not own the Tokyo Mew Mew, or the other various characters I use.

Claimer: I do, however, own Artemisia Fowl, she was created as Artemis's cousin, but was not created by Eoin Colfer. She has played many positions: Artemis's cousin, boarding school girl, but more often than not, she plays a pirate captain.

It has been said that for every species on earth, thirteen have been chosen to be immortal and to rule over the species. These thirteen are more intelligent, faster, and all around better than the rest of the species, which is why they are fit to rule over them. Each chapter is connected by the rulers of the species. The Elite 13.

Elite 13

C...

H...M

A...I

P...N

T...T

E...O

R...

2...

Ultramarine Lorikeet

2 of 5

Paradise Lost

Captain Artemisia stood next to the wheel. Crisp salty winds blew through her hair and puffed out the sails. Next to her, Tasuku spun the wheel to the left, remaining on course. Artemisia turned to the dark haired pirate. "If this keeps up, we'll make it to Culebra by tomorrow night," Artemisia commented. Tasuku nodded. "Aye, Capn', that we could," He agreed. Artemisia's eyes flicked across her ship. Two sailors were polishing the cannons and another was swabbing the deck with another watching him. A new blonde addition to her crew leaned over the side of the ship, watching the clouds gently float by. She looked up at the crow's nest and found Masaya resting against the mast with his legs hung over the edge of it. "Does Masaya still have a hankering for the reifujin?" She asked. Tasuku nodded. "Can't get 'er out of his head, by the look of it," Tasuku said following Artemisia's eyes up to where Masaya was located. The captain nodded and walked down the short flight of steps to the deck.

"Masaya! Get down here!" She yelled. Artemisia heard a thud as she startled the pirate. He looked over the edge. "What?" He yelled. Artemisia motioned for him to come down. He nodded and climbed down from the crow's nest. Once Masaya was down he saluted the captain. Artemisia shook her head. "Stop it with the formality. You are possibly the only one who does that when we're not in port," Artemisia said. Masaya nodded and put his hand down. "What did you want me to be doing?" He asked. "Go check on the refujin and ask her if we shall have the pleasure of her attendance at dinner," Artemisia instructed. Masaya nodded and vanished below deck. Artemisia watched him vanish, then surveyed the crew. She spotted Ryou and strode over to where he was. Artemisia stood by him, clasping her hand behind her back, facing the salty breeze. " 'tis a nice day," She commented. Ryou nodded and turned to face her. "What do you want?" He asked. Artemisia shook her head. "This is your first time on my ship. It's rare you'll find better treatment," Artemisia warned. Ryou turned back to cloud gazing. "I know. I apologize," Ryou said and he closed his eyes, soaking in the crisp ocean breeze. Artemisia nodded and looked out into the ocean.

"Is there something you wish to tell me?" Ryou asked. "Do you have a home?" Artemisia questioned. Ryou closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. "Aye, but I wish I didn't," He answered. "Why not, Shirogane?" The brown haired captain asked. "Because it's filled with a bunch of rich fools." Artemisia nodded. "Same with me." Ryou looked up in surprise. "You?" He asked. Artemisia nodded. "My mother was an actress and I was too. She acted out pirate plays. When I was young, maybe five or six, something went wrong on stage and my mother was killed. That was how I got this streak here," Artemisia explained tugging on the single orange lock of hair on her head. Ryou nodded. "So how did you become a pirate captain?" "Well, in the explosion, I lost my memory of that and my father, a rich lout, sent me off to a girls' boarding school. When I was there, I tripped on a stair or something and hit my head on the banister, bringing back most of my memories. After that, my father locked me in a room until I 'came to my senses'. I escaped out the window and went off to find my mother's acting companions. I found them and convinced them to let me captain a ship, which I had had custom made a while back." Ryou interrupted, "But you didn't know anything about being a pirate." Artemisia smiled. "And there's the mystery. You see, somehow, between the two blows on my head and the memories, all the pirate acting I knew became reality for me. I could do in real life, what I could do in acting. I knew all the parts of a ship, everything I needed to know about what the crew was supposed to do, how they were supposed to act, what the captain was supposed to do. My mother's acting friends realized this before I did. Many of them are still living on this ship. And I am still captain," Artemisia finished. "So what happened to your father?" Ryou asked. "Oh, he's out there, somewhere, chasing a fairy tale me," Artemisia answered, looking out to sea. The pair sighed and watched the clouds float by.

