treasure rewrite

[maderr]

Chapter Five


The loud clanging of the ship’s bell woke Taka with a start. He sat up clumsily and fell out of bed with the next jolt. “Storms take it!” he swore, attempting to gain his footing but only crashing to the floor again. “Is it too much to ask for this storming ship to hold still for just one moment?”

A soft chuckle was his only reply, as Raiden suddenly appeared at his side and helped him up. The ship jarred and rocked again, sending Taka stumbling into Raiden, and only the fact that he didn’t want to encounter the floor again kept him from protesting the arm that settled firmly around his waist, keeping him pressed up against Raiden’s broad chest.

Storms take it, what was going on? The bell clanged, loud and sharp and jarring. Taka struggled free of Raiden’s grip and only wound up crashing to the floor as the ship gave another rough jolt.

Outside he could hear Kindan bellowing orders, the sailors shouting to each other.

“Steady, Taka,” Raiden said, still holding him tightly, his other hand holding the ship itself, keeping them upright.

“What in the Storms’ names is going on?” Taka said. “A storm?” That should be impossible, unless Nankyo had somehow lost control of his powers…

Raiden frowned. “No…I believe we have company, but Kin will not thank me for going on deck to make certain and not even I will cross him in this.”

Taka fell silent, more worried than he liked by the idea that there was a situation in which Raiden would behave. Two weeks at sea now and he’d seen Kindan come very close to dumping Raiden overboard on more than one occasion. If he had not known the men were friends, he would have thought them enemies. “I need to make certain Nankyo is all right.”

“I’m sure his Highness will be fine,” Raiden replied. “He has less to fear from the sea than anyone else onboard, surely.”

To that, Taka could make no reply. He could not very well say that Kyo had more reason to hate the sea than anyone else. Not that he did. Kyo loved the ocean.

Shaking off his distracted thoughts, Taka attempted to wrest free of Raiden’s grip, but his struggles combined with a hard jolt only sent them both crashing to the ground, and he swore to find himself splayed across Raiden’s lap – and an all-too familiar smirk on the storming bastard’s face.

“One word,” Taka said, “and you will regret it. Sorely.”

Raiden laughed. “When have I ever said just one word? ‘I rather like you like that’ is six words.”

Taka made certain to elbow and knee all that he could as he struggled to regain his footing, quickly stumbling floundering his way to the cabin door, ignoring Raiden coming up behind him. He threw open the door – and stopped short.

The ship was chaos – sailors and water and—

Taka stared.

Women. Naked women. He thought. Maybe he was seeing things, or still asleep. Though he would never be drinking that particular wine again if this was a result.

His mind tried to tell him what he was seeing, but Taka could not believe it.

Mermaids didn’t exist. They were long dead and gone, assuming they’d existed in the first place.

“What…” he asked, shaking his head in wonder.

Raiden’s arm slipped around his waist again. “Stay here. It will do Kin more harm than good for us to get in his way.”

“I don’t even see him,” Taka muttered – but then suddenly he did, as Kin came crashing down right in front of them from where he’d apparently been on the poop deck.

Taka stared, instinctively recoiling, for once not begrudging the steady, unmovable man behind him.

Kin looked…wild. He’d always been moody, short-tempered, but overall Taka had been impressed with the man. When it came to his ship, his duties, he gave no quarter – he was Captain and did it well.

This man before him now was nearly a stranger. His clothing was torn, sash little more but shredded fabric barely hanging on his hips, pale hair going every which way, rain sluicing blood from one arm and a scrape on his cheek.

“Get back inside, Kin snarled, moving as though to give them a shove himself – but in the next moment a woman with dark blue hair, wearing a thick belt made of shells and pearls, nails looking more like claws, screamed and attacked Kin, drawing his attention away.

Taka stared, unable to look away, fascinated even as he was horrified and terrified. He was used to the violence exhibited between Nankyo and his brothers, the brutality of all nobles…this was something else. Wild. Angry. Cold and cruel. He knew hate when he saw it…but he’d never seen it at this level.

Kin threw off the woman who’d attacked him, looking without remorse as she lay bleeding on the deck. He took out a knife, and Taka looked away as Kin stooped down to slit her throat. When he finally looked back, Kin had thrown the woman overboard.

The chaos continued, Kin and his men fighting against the brutal women attacking them.

A flash of ocean blue caught Taka’s eye, and he saw Nankyo come to join them, seemingly unaffected by all that was going on around them – though Taka could see that his eyes were unusually dark, sure sign that Kyo was upset.

