The Heart of the Astral Line
By: Nightelfcrawler & Amai
Author's note: We're insane
Chapter Four: Feathers
It was strange.... when he woke, he felt oddly exhausted, but refreshed.... his mind was still a bit fuzzy, but as he sat up, it began to clear. The only thing that seemed to strike him as odd, was why his shirt sleeves were too short now. Chrno stood up and staggered over to the table, and splashed water on his face, then wiped it lightly with a rag, and looked up... and promptly screamed.
Rosette was in his room in a flash, half dressed, and wild eyed. "WHAT!?! WHAT?!?! ARE YOU OK!?!?"
He was back against his bed, having backed up, and fallen over it, staring at his reflection as if he'd never seen it before, as a shaky hand reached up to touch one of the strange ears at his side, unable to rip his gaze away. "W...what did you do to me....?"
She frowned a bit, before trying to fix her half wrapped bandana, sighing lightly. "Sorry.…" How to explain this to him. "Um...you were sealed, and, its slowly coming apart." She reached her hand out towards him, as if to feel one of the ears. "You're slowly turning back into what you are."
He jerked back staring at her wild eyed, with a total look of fear. "What are you TALKING about?! Look at me!" He stared at his reflection again, staring at his eyes now. "What did you do...."
She frowned a bit more, not happy about being yelled at about something that had to happen. "Chrno, your a demon." She pointed out flatly, turning his head with a swift movement of her hand, so that he would look into her eyes. "But that's ok, you're still you."
He stared right back at her, a flash of panic creeping into his eyes. "What are you talking about... I'm not... a....a...."
She sat down next to him, a faint frown still on her lips as she let go of his face to pull out a soft white feather, barely larger then one of her fingers, and moved to twine it into his hair. "It doesn't matter anyway." She twisted the violet locks about the feather, tying it into a decorative knot that held it into place. "You don't have to believe it if you don't want to. There's more important things on hand." She smiled a bit, trying to keep his mind off of the sudden reality. "I.E. Your initiation party."
He just swallowed, staring blankly at the wall. So many thoughts were running through his mind. He wanted to blame them.... he wanted to ask why she seemed to only want him here to... do whatever it is they'd been doing to him. But he just couldn't raise his voice to say such things, and so just sat quietly staring at his hands with a forlorn lost look. He had no idea what was going on...
She bit her lip at his look, suddenly and painfully reminded of her brother when he had asked her why she had taken him home. "Chrno...I want you to know, your a very important person to me already, don't think that I'm using you alright?" She cupped his cheek in her hand, before letting the feather dangle against his ear. "That feather, is very important to me. I wouldn't have just given it to you for no reason." She rested her forehead against his, to look deep into his gold eyes. "I promise you, I will never do anything to hurt you on purpose." She moved to twine her pinky with his. "Ok? Be my friend?"
He just looked up at her, with eyes bordering on tears, as he reached up and lightly touched the feather in his hair, a small hiccough coming to him as he looked up at her. He wasn't so sure.... all she'd done was give him to the Elder to tinker with, drag him on deck and done whatever that was that happened...it was all a big blur.... but he had the feeling that he should trust her. And slowly, he linked his pinky in hers.
She smiled, tightening the hold on his larger pinky slightly and shaking it, before squealing slightly and tackling him to the ground. "Great! My First Friend!!" snugglenuzzlesnuggle
He yelped and fell over with a heavy thunk and squeaked a bit as she snuggled him. "Ah!"
"I'm so happy!!" She pulled back slightly only to beam down at him, snagging his hand and pulling him to his feet, before pouting. "HEY! You're TALLER THEN ME!"
He staggered up, and blinked staring down at her from a good inch taller. "I...I am....! How did that happen...?"
She sighed, running her hand through her bangs a bit, rolling her eyes. "Great, I was getting used to not being the shortest on the ship..." She just sighed and waved her hand at him, dismissing the difference. "Well, it doesn't matter, it'll just make the outfit fit better. Come on." She tugged on his hand again.
He hesitated though as she pulled, giving another strange look at the mirror. "But....."
"Chrno." She tugged harder, looking annoyed. "Come on! There's a hot bath and clean clothes with your name on it along with a party that YOU are postponing because of your narcissism!" She pulled with all her strength, "COMONNN!"
He gave in, and let her tug her off, the worry about what to think about his appearance, and what others would think having to be pushed back for the time being. "Uh.....ok...."
She laughed a bit, smiling cheerfully as she pulled him along, into the captain's cabin, where a HUGE tub was filled with sparkling warm bubbles that floated up, looking completely refreshing along with a very...pirate outfit sitting to the side next to a towel and a complete set of body wash and shampoos. "Here!"
