Sorry it's a bit late, I spent most of my time working on the SWG chapter so I could upload it on friday, because that was the ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of SWG :'D! Lol, that's probably the like, 32435th time I've mentioned it, but it just feels so unreal xD! Sorry for all the nagging ^^
Anyway, here y'all go! How about some Mommy-Buck to make up for the last chapters sadness xD?
*** Chapter Five : Bucktoothed Buck ***
The little cub was sitting inside an empty barrel in one of the storage cabins, hiding from the outside world. The others were in a cargo space underneath. It had been three days since he left the mainland on the ship, but it felt like only a few hours ago. He remembered everything that happened those last moments on the beach so clearly; the empty look Etana had on her face as the Spotted Ones parted her from the rest of the slaves and replaced her with a kicking and screaming Biton. The wild protests Kafeel made when they tried to put him in a longboat, it ended with them having to knock the young Brown One unconscious to be able to get him on the boat. Mteremo felt sorry for Kafeel: all he wanted to do was to see Gasira one last time!
Also, while the rest of the Strangers followed on to the boat, Haron the Shadowman stayed behind on the beach after loading the last slaves on the last longboat. The others seemed to know why, though, and therefore they didn't ask him. Mteremo had always been fascinating by the stories of the aye-ayes, or the Shadowfolk. They were said to be warlocks, only living in small groups on their island and whenever they did arrive to the mainland it was to bring death and misfortune to everyone they deemed worthy of punishment, which could be everyone! Why Haron would blend in with these slavetraders was confusing, to say the least. And how come he spoke Bouda? And captain Tip also seemed to be able to speak Bouda?
Suddenly, a gunshot broke the silence, and the cub pressed his palms against his overdimensioned ears to block it out. The shot wasn't real, he knew, it was just an echo. It was the same gunshot that had killed his father. The scene had been replaying itself night after night; Mwindaji, wounded by a shot in the knee, was being held back by Biton and one more Spotted One as captain Tip aimed his weapon, that could kill even if it weren't even near it's target, at him and killed him. Just like that. And no matter how hard he tried to block it out, he could always hear his sisters last words to him coursing through his mind: "You killed him! You killed them both! Why do you have to kill everyone?! I hate you, Mteremo! I'll kill you! You hear me? I'LL KILL YOU!"
A silent sobbed escaped the cub as he nodded slowly. "Y-yeah... I hear you..." He whispered hoarsely and clenched his eyes shut. "Etana... Dad... I'm sorry!" Etana had been right: it WAS his fault that both their mom and dad were dead. I'm a murderer... I don't wanna be a murderer! I didn't mean to kill them, I just... I just wanna go home!
Another sob sent tears burning behind his eyelids. He just wanted this all to be a bad dream. He just wanted to wake up back in his own bed, in their own hut, back in their own village. He wanted to wake up and see his father, still alive and well, sleeping in his own bed, and Etana, no longer angry at him and just about to wake their father up to remind him that he promised them to go fishing.
"I wanna go home... to dad..." Mteremo sobbed quietly and tried to bite back the tears. "I want dad back!"
"Oi! There ya are, little mate!" Bucks familiar voice was heard above, as the long, thin, golden brown snake peeked down into the barrel, drawn by the faint sounds of crying. The cub quickly snapped his head up and stared in wide-eyed fear at the snake. "I've been searchin' allova for ya!"
The snake wrapped his tail around the cub and lifted him up out of the barrel. When he was put down on the ground, the cub took a wobbling step back before he regained his footing. That was another reason he was sitting in a barrel: the ship was constantly being tossed about by the waves, making the floor rock and thus made it impossible for the inexperienced cub to even stand up straight. The first day he had spent doubled over the railing, seasick beyond all help and just throwing up relentlessly in the ocean.
"Orders from the cap'n..." Buck said and presented a large bowl with water. Mteremo gave him a puzzled look. "He says that unless ya wanna be down there with others, we're gonna have to clean ya up" The snake wrapped his tail around a piece of cloth. "An' trust me, little mate, ya don't want that!"
