Tales of the Jagan
Chapter 3
Meeting the Crew
OOOOOBotanOOOOOI stood there for who knows how long, just staring at the grand ship. It was the largest ship I have ever seen, though I admit I have seen no more than five ships my entire life. A small town like where I come from doesn't usually attract much attention so I missed out on a lot of the grander sights in life.
After staring at it for so long, I began to get a little unnerved. What were the people like on that ship? Pirates are said to be cruel and heartless, the stereotypical version that comes to mind is a big, burly, bald guy, whose skin is littered with tattoos, with a bandana to cover up his baldness. He would be tall and not particularly handsome, and his smile would reveal a gold tooth substituting for a real one. Then again, Hiei didn't fit that description at all, he was taller than me, but short by man standards, he was not bald or ugly. I've already decided he's the most handsome man I'd ever laid eyes on and he did not seem to be exceptionally evil, even though he did seem to have a harsh streak within him.
Suddenly I got cold feet and no longer wanted any part in sailing on the Jagan. Could I trust the pirates on there? What if they didn't like me? The longer I stared, the more I thought it was a bad idea. What if I had to become a pirate?
"Are you going to stand there all day?" Hiei asked.
I looked down at my feet nervously. I was starting to seriously wonder if I could outrun him, but the odds were considerably in his favor. If he could outrun gravity, what chance did I have?
I felt his hand wrap around my wrist, not painfully tight, but tight enough to know I couldn't brake free from it. I felt a little comforted at the contact, but I was still unsure and a little scared. I was going to be sent off with strangers that I knew nothing about! I haven't really met many people, and certainly never encountered pirates before! Just how was I supposed to act?
I felt him take a step forward and unwillingly followed. As we boarded I felt my weight shift, not used to the rocking of the ship, and lost my balance, only to have Hiei grasp my shoulders with each hand and steadied my. I thanked him with my eyes instead of voicing it.
"You'll get used to walking around on the ship soon enough, let's just hope you don't get seasickness," Hiei grumbled, not looking happy at the idea. Seasickness? What was that?
As we walked Hiei still had hold of my arm, which I was thankful for because if he wasn't pulling me, I don't think I would have moved. I spotted several pirates on the way; many did have tattoos and appeared to be suspicious characters. They all moved aside to let Hiei pass and regarded me curiously, but wisely said nothing. Most of them had tattered clothes and didn't look overly friendly. In truth, they made me uneasy.
Hiei and I stopped in front of an enormous door that was decorated with two gold ornamental swords in a cross pattern in the middle of the door. Hiei wasted no time in opening the door, releasing my hand in the process and walking right in. I stood there, not knowing if I was to follow him or not. He answered for me, rolling his eyes and pulling me into the room by taking my wrist.
The occupants and I seemed to be engaged in a staring contest, with Hiei looking back and forth. The first person I noticed had orange hair that stuck up peculiarly on the top of his head. He was very tall, and wore a white trench coat with no shirt underneath and matching white pants. (His Dark Tournament outfit) It looked like he was trying to punch the man next to him, but the other person had caught his fist. I guessed they were fighting before we entered, but now their attention was focused on me. That man had greased back black hair and had lovely brown eyes. He was shorter than the orange haired man and was wearing a light tan colored shirt and matching pants with a black best tied around his waist. (Yusuke's also in his dark tournament outfit. He's wearing it on the cover of Tournament's End, the dvd)
An enormous, rectangular table was off to the left of the room. The table could easily fit eight people on each side and was polished to look like it was meant for high-class society. On the right was a rug that had a pretty picture of the sea on it. Surrounding the rug were several plush couches, armchairs and love seats, along with a couple small tables that were positioned next to them. I got the distinct feeling that this was the captain's lounge. A person with long red hair was sitting at the table that I think is probably also used for dining. He had a deep shade of green as an eye color that I had never seen before. He sported an orange jacket and a light blue shirt could be seen underneath because the jacket wasn't zippered. For pants he had long dark blue jeans. (This is Kurama's outfit on the cover of The Seven DVD, in case you were wondering) The last person in the room was a young girl around my age. She wore a pinkish-red dress with a white shirt underneath and a brown belt at her waist. She had short dark brown hair and brown eyes that were looking at me curiously. She seemed the most out of place and I wondered what a girl like her was doing on a ship like this.
