AN: sorry it took so long for me to update everyone. I kinda zoned out and kept trying to figure out a way to write this chapter, till it came to me in class while I wasn't paying attention (lol see, you can get ideas without the help of stupid teachers!). Anyway, I know that the Capricorn in the Movie Inkheart that's coming out, isnt exactly what everyone imagined. He was definatly not what I imagined shiver nor did he have a fetish for Ducktape. But, yay! Ann and Dustfinger are finally reunited! Enjoy!
Dustfinger couldn't remember the last time he felt as much pain as he did at that moment. It felt like fire and ice were all over him, burning and freezing his body all at once, and when he opened his eyes, he saw black all over his body. He remembered the last time he felt this pain, and it came from the very same person. As Dustfinger looked around, he saw Ann. She had tears in her eyes and she was screaming for all she was worth as Flatnose and another black jacket he couldn't remember, holding her back. She was clawing at them, kicking, anything she could think of. And it made his heart hurt to see her cry over him.
He reached his hand towards her and was about to tell her not to cry, when a foot suddenly came crashing on his lungs, whisking the air right out of his mouth. Capricorn, lifting his foot, let in come crashing down on the poor fire-eater over and over again until Dustfinger thought that he was going to pass out from all the pain. But that didn't stop Capricorn.
"So nice of you to drop by Dustfinger." Capricorn said, kicking Dustfinger in his ribs. The fire-eater swore he heard cracks come from his body. Blood was coming from his mouth, Dustfinger found out, as soon as he tasted the salty metallic taste in his mouth after having his lungs kicked at as well as his ribs.
"I mean, Ann was getting awfully tired of waiting for you to come to her aid, but I'm afraid she is no longer yours to take back." The man was now having malice starting to lace his words, as if the very thought of such a man taking what belonged to him repulsed him.
"Capricorn stop please, your hurting him!" Ann yelled, her voice racking with sobs. "Please, he doesn't deserve this. You're going to kill him!"
The pale man chuckled at the thought of the man below him dying by his own hands. "Trust me my dear, which such a thought would be most pleasing in my mind, and if he were not so important to my plans, he would be suffering much more than this at this moment." To make his point clear, Capricorn brought his foot on Dustfingers head, and slowly pushed his foot down on the poor mans head. "To see such a man who you claimed had more courage than this Ann, to see acting like this, makes me think that your judgment on courage, a bit poor." Just a bit more pressure on Dustfingers head, and the man thought that his head would be crushed, but suddenly the mans foot was off of Dustfingers head.
Dustfinger sat up slowly, as the blood was able to spread throughout his body once more, and saw that Ann had suddenly burst from the men holding her, and rushed at Capricorn, knocking into him, and making his torture on Dustfinger release. He also noticed that the black that covered him, was also gone.
As he stood up suddenly Dustfinger saw Capricorn holding Ann in a death grip, tightening his arms around her making her squirm in pain.
"R-run Dustfinger! Get out of here; if Capricorn keeps you here with me, then all your going to be doing is helping his plans! You can't let that ha--." Ann was cut off as Capricorn squeezed her tighter, cutting off her sentence. The other black jackets had formed a circle around the three of them, all staring at their leader waiting for orders to be issued from him. Capricorn, seeming to notice the sudden silence in the church, besides the gasping coming from Ann in his arms, Capricorn suddenly shouted at the men.
"Go out, all of you! Got back to any abandoned homes in the village and wait until I call for you all again, now leave us!"
The men all left their leader as well as the two fire-eaters inside the red church, and hurried to the little homes on the outskirts of the village, wishing to be as far from their leader as possible.
"Have a seat Dustfinger." Capricorn said, walking back to his 'throne' at the head of the church, Ann still in his grasp. The whole time that Dustfinger had been in the church, he hadn't said one word to Ann. It wasn't that he didn't want to; it was that he didn't know what to do or to say to her after leaving her alone for so long. He didn't know whether or not to apologize to her for leaving her, or run up to her and swing her in his arms like he once did when she was younger (of course he would have to get her away from Capricorn to do that.) But all he wanted to do the most was take her in his arms and never let her go as long as he lived. But first, he was going to kill the blonde man and all of his men. Never before had Dustfinger ever wanted to kill anyone more that Capricorn and his men, but seeing the colorless man holding the one person he most cared about, it brought a new feeling inside of him.
"Dustfinger I told you to have a seat, or have you forgot what a seat was after going back to that Inkworld? Surely the vagabonds that you lived with had things for you to rest on didn't they?"
The fire-eater could only ignore the comment, and take a seat in front of Capricorn on one of the small bench seats. Then a silence drifted around the church besides the occasional crackle from the small bonfire.
"C…Capricorn. Please, let me see Ann." Dustfinger said softly, so soft that the man almost didn't believe that they came out of his mouth after all the anger he was feeling. Never before had he ever thought that he would resort to begging to such a man before him, but he was desperate.
