TnB Challenge: Pirate Christmas Story (20/24)
Title: Pirate Christmas Story (20/24)
Author: Aranel Took
Characters: Hal Jordan/Kyle Rayner
Challenge: there_n_back Advent Calendar Challenge - Day 20
Prompts: bottle, wharf, violin, moon, monkey, fork, hole, lock, sheet, pendant, crystal, cookie, letter, money, tail, chair, bread, seed, peaches, snow
Rating: R (violence)
Words: 2000
Summary: Elseworld. Pirate!verse! Christmas in Tortuga.
Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six | Part Seven | Part Eight | Part Nine | Part Ten | Part Eleven | Part Twelve | Part Thirteen | Part Fourteen | Part Fifteen | Part Sixteen | Part Seventeen | Part Eighteen | Part Nineteen
Kyle went down to the wharf first to look for Sodam, asking everyone he met if they had seen a boy with a pet monkey. But nobody has seen any children on the docks recently, so Kyle left the docks to walk through town. Maybe Sodam had changed his mind and decided to go back to his life scrounging a living on the streets.
He walked along the street of familiar merchants first, but nobody claimed to have seen Sodam until he reached the shop selling the crystal pendants. “I saw him,” the woman said. “He stopped to look but I told him to go away. Didn’t want the little beggar stealing anything.”
Kyle bit back an angry retort and muttered his thanks. At least he knew Sodam was in the town. He walked to the corner where there was a fruit stand. Perhaps he had decided to try to nick a peach? But the fruit seller hadn’t seen him, either.
Kyle sighed and looked out at the harbor. It was starting to get dark and the moon was casting its glow over the water. He could see the Emerald Dawn and the small boat mooring up against her. Four people were in the boat: Guy, John, Soranik and Hal. Kyle turned away, swallowing the lump in his throat. He hadn’t meant for it to end like this. He hadn’t meant for it to end at all. But he couldn’t just leave Sodam to fend for himself, and the boy wanted to stay with him. He still had the money he was going to give Kat, so he could buy them both basic passage to England on a merchant vessel. It would be a rough journey, probably stuck in a damp hold with nothing but moldy bread and a bottle of rum to eat for weeks, but once in England he was going to be Lord Rayner and he could make it up to Sodam by making sure he never wanted for anything.
If he could find him, that is.
Someone tugged on Kyle’s sleeve. “He went up that way,” the old man with the violin said.
Kyle looked where the man was pointing, up the street towards the shadier parts of town. “You’re sure?”
The man nodded. “He stopped to listen to me play, then headed up the street.”
Kyle thanked him and followed the path that Sodam had supposedly taken, glancing down alleyways and behind crates. But there was no sign of the boy. He leaned against a building and covered his face with his hands. Well, he had wondered how this day could get worse, hadn’t he?
There was a scrabbling sound on the roof above him, sending dust and leaves snowing down on him. He looked up. There was a monkey in the fork of a tree. “Mona?” He dug into his pocket. No cookies, but he did have the pumpkin seeds. He held them out to her. “Come here, girl!”
But she refused to come, instead focusing her gaze on a window in the building, flicking her tail as if agitated about something. Kyle looked up at the sign. There were no letters on it, just a carving of a woman with her skirts raised. A brothel. Kyle sucked in his breath. No. No no no no no...
He went inside and was instantly overwhelmed by the smell of sickly-sweet perfume. There were men sitting in gaudy, threadbare chairs, waiting their turn. A woman with too much paint on her face came to greet him. “What would you like, dearie? We’ve got a bit of a wait tonight, but the girls are doing their best--”
“A boy,” Kyle said.
The men in the chairs murmured and the woman raised her eyebrows. “Lads usually try to hide that particular interest,” she said, smirking. “And we do have what you want, but I won’t be able to help you tonight. We’ve only got the one and a client’s just come in and paid for him through the rest of the night. Perhaps tomorrow?”
That was all Kyle needed to know. He turned and ran up the stairs. “You can’t go up there!” the woman shouted after him, but Kyle ignored her.
There was a row of closed doors at the top of the stairs. He tried the first one, but it was locked. “Sodam!” He stopped and took a deep breath, trying to figure out which window Mona had been looking in. There.
