Forty-two years had passed.
Forty-two years since hope was lost, forty-two years since an endless struggle proved to be meaningless.
Jack counted the years as he did the months, weeks and days, tracking the count of the hours as he drifted through Aku's twisted future. It had been forty-two years since he had given up his struggle.
And his had been two years since he had found a reason to live.
A reason to live that included seven young lives that were pulled from the darkness of a mountain, darkness he had run from and they were born within. Two years since he had saved them, and now two years moving with them in a constant fashion.
From the high mountains to deep woods, from dark cities to holy lands, he had always kept moving. Two years of movement, never settling and never waiting. In Aku's future, to settle was to invite evil, and Jack would not risk such a thing upon the little ones.
So, it was why Jack and the little ones were now on a train, a locomotive machine that trailed through an empty land.
A land that was decorated with towns like oases in a desert. Few and far between.
Hours ago, now they had left one town, it having left eye-sight long ago. They had days before they arrived at the next. And in between there was only empty lands and open skies.
Lone pillars of rock and vacant terrain, holding not a speck of green life or wandering animals about. Only the passing breeze and chasing sun were the sights to adore. There was otherwise no reason to stay.
It was why the train kept moving, plowing through the land at the rate burning coal could manage. Coal Jack had seen the robots and emaciated villagers cart into the carriage, more than he believed came from a mine daily.
It burned a black smoke, a cloud that dissipated above the train's length, vanishing before it touched the whites of the clouds high above. It was likely the only thing in the arid lands to both be born and die here.
But those were not concerns to Jack. They were observations of his eyes and notes in his mind.
Jack cared only for the seven little ones still in his care. Little ones who were exhausted from days of travel, looking forward to just as many days of rest. Rest in a vehicle that did not spin, shake, or threaten to fall from the sky.
A train, the only vehicle tethered to its own path.
Jack sighed deeply, the thick hairs of his beard waving at the action. He was careful not to make much louder of a noise, else he disturb the little ones around him. Little ones resting in a cabin of the train.
Three of the mountain children, Ashi, Adi, and Avi.
Ashi, who had kept the sisters together whenever Jack had to speak to another. Purchasing the tickets, loading the motorcycle, securing the cabins, or even just thanking for the space. She was eldest of the seven children. Perhaps only by minutes, but by much more in mind.
Adi, the ever inquisitive one. A child that asked of every metal tool the train held. The wheels with rubber, so unlike the bike. Tracks with one direction, unlike divergent roads. And the length of the locomotive, so much longer than even the widest of airships. She asked questions until her mind tired.
Avi, a decorative child. She was careful with the clothes they had procured, for her and her sisters. The cases were kept away from the loaded coal, their matching outfits marked by name, and small deviances noted by her mind. Her rosy ribbon was still settled neatly on her head.
Even as that head rested on Jack's lap.
Ashi and Adi slept on the cabin bed just across from Jack, asleep and ignorant to the moving world. The way a child's mind should be. It allowed Jack to slip a small smile about his face.
Too rare was it for the little ones to rest easily. He was thankful the remote vehicle, and desolate land, offered so much.
SLAM
But nothing lasted forever.
Any tension Jack had at the sudden opening of his door fled just as quickly as it appeared. He saw only another of his little ones in the door way, hand still on the sliding frame.
He was both disappointed, and unsurprised, to see Aki standing there.
"Dad," Jack turned in his seat, looking to see the unkempt hair of Aki. She was looking at him from a doorway, hands balled into fists and her usual look of anger. "Something's wrong." Jack's focus was swift.
"What is wrong?" Jack asked quietly, hands over Avi's ears. He saw the pair across from him squirm from their sister's loud words. Aki didn't glance towards them.
Instead, she crossed her arms and stared at him, brow furrowed and mouth puckered. It was very much her look.
"There ain't enough room for us." She spoke the sentence as a fact, though he was sure it was not. Jack sighed before he answered.
He had been with the little ones for two years. Two years he had watched them grow so much faster than he was aware life permitted. He knew how much room the children needed, and how important the space was.
Jack had made no mistake.
"There are two rooms," Jack noted simply. There were two rooms, and two chairs that could hold two people each. He had been given math instruction by the monks in his distant past, and he knew that meant enough for eight people.
Him and his seven little ones. Four chairs to cabin. And that was not to include the appropriate beds and floor space.
They were cabins meant for days travel, and so there was more than simply a pair of chairs.
"No there's not!" Aki raised her voice, causing her sisters to squirm. She shirked under Jack's glare. "I mean… Ami and Ahi keep trying to take up space with all their stuff, so me and Aphi are just stuck in the corners. It's not good.
Ah, Jack had considered that. But… perhaps he had underestimated the sisters.
"Ami keeps fiddling with those robot parts you busted up weeks ago, trying to make something again." Last time she had made a toaster, that had a music player on it. "And she just keeps adding onto it, which keeps pushing me up against the window." Her lack of space awareness was something to be noted.
"I see," Jack noted, keeping his voice low for the resting little ones. "And what of Ahi?"
"Ahi went out to the care and brought back, like, all their food." Jack doubted it was all, but he could believe a portion far greater than any one child could eat, or seven even. "She has plates all around the cabin and is trying to figure out what's the best way to mix them. There's nowhere to step and the room smells like fish."
