[sylvanSpider]

“Si, si. It does. Don't think I disagree with you there,” Mendez said blowing some red hair out of his face, “But I did some research when we were on the ship. She's a wanted criminal, but that's not known. They took all the missing notices down, and there's no longer a known reward for her return. Look.” Mendez held out the dataslate Atrix lent him and pulled up the BountyBoards, “She's not here. Before her fake funeral or whatever, she was at the top – which is how I think Hyun found her. But before she ran away and the whole thing became a hostage situation, she was a media darling. She was seen participating in charities and legal reforms all over the place. Many of which her father directly opposed.” Pulling up several news stories, he scrolled through the headlines. “Something just doesn't add up. Funny thing about that though? She was seen plenty of times with the Queen of Edensia – she apparently viewed her as some sort of pet project or something, but some of the lesser known holo-news sources covered her speaking against the Queen, albeit subtly. She never liked the treatment of males on Edensia, but I get the feeling she played nice with her because she was either a.) trying to make new political connections or b.) something else entirely. And now we're in this shitshow, Edensia and Daowei chasing the two of you down like you're actually partners and neither of them seem to like Ashi very much anymore. I just wish I knew what she was planning...”

Mendez watched the Edensian stroll back through the door back to the ship and sighed. Young love. He was in it too, and deep. Atrix wasn't the woman he thought he met when he was kidnapped, and he felt he was a better man for it. The woman had showed him that things that others would generally consider disgusting could be beautiful, that he could actually fall in love with one of the less humanoid looking species, and that that love could be real – at least for him. He wished he had a way to see what she was thinking, to see if it went both ways. Maybe now was his chance to find out, while everyone was busy cleaning and resting up. When she came over, he put his hands around one of her many and gave a loving squeeze, “So how about it, corazon? A retreat to the ship while the wounded are being taken care of?”

Magali was beaming, not even noticing the vending machine and the sweets that ordinarily she would have loved. She clasped her hands in order to keep from grasping at his again, barely able to contain hersself, “It's...it's just papers, but they're papers to prove you're a person! That you're not property! We can both get them right here. I just need to get cleaned up first, and I was thinking we could both get our pictures taken together! Wouldn't that be great?!”

Fikri, who was standing close by cleared his throat and walked over to the other two felis, smiling despite his lowered ears, “Magali, in the ids, you have to be by yourself. Your identification papers are your identification. You are your own now, just like Nokra is his own. The closest you can get to combined ids would be to get married.” He pat her back, “It's another thing you two get to consider now that you're no longer slaves. I'm gonna get cleaned up in the men's facilities. We don't have showers this fancy on the ship, so use it while you can. Oh, and Nokra, now's your chance to talk to Magali about what you two want to do. I know you don't like me, but it's a suggestion that I honestly think you can do. I understand if you don't wanna stick around and be Rosalind's apprentice, but know that I won't be your enemy if you choose to stay.”

> > >

The ship was peaceful and quiet for once and Rosalind sighed contently knowing that the two they worked to transport made it safely and were going to hopefully be returning to their old selves within the next twenty-four galactic hours. There was a trail of blood leading from the makeshift medical room through the door, reminding Rosalind of the trouble that was to come. They'd already lost two faces that had at least grown familiar to the rest of the crew, and she knew that if they continued down this road, there would be more to come. She took a deep breath, in through the nose and out through the mouth, knowing that she needed to set the camouflage, heading for the engine room immediately. The fix was an easy one, and soon she'd be able to rest, at least for a little while.

> > >

Ashi did her best to not grimace as the doctor moved her. She knew that she was being as careful as humanly possible, but busted kneecaps and an arm bent the wrong way ensured that the princess was almost perpetually in a state of discomfort and pain. The cold steel jolted through Ashi's clothes and to her skin, forcing a gasp out of her, and she nodded, “If you're needed there, please, please go to him first. I'm fine and I know I will make it. But...but I am worried about him.”

Hyun's appearance in the doorway brought a smile to the princess, despite how small and strangled it seemed to be. “If he's going to make it, that's...that's what I care about,” Ashi said quite honestly, thankful that she never had to see him without his limbs, thankful that the next time she'd see him he would be up and talking – hopefully with a set of cybernetics that didn't hurt him when he breathed. Ashi grew quiet for a moment, looking up to her girlfriend, “This is...ah, it's going to sound awkward. I told Dr. Analoka to be in there with Shaldag, so someone needs to remove my clothes...” She gulped, “I figured if I was going to have anyone do that task, it might as well be you, my...my girlfriend, do it.”