Across the Galaxy: A Pirate's Path to Glory

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“You… What are you doing here? Are you going to chase me down until I’m dead or what?” I was yelling and pointed at Krish who wouldn’t stop smirking. We were outside the roller skates building, not wanting to disturb the other guests. But I hoped the rest of the crew would come soon… 

“Answer me!” He chuckled and shrugged. 

“Do you see a weapon pointed at you? I’m actually here to talk to my brother. But I’m happy I haven’t left your mind” It was all a game to him… And it infuriated me. I didn’t know what to say anymore. I just wanted to slap that smirk off his lips. I raised my hand and the sound of Krish’s sunglasses hitting against the ground echoed. 

Krish backed away, surprised as he placed a hand on his burning cheek. His eyes were wide and I felt how guilt washed over me. Did he really deserve it? Of course, he did! He tried to kill me then acts like it was just a flirty game. 

“Dahlia? Are you alright?” The sound of Zayn’s voice was heard and the rest of the crew was behind him. They noticed Krish who bent down to pick up his now dusty glasses. He wiped them off then blew on them before putting them on. 

“Krish?” Tristen walked closer, shocked that his brother was here. 

“Why are you here?” 

“I followed you. I… Changed my mind about this whole… Situation. Could we talk about this in private, Tris?” The smug look on Krish’s face wasn’t present. Tristen didn’t even say anything, the look he gave us was enough. Biting my lip I turned around and walked back into the building together with the others. 

Valerie quickly exclaimed it was snack time and we ordered some cheesy blue nachos to eat and some soda as well. The girl from the reception was the one who served it for us and gave us a large smile, her eyes lingered on Valerie. When she walked away, Valerie leaned in. 

“That girl is kinda cute,” She said in a low tone and Zayn nodded. 

“Very, you should totally get her number.” He nudged her but Valerie shook her head. 

“No… I couldn’t. Or? Should I?” Her gaze turned at me, waiting for my answer. She never really needed my input on things before. 

“Yeah, I think so. What’s there to lose?” 

“True, true… Okay. Wish me luck.” She drank a bit of soda before going towards the girl who was at the counter. Zayn and I watched the two of them, not saying anything. They had a casual talk. Valerie was having very confident body language while the server girl seemed shy. But Valerie said something that made the girl smile like a thousand stars. She nodded and then they exchanged phone numbers. Valerie came back with an accomplished smile as she sat down and grabbed the chip from the plate. 

“Mission accomplished” We cheered discreetly. 

“She was really cute. She says she works here from time to time but lives outside of Orion Nebula. So I said when my travels take me there, I will definitely give her a call.” 

“Very smooth.” Zayn patted her on the back and we continued eating out nacho plate. 

Tristen then returned after a few minutes. He sat down next to us and leaned in. 

“I’m sorry we have to cut our fun short but… We have things to talk about. This isn’t about just getting information for looting ships or money anymore…” He paused and frowned, lowering his voice even more. 

“Let’s continue this on the ship.” Then he stood up and walked out of the place. We soon followed and made our way back into the ship. When we got into the meeting room we saw Krish sitting there, his legs crossed as he was looking at his hand, examining it. I could feel the cold gaze from everyone as they looked at him. But Tristen was the only one who didn’t and asked everyone to sit down. 

“I’ll go ahead and start the engine in the meanwhile as you guys make yourself comfortable. You can start telling them if you want to, Krish” Tristen gave a slow nod towards his brother before going inside the cockpit and started the engine like he said they would and they were in space once again. 

“So, I know I haven’t made the best impression and you guys haven’t heard the best from me either…”

“Yeah, no s**t. You’re a little brat what I’ve heard from Tristen. AND you tried to kill Dahlia. How do we know you aren’t just a spy, hm?” Valerie crossed her arms and raised her voice as well. 

“Valerie please” Zayn tried to stop her but she just pulled away from him. 

“Are we just going to forgive and forget just like that? We don’t even know if we can trust him. He comes from the Invidia crew! They would do anything just to get what they want, out of jealousy…” Valerie glared at Krish but he didn’t react. 

“You’re right. I have not given you any reason to trust me. But when you listen to what I have to say, you might do so.” Valerie didn’t add anything and just leaned back, not letting her eyes wander away from him. 

“I left my crew without saying anything. Which is considered betrayal. Soon they’ll come after me. If they noticed me of course.” 

“So you even put us in more danger! Not only do we have bounty hunters after us, no offence Dahlia, but now other pirates?” Valerie rolled her eyes and sighed in frustration. Tristen soon came back and shook his head. 

“Let him finish. This is important.” 

“Our crew is a big one. With new members coming constantly, they’ll lose count and forget each other. The issue is Ichigo. She made a huge impression… She has a plan as well, to awaken a force they think they can control but might destroy everything we hold dear.” Krish paused and sighed, he seemed to be searching for words. 

“They have nothing to lose. They would do anything if it meant it would take away everything someone has… And Ichigo is determined to take away everything.” He turned to look at me and I swallowed harshly. I already lost my brother, even if I didn’t have the best relationship with my mother I wouldn’t want to actually lose her… I didn’t know Ichigo would come back like this to haunt me. 

“We have to tell the head captain about this. It’s against the pirate code to do this. We shouldn’t cause harm to millions of civilians.” Everyone looked at each other and nodded. 

“We might not be able to reach him so we have to tell him in person. Sylas?” Tristen turned towards Sylas who quickly grabbed his screen and began typing away. Then when he found what he was looking for they went to the cockpit. 

Valerie still seemed sceptical but didn’t say anything. She glared at Krish however then shared a look with Zayn. He nodded and Valerie left while Zayn stayed, grabbing a cup of coffee, still not saying a word and sat down in a corner, facing Krish, not letting his eyes leave Krish. The air was beginning to feel thick, Krish kept rubbing his hands and wiped them on his pants while I was biting the skin off my lips. I should probably drink something… 

I reached for a glass and began to pour water into it. Then I glanced towards Krish, thinking it would be rude not to ask him as well. 

“Um… Thirsty?” He shook his head. 

“I’ll be fine. You don’t have to force yourself. You did slap me pretty hard.” He began to smirk and rubbed his cheek. The red has mostly vanished but the colour still lingered on him. I felt how my blood was rushing all over my body in shame. I quickly looked away from him and clenched my fists. 

“Well, now we’re even.” I chugged down the glass of water before pouring another one and walked away, got into my room instead and shut the door. I got changed and jumped into bed. 

Searching through all the different movies and shows, nothing interested me. I decided maybe preparing a small snack would calm me down. Getting out of bed I made my way to the kitchen and made myself grilled cheese. I would have prefered a sandwich with lettuce and cucumber but vegetables and fruits in space are a luxury, luxury we don’t have. Tristen said that’s what he missed the most from his home planet, fresh bread and fresh vegetables for breakfast. 

I walked past the meeting room and noticed Krish was laying down across one of the couches with nothing but a think blanket on. Their ship was small compared to the larger crews. They didn’t even have any rooms left for Krish to sleep in. The thought hadn’t even occurred to me. 

Returning to my room I started a show to have some background noise. My thoughts wandered off to the pocket watch again. It was eating me up how I wouldn’t be able to find the treasure. What am I supposed to tell the bounty hunter? My eyes glanced down at the bracelet then I sighed. Maybe the watch had some sort of puzzle that needed to be solved? Was the answer something difficult? Or something incredibly simple? Who knew at this point...