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Chapter 5- The Tales

 
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Kalanna Rai
Assassin for Hire



Joined: 21 Jan 2006
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 3:07 pm    Post subject: Chapter 5- The Tales Reply with quote

Right, the option you've chosen gives you a good look at the big picture, but leaves out a few things I can surprise you with later. YAY! It was also funnier to write. Enjoy!
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Chapter Five pt 1: The Tales

Everyone began talking all at once as all six orphans each started to talk. They quickly broke into three arguing groups with Jasper and Jade wanting to know more about themselves, Ambrois and Cobalt wanting to know more about the pendants, and Saul and Donovan wanting to know how he knew it in the first place. And they were all getting louder and louder in hopes of their tale of choice being the one he told. Finally, unable to take anymore, Angelo's voice rose above theirs.

"SHUT UP!" As the all fell silent he took a long swig from his bottle and glared at them all. "Now since none of you can make up your minds I suppose I'll have to tell you everything now won't I." He sighed briging his hand up toward his head before lowering it again. "Right...where to begin?"

For a few moments everyone was silent then the slim man spoke again. "The beginning I suppose." He heaved another sigh. "That takes us way back, back to when I was a younger man and The Muse was fresh outta the yard. I wasn't looking for a crew at the time you see, I don't really need one, but I'd put into port for supplies and to trade a bit of gossip."

"And get stone drunk I suppose." Angelo glared at Jasper as the boy rolled his eyes. After a long moment of terse silence, Angelo started talking again.

"Actually I wasn't a drinking man at the time. That didn't happen until later. But, back to what I was saying. I'd just...requistioned some supplies and was busy getting my fanny outta there when a scruffy young man attempted to pick my pocket. Despite being several years younger than I was at the time, he was only a head shorter and, were it not for extreme emaciation, would have been twice as wide."

"Red Savage." The name was a whisper, little more than an exhailation as it passed Saul's awestruck lips. Angelo grinned and winked at him. Saul suddenly looked at the slim man warily, pulling back his hand slowly from where it had been inching toward the slim man's pocket. Angelo's grin widened.

"Yes, Bloody Red himself although at the time he hadn't done much other than fleece the unsuspecting passerby. Needless to say he threatened to turn me into the guards if I took him with me so..."


"So you took him on your ship and started a lifelong friendship?" Donovan's tail wagged. Nobody knew the tale of how Angelo Steel and Red Savage had become brothers in arms. To hear it first hand was a treat.

Angelo took another pull off his bottle. "Who's tellin' this tale mate?" Donovan's ears fell. "As I was saying so I knocked him cold, ditched him in an alley, and got the hell off that dirtball. I didn't see him again for two years. I was busy carving a name for myself and figured I'd go down to the surface and see what reputation I'd earned. I happened to wander into a small tavern at the edge of the docks..."

"And got drunk."

Angelo glared at Jasper again. "Listen mate. You're getting real annoying harping on my vice like that. I don't pick your life apart, kindly leave mine alone. I went into that tavern because ale loosens sailors tounges and when tounges wag interesting tales are told. I didn't expect to be caught up in the barfight that erupted soon after. Sometime in the middle of it all I found myself standing back to back with a rather large man...the only human I've ever met that was as tall as I was infact."

A hazy grin spread over the slim man's face. "Well...needless to say it was the first step on the road to friendship. Red became my first mate, best I ever had, until he grew outta the position and took his own ship with his own crew. I had various crews over the years, the last was sixteen years ago...I got rid of them after Red died. I had to stop pirating for a while."

"Why?" Cobalt looked at him innocently.

"Well because Red asked me to do something for him before he died, his last wish as it were. Some years back I'd given him one of these pendants. They're very special, only three of them ever forged and once I had them all. Since then, however, one has been lost to darkness. One split in three pieces, and the last you see around my neck."

"Split in three pieces?" Jade looked at her pendant, and Jasper's, then at Angelo's. She noticed instantly that Angelo's pendant was quite a bit larger than either of theirs, more a medallion than a pendant.

