Griff growled as he stormed through the cooridors, finally returning to Medical. He opened the door and walked in.

As he did, he spotted Kuma and stopped in his tracks, his jaw literally dropping as he saw her.

Kuma was still investigating her glass when Griff approached. When she saw him she looked up and smiled.

"Grrrrrifff!" She said in surprise.

"Kuma," Griff managed, still amazed at how good they had made her look. She was stunningly beautiful.

Kuma giggled and pointed to herself.

"Koo-mah," she repeated.

"Are you ok?" He asked slowly but Kuma was puzzled

"Oh-kay?" she repeated.

He pointed to himself.

"Okay."

He pointed to the others, who were groggy.

"Not Okay."

Kuma smiled and nodded her understanding.

"Koo-mah oh-kay."

"Good," he said with a smile.

"Good?" He asked as he pointed to the drink.

Kuma did not understand. She only knew it had something to do with the pretty bubbles in the glass. She wanted to convey that they tasted sweet but did not have the word for it so she smiled and licked her lips instead.

He smiled and pointed to the drink.

"Good," said as he licked his lips too.

"Gooood," Kuma repeated slowly.

He sat down with her and took her hand.

"Hand," he said simply and Kuma looked down at her hand.

"Haaaaannnnddd" she repeated.

Then suddenly she felt something strange, something she had never experienced before. She looked up at Griff and blushed.

Griff realized quickly why she blushed. He smiled slightly and continued her speech lesson.

"Spur, " he said pointing to the bone-spurs.

"Sssspuuuuurrr," Kuma repeated making mock thrusts with them, clearly indicating that she knew what they were for.

The strange feeling bothered her but she did not panic. She was too interested in these sounds Griff was teaching her.

"Arm," he said as he ran her hand over his forearm and upper arm.

"Arrrrmmmm," she repeated delighted with the sound.

"Chest," he said as he ran her hand over his chest.

Now Kuma was feeling troubled by the complex emotions she was beginning to feel.

She blushed and snatched her hand away, running quickly out of Medical and Griff jumped up and ran down the passage after her.

"Kuma! Stop!" He shouted after her. "WAIT!"

Kuma turned round at the noise although she had no idea what stop meant.

Griff caught up to her and stood cautiously and looked at her with concern.

"Okay?"

Kuma shook her head, unable to express what was wrong and he gently touched her cheek.

"Okay?"

She did not know how to tell him what she didn't understand herself and said nothing but just shook her head.

He gently rubbed her jaw and smiled. He reached for her hand again and Kuma looked at him inquisitively.

"Follow," he said as he took her hand slowly and started walking.

She walked with him, wondering where they were going and wishing she had more words that she could try to convey what was troubling her.

Griff lead her back to medical and sat her down on the bed.

"Stay," he said softly.

"Talk later," he said trying to convey time to her but Kuma did not understand.

"Lay-tur?" She asked.

He thought for a moment and then picked up a clock.

"Now," he said pointing to the time. He changed it. "Later."

"Lay-tur." Kuma repeated although she was still a little puzzled and Griff smiled slightly and started to walk toward the door.

"Why am I not surprised everyone else is there." She growled.

"Oh and Marius is back on the ship." Onyx perked up.

"He is, with Johnathen?" Onyx knew that was a bad question as soon as her lips released it.

"Who?" Shurikan played.

"Shurikan!" Onyx stomped her foot. "Could you please call back Johnathen?"

"Make me." Onyx slapped her forehead.

"Never mind I will do it in a moment. Let me check on Ilana first." Onyx ran back down the hallway to the new girls room.

Onyx's eyes widened. "Your the ferret girl!" She shook her paw at her realizing who the men were really after suddenly.

Ilana looks at Onyx and asks "You know about me?"

"Yeah I was attacked by a couple of buddies in the station." She reached out and touched her small brown ears. "I guess you do kind of look like me."

Ilana looks at Onyx and says in a horrified tone,"I'm so sorry are you ok?"

Onyx laughed. "Oh yeah, I play harder than that." She waved her hand at her. "Hey, why don't you come out and meet the rest of the pride. Plus, our Matriarch has to instate you into the misfits if that's what you are wanting?"

Ilana smiles wistfully and says"Yes I would like that very much." She then adds "I hope they like me."

"Oh don't worry we are pretty open about individuals like ourselves. There aren't to many of us around, and I know how difficult it is to find a family." Onyx led the girl out the room.

As Ilana follows Onyx out of the room she nervously wrings her hands and hopes that Griff isn't with the others since she finds him a little intinidating

Onyx walked into medical with the new girl Ilana. "Hey guys the gang is almost all here." She laughed.

"We should probably just incorperate command into here and we'd be all set." Adamina looked over this other new girl. "Who do you happen to be?" She put on a warm smile to try and ease the girl's tension.

Adamina nodded. "I'm guessing that you want to join our pride as well. Looks like we're going to have to have another group meeting. Shurikan?"

"Yes madam Matriarch?" The AI popped up.

"It's madmoiselle. I'm not married." Adamina slid off the table, the alcohol nearly worn off. Thank you superior genes, she thought silently. "Can you call the rest of the pride in here. We're only missing a few. But we need to take a group vote on this."

"Of course, right away." She smirked.

"And don't forget Johnathen."

The Shurikan rolled her eyes. "Grrrrr, I suppose I will summon the little virus." She disappeared a little more angrier this time.

Adamina sighed. "Sometimes I don't know. Oh. Onyx?"

"Yes, Adamina, whats up?" Onyx walked over to her friend.

Adamina punched Onyx lightly in the arm. "Throw something lighter next time. I'd hate to be killed by a flying coaster."

Onyx laughed loudly. "I did, it was the strength behind it." She winked.

"Suuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrreeeeeeee....." Adamina winked back.

The two girls laughed together. Now they just had to wait for the others to arrive.

[This message has been edited by Harper's (edited December 01, 2001).]

He grabbed a tube off the shelf, breathed into it and put it in the spectral analyser oh-so-conveniently there.

"Hhmmmmmm. Nope!" he said, somewhat suprised. Then his nose itched. "Oh yeah," he thought, "had to take nanos to even the playing field with Lobo."

That's when he noticed the goings on around him and heard Adamina call for a group meeting.

He motioned for Onyx not to do anything and snuck up behind Adamina.

"How ya feeling?" said, poking her in the samll of her back, and then laughed as she jumped slightly.

[This message has been edited by Jidimus (edited December 01, 2001).]

Dutifully wondering what he would tell the others, he began the walk there.

"Hi. I'm Cassandra. What's your name?"
"I'm Ilana" the girl responded. Cassandra nodded and turned to Griff

"Are you feeling any better?" She asked, clearly worried about him.
"Yes" replied Griff with a slight smile. Then there was silence when Marius entered the room.

"I'm guessing you're not afraid I'm going to decapitate you." He shook his head, still grinning.

"You are smart, you know that. And lucky. And I'm fine, by the way." She pulled her arm back, and turned around as Marius entered the room. Call it some kind of damn motherly instinct, but she sensed something wrong.

