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 Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 9:38 pm
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Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 9:40 pm
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Vagrant
Chapter One
ﷲ
____Cadence yawned, stretching his arms high above his head. He rose from his cot and reached for his belt, fastening it around the loose pair of pants he wore and with it, his affects: two flintlock pistols, and a long, sturdy rapier. Running a hand through messy hair, he walked through the doorway of the small room he’d rented out the day before and made his way to the stairs. The bar was on the first story of the inn and his mouth was dry from sleeping so late so he desperately wanted something to drink.
______After finding his way through the throng of people that cluttered the stairway and the main room of the first floor, Cadence took a seat next to a very drunk man and a little boy. The man and his Spanish friend were talking and laughing, but Cadence payed little attention. He asked the bartender for a bit of whiskey, and the old man obliged, pouring him a small glass full. The alcohol burned his throat and brought warmth to his chest as it went down. The bitter taste woke Cadence right up.
____“The things people think of, I swear! Do people really believe there’s ship full o’ ghosts, run by a stark ravin’ mad mass murderer in this little port?”
____Cadence raised an eyebrow as he payed for the drink, and then made his way out of the tavern. It was a bright and sunny day and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The soft wind felt wonderful as it ran through Cadence’s hair. He walked down the pier with a smile on his face and after some time, he reached his ship. The vessel was elegantly crafted from dark mahogany and Chinese markings decorated the sides and railing of the ship. The head of a dragon at the front; mouth agape, teeth bared. Cadence walked up the leading onto the main deck to find four men and a woman standing on his ship. The shortest of the five approached him with a smirk on his face. He had slicked back blonde hair and was wearing a tight sleeveless white shirt.
____"Well hello there!" Cadence said cheerfully, "What brings the five of you to my ship?"
______The man laughed, "Well ya' see, me n' my friends here were in need of a ship. I was thinkin' this one would do perfectly, and the way I see it, this ship’s much too valuable to leave in the care of such a young ‘captain’ so when we saw that you were the only one aboard, we thought it best to put it to better use,” He used the word captain with contempt.
____Snickers rose from the man’s crew, he was trying to be clever. I can be clever too, thought Cadence. Aside from the short blonde man, there was a pair of Chinese twins, a very large man in the back, and a thin young woman with bright red hair. Five on one was not the odds he had in mind, and if he had to fight, he was going to win. This idea of his was pretty ridiculous, but it would probably work.
_____Cadence laughed, “So you thought it would be clever to overcome me with numbers, being unaware of how skilled I may be at fighting, but I bet you didn’t account for them!” He pointed behind them to the boat docked next to his and the five of them looked backwards, ready for an ambush.
_____To their surprise, there was nothing behind them. The ship next to the one they were on was empty and there was no one on the pier. It took them a second to realize it, but they had just been fooled by a very immature trick, and by the time the five of them had turned back around, Cadence had already removed his pistols from their holsters and fired, killing the man in back in the back and one of the twins. The remnant of the crew ran towards him as he walked backwards, cocking the second barrel on either gun. Again he fired, felling the crew’s boss and the other twin. The odds had been evened and Cadence only had to worry about the woman now. Enraged, she tackled him to the deck, pinning his arms and jabbing her knee into his stomach. Not a pleasant feeling.
____“That was the dirtiest trick I’ve ever seen!” She said, spitting in his face. She dug her knee further into his stomach. “That was even dirty for a pirate! I’ll kill you for that!” She used one of her hands to remove a thin knife from a sheath strapped to her side thrust the blade into his chest. He felt the blade slide into his flesh and hit his rib, but Cadence did his best to put the pain in the back of his mind. She’d left herself open and let one of Cadence’s arms free. He grabbed her by the neck and pulled her sideways, rolling the two of them over. She struggled and lashed about, but Cadence managed to pin her arms and legs down. She spat in his face again and in response, received a sharp headbutt. The woman yelped in pain and Cadence winced at the noise, he absolutely detested it when he had to hurt a woman, but he continued to head-butt her until she blacked out.
