Tales of the Abyss fanfic, "A family of idiots"
Chapter 11
The real world
a/n: flash update, in honor of the TOA anime coming out I'm going to finish all TOA related stories before going back to anything else. Just finished my notes on the game (a notebook worths) and found and compiled all my notes so I'm ready to settle and publish. I've only got one day a week to write, so my time's going to be rather short, but I'll do what I can as I can. Kasan Soulblade
The cabin was tight, dark, and dark stained. Nostalgia had stolen the ship maker's good sense, and the ship's rooms had been made to painfully mimic the vessels of yore. Catching a whiff of tar and oil on the air the one they called "Cardinal" wrinkled his nose and grimaced. His keeper of the moment, the emaciated blue clad man, followed suit. Of the two of them his nose did the most wrinkling. Both man and boy had a similar gray tinge to their skin. A bucket, well used, with a crusted and a film of acidic smelling substance, stood between them. The mutual state of misery on their faces lead to a façade that both were captives.
A series of raps on the door later and Darithin strolled on, to the scene he smiled, enjoying the bends Lorelie seemed destined to throw his way.
Secret knock recognized York sheathed his dagger, the small weapon disappearing up his capricious sleeve so quick Cardinal didn't see anything more then a glint. Even though it was seen the glint's implications went unnoted, Cardinal wasn't one to enjoy sea trips since he was more sea sick then York at the moment. And… as if that thought was some probe to the kido's condition the façade of hate broke under the force of his suffering. Caridinal swallowed hard, once, twice, then made a pathetic croaking sound and reached for the bucket...
Ignoring Cardinal's suffering Darithin looked to York, his grin as wide as ever. "Havin' fun?"
"Hardly."
To that he had to grin his widest grin, and because it had to be done he went to doing it. York grunted, never seeing the humor of anything much less this. But that was York for you, typically stuck up Malkuthite. He stretched as the boy's wretching went on, rolling his head back and raising his hands. Darithin's thick fingers smushed against the ceiling without him having to get in his tip toes, but he was a large man who bypassed such nominitives as "massive" with the ease of those who had truely titanic structures. He looked down on the world, by a head and shoulders by most souls standards... At later dates others would compare him to the Black Lion -in height if not in strength- but those were later days, and with no comparisons to be made he stood as a giant against a world of small men.
"You should be greatful for York, Cardinal." Darithin said, beard bristling as he laughed. "Without York you'd be hurling up your guts and blood."
Wiping his mouth with a shaking hand green eyes thinned into familiar slits of hate. If gazes were blades... Well gazes weren't blades, so Darithin had nothing to fear until the kidod found a way to getting a knife. York looked bored, bored and annoyed, and full till stuffed with suffering. Ignoring the wicked glint to his leader's eyes the blonde thief was looking past Darithin to watch the door. Deadly mistake taht, damned dangerous mistake that.
"Really York, I dind't know you were interested."
Cardinal squirmed at that blantant taunt. Despite his misery the kid learned quick and the second he'd learned what York was he'd gotten twice as scared of the emaciated theif than before. Nevermind that York didn't do kiddo's. If he had Darithin would have gutted him and left him to the buzzards.
"Can I leave?" The blue clad man whined.
Darithin hummed and hawed to that whining. He scritched at his beard and looked serious and somber, like he was considering the fate of a Kimlasca lalvendear or something big like that, and York just looked up at him oozing a pathetic kind of tired.
"I guess." The leader of the Dark Wings growled.
Sprining to his feat faster then a fon tech trigger York was on his feet and out the door quicker than quick.
To that Darithin had to laugh, he just had too.
Green eyes slid from the retreating York to him, sharing the hate. Freely giving animosity to one and all. But gazes weren't blades so Darithin wasn't worried. Not a whit. He took his place in York's stool, his long limbs sprawling as he applied his rear to the seat with such vigor the chair creaked like it was gunna break.
"I bet you'd give your last hope of Lorelies' brightest heaven for one bit of information."
silence was Cardinal's answer... silence and a quick look away like he wasn't there. Cardinal looked to the place York had been looking. The door, an out, that's all that mattered in Cardinal. Having been in a few prison cells himself Darithin could sympathize.
That didn't stop him from playing with the hilt of the knife that was twisting in kiddo's guts though.
"You want out, not just off this ship and away from us. You want out from something bigger, something nastier then just a bunch of brigands and whores."
Avidly looking at nothing in particular Cardinal didn't speak. Nothing new with that, kiddo hadn't spoke once for the half week of this voyage. Not to him, or York, or Urishi... and only half words were offered to Noir.
"You don't get busted up the way you were for playin' by the rules." Darithin said complacently. The brigand leaned back, letting his eyes close half way. He considered the mirky dark wood world around him, bored by it all. Under him teh axel pitched and heaved, but the brigand had dabbled in sailing before and knew how to roll with the rocking. "Knife's in the left side of my belt, your right." Darithin offered helpfully as he folded his arms over his flat gut.
"W-what?"
Voice hourse from disuse, harsh with surprise the Dark Wing's Cardinal didn't have a very melidous voice, nope, not one bit. Darithin faked a yawn so he wouldn't laugh.
"My knife, the one you wanna take from me to slit my throat. Your right, on my belt. 'Sall yours. Course, if I catch you going for it I'll kill you messy."
To that threat a normal kiddo would have shrunk back, his eyes wide, his face palid. Kiddo though wasn't a normal kiddo though, his green eyes went distant, contemplative.
"Course, if you kill me, you got York and Noir, and Urushi, to deal with." Darithin reminded him, smiling as his eyes closed all the way. "And if you kill all of us you got the law to deal with, so killin' me might not be the best idea right now."
To that the kiddo growled, the bed creaked as the kiddo on it voilently turned away from him, and from temptation
"Just thought you'd wanna know how things stood, you know, in the real world, 'fore you got any ideas."
