The final frontier (and some stops inbetween)

"No, males are not supposed to do that at all." Sinrah thought of outer space and all of the other planets. Were there men who did that in their culture? "Jaryd is the only one. There are plenty women who want him. I hope that he leaves me one day in search for another."

Sinrah looked at the statue. "No. He's the first Yanraht leader. Pandayel."

She walked to the leaders house and softly tapped a small metal ball that hung outside the door. After a few moments, the door split in half and allowed them to enter. The inside of the room was small and dark. Bowls filled with strange material was burning and letting the colored smoke drift up. A man sat in the center, watching them with an observant gaze.

"Sinrah, I am glad you came."
Sinrah dropped to her knees and held her hands up, palms facing towards him. "Leader Derlen."
Derlern looked at Joe and Quain. "You...are strangers. But I do not sense danger in any of you."
"They're merchants, Leader."
"You seem to have more to say, Sinrah." Derlern tilted his head at her.
"Ah...well..."
"You want these strangers to take you away from us."
Sinrah jumped. She was so surprised, she didn't say anything.
"Sinrah..." He rose. "You want to go out there and explore, don't you?"
Sinrah still didn't say anything.
"Sinrah, you are of the Yanraht. No matter where you go." He turned to the twins. In the palm of his hand he held two necklaces of colorful ornaments and pressed them into their hands. "Wear this. The people of this tribe will know not to hurt you." He stepped back. "Many different people have come to this tribe. Not many are like you though. I have lived long enough to see them all. Some kill us and take our things. Some teach us and we learn."
"Um..." Sinrah came over her dumbstruck silence.
"Well, you are merchants, are you not? Let's make a trade. Your craft for Sinrah's leave."

Sinrah stared, eyes wide. Was she going to go off this planet? Into...space?

((Sorry if it seems rushed, I want to end this chapter soon.))
 
((No worries - didn't have much to say for the twins other than them taking everything in and being all touristy XD ))

Sinrah's answer didn't surprise them too much, and they figured the guy probably acted the way he did because he didn't want anyone else getting interested in her. This reminded them of an Oglirra male during mating season - now those things were nasty.

The smoke didn't do much for Joe's nostrils and he had to keep from sneezing again. His eyes started to water from the effort and Quain quickly held two fingers in front of his brother's nose. Joe immediately forgot about the smoke smells thanks to the still clinging stench of the Siriks' dried blood. He gave Quain a mean squint to which he replied, You're welcome.

Both of them nodded deeply at the leader's greeting, but Sinrah knew what to say so they kept quiet, at least on the outside.
Smart guy... Joe commented amiably.
Damn smart. Even the twins were dumbstruck when he said he knew she wanted to leave.

"Wow, uh, thank you sir." they said as they took the necklaces. After briefly inspecting them they put it on. Quain looked at Sinrah carefully from the corner of his eye and saw her reaction to all this. Apparently this sort of thing didn't normally happen.

At the word "trade", Joe's merchant self kicked in and he stood aside to show what wares they had.
"This is what we have, the hides, claws and horns of Siriks we had to fight before we came here. We've treated them and they are ready to be used for either armour or weapon crafting."
"We have Sinrah to thank for our success - otherwise we wouldn't have known how to beat them." Quain added kindly. Then a thought occurred to him, and being the honest being that he was he had to ask:
Will this be enough? Sinrah's very skilled... and do you have enough warriors to act in her place?"
 
Derlern carefully observed the goods they had brought, nodding with satisfaction. "Oh, yes...These are nicely done tools. We've had a shortage of weapons lately...but don't worry, we have many warriors committed." He waved them away. "Take her. Let her see what lies beyond our planet..."

When Sinrah left the house, her face was of complete shock. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was open. "I...get to go...out there?" She blinked, seemingly unable to grasp the concept. "What will I see?" Her head was filled with vivid images of things from outer space. "I...thank you!" She hugged them both in a act of affection, kissing them both on the cheek. "Thank you!"

