A/N: And we're to chapter 3 now! Hooray! This chapter is even more plotty goodness, sexual tension and the like. So thrilling! Anyway, onto the warnings! (Oh, and if you want to do something really weird, listen to the end credits of Moulin Rouge reading this chapter. It strangely fits, if you read at the same speed as me. Also works moderately last chapter. Start it here, by the way. Beat starts post-italics.)
Warnings: Profanity, eventual 1x2x1 & 3x4. Moderate OOC (but for good reasons, mind you!), extreme AU, many a pirate, and ship speakage. Teensy bit of 2x1.
Disclaimer: I only own the story, but I'll give it to you for 9.3 million dollars via chocolate dollar bills. (And that's cheap, too!)
Sea of Silence
Chapter 3
The Soul
He sat in a wooden room, occasional flies appearing and disappearing through the hole in the floor. Casually, he yawned, stretching back like a black-clad cat as he awaited the usual torment of the night.
It didn't disappoint.
"Phew! God, Duo, how can you stand to sit around in here all day," her voice came through the hole, and he couldn't help but turn towards it. Her cheery face popped out, smiling at him. "Come on, you're my big brother! Just come play with us for a while. Pleeeasee?" She batted her eyes at him playfully.
"Go away, Hilde," he managed to utter. She was always the worst. Now, she pouted.
"What, too busy on your ship to have a little fun?" She winked at him, and waved him over. He remained stationary. "Damn it, Duo, stop being such a boring pirate and come have fun!" He turned his face back to the wooden wall. He'd gone down that hole before, and knew exactly what he'd find. "If you don't come, you won't see them." He bowed his head.
"It's better if I don't see them, Hilde," he said. "It doesn't hurt so much in the morning."
"What, you think I'm going to spare you from my daily beatings just for not going down a stupid hole," she asked, and laughed. "I'll always be there to pull your hair when you least expect it."
"BUT YOU'RE NOT," Duo finally yelled. "YOU'RE ALL GONE WHEN I WAKE UP!" His eyes clenched together, his hands tucked into fists, and he bit his lower lip. It hurt so much. "I...I don't want to be alone..."
Duo woke up with a jolt, feeling the blood run down his mouth from the bite. He looked around frantically, part of him still expecting to see a worried Hilde, or anyone, rush into the room. But, nobody ever did.
He stretched out with a sigh. Not like he wanted them to, or anything. It was always annoying to explain nightmares.
With a quick perusal of the room, he was soon dressed, his leg re-bandaged (the blood was starting to clot onto the fabric), and ready to face the day. Or, night, as it seemed to be. With a quick glance, Duo noted his tattoo remained a solid black. Then, feeling a bit more devious, he put on the biggest hat he could find, which he quickly took off again. Devious did not equal looking like an idiot.
As he stepped out the locked door, the first thing he noticed was Wufei at the wheel, looking incredibly bored and sleepy.
"Well, I never knew you cared," Duo said, rubbing the boy's head affectionately. Wufei smacked the pirate's wrist away.
"Only because my ship's attached am I up here, Maxwell," Wufei growled. "It's about time you woke up, too. We've been without you for a day and a half, now." Duo chuckled.
"Is it my fault nobody woke me up for dinner," he asked, and Wufei smirked.
"I think it'd be more around the lines of breakfast now," he added. "I'd say it's about two thirty in the morning." Wufei paused. "We were worried." Duo, being Duo, slung his arm around the other captain, grinning.
"How sweet, 'Fei," he said. "But, no flowers?"
"We're in the middle of the ocean, idiot," Wufei retorted.
"Making them all the more meaningful," Duo said, and then removed his arm. "So, how long until we get to the island?" Wufei scowled.
"We'll reach it at about noon," he said. "Not that I know where it is, mind you! Or like I want to know!"
"Sheesh, Wu-man, lighten up! Nobody would even believe me if I said you were an ex-pirate," Duo grumbled, and Wufei barely held off a blush. "Ha! Wait till I tell M-fff!" He was cut off by Wufei's hand slamming on top of his mouth, and staying there.