"Is everything ok, Marius?"

[This message has been edited by Harper's (edited December 02, 2001).]

"I'm fine. Just... different. Honest."

"I can tell the different part. Usually you'd be either begging for candy, or responding in a way that made absolutly no sense...what happen to you? You didn't chew on some wires or something, did you?"

He pauses for a moment.

"Chew some wires? Why the hell would I do that?"

"Hello... you're new around here, aren't you?"

Cazando was asleep with his head on soemthing hard. He felt somethign poking him and then there was a loud sound pounding at his eardrum, "Hey buddy! HEY!! Wake up! If you are not drinking, you are taking up valuable space for someone who could be drinking."

Cazando's head snapped up quickly. Pain shot through it but his training over came it. He squinted as he stood and grabbed the bartender around the neck in one motion. He tightened his grip and lifted the man off the floor by his throat before he knew it. The man struggled and gasped in the sudden grasp. The waitresses around them screamed a bit and got away from him. As the man gasped, Cazando pulled him closer to his face, "Speak... quietly...." The man nodded and Cazando dropped him to the floor on his bottom.

As the bartender rubbed his neck, Cazando looked around slowly. He wondered where Xax was... he vaguely remembered Oynx and Adamina... and Johnathen... he thought. They were not there now. His brow furrowed, ~Hmmm... they must have left. I guess they could not be bothered and left me here. I see.~ He barely suppressed a growl as he turned and stalked out of the bar. He was not in a pleasant mood. If they thought his normal mood was disagreeable, this one would be downright black.

As he made his way back to the ship, people automatically moved out of his way. They could feel the emotions pouring off of him as he stalked past them. He was soon back at the ship. As he entered, Shurikan appeared in a monitor. "It is good you are back Cazando. The Matriarch has requested all of you to some to medical."

He snarled at Shurikan, "Stow it! Tell them all that I will frelling be there when I get cleaned up since I had to sleep in the frelling bar and the all came back him."

Shurikan looked a bit shocked but nodded, "I will tell them." Her image flickered off the screen.

He knew he should not have snapped but right now he did not feel like being nice. He headed to his quarters and took a nice loooooong time to get cleaned up and changed before heading to the Medical section. Once he was there he did not nod or anythign to any of them there but just moved to a position to listen to them. "Alright, I am here. What is this all about?"

The strange feeling she'd had when Griff touched her hand still bothered her. It wasn't like anything she had experienced before and she wasn't prepared for it. Somehow being in his quarters made it worse but she could not think why. Kuma was puzzled. Griff hadn't returned. Should she find him? She decided that she should and left the room.*

He paused, "In any case, you have my vote. I am outta here." Cazando turned about and abruptly left the medical section.

[This message has been edited by XxTyrxX (edited December 03, 2001).]

Onyx frowned as she watched Cazando leave the room. She felt bad for leaving him there. He was her mate after all and she should have kept a better eye out for him, but she was concerned about Kuma being left alone. "Ummm, everyone I definitely vote yes on both." Onyx scurried out of the room after Cazando.

Cazando made his way through the winding corridors of the ship and back to his quarters. Once in there, he moved over to a seat in there. "Lower the lights." As the lights lowered, he placed his head in his hands. He had ignored it but his head was pounding and the lights were like needles.

Onyx slowly crept into the room trying not to alert him to her presence. She patted the ground softly with her kitty feet inching her way up to him. "I am sorry." She whispered.

The door opening told him someone was entering and there were only 2 people keyed to have free access to their suite but her scent verified Oynx before her voice did. He didn't move from the position he was in before speaking, "Sorry for what?"

"I should have helped you back onto the ship. I got side tracked with taking care of Kuma. We were left there for everyone else ventured back onto the ship. I just assumed you were with them." She kneeled down in front of him and gently touched his face.

He looked up and even though the light was dim, he could see her clearly. He shook his head, "Don't worry. I have learned a valuable lesson here and it is better now than later."

"What is that?" She whispered leaning her lips towards his face.

He looks up and looked into her eyes, "Oynx, do you really want to know?"

She tipped her head to the side looking into his gray eyes. "Yes, of course."

He nodded slowly and spoke softly, "All right... remember you asked. The lesson is that no matter what you may think, you always have to depend on yourself... no one else."

Onyx frowned deeply. She placed her kitty paws over his hands and pulled his face towards hers. Onyx gently kissed his forehead. "Its my fault. I should have been a better mate." She pressed her face softly onto his.

He sighed softly as their foreheads rested against each others. His breath washed over her and she was glad that he had taken time to clean up after his binge with Xax. "Don't worry Oynx, it will not happen again."

"No, because I will not be so careless to let it happen." She whispered closing her eyes.

He started to say something but he bit it off and just nodded as he remained in that position with her. Just the two of their foreheads resting together.

Griff heard the call for a Pride meeting and ignored it.

He didn't care either way.

Instead he sat on a perch high above the Obs deck, his knees pulled in to his chest and his wings wrapped around himself.

His mind wandered from idea to idea, but it constantly forced itself back to the image of Kuma in the medical bay.

Kuma had tried unsuccessfully to find Griff.

Something felt wrong and she didn't like it. It shouldn't matter, after all she had spent most of her life alone.

All the same it peturbed her. She walked for a while wondering what to do next until at last she found herself on Obs deck.

Griff saw Kuma walk onto the Obs deck. He had smelled her several minutes before. But he couldn't bring himself to scare her like he would do normally.

He just wasn't up for it.

"Kuma," he called down.

Kuma was delighted. She had found him.

"Grrrrrrriffff!" She called back.

"Up here!" He called down to her. "Kuma."

Kuma looked up, wondering where he was. Eventually she saw him and wondered why he was up there.

"Okay?" He asked as he let his wings fall to their usual position.

"Oh-kay" Kuma replied.

"Good," he said.

He stood and jumped. His wings extended and flapped, allowing him to descend slowly.

"Grrrrrrrrriffff oh-kay?" Kuma asked still a little concerned.

"Okay," he said with a nod and looked at her with a smile.

"Look," he said as he pointed out the Obs deck at the stars. "Pretty."

Kuma smiled back and looked at the stars. they were beautiful and her mouth dropped open as she stared in wide-eyed astonishment.

"Prrrrrittee," she repeated and Griff smiled and nodded.

He looked at her with a soft smile and pointed to her.

"Pretty," he said as he turned and started for Medical.

Kuma blushed.

Griff thought she was like the stars?

She did not know why, but she liked it. She followed considering this new information as she went.

"We really need to get you talking more," he said with a grin.

"I'll have to see what Shurikan has on teaching someone to speak..." he mumbled to himself.

"Might as well continue where we left off before...Hand," he said pointing to his hand as he walked and Kuma giggled.

"Grrrriffff prrrittteee" she said laughing and Griff smiled and chuckled.

"Hand," he said with a smile, pointing to his hand.

"Hannnd," Kuma repeated and Griff pointed to his spurs.

"What?"

"Spurrrrrrr" Kuma said, again indicating what they were for.