She lead them out of the village, people still staring at them but now recognizing the necklace, their gaze softened. As Sinrah rounded a corner, she felt a rough hand grab her and pull her closer.
"So, you're leaving us, aren't you?" Jaryd's smirk was wickedly evil.
"Yes." Sinrah tried to pull away but he pulled her closer.
"You're leaving me? How could you?" His tone was of mock sadness.
"Jaryd, let me go!"
He mashed his mouth onto hers, pulling her into a horrid kiss.
 
"Hmm. that went well." Joe said when they had exited the building. He was relieved, to say the least. Now they just had to find a way to get some food.
Quain nodded and turned to Sinrah. Seeing her expression he let her express herself. It must've been a big revelation for her right then. He grinned at her, knowing she'd be amazed at what space had in store for her.

The thanks she gave them, cheek kisses included, caught them completely off guard. They had to be careful to not let their armour appear out of sheer surprise. Quain then put his hand on her shoulder, "You're very welcome." he said, holding her gaze with sincere eyes.
"We promise you'll have an experience you'll never forget." Joe added.

As they walked, the twins took the time to thoroughly inspect the necklaces, letting their awareness probe it and gather information. The results were interesting, and a few of the ornaments had some remarkable molecular structures. One of the smaller ones even had a kind of ore inside of it. Unfortunately this had them distracted for a moment and they only got to Sinrah as she was protesting and Jaryd was kissing her.
"Hey! Let go of her!" Quain shouted angrily as he rushed to pull Jaryd away, grabbing at his shoulder to do so. He was even prepared to punch the guy in the face if he was quick enough.
Joe made sure to pull Sinrah behind him as soon as Jaryd would let go.
 
Jaryd growled at the intrusion, his mouth ripping away from Sinrah's. Sinrah took refuge behind Joe, rubbing her mouth. Tears were clouding her vision and she could barely make out her surroundings. Quickly darting from behind Joe, she kneed Jaryd in the groin, causing him to let out a groan of pain and clutch his crotch. Sinrah grabbed Quain's hand along with Joe's and quickly darted behind buildings, running as fast as she could. Her vision was blinded with hot tears so she often bumped into things but she ignored the pain and kept going. Finally she stopped at an outlet with many residential houses. She hid them behind a cluster of huts.

"We got away..." She was trying so hard not to sob but tears were making their way down her cheeks. Her shirt was ripped in some places from Jaryd's groping hands and she struggled to keep the shreds from falling and showing her female parts. Sinrah had never felt so violated or terrified in her life. Fighting Siriks or Saiprocs was easy; a blade to the throat and they were down. An assault to her body however, was a different story. A sob escaped from her throat and she quickly covered her mouth.

((By the way, glad to see you back, Gecko! :D))
 
The twins followed Sinrah quickly, and Quain glanced over his shoulder to see if Jaryd was persuing them. Thankfully that didn't seem to be the case and as Sinrah stated, they had gotten away safely. He couldn't help but feel bad for her as he saw her fighting her emotions. Joe kept his eyes open and his awareness around them for in case Jaryd tried to ambush them, although,
"Good job landing that hit. I think he'll be talking in a squeaky voice for a good while." he said, chuckling.

Quain let out a humorous gruff, but seeing Sinrah in her state had him serious again. She was in a bad state, not to mention her clothes and without a second thought he took off his blazer and put it around her shoulders. It wasn't much, but it was the best he could do right now. He wasn't sure if he should try and comfort her with an embrace so instead he took her hands in his and tried to make eye contact,
"Sinrah. It's okay now. We'll take you away from him, alright?" his voice was firm, "I promise." he confirmed.
"And heavens help him if he tries to stop us."

((Thankye! I'm glad to be back... not being able to rp this was horrible O-o ))
 
((Lol yeah. We can now continue with the adventure.))

Sinrah hated herself for crying in front of them. She wanted her strength to outdo her weaknesses and seem like a strong warrior in front of these two. That image was hard to maintain when you were weeping in front of them. Wiping her eyes, she managed to choke out a small "Thank you." and clutched the blazer to her chest.
"Let's leave...please." She sniffed gently, wiping her eyes with the palms of her hands. The sooner they left, the better.
 
