Other Fan Fiction ❯ The Treasure of Oritemp ❯ part IV ( Chapter 4 )

Sirius was at his desk, though the rum was nowhere to be seen. He was staring down at his maps, though his eyes didn't seem to be seeing them, as if he had other things on his mind. Arianna lays down, her back to him, and keeps the blanket hugged around her small frame as she starts to shiver slightly. Damn cold nights, she thinks crossly. Sirius looks over his shoulder at her, his expression blank.

“You look nice,” he says softly.

“Uh… thank you,” she murmurs, “Though I'm cold as hell.”

Sirius takes a moment, but gets to his feet and goes to his closet, pulling out a large wool blanket. There was a design of a great many different birds woven into it. He brings her the blanket and lays it over her.

“Use this…” he says before heading back to his desk.

She was confused, but thankful for the warmth.

“I… appreciate this,” she says softly, “But… why aren't you… um… your maps I mean… and the rum…”

“I feel like a change tonight…” was all he said as he sat back down and lays his head in his hands.

“Then… um… maybe you shouldn't sleep at… your desk?”

“Please… don't argue with me right now… not now.”

“Alright.”

She snuggles under the blanket more and closes her eyes, about ready to doze off. Sirius was quiet the rest of the night, other than his even breathing as he fell asleep at his desk. Arianna woke up around three and noticed him at his desk, which made her frown.

“Great, again with the damn desk,” she grumbles, but she didn't move from the warmth of the blanket.

Sirius shifted at the sound of her voice, even though it was pretty low. He woke up a moment later and holds his head in his hands. She was staring at him, hoping he would not notice, but also wishing he'd just use the damn bed. His shoulders rise and fall as he seems to sob softly into his hands. She was confused as she slowly slips out of bed and went over to him. Hesitantly, she slipped her arms around him in a soft but firm hug. Sirius, surprisingly, hugs her back and cries into her shoulder. She rubs his back lightly and rests her chin on the top of his head. She made meaningless sounds that she thought would sooth him. Sirius, after a moment, pushes her away firmly, but still being gentle.

“I can't stand it anymore…” he says. He pulls his pistol from his belt and holds it to his head before sighing. “I can't…”

Her eyes went wide and she dropped the blanket from herself as she grabbed the pistol.

“Don't!” She exclaimed, “That's not the answer!”

She kept her hand firmly on his long after she had the pistol in hand.

“Please don't,” she said more softly, her voice pleading.

“Why? The crew is saying I'm crazy, that I'll never find the treasure, that it's just a story… Maybe their right, and if they are, what do I live for?” Sirius says softly before reaching for his pistol again.

She wasn't thinking at all when she pushed his hand away and covered his mouth with her own. Sirius kisses her back, but only for a moment before gently pushing her away again.

“What are you doing… why?” he asks softly.

“Because despite the fact you seem to be an ass… you are also very kind and I couldn't help but fall for who you are. I don't care if you are a pirate… you have more moral than most.”

“But… I can't stand you… You whine you annoy me; you bother me when I work and you interrupt how I try to live… I don't deserve any of this, nor do I deserve you…”

She was silent for a moment before she spoke.

“If you think that… then drop me off at the next port and I won't bother you anymore,” she said, feeling as if someone tore her heart out and stomped on it.

“I'm not finished… You talk a lot, you tried to take my rum, and you turned my best friend on me… and I can't stand it… but… I want you around… and I don't know why…”

“The negative seems to out weight the positive,” she murmurs.

“Positive? I don't remember ever listing any positive things… or am I drunk again?”

“Okay, it's all negative and there is no positive, so there is no reason for me to stay, is there?”

“Yes there is… I want you here…”

“You just told me you can't stand me.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, trying to ignore how cold she was becoming because she left the blanket on the bed.

“I don't know how to explain it… You annoy the hell out of me… but somehow… it's better than the nothing that I felt before,” Sirius says, his tone sounding defeated.

“Well… I don't know… cause watching you sleep at that desk bugs me because I worry about your health even though I didn't want to.”

