Chapter 12: Over The Hills And Far Away (1/2)

Vast. That was the only way to describe the endless void that is the cosmos. If one were to simply float along in the chilling emptiness, it would be easy to lose track of time. Hours would begin to feel like days, and days would begin to feel like years. If alone too long, no one could blame you for losing what remains of your mental fort.i.tude and succ.u.mbing into a harsh madness. Luckily, Naruto was never along. Not really.

”We are so lost.”

”…”

”…I know you can hear me, brat.”

”…please Kurama, shut up.”

”…”

”…”

”I told you this was a stupid idea.”

”A 'stupid idea?'” Naruto thought incredulously, ”If I remember correctly, you were the one that said, 'f.u.c.k it, we'll find a planet eventually!' Well guess what buddy, we f.u.c.king haven't!”

”We found four planets you little s.h.i.+t!” Kurama defended himself, ”…it's not my fault that no one was actually on any of them.”

”I hate you…I hate you so much.”

”I don't see why we don't just go back to Earth. At least there we can fight something. You haven't had a good fight in a year.” Kurama complained.

Naruto mentally sighed, ”I already told you Kurama, Earth is the last place I wanna go. Besides, we've had a lock on a large ma.s.s of life forms for a while now. Every time I activate my Six Paths Sage Mode the presence gets stronger and stronger. We're getting close, you just actually have to patient.”

”Who the h.e.l.l are you talking about being patience, Mr. 'I Gotta Get Home Now?'” Kurama asked impatiently, ”You're the most impatient person I've ever met, and that's saying something considering I was sealed within your mother for thirty years.”

”…I hate you.”

The two of them entered a moment of silence, neither of them saying a word as Naruto rocketed through the void. His body was covered in his Six Paths granted chakra shroud that protected his body from the natural terrors of s.p.a.ce while also using his mastery over wind to create a chakra incased breather of sorts, allowing him to safely travel along the stars. Naruto, for a moment, was allowed to enjoy a moment of peace.

That is until Kurama spoke up again, ”You know what I just thought of?”

”…what?” Naruto thought tiredly.

”When we eventually run into these 'life forms,' how exactly do you plan on you know…speaking to them?”

Naruto blinked several times, his mind replaying his tenant's questions a few more times before it registered completely, ”…s.h.i.+t.”

”Exactly.”

Naruto stopped his flight, floating for a moment as he thought, ”I can't believe that didn't cross my mind. It's not like there's some kind of 'common tongue' or whatever. That's stupid sci-fi stuff.” The blonde began to rub the back of his head as he tried to think of an answer.

Kurama sighed, ”If only you still had that magical necklace or whatever that ancient woman gave you.” The fox said suggestively, trying to drop the hint for his container.

”…yeah. If only.” Naruto said, rubbing his chin in thought.

”Yeah…if only you had sealed in a scroll a few years ago.”

”Yeah, I know. I'm such an idiot.”

”Yeah…you really really are.” Kurama thought to himself, ”You sealed it in a scroll you f.u.c.king fool!” the Biju shouted in agitation.

”You know…words can hurt.” Naruto thought pathetically. Reaching into the pouch fastened to the back of his pants, Naruto pulled out all of the scrolls resting inside of it. Fumbling through them, the ninja finally found the one he was looking for. Opening it up, Naruto found the seal he was looking for before shoving a small amount of chakra into, a cloud of smoke enveloping him. Flying away from the lingering cloud, Naruto looked at the Prayer Beads of Saraswati given to him by the Ancient One when he first arrived on Earth. Smiling at the memory, Naruto wrapped the beads tightly around his forearm, ”There, that should take care of that…I hope.”

-x-

”Captain.”

Turning his head over his shoulder, Stakar Ogord looked at his first mate, ”What is it, Martinex?” The man looked to be in his fifties, his greying black hair slicked back lazily along his scalp. Strapped over his body was a thick blue leather jacket with golden rings protruding from his shoulders, ”If it's Mainframe, tell her I'm busy.”

Martinex shook his head, his diamond resembling complexion s.h.i.+ning in the dim c.o.c.kpit lighting. Walking forward he spoke, ”We've come across something…strange.”

”Strange how?” Stakar asked.

Pulling down a tablet screen, Martinex swiped through several different sets of footage before selecting one, pulling up the s.h.i.+p's hull camera feed. Swiveling the screen over to his captain, the first mate presented him with what he found so strange.

