Book 5 chapter 24 - the end for now (draft)

10 minutes before new years! lets gooooo!!!! update tomorrow, right now imma get my ass to bed!

The halls outside the bridge were bustling with activity, the pirates quickly fell into their on-ship duties, carrying cargo and cleaning up the organic debris that littered the floor. Bodies of monsters and servants piled up in the flesh-covered walls to be melted down with acid spray from Ranger weapons.

Jasmine looked out at the mess and destruction and turned her head away.

Her Knights, loyal to her every need guided them through the chaos to a quiet room, the makeshift infirmary. the wounded lay getting patched up by those that knew how, Rynard’s ankle was being set back in place, Letu lay asleep but recovering in a medipod, the other humans sat waiting for them with various scrapes and bruises being seen too while dogs and puppies slept soundly at their feet.

She alleviated their fears and told them they were safe,

“The ship is under our control, we're headed back to Lukia,”

She saw the huge relief on their faces, high fives and cheers all around, soon they would be reunited with the thousands of other humans on the pirate planet. Jasmine couldn’t say the same for herself. The room held stasis pods, ten to be exact, open and waiting for recipients, they still had not heard a word back from Beau.

“Do you think…” she asked Xant, hand running along the edge of the pod, “I made a mistake?”

Xant took her hand and guided her to an empty pod on the far side of the room.

“There are no mistakes, only lessons,” he replied, collecting medical supplies for the both of them, “you’ve lost a lot of fluid, this should help,” he refuled her suit’s canisters and connected her to the pods monitoring system, she was stable for now.

He sat down next to her, finally allowing himself to be exhausted.

He looked at his shaking hands, somehow, his three fingers didn't seem right.

The cheering from the other patients hushed as a visitor entered the room.

Jasmine felt the presence immediately, sharp shards of glass, but this time they felt gilded, stained with comforting colours.

She looked up expecting to see Itsuki, but was met with an obsidian reflection.

“Hey, sunshine,” his tone was apologetic, the blank black mirrored surface of a servant's helmet stared back at her.

“Hey frosty…” she replied, his body language shifted and he pulled another helmet from behind his back.

“I know you said you didn't want to go back into the pods… well, Beau found an alternative.”

He handed her the helmet, it was light as a feather but she recognised the same flesh-like material on the inside of her ranger power armour.

“There's more suits and helmets to go with them, we found an entire armoury but-”

“It’s okay Itsuki,” she replied understandingly. She raised the helmet to her face.

“Wait,” Itsuki stood there nervously, letting out a deep sigh as he dropped his gaze to the floor, “I’m sorry, for everything and…” he looked at the crowd around him but returned to focus on Jasmine and Xant, “Thank you for not giving up on me, I know a lot of people would have, a lot of people did. I’m going to be better, I'm going to try. Thank you.” he bowed deeply, and brought himself up embarrassed by the crowd around him.

“Apology accepted,” she replied, “that must have been hard,”

He shook his head.

“Not really but… I know you guys wont throw it back in my face.” he rubbed his arm, “Beau’s on the bridge, he wanted to know once you’ve got your helmet on,”

“Right,” Jasmine closed her eyes as she raised the helmet to her face. She felt the helmet and her suit connect, all alien tech was compatible, even those made thousands of years and light years apart. The black screen infront of her melted away to almost nothingness, to her eyes it was as though she werent wearing a helmet at all.

Her fingers touched the glass in her face, small information text appeared and disappeared as she grew accustomed to the new gear.

“Its on,” she informed Itsuki. He nodded and relayed the message on comns.

“Right then, here goes nothing,” Beau stood from the captains chair, the new helmet clashed with his asthetic, he was kinda disappointed he couldnt go full mjollneir armour but being able to lead directly from the bridge was more important obviously. He opened all channels on the ship and gave a speech to his new crew,”

“Pirates, knights, rangers and humans alike, we have found ourselves at a cross roads, many of us were enemies at the mornings light, yet now we stand side by side, together against a common enemy and in service of a shared hope. We have won the battle but the war is upon us, but if you all fight as courageously as you fought today, no one or thing will be able to stand in our way! Lets get our asses home!”

The freq bouncing around the ship was palpable, enthusiasm incarnate beat in everyones chest, warmth, joy, determination!

Beau sat back down in the captains chair and braced himself. Aralukia watched on, a side eye on the human before her.

“And you were never a fleet commander?”

“Nope, just there for my brothers and partner when they needed me,” Beau answered

“Ship brain, prepare to jump,”

The stars around them turned from dots in the distance to streaks in the sky, port windows allowed for the whole crew to see the wonders of the universe as it flew pas them.

Jasmine kept waiting for the pain to come, for the flashes of the past to mix with the future.

“No migraines yet. Or math,” Itsuki remarked, Xant chuckled.

“Then id say your deductions were correct,” the doctor imitated a human thumbs up. Pulling himself off the floor, Xant lay down on the pod next to Jasmine. “I think were both overdue for some down time.”

“Absolutely,” Jasmine agreed, “any meds to help us sleep?”

“The blue button,” Xant replied pushing the one on his machine, his eyes closing as he allowed the machine to help him relax.

Jasmine gave a sigh of relief,

“I’ll see you ‘round, Frosty,”

“Just dont do anything else dangerous in your sleep, sunshine” he replied, wandering off to let them rest.

-*-

Jasmine woke to the silence of sleep.

The lights were dimmed in the infirmary, everyone was asleep.

Well, almost everyone.

Xant say quietly, staring out the ships window as the stars sailed past them.

Jasmine unhooked herself and sat down to join him.

No words were exchanged, for a brief moment they were only their freq, the vast ocean and the long winding river meeting at the shore.

“You know,” Xants voice whispered to her, “sometimes, I wish we were back at Esaander. I wish we could go back to the laboratory rooms and just talk, learning about each others cultures, languages, science and art but…” his voice trailed off, turning to look at her, “but then, I never would have known how compassionate you were, I would have never learned about your generosity and kindness. I would have never discovered my own strength and will, the lengths I would be willing to go for another.”

Jasmines hand reached out for his, her fingers entwined with his and a gentle, unmistakable pulse seeped through both their nerves.

He wrapped his tail around her, she began to hum an unknown lullabye.

She rested her head on his shoulders, the words he wanted to say were too loud to be spoken with his voice.

For now, he squeezed her fingers back and felt the world fade around them.

End of book 5.

To be continued in the Namegiver Saga