Ello ello! XD It's an update YEY! I think o.O'
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"You're going to spend the day with Malik." Bakura barked, practically dragging the teenager along behind him. Ryou whimpered, his arms hurting, but didn't say anything. "Malik works over eighteen hours a day to keep this place tidy." The man smirked. "He'll certainly be wanting the help..."
"E-Eighteen hours?" Ryou breathed. "How on earth can you do that do that to him?" Bakura shrugged.
"He's my slave." The male slammed the door to the lower deck behind Ryou, the teenager blinking in the sunlight. "I can do what I like."
"That is so cruel." Ryou whispered, sounding close to tears. "You are so inhumane... How could you be so heartless to someone?" Bakura only arched an eyebrow, before yanking on Ryou's wrist, pulling the teenager to his chest. Ryou looked up into narrowed blood-red eyes anxiously.
"Simple." He snarled. "Like I said. Malik is mine. I bought him. Therefore, I can do what I wish." Ryou's mouth fell open. "Oh come on, you know how slaves are treated in the America's. He counts himself lucky."
"You did not pay for me." Ryou protested, struggling to keep his eyes locked with Bakura.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Bakura angrily gripped Ryou's wrists harder. "Would you like me to throw a few shillings on the smoking carcasses that were you parents?" Ryou froze, and his mouth fell open.
"You..." He slowly shook his head from side to side. "How.. How dare you say that!" He struggled against Bakura, but to no avail. "I demand you apologize and unhand me!" Ryou protested as he was roughly led across the deck, over to Malik, who was hauling a bucket of water up the side of the ship. "Let me go now! You are being horrible unfair to me!"
"Life's not fair." Bakura snarled in Ryou's ear. "Haven't you learned that yet?" Ryou gasped as Bakura pushed him away, and he fell against the railing of the ship, stumbling. "Ryou's going to be with you." The man raised his voice, shifting his gaze to the Egyptian. "Just split your daily tasks with him." Malik nodded wordlessly, his hands stilling on the thick rope. "Good. I'll be below deck." Ryou kept his eyes fixated on the ocean as Bakura turned on his heel and left, his books clacking against the salt-worn decks.
"Ryou?" Malik kept one hand on the rope, and placed the other on the whitenette's shoulder. "You okay?" He looked on in concern, Ryou shaking as he leaned over the railing. "Come on, you're going to fall off..."
"I partly wish to." Ryou whispered the words, his voice trembling. "I just want to leave this awful ship." Malik sighed, and withdrew his hand, returning to hauling up the water.
"I know you do." He murmured softly. "I would probably feel the same if I were in your position." Ryou blinked, and straightened his back, brushing tangled white hair from his eyes.
"You mean you do not?" Ryou tilted his head to one side as Malik managed to drag the water up to the wide of the ship. He lifted it over, setting it onto the deck.
"Every night I thank the Gods I am here, Ryou." Malik blew his bangs out of his eyes as he bent down to untie the rope around the handle. He still stared up at the younger teenager, whose mouth fell open.
"But why?" He was incredulous, shielding the sunlight from his eyes with one hand. "Why are you glad of your slavery?"
"I never said I was glad of that." Malik muttered. "I didn't have a choice in that... It happened a few years ago, when I was in south Africa and a trade ship came past when I was sleeping on the beach... Well, more of a slave ship."
"But you are not African." Ryou blinked, aghast. "Even I can see you're Egyptian." Malik shrugged, lifting the bucked in his arms.
"I'm coloured, Ryou. That's good enough. Do... Do you know what it's like, spending three months below deck in a stinking ship, people dying around you? Knowing that once you reached your destination, you were destined to spend your life in slavery in the Americas? Do you what it's like to stand on that podium and just watch as people battle to buy the rights to your life? Do you know what they do to African slaves in the Americas Ryou? The lynching, the torture and dehumanization?" Ryou nodded, a stricken look on his face. "Then wouldn't you rather work on a ship? To have a Master that genuinely cares for you and allows you to speak in your native tongue? Where you get decent food most of the time and a place to sleep?"
"Well... I suppose." Ryou finally muttered grudgingly. "But how would you feel, Malik? How would you feel if you watched your village, your whole life burn to the ground in front of you, your parents murdered, and then being forced to become nothing more than a pet for a pirate captain, and having absolutely no say in it at all?"
