So, it appears I have made you guys wait longer than expected.
Please forgive my insolence and let's just get straight to it.
I hope you enjoy,
L & D
(Title credit to AC/DC)
Maigo was minding his own business, walking down the street, eating a banana, the usual. His shaggy hair hung in front of his eyes, creating a nice shadow that blocked out the sun and made for a rather dull view of everything, but it was normal, so he carried on as he usually would. He had made it all the way down the the docks, and just as he was about to settle down for a bit of fishing, the most amazing sight he had ever seen had caught his eye.
A woman rigged her ship onto a pier, obviously not caring that her vessel was the size of a small ferry; it was fit to carry about ten men on it, and ten men it would have taken to move it anywhere into place, but there she was, tugging its ropes and tying them up with ease. Her form was difficult to grasp from the distance he was at, but she wasn't tall. She wasn't particularly striking either: black hair, generic clothes, working boots.
He couldn't help but be intrigued. How could such a plain girl display such unusual strength?
The woman felt his eyes. She snapped her head his direction, and Maigo waved, but she just stared, not waving back. She turned on her heels and headed straight into town.
He grinned, almost feeling bad for her. She didn't know what she was getting into, poor thing. Fuukushima had the reputation of being quite the thieving town, full of bandits and con men. Poor girl wouldn't know what hit her. He laughed, baiting his hook with a piece of his banana, and waited.
It had only been ten minutes before the town had literally gone up in flames. Maigo peered over his shoulder, vaguely wondering if he was dreaming. Then, the girl walked out of the flaming wreckage, an oversized sack in her hands and a pleased little grin on her face. Her hair was roughly tied back, bumps and loose strands every which way, and even though her clothes were slightly scorched, her body itself looked untouched. She walked right up to him, set her sack down, and plopped beside him.
"You knew that town was a death trap." There was a beat, and then a tug on his fishing reel.
"I dunno about that," He shrugs, the both of them knowing that Maigo was lying through his teeth. He sharply pulled upwards, grinning at the decent size fish that appeared out of the water. It flopped onto the pier, flailing, and before he could do anything, the woman had a knife through the thing's head.
She stared at it, unimpressed. "I don't like liars. But you don't actually mean ta lie." She pulled the knife up, expertly, and wiped away the blood on her pants. The action was slow, and deliberate. Each side was smeared against her black jean until she was satisfied. "You're just confused. I can tell."
He bristled, only slightly, ignoring the dark stain the blood made. "And who are you to tell me stuff about myself?"
She laugh, and it was a bright, greatly contrasting sound from the scowl that had been on her face seconds ago. "That's the question? My question is how do you not know? I've dealt with my fair share of liars and thieves and psychopaths, but you, you actually looked guilty when you looked at me pullin' up to the pier." Maigo was drawn in to the exotic drawl of her voice. For the most part, she spoke normally, but on certain words her enunciation would draw out a vowel or cut short multiple constants.
"I don't remember looking guilty."
"That isn't the point though, whether you don't remember or you're lying to me, because I saw you." She extended her arms backwards, away from herself, using them to prop her up as she leaned back, her nose to the sky. "I saw you, and you can't take it back."
Maigo's heart races in his chest, and he feels the very sudden need to run. To run and run and then keep running. The dead fish next to him stared at him lifelessly. The girl took a deep breath and smiled.
"Join me." She hums, offhandedly. Her fingernails tap rhythmic beats on the rotting wood of the pier. "I'm going on an adventure, so, join me. I could use some company."
"Okay, look lady-"
"My name isn't 'lady', it's Anne."
He sneered, and waved a hand at her and he stood up. "That's nice and all, but I ain't the adventuring type. I don't even know you. Why the hell would I tag along?"
The girl paused, pondering this for a moment. A moment of hesitation was all he needed to walk past her without an ounce of guilt left. He picked up the fish, and had only took two steps-
"Because you're lost."*
It felt like the wind had gotten knocked out of him, like someone had punched him in the gut.
"What?"
"You're lost," She repeated, a dazed look about her face, "-I think. You can't find anywhere to be happy; you were on this pier because you love the sea, but you're scared of it too. You're lost."
