Chapter 2
Sano re-adjusted his position on the ground, noting that he should have done the smart thing and brought a pillow to sit down on before settling back in to continue his story. Sighing quietly to himself, he noted an odd tingling in the base of his skull, and deciding that it could be dealt with later, continued on with his story.
*****
The air smelled of bad wood, tinged slightly with the acrid odor of the crew and their various morning tribulations, the storm that they had pass through the day before still making the sky above look dark and menacing compared to the small craft chopping through the waves. From below decks, the sounds of a struggle were briefly heard, followed by the very eloquent and varied sounds of cursing and breaking things. Suddenly, Sanosuke broke through the open doors of the hold harrying a grey bundle under one arm and nursing the finger of his other hand. Stopping quickly to glare at one of the officers that had gone to investigate the commotion, he dropped what was revealed to be a young girl on the polished deck before calling out for the captain.
"Yo, Captain-san, I found a rodent below decks, whadda want me to do with it?" Sano yelled out loud enough for the no doubt hung over captain to get rattled over.
"What in kami's name you bellering about you idiot?" Came the captain highly annoyed response as he staggered out of his cabin, half dressed and obviously hurting from the little "drinking game" he and several officers had the night before. "Same thing we do with all rat's, skin em and eat... oh... that kinda rat." Noting the age, and the gender of our little guest, the captain came to a quick conclusion on the matter.
"Throw her overboard, or give her to me so I can." The captain slyly said, an odd and familar gleam in his eye.
"Nope, can't do that for ya, sorry." I quickly fired back, making sure not to take my eyes off him, the challenge plain in my tone that he was NOT going to do what I thought he was going to do to that little girl so long as I had breath.
The captain, thinking that I was still just a stupid uncivilized crook running from the law responded in a tone that set my blood boiling. "She is an obvious stow away, on MY ship, and I will, and can, do what I want. Got it, or do you wanna go overboard WITH her? If not, Give. Her. Here."
"Like I said, buddy, not gonna give her up to you. Got it? As for throwing ME over the side with her, well, I don't think that words quite describe what I would do to your overy-ripe melon of a head if you try the way that my fists can." With that, I grabbed one of the oak deck rails and gently squeezed it, the heavy sound of splintering wood crashing over the stunned crew like so many waves.
The captain, facing a slightly bigger shark than he was used to, quickly backed down in the face of the imminent pain that I was threatening, and muttered under his breath, "Fine, but you need to take care of the little brat, and she gets half your rations!" before scuttling back into his quarters to brood. I quickly made eye contact with the group of cowed sailors remaining after my little impromtu re-evaluation of the humanity on the ship before grabbing my now young and stunned charge under my arm again and traipsing(?) back below decks.
*****
"Okay. The Rules. One. No hitting," I explained to her after stopping her third attempt to strike me with random things lying around the hold.
"Two, you share my food, you help with my chores, got it?" I sidestepped to avoid a half hearted lunge with a wooden hook, quickly grabbing her wrists and forcing her to look at me.
"Three, and this is the most import...." I cut myself off after getting a god look at her hands for the first time that night. The left one looked fine, smooth and clean like a child's should. But the right was covered in blood, in fact, was bleeding freely from a long gash along the middle pads of her fingers. She must have done that when she grabbed that shard of pottery, I thought. Coming to a quick desicion, I grabbed her around her waist, threw her over my shoulder, and carried her over to one of the kegs of fresh water and alcohol that the ship carried for long sea voyages.
"Put your hands in this basin, and clean them up," I commanded.
"No, you're not gonna make me!" Boy some people were stubborn.
"Look, you little... shorty.... if you don't put your hands in there to clean them up, I'm gonna push your HEAD in there until you stop arguing." Obviously something in my expression broke through the shell of bullishness the girl had, and she slowly dipped her hands into the water.....
*****
"Trust me Kenshin, had I known the trouble that little girl was gonna get me in, I would have never, ever gotten involved in her life. I later found out that her name was Chisai, and to how she got on board, I still have no clue. All I knew at that point, I was getting less rations, less sleep, more annoyed, and deeper in shit than I really needed to be. You two know me best.. what ususally happens when I get cranky? Yup, the crew found out the next morning....."
*****
Tsubame, still quietly evesdropping on Sanosuke, had a hard time controlling the urge to laugh. The little girl he described reminded her so much of Yahiko at that age it was all she could do to contain her amusement. She dimly realized that she was going to be quite late for work today, but quickly sqaushed the idea behind a wall of determination to find out what had happened to Sano over the last ten years. Other than the occasion, brief letter or post card, he had been a complete blank in the minds of his friends. Finally, here, he was baring his story, though he didn't know anyone was listening in. Though, by looking at the gathering clouds overhead, she could tell that it was going to rain soon. Coming to a descion, Tsubame quickly stood up and coughed gently to get Sano's attention....
To be Continued.
