Calmer of the Storm: I must be really insane. At any rate, that insanity has carried me through to finish up to half of chapter four. I'm trying to keep up to date with this thing so that I don't pull another stunt like I did with 'A Stitch in Time', where the story took me so freaking long to complete that my writing took a drastic turn. Haha. Oh well.
To be honest I'm not totally happy with the way this chapter turned out; I found it rather choppy and unrefined, but I couldn't figure out a way to fix it. Oh well, can't be perfect all the time, right? Lol...j/k. Well, enjoy!
~*~
Chapter One: Revelations
One week. That was how much time she had already spent on the ship. And she was nowhere closer to finding her friend than when she had begun. Seeing as she was at the bottom of the chain, she had mostly been assigned cleaning duty. Well, it wasn't kitchen duty. That was something she wasn't sure she could handle. At least she was mostly left alone; the higher ranking crew just walked by her as if she wasn't even there. And that was fine with her, because she didn't particularly feel like talking to anyone. Listening had always been her forte.
One thing she had learned, though, was that the illustrious Captain Scar was more elusive than she would have thought. He did not eat with the crew. He did not spend time on the deck with them. He was above the menial chores and ship maintenance. He had his own elite circle, it seemed, and he stuck to it. Hikari was beginning to wonder if he was really all that powerful at all; with this circle around him, he didn't need the power. As long as they respected him and did what he said, the captain would be fine. As soon as they turned on him, though, things would be over.
And he certainly didn't talk to lowly seamen such as her. She had only caught a glimpse of him a few times. His long, golden hair was tied in a low ponytail at the back of his head, and his striking blue eyes could pierce into the heart of even the strongest man. Maybe that was why they respected him so much. Once she had met his gaze, and she felt herself cowering beneath it. Desperately she had wanted to look somewhere else, but she had been unable to. There was something about him…something that drew others in. In those brief moments that their eyes had met, Hikari had been sure that she'd been found out. But he then passed by her like nothing had happened; as if she didn't even exist.
And she knew things weren't going to change, as long as she stayed at this rank. But moving up was difficult; this crew didn't have such a high turnover rate as one might have thought. As terrible as his reputation was, Captain Scar kept his crew alive.
~*~
The night was young, by pirate standards, but Hikari wasn't enjoying it. She had been elected among those who were to stay behind and watch the ship, though she wasn't complaining. Brothels and taverns were not places she liked to be. Especially given that she was a woman, though they still didn't know that. It had been surprisingly easy to keep her true identity a secret. It was a pirate ship; everyone was dirty and smelly and no one cared if you didn't bathe. They lived on the open waters of the sea, so there wasn't anywhere to bathe anyways, short of the captain's quarters and the shower room in the deepest part of the ship. But, after looking at it once, Hikari had been convinced that one would end up dirtier afterwards then when they had come in. But she had thrown away her feminine qualities when she entered this world in the first place. Though she longed to go back to it, she would never rest until she found out what had happened to Takeru.
It was times like this, though, that caused her to fall into a state of despair. The night was still and quiet, save for the sounds of shouting and out-of-tune music drifting up from the heart of the pirate city. It was the City of Rustico; the kind of place where there was no law. Not a place for a stray woman by any means. This was the only downfall that watching the ship had; it was dull and boring, and her mind would often wander.
Ten years it had been since she'd seen him. Ten long, and even agonising years. It had irked her greatly when his own family had left him for dead, and then had moved on like he hadn't ever existed. She knew it was only customary and practical, but she still didn't like it. Takeru had been her fuel; her hope for a better life. And it was only as she grew older, and his absence created more of a hole within her heart, that she realised she had been in love with him. Or maybe she had fallen in love with him in his absence. Either way, she couldn't just leave him for dead like the rest of them had. If they said he was dead, she would need to see his grave. It was the only thing that would give her true rest.
But sometimes, like right now, even that was difficult. Her mind went to all the places she wished she was; at home, among gardens and good food and a room full of books. Maybe the cat Miko would be curled at her feet. It was times like this that made her think that maybe Takeru was gone after all. Maybe, if he was alive, he didn't want to be found. Wouldn't he have tried to contact them? And if he was alive? Surely such a man would have a family. If the boy he had been was any indication of the man he would become, then Hikari knew that he would not remain on his own for long. There were plenty of women out there; noble and fair women who would be far more deserving of his hand than she. He had been her hope, and for ten years she had lived without it. It was difficult, oftentimes, not to fall into the trap that she was in now without him to pull her out of it. Maybe he would never be there to pull her out again. Maybe-
A sudden sharp pain in her shoulder caused her thoughts to cease. Vaguely she was aware of a bang that had accompanied it, though it hadn't registered in her mind until now. The shock of it caused her mind to spin and the world around her to grow suddenly blotchy. The next thing she knew, everything went black.
