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Post by Natoya on Aug 11, 2010 23:34:14 GMT -7
Francine slowly got to her feet, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in her knee. It would heal soon enough, but at the moment it stung. The man had spoken again in a questioning tone, but she still couldn't make anything out. She watched him back away and seized her chance. Turning, Francine fled, though at a slower pace to avoid anymore run-ins with barrels, forgetting her stuffed rabbit in her hurry.
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Vincent was once more in the lead, the lit lamp held aloft as he glanced around for any sign of their missing sibling. Isaria yawned, her sleepiness catching up to her. She hoped to find Francine soon, so that she could go to bed.
"What's that?" Vincent spoke suddenly, startling her.
"What's what?" Isaria asked.
"Sh, listen." As they stood there in the silence, there came the sound of pounding footsteps. Vincent looked back at her, the question showing in his eyes. "Do you think-?" Was all he was able to say before a white blur smacked right into him.
"Ow!"
"Francine!" Isaria rushed forward, kneeling beside her sister who was moaning in pain. Looking her over, Isaria saw that she had skinned her knee. "Are you alright?"
"I'm okay." Francine looked up into the smoldering emerald eyes of her brother, the lamp making his face glow eerily. "Um... I can explain."
"I'm sure you can." Vincent snapped. "But save it. Right now, we're going to bed. And that includes you."
"Wait!" Francine shot to her feet, panic showing in her red eyes. "Big Brother I have to tell you about-!"
"I said save it." Vincent's eyes flashed. "You're in big trouble for even being down here. How many times have I told you this is not a play area?"
"But Big Brother-!"
"No buts." Francine frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. How could she explain what she saw if her brother wouldn't listen to her. She turned to her sister, pleading with her eyes for her to listen to what she had to say.
"Sorry Fran, but Vinny's right. It's off to bed, for all of us. We'll discuss your punishment in the morning."
"But!" Francine was close to giving up, but then something occured to her. Her rabbit! She realized then that she had left it back there on one of the barrels. "I left my rabbit back there!" Francine protested. "And you know I can't sleep without him! Please, let's go get him first!"
"Francine-" Vincent started.
"Vinny, I don't see the harm in grabbing the rabbit. It is true that she can't sleep without him. Let's go." Vincent sighed, being out-numbered, and led the way back towards the barrels. Francine smiled as they neared the place she had just run from. Now she could show her siblings her discovery.
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Post by C H E Y E N N E on Aug 12, 2010 0:29:58 GMT -7
But Marcy had noticed le lapin as well. Breathing quickly, still slightly freaked out from the encountered and the fact that this little girl could and would tell someone about him (he was counting solely on no one believing the girl), the blonde Frenchman reached forward, grabbing the rabbit from the spot where it had been abandoned on the floor. Marcy shuddered as he heard a rat scurry across the wooden planks, and he had to stop himself from whimpering like a girl. He was not afraid of rats, he wasn't... He just really didn't like them, was all. Besides, not liking rats didn't make him unmanly like it would if he was actually afraid of them. Aha. Of course not. Marcy closed his eyes.
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Post by Natoya on Aug 12, 2010 9:59:56 GMT -7
"Over here. I know I left him over here." Francine told her brother, pointing with her index finger.
Vincent frowned as he swung the lamp towards where his sister was pointing, noticing the broken barrels. "Francine, you're in even bigger trouble now. Do you know how many rations we lost thanks to these broken barrels?"
"Oi, the Captian won't be happy about this at all." Isaria mumbled from Vincent's left. Francine ignored them both, gazing around now that there was light. She didn't see the stranger, but she knew he had to be here somewhere. There was also something else she noticed, something that caused her red eyes to tear slightly. Her rabbit wasn't where she had left him.
"I don't see it." Francine took a few steps forward, the light creeping along behind her, so she knew Vincent was following.
"Are you sure you left it here then?" Isaria questioned.
"Of course I did! He must have fallen when I tripped over the barrel." Francine stepped forward a little more and peered behind a barrel. Now that there was light, she could see quite clearly. And what she saw made her gasp and stumble backwards, her siblings rushing forward to see what had spooked her.
"Fran, what is it?" Vincent asked. Francine pointed, and the twins looked in the direction she was pointing, only to see a young man clutching a stuffed rabbit in his hands.
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Post by C H E Y E N N E on Aug 12, 2010 12:03:50 GMT -7
Marcy looked up at them, his eyes dilated in the darkness as his breathing increased. He knew they couldn't see him as well as he could see them, considering he was used to the darkness of the hold, but that didn't help anything. They were English. He was French. Dear God above, they'd think he was some sort of spy! "Umm... Merde. Est-ceci le vôtre? N'importe lequel de vous parle-t-il du français ? Oh, Dieu..." He asked, knowing it was hopeless. They obviously didn't speak French, and he was no linguist. He instead held out the rabbit, his spine stiff. "Le lapin est le vôtre?"