"Good," he said as they arrived at Medical.

"What?" He asked pointing to Kuma.

"Koo-mah," she replied.

"Kuma, Pretty," he said pointing to her face and Kuma blushed again, still baffled as to why this should make her feel so strange.

"Grrrifff prrrittteee," she giggled.

Griff shook his head and laughed as he offered his hand to Kuma and prepared to open the door to medical.

Kuma took Griff's hand, wondering why he was laughing.

Griff smiled as he held Kuma's hand and opened the door, still smiling as he walked into Medical and sat down, patting the spot next to him.

"Sit," he said with a smile.

Kuma sat down and wished she could ask what was happening.

She guessed it must be something important and looked enquiringly at Griff, trying to figure it out and Griff shrugged.

"New Family," he said pointing to the two misfits trying to join the pride but Kuma was confused.

"Famlee?" she asked and Griff pointed to the other members of the Pride.

"Family."

She still didn't understand. She pointed to the others and asked.

"Why Famlee?"

Griff shrugged, unable to explain the concept. He was about to try and explain when Adamina looked at him.

"I say no," he said with a shrug and a wink and then smiled at Kuma.

"I'm not sure. He's always cranky."

"Well, I don't see any real harm in these two joining. It's not like this pride itself can keep itself out of trouble even with a small group of members. And besides, the more the merrier, I always say. So I guess my vote goes to yes."

Shurikan dematerialized next to Adamina. "Everyone is on board now, even the virus." She snarled. Adamina shook her head.

"He is no longer a virus, Shurikan." Shurikan glared at her.

"He is to me." The Matriarch shrugged.

"Yes Shurikan." She tried to hummer the AI but it didn't seem to be working.

"By the way is everyone feeling refreshed now to continue our journey?" The group looked at each other and nodded. "Very well, departing from the station now." The AI disappeared from the screen. The group could feel the ship shutter a little bit as it pulled away from the station.

"Thanks guys I realy appreciate you taking me in."

Most of her new pride smiled at her, happy that she'd joined them. Griff merely glared at her and said, "I'm heading up to command."

The others watched him go. Between his fighting with Tiona and Shurikan fighting with Jonathan it looked like this next trip was going to seem really long. Hopefully everything would get straightened out soon. Plus they still had to decide what was going to happen with Kuma and Ilana. That was the thing about their pride, there was never a dull moment.

"Hey lets get some breakfast I am starving." Onyx smiled pulling on Cazando's hand.

He almost grimaced as he stands while being pulled up by her. He took a deep breath, "Breakfast? I dunno how much I will be able to eat but alright."

"Oh come on, I thought wolves were always hungry." She winked leading him out of the room. The two stepped lively down the hallway to the dinning area, well Onyx stepped lively.

Cazando chuckled softly, "Hungry... yes. But not always for food..." He smiled and picked up his step to match hers. "I would have thought that you may have eaten over on the station before we left."

"Oh no. The excitement just over whelmed me. I never touched a thing." She giggled. Onyx walked into the desolate room. She couldn't imagine once this was packed with an assortment of differant races. It seemed lonely for a moment, but then she turned to see Cazando walk in. "Actually its just perfect." She whispered.

He smiled slightly, "Yes, I could tell that you were excited." He looked around the mess hall and then back to her, "What's perfect?"

"That we are alone." She giggled. Onyx bounced over to the food servicer and ordered up a plate of some warm cream. She cupped the bowl with her two kitties paws. "Where would you like to sit?" She giggled.

He looked around, "Well, we have the whole room to choose. Why don't you pick one while i get myself something to eat?"

"Okay," she smiled bounding over to a table in the corner. Onyx twisted her long black kitty tail around her waiste as she sat down. Her soft little nose twitched in anticapation of the warm cream against her lips.

He moved over and thought about what he wanted. As much as he might try to ignore it, he still was not up for eating right now. He was sure he could make himself if his survival depended on it but it didn't so he wasn't going to. Therefore, he headed back over to the table empty handed and sat across from her. "I decided I was not hungry after all. I will just keep you company."

"Oh okay, " She tilted her head in disappointment. "Would you like to try some of my cream?" She lifted the bowl towards him.

He shook his head, "You enjoy the cream, Oynx... besides, I like watching the kitty eat." He smiled reassuringly to her.

She giggled. "Okay then." Onyx lowered her face to the bowl slowly lapping up the white fluid. The streams of liqued dripped off her tongue as she tried to curl it back into her mouth.

Cazando smiled and leaned forward, his chin in his hands as he watched her. "I never asked what you guys did when on the station... or if you told me, I was in no state to remember..."

She stopped for a moment and looked up with a smile. "Oh we did girl things." She grinned. "You know what? I was kind of thinking..." Onyx pulled herself away from the bowl. She leaned to the side and grabed a napkin, gently padding her lips.

Cazando's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked to her, "Ut-oh... you have been thinking..." He grinned, "About what?"

"Well, I was taking care of Kuma a lot of the time, and I have decided. That I want to have a baby." She smiled awaiting his reaction.

He looked up to her and blinked. He was thankful that he was not eating or drinking anything at that moment. "What? Here?! Now?!"

"Well, see thats the problem. I don't think we physically can. We would have to think of doing it a differant way besides the normal Nietz way."

He looked thoughtful, "I had not thought of that before... but you have a point there." He looked into her eyes, "You are he medical one here. Did you have any ideas?"

"Not yet." She whispered dropping her eyes down. "This is one of those times I wish I was not a half breed." She frowned.

He reached across to lift her face to look into his, "Never hate what you are.... especially now that we are all together. no matter what, I am sure we will find out a way. We just have to resolve ourselves to not giving up."

"Okay," She whispered. "So you want one too then?" Her lime greem eyes swept over his face.

He nodded, "Of course. That is one thing that was not left out of my genetic makeup... from both sides. I was able to ignore it for the most part... at least until I met you." He grinned to her. "You have made me rethink alot of things."

"Really, you never tell me. You seem to be so angry all the time. Its hard sometimes to tell what you are feeling." She whispered. "Sometimes, I just want to bound up to you and give you a hug but I am afraid of what kind of mood you are in."

"Sorry... I am trying. it is just so hard sometimes adjusting. Having been alone for so long... and then to have it all come crashign in on me like this. But there is one thing I am sure of. You never have any reason to fear me." He looked into her eyes, allowing his true feelings to show there for her and only her. They shown with love and caring all directed at her.

"Okay," She smiles. Onyx jumped up from her seat and ran around to his side of the table. She reached forward and gave him a strong hug holding herself to him.

He started to stiffen but she felt him relax and wrap his arms around her, pulling her even closer as he whispered, "I love you, Oynx."

"I love you too, Cazando." She nuzzled her face into his warm chest as they sat there.

Tiona smiled again in thanks to the rest of the Pride and headed to the quarters the AI had given her and dumped her backpack on the table.

She quickly changed her of her leather clothes into more suitable black trousers and a blue t-shirt.

Tiona decided it would probably be a good idea for her to get some idea of the layout of the ship, and headed off to Command to get a map.

