Chapter Four

Space was far more vast than Jim remembered. The stars all twinkling in a special sort of way. Luna sat, feeling a little out of place. Jim glanced over at her and began to rub the back of his neck, straining his mind for the right thing to say.

"Um…" He began.

She looked over at him, those two big eyes so sweetly gazing upon him, "Yes?"

"Do you…" He stammered at first, "Have you ever seen the north star?"

"Not at all." She answered him.

Jim started to relax, "Well, uh, I can show you… if you want…"

"I would like that, Jim." She stood up and they both walked to the front of the ship, the wood creaking beneath their steps. Luna humbly held her head towards the ground, following behind him, clasping her hands in front.

The rest of the crew could hear him explaining to her the constellations and inner workings of space as best as he could get out, and she returned questions eagerly wanting to understand what he was explaining.

"He seems rather… Enthusiastic." Ebony said in her mono-serious voice to Colter.

"A-course he does." Colter said, nudging Ebony, "An' I would too if you'd be a little more –"

Ebony made sound of disgust and walked away. Colter sighed heavily.

A loud bell began to make a 'dong' sound, "SOUP'S UP!!" Chef Hurl shouted. Jim began to look a little queasy, he almost didn't want to eat. However, it'd been a rather long day, so he had to have something.

"You coming, Doc?" Jim asked Delbert.

"Oh, heavens no, I need to man this ship!" He said. Jim took it as he was trying to avoid dinner nicely.

At the dinner table, it was like one gigantic family. Loud, proud, and rowdy. Only, Jim sat across from the not-so-loud Luna. She kept her head down still, playing with the ends of her hair. Morph was joining in on the fun as well, keeping everyone stirred up. Hurl came out with a huge pot of something boiling. Everybody at the table was served the rather interesting looking soup, except Luna. A special plate was placed in front of her, looking gelatinous and colorful.

"A 'lil somethin' special fer the pretty lady." Hurl said, smiling that oh-so-gross smile.

"Oh, thank you." She said, unsure of what the stuff was, Jim gawked at the stuff as well, both of them examining the stuff thoroughly. Their eyes met as they peeked through the gelatin. Luna held her hand to her mouth as she giggled quietly.

"At least it's got color." Jim said, before laughing.



"Are ya goin' ta eat the stuff, er do I need ta shove it down yer yaps?!" Hurl shouted, becoming offended at everyone's silence. With that all of the crew reluctantly tasted it. If only the head Chef didn't look so grotesque, then maybe the food would seem a little more appetizing. Luna was playing with her gelatin, occasionally taking a bite or two.

"How's it taste?" Jim asked, with the soup stuffed in his mouth.

She sighed, "Tart, and yours?"

Jim shrugged, "Not bad." He swallowed the wad, "That's surprising, isn't it?"

She laughed again at Jim.

"I need a spoon." Ebony demanded.

"I'll share with ya…" Colter insisted.

"I think not." Ebony replied.

"Yer always avoidin' the fact that I care, are you afraid to admit to carin' back?" Colter announced.

"I do not fear, Mr. Colter." She sat up straight in her seat, "I am about the facts. And sharing a spoon does not mean you care for one another." She sipped on her soup.

"You're the only one here who thinks that!!" Colter yelled back.

The two of them began to have a heated conversation, yelling at each other, the occasional food being thrown, Chef Hurl trying to break up the fight. Jim and Luna laughed at the two of them fighting.

Shortly after, it was time for bed, Luna headed off to her own room, one of the largest on the ship. Collapsing on the bed, she was fast asleep. Jim and Tiny also headed to their bunks.

"Call me if you need me, Doc." Jim yelled back at a dozing off Delbert.

"Oh! Oh of course…" Delbert yawned. Jim laughed internally and continued down to the lower level of the ship.

As Jim tossed and turned, he was dreaming of Corin's spear. He was extremely excited about finding it, on top of the discovery of planet Utopia. Suddenly, through his rustling around in his sleep, he bumped something.

"Tiny?!" He said, half awake.

"I-I-I h-heard something, M-Mr. Hawkins…" He shivered, "C-c-c-could you go see what it is?"

Jim sighed heavily, "Fine, but get in your own bed!"

It was either very late at night or too early in the morning, in space, it was always hard to tell. Jim tucked his shirt in and scratched his head, dragging his hand down his face. He listened before exiting the room, there was a thump, the ship was rocking a little bit. He left the room, closing the door behind him. He observed a shadow stumbling down the hallway.

"Luna?" He whispered.



She turned around and looked at him, then fell down the stairs in front of her.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Jim shouted, going after her.

"I'm fine!" She called from the bottom of the stairwell.

He ran over to her, helping her up, "Are you okay?" He grabbed her face, turning it from left to right and looked it over for any damage.

"Jim," She stated, "I said I was fine."

"OH." He quickly kept his hands to himself, "Right."

She smiled, but just as soon as she did that, the ship tipped quickly to the other side, Jim ran into Luna, unable to move for the moment. Something strange was going on. Then, he realized how close the two of them were, "Sorry…" He managed to say, trying to readjust himself so the situation wasn't so odd. Jim kept as much of a distance between the two of them as he could, putting his hands on the wall behind her, they both looked away from each other. Luna at the ground, and Jim at the ceiling. Luna's necklace began to glow a light green. However, the ship just tipped over further and the two of them were squashed together, staring at each other.

"S-Sir SIR!! Mr. Haw—" Tiny and Morph paused, looking at the two of them, "A-am I interrupting something?"

Jim looked from Luna back to Tiny, "Awkward." He said. The ship went upright, Jim and Luna looked away from each other, keeping a broad distance. Morph went over to Luna and greeted her as she pet his head.

"Mr. Hawkins! We're under attack by pirates!!" Tiny informed him.

"Luna, stay down here." Jim instructed her, "We can't afford them kidnapping you. Morph, you stay with her."

She nodded, Morph mock saluted him, "Jim," He turned to look at her, "Please be careful."

He smiled briefly at her concern and nodded. Tiny and Jim went to the main deck. The ship was, in fact under attack. A ship about the same size as the Legacy was next to them, creatures boarded the Legacy from the pitch black ship.

"Hey Doc!" Jim shouted over at Delbert, "When'd this happen?!"

"I-I fell asleep, Jim! I don't remember." He ducked a hit between explanations, "Next thing I knew, they were everywhere! Where is Miss Luna?!" He dodged another attempt at his life.

"She's in her room!" Jim shouted, clashing swords with one of the bigger creatures, "I told her to stay there! She'll be safer!"

"I only hope so!" Delbert said back. Everyone on the ship defended themselves, but they just kept on coming. The side of the Legacy was greatly damaged from a hyper canon that'd been shot at it.

Down in the lower level of the ship, Luna heard footsteps. She looked over at Morph, worried.



"Morph, someone's coming." She said with much worry, "Oh, what should we do?"

Morph motioned her over to hide beneath the bed. She did just so. Cringing as she listened to whoever it was bang down her door.

"Hello?" One of them called.

"Where are you? We know somebody's down here…" The other said. She remained as silent as possible. Worried, Morph formed into a white bow on the strap of her dress again.

Luna scooted further back under the bed, only to feel a cold hand grab the back of her head, " 'Ello, star-shine…"

Luna was bound and gagged, drug up to the top where Delbert and Jim, along with all the other crew members were bound as well. She was shoved to the ground, hands behind her. The Captain of the big black ship set foot on the Legacy.