The Day the Moon Shines
By: deep.Indigo
Chapter 2:
Kizamitsukeru
Kotoba ha Koori no Yaiba
(The Words I Engrave Are A Blade of Ice)
Ramirez was
still awake, long after the others had fallen asleep. It was difficult
for him
to sort through all that had happened, and especially...his feelings.
Although
he still remained unwaveringly loyal to Lord Galcian, he did admit that
Vyse
had made at least one valid point, that Upper Valuans
left a terrible first impression. Vyse... Ramirez's jade-green eyes
narrowed.
Why had he looked at the pirate that way? When he thought about, it was
if he
almost felt a fondness towards Vyse. He shook his head, as if to
dismiss that
thought entirely. That couldn't be it... Perhaps it was because he
was...unused...to seeing others like that...? Yes, that made more
sense. Vyse
was the enemy, after all.
That
returned his thoughts to the young rogue's offer earlier to let him
join the
group. Though the thought of seeing the world he had always dreamed of
and
wondered about as a child appealed to him, Ramirez wasn't quite so
enthusiastic
about what the implications of joining them might be. If he went with
them willingly,
did that mean he was betraying Lord Galcian? He felt torn between his
obligation of loyalty and his own dreams. There just didn't seem to be
an easy
way out of this dilemma.... If only there was some way to contact Lord
Galcian... Did he even have an inkling of what had happened to him?
When his
sword and dagger were found, Ramirez was certain that Lord Galcian
would
suspect that something had happened to him, since he never went
anywhere
without them, but...how would he link them to the Blue Rogues? Ramirez
knew
that Lord Galcian knew that he was far too powerful to be overcome in
normal
combat... He sighed. It was all too confusing. Glancing over at the
slumbering
crew, his eyes came to rest on Vyse. His heart skipped a beat as he
gazed at
the man's sleeping body.
/He
is
truly handsome.../
Ramirez
looked away, startled by this unbidden thought. /...I'm too tired.
The lack
of sleep is turning me into a fool,/ he thought to himself harshly,
trying
to crush the memory away. Ramirez shut his eyes tightly, but it was
several
hours before he finally drifted off into slumber.
Elsewhere, back in the Grand Fortress, Galcian, the Grand Admiral of
the Valuan
Armada, was most displeased. His newest Admiral and his link to finding
the
Moon Crystals, Ramirez, had gone missing, and his sword and the hidden
dagger
only the two of them knew of had been found abandoned—and Galcian knew
Ramirez
would never willingly go anywhere unarmed. He felt it must have
something to do
with the escape of the Air Pirates and the "kidnapping" of Prince
Enrique and
his ship, the Delphinus—Galcian was not so sure that Enrique, with all
his
radical ideas, had really been kidnapped—but there was no proof to
confirm his
suspicions one way or another. Some of the other Admirals had suggested
the
possibility that he might be dead, but Galcian refused to accept that
possibility without first seeing Ramirez's lifeless body with his own
eyes. It
was conceivable, Galcian mused, that Ramirez might have been taken
prisoner by
the Air Pirates, but that would mean that they had woefully
underestimated
their abilities. The best course of action, he decided, would be to
find the
Delphinus.
"Lord
Galcian?" The voice of one of his Admirals, Belleza, cut through his
thoughts.
"The Grand Fortress has been searched thoroughly, as you commanded, but
I'm
afraid there's still no sign of Ramirez anywhere."
He
nodded
upon hearing the news. "I expected as much," he replied.
Belleza regarded
Galcian for a moment before voicing her next thought. "Lord Galcian...
You
don't think he was taken prisoner by the Vyse and the Air Pirates, do
you?"
"It
is a
possibility, and not one we should ignore," he stated, turning to face
her.
Belleza
nodded. "Well, then, what are your orders, Lord Galcian?"
"I
want
patrols to begin searching for the Delphinus immediately," he
commanded.
"Understood,
Lord Galcian," Belleza replied, saluting. "I will also inform De Loco,
Gregorio
and Alfonso to be on the lookout as Vigoro and I fulfill your other
commands,
if you so desire."
