Calmer of the Storm: Alrighty! Here's chapter two! I'm working on chapter five at the moment, which is pretty good for me. If I stay ahead, I'll get this done in decent time. I'm hitting a rut, though…didn't plan it out as well as I thought…haha. Oh well. I'll figure it out somehow. Enjoy!

~*~

Chapter Two: In the Jungle

'Takeru is dead.'

The words rang through her ears constantly; they had haunted her since their utterance. She didn't believe it. She couldn't. How could he be…dead? She was even hesitant to think the word. The notion was preposterous. He couldn't be. Hikari would know if this was true. Wouldn't she? Her connection with him had been strong. Their friendship had been genuine and deeper than she realised. It was something that, in his absence, had formed into love. At least, it had for her. And with a connection so strong, Hikari just knew that she would know if something bad had happened to him.

Then again, maybe she was delusional. Maybe she had fabricated a one-sided relationship with a boy she really only barely knew. Maybe he wasn't interested in her. They had been ten years old the last time they saw each other. Maybe, as she had grown older, she had over-compensated for missing him so much. Maybe they hadn't ever really been that close at all.

It was this war that raged within her as she sat on a mat that was on the floor of the captain's chambers. He hadn't said much after revealing this information. In her shock, she had stared at him dumbly. No tears had come, for she hadn't exactly felt closure. He hadn't told her how her best friend had died. In fact, he hadn't said anything further about him. This could mean one of three things: first, Takeru had died as an insignificant part of the crew. Second, he had disappeared and Scar either knew nothing or hadn't cared to find out, and third, Takeru was still alive. She desperately hoped, no matter how futile it seemed, that it was the third option. But it was very difficult to have hope when the very thing had been torn away from her on that fateful day.

She hadn't left the Captain's quarters since their conversation. 'Women were only good for one thing, especially when they're on a ship', he'd said. She was here to relieve his boredom. To keep him company, to…satisfy him. Whatever he wanted to call it, it would amount to the same thing. But he hadn't tried anything. At present the captain was sleeping in his own, elaborate bed that was big enough for four people, while he had ordered a small mat and a blanket for her. She could hear the sounds of his breathing; at least he didn't snore. Well, he hadn't yet, at any rate.

Strangely enough, while she had been preparing her mat for sleep, Hikari had felt his eyes on her. He wasn't moving, and she didn't dare turn to face him. Her cheeks and ears burned crimson and her breathing quickened a fraction; she had been afraid that he would request she…join him. He had spent many nights in taverns and brothels during her one-month stay on the ship, and she dared not ask him about them. She then thought she heard a sigh, and then something along the lines of 'too scrawny' before she heard a rustling that indicated he had positioned himself for sleeping. Knowing that she had gotten off scot-free the first night, Hikari wouldn't push her luck.

Finally, though she knew it was quite late, sleep did find her.

~*~

In the morning she was roused as she usually was; the first mate clanging the bell to wake the crew to start another day. Momentarily forgetting that she was not in the bunker with the rest of the crew, she groaned and reached for her boots. When she couldn't feel them, her eyes were opened. It was still dark in the room, and any sound was muffled. She looked beyond the large bed and saw that the curtains had been drawn over the windows, allowing one meagre ray of sun to peak through. She shivered involuntarily as she remembered where she was.

All of a sudden, Hikari wasn't sure what to do. What was her place here now, now that she had been discovered? Surely the whole crew knew; secrets did not keep well on pirate ships. But she didn't want to stay here, not at the mercy of the captain. He had spared her last night, and she didn't trust him to do it again. So she would do as she always had; she would join the crew. Let her be punished for doing work. Death would be better than this.

Using her right arm, as she always did, Hikari pushed herself from the mat. As she did so she was reminded of the sharp pain and instantly crashed back to the mat. Her shoulder throbbed where the bullet had entered, and then where they had had to dig it out. During that process she was sure she would have much preferred to keep it there. But that was dangerous, she knew. Groaning, she rolled over to use her other arm.

"Where do you think you're going?" Came a gruff voice, one that had obviously not been used in a few hours.

Hikari felt her heart skip a beat; she had thought he was asleep. That bell could wake the dead, but it hadn't even caused the Captain to stir.

"T-to work, Captain." May as well keep on his good side, for the moment. Something told her he wasn't exactly a morning person.

She heard him shift; he was sitting up. "I don't think so. Have I not made it clear? You are to remain in my quarters unless otherwise specified."