____Once he was sure she was unconscious, he rolled over and sat down, clutching his head; too much longer and he would have blacked out too. After recovering from the head trauma, he looked down to the knife in his chest. It didn’t stick too far in, his ribs were blocking vital organs, and the blade wasn’t long enough to reach any of them anyway. Cadence wrapped his fingers around the knife’s handle and bit his lip, counting to three. He pulled the knife from his chest as a quick surge of pain wrapped around his side. Cadence couldn’t suppress it anymore; he shouted an obscenity as the blade slid out from under his skin and at that point, Cadence really didn’t care if she woke up. He wanted to take a few minutes to rest.
____When Cadence finally composed himself, he decided it would be best to detain the woman before she came to. Cadence hadn’t a clue how long she would be out, and he did not wish to go through another duel with her, so he wasted no time in moving her to a less conspicuous area, bringing her to the back of the ship and tying her to the mast.
____Once she was bound securely, he stepped back down the small set of stairs to the middle deck and thought about what to do with the bodies. He could trash them in one of the alleys, but no, that would never do. Surely someone would find it before he had a chance to leave Rosendo. He didn’t want to leave the bodies where they could easily be found, but he hadn’t the time nor the means to properly dispose of them. The pain in his chest was distracting, but Cadence had an epiphany.
He dragged the bodies over to where the lifeboats were suspended and hoisted each body in, one by one. Walking back to where the red haired woman and he had fought, and took a breath, picking up his two pistols. After reloading, he shot several holes into the bottom of the boat and Cadence lifted one crate, then another into the boat on top of the bodies and went to go find a sheet. Upon his return, Cadence fastened the sheet to the corners of the small lifeboat and lowered it into the water, unhooking the ropes. The little boat slowly began to sink into the sea as the large as heavy crates pressed the bodies to the floor of the boat, preventing them from floating. As he watched the little boat sink into the ocean, he heard the young woman’s voice coming from the back of the ship. She had awoken, and informed him of this by shouting out a slew of profanities. The words were in French and Cadence could not understand, but he was pretty sure he got the gist of what she was saying.
____“I suppose I should calm her down,” he said, “But I don’t think she’ll mind if I clean myself up first,” He examined the slowly growing red stain in his shirt and winced. “She can at least give me that courtesy.” Cadence walked back up to the stern where the young lady was tied. He found a rag, normally used for cleaning the deck, and gagged her with it. She made sure to bite him as hard as she could when he stuffed it in her mouth. He pried his hand free, but showed no sign of anger. He right well deserved the bite, and knew it. Cadence simply ruffled her hair playfully and opened the trap door next to her, stepping down the ladder into the hull of the ship. The ladder led down to a long corridor that followed the starboard side of the ship, a row of doors lined the opposite wall. He opened one of the doors and scowered the room for medical supplies. After tending to his wound, Cadence leaned against the wall of the door and sighed. The adrenaline from the fight and the wound had worn off and he was becoming aware of what just happened.
_______“I’m so tired of this.”
ﺉ
____It was the scream that awoke Hikaru from her slumber upon the cold, dank waters of the port. A blood curdling scream which made her head pitch to the side, and her eyes squint against the beating sun. At night, such a cry would have been more plausible. Curiosity or the instinct of fear, impressed upon a child of unfortunate backgrounds, drew Hikaru up at length to observe what caused the commotion. She saw naught, but across the docks, obscured by the bulk of so many barrels and carts, she thought she saw the flash of a familiar silken texture, one which made her skin crawl, and her hands involuntarily clasp the wrinkled Chinese toga tied about her waste by a vibrant red sash. It was not he! Blessed be the Gods, she could have cried, ‘twas not he! Had that deplorable soul been the culprit behind the death pitch, Hikaru would have had to put out immediately. But he did not dress as such. Long ago had he given up the garbs of the thief and the pirate, he now walked about in lavishing European velvets.