Authors Notes:
Pre readers are reqested. Drop line to bio_nic80@yahoo.com
Jeremy Bennett
Sano re-adjusted his position on the ground, noting that he should have done the smart thing and brought a pillow to sit down on before settling back in to continue his story. Sighing quietly to himself, he noted an odd tingling in the base of his skull, and deciding that it could be dealt with later, continued on with his story.
*****
The air smelled of bad wood, tinged slightly with the acrid odor of the crew and their various morning tribulations, the storm that they had pass through the day before still making the sky above look dark and menacing compared to the small craft chopping through the waves. From below decks, the sounds of a struggle were briefly heard, followed by the very eloquent and varied sounds of cursing and breaking things. Suddenly, Sanosuke broke through the open doors of the hold harrying a grey bundle under one arm and nursing the finger of his other hand. Stopping quickly to glare at one of the officers that had gone to investigate the commotion, he dropped what was revealed to be a young girl on the polished deck before calling out for the captain.
"Yo, Captain-san, I found a rodent below decks, whadda want me to do with it?" Sano yelled out loud enough for the no doubt hung over captain to get rattled over.
"What in kami's name you bellering about you idiot?" Came the captain highly annoyed response as he staggered out of his cabin, half dressed and obviously hurting from the little "drinking game" he and several officers had the night before. "Same thing we do with all rat's, skin em and eat... oh... that kinda rat." Noting the age, and the gender of our little guest, the captain came to a quick conclusion on the matter.
"Throw her overboard, or give her to me so I can." The captain slyly said, an odd and familar gleam in his eye.
"Nope, can't do that for ya, sorry." I quickly fired back, making sure not to take my eyes off him, the challenge plain in my tone that he was NOT going to do what I thought he was going to do to that little girl so long as I had breath.
The captain, thinking that I was still just a stupid uncivilized crook running from the law responded in a tone that set my blood boiling. "She is an obvious stow away, on MY ship, and I will, and can, do what I want. Got it, or do you wanna go overboard WITH her? If not, Give. Her. Here."
"Like I said, buddy, not gonna give her up to you. Got it? As for throwing ME over the side with her, well, I don't think that words quite describe what I would do to your overy-ripe melon of a head if you try the way that my fists can." With that, I grabbed one of the oak deck rails and gently squeezed it, the heavy sound of splintering wood crashing over the stunned crew like so many waves.
The captain, facing a slightly bigger shark than he was used to, quickly backed down in the face of the imminent pain that I was threatening, and muttered under his breath, "Fine, but you need to take care of the little brat, and she gets half your rations!" before scuttling back into his quarters to brood. I quickly made eye contact with the group of cowed sailors remaining after my little impromtu re-evaluation of the humanity on the ship before grabbing my now young and stunned charge under my arm again and traipsing(?) back below decks.
*****
"Okay. The Rules. One. No hitting," I explained to her after stopping her third attempt to strike me with random things lying around the hold.
"Two, you share my food, you help with my chores, got it?" I sidestepped to avoid a half hearted lunge with a wooden hook, quickly grabbing her wrists and forcing her to look at me.
"Three, and this is the most import...." I cut myself off after getting a god look at her hands for the first time that night. The left one looked fine, smooth and clean like a child's should. But the right was covered in blood, in fact, was bleeding freely from a long gash along the middle pads of her fingers. She must have done that when she grabbed that shard of pottery, I thought. Coming to a quick desicion, I grabbed her around her waist, threw her over my shoulder, and carried her over to one of the kegs of fresh water and alcohol that the ship carried for long sea voyages.
"Put your hands in this basin, and clean them up," I commanded.
"No, you're not gonna make me!" Boy some people were stubborn.
"Look, you little... shorty.... if you don't put your hands in there to clean them up, I'm gonna push your HEAD in there until you stop arguing." Obviously something in my expression broke through the shell of bullishness the girl had, and she slowly dipped her hands into the water.....
*****
"Trust me Kenshin, had I known the trouble that little girl was gonna get me in, I would have never, ever gotten involved in her life. I later found out that her name was Chisai, and to how she got on board, I still have no clue. All I knew at that point, I was getting less rations, less sleep, more annoyed, and deeper in shit than I really needed to be. You two know me best.. what ususally happens when I get cranky? Yup, the crew found out the next morning....."
*****
Tsubame, still quietly evesdropping on Sanosuke, had a hard time controlling the urge to laugh. The little girl he described reminded her so much of Yahiko at that age it was all she could do to contain her amusement. She dimly realized that she was going to be quite late for work today, but quickly sqaushed the idea behind a wall of determination to find out what had happened to Sano over the last ten years. Other than the occasion, brief letter or post card, he had been a complete blank in the minds of his friends. Finally, here, he was baring his story, though he didn't know anyone was listening in. Though, by looking at the gathering clouds overhead, she could tell that it was going to rain soon. Coming to a descion, Tsubame quickly stood up and coughed gently to get Sano's attention....
To be Continued.
Authors Notes:
Pre readers are reqested. Drop line to bio_nic80@yahoo.com
Jeremy Bennett