Okay, let me start this before I get sidetracked again. I'm really hungry right now, but for some reason... well, okay, I know the reason. It's late and I don't feel like going to get something to eat. Might just sleep it off.
Rednal29- I do not write slow. I actually write quickly, it's just that I have periods of writers block while I try to figure out how I need to connect the events. And twenty words really isn't much. Count the words that I just wrote in this reply. That is number 50 right there. I like to make my chapters somewhat long, so... This chapter came out relatively quickly because right now, actually, I'm on the highway with my parents, maybe twenty miles from home, and the traffic is blocked and there's nothing to do but type on my ibook... too dark to read or anything, don't have enough power on my computer to play a game for more than five minutes.
-
Vyse and the others flew back to Crescent Isle, where a warm, if overly excited, welcome awaited them. To celebrate, there was a party at the tavern, with Polly and Urala serving food, Merinda dancing, and a bunch of drunk people just hanging out together, having a good time.
Vyse smiled, looking at his crew. Everyone seemed content under his power, actually, they seemed happy about it. 'Am I really that a good person that people like Marco are happy to scrub the decks for me?' he thought, chuckling a bit.
"What's on your mind, cap'n?"
He came out of his thoughts with a crash. "Uh, nothing, Kirala. Just watching everyone."
"I see." She stared at him for a moment, curious. "So, what happened to you guys? I asked Aika and Fina, but they couldn't really give me a straight answer."
"Ah." 'Well, we were kidnaped, and now I'm a little more than just a pawn in Nylas's game, that's what happened.' "We just ran into some trouble, nothing much. Sorry for not alerting you guys, but there really wasn't any time."
"What kind of trouble?"
Vyse winced, racking his mind for a suitable answer. 'She's going for the kill...' "Well, there was this bounty that we hadn't planned to go after, but we saw him in action and decided to pursue."
"I see. Did you catch him?"
He shrugged, taking a sip of the loqua he had in his hand. "Sorta. We caught him, but he escaped at the last minute. Besides, he had a whole ship behind him, and we were only in that tiny little thing."
"So he's a Black Pirate?"
"Not exactly. I'm not too sure he's a pirate. More like a psychopath that has these crazy experiments. I have to admit, he's brilliant in a way, but... it's a De Loco case. Brilliant, but just plain insane."
Kirala laughed. "Brilliant but insane, eh? So what was this guy's name? De Loco Junior?"
Vyse chuckled. "I would be terrified if he was named after De Loco, after the trouble that he caused us."
"Yeah. With De Loco's revengefulness and everything... better watch out, Vyse. These bounty might come after you this time. Did you wreck anything of his?"
"Besides knocking out a few guards and stealing a couple of lifeboats, no, not really."
"Well, he probably won't come after you for that. You never answered my question. What's his name?"
Vyse tensed a bit, feeling that hatred well up again. "Nylas," he muttered, willing his muscles to relax. It worked, but not quickly enough. Kirala noticed the tenseness. "Whoa, guess you must really hate him. So are we going to go after him now?"
He shook his head. "No. Not yet. I want to think of a plan first... he's a tricky one."
"I see." Kirala smiled admiringly at him. "Well, I'm sure you'll think of something sooner or later. You're the one who defeated the Gigases a few years ago. After that, I know for a fact that there's nothing you cannot handle. Just let us know when you're going to do something like that again, okay?"
Vyse smiled. "Thanks Kirala. Don't worry, I'll make sure you guys know." He set his glass of loqua on the table. "Might as well start on that plan right now."
Kirala looked at him confused. "Now? C'mon, Vyse, you just got back from wherever you were chasing Nylas. Surely it can wait until tomorrow. For now, just celebrate!"
"No, Kirala. I'm afraid this can't wait..."
With that, Vyse slipped out of the tavern, unseen by anyone but Kirala. She sighed, sipping at her own glass of loqua. "He's hiding something..."