The finality of his tone made it very clear to her that doing anything other than what he said would be a bad idea.

Hikari sighed in resignation, the pain in her shoulder making it so that she did not feel like putting up a fight. "Yes, Captain." And then she flopped back over, carefully this time, and tried to get a little more sleep.

~*~

Apparently she had not gotten all that much sleep the night before, as Hikari realised now that she was once more waking up. The sun poured into the room now; the curtains had been pushed aside. Captain Scar was not around, and it didn't feel like the ship was moving. Rising she decided to take a look; at least this room had windows. Her shoulder still hurt, and so first she placed it in the sling the doctor had made for her.

Looking outside, she could see that the ship was indeed anchored. The water didn't look overly deep, for the usual green tint was much lighter. Hikari made her way towards the window that encased the front of the room, and she saw that they had stopped at an island. Why they were here, Hikari didn't know.

The sound of the door opening caused her to whirl around quickly. The captain slid through the opening, fully dressed in his more elaborate outfit. The bright colours and long cloak marked him for where he stood on the ship. The only thing visible of the scar that marked him for who he was, was the very end of it on his hand. This didn't make him any less intimidating; his eyes were still as ice.

"Get dressed, we're going outside." It wasn't a suggestion.

"Why?"

She saw as his jaw flexed and his eyes flashed; he did not like being questioned. Hikari swallowed, knowing she had done something wrong.

"Because I don't trust you to leave you here alone. Now hurry up; I have little patience."

With that he exited the room, as if being courteous enough to give her privacy, and Hikari instantly rushed to get her clothes on. She knew that, if she wasn't ready within his undefined time limit he would come barging back into the room whether she was dressed or not. And she was not the kind of woman who wanted to be seen with anything less than what was decent on, especially after what had happened yesterday. Sure enough, just as her borrowed shirt was pulled over her head, the door opened again. Stepping into her boots, she followed him without a word.

Hikari, the Captain, his first mate and a select few members of the crew all piled into a lifeboat. They were being rowed ashore, towards an island that, under other circumstances, would have been very beautiful for her. The emerald hills rose high above the clear, sea foam-coloured waters, and it was only a thick stretch of alabaster sands that separated them. To her far right she saw a stream that ran into the ocean, and far above that, somewhere in the rocky parts of the island, she thought she could make out a waterfall. It was inhabited, as far as she could tell.

That is, she thought, until they reached the island. On the beach was a line of people; people that had probably been there the whole time. They seemed to have materialised from the trees themselves. The dark-coloured clothing blended in well with the surrounding flora. The colour of their skin also made such hiding easy; it was dark as well. A beautiful bronze colour that she had never seen before, and the novelty of it had Hikari forgetting exactly where she was and who she was with. But it was the sudden jolt of the boat as it ran aground, and the shaking of the vessel as people jumped out of it, that brought her back to reality. Suddenly these people were not so fascinating; they were terrifying.

In her haste that morning, Hikari had neglected to put on her bandana. Vaguely she recalled leaving it in the infirmary, but there was no point in it now. The way that the crew had eyed her as she left with the captain told her that her jig was up. She didn't like being looked at like that; like she was a piece of meat and no longer a living, breathing human being. She had realised, though, that the Captain had not looked at her like that. It was very strange, and only slightly comforting.

The small group halted at a signal from the Captain, who then took a few more paces forwards. From her vantage point, Hikari could see the smirk on his face. Everything about him exuded confidence; even the air around him was different. The more time she spent with him, the more she understood why he was so feared and respected. Everything she had thought about him being weak and hiding behind those who supported him had been completely wrong. This man was what they claimed him to be.

Captain Scar looked over the people; they were not strangers to him. Once a month they made this journey, a journey to offer a trade. The men that greeted them now were not those whom he had business with; they were merely the watchmen, trained warriors of the rogue tribe. Impossible to deal with, it had once been said. No ships dared come near this place. But Captain Scar did. He had tamed even the wild beast that was the chief of this tribe.

Calling out to them in their own language, he gestured back towards the group behind him. Hikari's heart instantly leapt into her throat; she hoped that he hadn't been referring to her for anything. Maybe she was to be a sacrifice…maybe they needed something pure and that was why he hadn't touched her the night before…

She shook her head. No, that was only in stories. Only the Ancients had such traditions, and besides, how would he know if she was 'pure' or not? But, looking over the tribesmen in front of her, thinking about ancients gave her no comfort. These men could very well have survived in that time, too.

