Author's Note:
Sorry for the wait... there were some technical difficulties and scheduled events that delayed the posting of this chapter, but I now do give you this... and here's a thought: At this time (chapter) in "You Need to Find Yourself a Girl Mate" Scroop was suffering from Ariah's slavery...
Rebecca began packing her effects shortly after breakfast. She was wearing a navy-blue dress with a matching jacket and an ivory blouse. Her raven-black hair was tied into a bun at the nape of her neck and a few wispy bangs framed her face.
There was a soft tapping at her door and she looked up from her packing.
"Come in…" Rebecca called.
Simon slipped into Rebecca's room and smiled warmly. "I wanted to return this to you…" The youth pulled out the key from a pocket. "And I wanted to thank you once again, for all you've done…"
Rebecca smiled at the young girl. "You are a good friend, Sylvie." She stood from her bed and placed a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "I know that you're going to do something amazing."
"How?" The young girl enquired.
Rebecca shrugged. "Just a feeling…" She stated.
Sylvie smiled widely and hugged Rebecca around the waist. "Thank you, Miss Clarke."
The young girl released the young woman, leaving the key on the writing desk before exiting the room.
Rebecca chuckled lightly, picking up the key and pocketing it. She packed away the last of her things and gave the room a thorough once-over.
The young woman grasped her bag of effects, stepped out into the corridor and locked the door behind her. She then walked towards the captain's quarters to settle the business affairs for the voyage, regarding financing and such.
The spaceport was within sight, hundreds of ships flocking to and fro amongst the bustling crowds of aliens. The buildings rose from the light tawny sands of the planet and were constructed of pale ochre concrete.
Rebecca stood -with Simon and John at her side- at the bow of the ship. The solar wind was pleasantly warm.
The Siren's Sonnet slowly dove through the atmosphere of Los Terrano and was navigated to the nearest dock. The ship was secured to the dock and the gangplank was laid down to the ground.
Once they were paid, each of the crewmembers left the main deck of the Siren's Sonnet and descended into the swarm of aliens in the spaceport.
Simon smiled to Rebecca. "I hope to meet you again soon, Miss Clarke!" The youth stated cheerfully with a wave before skipping down the gangplank and disappearing into the crowds.
Rebecca chuckled lightly, shaking her head.
"Strange lad, he was…" John shrugged.
"Strange lass, you mean." Rebecca corrected, walking towards the two commanders.
John paused, absorbing the information with a shocked expression. He then rolled over what the young woman had said once again and sighed, following Rebecca.
"Thank you for ferrying me here, Captain Mantra and Master Mantra." Rebecca politely thanked the two men.
"You're very welcome, Miss Clarke…" Darcy smiled broadly. The older man then turned away to tend to more of his ship.
Tristan glanced at the young woman and nodded. "Best wishes on your future journeys, Lady Rebecca."
"Thank you, Tristan…" Rebecca looked at the first mate. "You wouldn't want to come along, would you?"
Tristan chuckled lightly. "I thank you for the offer, Rebecca, but I'm afraid I must remain here with my father."
"I understand." Rebecca nodded and smiled. "The best wishes to you then."
"And to you." The first mate nodded curtly before turning away to tend to his duties.
Rebecca shook her head and began walking towards the gangplank.
"Since when did yeh get on a first name basis with the first mate?" John enquired.
Rebecca raised an eyebrow, noticing the undeniable tone of envy in his voice. "Jealous, John?" She asked.
"Of course not," John paused, "just curious…"
"Well curiosity killed the cat…" Rebecca pointed out, lifting her bag and walking down the gangplank.
"Rebecca." John shouldered his duffel bag.
Rebecca stopped in the middle of the gangplank and looked up at the young man. "Yes?"
John licked his now-dry lips. "I was wondering…" He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "If I could join yeh, teh wherever yeh are goin'…"
Rebecca smiled warmly. "I was just about to ask you the same thing." She stated. "Of course you can join me. I would enjoy nothing more than to have a friend by my side while I go exploring the Etherium."
John smiled back and followed Rebecca down the gangplank into the masses of aliens that were wandering the spaceport.
The two young adults wove through the crowds in search for the place to hired mercenaries. Rebecca had obtained the directions from one of the many street vendors and was paying close attention to the maze-like path of streets they were to go through.
