A Delay Makoto knew it was there. The realization came sometime around the second day of the trip, she guessed. Though one could not really tell much of what day it was when traveling faster than the speed of light through space. There were those who kept track of the hours; she was not one of them. The first sign had been the feathers. Well, there had only been two, and small at that. But Makoto knew that none of the cargo on the upper deck contained anything of that nature. Suspicion led to investigation and then to discovery. So as not to arouse alarm aboard her ship, she investigated the matter solely on her own. Yesterday had been spent nonchalantly surveying the deck. In fact, Makoto had not been below since sometime after she pulled the tallies of the ship's cargo many hours before. Once she found that she was indeed right about the contents, she then noticed that there was a crate unaccounted for. And that's when the order for the crew to rest came in. She didn't need any of them getting in the way when she took care of what she presumed to be residing inside the large wooden box. It was most almost definitely a Chimera. Coming to the conclusion was quite easy when one considered the size of the crate and the quality of the feathers. She had seen those same feathers on occasion during her training throughout the years and already knew how to deal with them. It wouldn't be so hard to put this one away as long as no one interfered. The one thing she couldn't figure out, though, was how quiet it was being. Did it know that she knew of its presence? Was it waiting for an opportune moment to strike? From what she knew of the beasts, patience did not come easily to them. So she found it strange that it had yet to make its move. So she waited. The crate sat at the stern of the ship among the others for hours upon hours, while she herself took "watch" at the bow, on the quarter deck. The crew would rest for several more hours. If it did not emerge before then, she would have no choice but to approach it herself. Which could prove to be very dangerous, for Chimeras were tricky creatures. It was bound to have a plan formed if she even came near the crate. Knowing the beast must be keeping watch on her as well, she tried to make herself appear as if off guard to see if she could lure it out. Makoto feigned sleep, as she lay at the bow, but her senses were on alert for any source of movement. She would bring the Chimera to her first, where she'd deal with it on equal terms with no threat of traps. Light was a dim thing, glowing silently, swallowed by the blackness of space around her. A few lanterns had been placed around the ship, not many of the crew frequented the top deck anyway. There was no reason to, when everything was really done in steerage. As long as she was there, the ship continued its fast trek across the solar system. She had more than enough energy to get them there. Despite this, she had to make sure that none of them would be on deck for her wait. After some hours passed, Makoto was about ready to give up her long visual when something changed. Shifting a little from side to side, she tried to discern what it was. There was no hint of movement in her peripheral vision; there were no sounds either. She was beginning to get restless. It wasn't something she felt with her physical senses, but something inside of her, a feeling of...well, something. It wasn't friendly or welcoming at all, but that didn't matter. Somehow the feeling was right, there was a kind of kinship with the emotion. She lay quite still, waiting for it to become clearer and attempting to steady her thoughts. Suddenly there was another feeling, and it was one that suggested violence and malice. She'd felt this plenty of times before, again there was a rightness to it. Then she realized that part of the emotions were being directed at her. 'Nothin alright about that,' she thought, 'now get your slow ass over here so I can kill you.' Makoto knew what it was now, and opened herself to the emotions. The more she allowed herself to feel it, the more exact the position of the Chimera was. 'That's it, come on now, I've been waiting here for hours!' her mind screamed. She wanted to run at it right now and rip it to pieces. Feel its hot blood pour from the wounds she was soon to inflict upon it. The restlessness was growing, along with the emotions rushing through her. 'What a rush...what is this?...' lying there, she began to sweat. Her mind was a jumble of confused thoughts. Some telling her to go for it, others begging her to listen to reason. She was apt to jump up right then and forget her plans all together. At the same time, though, she knew that was wrong, it wasn't her, was it? Soon another emotion came crashing into the rest as she heard the hatch open on the lower deck. Was it annoyance, worry, fear? 