Chapter 6: Tenritsu the Standing Spear, Chijyu the Beast

Dana Withers watched Sahn and Gregory converse out of the corner of her eye. From what she knew, the two of them had known each other while Greg was still on Earth, and had not been together in a year. She understood that coming together with old friends, no matter how small or strange they were, was a blissful occasion, but she was growing tired of being out of the spotlight.

If she didn’t do something quick, she’d scream. She never was a big fan of boredom.

“So Sahn,” she said, trying to draw the Kobrian’s attention away from her partner, “what kind of job do you have lined up for us? You never said anything.” The Kobrian paused, and let out a grunt as he rubbed his prickly chin.

“Hmmmm ... n-no, I don’ theenk I told you what thees was about, eh?” Both teammates shook their heads, and Sahn gave a theatrical shrug before explaining everything. “Well,” he began, “eet’s nothing beeg, see? Eet’s just a little job involvin’ thees gang, ya? They’ve been terrorizin’ places round’ here, an’ there’s a lotta wanted posters around the place, ya?”

“A gang?” said Gregory. “Sounds a little too small for us.”

“Ehhh, that’s what I thought you’d say!” exclaimed Sahn. “I knew that you wouldn’a take it when you first heard about it, ya?”

“So why’d you bring it up?” asked Greg. “I mean, we’ll do it if it’s for a good cause, but--”

“A good cause, eh?” grinned Sahn, a malicious and manipulative look already on his face. Dana rolled her eyes.

“Ughhhhh,” she sighed. “Lemme guess--you’re gonna make it so that rounding this gang up sounds all honorable and stuff, right?” The Kobrian kept a silent smile.

“I didn’t’a say that,” he said. “I’m just suggesting that we go ahead’n geet down to beezness. You know, you should not be so feeckle. There is a great beeg reward eef somebody captures or keels every member of the gang!” At the mention of a reward, both Dana’s and Gregory’s eyebrows raised in sudden interest.

“Reward? What kind of reward?” Sahn grinned, and slowly pulled the two adventurers in. He had shrewdly cast a tempting lure, and knew all along that the greedy duo couldn’t resist a bite. With the fish gnawing on his bait, he reeled them in and speared them both.

“Hehehehehehehe!” he laughed. “I knew that you’d’a take the bait!”

“Yeah yeah, so we’re suckers for cash, all right?” snorted Gregory. “Just tell us what you have in mind and we’ll go along with you. I mean, it’s not like we have anything better to do.”

“Eh, true, true,” agreed Sahn. “All right, all right, I’ve had my fun. Leesten up, now--thees job I was talkin’ bout’, I heard about eet from an ol’ friend’a mine. E’ knows more about eet than I do, so we better go’n talk to heem first.”

“Fine,” sighed Greg. Sahn grinned and immediately flapped away, only too eager to get back into the habit of fighting again. Kobrians were naturally-born warriors; it didn’t matter who they fought or how many opponents there were. If there was a battle, or even a rumor of one, then a Kobrian would be first in line to participate. Sahn was no different, and even though they didn’t openly admit it, neither were Greg or Dana. The little warrior’s zeal was understandable, and even though they expressed exhaustion outwardly, both adventurers secretly looked forward to their next big job.

“So what do you think he has in mind?” asked Dana, petting Naja’s head absentmindedly. Her partner shook his head.

“I haven’t the slightest idea,” he replied. “Sahn and I really don’t know each other as much as we appear to, so I could very well be surprised. I know that we’re gonna be fighting something, because Sahn would never take a job unless he was guaranteed a battle.”

“Hm,” agreed Dana. “Kobrians do seem to be a little bloodthirsty, no offense.”

“None taken,” shrugged Greg. The two of them continued to walk in silence, letting the dark, polluted air of planet Earth hover quietly around them. The streets of the planet were lightly populated by a few wanderers and bums, some of them looking like they had never bathed once in their life. There were only a few really prosperous areas left on the decaying world; everything else was either uninhabitable, oceans, or else covered by the same slummy cities as this certain one.

The planet Earth had not always been like this, though. Centuries ago, long before there were colonies or intergalactic travel or any of the modern conveniences, there was a time when much of the world was wholesome and pure. Blaster guns had shot forth bullets back then, and automobiles used tires instead of antigravity propulsion units. There were multiple other currencies floating around and not the standard Unit, and aside from a very insignificant minority, there were no alien life forms on Earth.

The “Final War” had changed everything, and even now, eons later, Earth still had not recovered from the wounds received during that bloody yet mysterious time.

