Author's Note: I'm back – after a week of not updating. But hey – I was tired ok? I had b-ball games and an amount of homework you couldn't possibly imagine. Anyway, now that it's Thanksgiving break, I expect to get many chapters up and finish this fic. ^_^
Disclaimers: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, that I do not. ^_^x
Chapter 6: Murky Water and a Clear Decision
It seemed hours until Sano and Katsu had finally woken up. Katsu rubbed his head as he sat up and looked around. As soon as he stood up, he fell down again – overcome by motion sickness.
// . . . wait – motion sickness? That means . . .oh no!// Katsu frantically looked around for a window, a door – anything that could tell him whether they were docked on land or already sailing on the sea. He finally found a small hole and he looked through it. He saw nothing but blue. The sea is blue. They were no longer on land. Katsu slumped against the wall as his body slid to the ground.
//How am I suppose to explain this to the Captain? I don't even know where we are, let alone how to get off this ship. . . // Katsu was lost in his trailing thoughts until he saw something stir by the corner of his eye. Sano sat up and groaned while rubbing his head.
"Oww . . . Katsu?! Where are we?! Are we moving?" Sano asked as he look at Katsu. Katsu shook his head.
"I don't know where we are, but we're moving all right. Probably as far away from the docks as this ship can take us." Katsu answered Sano. Sano looked up and started to get lost in what little thoughts he had. Katsu started to beat on the walls – but not the angry beat.
"Umm Katsu? What are you doing?"
"Trying to see if there is a hidden door somewhere – what does it look like?" Katsu answered irritably, as if expecting the rooster-head to know.
"Oh. Can I help?" Sano asked.
"Yeah, right. If I can't find it what makes you think you will? You always mess things up!" Katsu answered with a bit of humor.
"That's not true Katsu!" Sano angrily retorted.
"What about the time you got lost or were in a battle without knowing how to use a
gun . . . "
"Yeah, but . . ."
" . . . and the time you went chasing after a chicken, whom you thought was the enemy?"
"That was diff – "
" . . . and the time you forgot where our camp was and accidentally ran into the enemy's camp and set off their alarm . . . "
"Katsu, that's not fair, you have all these embarrassing stories about me! You won't even let me say anything about you!" Sano pouted.
"Ok, fair enough. Now you get to say an embarrassing story." Katsu told Sano, with a little smirk of amusement.
"Ok there was that time you . . . you . . ."
"Uh-huh . . ."
" . . . and then you . . ."
"And I . . .? "
"Aha! There was that time you ran out of the bathhouse naked because the water was too hot and then you streaked across the camp and dove into the nearest lake!! What was worse was that on the bank of that river was a girl you liked and she saw you naked and you had to streak back to camp to get your clothes!" Sano smirked as he finished and sat down with a proud air – as if he had insulted Katsu in the ultimate way.
Instead of hearing the expected angry outburst from Katsu or being angrily tackled to the ground – Sano heard Katsu laugh.
"What?! What's so funny?!" Sano demanded as he swiftly stood up.
"Sano . . ."
"Yeah?"
"That wasn't me – that was you." With that said Katsu broke into an enormous fit of laughter. Sano pouted and walked to the very opposite end of the room.
"Fine! Laugh if you want! I'll just go to this corner! It'll keep me better company than you will!" Sano said as he tried to sit on the floor. But when he did, the floor gave way and Sano fell through. After about 10 seconds a loud thump was hear. Probably the fifth time Sano had landed unceremoniously on his butt.
"Katsu, I think I found the secret door!" Sano yelled from below.
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"That no good, rotten little fucker . . . I knew he was nothing but trouble from the start!" Takei muttered to himself as he continued to search for Katsu and especially Sano. He happened to pass by some sailormen and overheard their conversation . . .
" . . . so I 'earded the cap'n took off wif 'em youngens!" Said one sailor as he was loading cargo.
"Aye, they cou' be used for somethin' if anythin' at all. 'e was paid a good shillin's worth o' money to kidnap 'em aboard the floatin' palace."
// . . . the floating palace? That's the nickname of that ship, the Jigoku, isn't it?// Takei thought to himself as he stopped by a vendor and pretended to look at the merchandise while staying in range and hearing the conversation.
The Jigoku was a ship that was disguised as a luxury liner, and it looked so in appearance, but the truth was that it was merely a well disguised pirate ship. In all honesty, the ship was made so in order that the normal citizens of Japan, as well as tourists wouldn't panic. Another useful advantage was the ability of docking in any port, getting supplies and robbing some places, and then going back inside the ship, an ocean liner, which no one could ever suspect to be the cause of the chaos. (A/N: "Jigoku" means "Hell" in Japanese. An appropriate name for a ship that causes so much damage.)
"Aye, he said somethin' 'bout a pricey on the lad's head. Coulnta undestand it well since they were some fancy gen'lm'n on board who was speakin' some weird language. All I 'eard was that the lad and the lass were to die . . ."
//Lad? He must mean Sano. Because of his long hair, the lass is probably Katsu since he can pass as a girl. That means . . .I better tell the Captain.// Takei quickly made his way from the docks and into the center of the city.
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"Well, well, what have we here? The two new troublemakers onboard, I presume?" asked an extremely wealthly-looking man. He was wearing a white top hat complete with a white tuxedo – it would have been the perfect Victorian outfit had it been black.
"Who are you?" Sano asked as he and Katsu both looked at the stranger, oblivious to the sounds in the background.