Mteremo had no idea what the snake was talking about, but a quick glance in the water gave him a look at his reflection and gave him a clue; he had dirt and sand stuck all over him, and he still had blood stained on his face and arms. Not to mention that all the tears had made his face all smudgy.
He looked up at the snake with a concern frown, just when he got the wet cloth in his face. "Alright, let's see if there's a kid under all this muck, eh?"
…
Bucktoothed Buck was confusing to Mteremo. The taipan snake was one of the Strangers, evil people who enslaved other and forced the Spotted Ones to commit their dirty deeds and yet, Buck had been the only one to be kind toward the cub.
While the others had been taken down to a big room below the deck, Buck had pulled the cub aside and made it clear to the others that this cub wouldn't go down there with the others.
"Again, Buck?" Had Tip said with an annoyed growl at the snake.
"Aye, again cap'n. We can't just let this little bloke down there in the cargo, can we? He'll die within a week!" The snake replied and lowered his head to the red fox' level. "Just let me take care of him, right? Ya won't even notice he's here!"
"That's the thing, Buck. Every damn time we bring along a child ya instantly throw yaself over the mangy thing an' pretend you're it's bloody mama or somethin'!"
"Oi, go ahead an' call me squeamish, cap'n. But I just can't let ankle biters like this one get chained up down there. It's just not right!"
The captain and the taipan had a staredown for a couple of seconds, before Tip shrugged and turned around. "Fine, just keep him outta the way for the others, an' don't let 'im near the food!"
Buck nodded shortly. "Aye cap'n!"
Mteremo were still a bit scared of the big snake, but now it's been three days and he's slowly getting used to both Buck and the rest of the crew. Although the other crew-members weren't as friendly, and always looked down at the cub with a frown on their shaggy, rugged faces.
"Oi, I just can't go on an' keep callin' ya little mate all the time. Now, what was yer name again?" Buck said with a bothered grimace as he ran the wet cloth all over the little cubs face, washing away the dirt. "Y'all got such weird names, dont'cha?"
Buck used to talk to him, even if he didn't understand a syllable of what the snake said. After a while, Mteremo got used to it and instead of trying to understand, he just listened without saying anything. Somewhat happy to hear something else than the gunshot echoing in his mind.
"Ya know what, I'll just call ya Kiddo from now on, okay?" Buck shrugged and threw the cloth back into the bowl and first pointed with his tail at himself, and then to the cub. "Buck, Kiddo. Kiddo, Buck. Get it?"
Mteremo tilted his head to the side. "Buck?"
"Yeah, that's me!" The snake nodded and picked the bowl with water up. "Now close yer eyes an' hold'ya breath, Kiddo!" He warned, and a few milliseconds before he tipped the entire bowl of water over Mteremos head, the cub realized what was going to happen and he quickly closed his eyes and held his breath.
The cool water splashed between his ears and instantly drenched the thick hair on his head. He shuddered as the water ran down his shoulders and seeped through his fur. Buck picked the cloth back up and hastily wiped his face clean again.
"Hey, it's better than before!" He said with a grin and threw the cloth aside. Mteremo didn't answer, as usual. He just licked himself around the mouth, hoping to catch some of the water but instantly cringed and stuck his tongue out in disgust when he felt the salty, tangy taste of seawater. Buck chuckled. "Thirsty, eh? I'll be right back" The long snake turned around and slithered up the stairs to the above deck, leaving the cub with his head tilted in bewilderment.
In the crew, Buck was a highly respected member and the two cabin boys, Wes and Juno, looked up to him as a big brother. And the main reason Mteremo felt that he could trust this snake, wasn't because he just saved him from an uncertain, but obviously horrid, fate, but because in some way Buck reminded him a lot about his father: talkative, friendly, they even had the same chuckle! The cub let his eyes wander to the floor. And it only made him miss his father even more.
The sound of scales rustling against damp wood notified Mteremo about the snakes return and he quickly tried to blink the tears away and wiped his eyes with his still wet arm. "Oi, somethin' the matter, Kiddo?" He said instantly as he arrived and tossed a canteen with water to the cub, who wasn't prepared for it so he caught it, fumbled around with it, trying to get a grip on the little container before he dropped on the wooden floor. Mteremo let out a restrained sigh and picked it up again.
