A/N Hello! And welcome to chapter four of Deep Blue! I am so so sorry for making you wait! AOL crapped out on me, then I had to upload these new cookie things so I could log in…I know none of that is real excuse, so I'm sorry my readers. I got three reviews! THREE! What's cool is that my reviews have been going 1-2-3 with each chapter! Can I hope for four? I really don't care that much about it though. So here are responses to my THREE reviewers:
Lil' misao: Really really glad you like it! I'm sorry for the slow update, though.
hanyougal34: Hooray! My first repeat reviewer! I'm glad you liked last chapter, and I hope you enjoy this. There's plenty of reasons to change names, like when I use the Search Engine one FF.net to find myself, I get 115 names. And I'm only 93. Sigh.
sashlea: I'm glad you like my story. As for the Kagome/Sango/Sayuir/room thing, Kagome and Sango did not purposely lock Sayuir out. That's very important. I must make a note…
Okay, thanks again to my three reviews! And also, for anyone wondering, Kagome and Sango did NOT lock Sayuir out. They didn't think it was her, I tried to set it up that both were frightened and paranoid so when there was a knock at the door, they thought it was pirates. Likewise, Sayuir was paranoid and frightened so she just kept beating on the door instead of speaking so Kagome and Sango would know it was her. Sorry for any confusion. But here's chapter four! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Do I still have to do these? Do you not trust me enough that you think I would lie for three chapters about my ownership of Inuyasha? I'm appalled.
Deep Blue
By Pale Moonlight
Chapter 4: Found
Sayuir grabbed the pirate's sword and cut directly along his throat. He released her throat, and Sayuir struggled to keep steady enough on her feet to stand. The man lay dead before her, his blood slowly oozing out. Sayuir shot a glare at the other two pirates, who turned and ran down the hallway silently. Sayuir inwardly cursed to herself and quickly sped off into the next hallway to save Sango and Kagome their shame.
The pace was slowly set, staying mainly in the shadows, only risking be seen in light to duck away into the next corridor. Lady's screams suddenly filled the air. Sayuir pitied the poor girls, she'd never liked any of them, but no one deserved to be defiled by a pirate. As much as she hated to admit, she was lucky that the pirates had found them. She would have likely been spotted by now without them.
"Well, 'ello, what do we have here," came from behind her. A gripping sense of forbidding gripped Sayuir's heart with its icy fingers, yet she could not struggle against the instinct to turn around.
"That be Whip's sword!" cried the man, a pirate of his late 40's, his black mange of hair unkempt in a low ponytail, "And that be Whip's blood on his sword. Where would a lass like you find such a trinket?" The man took a step forward, and Sayuir took a step back with him.
" If you must know," said Sayuir through clenched teeth, "I killed this despicable man you call Whip and took his sword so I could kill some more. Does this trouble you, sir?"
"Bitch!" yelled the man, taking out his cutlass, "I'll take off your bloody head for that!"
Idiot, thought Sayuir, holding down her sword, waiting for his attack. She practiced swordplay so often at home it barely seemed funny. The man lunged at her, forsaking the tradition and honor of crossing swords with her a first. Sayuir expected this, he was a pirate, and easily blocked. He lunged again, and Sayuir knocked the sword out of his hand, having no time for play. The man looked at his sword, which lied a good ten feet away, then back at Sayuir, and then again at his sword.
"I shan't kill you," replied Sayuir, lowering her own cutlass, "if you tell me where your captain is."
"On deck," muttered the man, refusing to meet her eyes.
"Good," said Sayuir as she turned about. As soon as she turned, the man dashed for his sword. Sayuir's cutlass meet his stomach after five feet.
"Coward," Sayuir muttered to herself, reaching over the man and grabbing his cutlass. She smelt it, but it lacked any sent of blood. The man behind her was still slowly breathing; though bleeding profusely. He'll live, Sayuir thought, if he's found.
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"Kouga! KOUGA!"
Kouga looked up from his work. This was his fifth time of rummaging through the captain's quarters, and he still found no rum of any kind. Sure, there were a few bottles of some wine crap, but only the true power of a real whisky would ever cross a real pirate's lip.
"Aye Jack, Snake, what ye be screamin' about now? Are the rats too big for you on this ship? Or too fancy?" Kouga started at the two men who had just burst through the door, and after a spilt seconds his instincts told him better. Both men's' faces were pale, both hearts were beating far faster then normal, and both had the lethal look of fear on their faces.