-
The early sunlight was what woke Aika from her sleep. Groaning she placed a hand to her head, feeling the effects of an hangover. 'Note to self: Don't drink so much loqua next time, no matter how much Don gives you.' She shrugged her clothes sleepily. Once she was done, she left her room, surprised to see Vyse's door open slightly. Nervously, she opened the door a bit more, peering inside. The room was devoid of any sign that someone had even lived in it. "Wow," she said under her breath. "When did Vyse become such a neat freak?" She closed his door, wondering where in the world he could be. The sun had only started to rise, and Vyse wasn't known to be an early riser. 'He's changed so much,' she thought, going down the stairs. 'How can he not notice the changes himself'
She choose the most likely place that he'll be at, and headed towards the flagpole. As she suspected, Vyse was there, watching the sunrise. He didn't seem to notice her arrival, so she just stood there, watching him and the sunrise in turn.
"You're up early."
Aika jumped in surprise. How long had he known she was there. "Well, so are you. Restless or something?"
He grimaced. "Something like that, I guess. Can't sleep at all."
"You're probably excited over the fact that you get to be on you precious ship again."
He laughed, though it sounded somewhat forced. "Is that what it is?"
Aika smiled. "Exactly! I'm pretty sure you'll feel so much better once you're behind the wheel again. Then we can go around the world again and beat up Black Pirates and other scourges, and get gold for it, too!" She clapped her hands in excitement. "We can visit all of the points in the world again, visit the king of Ixa'taka, maybe visit Nasrad- I wonder if they have their bazaar open now? Or we can go to the Lands of Ice and just look at the Aurora, I think it's really beautiful."
Vyse laughed, this time sounding sincere. "We can do all of that. Besides, not like anyone's going to stop us but a few measly Black Pirates."
"Great! I can't wait to get on The Gypsy myself. She's such an awesome ship. Turns like a dream."
"Not to mention she flies better than any other ship in the world. She doesn't even pause for a moment when it comes to rifts or reefs." Vyse's voice swelled with pride as he lost himself in the thought of his wonderful ship.
Aika laughed. "You love your ship so much, you remind me of De Loco with your fetish."
"It's not a fetish! And don't compare me with that nut! Remember how De Loco went nuts and plotted for revenge every time we defeated The Chameleon?"
"Vyse, you get seriously mad every time cannon fire even scratches The Gypsy. You were right, though, I shouldn't compare you to De Loco."
"That's right! I'm not some deranged nut-"
"You're much more obsessed than he was."
Vyse tackled her playfully, knocking her to the ground. "Take that back, Aika!"
She started laughing uncontrollably, so uncontrollably that Vyse started to chuckle himself. He taped her on the head lightly. "You little... I am not obsessed about The Gypsy."
"That's... what... you... say...!" she managed to say between bits of laughter. "Yeah, and incase you've forgotten, I'm the captain, so what I say goes!"
"Aye aye captain!" she replied, still laughing. Vyse smiled evilly down at her.
"And, since I am captain, I assign you to swabbing the decks today." He leaned closer to her, winking. "And I want to be able to see my reflection.
That shut Aika up immediately. She looked up at him in horror. "No way! That's Marco's job!"
He crossed his arms, smiling at her. "Well, now it's yours."
She sat up angrily. "That's not fair! I'm not going to swab the decks of the ship you love more than life itself! You love it so much, then you clean it!"
"Me? The captain, swabbing decks? That's absurd!"
"Well, you're not going to see me doing it!"
Vyse laughed, standing up. "I'm just joking, Aika. I wouldn't make you do that. Marco's gotten so used to it, I'm pretty sure he likes it now." He offered a hand down to her. "Just a chance to be outside, see the sky, you know how it is in Valua."
She took his hand, pulling herself up. "Don't scare me like that again, Vyse. I refuse to swab the decks, ever."
"Why not? My ship not good enough for you?"
"Vyse, I got enough of swabbing the decks when we were on Drachma's ship."
"At least you weren't busting your back lifting crates."