The first time in his life he had encountered a canteen had been two days ago, and upon getting the round, metal bottle he had just looked at it in confusion before trying to bite the lid. However, it didn't take him long to figure out how to remove the lid so he could drink from it. It was a small accomplishment, but he was proud to have figured it out himself! Even if the crew was rolling their eye at him, and Buck chuckled and shook his head...
"Better?" Buck asked after the cub had finished drinking in deep, greedy gulps. Mteremo tilted his head to the side and handed the canteen back to the taipan snake, but the snake didn't accept it and just cocked his head. "Ya ain't been cryin' 'ave ya? Ya know, sookin'? Turnin' on the waterworks? Sobbin'? Boohoo?" He did a motion with his tail towards his own eyes and arched an eyebrow until the cub seemed to understand what it was the snake was asking.
Mteremo hung his head and averted his eyes. "I-I wanna go home..." He said with a low voice.
"Wha?"
"I wanna go back home! A-and I want dad to come back!" The cub bit his lip as the canteen fell out of his grip and onto the cold, damp wooden floor. The tears were back, and he bit on his knuckles to hold them back. "I-I... I want m-my daddy back..."
"Oi, don't go mopin' 'bout. I get that one word, 'dad'. You're thinkin' of ye ol' man, is that right?" He patted the cubs shoulders with his tail and shook his head slowly. "Look, Kiddo. I have no idea what you're yacking about, and ya don't understand crap of what I say. But I don't think ye dad would be all too proud of a sooker, would he? You're a man, right? You're a tough bloke, like me! And we don't cry now, do we?" He rummaged around for the still damp cloth he was using earlier and handed it to the cub. "She'll be 'right! Dry 'em tears and pull yaself up. Alright?"
Mteremo looked at the piece of cloth and then back up to Buck, before looking back at the cloth. He sobbed one last time before he blew his nose into the cloth and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. One of the corners or Bucks mouth were tugged up in a lopsided and approving grin. "G'donya, little mate!" Buck chuckled, and Mteremo returned the grin with a faint smile, but then it vanished as he averted his eyes down to the floor. "An' y'know, speakin' of fathers; I think ya should be darn proud to have, or had, a ripper like yer father there. He really cared 'bout ya and ye sis! Not everyone are as lucky as ya, to have a father that cared like that. Mine?" He paused and knocked with his tailtip on the fang that jutted out from the side of his mouth. "Mine did this to me. And trust me, I'd give anythin' to have had a father like ya, kiddo!"
Mteremo smiled carefully again and glanced up at the taipan snake. He still didn't have any idea what Buck was talking about, but he sounded friendly and supporting enough to assume that he was trying to cheer him up.
Suddenly a loud bell rang from the top deck, and both the snake and the hyena cub perked up. A deep rumble from Mteremos stomach followed, which made Buck laugh out loud.
"And now we're hungry, huh? Don'tcha worry, Kiddo. I'll see what I can save for ya!" The snake said with a reassuring wink and slithered back up the stairs, leaving Mteremo behind in the minor storage again.
He was lucky. He had Buck who helped him and took care of him. The cub bit his lip and looked down at the floor. The others down there weren't as lucky...
…
While Mteremo stayed down in the room during the days, he always came out at nights. When everyone (even the ones who were supposed to stand guard) were asleep, he took the opportunity to sneak out. He didn't like to go out in the day for two reasons: the crew, who seemed to be wanting to gut him like a fish at the mere sight of him, and the Great Mother.
Ever since he left the mainland, the Great Mother had been... different. She had used to be glowing with a mild, warm light, but now She was blazing and threatening to scorch everyone on the surface. It was like she was mad at something. He didn't always see Her though, she had a lot of clouds to hide behind, but whenever she peeked out; it was like she was glaring, aiming her fury down at the little cub. Eventually, he just gave up on his tries to apologize to her, in hopes that she would calm down, and just decided to venture out at nights. Even if he was told not to.
Captain Tip had been there when slaves who were allowed to roam free had thrown themselves off the ship, and down into the dark sea. Therefore, he strictly forbid Buck to allow his ward to wander off alone, ESPECIALLY at nights. Although, Mteremo would probably never be able to jump from the ship, even if he wanted to; just the mere sight of the bottomless, dark greenish blue ocean was enough to make him sick!