"What is it?" asked Kouga, sitting down in the nearest velvet coated wooden priceless chair.
"It's Whip! He be long ago heading down to the depths of Davy Jone's locker!" exclaimed Snake.
"What do ye mean?" cried Kouga, rising from his chairs, "How could Whip have died on a wreck like this? Are there still some loaded Red Coats on this hulk of a ship? Did he slip over board? Is this damn thing condemned? Answer me Snake! How did he die?"
Snake looked to Jack, who crouched down before saying, "He died at the hands of a woman."
"WHAT?" Kouga screamed, grabbing Jack by the collar and lifting him. "What do ye mean, BY THE HANDS OF A WOMAN? Are ye trying to say that Whip, one of the greatest fighters and TEACHERS to ye bloody cowards was brought down by a damned WOMAN?"
"Aye," said Jack, dangling his feet above ground.
"Snake," uttered Kouga, slowly tiring to regain his calm aura, but keeping Jack above the ground nevertheless, "Do ye agree to what this dazed fool says?"
"Aye, Kouga," weakly responded Snake.
"So somewhere on this ship, we have a murderous woman. Please tell me she was at least a youkai."
"Well, she was half inu…"
"Ugh. Another hanyou. Describe the bitch so she may be killed."
"Well, she had her hair all fancily tied up, and she seemed to be wearing some sort of fashionable yellow corseted…"
"Damn! Why do we split our treasures with you men for? Ye ran away from a corseted hanyou? Aren't corsets supposed to deprive women off all movement and air?"
"I thought it be important to tell you, Kouga."
"Coward. Well anyway, Inuyasha will be pissed off to hear it, but ye and Jack will tell him anyway."
"Um, Kouga sir? Can ye please release me? It's getting rather hard to breathe," said Jack, his feet still dangling.
Kouga dropped him and walked out of the room.
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The staircase lay only beyond one passage, Sayuir merely had to cross one measly hallway and then she'd be on deck. While Sayuir still had no real off what she was to do, she'd do something. And after that, it was likely she'd die. Oh well, she'd never really wanted to be buried on land anyway.
Two men were carrying an anchor and Sayuir decided to go after them. The one in front stopped, and slowly turned his head around. Sayuir ducked back from behind the corner, refusing to breathe and demanding her mind to not disengage any smells. It was silent for a moment, then there were sounds of footsteps. The corset tightened around her waist, and Sayuir waited a few seconds to get a second breath. It was eerily quiet, and Sayuir cautiously took her first steps around the corner.
There was the man from before, the first one carrying the anchor. "I thought I smelled a lady. Grab her Cat!"
An arm wrapped around her waist from behind. Damn.
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Kagome looked over to Sango, her pale face sweating abundantly. The door still was bouncing, threatening to split apart any second. All the sudden, there was peace, no noise, no movement, no nothing. Kagome slowly got up, only to be pulled back down by Sango.
"Wait," she hissed into her ear.
"There's nothing out there," replied Kagome, trying again to stand.
"Listen," cried Sango, again pulling her down.
Outside the door, she could hear two faint voices, both seeming belonging to men. The ship veered right beneath her, and Kagome heard the slight breaking of rope. Fearfully, she looked up to the frying pans. They seemed to be fine, but there was another clash of metal somewhere and…
"Huuu……" Kagome felt Sango's hand against her mouth. Pots around them were moving, sliding over the floor, hitting the walls, crashing against each other, endangering their position at each second.
"Sango," whined Kagome, "The pots!"
"I know," whispered back Sango, "We must wait."
Kagome kept her ear to the doorway, listening for any more sounds of movement. Finally, Sango nodded her head and Kagome looked outside. It was empty, but for a dead, bleeding man off in the corner. Kagome turned back to Sango, who just looked away.
"It doesn't matter," she said, "He was merely a pirate. Come on, get back inside. We must wait for Sayuir."
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"Let me go, let me go you bloody pirate! You hear me, release me this INSTANT!" Sayuir was sprawled out over one of the men's back like a sack of potatoes, being slowly carried up the stairway.
"Be quiet lass! You'll cause me ear to bleed," the one who was carrying her yelled.
