Disclaimer: I do not own anything in my stories except for the fan fiction (including plots, OC's and so on). All the characters belong to the rightful owners. Any songs/poems/etc in my stories do not belong to me unless stated otherwise.
A/N: Again, shorter than I would like. I'm not even going to make any excuses of why this is late.
On the very bottom, I have translated a few things that come up in the story. Or that have come up and what will come up again.
This one is sort of a trippy clusterfuck. Not going to lie.
Have at it.
Chapter 5
"If everybody minded their own business, the world would go around a great deal faster than it does."
Vaas walked into the kitchen, grocery bag in hand, quiet singing ringing through the air. It seemed far away, like when the volume of a television was turned down in the room next to you and you couldn't make out the words through the wall, but he knew that it came from her. He was dressed casually in a pair of jeans, a tight flannel shirt and a leather jacket. On his feet were his combat boots, in which he seemed to live.
"They didn't have the candy you wanted, so I bought chocolate instead. Is that alright, mina?" He looked up from the grocery bag and his eyes landed on the woman, whose back was facing him.
"Yeah, that's alright." She turned to smile at him over her shoulder. Even though she spoke to him, he still heard her sing at the same time, or maybe he just imagined her singing. He wasn't sure.
Vaas tugged off his leather jacket and layed it onto a chair, the woman turned around and tilted her head slightly. Her eyes were roaming all over him. "What?" asked Vaas and looked down to check whether he had something on his shirt.
"God, I love your arms." The woman sighed and smiled at him. Vaas chuckled and walked over to her, heavy footsteps echoed through the room. With each step Vaas saw an alligator appear, one on the kitchen counter, another on the table and so on. He wrapped his arms around the womans waist and paid no mind to the animals.
Vaas softly placed his lips onto her cheek, at the same time inhaling her scent. He didn't know how to describe it other than soft vanilla, soap and something that was just purely her.
"Mina, I-" He wanted to say the rest of the sentence. He wanted to say the one tiny word, but he couldn't do it. He felt it, but he could never say the words. They were stuck in his throat with little sharp scalpel edges that would tear him to pieces if he uttered them. She terrified him.
"I know," she whispered back. He felt her heart beating against his chest. He leaned his forehead against hers and closed his eyes.
"So much." Their lips were almost touching and he craved hers.
Vaas opened his eyes. His mouth felt dirty and dry, like he had been eating sand the night before. He rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hands, wondering about the way his heart swelled inside his chest. He felt... weird. An odd feeling was infested inside of him, lingering at the deepest depths of his chest. His mind was blank and he didn't remember any dreams, but there was that feeling.
He rolled over and reached for the bottle of rum on the side of the bed. An all too familiar ache went though his body when he stretched out. It was the aftermath of hours of working, every fucking day and then consuming a healthy amount of alcohol after and during it. Seven days a week, year after year. To be completely honest, he barely even acknowledged it anymore.
The rum Vaas had was shit. It hadn't aged, so it tasted like muddy water that had been poured out of a boot with just a hint of sugary flavour to it. The bottle had been standing next to his bed for God knows how long, weeks maybe. It did nothing to help the taste in his mouth, so he took another big swig. Then the pirate closed his eyes and layed back down. It wasn't even morning yet and the moon was high up in the sky, only crickets serenading to it.
Vaas had taken two breaths before the sound of a gunshot reached his ears. The taste in his mouth forgotten, he was rushing out of the room with all of his guns on him in a matter of seconds. By the time he had pulled his ACE assault rifle from his back, the alarm was blasting out and men were scrambling out of buildings. The Rakyat were storming the camp, coming out of the woods behind where they kept the hostages.
Vaas kept his finger on the trigger, while strings of swears and insults were rolling off of his tongue as fast as the bullets were flying out of his gun. His only interest was killing every Rakyat motherfucker in sight.
Twenty minutes, it took only twenty minutes for Vaas and the pirates to kill every man possible. The pirates who were injured were escorted into a building with Monroe tending to them. Vaas watched as the rest of his men were dragging the bodies of the dead Rakyat to one pile, at the same ridding the bodies of weapons and anything useful.
"It makes no sense, güey" Carlos said in Spanish. "Thirty men in total, give or take." He shook his head. "Citra doesn't even send that little men for a small outpost."
Vaas had a lit cigarette on his lips, "No." He slowly shook his head and blew out smoke. "She's not stupid, she's after something."
"The hostages?" Carlos suggested, his eyes turning to the cages where they held them. He noticed that some of them were open and the people had escaped. "Fuck! This could have been just a distraction to set the hostages loose and then storm the place."