“Mermaids,” Nankyo said as he reached them.

“We need to get back inside,” Raiden said, and tried once more to drag them back into the cabin.

Nankyo nodded in agreement and made to follow them, but his eyes moved to Kin, still wrestling against the women who seemed determined to kill every last person onboard.

A snarling shout was their only warning before a shadow came crashing down from the poop deck, must like Kin had earlier. Taka screamed in dismay as the woman tackled Nankyo, the two of them tangling together in silk and shells. “Nankyo!”

Raiden snatched him back, and Taka struggled uselessly against his greater strength, desperate to reach Nankyo.

Everything was happening so quickly, and Taka wished vaguely that he was still asleep, or just arguing with Raiden and Nankyo instead—

Then with a snarl more vicious than anything he’d heard from the mermaids Kindan was there, pale skin lurid and bright in the moonlit dark, his tunic torn to the point it was nothing but shreds hanging around his waist, leaving his chest bare.

He gave another one of those eerie snarls and hauled the mermaid up, snapping her neck as though it were nothing more than a stick, heaving her body over the railing. Then he stooped down and hauled Nankyo up. “You storming fool! I would think a royal would know better than to walk straight into danger! If you want to die, then find somewhere other than my ship to do it! Get inside!” With a last snarl, Kin threw Nankyo at Taka and Raiden, sending all three reeling back, and pulled the door shut.

“I told you not to make him mad,” Raiden finally said.

“Yes, quite,” Nankyo said dryly. “Though in my defense, I wanted to see if it was something with which I might assist. I probably still could…”

Raiden shook his head. “Kin can deal with the mermaids. Were you wounded at all, Highness?”

“No, I do not believe so,” Nankyo said slowly, carefully standing and adjusting his robes, combing back his wet hair. “A few nicks and scratches perhaps.”

“That could be a problem,” Raiden said with a frown. “Mermaids cover their shells and all with poison. To the best of my knowledge only Kindan is immune to it.”

Nankyo lifted one delicate brow. “Would that be because he is half mermaid?”

Raiden threw his head back and laughed.

Taka glared. “What in the Storms’ names are you talking about, Nankyo?”

“However did you figure it out?” Raiden asked.

Nankyo smirked, but his answer was cut off as the door flew open again to admit Kindan, looking much like a storm come to life, stalking angrily into the cabin, pants and hair plastered to his skin, shreds of fabric hanging about his hips, the black pearl a lurid mark against the white of his skin, streaming water onto the cabin floor.

“Raiden, what in storming blazes were you thinking!” Kin roared. “You know to stay inside! If you ever act so stupidly again I will feed you to the mermaids myself!” Not bothering to wait for a reply, Kin turned sharply away and glared at Nankyo. “You, Highness – I know royals are all idiots but even a fool should know to stay in his cabin when the ship is being rocked about.” He snarled when Nankyo tried to speak. “Shut up. If I thought it would do any good I would confine you to quarters for the duration of our journey.”

Snarling any time someone tried to speak, Kindan stalked across the cabin to his sea chest, throwing it open and pulling out a new tunic and sash. The tunic was a deep green, his sash an equally dark blue with shells embroidered in yellow thread. Then he strode to the desk and pulled a flask from a drawer, downing the contents straight from it, eschewing a glass.

After several more minutes of stark silence had passed, Nankyo at last dared to speak. “For what reason did they attack?”

Taka’s temper finally snapped. “Storms drown that!” He said, shoving away from the hold Raiden still had on him. “What in the Storms’ names just happened here? Mermaids died a long time ago. Why were they attacking us? And by the dragons why does Nankyo think you are half mermaid!”

A stark, cold silence fell at his words. Kin slowly rose, his icy glare fastened on Nankyo. “What I may or may not be is none of your business, Highness.” He shot a nasty look at Raiden. “Do tell how he found that out.”

Nankyo smiled in that challenging way of his, and Taka was torn between wanting to strangle him for always goading Kindan and letting it be so his questions might get answered…because for all his methods were infuriating, they always got results. “I hardly needed Raiden to figure it out. You are a sailor and yet you’ve skin whiter than the twits in the palace who never step outside if they can possibly avoid it. You anticipate the sea to a degree no sailor, even one with four times your years, ever could. They also attacked you with a particular…enthusiasm? All the old legends say mermaids do not tolerate their male counterparts, though the reasons have been lost.”

Kindan glared and made no reply.