"Your worst nightmare." The stranger replied as both Katsu and Sano felt a blow dealt to the back of their heads.
Sano awoke first, this time. The setting red sun didn't exactly help him fall asleep. Sano squirmed around a bit, hoping to get some more sleep when he suddenly jerked awake. Sano quickly opened his eyes and looked around. He tried to stand up but he found that he couldn't since he was tied to the main mast of the ship. He looked to his side and saw that Katsu was in the exact position as himself. There was also a bunch of sailors gathered around them – as if they were expecting something.
"Ahh, well it looks like the youngen 'inally decided to wake up!" an extremely happy, and may I add, fat sailor commented. Sano tried to get out of the ropes as Katsu stirred awake. The sailors continued to laugh at Katsu and Sano's helplessness.
"Let us go!" Sano yelled at them.
"Sure laddy! But we haveta kill ya first!" answered another sailor as they all broke into a fit of laughter.
Suddenly, one of the sailors stopped laughing. He looked around him cautiously and then stared at the sky.
"Blimey! The 'urricane's a comin'!" He yelled as he pointed at the sky, which was rapidly changing from being a beautiful red to a murky black. All the sailors looked up and in a moment they were gone. Working the riggings and tying down the sails – doing anything in the moment of danger. Katsu and Sano remained stuck to the pole as a storm continued to rage on.
"Hey, Katsu! What are we gonna do?! We can't get out of these ropes – how will we get to safety?!" Sano asked frantically.
"I don't know! Why don't you figure it out? You're the one who found the secret door!" Katsu replied.
"Look, Katsu, this isn't the time to be mad at me – "
"I'm not mad, I'm just saying. Besides, I can't think of anything!" Katsu yelled back. The storm continued to range and the winds started to blow full-force – knocking some men into the water. With all the commotion no one noticed a lone man slipping off the side of the ship – taking the lifeboat.
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"What? Takei, are you sure this information is accurate?" Captain Sagara asked calmly.
"Yes, Captain. The two boys are aboard the Jigoku – no questions." Takei answered. It was amazing how calm a façade the Captain could keep in moments of distress. Almost as if he didn't care about Katsu and Sano. But Takei knew him better.
"Tell the men to move out."
"Do you plan to go after them, sir?" Takei asked inquisitively.
"I plan to meet them at their destination. I think this time around we'll need to rely on an old friend." Captain Sagara said as he smiled and walked out of the Aoiya, leaving a very confused Takei behind.
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"KATSU!!" Sano yelled as he helplessly watched his friend slam against the side of the ship and then ricochet off the side and into the water. Fortunately for both Sano and Katsu, an axe had been hurled on the other side of the mast – instantly cutting the ropes. Sano and Katsu were able to get out of the tangle, but as soon as they did, Katsu's light body weight easily made him a target of the wind.
Sano half ran and half flown to the side of the ship, thanks to the wind's aid. He looked down into the murky blue water, pondering for a split second what he was going to do. He didn't even establish half a thought before he dived into the water after Katsu in an attempt to rescue him. After all, Sano thought he had a better chance at finding Katsu and pulling them to safety since he was always the better swimmer between himself and Katsu.
After it seemed as if he had swum everywhere, Sano finally found Katsu at a protruding rounded under ocean mountain. Grabbing Katsu around the waist with one arm, Sano made an enormous effort to swim to the top. Sano's breath was slowly escaping and he felt the waves of darkness surrounding him again. This made him fight even more to get to the top. Unfortunately, even this grand effort was in vain. For before Sano reached the top, he had passed out and was slowly sinking down again.
MUWAHAHA! I know – I am an evil author. I love making cliff hangers for my fics – though I really don't like when really good authors make cliffhangers for their fics. Anyway, did I think this chapter was good? I'll let you tell me that.
My gratitude for the following reviewers:
Lily: My fic is getting good?! Yay, that really makes me happy as a writer! But I have some twists and turns coming up – so watch out!! I am indeed an evil author – I pride myself in that!! As long as I write this fic – it shall have cliffhangers!! ^_~ Don't hate me too much.
Lana: Oi!! Como vai você? Translating my fic into Portuguese? Go ahead! I don't mind! I'm happy you love my story – it's gonna be pretty long!! GW is "Gundam Wing" for short. It's another Anime show I used to be (and still am) really obsessed with. It more sci-fi futuristic though – very different from Rurouni Kenshin! You can just type it in www.google.com and you'll probably find lots of pages on it. Até mais!!!^_^
Unique-Starfish: Yup, I definitely know why you loved this chapter!! A whole paragraph on Aoshi – I bet you were ecstatic! Thanks for reviewing, Angi-Chan! Ja ne!
Eeevee: Yup, little Sano couldn't fire a gun right if his life depended on it – and who doesn't love to tease kittens? What? You don't think it was a cliffhanger? Oh well, that's your opinion. Thanks for reviewing.
MissBehavin: The baka didn't shoot himself. . . yet. Poor wolfy – bumping off his wife? Probably the only person that loves him? That's very sad . . .I'm a multi-tasking author so it might be a week (+) before my next update comes around.
RGrurounigirl: YAY!! Someone else who loves my story!! I'm very touched! Errm I TRY to update – but sometimes thing just don't go into your head, ya? Woah, I better stop playing FFX and write something!! Have you ever played that game? It's pretty good!! Thanks again!