Perhaps Jack was wrong. Perhaps the room was too small for four twelve-year-old children.
"Ah, well… perhaps you could stay here for now, while I speak to your sisters." Jack slowly, and carefully, moved his hand to under Avi's head, giving it support as he slid out from underneath her. He didn't want to wake the resting child. "There is room in this cabin."
"Yeah, no kidding," Aki remarkedly in her aloof manner. Her spiky hair bounced with the thrash of her head, looking down the long hall of the train. "But no. I'm gonna go explore the rest of this train. Sides, I'm not tired like these wimps."
Jack frowned at the child, even as he stood to his tallest. She taller than before, of that there was no doubt. Past his waist in height, far better than his thighs like years before. But there was still a gap between the two.
But years had made the little ones indifferent to the height, and Aki most of all. She snorted as she left the doorway, walking down the hall and to another cart in the long train.
Jack sighed as she left. He little knowledge of what to do for the girl. Not even a hobby he could entertain or encourage. Exploring and mischief appeared to be her only outlets.
Yet, it was not a question he had to concern himself with now. If her words were true, he had to control the inquisitive natures of Ami and Ahi. Least before they rule the cabin.
Jack stepped softly from his room, leaving Ashi, Avi, and Adi to slumber. The door shut with hardly a click, and he was only steps away from the conjoining cabin.
Only a step closer and he could already hear the whirling gears and clacking plates. His hand on the door, Jack tapped it open, only far enough to gaze inside.
And he was immediately confronted with the sight of a room full of robotic parts and high-course meals. Where the children found or kept either was a mystery to him.
"Larger capacitors, much larger," Ami was muttering as she worked with a green board, lain over with wiring and many other parts Jack couldn't begin to name. "The power draw is too great. Regulation, better regulation." And the terms she had learned were beyond him as well.
It was something special, yet odd, seeing the young bowl-cut child fiddling with tools that were meant for adults far older than her. But he was not one to squash the creativity or invention she was demonstrating.
Ahi, on the other hand, wasn't talking. She was tasting.
He could see twin-spike haired girl trying every dish she had brought in, just like Aki had said. There was a rainbow's worth of fish, meat platters with dressings he couldn't begin to name, salads, pastas, and even a few small desert trays.
And on nearby empty dishes, she was mixing them one by one, before shoveling them into her mouth. She was a connoisseur of taste, of that Jack was sure. Ever since she had tasted the salmon in the forest river, she had tried everything else that had been offered. It made for many stomach aches.
Aphi, just like Aki had said, was in the corner of the room, letting her legs swing on the higher bunkbed as she watched her sisters work. There wasn't a foothold of room for her to set down on. However, it was much like her to just watch her sisters.
Ashi was the one who took charge and protected her siblings, but Aphi was the child that often intervened. She watched and listened, always helping when asked, and hardly ever interfering. Jack would have thought it an ill trait, if she were not smiling as she watched them work.
A protective child letting the creative little one's work. It was thoughtful and kind.
But Aki was not the same. And, as was due for his post, Jack had to intervene.
Sliding the door open a bit further, the children inside looked up in an instant, staring at him with wide eyes. It was the clearest sign that they knew they were in trouble. Or, in the very least, up to little good.
"Ami, Ahi," he spoke the names of the little ones, their attention being given in an absolute manner. "What have talked about regarding room and your sisters?" The question hung in the air for a moment, silence kept away by the rattling of the train.
The two inventive sisters stared at one another, thinking of an answer to save them both. Two years and Jack knew none existed. So, did they.
"Leave room for everyone else?" Ahi posed it like a question, though she already knew the answer. Jack nodded at the words.
"Correct. And, do you believe there is enough room for Aki and Aphi?" Jack looked towards the other sister, sitting high in her bed and off the floor. Ami and Ahi did the same. The answer was just as obvious.
"No, there isn't," Ami returned. Jack nodded once more, his beard waving slightly with the motion.
"Correct. So, what should be done?" He crossed his arms and waited for a reply. He did not need to wait long.
"Clean up?" Ahi asked the question once again. Jack nodded his head once more.
"Please do." Jack responded. Neither Ami nor Ahi appeared happy with the command. But they spoke very little in the room of argument. They were merely slow with their tools.
Instead of the quick unloading that Jack was used to, pouring out machine parts and utensils, they put them away one by one, far slower than one would expect. It was their way of arguing with him. Jack far preferred it to Aki's loud words and avoidance behavior. On that note.
"Please finish by the time I return," Jack instructed the girls. They stopped to look at him, perhaps hopeful he would give them more time to play. He did not. "I need to find Aki." Before she got into more trouble.
"I can come!" Aphi spoke loudly, raising her head from the bunk bed. Jack didn't have time to speak before the little one pushed and jumped off the bed, clearing her sisters and landing in front of Jack. Just as tall as her siblings, identical as they all were.
Jack was unsurprised that she volunteered. Solitude and patience was not her greatest asset.
"Alright," Jack spoke with a nod. "And when we return, its off to bed." The dual-horned haired girl nodded in response, and Jack smiled down at her. "Ami, Ahi, be quick, or else I will keep your tools for the remainder of the train ride." It wasn't terror in their eyes, but certainly disappointment.
