Separated From The Stars, 4/5

[astrangestorm]

They spoke very little come morning, saying only what needed to be said to get themselves packed up again, to eat and drink and get back on the trail. When Satoshi offered to help Sho with his bandaging, Sho had simply waved him off. He wasn’t quite sure why the atmosphere between them had shifted so suddenly, but maybe Sho was simply tired. Or nervous. He had a lot to think about, now more than ever.

It was an uphill journey, had been all the way from the valley. The terrain would level out soon enough, at least according to their scanner. Icy winds whipped through the trees, and Satoshi could feel it even through his thermal gear. He forced Sho to put up the hood on his jacket, but he kept his down to not limit his peripheral vision as he led the way through the seemingly endless forest. He rubbed at his face from time to time, warming it. But at least the cold kept him awake, alert.

The heat signature was growing stronger still with each kilometer closer they got to it. It had to be a settlement, a very significant one. It wasn’t just one solitary person burning a little kaenium. It was motivating, knowing that people might be out there. Would they be friendly? Hostile? There was no way to know for sure. But the area itself had to be able to sustain a population. Even if he and Sho found no help, there might be sources for water or food nearby. They could replenish supplies to some extent, could carry on.

He was just about to suggest they stop for lunch when he heard Sho’s sudden whisper.

“Stop.”

He did so immediately. Ahead of them trees, beside them trees, behind them trees.

“Four…no, five heat signatures. Moving fast,” Sho said.

“Where?” he asked.

Their journey had been quiet so far. Even this close to winter in Akatsuki, it was still possible to hear birdsong, the rustling of smaller creatures among the crunchy leaves. The forest here had been largely devoid of activity thus far. He looked around, laser pistol at the ready.

When he turned, seeing Sho’s pale face, he watched as Sho lifted his hand, pointing up.

He looked up at the forest canopy, only a few weak rays of sunshine poking through the breaks in the trees. All this time they’d been looking forward. Maybe they should have been looking up a bit more. Because now he could see them, flying in and perching on some of the highest branches of the soaring trees.

Nests. Massive, massive nests. He remembered the bird of prey they’d seen in the distance, back when they were still in the pod. A bird that massive would need a home base large enough to accommodate its size.

Perhaps they were walking through their territory. Right now.

“Still five heat signatures,” Sho muttered. “Closing in fast.”

The nests were high up, so maybe he and Sho weren’t much to think about. But then he thought about owls and mice and their comparative sizes.

At the first chilling screech, he tugged on Sho’s wrist.

“Move,” he said. “Run.”

“They can fly,” Sho reminded him needlessly, shoving the scanner in the pocket of his jacket and zipping it closed. He pulled out his own laser pistol, and they both switched them to the strongest setting. Satoshi could feel it heat up in his hand. “They can fly, you know.”

“Still gotta run for it. And if you find a tree like our campsite from last night, you jam your ass inside it.”

Another screech pierced the air, and the sunlight was blotted out. The birds, the creatures, whatever they were…they were descending.

He gave Sho a push. “Move it!”

Satoshi took off, pistol at the ready. Despite his recovering injury, Sho was a very fast runner, and he quickly hurried ahead, dodging around a massive fallen log. Satoshi picked up the pace, branches rustling overhead and the few remaining leaves fluttering down around them as the creatures pursuing them flapped their wings.

He leaped over a fallen trunk, nearly stumbling over an exposed bunch of roots a moment later. But he kept moving, zigzagging and trying to run parallel to Sho over the unsteady terrain. His heart pounded as the screeches grew louder, and when one of them was so close he could feel the heat of its cries against the back of his neck, he took a sudden left, putting his back to a tree trunk and coming to a quick stop.

The bird didn’t stop for him. It went flying by, a white and gray blur, its wings so wide they clipped the trees. Another followed and this one Satoshi fired on. The pistol in his hand flared with heat and the burst came out, faster than the blink of an eye. He watched as it hit the second pursuing bird in its left wing, feathers and bone exploding, the creature screeching in agony. Without its wing, it lost balance, careening sideways.

Okay, Satoshi thought, the pistols work.

He heard Sho fire, heard another cry further ahead. Thank the stars Sho was a decent shot, too. He heard more screeching. Sho said there were five of them. Satoshi ran to the next trunk, then the next and the next. When the sunlight around him started to fade, when he heard the next blood-curdling noise come closer, he emerged from behind the trunk, firing at the first sight of white and gray.

The bird continued on with its momentum only to crash into the ground heavily, half its head missing. He heard Sho fire a few times, but with no effect. They were big targets, but fast ones.

His hand was hot, almost enough to burn. It wasn’t exactly safe to keep the pistols at their highest setting for a prolonged amount of time. They weren’t designed for it. But he kept on, listening to the creatures diving among the trees, seeking them out. He found Sho, his clothing drenched in blood and feathers, hiding behind one of the fallen creatures and using it for cover.

He had just fired on one heading toward Sho’s position when he felt it. A whoosh of air behind him and then pain. Pain and pain and pain and pain and-

“Satoshi!”

It all happened way too fast. He tried to pull away and then his feet were leaving the ground. The bird had its talons in him. He felt his arm go limp, the pistol falling away. It was over. It was over. And pain and pain and pain and-

When Sho’s shot hit the creature, Satoshi felt the talons dig in harder reflexively, and he screamed. But then he was falling, and the ground was thankfully not as far away as he thought. The wind was knocked out of him as he landed in a heap, the pack on his back crunching underneath his body.

He lay there, staring up in a daze, trees and trees and trees. It hurt and he didn’t want to look. It hurt and he didn’t want to look. There was a metallic taste in his mouth. Sho kept firing and Sho kept firing and Sho kept firing. He thought there were snowflakes falling. It was cold, it wasn’t unreasonable. But as they got closer, he laughed.

