"It's okay, man. I'm gonna chill, hermano. I'm gonna chill..."
It was an abnormally hot and humid day on the islands, and at that point nobody really wanted to be outside. To be outside meant within a couple minutes you'd be drenched with your sweat and the vapor in the air. The air you breathed out practically burned. Thankfully, it felt like it would rain loud and echoing sounds of drugged laughter and excited curses rang out into the jungle around the immense compound. Vaas slammed the driver side door of a banged up vehicle with a disgruntled groan before leaning on the vehicle and pinching between his eyes. Two other men leaped out, one stumbling with a recently inflicted purple and blue eye which he mumbled curses for as he strode shakily back to the compound gates. Obviously the patrol had not gone well, and the pirate leader's frustration levels were at an all-time high. Truth be told, the man who left the patrol with a black eye hadn't directly done anything wrong. He had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. 'He'll get over it.' On their drive, it had been discovered that Camp Murder was overrun by Rakyat on the same day they attacked Hoyt and attempted to take Vaas's compound. They didn't let up. Despite being horrible fighters, and being behind in technology, they had taken a camp far too close to Vaas's for his liking. Apparently there weren't many guards at all, the majority were sent to guard the main camp of the island. The thought of thankfulness didn't once cross Vaas's mind however, instead he felt his anger burn and fester in the pit of his stomach that his men were such fuckheads. Lifting his head to the sky with an exasperated sigh, he finally strode back into the enormous camp to figure out why his men were making such a huge racket.
Inside, he felt his curiosity peak. All the men, from Camp Murder and his alike, stood in a giant circle, pumping their fists through the air and screaming cheers and curses all around. His icey eyes glinted as they caught sight of Kai mingled in with the crowd, acting much more social and hyperactive than normal. His eyes narrowing, he quickly strode over, his boots kicking up dust.
"HEY!" he howled over the crowd, his voice carrying practically through the whole camp, hitting off of the wooden buildings and bouncing into every corner and crevice. The noise stopped almost instantly, save for the occasional mutter or cough. "What.. the fuck is going on here?"
His brow raised ever slightly as Kai sauntered over, her hands in her pockets and she held a grin on her face, laughing almost uncontrollably. "The men thought.. it would be a good idea to take two prisoners," her hand motions were incredibly exaggerated. "Aand.. make them beat the shit out of eachother!" A doofy and comedic shrug accompanied her final words and she turned to look back to the crowd briefly, then back to Vaas. "Theenn.. they started betting and gambling." She sounded drunk, high, and tweaked all at the same time. Come to think of it, most of the men did. While listening, his eyes moved from Kai and scanned the crowd, catching Derrek and Dante moving oddly and spewing words without much thought. "You should see it!" Kai perked up suddenly, dashing eagerly back into the crowd. Frozen in place briefly, the man finally started moving again, charging his way to and through the crowd, his fists balling up at his sides.
Through the crowd, he saw two prisoners, both women. They were covered in dirt and scrapes and bruises. One was a dirty blonde, her long hair in disarray and constantly getting in her copper eyes as she stayed in a ready position. The other was a light-brown short haired girl, obviously older than the blonde, but her face carried a fearful look as she too kept in a ready position. They obviously didn't want to fight, but Vaas could see they had no choice, and he wouldn't give them one now. Soon a crooked grin hit his lips as he watched the scene play out.
"Hermanas!" he called, his Spanish accent catching the captives attention immediately. There was nobody else with a voice like that, and all the captives knew it meant certain death. The fear showed through their eyes immediately as they paused to look to him. "Either you fight.. or you die." he purred, one hand slipping into his pocket, his thumb sticking out as he stood and watched for a couple more minutes. Finally the women lunged at eachother with a bit of probing from the fellas. The light haired female practically jumped on the other, grabbing and ripping on her hair and scalp while her teeth dig into any extremity she could get her hands on. Vaas felt a laugh slip from his throat as they both tumbled to the ground, no more than a dirty writhing heap on the floor. Vaas would play more with that concept later, but for now he had something that would bring much more amusement, and on a wider scale. He shuffled slyly out of the crowd, few noticing his absence, and quickly jogged to the other side of camp. He slowed and finally paused at a large cage of bamboo. Just like the hostages were kept in. Only within it, a golden and white beast sat in place of a person, dark stripes streaking its fur. Kararehe, a giant beast of a tiger that Vaas had raised and trained since a cub. He crouched in front of the cage, and the female tiger chuffed, her face rubbing against the bars on his side. He slipped his hand through two bars and ran his fingers through her thick fur. She was probably one of the largest tigers you would ever catch sight of on the island.