Looking down at the screen, Stakar saw what looked to be a man on fire floating in the vacuum of s.p.a.ce. Tapping on the figure, the captain checked on his life reading, ”He's…alive?”

Martinex nodded, looking over his captain's shoulder at the anomaly before them, ”Not only that, but he's giving off some ma.s.sive energy readings. At first I thought he might be a Herald, but none of the energy I could pick up was cosmic in its makeup, but rather something I personally have never seen before.”

”Bring him aboard.” Stakar ordered.

”But sir,” Martinex spoke, ”What if he's hostile? Even if his energy isn't that of the Power Cosmic, he could still very well just be suppressing it somehow. I've never heard of any other being but a Herald or their master to be able to travel though s.p.a.ce in such a way.”

Stakar lazily closed his eyes for a moment, taking several seconds before saying, ”He's not.”

”Not hostile? Did you have a vision, sir?” The first mate asked.

The captain shook his head in exasperation, ”They are not visions, for the last time.”

”Right captain, of course.” Martinex said, silently rolling his eyes, ”I'll have Tiab activate the tractor beam at once. Are you coming along?”

”Yeah, I'll be there in a minute.” Stakar said, seeing that a call was coming in. Waiting until Martinex had left the room he finally answered the call, ”What is it Yondu? I thought I told you to never call this line.”

Yondu's face could be seen on the screen in front of Stakar, his face one of mild trepidation. Placing his closed fist over the left side of his chest in a Ravager Solute, the blue skinned pirate spoke, ”I know Stakar, and I…apologize. But I've heard some news that I feel you'd like to know.”

Stakar sighed in agitation, ”And what news would that be?”

”I've heard word that your score has been spotted on Hiberlac.”

”And where exactly did you get this information from?” Stakar asked.

Yondu hesitated for a second before saying, ”Quill and Kraglin heard it while taking a pit stop on a nearby port station.”

”Do you have his exact coordinates?”

The blue skinned pirate nodded, ”Of course.” Yondu seemed to have an internal struggle before saying, ”Stakar can we-”

”Don't ever call this line again Yondu, I won't warn you a third time.” Stakar said, steel in his voice as he cut off the feed, cutting Yondu off in the middle of his sentence.

-x-

A woman stood near the airlocked door, waiting patiently to be given the go ahead to open the door to enter and speak with the mysterious fire man. Looking at a screen that played the camera feed in the small room, the woman found herself fascinated by the man. Now that he was conscious and onboard the s.h.i.+p, he was no longer engulfed in the strange yellow flames, showing that he appeared to be in his mid to late twenties, though she could be wrong considering his face was covered by near shoulder length blonde hair that had a spiky mess too it, along with a thick beard that was a slightly darker blonde color. His clothes were rather strange in her opinion, with a black jacket that was b.u.t.toned up almost all the way, with the collar popped up and wrapped around his neck rather rightly. Around his right arm was a red arm band with an orange swirl in the center, along with another band tied around his left, only the clothe was blue in color with a metal plate in the middle. On the plate was a strange looking symbol that was scratched through the middle. His orange pants were tapered off by a pair of black combat boots, the heels and toes protected by visible plating. Upon even further inspection on the mystery man's face, the woman could now make out strange marking that were hidden for the most part by his fascial hair, with three thin lines appearing to run along both of his cheeks.

”Interesting.” The woman summarized, just as a loud ring rang out on the intercom above her head, letting her know it was safe to open the door.

-x-

”You've gotta be f.u.c.king kidding me.” Naruto mumbled, ”You take a nap for a couple minutes and this is what happens.” Looking around, Naruto saw that he was now somehow in a some kind of closed off metal room, with the sound of a loud alarm blaring in the background. Getting up, Naruto gave the room some further inspection. It was rather bland, with three of the walls being a dark rusted blue color, and the fourth wall being mostly made up of a thick looking cla.s.s window, most it being fogged up for whatever reason, ”I thought I told you to be on the lookout Kurama?”

”And I thought I told you to f.u.c.k off?” Kurama grumbled with irritation, ”Just be glad I kept the cloak going, otherwise you'd be here with your eyes popped out of your skull.”

”Touché.” Naruto thought.

It was then that a figure could be seen through the fogged-up gla.s.s. Standing at attention, Naruto prepared himself for whatever f.u.c.ked up looking creature was waiting for him. With a loud ringing sound and a silent swoosh, the wall flew upward, revealing that the figure on the other side was in fact a woman. Looking to be in her early twenties, her small frame was covered by a dark blue leather ensemble that consisted of tight pants and a loose jacket. Under the jacket was a black s.h.i.+rt that looked to be made out of some kind of wool material. The girl walked towards him slowly, her hands raised up in what Naruto could now confirm was the universal sign of coming in peace. She was rather attractive, with straight black hair that when down to her shoulders, with a face that screamed natural beauty.