That door was locked as well. “Sodam!”
“Kyle!” Sodam shouted from inside. Then there was a sound of a slap and the boy cried out.
Kyle took a step back and threw himself against the door, smashing it in.
Sodam was cowering on the narrow bed, naked and weeping. A large, greasy-haired man glared at Kyle. “Wait your turn!”
Kyle curled his fist and broke the man’s nose. The man fell back against the wall. “Stay away from him!” Kyle shouted. He turned to take care of Sodam, but caught movement out of the corner of his eye. The man lunged at him, a knife in his hand, and a burning pain ripped through Kyle’s side. Kyle gasped and staggered back. But he ignored the pain and made a construct hand to grab the man by the throat and push him back up against the wall.
Sodam was watching, eyes wide. “Cover your eyes,” Kyle said to him. “Now!” The boy rolled over and hid his face in the pillow.
Kyle turned the hand into an eagle’s claw and the man screamed as talons pierced his neck. “I am the wrath of God,” Kyle growled. “If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you.” A construct retrieved the knife from the floor and Kyle stabbed it into the man’s crotch. The scream turned to a gurgle as the talons ripped out the man’s throat. Kyle let the body fall to the floor, then turned towards the bed. He hurt like hell, but he had to get the boy out of here. “Sodam? Let’s go.”
Sodam sat up and looked at Kyle. His eyes were red and his lip had been split. “You’re bleeding,” he gasped.
Kyle looked down. Under his coat his shirt was soaked with blood. He took a deep breath. “It’s just a scratch.” He pulled the sheet around Sodam to cover him, then picked him up and headed out the door.
There was a group of people standing outside the door, watching, while others were looking out of their rooms. Well, so much for keeping the ring a secret. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll go back to your fucking and forget you saw me.” Footsteps scrambled behind him and doors slammed shut. The madame stood at the top of the stairs. She simply backed up against the wall, terror in her eyes, and let him pass.
He had to lean against the wall to make it down the stairs with Sodam in his arms. His vision was starting to sparkle and he felt like he’d just polished off a bottle of rum by himself. He stumbled out the door and into the street. He didn’t know how long he had before the man’s shipmates plucked up their courage to come after him. He stopped to take a rest, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth at the pain in his side. He wouldn’t be able to make it to Kat and Tora like this, and he wouldn’t want to draw trouble to them anyway. Maybe ... maybe he could make it to George ...
“Give him to me.”
At first Kyle thought he was dreaming. He opened his eyes. Hal was pulling Sodam from his grasp, settling the boy on his hip. “Hal?”
“Lean on me,” Hal said, putting his other arm around Kyle. “Can you make it to the docks?”
“Yes,” Kyle said. He rested his head on Hal’s shoulder. He could do anything now that Hal was here. “I killed a man, Hal,” he panted. “People saw ... they saw me use the ring.” His vision was fading towards gray again.
“Doesn’t matter. You’re both safe. That’s all that matters.”
Kyle slid his arm around Hal’s waist. His knees were feeling wobbly and besides, it felt nice to be wrapped around him. “Why were you there?”
“I was looking for you.”
“But ... I saw you leave, you rowed out to the Dawn.”
“I took the others to the ship so they could get us ready to sail. Then I came back to help you look for Sodam. If you had stayed around to listen, I was going to come with you to find him, but you jumped to conclusions and ran off.” Hal kissed his brow. “And I was never going to leave you, Kyle.”
Kyle’s breath hitched. “Sorry.” He felt like an idiot. Of course Hal wouldn’t have left him.
“There’s no need to be sorry.” He gave Kyle a gentle squeeze. “Though, if I’d known you were going to get yourself into trouble I would have brought help.”
“I’m sorry,” Kyle whispered again.
“I told you, there’s nothing for you to be sorry about,” Hal said. “If anyone should be sorry, it’s me. I really messed up, didn’t I?”
“A little,” Kyle said. But he didn’t care anymore. Hal had come for them and they were safe.
