NEXT CHAPTER!
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(P.S It's not edited sorry so there might be a wee few mistakes n.n)
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Whump
The tarpaulin folded around me as my body made impact with the stiff cloth and my breath huffed out in one large rush. My eyes stayed tightly squeezed shut, certain that I was still falling and any moment now, I would collide with the hard wooden ground.
There was deathly silence for a few seconds before all hell broke loose.
"Circe! Circe are you okay!"
"COBALT YOU FOOL SHE'S NOT EXPENDABLE YOU IDIOT-
"Circe! Leo let me through-"
"-DO YOU REALIZE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO US IF ANYTHING HAPPENED TO HER? WE WOULD BE DEAD-
"Obsidian calm down."
"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO OLD MAN-"
I gasped suddenly, sucking in a breath and rolling over on the tarp that was still suspended a couple of feet in the air, the four corners supported by Samson, Jacob and two other crew members.
Samson was grinning at me while I gasped for air. "You didn't seriously think that we would let you die now did you?" He asked, having to raise his voice slightly so as to be heard over top of all of the shouting.
I didn't know what I had thought was going to happen, for a moment yes, I had been utterly convinced I was going to die.
"You should be proud," He said, jerking his head towards my hand. "You managed to keep your hold on that thing the whole way down." He chuckled.
I stared wordlessly at the knife that was somehow still gripped firmly in my hand. I tried to loosen my fingers from around the handle but they didn't seem to want to move, my knuckles white and the rest of my hand blotchy and red.
Unsteadily, I brought my other hand up in front of my face and stared at it, before gripping my fingers and prying them off the knife.
There was a group chuckle from the surrounding Pirates and I realized then that Lacy was at the side of the canvas and was currently yelling at me, while Obsidian was still roaring profanities up at Cobalt. I couldn't seem to focus on what they were saying, there was a strange buzzing noise floating around in my head. I twisted a finger in my ear as though I could pry it out, gesturing for the boys to lower the tarp as I did so.
Scrambling unsteadily to my feet, I bent down to pick up my knife, holding it limply in one hand as Lacy rushed to my side still talking far too loudly. When I craned my neck up, I could make out Cobalt's figure at the top of the crows nest. He didn't look as though he was going to be moving anytime soon and from the sound of the temper that Obsidian was in, that was probably a good idea.
"Circe, Circe, are you okay?"
Lacy's voice finally broke through the annoying buzz and suddenly everything was much too loud. I clutched at my head and stumbled forward, leaning up against the mast as a sudden wave of dizziness washed through me.
"Bloody hell." I mumbled. "I am never going up there again, I think I'll just stick to the sea."
Obsidian was suddenly storming in our direction, his expression murderous. He reached our side and roughly pushed Lacy out of the way.
"Hey!" She cried indignantly. "Watch what your doing!"
"Shut UP!" He roared. "Shut that annoying wide trap of yours and go and stand insignificantly in a corner for the next ten minutes and maybe then I wont rip your head off!"
I glared at him, my hands still clamped over my ears. "Don't speak to her in that way."
He growled at me, his eyes burning with fire. Ignoring me completely, he wrapped his arms around my forearms and shook me gently. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine," I snarled. "Now apologize."
His eyes flashed and he was suddenly even closer to me that before, shielding me from sight as his head dipped down to my ear. "Do not test my patience right now Circe." His voice was so dangerous that I felt a shudder run through me but I held as still as possible, determined not to let him see.
"You will apologize later." I said lowly, my eyes boring into his.
"Fine," He hissed. "I will apologize if you will promise to me that you will not take part in these ridiculous training exercises-"
"That's not fair, I have to-"
"-unless Hobbs or myself are the ones conducting them." He finished.
I folded my arms over my chest, the action forcing him to back up a little and allow me some breathing room.
"I will not train with you." I said stonily.
"You will if you want to learn something productive! All you do is sit around all day! I understand that when you lived back with Daddy you had an easy life, but out here Circe, it is every man for himself. You need to stop being so SELFISH and learn to DEFEND YOURSELF so we don't have to run around after you all the time!" He snarled, his chest heaving.
I kept my face blank as I stared at him. "Are you quite finished?" I asked cooly.
His hair fell into his eyes as he continued to glare at me. "No definitely not," He tightly. "Would you like me continue? I'm sure I could rattle on for days about how pathetic you are."
My anger flared, like a flame in the wind and my arms unraveled, coming to clench in fists at my sides.