Jack moved out of the door's path, enough room for Aphi to pass by him. The inventive siblings had put away all of a fifth of their tools.
"We shall return shortly," Jack spoke again to the little ones, softly closing the door as he was finished. The little ones in the nearby cabin were still asleep. Too loud a noise would wake them.
In the hallway, Jack and Aphi stood outside the pair of cabins, one with a pair of siblings putting their toys and gadgets away, the other of three children sleeping restfully. It left only one child in the long locomotive to find.
Jack was not worried, only patient.
"Where should we start. The front or back?" He posed the question to Aphi, the girl always focused on her sisters. The little one looked down squeezing her fists as she thought.
"Um… back, the back." Aphi spoke clearly. She looked up to Jack as she answered. "She'll want to watch the back of the train, like in the motorcycle." Jack nodded at the logic. Aphi was one for these details.
"Very well," Jack answered. "Shall we be off?" He knew it wouldn't take long to find Aki. There weren't many places to hide in a train, no matter how long it was.
He was sure they would all be alright.
Aki knew the train ride would be boring, and she was right.
Only hours on the train and she had been saddled with Ami and Ahi while they played and poked around with their rotten food and broken robot parts. It took away literally every inch of the floor she could have walked on. Aphi was even up on her bed.
At least if she got to be in the same cabin as her dad she could have slept. There was no way she could sleep while the Ami and Ahi played house the whole night.
But since both options were out, that just meant she had to get out. At least the train was long and easy to explore.
To bad easy to explore meant the same thing as not much to find.
Just a long train with cabin after cabin of people, robots, and monsters huddled in their own little safe spaces. She couldn't help but scowl as she walked by them. All just acting like they were safe. She knew the truth though, even if her sisters wouldn't say it.
At least her dad would fight when they came across trouble, and the more they moved the more trouble they found. It made more sense that way. Yet, for some reason, they were on a train, which was the exact opposite way to travel and find trouble.
Bam
Aki kicked a door as she walked past it, shoving it into the slot it slid into. She ignored the looks of annoyance the other passengers gave her. They didn't get it. They were here for comfort, no matter how stupid it was to have.
The world was dark, evil, and out to get them, but the least she knew they could do was fight back. How were they supposed to fight back on a train? Ami even explained how these things were made to be safer to travel. It was easily the worst way to travel.
And every cabin she passed just made it more obvious.
A long gourmet shop, that Ahi definitely got into, probably with more food than they caught and ate in a month.
A long train section of just windows, like only windows. Probably made for some great sight-seeing her dad and Ashi would enjoy. Adi would probably have a lot of questions, too.
Looking down the front end of the train, she could see all the locomotive parts that Ami probably would want to at least look at.
And that wasn't even to mention all the dumb people and monsters that were wearing more clothing than most stores even carried. Avi would probably like it, and Aphi too, but Aki didn't.
All she wanted was to fight something. At least then she knew she was doing something. Sitting in a cramped room with her sisters playing with their stuff while she twiddled her thumbs was just stupid. And she hated it.
She hated the train, she hated the passengers, she hated the empty land, the do-nothing journey, and everything in between. Aki just hated it. And all her dad was doing was acting like it was perfect. Least he had better be acting. Aki couldn't act though, it was like lying.
The least she could do, and really all she could do, was explore. Because the more she explored, the greater chance she had of finding something, anything, that would make this a less boring trip.
Passing through the tenth cab in the train and she was starting to believe that it wasn't going to happen. Everyone here really was a wuss. Locked doors, metal bars, fancy food, too fancy dresses, and just a lot of pointless stuff.
There was no fighting, or planning, or trying to do anything. And it was all just a waste.
And sooner than she knew it, she was at the back of the train, staring out at the train tracks in the empty land. Aki grumbled as she stared at it.
The guard rails came up to her chin, and her head rested on it as her eyes glared at the chasing horizon. Black cloud of burning coal passed over head, and empty dead lands ran by her sides. And all the while, the train shook.
It shook like it was trying to throw itself of the track, and Aki could relate. Having to go in just one direction day in and day out with a bunch of lazy cowardly people and monsters riding inside. It just didn't make any sense to her.
Where was the adventure? The fighting? The purpose? It just wasn't here!
"This is stupid," she mumbled out to no one. There wasn't anyone to listen. "What's the point of traveling if there's nothing to see?"
At least when they were on her dad's motorcycle the usually got to see some cool stuff. Mountains that were white and blue instead of red, oceans farther than she could imagine, a desert oasis that had more color than she thought were in the woods, and everything in between.
Including the fighting.
Monsters, robots, mad people, aliens, anything and everything that thought they could just take what they want when her dad was around. They never stood a chance, and it was always awesome to see. It was even better to help.
Even as she imagined it, Aki gripped the guard rail like it was the lance her father used. Twisting it for the spikes to come out, revving the internal engine to spin, flipping it over her head and throwing it like a spear. She wished she was as awesome as her dad, at least when he was fighting.
All she had to do was kick, punch, dodge, block, do a summersault, push her hand forward, then throw it back to hit the enemy sneaking up on her and-
Smack "Whoa!"
Aki jumped.
There wasn't much room in the back of the cab car, but just enough for her to jump forward to the opposite side of the small platform. She got to the other side, body pushing against the guard rail that kept her from falling, and turned back to look at what she had hit, fists up and ready to throw some more.
