Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Burning Sea ❯ The Crew ( Chapter 4 )

Burning Sea

hato-chiisai

YAOI WARNING

Disclaimer: If you know what a disclaimer is, you know what I'm about to say, so there's no point in saying it. If you DON'T know what a disclaimer is, then shame on you. Get out of here.

Chapter 4

The Crew

Ryou blinked, when the sun shone in his eyes as he followed Marik onto the deck of the ship.

"Welcome to the Black Magician." Marik said, and Ryou looked around. The ship was indeed black, and the crew was all over the place, most of them napping. At least until Yami strode across the deck. Then, they all woke just long enough to greet the captain before going back to sleep.

"Umm.... hello, Ryou." A familiar voice said. Ryou looked down and stared. It was Mokuba, the cabin boy on his father's ship!

"M-mokuba!" Ryou gasped. "You're alive!" Mokuba nodded sadly, and Ryou knelt. "They haven't hurt you, have they?" Mokuba looked at his feet.

"Why would they?" He said. "If you knew the truth, YOU'D be the one hurting me..."

"What? Why?" Ryou asked, confused. A shadow fell over him, and he slowly looked up, at a tall pirate, with brown hair and blue eyes, glaring down at him. Ryou gulped, and stood.

"Ryou...." Mokuba said. "This is my brother, Seto." Ryou blinked, as his mind pieced all of this together. "I poisoned the lookout on the Lady of Faith." Mokuba confessed. Ryou's eyes widened, and he slowly backed away.

"You, you poisoned......" He whimpered. "You're one of them! You were all along, weren't you?!" Anger crept into Ryou's voice, and Mokuba nodded.

"Afraid so. I never wanted to hurt you, Ryou. I, I really do like you." The little boy confessed, and Seto smirked. Ryou glared at Mokuba.

"You're nothing but a cold hearted bastard, Mokuba. And I hate you...." Ryou snarled. Seto's eyes widened, dangerously, and he raised his hand, striking Ryou to the ground, and standing over him.

"Don't you dare speak to my brother like that." Seto snarled, dangerously. Ryou raised his eyes to Seto's.

"You have no right to order me around." He snapped. Seto narrowed his eyes, and lifted his foot under Ryou's ribs. Ryou yelped, and Marik hurried over.

"SETO! Enough!" Marik snarled, as Malik and Yugi dropped to their knees by Ryou.

"You listen to me, boy." Seto snarled at Ryou. "You keep up that attitude and you'll get a slit throat by the end of the week!" Ryou stumbled to his feet, and glared at Seto.

"And what makes you think I care?" He snarled. Seto simply smirked, and turned, walking away, with Mokuba on his heels. Ryou, Malik, Marik and Yugi turned at a clapping, and a tall boy with blonde hair, and honey colored eyes stepped forwards, smirking.

"Brilliant." He said, looking at Ryou. "The one an' only thing that gets Seto mad, is when he's protectin' his brother. You just had to go an' get onto his bad side, didn't you, kid? Of everyone on the whole ship, he's one of the ones you do NOT want as your enemy."

"Nobody asked you, Jono." Marik said, and Jono shrugged.

"Jus' tellin' `im how it is around here, Marik. After all, we've all seen Seto get mad. Oh, kid, I wouldn't suggest pissin off Otogi, either. He can get pretty mean too."

"What about me?" They all turned at the entrance of a pale boy with long black hair, and bright green eyes.

"Ah, this Bakura look-a-like just pissed off yer boyfriend." Jono said, gesturing to Ryou. Otogi smirked.

"Congratulations." He said. "You have 24 hours to live." The two laughed and walked off.

"T-twenty four hours to.... live?" Yugi gulped. Marik smirked.

"They're just trying to scare you. But I'd suggest you all hold your tongues. Now C'mon. Tris is at the helm." They followed Marik up above the captain's cabin to where the wheel of the ship was. A tall boy with dark brown hair and eyes watched them approach.

"Marik." He said, nodding a greeting, which MArik returned.

"Tris." He said. "How is everything?"

"Fine. Smooth waters and a healthy breeze. If this keeps up, we should make it home within a week." Marik nodded his approval.

"Good. Maybe even get some more loot on the way." Tris grinned.

"It's been a fruitful trip."

"Absolutely. Lots of goods in the hold, and three new crew members."

"If you're referring to us," Malik snapped. "Don't count your chickens before they hatch." Tris laughed, and looked a the three captives.

"Funny you should say that." He said. "That's exactly what I said when I was taken prisoner a year or so ago." The three boys' eyes widened. Tris gestured to the crew all over the ship. "Many of us started out just like you. Prisoners, that eventually joined the crew. Of our own free will. And we've never regretted that decision."

"I'll bet the guys you killed last night did." Ryou snarled. Tris nodded.

"They weren't prisoners. They joined the crew from other pirates, hoping for a share of the loot we get. But their loyalty isn't worth shit. Only a few on this ship can be considered loyal, and the funny thing is, they were all prisoners one time, just like you."