'Oh damn, not good,' she thought as Shingo's unmistakable mop of brown hair peeked over the now open hatch. Emerging completely onto the deck, he paused but a moment before coming closer to her. When he neared her spot on the quarter deck, he hesitated in approaching her . Makoto's thoughts were together in a snap, her body relaxed slightly against the cool wood of the deck. She rubbed her shirt sleeve over her face slowly, removing the dampness there. 'Well crap, get over here.' She waved him over, never moving from her position to avoid making the beast retreat, she didn't want it to know that she was aware of it's presence. Makoto was just going to have to make some adjustments to her original plan. Shingo came to her and sat down, blocking her view of the dark figure. Not that she was looking at it anyway. Shouldn't need to see it, she could feel it. Her mind was not as chaotic as it had been moments before, but the feeling was still there, threatening to take control of her. The beast was stopped now, probably pondering how to deal with this new development as she was. Shingo's voice broke into her emotional maelstrom as he relayed a message from the navigator. So they were making good time, she had expected nothing less. This could have waited and now she was really annoyed. She wondered if he'd noticed anything at the stern when he came from the lower deck. Makoto needed to keep her mind clear right now and keep Shingo from asking the wrong questions, and if that meant having a long conversation with him, then so be it. So of course the first thing he wanted to know waswhy she was out here to begin with. 'Dammit, I was hoping he wouldn't ask that.' Keeping watch of course," she asnwered him, sighing loudly. 'Oh that was a great answer, thank Jove he's only thirteen, else I'd feel a bit stupid telling anyone older I'm keeping watch with my eyes closed.' He started picking at his clothes. "Oh" was his small reply, but seeing as how he was still a bit confused, she decided to take over the direction of their talk. "It's good that we'll be there soon though Shingo. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can leave." Makoto rolled onto her stomach so that she was now face down on the deck, cushioning her forehead with her arms. 'Ain't that the truth.' She again noticed that he was picking at his clothes, and for some reason this was really starting to grate on her nerves. Shingo had been nervous from the moment they'd set foot on the ship and seemed to stay that way ever since. 'Fidgeting...why does he keep doing that!' He continued asking her questions, weird ones, about the palace and the princesses and other things she could really care less about. All the while Shingo's pant leg was becoming more thread bare by the moment. 'Why is he getting so nervous and excited about this?' When she told him that he was going to meet the other royalty he seemed fit to explode or something. They'd elapsed into silence, his fidgeting now reaching an all time high. 'Dammit, that's it.' reaching out, she stopped Shingo's hand with her own. 'Why'd I do that?' She quickly gave him an excuse about needing to properly represent Jupiter and all that formal mess, and removed her hand from over his. She quickly became annoyed with herself. 'Why am I becoming mad at Shingo? Such a trivial thing shouldn't matter to me like this. Something's wrong here.' Shingo quickly figured out that he was attending the ball with her, and his reaction was something of a surprise. 'What's wrong now?' she thought, as well as voiced. If he was going to explode before, he was about to turn to dust where he sat stock still with shock. The boy was obviously becoming distressed over this whole event. He began to ramble about being the only servant boy there and other such nonsense. Funny, she had never once thought of him as a servant. His duress was uncalled for really, considering that fact that all the attention would be directed at the long absent princess and her Jovian soldiers. 'Ha! Bet they won't see that coming.' Makoto had no 'court' her fellow warriors were here counsel. She'd brought an even number of her best men and women with her. They would all train together to pass the time, she'd figured. 'Shingo can hide behind one of them if it becomes to much for him,' she truly was concerned for the boy at the moment, he seemed so afraid of these people. 'They're just a bunch of pampered princesses, nothing to be afraid of there. What he should really be fearing is the thing lurking behind him somewhere back there in the darkness.' As her mind shifted to the other matter...the one that was now absent from her being, she cursed. 