Heavy and loud snores were heard from the guards as they lied down with their backs against either a mast or the railing and slept, aimlessly roaming around in dreamland. Drowned out by their own snores, Mteremo could easily sneak past them without making a sound.
He threw a look at the deep, black night sky speckled with tiny, shiny dots; the souls of their ancestors. He narrowed his eyes as he once again scouted the sky for any sign of his fathers soul, but he couldn't find him. With a given up sigh he let his shoulders slouch as he looked back down and shook his head. "They didn't burn him, did they?" He whispered quietly to himself as he was forced to accept the fact that his father never would appear on the sky with the others. Not as long as his body was still intact.
A sudden snore made him jump in surprise as the weasel next to him, Finster, stirred in his sleep and grunted something incoherent. Mteremo didn't dare to as much as breathe again until the weasels guttural snores were resumed. He decided to get away from the guards and threw a look up the tallest of the three masts. He had always been intrigued by the little basket up there, where Ratt the one-eyed rat, seemed to be spending most of his days. He hesitated for a second before starting to climb the ladder that was etched to the mast. Perhaps, if he went all the way up, he could still see his old home? They couldn't have gotten that far in only three days, could they?
The higher up he got, the more the mast began to rock, and the more he began to regret his decision. He cast a nervous look at the basket, only a few meters left. He could make it! With a deep sigh filling his lungs, he tried to ignore the nauseating rocking of the mast and kept climbing up the ladder, until his head peeked up through a hole in the basket. He looked around and saw that he was the only one up here and climbed up.
His legs were shaking from the long climb up, and he felt fatigued. He walked over to the railing and looked around. He was hoping to see at least a glimpse of the mainland, but he saw nothing. Nothing but the wide, vast, empty ocean, colored dark blue from the night. With a disappointed grunt he leaned on the railing and rested his head on his arms.
Suddenly he saw something white flutter in the corner of his eye and he curiously looked up. A bird was sailing on the winds, when suddenly a strong gust blew and got the bird out of course. It squawked as it hit the top beam of the tallest mast and managed to get ensnared in the ropes, which only added on to it's fear. It squawked louder and tried its best to flap it's wings to get out of the ropes, but it only made matters worse.
Mteremo stared at the bird in alarm: it was making enough noise to perhaps wake some of the guards up! He leaned over the rail and looked at the beam who traveled straight across the mast, helping to hold it's great, white sail up. He gulped before carefully climbing out and put a foot on the beam. It was constantly twitching due to the wind, and relatively slippery. Lucky it hadn't been raining for a while, or else it would've been impossible to walk on!
With his eyes focused on the bird in front of him, he began to make his way forward on the beam. His arms were splayed out from his body and he found himself biting his tongue to not lose his concentration. When he was in front of the struggling bird, he came to a slow stop and bent down, sitting down on the beam with one leg on each side.
The bird was struggling, both against the ropes holding it down, and the predator who just arrived. It made it very hard to Mteremo to release it, after a while he finally managed to untangle the hysterical bird. With a relieved look on his face, he saw the white critter shoot for the sky and tried to put as much distance between itself and the evil trap it just escaped.
Suddenly Mteremo frowned as a realization made it's way through his adrenaline-fazed brain; it was a bird. In the middle of the ocean? But, didn't birds mean that there was land nearby? Maybe they WERE closer to his home than he thought?!
Filled with new hope, he began scouting the horizon again, and this time he found something. But it wasn't the beach they left. It was an island, surrounded by sharp, pitch black cliffs, protruding from the waters dark surface like jagged fangs. And the ship was headed straight for them!
"H-hey! HEY!" Mteremo hollered and cupped his hands around his mouth, aiming his voice down to the deck. "HEY! WAKE UP! WE'RE GONNA CRASH! HEEEY!" He shouted as loud as he could, and his ears perked when he saw movement down on the ship. "HEY! LOOK OVER THERE!" He shouted once again as the crew swarmed up on the deck, drawn by the ruckus.