“He has you, Kin,” Raiden said with a grin, settling down on the bed beside Taka, ignoring his warning look. “I will say I was surprised by the voracity of this particular attack. I thought they had learned to leave well enough alone.”

Grunting, Kindan capped his flask and restored it to the desk. “We found the wreckage of a ship they’d just destroyed, and rescued the one survivor we found – but the mermaids were not as gone as we’d thought, and they didn’t like us taking the survivor aboard.” He glared darkly at the absent mermaids. “Not that they need much of an excuse.”

Nankyo lifted one delicate brow. “Is it wise to have someone so hated as Captain? I can’t think that’s good for business.”

“Kindan is the best, even if he comes with the occasional fight,” Raiden said firmly, cutting off Kin’s angry retort. “Where is this survivor?”

“We put him below to protect him,” Kindan answered. “The men are bringing him up now.” Even as he finished speaking, there came a sharp rap on the door, and at Kin’s call it opened to admit two sailors dragging the unconscious man between them.

Taka let out a startled cry, and heard Nankyo do the same, both of them bolting to take the man from the sailors. “Is it really…Storms be merciful…”

Nankyo sat on the floor of the cabin, seemingly oblivious to the further damage saltwater was causing to his fine robes, showing a peculiar gentleness as he cradled the unconscious man in his arms, almost tenderly brushing back his short-cropped, dark gray hair, smoothing his fingers over the thick bandages wrapped around the man’s eyes.

Kindan’s boots clipped loudly on the floor as he stalked over to join them, kneeling beside Nankyo, frowning at the man in his arms. “He’s been badly injured? Though I can’t help but think it was a good thing he could not see what happened to the crew…”

“No,” Nankyo said, hugging the man close. “He’s not injured. Thank the Storms no one was stupid enough to remove the bandages. This is Prince Culebra of Piedre.”

Raiden gave a startled gasp. “Prince Culebra? The Basilisk Prince? That is truly he?”

Kindan glared at Nankyo. “You are telling me it’s true what they say about his eyes?”

“Yes,” Nankyo said softly. “The Basilisk Prince can kill with a glance, and so spends his life in darkness. If his ship was the one attacked, then he must have been on his way to or from Pozhar…” He bit his lip, and looked up at Taka.

Taka nodded grimly in reply.

A royal ship had been destroyed, the most important figure in Piedre nearly killed…and there was no telling who else had been aboard. Storms, he hoped no Pozharian guests had been aboard, that would double the tragedy and problems. “I will write letters at once.”

“To Pozhar, Piedre, and Kundou. This will change our journey drastically, as now we have no choice but to stop in Pozhar and make our presence known. Bring them to me before you send them.”

Taka nodded and immediately stood to go to Raiden’s desk and begin work. “Of course.”

“Captain,” Nankyo said, his usual taunting tone absent, “I would like Culebra to stay in my quarters. After all that has passed, he will need company.”

Kindan nodded stiffly and motioned for the lingering sailors to take the unconscious prince to Nankyo’s quarters.

Before they could, however, Culebra woke with a low groan. Taka looked up sharply at the sound, and abandoned the desk to return to Culebra’s side. “Granito?”

“No, Culebra,” Nankyo said softly, and under normal circumstances Taka would have laughed at the expressions of shock on the faces of Raiden and Kin, knowing they were astonished Nankyo could sound so…not the prince to which people were accustomed. “It is Nankyokukai. You are aboard the Fuujin.”

Culebra shuddered. “Screams. Death. I couldn’t…is anyone…”

“I’m sorry, Culebra, you are the only survivor.”

“No. Granito…everyone…” A rough sob escaped Culebra, and then he buried his head against Nankyo’s chest.

Everyone was silent, sharing grim looks, and finally Taka left Nankyo to tend Culebra while he returned to his work on the letters.

A startled cry from Raiden brought his head back up.

Kindan’s hand flashed out, and a second later Taka saw he was holding a dark brown and gold snake carefully by the head so that it could not bite.

“Do not hurt her!” Culebra said sharply, stirred from his sobbing, reaching a hand out unsteadily, pale fingers – even paler than Kindan, which was remarkable – landing on Kin’s hand, carefully moving up to stroke the snake’s head. “Let her go. She will not hurt anyone but the rats. Please.”

“Let it go,” Nankyo snapped.

Kindan obeyed, but anger clouded his face. “I heard the prince the first time, Highness! How was I to know he is friendly with a snake whose venom could leave even a grown man paralyzed? To the best of my knowledge, men do not like to have such deadly creatures wrapped around their necks and hidden in their clothes.”