They reached the docks and Kyle sat on a crate while Hal got Sodam into the boat. Kyle prodded at the hole in his side, trying to remember what he’d read in Soranik’s books. The bleeding seemed to have slowed and he wasn’t quite so dizzy anymore. He couldn’t tell how deep it was, but the fact that he was still conscious and walking meant he was probably going to live.
Hal spoke to the harbor master, then came over to Kyle. “He’ll send a message to Kat and Tora, to let them know that Sodam is with us.” He knelt down to look at Kyle’s wound. “Doesn’t look too bad,” he said, a weak smile on his face. He pulled Kyle to his feet. “Let’s get you into the boat.”
Sodam scooted over next to Kyle as soon as he sat down and leaned against him. Kyle put his arm around him and rested his cheek on his head. “Are you all right?”
Sodam shrugged. Kyle hoped and prayed the boy was just overwhelmed and that the man hadn’t done anything to him. Then Sodam startled and looked up at Kyle. “Mona! Where’s Mona?”
Shit! Kyle had forgotten all about her. And there was no way he was leaving her behind. “Hal, we have to find Mona. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have found Sodam!”
As if on cue, a furry little body scampered across the dock and leapt into the boat, landing in Hal’s knee. The monkey jumped over to Sodam and curled up on his lap.
“Found her,” Hal said with a chuckle. He picked up the oars and rowed them back to the ship.
It was very painful climbing up onto the ship and Kyle was pretty sure he re-opened the wound. The sparks returned to his vision and he collapsed against the rail, gritting his teeth against the pain. Hal barked orders to Guy to take the ship out of the harbor, then came over to Kyle. “We need to get you down to Soranik.”
“No.” Kyle shook his head. “I need to make sure Sodam’s all right.”
“I’ll take care of him,” Hal said. “You go get yourself patched up.” He stood up. “Isamot, come help him.”
Kyle reluctantly let Isamot help him up. Sodam was standing nearby, huddled in the sheet with Mona on his shoulder. “Captain Hal will take care of you,” Kyle said to him. “I’ll be back soon.” Sodam nodded and Kyle bent to kiss the top of his head. “Everything will be all right now.”
Note: "I am the wrath of God. If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you." Kyle uses Hal's quote from Pirates of the Emerald Dawn, which is originally from Ghengis Khan.
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Author: Aranel Took
Characters: Hal Jordan/Kyle Rayner
Challenge: there_n_back Advent Calendar Challenge - Day 20
Prompts: bottle, wharf, violin, moon, monkey, fork, hole, lock, sheet, pendant, crystal, cookie, letter, money, tail, chair, bread, seed, peaches, snow
Rating: R (violence)
Words: 2000
Summary: Elseworld. Pirate!verse! Christmas in Tortuga.
Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six | Part Seven | Part Eight | Part Nine | Part Ten | Part Eleven | Part Twelve | Part Thirteen | Part Fourteen | Part Fifteen | Part Sixteen | Part Seventeen | Part Eighteen | Part Nineteen
Kyle went down to the wharf first to look for Sodam, asking everyone he met if they had seen a boy with a pet monkey. But nobody has seen any children on the docks recently, so Kyle left the docks to walk through town. Maybe Sodam had changed his mind and decided to go back to his life scrounging a living on the streets.
He walked along the street of familiar merchants first, but nobody claimed to have seen Sodam until he reached the shop selling the crystal pendants. “I saw him,” the woman said. “He stopped to look but I told him to go away. Didn’t want the little beggar stealing anything.”
Kyle bit back an angry retort and muttered his thanks. At least he knew Sodam was in the town. He walked to the corner where there was a fruit stand. Perhaps he had decided to try to nick a peach? But the fruit seller hadn’t seen him, either.
Kyle sighed and looked out at the harbor. It was starting to get dark and the moon was casting its glow over the water. He could see the Emerald Dawn and the small boat mooring up against her. Four people were in the boat: Guy, John, Soranik and Hal. Kyle turned away, swallowing the lump in his throat. He hadn’t meant for it to end like this. He hadn’t meant for it to end at all. But he couldn’t just leave Sodam to fend for himself, and the boy wanted to stay with him. He still had the money he was going to give Kat, so he could buy them both basic passage to England on a merchant vessel. It would be a rough journey, probably stuck in a damp hold with nothing but moldy bread and a bottle of rum to eat for weeks, but once in England he was going to be Lord Rayner and he could make it up to Sodam by making sure he never wanted for anything.