Griff watched the purple one go and then went up to command to check their course.

She entered the Command Deck and suppressed a growl when she saw that Griff was there.

Griff barely suppressed a growl at the female.

"I'm not sure where we're going to put you as far as jobs go. Any useful skills?"

Tiona sat down at one of the console and access a map. She considered his question.

"I have some medical skills, I am trained in physical and weapon combat, and can pilot a ship."

She began her list, and then stopped to see if he had a use for them.

"Hmmm, we have a medic, we have a weapons officer and a pilot. Anything else?"

Tiona considered it.

"I'm not saying I'm very good at these skills, but I can, usually, keep the engine systems working on the ships I worked on."

"How many shifts are you willing to work?"

Tiona smiled lightly.

"I would have to study more about the ship's systems and a couple of engineering manuals, I suppose I would work anytime the ship needed maintainence or repairs."

"What about working in an alternating shift as pilot with Cassandra or as Weapons Officer with Cazando," Griff suggested as he looked over the status of the ship's systems. Tiona nodded.

"That would be ok....Say, does this ship have a Hyrdroponics bay?"

Griff growled loudly.

"Yes," he snarled yet Tiona smiled happily.

"Oh good."

She studied the map of the ship and memorised it. It was then she caught the growl and snarling tone in Griff's voice.

"Have I offended you?"

Griff waited a moment to compose himself before he spoke.

"No," he said with a simple, flat voice.

Tiona was baffled, she didn't understand this strange, grumpy, winged man.

"Do you not like me then?" She asked, trying to pinpoint the reason for his odd behaviour.

"I would rather not speak of this with you," he said, again with a flat tone and Tiona sighed.

She had worked out that this 'Tyra' must have been a hybrid like herself.

"I don't know why you dislike me so. I'm not like Tyra you know."

Griff lowered his head and a low growl emerged from his throat.

"Out."

Tiona shut down her console.

"You see, I was artificially designed."

"OUT!" He yelled with an ugly snarl and a dangerous fire in his eyes.

Tiona got up, feeling the first touches of anger.

"You'll have to let go of her memory one day Griff. Because I will inevitably remind you of her every day. Let go of her memory, and face the present."

Griff gripped the console. "If you value your life, I suggest you GET OUT!"

Tiona snarled, her own Nietzschean genes kicking in.

"I'm not suggesting that I would do that on purpose, in fact, I would happily tolerate you."

Griff's bone-spurs extended fully and he reached down and drew his pistol, aiming it at Tiona.

"Get. OUT!" He said, each word clearly pronounced.

Tiona stepped back towards the door.

"Can't we at least talk about this?"

Griff pulled the trigger and a round flew right past Tiona's head. He glared at her pointedly.

Tiona continued backing towards the door.

"Stop it please, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

Griff snarled and then lowered his pistol and his chin fell to his chest.

"Just go," he whispered.

Tiona could see there was no reasoning with him now, she would just have to wait until he had accepted her presence. She reached the door and opened it.

"I'll be in Hyrdoponics, if you ever want someone to talk to." She then left before he could answer.

Griff growled as he moved over to the pilot's seat and buried his hands in his face.

"What are they Shuri?"

"What is going on now?"

"I'll be in engineering, like I usually am I guess," Xax said, running for main engineering.

Once he got there, a jolt of insight hit him. That new girl, the ferret, had gotten onto the ship with relative ease. And he had left arguably the most important areas of the ship wide open.

Moving to a panel, he put up a security system in place for engineering and the machine shops.

"Hmmm, lesse now," he thought to himself, "2 to the 412 millionth power encrytion, DNA, finger print and voice recognition, keyed to only myself, Adamina and Griff for now. Anyone else has no real reason to be here, and if they want in they can always ring the bell. And, no one could hack this either. I doubt shurikan could crack it unless she did almost nthing else for almost a year."

"Now," he said aloud to himself, "to get some sensor readings on those things."

[This message has been edited by Jidimus (edited December 06, 2001).]

She giggled at him and punched him lightly in the arm before standing and pulling him up, "Come on. I am sure that she would not have sounded like that unles sit was important."

He nodded, "I know, I know..." His voice trailed off as she pulled him out of the mess hall.

As they walked down the corridors, Cazando could hear the pitter-patter of Xax's feet. He was soon by their side, "Hey Oynx, Cazando. I wonder what this is all about?"

Oynx smiled to him and Cazando merely grunted and nodded as they entered the command deck. Oynx whispered, "I suppose we will find out in a few minutes..."

"Oh, how I hate traveling that way." The man brushed off his sleeves before addressing the pride. His light blue eyes lifted off the dark gray sleeve to the misfits.
"Well, hello there. I am sure you are wondering who my collage and I are." He smiled with a charming smile, that could only bestowed on royalty. "I am Stephan, and this is Samantha. We are Wishlings." The young girl nodded with the mention of her name.

"Hello," She was as equally as beautiful as he was handsome. Her dark brown hair accented her pale white skin. She had a long pale blue dress on with diamond earrings. "We saw your ship traveling through space and became curious about her and her crew. We figured such a beautiful craft must be run by a beautiful crew." She smiled.

Adamina pulled her pistol out and aimed it at the nearest creature, the male.

"While I don't mind the flattery, how did you go through the wall like that, and what the frell are you doing on this ship?"

The blond haired man just smiled. "Why My lady, he slightly bowed. We are wishlings, we have many hidden talents. One of them being granting a single wish." The two nodded with a grin.

Cazando's pistol was in his hand quickly as well. "I find myself in agreement with the Matriarch... one would ask you what you are doing here and why us?"

Samantha took a step towards the gray wolf. "We mean no harm. We were just curious about your people."

Adamina kept the put the gun down, but was ready for anything. "You could have warned us you were coming."

Stephan looked over to Samantha. "We are energy life forms. We don't have much of a way of contacting your ship."

He brought up his weapon to bear on the womoan moving toward him, "I advise you to not move..."

Samantha stopped in mid step. "Very well, if you feel more comfertable that way." She grinned.

Adamina looked at them. "You're curious about us? Many people are, and not for the best of reasons."

He grimaced, "Shurikan, are the internal defenses online?"

"Yes, they are Cazando." Shurikan's avatar popped in behind the group.

Stephan laughed. "I can asure you. We are not interested in anything you have. I mean look at us. We have everything we could ever want." He grinned charmingly.

Cazando snorted, "So you say..."

Adamina sighed. "Ok look. Just tell us what you want, and we shall see what we can do for you."

"We don't want anything." Samantha replied. "We are actually here to learn more about you, and to offer our services." She bowed.

"And your services? Granting wishes?" The corner of Adamina's mouth twitched. She had heard some good ones before, but this...

"Oh yes, of course." The man smiled walking up to Adamina. "Not that I would know what a lovely creature like you could possibly wish for." He picked up her hand and kissed it.

Cazando growled, "...be careful what you wish for..."

Adamina laughed. She decided to humor them. "I'm charmed. But why would you choose us?"