I noticed Hiei watching with interest, he was wearing a black no sleeved shirt and matching black pants with a thick white belt with a silver buckle on his waist. (He's wearing this on the Sword and Dragon DVD) The red head spoke first.
"So Hiei, this is the person you told me about," he mused smiling encouragingly at me, "My name is Kurama, nice to meet you."
I nodded in return, still feeling a little shy.
"My name's Botan…"
"Am I missing something?" The man with slicked back hair asked. Hiei sighed.
"Long story short, this is the girl who had the piece of the treasure in her possession. After debating a little we decided she could keep it if she came along and here we are," Hiei explained briefly.
"She's coming with us?" questioned the one with orange hair.
"Isn't that what I just said you fool?" Hiei retorted.
"I'm Yusuke, the strongest captain of this ship," boasted the man with the slicked back hair. He smirked in a friendly way and I knew he was just joking, nevertheless the other men in the room sent him death glares.
"Ah, don't listen to him! I'm Kazuma Kuwabara and I'm the real man of the ship!" exclaimed the tall one with orange hair.
"The only title he has is the one with the most stupidity," Hiei remarked, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms.
"Take that back shorty! Don't make me come over there and beat you up!" Kuwabara yelled.
"I am so scared," Hiei mocked, sounding anything but. I smiled a little at the interaction between the two, it was kind of funny. Then I wondered if Hiei was the captain, why was he taking this from a member of the crew? And didn't Yusuke say he was the captain?
"Yeah right Kuwabara, you can't beat me up, much less Hiei!" Yusuke snorted.
"Wait, I thought you were the captain?" I asked looking at Hiei so he knew I was asking him.
"Well, actually there are four captain's on this ship," The red head answered, "Hiei, Kuwabara, Yusuke, and I were friends before the Jagan and so we all kind of share the part of captain. I'm Kurama by the way."
"But we all know I'm the REAL captain!" Kuwabara shouted.
"Yeah right! You couldn't lead you way out of a shoebox" Yusuke came back.
"And I outclass you in every way," was Hiei's reply.
"Now, now we all have our own roles that lead up to the success of the Jagan, it takes all of us working together-" Kurama started.
"Not him!" Hiei glared at Kuwabara.
I watched as the four got into a miniature fight right there, well more like the three were fighting and Kurama was the mature negotiator. It was then I noticed the brown haired girl had come out next to me.
"Hi, I'm Kayko! Don't mind them, they always do this," She nodded to the squabbling boys and offered her hand, which I shook, "So you have a piece of the treasure too, can I see it?" Kayko asked.
I held out my keepsake and to my surprise she pulled out an identical gem, only it was light pink.
"I had one too and wouldn't part with it, although it was Yusuke who found me. It was a ritual that was passed down in my family for generations; the first-born daughter would receive the game from her mother when she turned sixteen. Of course then I didn't know it was a piece of the Treasure of Mortar. Did you?"
"No, it was something my mom gave to me when I was little," I said truthfully.
"I guess we are a lot alike. I'm actually happy for another girl's company, living with all boys can get a little lonely," She said with a nice smile. I nodded in understanding.
"So, your name's Botan, right?" I looked to see Kuwabara walk over to me, the fight apparently over with, "That's a pretty name."
I blushed at the compliment, even though he was complimenting my name, not me.
"Thank you. You're Kuwabara right?" I asked conversationally.
"You can call me by my first name, Kazuma, my fine lady," he flirted.
I glanced down nervously, not particularly liking the shameless flirting. I wasn't very familiar with boys, Avil had always liked me but he was a dirty creep and I had always gone out of my way to avoid him.
OOOOOHieiOOOOO
I growled angrily when I saw the fool hitting on Botan, who looked like she was trying to get away but didn't want to be rude. Yusuke and Kuwabara had always been perverts, but Kuwabara had never seemed this interested in a girl before. Botan was mine, I found her first and she was under my protection.