They were feathers.

Sho was beside him soon enough. “Can you move your legs? Can you move them?”

He groaned, left ankle stinging a little as he wiggled his feet.

“Good, good,” Sho said, and his voice was so gentle. It made him smile.

“Hi Sho-kun.”

“Hello,” Sho replied, his face so serious as he moved his hands over Satoshi’s legs, probably feeling for broken bones. He wouldn’t find any. Satoshi knew where the real problem was.

“He picked me up,” he muttered.

“Yes, he did.”

“But you got him. Good for you.” He coughed, moaning a little as the pain flared in his chest. “Didn’t know they…teach how to shoot on Kagerou.” He coughed again, and the metal taste in his mouth was even more harsh and bitter. “Don’t wanna…shoot a hole in your…stupid dome.”

“I’m going to have to move the pack so you can lie flat. It’s not going to feel good.”

“Didn’t I tell you…perfectly manly to scream?”

And scream he did when Sho helped to slide the straps of the pack off of him. “Too cold out here…” Sho was muttering nervously. “I need to find cover.”

“No…no self-destruct…in forest. Guess…guess we have…time.”

“You talk more when you’re hurt than you do otherwise. Shut up,” Sho complained, and Satoshi smiled again.

Sho had the scanner in his hand, was probably smearing blood across the screen. He was calculating something, looking for something. Whatever he was doing, it wasn’t very interesting. Satoshi instead looked up at Sho, focused on Sho. His dark and serious eyes, the line of his jaw.

“Handsome.”

“There’s a cave just south of here. I’ll check it out and come back.”

“You’re handsome, Sho-kun.”

And then he was alone to look at the trees again some more.

There were still feathers falling when he closed his eyes.

-

When he woke, he felt like complete shit.

But he supposed that was an improvement on being dead.

There were no trees overhead. Only shadows and rock. Well, it seemed that Sho had been right about the cave. The light was faint, but his mind told him that Sho had likely used some of the signaling flares from their packs to have some light to work with.

His clothes were gone save for his trunks, but he was covered in blankets and even the parachute to stay warm. He moved his hand up slowly, finding bandaging on his chest on either side, just beneath his shoulders and collarbone where the bird had latched on. He still had a bit of difficulty thinking of that thing as a bird. Why did every animal on Rakuen have to be so…big?

Moving his fingers over his shoulder, inching back, he found the edges of more bandages on his back. The talons had punctured through him on both sides. He was suddenly quite happy that he’d likely passed out from pain before Sho had to use that nasty flesh-burning medical tool on him. But he wondered how much of their medical supplies Sho had wasted on him…

“I suppose we’re even now,” came Sho’s voice from somewhere close by.

Satoshi grinned despite the lingering tingles of pain. “To be fair, I only had to shoot one human to save your life. You had to shoot a bunch of space birds to save mine.”

“True,” Sho teased. “And I had to carry you all the way here. This cave is just over two kilometers from our last position, you know, and you’re heavier than you look.”

He laughed, letting Sho come close. Sho helped him to sit up, lean back against the chilly cave wall, get a better sense of their surroundings. It was larger than their tree trunk, larger inside than the escape pod. Sho had their packs close by, and once Satoshi was sitting as comfortably as he could manage, Sho headed over and opened one, pulling out a protein bar for him.

“So this has been a fun day,” Satoshi muttered, a bit embarrassed when Sho had to unwrap the bar for him, break pieces of it into his fingers so he could feed him, help pour water into his mouth. He was informed that he wasn’t allowed to raise his arms unless absolutely necessary.

“Fun isn’t the word I’d use,” Sho said, his warm fingers brushing against Satoshi’s lips as he pushed another bit of food forward.

Satoshi chewed, raising an eyebrow. When he swallowed, Sho brought up another bite and he shook his head. “So how fucked are we?”

Sho lowered his hand. He was still in his gray thermal gear, although it was covered in bloodstains and in a few places, feathers. By contrast, Satoshi was almost naked. He tried not to think too hard about Sho having to get his clothes off of him to perform first aid.

“I think it’s a ninety-five percent chance that we’re totally fucked,” Sho said, not seeming too ashamed to curse. “I’d say five percent chance that we’re just mostly fucked.”

“Okay. Next question. What happened?”

Sho’s expression was almost comically grim. “Well, I got to see the Prince of Akatsuki nearly flown off to his death in the clutches of a giant bird today. And then when I shot said bird, it dropped you. And when you fell, the pack mostly helped to cushion you. That’s the good news.”

“And the bad news?”

“The scanner I converted to a beacon was in your pack. It was completely crushed.”

Satoshi nodded, letting it sink in a little. “That…is not good.”

“No, and you were also carrying one of the backup scanners. If the fall hadn’t broken it, the broken bottles of water that spilled on it would have anyhow.”

Satoshi paled. “So we have the one scanner that’s still a scanner and the back-up.”

Sho shook his head. “When I started shooting, I took my pack off. Set it on the ground in case my pistol overheated and I needed my back-up. And then one of the birds I shot landed on my pack.”

He shut his eyes, laughing at their ridiculous misfortune. “You’re joking.”

“Back-up pistol is intact. The food I was carrying is smushed, but likely still edible. But the fourth scanner, the other back-up is toast.”

Satoshi opened his mouth. He needed a distraction. Sho obediently held out another bite of protein bar, and he munched on it.

“We should go back to the pod,” Sho suggested.

Satoshi shook his head. “Nope. East.”

“Did you miss the part where I said our beacon is gone? You didn’t land on your head, you know.”

He chuckled and then made a big show of opening his mouth again to be fed. Sho thankfully obliged him. While he chewed, they stared each other down.

When he finally spoke again, he still refused to give up. “We’re closer to the heat signature in the east than the pod, right?”