"Oh we are a family of many. This is what we do. We travel the stars for knowledge, and what better knowledge then to know ones wishes." Samantha beamed.

Cazando looked at the being carefully, "Because they think us easy targets..."

Stephan chuckled. "Is that what you believe?" He turned his hand to Cazando. "We have met many species strong and weak."

"We would fall where?" Adamina was just as curious about these creatures as they seemed to be about the pride.

Stephan looked over to Samantha. The woman shrugged. "We are only just begining to learn about you." He smiled.

Cazando looks ot the creature, "I would not say it is I did not believe it."

"Alright. Enough. You guys want to know more? Fine. We can set up a meeting room or something that might be of more help for you." Adamina placed her hands on her hips, tired that these people were keeping up this wish and explorer game.

Cazando looked to Adamiana, "So we are going to let them remain here?"

"Do you want to try and remove them from this ship?" Adamina looked him in the eyes, trying to convey an "I'll explain when they aren't around" message.

Cazando looked ot her for a bit and then nodded. He hated to back down but he did and slowly lowered his weapon, "Alright..."

"Wonderful!" Stephan beamed. "I am sure you won't regret it." He smiled with Samantha.

*Perhaps Cazando's wish is to be Alpha!* Griff thought to himself with a chuckle.

"Who are these guys?" She asked Adamina, givig them a wary glance.

"They're Whishlings named Stephen and Samantha. They claim that they want to help us.

"Yeah right. Their just going to grant us wishes out of the goodness of their hearts." Turning toward Stephen she demanded, "and what do you guys get out of this. I can't believe you came her to help because your such nice people."

Samantha replied, "we really only want to help you. Isn't there anything that you want?"

Cassandra didn't reply because she was tempted and didn't want to deal with anyone whose offer was to good to be true. That only lead to trouble.

"You didn't really answer her question", growled Griff, "why are you really here? And where did you come from."

Stephen lokked at him and sighed. "It's a long story, but if you'd like I'll tell you."

Griff glared at him, "talk."

As he waited for the man to begin speaking, Griff walked over to Tiona and pulled her aside.

"Why do you want your Nietzschean genetics removed?"

Tiona smiled sadly.

"Because I hate it. They make me easily angered, the spurs make everyone stare at me, and they're making you dislike me."

"I don't dislike you," he said with a shrug. "You merely remind me of painful memories. And for some reason I think that you going away will make the pain go away."

Tiona remembered the last time she had tried to offer her advice, and drew back slightly.

"Oh."

Griff noted her hesitance and shrugged.

"Don't worry. I'm not dangerous to you. I have started to settle myself and in time I will be whole again."

Tiona shook her head.

"It doesn't seem that way to me. I mean, the last time we talked, you almost shot me."

"I know, and I apologize for that. But you got me thinking, I won't do that again."

Tiona sniffed.

"There's no guarantee. I'd rather not take that chance. Either way, I'd still like it if every single Nietzschean gene was removed."

"If that is your wish, be warned. This is a pride of Nietzschean misfits. Not Purple Pixies."

Tiona sighed.

"I guess that's true, but.... I just want to be...normal, and with people I like."

"And I suppose I'm not in that category," Griff said with a slight chuckle and Tiona smiled ever so slightly.

"I haven't decided whether I like you or not yet."

"I'm impressed. Most would be afraid of me, and not particularly open to liking me. Take the ferret for example," he said with a shrug and Tiona smiled lightly.

"I will admit, I was pretty frightened when you almost shot me. But I do believe I see a nice person under that grouchy exterior."

"Well, then there is hope yet, for a friendship between us. But for now we should focus on these intruders," Griff said as he turned back to the 'Wishlings.'

Tiona hid a smile and turned to face the Wishlings, and make it subtly clear that she was still waiting for an answer.

"You'll have to excuse my younger sibling, she gets flustered sometimes easily." Samantha closed her eyes for a moment trying to maintain her composure. "What she is trying to say, that we are a very old race that our birth wouldn't be easily explainable by words, and I will not try." He looked over to the pride. "Also, if we wanted to hurt you. You would be already dead by now. Our abilities far exceed anything your science can throw at us." He tapped his lips trying to figure how to explain to the small pride why they were there. "Young, lady you asked why we grant wishes, because you think like most Nietz, we have an anterior motive." He paused for a moment. "You are right, we do. You are a rare species with in yourselves. Most like you, would have already been destroyed, but your pride is still alive. The power of granting you one wish..." He lifted his hand to show just one finger. "Is so we can understand you more. In our large library we document and record all species of the known universe. You are the first of your kinds." He spread his hand apart. "If you don't want a wish you don't have to ask for one." Stephan looked over to Cassandra. "That is your choice." His eyes left hers and then scanned over the others.

"To understand."

"To understand... to understand what?"

"Everything."

The Wishlings look at each other for a moment, and Marius wonders what they're going to do.

"You wish to understand?" She sauntered over to Marius staring into his green eyes.

"Yes, I do. Very much so, in fact."

Samantha smiled. "You have to say you wish first. Its just a little rule of ours made by the elders so we don't intrude into your dreams."

Marius wonders if she's being intentionally confusing or not. "But to understand *is* my wish."

Samantha smiled. "You have to say you wish first. Its just a little rule of ours made by the elders so we don't intrude into your dreams."

Marius wonders if she's being intentionally confusing or not. "But to understand *is* my wish."

"Very well then." She gently touched his forhead with her index finger. "I grant you the wish of knowledge and understanding."
Marius feels different... but he’s not sure what it means yet. He finds a place to sit, trying to understand his new... sense of self.

[This message has been edited by Rovinski47 (edited December 07, 2001).]

He turned and watched the viewscreen, then noticed Shurikan watching the group through a smaller viewscreen. And inspiration hit.

"I'm ready to make my wish now." he said standing up.

"I wish for Shurikan and Johnathen to get over their differences and become friends."

Samantha walked over to him. "So let it be done," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Xax felt woozy for a second. A spilt second later he snapped back to reality. "That was weird," he thought.

[This message has been edited by Scathach Dumonixera (edited December 07, 2001).]

(OOC does someone want to help me out here, maybe by picking up on what she wants and making the wish for her?)

Cassandra considered her options. Oh well what's the worst that could happen. She turned to Stephen.

Okay I have a wish.", her voice sounded hesitent.

"Go ahead", he smiled encouragingly.

'Go on'she thought get it over with. It's not like anythings actualy gonna happen.
"Alright first of all I want my own ship. Nothing big and flashy. Something like the one that got destroyed."

"The ship is easy. In fact I believe if you look in the cargo hold you will be pleasently surprised.",Stephen replied with a smile.
Cassandra wasn't sure if she should buy any of this. Suddenly a hologram of Shurikan poped up beside her. Turning to address Adamina and Griff she demanded, "What's going on. According to my internal sensors I just had a ship apperear in the cargo bay."

Griff, Cassandra, and Adamina exchanged startled glances. "Cassandra got down to the cargo bay and check this out."