I walked briskly over to the two and punched the doofus in the back of his head.
"Ow! What was that for you punk!" Kuwabara screeched loudly.
"Stop that you oaf, you're embarrassing all of us!" Pirate indeed, he made a mockery out of all of us!
"I was just talking to her Hiei! It's not like you own her!"
I gritted my teeth.
"She is mine! I found her first so back off!" I yelled. Kuwabara smirked and I knew he was going to try to annoy me somehow as payback.
"Oh so you like her?"
"It doesn't matter if I do or don't, either way, you won't get her," I growled, stumping him. Frustrated that his attempt failed, the fool once again tried to yell something back at me when Kurama stopped him.
"Please stop it, is that anyway to act in front of our guest? You're both acting like children!" I growled again, Kurama was the only one who could talk to me like that, anyone else would have gotten a punch in the face, unless it was Kayko because she's a girl and one punch from me could probably knock her out, but luckily she always minded her tongue and was respectful.
I turned on my heel and grabbed Botan's wrist, taking her with me.
"I'll show you to your room," I told her as we walked out the door.
"Your friends seem nice," she offered.
"I can tolerate them," I replied and she giggled.
I was going to take her to the guest bedrooms. We had six and five were left open, Kayko taking the one of them as her room. They weren't as grand or as big as the four master bedrooms, but they were still lavished and made for royalty. Much better than what the crew had.
We didn't really hold much respect for the crew, we didn't even pay them. They got to go off the ship whenever we docked somewhere, gave them food and lodging, though eight crew members were known to share a room. Their rooms where small, only big enough to stack eight hammocks, on in each corner of the room with another above it that could be reached by a provided ladder and a small compound table/dresser made up their rooms.
We only used them because we needed them to maintain the ship for us and give us numbers if we went on raids, though none of them were skilled fighters, only one of the ship's captains could have fought all of them without breaking a sweat. They obeyed orders without question and stayed out of our way. They never had any part in planning our next move and if they weren't working were restricted to the crew quarters on the lower decks. Really, they were little more than slaves. If they betrayed us by giving information, any information to anyone, they were to be killed, no questions asked. And we would find them, eventually, no matter where they were. That fear made them all fiercely loyal to us, they knew they meant next to nothing to us and could be easily replaced. Our crew was made up of mostly demons and a smaller portion was made up of humans, but there were no females.
I wouldn't have them fooling around in that manner, not on my ship, when we docked and they had free time, I could care less what they did. That's one of the reasons Kayko and Botan were staying in the guest rooms, they were guests and wouldn't be working like the crew, but to keep them as far away from the crew as possible. Most of them could be categorized as shady, and I wouldn't trust them alone with a woman, human or not.
OOOOOBotanOOOOO
I would have thought Hiei and Kazuma's argument funny and cute, had they not been arguing about me. I was actually relieved when I felt Hiei tug me out of the room.
We went up some stairs that lead to a hallway that ended in another flight of stairs. Hiei pointed to the stairs at the end of the hallway.
"Up those stairs are the four master bedrooms that the captain's share. Mine is the furthest on the left," Hiei informed.
There were six doors in the hallway, three on each side. They all looked identical but on the center door on both sides was a small light that was connected to the wall above the frame of the door that gave just enough light to make out where you were going.
"These are the guest bedrooms. The crew sleeps at the bottom of the ship and never come this far up unless ordered to, so don't worry about them bothering you. Pick any one you want," he offered generously.
I pointed to the middle door on the left side. I thought the light was pretty and it would stand out from all the other doors except the one across it. He nodded and opened the door, like a gentleman holding the door for me to walk in first. I did with a smile.
The room was mostly cream colored that made it seem not particularly feminine, but like it could be used to fit either gender. That didn't bother me, I always liked tan colors anyway. Earthy tones were always normal and you wouldn't tire of looking at them as the years went by.