The cloth was then her safety, and she was permitted to investigate. Hikaru could leave her ship without a fret. It was an unimpressive vessel – if vessel was an appropriate appellation – a dinghy, to put it bluntly. "The Virgin" was painted in a steady hand across the prow, unscathed by barnacles, even after two years. Rocking under her weight, the boat was left to hover on the green waters idly, while its owner scampered down the street, mounting a pile of sacks with the agility of a cat, so that she might observe.
____ Her green eyes popped up in time to see a smiling countenance walk away as a boat dropped from where he had stood into the waters below, a boat filled with the bodies of innocent men – or so she perceived. A gasp issued forth in her throat, but she quenched her squeal with a hand and was left prostrate in alarm. An impending sense of doom in light of he who killed so mercilessly! Oh had she known Cadence, the child may not have been so quick to run and satisfy foolish inquiry! He saw her witness the event, and looked to her sadly.
She quickly dropped to her knees, finding safety behind the stacks of crates which hid her from view. Minutes passed, and Hikaru felt she was safe. She peaked over the crates to find the ship empty. Not so much as a breath of relief escaped her lips and Cadence appeared from around the corner.
____“Excuse me young woman,” He said politely, “it appears as though you’ve witnessed the disposal of those men whom I had removed from my ship and this world. I do not mean to frighten you, I only want to clarify that those men were to make an attempt on my life and their deaths were an unfortunate outcome of self-defense. I hope you understand why I approached you; I do not wish for you to inform the authorities that I am going around killing people. That would be just terrible.”
____Such eloquence was unfitting for a pirate! The man was most certainly associated with the miscreants, though his mien betrayed no such suspicion. Only the spinning of a sword, or perhaps the luster of his eye, could invoke the fear which took Hikaru by the heart and sought to strangle her dead. Her fleshy young lips mouthed words, but none came, and she was left to the sight of Captain Cadence, her knees still unable to support a meager frame.
____"A...Aye..." she was at last able to exert from her brain, rendered feeble, and thus useless in the demeanor of such a man. Perhaps a nod, then? The child did so, stupidly, anxious to evade this demon with the whimsical lips and movements. And thus, Hikaru met a pirate. From the brief intercourse, she conjectured one horrid thought. Having seen the bloody episode unfold, one fate lay in store for the little fourteen year old girl, and that fate was death.
____Death, how strangely it tolled in her ears! After those long years when it was vowed that death would not come her way save by the hand of that man! Death was a benefactor to the child, a seducer who sought to brush his lips upon her back, but never to steal her virgin blood. To bathe in death, walk in his shadow, it is a thing many find worse than a mutual encounter. Hikaru had suffered thus, and still her eyes were wide with the vibrancy of an untainted child. Death! It was over her now, it was to befall her, and she had a single chance to stand up and face the darkness! The jade of her shivering eyes narrowed, and lost their meek withdrawal.
____ "And you shall relieve me of the burden, having been soiled by such a sight as you have conducted before me..." she at last replied, swallowing and rising to her unimpressive height. From the hallow of her flat breast, she drew a compact metal pole, which she began to link together ceremoniously, until it spanned five feet. This, she held in front of her, assuming the graceful arc of a prepared martial artist, eyeing the man with humble determination. "If I die by you, I request to leave the earth with respect unto myself." She explained. "Draw the sword.”
____Cadence raised an eyebrow. What a silly little girl, he thought. She believes he meant to kill her. What does she think I am, he thought, a pirate? He decided to play along. "Very well, I accept your offer, Miss, but being a man of sport, I would like to propose a counter-offer: If I am to defeat you in combat, then you shall, of course, die. If you are to defeat me, you can join my humble crew, and I shall take you in and give you a place to rest and all the food you wish. If you choose to decline upon defeating me anyways, I am quite fine with that as well." Cadence did not wait for a response to his offer; he did not wish for one. He simply removed the rapier from his belt and held it forward, challenging her, "Come at me then."
____Hikaru bit her lip behind the glint of her pole, but she did not forsake her challenge. The sleek metal, painted white and intricate with sweeping, curling vines of China Blue rose above her head, suspended against the sun. Diminutive, slippered feet moved with the elegance of a crane to the side, as she advanced upon Cadence in an odd sort of timed dance.