Vaas shook his head. "Not her style. It's all into battle or none." He ran a hand through his mohawk. "Every motherfucker into the forest! Find the fucking hostages! Now!" Vaas shouted and the men started running. He took another drag from his cigarette. "Carlos, make sure they find the fuckers. Then bring them to the gallows."
Vaas turned to go back to his house. He slung the ACE over his shoulder and spat. When he got to his room, he took another swig of rum and then went to brush his teeth. When his mouth was feeling minty fresh, he lit up a new cigarette and grabbed the bottle of rum.
The sun was rising over the top of the trees when Vaas was sitting in front of the gallows, with Maccie loyally by his side. He had gotten himself a nice plastic chair and another bottle of rum. He had just had a long briefing session with Kidd and Monroe, not to mention the measly three hours of sleep earlier, made him easily irritable and volatile. The King sat there and waited, the hostages started appearing in front of him one by one. He commanded them to be tied up like pigs.
He heard a whistle but paid no attention to it, only when Kidd was next to him he lifted his chin in the slightest toward the old man.
"Have you seen Scar?" Kidd questioned sounding awfully worried.
Vaas shook his head. "Not since last night," The corner of his mouth pulled up in the slightest.
Three soft knocks on his door alerted him. His jaw locked and he was ready to shoot whoever the fuck it was. He had had an extremely tiring day, this had been the first time he had sat down since he took Scarlett to the waterfall. Vaas had just taken off his boots and shirt and was in the process of removing his belt and harness.
"What?" He yelled.
"It's Scar." Her voice barely sounded through the door and Vaas froze, a small smile starting to play on his lips. All of the anger slowly flowing away.
"Come in." Vaas shouted, just loud enough for her to hear, and the door opened. Vaas turned around busying himself with unclipping the harness.
There was a pull between the two that neither of them wanted to admit, but nevertheless was there. Scar completely ignored it and pushed it out of her thoughts, burying it in the corners of her mind, while Vaas passed it off as curiosity. Vaas had never seen a warrior woman quite like her. He had seen many warrior women, his mother was one, as well as his sister and he grew up among them. Scar however, didn't look like a killer. She looked innocent with a wide smile and a twinkle in her eye, but Vaas knew there was much much more to her. He had seen bits and pieces, the night Felipe attacked her and also the night before when Vaas himself shamelessly flirted with her.
Scar had been silent for a few moments, taken off guard by the fact that there was a half naked man infront of her, who she had to admit was incredibly attractive.
Only physically, only physically. She tried to convince herself.
"Are you just going to stand there?" Vaas asked, looking over his shoulder.
Scar snapped out of it and her cheeks flushed just in the slightest. "Um, I uh."
"Are you here to... to... echar un polvo ?"
Scars eyebrows lifted. "What?"
"To fuck."
"No!"
"Then what the hell are you doing here at one in the fucking morning?" His eyes roamed over her as he undid his belt. "You have no fucking alcohol, meaning you can't possibly be here to enjoy my wonderful fucking company, eh?" He tossed the belt onto his bed and ran his hand through his mohawk.
Rolling her eyes she folded her arms across her chest. "I came to borrow a t-shirt."
"¿Qué?"
"You know, t-shirt. The red thing that is currently missing from your torso." She lazily pointed toward his chest with her hand. "Also you know they make those with sleeves right?" She couldn't help but seize the opportunity to poke a little bit of fun, Vaas seemed to be in a good enough mood.
Vaas let out a laugh and she felt herself relax, she still wasn't exactly sure when she could joke around him and when she couldn't.
"Seguro, you can have a shirt. ¿Por qué?" Vaas wondered as he walked to a large wardrobe in the corner of the room and pulled out a red shirt from a drawer.
"Honestly? I'm tired of sleeping in jeans and none of my shirts are long and loose." She shrugged. I would have asked Gareth, but he's not here so. You were option two."
Vaas tossed the shirt to her. "Anything else?" He asked with a wink.
With a smile and a shake of her head, she said "I'm think I'm alright, thanks." Scar folded the shirt neatly and turned round. She stopped at the door and looked back at him over her shoulder. "Thanks for the shirt."
"Sí."
"Last- What do you mean last night?" Kidd questioned but then shook his head. "Fuck it. There is no time for this, I have to find her."
"Where's the fire, hermano?"
"She's missing, Vaas. No one has seen her since the Rakyat attacked. I thought that maybe she might be with you but..." The bear-of-a-man was nervous, his hands were trembling and he was pacing.
"You think Citra took her." It wasn't a question. Vaas blew out another puff of smoke as his blood started to boil.
