Disclaimer: I don't own Outlaw Star

A/N: WOW this took way longer than it should have but life and technical difficulties really messed up the personal release date I set for this. I hope everyone is still here. Again I just want to thank my readers and respond to them. Thank you, Isaac, for some great story ideas, I used quite a bit of them for this chapter, whenever your friend finishes his comic please send a link. To TheRealXenocide, I'm glad you liked how I wrote the action in the last chapter as it was a bit of an experiment for me. Last, to Rythim, I'm happy you found this story cute so far, I really like the relationship stuff I'm writing, even though I feel I'm really bad at dialogue.I had planned this chapter to be a bit longer but after it got erased I couldn't quite make it the same again. I apologize for this story being a bit of a slow burn, but I'm happy to say the next chapter will reveal some of this story's villains and have some action that I hope to make easily comprehensive. I also apologize for any lore discrepancies in this chapter. Again thank you to those that read, review, follow and favorite.

A/N (4/4/2017): Did some small touch ups and added a couple bits of dialogue that I had forgotten to put in. like I said It's late and I'm tired when I write these.

A/N (5/28/2017): I apologize for taking so long to post the next chapter, life has been so busy, but worry not I will not abandon this story. I will finish the next chapter, I plan for it to be a big one with some stuff really happening. I also touched up CH 1 and 2 again and plan to do that with the others if I feel it's necessary, I know your probably sick of that if you noticed it, but you guys deserve better.

Chapter 5: Survivors

Sometimes you don't know how precious something is until you don't have it anymore. For Jim right now that was water. While he wasn't hungry, his dry cold lips and parched throat emphasized his thirst. Thankfully the Outlaw Star does have a water supply built into it, most ships of this size do for kitchen and bathroom conveniences, but there was a slight issue. Considering how cold it was last night the water in the pipes had probably frozen over.

Jim sighed wrench in hand, one he had grabbed from the floor (ceiling) of his room and placed it on one of the pipes sticking out.

"well here goes nothing" he twisted with great effort not expecting any results, only to be surprised by water spouting out onto his face.

"YES!, thank you something actually went right" he cheered. He quickly grabbed the cup he took from the kitchen and filled it to the brim then twisted the pipe shut. Jim almost choked on the water as he gulped it down, he couldn't lie he really needed a win.

"JIM! I'M BACK"

Jim jumped slightly when Aisha suddenly appeared in the hallway and threw a heavy animal carcass to the ground.

"Dinner is served" She proclaimed with her hands to her hips.

Jim smiled as Aisha seemed pretty proud of herself "Aisha it probably would be better to prepare that...outside" While It seemed maybe Jim was being a bit too anal right now, he didn't wish for this ship to become even more of a mess than it already was.

"oh yeah, your probably right" she replied scratching her head and picked the carcass back up, when suddenly Jim yelped in surprise as Aisha used her free arm to bring him outside the ship along with her.

Seeing this planet from outside the comfort of the ship was a bit over-whelming for Jim. He had never seen so much snow in his life, the leafless trees and massive mountains was not a sight he was familiar with but as the sun was beginning to set, he had to admit there was a sense a beauty to such a sight.

Aisha was cutting out the insides of the animal she had killed, which Jim thought looked similar to that of a Terran wolf. She seemed absolutely jubilant despite the circumstances, she had popped out her claws to skin the animal, she probably intended to use the fur, which would explain why she was being a little more particular with the preparations. Although Jim wondered how she could be so happy considering the circumstances, maybe it was just because she was getting ready to eat.

"Did you find any clues to where Gene and the others are?"

Aisha stopped mid-cut to explain.

"I followed a trail a few miles out but it just lead to a dead end, I think someone took them"

Jim wasn't sure what to feel at that point, this whole situation seemed surreal. What if they were dead?

"Do you think it was the ones that shot us down?"

"No. I don't think the ones who shot us down had any intention of dealing with our dead bodies"

"that makes sense, considering the damage that missile did, It's obvious it was meant to turn us into a pile of shrapnel in space" Jim concurred.