Masaya knocked on the wooden door to Reifujin Ichigo's small room. "One minute please!" Came Berry's tinkling voice. Masaya waited patiently. Soon the door was opened. Ichigo was standing in the middle of the room, dressed in the attire of a miko: A white long sleeved, but loose shirt with a tie in the middle, holding the shirt together and the long red skirt. Ichigo pulled on a loose black robe with many slits in it, revealing the red and white colors underneath. "Hai?" She asked. "The captain was wondering if you'd be joining us for dinner," Masaya said, not taking his eyes off her. Ichigo twirled around. "Berry, what do you think? Is it too chaotic? I think I need gold or pink robes beneath this one," Ichigo commented. Berry nodded. "Yes, they would look much better," Berry commented. Then the blonde hand maid turned to Masaya, "We will have dinner down here, but will provide entertainment for tonight." Masaya nodded and replied, "Hai. I will tell the cap'n." He gently closed the door behind him and left. "What are we going to do for the entertainment, Ichigo-hime?" Berry asked. Ichigo pulled out a golden flute and held up the sparkling instrument. "We're going to dance, of course," Ichigo said.

Dinner came and went for the crew and captain and soon everyone was seated on deck, except Ryou and Artemisia . Ryou was at the helm, steering the ship, but he still had a good view of the deck. Artemisia was standing by him, watching the course. "Masaya, go tell the Reifujin Ichigo that we are finished with our meal and are ready for entertaining," Artemisia ordered. Masaya smiled and nodded and vanished below deck. He soon came back, telling them that the reifujin would be up in a few seconds. Masaya sat down on a crate near the front of the space they had cleared for the performance.

In a few seconds, as Masaya had said, Ichigo appeared on deck. She wore a flowing black kimono, decorated with gold tassels and gold embroidery depicting dragons, roses, and strawberries. Gold cloth peeked out from beneath the end of the kimono and a black sash was wrapped around her waist, embroidered with gold thread in the images of wildcats. She was playing a gold flute in quick alluring notes, almost hypnotizing. The eleven iriomote wildcats came out after her in pairs. The eleventh walked by Ichigo's feet. Berry's voice high and pretty matched the tune of Ichigo's playing and they harmonized. The cats began to dance around the deck, seeming almost human. Berry and Ichigo danced amongst the cats and it all looked very pretty and synchronized. the twirled in and out so fast it seemed that they could do this in their sleep. They darted in and out of each other and the cat-tails swirled up and around, creating strange and mystical patterns. Eerie pink and gold magic flitted around the deck as the cats and girls waltzed. Masaya's eyes never left the dancing Ichigo and Tasuku watched Berry intently. As the music was coming to a close, as the cats were dancing slowly and hypnotically, a loud thud was heard from the stern. The music abruptly ceased and heads turned toward the sound. Fluttering surrounded the ship and, for a moment a large bird seemed to have crashed down on the bow. But as soon as Artemisia approached with the light, a battered girl, crumpled on the stern was revealed. Two ultramarine lorikeets had landed on the railing near her.

Her blue hair was done up in double buns and she wore a blue kimono made of dirtied blue feathers. A few were even tucked in her hair. Chipped beaded earrings adorned her ears and her bare feet had small cuts on them. "Masaya, carry her below deck," Artemisia commanded. "Yes, sir!" Masaya responded and immediately pushed to the front of the pirate crowd. He gently picked up the feathery girl. She was surprisingly light. Masaya carried her below deck. Ichigo followed him and Berry followed her with the cats. "That girl is beautiful," One of the pirates commented. "But she was not well fed," another put in. "Did you see her feet? They were cut. I wonder what happened to her," Another wondered out loud. "While that is a good question, that is not what we should be wondering. The question is how did she get here?" Artemisia corrected. The pirates looked at her questioningly. "What do you mean cap'n?" Asked one with a striped shirt. "How did she fall onto the ship? There's nothing to fall from," Artemisia clarified. "She could've climbed aboard and fallen there," One put in. "But that wouldn' ha' made that large a noise. An' she couldn' a' clambered up the riggin' 'cuz I was there the whole time and would'a felt the tremors," Another dispelled that theory. "But there's no other way she could've gotten in," another shouted. "Men, it would seem we have a mystery on our hands. I do not think I need to tell you to keep quiet about this," Artemisia looked at her crew.