“Well…yes…but…”

“We lose a day or two in this cave because I’m hurt, fair enough,” he admitted, “but we’ll be out of food sooner than later. And unless you’re fully prepared to shoot a space cow from that giant herd of thus far non-hostile space cows and then rely on them as a food source while camping out in that escape pod until we’re rescued…then we keep going east.”

“I almost watched you die today,” Sho said quietly, Satoshi noticing how red his eyes were looking. Sho was terrified. “How do we know there aren’t more of those things nesting for the next several kilometers waiting to swoop down and kill us?”

“And going back the way we came is better? Those birds were circling around when we were in the valley too.”

“They’ll never be able to find us. Your sister, your friends,” Sho pleaded, reaching out and wrapping his hand around Satoshi’s wrist. Sho didn’t even think his own people would come for him if they could? “The further we get from that pod and the beacon…there are limits. There are limits to my bravery, Satoshi-kun. This has been an odd adventure, but I think it has to end. We need to go back. For our safety. And for our only realistic chance of getting away from here.”

Despite the warning bells ringing in his head, he took hold of Sho’s hand, lacing their fingers together. He’d saved Sho’s life aboard the Miyabi. And now Sho had saved his. Sakurai Sho, the prim and proper aristocrat who grew up playing the piano, breathing artificial air, and studying laws. That same man had lifted him, carried him here.

“You brought me here. You carried me all the way here,” he mumbled. “Which meant you couldn’t do that and carry both our packs.”

Sho looked down but didn’t let go of his hand.

“Sho-kun, you had to go back for the packs and bring them here all by yourself. There might have been more of those creatures out there or something even worse, but you went back all alone so that we would have food and water. Don’t lie to me. Don’t lie and tell me that there are limits to your bravery.”

He tried not to chuckle at the elegant, graceful tear streaking down Sho’s pale cheek. Did he always have to be so perfect? It was kind of sickening, really, Satoshi thought.

So instead he did the only thing that made sense, giving Sho’s hand a tug to pull him closer. Sho let out a rather surprised gasp, but tilted his head gently so their lips could meet.

He was sore, even with the painkillers and numbing agents Sho had probably forced down his throat, rubbed into his skin when he was unconscious. He was drowsy and they were fucked technology-wise, but it didn’t matter. None of that mattered at this particular moment as he invested his remaining energy into kissing him.

Sho’s grip on his hand tightened, and Satoshi pushed on, pushed more. When he prodded at Sho’s lip with his tongue, Sho yielded almost immediately, letting out a soft moan of pleasure that let Satoshi know he wanted this just as much. The stupid parachute crinkled and rustled, and he probably had crumbs from the protein bar at the corner of his mouth. But it felt so right, it felt so necessary. He’d spent hours and hours of his life staring at Sho, watching him and wanting him. And now he was finally getting what he wanted.

Sho stopped them first, pulling away. He licked his lips, and Satoshi nearly lifted his arm (to hell with his sore shoulder) to yank him back. Sho also slipped his hand away, but he didn’t look angry. In fact, he mostly looked astonished it had happened at all.

“Satoshi-kun…”

Sho’s eyes were so dark, his breathing unsteady.

“What? You don’t like my methods of diplomacy?” Satoshi huffed, already missing the softness of Sho’s mouth on his own.

“I like them a lot, actually,” Sho admitted, breaking off another piece of the protein bar.

“But?”

Sho held up the morsel for him, a wary smile on his face. “But you can’t just kiss me as a means of distraction. We still have no beacon. We still have no back-up scanners. We should go back to the pod.”

Damn him, Satoshi thought, hiding a smile. “It wasn’t just meant as a distraction. Here, let me prove it to you…”

He leaned forward, and then Sho pressed the bite of protein bar against his lips instead. Satoshi opened obligingly, tongue darting out and grazing against Sho’s finger before he took his hand back. He chewed impatiently.

“You’ll finish your food, and then I’ve got more painkillers to give you,” Sho ordered. “Then you need to rest. We’re not leaving this cave until I think you’re ready.”

“Instead of painkillers, why don’t you kiss it better, Sensei?” Satoshi snapped back.

Sho smiled that noncommittal, tried and tested smile of his. “Survival first. Diplomacy second.”

-

He had never really considered himself the claustrophobic sort, but after the time they’d spent in the pod and now all these hours in the cave, he was starting to change his tune.

The only good thing about being stranded inside the damp cave was that Sho wasn’t as much of a stickler for “diplomacy second” as he initially had promised. Satoshi had woken the following morning to yet another feeding session. It was sort of humiliating having to sit there, a grown man, and let someone else feed him, but he supposed it had its benefits. Like the brushes of Sho’s fingers against his mouth.

And then there were the obligatory bandage checks, Sho’s hands gentle and a little nervous and unsteady as he rubbed in antibiotic gels and creams, replacing the old bandages with clean ones. There was a startling lack of efficiency when it came to Sho’s version of medical care, his hands lingering on Satoshi’s skin long after the creams had been administered.

It wasn’t until the second day stuck inside that Sho allowed Satoshi to move around a bit more. He was allowed to stand up, even if the cave ceiling was only a few inches taller than he was. Sho had to bend a little to keep from knocking his skull against it. He was allowed to move around, move his arms. It stung, but he supposed if he wasn’t on any sort of pain medication that it would be even worse.

He made a big show of strutting around in his trunks, waving off Sho’s offer of a clean pair of thermal slacks and a shirt. “Hot under the blankets all day,” he lied, walking around and feeling his nipples harden, feeling goosebumps rise on his skin. He stretched and exercised, Sho sitting on the cave floor doing his best to ignore him, tinkering with the battery packs he’d salvaged from their otherwise damaged scanners. Their remaining scanner would at least have back-up power sources.

“Sho-kun,” he said.

“Sit down, you’ll catch cold,” Sho mumbled, not looking up from his work.