Aika grimaced. 'Oh yeah, Drachma had put Vyse to work by forcing him into manual labor.' She looked down, not able to come up with a good response, thus making her loose that argument. It surprised her to see that Vyse still had a firm but loose grip on her hand, and his thumb was making light circular motions on the back of her hand. Fighting a blush, she pulled her hand away. "Are you hungry?"
He was taken back by the question, but recovered quickly. "I guess I could eat. Wonder if Polly's up yet?"
"If she isn't, then I'll cook something for us."
Vyse winced, remembering an incident where Aika had volunteered to cook when Urala had caught a head cold and Polly, having much time with Urala, caught it too. Vyse and many others in his crew had been in bed for days, moaning in pain. 'If I eat her cooking again... Red Moon help me...' "Uh, how about we both cook, Aika? We can get some food quicker if we work together on it..." '... and I can make sure everything is prepared correctly this time'
Aika shrugged. "Whatever. How about scrambled eggs? And some fried fish? Does that sound good to you?"
"Sure... can I do the eggs?"
"Okay! Your eggs usually turn out pretty well, anyways. Though I do remember one time when they were all runny and greasy and undercooked..."
Vyse started towards the tavern. "Hey, that was when I first tried cooking them. I've learned from my mistakes."
Aika followed him slowly. 'There's another thing different about him... he seems to be more... affectionate... it's small, but I can definitely see that he's... flirting... somewhat... though he could just be teasing me again'
Vyse stopped, turning around to look at her. "You're awfully quiet. What's on your mind?"
She blinked, smiling nervously. "Don't worry about me! I'm just trying to remember how long fish need to be fried."
Vyse stared at her for a moment before turning around again. "Not long... two minutes on one side, two on the other."
"Oh yeah. Thanks."
Vyse nodded silently, sensing the suspicion that was radiating off of Aika. 'I need to take it down a notch... not too soon, not to late, that's what Nylas told me... you've known her all your life, Vyse... you should be comfortable with it. So why is this so hard'
-
Okay, it's bugging me that this chapter is so short. I like to type... and I like to type... a lot... When I was doing my first story, I wouldn't let myself update until each chapter was 1100 words long or something like that. This is like 700... must resist elongating... Please review. I busted my butt trying to put this out there quickly...
Rednal29- I do not write slow. I actually write quickly, it's just that I have periods of writers block while I try to figure out how I need to connect the events. And twenty words really isn't much. Count the words that I just wrote in this reply. That is number 50 right there. I like to make my chapters somewhat long, so... This chapter came out relatively quickly because right now, actually, I'm on the highway with my parents, maybe twenty miles from home, and the traffic is blocked and there's nothing to do but type on my ibook... too dark to read or anything, don't have enough power on my computer to play a game for more than five minutes.
-
Vyse and the others flew back to Crescent Isle, where a warm, if overly excited, welcome awaited them. To celebrate, there was a party at the tavern, with Polly and Urala serving food, Merinda dancing, and a bunch of drunk people just hanging out together, having a good time.
Vyse smiled, looking at his crew. Everyone seemed content under his power, actually, they seemed happy about it. 'Am I really that a good person that people like Marco are happy to scrub the decks for me?' he thought, chuckling a bit.
"What's on your mind, cap'n?"
He came out of his thoughts with a crash. "Uh, nothing, Kirala. Just watching everyone."
"I see." She stared at him for a moment, curious. "So, what happened to you guys? I asked Aika and Fina, but they couldn't really give me a straight answer."
"Ah." 'Well, we were kidnaped, and now I'm a little more than just a pawn in Nylas's game, that's what happened.' "We just ran into some trouble, nothing much. Sorry for not alerting you guys, but there really wasn't any time."
"What kind of trouble?"
Vyse winced, racking his mind for a suitable answer. 'She's going for the kill...' "Well, there was this bounty that we hadn't planned to go after, but we saw him in action and decided to pursue."
"I see. Did you catch him?"
He shrugged, taking a sip of the loqua he had in his hand. "Sorta. We caught him, but he escaped at the last minute. Besides, he had a whole ship behind him, and we were only in that tiny little thing."
"So he's a Black Pirate?"