He doesn't say anything. He doesn't want to say anything. The girl got up, threw her large burlap sack over her shoulder, and started walking. He was very tempted to follow her. Extremely tempted. She glanced back, her eyes finding his. "Are you coming along or not, blondie?"
He snarled at that comment. Sure, he was blond, but that didn't mean he wanted to be called blondie. He didn't even know if his sickly yellow hair could even be called a proper blond color. "It isn't blondie, it's Maigo."
The lady-Anne-stopped completely and turned around to look at him incredulously. "You're shittin' me, right? You gotta be. There's no way-"
"I ain't shitting you, okay? That's my name, swear to god."
Anne stood there, stunned, before she let out a sharp, bright laugh. "I didn't know crazy shit like this happened in real life. I thought it only happened in crappy romance novels or whatever." She raised an eyebrow, concern flitting over her features. "...Does this mean we're gonna be a crappy romance novel?"
"God, I hope not." Maigo muttered, looking down at his fish. "I can barely stand you as is, lady."
"Ouch. Rude much?" She laughed, leading the way to her boat.
Maigo knew this was a very bad idea. He didn't know Anne, if Anne was even her real name, and she had that crazed sort of look in her eye that any sane person would further question.
But he didn't care. She could be an ax murder for all he knew, but he didn't care. The horizon was calling his name, and the girl beside him was readily going to lead him into the unknown.
Anne was a raving lunatic.
Four days with her on the high seas, and Maigo was able to gather that much about the woman. She had laughed unceasingly when they got caught up in a storm, and the waves were twenty meters tall, but she only laughed and laugh, as water spilled onto the deck and as she did jobs that would normally take five or six grown men to do. Maigo was in charge of steering during that time, and her laughter would send chills down his spine. He didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but he was pretty certain it wasn't good.
The storm broke, and his captain-he supposed that was what she was-almost looked disappointed. Which furthered his suspicions of her being completely insane.
She unfurled the sails by herself, and Maigo generally felt very useless.
"Oi! Blondie, get over here and weigh the anchor for me, we need to fish."
He grumbled, shuffling over to the anchor, and with a bit of difficulty, got it thrown overboard. It took a moment or two for it to reach a depth that kept the ship stable.
Anne whipped out a fishing pole, and Maigo reached behind him to snag the fishing pole off of his back. The ship had a figurehead of a dragon, and whist they both sat upon it, Anne smiled a smile that reeked of nostalgia.
"You know," she began, "I stole this ship. It was pretty easy, honestly. She had a real stupid name; the Red Reptile or whatever. I obviously had to fix that-" Anne pulls up a fish, sharp and steady, already hacking it's head off as it flopped onto the wood. "I'm thinkin' callin' her the Vyssiní Zephyr. Opinions?"
"I've never heard anything like it." He reeled up a small silvery fish that was just big enough to make a decent meal. He hummed, thoughtful. "But I guess that's what you need to go for, now a days. An unforgettable name."
She nodded, excitement washing over her countenance. "Exactly! Ain't no one's heard a name like Vyssiní Zephyr, and our crews gonna be like nothin' you've ever seen, Blondie!"
"My name isn't blondie." Maigo corrected, out of shear principle this time, really very annoyed by how she refused to address him by his given name. He stood up, his fish dangling front his hand as he went off to the kitchen to cut it up and cook it.
He could feel Anne's eyes trailing after him, but she didn't call out to him, nor did she make any loud noises that would send him scurrying back to her. Anne, in a paradoxical sort of way, was touchy and yearned for affection, but also kept her distance, and never got too close. Maigo was confused, to say the least.
He watched her was she sat on the figurehead, her back turned to him. He could tell that she was staring at the deep red reflection that the ship casted upon the ocean, pondering in a way he thought uncharacteristic for the girl he had come to know over their short first week together. He moved across the deck, changing his vantage point, leaning against the wooden railings of the ship comfortably. Anne's lips move, but her words were lost to the wind. She stays there for a few more seconds, her hair billowing in the breeze that had rendered her speechless to Maigo's ears.
She swiftly takes to her feet, jumping down from the red dragon, her boots clacking against the wood of the deck hauntingly. "Blondie," She stops, briefly, right in front of him and lets out a grin that he thought made her look just as insane was she really was, "You ready?"