"What the devil? Kiddo?! WHAT THE HECK ARE YA DOIN' UP THERE, MATE?!" Buck was one of the crew members who had gathered on the top deck first, and when he saw the cub sitting on the top beam on the main mast, he was instantly met with panic. "GET DOWN HERE, for fuck sake!"
"LOOK OVER THERE! WE'RE GONNA CRASH!"
"Nice job, Buck! Now we'll ALL get into trouble just b'cause yer kid snuck out!" Ratt hissed and glared with his one bloodshot, dark blue eye at the taipan.
"Shut your trap, Ratt! KIDDO! GIT DOWN THERE, NOW!"
"HELLLOOO?! AM I TALKIN' TO MYSELF HERE?!" Mteremo shouted and took a new glance at the approaching cliffs, they were so close now he could see the birds nests. Even if it was in the middle of the night, some birds were still circling about. "WE'RE GONNA CRASH!" He turned back to the crew with a newly awoken panic in his voice. "BUCK!" He shouted, and the taipan reacted to his name. "BUCK! LOOK"
The cub extended one of the arms he used to keep his grip on the beam and pointed at the cliffs. Buck followed his finger, and instantly felt the color drain from his face at the sight of the pointy cliffs. "BLOODY HELL!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, causing the others to also turn and see the cliffs.
"Holy Jesus, Mary an' Josef! Cap'n?! CAPTAIN?!" Finster, who just woke up in time to see the cliffs, hollered.
"We ain't got time! Where the hell is Chunky?!" Buck hissed with a nod at the rudder, where a chubby polecat should have been standing but now instead were ropes, holding the round wheel like rudder in place.
"He's been in the loo the entire day, dont'cha remember that hyena food he ate?"
"For codgers sake, when I get my coils on that dipstick I'll..." Buck muttered grumpily, but never finished the sentence, as he hurried up the stairs to the rudder, and threw a new, nervous look on the cliffs. Just then, a strong gust of wind blew and grabbed the sails, giving the ship a forceful push forward.
"Bloody hell..." The snake hissed through his teeth when he realized that he didn't have time to untie the ropes and just grabbed one of the many handles with the tip of his tail.
With a grunting effort he spun the rudder, both the ropes and some of the handles snapped as the rudder spun and the ship was forced to make a sharp turn to avoid the sharp cliffs. The entire ship cringed at the sharp turn, and the wood was creaking and moaning in protest.
The beam Mteremo was sitting on suddenly cringed along with the ship, causing the cub to lose his grip and fall down. He screamed as his hands flailed for something to grab onto. He managed to grab the end of the sail and hung there with his feet dangling STILL a dangerously high distance from the deck.
"B-Buck! BUCK!" He screamed in fear when his grip on the sail began to slip. He tried to get a new grip and screamed again; "BUUUCK!"
Buck perked up when he heard the cub shout his name and instantly spotted him losing his grip on the sails. But he couldn't dart off to save him; he had to hold the rudder in it's current position, or else it would spin out of control and they would get on the same course again: straight for the cliffs. "Somebody CATCH HIM!"
He had barely finished the sentence until Wes and Juno had brought a big sailcloth, which the crew all helped to hold up underneath the cub. When Mteremo lost his grip on the sail, he knew for sure that he was a goner. He screamed as he fell backwards, down to what he thought was going to be his death. But instead of meeting the cold, hard ship deck, he landed in something softer and even bounced back up again a little.
When the little cub was safe in the sailcloth, the crew carefully let go of it and some scurried up to the cub to check if he still was alive. Mteremo still hadn't grasped what really happened there, but there was one thing he knew: he was alive. He was without the shadow of a doubt so very much alive! He had never been this alive in his entire life! That beat placing thorns on Elder Balozis chair by FAR!
A sudden scratching, gnarling sound was heard, and it sent vibrations throughout the entire ship. A cliff had been hiding underneath the waters edge, and as the ship was trying to turn away from the dangerous, spiked rocks, it must have hit the hidden cliff. With the slow, scraping noise slowly fading away, the cleared the area and managed to get away from the cliffs.