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Post by Natoya on Aug 12, 2010 13:11:25 GMT -7
At first, all the three of them could do was stare. Vincent held his lamp out in front of him, trying to get a better look at the young man. Whoever he was, he was obviously foreign, as Vincent couldn't understand a word the young man was saying. He held out Francine's rabbit, his entire form stiff. He obviously thought they meant him harm.
"Who is he?" Isaria whispered beside him.
"I don't know. I certainly have never seen him before. Could be a stowaway." Vincent replied.
Francine, who still had her red eyes trained on the young man, hesitantly stepped forward, her hand outstretched. "Hey, that belongs to me. Could I have it back?" The little girl waited, her hand still outstretched. She knew he probably hadn't understood a word she just said, but Francine tried to convey her question through her actions and tone, trying not to startle him.
"Francine," Isaria started. "Keep away. We don't know who he is."
"I don't think he's going to hurt her." Vincent cut in. "He looks frightened, and no doubt we're the cause. If he were armed, why not attack us?"
"I suppose you have a point, but we're going to have to report him to the Captain." Isaria told him, turning her head to look at her brother. "Threat or not, he doesn't belong here, and it will be up to the Captian to decide what to do with him."
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Post by C H E Y E N N E on Aug 12, 2010 13:29:59 GMT -7
Marcy, who had slowly walked forward and handed the rabbit to Francine, looked up like a deer caught in a headlight when he heard Isaria's words. He may not understand English, but some words were similar enough. Sea-green eyes widened, he scrambled back, backing into one of the packing crates. "Le capitaine? Non, pas le capitaine, il ne peut pas me trouver ici, Dieu, s'il vous plaît, non ! Je ferai n'importe quoi! S'il vous plaît!" The pleading in his tone was evident, and his eyes were misting over. "Il me tuera! Je suis passager clandestin! J'ai voulu retourner à seulement la France; j'ai voulu trouver seulement mon frère... S'il vous plaît, S'IL VOUS PLAIT ne pas dire le capitaine que je suis ici ! Je ferai n'importe quoi!" He sounded like he was repeating certain phrases, looking like a cornered animal.
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Post by Natoya on Aug 12, 2010 13:54:01 GMT -7
Francine accepted her rabbit back, a thank you on the tip of her tongue, but the stranger's sudden fright took her by surprise, the words dying before they left her lips. She clutched her rabbit to her chest, her heart clenching as the stranger began to plead, and she looked back at her siblings, who were also watching him, their own eyes wide.
"Vincent, what do we do?" Isaria murmured.
"I don't know. He seems to have understood who we want to take him to, and now I'm fully convinced he's a stowaway." Vincent couldn't help the sympathy he suddenly felt as he watched the young man's eyes mist over. The poor fella looked so frightened and he seemed to be pleading with them in that foreign language of his, no doubt begging them not to tell anyone he was here, if the word capitaine meant what he thought that it might.
"He doesn't seem like he would hurt anyone, but we still can't leave him down here." In Isaria's mind the logic was simple. Threat or not, he needed to be reported, or they could very well be in trouble themselves.
"No one has to know we found him." Francine suddenly piped up, having been silent during their small discussion. Isaria looked down at her disapprovingly, but Francine was determined to have her say and she continued.
"We won't get in trouble if no one knows we found him first. It won't be helped if someone else finds him, but for now, couldn't we just pretend we never saw him?" Francine's eyes held sympathy, something that Vincent could relate to.
"If we leave him here, it's only a matter of time before someone else will find him, but I don't think we could hide him anywhere else." Vincent stroked his chin, his forest green eyes distant as he thought.
"How is he going to be fed?" Isaria put her hands on her hips, her own forest green eyes hard with mounting anger. How could her siblings even think of not turning a stowaway in?! That was treason to the Captain in her mind. "And mind you, we're going to be needing those rations, some of which someone," Isaria leveled a glare at her sister. "Has broken."
"But he hasn't hurt us!" Francine declared, pleading with her sister with her eyes and tone. "And he's so scared!"
