The Adventurer’s Guild, this legendary group travels the 88 Systems in search of the secrets of the Cosmos. Everyone and their mother dreams of joining the guild’s Quest Corps, but very few make it that far. It takes strength, intelligence, and charisma to join their ranks. The job of a Quester may be an exciting one, but it’s filled with danger.
Within a forest on a lush planet, there was a young man in a red hat sneaking around, he’s part of a team that was locating a fruit. This man is Ryuu Aka, the Captain of Starbound. He was climbing a tree to grab the fruit, though he was at the mercy of a large hairy creature called a Bearbull. Bearbulls are fearsome creatures with large horns that are easily angered.
“Almost there, just need to reach further.” Ryuu said. He was accompanied by a man clad in a cowboy-styled outfit, he had an orange, gaseous body. He was a Hydrogenite, a sapient species with hydrogen-based bodies.
“Quiet down, you know these things can kill us if you make even the slightest noise.” The man said.
“You think I don’t know that, Kidd. The last thing I want is to be a red stain.” Ryuu had said. The Bearbull beneath the tree moved, seemingly awakened by the noise.
“Easy, they can hear you in the next system.” Kidd said. This was Kidd Bautista, another member of Team Starbound.
Ryuu was nearly there, climbing farther up the tree he managed to grab the fruit. “HELL YEAH!” Ryuu yelled, waking the Bearbull.
“Ryuu, I’m gonna kill you later.” Kidd yelled out. “Get the fruit out of here! We need it or else we don’t get paid.”
The Bearbull got up and looked around, spotting Kidd. Kidd pulled out his weapons, two shortened shotguns, from their holsters. The Bearbull charged out Kidd, who jumped up and side-kicked the creature. Ryuu slid down the tree, putting the fruit into his bag.
“I sure hope the others are having better luck than us.” Ryuu said.
“With Clef leading them, I somehow doubt that!” Kidd said.
Somewhere else in the forest, a young woman had been running at another Bearbull while clutching a microphone in her wings. Clef Zaolotl comes from a species of bird-like creatures, she’s a Falcon Avenix. She swatted back the Bearbull with her microphone.
“These damn things are everywhere! Where are Ryuu and Kidd, they were supposed to be back here ten minutes ago!” Clef shouted to someone.
A panicked man was climbing into the panel of a large spacecraft, he emerged with a wrench. This is Ryuichi Maguro, he’s an Aquax, a species of fish-like people. Most people just call him Doc though.
“You think I know what they’re doing any time they aren’t around! Controlling them is like controlling a wild Bearbull.” Doc was panicked when a Bearbull leaped at him. The Bearbull was launched back by someone holding a spear.
“You should allow Doc to focus on fixing up the Comet, we’re just supposed to be holding back these things.” Said this woman, this was Flora Park, she comes from a group of plant-like beings called Chlorophites.
“Right! But I’d appreciate it if you’d fix up the ship faster!” Clef said as she launched another Bearbull away, looking around panicked. “Where’s Scuttles?”
“I thought he was with you?” Flora said, panicked.
Meanwhile, Ryuu and Kidd were running away from a group of Bearbulls, far too many to fight.
“Where did they all come from!?” Kidd yelled, “It’s almost like we wandered right into a nest!”
“I wouldn’t doubt it! Getting this fruit wasn’t supposed to be easy!” Ryuu yelled. “Hey, do you hear something?”
Looking forward, Ryuu and Kidd spotted something small running toward them. It was a small purple squirrel-like creature, their friend Scuttles Violett, a Vilotan. He was running from a larger Bearbull.
“Scuttles!? What are you doing out here?!” Ryuu yelled out.
“I got chased off by a bunch of these things!” Scuttles yelled as his tail got grabbed by a Bearbull. “YAH!”
Ryuu took a small bag out of his pocket and flung it at Scuttles, it landed in front of the young Vilotan and several pieces of round candy poured out. Scuttles grabbed a piece and ate it quickly, his entire body turning into a round stone. He was pulled towards the creature and hit it head-on. Ryuu grabbed onto Scuttles as the three jumped over the Bearbulls.
“You should’ve stayed near the ship, kid!” Kidd yelled at Scuttles.
“I got scared! What was I supposed to do?” Scuttles shouted.
“We’re on the homestretch, we can fight later!” Ryuu said as he began to swing Scuttles around in his stone form, launching the Bearbulls away. The group eventually made it to the clearing that the ship was in.
“Guys, what took you so long!?” Clef shouted.
“It doesn’t matter, we have the stupid fruit! Let’s get off this rock.” Ryuu shouted.
“Just in time, because this thing is ready.” Doc closed the panel on the side of the ship and ran on.
The group started to run back onto the ship when Ryuu’s leg was grabbed by a Bearbull, he was slowly being pulled by the Bearbull. With no other option, Ryuu transformed his leg into a dragon’s leg clad in magenta-colored scales, kicking the Bearbull away and running onto the ship, closing the hatch. Clef ran into the pilot’s seat and started up the ship.