Galcian
smiled coldly. "Make it so."
Despite the
time it had taken for him to fall asleep, Ramirez was up well before
any of the
others had awakened. Unable to fall back asleep, he had sat in a corner
and
brooded over his current situation.
Fina
awoke
about half an hour later. Seeing that her 'big brother' was already
awake, she
decided to talk to him a bit before the others awoke.
"Good
morning!" she greeted him, cheerfully.
Ramirez
glanced up at her. "...Good morning," he replied at length.
"...How are you doing?" she asked, her spirits dampened by his less
than enthusiastic
response.
"Fina, I've been uprooted from the place where I belong and been
tied
down amongst my enemies," he replied evenly. "I would think that the
answer to that question would be quite obvious, but it seems somehow
you disagree."
Fina
blushed, knowing that she should have realized that, and that her
desire to talk to her childhood friend had prompted the foolish
question. Flustered, she began, "I...I didn't...I just..." The Admiral
regarded her unemotionally, and that flustered her further into silence.
"I
would have thought that the Elders would have impressed into you not to
do or say things when it's obvious that you should not do or say them,"
he commented with a frown. "The next thing I know, you'll have divulged
to those Air Pirates our heritage."
The
blonde young lady's blush deepened, and bowing her head, she said
meekly, "I...actually..."
"You
told them we're Silvites?" he demanded, a trace of anger entering his
voice. Returning to a mere scowl, he continued, "Well, I suppose
considering all that has been going on, they would have found out
eventually about you...and considering you spoke last night as if we've
known each other for a long time, they also know I'm a Silvite as
well." He sighed, irritated but resigned, and shook his head. "I would
have preferred that they did not know, but it can't be helped now.
Still, I would have thought that you would have more sense than to tell
strangers something that
important. Or are you going to insist that you trust people you barely
know?" The young Admiral shook his head again. "No matter how well you
think you know someone, there will always be something about them that
you don't know. That's precisely why you can't trust anyone. Though I
somehow doubt you'll listen to me..."
"...What are
you going to do from now on?" she inquired quietly, trying to change
the subject; her heart rebelled at his words, especially since at first
she had been extremely
reluctant to fully trust Vyse and everyone. It wasn't as if she had
trusted them blindly from the start... They had proven themselves to
her by saving her, and despite what he said about them only doing that
to try to trick her, she was positive that Vyse and Aika were good,
sincere people who would not intentionally deceive anyone. However, she
knew that if she tried to tell Ramirez that, their conversation would
only degenerate into an argument, and she definitely didn't want to get
on her old friend's bad side.
"What do you
mean?" Ramirez queried, though he already knew what she meant.
"Um... I
mean...well, what are you going to do now? ...I'm sure that Vyse would
let you
join the crew, if you wanted..." she hesitantly replied.
The young Admiral stared at the girl he had grown up with steadily.
"'Join the crew'?" he
repeatedly scornfully. "Perhaps I haven't made my allegiances clear
enough,
Fina. Otherwise you wouldn't have such ludicrous ideas."
She
looked
away from him, clearly hurt. "...I...just..." she started to say, but
thought better of it, remembering the other day.
Ramirez
frowned and stood. "I am going to take a walk," he announced flatly.
"There's
nowhere for me to go, so you needn't worry." With that, he left without
another
word.
"What a jerk!!"
Aika's voice exclaimed as soon as he was gone.
Fina
looked
up, startled at the sudden noise. She relaxed, seeing Aika, who had
just
awoken, apparently.
"I
really
can't stand that bastard!! You're like his family, for crying out loud,
WHERE
does he get off being so rude?!" Aika continued to rant, getting out of
her sleeping
bag.
The teenaged Silvite sighed,
shaking her head sadly.
"You
know
what, Fina?! You should stand up to him! He's just walking all over you
because
he knows he can!!" Enrique and Vyse were getting up, awakened by Aika's
tirade,
but she didn't notice. "Next time he talks to you like that, say,
'Hey, you
jerk, I don't have to take that from you! Now you apologize right
now
before I get medieval on your ass!'!!"
