[fic] Uppity Pirates - Chapter 13 ~A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Galley~
Title: Uppity Pirates
Author:
prettyorianna
Banner by: deshisoraba
Pairing: Akame, RyoPi. Other possibly later.
Rating: NC-17.
Genre: fantasy? It's got pirates...
Beta by: my cat. okay, seriously, nobody
Disclaimer: I don't own KAT-TUN, any of its members, any other JE people. I write this for fun and for other fans of these fine folks. But don't steal my plots, mmkay? I put a great deal of time into them except for when I'm randomly spastically spitting words onto a page. But I value those too...
Summary: Captain Kame and his bold crew of "adventurers" take to the seas in search of wealth and fame and cheesecake. Or, well, if they can't have all of that, then at least wealth and fame. They can always buy cheesecake later.
An Important Note: Whenever it refers to "I" or "me" it is in fact referring to me, the writer. When the characters address "you" it really is referring to you, the readers.
Author's Note: Start of the chapter all serious and important but I promise, it gets funnier. :) I'm particularly proud of the chapter name, if I can tout my own cleverness :)
The Master Posts:
On my journal - Uppity Pirates Master Post
On the akame_ Community - Uppity Pirates Master Post
On the akame_fanfics Community - Uppity Pirates Master Post
On the je_kamenashi Community - Uppity Pirates Master Post
On the kattun_fanfics Community - Uppity Pirates Master Post
On the jin_fics Community - Uppity Pirates Master Post
Chapter 13 ~A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Galley~
Jin was still rambling incoherently in his delirium. Kame had never seen him like that, not once. Not even that time he stupidly ate that rotten meat on a dare/bet and got horribly ill. (Kame had gotten so pissed over that. Sometimes his lover was a total idiot though at least he seemed to have learned his lesson that time).
Kame grabbed a cloth and the water basin, wetting the rag. Drinkable water was a valuable resource on a ship; they could only carry so much at once, same as with the foodstuff. But he couldn’t do nothing, so he started to wipe away the sweat from Jin’s forehead with the semi-cool wet rag.
“Start from the beginning,” came Maru’s voice from behind him.
Nodding without turning his attention from Jin, Kame started, “He was fine when we went to bed last night but this morning, I couldn’t wake him up. I thought he was being lazy, but…”
And on and on he told Maru everything he’d seen, which was admittedly not all that much.
He could almost hear Maru’s frown from behind him. “If he’d gone gangrene you’d have noticed and there’d be a smell. But… if he was really fine last night, this is hitting so fast… It’s very likely he was poisoned. Here, move. I need to examine him.”
Kame didn’t want to move from Jin’s side but there was only so much he could do himself so he scooted over to give Maru access.
Pulling Jin up to a sitting position, Maru pulled the man’s shirt off over his head. “It’s possible one or more of the Sayaendou crew poisoned their blades… But I’m not seeing any wounds. There’s scratches all over his shoulders and back, though. Maybe he just barely dodged the attack so that he merely got scored, not a true wound. But it would be enough to let the poison in…”
Maru sighed, shaking his head. “Doesn’t make sense, though. If that were the case, there’d only be the one.”
Blushing, Kame mumbled, “I think those are my fault…”
“Why would you…” Maru started, but with sudden comprehension, “Oh. Oh, okay. Well, that wouldn’t have done it… Still, best check them…”
And from that point on, Kame felt pretty useless. Maru kept talking and talking but not really to anyone and Jin was still rambling quietly. And finally Maru decided Kame was just in the way and he kicked him out of the room.
Kame wasn’t sure how much time had passed when finally Maru opened the cabin door.
“What’s the word? Is he going to be okay?” Kame asked.
Maru held up his hand. At first all Kame saw was the rag he’d left behind in the room, but then the sunlight glimmered off of something and, squinting, Kame finally saw what he was holding up - an incredibly long, incredibly thin needle.
“Found this just barely sticking out of one of the pillows.”
So someone on board did this? Damn it! First Subaru’s a traitor and then he’s not and now this? But… but… with the exception of Subaru’s sudden departure, the crew had been stable for at least a year and a half. No new additions.
Well, no, that wasn’t true anymore. There was Ren and the lad from the Blind Gorgon.
But then another thought hit him. “Which pillow?”
“The left. Why?”
Double damn it! “That’s my pillow! I normally sleep on the left, but once we were done, he just sort of rolled over to the side so we ended up on the wrong side of the bed! Someone tried to kill me!”
“Well, then, they weren’t doing a very good job of it.”
“What do you mean?” Kame asked, brows furrowing in confusion.
Maru answered, “I think this is tasheran extract. It smells like it, anyway. It won’t kill you unless you’re given a lot. There’s no way the amount on this needle could kill a grown man unless he ignored the symptoms completely.”
“So what do we do?”
“Willow bark tea and keep an eye on him. It’s pretty much all we can do.” And Maru gave him a small smile. “He’ll be fine. Probably able to get back to work in a week.” But then Maru wasn’t smiling anymore. “I’d be more worried about how this happened in the first place. I hate to question your judgment, but… the only new people on board are the navigator and Shige’s boy. Not to mention, they were still on board while a good handful of our most observant, most skilled men went with you on the mission. Are you sure they can be trusted?”