"Fine", she replied. Despite her overwhelming joy, her nietzchen paranoia reminded her that this could be a trick. So hoping against hope she all but ran from command.

[This message has been edited by TYR'S GIRL (edited December 07, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by TYR'S GIRL (edited December 07, 2001).]

Griff turned back to the Wishlings as Cassandra went down to the cargo bay.

He thought for a moment but couldn't think of anything that he really wanted.

Kuma sat alone watching everything that was going on, noticing how happy everyone was.

She considered this, turning one thought over and over in her head: a constant desire to speak.

To be like the others was something she wanted beyond anything. Yet it didn't seem to be happenning for her. This made her sad.

Griff noticed that Kuma seemed sad and walked over to her.

"Okay?" He asked and Kuma shook her head.

"Not Oh-kay"

Griff frowned slightly trying to figure out why Kuma would be sad. He knew that she couldn't answer any of his questions and he growled slightly.

"I wish Kuma could talk," he said simply to himself and he felt someone touch his back.

He felt woozy for a second but then it passed. He turned around and saw Samantha behind him.

"Your wish has been granted," the female said simply.

Kuma felt strange. It was a wonderful feeling and yet it was terrible. She felt not quite like herself but almost like someone else: like a version of herself that had lived a different life. [/i]

"What.....happened?" She said as she turned to Griff and looked up at him.

Griff's eyes widened as Kuma spoke.

"I wished that you could talk...and you can speak."

"I feel different. Am I meant to be like this?"

"What do you mean, 'Like this'?" Griff asked as he stepped closer to Kuma.

"I can understand you. This is not like me. I can think in words not pictures. It feels strange."

"Then yes, this is how you were meant to be. You were meant to be able to communicate with others."

"Bears don't talk like this do they?"

"No they don't. But you aren't a bear."

"I knew I was different than them somehow."

"This is wonderful. You can communicate now," Griff said as he smiled broadly.

Kuma looked a little disappointed as she realised one of the drawbacks to being able to speak.

"But you won't have to spend so much time with me now you don't have to teach me."

"That's not true," Griff said with a smile. "It just means that our time together will be better spent. Rather than trying to teach you the basics of speech, we can talk about other things."

Kuma smiled.

"What other things?"

"Many other things," Griff said with a smile. "And now you will have a say in what happens to you, rather than be dragged around."

Kuma was pleased.

Maybe she could ask about the strange feeling she got every time Griff was near her sometime. She had it now and blushed a little as she looked up at him.

Griff smiled as he noticed the slight flush in Kuma's face. He felt his face flush slightly as he realized that she obviously thought something of him.

"What job do you think you would like?"

"Well I don't know. i don't exactly have many skills beyond surviving, killing animals and turning the most unpromising materials into all manner of things."

Griff thought for a moment.

"I'm sure we can train you how to turn those skills into something very useful," he said with a smile.

"And, now that you can speak, we can ask you what you would like to eat," he said with a chuckle.

"Well I usually eat meat."

Griff laughed slightly.

"And now I know what to make when..."

He stopped himself and blushed as he grinned sheepishly.

Kuma was confused. She could talk but humour was still a little beyond her. Then she noticed that he was blushing. This intrigued her.

"You are blushing. Why?" She asked.

"Oh, it's nothing," he said trying to avoid answering but Kuma was still curious.

"But why though?"

"It happens when someone feels a certain way toward someone else," Griff said with another blush and a shrug.

"What way?"

"Well, it usually happens when one person thinks another person is attractive."

"What is.....attractive?"

"Well, pretty."

Kuma laughed. Then she blushed herself.

"Well I think you're pretty."

Griff grinned and blushed again.

"Thank you. I think you're pretty too," he said with another grin.

kuma thought about asking what the strange feeling was but decided she felt too nervous to do so. Instead she ignored it.

"Like the stars?" [i]She asked.

"Yes, like the stars," he said nervously and Kuma giggled.

She was happy now she could talk. Griff seemed pleased too and that added to her happiness. She wanted him to be happy.

"Perhaps after we have dealt with these people we can take a tour of the ship and I can explain anything you don't understand," Griff suggested with a blush and a smile.

"I would like that."

She glanced over at Tiona before turning towards the wishlings.

"I wish...I wish that nothing could ever physically hurt the members of this pride again...."

[This message has been edited by Harper's (edited December 08, 2001).]

He turns to Ilana.

"I.. love you. Or I think I do. I'm sorry, I need to sort this all out. Excuse me."

He runs out, confused and wanting to be alone.

Xax walked over to Adamina and gestured towards the Johnathen AI chatting amiably with Shurikan's holo. "Isn't it great?"

Adamina smiled. "Absolutly! That's one problem solved at least."

Xax shifted on his feet slightly. "Listen, I was kinda wondering, if you're not busy I mean.... would you like to go for dinner some time, I mean, like....yeah," he said, scratching his head, having thouroughly forgotten all those words he had thought of earlier.

Adamina looked surprised at first, then laughed. "You're asking me to dinner?" She stopped laughing and smiled. "Xax I'd love to."

"Great!" Xax almost yelled, then lowered his voice, "I mean, I'm looking forward to it. When would be a good time for you?"

Admina thought for a moment. "Anytime we aren't being shot at, imprisioned, or beaten up would be good for me."

Xax thought a moment. "Well, tuesday isn't looking to good for me, then. How about....now?"

Adamina laughed. "Sounds good too me. What did you have in mind? I'm not going to have to wear any bikinis am I?"

"Not unless I have to wear any tight pants" Xax replied, smiling. "So, I know this GREAT mess hall on deck 14. Best bread you ever tasted. Shall we?"

"We shall." She interlocked arms with him and started for the mess hall.

TIME WARP

Xax sat across a table from Adamina, eating the soup they had ordered from the food dispenser. He caught a glimpse of her eye, and couldn't help but smile. "I should have asked you to dinner a long time ago."

She blushed a deep green. "Yes you should have." She winked.

"So, what do you think of all this stuff that's going on?" Xax said, finding himself at a loss for things to say.

"It's....interesting. I mean, good things have come out of it...this for example, but I don't know if I quite trust those two Wishlings. Call it a gut feeling, call it paranoia, call it whatever you want but..." Adamina smiled into her soup. "Sorry if I'm being a chatterbox."

Xax smiled again. "Don't be sorry, there's nothing wrong with being vocal. If there was, I should have been executed a long time ago. But, off the topic of business, how do you like your soup?"

"It's actually very good. What's it called?" Adamina took another taste, trying to identify the flavors.

"Orzo Soup. Named after the noodles in it I think," Xax said pausing to take another bite. "Its one of my favourites."

"You have good tastes."

"Thanks," Xax said, taking his turn to blush.

"I didn't know squirrel-boys could turn red," Adamina teased.

"You've obviously never seen me make chili," he responded with a wink.

"Chili? How can you stand the stuff?" Adamina wrinkled her nose.

"Well, as it turns out, I'm a glutton for digestive punishment. Many foods I like just don't sit too well. I think its the squirrel genetics. I dunno," he shrugged. "How about you, what's your favourite food?"

