Undying Will

"We shall leave you here, gill-less one…" Tiamat growled out softly as it dove into the water, the single horned sea king hesitating briefly before bobbing over and tapping softly against the wood of the boat with its horn. Then it too was gone.

The crew impa.s.sively looked at the retreating figures, Terrick being the only one to nod behind them.

Barts gulped softly as she looked at the imposing ship, all thought of the sea kings off her mind. "So, that"s a ship??" She said to no one in particular as a blinding gleam shone out of her eyes.

When no one answered her she began to look around, immediately latching onto Angella for answers. The two had really hit it off in the past few days, and now Barts probably felt the closest to her.

I couldn"t really blame her. Terrick had told us of the circ.u.mstances of their meeting, suffice to say that Fawkes had been instantly convinced that she was insane enough to fit right into the dynamic of the crew.

"Home sweet home, and all that jazz.. Fawkes can you whip up some tasty fast food for us?" I asked as I climbed nimbly onto the deck, tying the boat onto the rails and pushing down a netted rope ladder for the rest to climb on with.

"Aye captain.." Fawkes muttered less than energetically as he helped Scipio hang onto the rope. The little brat had been awfully quite off late, and hadn"t indulged much in the way of conversation with any of the rest of the crew. He had spent almost the entire of his conscious week helping around Sorren and making sure that nothing too bad happened to him.

Barts was the fourth to climb on top, immediately dragging Scipio off to explain to her what all the parts of the ship did, completely oblivious to his sober inner monologue.

Looking at the backs of the retreating figures I called out, "After you have Barts aware of the facilities on board report to the captain"s quarters."

Angella climbed on deck as I finished my command and shot me a questioning glance, shooting her hand down to drag up the bulky Rein and nonchalantly deposit him on deck.

"You guys too. Oi freeloader, this is how it is on our ship. Get used to it." and with that I began to haul up the rope ladder, Terrick already having cleared the way and lazing silently in the sun.

As the small group dispersed I sighed again. It seemed like the post of captain came with its own share of problems.. weary is the head that dons the crown indeed…

*************

Scipio grumbled inwardly as he pointed at the mess hall. "And that"s where we have our food…" he said out loud, completely devoid of energy.

"Say, where are you from Scipio?" Barts asked as she curbed her curiosity.

"Eh here and there, mostly a town that I don"t care enough to remember the name of…" he said dismissively as he walked forward. Inwardly rejoicing at the fact that the "tour" of the ship had come to an end.

"Eh, why though?" She responded cluelessly.

Scipio briefly debated on whether he should ask her to stop prying, almost instantly coming to the tragic realization that she probably wouldn"t care about what he said and continue to annoy him.

"Parents were a.s.sholes. Abandoned me. Had to spend most of my childhood fending for myself and living in the slums." He replied finally, succulently summarizing his situation in a way that he hoped would yield the least questions.

"Oh, ok.. So how did you get on the crew?" She asked, a second question to take the place of the first.

Scipio looked at her annoyed as he took a deep breath. "Maybe I"ll tell you later. Something is bothering me right now. I"ll see you later in the captain"s quarters."

"What"s bothering you?" She followed almost immediately. Scipio glared at her, now completely angry. "Can you please leave me alone to my thoughts?" he whispered out through gritted teeth.

"Does that have to do with the thing that"s bothering you?" She continued almost completely ignoring the loud sounds of his teeth grinding together.

To be completely honest, Scipio did not know from where his anger came from. Usually he would be unaffected by most verbal banter, even if it was an insult. This time however, he felt his mind cloud over and a blazing fury spin itself into being in his head.

"WHAT IS IT TO YOU? YOU"RE A STRANGER HERE HOW WOULD YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL? WHY ARE YOU EVEN HERE, ITS NOT LIKE WE HAVE ENOUGH TO DEAL WITH ALREADY! BESIDES IT WAS YOU PEOPLE THAT KIDNAPPED US, THEY TIED ME UP FOR G.o.dSAKES! AND YOU"RE ASKING ME TO COMPLETELY FORGIVE THAT? NOT TO MENTION THAT HUMONGOUS f.u.c.k YOU SNAKE THAT POPPED UP! WHAT DO YOU THINK WE ARE!...."

Halfway through his tirade he felt his coherence slip. He yelled the first thing that came into his mind, and as he did he felt his brain begin to work up a full head of anger.

He knew in a small part of his still functioning mind that Barts had nothing to do with it. He knew that it was not her fault, yet he continued to bellow. His face had long ago journeyed past the red phase now settling on an unhealthy pink as a horde of spittle rained out of his mouth.

Still Barts did nothing, she merely stared at the boy as she patiently waited for him to finish, only stiffening slightly as the boy began to rain weak blows against her shoulders.

It still hurt mind you, just not as much as most things had hurt the in past weak.

" why am I so weak?…" he whispered finally in a horse voice as he buried his face into her chest. Hot tears running down her cheeks as he began to cry. There was only so much helplessness that boy could take before he collapsed after all.

Barts soothingly ran her hands through his hair as she smiled toothily. Tapping rhythmically on his back as she tried to calm him down. This wasn"t the first time that she had dealt with someone overwhelmed by emotions, it happened more than one expected. Especially around as much alcohol as she had spent her childhood with.