"Shut up, Maxwell," he growled. "I'm supposed to be a respectable captain now, remember?" Duo nodded, feeling a little glum, and Wufei went back to the wheel. "Go bother someone else, and go back to bed." Duo gave the 'respectable captain' a mock salute, and trotted down the stairs, only to spy one Heero standing in his normal place, looking both somber and sexy. Possibly suicidal as well.
For a moment, he stood, just examining the kid. Blue military- issue pants, loose white shirt, brown belt...he looked really hot. Duo himself was just in his normal outfit; black pants, black shirt, black belt...basically everything black. He hoped it could pass for good- looking.
"You must really like the view from there," Duo grumbled, absentmindedly checking his braid. It was really, really loose, but still decent. Heero shrugged.
"Better view than Trowa staring at sleeping Quatre," he said nonchalantly, and Duo almost fell over laughing. "What?"
"I thought I was the only one to notice," Duo finally said after getting himself back together, still laughing a bit. "He does stare though, doesn't he?" Heero nodded, watching the night waves hit the hull.
"You okay," Heero asked cautiously, and Duo barely kept the smirk from his face.
"I'll be fine," he said. "No need to worry I won't wake up one of these nights and offer to kill you." Heero did smirk.
"You weren't always a pirate, were you," he asked. Honestly, it was more like a statement. Duo leaned back on the railing, staring straight at the captive while keeping his back to the ocean.
"Nobody just wakes up and decides, 'hey, I'll be a pirate when I grow up'. At least, if they do, they're an idiot and get killed by the first pirate they see. You just get pushed into it," Duo said with a shrug. "Me, I got more shoved than pushed. Fast, hard, and not very polite. So, what made you be whatever you are, since you're clearly not a 'free bodyguard'." Duo made little quotation marks in the air.
"I was brought up to be what I am," he stated. "Both Quatre and I were."
"And what would that be, a cute guy with good grammar and a sword," Duo asked, and without another word Heero punched him in the face.
The recoil sent him spinning, but before the older boy could make his escape Duo himself pulled out his curved knife and sliced Heero's chest. A shout rang out from Wufei and the other deckhands, and both Duo and Heero ended up passing out at the same time.
"...the stupidest thing I've ever heard of," was the first thing a groggy Duo heard as his eyes opened to se a spinning room. "Duo, you are an idiot, you understand that?"
"Mutiny," he grumbled incoherently. "I'll kill you if you mutiny, Trowa." Trowa shook his head.
"I thought even you'd be smart enough to not pick a fight when you'd just slept for 32 hours," Trowa growled. "Especially with a TRAINED KILLER, Duo Maxwell! You are a MORON!"
"Shut up! I didn't say anything...I think? No insulting of parentage, no verbal abuse, no..." Duo's head slammed back against his pillow. "Shit. I think I might have hit on him."
"WHAT?!" Trowa was next to the bed, staring confusedly at Duo. "I thought you guys hated each other!" Duo nodded.
"We do," he grumbled. "Doesn't mean I can't think he's hot, though." Trowa put a hand on his head.
"You're not a moron, you're insane," he muttered. "You both are."
"I hope he's bleeding," Duo grumbled, and Trowa shook his head.
"You just grazed his chest, but something made him faint," Trowa said. "Quatre said he's never seen Heero faint. Ever. Right now, he's in my room."
"So, in other words, the room right below mine," Duo grumbled, and sat up. "And what do you mean, trained killer? He's just a kid."
"No, you're just a kid. He's eighteen," Trowa grumbled, and received a half-hearted glare. "Quatre told me that while he was trained in diplomacy, Heero was trained in the complete opposite." Duo shook his head.
"Damn, these guys get more confusing every day," he grumbled, and then saw the sunlight. "He still out?" Trowa nodded. "Good." With that, Duo got out of the bed. "I can't help but wonder what the hell they're doing out here. Check their backs yet?"
"I haven't gotten close enough to Heero yet, but while you were out I saw Quatre's. He's got one. It looks like a sideways W was used for an E," he said, drawing it in the air. Duo nodded.
"Sigma. The Soul, or The Dreamer," Duo muttered. "The first one to make sense in all these crazy tattoos." Duo sighed. "So, what do we do now? Tap Heero on the shoulder, and say, 'hey, I just sliced you and made you faint, wanna take your shirt off?'" Trowa smirked.
"You know you want to," he said, and Duo smirked. Yes he did. But, he shook it off quickly. He'd just been decked by the guy. Literally.