"Ryou..." Malik let out a long sigh as he set down the pail of water, resting his hands on the whitenette's shoulders. "You think you're the first boy Bakura's done this to? I've heard your story a thousand times before. And I feel for you, I do. I know you hurt. But the only thing you can do is accept it." Ryou shook his head violently, wrenching his shoulders from Malik's hands.
"I can not, and will not accept this!" Ryou ran a hand through his hair. "Think about what you are saying, Malik! I refuse to condemn myself to a life of servitude. It would be an insult to my lineage to do so." The Egyptian let out a long sigh, and picked up the pail again.
"Hold this." He muttered shortly, pressing it into Ryou's chest. The teenager blinked, saline water slopping onto his chest as he accepted the bucket. "I'll be back shortly."
"Very well." Ryou whispered, clutching the bucket tightly. He looked up at the sky, a bold, bright blue, marred with thick fluffy clouds. The opposite of what he was feeling. He looked around him, biting his lip. There were only a handful of people on deck. The rest must be downstairs. Three were playing a game with a set of dice on an upturned crate, while another was fiddling with the thick, heavy ropes that were lashed to the mast. Ryou gulped as his brown eyes followed the mast up, white sails billowing in the air. He paused as he stared at the crows nest on the very top of the mast, his heart sinking. Oh my. I would dislike being up there so very much...
"Back." Ryou blinked as Malik hefted a bucket in one hand, two mops in the other. "Take this."
"What am I supposed to do?" Ryou blinked as he set the bucket on the deck. Malik thrust a mop at him, and he blinked. "I do not understand."
"You wash the floors with it." There was a deadpan look on Malik's face as he stared at Ryou. "For Ra's sake..."
"Oh!" Ryou blinked, and dipped the mop into the bucket, biting his lip. "Do you often have to clean the ship?"
"Every day." Malik muttered, tying the rope to the second bucket and tossing it over the side of the ship. "It's what takes up most of my time. And the crew. We all work hard to keep the place in order. Bakura's a terrific captain. He couldn't dare let this place grow dirty. Thinks a dirty ship's the sign of a bad captain."
"Even a pirate ship?" Malik smiled ruefully, nodding his head. Ryou fought back a grin as he started to wipe the mop across the floorboards.
"Especially a pirate ship." Malik rolled his eyes. "It pisses the crew off. They reckon that we're cleaners more than pirates. They don't spend half as much time cleaning as what I do, neither." He muttered, hauling up the bucket of water. "Ungrateful bastards."
"So you are spiteful about being a slave on this ship." Ryou whispered softly. Malik stilled. "Why do you stay?"
"... Because I have nowhere else to go." Malik finally said quietly. "My mother died when I was born, and my father when I was twelve. That was why I left Egypt, to look for my sister and brothers. They're all the family I have, but I haven't seen them in years. When I turn eighteen, Bakura's promised that he's gonna let me go free, and he'll even help me find Isis and Marik and Rishid again."
"And you believe him?" Ryou arched an eyebrow, his arm muscles already starting to ache a little. "He may be trying to fool you." Malik shook his head, biting his lip.
"Nah. Not to me. Bakura cares about me, Ryou. I know he does. He's nice to me, especially when the crew isn't around. Trust me Ryou, you'll soon get special treatment too."
"I do not want special treatment." Ryou muttered bitterly, tearfully. "I want... I want..."
"What do you want?" Malik leaned in a little, keeping an eye on the crew across the deck. He started washing the deck as well, biting his lip. "Listen. Obey Bakura. Give him whatever he wants. React to his every whim, and he will reward you, Ryou. I swear it."
"Can he take me to London?" Ryou lifted his head slightly. Malik frowned a little.
"London?" He inquired. "You got family there?" Ryou nodded, biting his lip.
"I have an aunt and uncle there." He sighed, applying more pressure onto the wooden planks. "They could take me in..." Malik nodded slightly, staring at the slim teenager.
"Ryou, if you behave, and let Bakura do whatever he wants, he will give you anything. He'd cover you in diamonds if you wished." Ryou smiled slightly, looking down at the deck.