If he could find him, that is.
Someone tugged on Kyle’s sleeve. “He went up that way,” the old man with the violin said.
Kyle looked where the man was pointing, up the street towards the shadier parts of town. “You’re sure?”
The man nodded. “He stopped to listen to me play, then headed up the street.”
Kyle thanked him and followed the path that Sodam had supposedly taken, glancing down alleyways and behind crates. But there was no sign of the boy. He leaned against a building and covered his face with his hands. Well, he had wondered how this day could get worse, hadn’t he?
There was a scrabbling sound on the roof above him, sending dust and leaves snowing down on him. He looked up. There was a monkey in the fork of a tree. “Mona?” He dug into his pocket. No cookies, but he did have the pumpkin seeds. He held them out to her. “Come here, girl!”
But she refused to come, instead focusing her gaze on a window in the building, flicking her tail as if agitated about something. Kyle looked up at the sign. There were no letters on it, just a carving of a woman with her skirts raised. A brothel. Kyle sucked in his breath. No. No no no no no...
He went inside and was instantly overwhelmed by the smell of sickly-sweet perfume. There were men sitting in gaudy, threadbare chairs, waiting their turn. A woman with too much paint on her face came to greet him. “What would you like, dearie? We’ve got a bit of a wait tonight, but the girls are doing their best--”
“A boy,” Kyle said.
The men in the chairs murmured and the woman raised her eyebrows. “Lads usually try to hide that particular interest,” she said, smirking. “And we do have what you want, but I won’t be able to help you tonight. We’ve only got the one and a client’s just come in and paid for him through the rest of the night. Perhaps tomorrow?”
That was all Kyle needed to know. He turned and ran up the stairs. “You can’t go up there!” the woman shouted after him, but Kyle ignored her.
There was a row of closed doors at the top of the stairs. He tried the first one, but it was locked. “Sodam!” He stopped and took a deep breath, trying to figure out which window Mona had been looking in. There.
That door was locked as well. “Sodam!”
“Kyle!” Sodam shouted from inside. Then there was a sound of a slap and the boy cried out.
Kyle took a step back and threw himself against the door, smashing it in.
Sodam was cowering on the narrow bed, naked and weeping. A large, greasy-haired man glared at Kyle. “Wait your turn!”
Kyle curled his fist and broke the man’s nose. The man fell back against the wall. “Stay away from him!” Kyle shouted. He turned to take care of Sodam, but caught movement out of the corner of his eye. The man lunged at him, a knife in his hand, and a burning pain ripped through Kyle’s side. Kyle gasped and staggered back. But he ignored the pain and made a construct hand to grab the man by the throat and push him back up against the wall.
Sodam was watching, eyes wide. “Cover your eyes,” Kyle said to him. “Now!” The boy rolled over and hid his face in the pillow.
Kyle turned the hand into an eagle’s claw and the man screamed as talons pierced his neck. “I am the wrath of God,” Kyle growled. “If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you.” A construct retrieved the knife from the floor and Kyle stabbed it into the man’s crotch. The scream turned to a gurgle as the talons ripped out the man’s throat. Kyle let the body fall to the floor, then turned towards the bed. He hurt like hell, but he had to get the boy out of here. “Sodam? Let’s go.”
Sodam sat up and looked at Kyle. His eyes were red and his lip had been split. “You’re bleeding,” he gasped.
Kyle looked down. Under his coat his shirt was soaked with blood. He took a deep breath. “It’s just a scratch.” He pulled the sheet around Sodam to cover him, then picked him up and headed out the door.
There was a group of people standing outside the door, watching, while others were looking out of their rooms. Well, so much for keeping the ring a secret. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll go back to your fucking and forget you saw me.” Footsteps scrambled behind him and doors slammed shut. The madame stood at the top of the stairs. She simply backed up against the wall, terror in her eyes, and let him pass.