"Who?" Yugi asked, shyly.

"Well, me, Jono, Otogi, Seto and Mokuba...." Tris listed. "Mai, Ishizu, they're the only women on the ship, other than Tea, ummm......"

"Espa, Mako...." Marik continued, thinking. "... And Rex and Weevil. Though I seriously doubt THEIR loyalty.... That's pretty much it."

"Women?!" Malik had gasped. Marik nodded.

"Yes. Well, only Mai and Ishizu are actually members of the crew."

"What about Tea?" Ryou asked. Marik smirked.

"She's the crew's whore." Silence followed that remark. "We men have our needs, and she's here to satisfy them. Of her own choice, of course."

"Uhh...... What about Mai and Ishizu?" Malik asked. Marik grinned.

"The last man who made a move on them can no longer be considered a man. He's....."

"Missing a few pieces." Tris finished, with a chuckle. "Then went to sleep with the fish." The three prisoners let out little `eep!'s and their eyes got very wide.

"Speak f the devil." Marik said, and grinned, and the pair of women coming towards them, hand in hand.

"Jono was right....." The blonde said., running curious fingers through Malik's hair, while Ishizu placed her fingers under Ryou's chin, lifting his face up for inspection. "They ARE cute....." Ishizu smirked.

"I'll bet you boys will have a lot of fun with these three. Has Bakura taken this one to bed yet?" Ryou's eyes got even larger, and he backed away from the woman, quickly. Marik snorted.

"I think he'd rather kill him, at this point. They aren't exactly getting along, but we'll see."

"I'd rather BE killed......" Ryou snarled. Ishizu laughed.

"Take that attitude with Bakura, and you WILL be!"

"I'll bet the captain loves his little catch...." Mai said, ruffling Yugi's hair.

"He does." Marik said, and winked at Yugi.

"He going to keep them?"

"I believe that is his intention." Marik said, nodding, and Mai smiled, then bent over, and planted a kiss on each of the three prisoners' cheeks.

"Welcome to the crew." She said, and followed Ishizu back towards the stern. Ryou scowled.

"Whatever..." He snarled. Marik grinned.

"C'mere." He said, and put an arm around Ryou's shoulders. "Tris, amuse these two for a moment." He said, gesturing to Yugi and Malik. He guided Ryou away from any people, and lifted him up, sitting him on the railing of the ship. He took the boy's hands.

"Listen to me. We don't want to hurt you. We want you to trust us." Ryou scowled, and looked away. Marik laid a hand on Ryou's cheek. "Look at me, Ryou." He commanded, and slowly, Ryou obeyed. "Little one, this is your home, now. And... as much as you may hate it, WE are your family. I can tell you, truthfully, that Yami feels horrible for killing your father. When he selected the Lady of Faith as a target, he didn't know that the captain had a son. He always tries to target those who have no one close to them, as many sailors do. He knew that your father's wife was dead, but he didn't know that they had any children. He didn't know that you, or your friends, would be there. You took us by surprise, little one." Marik smiled gently, and Ryou searched his eyes, and saw only sincerity, and that seemed to frighten him even more. "We do not kill women and children. If we come across a ship with women and children, we do not sink the vessel, and leave them with a few men who have the ability to sail them safely to a port. If we had known of you, and your friends, we would have never targeted the Lady of Faith."

"So..." Ryou began. "You choose your targets before they leave the port. And you plant Mokuba as a cabin boy, and he kills the look out...." Marik nodded.

"That is one way we work. It's far too.... tedious to simply sail and come across victims by chance. So many of out victims were selected before they sailed, and we followed."

"But.... Isn't Mokuba in danger?"

"He is good at what he does. Now... Please. Do you think you can try to forgive us for what we've done? If we could make it right, we could. But... we can't. And we're sorry."

"And who is this `we'?"

"Well, me, Yami, Bakura,"

"Not likely."

"Heh. He tries to act like a tough guy, and often comes off as an ass. Don't be afraid of him. I doubt he'll hurt you. When he realizes what he forced you to witness, he will come around. I promise." Marik put his hands on Ryou's shoulders and stared him in the eyes. "Please give us a chance to prove to you that we are not the heartless bastards you see us as. We want to be your family, now. If you will let us." Ryou stared deep into Marik's eyes, and again, saw only sincerity. He felt his bottom lip tremble, and saw the gentle pity in the pirates eyes.

"Come here...." Marik whispered, and pulled Ryou into his chest, where the boy cried. Malik and Yugi slowly approached, watching Marik rock Ryou, gently. "Shhh..... It's okay........" Marik murmured, and looked at Malik and Yugi, smiling at them as he stroked Ryou's hair. After a few minutes, Ryou sat back, and rubbed his eyes.

"You okay?" Marik asked, and Ryou nodded. Marik smiled, and set Ryou on his feet. "Good. You must be hungry. I'll take you three to get something to eat." The three hungry boys eagerly followed the tall pirate, jogging to keep up with his long strides.

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Next chapter will be pretty short, but chapter 6 will make up for it. Review people!!!