"Oh yes?" I spat back, suddenly feeling rather viscous. "And what about when I nearly killed you hmm? You would be dead now if it weren't for Hobbs coming to your rescue." I poked him in the chest and a growl forced its way out of his throat. "You would do well to remember that Captain Bones. You may be at an advantage on land, but just remember, next time you find yourself in deep water, your arse is mine." I hissed, throwing him a look of utter contempt before placing both hands on his chest and pushing him firmly away from me so I could storm past him.
"Don't you walk away from me-" He started but before he could finish I spun around and threw my knife with as much force as I could muster.
The blade sailed through the air, straight and true, burying itself into the wood of the main mast, a couple of inches to the right of where Obsidians face was.
He hadn't moved from his spot, but his stare intensified by ten fold as silence fell over the deck.
"Don't tell me what to do." I said quietly and the deadly tone of my voice startled me momentarily. That didn't sound like me. "Now if you will excuse me, I am going to retire to my room." I said stiffly. "I have had quite enough for one day."
I moved my eyes over to where Samson and my other rescuers were standing, the corners of the tarpaulin. "Thank you for saving my life." I murmured, tipping my head slightly as some of my anger disappeared. If it hadn't been for them, I would be dead.
They smiled at me in return and murmured their replies as I turned and headed back through Obsidian's, trying to breath deeply.
Once I reached the safety of my room, I sat down heavily on my bed, clenching my teeth and pinching the bridge of my nose. If I let out my anger now, someone would be sure to come running so I settle for the next best thing. Grabbing my pillow, I pressed it into my face and proceeded to scream bloody murder for a good three minutes.
I was furious, and it wasn't because I had nearly died several times that day, it wasn't because I had almost fallen to my death, it wasn't even because I was mad at Lacy or Obsidian.
It was simply because he was right.
What he said had hit the nail on the head. I was being selfish and whiny. Cobalt and Lacy had given up there time to try to teach me how to defend myself and I had barely put any effort into it at all, giving up at the first hitch.
When I thought about it, I realized that I wasn't all to blame, after all, Lacy and practically everyone else on this ship had grown up learning to fight and defend themselves while I had been safe and protected as the Duke's Daughter for my entire life. There had never been any reason for me to learn to fight before, everyone else had just done it for me.
I remembered back two years ago, when Obsidians crew had first bombed the town. Standing aloof on my balcony, I had not felt the slightest pang of worry for myself or those suffering down below. At the time, it had seemed reasonable that common lives had to be taken in order to ensure my own life stayed safe.
How blind I was.
Every life was precious, every life was equal and every loss of life should be respectfully mourned. I hung my head in my hands and felt shame overwhelm me. I was in a different world now, a harder one, a harsher one. In this world, there was no room for giving up or for mistakes. I had defiantly learned that today after I had fallen from almost the top of the mast. What if they hadn't been ready with the tarp? Would I still be alive right now? Somehow I doubted that very much.
I sucked in a deep breath and simply held it there for a moment before letting it whoosh back out, taking all of my anger with it and replacing it with determination.
Obsidian thought I was pathetic did he? Well I would show him. I knew that it wouldn't happen over night, I would have to work hard and pay attention. Defending myself on land didn't seem to come to me as easily as it did in the water but I was part human and Lacy was fully human. If Lacy could do it, then so could I.
I reached into the neckline of my shirt and pulled out my pendant, turning it over in my fingers and marveling at the way that it still held the silver blue glow from four days back. Concentrating, once again I imagined some of that energy flowing into me, in a smaller quantity this time and almost immediately I felt the buzz hum through my veins, revitalizing my body and strengthening my exhausted limbs.
Grinning as I opened my eyes, I noticed that the pendants light had faded just the slightest, and I turned it over again, polishing the stone gently with my sleeve. I wondered if I should try to store some more energy in it, just so I would be prepared for when we reached wherever it was we were going, it probably wasn't a bad idea and I decided to do just that later when everyone had retired to bed.
I sighed, running a hand through my hair and letting the pendant fall back down to nestle between my breasts. If I was going to take this seriously, I first needed to complete the task that Cobalt had set me and to do that ... Well I needed my knife back.
Groaning, I let my feet walk themselves out the door before I could find an excuse, any excuse, to prevent me from having to walk back outside. Thankfully Obsidian wasn't in his room, although I wasn't too surprised, I could already heard him shouting from through the door. Smoothing my face into a blank expressionless mask, I went over my plan of action in my mind. It was quite simple really, I would walk out the door, grab my knife and walk back inside. No eye contact needed.