____She was impulsive in her offense, which was far more calculated then what would be gathered from her naiveté. From a peripheral perspective, the child seemed collected, if not a bit drunk on an amusing fetish with honor. No words left her during the entire advance, and then, when she had played her sweeping little feet all the way around to the side of Cadence's bulk, she exhaled, and the pole, patient and poised in her fingers, moved.
____It did not strike from the front, like a common snake. Nor did it to try and trip him. It sped in from the back, bearing down with a vital agility, keen to strike him across the nape of the neck. It was an incredulous move for Hikaru. She had not thought to be so crafty on the first maneuver. Unfortunately, the circumstance and his posture with the sword demanded appreciation for his skills. Of these, she had had no doubt, of course, but to see him with a sword impressed upon her the danger she had placed herself here within. Therefore, a strike upon the nape would mean potential, momentary paralysis, and if he moved to block it, he would do so without his vision as an aid. To turn would be to receive the blow in the head or the throat. An arm extended would be dislocated. A chill sweat had broken out on the girl's back. Her other moves would aid her little. Gods willing, it would be a short match, one which ended with him upon the ground. And still she lifted up a silent, trembling prayer.
____'Do not let him die...please don't let it kill him! Finish, yes, but not kill!'
____Cadence smiled as the young girl began. She seemed quite skilled with her weapon, darting here and there as she made her steady approach, but when he realized what she was doing, his eyes widened a bit. He dived forward as the pole swung towards him. It hit him in the side and it hit hard. The pain seeped through his body and burned like fire. He could hear the sickening crack of his rib, but he tried not to pay attention to it, resuming his stance near the end of the dock. "You could have killed me that was very good!" He said this with a laugh. "If you don't mind, I'd like to know your name. Such a skilled opponent should be acknowledged by her proper name."
____Hikaru was trembling. The noise of contact had unhinged her former demeanor, and left her eyes like saucers, the green within alight and almost apologetic. Her name? Had she a name? The last time such a question was posed, and she had answered pleasantly, the man was strung up, eyes protruding in gross masses from his sockets. Such a vision could not be expunged, and even if the recollection was over a year old, it still sent poignant darts into the girl's limbs. The force of Cadence's movement sent the girl stumbling back, and in his voice, he intimated a genuine interest which made Hikaru all the more distrustful. Oh that she had not spied!
____"I am the captain of The Virgin." She finally settled on, evading the inquiry. Was not this the appellation most pirates expected from one to the other? She could not be blamed for it, nor reprimanded. He would have to content himself with that. It was time to rethink the strategy. Such a skilled man would not fall for the same artifice a second time. Forced to make her choices with all speed, Hikaru let her eyes wander over the man’s body. Her next attack was clear. Easing her weight back, she assumed the position of a crouch, crawling slowly on her heels to the side, while she drew the pole back. Again, the weapon swung, this time at the back of his calves. He would jump, surely, and it would be then that Hikaru could tap upon her other secret weapon: her limbs. If he sprang to avoid, she could follow through with a kick to the loins. If not, then the pole could easily do the same task, and come down upon his shoulder.
____ She swung her weapon accurately gracefully, but her premonitions were proved false. Jacob did not jump. Instead, he relaxed his legs, allowing the pole to sweep his feet out from under him. The man placed a hand out behind him to avoid a collision with the floor. "You left my question unanswered, Captain of the Virgin. Your occupation is not your name." The man said, lifting himself to his feet, then bowed graciously. "My name, as you may or may not know, is Cadence McCarthy, and I am the captain of The Velourium Camper. What, may I ask, is yours?" he inquired, raising his head as he spoke.