“Sho-kun, I think I’ll be able to feed myself tonight. You know, just like a toddler. I feel good.”

“Glad to hear it. Sit down.”

He knelt down before Sho, slipping the tools out of his hands. “Let’s go east.”

Sho raised an eyebrow. “This again? The next predator out there will bite your leg off, and still you’ll be saying to continue east. We’re going to the pod, even if I have to carry you there myself.”

“That seems way more inefficient than walking beside me when we go east.”

“You’re being childish. It’s a good thing for Akatsuki that your sister was born first,” Sho complained, although he was having a bit of difficulty keeping his eyes on Satoshi’s face.

“The scanner says there’s a freshwater stream ten kilometers east,” Satoshi pointed out. With all his free time, he’d practically memorized the readouts on their remaining scanner. “And where is the nearest water source in the opposite direction, hmm?”

Sho narrowed his eyes. “The spring. The spring back by the valley. Don’t you dare…”

“Sho-kun, we’ll need to replenish our water earlier than we anticipated. There was all the water we lost in the fight. More than a week’s worth! And then we gave up two days of reserves sitting in here.”

“Because you were severely injured!”

He leaned forward. “I’m feeling much better. Thanks to your tender bedside manner.”

“Have you always been this bad at flirting or am I a special case?”

Satoshi smiled. “You know I’m right about this. Yesterday all you could think about was the beacon, but now you have to face the reality of the remaining supplies. We go back to the pod, we have whatever medical supplies we’re carrying with us right now. There’s nothing there we didn’t take with us. We take our chances east, we still might be able to negotiate or trade for something. The pod had a limited power and oxygen supply remaining anyhow. Once that runs out, we either sleep with the pod hatch open, inviting in all sorts of dangers, or we suffocate inside.”

“We might be rescued before then.”

“And if we aren’t, we’re right back where we started but with only one scanner, very little medical help, and an abundance of cow shit.”

“I don’t like it.”

He leaned forward even more, his mouth inches from Sho’s. “We could nix both plans and live together forever in this cave. Romantic, no?”

Sho laughed. “I think I’d rather suffocate in the pod.”

“Have you always been this bad at flirting?” Satoshi teased, lifting his hand to Sho’s face and stroking his thumb along the corner of his mouth. “Or am I a special case?”

This time Sho moved first, capturing his mouth in a searing kiss. Satoshi had a feeling that he was going to get his way. Both because of logic and because of his obvious skills in diplomacy.

Ignoring the light throb of pain on either side of his chest, he got off of his knees, breaking their kiss to climb onto Sho’s lap. He brought his hand around the back of Sho’s neck, kissing him again, sighing in contentment as he threaded his fingers through Sho’s soft hair. For his part, Sho all but clung to him, hands pressed hard against his back.

Sho, who’d always seemed so proper, let loose a bit, breaking their kiss so he could instead press his mouth to Satoshi’s neck, leaving a damp trail of heat down his throat, sucking gently here and there, marking and claiming. He gasped, letting Sho do whatever he wanted. This would have probably been more comfortable on board the Miyabi. Stars, even the pod would have been better than a cave, but he’d always been the type to take what he could get whenever he could get it.

Things weren’t quite equal, though, and eventually Satoshi grew impatient, moving his fingers to the zipper of Sho’s jacket, tugging it down. His shirt was gone after that, and Satoshi appreciated the view. Pale skin, firm muscles, and this time he wasn’t looking just to change a bandage. All of it his to claim.

He gave Sho a little push and they moved as best they could, back onto the stars-forsaken parachute to cushion them a little. Satoshi kissed his way down, hearing Sho’s appreciative whimpers as he ventured around with his mouth down Sho’s neck, nipping at his collarbone. His mouth closed around Sho’s hardened nipple, and Sho’s moan echoed in the cave. Well, he supposed the cave was good for something. He alternated between teasing with his teeth and sucking until Sho grew impatient.

Sho was arching up under him, and he liked that Sho wanted him just as badly. Sho was unashamedly hard, his erection tenting his pants. Satoshi was pleased with what he found, touching Sho through the fabric with his fingertips, stroking unhurriedly along the solid length of him. With a little more maneuvering, Sho’s pants and briefs were out of the way when he couldn’t take much more of Satoshi’s teasing.

If someone had told him a little more than a week ago that he was going to suck off the Crown Prince of Kagerou in a bleak little cave on Rakuen, he’d have recommended that person be sent to a hospital for a brain scan.

“Please,” Sho begged once Satoshi started to stroke him. “Please please…”

Princes so rarely said please, and Satoshi considered himself an expert on the subject. He decided to be obliging. After so many miserable days, so many days walking through the cold, so many days subsisting on tasteless protein bars and water, he just wanted to forget Rakuen for a little while. Forget everything but Sho.

He lost himself in the motions, the heat of Sho’s body, the thick glide of Sho’s hot cock along his tongue as he indulged himself. Sho’s eager, encouraging moans had him halfway to coming without even a brush of Sho’s hand against him. He heard his name echoing off the cave wall, forgetting the pain, forgetting their uncertain futures.

Unlike all of their negotiations on Akatsuki, things were far more equal between them now. Satoshi had barely finishing swallowing Sho’s come when he was being moved, eased onto his back. He hoped they’d have a chance to do this again and hopefully without an evil space bird attack to prompt it next time.

He shut his eyes, biting his lip in satisfaction as soon as Sho’s perfect lips settled around him. His body tingled with pleasurable sensations, Sho’s tongue working miracles around the head of his cock while his fingertips tickled across his abdomen, down his thighs.

If only all the disagreements between Kagerou and Akatsuki could be solved this easily.

-

They didn’t dare linger come morning, even if it was tempting to do so. Sho took on the heavier pack this time, although he made no comment about it being heavier in the first place. They had a lot of ground to cover, and no time to waste.