He stared at it with very wide eyes. "Whoa...." It didn't take much to say that he'd never seen such a luxurious bath before in his life...neither did it say much that he was almost tempted to just jump in right then and there, clothes and all.
She laughed, pushing him forward. "Go ahead, its all yours. Clean up the best you can and enjoy it too. Your initiation only happens once you know!"
He blinked then, half turning, not really sure he'd heard her right. "Initiation? What...?"
She rolled her eyes, before poking his chest. "Your initiation into the crew, idiot?"
He blinked down at her, slight confusion in his eyes. "Is that a good thing.... or a bad thing?"
"Good thing." She frowned, poking him again. "Unless you WANT to be a prisoner."
He blinked and rubbed his chest lightly, looking down with a faint confused look. "I thought I was...."
She sighed, tugging at the feather until it came free, before setting it next to the pile of trinkets that came with his outfit. "You're my friend right? You can't be a prisoner." She turned lightly on her heel, using a skilled hand to easily untie his shirt in one fell movement. "Get cleaned up sailor."
He blushed brightly as she took his shirt off, and his hands automatically went up to cover his now bare chest. "Um...ok...." Stare.... "In here...? With you?"
She turned absolutely pink. "NOO!" She squeaked, backing up like a mouse caught by a cat. "Um...I...erk….Just tell me when your done!" slam She was out of there in seconds.
With a cute blush, he nodded and slipped in, sighing almost at the bliss of the warm bubbles. Dear me.... how wonderful.... He peered at the various bubbles and shampoos, then finally started in, bathing himself well and clean until his hair shone, his skin was pink, and no sign of grime on him. He then got out, and toweled off, staring at the clothing, and picked up one or two items, staring oddly, before he began to dress. He had to struggle a bit to get the feather into the attachment, wondering what it was... why was it so special to her? It seemed strange for a guy to wear it, but as he glanced in his reflection, blushing a bit he had to admit, it looked good... "Ok... I'm ready."
She peeked in, before brightening greatly as she saw him, stepping in. "Wow!! Look at that! I knew it would look good!" She fixed his feather lightly before examining how he looked. The black tie up shirt came out loosely, open down to just a part of his formed abs, exposing most of his chest under the cross-threads of the shirt. The sleeves were tattered and frayed off at the arms, along with the bottom that just came up a bit lower then his belly button, exposing some of his darkened skin. His thick dark leather pants covered him up, doubled over by two oddly created belts, and stopped at the knees where deep strong leg-bands came down, cut across with gold bands just under his knees and on his ankles, before cupping about his feet. They exposed the slightly sharp points of his toes and heels, where the rough padding was more then enough protection against any tread. His arms were banded with a silky purple wrap, tied slightly messily by his uncertain hands, which she was more then happy to fix. Then, after a bit of pondering, she snagged the leather band necklaces and attached them to his firm throat, before slipping a dark gold cuff on his other upper arm, followed by the strong dark leather lined with gold gauntlets, protective and nice looking at the same time.
"Here, your hair." She loosened some of his braid so that it hung loosely about his neck, pulling out a strand and weaving it in an alien way to her own culture's style, tying it up with bits of dark colored leather, and put a few more nice feathers to match the pure white one, and then stood back, looking quite proud of herself, before pulling out a bright yellow bow and replacing the small tie on the bottom of his braid with it, smirking widely.
He blushed a little bit, running a hand through his be-feathered hair, rubbing the tip of the tuffy ear that he still hadn't gotten used to... they were halfway between a cat's or something..... He looked down at her, with a rather embarrassed awkward smile. "Is... it good?"
She smiled, running a finger through that fluff, "You're completely handsome." She winked at him, before booting him out. "Now go! I gotta get clean!"
He squeaked but slipped out, his lanky form much less gangly than it could be. He'd obviously picked up a graceful step in the last 'unlock'. "Right!
Rosette just smiled a bit, pulling the bandana free and carefully folded it up and hopped into the bath once it was refilled for her, cleaning and scrubbing herself like a girl would, something she didn't do as often as she probably should, while also giving her clothing the proper cleaning that they needed, climbing out a while later soaking wet and glistening, placing her clothes within a small compact steam dryer that the elder had created, before toweling off, and setting herself neat and pretty. Rather then wear the stark brown gloves, she replaced them with the cuffs that the crew had gotten her, the left one infused with a knob that looked quite familiar. Finally she stepped outside of the room, looking quite happy and clean.