____He had taken her off guard with the immediate response to her attack, and from the determination to win for her life, Hikaru began to look at the logic of the situation. She could fight this man to the ends of civilization, and he would not bend to her. His side was scathed by her dexterous hands, and she could only hope that pain would subdue his movements. But this was such a stupendous hope that the girl could not deny that it was ridiculous. Again, he asked her name. She resumed her stature, straight and poised and lanky, even in her short stature. The pole stood a fair foot higher than her, and she clasped it possessively, peering from behind it. "I can't tell you." She at last was forced to admit. "Because if I did, you would be hunted down and murdered in cold blood, perhaps even on your own vessel. I'd not wish that on you, sir. Even though you may spend your past times killing as well, without compuncture." If she had wanted to, she may have chanced an attack while he was off guard. But that was wretched, a cowardly attempt of eminent failure. The battle was over, as far as Hikaru was concerned, but she would sooner die by a stab through the chest then to forfeit.
____Cadence laughed at her response, withdrawing from his bow, "Miss, I have been unfortunately and irreprehensibly labeled as a pirate, an infamous one at that. Five people have made attempts on my life today, six including you and yet, here I stand." he said, motioning to himself with his hands. "Young lady, more people have attempted to murder me than most people could count. One more's endeavor would be no different. Please, Miss, I only want to know your name," he said, smiling gently. "I fear not for my life. The world would do better without me."
____Defeated, Hikaru bowed her head. Yes, it may be true that Cadence, who could have been lord of the ocean, was immune to the vicious offenses of his fellow man. But he did not know this one; the one who never let a man escape his cruel, pitiless hand. He was, after all, Death. As close an embodiment as would be found walking the plains of earth. No one ran from the eyes of that man and escaped. Not a child could cry, and be spared from his blade. His life was rich with depravity, redolent with blood... Blood and the exotic perfume of cherry blossoms on his neck. The pole fell from the girl's hands, slipped away, defeated along with her spirit. A great controversy had manifested in her figure, drowning the precious spirit in fear and hopelessness. Not a tear fell to give solace for such woe, but the unhappy gray passing over the brow spoke well enough for the misfortune, and distress, of a child who otherwise would be a vibrant flame.
____"Don't say such, sir..." she murmured, taken by his depressive admittance to worthlessness "No one is worthless..." How redundant she sounded in her own ears! Would she continue to harbor that silly conviction till she passed on? Yes, it was all she had left. The very last source of goodness she could cling to, and reap happiness from. A shy, sad smile returned to her cheeks, and she looked up, at last giving consent to honor him with her christened title. "Hikaru... I'm Hikaru," she spoke, "Hikaru of The Virgin."
____"Hikaru" he said, mouthing the word carefully. "A lovely name, and I know I am not worthless or evil, but I must admit that I have done things I will always regret, and little good has come from it." He planted the rapier into the dock in front of Hikaru. Cadence could stand no longer. He took a seat on the bench and examined his wound. "You did quite a bit of damage there," he said, "worse than I’d expected." Cadence's rib was exposed, protruding through the skin. He forced the rib back into place, wincing.
____"A splendid fighter for someone so young, tell me. Would you still be interested in accompanying me and my crew? I may not have been defeated, but the offer remains. After all, I had no intention of hurting you. That would be unbecoming of me. I just wanted to see if your intentions were in the right place. You could have killed me with ease when I’d dropped my guard, but you didn’t." He smiled. "What say you to my offer?"
____He was offering a sanctuary, one for which Hikaru had strived for countless months without success, always in the fear of being hunted down by that ship flying that damned, ominous red cross. On the ocean, or on the land, it would end the same, but if she could rally a force, and fight within a mutualistic relation upon the ship, perhaps then she could quell the angry demons who sought her so savagely.
____"How...how fast can you travel?" She asked him suddenly, taking a step forward. The sight of his wound made her shut away the vision beneath her lids, and she felt the habitual remorse wash her like a wave from purgatory. "I'm sorry..." she whispered, taking another step. There was a sudden need to care, to nurture, and to atone for the blood and the pain splashed across that deceptively amiable visage. Had she not still been subject to fear of the man, she may have offered to help him. But her presence would hinder more than aid.
While standing paces from him, watching him tend to his wound, the girl was given time to consider his proposition. What a tempting offer it was! It was the very thing Hikaru had been doggedly pursuing all this time, without any fruits produced for her labor. This, however, was a singular blossom upon a barren branch, and Hikaru now strove to pick it...