((To quote Elly: "Adventure is out there!" XD ))

"Okay. We'll keep our senses open for in case he tries something." Joe said and they started to move, keeping Sinrah between the two of them. This time their awareness was open around them, 'looking' ahead around corners to make sure they wouldn't be ambushed. They seemed to be attracting a fair bit of attention from the residents, but thankfully they were being left alone.

It wasn't too long and they could see the gates - they were almost out! Just a bit longer...

((Don't know if you want Jaryd to catch up to them before thye leave or somthing, so I left the possibility open :) ))
 
((Nah, Jaryd's done for....for NOW! >:D))

Sinrah kept on wiping her eyes with the palm of her hands. She felt humiliated. Dirty, even. The feelings in her were so conflicted and violent. Yet, she felt safe between the twins. People looked on, startled at the warrior who was broken down into tears. Sinrah ignored them, sniffling to herself and berating herself for showing weakness.
The gates were finally in view. So far Jaryd was not in sight, to her ultimate relief. Feeling safe, she jumped slightly into the air (with the blazer still wrapped around her chest, of course). "I'm going..." She suddenly hugged the twins again, eyes filled with winder and excitement.

"I'm going into space!"

END OF SEGMENT
((Alright Gekko! This segment is done for and completed! Nice job and thanks! Now it's you're turn for the next chapter. You can be in charge of it and think of the plot and other stuff. :) ))
 
((Hmmm, I think I have a few ideas. One in particular I did with a friend and it was gee funny. I'm guessing Jaryd will catch up to them in space sometime?
I tried getting a picture of the ship's interior but didn't find anything I liked, so I'll do my best to describe it... this weekend I'll work on a picture for it :) ))

"Welcome to our humble home - the Spit and Prayers II." Joe announced after they had taken off without incident and were safely orbiting the planet. Nyth looked huge through the windshield (or was it spaceshield?) and its details were displayed on one of the many hologram screens where Quain was busy.

The flight deck was a comfortable size and connected directly to the cockpit area, with a small step dividing them. One could walk freely about and standing at the door on one's left could be seen two pilot seats sitting behind the control panel (with a motherlode of buttons and switches) which spanned all the way with an outlet containing switches and buttons dividing the seats. Behind that were two more seats for any passangers. On the right was a wall with more displays showing some general information. Further ahead was the door leading to Janu's control room and a passageway to the weapons room and medical room. If one would go directly right from standing at the "front" door it would lead to a small kitchen and further off to the crew quarters. The cargo hold was on the lower level, with the engine room behind that.

Sure, it wasn't the most modern of technologies but everything worked and looked clean enough. Here and there wires had to be held together with blackbox tape and some metal panels' colours didn't match. It didn't look too bad though.

"Come on, I'll show you to your room." Joe said as he led the way. There were six rooms in total, placed in two rows of three with the corridors being on the outer sides so one had to choose the right way when you entered from the flight deck. With a press of a button the door would open to the sides with a slight hiss to reveal a small cabin with a bed, closet space and a corner for the bathroom which contained a shower, sink and toilet all fitting snugly. At the door was a small panel where one could lock the door and below it was an intercom. Joe showed Sinrah how to use it and the bathroom controls.

"I'll see if we can get you some proper clothing for space travel and if you get hungry we've got some food in the kitchen. Any questions, just ask." he smiled brightly.

((... I hope the description was okay. I'm not the best with directions XD ))
 
((Nah, Jaryd won't appear...for now.))
Sinrah's eyes took in everything, wide and in amazement. She had never seen so many buttons before in her life. Or so many lights. They reminded her a little of stars in the sky and she had a great impulse to push one...but she held it in. Looking at her planet from the window, it seemed so big. She couldn't see her tribe at all from the surface, though the thick fog surrounded it. Joe soon led her room. Sinrah looked around, seeing how different it was from her room back in her tribe-city.

After Joe had showed her how to work the controls, he mentioned new clothes.

"New...clothes?"
While Sinrah's shredded shirt was certainty unfit for travel, she wondered what new clothes she would receive...

((I thought it was pretty good! :D ))
 
((Hehe, thanks. Don't want anyone getting lost none.))

