InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Synthetic Twilight ❯ VIII ( Chapter 8 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

"You put down that plank and lemme board the ship this instant! I dinnae come all this way fer a job to be left at th' port, you hear me?!" shouted a very short, stout woman while stomping her brown leather booted feet in puddles on the docks.
"Maybe if we all duck down and be very quiet, she'll go away," whispered a bald, lanky youth that went by Jameson, though no one really remembered his real name. There were a couple of chuckles to that and a few men even ducked down afterwards.
A very handsome (or so the girls chasing the man at every port would make it appear) Spanish Moor climbed up one of the ship's mast and answered back in heavily accented english, "Ah, Lina! So good of you to see us off! Say hello to Cookie for us!" The group gave a collective sigh of relief and went back to prepare to set off the next morning.
"I ain't seeing you off nowhere, you brute! Cookie told me of yer opennin' and I aim to fill it!" the woman drew her hands into fists at her sides and kept stomping.
"Liiiiiina, Lina, you know 'is bad luck to have a woman on board on such a long journey. The sea, she gets jealous!" the man answered back, swinging on some of the netting that was hanging. He paused and winked at some girls behind Lina.
Lina, meanwhile, turned around to glare at the swooning girls for a moment before continuing her tirade, "I'll show you bad luck, 'Milo! You leave me here in this damn port and I'll curse your ship so bad, the sea'll heave the lot of you right out of it! I'll have it to where you'll know nothing but rain and jellyfish along your whole route! I hope you all get scurvy! Dysentery-"
"Now, now, Lina" Emilo said, jumping from his spot and walking up to the railing to face the upset woman, "you wouldn't really wish all that on us, would you?"
"Lemme on that fucking ship NOW!" a missionary crossed himself as he passed by. "Ah, blow it out yer arse, padre. That beast is deserving! 'Milo, you mark me, I'll curse you!"
Emilo sighed, "Let the wench on, or she'll haunt us the whole way."
Benjamin, whom everyone on board refered to as "Bull", paused from letting down the plank "You sure about this, boss? I mean, I know you're first mate, but I think the Capt'n won't be happy when he sees a woman here."
Emilo looked down at the big, heavily muscled man and shrugged, "We'll just have to tell him the truth; That woman is of Cookie's stock and no matter how hard we try, she's not going to leave us alone. God help the man she eventually sinks her claws into, the little harpy."
"I heard that, you weasel! Put down tha' damn plank now!"
Bull laughed and dropped the plank down to the dock, "Alright, woman, up you go! You're a better cook than Cookie, aren't you?"
Lina blushed and batted her eyes at the large man, "I taught him how meself a few years before 'e set of with you lot!" she said proudly.
Emilo turned a shade of green, "Lord, she's worse than I feared."


Inuyasha walked beside Fernam Pinto through the crowded streets of the port city, they had just finished selling off the last of the merchandice they had brought with them from Japan and even secured a large order of silk from a wealthy merchant who was paying them a hefty price for their troubles. Fernam whistled merrily at the cheery clink of gold lining his pockets that served as a down payment. "Inuyasha, I must thank you for that sword demonstration you gave back at the armory. Those englishmen's eyes nearly popped out of their heads and they bought every last one of them!" He chuckled.
Inuyasha shrugged, "You know those katana aren't capable of doing what my sword can do, if you ever see them again, you'll have a group of angry men on your hands."
"Ah, but there's where you come in, my dear boy! You seem to be compelled to go into the fights that no sane man would dare to enter headfirst. Which reminds me," the man said, stroking his full beard thoughtfully. "Now, I'm letting you in on this early since you're a free agent of sorts, I know the rest of the crew will be behind me- When we get back from Japan, Spain has offered me a new galleon called the Clarius that we're going to be taking down to the new world and collecting the gold and silver and new spices that conquistadors have been making the natives dig up. This isn't going to be a pleasure cruise by any means, Spain's paying so well because the loot is worth it and it's extremely dangerous out there. The jungles are thick, the water rough, and the natives aren't very pleasant. Sounds like fun, eh?!" he finished, elbowing Inuyasha gently in the sides. "Well in any case, you have a few months to think it over. We'll be docked in Kagoshima Port for a few weeks before heading back, so you can take time to visit relatives or whatever it is you do when you disappear of to who knows where."
Dangerous? Check! Very far away from Sesshomaru? Check! Inuyasha stopped walking, "Capt'n Fernam, sign me on. I just need those weeks to do check on something, with your permission."
Fernam grinned and slapped Inuyasha on the back, "I knew you'd come! As soon as we come into the port, you're free to go, I sent word to Anjiro that I'd need his assistance with the merchants this time. Excellent, excellent! Well we should be turning in, we weigh anchor early tomorrow!"
Fernam stopped and stared at the line of his men with fishing poles hanging over the side of his ship.
"Catch me a good few fat ones boys! I don't aim to be cookin' beans everyday! Salted fish might not sound apealin' right now, but you give it a few days and you'll swear on yer ma's good name it's better than Christmas ham!"
"Emilo," Fernam said, pointing at the small woman ordering around his crew like she owned the ship, "who is she, and what the hell is she doing on my ship!"
"That," Emilo said, gesturing to Lina, "is the replacement Cookie promised before he left us for his wedding. The harpy is his younger sister, and you can try to run the little wench off, but I promise you, none of us will leave the port well rested in the morning."
"I kind of fancy her," Bull said smiling.
"That's why she's bad luck! Throw her off!" Fernam shouted.
The woman's orders were cut off abruptly, "Eh? Wot?"
Jameson came over and shushed them nervously, "She'll hear! Capt'n she said she'd curse us all somethin' fierce if we didn't take her and-"
"Don't shush me on my own ship, Jameson, or I swear I'll throw you off instead!" Fernam roared.
Inuyasha shook his head at the mismatched group that he had spent the last two years of his life with. Fernam had collected an eclectic bunch of people from ports worldwide as he tried to discover new trading routes. All of them were good, reliable people and all were expierenced seafarers, though clashes like these between the crew were not uncommon. "Good night, Capt'n Fernam, I'm turning in."
"Useless! The lot of you! Useless! I'm throwing you all off of my ship and getting an all Japanese crew when we get to Kagoshima! You hear me? Woman, if that brother of yours is still at the port in India, I'm going to find him and beat him senseless with the biggest piece of wood I can carry." Fernam yelled. "You can stay only because we don't have time to find another cook, but when we return here, you're off. I suggest you make plans for whatever reentry you can manage into society."
Lina chortled "Hah! Society he says!" She mocked a curtsey at the captain, to show the drab brown color of her skirt that most of the underclass englishwomen wore, "When I'm done 'ere Capt'n, you'll be beggin' me to stay!"
Inuyasha smiled at the ceiling above his hammock. He had already decided, when they reached Japan, he'd finally give Sesshomaru the prize that he'd been after for years, the Tetsusaiga, and he'd never return again.



AN: For the record; I heart Lina.
I just realized that I've been sticking little bits into the story that I haven't really acknowledged. So! For this chapter:
Fernam Pinto is the old portuguese spelling of Fernão Mendes Pinto, who was a Portuguese explorer. He claimed to be the one who first introduced guns to the Japanese.
The Clarius is a Spanish galleon that sunk off of the coast of Ecuador in 1594.
Pinto and the Clarius are not linked in anyway historically, Pinto died eleven years earlier. However, since this is fiction, I've stomped all over history. Hurray!
Thank you for stopping by, and extra thanks to those who took their time to review!
I do not own any of the characters from the manga/anime Inuyasha.