Of course I had forgotten to count Lacy into my plan. As soon as I stepped through the door, she jumped on me, almost knocking me back into the room.
"Circe!" She wailed and I was suddenly shocked when I realized that she was crying.
"Lacy!" I said bewildered. "What happened? I was only gone for ten minutes at the most I-"
"Obsidian's going to kill Cobalt!" She cried, cutting me off before I could continue and I pushed her away slightly so I could look her in the eye.
"Lacy whatever are you talking about, don't be silly!"
"I'm not!" She sniffed and suddenly stopped crying as she tugged at my arm furiously. "Cobalt came down and now Obsidian's beating him up!" Was it my imagination or was there a bit of excitement in her tone? I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at this. Only Lacy could be bawling one second and excited the next.
Peering over her shoulder I noticed that there was indeed a rather large group of crew members clustered in a circle and shouting loudly although the look on their faces was one of glee.
"Fifty gold coins on Obsidian!" I heard Samson roar and this time I really did roll my eyes as I marched towards the group, towing Lacy behind me. Searching for Leonardo, I found him standing on the edge of the circle, cheering like the rest of the crew. I tapped him on the shoulder and shoved Lacy forward, ignoring her protests.
"I believe this is yours?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow.
Lacy let out an indignant huff and crossed her arms over her chest while Leo looked at me apologetically.
"Sorry Circe."
"It's fine. What's happening?" I asked, trying to see over the tall broad shouldered bodies. "Lacy said something about Obsidian killing Cobalt?"
Leo frowned in Lacy's direction. "What have I told you about exaggerating things Lace?" He scolded before turning back to me. "I suppose it's almost true, but it's nothing to worry about, Hobbs took away their swords before they could have a proper go at each other, they're just having a good old fashioned punch up."
I felt my shoulders drop a little in relief and looked behind me to see Hobbs standing behind the ships wheel, whistling cheerfully. He winked when he saw me and held up two shining swords, one in each hand. He then made a slicing motion across his neck with the two, crossing them over each other like an 'X' before staggering around dramatically and causing me to let out a bark of laughter.
I heard Lacy and Leo also laugh from beside me and Hobbs grinned before turning serious and jerking his thumb towards the crowd, signaling 'time out' with his hands.
Taking the hint, I proceeded to shoulder my way through the burly Pirates until I reached the middle of the circle and my eyes fell upon the bodies wrestling furiously in the center. There seemed to be alot of blood, considering that Hobbs had taken away their weapons and when Cobalt flipped Obsidian onto his back, was suddenly rather annoyed to see that at sometime during the fight, the deepest part of Obsidians wound, had opened up again, the tender skin still obviously soft. It wouldn't need stitches again but it was still dreadfully inconvenient. No doubt he would be expecting me to bandage him again and that would require being close to him which was something I was trying to avoid.
Obsidian snarled from underneath Colby, reaching up to wrap his long tapering fingers around his brothers neck as he pushed himself up and now Cobalt was the one on the floor, his shaggy head banging back onto the wooden deck. Obsidian's fist swung forward, catching his brother on the jaw and I saw Colby wince before he managed to lift his knee up and connect it with Obsidians gut.
I must say, I was extremely impressed when Obsidian didn't even react and simply punched his brother in the face again, perhaps with a little more force this time. But then again if my stomach muscles were made of steel, I'm sure I wouldn't notice someone kneeing me repeatedly in the abdomen either.
I decided that enough was enough when Obsidian punched Colby in the face for the third time and something snapped, causing a large amount of blood to suddenly stream rather violently out of Cobalt's nose.
"Enough!" I snapped and although my voice was quite compared to the rucks that surrounded me, it carried well and in an instant everyone was silent, except for the two in the middle, who continued on as though nothing was amiss.
I stormed pass them to the mast in which my dagger was still buried and in one swift motion, yanked it out of the wood.
There was a low whistle from behind me. "Oh those two are in trouble now." Some-one whispered, and when I turned around everyone had taken a few steps back from the fight and were watching me with eager eyes.
I snorted. Give a girl a knife and suddenly she was deadly. Men.
Well I didn't know how to handle a knife yet, but I was fairly certain that I knew how to handle an angry Obsidian. Sheathing my weapon just as Obsidian drew his hand back ready to punch his brother yet again, I reached my own hand forward and gulping slightly, I caught his fist.
