Dobroye Utro! (I would go and try to find the actual symbols but it is so much easier to just type) How are you guys today? My moods usually reflect the weather and it happens to be raining right now so things are not looking good. On the plus side, I actually went out earlier and finally got to see the sun! (My mom seems to think I'm a vampire... It make Romania so jealous)
Before I go onto more vague foreshadowing, I'd like to thank everyone for the lovely reviews I've gotten so far! It's very much appreciated, even if I don't get round to responding know that I read and enjoy every review so thank you very much!
Tanoshimu!
I suppose I should be saying 'enjoy' in other languages too... Just one problem: I don't want to- too lazy!
Chapter 4: Betrayal
What started out as annoyance, and turned into hatred
?
"Well it sure was-a nice of him to let us be here!"
"Hmph. He's a stupid bastardo if you ask me. To be honest I don't even know why we came. It's a waste of time. After all he's such a-"
Suddenly the door opened and in walked a blond-haired man, clothed in mainly blue and red and looking casual for once. He was smiling very slightly and his face seemed to be brightened a little, which made a change from the pessimistic scowl he usually wore.
"Afternoon." He smiled as he walked in.
"Buon pomeriggio sir!" Said the man who had been bad-mouthing the other just moments before.
"Oh ciao! We were just talking about you and-"
The man speaking was immediately silenced by his ruder companion, like he didn't want him to continue what he was saying. Which he probably didn't.
"You were talking about me?"
"Yeah!" The ruder man smiled, suddenly happy and no longer scowling. "We were erm talking about how kind you are and cool and... Great? Sir?"
"Oh well er thank you..." The man began to blush and they knew they had convinced him. "So what's for dinner?"
The rude man with his hand clapped around the happier one's mouth then removed it, allowing the other to speak. He took a huge breath, for he had been deprived of air just a few seconds before and he waited a few moments before speaking.
"For dinner is..."
The harbour...
"I...I..."
The young blond dropped the threatening cutlass in his hands, not even bothering if it stabbed him in the foot. He stared down at the hands which had held that dreaded blade. The very dirty hands that he'd used to swipe out at another, like a villain would do. In fighting he had become a villain, in picking up that sword he had become a villain. How could he ever forgive himself?
Suddenly a sound reached his ears. Like that of a gust of wind, like something setting on fire. He was, of course, absolutely right. For as he turned around, he saw Kiku standing there with his hand slightly raised and a scene of raging flames behind him. He had caused the fire. The boy's guard had been let down for just a moment, allowing Kiku to do as he pleased.
"It seems you did a great job, 'Hero'-san. But if you can't protect one harbour, then what kind of hero are you? Sayonara, for now." Kiku explained.
Then he left the harbour at an incredible speed and disappeared almost instantly. What kind of a hero are you? That question echoed over and over again in the 'hero's' mind. Was he even a hero? Would he ever be one? As the flames rose, the questions piled up. As the heat intensified, so did the danger.
What kind of a hero am I? Well I suppose I shouldn't be thinking about that here. After all, if I can't save myself then I'll never be able to save anyone in turn.
He glanced around quickly- first to both sides, and then straight downwards. There shaking in the water was a small untouched boat, just big enough for him to escape in. He quickly scanned the area once more in case of injured people needing rescue but not a person could be seen. Eventually, giving up on trying to find survivors, he jumped into the boat and, using his full amount of strength, he swam away, beating the ocean with a heavy force in order to carry him away to safety.
Captain Arthur Kirkland's ship...
"Zey're back again Arthur." Francis warned in a stern tone of voice.
"Good. Finally a rematch." Arthur grinned.
Ever since the slight loss yesterday on board Captain Ludwig's ship, Arthur had been itching for a rematch. He had been observing the scar a few times in the mirror, getting increasingly angrier each time he did. Ludwig would pay for what he did. Though he seemed to have completely forgotten about the bullet he had used to shoot Ludwig.
The ship sailed closer to theirs and they were finally close enough to make contact. This time Ludwig's crew were the ones to make the first move. They jumped over to Arthur's ship without a moment to lose and both Arthur and France scarcely had any time to prepare themselves.
Suddenly from out of nowhere, Ludwig jumped in, clashing with Arthur's blade and an unhappy scowl plastered across his face. His teeth were gritted and the force he was using to push his own blade was extremely intense, making it hard for Arthur to defend.
"It's payback time for vat you did to my shoulder Kirkland." Ludwig growled.
"Aye, but I'll have sent ye to Davy Jones' locker before ye can lay a finger on me." Arthur smirked.
Arthur pushed forward and swiped at the violent German, showing no signs of stopping or holding back. Francis showed no mercy either as he fearlessly slashed at Ivan Braginsky who was able to dodge every attack with just once simple dodging step. The battle was definitely going in Arthur's favour, and as Ivan lost his sword to Francis's sharp blade- Ludwig called out for them to retreat quickly, for more than half of his crew had become injured.
Even Ivan, who had been casually dodging every attack made by Francis a few seconds before, had suffered a small blow to his wrist. He hastily made his escape but was dragged back a bit by the fact that Francis had made a nasty gash in his arm. Now it was only Ivan and Ludwig left on the ship- and Ludwig had one last thing to take care of before he left.
He raised his mighty cutlass with no trouble, since he had suffered no injuries since boarding the ship. The same couldn't be said for Ivan who was quickly shuffling away in front of him. It was child's play- in Ludwig's head at least and so he raised the cutlass to finally rid his ship of a problem that had been plaguing him for months.