Sayuir ripped her claws at the man's back, she kicked him in the shins and anywhere in reach, bit his neck, she tore at his face, and screamed herself hoarse; yet the man showed no sign of pain.
"Here, Cat, haul the bitch for a while. Me back is aching."
Sayuir was throw over to a man named Cat, who seemed to be just barely older than her. She was at once uncomfortable, for the man only wore a pare of ratty mahogany pants with his cream colored shirt around his waist. His skin was slick with sweat, and filthy with the dust and dirt of the ship. Sayuir still hadn't managed to get a good look in at his face.
"Where are you taking me?" asked Sayuir, hoping to get some answers.
"To the captain, where else," replied the man in a rich Spanish accent.
"Grand, I was going there anyway," said Sayuir, trying to find a way to lift her face off the man's back without digging her elbows into his shoulders.
"You mean if I had told you that ye wouldn't have practically killed me?" asked the other man.
"Of course not," responded Sayuir.
The man uttered a string of cuss words till the one called Cat hit him on the head, telling him not to speak such a way in the presence of a lady.
"That's not a lady. It's a female, alright, but not a lady," the other one uttered, looking away.
One of the pirates kicked the door open, and Sayuir was all at once meet with the fresh smell of salt and the sea, then death, and blood. Many have died here, thought Sayuir as she did a short prayer; I shall avenge all I can.
Sayuir was at once throw off the man's back and onto the wooden deck. With her first glance up, she saw the man named Cat had three long scars on the left side of his nose. His brilliant blue/black eyes shinned with a sense of victory.
Standing up at once, Sayuir wiped any traces of dirt of her dress out of mere habit. She was shocked, there were at least fifty men on deck, all carrying something or taking something off. One stared over to her, and Sayuir fixed the position of her face to defiance.
"Cat, who be this female ye bring before me?"
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Uedo looked over the vastness of the sea. There was still no trace of a ship, but they should still be leaving this one pretty quickly. They hadn't had that much of a lead over Hojo.
Looking over the men's work, he saw the main doorway to the belly of the ship open. There was Cat and Rui, and something yellow was over Cat's shoulder. Standing on the edge of the crow's nest, he leapt off.
Uedo forced his face downward, feeling the full force of air against it. Men hurried away left and right, making a landing space for their beloved quartermaster.
Inuyasha had already stepped forward towards Cat. The yellow thing on the floor appeared to be a, a female? She was an inu you… no wait, inu hanyou. She quickly stood up and started defiantly at Inuyasha, looking full into his glare. Inwardly smirking, Uedo pushing aside the men. He definitely didn't want to miss this. Once again, the men parted left and right for him. Uedo loved his job.
"Cat, who be this female ye bring before me," Inuyasha asked right as Uedo walked up behind him.
"I found her wandering around down bellow. She wields Dusty's sword."
"Aye," said Inuyasha, looking down at the sword. Uedo stared with him; it indeed was Dusty's cutlass. Uedo met the girl's gaze. She narrowed her eyes at him.
"Wretch, were did you get this sword?" asked Inuyasha, his voice cocky and filled with his usual bull headedness.
"First of all, my name is not wretch and I will not be spoken to in such a manner by a pirate," the girl answered back through clenched teeth.
There was a release of air throughout the ship. Inuyasha's lips straightened, and he raised his hand. The girl braced herself, but Uedo grabbed Inuyasha's hand.
"Uedo, ye have no right to do this," Inuyasha said.
"Inuyasha, ye know as well as I this is no way to treat a prisoner," uttered Uedo, then to the girl, "What is your name?"
"Sayuir," she answered.
"Do ye have a last name?" asked Inuyasha.
"I don't see how that is important," said the girl, risking her life again. Uedo watched her and saw her strategically back up to where no one was located. Watching her hands, he grabbed her cutlass's blade right as she raised it.
Their eyes meet again, and the girl twisted her sword. Uedo released it and cursed, his hand was bleeding freely.
The girl backed up some more, moving her feet down into a defensive stance. Her eyes burned at him, she seemed frail and moved by the wind, but her eyes told another story. They dared him to come, to attack. She held out her sword.
"Come on," she said behind grinding teeth, "Unsheathe your sword. I've no time to waste on killing you."
"Do you think that's wise, lass," muttered Uedo, running his sword along the blade of her cutlass, savoring the ring of metal against metal, "to cross blades with a pirate?"