"It's creepy how well you know me," Duo said, and stood up.
"We're almost to the island," Wufei's voice called out from the doorway, followed by the random sputtering of excuses why he knew. Duo shook his head again, and got dressed. He'd be damned if the kid got on deck before him.
"Thanks, 'Fei," Duo murmured, buckling his belt. Trowa still stood right next to the captain. "Tro, I'll be fine. Go do your job." Trowa looked at him hesitantly. "GO." The older boy shrugged, and walked out on deck.
"You really need to pick your fights better, Maxwell," Wufei smirked, and Duo glared at him. "One hit, and you're down. Losing your touch?"
"More like my mind," Duo responded seriously. Wufei didn't seem all that surprised. Then, the usual Shinigami smile crept onto the braided boy's face. "Nothing to worry about, Wuffles! I'm still here to annoy you to death! EVERYONE SING A SHANTY!"
The entire deck, save Trowa, erupted into a cavalcade of tunes. Snippets of the most inappropriate songs in the world wafted to Wufei's ears, and he visibly gagged at some of the lines. Finally, he gave up and ran off to his own ship, Duo laughing so hard he fell to the deck.
"Stop," Trowa yelled out, and the singing ended as the taller boy strode to the small stairway. "Sorry about that." Quatre smiled.
"Actually, I was wondering if I could learn some," he said, azure eyes shining. "I only know one. Want to hear it?"
"NO," Wufei yelled out, and Quatre laughed.
"It's not nearly as the other ones, but it's pretty inappropriate," he said earnestly, and Trowa nodded.
"Maybe later. I think Duo and the crew have tortured him enough," Trowa said, trying not to notice how perfect the younger boy was.
"You can never torture Wufei enough," Duo said indignantly. "If I hadn't tortured him, he wouldn't be married, or a captain, or even out of th-"
"MAXWELL," Wufei yelled. "What did you do to my sword?!" Duo looked around hurriedly, until in an act of desperation he flung himself back into his quarters, locking the door. When the black-haired captain finally reached the door and failed repeatedly to open the door, he stalked back to his own ship with a yell of, "INJUSTICE!" Trowa noticed the black stain that followed Wufei's hand everywhere, and was also present on the side of his clothing.
"They do this a lot," Quatre asked, a bit concerned. Trowa nodded, taking the helm.
"I think it's their way of saying they missed each other," Trowa said calmly as something was thrown overboard the other ship by its captain.
"How long has it been since they saw each other, then," Quatre asked.
"Three weeks," he stated. "How's Heero?" Quatre scratched his head absentmindedly.
"He's still unconscious, and I'm sure he'll be Angry Heero when he wakes up," Quatre said, and sighed. "And I was hoping Bored Heero would stay around longer."
"I thought that was Angry Heero," Trowa grumbled, and Quatre laughed again.
"No, Angry Heero blows more stuff up," the blonde said. Trowa left the comment unsaid.
"Want to tell me why you're headed for Algon," Trowa asked in his calm voice, and Quatre searched his face. Acceptance glowed in his expressive eyes.
"Because, we're going to find our families," he said simply. "We're both orphans." Trowa nodded.
"I am too, although I have an older sister I met a couple years ago. Wufei and Duo are, too," Trowa said, and thoughts started to pile up in his head.
They were all orphans, all had tattoos on their backs (assuming Heero did as well), and when they met each other, they turned black? It made a little sense, but brought up even more questions to remain unanswered. The pensive look on the smaller boy's face seemed to be following the same route, which made Trowa even more worried. Did he know about the tattoos?
"I'm going to go check on Heero again," Quatre said quickly, and walked down into the pirate ship, leaving answerless problems in his wake.
-------
A/N: Shorter? Yes. Faster for me to have up? Yes. Same content, just not as lengthy? ...We'll see. Well, that was certainly lots and lots of plotness! HOORAY! I could do a list of all the Unanswered Questions (What happened to Hilde? Why did Heero faint? What's with the tattoos? What did Duo do to Wufei's sword? Just who IS Wufei married to?), but then I have less time for future chapters. And sorry if that's kinda cliffhangery. It's not supposed to be...
Thanks for reading! Please review! Thanks to (time wise, as always):
Regina! Mlaine! j!