"The suns starting to go down so we will have wait on searching for them some more until tomorrow"

As Aisha finished addressing Jim she went back to work on her catch of the day, when suddenly Jim noticed bloody stains on her green sleeves. Sure they both already had spots of blood and traces from wounds on their clothes, but Jim didn't remember their being any marks on her sleeve.

"What happened to your arm?"

Aisha seemed confused by the question, looking at her arm and noticing stains that she didn't remember being there before. She noticed the scabs on her arm looked like teeth marks and she was able to put together where they had come from.

"oh these. You can thank this guy right here?" She joked while holding two stomachs in her hand that had been detached from the animal. She had just finished cleaning the insides of it out, leaving the fur to the side.

Jim was worried about her but he knew kicking up a fuss would probably be more of a hindrance than helpful.

With the sun gone, all that was left was endless darkness with only the fire that Jim had made with some branches he had Aisha tear down. Aisha had to admit she was quite surprised to see the tech geek be able to make a spark to light a fire with just a rock and the knife she had found in her room. Their fire was the only source of light seemingly for miles. What had been strange was the lack of any animal activity in the area, perhaps the crash had scared them off or maybe they acknowledged Aisha as a superior predator and stayed clear, either way she felt she could cook her food in relative safety as long as they didn't keep it up for too long. whoever was chasing them was probably still out there somewhere.

Soon they were able to eat their food in peace. Jim wasn't sure what part of the animal he was eating but it tasted shockingly good. Aisha was glad that he seemed to be enjoying it, although he may have just been happy with having any food at all.

"So how's it taste Jim" Maybe it was just the shadows playing tricks on his eyes but Jim could have almost sworn that Aisha had a tail wagging, like a pet who wished to be praised by their owner.

"it tastes great Aisha, thank you for this"

A little bit of gratitude was the only thing Aisha ever really wanted from her friends, It's probably one of the reasons why Gene always angered her, due to him constantly refusing to thank her for anything. That and calling her an animal, which was not something Aisha appreciated. Jim remembered calling her an animal jokingly once and seeing the look of disappointment on her face, he decided that was not something he would ever do again. If Gene were here, he would probably be fighting with Aisha right now, Mel would tell them to settle down and Suzuka would just say how childish they were being.

While most would find that situation irritating and it was, to Jim that was just the sound of normal and right now Jim really missed it.

"we'll find them Jim don't you worry"

"what?"

"I can always tell what you're thinking and I know that you're wondering If we'll find the others"

"heh...guess I can't keep anything from you huh Aisha"

"Nope"

Jim relaxed and went back to his meal. Aisha was chowing down on the animals leg which made him wonder "By the way, What part of the animal am I eating?"

"the testicle"

"PTHU! GROSS"

The Ctarl-Ctarl laughed nonstop, falling on her back in the snow.

...

Soon both of them saw no reason to stay up any longer and decided to turn in for the night. After Aisha had gone to do something with the fur, Jim wasn't sure what, They decided to hole themselves up in her room, with the doors securely shut to keep the cold and wildlife out. Jim was slightly embarrassed seeing her private materials thrown around the room, When he saw a pair of undergarments he quickly looked the other way. Then came the subject of their sleeping arrangements, they only had a few blankets and miscellaneous clothes left around the ship; With Jim's small stature, damaged leg and a lack of fire, Aisha knew that Jim needed more than just that to keep him warm. She had already decided on a method to fix this but she knew that he would probably be too embarrassed to broach the subject himself, so she took the initiative.

"Hey Jimmy, come over here" At that moment Jim seemed slightly perplexed and came her way.

"What's up Aisha? Did you need something?" When suddenly Aisha draped her arms around him, brought his face against her chest and brought him down on the floor with her in a tight embrace.

"HEY! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?" He exclaimed with his voice slightly muffled by his feline friend's chest, while he struggled to free himself.