“I… I thought so, but…”
But he knew Ren’s secret. Why would Ren have told him if he planned on betraying them? If Kame told the crew, they’d probably want Ren gone immediately, even if they were miles away from land. Sailors were so superstitious. Kame wasn’t completely immune to that, either, but he liked to think he was more clear-thinking than the rest of the crew. It was his job to watch out for them all.
What a mess.
It’s hard to be the man in charge.
+++
Two hours had passed but Ren was finally comfortable with his assessment of the Sayaendou’s course… or, well, at least their course for the rest of the day. They most likely knew they were being followed and would not make things easy.
So he left one of the RABS at the helm for the moment and went to find Junno.
He felt kind of bad about earlier. Nobody else seemed to realize they’d truly hurt the man’s feelings. And the information Junno had really was important, after all.
Maybe he was just more in tune to Junno’s plight because Tatsuya noticed. Junno seemed to be the subject of most everything Tatsuya said over the past few days. If Ren didn’t know better, he’d think Tatsuya had a crush on the man. But when Ren had teased him about it, he’d merely blushed and looked at the ground.
It really wasn’t his right to interfere but Ren couldn’t help but think it would be good for Tatsuya to connect with someone else on board.
But when Ren got close to the galley, he heard voices from the corridor, around the corner.
“Please stop this,” in what was clearly Tatsuya’s voice.
“Aw, come on cutie! We can have a lot of fun, the two of us!” Ren wasn’t sure who the other voice belonged to since he was still learning the crew, but whoever it was took no effort to keep his voice down.
“I… I don’t want to…”
And then Ren was around the corner and saw where… was his name Ryo? Anyway, he had Tatsuya trapped against the wall. He wasn’t actually touching him; he just had a hand on the wall on either side of Tatsuya and was standing pretty close.
Quietly drawing his dagger, Ren crept up behind Ryo. He put the point to the small of Ryo’s back, pushing just hard enough to let the man know he was there but not hard enough to cut flesh. “Tat-chan?”
“I’m okay…”
Then to Ryo, Ren asked, “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Hey, I didn’t do anything! Ask him yourself!”
But before either Ren or Tatsuya could say anything else, another voice intruded on the situation. “WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU TWO ARE DOING?” Looked like Yamapi was joining the mess. The corridor to the galley was getting quite crowded.
“I’m defending my friend’s honor. Why don’t you ask him what he’s doing?” Ren hissed.
From Ryo, “Hey, I said I didn’t do anything!” But he didn’t sound afraid; more amused than anything. “This is all some kind of misunderstanding!”
Then Junno’s voice came from the doorway. “All of you, give me back my apprentice and scram! And I’m not giving you any more rum, Ryo. That’s the last bottle you’re getting from my galley. I don’t care what the captain says. You turn into a total perv and now you’re scaring my apprentice!”
And Tatsuya ducked out of Ryo’s arms and slid along the wall until he could stand up un-trapped. Without so much as another word, he walked calmly into the galley, followed immediately by Junno. If there had been a door to slam, Ren imagined Junno would have slammed it.
“So that’s what’s going on!” Yamapi exclaimed suddenly. He grabbed Ryo by the wrist and pulled him away from the wall. It was only Ren’s fast reflexes that kept him from accidentally cutting a line along the man’s back. Without so much as another word, Yamapi dragged Ryo away to who knows where.
Was Ren the only one who suddenly found the whole thing hilarious? He started laughing and then found he couldn’t stop.
“No, I think it’s pretty darn funny, too,” I said, laughing along. “Now I’ve forgotten what’s supposed to happen next…”
“You don’t know?!” Ren asked incredulously.
“Well, no, see… ever since the script disappeared I’ve been winging it. I didn’t know you were going to run into Ryo and Tatsuya and now I’ve forgotten what you were actually on your way to do.”
Laughing even harder, Ren said, “You’re the writer; you know everything! Or, you’re supposed to anyway.”
I couldn’t argue with that. Instead I sullenly mumbled, “I can’t do everything myself.”
“Want a hint?”
Still pouting, I shook my head. “No…”
“But… but you’re suffering!”
“Maybe… a little one?” I finally conceded after ten full minutes of standing there unable to write another word because I’d forgotten the plot.
Still laughing a bit but at least having the decency to try and hide it, Ren said slowly, “Well, I’m standing right outside the galley… Now what on earth would possibly put me right outside the galley?”
“OH! Oh, right, right! Apology. Junno. Stuff.”
Patting my cheek with one hand, Ren said, “That’s a good girl.”
But it didn’t make me mad. Now that I was no longer confused, I could laugh at myself, too.
“Then get your butt in there and apologize, okay?”
++++++++++++++++++++++++
The story continues:
Chapter 14 ~No More Rum~
A/N: Okay, I will admit, I got kind of silly by the end. I mean, a character knowing what happens next and me not? But the thought amused me and we all know how that goes LOL.
Ryo's in trouble again. Maybe next chapter we'll get to see what he does about it.
Looks like Kame is starting to possibly suspect Ren or Tatsuya. I mean, logically speaking, if there's an enemy on board, it would be one of them, right? Well, guess we'll have to wait and see. Except for me. I know and I'll never tell. Until I tell. :P
Next update will be the other fic and then back to this one :)