When the rudder stopped resisting, Buck slowly let go of it, and found it to be still and calm again. With a relieved chuckle he turned to the deck, and noticed that people were acting funny around the cub. He ain't dead, is he? Was the first, terrified thought that appeared in Bucks mind as he hurried down to the rest of the crew.
The cub was alive, thank god. He was even giggling as he lied spread-eagle on the sailcloth that saved him. Buck let out a deep, relieved sigh when he saw that his ward was unharmed.
"WHAT in blue blazes is goin' on 'ere?!" Captain Tips furious voice boomed as he opened the door to his cabin and stormed out on deck. "What's all this shoutin' an' WHY the hell did the ship...?!" He interrupted himself when he saw the cub slowly getting to his wobbly feet. "What is the cub doin' up here?!"
"Cap'n, I think Kiddo here just saved us all" Finster said with a slow nod at the hyena cub. "We all woke up when he was shoutin' an' makin' a big fuss, he saw that we were headin' towards them there cliffs, sir, an' he saved us!" The crew nodded and murmured in agreement.
Tip let his gaze wander over his crew until he finally stuck on Buck. "Buck. What was he doin' up 'ere in the first place?"
"Uh... I dunno, he must've snuck out when I was snoozin', cap'n." The golden brown snake said with a shrug. "But good thing too, I reckon. Or else we would all have been nothing but squash b'now!"
"And where is Chunky? He's the one who's supposed to keep a bloody eye on the rudder!"
"Bad shrimp, cap'n..."
"Ya were all sleepin' again, weren'tcha?" The crew responded to their captain with nervous clearings of throats and mumbles. Tip looked down at the cub with a disapproving face once again. "He's lucky he saved us, or else he'd get thrown down there in the cargo with the rest of them..." He said, causing Mteremo to flinch at the harsh tone of voice. "If this repeats itself, I'll keelhaul the lot of ya, understand?!" The entire crew nodded in unison. "Good, Finster! Ya make sure we get back on track! An' Buck, make sure that cub STAYS in storage for the rest o' th'night!"
"Aye cap'n!" Buck said and gave the cub a gentle push with his tail for him to move back down the stairs to the storage room.
…
"Whew, I'm tellin' ya, Kiddo! We're darn lucky you're 'ere, or else we would all have been sent to Davy Jones locker t'night! That was WAY too much fun for me! And boy are we lucky that she didn't got any leaks from that little 'close encounter' back there, just some paint that scraped off, that's a beaut!" Buck was yapping all about that near-death moment the entire crew of Clotilde had just a few moments ago. Apparently, they had been blown slightly out of course, and were headed towards a group of uncharted rocky islands. Well, who'd have guessed?
Mteremo threw a look at the empty barrel, that still stood in the corner of the room, and then he looked at his 'bed'; a pile of old, dusty blankets. The cub turned back to the barrel. He didn't like sleeping out in the open on a pile of blankets, but the barrel wasn't all that comfy either.
"Oi, somethin' the matter, Kiddo?" Buck asked with his head tilted to the side.
The cub didn't answer, instead he walked over to the barrel and looked at it for a while, before going behind it. By putting his feet against the wall and his back against the barrel and push, he managed to turn it over. He picked up the blankets and stuffed the barrel with them before getting a pair of soaps to lodge underneath the sides of the barrel, thus stopping it from rolling around. When he was done, he crawled into the barrel and cozily buried himself among the blankets. Sure, it was a bit claustrophobic in there, but he'd get used to it!
Buck chuckled and shook his head. "Well, I'm givin' ya points for ye creativity, little mate." He said and turned around to return to the brig. "G'night, Kiddo!" He said as he began to slither up the stairs.
Mteremo hesitated for a while, before he replied: "G'night, Buck!"
Buck stopped in his tracks and turned his head around, looking back at the little cub who just began to drift off into sleep. A faint smiled played at the taipan snakes mouth. "You're a sharp little bugger, aren't ya?"
That right, Buck is the biggest, squishiest, mother-of-the-year Aussie to ever sail over the seven seas, and he's damn proud of it xD! (He's every singlemothers dream-man, lol :P)
Anyway, hopefully I'll get the next chapter up relatively soon, still got a load of homework and tests to do -.-...