Even after their night together, Satoshi couldn’t allow himself to lose focus. What they’d shared was amazing, but there wouldn’t be a next time if they didn’t travel carefully, stay alert. Sho, being Sho, was able to snap back into a logical mode as well, even if some of the looks they exchanged while they hiked could have easily melted the snowflakes floating along in the breeze around them.

Sho took the lead, leaving Satoshi to plot their course with the help of the scanner. He wasn’t at full strength, especially since he’d cut back on the pain medication in order to stay awake and alert. If something attacked, Sho would have to do most of the work to hold them off.

They made it to the stream just after midday, even with Satoshi’s condition slowing them down. They’d finally emerged from the forest, finding hillier terrain ahead. There would no longer be any large trees to shelter them, but at least they’d be able to see threats coming from further away. Just over the next hill or a little bit further on was where the kaenium heat signature still pulsed, stronger with every step forward.

While Sho refilled the bottles steadily, Satoshi monitored the scanner. One of the massive birds had flown overhead back in the forest, but thankfully it hadn’t been in a snacking mood.

“We’ll have to keep it quiet,” Sho said without prompting, twisting the cap back on a bottle.

“Huh?” he asked, looking up from the scanner screen.

“This thing between us. It can’t be made public.”

Satoshi grinned, seeing the nervous look on Sho’s face. Very different from the night before. Seeing Satoshi in the daylight had brought him back to reality. “Sho-kun, perhaps you’ve forgotten that I’m also a member of a royal family.”

“I haven’t forgotten that…”

“Let’s just say I’m used to keeping my relationships quiet.”

“Have there been many?”

Sho’s jealous blush had Satoshi close to laughing, but he figured Sho wasn’t in a joking mood. It was cute though.

“There haven’t been,” he admitted truthfully. Ever since his father’s abdication and his sister’s rise to the throne, there’d been so much work to do that looking for a relationship or even a fling had not been at the top of his list. “And you, Your Highness? You’re quite the catch on Kagerou, I presume?”

Sho filled another bottle, face reddening all the more and not just because of the chill. “I’ve managed to dodge my obligations so far. It helps that my younger sister has married and already has two children. But of course I can’t avoid it forever.”

With the birth of Mina’s son, Satoshi’s importance to the Ohno family succession had dropped. And he’d been glad of it. His nephew’s birth had granted him a type of freedom that a Crown Prince, an heir like Sho, would never have. He understood that better than anyone else could. And more importantly, he accepted that about Sho. All of that seemed so inconsequential anyway, sitting here beside a Rakuen stream, thousands of miles from their duties and obligations as royal sons.

But nothing was ever inconsequential to someone like Sho, who had taken on the role of perfect son, perfect prince and had played it all his life.

“You told me that you trusted me,” Satoshi said quietly. “And I have no intention of doing anything that might change your mind about that.”

“I just…if we’re rescued, I don’t want you to think this means nothing. Even if we can’t…”

Sho had trouble getting the cap onto the bottle, Satoshi reaching out to twist it for him. He handed it back, squeezing Sho’s hand to reassure him.

“This is important,” Sho continued. “This is important to me.”

“It’s important to me, too,” he said simply, getting to his feet. He checked the scanner readout again, frowning. “The storm we’ve been monitoring is moving faster. We should get going.”

If the scanner was accurate, it meant that a snow storm was incoming. They’d have marched right into it if they’d headed back for the pod. The odds were slightly better heading east, but it wasn’t entirely avoidable. The shelter they found that night would determine their course of action.

“Then let’s get moving,” Sho said.

They walked for another hour, slowly but steadily making their way uphill. If the scanner was correct, they’d reach the settlement quite soon. It was likely just on the other side of the hill. The heat signature was stronger than anything they’d seen on Rakuen thus far. But as they came to the top of the hill, their confusion grew. Stretching on into the distance as far as they could see was bluish grass covering rolling hills, swaying with the breeze.

No city. No buildings. No roads.

No sign of human habitation whatsoever, but still the heat signature lingered, throbbed with intensity on the scanner screen.

Satoshi turned, looking back behind them. Large looming clouds had followed them every step of the way that day. And they were giving every indication of a major storm, not just a dusting of snow.

Sho had his hands on his hips. “It’s right here.”

“Yes.”

He took a step forward, disbelieving. “It’s kaenium. They’re burning kaenium. But where?”

“Are we absolutely certain it’s kaenium?” Satoshi asked nervously. After all, Sho had wanted to go back to the pod. It was only Satoshi’s continued insistence on going east that had brought them here only to find nothing. “What if something’s messing with the sensors?”

“Like what?”

“I…I don’t know,” he mumbled. Sho was the one with all the extra education. “Seismic activity? Lava channels underground?”

Sho’s look was dubious. He adjusted the pack on his back, shaking his head as he kept walking forward. He’d only gone a few steps before he collided with something hard. He stumbled back, falling down with a cry of shock.

“Sho-kun!”

He moved over, crouching down beside him. Sho’s face was the picture of astonishment. Sho pointed forward. “It’s…it’s not real…”

“Are you okay?” Satoshi asked.

“It’s not real,” Sho repeated, and this time when Satoshi looked over, he could see that it was true.

As far as they could see, the bluish hills went on all the way to the horizon. But where Sho had met resistance, now Satoshi saw it. He saw the ripple. Setting down his pack and taking out a bottle of water, he approached carefully.

The view was distorted. The “skyline” now had a small crack in it, a flickering light shining through. “Sho-kun…you’re not going to believe this.”

“It’s like a screen,” Sho said, his voice awed. “Satoshi-kun, it’s a screen, we did find them.”