A generous sized fireplace that was decorated with stone was in the center of the right side of the room, a queen sized bed a few feet to the left of it. I could see a closet on the opposite side of the room. A changing curtain was in the corner, so I could get dressed behind it without having to worry if anyone saw me in a not so decent state. Straight ahead of me was a glass balcony door that would slide open and close that lead to the balcony. I gasped and rushed over to the door and hopped onto the balcony. It was a beautiful sight, as far as I could see, there was nothing but water. And it was twilight, which had always been my favorite time to look at the sky. When I was a little girl looking at the sky had always been a hobby, the colors of the sky had always fascinated me with their beauty, and the hobby stuck.
I rested my hands on the railing and leaned over, careful not to fall off. I felt Hiei come behind me and I followed him back inside, sliding the door closed. I could always come back when Hiei was gone, but it was rude to make him wait while he was here.
Hiei walked to the right of the fireplace, where there was a table and a chair, probably a place to read or write with the light of the fire to help you see. I saw him pick up something in his hand and then walked back over to me, handing me the item. I saw that it was a key.
"I would advise you to lock your door, especially at night. I doubt if the crew would steal anything, the door hasn't been locked until now with no one living in it, but it never hurts to be cautious," he tipped.
I gave him a skeptic look, asking him to explain and he sighed.
"Look, the crew isn't a bunch of gentlemen, most are scoundrels and cutthroats. I wouldn't trust them if I were you. Keep that key with you and lock the door when you're not in the room and even when you are at night. The only time I would call it safe to keep the door unlocked is if you are in it when the sun is out, or if you are with me or one of the other captains," Hiei explained further.
Just what kind of crew did he have? With what he just told me I no longer felt particularly safe. Surely he was jesting? The look on his face said otherwise.
"What if I lose the key?" I asked meekly in a timid voice.
"Then I'll get you a new one," Hiei said exasperated, "I already have a master key, all of the captain's do, but unless there is an emergency situation, I probably won't use it."
I nodded, the sun had now completely set, the only light coming from the fireplace now. I hate to say, I'm not a big fan of the dark, especially in strange places, and without people I really knew. I had known Hiei for a less than half a day, and the rest less than that. And with what Hiei had just revealed…I was beginning to get frightened again. Hiei must have noticed.
"It's ok, don't worry. I'm not going to let anything happen to you while you are here. The crew shouldn't be up here, ever, without permission so I wouldn't expect many encounters with them anyway. If they do try anything, they will be killed instantly, so that will rest on their minds before they try anything too," Hiei tried to comfort me.
Hiei looked at my ripped dress.
"I'll get you something else to wear tomorrow, he pulled out an extra shirt, and here you can wear this to sleep in tonight." I nodded and thanked him. I looked down at my dress and blushed. For the first time I noticed how torn and ragged my clothes were. A lot of my skin was showing, but nothing was really indecent was showing. Oh, how I must have looked to everyone!
Across from the closet was a vanity, mirror and all. I was horrified to see my face was smudged with smoke and dirt too. Well, there go all my hopes for a good first impression!
I fidgeted with my hair in the mirror's reflection.
"I looked like this the whole time?" I asked feeling my heartbreak.
"What? What's wrong with how you look?" he asked. I sighed at his obliviousness.
"Well I was hoping to make a better first impression than looking like a street rat," I mumbled sourly.
"Women. You looked fine. If it makes you feel better, Keiko looked horrible when she came here for the first time too."
"Really?"
"No."
I giggled. I figured he wasn't a skilled jokester, but he was a really nice guy that tried to make me feel good. And he was just so blatant about things that it was funny! The whole situation was funny! I was worried about how the pirates of the Jagan thought I looked, and one of the captains was cheering me up! If someone had told me this would have happened yesterday I would have thought they were crazy!
"Thanks, Hiei."
He nodded and prepared to leave, placing the key in my hand.
"Lock the door behind you," he said and left. I took the warning and locked the door.
The darkness didn't seem so fearsome anymore, and I no longer felt alone with strangers. To me, Hiei wasn't a stranger, I had known him for less than a day but already he felt like the cherished friend I never had, like I knew him all my life.
I suddenly felt fatigued and realized how exhausted I was. I opted to go to sleep and collapsed on the light tan colored bed. I could always explore the room further in the morning; after all I'd be here for a very long time.
