chapter 2

A Chapter by rougey

(Mansaroro) the second chapter

Fifteen years ago, on the other side of the galaxy, on a small pink planet roughly the size of earth:
A small child awakens with a start, flashes of the hellish torture running through her head, a torture every child on her planet must go through in order to be allowed to live to be six. Today was the day the parents of those children would give them gifts in order to help them forget the torture they themselves had inflicted on their offspring. The child readied herself for the day in the manor of a depressed robot, then crept down to the dining area, dreading the upcoming meal for fear her parents would repeat the painful education she experienced the night before. What the girl found when she entered the dining area was her parents standing on either side of a small alien boy with proud smiles on their faces. “We are proud of you, child. You have proven yourself worthy to live; here is our gift to you to show our pride”. The girl’s mother beamed as she pushed the alien boy towards the girl. Unsure of how to react to the boy that was being propelled at her, the child reacted in the best way she could think of, she turned and fled back up the stairs. The boy turned to face the girl’s parents in confusion. “Well boy what are you waiting for?” the father said with a sparkle of amusement in his normally cold eyes, “go after her”. The boy back pedaled a few steps farther away from the girls parents then ran up the stairs after the girl.
“Are you sure giving her an alien as a pet is a good idea Tahir? She may become attached to it”, the girl’s mother asked, as they watched the alien boy give chase to their youngest daughter. “Quetzalxochitl my dear, she must become accustomed to the appearance of alien creatures so as not to show any reaction to them when she reaches the age of service”, the father said while gazing down at his wife. “Besides, the pet will only be allowed to live till she reaches her second marks”.
Meanwhile, the girl cautiously peeked around the corner, in time to collide with the quickly moving alien boy. “Wow, you’re head is hard” the alien boy said while lying on the ground and rubbing his forehead. “Sorry if I scared you back there. My name is Tamas, what’s yours?” the boy asked while helping the girl back to her feet. “My name is Mansaroro” the young girl said nervously while looking at the floor. “Mansaroro, pretty name, I shall call you Roro”, Tamas declared after some thought. “So can I call you As-“, Mansaroro’s query was cut off by her older sisters arrival. “So the worthless runt survived her first marks, I’ll bet mother and father went easy on you because you’re so pathetic. Ha, they gave you an even more worthless pet as well” Mansaroro’s sister laughed as she lifted Tamas up with one hand and threw him against the wall. “Tamas, Are you okay?” Mansaroro cried out as she ran to her injured new friend. “Enjoy your worthless pet runt” Mansaroro’s sister said over her shoulder as she walked off laughing.
“Are you injured?” Mansaroro asked with great concern. Tamas’s stomach answered before Tamas could and Mansaroro’s stomach rumbled in agreement, “I think food will cure me of my aliment, Roro”, Tamas said with a grin.
Mansaroro helped Tamas up and they ventured back to the dining area, they had left not too long ago, in search of food. There were two steaming plates of food on the table when they arrived, and judging from the stack of dirty plates, everyone else had already eaten and left for other tasks. “Well, shall we eat?” Tamas asked as he bowed dramatically to Mansaroro. Mansaroro giggled then raced Tamas to the table.
Tamas and Mansaroro became fast friends and were inseparable, when Mansaroro turned six years old her free time was drastically shortened because of the martial arts and weapons training she had to go through as part of her education, this resulted in Mansaroro being able to see Tamas only after her training. Despite this Mansaroro still spent all her free time with her only friend and would teach Tamas and practice everything she learned from her training, an action, unknown to them, if discovered would lead to both of their deaths.
The time seem to pass quickly for Mansaroro, for the first time she knew happiness because of Tamas, even though she did not much like the training she was forced to endure, she would pay complete attention to her training and try her very best but only because she did not want to make a mistake when she showed Tamas that days lesson.
On the walk back to Mansaroro’s house one evening just after Mansaroro’s thirteenth birthday they happened upon a conversion between Mansaroro’s parents that would destroy Mansaroro’s idyllic happiness. “She has grown too attached to her pet, she must not show compassion to such lowly creatures, we will have to kill it long before her second marks or that creature may adversely affect her training to such an extent that she will not survive her initiation.” Mansaroro’s mother voiced her concerns to her husband unaware that the subject of the discussion was hiding less then a foot behind her in a large carnivorous plant that the children had befriended when they were ten. “Very well dear, I will have the pet put down three days from now” Mansaroro’s father said, in the manner someone would discuss the weather.