It was to her great relief, then, when some of the bigger crewmen hauled large sacs forward for the protectors to see. Hikari did not remember seeing these in the boat, but then again, she hadn't really been thinking about much other than just staying alive. They were loaded before she was, as she and the Captain had been the last ones on the small boat.

There was a rumble that went through the line in front of them, and suddenly they disappeared into the forest as quickly as they had come out. Hikari had to stare for a moment; surely these men could not turn invisible. But there wasn't much more time to dwell on it than that, for the Captain was moving and they were bidden to follow him.

Trekking through the jungle was not exactly Hikari's idea of how to spend her day. At this point, she wished that Captain Scar had simply locked her in his cabin. Didn't he have a key or something? Wasn't that what pirates did in all of the stories? Many of the legends revolved around this man himself; he seemed to be timeless. In seeing that he was as young as the day that Takeru had been taken, Hikari was beginning to believe that.

The Captain seemed to know where he was going. Despite the dense jungle and the fact that everything looked the same, he picked his way efficiently and easily through it all. He was tense, though, for he knew not to let his guard down. There were more dangerous things on this island than its human inhabitants, and they were the ones that he could not control. They were the ones who knew this place better than anything else, and they were ancient enough to have the knowledge to snatch one of his crew without anyone else even knowing it. And so he must be a step ahead of that.

Soon enough, though, there was a break in the trees. Nestled within the heart of the jungle there was a small village. It was a primitive one, and it was clear that it had been there for many generations. The mud huts formed the centre, and there were larger huts on the outside. More bronze-skinned people emerged from these buildings, some dressed like the men in the forest, and others dressed relatively more casually. If one could call their clothing casual, that was. Hikari had never seen anything like it before; animal skin, it seemed, though she couldn't quite place the animal.

They did not stop even as they reached the concentration of huts; Hikari could see that they were headed towards a long building at the northern tip of the camp. The chief's hut, she was sure. Who else would Captain Scar be dealing with?

Sure enough, when they entered the building they were faced with a large man in warrior's clothing, for it was the same as the men they had seen on the beach, except that he wore an elaborate headdress made of coloured feathers and bone. What kind of bone, Hikari did not want to ask. But it looked eerily human…she'd heard somewhere, though, that pig anatomy was quite close to a human's. She would go with that one.

The bags were dropped on the ground, and Captain Scar took a step forward. Out of respect he bowed to the man that was chief, then proceeded to speak in that strange language, motioning towards the full sacs behind him. The bigger man, for he was solid muscle, peered around the Captain's suddenly very thin frame to see. With a wave of his hands two other men whom Hikari hadn't even seen stepped forward, pushing passed the Captain and looking inside of them. A few moments passed as they rummaged through them, and then they rose again and spoke to their chief. Taking a moment Hikari saw that in the sacs were trivial things; trinkets stolen from drunkards and lords. Watches, mugs, a woman's hairpins, scraps of fine linen and men's hats…a strange mix of things. She had noticed, though, that when Captain Scar's crew went pillaging, they took everything. It hadn't come to her attention until now.

What seemed to be sounds of satisfaction came from the chief, and he barked orders to the two men who had been inspecting the gifts. As Hikari had suspected, there was a trade. Two smaller bags were brought out, and she wondered what would be a fair trade for such an eclectic array of items. The Captain took the bags, inspecting them carefully. After a few moments he smiled in that way of his that was more like a taunting smirk, and nodded his head. With another bow, he spoke something that must have been along the lines of 'thank you', and he turned and walked out.

Hikari was, to say the least, thoroughly confused. Though she had been instructed to remain close to the Captain, she dropped back a few steps in order to fall in line with his First Mate. His name was Iori, and he was a small, quiet man. But she suspected, and judging by the scars that covered his own body, that he could hold his own. He was lithe-looking and his right arm was well-muscled; he must be very good with a sword. His brown eyes were always searching; always on the lookout for something that may not even be there. They had this faraway look to them that almost frightened her. But, despite all of these things, he was easier to talk to than the rest of them. He did not say much, which was perhaps what made her feel relatively comfortable around him.

"What was that all about?" She asked quietly. After she did so her gaze flickered to the Captain; he didn't appear to have heard.

It was a few moments before the man beside her responded. "A trade."

Hikari bit her lip; she knew that. It was just a matter of not saying something stupid. "What for?"

"Jewels."

