InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Road to Remembrance ❯ A Sea-Dog's Life ( Chapter 19 )

Chapter 19

 

 

Inuyasha groaned as a throbbing headache woke him. The distant sound of seagulls, creaking wood, and crashing waves registered into his mind. He was on a boat.

“Jesus, he's waking!”

“Shhh! Don't provoke him into attacking you! Just look at those claws...”

“His claws? I'm staring at his ears, mate.”

“Aye, me too. I think I want to touch them...”

“Don't. He looks dangerous. Why the hell did we drag `im on the ship in the first place?”

“Because the captain thought he was interesting, you bloody idiot!”

Inuyasha slowly opened his eyes, realizing he was on the deck of a ship as he stared up into a dozen faces of pirates—very shocked pirates.

“Move aside, move aside,” a gruff voice hollered as Inuyasha pushed himself up into a sitting position. A man walked up to the front of the crowd. He was a little on the short side, with dirty blonde dreads matted under a pirate's hat and a scruffy beard. His ears were adorned with many earrings and his body decorated in tattoos.

“Captain—” one of the men began.

“Shut it. Who be you?” He asked, glaring at the strange boy they kidnapped from they village they recently looted.

“Who the hell are you?” Inuyasha shot back, seeming like his old self once more. He jumped to his feet, standing taller than the captain. The captain gave him a rogue grin and pulled out his pistol, cocking it at his chest.

“Care to rephrase that, lad?”

“You think your human weapons can hurt me?” Inuyasha said, knowing full well it probably could. He gave a hard look around the bandit crew that had gathered and many stepped back away from his glare. Well at least they were smart. Inuyasha froze as he spotted one of the pirates. A female one, with dark skin and her thick black hair pulled back in a low ponytail.

“Sauda?” he asked disbelievingly. Upon closer inspection he concluded that it was the young woman who forced him to dance years back.

“Inuyasha!” she exclaimed excitedly, bursting from the crowd and throwing her arms around his neck. He could already tell by her accent that her English had improved greatly.

“Oh, Ian, please don't kill him, please!” she begged the captain, standing between Inuyasha and the pistol.

“Move away, you silly girl. I've got no reason to kill him...yet. Now tell us, love, what is he?”

“This is Inuyasha,” Sauda answered, apparently on very good terms with the captain, “And he's a good guy. And he doesn't dance half bad either.”

“I don't care what his name is, what is he?”

“I'm half demon, alright?” Inuyasha interrupted, not liking the way he was discussed as a specimen.

“A demon you say?” Ian said, scrutinizing him once more.

“Half-demon,” Inuyasha stressed. It seemed like he was pointing that out far more often than he needed. He froze a second time as he finally noticed the long scar that ran down the face of the captain, causing him to recognize the man for who he was. This was The Corsair Scabb. He was talking to the most feared pirate on the Atlantic seas!

Ian seemed to notice his attention was directed to the mar on the side of his face and saw the comprehension in his eyes.

“So ya know who I am, do ya boy?” He said with a smirk. Inuyasha just scowled at him. Displaying many gold teeth in a cooked grin, Ian continued, “Well since my young fox `ere doesn't want me to kill ya, that leaves me with only two options. I lock you up and take you as our prisoner or you can join me and my fine crew here on the Hades' Thunder. Course' you seem like an interestin' young'n, so I'd much prefer the latter. You ever sail before?”

“Yes,” Inuyasha said stiffly, “but not as a pirate.”

“Well I suppose its time to try something new, now isn't it?” Ian responded to the scathing tone in which `pirate' was voiced, “We don't care what ya be, lad. We only care about gettin to pet those ears of yours. So what do ya say?”

Inuyasha examined the captain. The man seemed honest enough, and it wasn't like he had much of a choice in the matter. He was in the middle of the ocean so he might as well enjoy his freedom as crew again than in some under-deck cell. And Sauda was there, so how bad could it be?

“Alright,” he muttered, grasping Ian's outstretched hand and accepting the offer.

“Excellent. Sauda, be a dear and get Indie some normal clothes and a bunk. The rest of you knaves get back to work!”

“Indie?” Inuyasha asked him with raised eyebrows.

“I'm but an ignorant pirate; I can't pronounce a name with more than three syllables. So that's what you'll be called from now on.”

Before Inuyasha could protest Sauda had dragged him off.

“Indie?” Inuyasha repeated, under his breath.

“I like it,” Sauda said, happily linking their arms together. Inuyasha dropped the subject of his name in favor of questioning her.