Sirius looks her in the eyes for a moment.

“Then… I'll sleep in my bed,” he says in defeat.

“Are you… sure?” she asks carefully, “I mean… that… I'd have to find somewhere else to sleep which I don't mind…”

“No… stay in the bed… I won't make you move.”

She blushed, but nodded her head.

“Alright… well… I'm going back to sleep then,” she says, making her way to the bed.

Sirius follows her and lies down on his back on the opposite side of the bed than her. A bit nervous, she slept with her back to him and slipped under the wool blanket. Sirius was asleep almost immediately, his breathing evening out. Once she was sure he was asleep, she inched closer to him until she was snuggled into his side as she fell back asleep.

The next morning, Sirius woke up for the first time in a long time, without a headache. He looked over to Arianna, who was asleep at his side, though he remembered laying down away from her. He decided not to move, letting her sleep. A couple minutes passed before she woke up, her eyes fluttering open as she yawned and stretched out. She froze mid stretch when she noticed she had moved so close to Sirius that her body pressed against his as she did so. Sirius, not knowing what to say, sat up and sat on the edge of the bed, facing away from her.

“Uh… I'm sorry,” she murmurs, slowly sitting up and looking at his back just as someone knocked.

A moment later, one of the crew members opened the door and saw that the two were in the same bed, so he backed up a bit so he was behind the door.

“Sir, we have spotted land,” he says.

“Thank you. I'll be out soon,” he says, not looking at the man. The crewman looks at Arianna for a moment before leaving and closing the door.

“I think he got the wrong idea,” she murmurs, slipping out of the bed and trying to find normal clothes for her to wear, “Crap, I think I forgot to grab a change of Male clothes.”

“None of my cloths will fit you…” Sirius says.

“Do you have a long coat I could use to hide the dress?”

“In my closet…”

She nodded and went over to his closet and pick out a coat before brushing out her hair. She tied it up with a leather strip and slipped on the coat. Sirius stands and walks to his desk, leaning on it. He seemed unsure of what to say or do. His shoulders were stiff. Arianna noticed how stiff he was and walks up to him.

“Are you okay?” she asks.

Sirius, looks at her a moment before sighing.

“I'm frustrated, and I don't know why… Last night… I don't know what's up with me…” he says softly.

“Maybe I shouldn't have… admitted how I was feeling at that moment,” she says, “Plus, that guy is probably telling everyone that you slept with me.”

Sirius's face seemed to redden a bit before he snorts.

“Ridiculous. I'll have him set straight,” he says.

“Because you wouldn't do that anyway, would you?” she murmurs before shrugging and offering a small smile, “I'm going to… go to work now.”

She left the cabin and didn't look at anyone as she stopped in the dinning hall to get some food then she went straight to work. She was working on about her second sword within an hour before she heard a couple of the crew members by the stairs.

“Yeah, he said that te' two were in th' bed when he opened the door,” one of them says.

“So h' was only keepin' th' lass for himself then?” the second questions.

Arianna put her head down as she continued to work, purposely making her noise louder so she could drown them out. To lost in the noise of her work, she didn't hear them when they came down, or went behind her for that matter. One of them grabs her from behind and yanked her hair back.

“So lass, did you enjoy yer night with the Captain?” he asks, his grip yanking her head back.

“Let me go,” she murmurs, gripping onto her hammer.

“Aw, c'mon little girl. Do te' me what ye did te' the Captain,” the one who had her hair said, his tongue trailing up her neck. The other man chuckles and grabs her arm that had the hammer.

“I didn't do anything with him,” she says, trying to pull out of their grip, but they had years over her, “Just let me go.”

The one who had her arm backhanded her across the face.

“Talk back te' us and ye'll get hurt girly,” he snaps.

“Not before you get hurt.” Sirius had come up behind the man and placed his pistol to the back of his head and pulled the trigger, causing the shot to fly out of the front of his head.

She let out a cry of surprise and tried to get out of the seconds man grip, but he was bolder and refused to let her go.