"But I do not think I can do that." Ryou breathed softly. "I am so scared of him, Malik. I know what it is he wants to do to me, and it just makes me feel so sick and scared..."
"Look, Ryou." He sighed. "I've seen a lot of people just like you beaten down and broken. They all had your innocence and grace, but not to your calibre. I don't think Bakura could actually bring himself to hurt you. Not badly."
"So I am special." Ryou murmured, his head bowed. "Well, I do not feel honoured, Malik. To be special among slaves is to be a mere commoner. Which I am not." The Egyptian groaned, screwing his eyes up tightly.
"I'm just trying to make you feel better." He muttered lowly. "Sorry." Ryou's shoulders slumped as Malik turned away, busying himself in washing the decks.
"Oh Malik, no." He protested. "Please, do not be like this at all. It is not what I desire." Malik turned around on his heel, surveying the teenager. "It is just... The shock of everything... It is a lot to swallow all at once."
"I know it is." Malik said patiently. "But if you don't clean up your act and at least pretend you like Bakura, he'll call you a lost cause." Ryou's eyes widened.
"And... Wh-What does he do to those he considers lost causes?" He dared to whisper, his hands gripping the mop trembling. Malik turned away, busying himself in the washing. "Malik?"
"You don't want to know." He muttered lowly, keeping his eyes downcast. "It's awful, Ryou. I know he likes the whole fighting buzz and holding people down, but it eventually bores him." Ryou blinked. "I think he just wants someone to care for him, or show him the same degree of feeling he returns."
"Th-Then why does he not take a wife?" Ryou inquired anxiously. Malik rolled his eyes, shifting slightly to mop a new patch of deck.
"Because he doesn't like girls." He replied shortly. "Never has. I dunno why. Maybe he has mother issues or something... Either way, it's just the boys he shares his bed with, and they never feel the same way, and it... I think it hurts him."
"You think?" Ryou followed suit, moving his bucket so he and Malik could stand a little closer. "You do not know?"
"I don't." Malik shook his head. "No idea. It's not the kind of thing you talk about, Ryou. He's screwed up, sure, but Bakura's a bloody good captain. He runs a tight ship around here, and everyone listens to him. He's been running this ship for damn near ten years, and no one's tried a mutiny, not once." Ryou pressed his lips together, looking away. "He's become one of the most feared pirates in Europe. He's achieved his dream in that aspect, but kinda think he wants someone at his side, if you know what I mean."
"I do understand you." Ryou nodded, dunking the mop into the bucket of water. "But I can not be that person. I do not feel that way about Bakura. I do not feel that way about men. Maybe, if I spoke to him calmly, he may permit me to find a passage to London to find my relatives-"
"Don't bet on it." Malik muttered darkly. "If you don't give him anything, he wont give you a thing in return. Keep your head down, do what he says, and keep your legs open. You'll be fine."
"K-Keep my what?" Ryou flushed a very dark red. "M-Malik... You can not be serious. I will never give myself to Bakura in that way, ever! It is so demeaning, so humiliating..."
"Oh well." Malik shrugged. "Nice knowing ya, Ryou. I hoped you wouldn't be a lost cause, but guess not..." Ryou's eyes widened even further, and his mouth fell open.
"N-No!" He bit his lip. "Are you saying Bakura would kill me for refusing to sleep with him?" Malik only regarded Ryou with a solemn look.
"Why do you think the other boys died, Ryou? Some of them stopped eating, a couple killed themselves, but most Bakura took care of for mainly that reason. Do you want to die?" Ryou's shoulders slumped in a long, long sigh, and he looked away, trembling.
"I do not wish to die." He breathed. "Of course not. And never by Bakura's hand. But I will not give myself to Bakura, I wont!" He stamped his foot on the wooden planks to prove his point. "I refuse to."
"Then good luck." Malik bowed his head, mopping the floor busily. "That's what's happened every other time, is all." He paused in his mopping, and looked up, staring in to wide brown eyes. Ryou clutched the mop like a lifeline, trembling. "Maybe this time will be different. Maybe Bakura will see you as special." He looked away, drumming his fingers on the mop handle.
"I hope he does."
Awh. Character developement! YEY! Hehehehehehe.
R&R!