_x_
Scarlett's hands were tied above her head again, she could only tell because she felt her arms against the sides of her head. After coming back to consciousness she tried to keep her breathing slow and even, as if she were still out cold. She couldn't feel her arms or legs. The last time she was tied up it ended bad for everyone, but this time she wasn't in pain the same way she was then. There was no drunken murmur around her nor anyones hands on her.
She heard footsteps coming toward her and distant chatter.
"I know you are awake," a heavily accented womans voice sounded. Scar recognized the accent to be Rakyat.
Scar opened her eyes and rolled her head back. The woman in front of her was beautiful. Long dreadlocks reached the small of her back and the sides of her head were shaved. She was clad in a leather skirt and a matching top, both embezzled with jewellery. On both of her wrists she wore a ton of bracelets. There were also tattoos, on her chin, on her left bicep, on her left side trickling down to her knee. The native had big green eyes and a perfectly oval face.
Scarlett registered that the two of them were in a small room. The walls were made out of large stones with green substance, most likely moss, growing on them. Pillars were embedded to the corners of the room and as Scar looked up she saw that the ceiling was very high. Vines were hanging from the ceiling down the walls. Straight behind Citra was a stone doorway, on both sides of the doorway were statues with firepits in front of them. Scarletts legs were sprawled out in front of her and she realized she was leaning against a cold wall.
"Who are you? Why am I here?" Scars voice was hoarse and weak.
The woman raised her delicate eyebrows. "You know not who I am?" She seemed surprised.
Scar tried to shake her head, but at least her voice was coming back. "No."
"I am surprised my brother has not spoke of me. I am Citra." She carried an air of authority around her.
"Your brother?"
The woman smiled just in the slightest, but it was not a friendly smile. It was a smile one would give when patronizing a child. "You really know nothing, do you?"
Scarlett was tied up with no sensation in her body, she doubted that anyone was going to be rescuing her and death seemed fairly close. So naturally, she chose this time to be cheeky. "Well I know the formula of Einstein's Theory of Relativity, the first twenty digits of the square root of pie and several metaphysical theories of the philosophical kind, but I doubt that's what you were after."
"I can see why Vaas has let you live this long, you entertain him."
The air of authority and the mohawk-esqe hair made sense now. "You are Vaas' sister." Scar remarked, more to herself than anyone else. With any luck, Vaas' sister was going to be just as batshit crazy as him.
Citra smiled. "Yes." The beautiful woman walked closer to Scarlett and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"You never answered my question, why am I here?"
"I wanted to meet you." Citra said. "Is it strange that I want to meet my brothers new girlfriend?"
Scarlett's mouth fell slightly open. "I am not!"
"Why else would you be wearing his shirt?"
A loud band woke Scarlett and she immediately recognised it as gunfire. She quickly scrambled out of bed, pulled her jeans on and ran out the building. All of the pirates were armed and shooting at tattooed men who seemed to be coming in from the forest- She scanned the rooftops and her eyes landed on a dead sniper. She quickly ran to the building, climbed the ladder on the side of it and took a hold of the gun. The man who was there was an awful sight. He bad been shot both in the chest and the head.
Scarlett turned her head away and opted to breathe through her mouth. She layed onto her stomach, lining the scope with her eye. She lined the gun up with a person and pulled the trigger, then she repeated the same action five times. Just after the moment that she pulled the trigger, she noticed a man running toward Smiley from behind. Scarlett quickly lined up the sniper and took a shot, just as Smiley had turned around to face the attacker.
In a moment of confusion Smiley looked around, eventually when his eyes settled onto Scarlett a wide grin stretched across his face. Not his usual disturbing grin, but one which was full of gratitude. Scarlett gave him a quick wave and Smiley was off to battle again.
"I borrowed it from him." Scarlett said matter-of-factly.
"Please, do not take me for an idiot." Citra shook her head in disappointment. "You wouldn't survive in Vaas' camp unless you were under his protection and the only way you'd be under his protection is if you are involved with him."
"Are you going to kill me?"
"You ask a lot of questions." Citra noted.
"Well you have put me in a position where I must." Scar retorted.
Citra nodded slightly. "It seems I have. And no, I will not kill you yet, but you will die."
"Why is that?"
"I want you to know what Vaas is really like. I want you to see him for the monster that he is." Fury was laced in her voice as she faced in front of Scarlett. "Also, I want to know more about you, get to know pretty white girl. I want to know why do you love him."
Scarlett shook her head and remembered a quote. "We make our own monsters, then fear them for what they show us about ourselves."
