The Steel Rose
By: Satho

Chapter Three:
“The Sweet Crusader”

--- January 14th 10:23 AM ---

Hitasa stepped back into the kitchen, craddling the rose carefully in one hand. The room was filled with the sound of pots, pans, and plates clanking noisily. She noticed that not only were her mother and Samantha washing the various dishes, but so was Narika.

The warrioress walked slowly over to the girl, attempting to keep her balance as a hot wave of pain shot up her side. Upon reaching Narika, Hitasa fenced the girl in with her arms, barring her by grabbing onto the counter on either side of the girl’s lithe form, then dipped her head down to whisper almost seductively in the blonde’s ear, “When you’re finished here... I need to speak with you.”

Narika jumped, startled by the sudden appearance of Hitasa behind her. She set the dishes down and turned around to face the warrioress. They were now mere inches from each other, their lips almost brushing. Narika pulled back suddenly, and blushed. Hitasa quickly followed suit.

After a long moment of awkward silence, Hitasa spoke. “Uhh... Sorry for sneaking... up on you like that.”

Narika nodded, having finally gathered her wits about her. “Yeah... it’s okay...” She grinned suddenly, and asked, “So what do you need to talk to me about?”

Hitasa shook her head. “Not here...” She dropped her voice to a low rumble. “Somewhere without them...” She nodded to Sasami and Samantha, who were now staring at the two, both holding back their giggles. Despite that each had pulled back a bit, Narika and Hitasa were still fairly close.

Narika looked at the other two out of the corner of her eye. “I see.” She nodded. “Okay. Give me a minute to finish up here.”

Hitasa nodded and said in that same low, almost growling voice, “I’ll be in my room.”

The blonde nodded almost nervously, half expecting the warrioress to kiss her before leaving. She was relieved when she didn’t, but for some reason felt slightly dissapointed.

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Hitasa sat patiently on her bed, silently noting the slight blood stains on one part of the white sheets. She sighed. I’ll have a time getting that stain out. Closing her eyes, Hitasa flopped back on her bed; then, after a sudden jolt of pain, she remembered that she couldn’t do that due to her wound. She lay there anyway, stretched out on the tousled bed, the thin sunlight perfectly accenting her carved muscles. Her golden eyes were closed as her thoughts drifted gently on the tides of emotion. In her mind, her heart and her brain battled fiercely for control of the situation: namely, Narika. Her brain said that she only cared about the girl because she might be able to get her to a spaceship. Her heart cried that the warrioress cared about her because she felt something for her, something beyond honor-bound sympathy.

There was a light knock on her open door, and Hitasa opened her golden eyes just enough to make out the form of Narika. She said aloud, “Come in.”

The girl nodded and stepped into the redhead’s bedroom. It was like stepping into an entirely different world. The night before, she was too tired to take notice of the details. Now, though, she saw that, contrary to the rest of the house, the whole room was one big, disorganized mess. Not disgustingly so, but enough to make Narika drop her jaw just a bit. The rug was littered with mismatched articles of clothing; she could barely discern that it was made of some sort of white fur. The closet was wide open, and in it she saw Hitasa’s armor hanging almost worshipfully. The walls were covered with miscellanious posters of swords, ancient Japanese warlords, knights, dragons, and other miscellanious whatnots. There was a desk shoved up against one wall, cluttered by papers, some from work, others covered in strange little doodles. Behind the short headboard of the bed there was a tall bookshelf, reaching to the ceiling. In it she could see a few familiar texts: The Art of War and The Book of Five Rings, to mention a couple, along with those were about a hundred books she had never heard of before, like The Path of Daggers and Dragon’s Bait. There was one untitled book that caught her eye; she figured it was the warrioress’s diary or journal, whatever she called it.

“When you’re done... inspecting my room,” Hitasa said, drawing Narika’s attention back to her, “I would like to ask you... something.”

The girl smiled warily. “And that would be...?”

All formality aside, the warrioress sat up slowly and replied, “I need a ship...”

“A ship?” Narika asked carefully.

“Yeah.” Hitasa nodded. “A spaceship.” She added, “To Earth.”