Vyse
burst
out laughing as Enrique looked rather shocked at Aika's choice of
language.
Fina
looked
a little surprised at that, at first, but then she smiled. "Thank
you..." she
murmured. "I feel a little better now."
"Aika's got
at-ti-tuuude," Vyse intoned before laughing again.
Her
cheeks
turning pink, Aika snapped, "Vyse, you shut up!! It's your
responsibility to go
talk to Ramirez!"
That
made the rogue shut up. "My responsibility?" he repeated, mouth agape.
Enrique
cleared his throat, recovering from Aika's rant. "Well...you were the one who brought him on board,
Vyse," he pointed out politely.
Vyse
scratched the back of his head. "Right, right..." he acknowledged,
embarrassed.
"Well? What
are you waiting for?!" Aika demanded when he didn't get up immediately.
"Go
talk to him, right now!!"
"Okay, okay,
I'm on it..." With that, he rose and exited the cave. The Silvite
Admiral was not hard to seek out; Vyse found him near the pond where
they had bathed the night before, staring intently
out at the heavens.
"Ramirez?"
he called out, not wanting to surprise the man.
His
silver
hair twitched, as if he had glanced behind him. "What do you want?" the
Silvite
swordsman called back.
"Um,
hey,
I was thinking...maybe you shouldn't be so cruel to Fina... I mean, she
is
close to you, right?" Vyse asked him.
Ramirez
stiffened, then turned slowly and glared at Vyse. After a moment of
uncertain
tenseness, the handsome Admiral sighed irritably and ran a hand through
his
hair. "I suppose I should apologize to her," he muttered.
Vyse
was
mildly surprised. For once, Ramirez had agreed to do something...
The
emerald-eyed Silvite turned to Vyse, frowning. "All right, I'll
apologize to
her," he submitted. "Is there anything else you wanted to talk to me
about?"
Vyse
considered this for a moment. "Well... I know it hasn't been too long,
but have
you decided anything yet?" he questioned the other man.
Ramirez gazed
evenly and expressionlessly at the Blue Rogue, then turned that gaze
back at
the expansive sky. There had been a time in his life where he had been
impressed
with its boundlessness and fascinated by the opportunities for
adventure and
discovery that it offered. Seven years later, he knew better...that the
sky was
merely an empty void, that it only signified how disconnected people
could be
from morals and conscience, no matter how close they came to others.
The
thought was hardly comforting, but it at least reassured him that even
though
he had no choice but to stay with the foolish Air Pirate and his
companions, by
no means did it mean that he was an ally of theirs. "Being that I have
no means
to do anything else, I suppose it would be more convenient to travel
with you
as a crew member rather than a prisoner. However..."
"Yeah?" Vyse
prompted.
Ramirez
turned to the Air Pirate, his jade-colored eyes icy and slitted.
"However," he
continued,
his face a stormy mask, "never consider me your ally. My allegiances
are with
Lord Galcian alone."
Vyse
sighed
and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I kinda noticed," he remarked.
Ramirez made
a face at the irreverent rogue and looked away, back into the sea of
the sky.
Vyse
shrugged, and headed back to the cave. When he re-entered, Aika and the
others
looked up at him expectantly. Vyse pondered for a moment on how to word
what he
needed to tell them. After several long moments of fruitless pondering,
he
finally bit the bullet and said, "Hey, Ramirez is joining our crew. Is
that
okay?"
Aika
twitched visibly. "WHAT!?"
"Oh,
how
wonderful!" Fina exclaimed, clasping her hands to her chest happily.
"He gave
me the impression he wouldn't!"
Enrique also
did not look displeased. "I do not see the harm in him joining," he
stated
plainly.
Aika's view
on the matter was clearly different, however.
"He's a
homicidal psychopath!!" she
protested vociferously, and the others cringed; her
voice
probably carried a bit too well, and Ramirez wouldn't be thrilled at
her
descriptions of him. "And how do you know he won't betray us all?!"