But she didn't see anyone threatening. Not like the monsters her dad had fought. Just someone.
Just some guy in a button up shirt too plain for her tastes and a pair of glasses so thick they looked like they weighed his face down. That wasn't even to mention the fact that his pants looked baggier than Ami's pack and just as hard to carry.
Really, he looked like a wimp. Like the people who were weak. The red skin was the only thing about him that looked threatening, but metal would've been much better than that.
"Geez, you almost hit me there," the man spoke up leaning back despite the distance between the two. Aki looked at her hand. Yeah, she had, but the guy was at least two feet taller than her. He must've have been really weak to be afraid of her.
Guess he was smart at least.
"Swinging your arms around like that, you must feel as cooped up as I do." Aki tilted her head at that. "Tried to come out here for some fresh air and I find a kid so pent up she's punching the air."
"I wasn't punching the air," Aki countered, crossing her arms. Her dad always did that when he was making a point. She and her sisters listened. People listened to him when he did that. "I was just… working out a kink in my arm."
"Must've been a heck of a kink," the guy returned. He rolled his head around his shoulders, the same was Dad did in the mornings.
Except this guy was able to bend his neck until his head was upside down. So, he wasn't human. Maybe an alien, maybe a monster.
"Shouldn't you be doing that kind of stuff in your own cabin? There's plenty of room for that." Aki twisted her lips at the idea.
"No, there isn't." She countered easily. "There's no room when you share a room with all your sisters." All your sisters and all their stuff. Every single scrap of it.
"Huh, must have a lot of sisters." Nope, just a lot of stuff. "But I guess that makes you, like, the reasonable at least. I mean, you're not just hanging in your room and doing nothing the whole trip."
Aki watched him, twisting around at the waist. His legs didn't move. Maybe he was a robot instead. It was always hard to tell until her dad hit them. He could at least tell what they were, most of the time.
"I just gotta get from A to B faster than usual, so I take the train. Still takes too long." His fingers beat on the guard rail, tapping down the line like they were piano keys. Aki saw a pianist do the same thing before, but there wasn't music now. "Too cozy for too many people, you know what I mean?"
Aki didn't think she did. She was sure most people wanted cozy. It was why her dad got them two rooms at least. So, its wasn't cramped.
Ami and Ahi just wanted less cozy and more work. Avi may like cozy, so Aphi would probably help her out. Her dad, not usually, at least not so much.
"But hey, I got an idea!" The man twisted back around, a smile on his face. Honestly, it wasn't the weirdest thing she'd seen. A lot of people and aliens, and some monsters, smiled like that. "How about you help me do some exploring. Best way to keep the mind active, ya know?"
Aki blinked at that. He knew how to explore on a train? That was like exactly what she wanted. Down to the letter.
"Ah, I can tell you like that idea." The red man pointed at her. His finger spun around like it was a drill that Ami would use. "Tell ya what. I'll be heading out that way, so you can follow me if you want to join, kay?" That was an easy choice.
"I'll come," Aki spoke up quickly. There wasn't much else to do but walk around the train or watch her sisters work. If this guy knew somewhere they could explore, then that would be good.
She knew her dad would do the same thing.
"Excellent!" The man's hands clapped together, upside down. "Well, how about we get started? I bet there's something fun to find in the first-class cabins?"
Aki had to admit, she hadn't gone there yet.
"I don't think she's been here." Ashi spoke to Jack as they checked the third cabin. He knew she was right.
There were several finely dressed robots inside, granted mobility due to a set of wheels and wearing gowns of colorful metals, adorned with precious stones and jewels. They spoke in the language that he could not understand, not without Ami's help.
And with their numbers just under a dozen, talking with beeps and long strings of boops, it made for the impression of being inside a computer.
It was one of the last places Aki would be, at least by choice.
"I agree," Jack spoke as he slid the door close. The little one walked ahead of him, arms swinging as they made their way to the next cabin. They needed to check all the areas that they could.
Though Aki was most likely at the end of the train, she was the most likely child to explore every part of the train along the way. The chances were only much higher if there was something interesting to see.
Thankfully or not, rooms of fine decorum were not what Aki enjoyed the most. So, they could keep exploring. At least until they found the child.
Though the halls of the cabs were small, Aphi and Jack walked one in front of the other. Enough room to open the doors, look inside, and guess if it was a place that Aki would enjoy searching. There had not been much luck so far.
"Maybe she's at the very back of the train," Ashi spoke as they continued to walk, reaching the back door of the cab car. Jack nodded at the thought.
It was a very possible thought, especially given the girl's need to explore. She was the least enthusiastic about the train, much opposite Ami, Ahi, and Adi. Perhaps wit would have been better to try and gain a third room for her and Aphi.
Or perhaps he should have had Ashi share the room with Ami, Ahi and Aphi, and have Aki with him, Adi, and Avi. The thought only made him sigh.
There were simply too many maybes when caring for so many littles one, all so alike and yet so radically different from one another.
"Not here, either," Aphi spoke as she opened and closed the door to another room. Jack was able to peek inside, and he agreed with the child.
Aki would not willingly enter a room so pink and with children younger than herself. She liked adventure, not responsibility. The two could not have been more different from one another.