Maigo starts. His breath catches in his throat uncomfortably. There is something about the sheen in her eyes that is terrifying. "Ready for what?"
The wind howls suddenly and dread plummets into his stomach.
"Why is it so awful? The weather's never this bad!" He shouts over the whistling overhead.
Anne races over to the mast, tying everything down with the amount of care only a decades old sailor would. "We should be grateful!" She screeched, clinging onto the ropes as a particularly foul gust of wind hit her. "The ocean's throwin' a welcoming party! Isn't that sweet of 'er?!"
"Tell her to stop!"
He can hear Anne's laughter over the roar of the sea and feels the urge to strangle her. He gets the notion that it will most likely not be the last time.
"Yahooo!" Anne crows at the top of her lungs as she was literally got swept off of her feet, sent flying off the deck. Maigo was certain that he had a small heart attack as she was sent straight towards the sea, only able to breath again when he saw her flapping in the air whilst holding on to the deck railings. The storm hesitates for a second, just a second, but that's all it took for Anne to be on deck again, rigging the sails.
Everything around him is chaos, but the sureness in his captain's posture is all he needs to keep on going. Her hands are small, but calloused. Her face is pretty, but worn. She looks ten years older than she actually is, and Maigo thinks that if anyone needed protecting, it would be Anne. He can't justify that with logic, but it just made sense to him. He couldn't let her protect him all the time. He had to return the favor.
"Captain!" He screamed over all the noise. "Captain!"
Anne snaps her head in his direction, her face all smiles, and Maigo feels like he has done a very good thing.
"Maigo!"
Hari was a small, small island in the North Blue, governed by pirates and so unnoticed by the World Government that it was barely a dot on the maps. This was the place their battered ship washed ashore on. Anne was stitching up torn sails, and patching up broken floorboards as Maigo navigated and kept the ship as far away from ominous clouds as possible.
As soon as they were close enough to the dock, Anne was pulling it up to the pier with inhumanly ease, tying the ship up with a few knots to keep it from wandering off. A fellow with yellow teeth and tattoos across his face sneered at him from a worn down dingy. Maigo was just a bit intimidated.
He could see Anne staring down the sailor with her sharp eyes, and the man held her gaze. There was an unspoken battle raging between the two of them, one of wills, Maigo thought, and neither looked like they were giving up their ground anytime soon...Until Anne took a step forward and the man stumbled in the dingy, landing on his butt. From where he was standing, Maigo could see the fire in his captain's gaze. It was terrifying; her eyes narrowed, forehead creased, lips drawn so thin they might as well been a person flitting back and forth from life and death.
"Come on, Blondie." She tucks a piece of hair behind her ear, turning on her heels. "We ain't got time for a man who cain't even stand up straight in 'is own boat."
The boy lingered uneasily at the edge of the boat, peering down at the person that glared at Anne like he was planning murder. He jumped over the railing, hesitant, crying out when his feet hit the deck with an undesired amount of force.
The two passed the man in the dingy, his beastly eyes trailing them. Anne paid him no mind, while Maigo squinted at him for a good five seconds. He was an ugly man; rough and worn by the elements.
He quickly dismisses the sailor in favor of running after Anne.
His captain's back is straight and strong, and he gets slightly lost in the way her shoulders jutted out broadly and the sudden realization that her baggy blouse and ill fitting jeans were meant to cover up her athletic build. She peers over her shoulder, giving him a look, and stopped. He followed suit, halting just a few meters behind her.
"Uh," She licked her cracked lips, scratching the side of her face with an air of awkwardness about her. "Are you gonna walk next to me or just stay there...? Um, ah, not that I particularly mind or anythin', but it makes me jumpy when you just..." She hesitated, fiddling with a baby hair curled over her forehead. "...do that." Anne flaps a hand at him and he assumes she means to gesture him to come closer.
Maigo's face morphs into slight disbelief. "You're totally okay with being thrown around in a storm like a rag doll, but not with me walking behind you?"