"Well," Vyse
said, after recovering from her rant, "I can't know for certain what
he'll
do... We'll just have to trust him, right?"
Aika
growled
fiercely and throttled the air, but even she recognized when it was
pointless
to argue something further. "You're the captain," she finally relented.
Feeling
strangely empty inside, Ramirez sighed and turned from the view to the
forest.
It was pure insanity, agreeing to join Vyse, but... He shook his head,
dismissing that. He would simply have to put up with these idiots until
he
could get back to Valua. In the meantime...he supposed he was obligated
to
apologize to Fina. Ramirez sighed, irritated; why had he allowed
himself to be
bound, even with mere words, to the accursed rogue? He sighed again.
Why
couldn't things ever be simple? He simply didn't have a reason for
acting the
way he was.
Before him,
Vyse and the others appeared from out of the cave and approached him.
The
red-headed female rogue looked distinctly disgruntled, Prince Enrique
seemed
calm, and Fina appeared rather happy. Ramirez supposed Vyse had
informed them
that he was joining, although it seemed odd that Fina was so exuberant
after he
had been so cold to her...
"Hey," Vyse
greeted him. "I was just explaining to the others about what you were
gonna
do."
Ramirez
nodded, eyeing the others. "I figured..." he replied in a low voice.
"And how
have they taken it?"
"They're
right here, you can ask them directly," Vyse pointed out.
The Admiral frowned slightly before redirecting his gaze to Fina and
the others.
"Well? How
do you all feel about me joining the crew?"
"I'm
so
happy!" Fina smiled.
"I
have no
qualms with it," Enrique replied calmly.
"This has to
be Vyse's worst decision EVER," Aika grumbled.
Ramirez
sweatdropped faintly. "I see..." Shaking his head, he walked up to
them. "Well
then, I suppose we have no choice but to leave."
"Right!
Let's go!" Vyse smiled, waving everyone over to the ship and hoping
desperately
that Aika wouldn't continue to voice her dissatisfaction.
"I
still
don't like this," Aika grumbled once they were all aboard the Delphinus
and had
taken off for Esperanza. "What's keeping him from stabbing us in the
back?"
Vyse
sighed,
realizing her silence was too good to hope for. After a moment's
consideration,
he shrugged and replied, "Nothing, I guess."
Aika
smacked
him. "Vyse, I'm being serious!!" she snapped. "You have to take
responsibility
for him! You brought him home, so you're going to have to take care of
him!"
"Aika, he's
not a stray puppy!" the young Blue Rogue protested. "Don't worry so
much. I'm
not stupid—I know he'll try something sooner or later. I'm keeping an
eye on
him. He won't pull anything while I'm around!"
Aika's eyes
narrowed as she made a face at him. "Oh?" she asked dryly. "Then you
won't
protest if I say you should make him share your room?"
Vyse
almost
fell over. "What?! Share my room?!" he repeated. "Are you insane,
Aika?"
"Not
half as
insane as you for bringing him in the first place," the redheaded
pirate rebutted. She took on her smiling cat face and added, "Besides,
aren't you
keeping an eye on him? If you two share the same room, wouldn't that
make
'keeping an eye on him' a lot easier?"
The taller Blue Rogue
rolled
his eyes, looking quite unhappy. "That's something entirely
different..." he
began, but Fina, who had been quietly watching until then, finally
spoke up.
"I
agree
with Aika!"
'Almost',
nothing; Vyse did fall over this time. From the floor, he said blankly,
"Fi,
Fina?"
Fina
bent
over a little, looking a bit worried, but she nodded. "Ramirez and
I..." she
began haltingly, "...we've been mostly alone all our lives. Each
Silvite had
his or her own room, and if we wanted to communicate with each other,
we didn't
visit each other in person, we...well, it's a little difficult to
explain, but
it was very impersonal. If Ramirez shared a room with you, maybe...he'd
get
more comfortable being with other people?"
Vyse
smiled
nervously, shutting his eyes. "Um, are you sure it'd be a good idea for
him to
share a room with me?"
"Why
wouldn't it be? After all, he won't pull anything while you're around!"