It was a more sophisticated tavern in the corner of Nowhere that Sahn led his two companions towards (it literally was named Nowhere, and fittingly enough, the trio was right in the middle of it). With his short hand, Sahn proudly displayed the tavern to his companions, but they both gave him a rather sour look.

“Neither one of us are old enough to go in there,” said Greg flatly. “And technically, neither are you.” Sahn made a face and tried to laugh.

“Ehh, I’m a Kobrian!” he insisted. “These human laws don’ apply to me, ya? Don’ worry, I take’n care’f everytheeng! C’mon!” And with that, the tiny yet powerful warrior flew into the bar, leaving his companions outside in the dark.

“ ... Guess we’d better follow him,” said Dana blankly. Greg agreed without using a word, and politely opened the door for his partner. On a few occasions, the two got along very well, and could even be called friends, but most of the time they just endured each other’s faults and quirks. Their cooperation in battle was second to none, though, and with a few exceptions, they trusted and respected each other quite a bit. They both had more in common than they let known, and while they could be considered a great couple in terms of adventuring and fighting, they were at the most friends, and at the worst, just two people who lived in the same building.

Besides, Greg hated committing himself to anything other than his mother and “a good cause”, and with maybe a few rare exceptions, he was not that great with women. Dana didn’t have a romantic bone in her body.

“Sorry,” said the bulky bouncer as Greg and Dana entered the bar. “No minors allowed.”

“We know, we’re just looking for somebody,” said Dana. She was closer to the legal drinking age than her partner, but not even she could have charmed her way inside, not even with Naja. The bouncer didn’t make a move.

“This is as far as you can go,” he said in his thick voice, and Dana sighed in defeat. She decided that it would be better to have a seat and wait on Sahn, and Gregory agreed with her idea. With the large bouncer still watching them, the two partners found a bench in the anteroom, and sat and waited for Sahn to emerge with his “friend”. Of course, because they shared such close living quarters, Dana and Greg rarely had anything to talk about. They shared each other’s lives, to a degree, so it would be useless to ask the other “how they were doing”.

“ ... Hey, Dana?”

“Hm?”

“ ... Tell me something--why are you after that woman?”

“Which woman? You mean the Space Cat?”

“Yeah, her.” Dana took in a deep breath, and suddenly wished for Sahn to arrive. She didn’t really like the little guy, but she liked talking about herself even less. Dana never had told Greg much about herself, except to say that she was the adopted daughter of somebody very famous and influential, and she was empathetically bonded with an aviaptile, and she herself was just another masterless wanderer in search of riches and fame. Then again, Greg never told her much about his own past, which made them even.

But this was a harmless enough topic, so she obliged him.

“ ... Well, I really don’t have anything against the woman in particular,” began Dana. “I guess it’s just the usual sense of attaining truth and justice. I partially wanna catch her because nobody else ever has, y’know?”

“So it’s sorta like an unattainable goal that you just have to reach?” She smiled at him and nodded her head.

“Yup, you got it. It’s exactly like that. But on the other hand, I also wanna catch her for the reward, so I guess I’m no different than Zet.”

“What’s the reward?” he asked. Dana didn’t even need a second to think about it.

“Five million units,” she said, and Greg whistled in amazement. True, Cattia “Space Cat” Prepells was no Gzrox’i, but five million for just one woman was a considerable haul.

“Not bad!”

“Yeah, it’s a pretty penny,” agreed Dana. “But even then, there’s another reason I wanna catch her.”

“Hm? What’s that?” A pause. Dana’s feminine voice grew quite flat and emotionless, and even a little haunting. Greg could tell that this was a tender issue.

“ ... A while back,” began the brunette, “Cattia Prepells was responsible for the death of twenty-three people. From what I heard, she had rigged an engine with explosives, and planned on detonating it when the leader of the White Dove Space Fleet

was on it.”

“ ... That’s horrible!” whispered Greg. “ ... That’d be your adopted mother, right?”

“Yeah,” answered Dana softly. “Thankfully, though, her act of terrorism failed, in theory. The engine detonated prematurely, and although it didn’t kill my mother, twenty-three other people took her place, and sixty-two other people were injured, including Cattia. Did you notice a few burns and scars on her body when you saw her?”

“Yeah, as a matter of fact, I did,” said Greg. “She had a pretty impressive scar on her face, but the rest of her body was covered up by a cloak.” Dana pursed her lips briefly, humming a little to herself before continuing. Naja had long ago wrapped himself across her shoulders like a reptilian scarf.

