Strange Journey

By: Phoenix Hoshika

Part VIII

Ryu and Taiko traveled along side the road staying out of sight behind the trees. They had no idea what kind of people inhabited the city they were headed toward nor how they would react to seeing a dragon and a winged girl.

"Um, Ryu come to think of it, don't you think we're being a bit ridiculous?"

"How so?" Ryu asked as they continued to walk.

"I mean we don't know a thing about these people and yet we're heading straight into their city."

"That's true. Do you think we should stay out here and wait for another portal to open up?"

"Hm, I don't know. It may be best if we keep moving and it may not be. This area seems quiet enough for us to stay out here a few days without anyone noticing, but at the same time we're awfully close to a city, I just don't know what we should do." Taiko admitted as they slowly came to a halt.

"Let's walk down the road."

"Huh?"

"Let's walk down the road. Maybe some people coming from the city or going to the city may come by then we can see for ourselves what type of people they might be." Ryu suggested.

"Yeah, I suppose that would work… Well, here's to hoping they're, for the most part, friendly toward strangers."

"Ryu, are there cars where you come from?" Taiko asked as they walked over to the road.

"Cars?"

"Hm, the road looks like it's built for cars." Taiko continued.

"What's a car?"

"People use them to travel by land a lot were I come from, cars are convenient but they pollute the air."

"Oh." Ryu said stepping out onto the road.

"Wait." Taiko said grabbing his arm let's stay on the side of the road near the trees. A car might come along and hit you if you walk in the middle of the road." Ryu nodded and they continued toward the city at a slightly slower pace hoping people in a car would drive by and thirty minutes later one did.

Taiko's heart stopped when she saw the driver of the vehicle who slammed on the breaks right after passing them. The car backed up and stopped in front of them and to Taiko's horror the driver was exactly what she thought he looked like; a giant grass hopper.

"What the hell are two humanoids doing out here in the boonies? Ya'll need a lift?" The grasshopper asked.

"Well um…" Ryu said looking over at Taiko who was standing with her mouth open.

"Well do ya or don't cha?"

"Yes!" Ryu answered when it became evident Taiko was too shocked to give any type of response.

"Well whatcha standing around for gaping? Get in."

"Yes, sir." Ryu said opening the back door and ushering Taiko into the car behind the driver then sat down beside her and closed the door.

"What's wrong with yer girl there son? She looks like she just seen a ghost." The grasshopper commented as he took a peak in his review mirror while driving recklessly down the road.

Ryu turned and looked at Taiko before whispering, "are you ok?"

"Uh-huh." Taiko said closing her mouth.

"You suuure don't look like it." The grasshopper said as the car lifted into the air after coming up a hill.

"S-s-s-s-s-sir, c-c-c-could you please slow down?" Taiko asked nervously.

"Slow down? Hell, if I slow down we'll be next year getting into town, now hold on I'm speeding up!" The grasshopper said slamming down on the accelerator and as he did the car went flying over another hill fifteen feet into the air. At that point Taiko could no longer hold herself together, she fell over trying not to scream. Yes, the speed at which they were traveling did bother her, but that wasn't the root cause of most of the anxiety she felt. It was the fact the person driving the car was a giant grasshopper and that could only mean the city they were going to was full of more giant bugs.

"Ah, yer girl's gotta toughen up some, don't she son?" The grasshopper said taking another look into his review mirror. "You ain't about to loose your lunch back there are ya missy?"

Taiko wasn't feeling ill, but she still couldn't help but feel as if there were millions of tiny little bugs crawling all over her body and couldn't answer; she knew that if she opened her mouth to answer a scream would come out instead.

"She'll be fine." Ryu answered looking down at her. "I hope."

A little while later the car came to a screeching halt in front of a motel. From the outside it didn't look like much, in fact it didn't even look like the place was still in business.

"Hot damn," the grasshopper shouted. "Made it back in fifteen minutes. That's mighty impressive if I do say so myself. Well this is where I be letting you kids off. My little girls are in a school concert and it would just break their hearts if their daddy weren't there to see 'em perform."