Aika
pantomimed the exuberant young Rogue mockingly.
He
made a
face. "Ugh." Getting up from the floor, he ran a hand through his bangs
and
sighed. "What about Enrique? Couldn't Ramirez share a room with him?"
"That
wouldn't be right! Enrique isn't here to agree or disagree with that!"
Fina
insisted.
"And
here I
was thinking he was the unlucky one to stick with Ramirez on the voyage
to
Esperanza," Vyse mumbled.
"What was
that, Vyse?" Aika teased, leaning in closer to him.
He
made
another face, then sighed again. "Okay, Ramirez'll...stay in my room. I
guess.
It makes sense, seeing as I have the captain's quarters, and they're
the
biggest on the ship..."
Aika
blinked, surprised. /I was just joking, I never thought he'd
actually agree
to it.../
"Oh,
thank
you, Vyse!" Fina beamed, looking extremely relieved. "Let's go tell him
right
now!"
"Uh,
Enrique
is showing Ramirez around the ship right now, and I don't know where
they are,
so we should wait until they get back," Vyse stated quickly.
Aika
rolled
her eyes. "Vyse, just go tell him already."
Vyse
frowned. "Hey, I'm the captain here! Who are you to tell me what to
do?!"
"Vyse, GO
TELL HIM!"
The
Blue
Rogue didn't need to be told thrice. He ran out of the captain's
control room
and slammed the door behind him.
"Aika,
you're awfully forceful," Fina commented, somewhat surprised.
The
carrot-topped rogue laughed. "It's the only way to get that stubborn
boy
moving!" she winked.
Question marks almost audible, Fina
stared at her friend, nonplussed.
"Aika is a
scary, scary girl," Vyse muttered, stalking the corridors of the
Delphinus.
"Although, I have to admit, I was just stalling..." He glanced up at
the
ceiling and held a hand to his chest, feeling sick. "Ugh...I'm not
looking
forward to giving Ramirez the cheery news..."
"What news
is this?" Ramirez's voice asked darkly from behind him. Vyse spun
around
quickly to see that Enrique and Ramirez had just turned the corner he'd
passed
a few steps back.
"Um..." Vyse
faltered, keeping his eyes on the ceiling.
"Vyse?"
Enrique voiced, watching the young captain curiously.
Shaking his
head, Vyse crossed his arms and lowered his eyes to the other two men,
deciding
to get it over with and say it all at once. "Ramirez, while you're on
this
ship, you're to share my quarters," he stated.
The
Silvite
Admiral's jade eyes widened, then narrowed. "I see..." he said quietly.
"Who
decided this, and when?"
"The
girls,
and just now," Vyse responded promptly. "You can blame them."
"Mmph,"
Ramirez muttered, turning his head aside so that his silvery bangs hid
his face
from view. "I'm in no position to argue, so very well."
Vyse
sweatdropped at the silver-haired young man's unexpected pliancy. "Uh,
okay,"
he smiled nervously. "I'll show you where my room is later."
Ramirez
didn't reply. Instead, he wordlessly went back the way Vyse had came
back to
the control room. Enrique and Vyse shared a puzzled glance, then
quickly walked
after him, joining him just as he entered.
Although the
others seemed wary of him but otherwise stress-free, Ramirez was
certain he had
the onsets of a migraine. Why was he being made to suffer like this? He
swore
in his heart that, no matter what happened, Vyse would die by his hand
and his
hand alone.
Even
as he
nursed such dark thoughts, Ramirez set up a makeshift bed on the floor
of
Vyse's quarters. The options were to sleep on the floor or sleep in
Vyse's bed
with him, so of course the choice was clear.
"You
sure
you're comfortable down there?" Vyse asked, watching him from his bed
as he
brushed his hair.
"You
want me
to sleep with you?" Ramirez asked brusquely.
"Ugh.
Point."
"Hmph."
Vyse
slipped
the clear eyepatch off his head and set it on a table next to his bed,
then
stretched out and relaxed on the mattress, decked out in his pajamas.
"So...what made you decide to join the crew, Ramirez?"
