A soft chatter broke the silence of the early night, and a thousand other chatters rose in response. Jurai's moon was all but gone, and hidden behind thick clouds. Lights in the capitol city around the palace glimmered in place of the stars. The planet was peaceful, and the night was calm. Even the anger in the palace was calm. Second born princess of Jurai, Sasami, stared out her window with an unhappy frown on her face. She had argued with her sister, the crown princess Ayeka, for the third time that week. She didn't enjoy arguing with Ayeka, but the girl didn't enjoy being treated like a five-year- old. She had turned six hundred just a few months ago--about the equal of a thirteen-year-old in Earth terms. Sasami felt that she wasn't a little girl anymore, and she deserved to be treated as such. It wasn't fair for Ayeka, or anyone else, to say that she was still too young to learn the ways of self-defense for the royal family. The princess knew that it was unlike her to be so stubborn and against what her family said, but she wanted to make her own decisions. With a sigh, Sasami put her chin in her hand and closed her dark pink eyes. How desperately she wanted some kind of freedom outside the royal rules and regulations. They were boring, and none of the royal ceremonies were fun. How well the ceremony had gone was how stiffly one walked, the straightness of their mouth and how serious one had been. Sasami knew that it was the worst thing in the universe to have to do all those stuffy princess things. Space pirates had been dominating the news as of late. Though many times the news had admitted that the people stolen from had been illegitimate businessmen or corrupt government officials. However, there was one space pirate in particular that pillaged everything and everyone. The two pirates that had been thieving from criminal civilians were named Ryoko and Minagi, and the pirate who stole from everyone was named Bakari. Another sigh worked its way out of her mouth and she opened her eyes once more. Sasami's eyes kept on opening wider and wider as a gray- black spot came closer and closer to her window. It was really very strange, and it was coming even closer. The princess realized that the spot was a person, and they were headed straight for her window, as if flying. Sasami suddenly hurried back to her feet, backing away from the glass. It shattered and fell into the room, the black-gray clothed person landing on the wall. Sasami knew that she should call for help, cry out to signal her danger, but the person moved too quickly for her to finish the thought. A standard laser pistol was against her forehead, and a finger on the trigger. "Oh, for heaven's sake." the person said. Their voice was undeniably feminine, and she put her gun away. A thick black cloak curled around her shoulders, and a hood and gathering of cloth at her neck hid her face. The woman pulled the hood away, revealing shoulder-length, slightly spiky black hair and gray eyes. "You're princess Sasami, right?" the woman bent and asked her. "Yes." Sasami replied, "Why do you ask?" "Oh, come on!" the woman turned away and slapped her forehead, "I'm a pirate, not a kid killer!" "I'm not a kid!" Sasami snapped indignantly. "Are you saying you want me to kill you?" the woman turned back to Sasami with a bland look on her face. "No, but I'm not a kid." Sasami crossed her arms and murmured. "Fine." the woman shook her head with a shrug, "I'm not going to kill a minor. Now, if you'll excuse me." She walked over to the door, weaving slightly. The door rose up and the woman glanced out into the hallway, looking left as she stumbled to the right. Sasami followed immediately. "Where are you going?" she whispered, knowing that guards were everywhere. "I'm going to go pillage and plunder the entirety of this place to my black little heart's desire." the woman said, "And while I'm at it, I'm going to steal as much alcohol as I can. Where might the entrance to your liquor basement be? And treasures. Where are those?" "You're not that good of a pirate." Sasami put her hands on her hips, "Why are you asking me?" "Rrrright." the woman flicked her finger as if shaking no at a misbehaving child, "Minor. Still, you're a princess. You ought to know." "Well, I think that Father has a secret room right around..." Sasami felt around behind a tapestry and pressed a button. A door slid open behind the tapestry, and Sasami led the way. "Are you really a space pirate?" Sasami asked, guiding the woman down the stairs. "Of course." the woman shrugged her arms, revealing baggy black pants, gray cloth boots, and a form-fitting gray t-shirt, "I'm Captain Bakari of the ship, the God's Arm." "You're the space pirate Bakari?" "Captain Bakari, yes." Bakari hopped down the last few stairs after Sasami, smirking at the expanse of bottles in the chilled room. "Do you realize that you're trying to steal from the Jurai royal family?" Sasami questioned as Bakari swept a few dozen bottles into a bag. The bag remained shapeless and limp in Bakari's hands. Bakari blinked blearily and stared at Sasami slightly. "Who're you again?" she hiccupped. "Are you drunk?" Sasami blinked in shock, "You're drunk and you're trying to steal from the Jurai royal family?" "No, I'm drunk, and I'm canceling my job of killing princess Sasami." Bakari hiccupped again, "So I'm stealing instead." She dumped a few dozen more bottles into the bag. "Now do me a favor and tell me where I can find a large amount of gold." "Why should I tell you that?" Sasami crossed her arms in defiance, "You'd just be stealing from my family." "I don't know why you should. It's a favor." Sasami thought briefly, and then gestured for Bakari to