“Hold on, we’re taking an express trip to the Cosmos!” Clef hit a button on the control panel that shot the ship into the air, eventually hitting space.
With the ship in space, everyone had started to settle down after the fight. With the mission accomplished, the crew started to make their way back to the Exceed.
“I think I need a week off after all that. You guys should go find a new pilot.” Clef said.
“I need more than a week off.” Kidd said.
“At least our mission was successful, we’re gonna get full payment for once.” Ryuu said as he sat down, the noise of something squishing against his chair. Taking off his bag, he opened it to find that the fruit had been smashed as he sat down.
“Oh my god… Ryuu, is that what I think it is?” Doc asked. “It better not be the fruit.”
“Um… it’s not, not the fruit.” Ryuu said.
“I am going to kill you.” Doc said. “You need to think before you do things!”
“I forgot it was there, I was rather shaken by the fight.” Ryuu said.
“Did we do all that for nothing?” Scuttles asked.
“Surely the council will go easy on us.” Flora said. “They’re big Ryuu fans.”
“I don’t think I would say they’re Ryuu fans.” Clef said. “I think we’re running out of chances, we’re probably gonna get chewed out this time.”
“I don’t wanna get yelled at again, maybe we should make a sacrifice.” Doc said.
“You’re gonna get yelled at eventually you big baby.” Clef said, annoyed. “We’re all gonna be on the chopping block either way.”
“Stop yelling! It’s hurting my ears!” Scuttles cried out.
“Calm down guys! Listen, I’ll talk with the Council when we get back to the Exceed, okay?” Ryuu said. “Is that gonna be okay with everyone?”
“I wouldn’t mind!” Doc said rather quickly.
“Of course you would say that!.” Clef said as she looked over at Ryuu, worried. “Are you sure you want to do that? The Council can be pretty harsh about this stuff.”
“Naturally! If anyone is going to get a good reaming, it’s going to be the captain.” Ryuu said. “My gramps always said that you gotta take responsibility for your actions.”
“Good on you, Ryuu, your grandfather raised you well.” Flora said.
“I wanna make him proud, I just wish I knew where he was.” Ryuu said.
“I’m sure the old guy is somewhere, just a matter of tracking him down.” Kidd said, yawning. “From all your rambling about him, he probably doesn’t plan on going down without a fight.”
“You’re right, it’s no use fretting over now.” Ryuu said.
“Focus on what’s important, what are you gonna say to the council?” Clef asked. “Normal Ryuu isn’t exactly effective when dealing with authority.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Ryuu asked.
“You called Councilman Foosha a rat when you first met him.” Doc said. “You blamed it on not knowing what a Vilotan is despite Scuttles already being with us.”
“What about old man Windy, he outright said he doesn’t like you.” Clef said.
“They called you a child before!” Scuttles said.
“Okay! Point taken! I feel a little hurt by all this.” Ryuu said.
“How about you take a little time to go figure out what you’re gonna say.” Flora said.
“Yeah, I’m pretty tired anyway. I’ll go do that real quick.” Ryuu said.
“Be careful about what you’re gonna say, it’s like a hydrogen baby waiting to explode.” Kidd said.
“What does that mean?” Scuttles asked.
“You’d be surprised how often Hydrogenite young explode. They end up pretty okay afterward, I ended up fine.” Kidd said.
“I am going to exit this conversation, come and get me if anything happens.” Ryuu walks out of the ship’s cockpit, going to his room.
Ryuu had entered his room, tossing his coat onto the floor. Walking over to a wall, Ryuu kicks a panel in the wall that opens up to a bunk. Taking off his hat, he lies down in the bunk and just stares at the ceiling.
“SHIPE!” Ryuu calls out, a screen next to him turns on.
“Hello, Captain…” A robotic voice rang out in Ryuu’s room. This was the ship’s AI, SHIPE, Space Hopping, and Inter-Planetary Emigrator. “How may I assist you today?”
“Open up Captain’s Log… Date 229-4874.” Ryuu said.
“Loading…” SHIPE said. “Log is ready.”
“I’m a failure… we failed another mission, we were so close too!” Ryuu said as he looked at the bag on the floor. “I crushed the stupid fruit and now my entire crew might get ejected from the Exceed. Maybe the Adventurer’s Guild wasn’t what I was meant for.”
“Dispensing antidepressants.” SHIPE said.
“I don’t need anti-depressants you mug!” Ryuu shouted.
“Biometric Scans indicate otherwise. Might I suggest seeing a doctor once we return to the Exceed?” SHIPE asked.
“NO! I don’t need any of this… I just don’t wanna be a detriment to my crew.” Ryuu got out of his bunk and looked around the room. “What am I to do… what would Gramps do?”
“Hey, if you’re done arguing with the ship, we could use you for something out here in the cockpit.” The intercom turned on and Clef talked over it.
“What? You can hear me in here?” Ryuu asked.