"Me? Hmmmmm....I like things that usually are simple....not too many spices and such...." She shrugged. "Other than that, I really don't technically eat anything. I don't have to use my mouth, the tastes buds are just a bonus."

"So, you don't digest anything you eat? Or you do, you just don't have to?"

"I do. I just don't have to. I guess it was just engineered into me so that when I eat out of privacy, I'll look more normal that sticking an apendage into water and sitting in the sunlight." Adamina played with her soup.

Xax laughed softly. "I can see how that might be a concern. Still, I can see how producing your own food would come in handy." Xax took one last bite of soup. "Well, I'm full. Though I wish I wasn't."

"Me as well...but we can always do this again, if you're up for it?" Adamina smiled shyly.

"I'd love to," he said. "Now, is this the part where the chivalrous young man walks the beautiful girl back to her quarters?"

"I believe this is the part. Unless I'm that out of it on dating."

"You and me both," Xax replied, offering his arm.

Adamina took it and walked with Xax towards her quarters. "That was a very nice wish you made for Shurikan and Johnathen."

Xax shrugged. "I just like to see friends happy I guess. These are your quarters I guess," he said, stopping and turning to face her. "It was a lovely time, Adamina."

"Very lovely." She gave him a quick kiss before dashing into her quarters, thinking all the time how un-Matriarch like she was being but not really caring.

Xax stared at the closed door for a second, smiling. Then turning, he ran down the corridor, and jumped occaisonally as he made his way back to his own quarters.

[This message has been edited by Scathach Dumonixera (edited December 09, 2001).]

Griff noticed that Adamina and Xax were talking and turned to the Wishlings.

"So let me get this straight; once we have all made our wishes you will go back through that wall and leave us alone? Am I the only one that finds that hard to believe?"

"I wish for Griff to be happy."

She did not need a Wishling to tell her it would be granted.*

"Oh great. That's going to leave a mark." Adamina looked down, but there wasn't even a scratch. She smiled. "Well I'll be...those wishlings were telling the truth!"

She fell back onto the bed. Everything was starting to come together. Maybe life WAS good.

Suddenly her vision blurred, and she found herself surrounded by white.

"What the?" Adamina tried moving her arm, but it was stuck. She realized some kind of thread was holding her down. She could see her bed through some cracks, but that was about it.

"What the?" She began to free herself, but then she found herself back on her bed, kicking at her sheets. The white material had become tangled around her body. Adamina untwisted herself and sat up.

"Weird dream." Adamina got a glass of water and drank it down. The she took a nice long shower before leaving her quarters to find something to do. But the feeling of threads clinging to her body still haunted her as she walked.

[This message has been edited by Harper's (edited December 09, 2001).]

Onyx looked over to Cazando with a smile. "Oh you know what I would wish for is a happy home for us, where we can raise a family without worrying about being harmed or scrutinized."

Cazando looked to her with a worried look but smiled slightly for her. He looks from the Wishlings and back to Oynx. "I don't know if we can trust them my love but you know what it is that I want for us... what we talked about earlier..." He lowered his voice, "...a child."

Onyx couldn't help but jump into his arms. "Thank, thank you so much." She smiled sweeping her hand over his silver hair.

He was not expecting it when she jumped into his arms. He hugged her in order to keep them from falling. "You do not have to thank me but do not blame me for having a I'll believe it when I see it attitude."

"Okay, " she frowned slightly. "But wouldn't it be wonderful if it did come true." She beamed.

He nodded, "Yes, it would... for both things."

Stephan and Samantha approached them both gently touching their heads. Onyx felt a little dizzy as she fell a little bit into Cazando's arms.

Cazando staggered alittle bit but managed to hold up Oynx and himself. He looked to the 2 wishlings, "What did you just do?"

The two of them just smiled, "Oh that was just the quick transformation of your wish into realism. It does take some energy."

Cazando looked down to Oynx and back to the Wishlings, "So, now what?"

"If you walk threw your quarters door everything is waiting for you there." Stephan bowed to him slightly.

Cazando's brow furrowed, "What will be waiting...?"

"Your wish."

Onyx grabbed Cazando's wrist, "Oh come one, Cazando lets go see." She tugged him playfully.

Cazando allowed himself to be pulled by her to their quarters in silence. He would not say anything about it but he was actually eager to see if this was true.

The doors swung open to a lush forest filled with singing birds and blooming flowers. On the edge of that forest was a small home where she could hear a babys gurgles. "Cazando." She yelled running to the home.

Cazando stepped into the room, his ears perked as he could not believe all of this. He moved slowly through the doors and followed after Oynx, "Oynx! Be careful!"

Onyx was just too overjoyed. She ran into the home to find a little girl babbling in her crib. She had soft black hair and grey eyes. "Cazando." Onyx patted her lips with her fingers to stop herself from crying.

Cazando moved into the house and he could not believe his eyes, "They did it... they frellin' did it..." He moved quietly over to Oynx and the baby. He placed an arm around her, "I cannot believe it... she is beautiful... and looks like you...."

"She has your eyes." Onyx reached over and gave him a deep kiss on the lips. "Isn't this wonderful. We can grow up happy together." She beamed.

Cazando kissed Oynx and looked from her to the baby. He could not resist his urge to use his finger to gently play with the baby's small hand. "Yes... happy..." He was actually overcome and did not say anything else.

[This message has been edited by XxTyrxX (edited December 10, 2001).]

"We almost didn't get them to wish with you loosing your temper." Stephan sat in the command chair taking a break from using his power.

"Well, they were procrastinating, always asking questions." Stephan laughed at his young sibling.

"That's part of the fun trying to persuade them to make the wishes. In the end, all mortals are unhappy with their lives so they wish for something better." Samantha nodded.

"I suppose," She walked up to Stephan and stroked his hair. "So, what do we do now?" She smiled.

"We wait." He grinned.

Griff smiled at Llana as he picked up the good-sized bag.

"I, too, apologize for our initial encounter. And I'm sure that I would very much enjoy friendship," Griff said with a slight bow. "Now, if you would excuse us, I believe I promised Kuma a tour of the ship and I don't want to disappoint her."

Griff bowed slightly to Llana and then offered Kuma his arm and escorted her from Command, leaving the jewels to be divided later.

Katya ran through the endless corridors as fast as she could, she could hear her pursuers gaining on her. The thought of what they would do to her if they caught up with her was enough, a wave of adrenaline surged through her body, she ran, head tucked down, shoulders hunched trying to make herself as streamlined as possible. She knew that the docking bay was just up ahead, if she could only reach her ship. She allowed herself a small smile at that thought, her life had been full of if onlys, if only my mother had been nietzschean, if only her father had been human, if only if only! But this was not the time for thinking, she had to get to her ship and off this planet, now! At last she reached her goal, her ship, the aptly named 'Deliverance'. Two guards tried to stop her, they soon realized their mistake. She rendered them unconscious in a second.