Opening the cab door, stepping across the thin frame, Jack and Aphi entered the next cabin. Entering inside, Jack knew they were beyond the personal cabins.
The room was too open and full of too many passengers to be anything else than a meeting room. Perhaps a mobile ball room if Jack were to guess. The passengers, diverse as they were, certainly seemed that way.
Robots that had gowns ranging from fine silk to died metal, aliens with ribbons, bags, and perhaps their own hair to cover them, humans with skin colored the many options from the rainbow, and even a few monsters, or those that appeared equal to them.
They were walking and chatting about the room, small conversations in small groups, moving like a dance that Jack could follow only with high concentration. Almost fifty years in the dark future and he still couldn't understand fully the decorum of meetings such as this.
"Dad, look!" Jack looked down at Aphi, pulling on the edges of his shirt and pointing into the cramped room. His eyes followed her, squinting as he did so.
And there he saw Aki, weaving between the much taller bodies of the other passengers. Her frame was obvious, as much as her clothes. Clothing that bore the mark of their travels, not the fine upkeep these passengers all had.
But it was what Aki was doing that horrified Jack. It was something he was sure the child would never do, never around him or her sisters. Something he was sure she was taught to never try.
She was stealing.
Searching through the room with palms like a child lost in the streets, touching the side of the dresses and gowns with a touch Jack recognized. It was just not a movement he had ever taught Aki, and for good reason.
He never wanted the girls to learn how to steal.
Many questions went through his mind, all as he watched the little one move. He knew they had far from the ideal life, but he was sure that they were without desperate need. Money was not a thing they needed in great quantity, and certainly not by such immoral means.
But as she moved, Jack saw the clue for her actions. The smile on her lips as she reached into the pocket folds of dress, never missing a step as she walked by with a leather purse in her hands. Only to do the same action with the opposite hand, into the lapels of a suit coat and pulling out a metal ring of credits.
And she was smiling.
Jack had many actions to take as he kept his eyes on Aki, watching the little one move so easily and act so oddly. This wasn't the child he had raised for two years, not one so different than her fellow sisters.
He could stop her, but then expose her to the many people in the train. They would vilify her, and he could not stand for that.
He could wait for her to finish, and follow her. But the train was crowded and Aki was small. He could possibly lose her again.
Then he could also ask Aphi to follow her sister. It was what the twin horned girl did best, follow and care for her sisters. She and Avi were in tuned with what their sisters wanted, or needed.
But asking another little one to venture away from him, even in the limited space of the train, was something he was not kind to think of.
So, he waited, watching as his little one committed petty theft after another. It was not something he could watch and think calmly of. He frowned as he watched her, hating every moment of it.
And what he wanted now was the ability to stop the little one from doing any more wrong.
Then she did, with arms full of wallets, purses, and stones too big for her to any dress she could wear. And with lithe grace, as eh knew the little ones to be blessed with, she moved to the end of the cabin car, to the windows nearby.
She stopped in front of a red skinned man, with a button up shirt and thick frames, smiling down at her.
And then she handed the many stolen items over to him, the man taking them one by one, letting them disappear into folds of his clothing.
"Who is that?" It was question Jack shared himself. But if there another question on mind, Jack asked what he was going to do the individual.
Because he was not about to let a corrupter of children walk away with a smile.
"How's this?" Aki asked the man, holding up her hull.
And a hull is what it was. In no time she had nabbed more purses and wallets than she'd seen before in her entire life. Maybe all of two years of her life, but she traveled a lot with her family. Who knew there was so much to find in such a cramped space?
"That's amazing!" The red-skinned man replied, grinning beneath his thick shades, yellow teeth shining in the crowded light. "I'd dare to say you're a natural at this. Are you a natural? Never met one before me."
Aki giggled at that, even as the man picked up and pocketed each of the items she had. He had a lot more rom to carry them, seeing as he was putting them in places she couldn't imagine. Adi might know a reason for it, but Aki just didn't care.
At least he wasn't spinning his parts around like before.
"Now, since you've about cleared out this room, how 'bout we go to the next cab?" The man's hand spun around and pointed towards the door, upside down. So much for not spinning his parts. "I hear that's where their food is being served, so it'll be interesting to see how can handle a crowd trying to choke themselves."
"I can handle it," Aki responded confidently. She knew she could. She wasn't weak and she was far from slow. The man chuckled down at her.
"Don't worry, I know you can." His hand came down to rest on her head, probably to mess with her already messy hair. And just like she did with her dad, she lowered her head and shut her eyes
But she never felt the man's hand on her head.
"I'm sorry, who are you?" The man asked, making Aki blink. She looked up, only to see that he wasn't looking at her, and someone else was grabbing his arm. She recognized that hand.
And looked up, she recognized that beard.
"Dad?" She spoke, seeing her dad staring at the man. "Aphi?" Aki questioned next, seeing her overly-protective sibling standing behind her dad's legs. Even she was glaring up at the man.
"No, who are you?" Her dad asked the man. "And what are you doing with her?" Wait, she could answer that.
"Dad, we're-"
"Pillaging the masses without them knowing, of course." Aki looked up at the man she was exploring with, wide eyed. "Isn't it obvious? I mean, you must have been watching us, right?" He was? They were?