He froze.
"Obsidian stop." I tried to keep my voice calm but there was a slight waver to it that gave away my fear. Yes I was slightly afraid of him, last time he had been beating up his brother he had been possessed and it had taken a bed pan to force him to stop. I knew however, that this time that wasn't the case or Hobbs would have stepped in by now. Trying to shoo away the jitters I spoke again, bending over him a little more and placing my other hand on his shoulder.
"Obsidian." I said softly. "It's time to stop."
His hand was trembling under mine, his muscles incredibly taunt through his ripped white shirt. Without releasing my hold on his fist, I slowly made my way around to the front of him, kneeling down beside him my back towards Colby.
"Come on," I whispered, "back up."
He shifted slightly, his golden eyes still trained on his brother and I could feel the anger I was containing as I gently placed my hands on his chest and pushed him backwards slightly in an attempt to get him stand.
His eyes flickered again before suddenly, they were focused on me and I was drowning in deep pools of molten gold that burned through my skin with ferocious intensity.
In less than a second I was on my feet, my body crushed against his hard chest as he stood up, looming over his brother and leaning over me so protectively that I was forced to bend backwards slightly, my arms gripping his waist in order to stop myself from toppling over.
"If you EVER do something like that to her EVER again-" He threatened darkly as his brother propped himself up onto his elbows before leaning over to the side and spitting a gob of blood out of his mouth.
His sorrowful silver eyes met my own and I ached to rush to his side, to fix him up and made sure he was all right but I knew that if I did, Obsidian would only become all the more furious.
"Circe I'm so sorry I didn't mean-"
"DONT talk to her," Obsidian snarled venomously. "Don't even look at her."
Ignoring him I sent a small smile in Cobalt's direction. "It's okay Colby, just remember that I'm new to all of this. It's going to take me a while to become as Piratey as you are." I teased, happy when he smiled back, looking slightly more cheerful.
"He is a sorry excuse for a Pirate." Obsidian spat and I rolled my eyes but didn't move.
"Lacy?" I called.
"Yes Circe?" He squeaky tone was muffled and after a minute she appeared, elbowing her way through the crew and sending them all glares. "God forsaken Pirates," She muttered. "no bloody manners what-so-ever."
I hid my grin at her cussing and jerked my head towards Colby. "Lace, could you clean him up? I have to deal with ... something."
I felt Obsidians arms tighten around me at my words and his head dropped so that he could whisper in my ear.
"Your going to deal with me?" He let out a husky chuckle that caused a flash of heat to rush through my body. "I like the sound of that."
Although I knew that he had spoken too low for anyone to hear, it didn't stop my cheeks from burning a brilliant red as I blushed furiously.
"Shut up." I hissed. "You are in no way even close to being in my good books right now so I suggest you take your own advice and keep your trap shut."
A growl rumbled in his chest as his arm muscles flexed around me.
"Or what." He said scathingly.
I was quick to draw my knife and press the tip of the blade against his 'package' and grinned when he froze instantly.
"Don't move or talk, or I will personally make sure that you will never Father any children, ever." I said confidently. And who said that I didn't know how to use I knife!
"Circe," His voice was suddenly nervous. "Be careful-
"Trap shut." I snapped, moving the blade forward a little further and causing him to wince.
Looking back over my shoulder I noticed Lacy was now staring at me with a rather amused expression on her face and I saw her gesture towards the crotch region. When I nodded with a smirk she grinned in reply before carefully wiping her face blank and turning back to Cobalt.
"That's fine Circe." She said in reply to my question from before. "I think he just has a broken nose, you can go ahead."
I could hear the clear laughter in her voice as she spoke and taking advantage of my distraction Obsidian swiftly stepped away from me and I tucked my blade back into it's sheath, resisting the urge to grin widely at his slightly relieved but also rather annoyed expression.
"Back to work, all of you!" He roared, eyeballing his shipmates. I had to roll my eyes at him obviously trying to regain some control over the situation and as they scurried away I caught most of them grinning and exchanging notes and coins.
I sighed and stepped forwards again, slipping my hand into Obsidians where it quickly got lost. My hand was so small compared to his giant one.
"Come on," I said gently, tugging at him. "let's go."
He glared grumpily at me. "I'm not going anywhere with you, you sneaky little minx."
Ignoring the jab I pulled on his hand again. "Come," I said, more firmly this time. "you need to get cleaned up. I promise I won't try to castrate you while we are alone."