Her answer was a lunge at his heart. Uedo quickly blocked, and started deeper into her eyes. An inferno blazed.
"I've a name," she cried, "and it's not lass!"
Uedo pushed her off with his sword, waiting again for her to attack. She merely stood. Running, he pushed his sword through the thickening air. At the last second, she ducked to the left and stabbed him in the back. With his right hand, he pulled the cutlass out of his back, and turned about.
"You've draw first blood, Sayuir," said Uedo, watching her flinch as he uttered her name, "But it's unlikely you've seen the action I've seen. Prepare yourself!"
Uedo lunged again, and their swords clicked together. It was the same; Uedo would use attack over attack, yet the girl would keep blocking. He ran her the along the length of the deck, but only at the last second she pushed him back enough for her to duck to the left. No one worked anymore; all eyes were on him and the girl. He could hear her breath increase slowly, and saw she wore a corset. Damn, he thought, I'll never live this down.
They eventually worked their way back to the front doors, as Uedo felt his arm tire. The girl had a never-ending stamina, getting two quick hits in to his arm. He couldn't call a pax now though, he definitely would never live that down.
All the sudden, the girl's eyes opened to their full extend and she fell. In her back lay a knife.
Kouga stood in the doorway, a grin smirk on his face.
"That took you a while, did it not, Uedo?" Kouga asked. Jack and Snake cowered behind him.
"You try fightin' the bitch. She can handle a bloody cutlass," Uedo replied.
"Don't talk to your betters like that, Uedo," said Kouga, malice dripping from his words. Uedo merely narrowed his eyes, refusing to show any respect. "Snake, is that the woman who killed Whip?"
"Aye," said Snake, his face deadly white.
A mummer overtook the ship. That girl killed Whip? The self appointed trainer of the Tainted Shikon? Uedo didn't die by her hands?
Uedo bent over the girl and pulled the knife from her back in a rapid yank. She jerked beneath him, but Uedo expected this to only be a reflex. He listened to her breathing, but she took no breaths. With the knife, he cut of the dress, then the corset. She only wore a white, silky slip beneath.
"Hull, give me your coat," said Uedo, calling over one of the men. He took it off reluctantly and handed it to Uedo. Hull was easily the tallest and largest man, and the coat covered the girl too down about her knees. He buttoned the first few bronze buttons, then grabbed the girl in his arms, marriage style, his hand holding the wound.
"What are ye doing?" asked Kouga, "We should kill the bloody bitch for old Whip's sake!"
There was a yell of approval to this, which Uedo silenced with, "Do ye know if there are any women left bellow deck?"
Kouga was still for a second before, "Last I checked…"
"There are none," Uedo interrupted, "All have been killed in good sport. So we are left without an identification of this ship, no idea where the real valuables are, no idea who was here, and no idea where this ship was heading."
"Where there's one lass, there's bound to be more," said Jack.
"I wasn't asking you," Uedo fiercely stated at Jack, "And anyway, it could take days to find any more survivors. And we don't have days, there be Hojo to worry about. We only have about a week gain on him, and we lost any hope off travel on Tuesday and Wensday, so Hojo now has a better than good chance off catching up us. This is his boat; he'll work his damned crew from day to night to catch us. We'll be seeing black, blood stained sails soon."
"What do you suppose we do than, Uedo?" asked Inuyasha, stepping up.
"Keep loading and looking for loot and any more survivors. Let me take the lass over to the ship, and I'll heal her there."
"There would be to much off an uproar with the crew," said Inuyasha, "Snake and Jack! Go fetch Uedo's medical equipment. Well, what do ye be standing around for! You have your orders! FOLLOW THEM!"
As the men rushed about Inuyasha walked over closer to Uedo. "I have a bad feeling about all of this."
"As do I," said Uedo, turning the girl on her back, "but there's not much left for us to do now."
Woo. Another chapter done! So, what do you think? Hmmm? Next chapter Miroku, Kagome, and Sango will come more into play, but I first had to get Sayuir and Uedo out of the way. If you weren't able to figure out, I have set Hojo up as a pirate captain, Yes, this seems a bit out of character, but I have always thought there was an evil look behind that sweet puppy dog face. And also, I have plans for all the other characters. No preview for today. Please review! Pretty please? Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed.
Your Faithful Authoress,
Pale Moonlight