'Shit, now what? The feeling is gone. How did that happen? Hells, when did it happen?' She needed to locate the beast, and she needed to do it now. It could be anywhere, and Shingo was still here. Her plans were falling apart, everything would be ruined. Someone could die if she didn't act soon. Sitting up, she put a hand on Shing's small shoulder, she wanted to make him feel a little better as well as take a look behind him. "You have absolutely nothing to worry about Shingo. As long as you stick with me no one will bother you, and if they do it'll be the last anyone sees of them anyway." She took her hand from his shoulder and made a fist. "I'll protect you and the others no matter what. Nobody messes with my people." Her face was a cold mask of calm. Shingo bowed his head and Makoto looked beyond him...straight at two glowing red orbs that seemed to float in the darkness that covered the stairs to the deck. Sweat started to bead on her forehead as her other hand was occupied with sliding a small knife free from her tattered leather boot. 'Alright now, there's no going back for either of us,' she thought as Shingo looked up, 'For any of us,' she corrected. Her gaze was still fixed on the eyes in the darkness. They were moving now, coming closer, bringing that feeling with them. Makoto made a motion for Shingo to move, he needed to be out of her way and find someplace safe. 'Move dammit!' she yelled in her mind. Her hand waving furiously to the right. Finally, the boy got the message. The moment he moved she was already leaping over him, running at the creature now emerging onto the quarter deck. The Chimera stormed onto the deck in a burst of speed that rivaled anything she'd ever encountered. It was much bigger than she had originally anticipated. Her reaction was one of amazement, and she found herself wondering how it had fit into that crate. 'Must have been quite an uncomfortable ride.' This Chimera looked to be a combination of a feline body and a serpentine tail. Its head was equine, but the mouth was horribly disfigured by a set of large teeth; it would take three of the dagger she held to match them. Most amazing of all was its size. It was easily two times as tall as she was. Now that was saying something. The height of Jovians was one of the main characteristics that distinguished them from the other races in the kingdom. The men were usually taller than the woman, however, Makoto had obtained her father's height, so that she towered over most male fighters. When she finally confronted the creature, her power was barely constrained. She didn't want to have to use any of it for this battle if she didn't need to. However, she let a small storm brew up in the atmosphere of the ship to intimidate and hopefully confuse the creature. Oily black wings flapped violently towards her as she leapt to the left, feeling the wind against her body. It unsteadied her just long enough for the Chimera to swipe at her with a paw full of sharp claws. She was clipped on the arm briefly and a pain shot up her shoulder. Ignoring it, she came around and under the beast's outstretched foreleg. Before it could pull back, she used her own swiftness to slice at the area whereleg connected to body. Black blood splattered her retreating hand as she rolled clear of the beast's other leg. She felt the deck rumble below her as its front legs came crashing down in a tangle while it was trying to tear at her moving form. Jumping to her feet, she spun to take advantage of the Chimera's folly. Running forward as fast as her legs would carry her, she used her strength to drive her sharp blade into the long mussel that came up as her blade drove down, adding to the force. It lodged deeply with a slight crunching noise that she could only assume was bone or cartilage. The Chimera made a noise somewhere between a roar and a loud hiss. Either way, it seemed she had really pissed it off. Lifting its mussel, the Chimera jerked roughly upwards, crashing into her lower jaw to send her flying backwards onto the deck. The back of her head bounced against the wood with a thunk. ' Shit-shit-shit-oooouch!' Makoto scrunched her eyes shut from the pain. She grabbed the back ofher head to make sure her brain wasn't hanging out anywhere. 'Damn that hurt.' She'd now lost her knife, it was still in the Chimera's mussel. The thing's head was flailing back and forth, sprinkling the deck, and her, with its ebony blood. "I'm gonna have headaches after this one." Makoto's eyes shot open as she heard something beneath the floor she was currently lying on. There were voices and a small thundering that could only be human feet. The crew had roused, she would have to kill this thing fast. Rolling quickly to the right, she just avoided being stomped. And then to the left...avoided being stomped again. 'Get on yer damn feet stupid!' her mind jeered at her. Rolling forward with a grunt took her under the Chimera, slipping between its hind legs to jump freely to her feet behind it. 'Now that was some dumb ass luck!' Spinning, she kicked it squarely in its rear. "Ha!" Makoto shouted triumphantly at the beast. Then ran to the side, in the opposite direction it was turning. It was becoming more ornery every moment. 