Satoshi twisted the cap off of the water bottle. He then tossed a fair amount of water in the direction of the ripple. It should have fallen down to the grass. Instead it ran into an invisible wall, droplets streaking down the apparently fake image of hills and grass. He followed the trail of droplets, seeing where the grass and dirt he was currently standing on met resistance. Where the reality of Rakuen stopped and illusion began. He wondered how far the wall went. Something like this…it would need an incredible amount of power to operate.

Hence the massive kaenium heat signature.

He reached out with his boot, nudging with his toe. Hard, as hard as steel. He gave it a gentle little kick, and though the wall easily withstood it, the image projected on it didn’t. It cracked just as easily as it had where Sho had collided with it, the grass flickering. “Gotcha,” he whispered to himself.

He turned back around, laughing.

And that was when the ground beneath their feet opened up and swallowed them.

-

Thankfully it hadn’t been a straight drop down. Instead he and Sho had both screamed their way down a slippery metal slide, their packs careening down at a high speed right along with them in absolute darkness. They bumped into each other, Sho’s hand trying to hold onto him as they moved, but they were sliding too quickly.

A hatch eventually opened, and they slid with little grace off of it and onto an unforgiving metal floor along with their packs and the water bottle Satoshi had been holding onto. It thumped to the floor next to him, water spilling out into a puddle as they took in their new surroundings. He supposed a sore ass was better than being dead.

“They have a trap door,” Sho was mumbling in disbelief beside him. “They have a massive projection screen outside hundreds of feet high…and they have a trap door.”

The room was sterile, and reminded him of an airlock. Just on a grander scale. The room was artificially-lit with metallic walls, the chute they’d just come down sealing shut behind them with a noisy whoosh. There was a set of double doors on the wall ahead of them, a small control panel beside it. This was all built by humans.

The soothing and familiar dual hums of flowing air and kaenium engines explained things rather easily. There were people living on Rakuen, but they lived underground. He wondered if this was true of other continents, including the ones previously visited by science teams. He wondered if they really wanted to be found.

An intercom buzzed somewhere on the left wall, a polite and very much human female voice coming through a speaker. The voice was clearly asking them a question, but the language spoken was not one Satoshi knew. He looked over at Sho, who was equally puzzled. While there were regional dialects unique to Akatsuki and Kagerou, they both spoke the same language. The only one known to them.

“I’m sorry,” Sho replied. He slowly got to his feet, holding up his hands in a peaceful gesture. “We do not speak your language.”

The intercom buzzed again. The voice seemed to repeat the same sounds, the same question, but slower, as though speaking slower would solve the problem. Thankfully, the voice did not sound hostile. She actually sounded a bit friendly.

Sho kept his hands up, speaking slowly and clearly. “My name is Sakurai Sho. I am from the planet Kagerou. This is Ohno Satoshi. He is from the planet Akatsuki. We mean you no harm, and we are stranded here. Does anyone in this place speak our language?”

The intercom buzzed. This time the message was rather short. And then the speaker turned off altogether.

And nothing happened.

Sho lowered his hands. “Maybe that’s a good sign?”

Nearly an hour went by, so Satoshi wondered what was going on. The hatch leading outside remained shut. The air circulated, the lights stayed on. The double doors stayed closed, and a quick examination of the control panel was unhelpful. It wasn’t lit up or seemingly active in any way. Sho tried to use their scanner, but it had cracked against the chute on the way down and was now broken. Useless.

Whatever happened now, they were at the mercy of the people who had captured them.

They ate their protein bars, sipped their water. What else could they do?

Finally, there was another crackle of static over the intercom. The woman who had spoken previously was not there. This time it was a man’s voice, an almost whimsical, breathy voice. And this man spoke their language.

Sort of.

He sounded very uncertain. “Good morning, you guests are here. Humbly thanking you.”

Satoshi and Sho exchanged a confused look. It had been mid-afternoon outside before they’d fallen down the chute.

The voice continued. “You place…you place is not Rakuen. Forgiveness requested. You guests, I inquire to you. You place is not Rakuen?”

Sho got back to his feet, jumping right back into diplomat mode while Satoshi stayed where he was, munching on a protein bar in case it was their last meal.

“Our place is not Rakuen,” Sho said slowly. “I am from the planet Kagerou. My friend is from Akatsuki. Our places are very far from here. We do not mean you any harm.”

“Distance wide, distance very wide!”

“Yes,” Sho said, a little nervously. “Distance very wide. May I ask your name?”

The voice was patient. “This place being called Rakuen. Planet of Rakuen.”

“Yes,” Sho said. “I understand, thank you. You, the person speaking to me right now. What are you called? What is your name?”

“Ah! It is the asking of this persona.” Satoshi heard the man muttering in his own language, possibly to someone else outside the room. He then returned, doing his best in their language. “This persona belonging to Aiba Masaki.”

“Aiba Masaki,” Sho acknowledged. “Thank you for speaking with us. We apologize for causing trouble to you.”

“Trouble?” There was more muttering. “You guests…we are being…um…you guests. Forgiveness requested.”

Sho stood by patiently, looking over and gesturing for Satoshi to get up and stand properly. He did so, nervously getting to his feet while “Aiba Masaki” continued chattering away rapid fire with other people in his own language.

“Sakurai Sho?” came Aiba’s voice again.

“Yes!”

“Sakurai Sho. Ohno Satoshi. Guests.” Satoshi wondered how Aiba even knew this much of their language to communicate with them. “Starting with we must cleaning.”

“Cleaning?” Sho asked.

“Yes, yes, cleaning. This place…this place is the clean place. Are you possible to understanding this persona? This place is the clean place. We must cleaning…we must cleaning…of guests.”

“You…need to clean us?” Satoshi muttered.

Sho’s eyes widened in understanding. He was probably very good at charades. “You mean that you have a quarantine procedure! We are outsiders. In order to enter your place, we must be clean? Am I correct?”

Aiba’s voice was really excited when he spoke again. “Yes, yes! Cleaning! We will quartering you!”