Joe made his way to the other unoccupied room which was used as a storage area for the time being. He was sure to find something there... boxes and small crates were stacked on each other or just piled around the room. Owing to some rough flying everything had to be properly sealed, but a there was always a box that would spill its contents.
After some rummaging and no luck he called over the intercom:
"Hey guys, any idea what crash site we found all that random stuff at? Or which box we used to pack the stuff in?"
Quain's answer was that he didn't know but he remembered it having a few scribbles on. Joe looked back at the mess. Most of the boxes had scribbles on them.

It was probably going to be at the back most boxes. Things always had a way of turning out like that. A few more minutes of searching and discovering a space rat or two and he had a few items of clothing for Sinrah. Unfortunately not all of them were for females, or even her kind of species, but it was better than nothing, right?
"Sorry we don't have anything better at the moment, but if you want we could lend you a few shirts too." Joe shrugged. "We can get you some proper stuff at the next stop though. It's a big trading station located on the planet's moon. They have just a bout everything there."

Quain scoffed, "Except chillies."
 
((Sorry for late reply, I have a ton of projects at school x_x))

Sinrah's long ears perked up at the sound of a trading station. On Nyth there was trading but not in stations. Merchants would occasionally gather and trade. Sometimes it gathered huge crowds. But a whole stations? A whole moon with others from other planets? How big would that be? What would she see? Sinrah's eyes became big.

Janu's voice sounded on the intercom. "No. Sorry. Was not present at packing." He was in the computer room as always, checking the workings of the ship to make sure things were running smoothly. They were so far.

Sinrah looked out a nearby window. She tried to catch sight of the trading station but saw nothing so far.

((By the way, just so you know how Sinrah looks (I never described her and I updated her look from her profile AND I'm too lazy to change it), she had dark green skin with long ears that look kind of like an armadillo's might.))
 
((Lol, and now I was late again XD - I thought it might be a good time to help Sinrah get acquainted with the universe's layout a bit :) ))

On their way there, the twins took some time to explain to Sinrah how the universe was structured. With the help from holograms and trade routes marked out on the Nav system, they could give her a better visual image. Quain had called up a few of them, one showing a solar system and two others showing varying outer levels. They explained to her how planets always circled suns, how these systems varied and told her some of their adventures and close calls with space pirates.

"Now those kinds of people are nasty." Quain was saying. "We encountered a small group of them on our very first assignment. Back when we still had the Spit & Prayers I." Despite the circumstances of the story, he was telling it with glee, "Of course we've never dealt with them before so we had no idea what to expect. When their demands came over the radio we first thought it was a joke... until they fired on us." he shrugged.
Joe interrupted his brother and gave him and Sinrah each a cup of coffee. "Watch out, it's hot." he said and then went over to Janu's computer room and left Quain to finish his enthusiastic recollection of the event.

Joe knocked on the side of the door, and holding out a cup for Janu, "So, how's our supplies looking?" he said, and took a sip of his own. It was one of the few things the twins did indulge in and they liked theirs strong. As strong as chillies were hot.

((Ah, thanks for the description :) I was kinda wondering about that. If you'd like to skip until they reach the trade moon, just let me know.))
 
((Ugh, I'm being late too. x_x I'm very busy with school.))

Sinrah watched with great curiosity at the explanations, even though some confused her greatly. The universe apparently was so big that it never ended. There were countless planets and stars out there in every non-ending corner of the galaxy. To add to it, people lived on all these systems.
At the mention of space pirates, Sinrah tensed up. "Space pirates? They came once...to another tribe. They took some women and fled. Now they wander around everywhere here..." She let out a huff of slight anger. Taking the cup of coffee Joe gave her, her grip was tight on the handle. "Such vile creatures." She sipped the coffee a bit, but the bitter taste was not pleasant to her.

Janu pressed a button on a control panel and the door opened, allowing Joe to step inside the room. The computer screens were doing scans of their surroundings for any suspicious ships. So far the scans came up clean. He took the cup but set it down nearby without drinking it. "Supplies are okay. Running low on some food. Not huge problem. Might need some medicine. If can afford."