“You accidentally turned on the intercom through the wall panel. Just get in here.” Clef said.
Ryuu rushed out of his room and ran back to the cockpit, the ship was facing a strange yellow planet with a gaseous set of rings.
“What? It’s just a funny-looking planet, what’s the big deal?” Ryuu asked. “It’s just like any other planet we’ve been to.”
“It’s not about that, we got some kind of signal coming from this planet.” Flora said as she bought up the signal. “It’s a very weak signal though, there’s probably nothing there.”
“Only one way to find out! Clef, tell me we have enough fuel to make it there!” Ryuu said.
“We have enough fuel to make it there!” Clef shouted.
“Then let’s set a course for whatever this planet is called!” Ryuu shouted.
“Clef isn’t wrong about having enough fuel.” Doc said.
“Good, I fail to see the issue with this then.” Ryuu said. “Off we go!”
“But we only have enough fuel to make it there. We don’t have enough to go there and make it back home.” Clef said.
“Besides, our comms have been buggy for a while.” Kidd said. “We gotta get those fixed, not sure why we waited this long.”
“Okay… we’ll go back to the Exceed, fuel up, and then find our way back here. Mark the location and set a course for the Exceed.” Ryuu said.
“On it Captain!” Clef started piloting the ship until the group made it to the Exceed, a large city built on a ship.
The ship is piloted into a landing bay on the side of the Exceed, it flies into a large room filled with a few more crafts. After landing, the crew gets off the ship to find a worker attaching a circular panel to the side of the ship. Clef runs over and confronts them.
“Hey! Get that junk off my ship!” Clef shouted.
“Sorry, The Council said to ground this ship for now.” The worker said. “It’s a direct order from Councilman Foosha himself.”
“I don’t care what Foosha says, get this thing off my Comet!” Clef shouted again, Ryuu grabbing her arm.
“Clef, calm down, he’s just doing his job.” Ryuu said. “Besides, I already said I’d go talk to the Council, we’ll get this boot off the Comet soon.
“Fine!” Clef looks at the worker, fire in her eyes. “I’ll get you later…”
The worker jogged off in fear as Clef walked over to the object on the ship. She was furious at this.
“You need to calm down kid, it ain’t a permanent thing.” Kidd said. “It’s not like it damages the ship.”
“I know, but it’s my Comet. I love this ship more than anything.” Clef said. “Well, more than most things.”
“That’s concerning…” Doc said.
“No it’s not, trust me!” Clef said. “Never get between a pilot and her ship. It’s an extension of myself.”
“You’re making this weird…” Scuttles said.
“I would suppose the Starblunders are good at making things uncomfortable.” The voice came from a human man with a large mechanical arm. He had a mean smirk on his face. “Fail another mission did we?”
“You know we’re the Starbound Squad, drop that daft name.” Ryuu said.
“Apollo… what brings you here?” Flora said.
“Oh just wanted to welcome you back on the Exceed. I presume you got that fruit?” Apollo said sarcastically.
“Well, I’ll have you know that Ryuu crushed it!” Scuttles said. “The fruit!”
“Scuttles!” Doc said. “You’re not supposed to say that!”
“I thought crushed was good, is it not?” Scuttles said.
“Doesn’t matter either way for me.” Apollo said. “Foosha is looking for you, he already caught wind of your astounding failure.”
“How did he find out?” Kidd angrily asked.
“Because your embarrassing captain’s log got saved to the public logs.” Apollo said as he walked away laughing. “Good luck, Aka!”
“What a prick…” Clef said as she looked over at Ryuu, worried. “If you want, I… we can go with you to see the council.”
“I already said that I’ll be fine.” Ryuu said. “Remember, I gotta take some responsibility as captain.”
“If you say so. We’ll be at the Gecko’s Tail whenever you finish.” Flora said.
“Walk of Shame time buddy, sorry.” Kidd said as the group sauntered off.
Ryuu started to make that walk of shame, it took about ten minutes until he was walking down a long hallway. He heard the murmurs of those around him as he continued to the council’s chambers. He finally made it to the entrance of the council’s chambers, pushing through. Upon entering, he saw the six chairs of the Council. Within the room sat a large Avenix, an elderly Aquax, a slim Hydrogenite, a scarred Chlorophite, and a human. The middle chair slowly turned to reveal an elder Vilotan, Councilman Foosha, the acting head of the Adventurer’s Guild.
“Thank you for being here today, Captain Aka.” Foosha’s imposing voice rang through the council room. “We need to talk about what happened today on Verdant.”
“You were tasked with retrieving a healing fruit from deep within the jungle, nothing else.” The Aquax woman spoke. “Where is the fruit?”
“Well, you see, I do have the fruit, just not in the form that you might’ve wanted it.” Ryuu said, holding up his dripping bag. “But, I heard jams are in now.”
“Aka, I feel you aren’t taking this very seriously.” Foosha shouted. “We needed the fruit intact for the client.”
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