“What the hell are you doing on a pirate ship of all places? What happened to being married off to some wealthy farmer?”

Sauda grinned, her dark eyes sparkling.

“Well, when Ian and his crew pillaged our village, not much later from when you left, I begged and begged him to take me along. You remember how I told you about my dream to travel? Well, despite it being bad luck for a woman to be on board, he let me. Ian really is great, once you get to know him.”

“But do you enjoy robbing and killing people?” Inuyasha asked.

Sauda laughed, “I don't rob or kill anyone! I stay on board when the men go out to ransack some place. But even then, Ian isn't much of a killer either. He encourages those terrible stories of him so people won't put up much of a fight. It's really not that bad. I think you'll like it here.”

Inuyasha nodded. Staying in Africa had helped heal him greatly, and he was able to exercise his kindness and humanity. Now it was time to see if the old Inuyasha, the one who loved danger and adventure, was still inside of him.

 

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Seven months and four days on the sea. Seven months and four days of cheating, lying, drinking and sex. Seven months and four days of talking with the captain, telling him of his adventures and experiences, the good and the bad. Seven months and four days of no bandana. Seven months and four days of one hundred and forty seven men accepting a half-demon as their kin.

Inuyasha was truly happy. He was now only the scum of the earth by his profession and not by what he was. The pirates, no matter how disgusting or immoral, were his brothers. Not the most intelligent of beings but each one had a good heart within them that just thirsted for a little adventure.

Azkaban, however horrible it was, seemed to have broken through to him. He didn't understand how, but somehow he felt...humbled...more humane? No, he didn't know how to describe it. All he knew is that he couldn't bring himself to hate the human race anymore. By suffering under some of the worst conditions they had to offer, he had developed an ironic respect for them. It was the straw that broke the camels back, so to speak.

Inuyasha had grown rather comfortable with his loathsome lifestyle, which, in his world, meant something needed to change. That day came when Ian called him to his quarters one evening, right before they were scheduled to set sail from another town. Usually this would have been perfectly normal, since Ian preferred talking to the clever half-demon than to any of his dim-witted crew (save Sauda). But Inuyasha could tell by the resigned expression on the man's face that something was wrong. He took a seat in the chair on the other side of the captain's desk and waited for him to speak.

Ian leaned back in his chair and smiled wanly at his favorite crewman he's ever picked up. It was a blessing and a miracle that he decided to take the boy upon his ship. Without Indie's dark sense of humor and quick wit he would have gone insane with boredom. Glory and riches could only do so much for a man, but true friendship was hard to come by for a pirate, especially one as feared as himself.

“My name is Ian Willis,” Ian began, “I am the third man to sail under the title of the Corsair Scabb. The original Scabb retired years ago to bask in his riches.”

Inuyasha was slightly shocked by this, but when he thought about it, it made since. The Corsair Scabb was a sea legend that had been going around for the last forty years, and Ian looked about forty himself, which wouldn't make much sense if he was the original.

“Inuyasha my boy,” Ian continued, “I'm through.”

Inuyasha blinked. He had never heard Ian speak his name before.

“I'm afraid I don't follow you...”

“I'm done.” Ian said simply, “I've had my fill of the racketeer's life.”

Realization dawned on Inuyasha.

“So you're...retiring?”

The man nodded, took off his hat, and placed it on Inuyasha's head.

“See you around, captain.”

And he left, just like that.

Inuyasha stood from his seat, but seemed rooted to the spot. He could only watch as Ian Willis walk out the door, and off the ship. He was now the captain. He was the Corsair Scabb. Inuyasha was overcome with a childlike urge to jump on the desk—his desk—and dance around. His heart hammered in his chest as a slow smile worked its way across his face as he realized something else. If he was captain...that meant he got to choose where they went next.

“Where'd the captain go? We're about to set off!” one of the pirates called from the deck when he saw Inuyasha emerge from the captain's chambers. His mouth dropped open when he saw the hat on Inuyasha's head.

“He's retired, so to speak,” Inuyasha said grinning. He knew he wouldn't receive any trouble about Ian's decision from the crew. Ian had often had Inuyasha issue out his orders for him or even make some decisions about where to sail next. It was as if he were planning his retirement for some time.

“Not again...” old Barty mumbled. He was a good natured grouch who had been pirating since the second Corsair Scabb. Inuyasha's demonic hearing caught his comment but knew he didn't mean anything by it.

“Boys!” Inuyasha called out, “We're going to Japan!”

A loud cheer was heard as Hades' Thunder took off into the open, rocky seas.

 

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