~*~
He'd been having a good time. Of all the nights for there to be an attack, it had to be this one. Captain Scar had been none-too-pleased when a crew member of his came dashing into the tavern, shouting frantically that they were under attack.
"C'mon, men! We got ourselves a mess to clean up." He had shouted, shaking off the woman on his arm. She hadn't really been that important to him anyways; he didn't even know her name. Just a barmaid who was less annoying than the rest of them were.
Captain Scar did not run. Instead he merely sauntered towards the ship, pistol in hand. It was probably a group of drunkards who thought they could take him on. Alcohol did that to people. It was why he never had too much of the stuff unless he was in a safe environment; couldn't have people taking advantage of him.
As he drew closer he could see that they were on the deck, swords flailing and gunshots ringing through the night. Yep, they were definitely drunk. He could easily distinguish the attackers from his crewmen; his crewmen were the better and more refined fighters, though that wasn't saying much. Half of them were drunk most of the time to begin with.
Raising his pistol, he took aim at a man standing on the railing. Why he was up there, Scar would never know, but he wouldn't be up there for long. The man fell from his perch and landed in the water with a splash, and Scar moved on. Once he boarded the ship, he saw that the deck was littered with bodies, maybe a half dozen or so. He didn't see anyone he recognised, which was always a good thing. Recruiting more members to the crew was always a chore, and he didn't want to spend anymore time on land than he had to.
There were only a few of them left now, and they had been backed into a corner at the bow of the ship. Drawing his sword, Scar stepped towards them. As he suspected, he could smell the whisky on their breath.
"Thought you'd have yerselves a little fun, eh?" He began, his tone indicating that he was clearly not impressed.
"We jus' tired of whut you do ta us! 'Sides, we be gettin' a good bounty if we bring in yer head."
Scar sighed; obviously they had forgotten that in bringing in his head they would also be forfeiting their own. Piracy was illegal, and these idiots had that profession branded all over their bodies. Well, if they wanted to die so badly, he would help them out a little.
"Get rid of them. I'm tired of this." He then turned and walked away, leaving the disposal to his crew.
Ignoring the scene behind him, Scar went back down to the main deck. Already there were less bodies on board than there had been before, the rest of them dumped into the sea. He noticed one of the crew picking up a smaller body, though he didn't toss it overboard with the rest of them. After closer inspection, Scar realised that it was one of his own.
"Must'a got shot afore this whole thing started. 'E's alive, though. Should I bring 'im to the Doc?"
Knowing that he wasn't particularly in the mood for clean up tonight, Scar shook his head. "I'll do it."
Without protest the other man handed the boy over.
The way to the infirmary wasn't that long, however it was long enough for Scar to notice a few things. He knew this boy had joined them a month ago. He was quiet and kept to himself, and therefore didn't cause any trouble. Hikaru, he thought his name was. This was the kind of man Scar wanted for cleaning duty; one that didn't complain. He looked quite young though, maybe sixteen. He did not have the sharp lines of manhood on his face. He recalled meeting the boy's eyes once; the wide and innocent auburn ones. The red bandana that kept his chestnut hair in one place was coming off, but it was covered in blood now anyways and would be useless. Apparently the boy had been lying in a pool of his own blood before they got to him. He was alive, though, which was always a good thing. Scar liked to keep his crew alive.
The door to the infirmary was opened with a kick, and the old man who was the doctor looked up with an almost bored look on his face. He seemed used to this. There was another man in there as well; the cook had come in for a visit. The two of them were brothers, and they had been on this ship for even longer than Scar had. He respected them both, but had odd ways of showing it.
"Heard the noise up on deck. 'Nother raid?" the cook spoke up.
"Yep. Some drunkards decided it would be fun to take over."
"Oh, good. It wasn't the navy dogs, then."
Scar smirked, "No, of course not. We'd be gettin' outta here if it was."
"Whassat there?" It was the doctor now.
"Kid got shot, needs a little patching up."
"Throw 'im up 'ere, then."
And so Scar did, and his movements were not at all gentle. It was just a seaman, and he wasn't near death. It had most likely been his first fight and the shock of the pain had probably caused him to pass out.
The doctor began his work. At first he cut away at the material where the wound was, hoping to at least salvage some of his clothing. But as he went through it, it was evident that such a feat would not be possible. "'E's cut pretty deep. Bullet's prolly still in there. Jus' gotta get it out. He'll need a new shirt, though. This ones dun fer."