He had to lean against the wall to make it down the stairs with Sodam in his arms. His vision was starting to sparkle and he felt like he’d just polished off a bottle of rum by himself. He stumbled out the door and into the street. He didn’t know how long he had before the man’s shipmates plucked up their courage to come after him. He stopped to take a rest, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth at the pain in his side. He wouldn’t be able to make it to Kat and Tora like this, and he wouldn’t want to draw trouble to them anyway. Maybe ... maybe he could make it to George ...
“Give him to me.”
At first Kyle thought he was dreaming. He opened his eyes. Hal was pulling Sodam from his grasp, settling the boy on his hip. “Hal?”
“Lean on me,” Hal said, putting his other arm around Kyle. “Can you make it to the docks?”
“Yes,” Kyle said. He rested his head on Hal’s shoulder. He could do anything now that Hal was here. “I killed a man, Hal,” he panted. “People saw ... they saw me use the ring.” His vision was fading towards gray again.
“Doesn’t matter. You’re both safe. That’s all that matters.”
Kyle slid his arm around Hal’s waist. His knees were feeling wobbly and besides, it felt nice to be wrapped around him. “Why were you there?”
“I was looking for you.”
“But ... I saw you leave, you rowed out to the Dawn.”
“I took the others to the ship so they could get us ready to sail. Then I came back to help you look for Sodam. If you had stayed around to listen, I was going to come with you to find him, but you jumped to conclusions and ran off.” Hal kissed his brow. “And I was never going to leave you, Kyle.”
Kyle’s breath hitched. “Sorry.” He felt like an idiot. Of course Hal wouldn’t have left him.
“There’s no need to be sorry.” He gave Kyle a gentle squeeze. “Though, if I’d known you were going to get yourself into trouble I would have brought help.”
“I’m sorry,” Kyle whispered again.
“I told you, there’s nothing for you to be sorry about,” Hal said. “If anyone should be sorry, it’s me. I really messed up, didn’t I?”
“A little,” Kyle said. But he didn’t care anymore. Hal had come for them and they were safe.
They reached the docks and Kyle sat on a crate while Hal got Sodam into the boat. Kyle prodded at the hole in his side, trying to remember what he’d read in Soranik’s books. The bleeding seemed to have slowed and he wasn’t quite so dizzy anymore. He couldn’t tell how deep it was, but the fact that he was still conscious and walking meant he was probably going to live.
Hal spoke to the harbor master, then came over to Kyle. “He’ll send a message to Kat and Tora, to let them know that Sodam is with us.” He knelt down to look at Kyle’s wound. “Doesn’t look too bad,” he said, a weak smile on his face. He pulled Kyle to his feet. “Let’s get you into the boat.”
Sodam scooted over next to Kyle as soon as he sat down and leaned against him. Kyle put his arm around him and rested his cheek on his head. “Are you all right?”
Sodam shrugged. Kyle hoped and prayed the boy was just overwhelmed and that the man hadn’t done anything to him. Then Sodam startled and looked up at Kyle. “Mona! Where’s Mona?”
Shit! Kyle had forgotten all about her. And there was no way he was leaving her behind. “Hal, we have to find Mona. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have found Sodam!”
As if on cue, a furry little body scampered across the dock and leapt into the boat, landing in Hal’s knee. The monkey jumped over to Sodam and curled up on his lap.
“Found her,” Hal said with a chuckle. He picked up the oars and rowed them back to the ship.
It was very painful climbing up onto the ship and Kyle was pretty sure he re-opened the wound. The sparks returned to his vision and he collapsed against the rail, gritting his teeth against the pain. Hal barked orders to Guy to take the ship out of the harbor, then came over to Kyle. “We need to get you down to Soranik.”
“No.” Kyle shook his head. “I need to make sure Sodam’s all right.”
“I’ll take care of him,” Hal said. “You go get yourself patched up.” He stood up. “Isamot, come help him.”
Kyle reluctantly let Isamot help him up. Sodam was standing nearby, huddled in the sheet with Mona on his shoulder. “Captain Hal will take care of you,” Kyle said to him. “I’ll be back soon.” Sodam nodded and Kyle bent to kiss the top of his head. “Everything will be all right now.”
Note: "I am the wrath of God. If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you." Kyle uses Hal's quote from Pirates of the Emerald Dawn, which is originally from Ghengis Khan.
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