Reluctantly he gave in, following me as I led him towards his quarters. When we reached the door he stretched in front of me and turned the handle, opening the door for me.
I slipped inside with a murmured thanks, slightly surprised at his manners. Turning to study him, I took in the torn white shirt that was matted with dried blood and the small hole in his pink scar from which fresh blood was still oozing.
I sighed, taking his hand again and towing him to the bathroom. "We will be needing to wash that off you." I said, gesturing for him to take a seat on the edge of his bath tube while I ran a warm flannel from the heated water pump.
When I turned back around he was in the process of lifting his shirt above his head and I froze, taking in the sight of his chiseled body that looked as though it had been sculpted from marble. He brought his shirt over his head, bunching up the material in front of him and I was entranced by his strong shoulders and incredibly large biceps along with the thick cord of muscle that wrapped behind his neck.
His still golden eyes rose to meet my stare and instead of teasing me like I expected he would, he returned my gaze with one of his own that burnt so hot that I felt my face grow pink from the heat and I quickly looked away, concentrating instead on making sure that the rag was throughly soaked before I advanced towards him.
"Tell me if it hurts." I murmured, keeping my eyes from him as I bent down and began to wash the blood from his chest. I felt him cringe a little at the sting of salt water and I paused for a moment but he lifted his hand, placing it on top of mine and ever so gently brought it back to his chest. My eyes flickered up to meet his for a quick second before I continued on with my task.
I took a little longer in cleaning that was probably needed, but I couldn't seem to resist, the temptation of touching him was too strong and I took the chance to explore his chest, while cleaning of course, running my cloth over each of his individual muscles and feeling very sinful as I did.
Eventually though he gripped my wrist again, but this time it was to pull my hand away from him.
"I think I'm clean enough now." He croaked, his voice hoarse.
When I looked at him I was startled to find that his eyes were now a colored a very light almost white gold that glowed through the dimness of the room making him appear almost animalistic.
I rocked back on my heels and studied his wound. It would be annoying to bandage it again and absentmindedly I reached down into my to again and fingered my pendant, noticing out of the corner of my eye that Obsidians golden eyes were watching my every movement hungrily and I hastily pulled my hand out from my top, withdrawing the pendant as I did so.
"What are you going to do with that?" He asked huskily and I frowned, wondering if my idea would work.
"I want you to trust me for a moment okay?" I said tentatively. "I just want to try something."
His golden eyes narrowed. "And what would that be exactly?"
"Just trust me." I murmured and before he could stop me, I leaned forward and placed my pendant on his chest, just to the side of his wound and closed my eyes. Concentrating fiercely, I envisioned the energy from the pendant leaving flowing into Obsidians body, focusing specifically on his wound. I had no evidence to back up my theory, but there was something in my gut that told me this would work.
I heard his gasp of surprise and taking that as a sign that it was working I concentrated harder until strong arms were pushing me away.
"Circe, let go now Love, it worked, I'm all fixed. Let go, you're exhausting yourself."
My eyes blinked back open and my hand fell away from his chest as I felt a sudden wave of fatigue wash over me. I inspected the smooth skin in front of me with pride, running an hand over where his wound was.
"Even the scar is gone!" I exclaimed and he chuckled.
"Yes. Thankyou, you didn't have to do that."
I shrugged. "It's not a big deal, I wanted to see if I could was all."
I swayed slightly then, another wave of fatigue hitting me but before I could face plant on the floor, his arms were winding around me and tugging my body up onto his lap where he arranged me comfortably, my head fitting into place on his shoulder. My eyes flew open quickly and I blushed, trying to scramble back down off him but he held me tight, refusing to let me go as he brought his gaze to mine and his eyes captured me with their light.
He reached up a hand and stroked my hair so softly that it felt as though he wasn't touching me at all. His eyes raked over my face and that hungry look was back again, making me shiver.
"Don't fight me," He whispered as I attempted to rise again, but it was pathetic attempt and I slowly sunk back down into his embrace, my eyes still held captive by his. His muscles flexed around me as he bent forward, nuzzling his face into my neck as he inhaled deeply and I bit my lip to hold back a moan as his lips brushed ever so gently against the sensitive skin there.
His head raised slightly, his nose only centimeters from my own and he tugged me closer to him as he tilted his head so he could rub his nose along the tip of mine, his heady scent washing over me as he breathed out slowly.
"Don't fight me." He murmured again, his voice husky and filled with longing. "Just let me hold you."
And so I did.
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