Narika, slightly taken aback by that statement, said carefully, “You’re not going to run away, are you?”

The redhead scowled. “Yes, after a fashion.”

“Why?”

“Tenchi’s on Earth... If there’s anyway I can reach him... I’ll try it,” Hitasa answered honestly.

The young girl stopped, fairly surprised by the other’s grim determination. Stuttering slightly, she said, “I... I may be able to get you transport to the Fuer System, but any closer is suicide.”

“Why?” Hitasa asked quietly, curiously.

“Well, because the Sol System has such a strong defense system. They’ve got huge satelites that float around the planet and shoot anything that comes within one thousand miles of them--”

“Wouldn’t they end up... shooting each other eventually?”

Narika shook her blonde-haired head. “No, you didn’t let me finish. You need clearance to get past the satelites, and no one on Jurai has that clearance, save the Asridians.” She paused thoughtfully for a moment. “Anyway, they’ve also got ships everywhere, and I hear the moon is equiped as a giant anti-aircraft weapon.”

Hitasa let loose a low whistle. “Ouch. Hey... how do you know all this, anyway?”

Narika smirked. “A friend of mine is a smuggler. He knows a lot about that region, because he does quite a bit of business with their scientists--”

“Which explains the sudden... update in technology,” the warrioress finished.

“Sort of.” She frowned a little. “He doesn’t actually make the shipments to the planet. He stops just outside the Sol System and transfers the whole shipment to a fleet of Earth ships.”

“Sounds like you know him... pretty well.”

Narika was sure she’d heard a hint of jealousy in that statement. Nevertheless, she said, “Yeah, he’s like a brother to me.”

“Is it possible for me to... meet him sometime?” Hitasa asked hopefully.

The girl stopped and thought for a moment. “I suppose it would be okay... but... you’d have to promise not to turn him in.”

“You have my word,” the redhead said seriously.

Narika, caught slightly off-guard by the bold words, replied, “You’re really serious about this, aren’t you?”

Hitasa nodded and slowly laid back onto her bed. “Man am I tired...” She grinned weakly at the girl. “I think I’m gonna... go back to bed. Can you wake me up around noon?”

Narika smiled at the abrupt change of subject. “Yeah, sure. See ya.” She turned around and left the room, closing the door behind her.

The warrioress sighed, burying her head in the pillow and dragging the covers from off the floor to cover her chilled body.

-- January 14th, 12:04 PM --

“Hitasa?” A quiet voice called out into the dusty silence of the warrioress’s room. The aforesaid redhead grumbled sleepily. Narika stepped closer to the bed and shook the girl lightly by the arm. “Hitasa, wake up.”

“Ugh...” The fiery-haired warrioress sat up slowly, yawning. She looked to her left and was greeted with the innocent eyes and grinning lips of Narika. She nearly jumped out of her skin. “AH! Tsunami!” She chucked her pillow at the other girl. “You scared the crap outta me,” she admitted ruefully.

Narika chuckled. “Sorry, Hitasa. You told me to wake you up about now, and I did. You might want to get downstairs before you miss lunch.”

“Lunch!” Hitasa announced, leaping out of bed with agility surprising for one who so recently had found herself immobilized with pain. And that was about when she dropped like a stone to the cluttered floor. “Ow...” she said, brushing herself off and attempting to stand.

Narika rushed to the other girl’s side, helping her up. “You alright?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Hitasa returned, annoyed. “Damn this cut in all its hindering glory!” she proclaimed, in reference to her wound.

“Right, well, you need any help?” the blue-eyed Juraiian asked.

The warrioress looked defiantly at Narika. “I’ll manage.”

“Whoa,” Narika took a step back, “it was just an offer.” Her voice softened. “I know you can manage on your own. I was just wondering if you’d like any assistance, to make the burden that much lighter. Besides, if we’re gonna go all the way into town to see my friend, you might wanna reserve your strength.”

“Gotcha.” Hitasa allowed Narika to support her as she tried to stand, leaning heavily on her until she regained her balance and the room stopped swirling around.