____"You must know, sir... Captain." She said, stammering over a proper way to address. "I'm being... followed. I mean to say, it's a curse." There was no better way to put it. Yes, she was cursed. Cursed by the insane passions of one man whose grief drove him over the brink between obsession and sorrow. Even now, she felt as though his emerald gaze was on her back, driving pikes through her little bones, reaching out to grasp her head and hold it hostage, while she was strung up to watch the fates of those whom had smiled and spoken a kind word.
____"He'll come after you... He'll find your ship, sir." She continued dogmatically. "He's very good at it; he traces the ocean like he might his own house. He flies the Red Cross, and he captains The Sinner. Her words were coming in rushed torrents; mind and heart conflicted, expressing their testimonies through her eyes and mouth.
From the lips came all the reasons why Cadence should not dare to take her on his ship, why practicality must win, and she should continue life as it were. But in her eyes, the two spherical shimmers, there was a pleading, a begging, imploring light, asking him to give her the opportunity to prove her worth, to toil and no longer meet only failure for her blood. He had become the gate keeper, holding the key to the forest where she would wander for days, drenched in blood, surviving. But in that forest, aboard his ship, she would find purpose, and the days would no longer be filled with rain.
____Cadence sighed. The young woman’s fatalistic behavior was almost cute. “Come, and follow me. The words I am about to share with you should be discussed privately." he said, walking to the dock that his ship had anchored at. Cadence stopped when he passed by his young new friend. "And take the sword, I think it would be a good memento for today. "
____Hikaru, unable to do anything else but be dutiful, traced the steps of the much taller man, and walked the path he cut towards the ship. Certainly, it was beyond what she could describe. The massive, billowing sails that caught the wind like the dresses of the court ladies. The curving belly lofty and impressive, supporting the craning head of a vicious, majestic dragon on the prow. The scene made her feel rather nostalgic, back to the days when the voices of her maids recited the old proverbs about the ships which flew to the moon, and then circled the sun. Standing in the shadow of Cadence’s vessel, Hikaru almost wanted to seek out who he was. Could his ship fly to the moon?
____Tumultuous winds caught the dock they now stood upon, and kissed the girl's tussled hair. The body of Cadence was blocked out by the swelling of his garbs, and yet from where she could not see, his voice issued forth and presented her a reward for a battle won by grace.
______The sword...? Never had Hikaru deserved such a thing. Only her old mentor had given her a greater gift, and that was what she had faced the captain with. This... this was something too regal, especially for the likes of her.
____"I... can't..." she murmured, but the protest was cut short. Insulting Cadence, whom she now owed her life, and the little she had, would be to refuse. He gave her the weapon in good faith, and though it could not prove use, she would guard it like a dragon.
With a hesitant, pale hand, Hikaru Amayuki clasped the hilt of the sword, and with shaking muscles, brought it as high as she could to examine it. It was a fine blade, though foreign in design, and unskilled within her hand. She knew nothing of swords, save that they were efficient thruster mechanisms, and the elaborate decor of the hilt made her uneasy. A battle could damage this sword, ruin it, and leave it no more than a smoking streak of black on a blood soaked deck.
____Nevertheless, Hikaru's fist tightened around it, and she looked up, to Cadence's back, and nodded. "Thank you." she said, taking the blade in both hands. Her weapon stored away, it was much easier to carry the rapier with two hands, and disinterested in the cut it made upon her palm, she walked reverently up towards the ship, behind the captain who she had already dubbed the King of Stars; a tale told to her by her maids long ago
____'The king of stars is lovely. He commands not Earth, but Heaven. He is amiable, and he is kind, but he would slay a thousand Demons with one swipe of his blade. The constellations are his servants, the night his ocean, the moon, his ship...'
____Beneath the loose tresses of her hair, Hikaru smiled, and flushed red in the cheeks. No one need ever known whom she acquainted this enigmatic male with; it was her secret, a special secret. One between her and the blade he'd bestowed upon her apprehensive hands.