I really appreciate it! ::eats ten bars of chocolate::
(Stay tuned for the next one, where PEOPLE KISS! That's all I'm gonna say...)
Warnings: Profanity, eventual 1x2x1 & 3x4. Moderate OOC (but for good reasons, mind you!), extreme AU, many a pirate, and ship speakage. Teensy bit of 2x1.
Disclaimer: I only own the story, but I'll give it to you for 9.3 million dollars via chocolate dollar bills. (And that's cheap, too!)
Sea of Silence
Chapter 3
The Soul
He sat in a wooden room, occasional flies appearing and disappearing through the hole in the floor. Casually, he yawned, stretching back like a black-clad cat as he awaited the usual torment of the night.
It didn't disappoint.
"Phew! God, Duo, how can you stand to sit around in here all day," her voice came through the hole, and he couldn't help but turn towards it. Her cheery face popped out, smiling at him. "Come on, you're my big brother! Just come play with us for a while. Pleeeasee?" She batted her eyes at him playfully.
"Go away, Hilde," he managed to utter. She was always the worst. Now, she pouted.
"What, too busy on your ship to have a little fun?" She winked at him, and waved him over. He remained stationary. "Damn it, Duo, stop being such a boring pirate and come have fun!" He turned his face back to the wooden wall. He'd gone down that hole before, and knew exactly what he'd find. "If you don't come, you won't see them." He bowed his head.
"It's better if I don't see them, Hilde," he said. "It doesn't hurt so much in the morning."
"What, you think I'm going to spare you from my daily beatings just for not going down a stupid hole," she asked, and laughed. "I'll always be there to pull your hair when you least expect it."
"BUT YOU'RE NOT," Duo finally yelled. "YOU'RE ALL GONE WHEN I WAKE UP!" His eyes clenched together, his hands tucked into fists, and he bit his lower lip. It hurt so much. "I...I don't want to be alone..."
Duo woke up with a jolt, feeling the blood run down his mouth from the bite. He looked around frantically, part of him still expecting to see a worried Hilde, or anyone, rush into the room. But, nobody ever did.
He stretched out with a sigh. Not like he wanted them to, or anything. It was always annoying to explain nightmares.
With a quick perusal of the room, he was soon dressed, his leg re-bandaged (the blood was starting to clot onto the fabric), and ready to face the day. Or, night, as it seemed to be. With a quick glance, Duo noted his tattoo remained a solid black. Then, feeling a bit more devious, he put on the biggest hat he could find, which he quickly took off again. Devious did not equal looking like an idiot.
As he stepped out the locked door, the first thing he noticed was Wufei at the wheel, looking incredibly bored and sleepy.
"Well, I never knew you cared," Duo said, rubbing the boy's head affectionately. Wufei smacked the pirate's wrist away.
"Only because my ship's attached am I up here, Maxwell," Wufei growled. "It's about time you woke up, too. We've been without you for a day and a half, now." Duo chuckled.
"Is it my fault nobody woke me up for dinner," he asked, and Wufei smirked.
"I think it'd be more around the lines of breakfast now," he added. "I'd say it's about two thirty in the morning." Wufei paused. "We were worried." Duo, being Duo, slung his arm around the other captain, grinning.
"How sweet, 'Fei," he said. "But, no flowers?"
"We're in the middle of the ocean, idiot," Wufei retorted.
"Making them all the more meaningful," Duo said, and then removed his arm. "So, how long until we get to the island?" Wufei scowled.
"We'll reach it at about noon," he said. "Not that I know where it is, mind you! Or like I want to know!"
"Sheesh, Wu-man, lighten up! Nobody would even believe me if I said you were an ex-pirate," Duo grumbled, and Wufei barely held off a blush. "Ha! Wait till I tell M-fff!" He was cut off by Wufei's hand slamming on top of his mouth, and staying there.
"Shut up, Maxwell," he growled. "I'm supposed to be a respectable captain now, remember?" Duo nodded, feeling a little glum, and Wufei went back to the wheel. "Go bother someone else, and go back to bed." Duo gave the 'respectable captain' a mock salute, and trotted down the stairs, only to spy one Heero standing in his normal place, looking both somber and sexy. Possibly suicidal as well.