“Quarantine,” Sho repeated.

“Quartering?”

“Quar-an-tine.”

Aiba’s strange, breathy laugh charmed Satoshi quite easily. “Quar-an-tine. This persona is understanding of Sakurai Sho’s languages at current time. Do not have a fright, please. Also this persona is requesting you to…” There was more muttering. “…requesting you to not anger for the waiting. Is agreement with Ohno Satoshi?”

“I think he means ‘please be patient,’” Sho whispered for Satoshi’s hearing alone.

“Ah, thank you! Agreement!” Satoshi called out. “Thank you, Aiba Masaki!”

“Quar-an-tine,” Aiba repeated. “Not anger for the waiting. Good morning!”

The intercom went off once more. All he and Sho could do was look at each other and laugh.

-

A medical team in hazmat gear entered the room where they were being held after a wait of nearly two hours. None of the medics seemed to have Aiba’s tenuous grasp of their language, but they were patient, gesturing for Satoshi and Sho to follow them. Another member of their team came to collect their belongings.

The room they’d been held in was one of several in a long, well-lit white corridor. Perhaps this whole level was isolated from the rest of their community. At the end, he and Sho were ushered into another room where they were asked to remove their clothing and enter shower-like chambers. They did as ordered, the eyes of the medics widening a little when they saw the bandaging on Sho’s side, the bandaging on Satoshi’s chest.

They were sprayed with some sort of chemical inside the shower, and though it stung a little, he simply endured it if it meant that Aiba and his people might help them. The medical team then asked them to wait in another room, where they were able to relieve themselves and get dressed in clean clothes. They were provided with white clothing a bit similar to the thermal gear that had been in the pod along with soft slippers. But as Satoshi examined the garments, he noticed that the fabric was finer than anything he’d ever seen, even the clothing Sho had been wearing on the Miyabi.

It seemed that the people of Aiba’s community were technologically advanced, far ahead of even Kagerou. He could see how impressed Sho was, his fingers tracing down his sleeve as he marveled at the new clothing.

Once they were dressed, they were brought to an elevator which descended even further. Just how far underground did the people of Rakuen live? They were no longer accompanied by people in hazmat-like gear. Instead the people were similarly dressed in the white tops and slacks, their feet clad in the same slippers. It reminded Satoshi of the sterile environment of Kagerou’s domed cities, but on a simpler scale. Kagerou was cold and artificial. Even with the white clothes, the white corridors, the white rooms, this place still had a warmth to it. It was obvious in the nervous but friendly smiles of the people who didn’t speak their language but helped them just the same. It was obvious in the way Aiba Masaki had done his best to communicate with them, to reassure them that they had nothing to fear.

They were escorted to what seemed like a waiting room with simple furniture. Plush chairs, a sofa. A sideboard was covered in food that didn’t look all too foreign. A pot of rice, a pot of warm broth that smelled delicious. A salad with leafy greens and plump tomatoes. The greens were actually blue, similar to the grasses on the planet’s surface, but otherwise the texture and appearance was similar.

The staff gestured for them to help themselves and then left them alone. He and Sho dug in, grateful for something that wasn’t a protein bar. There wasn’t a lot of added seasoning to the food, giving it a blander taste that reminded him of the food he’d had on Kagerou, but it was well-prepared. Akatsuki people just preferred stronger flavors, lots of spices. He wondered if that lack of interest in intensity just came along with living in isolation, whether it was inside a dome or deep underground.

When their bellies were full, they sat together on the sofa in the room. He wanted to reach out, take Sho’s hand. Squeeze and reassure him that they would be alright. But then again, he didn’t know who might be watching. With all their technology, it was likely they were being observed closely. Their laser pistols had not been returned, neither had anything else in their packs. Perhaps it had all been destroyed as part of the quarantine procedure.

Sho looked over, smiling nervously. “How are you holding up?”

He leaned back against the couch cushion, shrugging. “If they fed us and clothed us and gave us those stinging chemical showers, I don’t think they mean any harm.”

“I don’t think they do either,” Sho admitted. “But we have to stay cautious, agreed?”

“Of course,” he said.

When the interior door of the waiting room slid open, a tall, slim man walked in, a device similar to a CompTab in his hand. There were a handful of people behind him, advisors from the look of them since they all had CompTabs and intelligent but wary expressions on their faces. The man had a kind face with curious eyes and a ready smile. He spoke to the people around him with certainty and confidence. Perhaps he was a diplomat of some sort, given his language abilities.

And the voice was easily recognizable as Aiba Masaki’s. There was none of the stumbling that characterized the conversation over the intercom. He gave firm commands in his own language to his people, gesturing a few times in his and Sho’s direction. When one of the advisors seemed to make a complaint, Aiba rested a hand on the woman’s shoulder, reassuring her with a soft squeeze and a gentle laugh.

He’d seemingly dismissed them, all of them, so he could talk to Satoshi and Sho all alone. The advisors departed, and Aiba approached. He and Sho rose from the couch, bowing respectfully.

Satoshi looked up, saw that Aiba had duplicated their gesture to be respectful. When he and Sho rose, Aiba seemed to figure that he could as well.

He nodded to them, gesturing that they could sit again while Aiba himself had a seat in one of the chairs, resting the CompTab in his lap. He pointed to it, smiling.

“The languages you speak of the Old Planet,” Aiba explained. “This is not the languages of us here, you are understanding?”

“You call it the Old Planet too?” Sho asked.

Aiba nodded. “In the languages of here, yes, it is the same words to be used. The educators of this setting, there is possessing of a…forgiveness requested, there is possessing of a words…archive. The words archive allowing this persona to do the conversation with Sakurai Sho and Ohno Satoshi. I study words archive as part of this persona’s occupation, but I am…lacking of regular usage.”