"Well, thank you." Ryu said as he gently pushed Taiko out of the car.

"Awe, don't mention it. This here is a motel. There's a much nicer place further down, but I figured by the way you two were walking along side the road ye didn't have much money so I dropped you off here instead. It may not be as nice as the one further down the road, but the beds are clean and the owner's pretty nice. Well see ya!" The grasshopper said speeding off.

Ryu sweat dropped as he heard the grasshopper yelling, "yeehaa!" as he speed down the road. "That was fun wasn't it?" He asked turning to Taiko who was shaking from head to toe. "Are you alright?"

"Un, just give me a moment." Taiko said as she took a few deep breaths. "Okay, let's see what kind of deal we can work out with the owner since we don't have any money."

"Right." Ryu said as he followed her into the building.

"What the hell?" The motel owner said jumping up from his seat behind the desk. The motel owner was a dark green ant who went by the name of Frank. His wife Daisy was in the back room when she heard him yelling and came rushing to the front. "We don't want you're kind staying in our motel!" Frank boomed.

"Honey!" Daisy quietly, but angrily addressed her husband. "They're customers."

"I don't care if the were the #&$ government no humanoids are staying in my motel!"

"Oh, stuff it!" Daisy said pushing in front him. "Welcome and please stay." She said humbly to Ryu and Taiko.

"Stay my ass. Get the hell out and don't come back!" Frank shouted pushing back in front of his wife.

"What is wrong with you?" Daisy asked her temper starting to boil.

"Them, that's what's wrong with me!"

"Why are you acting this way? You weren't like this the first five years we were married."

"Things change." Frank replied coldly as he glared at Ryu. "Besides that this is a family friendly facility. Do you understand that humanoid F-A-M-I-L-Y!" The giant ant spelled out as he stared at Ryu.

Perhaps most people would have gotten upset and stormed out of the motel, but being accustomed to dealing with such blatant prejudice Ryu was only mildly upset by the ant's aversion toward him. "What are you talking about? Why do you have a problem with us?" He finally asked.

"My problem is more so with you than the female. Who do you think you are strolling in here without a stitch of clothing on?" Frank asked, his antennas twitching angrily.

"What do you mean I don't have any clothes on?" Ryu asked not believing what the ant was saying.

Taiko lowered her head and sighed. "I can't believe he had no clue he was walking around naked." Taiko thought then looked up. "Let's go." She said taking hold of his hand.

"Please don't go." Daisy requested once more. "Frank, I can't believe you would harp on that as an excuse for turning away costumers. Exactly what clothes are you wearing?" Daisy asked her husband as her temper flared even higher. "We're insectoids, it's different for us."

"How so," Daisy challenged. "Besides it's not like you can see anything!"

"See anything…" Ryu repeated, his face turning a bright red. "Then I really am…" Ryu murmured suddenly feeling utterly ashamed and embarrassed.

"Oh, boy what a mess." Taiko commented with a heavy sigh.

"Did you know?" Ryu asked Taiko now unable to look her in the eye.

Taiko let out another sigh as she nodded her head. "I just figured you knew and didn't say anything 'cause I didn't want to make a big deal out of it."

"But it is a big deal. I've been walking around like this for nearly a month." Ryu thought, wanting to find some place to hide.

"Damnit Daisy, besides all that they don't even look like they have any money."

"Well that doesn't matter now does it?" Daisy retorted. "The way you've been treating them they've earned a free stay at least!"

"Ah, the hell with it; do whatever you want!" Frank yelled as he stomped into the back room and slammed the door closed.

Later that night Ryu lay awake in a bed some feet away from the one Taiko was in. He was still in utter shock from learning that he was in fact walking around without any type of clothing on. "How could I not have realized this?" Ryu thought for perhaps the hundredth time as he dreaded leaving the motel the next morning. He sat up and looked over at Taiko who was laying on top of the covers curled into a ball. Ryu wanted to wake her up and leave under the cover of night so no one else would see him. "I can't." Ryu thought heavily sighing.