"Temporary
insanity."
The
Blue
Rogue laughed at that until he realized the young Admiral wasn't
joking.
"Really?"
"The
choice
was to be a thief or a prisoner. Although neither choice is appealing,
at least
as a thief I can move freely."
"Move freely
so you can kill me?" Vyse asked jokingly.
Ramirez
paused, as if considering what to say. With a deliberate motion, he
stood.
"About that..."
Vyse
had the
sudden foreboding feeling he had said exactly the wrong thing. "What?"
The Admiral narrowed his green eyes as he glared down at him. "I
will kill you," he
told him
softly.
Vyse
sat up,
staring at him, and said nothing. He didn't know what he could say.
The
white-haired Silvite stepped over his bedding and continued, "Yes, I'll
kill
you..." With sudden and surprising speed, Ramirez slammed his left hand
just
past Vyse's ear onto the wall and leaned in close to him, hissing, "I
swear it!
And only I will be the one to do it,
Vyse. I won't let anyone else kill you..."
With
that,
he pulled away as suddenly as he had approached and turned his back to
the
stunned Air Pirate.
"Good
night," Ramirez stated nonchalantly as he laid down and drew the sheets
and
blanket over his slender body, as if nothing at all out of the ordinary
had
happened. He glanced over his shoulder and, with a slight smirk, added,
"Sweet
dreams..."
Vyse
didn't
get a wink of sleep that night.
"Vyse? Are
you all right? You don't look so good," Fina noted the next morning,
concerned.
"What? Yeah,
fine," the brunet Air Pirate mumbled, bags under his eyes. "That coffee
I see
over there?" he changed the subject even as he reached for the coffee
pot.
"Vyse,
you've already had three mugs of it!" Aika reminded him—even she was
getting
worried.
He
responded
with a yawn. "Couldn't sleep at all..." he muttered, pouring his fourth
cup of
coffee.
"Did
it have
anything to do with Ramirez?" Enrique queried shrewdly.
Vyse
twitched and almost dropped his coffee mug. Across the room, Ramirez
was
quietly sipping a cup of tea. Upon hearing his name, he glanced up
briefly, and
his eyes met with Vyse's. For a second, the two young men stared at
each other;
then, Ramirez smirked slightly and cast his eyes downward once more.
"...Not
really," the captain of the Delphinus finally replied. "Hey, how long
'til we
reach Esperanza?"
Aika
sighed,
irritated, but didn't press the matter—it would be better to talk to
Vyse about
it when Ramirez wasn't around, she decided. "Another five or six hours,
according to the map, provided we don't run into any trouble."
"Great..."
Vyse muttered, running a hand through his bangs.
It
was three
hours later that Vyse couldn't stand it anymore. With the excuse that
he was
getting antsy from being inside for so long, Vyse handed the wheel to
Aika and
dragged Ramirez outside the bridge, at the top of the stairs, and
turned around and
glared at
him.
"What," the
young pirate began angrily, "is your problem?!"
"I
could ask
the same of you," Ramirez replied icily. "Is there any particular
reason for this?"
"Hmm, I
don't know, maybe it's 'cause you threatened to kill me?!"
Ramirez
scowled, then smirked and chuckled. "I didn't threaten you," he
corrected Vyse.
"I promised you."
Vyse
sighed,
irritated, but he started to get calmer regardless. "Same difference.
How and
when are you going to kill me, anyway? You're outnumbered and unarmed."
The
silver-haired Admiral shrugged. "It doesn't have to be today or
tomorrow. I'm
perfectly willing to wait. But remember, I won't let anyone else kill
you. I
want that pleasure all for my own."
Vyse
gaped
at him. "Moons, Ramirez, you're a freak!"
Ramirez glared at him from under hooded eyes.
"Er,
I mean
that in the nicest way possible, of course," the Blue Rogue added
hastily. When
Ramirez's dark expression didn't change, Vyse grumbled, "Oh hell, don't
give me
that look. You started it with your death threats."
"'You
started it,'" Ramirez repeated derisively. "Are you a child? Can't you
think up
anything better than that?"