”We don't mean you any harm,” The woman spoke slowly, ”Do you know where you are, who we are?” She finished by pointing at the emblem on her left shoulder, the golden piece of metal resembling fire.

Naruto shook his head, ”Sorry…uh, whatever your name is, but I have no idea what's going on here.”

”My name is Tara,” She said calmly, ”And you're in the Virgo System, we picked you up after spotting you out floating adrift.”

”And who are you guys…exactly?”

”We are the Stakar Ravagers Clan…welcome to the Starhawk.”

Naruto looked past Tara's shoulder to see a rather peculiar looking…thing. It looked rather humanoid in stature, but its complexion was rather strange, even to Naruto, ”Oh Martinex, this is Naruto.” Tara said, giving Naruto its name. Looking back at Naruto, Tara continued, ”So…if you don't mind me asking, what were you doing out there?”

”Taking a nap.” Naruto said almost dismissively, to busy studying the thing in front of him, ”So what are you made of exactly? I honestly can't tell if that's ice, diamond, or what. And if it is made of ice, how the h.e.l.l aren't you melting right now, cause it's like seventy degrees in here.”

”My skin is made up of a silicon-isotope organic crystal…not that that's any of your business.” Martinex said, looking at the strange being before him with mild skepticism, ”And how exactly could you survive out there long enough like that to 'take a nap?'”

”Trade secret.” Naruto said, still a focusing on how cool Martinex's skin looked.

”But-”

”Son, there's no point in questioning further. The kid isn't going to tell you a d.a.m.n thing.” A deep voice boomed behind them, causing all three to look at the source. Stakar stood there nonchalantly, one hand in his pocket while the other held what looked like a cigar to his mouth, ”I would like to know what it is you were actually doing out there. Not many beings in this universe can just fly around like that and survive.”

”And why exactly do you want to know?” Naruto asked, not really wanting to get into another situation similar to what happened with Fury years ago.

Stakar gave him a long look, ”I'm asking because I'm wanting to make sure I'm not harboring a Herald.”

”…a what?”

The two men looked at each other for several seconds, one in silent judgement and the other in confusion. Finally, Stakar spoke, ”You're not very bright…are you?”

”Oh I like him.” Kurama said with a chuckle.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, sighing in agitation, ”Sorry that I'm not fluent in your alien mumbo jumbo, I've only been at this whole exploring the Galaxy thing for a few weeks now.”

The four of them stood there for a second, no one really knowing what to say before a loud rumbling could be heard. The three Ravagers looked at the blonde, his cheeks blus.h.i.+ng and his hand gripping his talkative stomach, ”You guys wouldn't happen to have any food by chance, would ya?”

-x-

”So…you guys are pirates?” Naruto asked, the blonde s.h.i.+n.o.bi sitting next to Tara in what appeared to be some kind of dining hall. Stakar and Martinex had excused themselves a little bit ago to go talk in private about something, leaving the two to talk about what it was the Ravagers were, with Tara doing her best.

Tara shrugged, ”I suppose if you want to put on oversimplifying label on it, then sure we're pirates.”

”Well, what exactly would you call yourselfs?” Naruto asked.

”Honor bound mercenaries I suppose.” Tara tried to explain, ”Really, it depends on what Clan you belong to, and the captain that leads it. Some focus on the stealing aspect more than others. Others are hired guns like the Aleta Clan, or deal in smuggling like the Charlie-27 Clan. But all must follow the Ravager Code.”

”Which is?”

”No Ravager is without Honor, Duty Bound to serve his Captain. If you wish to Thieve, Thieve. If you wish to Smuggle, Smuggle. If you wish to Bounty, Bounty. But we do not Kill the Innocent. We do not ****. We do not Deal in Children.” Tara recited, having obviously memorized the code some time ago, ”Those are the big ones, but there are other things that are frowned open, but like I said before it really just matters on what Clan you belong to and who your captain is.”

”So what do you guys deal in?” Naruto asked curiously.

”That kid, would be Bounty Hunting.” Stakar said, walking into the room with Martinex following after him. The man had taken off his jacket, his chewed up cigar still sticking out of his mouth.