Narika and Hitasa walked out of the disorganized room and downstairs, to join the rest of the family in eating lunch.

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After a quick meal, during which there was much worrying over Hitasa’s wound and Samantha re-did the bandages holding her cut closed, the warrioress and her new-found friend departed for the darker side of Jurai’s capital city. Needless to say, Hitasa put a shirt on and donned her armor before leaving. She was just clipping her sword at her belt as they exited the warm house and were immediately assalted by all the wrath and rage of the frozen industrial town.

“Jurai used to be so beautiful.” Hitasa laughed cynically. “At least, that’s what Dad told me. I wasn’t even a year old when the Asridians took over.”

Narika nodded, understanding perfectly. “I know what you mean. I was just born around that time.”

“So,” the warrioress began, changing the subject, “where does this guy live, exactly?”

“Down in Sector Nine,” Narika replied, referring to the most run-down, crime-ridden part of town.

Hitasa winced. “Ah, great. Right where I wanted to go,” she said sarcastically. Blowing her bangs out of her face, she thumbed the hilt of her sword. “The darkest slums in the world! Where artists paint with blood and authors write laments of death; where rape is a line of work and cat houses are more common than grocery stores!” She grinned. “My kinda place!”

Narika sighed, shaking her head. “With your condition, I’m reluctant to take you there. Any number of things could go wrong!”

“Nah, don’t worry. I’m more likely to get mobbed by whores than mugged.” She draped her arm around the blonde’s shoulders playfully and said, “And as long as you stick with me, you’re safe!”

Narika looked at Hitasa incredulously, then promptly ducked out of her loose embrace and continued walking without saying a word.

“Hey!” Hitasa called. “I was just kidding, jeez...” She jogged to catch up with the girl, wincing a bit as her wound was jolted. When she finally caught up with Narika, she remained silent and walked beside her, deciding that now was not the time for idle chatter. They had just entered Sector Nine...

She glanced about her at the various signs, flashy arrows pointing this way and that. The air was thick with pollution and the streets were darker here, the shadows of the various looming buildings giving the whole place a very night-like atmosphere. Several shrieks rang out periodically, with feminine giggles nipping at their heels. The streets themselves were quite crowded, and many a time she felt ghost-like fingers jostle her pockets, searching for a money bag she didn’t have.

“Hello, ladies,” Hitasa said to a group of scantily clad woman as she passed them. They giggled from their perch on a street corner, and one beckoned her closer. The warrioress montioned to Narika helplessly behind the other girl’s back, and shrugged apologetically. The women took the hint and turned their attention elsewhere for possible customers.

“How far is he from here?” Hitasa asked the blonde walking stoically ahead of her.

“Not far. A short way up this road, actually,” came her answer.

Hitasa nodded and followed the girl until they reached a lamp post at the very end of Sixth Street. Another, smaller group of giggling women resided there, and Hitasa waved to them, flashing a grin before she followed Narika inside a smoky little house, overshadowed by the towering buildings beside it.

“Ah, Dagegar!” Narika cried, embracing the furry man tightly as he chuckled and uttered her name in a thickly accented bass voice. She took a step back from the cat-man, and gestured to the warrioress who was standing behind her, looking curiously at the various gadgets adorning the rusty walls. “My friend, this is Hitasa Jurai.”

Dagegar stuck out a fur-covered paw/hand and shook the redhead’s heartily. “G’day, miss. I’m Dagegar.” He squinted at the golden-eyed young woman for a moment, scrutinizing her. “’Ave we met ‘fore?”

Hitasa inspected the creature standing before her. She took in his whole figure in the blink of an eye: the dark, semi-long hair, tumbling loosely over his head in tangled tufts; the gold, slitted eyes; the goggles currently resting over his forehead; the torn and battered jeans he wore; the ripped tunic; the gease-blotched fur. She shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.”

Dagegar grinned, exposing his elongated canines. “Eit’er way, welcome to my ‘ome. ‘Ow can I ‘elp ye?”

Narika spoke before Hitasa could, effectively cutting the other girl off. “My friend here is looking for a ship to Earth.”