Citra slapped Scar with the back of her hand. "Know your place. You know nothing."
The biting pain in her cheek made her unable to speak for a moment, actually the surprise of the slap did and not so much the pain. "No, I don't. Only because nobody has agreed to tell me."
"Once, long ago." Citra began. "There was a lotus pond filled with clean water. The bank composed of smooth sand and the smell" Citra breathed in and closed her eyes, as if she was actually smelling it, "of blossoms moved the air. But a giant," she threw up her arms for emphasis. "lived beneath the pond's surface, devouring any who came to its edge. A warrior, from the northern kingdoms, heard of the giant and vowed to slay him." Her fingers trailed the tattoos on her body. "He painted tatau on his body and took power from the land of the dead. When he was ready, he walked the path to the lotus pond. And the giant rose from still waters, the Warrior raised his dagger. He cut the giant's head clean off its body. The skull of the giant fell to Earth and became our island..." She motioned around her and then placed both of her hands on her chest. "The descendants of the Warrior became the Rakyat, our people."
"Now a new giant has risen. Hoyt Volker lured my brother away with money and drugs. Power. Vaas left the tribe, his birth right. He became a monster." Citra said with anger. "Vaas was supposed to be the perfect warrior, but he did not walk to the end of his path. He didn't achieve his destiny." Citra shook her head. "And now he cannot return."
Citra turned her eyes onto Scarlett and then shouted something in the native language. A heavily tattooed man walked in and in his hands was a small tray. When the man placed the tray next to Scarletts legs she saw that a single syringe was on it.
"What is that?"
"Something to help you talk. You do not seem to like to share things," Citra kneeled and picked up the syringe. "It will open the darkest pits of your mind."
Citra injected the liquid into Scarletts neck and then left the room. As she walked away Scars vision started blurring and her ears were ringing.
Her hands came loose and fell into her lap with a thump. She got up and followed Citra.
"You know the necklace Vaas has? The green one, carved out of mountain jade." Citras voice asked, but she was nowhere in sight. Instead, Scarlett was walking down the path into Vaas' camp. "It was our mothers originally. Then she gave it to me to give to whom I will. I gave it to my brother." The jungle around her was on fire and there were human heads just above ground, all of them dead. Some had visible wounds, some not. "It used to be in the shape of a twist. The single twist represents the joining together of two people."
On the path infront of her were Scarletts mother and father. It was when Scarlett was small because they were both so young. Scarlett remembered this vaguely. Scarletts father looked sharp in a black tailored suit, with his hair gelled and set. Her mother held her stomach with her left hand and the other was on her fathers cheek. Scarlett looked at them both with wide eyes, this was just before they were killed. Scarlett ran toward her mother, panicking.
Scarlett. Her mother said, but her mouth didn't move. Come say bye to daddy, he'll be gone for a couple of days.
Dad. Scarlett said automatically.
Do not worry, Letty. I will be back, but until then you have to help mummy with the baby. Alright? Her father smiled and his brown eyes lit up with joy.
Scarlett tried to scream but no sound came out of her. Both of her parents vanished into thin air and when she looked down she saw their dead bodies both surrounded by blood. Her mother was couched over, hands on her stomach. Her father stared emptily and all joy had gone out of his eyes.
"Even though sometimes people move away, their journey of life will have their paths cross again. The single figure eight represents the path of life, it is the eternity symbol." Citras voice sounded again and Scarlett saw Gareth. He was younger too, his eyes bloodshot as he extended his hand out to Scarlett.
"The necklace broke when he left. I know not if he broke it or it broke itself."
Vaas' hysterical laugher came from next to her, she looked left and right but there was no one there. She turned her eyes forward again and there stood Vaas. Citra came up behind him, wrapping her slender arms around his torso. The native woman then locked eyes with Scarlett and a fire burned in them. Citra turned her head slightly, while keeping her eyes locked with Scarlett, and said something to Vaas in a language Scarlett didn't understand. Vaas looked different, he was clad in clothes made out of leather. The wound on his head was fresh, with blood still trickling down his eyebrow.
"Vaas murdered my father. Vaas deserted his people. He is a traitor of the worst kind and I will kill him one day." Citras voice was all around her, but it wasn't the same Citra who stood with Vaas. Scarlett was now walking down a stone road, though she was still in Vaas' camp. A warm light made Citra glow gold.
Goosebumps rose on the back of Scarletts neck, raising small hairs. Vaas charged toward her with a big, beautifully carved, knife in his hand. Just before Vaas reached her, he vanished.
"Why are you with him? What do you see in him?" Citra questioned and Scarlett walked forward. She tried to answer, but no voice left her.