"Not exactly. I'm not too sure he's a pirate. More like a psychopath that has these crazy experiments. I have to admit, he's brilliant in a way, but... it's a De Loco case. Brilliant, but just plain insane."
Kirala laughed. "Brilliant but insane, eh? So what was this guy's name? De Loco Junior?"
Vyse chuckled. "I would be terrified if he was named after De Loco, after the trouble that he caused us."
"Yeah. With De Loco's revengefulness and everything... better watch out, Vyse. These bounty might come after you this time. Did you wreck anything of his?"
"Besides knocking out a few guards and stealing a couple of lifeboats, no, not really."
"Well, he probably won't come after you for that. You never answered my question. What's his name?"
Vyse tensed a bit, feeling that hatred well up again. "Nylas," he muttered, willing his muscles to relax. It worked, but not quickly enough. Kirala noticed the tenseness. "Whoa, guess you must really hate him. So are we going to go after him now?"
He shook his head. "No. Not yet. I want to think of a plan first... he's a tricky one."
"I see." Kirala smiled admiringly at him. "Well, I'm sure you'll think of something sooner or later. You're the one who defeated the Gigases a few years ago. After that, I know for a fact that there's nothing you cannot handle. Just let us know when you're going to do something like that again, okay?"
Vyse smiled. "Thanks Kirala. Don't worry, I'll make sure you guys know." He set his glass of loqua on the table. "Might as well start on that plan right now."
Kirala looked at him confused. "Now? C'mon, Vyse, you just got back from wherever you were chasing Nylas. Surely it can wait until tomorrow. For now, just celebrate!"
"No, Kirala. I'm afraid this can't wait..."
With that, Vyse slipped out of the tavern, unseen by anyone but Kirala. She sighed, sipping at her own glass of loqua. "He's hiding something..."
-
The early sunlight was what woke Aika from her sleep. Groaning she placed a hand to her head, feeling the effects of an hangover. 'Note to self: Don't drink so much loqua next time, no matter how much Don gives you.' She shrugged her clothes sleepily. Once she was done, she left her room, surprised to see Vyse's door open slightly. Nervously, she opened the door a bit more, peering inside. The room was devoid of any sign that someone had even lived in it. "Wow," she said under her breath. "When did Vyse become such a neat freak?" She closed his door, wondering where in the world he could be. The sun had only started to rise, and Vyse wasn't known to be an early riser. 'He's changed so much,' she thought, going down the stairs. 'How can he not notice the changes himself'
She choose the most likely place that he'll be at, and headed towards the flagpole. As she suspected, Vyse was there, watching the sunrise. He didn't seem to notice her arrival, so she just stood there, watching him and the sunrise in turn.
"You're up early."
Aika jumped in surprise. How long had he known she was there. "Well, so are you. Restless or something?"
He grimaced. "Something like that, I guess. Can't sleep at all."
"You're probably excited over the fact that you get to be on you precious ship again."
He laughed, though it sounded somewhat forced. "Is that what it is?"
Aika smiled. "Exactly! I'm pretty sure you'll feel so much better once you're behind the wheel again. Then we can go around the world again and beat up Black Pirates and other scourges, and get gold for it, too!" She clapped her hands in excitement. "We can visit all of the points in the world again, visit the king of Ixa'taka, maybe visit Nasrad- I wonder if they have their bazaar open now? Or we can go to the Lands of Ice and just look at the Aurora, I think it's really beautiful."
Vyse laughed, this time sounding sincere. "We can do all of that. Besides, not like anyone's going to stop us but a few measly Black Pirates."
"Great! I can't wait to get on The Gypsy myself. She's such an awesome ship. Turns like a dream."
"Not to mention she flies better than any other ship in the world. She doesn't even pause for a moment when it comes to rifts or reefs." Vyse's voice swelled with pride as he lost himself in the thought of his wonderful ship.
Aika laughed. "You love your ship so much, you remind me of De Loco with your fetish."
"It's not a fetish! And don't compare me with that nut! Remember how De Loco went nuts and plotted for revenge every time we defeated The Chameleon?"
