Hello! This is yugirl-with-dragons, I'm new on this website! Some of you might have met me on Tumblr or other social media before... anyway, I don't do art only. I also write. I hope you will enjoy it! Special thanks to my friend Ky, who beta-read this, since English isn't my native language. This is an old piece, but I really wanted to have it published on my new account here. It's an extract of my Yu-gi-oh! 5d's Pirate AU. I took the freedom to adapt mythology and characters to this new context. This also means that a new story is soon coming out... stay tuned!
He had always loved the sea. When the sun went down, the waves used to become blue, pink, yellow, green, and red, and so too did the sky. He loved observing it while it changed color, shade by shade. It looked like a living creature, exhaling its last breaths before the stars of the night gently put it to its final rest, and the moon took over its reign of darkness.
There were some things that only a seaman was allowed to see. And those were the only little privileges his life the ocean could offer. Except for the people he cared about, he really had noting that could tempt an honest man's greed.
Light footsteps echoed behind him. Yusei didn't bother to look back. He could tell those were woman's shoes.
Aki sighed. She had been on that ship for days, but he still refused to talk to her. He hadn't liked when he found out there was a clandestine on board, and he still seemed to have no intention of letting that pass. A part of her knew he was right. He had raised his voice, but not for anger. It was genuine concern for a woman, who most likely had no experience in long-lasting journeys, who left her home sailing towards a dangerous destination surrounded by strangers. The twins were the only little reassurance she could count on.
She involuntarily asked herself how he looked when he was truly enraged. He really was a mystery to her. As a noble woman living in a world of courtly lies, she had learned to recognize people's true intentions and personalities from an early age, but for some reason he was impossible to read. From the first very moment they met in the city, he had barely spoken a word about himself, changing the subject or asking her questions instead. Not to mention, he hardly showed up on the deck of his ship on a daily basis. What was she thinking when she hid on his ship? Was it just a deed of insanity, an act of desperation that brought her on that floating piece of wood, in company of a pirate she barely knew? She wasn't sure.
But she knew one thing: if she could rewind time, she'd have done it again. Anything was better than her previous life. Anything.
She cautiously approached him. "Are you going to stare at the sea all night?"
He didn't turn his head. He only let out a single breath, straightening his spine and stretching his neck, as if he had kept that position for hours.
"It's captain for you."
She rolled her eyes. Yes, he was still angry.
"Are you going to stare at the sea all night, captain?"
This time, he turned towards her. Wow, they were already making progresses.
"What if I was?" was his dry reply.
"Don't you… get tired of it?"
"No. Never," he cut her short. She raised an eyebrow. She didn't look very convinced. He slightly tilted his head. "You don't believe me?" She shook her head. He shrugged and turned his body towards the sea again.
"Come closer and see yourself, then."
She carefully approached and placed her hands on the ship side and looked down. The waves crashed below the ship in magnificent foam swirls. The water was crystalline as she had never seen it. It wasn't just blue. It had the blazing colors of the sky. She gazed at the hypnotic dance of the waves like a moth enraptured by a flame. She was sure that if the ocean could have spoken, it'd have sung with a voice sweeter than a choir of angels.
"Hey, be careful!" she heard him shouting. His arm suddenly was in front of her shoulders. She hadn't noticed how much she had stuck her head out of the ship side.
"You don't want to fall off, do you?"
"Oooh, is the captain worried for me? I thought I wasn't worth a word."
He grunted. She was good at quick comebacks, but this wasn't how he wanted to make conversation again with her.
"If you want to know how it feels like to drawn, then feel free to jump!"
"Wow, you really are a gentleman. What if you tried yourself and then told me how it feels?"
"Why not!" he uttered. They both didn't expect it, apparently.
"W- what? What did you say?" she stuttered.
He didn't answer. He mentally cursed himself for the idea he had just had, but it might convince her to disembark at the first chance for her sake, maybe.
He slowly stepped some paces behind, as if he was about to take a run-up towards… the sea. Aki realized too late this was exactly what he was doing. She couldn't stop him as he grabbed onto the closest rope to jump over the ship side. But as soon as he stepped on the border of the wood, he was enveloped by a blinding crimson aura. Aki let out a scream of fear. What was that light?! Was she dreaming?!
It lasted just a handful of seconds: Yusei looked paralyzed in midair, as if time had stopped, his whole body trembling. A strange mark on his right arm burned fiercely, the shape of a dragon head engraved on his skin.
Then, the light converged on his heart, exploding with a gust of wind. Both of them fell on the floor with a thud. Aki frantically sat up and distanced herself.
"W-what was that? What did I just see?" she wondered out loud. Was she going insane? Was that vision real? What was it? Why did it come from the captain?
Yusei tried got up, as if his body was suddenly the double of his normal weight. When he managed to sit up, his mark was still shining. Aki couldn't take her eyes off that sight. She was sure to be sober and awake. And yet, she couldn't explain to herself what that mystic light was. Why it looked like a dragon or a crocodile, or why its light was as red as blood, or why it was on Yusei's arm. She tried to speak again, but no words came out.