Rebecca sighed as they walked past a row of strange hoofed animals that looked to be camels with zebra stripes. "I don't like the look of this part of town." She gulped.
An entourage of carts wheeled past them noisily, carrying wailing creatures and birds every colour. Other carts, packed with goods, were hauled down the dusty streets by oxen and other strange beasts of burden.
They continued walking, trying to keep out of the paths of the rickety carts and large creatures. They stood hopelessly at an intersection, trying to figure out which way they were supposed to go.
John groaned. "We'd better ask for another set of directions…"
Rebecca sighed. "I think you're right, John… We're completely lost in this spaceport."
Before either of the young adults could search for an alien that looked to be a local of the planet, a lengthy train of aliens proceeded forwards.
"Slaves…" Rebecca gasped in shock, observing that each alien was fastened to iron fetters and were attached by a chain to a main carriage.
A lumbering man sat atop one of the strange camel-zebra hybrids with a long cat-o'-nine-tails clasped in his hand. Rebecca could tell from the several wounds upon the slaves' backs that the whip wasn't likely used to guide the man's mount.
John and Rebecca stood back from the procession of slaves, watching them with silent shock. Rebecca wanted to look away from the maltreatment of these beings, but she couldn't avert her eyes.
One of the smaller slaves, near the back of the crowd, couldn't keep up and fell to the dusty ground. A few surrounding groups ridiculed the young slave, pointing at the fallen being and laughing horrendously. The slave driver noticed this commotion and steered his mount towards the fallen slave.
"Get up, boy!" The slave driver barked, brandishing his whip threateningly.
The small slave failed to rise upon his shackled feet; he must have been exhausted.
"I said get up!" The slave driver lifted his whip, ready to crack down the weapon upon the young slave's back.
"Stop!" Rebecca rushed forwards to save the young slave.
"Rebecca!" John hurried after the young woman.
The procession of slaves halted in their steps. The slave driver looked at Rebecca oddly.
"Can't you see that he's too tired to get up?" Rebecca shouted to the slave driver.
"The boy's a slave, I own him, and he'll do what I tell him to." The slave driver snarled, sliding down from his mount until he was level with the young woman. He glared intensely into Rebecca's eyes. "And the likes of you won't tell me what to do…"
John cut in between the commotion. "Are yeh barking mad, Lady Clarke?" John said with unusual formality, but this was part of his plan to fool the slave driver. "Running out into the streets, could of got yer ladyship killed…"
Rebecca -immediately catching on to what John was doing- played along. "Why thank you for your thoughtfulness, Mister Silver, I apologize that I worried you…"
The two young adults looked at the now-stunned slave driver. The lumbering man shook the shock from his mind and scoffed.
"The boy's useless to me anyways…" He grabbed the fallen slave boy by the forearm and forced him to his feet. "He's your responsibility now, ladyship." He said the last title with a tone of mockery and tossed the slave boy at John and Rebecca's feet after detaching him from the main procession. The slave driver then turned towards his quadriplegic mount, readying himself to climb back onto it.
John swiftly slapped the haunches of the slave driver's mount, scaring the beast into hurrying without its driver into the streets.
The slave driver face-planted into the dusty street as he lunged for his mount. "Come back!" The slave driver waddled after his mount while the large group of shackled slaves snickered quietly at the cruel man's disdain, giving John some rare smiles as they went.
Eventually, the procession of slaves lurched forwards through the streets, leaving John, Rebecca and the young slave boy in the middle of an intersection.
The shackled slave boy slowly rose from the ground, trying to support his body weight upon six tri-jointed legs. He was weak from exhaustion, and the added weight of the iron fetters provided no help to him. His legs were slim and black with a red point at the end of each, similar to those of a spider. His lower body had a red underside and a black top.
Separating his lower body from his torso was a band of deep blue exoskeleton. His torso was the same jet black as his legs and the top of his lower body. The slave boy tried to lift his shackled arms, which ended in two large pincers that were bright red at the ends and then continued in jet black along his arms.
His face was naturally bright red and sort of triangular shaped. His short, straight hair was a brilliant silver colour and he had a pair of fangs on his upper jaw. When the slave boy groaned in numb pain, he revealed that he had a set of teeth behind his fangs and on his lower jaw.
Slowly, the young arachnid opened his golden eyes and looked up at the young adults.
Author's Note:
Thanks to Whisperwings for her awesome skills of editing and such.
MG#6