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Post by C H E Y E N N E on Aug 12, 2010 14:03:54 GMT -7
Marcy was murmuring under his breath, too quiet for anyone to hear. He didn't know what they were saying--didn't know if they were plotting ways to turn him in or something else. God, if the captain found a stowaway... Marcy shook his head and took a deep, shuddering breath. He had never missed his homeland as much as he did now; had never missed the large sprawling grounds of his mother's mansion and the fresh scent of the gardens. The gossamer canopies felt like dreams, and he absently reached forward, as if he could still feel the silk under his fingertips. Closing his eyes, the Frenchman turned to look at the side of the hull before he noticed a small glint--the sapphire and ruby necklace set in white gold he wore around his neck had come untucked from the loose white shirt he wore. He fiddled with it once before freezing, remembering the pirates. Quickly tucking it back under his shirt, the gold felt pleasantly warm against his skin, and he seemed to calm down a little bit. "Le capitaine... Que fera-t-il s'il découvre je suis ici?" He seemed to be questioning himself; his voice had gone soft, quiet; absent as his body slumped in defeat. He turned to the three pirates: the little girl, the older woman, and the man. His eyes shone lightly in the darkness, and now he just looked tired. "Je suis si fatigué... a fatigué si de cacher... a fatigué d'être faible... a fatigué de pas être capable de faire une chose FICHUE à se défendre!" Dulcet tones ended in a harsh snap by the time he had finished speaking then, and he stared defiantly at them. A thought flickered through his mind then, only serving to make him even more determined. I'm not going down without a fight ever again.
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Post by Natoya on Aug 12, 2010 14:19:01 GMT -7
Isaria opened her mouth to counter what her sister had said, but she closed it again when she heard the foreigner start to speak. Even Francine had fallen silent.
The stranger looked tired for a moment, but his aura quickly changed as his eyes hardened against them, clearly showing defiance. Clearly he thought they were set to harm him. Isaria glimpsed Vincent stiffen out of the corner of her eye, her brother also sensing the threat.
"Hey, listen." Vincent held a hand in front of him, trying to soothe the foreigner before he misunderstood their intentions any further. "No one is going to hurt you." Unless he decides to get physical, Vincent thought. He looked the stranger over, thinking he might be able to handle him, but he knew that if the man was desperate enough, he might stand no chance.
"Vincent, he can't understand us." Isaria told him, though he already knew that. He was merely hoping he could soothe the man with his tone. "Vincent, listen. He can't understand us, so he thinks we're out to hurt him. We need to take him away from here, so we can figure this mess out."
"He doesn't want us to tell!" Francine protested behind her. Isaria whirled on her, her eyes hard.
"I could tell that much, but have some common sense Francine-!"
"Enough!" Vincent snapped. "First we calm him down. Then we worry about the rest. I'd rather avoid a fight if it's possible."
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Post by C H E Y E N N E on Aug 12, 2010 14:23:05 GMT -7
"Ne pas me toucher ! J'ai eu... J'ai eu..." It seemed he was going through phases. Desolation, anger, then back to the blank bleakness. "J'ai eu assez de gens... me touchant." He backed away from Vincent then, eyeing the taller male. He was again thankful for the darkness... they could not truly see how small he was, and how much he had weakened since being taken from France.
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Post by Natoya on Aug 12, 2010 14:42:35 GMT -7
Vincent sighed, watching the foreigner back away. What should he do? The man was frightened, and who knew what he would do if he was presented with a threat. If he left him here and someone else found him, more then likely it wouldn't be as pleasant an encounter.
"Vincent, we should take him to the brig." Isaria told him. Francine gave a cry of protest at her suggestion.
"No! He'll get the wrong idea!" The little white haired girl stomped her foot in childish anger. Vincent mulled over his sister's words. Francine had a point; locking him up would give him the wrong idea, but there wasn't anywhere else they could keep him that was remotely safe and to where he wouldn't get away before they could question him. Sure there was really no where one could run on a ship, but still. Surely he could figure out a way to amend this once he spoke to the Captain.
"Fine, the brig it is." Vincent agreed. He took a step forward, extending his hand, trying to appear peaceful. "Listen, I need you to come with me." Vincent motioned with his hand, trying to get his meaning across. "Understand? Come with me."
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Post by C H E Y E N N E on Aug 12, 2010 14:47:43 GMT -7
"Non! Le cochon anglais, m'éviter!" Marcy hissed, panicking when he felt wood behind him and could go no further.
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Post by Natoya on Aug 12, 2010 14:51:12 GMT -7
Vincent sighed again, his own fatigue starting to catch up with him. He was sleepy, and he felt his patience slowly begin to slip as the stranger once more backed up, evading his hand. Vincent strode forward quickly then, reaching out for the foreigner.
"Vinny, be nice!" Francine snapped behind him. "Don't you dare hurt him!"
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Post by C H E Y E N N E on Aug 12, 2010 14:53:06 GMT -7
Marcy's eyes dilated. "Ne pas me toucher!" He snapped, suddenly lapsing back and repeating the phrase several times, shying away from the slightly older man. "Non..."
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Post by Natoya on Aug 12, 2010 14:56:38 GMT -7
Vincent's eyes flashed as the man protested in that foreign language of his, shying away from him. He understood he didn't want to be touched, but neither of them really had a choice in the matter at the moment. Vincent grabbed his arm and leaned in, their eyes meeting.
"Now, I'll give you two choices. Come easy, or we do this the hard way. What's it going to be?"
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