"Alright, here's th' deal," Nokosu announced, laying a map flat out on the table. "Twenty-three miles north-west o' hea is a quaint li'l valley pass tha' goes by th' cheery name o' Terliil Sella'ln Parril- tha's th' Valley o' Tortured Souls, fer those o' ya what don' speak Arizonan. I've only been through twice now, an' th' last time was t' take Syaoran through yes'erday. Don' use it much 'cause it's easier t' jus' go over it."

"There's enough room for the Twins to go side by side almost the whole way," Syaoran said, running two fingers along the highlighted pass between the plateaus, "but there's hairpin turns and plunges where you probably wouldn't want to do that at top speed."

Fai leaned over the map, taking in every detail. "It's a long run."

"Four an' a half miles, from... end t'end." Nokosu had to pause and enunciate carefully any word that ended in a 'd'. "An' ya gotta be careful not t' clip anythin'- all them rocks th' natives done piled up on th'edges topple over real easy. Near got me th' first time I wen'. Anyway, first t' get out wins." She looked at Syaoran with a grin. "Ya ready t' lose, kid?"

"Syaoran won't lose," Kurogane interjected. "He's the best damn pilot in the galaxy.

But Nokosu laughed. "There's more than one galaxy out thea, jus' remember tha'."

~X~X~

"Remember not t' take tha' one turn I... showed ya," Nokosu said coolly, clinging to the side of Syaoran's craft. "It narrows down t' nothin' real fast. Can't tell ya how many times I had t' come down hea an' help pilots what got themselfs wedged in." Syaoran nodded, drumming his thumbs on the wheel in impatience. "An' hea, you take white Mokona, an' I got th' black one in case somethin' goes wrong."

"Alright," Syaoran agreed as the fat rabbit bounced eagerly around the cockpit.

"Ya all set?"

"Yep."

"Alright. Ma's gonna call th' start." With that Nokosu scrambled down and moved swiftly into her own craft, slamming the hatch closed and motioning for Syaoran to get into position with her at the entrance to the valley. Mokona opened her mouth, but it was Mae's voice that crackled to life.

"Git ready... git set... fer the love o' th' gods, y'all better be wearin' yer harnesses..." –Syaoran shame-facedly buckled himself in. With a ship that generated its own gravity, he had grown used to never needing it. "-GO!"

The craft's response to his light touch of the controls was instantaneous, and he was thrown back in his seat as the Twin Dagger sped into the canyon a fraction of an inch ahead of Nokosu. He let out a whoop of delight.

The first few curves were soft, and he managed to twist his way to the inside and push just a few more inches ahead. But then came the turnaround, or loryin, as Nokosu called it- a part of the rock wall that jutted out and forced them into a narrow dead end where only one could turn around and continue out at a time. He was forced to brake to a complete stop and allow a laughing Nokosu to zoom out ahead of him. He followed, hot on her heels, and she kept to the center to keep him from passing her.

The canyon widened out to where the natives had once constructed red stone bridges to span the gap between the homes they had built in the sides of the walls. Now it created an obstacle course that had to be taken slowly to be safe. But Syaoran didn't slow down, even though Nokosu did, and he flew past her, speeding around the sharp corner and pushing ahead.

~X~X~

Nokosu grit her teeth as Syaoran drove recklessly forward while she was forced to slow down to navigate the obstacles. As he sped around the corner, the back of his craft clipped the wall and a pile of large boulders teetered back and forth dangerously. She wasn't close enough to hope to turn before they fell and instead jerked the craft in a hard left, spinning out of control. She could barely hear the rubble bouncing off the ship, dangerously large pieces that cracked the glass hatch. The Twin Dagger slammed against a wall, throwing her around in the ship, and slowed to a screeching halt. She was wedged between the walls of the narrow dead-end she had warned Syaoran about.

The hatch was stuck in place, but she pulled her jacket around her vulnerable face and gave a strong kick with her mechanic leg that shattered the glass easily. The craft rocked side to side, and she cautiously climbed out and eyed the distance to the ground. Her eyes quickly measured twenty-eight feet. Her legs could take it. Nokosu grabbed black Mokona and jumped.

~X~X~

"Told you you'd win, kid," Kurogane said. Syaoran gave a pained grin as he was clapped on the back. He looked around for Nokosu's craft.

"Where's-"

Mokona's mouth opened and Nokosu's voice came out. "Congratulations, Syaoran! Seems like I'll be comin' with ya after all."

"Thanks. Where are you?"

"Ah, I crashed in tha' li'l... dead-end I was tellin' ya about. I was hopin' ya might come an' get me."

"Yeah, of course."

The intercom went silent and Syaoran turned to Sakura. "Sakura, why don't you go get her? I'll wait here for Mae's hovercar."

~ A/N: Okay, two updates in a row. Does THAT make up for ridiculously long update time? Please?

Okay, guys, I really am sorry, and I hope you enjoyed these past two chapters despite the lack of blatant KuroFai. Don't worry, the focus shifts back by the next chapter.

Quick sidenote: I hope no one is offended by the accents. They're based a little on southern accents, but I am southern, and I don't talk like that. I'm pretty sure no one talks like that. I pretty much made up my own accent for this, and they talk like this:

- sort of an Irish influence

- drops g's off of any 'ing' word (southern, duh)

- rolls r's (Spanish)

- double l's are pronounced like y's in Arizonan (remember that Arizona in this story is a country in the planet Magrathea, not a state in the US)

- drops d's off the end of words entirely or struggles to pronounce them

- occasionally drops t's off the end or middle of words

- if there are two vowels right next to each other (to end, the edges), they become combined (t'end, th'edges), especially with short words where the vowels are already dropped

- vowels at the end of short, common words (to, the) are dropped

- long 'o' sound is avoided

Also of note: Nokosu speaks nearly every language in every dialect and every accent imaginable. She uses the accent here to make Mae feel more comfortable. When the story leaves Magrathea, she'll drop the accent, so for those of you who have been bothered by this, don't worry! It's just one more chapter.

Reviews make me write faster :) ~