Angelo's eyes sparkled. "So you've noticed the difference in sizes eh? Yes, the pendants you and your brother wear are two pieces of one whole pendant. The third piece is somewhere in my cabin. I took it off Red's body after he died. And now you're wondering just how you got pieces of a pendant I gave to Red Savage arn't you?"

"Because they're his children arn't they." Ambrois said it matter of factly as he held the cube toward them. "Take a good look Jasper. This guy could be you in about ten years." Indeed, the glowing face of 'Bloody' Red Savage bore an uncanny likeness to that of the sullen youth. A look of wonder crossed the twins' faces as the stared at the holo, completely missing nostalgic look on Angelo's face.

Saul looked at both of them with eyes like dinner plates. "You guys are the kids of a famous pirate like that? SO TOTALLY COOL!" He elbowed Donovan and the Canin grinned back at him, tail going a million miles an hour.

Angelo sighed. "Yes, they are his children. He split his pendant up so that the treasure would never fall into hands he deemed 'unworthy'. He always had the plan of coming back for you two when you were old enough and taking you with him to reclaim it." That caught their attention as all six pairs of eyes turned toward the slim man.

"Treasure?" They all exclaimed.

Angelo took a last swig from his bottle and frowned as he came up empty. "What would you say to going below decks and continuing this conversation in comfort eh mates? Never know what the winds might carry across the empty spaces. Besides, then I can show you your quarters." He looked down at the wheel. "Take us home eh beautiful?"

Without another look at the wheel, Angelo turned and headed for the hatch that lead below, tossing his empty bottle over the side of the ship casually. The orphans followed him, Ambrois lingering next to the wheel for a few moments. He stared at it, wondering just how the slim man could leave it with total confidence. Even the most advanced AI wouldn't be able to handel random dangers that might crop up. It would have been safer to have someone at the helm...wouldn't it?

"Coming Ambrois?" Ambrois jerked his head up at Donovan's voice, all traces of his thoughtful frown vanished.

"Sure...was just lost in thought." He slowly followed the grinning Canin into the hatch...and stared in awe at the majestic passageway. The every surface was spotless and gleaming, designs of beauty and intricate patterns embedded withing the walls, ceiling, and floor. Like the other orphans, he ran hesitant fingers over it.

"Amazing huh?"

"Donovan, you've no idea. The time this must have taken..." They both hustled down the passage after the other, catching up just as Angelo opened a doorway for them.

"This is the crew quarters. Pick a bunk and stick to it." He glared at them hard. "Don't make me seperate species or sexes people...you won't like it if I have to. The Galley is across the hall. I've got to go retrive something from my cabin...I'll be back in a moment."
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Three hours later the orphans had grown tired of waiting. They all padded down the hallway, Donovan's nose in the lead. Despite his sensative sniffer it still took them forever to find the Captain's Cabin since, as Donovan put it, 'his scent was thick all over the ship'. Still, as the stood infront of the heavy door, they noticed it was slightly ajar. The distinct sounds of snoring could be heard from within. Pushing it further open they were treated to the sight of the slim man sprawled across his desk.

A long line of drool ran from the corner of one mouth onto the desk screen, his hands were folded to pillow his head, wings draped like a blanket over him. Empty bottles littered the area, clinking together as the ship would pitch and they would roll and collide. A collective sigh went up from the group who then had to restrain Jasper from marching over and slapping Angelo till the slim man woke up.

"That's just great. He starts to be useful then collapses in a drunken stupor to sleep off his excess. Come on guys...might as well head to bed for the night." He yawned. "I suppose getting a little sleep never hurt anyone."
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Right, I didn't want to make this a two parter but it had to be, unfortunately, because telling all three tales at once took up more room than anticipated. I'll get the second half up pronto!
_________________
"It's not just about living forever...the trick is living with yourself forever..."

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Last edited by Kalanna Rai on Mon Sep 10, 2007 5:23 pm; edited 1 time in total
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