Chapter 5

Waking up to the Power and the Day

Cool, and wet. Something splashed her face. She didn't want to wake up.

"Damn it. Wake up!" She barely recognized the voice. A few parts of her mind strained against the will to sleep, but the rest of her mind wanted her to keep laying there. Forever. Her head lolled back on whatever she was laying on. Soft. Pillow. Sleep. "Kal! Kali! Wake up you blasted bitch!" whoever it was wasn't yelling. Speaking by her ear, but not yelling. Keeping quiet was something they wanted to do. They didn't want others to know about this. Whatever. she thought shifting in preparation for her sleep. She really didn't care when she woke up, or if she woke up at all.

She felt something touch her lips. Like a in a nonexistent dream, she reacted. Her mouth fell open, letting her dream progress. The kiss moved slightly deeper, then her mind kicked in. Ryder.

She sat up quickly, pushing him off as she did. She held her forehead as all the blood rushed to it. Refusing to look at him as she gathered her mind together, she was shocked into silence. She heard him move behind her, and turned to him.

"Why…" she started.

"You started it. I just returned the favor." he answered. His neck was completely healed. Fighting with herself over her thoughts and the fact that she apparently had healing powers now, she fought to jumpstart her mind.

"But, you… Sora…"

"Close your mouth." Out of surprise, she did. He sighed as he looked at her and ran a hand threw his hair. "You fainted. I returned the favor." He meant the kiss she had given him earlier. Fighting against her need to turn bright red, she glared at him.

"You didn't need too. What were you doing in my room anyway?"

"I… uh… oh.." he started. Damn it, all this excitement had made him completely forget why he had come to see her in the first place. Her glare seared him. It was like being grilled by something sharp and extremely hot when you looked into her eyes. "I…"

"Get. Out."

"Huh?" he asked.

"You heard me. Get out. Give me my knife, and get out. Good night." He tossed her the blade and avoided her eyes as he closed the door behind him. Kali breathed a sigh for a second, spending a good amount of her time with her eyes closed calming down. Opening her eyes, she looked at her hand. Bandaged yes, bloody, still. She had to wash it before she pulled off her boots, socks and coat. Sliding under the covers of the well made and comfortable bed, she sighed.

"Now I want my gypsy cards and a turtle neck… That or some pajamas."

†

The day dawned hot. Or colder, in the Nautilus's case. Under the ocean, few people were awake. The cook, the mechanics crew were awake, making food and looking about the submarine for something out of the ordinary. A few people were sent out to rouse the sleeping apprentices.

Knock, knock, knock. "Miss Art?" asked a crew member. He knocked on her door as Art sat up, groggily.

"Huh? Kwah?" came the sleepy voice.

"Miss Art, Chief Faran requests your presence in the galley as soon as possible." The sounds of steps receding told Art that the man had left, hearing another set of taps a small range down the hall, she heard the sound of the man asking for "Mr Kie". His stumbling of the names told Art he hadn't been anywhere near Canada yet. But of course, she reminded herself. Wasn't Canada completely Indian populated at this point? Europeans would have began settling, but not completely settled right?

She shook her head and pushed her glasses onto her nose. No, by this time Canada would have become a government and a country. Damn sleep, damn water pressure, made sure that she couldn't think. Oh, wait. I cant think till later tonight anyway. Few of the tweens were morning people. Maya was the only one that came to mind. Pushing off the covers, Art pulled on her outfit from the day before. Thank heaven it isn't a dress, thought Art. She Maya and Kal all shared the same dislike of skirts and dresses. She herself, less so, with Kali coming up next behind her, but Maya hated anything open past the waist line, with a passion. Art pushed the idea of her friend from her mind with ease. The situation that flooded her mind with ideas of responsibility and the need to get up. She groaned both mentally and physically. She didn't like mornings. Especially mornings with no makeup.

Rinsing her face in the water from the bowl left on the cupboard, Art shook out her hair and pulled a brush from the cupboard. Brushing her hair quick, she pulled the long brown black locks into a pony tail, out of her eyes. She then left the room, thinking she was going to look as good as she was right at the moment.

Like many of the teens, once again, Kie was lost. His mind, without knowing it, was echoing the thoughts Kriss had had the night before. He cursed anything that came to mind because he knew he was late, and he knew that he might easily get very very lost, if he wasn't already. He shook his head, attempting to figure a way that he could take that would get him to where he needed to be… wherever that was. In between the pipes and attempts at doors, he finally saw a great many tools. Something moved around them. He walked over quietly. Only to see a pair of legs sticking out from under a pipe.

'Umm… Hello?" he asked. Hoping to have someone friendly to ask for the way.