Hearing Ryu's exasperated sigh Taiko popped out of her ball and sat up shaking, her eyes still closed. "Thank God you're awake."

Ryu quickly pulled the blanket on his bed over his lap. "What's wrong?" Ryu asked noticing her strange action.

"I can't help but feel like there are millions of things crawling all over me." Taiko said standing up and flapping her wings a couple of times.

"But there isn't anything on you…" Ryu answered able to see her quite clearly in the dark room.

"Yeah, I know that, but I can't help but itch all over as if something were." Taiko said shuddering. Taiko had lived in a roach infested slum of an apartment building. Almost every night she would wake up to find one or more of the vermin that inhabited the building crawling on her body and it was something that freaked her out to the core. Coming to a planet that had giant talking bugs was almost like a living nightmare for her. "Well since we're both up I've been meaning to ask you something." Taiko said turning on the light then sweat dropped when Ryu turned his back to her pulling the sheets on his bed around his waist.

"You've been naked all this time and it hasn't been a problem. Unless you're thinking some perverted thoughts I don't see why it has to be an issue now."

"Taiko…" Ryu said sweat dropping.

"Don't tell me you actually were?" Taiko said walking back over to her bed and flopping down on her back. "Ah, there is no hope. All men are perverts after all, but for some reason I thought that maybe you were different. I guess I was wrong." Taiko declared melodramatically.

"Taiko!" Ryu said his face flushing a deeper shade of red. He was shocked at the things his usually mild mannered new friend was saying.

"Good grief." Taiko said sitting up. "It's like Daisy said; you can't see anything. Why are you so self conscious all of a sudden? I mean I don't think I freaked out even half as much as you when I first realized it." Taiko said laying back down. "Then again I'd be pretty embarrassed too if I just found out I was naked." She thought then sat back up sweat dropping again seeing the dragon still wrapped up in the sheets. "You're starting make me feel uncomfortable. Just relax."

Ryu sat in the middle of the bed still blushing from embarrassment. "You're right." Ryu said calming down and coming to sit down beside her.

"You know it's really laughable." Taiko said smiling. "I can't believe you had no idea."

"Me neither." Ryu answered, his gaze focused on the floor as Taiko continued to talk to him. She asked him a lot of questions particularly about the world he was from. After a while Ryu was once again able to feel at easy around her. "I want to know something." Ryu said looking over at Taiko who had lain back down and was on the verge of sleep.

"Yeah?" She yawned.

"You weren't scared?"

"Huh?" Taiko said opening her eyes.

"I mean you didn't think I was a monster when you first saw me?"

Taiko propped herself up on her elbows and looked at him. "Hm, to tell you the truth I wasn't sure what to think, but monster wasn't the first thing that came to mind. To be honest the first thing I thought was; who are you?"

Ryu smiled with relief.

"Okay, my turn; when we were on the other world, what made you come get me?"

"It looked like you were in trouble. I would have done something sooner, but that man flew away with you so fast it took me a while to find where you were. I was worried something terrible may have happened to you. He didn't do anything to hurt you did he?"

"Actually no, he seemed content keeping me locked up in that room… well sort of." Taiko said not wanting to mention the many times the man had pointedly asked her if she would like to spend some time in his chambers. Besides being kept against her will Taiko was worried he actually might do something to her, despite his promise that he wouldn't, if things went on like that much longer. When Ryu came and literally grabbed her up Taiko was willing to take her chances with him, hoping that she could escape. Fortunately things worked out and for the first time in her life Taiko felt that Heaven had smiled upon her.

Taiko gave a small giggle. That immediately caught Ryu's attention. "What is it?" He asked looking over his shoulder at her.

"I'm just glad that I was able to meet someone so noble." Taiko said falling asleep."

…To Be Continued…