"Vyse, you get seriously mad every time cannon fire even scratches The Gypsy. You were right, though, I shouldn't compare you to De Loco."
"That's right! I'm not some deranged nut-"
"You're much more obsessed than he was."
Vyse tackled her playfully, knocking her to the ground. "Take that back, Aika!"
She started laughing uncontrollably, so uncontrollably that Vyse started to chuckle himself. He taped her on the head lightly. "You little... I am not obsessed about The Gypsy."
"That's... what... you... say...!" she managed to say between bits of laughter. "Yeah, and incase you've forgotten, I'm the captain, so what I say goes!"
"Aye aye captain!" she replied, still laughing. Vyse smiled evilly down at her.
"And, since I am captain, I assign you to swabbing the decks today." He leaned closer to her, winking. "And I want to be able to see my reflection.
That shut Aika up immediately. She looked up at him in horror. "No way! That's Marco's job!"
He crossed his arms, smiling at her. "Well, now it's yours."
She sat up angrily. "That's not fair! I'm not going to swab the decks of the ship you love more than life itself! You love it so much, then you clean it!"
"Me? The captain, swabbing decks? That's absurd!"
"Well, you're not going to see me doing it!"
Vyse laughed, standing up. "I'm just joking, Aika. I wouldn't make you do that. Marco's gotten so used to it, I'm pretty sure he likes it now." He offered a hand down to her. "Just a chance to be outside, see the sky, you know how it is in Valua."
She took his hand, pulling herself up. "Don't scare me like that again, Vyse. I refuse to swab the decks, ever."
"Why not? My ship not good enough for you?"
"Vyse, I got enough of swabbing the decks when we were on Drachma's ship."
"At least you weren't busting your back lifting crates."
Aika grimaced. 'Oh yeah, Drachma had put Vyse to work by forcing him into manual labor.' She looked down, not able to come up with a good response, thus making her loose that argument. It surprised her to see that Vyse still had a firm but loose grip on her hand, and his thumb was making light circular motions on the back of her hand. Fighting a blush, she pulled her hand away. "Are you hungry?"
He was taken back by the question, but recovered quickly. "I guess I could eat. Wonder if Polly's up yet?"
"If she isn't, then I'll cook something for us."
Vyse winced, remembering an incident where Aika had volunteered to cook when Urala had caught a head cold and Polly, having much time with Urala, caught it too. Vyse and many others in his crew had been in bed for days, moaning in pain. 'If I eat her cooking again... Red Moon help me...' "Uh, how about we both cook, Aika? We can get some food quicker if we work together on it..." '... and I can make sure everything is prepared correctly this time'
Aika shrugged. "Whatever. How about scrambled eggs? And some fried fish? Does that sound good to you?"
"Sure... can I do the eggs?"
"Okay! Your eggs usually turn out pretty well, anyways. Though I do remember one time when they were all runny and greasy and undercooked..."
Vyse started towards the tavern. "Hey, that was when I first tried cooking them. I've learned from my mistakes."
Aika followed him slowly. 'There's another thing different about him... he seems to be more... affectionate... it's small, but I can definitely see that he's... flirting... somewhat... though he could just be teasing me again'
Vyse stopped, turning around to look at her. "You're awfully quiet. What's on your mind?"
She blinked, smiling nervously. "Don't worry about me! I'm just trying to remember how long fish need to be fried."
Vyse stared at her for a moment before turning around again. "Not long... two minutes on one side, two on the other."
"Oh yeah. Thanks."
Vyse nodded silently, sensing the suspicion that was radiating off of Aika. 'I need to take it down a notch... not too soon, not to late, that's what Nylas told me... you've known her all your life, Vyse... you should be comfortable with it. So why is this so hard'
-
Okay, it's bugging me that this chapter is so short. I like to type... and I like to type... a lot... When I was doing my first story, I wouldn't let myself update until each chapter was 1100 words long or something like that. This is like 700... must resist elongating... Please review. I busted my butt trying to put this out there quickly...