"Oh
come on,
it's the truth! And what do you have to kill me for, anyway? I
apologized for
everything!" Vyse protested.
With
a noise of disgust, the white-haired Admiral snapped, "You think just
because you apologized
for it that it makes everything better? You're an idiot, Vyse."
Vyse
rolled
his eyes. "I must be. I brought you with me."
"Hmph."
The
brunet
rogue frowned and sighed. This wasn't going well at all; wasn't he the
one who
said they should try to give Ramirez as few reasons to hate them as
possible?
"...I'm sorry," he submitted finally. "Okay? I'm sorry. Let's just set
our
differences aside for now, all right? "
"Pleading
for your life?"
Vyse
smirked. "Please. I'm doing this for Fina's sake. And I could kill you
a lot
more easily than you could kill me."
Ramirez
regarded him with a frown and a raised eyebrow. "Oh? Try it, then."
"Already
did. I had you unconscious, remember?" the rogue replied curtly. "If I
wanted
to, I could've slit your throat and gotten rid of you permanently. But
I
didn't. I let you live, and what's more, I've been cutting you a lot of
slack
for someone who works for the enemy. I didn't have to offer to
let you
join the crew of the Delphinus. While it's true that Blue Rogues don't
normally
take prisoners, you'd make a great exception."
The Admiral mentally noted that he also hadn't had to bring him
along at all in the first place, but rather than commenting on that, he
inquired, "...What
do you want from me, then?"
"I'm
not
asking you to like me or trust me or anything, no more than you have
to. Just try to be a decent
human
being and don't try to kill me, or any of us."
"But
I'm not
a human being, at least not one like you Arcadians," Ramirez pointed
out. "I'm a Silvite, as Fina so thoughtfully told you. And I'm going to
kill
you."
Vyse
rolled
his eyes, exasperated. "Aw, Moons..."
"...As I
said before, it doesn't have to be today," the shorter man stated
quietly.
"I'll make you a deal...Vyse. If, within one lunar cycle's time, you can
convince me
that you're not the same as other people, who selfishly kill to live
and
indulge their own fancies, then I'll forswear those words. But if you
can't..."
"...You'll
continue to wait for a chance to kill me, right?" the Blue Rogue
finished, considering
Ramirez.
"Correct."
The
reckless
young pirate grinned and pounded Ramirez on the back. "Good enough for
me.
Welcome aboard, Rami!"
Stunned by
his nemesis' enthusiasm, the pale swordsman blinked. "...What?"
"I
said
Welcome aboard!"
"No,
I
meant...did you call me 'Rami'?"
With
a
nonchalant shrug, Vyse replied, "Yeah. So?"
Ramirez's
expression darkened like the sky before a storm. "Don't call me
that."
The
brunet
pirate chuckled. "Relax. I was just joking anyway. In any case, I'm
glad we
worked out this understanding."
"My,
you're
trusting," the Admiral commented dryly.
"I
just
don't have the time to deal with loose cannons. If you just promise to
cooperate while staying on this ship as a crew member, we can put that
incident
behind us for now."
"Mm," the
young Silvite muttered in non-reply, casting his malachite green eyes
away. "All
right...agreed."
"Good. Then
it's settled."
NOTES: We own nothing except our ideas. Don't take our ideas.
All
properties of Skies of Arcadia/Eternal Arcadia [Legends]
belong to everyone it is to
whom they belong.
Ayu: The title of this chapter is a
line from Aiba Yuuki of Mugen no Ryvius' image song, Sacred Sacrifice. Full lyrics can be
found at my lyrics site, Campus
Lyrics!, the link to which you can find below.
Contact deep.Indigo: deep.Indigo@negativenergy.zzn.com
Contact Ianthe of d.I: ianthefira@rangersgrove.zzn.com
(URL: Ranger's Grove (rangersgrove.tripod.com))
Contact Ayu of d.I: ensoph@goddess.zzn.com (URL:
~ T H E :
E T E R N A L : M I N D ~ (theeternalmind.sterlingsylver.net))