Aki looked at her dad, then the red-skinned man, then her sister, and then all three once again. She didn't know what to do.
"And hey, is this your kid?" The red-skinned man asked, looking down at Aki through the rim of his heavy glasses. Aki didn't like the look now. It looked... fake. "Has to be, she's got all the knack I've heard you got."
Did he know her dad? Did her dad know him? Aki looked at him, but her dad just glared at the man, even through the heavy the beard he wore and her lower position, she could tell he was glaring at him. She knew her dad was mad.
"Course, all I got on you is decades old talk from the big man." Big who? Aki was looking between her dad and the red-skinned man quickly. She didn't know what was going on anymore.
This wasn't fun, and she knew her dad wasn't happy. She just wanted this to stop.
"After all, it's been a while since you've seen Aku."
Aki felt heavy at the name.
She knew that name. It was the name her mother screamed and praised for all those years. It was the monument in the Red Mountain. It was everything she was told to be, and everything her father was keeping her and her sisters from being.
It was evil, vile, malicious, corrupting, awful, bad bad bad bad!
And this man… talked to it?
"Whoa there!" The red-skinned man yelled. Aki didn't know why, not until she saw her dad punch at him.
And then dent the wall the man was leaning against.
"Man, you've got an arm on you!" The man kept talking, and smiling. Aki felt sicker now. "But hey, bit too crowded in here. Why don't we talk up top?" Up where?
Aki had that question answered when the man jumped out the window. His body twisted and spun in the naturally ill natural way he did, pulling him and on the roof. Aki heard him walking on the metal above them.
Then she saw her dad jumping through the window as well, hands and legs pulling him up and out of sight. Then her sister followed, Aphi mimicking their dad to a T.
Aki hesitated for a moment, only a moment, before she followed suit. Jumping on a chair, up the window, grabbing the upper sill, then swinging her body over the metal frame. She was light and it was easy.
But the wind was fast and hit hard.
She pushed herself to the metal of the cabin roof, to keep herself from being blown off. Aphi was doing much the same, her sister putting an arm around her in the same motion. Aki didn't fight her off, she was too busy looking for her dad and the man.
It didn't take long to find them, standing across from one another on the platform.
"Are you an assassin of Aku?" Her dad yelled, pointing at the red-skinned man. Aki felt sick at the name, just hearing it. She couldn't tell why.
"Yup, that's me!" The red-skinned man smiled as he confirmed the accusation, grinning with a smile Aki never saw on him before. It wasn't weak or meek, it was terrifying. "Gentle-Jim, the gentle soul. Glad to meet you, Samurai."
He bowed at her dad, like she knew he would. She could even guess how he spun around with the action, so his chest was facing up while his hips were bent down. It just hurt to look at, even with him smiling at them.
"And I have to say, I never thought you'd be gentle enough to raise a pair of kids, Samurai," the man spoke on, even as his body straightened and untwisted itself. "Then again, maybe not. Seeing as one of them was so eager to listen to me."
Aki gripped her hands into fists as the man laughed. That wasn't it. She just wanted to explore. It wasn't like that at all.
"Be silent," her dad spoke again, taking a pose she'd seen hundreds of times before now. Legs bent, arms in, and hands straightened into striking palms. "Now begone, or else I will force you."
"Now now, no need for violence," the man, Jim, Aki guessed, raised his hands with the words. "I'd much rather solve this with gentler means. Like, say, with me leaving with my limbs in tact and you handling a much more volatile situation."
Aki didn't understand what he meant. From the what her dad moved on the train cab, feet dragging over the metal, neither did he. That was usually a bad sign, when her dad didn't understand something.
"What are you referring to?" Her dad asked.
"I'm referring to the bomb I hide while I was exploring with Aki." She felt her heart drop.
She had no idea the man did that. At all. She'd seen what bombs did, dozens of times. Her dad had thrown them off of cliffs, defused them, ripped them apart, because they hurt people, badly.
Aphi stared at her as well, eyes wide and gripping her arm. Aki just shook her head. She had no idea, she really didn't.
"So, while you're exploring the train, I'll be on my way." Jim stood to his tallest, still shorter than her dad, with his arms spread out wide in his buttoned shirt and malicious smile.
Then he took one long step towards the edge of the train, foot spinning around the leg it was attached to. Aki knew what was going to happen before the second step.
"Toddles, Samurai. Later, Aki!" The man jumped from the train.
Her dad took off after him, stopping at the edge. Aki and Aphi didn't move as far. They both ran to the nearest edge of the cabin roof, seeing the man rolling in the dirt already hundreds of yards away. The train was big and slow, but it still moved faster than just a walk.
Unless they jumped, they weren't going to catch him. But with what he had said, she knew her dad wasn't even going to try.
"Aki!" Her dad was on her quicker than she had seen him move. His eyes bore down on her, furrowed in focus. She ducked her head at the glare. "Where is it? Where is the bomb?"
"I-I don't know!" She yelled back, honestly. "I don't! I followed him! I swear!" She really did, too.
She didn't want anyone to get hurt. No one was supposed to be hurt. You went exploring to find trouble and adventure, not to cause it. This was causing it in a big way, and Aki hated it.
"H-He just showed me some of the cabins a-and the coal room a-a-and I don't know!" She was shaking, violently. This wasn't her fault, it couldn't be. She didn't want anyone to get hurt. Ever.