"Hmmmm…What do you think Ann? Does he deserve to have you in his arms once more after what he has done? I know that you don't like me Ann, and neither does he. So why leave the one person that he supposedly cares about, in the hands of myself?" Capricorn asked, amused at the thought of the fire-eater almost begging for him to hold the girl once more. He looked down at the small teenage girl in his arms, and saw that she had only eyes for Dustfinger. No longer was the sadness that she had in her eyes after several weeks in her green eyes. And it made Capricorn furious, but a small part of him wanted to let the girl have at least one moment of happiness before he took her away from her matchstick eater once more. But not before he softly pressed his face into her hair, and wishing that she would one day look at him the very same way. But a small part of him knew that she would never do so willingly. Then, Capricorn released his arms around the girl.
Dustfinger almost couldn't believe that Ann was in his arms once more, hugging him tightly and sobbing into his jacket. He held onto her so tight that he was afraid that he wasn't allowing her to breathe, but at the sounds of her crying, he knew that she could breathe just fine. He was also afraid that as soon as he released the girl, that she would be ripped from his arms, and he would never see her again. Instead, he would be put back in the crypt just like a year ago when he was last read out of 'Inkheart'.
"Ssshhhhh", Dustfinger said, his face pressed into the girl's hair. He smiled to himself. She still smelled just like any other of the Motley Folk, except Ann always had a smell of roses in her hair, and he never understood how she could smell so much like the flower.
"Ann please don't cry. I'm here, right here." Dustfinger said, trying to calm the teen down. Ann could only shake her head and continue to cry into the fire-eaters arms until her tears dried up and she continued to cling to him like a life support. Knowing that someone else was able to witness how close the two were, Dustfinger looked up at Capricorn only to see the man looking away at the two, a look of hatred crossing his sight. The fire-eater knew that Capricorn hated him because of the way Ann cared about him more than the leader of the crows, but yet he was willing to take someone by force to just to have that person near them.
"I mifffd woo soo muff." Ann mumbled inside of Dustfinger's jacket. It took everything Dustfinger had not to laugh at the girl, and under the circumstances, he was able to hold off the laughter.
"I'm sorry Ann, I don't speak little girl mumbles." He joked. He relaxed his hold on the girl, and sat down facing away from the glare of Capricorn, and held Ann in his lap with her face still pressed to his chest. It reminded him of the times when Ann was younger and would come to him if she had nightmares or missed her father while he was away at a performance. The memories only made this time together more valued.
But she pulled away after she heard his comment. When she looked up at him, her eyes were still watery, but she laughed. "I said I missed you so much."
Ann didn't look away after her eyes met Dustfinger's, but they held confusion and joy as well as sadness all inside of them.
"What's wrong Ann?" Dustfinger asked.
"Why did you come?" Ann said, surprising Dustfinger.
"I came to get you back. Leaving you here was the stupidest idea I ever came up with and never again will this ever happen to you."
But Ann shook her head, "No, you were right about staying together making it easier for him. I just…you coming here and bringing that friend of yours…its only going to make things easier for him. You didn't want that."
Dustfinger knew that she would say something like this, and he wanted to tell her what him and Silvertounge's plan was, but not in the hearing distance of Capricorn.
"Ann, I promise I will tell you everything. But—"
"I don't care about you getting me out of here!" Ann suddenly shouted. She rose to her feet from Dustfingers hold. "By coming here Dustfinger you almost got yourself killed! Do you think I enjoy seeing you harmed every time that you are in this church?! The first time we came here, after they took us, they almost cut you to death Dustfinger, and I had to stand there and watch you suffer while you were bleeding. By coming here, its like your trying to get yourself killed. And I don't want to see you get hurt anymore."
The man was surprised. He came here to get Ann and escape with her, and yet she didn't fear at all for herself the entire time. She was only worried about Dustfinger, about his health and his life.
"That's not how its going to happen this time Ann. I have friends with me and their going to help—
"Oh, Dustfinger." Capricorn stood up all of a sudden, with a smug grin on his face. Ann and Dustfinger both turned to face the tall man before them, both with fear in their eyes. "That reminds me. I understand that you brought Silvertounge and our old acquaintances from a year ago when you all 'killed' me. Silvertounge, the girl, and the fat woman, am I correct? Well, you should know better than to have left them on a hill not quiet so far away from the village.
I knew that you would try and come here alone. After all, having to worry about others can be so bothersome. So, I took the liberty of having some of my men have small hideouts in the hills."
Shock overcame Dustfinger's expression as the words sunk in and he realized what Capricorn was saying.
"NO!" The fire-eater jumped up, "What did you do to Silvertounge and the others?!" Ann, after jumping off of Dustfinger, was looking around in confusion.
"What's he talking about Dustfinger? Does he mean the people you brought with you? What—."
"That's exactly what he mean's Ann. It means that I've just sealed our fate. And I failed Silvertounge once again." Dustfinger said, with sorrow and guilt in every word.
Now, they were all stuck in the crows nest.
Sigh and we all thought that the two could finally be together in peace, but of course Capricorn has to ruin the whole sorta fluff moment between Dusty and Ann. Well, I could just have Dusty use fire and turn Capricorn into a well done peice of meat, but I dont think thats where you guys want the story to go lol. Next chapter, we see what happens between the two, as well as what Capricorn is planning for the whole lot of them, but we all know its not going to be something that their going to like.
Alright people R&R! You know what to do!