Culebra gave a shaky, unsteady laugh, as though he wanted badly to be amused but simply could not muster his humor. His fingers moved to pet the snake as it once more wrapped itself around him. “Snakes are fond of me. Never fear, Captain. They will obey me without fail. I suppose the rest did not survive.” He again started to cry, letting himself be tugged to rest against Nankyo’s chest once more.

“Culebra, we are going to take you to my cabin now,” Nankyo said quietly after a few minutes had passed. “We will get you warm and dry, and perhaps later you will eat.”

“I doubt it,” Culebra replied, but obediently let himself be taken away, Nankyo following on the sailors’ heels, reprimanding them sharply whenever they so much as twitched incorrectly.

Kindan snarled. “I am going to tend my ship,” he said, slamming the door behind him.

“Well,” Raiden said into the sudden silence. “This has been a night.”

“Yes,” Takara said wearily. “I hope never to repeat it.” He bent over his letter to the King of Piedre, Culebra’s brother. Absorbed in finding the proper phrasing for such grim news, he didn’t realize Raiden had moved until the storming bastard stood over him.

“Taka, you’re soaking wet and shivering. The letters can wait until you’re warm and dry – and fed. By this point, I’m certain everyone has given up on sleeping. The bells have already signaled morning.”

“I’m fine,” Taka replied.

He heard Raiden move a split second before he was lifted bodily out of the chair.

“You are not getting sick, you storming secretary,” Raiden replied. “Change clothes or I shall change them for you.”

Taka glared, but did not challenge Raiden on that point – knowing all too well that Raiden very much would. “You are not my nursemaid.”

“I seriously doubt you want me to tell you what I am,” Raiden said with a grin, and Taka was suddenly furiously annoyed by the fact that while the rest of them looked a mess after the chaos created by the mermaids, Raiden looked only slightly affected.

His hair was for once not caught back beneath a kerchief, but spilled over his shoulders, the dark blue strands like the finest of inks, shining in the lamplight. He wore a simple dark gray rob, most of the top fastenings left undone, baring just a hint of muscular chest. A dark blue sash decorated with silver clouds clung to his hips, and his hands were for once empty of their myriad rings.

Under ordinary circumstances, Taka would have thought the man very fine indeed, especially those broad shoulders and fine chest, and it wasn’t wholly unappealing the way the man seemed to tower over nearly everyone.

Except, he reminded himself, the man was an arrogant, presumptuous, infuriating bastard who’d not only taken the necklace Taka had wanted but then had the temerity to demand him in exchange for passage.

“Go fetch food while I change,” Taka conceded ungraciously.

“Here I thought I’d get to watch,” Raiden said with an exaggerated sigh.

Taka glowered and pointed toward the door. “Not if the world depended upon it,” he hissed.

No matter how storming attractive the man might be. Taka wasn’t something to be purchased. Nankyo had good reasons for his actions, but those didn’t excuse Raiden’s behavior.

Swearing, wishing this entire trip was unnecessary – for a variety of reasons – Taka dug out fresh clothes and then went to help himself to the brandy he knew Raiden kept in the desk.

Comments

[tygati.livejournal.com]

All I've got to say is DANG Kinni is badasssexy in the rewrite *drool* and Kinni x Koori forever. ^_____________^

[twilight-angel.livejournal.com]

Ooo, man. That's so cool. Fight! Mermaids! Kin fighting mermaids! More fully developed characterization for Culebra! Snake! *GRIN!* Awesome rewrite. Can't wait to see more!

[skylark97.livejournal.com]

*is happy goo puddle* Oh, this story owns me. ^____^

Gyah! I love the way you wrote the mermaids attacking and the way that Kyo knew what Kin was without Raiden's help and Taka's frustration with not knowing what the hell is going on with anything. *_______________________________________*!!

And poor Culebra. ;_________; I do love the way Kyo takes care of him. (Eiee! I loved the little snake too, even if Kin took exception to it at first. ^_^;;) Still, poor Granito.

I LOVE the way that they all interact with each other. The way Raiden pushes at Taka and keeps him off center and the way Taka refuses to give in easily to anything. ^_^ And Kin's assumptions that Kyo's a spoiled brat and the way Kyo can't seem to help but nettle Kin whenever he gets the opportunity...