For a moment, he stood, just examining the kid. Blue military- issue pants, loose white shirt, brown belt...he looked really hot. Duo himself was just in his normal outfit; black pants, black shirt, black belt...basically everything black. He hoped it could pass for good- looking.
"You must really like the view from there," Duo grumbled, absentmindedly checking his braid. It was really, really loose, but still decent. Heero shrugged.
"Better view than Trowa staring at sleeping Quatre," he said nonchalantly, and Duo almost fell over laughing. "What?"
"I thought I was the only one to notice," Duo finally said after getting himself back together, still laughing a bit. "He does stare though, doesn't he?" Heero nodded, watching the night waves hit the hull.
"You okay," Heero asked cautiously, and Duo barely kept the smirk from his face.
"I'll be fine," he said. "No need to worry I won't wake up one of these nights and offer to kill you." Heero did smirk.
"You weren't always a pirate, were you," he asked. Honestly, it was more like a statement. Duo leaned back on the railing, staring straight at the captive while keeping his back to the ocean.
"Nobody just wakes up and decides, 'hey, I'll be a pirate when I grow up'. At least, if they do, they're an idiot and get killed by the first pirate they see. You just get pushed into it," Duo said with a shrug. "Me, I got more shoved than pushed. Fast, hard, and not very polite. So, what made you be whatever you are, since you're clearly not a 'free bodyguard'." Duo made little quotation marks in the air.
"I was brought up to be what I am," he stated. "Both Quatre and I were."
"And what would that be, a cute guy with good grammar and a sword," Duo asked, and without another word Heero punched him in the face.
The recoil sent him spinning, but before the older boy could make his escape Duo himself pulled out his curved knife and sliced Heero's chest. A shout rang out from Wufei and the other deckhands, and both Duo and Heero ended up passing out at the same time.
"...the stupidest thing I've ever heard of," was the first thing a groggy Duo heard as his eyes opened to se a spinning room. "Duo, you are an idiot, you understand that?"
"Mutiny," he grumbled incoherently. "I'll kill you if you mutiny, Trowa." Trowa shook his head.
"I thought even you'd be smart enough to not pick a fight when you'd just slept for 32 hours," Trowa growled. "Especially with a TRAINED KILLER, Duo Maxwell! You are a MORON!"
"Shut up! I didn't say anything...I think? No insulting of parentage, no verbal abuse, no..." Duo's head slammed back against his pillow. "Shit. I think I might have hit on him."
"WHAT?!" Trowa was next to the bed, staring confusedly at Duo. "I thought you guys hated each other!" Duo nodded.
"We do," he grumbled. "Doesn't mean I can't think he's hot, though." Trowa put a hand on his head.
"You're not a moron, you're insane," he muttered. "You both are."
"I hope he's bleeding," Duo grumbled, and Trowa shook his head.
"You just grazed his chest, but something made him faint," Trowa said. "Quatre said he's never seen Heero faint. Ever. Right now, he's in my room."
"So, in other words, the room right below mine," Duo grumbled, and sat up. "And what do you mean, trained killer? He's just a kid."
"No, you're just a kid. He's eighteen," Trowa grumbled, and received a half-hearted glare. "Quatre told me that while he was trained in diplomacy, Heero was trained in the complete opposite." Duo shook his head.
"Damn, these guys get more confusing every day," he grumbled, and then saw the sunlight. "He still out?" Trowa nodded. "Good." With that, Duo got out of the bed. "I can't help but wonder what the hell they're doing out here. Check their backs yet?"
"I haven't gotten close enough to Heero yet, but while you were out I saw Quatre's. He's got one. It looks like a sideways W was used for an E," he said, drawing it in the air. Duo nodded.
"Sigma. The Soul, or The Dreamer," Duo muttered. "The first one to make sense in all these crazy tattoos." Duo sighed. "So, what do we do now? Tap Heero on the shoulder, and say, 'hey, I just sliced you and made you faint, wanna take your shirt off?'" Trowa smirked.
"You know you want to," he said, and Duo smirked. Yes he did. But, he shook it off quickly. He'd just been decked by the guy. Literally.
"It's creepy how well you know me," Duo said, and stood up.