"Yearch!" came the voice. Kie saw a lot of hair and a hand fly up to the man's head as he knocked it on the piping. " Who are you to startle me!?" the man growled at him, sliding out on the platform like those of the present, Kie was greeted by the face of a man with a bushy beard, darker skin, and glinting brown eyes. A smaller white turban covered his scalp and the normal blue uniform worn by the crew had disappeared. Leaving only a striped blue sleeveless shirt and the white pants. Kie swallowed.

"Are you the chief mechanic Ashoka?" The man gave him a piercing look.

"I take it that you're the gentleman I was to train in the ways of Captain's Lady?" Kie nodded. Ashoka nodded and stood, wiping his hands of grease. "Well then. I guess we should start somewhere. What's your name boy?"

"Kie."

"Welcome to the bowels of our Lady, Kie. She is a beauty, and between the Captain and I, we know her backwards, forwards and sideways. You were sent here to learn, and that's what you shall do. Now. Let's get started." The lesson started in earnest as Ashoka got back under the piping, and Kie went back under beside him.

Slowly, everyone had gotten up, Mina and Maya were talking about ions and reactions, while Ryder had been up for ages and was pouring over maps with Nemo. Kali remained still asleep. At home, she barely got to sleep in, so when she could she took the opportunity. Slipping in threw the door, the blonde spy saw that the girl was asleep, and grinned. Tiptoeing up to the bed, he took the opportunity to look at her closely. She seamed, younger. Peaceful, and more feminine. Her brown hair spilled over behind her neck and she had a hand on the pillow a few inches from her nose. He didn't see any of the pet peeves that she had about herself. From this angle, even underwater as they were it seamed that whatever light the ocean cast upon the Nautilus's inhabitants made the numerous black dots in her face fade into her skin. The blemishes had disappeared, her scarred hands looked like a lady's who had been dedicated to the hand cream from day one and her bitten nails looked perfect. Maybe Sawyer just hadn't seen these imperfections before, so he didn't think to look for them. Had she been asked and given this theory, Kalypso would have sworn that that was the only way he could have seen her the way he did now. She was imperfect. She knew that, but her looks were one thing that she always denied were pretty. Her idea was that she was pretty, only if she wished to look pretty and actually took some time in attempting to make it that way. Otherwise, if you asked, she wasn't beautiful, pretty or even good looking. She was "functional". It suited her needs, and gave her an excuse to call other girls pretty and take a look at the world around her and call it as she saw it.

Sawyer shook his head slowly, attempting to clear it of the water pressure that pushed at his head. Nemo had made sure that both the symptom of being underwater, the bends and the water pressure were staved off inside the sub, but he had yet to perfect the process for the pressure. He wriggled the girl. Her eyes snapped open.

"Huh? I'm up." she slurred, sitting up. Her eyes were unfocused, and as she rubbed at them, noticed the bandage on her hand.

"What happened here?" he asked, grabbing it for a closer examination. She looked at him, slightly awake.

"C-c-c- candle" she yawned. He gave her a quizzical look. She shook her head, and looked at him with a wide awake look. She explained.

"Oh." he answered. "Still think you can shoot with that hand?" he asked. She nodded.

"Teach away." she said quietly. 30 minutes later they were out on the deck. Sawyer teaching her how to put together and take apart a hand held revolver. She learnt fairly quickly. With not so much of a head for names and even worse for procedure step order it took her a while to actually learn how to do it. Once she got it however, she wouldn't stop doing it. He let her at it for a few minutes, knowing that it took a while for everyone to learn. He then showed her how to load it. That she got on the first try. She was silent as sin, and picked up skill after skill without even a blink. He marvelled at her.

"How do you do that?" he asked after he had taught her to clean the gun. She looked at him with the same expression as always.

"Do what?" her hands kept moving, polishing the barrel to a shining light.

"Keep repeating everything I do without doing it again?"

"Huh?" He glanced at her.

"You repeated what I did with taking it apart, but after that, you didn't repeat it at all. Why?"

She stopped. Blinking, she sat for a minute. Seconds later she continued on the gun, swiping down the barrel and up the barrel with the cloth.

"Because, I forgot the power I have now."

"Power?" he asked, blinking in surprise. She closed her eyes for a second. Opening them, her hands dropped the cloth, and slid the parts back together. Loading it within a second, she flicked it over her shoulder and shot over the rail on the sub. As he sat in stunned surprise, she smirked slightly.

"Power."

†

†Author's Notes†
Sorry all, for the long time it took me to update. In between falling slightly out of sync, having my computer thieved, a summer math course, freaking piano exam, school exams, and just plain writers block, it took a while. But I'm back, and in between … 3-4-5 other stories… I'm doing the best I can. Milady Kairi's-twin got me back to this, due to her amazing review. Kudos. As well as thanks to those who did give me reviews. Apologies to those who wished for a quicker update.

Yours, as usual, in the insanity and the rest,
-†Samurai† SIN
(silvericenight)