"Yah." She affirmed, bringing a hand to her head and feeling a handful of her curls. She cringed, and momentarily ignored Maigo to dig into her pockets. She pulled out a ribbon and quickly did her hair up into a rather atrociously looking ponytail, and then focused herself back on Maigo. "So, are you gonna come up here...?"
The blond sighed a very deep sigh and jogged up to her side, wrinkling his nose at her poor updo. "Okay, I gotta ask why your hair looks like it's inhabited by rats."
Anne glared at him, hand flying up to the crown of her head. "All that salt water whirlin' around from the storm made it all crunchy. It's disgustin' but there's nothin' I can do about it."
"You could cut your hair."
"But I like it like this." She groaned, burying her face in her hands for a second before she pulled herself together and started walking again. "It ain't very practical n' all but it ain't like it's to my waist or nothin'. It's only a lil' more than shoulder length."
"If there's nothing you can do, stop complaining." Maigo kicked up a loose stone, sending it up the path a few meters.
Anne sighed loudly, "But yer the one that asked!"
"I didn't need your life's story, honestly."
"How mean."
"Oh, my apologies, are we sailors or are we civilized folk? Am I supposed to act like a gentleman?"
Anne blew a raspberry at him, her eyebrows scrunching together, and her nose wrinkled to the point that her eyes were slits. "Don't mean ya gotta act like a dick."
Maigo spluttered, tripping over his own foot and jostling forward before he regained his bearings. "Oi! What's with the language?!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, am I supposed to act like a lady?" The retort was sharp, mocking, and Maigo felt a bit of himself die on the inside. He opened his mouth to snap back something witty at her, but a hiss of pain left his lips rather than anything sarcastic.
The sensation of hitting the ground rippled through his left side. He was too dazed to even think of being irritated that Anne was on top on him, pressing the side of his head, and consequently his cheek into the ground. He felt her hand pressed against his side firmly, and he reached under his belly with his right hand to grope around and get her off.
"Maigo, hey, stop squirmin', I'm tryin' at stop the bleedin'."
"Bleeding?" He said weakly, a chill spreading throughout his side.
"Um." Anne hummed at him in affirmation. He heard ripping and then pain shot up to his armpit. He cried out, attempting to roll on his back, but Anne was firm. "Don't move 'round too much. I'll take care of the jackass who grazed ya. "
"I'll give that dipshit a piece a my mind..." He heard her mutter, and Maigo was moved with pity for the poor bastard who was about to get a beat down.
He turned on his side, blinking hard at the tilted view of his captain and a small man with a tricorn hat and a red coat.
"Ah, 'n who're ya, pretty lady?" The man grinned, streaking his ginger beard, full of untamed curls and braids. "What's a woman like yerself doin' in such a place, hm?"
"O', I dunno," Anne batted her eyelashes. "I was jus' 'ere to fetch some supplies."
"Maybe I cou'd point ya in the right direction." He put a hand on her shoulder. "This place ain't known for being too safe ya know."
Anne smiled, putting her hand over his, and abruptly tossed him over her as a child would a rag doll.
"Yer bein' awful chummy with me considerin' what ya just did."
Maigo couldn't see the man any longer, as Anne's back was blocking the few, but he heard whimpers and muffled words.
"'Cuse ya, sir, I think I would know the face of the man who threw a knife at m'first mate. Don't give me none a that 'it wasn't me' bullshit I saw ya do it."
No one spoke. All Maigo could hear was the sound of his breath, and how his lungs creaked every time he heaved in more air.
"Get outta here." Anne's voice was soft, but the message was clear.
He had never seen a man limp away so quickly in his entire life.
Anne shuffled back over to him, crouching beside his face curiously.
"You doin' a'ight?"
"As good as a pincushion can get I guess." Maigo muttered bitterly.
"Don't be such a baby-" Anne worked her left arm underneath his knees and he right under his back and lifted him up like he was a child.
"Oi!"
"What?"
"Do you have to carry me like this?"
Anne blinked at him owlishly. "Uh, how else am I supposed to do it? This is how people carry other people?"
"I'm not a damsel in distress! Carry me on your back or something!"
"It's too late for that!" Anne hissed furiously. The entrance to the town was fast approaching, along with the increasing number of seedy looking people.