'I don't wanna do this, but I'm gonna have to. Nobody on my ship is going to die just so we can get to some dumb ball on time.' With her mind made up, she began to taunt the Chimera harshly. If it became mad enough then it would also become reckless and disoriented. She was actually starting to enjoy this. A slow smiled formed on her lips as she jumped in to pull a feather from the powerful black wings. Procuring it, with a loud screech from the creature. She hadn't heard that one yet. 'Wonder how many sounds it makes.' Makoto grinned, 'Maybe I can find out.' Now she used her true power, the element that Jupiter had endowed her with. The one she protected. Raising her hand in a careless gesture lighting fell upon the beast in short bursts, making it cry out in pain. It twisted upon the deck, writhing, as she rained more and more bolts over it. She wanted to torture it, make it feel this pain for as long as she could keep it alive. Her eyes had taken on a deadly glare as she observed the Chimera. It was weak now, weak enough to simply kill. She could kill it with one shock, so why didn't she? Her mind refocused as something touched her arm. Whirling to intercept it, Makoto found herself gripping Shingo's small wrist with all her might. Eyes cleared along with her mind and the air around them as well. There was no more electricity dancing in the atmosphere, the storm was over. She let out a shaky breath as Shingo held something out to her. It glittered in the pale light of the lanterns. Her sword. How had she forgotten her weapon. She'd hidden it on the deck where she would easily be able to get at it if need be. But being so into the moment as she was, it was forgotten. There was a crash to the right of them. Looking up, Makoto could make out figures rushing up onto the deck. They made it to the quarter deck and stopped upon seeing the Chimera. They all had weapons, and were looking quite bewildered at the site of a very crispy, very large creature on the deck they had been sleeping under only moments before. Releasing Shingo, Makoto took her sword. Walking over to the twitching animal, she lodged the sword into its chest, blood pooled out onto the deck, slipping around her feet. The twitching stopped and letting out one large breath, the Chimera died. The warriors broke out in cheers and applause for their princess. She had single handedly killed such a huge beast, that would have taken their collective group to bring down. They each bowed deeply to her and sheathed their own sword, as she cleaned her's free of the dark blood. Makoto looked at Shingo again, 'If he hadn't come to me...how long would I have stood there?' She ran a hand over her weary face. "I'm going to need rest now. I've used up much of my power that I'd reserved for this journey. We're going to have to get this mess cleaned up soon before it starts to stink. Keep the claws and teeth as usual, the feathers as well. Put the rest in the extra crate on the lower deck and seal it tight. It should be fine until we can dispose of it when we reach the moon." This was going to mess things up quite a bit for them. They were going to be a bit late. She could get them there before the ball, but it was going to be very close. Her warriors and she weren't going to get much of a rest when they landed. As long as they had enough time to clean up and get themselves looking half decent, she had no qualms with that. It wasn't her fault or their's that a Chimera had been slipped on board. "Listen up...we're going to be late." her warriors suddenly looked a little crestfallen. 'They really wanna go to this thing don't they.' "Worry not though. We should arrive in enough time for you to prepare for the gala. There will be time to clean up, we'll leave the ship maintenance until afer the event." She walked towards the stairs, "I'm going to rest, the ship will continue on a steady course. Navigator, return to your post and keep me updated as to our progress." The crew dispersed to complete their appointed tasks. "What about me Milady?" Shingo's small voice asked. Makoto looked to him again and smiled slightly. She looked over at the carnage laying on the deck, then back. "Come with me, I'll see if I can gather something up for you to wear for the ball. Can't have you going threadbare now can we?" Shingo laughed lightly. "Suppose not Milady." "Sorry we won't be having time to get those clothes made for you. Maybe afterwards?" Shingo nodded his head. "Anything is fine with me Milady." Makoto nodded to his agreement and walked off down the stairs to her cabin. Shingo reached up to wipe away a tear that had somehow managed to slip down along his cheek. "As long as you're alive Milady, anything and everything is fine," he whispered to her retreating back.
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