“Well...” The cat-man scratched the back of his neck nervously. “Eart’s a bit of a problem, w’at wit’ t’e orbital defense units and w’atnot. It’ll cost extra to go all t’e way t’ere.”

“How much?” Hitasa asked before Narika could say anything.

“Two t’ousand Asridian credits,” Dagegar stated quickly. “Normally. ‘Owever, since yore Narika’s friend,” he continued, “I’ll lower it to eig’teen t’ousand.”

Hitasa blinked, sighed, and dropped her hands to her sides. “Tsunami... Eighteen thousand... Where am I gonna get that kinda money...?” she asked herself. She shook her head and said to Dagegar, “Is that the lowest price you have to offer?”

“’Fraid so, ma’am. I gotta pay t’e bills, ye know.”

The warrioress nodded. “I understand.” She grinned rougishly. “Okay then, you got yourself a deal.” She and Dagegar shook hands on it.

“So, w’en do ye wanna leave?” the cat-creature asked.

Hitasa stopped for a moment to think. Damn... Earth... That’s a long way from Jurai... And now I’m setting up a time of departure... Tsunami, I hope I know what I’m getting myself into... She shook her head and looked at Dagegar for a long moment. “I think early tomorrow morning would be best. Around four o’clock.”

“W’y so early? Runnin’ away?”

Hitasa grinned slightly at the strange man. “I guess...” she said noncommitally.

“¹ Tue.” Dagegar returned the smile, then said, “Well, if yore sure... Be ‘ere at exactly four o’clock tomorrow mornin’. We’ll leave t’en.”

“Thanks.” Hitasa shook his hand one last time, then turned and exited the cramped room, leaving a slightly stunned Narika behind.

“Well, go on, be off wit’ ye,” Dagegar said, shaking her from her slight reverie. “Go follow yore girlfriend, ‘fore s’e gets ‘erself lost in t’ese streets.”

Indignantly, Narika said, “Hitasa is not my girlfriend!” and left with a flourish.

Dagegar grinned and muttered after her, “Sure kiddo, w’atever ye say.”

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“Hitasa, hold on a second!” Narika yelled aloud as she jogged to catch up with her new friend.

The warrioress looked at the girl she had only a day before saved. “I figured you would want to go home by now,” she said aloud.

“What, and leave you to save Jurai all on your own?” Narika laughed. “Glory hound. You’ll not be rid of me that easily.”

Hitasa shook her head. “Don’t you have a family you need to get back to? This isn’t your fight. I’d rather not get you involved.”

The younger girl frowned. “Of course I have a family. A father and a sister, to be precise. But this is my fight as much as it’s yours. We both live on this planet, you know. I want to protect my family just like you do--”

“Isn’t your father worried enough as it is?” Hitasa asked.

“My father? Hah! I’ll be surprised if he’s even realized I’m gone. He never takes his nose out of those damned books of his,” was her reply. “I don’t think he’ll worry at all.”

The warrioress let out a short laugh. “Well, I guess I’m stuck with you. Shouldn’t you at least give him a call?”

Narika nodded. “Yeah, I guess that would work.”

“Alright then, when we get home that’s what you’ll do,” Hitasa allowed. “And since I’m obviously not gonna be able to convince you to stay here, are you willing to get up at four in the morning?”

“Am I willing to get up at four in the morning to save the world? That’s kind of a stupid question, Hitasa. Of course I am.”

The warrioress nodded her agreement, and the two walked on in silence for a while longer.

Finally, Narika spoke up. “Hitasa, where are you getting the money to pay for the ship?”

The other girl was quiet for a moment. At last, she answered, “I’m not sure. I have some money in the bank, but I’ve been saving that for a house of my own. I’ll have to use that, I guess.”

Narika smiled lightly. “Your own house? Bold thoughts for a rogue warrioress. Hopefully you’ll be rewarded for saving Jurai after everything’s said and done.”

Hitasa chuckled. “Hey now, slow down. It’s bad luck to second-guess fate.”

“True...” The two lapsed into silence once more as they neared Hitasa’s home.

To be continued...

¹ Tuerian way of saying “Huh.”