Tamas spent twenty minutes calming Mansaroro down after her parents had left, “I won’t let them kill you Tamas” Mansaroro declared with tears streaming down her face. “I appreciate that Roro, but how exactly are you going to stop the king and queen of the Draconian empire from killing one pet?” Tamas asked with a slight teasing tone and a large grin. Mansaroro looked utterly crestfallen and started to sob again, the sadness from the possibility of losing her only friend was too much for her. “Relax Roro we have three days to think of something.” Tamas said consoling Mansaroro.
The following day, after fifty or so discarded ideas Mansaroro had an epiphany, “The space port!” Mansaroro said suddenly startling Tamas and making him drop the pillow he was handing to Mansaroro. “Care to elaborate?” Tamas asked, as Mansaroro looked at Tamas with an excited and expectant face. “We’ll sneak you onto a cargo ship an when you get to regular shipping lanes you can eject with an escape pod before they jump again.” Tamas smiled and nodded, “yes, that will probably work better then our “raise a carnivorous plant army and overthrow the Draconian government” plan, but you do realize we will most likely never see each other again.” Mansaroro nodded sadly “at least you will be alive” Mansaroro said, breaking into tears once again. “We will meet again someday Roro, I promise. In the Antilus system there is a planet that is a secret haven from your people, when you’re old enough to get your own ship meet me there okay?” Tamas said while hugging Mansaroro. Mansaroro nodded with tears still streaming down her face, “Well now that that’s settled how exactly will we be sneaking into the most secure facility on the planet?” Tamas asked, grinning in his usual manner.
Tamas and Mansaroro puzzled over this problem for the next several hours till Mansaroro realized that she was in fact a princess and could gain access very easily. Tamas bowed very deeply to Mansaroro “Shall we go dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?” Mansaroro stared at Tamas blankly, “shall we go to the space port?” Tamas rephrased after a moment. “You are so weird Tamas.” Mansaroro said as they left the palace for the space port.
Getting into the space port was no problem, Mansaroro simply informed the guards at the door that she had never seen a spaceship and wanted to see one, no one questioned Tamas’s presence as it was common knowledge that the princess never went anywhere without her pet. The number one problem was that neither of them had any idea what a cargo ship looked like, and if they did find one, how would they know where it was going. After wandering around for a few hours they saw a sign announcing the departure of a cargo ship headed toward the Arik’ed front lines.
Sneaking on to the cargo ship seemed easier then it should have been this was due to the fact that the guard was flirting with one of the ships disembarking passengers. Mansaroro and Tamas quickly found a suitable group of crates for Tamas to hide in then said their final tear filled goodbyes, “Remember Roro, the Antilus system, meet me there someday” Tamas reminded Mansaroro as he hugged her. “I won’t forget” Mansaroro sobbed as she hugged Tamas. They quickly ended their hug and Tamas hide inside the crates.
Mansaroro made it halfway across the cargo bay when she heard a familiar voice, a voice that filled her with dread, “Well if it isn’t the worthless runt” Mansaroro’s older sister strode into the cargo bay with her usual arrogant swagger “trying to help your little pet escape or something runt?” her sister said in a half joking manner. Mansaroro’s eyes widened slightly in surprise “so, I WAS right, where is that pathetic pet, runt?” Mansaroro’s sister asked as she eyed Mansaroro with a hungry and eager look. Once again Mansaroro’s eyes betrayed her when they unconsciously darted toward the crate where Tamas was hidden, Mansaroro’s sister smirked then drew her sidearm in one fluid motion, a weapon most races would consider to be a heavy weapon that one would mount on a vehicle, and fired it one handed directly at the crate Tamas had hidden in. Mansaroro tried to dodge in front of the crates when she saw her sister go for her weapon, but she was far to slow to beat her sisters perfectly executed draw. Mansaroro watched the shot arch toward the crate as if it was flying in slow motion. Mansaroro heard someone screaming, later she realized she was that person. The explosion rocked the ship, Mansaroro sunk to her knees as she stared at the fiery crater where her best friend use to be, oblivious of her sisters laughing and the crews frantic attempts to put out the fire.
After that day Mansaroro went through the rest of her training and daily life completely devoid of emotions or fear of death. When Mansaroro reached the age of sixteen she was forced to receive her second marks. Mansaroro achieved something no other member of her race had been able to match; she got her second marks without injury, this was due to her complete lack of self preservation, which surprised her examiners. In addition to receiving her second marks Mansaroro also received her adult name: Minaroro, and her first mission as a new soldier of the Draconian empire. With this assignment Mansaroro’s childhood ended and she would forever be Minaroro and a warrior for her race, or so she believed.