Chrno was sitting in the shade upon deck, watching the crew, keeping out of the way for the most part. He still felt out of place... especially now. He felt vulnerable in a way he'd never felt before... he had no idea what he was, who he was, or why he was even here in the first place.... everything seemed to be changing rapidly around him, and he could barely keep up.... It took all his effort to try and keep a positive outlook, remembering her words to keep his spirits up.
Remi slid out of the crow's nest above, and landed with a heavy thunk of boots on the ground in front of his Captain, and saluted saucily. "Morning."
"Wagh!!" Rosette squeaked, her blue eyes bugging slightly as she nearly fell off the boat. "YUAN!!"
"Hello to you to." He replied easily grinning. " So. Where's our destination? Are we heading directly to the Apostle territory, or are we making a stopover in...." His eyes slid to her pocket, where the bulge of the small item that the demon had given her yesterday no doubt resided.
She pulled out the key, swinging the tag on it about a bit. "We're stopping off."
He grinned a bit and nodded turning about to shout directions, and then flipping back up using a rope. "Should take us a few hours at top speed, we're fairly close by."
Right!" She grinned, "How are the party preparations?"
He glanced over towards the quiet boy sitting off to the side. "We can stop by and get most of the supplies when we hit port. We'll need a few things..." He tugged thoughtfully on the gold earring in his ear. "We're out of the basic initiation equipment."
She nodded, leaning on his arm a bit as she watched the space go by, focusing on the dull outline of a large planet, filled with thick astral mist and oceans. "Not to mention the earrings them selves." She flicked at one if his, that she personally had done, back when she was eight and connived him into being her first mate.
He grinned down at her, and flicked one of her braids in return. "Aye, that and some shot. I think we have a gun somewhere... though we might want to see if the elder has something more specialized, since he's not human.... and the tattooing might not work on a demon... they have advanced healing normally."
She nodded, frowning as the braid bounced off her nose, before trying to blow it off. "Hmm. I'm sure we could find something on that planet."
"I'm hoping. It's a well known nexus of trade." He looked thoughtful. "And it's curious... If I'm not mistaken, that locker assignment is one of the more exclusive ones...."
She seemed just as curious. "Yeah I noticed. I cant wait to see." She looked back at Chrno's lone figure. "Do you think...that maybe he was competing?"
He glanced sideways at him and scratched his head. "I keep wondering where I've heard his name before.... and it seems to ring a bell...."
The Captain nodded, balancing the key on her nose lightly. "Chrno.. .Chrno.. .Chrno.. .Chrno.. .why DOES it seem familiar?"
He shrugged lightly. "Perhaps we'll find out when we get there. Until then, wanna teach him the ropes?"
She winked at him, stretching out before turning and heading towards Chrno. "Sure thing! Keep an eye out first mate!"
He winked. "Aye Ma'm."
She snuck up on Chrno slowly, hands outstretched before she pounced on him with a loud cry. "Hurrah me matey!!"
"Wahhh!" He yelped, startled out of his skin, but then did something different... as she pounced him, he rolled head over heels, bringing her to the deck as he continued to roll, and pounced right back on top of her, pinning her down with a faint gasping breath, eyes wide.
Her breath was knocked out of her as she was pinned, eyes wide and surprised. "Wah!" She tried to move her legs to shove him off, but somehow in their roll, he had cleverly pinned them both by twining one around them, leaving her completely prone.
He blinked a little, cheeks pink, especially as hoots and hollers came from all over the deck as the men cracked up. It was rare to see their captain taken by surprise." Ah.... sorry."
"Right sorry, now gerrof!" She pushed against his hands that held her wrists in place, pink cheeked and very embarrassed. "Chrno!!" His bit of hair she had cleverly weaved was brushing against her cheek and lips, which made her all the more embarrassed. Note to self, never tackle him again.
He quickly slid off, scrambling to his feet and scuffling them a little bit, ears drooping just a little, looking ashamed. "I'm sorry! I don't know how I did that, honest."
She sat up, giving him and then Yuan a annoyed glare, the latter for not helping her. "Right. Don't try that again."
"Right." He replied quietly, rubbing the back of his head as a nervous habit. "Sorry."
She stood, before dusting herself off. "Man...your lucky I get to cause you pain."
He cringed suddenly at that, giving her an almost fearful look. "Not again...." He swallowed hard, clamping a hand over the back of his neck.
She laughed, before flicking the tuft at the bottom of his ear. "No, not like that...your ears are going to be pierced. Tradition."
He gasped a bit, eyes widening and clamping both hands over them, by holding the tips down like one might a puppy. "Pierced...?"
"Yeah!" She pointed at her own, where five adorned her right and four in her left. "Not as many as I though. Two at least."
He looked a little spooked about that. "Why?"