“Hm ... probably a last-minute disguise. Anyway, she escaped before she could be caught or questioned, and she’s been on the lam ever since. When I heard she went to Saturn Space Station 02 to hide out for awhile, I followed her and found you instead.” Greg couldn’t help the smile that came to his face, and even Dana grinned a little.

“I guess I’m a poor substitute, then.”

“It’s all right,” shrugged his partner. “I’ll probably never run into her again, but if I do get the chance...” She trailed off, but before Greg could ask her to go on, the bouncer moved aside and allowed three individuals to pass (only one of them was a genuine person). Greg and Dana stood up as they recognized Sahn as one of the three, but the other two were foreign faces.

“Ey, there you are!” exclaimed Sahn happily. “I been lookin’ all over for’a you! Why you no tell me you here, eh?”

“Maybe because neither one of us are old enough to come in here,” stated Greg sharply. Sahn’s face turned up in a sheepish grin, and he used his stubby arms to scratch his head in hopes of gaining a little sympathy.

“Eh, sorry bout’ that!” he said. “But ey, I got what I came for, eh?” With that, Sahn hovered off to the side, introducing the two others he had brought with them. One was a human, tall and sharp and somewhat menacing. He was covered in clothes that would have better suited a woodsman, or a performer in the Arthurian festivals that England was so famous for. He had long, wiry black hair, and a bristly goatee-beard-mustache combination around his lower face. He had incredibly piercing blue eyes, but most outstanding of them all was the bizarre weapon he was leaning on.

Dana recognized it, but only because she was more well-traveled than her partner. It resembled an extremely long and wide double-edged knife, with an elaborate handle for improved grip. A jewel had been planted in the handle, and strange carvings were etched in the blade. It was an exceptionally archaic tool, hardly useful in these modern times, and the common name for it was “sword”.

“Good day, sir,” said the man in a very rich and refined accent. “And good day to you too, milady. It is always a pleasure to find a lovely lady in these dark wastelands.” He smiled and took her hand, but she jerked it away before he could kiss it. Even if she hadn’t jerked away, Naja’s hiss alone would have frightened most people away.

“I’d rather you not do that,” snarled Dana. The man pursed his lips, his eyelids closing slightly as he peered at her, but other than that, he did nothing.

“ ... I see,” he said. “Well Sir, and Madame, if you’ll permit me to introduce my companion?” With a motion of his gloved hand, the man indicated down towards the floor, where one of the most bizarre and unusual creatures stood there in wait.

“A goat?!“ squeaked Greg. His eyes became the size of dish plates as he saw the small, furry creature standing there, but his vision didn’t lie--it was a goat, all right, or actually a ram if one wanted to be precise. This creature looked just like a common ram to the untrained eye: it had thick, spiraling horns on its head, and had light-gray wool over its body. Two dull-green eyes gazed back in a dumb stupor, and the ram was even chewing on some lettuce.

“Yes, a goat,” said the black-haired human, as if there was nothing wrong. “What, do you not believe me?”

“I know what a goat is,” said Greg, staring down at the creature. “I ... just ... don’t know why the heck you’re carrying one around! I mean, isn’t that a little ... crazy?”

“Hardly,” snorted the man in false amusement. “Though he may look just like a common Billy-goat, this chap you see here is anything but harmless. Believe me, it may sound odd to you, Sir, but this goat has a great hidden strength. Observe.” Gregory had a “this man has lost his mind“ look permanently painted on his face, and it increased greatly as the bristly-haired man bent down to whisper something to the creature.

“Show them what you can do, Sir Wooly,” hissed the man, and the goat chewed for only a few seconds more before responding. It swallowed the lettuce, then trotted over to the bouncer, who had been watching the entire scene with gross bemusement. Suddenly, the goat stood on its hind legs and lifted the large bouncer like he weighed no more than a glass of water!

“Hey, easy!” barked the large man. “You know I hate it when you do that!”

“My apologies, Rocko,” said the dark-haired man with a restrained laugh. He snapped his fingers once, and the ram put the bouncer back on the floor, leaving both Dana and Greg in a dumbstruck stupor. Had that thing just lifted that big bouncer up in the air?! Sahn, who had seen this act before, was impressed only by how wide his companion’s mouths really were.

“So, you’a theenk they’d make good trav’ling companions?” He only got silence in return, so he had to snap his clawed fingers several times to break Greg and Dana out of their shocked state. They shook their heads in disbelief, and Sahn sighed as he tried to explain everything.