Do not worry, Letty. I will come back. Her fathers assuring voice rang in her ears and he appeared infront of her. His eyes staring into hers and tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Why?" Citra demanded and a veil of fire blazed up infont of Scarlett, leaving her father behind it.
"I am not with him!" Scarlett shouted. It felt like a dam broke inside of her, words were flying out of her mouth faster than she could understand what she was saying. She only stopped a while later when she noticed commotion around her. Vaas' pirates were shooting Rakyat soldiers.
"Hola, bitchachos!" Vaas shouted. The shooting stopped and all of them men dissolved into ash, leaving the ground coated with red powder.
"Vaas, why are you in my temple?" Citras voice echoed.
Scarlett tried to scream but the dam had closed and no sound came out of her. Her heart started racing and she could feel the blood pumping through her veins. Her breathing was erratic because she could feel Vaas and Citra somewhere close to her, but fire had surrounded her. The heat was burning her skin and she couldn't see.
"Because fuck you, that's why!" Vaas laughed.
Scarlett tried to shout his name, she tried to shout for help but the more she tried the higher the flames grew and the hotter they got.
"Where is she?"
"Who?" Citra questioned and the flames started backing away from Scarlett.
"Please do not waste my fucking time. Okay, bitch? Give her to me or I will have two-hundred and thirty-fucking-seven men storm this temple right fucking now. All they are waiting for is my command. My fucking say so. So where is she?"
Scarlett fell onto her knees coughing, even though the fire had retreated the smoke from it was filling her lungs.
"You would not do it."
"Wouldn't I?"
"You must really love her."
"Where. The fuck. Is she?"
It felt like a cold bucket of ice was dumped onto her and she cried out. She felt someone touch her, or rather pick her up but she was still suffocating on the ground.
"Vaas..." Scar tried to shout. "Gareth!" No response. "Father!"
"Jesus motherfucking Christ, you drugged her? Is that any way to treat a fucking guest, Citra?" Vaas' voice echoed. Scarletts blood felt cold and she couldn't stop coughing. "I would kill you but my hands are full. Don't try to kill us on the way, it won't fucking work."
The sound of a car engine was close by and Scarlett tried to get up and run. She managed to get up but the circle of fire was drawing closer again. She tried to see if there was any gap in the fire, but there wasn't.
"He is a traitor. Dia adalah seorang pembunuh." Citras voice echoed around Scarlett. "No one man should have all that power."
The fire was slowly drawing closer. Smoke filled up inside the circle and Scarlett turned her eyes toward the sky. She saw a Giant rise from the borders of the fire. It was the same Giant, the same Ink Monster that became the island. Tall and black was it's figure, with a red mask of a face and fiery yellow eyes.
"Don't go anywhere," Vaas chuckled. "I'll find something that will help. I'll check for fucking tigers before I go."
The Giant opened his mouth and exhaled a massive blueish-purple flame from its mouth, drowning Scarlett in it. Everything went dark and her breathing was wheezing, trying to get enough oxygen to keep her alive. She felt her body twitching and hitting a cold hard surface. Pain radiated from everywhere and the heat from the circle of flames, now drowned and mixed with the Giants flame, licked her skin. She screamed on top of her lungs and her body shook and tears rolled down her cheeks. She felt like she was being burned alive.
"Arotahi i runga i toku reo. Arotahi, wahine taitamariki."
A/N: Aye, so. Translation things. Also these are probably not correct because I used Google Translator to do this, but I needed the dramatic flare so sue me.
AND! Correct me if I'm wrong. No seriously. Do.
Güey. (Sometimes spelled "Guey", usually pronounced as "Way") - Basically means "Bro" or "Dude". [Mexican Spanish slang]
Mujer. - Woman. [Spanish]
Mina. - Woman (Straight translation: Mine). [Argentinian Spanish... slang?]
Seguro. - Sure [Spanish]
Dia adalah seorang pembunuh. - He is (was?) a murderer. [Indonesian]
Arotahi i runga i toku reo. Arotahi, wahine taitamariki. - Focus on my voice. Focus, young woman. [Maori]
I think that was it? Maybe. If there is anything else, then let me know. I'm sure I missed some.
This isn't actually a translation, but since I fell in love with this phase (blame, AC:IV), I can't remember if it was in this one of the one before, but it will come up again.
Cock of the walk - Big man in town, the greatest.
As per usual, review, alert... post it to tumblr? Twitter? Whatever floats your boat.
Oh, I almost forgot since this has become a habit...
Reviews are better than Citra drugging you.
Adiós amigos.
-Max