Her dad released her, standing up and walking the roof of the cab car. Aphi held Aki from behind, and she dug herself into the embrace. This wasn't fair. This wasn't right. She just wanted to find something fun. She didn't want this.
"I didn't want this," Aki spoke again, clutching at her own arms. "I didn't, I didn't."
"It's okay," Aphi whispered to her. Aki didn't fight off her sister's hug. She felt like she needed it. "It's not your fault, it isn't." She needed that lie, too.
"Aphi, Aki," her dad spoke to her. Aki was focused on him in an instant. "Return back inside, awaken your sisters, now." No, she couldn't do that.
"I-I can help!" Aki yelled, even above the wind. She felt her sister hug her tighter. "I-I mean, I know where he went a-and-" She was silenced by her dad putting a hand to her shoulder, just under Aphi's hand.
"Then where, Aki?" her dad asked, his eyes narrowed and focused. On her. "Where did you go with him?"
Aki rambled the names as fast as she could.
"E-Every coach and cabin from the back of the train. He showed me how to pen the windows that were supposed to stay locked and how to keep a door shut and how to pick a pocket. He showed me the trunk with the luggage and even pulled out one to show how to tell which one had the most valuables in it and-"
"Stop." Her dad spoke, and Aki obeyed. She didn't want to make him any madder. "Aki, can you show me the luggage he touched?"
Her eyes widened, before nodding her head vigorously.
Without waiting for a word from her dad or Aphi, Aki broke out of her sister's hug. With the rushing wind, she ran across the metal roofs of the cabin cars. Her father and sister were right behind her.
They jumped over the gap between the cars, paying no attention to safety or time. Aki didn't know if they had any, and wasting either would only make her dad more upset. That was something she couldn't risk.
Second cabin from the end, right where she was with Jim, Aki knew it was the right car. She jumped quickly, grabbing the thin metal railing on the cabin's top, letting her swing in through an open window. She rolled over the luggage, landing with the same dexterity she was taught to in the mountain. Her dad and sister weren't far behind. She didn't wait for them.
Her eyes looked over the car, up and down for everything Jim had touched. It was darker inside, but she could still see. Enough to recognize the tall cases, the darker felt ones, metal trunks, wooden chests, triple locked suitcases, and everything else in there.
But then her eyes laid on the one that Jim had told her was extremely valuable, something that she shouldn't shake.
The long black suitcase with a single zipper around its edge. That was the one.
"That one!" Aki yelled, pointed at the case in question. "He used that one!"
"Are you sure?" Her dad asked. She was made he asked, hurt that he asked, but she knew why he asked. Because he was careful, and she wasn't'. So, she could answer him.
"Yeah! He said not to shake it because it could have a lot of fragile valuables in there!" Now she knew just what was so valuable. A part of her almost wanted to kick the case. She didn't need to be as smart Adi to know that was a bad idea.
Neither did her dad.
He lunged over her, much taller frame making quick work of the distance between him and the case. He lifted it up, holding he case under his chin gritting his teeth. Aki watched him, stared as he motioned his head left, over and over.
And when she looked, she saw a door. She knew what it meant. So, did Aphi.
The pair of sisters were by the cabin door in a breath of air, hands on the latch and pulling at the heavy metal frame. And heavy was the word to use. They weren't like their dad, big, tall, and invincible. Even if they were better than the cowards and the monsters, they weren't that strong.
But right now, they had to be. Strong enough to move the metal shutter and help get rid of the bomb. There wasn't any reason not to be.
With a shuddering clank, one that make Aki's bones shake, the door began to slide open. And, like Ami once pointed out, once something started moving, it was easy to keep it moving.
Aphi and Aki pulled at the latch, not stopping until the door hit its limit and the open wall let air rush in. Aki squinted her eyes at the sudden force. But not so much to miss what happened next.
Her father, took two mighty steps towards the open door. Swinging his body, he threw the luggage out the door. It rushed past with the wind, out of sight quickly.
But Aki leaned out the door, watching the pack bounce across the desolate land like a pebble thrown across water. It danced once, twice, thrice…
BOOOOOM
"Gah!" She felt her grip slip, her body falling forward, and out of the cabin.
Only to have her father grab her by the arm. Before she could even blink, Aki was back inside. In just as much time, the door was shut by her father, treating the heavy metal clasp like the door to their personal cabin.
Then, it was done. It was just them. Aki, her sister, and her dad, all sitting in the luggage compartment. Alone. She took a long slow breath of air, her heart still pumping.
That was so close. So close to making one of the biggest mistakes she'd ever made. A mistake her dad might not have forgiven her for. She'd seen how mad he was, the glaring eyes and lack of patience. It was… hard.
She looked at him, his own eyes shut and taking calm breaths of air.
Aki looked away when he looked at her. She knew what was coming now. A scolding. She hated those.
"Aki," her dad spoke to her, kneeling down in front of her. She hated when he did that. It reminded her of how small she was. "Why did you do what he asked?" Because she was bored. Because she wanted to explore.
"Because," Aki started, trying to think of what to say next. Nothing good came to mind though. She wasn't Ashi. She wasn't good at talking to dad. "Because it was fun."