"This is the reason why I'm looking for that map, Aki," he whispered, his eyes low. Then he got up. I've been cursed. This mark doesn't allow me to die. It knows that if I fell into the sea, I'd die. And when I'm in danger, it forces me to save my life, somehow," he explained.
"B-but how did you get it? And how would the map help you? I mean, this curse doesn't seem to be a problem… you're not eternally young, right?"
Yusei sighed. "Let me ask you a question. If you were told to choose between constant apathy or pain, which one would you choose?"
Aki stayed silent. She had an idea of what "apathy" meant. Her previous life was exactly like that. Every day was the same. She had nothing to fear in her big, empty house, that was true; but she had no reason to be happy either. It was a silent hell to her. No emotions, no feelings. She wasn't made to become a rich man's doll. She was made for life. She was rebellious, passionate, brave and strong; she wasn't the fragile flower everyone expected her to be. She couldn't afford to waste her days locked up in those cold, grey walls for the pleasure of people who didn't care about her. And that was why she had run away. But why was he asking her that?
"I think anything is better than complete apathy. At least pain reminds you're still alive," she murmured.
Yusei frowned. It was the first time he had heard such a thing, and he truly didn't expect it. He couldn't find the strength to reply. He just lowered his arm, then turned away. "You said you wanted to live as you wished. If I were you, I'd disembark as soon as possible, unless you want your wonderful new life to be very short."
She tried to reply, but he headed straight towards his cabin without listening to her. She suddenly realized the sun had set underneath the horizon. It was night.
Then, she heard footsteps coming towards her. She noticed the noise had caught the whole crew's attention, but everyone had remained hidden behind doors or masts. Crow was the only one approaching her.
"So you saw his mark, huh?" he inquired.
"Y-yes, I saw it," she stuttered, "but why does he have it? How did he get it? Please Crow, tell me, I feel so confused right now…" she begged him. He took a deep breath.
"Alright then… listen carefully girl, because I'm not repeating this story again," he stated, as he sat on a nearby wooden box. Aki got closer; she had no intention of letting go of the chance to know something more tangible about him.
"Now. He got that curse about 10 years ago. He was only a kid at that time. He was sailing with his father when they got attacked by a crew of pirates, violent and ruthless. It was a disaster. His father died in front of his eyes. The ship burned down and Yusei drowned. But then he was brought back by a mysterious spirit that gave him that mark. He didn't know yet what that meant though…" His voice suddenly became softer.
Aki looked puzzled. "Okay, hold on, lemme get this straight… he drowned when he was a child, and that mark brought him back to life? But why him? Why not his father or someone else?"
"Yusei doesn't know why he was chosen, but he once told me he wished he had died that day. He wasn't exactly sober when he said that, but… you know what they say, a drunk man tells no lies, right? And I honestly can't blame him. I don't know how he can be so strong."
"What do you mean by that?"
"He… he suffers a lot because of that mark, Aki. And I have no idea how he can deal with that every night."
Aki instinctively looked at the door of Yusei's cabin. So that was why he showed up so rarely?
"Sometimes I find him bent in two holding his mark in pain. He grits his teeth and shakes, but he never opens his mouth. I hear him scream at night, but he never tells me anything of his nightmares. He always bottles up his pain, but I'm terrified of the day he will reach his breaking point. The only thing I can do is help him to get rid of that curse."
Aki felt pity for him. She had no idea what he had been going through all those years. She suddenly remembered the question he had asked her and what her answer had been. She wished she had held her mouth shut. She had been cruel. Her suffering was nothing compared to his. And she dared to answer him like that. She lowered her eyes.
"And how did he get the map? How would it help him?" she quietly asked. Crow shook his head.
"He said his father gave him. If he finds the hidden island, he will be able to make a wish. Any wish. And he desires to be freed of that mark."
The sudden realization of what he had implied made her blood run cold.
"But wouldn't that mean… to die?"
Crow looked away. Silence fell among them for a few seconds. "Yes, it might," he finally stated.
"And you're helping him?!" she cried in disbelief.
"Of course I am! I'm tired of seeing him suffer like that! We've been friends since we were kids, and I owe him too much to abandon him. Same goes for Bruno. And the twins chose to help him too. Everybody on this ship agrees on this. Dead or alive, both are better than his current state."
It made perfect sense. It was cynical but reasonable. And yet, she had no idea how could everyone accept such a thing.
"But there must be another way…" she whispered, hugging herself. She bent her knees closer to her chest, her eyes blank.
A gentle breeze blew between them. It brought the cold air of the North. Aki trembled. She was scared. She could have never imagined anything like that. Could she help him? Should she have helped him? Maybe yes, maybe not. Maybe that really was an act of pure madness. At home, no one would have hurt her. No one would have known about those sorceries. She'd have been safe. Unhappy, but safe. Would it have been worth it? She wasn't sure.
"…there must."
She closed her eyes as she listened to the waves. They were the only ones that could understand her emotions in that moment. She had never realized how similar their nature was. The stars were already appearing in the sky, like little diamonds. Their white, pure light was completely different from the red glimmer that came from the opaque windows of the biggest, silent cabin. In the darkness of the room, he ran his hands through his hair. His cold golden earrings gently caressed his face bent between his arms, as a single tear rolled down his cheek. It would have been a long night.
"There's not."