Sho turned to him. “They have a dictionary of our language.”

“Yeah, I got that,” Satoshi teased. “I’m not that stupid.”

“We are very grateful for your assistance,” Sho said, and they watched Aiba’s gaze dip briefly down to the screen of his CompTab. Presumably there was some translation software that was converting their words into something Aiba could better understand.

“Guests…there has never been the journey of guests to this place. Forgiveness requested, this place is of the calling ‘Chiba.’”

“Your city is called Chiba,” Sho replied, nodding in understanding. It sounded familiar to Satoshi…like some place from the Old Planet.

“City,” Aiba repeated, nodding with a smile. “The words are sounding appropriate.”

“Thank you for the food,” Satoshi said, and Aiba laughed in shock. “Huh?”

“Forgiveness requested,” Aiba said, blushing a bit. “Your words ‘food,’ it is in close resembling to word we possessing in Chiba as…um, persona’s anus waste.”

So apparently ‘food’ sounded similar to ‘shit’ around here. However long their visit was, Satoshi decided that he would have to remember not to ask for ‘food.’

He, Sho, and Aiba had a good long laugh at that. It was remarkable what could bring people together.

He mostly let Sho handle the talking. It was slow-going, with Sho having to repeat words so that Aiba’s CompTab could try and translate them on the fly. It was still remarkable how well Aiba was able to communicate with them, given that nobody on the planet was a native speaker of their language. All they had to go on was their dictionary, their words archive of the apparently “ancient” and “dead” language of the Old Planet.

Sho explained the circumstances of the escape pod, where they’d crashed and the troubles they had encountered on their journey. The cows and the attacking birds, the cold weather and the concerns about their beacons. For his part, Aiba explained that Chiba was one of only six settlements on the entire planet, all of them descendants of people who had arrived from the Old Planet centuries earlier. Isolated, their language had evolved and changed until it no longer resembled what it now was on Akatsuki or Kagerou.

Aiba knew that outsider science missions had come to Rakuen before, but they preferred their isolation. Even Chiba rarely communicated with the other cities on Rakuen. The people had lived on the surface in the early days, but had migrated underground due to the harsh weather and the deadly animals. Aiba considered them both “very having of the positive luck” for only having encountered the space cows and evil space birds. Aiba had given them the creatures’ names, but Satoshi was perfectly content to stick with space cows and evil space birds. He wasn’t too keen on learning what other nasty things were out there ready to chew him up either.

Aiba admitted that Chiba’s sensors had detected them a while ago, at least from the time they’d been in the forest and come into range. The only reason they’d been granted admission to the city was because of the approaching blizzard. The people of Chiba were wary of outsiders, but kind-hearted enough to not let two fellow humans freeze to death just on their doorstep.

“Do you know if any other outsiders have come looking for us?” Sho asked nervously. “If any ships from our planets have come to rescue us?”

Aiba shook his head. “You are telling this persona of the…you call the ‘beacon’ from the escaping pod? Forgiveness requested, Sakurai Sho, but there is not possibility of the finding you with such device. This persona deeply sadness to explaining that Chiba has technological in place to make such beacon unworking in very large range.”

“You deliberately blocked the signal from our beacon? All this time?” Satoshi cried. Sho gave him a sharp look, and Aiba looked rather embarrassed.

“Deeply sadness,” Aiba muttered. “Many years, common thought is we are not of the need to be discovery by outsiders. You are understanding.”

Satoshi shut his eyes. If they’d gone back to the pod, it wouldn’t have made a difference. Chiba would still have been blocking it. They’d have never been found there. Had Nino and Jun already come and gone? Were they stuck here now? Forever?

“Aiba-san,” Sho said, trying to ease the darker mood that had settled over the room. “We have no intention of causing problems for Chiba. We just want to go home. Is there any way you can get us back to our pod, allow our beacon to go through? We will not interfere with your city or your people.”

“My people are not of total certainty in answers. But I am authority persona, so it is of my answers to give.”

“Wait,” Satoshi interrupted. “Authority persona?”

Aiba’s eyes widened in understanding. “Forgiveness requested! I have the lacking of the introducing. My people, they are eternally chiding this persona for so casual. You, Sakurai Sho, you are authority persona of Kagerou, yes? You, Ohno Satoshi, you are authority persona of Akatsuki?”

“Just a moment…you’re a prince?” Sho said. All along they’d assumed that Aiba was simply the person in Chiba who was strongest in communicating in their language. But he was actually in charge of this place?!

Aiba checked his CompTab. “Words archive saying that I am of the higher authority persona. Your languages…your languages…word is to be known as ‘King.’”

Satoshi and Sho exchanged startled glances. They immediately got off of the sofa, kneeling down before him. It was now obvious that Aiba outranked them. And Satoshi had just yelled at him!

“Your Majesty,” they both mumbled, lowering their heads.

“Stopping, stopping,” Aiba said, setting his CompTab aside and joining them on the floor. He patted them each on the shoulder, his touch firm but reassuring. “Stopping.”

“We’ve been rude,” Sho mumbled.

“Forgiveness requested,” Satoshi added.

“Stopping. Get to the seat. Stopping this.”

Once they were seated again, Aiba looked at them with a serious expression.

“My people, it is a fright, the outside. Long timing in this place, you understanding? Rakuen, it is a difficult, but here we are peace. But when only peace, when only stasis, no chances for the knowledge. You speaking with this persona…this persona never has imagined it. This persona stumbling to speak your languages. Stumbling, it is not a wise Chiba when stumbling. Help to Sakurai Sho, help to Ohno Satoshi…it is a fright, but Kagerou. Akatsuki. Chiba. All of us coming the Old Planet, you understanding?”

“You’ll help us?” Sho asked.

“Yes. This persona wants not a stasis Chiba, but a wise Chiba. This persona helps.”

part five