"Aki, no," her dad spoke again. She felt herself frown, closing her eyes tightly. "What you did was wrong, harmful even. The very fact that Aku's men enjoy it is proof that it is not something to indulge in."
"So, what?" Aki asked again. She refused to look at her dad. "It was better than just sitting in a cabin all day, on this boring trip in this boring train."
She knew why she did it. Because it was fun. And having fun was a lot better than sitting around and doing nothing for several days. Why was her dad so against that?
"Aki," her dad spoke again, but she didn't look at him. She kept her eyes shut and mouth shut. "Aki, please," her dad asked again. Aki didn't look at him.
He'd just say something mean to her, something along the lines of how she wasn't doing the right thing and that was just awful. Maybe that she was weak, maybe that she should be better.
Maybe he'd be just like their mother.
"Aki, please look at me." Great, it was that voice, the same way he spoke when he was comforting Ashi's nightmares or Ami's wounds. "Aki, I need to speak to you."
She pursed her lips, hating the way he spoke like that. It was always after she did something wrong, and she hated that. But still, it wasn't like she could just ignore her dad forever. It hadn't worked last time.
"Aki, I am disappointed in you," her dad spoke, just like she knew he would. "But far more than that, I am worried for you."
Aki felt her lips twitch. That wasn't what she expected. She had done something bad, so shouldn't she be punished, like all the monsters and robots they had seen before?
But she felt her focus on him strengthen when he put both hands on her shoulders. Now there really was no where else for her to look.
"Aki," he spoke her name again, for like the millionth time. "I do not know what you need." And Aki honestly had no idea how to feel about that. It was weird, really weird. Probably because she knew what everyone else needed.
Even Aphi, over dad's shoulder was staring at her as she leaned against the wall. She didn't look happy either.
"I know what your sisters need," her dad continued. "Ami needs tools to work, Ahi loves to have new food and dishes to try, Adi wants to read and understand about the world, Avi needs to make everything look its best, Aphi wants to protect her sisters, and Ashi wants to help you all be stronger." That was about it.
Aki could tell he was right, too. Especially the way Aphi was blushing. Small mystery about her sisters either, seeing as they knew what they wanted. That just made her all the worse.
Only the weak didn't know what they needed.
"You, Aki, need something that I don't know if I can find." Aki stared at him, watching his beard moved as he frowned. "You are gifted with so much talent, so much skill, and I don't know what I can do to make you happy."
Now that made her mad. She knew what she wanted, exactly what she wanted. She wanted to explore, to try new thing, to do something, anything other than being cooped up inside.
"I know you enjoy to explore." Aki's eyes widened. Maybe he did know. "But you don't explore to find new things alone. You want to find bad things, because you want to stop them." Jack felt her arms relax.
Maybe… her dad really did get her. At least he knew why she was doing these things.
"We travel and find bad things, yes," her dad spoke on. "But we do not go looking for these things. These things find us, because they are trying to corrupt good things." Well, that made sense as well.
At least it made sense when she thought of the creep. Gentle-Jim sure didn't go gently. Her dad, on the other hand, wasn't being violent at all.
"You, Aki, are a good thing in this world. Eager, talented, but still so young," he spoke gently to her, hand cupping her cheek. She didn't push it away. It felt nice. "It is why I wish to see you grow in the best of ways. Grow through protecting others, not seeking to punish the few."
Aki thought she got it. At least, she was sure she did.
"There will be times you make mistakes, you and your sisters." He looked at Aphi now, over his shoulder. Her sister looked at him as well. Aki didn't get it. Aphi was just being herself, and she didn't almost kill everyone on the train. "But I am here to help you. No matter the mistakes you make, I will help you solve them."
Then he looked back at her, and even with his thick beard, Aki could tell he was smiling.
"You never have to feel alone with me, Aki, ever." And she believed him.
She believed her dad was her for her, and she didn't want to convince herself of anything else. He wasn't a stupid gentle soul guy. He was just her dad.
Her dad, Samurai Jack.
"O-Okay," she finally admitted. "I will, promise." And she nodded to seal her point. She could feel the longer points of her hair shaking with the motion.
"Very good. Now come along Aki," her dad spoke, taking her hand in his. She loved over to see he had done the same to Aphi, her sister smiling at her as well. "There are still days to go on this trip, and I am sure we have much to talk about."
Aki groaned again, even as her sister giggled. She was wrong. This wasn't going to be boring.
It was going to be torture.
Author's Note:
Well, this is a different chapter then I had planned, but writing it out gave me a lot of time to develop the personalities of the kids, and give sort of a theme for the next few chapters. Hopefully you see it by now.
Well, onto what I wanted out of this.
+Aki and Aphi's personality
+Quirks for Ami and Ahi
+Jacks' step-father mentality with the girls (not calling them his daughters)
+A bit of villain design.
Now two more questions I have for my avid readers. First, who do you think I should focus on next? I'm stuck on other Ami, Avi, or Ashi, as I feel I've only hinted at them so far.
Secondly, if I start a to help me out with this, what do you think some good donation markers should be? I have a few rewards in mind, such as voting on the next story chapter I should focus on, commission rewards, or having a say in plot progression, but I don't really know what are good amounts, like a dollar, five, or twenty.
Any feedback is good feedback, so thank you all again!