The leader gave the pet a smirk and put his face closer. "Asustarlos más que nada," he breathed before he jumped to his feet, cackling and quickly unhinging the lock and swinging the cage door open. Kararehe jumped to her paws, letting out a blood-curdling roar which would be heard far from the camp, before she stormed from the cage. Vaas watched her keep her claws sheathed within her toes, but she charged right for the group of men. After the roar, it didn't take long for them to realize what Vaas had done. Screams echoed off the walls, and Vaas leaned his head in his palm with his elbow resting on the cage with a smirk as he watched the commotion. Kara lunged towards men, but only to topple them over before moving to another. The men knew not to pull a weapon, or they'd face the worst pain imaginable, much worse than a swift tiger attack could ever be.
"OBTENER LOS REHENES!" he howled over the loud noise, and suddenly Kararehe whipped around, her claws finally unsheathing as her aim was directed towards the dirty hostages who now ran screaming, unable to figure out what to do or where to go. It didn't take long for Kara to down them, her massive jaws locking onto their necks and severing the life pumping artery. Within a few minutes, the golden creature was done with her escapade and trotted casually back over to her master, blood covering the tips of her toes and her muzzle. A loud purr-like noise emanated from her, and she roughly rubbed her head against the pirate's mid-body, practically toppling him over. Vaas finally caught sight of Kai, who sat idly on top of a roof, giggling to herself from the drama. She must have seen Vaas walk to the cage and knew instantly something was up. She hadn't been here long, but long enough that she would have heard stories. Vaas gave a faint sigh of contentment. That was a good way to ease anger.
Kai unsteadily made her way down from the building after the tiger was done rampaging, her heart thudding harshly in her chest. Yet she continued laughing to herself. Her boots finally hitting the solid dirt ground, she was beginning to walk back to her own room, but Vaas made a B-line and stopped her. Kai froze at a certain distance, her eyes widening a bit as the tiger still followed the mohawked man.
"Relax Chiquita," he soothed, his hand resting on the nape of Kara's neck. "She won't bite unless told to."
"Even then.." Kai murmured, her words still slightly slurred, and Vaas perked when he noticed something. For once, fear shown in her eyes. He felt his fingers dig deeper into Kara's fur unintentionally before he quickly released them, shaking his head slightly to knock him out of his surprised daze.
"You're sleeping in my quarters from now on." Vaas blurted suddenly, and Kai's expression said more than her words ever could. She clearly thought it was for a different reason.
"..Can I ask.. why?" she muttered in a slightly hostile manner, her arms loosely crossing.
"Yes. Because Camp Murder was overrun and these men aren't going anywhere," he began. "We're shoving as many as we can to a room, so unless you want to share a building with a dozen more men, I'd suggest you take up the offer." he snapped, his icey eyes burning Kai's for once, the ice extinguishing the fire. "You can move your bed and belongings into there, but it has to be by tonight. The men can't sleep outside again." Without waiting for a response from the female, he shoved past her, striding up the stairs to his room, Kara quickly behind, Vaas closing the metal door behind her.
'He just.. brought a tiger.. to his room..' the thought hit Kai, and she really didn't know what to think of it. No doubt the 'psychopath' rumors were true.
AUTHORS NOTES: hey guys! First off, I gotta say thank you to PirateGeek5550 for giving me the name Kararehe for Vaas's tiger! Second off, if any of you speak fluent Spanish, please correct my translations! My mother speaks Spanish, but for this chapter I was really unwilling to have to explain what it was for in order to ask how you say something XD! The first line is supposed to say something along the lines of "Scare them more than anything before" and the second should just be "get the hostages" xD Third and final off, my Far Cry DA account now has an image of Vaas and Kara on it x3 in case you missed it before, my username on there is SevenFarCries, since I cannot link it.
Happy reading, and please review!