”We go after the biggest bounties we can find and turn them in to whoever will pay the most.” Martinex clarified. The hard skinned man around the table, shaking hands and greeting all his crewmates as he did. The dining hall was rather full, with such a wide variety of alien species that Naruto felt really out of place. Most had given him long suspicion filled glares when he entered the hall, but had backed down at seeing Tara walking alongside him. When the crew realized their captain had entered, every last one of them raised up their gla.s.s and chorused out 'Captain!'

Stakar waved his hand lackadaisically at his crew, this obviously being a common thing. Sitting down next to them, Stakar rested his elbow against the table top, ”So…what system are you from kid?”

”No clue.” Naruto answered, ”My planet is really far away from here. It took nearly four days of nonstop flying before I reached another planet.”

”Four days of flying isn't that long kid.” Stakar said with amus.e.m.e.nt.

Naruto took a big bite of whatever kind of meat he was given. The food was pretty good, though he was a little put off by the purple color at first. His mouth still full he spoke, ”It is when you're going at the speed of light…or at least I think that how fast I was going. Just know that I was booking it pretty good.”

The room was quiet for a second…the three Ravagers not really knowing what to say after hearing that. After nearly minute, Martinex spoke, ”How could you have possibly been moving at that level of speed?”

”You know that fire cloak of mine?” Seeing everyone nod he continued, ”Once I go into that form, I can do a whole lot of cool things, one of them being complete control over magnetism. All I have to do is propel myself from the magnetic field of say a planet or star, and boom. I can also fly through other means, but this is the fasted way.” Naruto didn't see any reason to not tell them. If he ever had to fight them, his Magnetic Release was only one of hundreds of abilities he had.

”That's actually very impressive,” Martinex surmised, ”Considering the fact that there are countless stars in the galaxy, let alone the universe, it wouldn't be hard to pick up on one and simply use its magnetic field as a spring board. And I'm a.s.suming that 'cloak' of yours protects you from the harsh environment of s.p.a.ce as well?”

Naruto nodded, ”Yeah, and I use a neat little trick with wind to help me breathe. I call it, Wind Style: f.u.c.k You I'll Breathe In s.p.a.ce If I Want To Jutsu, or FYIBISIIWT for short.” He finished with a smirk, enjoying the look Martinex was giving him.

”So where were you heading exactly?” Tara asked, changing the subject.

Naruto shrugged, ”I was heading towards a planet that I could feel had a lot of life forms on it and then go from there.”

”The only planet near here is Ego, which is has zero intelligent life forms.” Martinex informed him, ”The planet is considered inhospitable, you'd have probably died had you tried to go there.”

Naruto hummed, ”Strange, I know I could feel life forms on that planet.” Shaking his head he said, ”Oh well, there's probably some kind of dumb s.p.a.ce logic to explain it that would probably go over my head.” Looking at Stakar he said, ”Good thing you found me then, otherwise I might've been a goner.” He finished with a chuckle.

Stakar shrugged, ”It's not every day you see a kid on fire floating around in s.p.a.ce.”

”But that can't be the only reason.” Naruto persisted, ”You had no idea whether I was a threat or not, but you helped me out anyway, why?”

The burly man looked Naruto over for a second before shrugging again, ”My people are born with the ability of precognition.” When Naruto's face scrunched up in confusion Stakar explained further, ”It's the ability of having foreknowledge of an event.”

”So you can see the future?” Naruto asked, trying to wrap his head around such an awesome ability.

”In a way, though for me it's more of a brief picture of something. I can use it at will, but whatever I see is random, so it's not really all that practical.”

”So what did you see?” Naruto asked, ”When you saw me I mean. You had to have seen something to let a total stranger on your s.h.i.+p.”

Stakar closed his eyes, ”I saw you and Tara having…relations.”

Naruto's eyebrows shut upward in shock, debating in his head whether Stakar was just messing around with him, and then at Tara to see her shaking her head at her captain, ”How aren't you freaking out about this?” He asked, mildly surprised to see that the woman wasn't really reacting to the news.

”Because that's the problem with our ability. Fate isn't something that is set in stone, it can be changed under the right circ.u.mstances, such as the involved parties knowing about it before hand. Now that my father has told us about our possible…relations.h.i.+p, there is now a chance it can be avoided.”

”Wait.” Naruto said, looking back and forth at Stakar and Tara, taking note in the fact that they had a slight resemblance, ”You guys are…”

Tara sighed, ”He's my father, yes. Is that really that shocking?”