"Tradition. I did it myself to Yuan over there when I first got started..." Her eyes went distant at the memory. "Since then, everyone in my crew has gotten their own personal pair, and are kept once they are gone too." She waved her hand, "There are other things, but I'm going to surprise you with them first."
He blinked at her and blushed a bit looking at a loss for words. "You don't have to do all that.... I don't know how I can repay you..."
She poked his nose, winking. "All you have to do is be loyal, no uprisings, and be a good sailor, right men?"
He glanced in each direction as the men roared their approval, and he scratched his nose where she'd poked it lightly. "Uh... okay."
She smiled and turned, walking like a captain would, hands behind her back and legs stiff as she stuck them out with each step. "Right then." She stepped out on the very tip of the ships prow, peering at the rapidly growing planet. "Time to go a shore landlubbers, you know what to get."
"Aye!" chorused the men, as they scurried about.
Chrno slipped up next to her, peering through the clouds at the land in the distance. "Where are we going?"
"Sail boarding capital of the universe." She pointed at the large golden amphitheater that even could be seen from this distance from the planet. "95 of the planet is astral ocean, best place anywhere for astral surfing."
He gaped a bit. "Wow.... That must be really cool!" His eyes swirled a bit as his heart did a thump oddly. Something about that place drew him.... He leaned forward over the bow, peering more at it, oblivious of the edge.
She nodded, stretching out her hands. "Ahh! I want to join the competition if there is one going on!" Her eyes glittered a bit, at the thought. "LOVE astral boarding, ever since I first tried it."
He nodded a bit, glancing back at her curiously as the feather in his hair blew around lightly in the breeze. "How old were you when you started it?"
She leaned back, "Eight years old, me and Joshua got hold of an old dinky one, he was SO upset when he couldn't get the hang of it and I could, he started crying...." She trailed off again, her eyes flickering with pain at the memory of her brother.
He glanced her way, wanting to ask who Joshua was, but realizing with the way she looked it might not be a good idea. "He sounds a lot like me..."
She looked down at the prow they were standing on, a faint, obviously miserable smile on her face. "Yeah. You are. Its odd really."
"Sorry." He said softly, reaching over to put a hand on hers. "I don't mean to bring up painful memories."
She gave him a forced smile, closing her eyes as she pulled her hand away, leaning back. "Ah they're not painful really, just old! Don't worry about it..." She waved her hand a bit, teetering on the edge of the wood.
He leaned over closing his eyes a bit. "Ah.... I wish...." He trailed off sighing a bit.
She patted his shoulder, getting the drift of his words. "Don't worry, we'll make new memories three times as nice to make up for the ones you've lost." The ship shuttered a bit as it pushed through the atmosphere, and she pulled him back off the prow as it turned red from the heat, sparking up the protective pattern. "Look, we're here."
He lifted his head and glanced over eagerly at the city, jumping up onto the edge and grabbing onto a rope, leaning over. "Wow a real city.... bigger than anything I've seen!"
She laughed, hopping up to snag her sailboard that was leaning against the deck, breathing deep the smell of the concentrated astral that lapped against the city, throwing up the sail that glowed brilliantly. "Yuan! I trust you to dock this accordingly k? I'm going to meet you at the port!"
"Aye. Careful out there, Capn'." He replied with a salute.
She nodded, just cleanly stepping off the side, pulling herself onto the board as she fell, and slammed on the controls, rocketing up above the ship sleekly, before rushing past Chrno, snagging his hand as she went.
The poor boy yelped a bit as he was jerked from his perch, and dangled in mid-air as she sped away from the ship. "AAAIIIIEEE!"
She spun him around so that his feet just touched the board, pulling his hand to the handle bar. "Grab on before I drop you!" He grabbed on tightly breath still taken away and clung almost desperately. Dear lord.. what if she HAD dropped him. She laughed, unbalanced slightly by this new arrangement. Rather then have him within her arms, he was bigger then her so she had to be inside his, she pressed against his chest and strong limbs, her feet just crushed against his outspread ones, she was closer to the male figure then she had been in a very long time. "Argh Chrno! Wah!" The board wobbled a bit, as she turned now side heavy. "Compensate compensate!!!"
He gasped a bit, but crouched down on the board a bit, slamming his foot on the accelerator, as he twisted the right handle almost deftly, and they went into a small spin before righting out, skimming across the tops of the buildings. She squeaked, as she was pressed to him tightly as they spun, before straightening out, her eyes wild as she clung to his arm with on hand that had been pushed out of the way as he took sudden control of the controls. "Wah! Chrno!" She looked up at him, heart pounding viciously. He was definitely more then he seemed.
