Aisha walked out of her room with a yawn and gave her belly a scratch. She had gotten a great night sleep after her fight with Hojoma. Usually the energetic Ctarl-Ctarl, would stay awake for hours, twitching and rolling over as she tried to calm down and fall asleep. The fight had burnt all the energy from Aisha and she slept like a baby. A happy little hum followed her as she walked while trying to braid her hair around that big metal ring that she always wore. It was a pain to get on every morning, but Aisha thought it was her trademark look and couldn’t abandon it. Once her hair was firmly wrapped around the steel ring, she let it fall to her back with a clang. Stopping at the hallway mirror, Aisha struck a poise to admire herself.

“Looking good, Aisha,” Jim said as he walked up behind the poising feline. Aisha smiled and turned back to Jim. It was nice to see that he had forgiven her for her role in scaring John away. When Jim had been giving her the cold shoulder, Aisha had thought, this is it, Jim was going to push her out of his life. Whenever she did something that hurt Jim emotionally, like calling his race weak or pushing her taunting too far, she was sure Jim would get feed up and find a new friend. However, every time she screwed up, Jim would turn the other cheek and then forgive her. It made Aisha wonder how much she could screw up before he finally gave up on her.

“Good morning, Jim,” Aisha said politely. She wanted to test the water before trying to get too friendly with Jim.

“Morning yourself and don’t call me Jimmy,” Jim scolded.

“I didn’t,” Aisha deadpanned. Jim looked up at Aisha and she looked back down. A silence settled between them, but ended when they both burst into giggles. Their friendship was no longer in danger and Aisha was thankful. Without Jim’s friendly disposition and mature attitude, Aisha’s days just wouldn’t feel complete. She needed Jim to be following her around keeping her from screwing up if she was ever going to make it through the day without ending up behind bars for some stupid action. Aisha was even willing to admit she wasn’t good at thinking this totally through and needed Jim to back her up at most times. They were made for one another; Aisha had the brawn and Jim the brain.

“So, what do ya want ta do today?” Aisha asked at the same time as she walked beside Jim to the kitchen. She might not have any appetite for ‘terran food’, but Jim was not that picky. “I was thinking that you could turn on your computer and check for anyone with an outstanding warrant. Make sure they are yummy though, I hate yucky tasting bad guys; they always leave a bad taste in my mouth.” Aisha stuck her tongue out and furrowed her brow in disgust. A surprising amount of criminals on the run forget to take showers and let their personal hygiene go to hell. It was like they wanted to be filthy so she wouldn’t eat them.

“Actually, Aisha, we have prior business from yesterday that still needs taking care of.” Aiaha puzzled over what Jim could be referring to, until it hit her.

“We gotta track down that bastard Hojoma. He kidnapped you and said all those mean things about me. He needs to meet up with his mate again, on the other side,” Aisha said while she punched her fist into her palm for effect. Grinning savagely, she remembered that smug look on his face as he told her all those falsehoods about what being a Ctarl-Ctarl were all about. Sure, their race was known for it’s domination, but if that meant killing Jim then their people were just plain wrong.
“He can wait,” Jim said whilst shaking his head. “We got more pressing matters then him.” Aisha was once again dumfounded, who was more important then that son of a bitch Hojoma? Inspiration struck and Aisha realized what she had forgotten.

“Those freak show rejects, Chang Bang and Boom Boom. No one spits teeth into my eyes and gets away from me. I’d like to see them use those ninja tricks when I’m digesting their acrobatic Asses.” They’re another enemy that needed to get a beat down. Hojoma was a strong and able Ctarl-Ctarl, so it wasn’t that dad that she had lost him, but to let a few scrawny terrans get away was mortifying. Aisha needed to find them and show them what their fancy smokescreens and ninja moves mean when you got a four hundred pound mountain of muscles coming down on you.

“Aisha,” Jim sighed while cradling his head in both hands. “Aren’t we forgetting about something, or rather someone? Haven’t we forgotten about a missing person that could be in life threatening danger?” Jim was going to go on, but Aisha motioned for him to stop. She had figured out whom Jim was talking about and this guessing game was starting to give her a headache. Why couldn’t they play a fun game, like ‘find the terran criminal and hide him in your stomach’, of coarse there was no game called that, but Aisha liked to think she was playing it every time she went outside.

“So where do we start looking for John?” Jim nodded with satisfaction at seeing Aisha had finally figured out the game plan. They needed to find John soon, not just to protect him, but also they needed more information about the slavers. Their operation was way too sophisticated to be only operating in one shop. They needed to work out whom they were up against and fast. Their strong hold had already been invaded once and Jim doubted it would stop there.

“I’ve complied a list of possible places that and people that John knows. He mentioned a little of his back story before someone scared him away.” Aisha gulped guiltily and tried to make herself small, which isn’t an easy task when you’re nearly seven feet tall. “We’ll check them all out and see if they know where he is. A few of them have records, so if they become hostel, you can get some breakfast Aisha.” With delight, Aisha followed Jim out the front door and out on to the street. Even when they were working, Jim made time to make sure that Aisha was well feed and happy. Aisha felt extremely happy to have a friend like Jim.