"Anne!"
"Maigo, shut up!" His captain picked up her pace to a jog, weaving around people with ease. They approached a run down bed and breakfast, and Anne kicked open the door with her foot roughly, running right up to the counter. Eyes of all the occupants of the room focused in on the two of them.
"What can a do ya for?" Said the roundish woman who stood behind the counter, blowing a long drag of smoke in their faces.
"One room, two nights."
"You got cash?"
Anne slammed a few beri notes on the table.
"Room 3, up the stair, to the left."
There were no pleasantries exchanged, and Maigo gasped slightly as he was jostled up the stairs. "Careful!"
"Shush you, we're almost there!"
The door slammed behind her, the lock clicked, and Maigo was thrown on top of the bed. Anne was all hands after that.
She had stripped him down to his boxers, and started ripping up the already torn hem of her blouse roughly, assessing his wound with careful eyes. "Man, he stuck ya good." She unbuttoned her pants, and pulled up a small canteen from the curve of her hip.
"Grit yer teeth." The cap was unscrewed with haste, and whatever was inside of it burned. Maigo cried out in pain, but Anne didn't seem to care in the least. "Oh, suck it up, it's just a little whiskey. Better than an infection."
"I-I didn't know you kept a flask-" He pushed his hair back from where it was stuck to his forehead, cringing at the sweat the glazed over his hand. "Didn't think you drank."
"I don't. Alcohol's nasty, but I gotta keep it on me. Good disinfectant, ya know?" The torn portion of her blouse was wrapped around Maigo's wound tenderly, and with a steady hand that knew full well how to insure a bandage was just snug enough.
"Anne, why are we here?"
His captain gave him a startling grin, all her little teeth showing in eerie unison.
"Maigo, I hear that there's a man here who can read the stars." Her eyes practically sparkled and she went on, "Ain't that somethin'? Readin' the stars, ya know? I also heard he's the best navigator in all the Four Blues-sounds interestin' don't it?"
"I got stabbed so you could meet some wack star-gazing fool? You've got to be kidding me. Please tell me you're joking."
"Weren't ya listenin'? Best navigator in all Four Blues!"
"And where did you hear that bullshit information?!" Maigo shrieked exasperatedly. "Tell me it was from a credible source or something! You didn't just hear it in a bar, did you?!"
Anne went silent.
"Anne!"
"Where else am I supposed to get information?! A library?! I barely know how to read!"
"You think I know how to read either?!"
"Then would you kindly get off my ass!"
"No, I got stabbed because you didn't think this through!"
"Stop bitching at me! I know, alright! God, Maigo, you got on my ship and didn't think it was gonna be dangerous? Newsflash, it's the ocean, of course it's dangerous!" Anne stomped her foot on the ground, her brown eyes practically burning holes into him.
"You could have been more careful!" He snarled.
"I'm done bein' careful! I've been careful forever and a half, and I'm sick of it! What's the point of this if it ain't dangerous, if yer not gotta die at any minute? I wanna live. I don't wanna be careful."
"That's fine!" Maigo retorted, "Throw your life away, I don't care, but leave mine alone!"
Anne froze, her eyes wide as saucers as Maigo pressed at his aching side gingerly.
"I'm goin' to clear my head." She muttered softly, turning around and closing the door behind her with a soft click.
Anne didn't return until the next morning.
Oh, it seems like I added drama. Whoops. Any who, if you're wondering about the whole "lost" thing, well here it is:
So "maigo" can mean lost in Japanese, generally a lost child, but also anyone or thing that is disoriented: so children, adults, dogs, etcetera. What I was going for here is that if you think of this dialogue going on in Japanese, Anne would have said:
"あなたは迷子になりました。"
-Anata wa maigo ni narimashita.-
"You are lost."
You can see why this startled Maigo, 'cause she said his name without knowing his name. I dunno I guess I thought I was being clever but whatever I guess.
Also, Vyssiní Zephyr. Basically, it's Greek. Vyssiní means Crimison and Zephyr is the Greek god of the West Wind. Basically, this was the nice wind god, because his breezes were gentle and stuffy so yeah.
I hope you review and stick around for another chapter!
Sincerely,
L & D