His hands jerked the controls downwards, and they came to a blasting landing, touching down lightly, before he shakily let out a breath, and blinked, seeming to snap out of it, and glance back at her, wide-eyed. "Sorry.... are you ok?"
She stepped wobblingly off of the board, looking at him accusingly. "YOU...YOU...Weren't you afraid of heights?!"
He blinked and looked at her sheepishly, backing off the board himself. "Um... yes..... why?"
She just caught her breath, leaning a hand on the board as her braids fell into her face, giving her a slightly more adorable look as she stood there, half the size of the board, looking like she had just taken her first ride on the thing. Some couples who passed by praised the boy for taking such good care of his girlfriend. "Man...you keep getting weirder and weirder..."
He flushed and rubbed the back of his head again, shoving his other hand in his pocket, with a rosy blush on his cheeks. "Ah... sorry... I don't know where it comes from... suddenly it just... happens."
She finally sighed, before climbing on the board once more. "Come on, let's meet the ship." He nodded and slid on behind her this time, grabbing the safety bar with both hands, sandwiching her a little close to the board, as he tried hard not to blush more. She was just as embarrassed, his body closer then really needed to be now that they were out of the harsh wind zone, but his hands were tight on the bar, and she let it slide, for now. Even though the speed of his heart didn't seem just due to the idea of getting back onto the thing. "Hold on." She said softly, before stepping on the accelerator and weaving through the crowds up to the docking boat.
He clung tightly, but didn't close his eyes this time, forcing them to stay open, heart pounding hard as they zipped up, dodging weaving ducking.... it was like a euphoric drug... and since when had he started really enjoying it, he realized with a startled blink.
She let one hand go, pointing upwards through a thin shaft. "There, now don't topple us!" She called before twisting and going up the slit, BACKWARDS, glancing over her shoulder before as they popped up out of the shaft, did a roll and aimed for the docked, unloading ship, winking at him as they stopped dead inches in front of Remington. "Yo ho." Chrno gasped a bit in her ear but didn't protest, his eyes actually remaining open, though his heart pounding more as they burst out.
Remi turned, completely non-pulsed, and smiled up at them. "Enjoy yourself I see?"
She hopped off, tackling him in the process, being that she was floating a couple feet off the ground, and was getting a bit annoyed that she couldn't startle him at all. "Yes."
He caught her easily, and spun her around lightly, leaving Chrno to grab onto the board and land it. "Are you going to enjoy yourself all day, or do some investigation."
She wrinkled her nose. "Hey, all work and no play you know. Of course I'm going to investigate, you coming with?"
He raised an eyebrow. "You wish me to? Or should I oversee getting the other... 'supplies'?"
She seemed torn on that. Remington was the best bargainer of the bunch, but then again, she wanted him along. "Hmm..."
"I can go with you and then head out later if you like." He offered, setting her down.
She tapped her boot to the ground, looking happy about that. "Great. Thanks. Now just to..." She looked around for an extra sky board.
He shrugged lightly. There was only one on board the ship, of course. The rest had been lent out to other members sent off to get supplies. "We can walk there, can we not? It's not far." He peered over at the coliseum in the distance.
She sighed and nodded, giving the board a rueful look. "Sure we can, come on Chrno! Put that back on the ship!"
"Right!" He leapt off and grabbed onto the lower bar, and with a click the sail collapsed, and he held out the flat board to her.
She laughed a bit, placing a hand on it and sat down on it, giving Remi a playful look as she lassoed his hand with the boards anchor. "Mush doggy!"
Remi grinned awkwardly, but took the board and flipped it over his back, attaching it comfortably there. "What am I, your personal little taxi cab?" He grinned and pulled her along by the arm down the ramp.
She laughed, quite comfortable having him hold on to her in such a way. "Always." She gave Chrno a bright smile. "Come on, stop laggin' sailor!"
He blinked, but smiled then and jogged up to catch with them, feather brushing by his ears and catching on the breeze lightly. "Sorry!"
She blushed a bit at the sight of him, reaching over to adjust the white feather as they walked, chatting about things and such, as she fiddled with the key in her pocket. Some how or another, the subject of how the two of them had met came up. "Oh? Us?" She blinked.
Chrno nodded almost eagerly, peering up with curious eyes. "Yeah! You seem like you've been together forever."
"Ahh.." Remi rubbed his arm cheerfully. "Now THAT's quite a story."
She blushed a bit, scratching at her cheek. "Yeah. It really is.." She looked back up at him, pondering what to tell him. "I met him when I was eight, my hair was no longer then his is now, and I was dressed as a little boy. I was able to trick him into becoming my first mate if I could steal the ship of my dreams..."