"We're almost to the island," Wufei's voice called out from the doorway, followed by the random sputtering of excuses why he knew. Duo shook his head again, and got dressed. He'd be damned if the kid got on deck before him.
"Thanks, 'Fei," Duo murmured, buckling his belt. Trowa still stood right next to the captain. "Tro, I'll be fine. Go do your job." Trowa looked at him hesitantly. "GO." The older boy shrugged, and walked out on deck.
"You really need to pick your fights better, Maxwell," Wufei smirked, and Duo glared at him. "One hit, and you're down. Losing your touch?"
"More like my mind," Duo responded seriously. Wufei didn't seem all that surprised. Then, the usual Shinigami smile crept onto the braided boy's face. "Nothing to worry about, Wuffles! I'm still here to annoy you to death! EVERYONE SING A SHANTY!"
The entire deck, save Trowa, erupted into a cavalcade of tunes. Snippets of the most inappropriate songs in the world wafted to Wufei's ears, and he visibly gagged at some of the lines. Finally, he gave up and ran off to his own ship, Duo laughing so hard he fell to the deck.
"Stop," Trowa yelled out, and the singing ended as the taller boy strode to the small stairway. "Sorry about that." Quatre smiled.
"Actually, I was wondering if I could learn some," he said, azure eyes shining. "I only know one. Want to hear it?"
"NO," Wufei yelled out, and Quatre laughed.
"It's not nearly as the other ones, but it's pretty inappropriate," he said earnestly, and Trowa nodded.
"Maybe later. I think Duo and the crew have tortured him enough," Trowa said, trying not to notice how perfect the younger boy was.
"You can never torture Wufei enough," Duo said indignantly. "If I hadn't tortured him, he wouldn't be married, or a captain, or even out of th-"
"MAXWELL," Wufei yelled. "What did you do to my sword?!" Duo looked around hurriedly, until in an act of desperation he flung himself back into his quarters, locking the door. When the black-haired captain finally reached the door and failed repeatedly to open the door, he stalked back to his own ship with a yell of, "INJUSTICE!" Trowa noticed the black stain that followed Wufei's hand everywhere, and was also present on the side of his clothing.
"They do this a lot," Quatre asked, a bit concerned. Trowa nodded, taking the helm.
"I think it's their way of saying they missed each other," Trowa said calmly as something was thrown overboard the other ship by its captain.
"How long has it been since they saw each other, then," Quatre asked.
"Three weeks," he stated. "How's Heero?" Quatre scratched his head absentmindedly.
"He's still unconscious, and I'm sure he'll be Angry Heero when he wakes up," Quatre said, and sighed. "And I was hoping Bored Heero would stay around longer."
"I thought that was Angry Heero," Trowa grumbled, and Quatre laughed again.
"No, Angry Heero blows more stuff up," the blonde said. Trowa left the comment unsaid.
"Want to tell me why you're headed for Algon," Trowa asked in his calm voice, and Quatre searched his face. Acceptance glowed in his expressive eyes.
"Because, we're going to find our families," he said simply. "We're both orphans." Trowa nodded.
"I am too, although I have an older sister I met a couple years ago. Wufei and Duo are, too," Trowa said, and thoughts started to pile up in his head.
They were all orphans, all had tattoos on their backs (assuming Heero did as well), and when they met each other, they turned black? It made a little sense, but brought up even more questions to remain unanswered. The pensive look on the smaller boy's face seemed to be following the same route, which made Trowa even more worried. Did he know about the tattoos?
"I'm going to go check on Heero again," Quatre said quickly, and walked down into the pirate ship, leaving answerless problems in his wake.
-------
A/N: Shorter? Yes. Faster for me to have up? Yes. Same content, just not as lengthy? ...We'll see. Well, that was certainly lots and lots of plotness! HOORAY! I could do a list of all the Unanswered Questions (What happened to Hilde? Why did Heero faint? What's with the tattoos? What did Duo do to Wufei's sword? Just who IS Wufei married to?), but then I have less time for future chapters. And sorry if that's kinda cliffhangery. It's not supposed to be...
Thanks for reading! Please review! Thanks to (time wise, as always):
Regina! Mlaine! j!
I really appreciate it! ::eats ten bars of chocolate::
(Stay tuned for the next one, where PEOPLE KISS! That's all I'm gonna say...)