____The pain in Cadence’s chest awoke him early the next morning. He stood up, adjusting the bandaging he’d applied to his torso. It was too early. He opened the chest that lay next to his bed in which his clothes were stored and removed a shirt and some loose fitting pants. Cadence emerged from the Captain’s Quarters of his ship, stepping barefoot onto deck. The planks of wood at his feet were cold and comfortable under his toes.
____“There ye are!” A voice called out from the pier. Below him was his first mate, back from his escapades in town. “I’d gone to the tavern you’d stayed at, but I couldn’t find you! What’s my capt’n been doing while I’ve been in town?”
______ “Oh you know how it is: a little recruiting, a little cleaning, escaping death a couple times; the things we always end up doing.” Cadence laughed. It was true, the only thing the two of them ever did when they stopped at a port was fix up the ship, try to get a crew together, and avoid being murdered. Oh, and getting drunk, Cadence couldn’t forget that.
____“I see,” said First Mate Wilhelm, eyeing the spattering of blood that decorated the starboard side of the deck as he walked up the leading onto the main deck, “That isn’t all your blood I hope.”
_______Wilhelm’s captain laughed again, “Of course not. I’m not sure any one man even has that much blood. A group of thugs tried to kill me for our ship. There were five of them but I managed to dispose of four. The fifth is tied up on the other side of the ship. I had to gag her so she wouldn’t draw attention to us.”
Wilhelm eyed him up skeptically, “Alone, you killed four of ‘em, and tied another of ‘em up an’ gagged her? I can’t hardly believe that.”
Cadence tried to decide if he should explain the situation, or just dismiss the subject. He was less enthused about elaborating on how he’d killed someone then he was in actually committing the murder. Both actions rested uneasily in his mind, but Wilhelm, as curious as he was, would probably refuse to stop bothering him about it until he gave in. Cadence decided to appease Wilhelm’s curiosity, “I admit it was a childish trick, but it was five against one; when they ganged up on me, I yelled ‘but you didn’t account for that!’ and pointed at the ship anchored next to ours. There was nothing there of course, but they all turned around and looked, expecting something to be there, so I shot them.”
____Wilhelm’s look was incredulous, “Are ye serious? That’s how the fight went?” he began laughing, “I can’t believe you really did that!”
______“I could hardly believe they’d fallen for it, but enough of this madness. Where have you been staying for the past three days?” His smile hid the uneasiness he felt. Cadence wanted to leave this port and never return, but to leave he would need a crew.
____“Oh, me?” Wilhelm smiled sheepishly “Eh, The alleyway behind the Dragon’s Pub has been my gracious host for the past couple of days.”
____Cadence laughed, patting Wilhelm on the back. This was no surprise to him, his first mate could often be found asleep in alleys or even busy thoroughfares, a bottle of alcohol embraced snugly in his arms. His excuse was that he was Irish; he couldn’t help it, but Cadence was quite different. He did love whiskey, but the man was not about to disappear every time the ship made port to go on a drinking binge. “I’m just glad you came back in one piece. A few things have happened whilst you’ve been away. The first of which I’d like to inform you is that we’ve acquired a new cabin girl. Her name is Hikaru and she nearly killed me not more than a day ago.”
____“The young lass swathed in ropes over there?” Wilshire motioned over to Hikaru. "Musta been a skilled lass ta have done that," he said.
_____Cadence laughed, "Quite right. Oh, and Wilshire, I need you to do something for me. Go out and look for more crew members. We are severely lacking, and will need some to ship off effeciently." Wilhelm saluted sarcastically. "Aye cap'n." he said, and he was off.
____Once Wilhelm left, Cadence walked into the kitchen of the ship and made some tea. He gently sipped it as he made his daily inspection of the ship. Today, he found nothing out of order and the day came and went, and Cadence retired to his quarters to dream of a pale young woman with raven colored hair and ebony eyes. A small smile spread across his lips, lying wistfully above his thin cotton blanket. |
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