"Oh just settle down, you know very well that the best way to stay warm is through body heat" She told him with her head perched over his. She had kept the blankets next to her and used one hand to drape them over themselves.

"Besides you didn't mind me holding you like this last night" She said with an impish smile, to which all Jim could do was blush at her teasing.

At that moment Aisha could tell Jim was quite restless, she felt his heart beating rapidly in his chest and would probably not sleep as easily as she had wanted, so she thought of a way to calm him down.

"You know eating together with you reminded me a lot of Ctarl-Ctarl" she whispered.

"Why's that?" Jim asked as he had to admit he was intrigued. Out of the many planets the Outlaw Star had visited, his own crewmate's home world was not one of them.

"Every year on Ctarl-Ctarl, my people would have a sacred hunt and eat a gigantic feast in honor of the mighty god of Ctarl-Ctarl. It's meant to show gratitude for the great empire he bestowed upon us"

Jim thought that sounded quite similar to an old holiday his people use to celebrate thousands of years ago, he couldn't remember the name of it. He could already imagine the sight, Ctarl-Ctarl swarming a massive buffet table, eating with their bare hands and filled with familial joy. Family was something he was not all that experienced with, at least not in a traditional sense.

"Hey Aisha...what's your family like"

Aisha froze for brief moment, if she was being honest with herself she hadn't really thought much about her family, maybe she was scared to think about them, After all, what would they think of her now?

"My father is the greatest Ctarl-Ctarl I've ever known, he helped me become the mighty warrior Aisha is today. My older brother was always better than me at everything, he used to tease me all the time about it, but I knew he loved me." At that moment Aisha began to smile, only for it to fade.

"My mother hated me, I think she thought I was too weak."

Jim blinked in surprise. Aisha weak, such a thought to him was ridiculous.

"Why would she ever think that?"

"My mother told me I was too Naive. I remember when I was as small as you" –Jim tried to glare at her to no avail due to her tight embrace-"I was doing homework about the war between the Ctarl-Ctarl and the Terrans 100 years ago. I actually had Grandparents on both sides of my family serve in that war you know, but when I asked her why we weren't more friendly with Terrans after we signed the peace treaty? she laughed at me, called me foolish and said that we should have just killed as many Terrans we could instead of bringing shame on ourselves by groveling to those weaker than us."

At that moment Aisha began to realize maybe that was where her drive to be the best came from and perhaps why her shortcomings bothered her so much. She wanted to show her mother she was not the weakling she said she was.

"My father didn't share those feelings so they fought a lot, My people in general were divided about that war just like my parents, Although My father felt that in the end we made the best decision"

Jim was a bit shaken up by this information. He had never heard such seriousness in Aisha's voice and her description didn't exactly fit the warm image of her people he thought of earlier. Jim knew about the war 100 years ago but never really thought about it when it came to talking to Aisha. After all that war was before either one of them were born.

"You're not weak" he said with conviction.

Aisha actually found it sweet how he attempted to reassure her.

"OF COURSE I'M NOT, Aisha is The Strongest Woman in the Universe, as for my mother despite the feeble bodies you Terrans have, I have grown to see your usefulness" she giggled.

Jim laughed as well, Aisha always had that effect on him. To make him laugh at the strange complexities of life.

"Besides, if I acted like my mother I never would have joined you guys. Although Aisha would probably still be a commander, but who needs a job?" She continued to laugh.

Jim laughed even harder.

"you know I'm really glad you're here Aisha...Do you really think the others are okay?"

"Jimmy I know their okay, After all, we are all survivors, it's what brought us all together"

That seemed to be just the thing Jim needed to hear. Soon he began to feel himself relax, eyelids beginning to grow heavy. The covers and Aisha's body made him cozy and warm. As his thoughts began to dissipate, he heard the sound of a steady beat. It was Aisha's heart and right now he knew as long as that kept beating things were gonna be okay. They were going to find their friends and get off this planet and nothing was going to stop them.