Ivan was annoying. Not in a cute way like Feliciano, who he just wanted to protect and train- nor in an infuriating way like Arthur who was like a bug that he just wanted to squash but couldn't because he was just so damn sneaky. His hatred for Ivan differed from that slightly.
True, Ivan was his first mate but he definitely didn't act like it. He never seemed that bothered when the crew were making decisions and when he did bother to join, his ideas were always so different and weird compared to Ludwig's. Sure, Ivan had helped in capturing members for their crew- mainly Feliks and Tino but what else had he done? It was the little things that got to Ludwig: the lack of participation, that creepy smile- Ludwig had to get rid of Ivan now.
So he raised the sword and ended Ivan's life.
...Or so he thought.
CLASH!
"You-!" Ludwig gasped.
"Me." Arthur chuckled.
Arthur deflected his sword in one single motion of his hand and Ludwig took that as his signal to quickly leave the ship. Ivan looked up at the man who had just betrayed him. Arthur expected him to be mad, to cry out in anger, swear revenge or maybe just lash out by punching the wall or destroying the ship. But as Ludwig sailed away, Ivan did none of these things. He simply smiled widely like some psychotic jack-o-lantern as he fell to the floor and collapsed due to the injuries he had suffered.
And there he lay. Eyes closed and a wide grin spread across his face as Arthur and Francis stared down at him in shock.
Captain Ludwig's ship...
"Ve~! Ludwig you're back!" Feliciano beamed.
"Great. He's still alive." Lovino sighed angrily.
Ignoring the ruder, nastier Italian to Feliciano's right, Ludwig went to Feliciano and got straight to the point immediately- not wanting to suffer any more disappointment for that day.
"Ja Feliciano I am back. Did you make preparations for dinner?" Ludwig asked.
"I sure did! How did the attack go?" Feliciano asked curiously.
"Vell it didn't go as planned, but some good came out of it." Ludwig explained.
"Ludwig where's your sword? And where's Ivan?" Feliciano questioned.
"I lost my sword back on zat darn ship. Und as for Ivan I..."
"Ludwig?"
"You don't have to concern yourself vith him anymore. Zink of him as an enemy."
"O-okay Ludwig, I got it."
The silence was awkward, almost eerie. Lovino had his arms folded in disgust of the German captain and Feliciano looked unaffected by the whole thing. Silence enveloped the kitchen for a few moments before Ludwig decided to move on before Feliciano could ask any questions.
"...Vat's for dinner?"
"Ve~! Pasta!"
"Of course..."
Captain Arthur Kirkland's ship...
"I-Is that better?" The man whispered.
"Da. Thank you for cleaning my sword wounds. It make me pleasure smile." Ivan grinned.
"M-maple!" The other squeaked.
"If you're done intimidating my crew, I need to talk to you- Ivan Braginsky." A voice snapped.
Ivan looked up the stairway to see an intimidating, ominous figure blocking the path of light that was shining through. He could see a large pirate hat on top of his head and a long flowing seafaring coat draped around his shoulders as he placed his hands on his hips angrily.
"Okay. You can leave now slave." Ivan instructed to the timid boy at his side.
"You don't give the orders around here Ivan. I tell my crew members when to leave." Arthur growled as he stormed angrily down the stairs.
"Okay." Ivan smiled.
They waited for a few moments, the young boy- Matthew Williams- caught awkwardly in between them. Arthur shot a nasty death glare at Ivan, but Ivan deflected it with his creepy wide smile.
"Okay you can leave now Matthew." Arthur commanded.
"Maple..." He whispered.
Then he quickly escaped the dark room with a large amount of haste in his footsteps- obviously not wanting to be caught between the two scary men any longer. Arthur's eyes focused on Matthew as he was leaving, then once he had finally left- he directed his attention back to Ivan.
"I saved your life and yet I get no thanks?" Arthur asked.
"Oh, sasiba Captain Arthur." Ivan smiled.
"So, you speak Russian." Arthur grunted.
"I take it you understand Russian, Captain Arthur."
"Yes, yes I do. But that's not the point. What I want to know is why did Ludwig attack you?"
An eerie silence was what Arthur got in response. Ivan made no effort to respond, he just stayed there with his eyes happily closed and a joyful yet ominous grin painted across his face.
"What are your plans now?"
No response. Just the same closed eyes and evil smile plastered across his face. Arthur was beginning to grow a little impatient, but not majorly irritated like Ludwig was. And somehow, Ivan could sense this- so he spoke.
"I am going to do fighting." He grinned.
"Against?" Arthur asked.
"Ludwig. And his crew of course."
"So you're saying you want to join this ship?"
"Da. I want to become one with your crew."
"Alright then, welcome aboard. Just don't go around telling my members you want to become one with them."
"I can't promise anything."
Oh isn't Ivan just so funny? The funny thing is, he's not joking.
So Arthur saved Ivan! Ludwig betrayed Ivan! And what's going on with that stuff at the beginning? Would anyone care to take a guess? Doesn't matter if you're wrong or not ^^
Again I'd like to thank you all for the wonderful reviews which I am about to respond to. Especially my anon 'confederacy' for a most flattering review, though I wouldn't call this story art- just the mad crazy ramblings of a weird fanfiction author ^^
Sayonara minna-san!
~Neko