"Now, go to your stations. Skeleton Crew is up tonight. Tasuku, take Ryou's place at the wheel. Scrat, check for more birds up on the sails, I'm sure there are more than two of them. You three put these crates and barrels back in the cargo hold," Artemisia let off a string of orders which were immediatly fulfilled. She walked down below deck to check on Masaya, the bird girl, and the reifujin and her maiden. When she got down, she found the door to Ichigo's room slightly ajar. Artemisia knocked twice before pushing the door open and walking in. To her satisfaction, she found all the cats excepting two inside their cages. The two were laying at Ichigo's feet, heads on top of their crossed paws. Berry was brining out oils and bandages to treat the wounded bird girl Masaya was laying on the bed. "Masaya, you're needed on deck. Maiden Berry and Ichigo-hime are capable of treating this . . . refugee," Artemisia ordered. Masaya nodded and quickly scampered on deck. "Are you going to be sleeping all right?" Artemisia asked, noticing that there was only on free bed. "Hai, I am staying up to treat this girl, and my lady will sleep in the other bed," Berry replied. "But where will you sleep?" Artemisia asked. "With the cats," Berry answered, gesturing to the two cats by Ichigo's feet. They seemed to be guarding her from something. "You could sleep with the crew if you wanted," Artemisia offered. Berry shook her head violently. "Oh no! I wouldn't dream of doing that!" She cried. Artemisia nodded. "If you say so. But if you change your mind, there's an extra bunk with them," the captain told her before leaving.

Ichigo and Berry stood silently staring at the strange girl before them. "Well, it seems as though the birds have caught up with us," Ichigo finally said. Berry nodded. "What should we do with her?" Berry asked. "I don't know. What do you think, Kanaria?" Ichigo asked one of the cats at her feet. Kanaria looked up at her. Leave her be, for now. the cat replied. "I agree. We should not yet get rid of her, the crew would notice," Berry said. "We shall try to leave her at Culebra," Ichigo decided. It could be to our advantage to keep the girl. Kasumi, the other cat, suggested. "How so?" Asked Berry. Look at her condition. She has obviously met some large threat. Kasumi observed. Whatever this threat is, it could come for us. Kanaria informed them. "So we need her to tell us what the threat is," Ichigo finished the thought. The cats nodded. "Berry, you should tend to her now," Ichigo said and moved to the other bed. Berry nodded. "That, I will, Ichigo. That I will," Berry said and turned to tend to the bird girl. Ichigo laid down in the bed and curled up in a ball. Soon she was asleep with Kanaria and Kasumi around her. When Berry was finished she let the other cats out. She laid down with the nine wildcats and went to sleep.

Berry awoke the next morning to a gentle nudging. She groaned and sat up. Good. You're awake. The bird girl is stirring. You must lock our cages. Itaro, a male cat, informed her. He silently jumped up and into the cage. The other cats, including Kanaria and Kasumi were already there. Berry swiftly lock the eleven cages and glanced over at the bird girl. She groaned and opened her eyes. Berry walked over to her. "Shhh. Be quiet and rest," Berry said. The girl opened her eyes. "I can't . . . island . . . in danger," She mumbled and tried to get up. Berry pushed her back down. The girl struggled and Berry was surprised at her strength. "You are not well," Berry said firmly. "You need to rest and heal," She said holding the bird girl down. The girl gave up the struggle. "How many . . .survived?" the girl asked. "Survived what?" Berry asked. "The . . . battle," The blue haired girl said. Berry shook her head. "I do not know this battle of which you speak," She replied. "Then they . . . are gone," The blue girl said to herself and closed her eyes. She fell asleep once more. Berry puzzled this to herself and woke Ichigo. Ichigo stirred and rubbed her eyes. "What is it, Berry?" She asked. "There was a battle on her island. The birdie was asking how many survivors there were," Berry explained. Ichigo's eyes cleared of all sleepiness. "What?" She asked. This does not bode well. Itaro said from his cage. "Who do you think did that?" Ichigo asked. Berry shook her head. "Too many possibilities. It could've been a simple pirate raid, or it could've been an attack by the others," Berry said. "Yes, there are too many possibilities. We should ask around, send the cats out to gather information," Ichigo said. Berry nodded. "Someone at Culebra should know something about it, if it was a pirate attack," Berry thought out loud. "But if it isn't . . ." Ichigo's voice trailed off and the statement hung in the air.

The bird girl stirred again. "Where . . . are they?" she asked. Ichigo and Berry turned toward her. "Who?" Berry asked. "The others," She said. Berry shook her head. "Where is your island?" She asked. The girl's eyes opened slowly. They were empty as she said, "My . . . island. It is . . . a paradise lost."