*happy sigh* You rock. *hearts*

[nikerymis.livejournal.com]

Culebra! ^___^ Though the poor thing. ;___; Losing all but one of his snakes and Granito and it really is a good thing he's already got his happy ending. ^__^

Anyway. ^__^ I love the mermaid fight, and combining the finding Culebra and the knowledge of Kin's heritage coming out. And Kin just kicked so much ass. *__* His ferocity is just awesome, and I love how half-wild he seemed (especially to Taka who'd thought him irritable but professional, heh). And Nankyo's got some great observation skills. ^___^ ::snicker:: Kin's reaction to him announcing that is awesome (and for all that Kyo's being such a brat, just knowing why and that it was Kindan who encouraged him to laugh and antagonize his tutors that one time just makes me equal parts amused and sad for him. ^___^)

Though, honestly, I am slightly more partial to Taka and Raiden. ^__^;; I don't know why but I adore them so, and I love how not-mad Taka is at Nankyo (because his reasons were incredibly smart, even if the way he went about it was kind of insensitive) but pissed he is at Raiden (even while he's doing his best to ignore how attractive Raiden is. ^__^).

But mmm, treasure. ^____^ Never get tired of this story and it's prettiness and it's plottiness. *___*

[(Anonymous)]

Woooowwww.... the rewrite just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it? The old version of this used to be one of my favorite chapters, but now it's very nice. More than just writing, smoother interaction, and Culebra was awesome in this. Much more realistic I say. More please!

[stardance.livejournal.com]

It only took me so long to read this today because I spent most of my day afk and in pain :P I totally wished you were published so I could take it with me and read it in the bathtub. I had forgotten how sweet this story is <3 I love it so. I think it's the first one I was there when you finished, and so it has a special fondness <3 I adore your characters. KinnixKoori forever~

I was trying to figure out what Nankyokukai means (without doing any research because that's too much work) and I bet anything the "kyoku" in it means memory, in this context I am guessing "kai" is the one that means "sea", and "nan" is "what" but it can also be "something" in context, so I am guessing it means "some sea memory". Do you remember?

[tygati.livejournal.com]

Antarctic Ocean. ^.~

[stardance.livejournal.com]

I like mine more.

[tygati.livejournal.com]

*grin* Yeah, well, I did go look all the names up once for amusement's sake... 9.9 Probably the first time Kindan's last name was said and I about died laughing. ^^; It's really really funny. Particularly when she got to Stone Rose and I got to help invent the funny names. ^____^ Hee. Half of those are so my fault. ^______^

[stardance.livejournal.com]

Oh, cause I was going to blame her :D Cortez and Fidel were clever and Culebra and Piedre were par for the course, but Pruebas made me laugh :P

[tygati.livejournal.com]

Heh. Pruebas was not my fault. ^^; Corinos was... and Ruisenor... and both temples... 9.9 Hmm... What else... Don't remember. ^^;;

[maderr.livejournal.com]

I think that was the idea with Pruebas, 'cause I don't like him, and though she doesn't remember tygs did in fact give me several names from which to pick. I chose Pruebas.

[maderr.livejournal.com]

Nan has a whole host of different meanings, depending, of course, on the kanji. In this case his name literally breaks down likeso:

Nan = Southern
Kyoku = end
Kai = ocean

So, literally, "ocean at the souther end" or in english, the Anarctic Ocean.

I'd show you the kanji, but you can probably look them up and I still need to upload my japanese stuffs to the laptop.

[aqua-eyes.livejournal.com]

<3 Love this story, and the rewrite is awesome! <3

[charisstoma.livejournal.com]

"Taka struggled free of Raiden’s grip and only wound up crashing to the floor as the ship gave another rough jolt."
"“Steady, Taka,” Raiden said, still holding him tightly, his other hand holding the ship itself, keeping them upright."
You forgot to show Raiden picking Taka up, I had visions of them on the floor (happy hmmm).
Raiden after removing Taka from writing his letters to get him dry and warm is.."He wore a simple dark gray rob" Needs an E on the end of that.
Loved the inclusion of Culebra's story and the show of Kyo being the caring person that he hides so well from most everyone.
Taka needing the brandy after his little fight with himself over Raiden's appealingness. *very happy sigh*
I like this rewrite very much.

[charisstoma.livejournal.com]

Forgot to mention Kindan. Oh yes. Nice concise description of a battle without going too much into detail. And he's alittle miffed at Kyo taking Culebra to his cabin though that could be me knowing how this is going to turn out and inventing jealousy where there shouldn't be any. I did wait to see if anyone was going to check Kyo for those scratches as there was mention of them resulting from poison tainted shells and such. But Kindan doesn't want to disrobe Kyo at this stage...but still...