And so the shirt would have to come off.
Hikari was suddenly aware of something as she felt someone tugging at her shirt. She then heard the sound of tearing, and she realised that it wasn't the first time in the last few moments. But this tearing caused her some alarm, and her eyes shot open in shock.
The doctor noticed, and not stopping with his work, said, "Now you just hang on there, laddy. Everythin's gonna be….oh."
Hikari stared into the surprised eyes of the doctor, and was suddenly aware that there were still two others in the room. With her good hand she reached for the tattered cloth that was once her shirt in a vain effort to cover herself. Her face had gone a bright red colour, as she realised the full extent of what was going on. Always she had been a conservative short, so to have born all to a room of three strange men was not sitting well with her.
Captain Scar stood in the shadows. The light of the lamps flickered off his face, and something set into his eyes. It was a girl, then. Clenching his jaw, he suddenly looked very angry. "Once she is cleaned up, I would like you to send her to my chambers." And with that he turned and stalked out, clearly upset by this experience.
Hikari could only watch him go, the sound of the door slamming behind him causing her to flinch. Now she was in for it. Pirates didn't like women on their ships; they weren't as strong as men. And if Scar was the man they said he was, she knew she was dead. Well, maybe she could at least get what happened to Takeru out of him. Then maybe her death wouldn't be in vain.
~*~
Hikari found herself standing in front of the Captain's door. He was behind it, she knew, and with him was her imminent death. Her arm had been bound into a sling, after the bullet removed from her shoulder, and the doctor had given her a new shirt. The cook remained in there the whole time, and she thought she glimpsed something odd from him. On his right arm she thought she saw a deep, thick scar. It extended up and disappeared into his shirt, almost like the one the captain had. But the captain's was much bigger, she knew, for it went up across his back. Accidents happened all the time, but there was no way the same one would happen twice. And the man was the cook, after all. Maybe it was a cooking accident.
But it was not these things that worried her as she stood there. It had taken a few moments for her to gather up the courage to actually knock. After she did so she could hear the footsteps behind the door, footsteps that were clearly slow and deliberate. He was prolonging her suffering as only a pirate would do. The door creaked as it opened, revealing the form of the pirate, whom she realised was much more imposing up close. The icey stare he gave her caused an involuntary shiver to run through her spine.
And yet…there was something almost familiar about it. Though his gaze was piercing, she couldn't help shake that she'd seen something like that before. Maybe it was because he had the same coloured eyes and hair as Takeru. Other than Yamato, Hikari had never seen this up close. But to compare the two…this pirate to her dear best friend…it was preposterous. Takeru was kind and gentle; this man was dastardly and cruel.
Without saying a word, the captain stepped back, motioning for her to come in. The door was closed behind her, and Hikari knew something was coming. Pirates were not nice men; she would probably be raped before she died. Maybe he would at least have the courtesy to wait until her wound was healed. Then again, he probably wouldn't. She had made him angry, after all.
So it surprised her when he walked towards the window of his chamber, keeping his back to her.
"What are you doing here?" He asked, though she could hear the bite in his tone. He was not happy.
"I'm looking for someone." No sense in hiding it now. This was the only man left who could tell her something about her beloved friend.
She was met by silence, and Hikari took it as a cue to continue.
"His name is Takaishi Takeru." She started, but there was no reaction from him. His silence had made her bolder, and Hikari suddenly felt the anger for him growing within her. There was no stopping it now. "You took him, ten years ago. Stole him from his family and his friends, from those who loved him. I want to know what happened to him."
There was more silence, and Hikari was about to explode. She seemed to have forgotten who she was dealing with.
This time, though, he answered. "What a loving family he had. Didn't even answer the ransom that was given. He was simply left to the pirates. They didn't even come looking for him."
"I came looking for him. His father is the governor, which is why you took him in the first place. Of course he wasn't going to answer it, but you probably knew that."
"It took you ten years to start looking for him?"
"I've searched for four years. You are a difficult man to find."
She could practically see the smirk on his face, though his back was still to her. "Six years, then, to come looking? What friend you are."
That was it. Hikari was very angry now. "You have no idea what I've lived through! You're just a dirty pirate who cares only for himself. You took him from his family for his own gain, and I would like to know what you did with him."
The pirate captain wheeled around, the look on his face more menacing than she had seen yet. The look caused her to cower, and she took a step back towards the door.
"You are much too late, dear. Takeru is dead."
~*~
Calmer of the Storm: Okay! Chapter one for ya! So let me know what you think!!