Of course. What else would a pirate lord want?

To her surprise, the man continued. "There is a mine, deep in the jungle, that houses some of the world's rarest jewels. No one has access to it, for the locals guard their territory with a ferocity that is not matched. But they are fascinated with the outside world, and Captain Scar has been trading with them for decades. They do not trust him, of course, but he does them no harm and so they show him the same respect."

Hikari nodded in response; she supposed that it made sense. The rest of their trek was passed in relative silence.

That is, until the sound of metal on metal permeated the air. Hikari knew the sound very well now; it was that of a sword being drawn. Immediately it was followed by a rain of other such sounds. As she had been stuffed into the Captain's cabin, naturally all her weaponry had been taken from her as well. They had, of course, neglected to give anything back to her before leaving the ship.

It happened almost too quickly for her to realise it. There was a blur in front of her, and before she knew anything, Iori was on the ground. But it wasn't just him; there was a large, cat-like creature on top of him. It had picked him out as the easiest target, apparently, but it had chosen wrong. The next thing she saw was the thick blade of the man's cutlass as it pierced through the creature and protruded through its back.

But this was not the only one that attacked. The small group was on its own; the natives were not helping. She supposed that was part of the deal. They were not responsible for whoever decided to trespass on the territory of such creatures. Half a dozen or so others, she could not quite count exactly because they were moving so quickly, had joined in the fray. Judging by the slightly surprised faces in the group, this did not happen very often.

The Captain was fending two off on his own, and he was doing a fairly good job of it. For a moment Hikari was mesmerized by his motions; he was almost…beautiful. The fluid way in which his body moved and the obvious expertise that he had with the blade. It was poetic, even. More than she knew she would ever accomplish.

It was very difficult to stay out of the fight and yet stay within range of protection. With no way to defend herself, Hikari knew she was probably done for if this didn't end quickly. It didn't help that she was momentarily incapacitated; entranced by the movements of the horrid pirate captain.

"HIKARI!" Came the shout. And before she realised it was the Captain who had called out to her, she felt herself being thrown to the ground and crushed under the weight of one of the creatures.

Staring up into its feline face was probably the most terrifying thing she had ever seen in her life. Petrified by fear she laid beneath it, registering only the size of its canines and the smell of rotten flesh on its breath. This was it. She was done for. Maybe she shouldn't have joined this crew; it was clear that her number was up. Since the captain had not finished her off, this creature would do the job for him. Once again, she gave a silent apology to her best friend.

Closing her eyes, she waited for the end. Pain ripped through her shoulder as the wound re-opened, but it was the least of her worries. At least that pain would be over soon, too.

But the pain didn't stop. Her end never came. The crushing weight was suddenly gone, and instinct drove her to quickly jump up from her spot on the ground. Auburn eyes darted to her left, where the Captain had the creature pinned to the ground, empowered by adrenaline. Her shock was such that she didn't even turn away when he lopped its head off.

There were only two left now, though they were hanging back in the trees as if assessing the current situation. Apparently they decided the situation no longer worth it, and bounding off into the forest, they left the now-tattered group. Miraculously, no one had been lost. One of the men, Hikari thought his name was Baurus, was bleeding profusely from a deep wound on his side. But he would live, if they got him to the ship fast enough. And she knew that they would.

But it was not these things that really registered. Something else…something that was only coming to her now. Looking over she saw the Captain, who was drenched in blood. Most of it was not his own, but he was still a gruesome sight. He stood there over the body of the lion-thing, chest heaving with every breath and sword hanging at his side. He was looking at her, too.

Hikari felt her heart pounding within her chest now, though it was no longer only fear. Her hands were shaking now, and she felt as though her legs would give out beneath her. She watched as the Captain gritted his teeth. Sheathing his sword, he turned away from her. "We will waste no more time here." This was an order.

But that even barely registered. Blood-soaked Iori had to physically grab her before she started moving again, and even then, she didn't really remember what was going on around her.

Hikari. He had called her 'Hikari'.

~*~

Calmer of the Storm: Dun dun duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuunn

….okay. Some of you guessed it, which wasn't so surprising. I dropped a few hints, if you look hard enough. I'm sure I probably didn't fool a single person (but if I did…let me know 'cause it'll make me happy, haha)…I mean, there would be no story if Takeru was dead. Wouldn't that be a plot twist though…he actually is dead. I think I would have a lot of haters if I did that though. Maybe I'll just stick with going with the flow xD

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