"Sorry guys, but sometimes a freaks gotta do what a freaks gotta do"

She boarded her ship, locked the access doors, started the engines and prayed. She could hear a commotion outside, someone was trying to stop her from leaving. She watched as the docking bay doors slowly began to close
"ok Katya, its now or never"
she said to herself. Her ship, still battered after her last excursion groaned and rolled, for a moment she didn’t think they were going to get off the ground, cursing loudly she banged her fist into the control panel.
"Come on baby please, come on, you can’t fail me now"
The ship rose painfully slowly, the engines laboured under the strain, then there was a cacophony of electronic bleeping and whirring and they were on the way. Katya maneuvered the ship to the centre of the doors, closed her eyes and accelerated through. There was a loud bang as her port side made contact with solid metal, the ship rocked uncertainly but stayed on course. Katya let out a triumphant yell and offered a silent prayer to whatever gods were listening. As soon as she was clear of the planet she entered slipstream. She has no clear idea of where she was going or what she was going to do when she got there, but for the moment she was free and freedom tasted good. As she exited slipstream she saw something up ahead, she was too far away to tell exactly what the something was and her sensors had been knocked off line during her escape. She brushed her long white hair out of her eyes and stared out into the darkness

"'Shurikan' this is the 'Deliverance' requesting permission to dock."

She sat back and waited for a response

"Deliverance. We are receiving your transmission. Please be sure to stand down all weapons or we will target you."

Griff cut the link and opened the docking codes as he passively tracked the vessel.

"Cazando, Onyx and Adamina to the docking hatch," Griff instructed as he and Kuma hurried out of command.

"Deliverance to Shurikan approaching docking port now, awaiting further instructions"

[This message has been edited by Tio (edited December 12, 2001).]

While walking around the ship, she had still felt the strings around her. And three times visions of white and her room had come out of nowhere.

"Maybe I should go see Onyx."

Cassandra was sitting in the pilot's chair on her Starfire when she noticed that they had a new arrival. Since her ship first appeared she'd spent almost all her free time there, checking to make sure everything was alright. Great ships didn't just appear out of nowhere and she wanted to make sure everything was okay before she flew her. Cassandra didn't want her eagerness to fly hern ew ship to get her or anyone in her pride killed. Oh well time to see what was happening now. Maybe the new people would be friendly. That was a rarity these days but hey they'd met Ilana, Kuma, and Tiona and they'd been friendly. So maybe there luck was changing. Cassandra exited her ship and walked over to where the others were standing.

"What's going on?" she asked Tiona, eying the stranger warily.

"Her ship needs repairs. We could probably use your help.", She added after a moment, considering that Cassandra must know how to repair ships if she used to have a ship and recently had gotten a new one.

"Sure." Cassandra replied with a shrug. Actually she'd planned on asking Adamina if she could test out her new ship, but she decide it could wait.

The stranger spoke at last. "My name is Katya and I'd appreciate any assitance you could give me.

At that moment the door to the docking bay opened and Cazando entered. Tiona lokked surprised that he was alone.

"Where are Adamina and Onyx?", she asked.

"There in medical. Adamina isn't feeling well." he replied.

Cassandra lokked at Tiona. "I think we should talk with Griff before we do anything." she advised figuring that if the couldn't talk to the matriarch tjat they should talk to him before doing anything.

"I'll talk to him. Why don't you and Katya start working on repairs?" Tiona answerd.

Cassandra glanced at Katya. the woman nodded. Cassandra said "Alright talk to later" and thetwo women walked towards the Deliverence. Before they went inside Katya stoped to look at Starfire. She turned to Cassandra.
"Whose ship is that?"
"She's mine. Starfire. What do you think." Cassandra couldn't help being excited about showing off her new ship.

"I like her. She's so beautiful." Katya responded. Cassandra smiled. She liked this girl already.

Samantha and Stephan noticed that Shurikan allowed a ship to dock in one of her hanger bays. "You forgot about the AIs." Samantha muttered to her brother. Stephan shrugged.

"There is not much we can do with machinery." He whispered. "Even though, they seem to have souls of their own. I think its about time we checked on our guests." Stephan smirked. The two left command and headed off to one of the living quarters, first was Griff. He was as they left them strapped to the wall in white webbing. The webbing allowed them to drain his essence while he dreamed of his wish.

Stephan walked up to him and tapped his forehead. "I am sure he is having a wonderful wish right now." He chuckled.

"What about the rest?" Samantha asked.

"They are all in the same predicament right now, except for our new guest. Lets go greet them." Stephan smirked wickedly.

"So you've been having visions?" Onyx furrowed her brow in concern. Adamina just nodded, shaking even more. The white was becoming frequent, the visions more intense.

It came again. The white strands, holding her down tightly. The drowiness. The dim lighting of her quarters. Adamina waited for it to fade so she could get back to Onyx and the problem.

But it wasn't fading.

Adamina kicked and clawed. The white threads tore easily, and she found herself free in no time. She pulled as much of the stuff off her as she possibly could, hating the feeling that had haunted her before. She looked around.

"Oh wow." She was indeed in her quarters. There, in the corner, where the white strands. They were like spiderwebs.

"Well, this is either one hell of a dream, or something bad has happened...again." Adamina decided that she wasn't going to find anymore answers around her. She left her room and started walking around the ship. It was completly deserted. Adamina was reminded of those old westerns and felt a tumbleweed might blow by her feet any moment.

"Adamina?" Shurikan popped around a corner. "I am glad to see you, I have no idea whats going on. Everyone has locked themselves in their rooms. A new ship has also landed in the hanger bay. They seemed to be harmless."

"Everyone's in their quarters?" Adamina's eyes widened. "This can't be good." She closed her eyes and sighed. "Alright, something is going on here, and frankly, I don't like it. Ummm...let's check out this new ship first. If anything, they'll be friendly, and I have a feeling we'll need all the help we can get."

Shurikan nodded as she followed the matriarch to the shuttle bay.

Adamina entered the bay to find a very nice, yet damaged ship. She slid her hand to her pistol, only to find it wasn't there. She said a few curses, both in Common and a few other words she had picked up from other species, and approached the ship, her guard up. She and Shurikan were wary of the girl that stood there.

"Hello...and you would be?"

[This message has been edited by Harper's (edited December 13, 2001).]

"I am Katya. I ran into a bit of trouble on the last planet I was on and I need somewhere to repair my ship."

She looked around, still surprised. In general people were curious when a strange ship arrived unannounced, and yet she couldn't see anyone else

"Excuse my boldness, but are you the only two 'people' aboard the ship?"

Before they had a chance to reply, Katya felt a gentle vibration in her chest. She reached down inside her tunic and touched the silver medallion that rested there, it was cold - not a good sign. Her eyes flicked from the woman to the AI, forgetting her manners, she snapped at them

"You have other 'visitors' on board this ship, you must take me to them immediately."

[This message has been edited by Raevenfromkhcmb (edited December 13, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by Tio (edited December 13, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by TYR'S GIRL (edited December 13, 2001).]

*GM note to herself, No more mind game RPs lol*

[This message has been edited by Jade Grim (edited December 13, 2001).]