“Why won't you share?” the man asks as he yanked her head back even more forcefully.

Sirius pulls his sword, the sword Arianna made him, out and holds the tip towards the man.

“She is not mine to `share' with anyone. But I swear if you don't let her go, you won't be much better off than that piece of shit on my ship's floor,” he threatens, his body seeming to radiate pure authority and anger.

Skillfully, the man pulled Arianna in front of him and made sure she could not move her arms or her feet. Sirius's coat ends up slipping off of her a bit, revealing the blue dress she was wearing and the male seemed to smirk.

“Please… just let me go,” she asks softly, tears in her eyes.

The man yanks back on her hair to keep her quiet.

“If you hurt her again, you won't leave this room alive!” Sirius shouts at the man.

She found she couldn't keep the tears from sliding down her cheeks as she struggled against the man.

“LET ME GO!” she shouts.

The man pulls out a gun and puts it to her head.

“Keep quiet!” he shouts. Just as he did, so, Sirius's sword goes through the man's face.

The moment the man fell to the ground, Arianna found herself curled up in a ball on the floor of the ship, shaking uncontrollably as she cried. Sirius was next to her in an instant, holding her while she cried, though he was unsure of why he was doing it. She clung to him as she did so, her face buried in his chest as her hands fisted his shirt. Argus, and several other men, came running down the stairs, hearing all of the noise. Upon seeing the two dead men, he orders that the men with him toss the two dead overboard. It took her a little bit to compose herself, but when she did, she released Sirius.

“I'm… I'm sorry…” she says, “I thought I could handle them.”

She wiped her cheeks, trying to get rid of the wetness that was still there.

“Didn't I tell you… that I wasn't going to be there all the time to baby sit you?” Sirius asks his hands on her shoulders. “Maybe I should…”

“Maybe you should what?” she asks, looking up at him.

“Keep my eyes on you… at all times. You seem to draw trouble to you like a man to a whore.”

“I don't mean to.”

As she spoke, she shook her head.

“Plus, you have so much you have to do on the ship, how would you be able to keep an eye on me?” she asks.

“You will stay by my side at all times, and leave only when I tell you, you can.”

“B-but I'm not done with the swords! I have ten more to do and then there is still the extra shots I have to make!”

“The crew will make do without swords and shots for the time being. What would you rather do; make swords and be harassed and possibly worse while I'm not here, or have me be around to make sure that my men keep away from you?” Sirius asks, his eyes scrutinizing hers.

“Alright fine… I'll do what you want,” she murmurs.

“Good. Now on your feet. We will make port shortly,” Sirius says, standing.

She stood up slowly and fixed the coat around her as she followed him. She kept her head down as she followed, but stayed close to him before hesitantly reaching out to grab his hand, only to stop and drop her hand.

“All hands! Make ready to port!” Sirius shouted as they came up the stairs.

He walked up the stairs to the wheel and whispered something in Argus' ear, which he nodded in response. Arianna stayed behind him slightly and watched what was going on, rubbing her arms slightly before sitting on the floor. Not much longer later, the ship made port at a small port. The name “Black Island” was appropriate, as the surrounding buildings and huts were all made of black stone and other materials. She immediately latched onto Sirius when they made port and she refused to let go. She didn't like the feel of the place and she also wanted some new clothes.

“Calm down,” Sirius says, his hand taking gentle but firm hold of her arm.

“I'm scared,” she murmurs, “I don't like the feel of this place… is this a pirate's island?”

“Of course… but there are others here who aren't exactly pirates that I seek help from…”

“Alright… can I get some clothes at least?”

She felt a little relaxed by the fact that Sirius had some form of hold on her, but she was still tense. Sirius, Arianna and Argus all left the ship. Sirius guided them to a small, black hut off to the side of the port town. Sirius knocked on the door gently and there seemed to be footsteps coming from inside.

“Enter,” the raspy voice says from the other side. Sirius pushes the door open, revealing a dark room, lit only by a few candles. There was a small old woman, sitting behind a round table. He eyes were blindfolded, signifying that she was obviously blind.