OOOOOOOO
Hey! How's this for updating fast? Thank you all, I received my 10 reviews and am happy, but I want at least ten for this chapter too! The more reviews-the faster I update! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
We need 48 reviews for the next chapter!
Oh yeah, if any anonymous reviews want me to email them when I update my story, I will, just leave it in a review and when I'm writing the reviewer responses I'll email them if they leave their email. Please leave your email address for each chapter because I'm not perfect and if you made the review for a different chapter I won't reply to it and chances are I'll forget to email you, sorry. This only applies to people who do not have accounts on because if you do have an account you can just put it on your author alert and save me the trouble. Thanks!
OOOOOOOOOOO
Reviewer Responses-
Sakina B.N. Vega-Thank you for reviewing! You like my choice of POVs? I always thought my writing style was a little different from other writers, don't get me wrong, no two author's have the same exact writing style, but mine is just…I don't know weird. But that's ok! Thanks for saying thank you, most people just tell me to hurry and update. I love them to death but it's nice to have someone thank you too!
Shoujo Bat-Thanks for taking the time to read and review? Umm what would you like me to review? One of your fics? Ok, just tell me which one you want me to read!
MystiKoorime-Yep, well I updated quickly this time! Aren't you proud of me? It's a miracle! Yeah, I think this is going to turn out to be fluffy, wasn't this chapter kind of fluffy? I thought so anyway, even if I was just mild fluff. Thanks, you're the best!
Crystal Koneko-Couples! There's going to be a lot! But since you mentioned them I'll tell you what they are! Obviously Hiei/Botan, Yusuke/Kayko, Kurama/Shizuru and I'm a bit miffed with Yukina. It's either going to be Kuwabara/Yukina or Touya/Yukina. There will also be one-sided Kuwabara/Botan. He's still going to have a crush on her after meeting Yukina, and Hiei's going to get annoyed and jealous! There will be some Sakyo/Shizuru and Genkai (well Genkai's daughter)/Toguro. It's a lot but it's going to be a long fic. I'd tell you more about Genkai's daughter but I don't want to give too much away! Thanks for reviewing!
StupidKitten-I think you're a very smart kitten! Anyway, I noticed you put me on a lot of you favorites list and I can't think you enough for it! It's just so…gratifying? Yes, gratifying will work; it's a very gratifying feeling! Thanks!
Miss Kyoshi-Well aren't you a wonderful little person! I thank you for volunteering to review 38 times, but I wouldn't make you do all that. Just knowing you want the next chapter that bad would be enough inspiration I think. But luckily, I got ten reviews, so here's your chapter! And thanks for adding me to your favorites!
And just so you know, this chapter is longer! Enjoy!
LivingImpared-Thank you for bearing with me. Well, I got this chapter up fast; don't I get points for that? Heh heh. Thanks for putting me on your favorites! It means a lot, and then next chapter might take me a couple of days to write, probably not out as fast as this one. I was surprised I wrote it this quickly, but I couldn't fit half the stuff I wanted too, so I'll just have to plan it all in in the next chapter! Thanks for reviewing!
Miss Kyoshi-You reviewed twice, so you get these things twice! Oh, happy birthday! It's the second right? I'll try to get the next chapter out by the 9'Th but I'm not sure if I can make it! I'll announce your birthday though in my author's notes!
RitSuYue-Thanks, I want you to be honest about this chapter, it started good but I think it was a little off at the end somehow, what do you think? Maybe I'm just paranoid, I dunno. Yeah, I think it's going to be romantic, but then again my version of romantic, might not actually be romantic. To me it's fluffy, but I've never written hardcore fluff before so I don't know. Did anything I just write make sense? I hope so, if not just ignore it . I should be able to update again in about a week if I get 10 reviews!
Darkgarent-Oops, I just noticed last time I wrote Darkgarnet! I'm so sorry, I thought it said garnet instead of garent and it was very rude of me! I'd fix it in the last chapter but with all the changes just made, I don't know how to with out replacing the chapter! So sorry about that, hope you forgive me, you didn't say anything so I hope you're not too mad. And I posted this chapter in less than a year! Bonus points for me!
Ok everyone! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Try to review if you have time, ok!
Freesia