follow her once more. The two walked through another secret passage and into a room filled with gold. Bakari grinned and shoveled handful after handful of gold and priceless items into the bag. Eventually, everything was gone into the bag. "Thanks for the help." Bakari smiled and folded the large, empty bag up, pushing it into a pocket, "I'll be going now." She started out the door and back to the thoroughly cleaned out liquor room. "Hey, wait!" Sasami hurried after the drunk pirate, "I want to come with you!" "No minors on my ship." Bakari hiccupped and stared at Sasami, "I'm not going to take you." "I did a favor for you." Sasami frowned, "Now I want you to do me a favor, and let me come with you." "Oooooh, you suck." Bakari groaned, running a hand through her hair, "Fine, I'll repay the favor. You can come with me, but if you bug me, you're coming right back here. And don't forget, I'm a pirate. I break the law in every way. Don't whine about it." "OK!" "Hey, you there! Stop!" "And you had better run really fast!" Bakari took off down the hall, Sasami hurrying after her. "Where's the nearest f-ing room?!" Bakari shouted. "Straight down this hall and to the left! Back into my room!" A laser shot struck the wall just behind Bakari's head, and she ran even faster into the room. "If you really want to come with me, crawl into this bag." the pirate pulled the bag from her pants pocket, "Just wait for a little bit, and get out the other side when you see the gold I took." Sasami gave her a doubtful look, but Bakari returned the glance with a smile that spoke of her trustworthiness. Well, as much trust as you could give a space pirate. The princess climbed into the bag and fell into black. Bakari turned to the door of the room. A massive amount of guards stood there, guns drawn and light blades activated. "Hi." Bakari waved a hand with a bleary smile, "You are?" "Where is the princess Sasami?" the guard at the front of the group demanded. "In the bag." the pirate held up the bag with another smile, "Want me to get her?" "Stop right there, space pirate Bakari!" the guard shouted, aiming his shot for Bakari's head, "In the name of the Jurai royal family, we will arrest you!" "No, no, no." Bakari shook her head, "It's Captain Bakari. Captain, all right? You get to remember this day as the one you came face-to- face with Captain Bakari, and lived to tell the tale." The guards fired their guns. Bakari fell backwards automatically, every shot missing. She didn't hit the floor, her fall stopped short as she hovered on her heels just above the ground. All at once, every guard with a sword out rushed in to stab at her. Bakari put her hands against the floor, kicking straight up. She knocked two swords from guards' hands and bounced onto her feet. Two more guards swung blindly at her, and she jumped up, grabbing the four men's heads with her hands and feet and clonking them all together. The last six men crowded into the room and stood in stance for close combat. Bakari hiccupped, swaying on her feet slightly. The guards sweatdropped, stunned that their opponent was so obviously drunk. Bakari laughed, stumbled forwards and smashed her right fist into the nose of a guard. Blood erupted from the broken nose, and the man howled before Bakari thumped him on the head with both fists. The pirate laughed again and hopped behind the man, kicking him into three men behind him, knocking them over. With agility not commonly thought available to a drunk, she flipped back over the two remaining men that rushed at her and landed heavily on the chests of two men on the ground. She kicked the third fallen man in the head, and dove at the two last guards. A fist in the throat was all the two needed to pass out. Bakari glanced at the ten unconscious guards with one last hiccup. She grabbed the edges of the bag and hopped inside, pulling the bag with her. The bag and pirate vanished. ---------- Bakari opened one eye slowly, staring up to the ceiling. Her mouth felt sticky, and she sighed as she sat up in her bed. Memories of the previous night were blurry, and she didn't care one bit. That was why she drank, to forget things that should probably be remembered. After a moment of stretching and yawning and patting at a few wrinkles in her clothes, Bakari stood up and went to go hunt down more alcohol. As soon as she stepped from her room, the scent of cooking food hit her nose. Bakari shook her head and went in the direction of her rarely kitchen. Who was on her ship, and why were they cooking? A single thought, and a blade of dark blue energy appeared in her hands. Whoever it was, they would be dead if they didn't explain themselves quickly. Bakari peeked around the corner, and turned as blue as her sword. "What the hell are you doing here?!" she gaped at Sasami, "Why are you on my ship?!" "I'm coming with you, remember?" Sasami said calmly as she arranged some food on two plates, "Or did you have too much to drink?" "Oh, geez." Bakari put a hand over her mouth in defeat, "Yes, I did. You showed me where the gold was, and said you wanted to come with me. I remember. Oh, crap. I can't believe I agreed to that. The Jurai royal family is going to be on my ass forever. Where are we?" "Your ship's computer said we were somewhere near a planet called Colfer." "Oh, thank the goddess!" Bakari smiled, "We're at least a day and a half from Jurai already! The treeships won't be able to get here for at least three days! Too slow! Yes! Captain Bakari wins again!" "I guess we do." Sasami smiled and put the plates on the table, "Lunch?" ---------- "You want us to do WHAT?" the space pirate Ryoko demanded. --to be continued--
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