Private Tales Reckoning

[Mako]

Mako didn't say anything, well, that was wrong, he didn't think anything.

There wasn't any time to process what was going on. No time to demand answers or ask what Emilie was doing here. All that he could do was rush forward and out of the crowd. His arm wrapped around Em, pulling her close as he suddenly launched himself into a full on run.

His boot fell, and something seemed to happen.

It was like a strange wave, an odd affect. A good eye might have caught it, the briefest purple spark that seemed to flutter over the ground. It rushed from Mako's foot, and suddenly burst outward.

Then the crowd in front of them parted.

Not in the sense of people stepping aside, not someone giving them leeway. Instead it seemed that coincidence itself seemed to fall directly into his line. A man standing in their way received a punch to the face. An orc brandishing a knife stabbing for Emilie had his legs taken out from beneath him. An ogress reaching to grab Mako found a mug tossed into her face.

Everytime something was nearly in their way, every single time, something would stop them.

 

[Emilie]

Emilie was more exhausted than she realised, the fight to rise above the crushing crowd had weakened her muscles to the point of failure and she clung to Mako as tightly as she could as her legs shook under her weight. She felt something wet against her side and glanced down, the sting of a slash on her side registering as soon as she noticed the wet patch of crimson and she growled to herself.

She flinched and ducked as blows came at her, but out of sheer luck, nothing seemed to connect. Some semblance of a path was cleared as they stumbled through the bar and out into the alleyway. She broke away from him and fell against the wall, her fingers splaying on the cool stone as she dragged in a few deep and grateful breaths.

 

[Mako]

The loose wooden door slammed shut behind him, Mako giving no resistance as Emilie slipped from his grasp and onto the cool stone wall.

He glanced around for just a brief moment, scooping up a small pipe on the ground and jamming it into the handle of the door so that it could not be pulled open again. Then he simply squatted down, his head hanging between his knees as he let out quick ragged breaths.

Fuck. He swore in his head.

Bloody knuckles swept through his hair. That was a close one.

He'd almost gone down. Three fights, half a night, and eventually he would have reached his tipping point. He was certain it would have happened sooner rather than later if Emilie hadn't intervened.

 

[Emilie]

She took a moment to breathe, her hand pressing to the cut on her side and coming away glistening with warm blood, but not enough to be too worried. She turned to press her back against the wall and she slid down to sit and let her fingers run into her hair as she cradled her head and tried to ignore the pain as her shoulder chimed in with another burning reminder.

Eventually she lifted her gaze to Mako with a sharp huff. "You're welcome." she muttered bitterly, her nose wrinkling as she looked over the beaten state he was in. "Men. You're all fucking savages." she spat, lifting her hand idly to squeeze at her shoulder and the mark that burned there.

 

[Mako]

Mako shot her the most incredulous look that had ever existed.

Savage?! She could of course not hear his thoughts, but perhaps his facial expression and the wild gestures at the cuts and bruises that lined his body would pain the picture. He furiously pointed at the marks, and then pointed at the door. [color=#1e90ff[I]]I didn't fucking want to be in there![/color]
[/I]
He angrily 'shouted' at her in his mind.

Once again he wished for a voice. It would have been so easier to tell at people. So much easier to get his point across. They fucking kidnapped me![/color]

Mako gestured wildly and angrily at himself, the building. Making a motion of being hit in the head and then falling to the ground unconscious.

This hadn't been his fucking choice.

 

[Emilie]

Emilie blinked at him as he seemed quite able to rant and rave without the use of a voice.

"Alright!" she frowned at him and grimaced as she pulled herself to her feet. "I don't care why you were in there." she added bitterly and looked him over disdainfully.

"Probably looking for some girl to use, right?.." her brow quirked. So it was childish, but she didn't care, she hadn't come here for him and now she was bleeding for trying to help him.

"You're welcome by the way." she called back as she turned to wander off down the empty alleyway.

 

[Mako]

He bit his tongue in bitterness.

There wasn't a good rebuke for what she said, mostly because it was true. He had used her. Mako hadn't fully...meant to, not really. He hadn't known who she really was, what she'd been doing there. Though he knew that didn't excuse it.

Not that he was even really trying to. Fuck this is impossible.

Mako said, hanging his head as Emilie sassed him once more and then stomped off down the alleyway. He let out a long sigh, and then felt the itch between his shoulders once more. Lips thinned, and then he quickly stood and stepped after her.

For a brief moment he glanced back as a loud bang echoed on the door, though it only came once. He bit his tongue, thinking of the fact that he was still shirtless and without weapons.

Then he shook his head and quickly followed after Emilie.

 

[Emilie]

Emilie picked up the pace, the mark on her shoulder burning hotter. She didn't know if that meant she was getting closer or further from the man who she'd been looking for, but there were only two ways out of the alley and she wasn't turning back.

She'd only had a few paces to go before two men paused in their stride on the street ahead, peering at her and exchanging a look that was as subtle as a brick. One of them clicked his tongue at her, as though calling for a dog, and Emilie paused with a sneer as they started slowly toward her.

"Let me pass." she warned, her blade clutched in her palm by her side.

"What's the hurry, lass?" the taller of the two grinned a smile of too-few teeth as the other shouldered her into the wall. The moment he did he let out a grunt as her blade slashed at his arm.

"Hey, the bitch has teeth.." he growled, and drew a blade of his own. "Now it's fair game."

 

[Mako]

Mako caught up just as the man's blade flickered in the moonlight.

Inwardly he cursed, wondering if she'd dealt with this sort of thing before. This city was a rough one, not as bad as some...but still not somewhere he would have taken Emilie. Lips thinned for a moment, and then he stepped forward.

His finger gently tapped the man on the shoulder, his head suddenly whipping to the side.

"Whu? Buzz off. I got business 'ere."

Mako looked at him, cocking his head and simply shaking it. He motioned to the man, his friend, and then waved them both away.

"What the fuck? You not talking to me? Think you're better than me?"

The man drew slightly back from Emilie, though not by far. His arm was bleeding, though that hardly seemed to matter to him. His friend stepped out from behind him, staring hard daggers at the newcomer.

Mako raised his hands, as though showing innocent palms, and then like a viper he struck out. His fist raking over the man's jaw.

 

[Emilie]

The distraction was convenient. The moment the one holding her had stepped back slightly she lifted her knee hard into his balls and then again into his face as he doubled forward. He crumpled, his broken nose gushing crimson and his hands clutched protectively at his groin. The other stumbled back after being struck by Mako, and he tripped over the squirming heap that was his friend.

Em reached to take Mako's hand and yank him quickly away as the two started yelling, no doubt for more friends of theirs. There were eyes on them instantly as they rushed from the alleyway onto the street. Emilie dodged another man moving toward her and swung Mako around into another alleyway as they ran through the dingy labyrinth of the city.

 

[Mako]

Mako tried to map out in his mind where they were going.

Emilie was leading, but every corner they took, every street they ran down was familiar enough. He'd only been here once or twice before, both times with Radic but he could remember it in bits and pieces. As they reached another crossing Emilie tugged him to the left.

His fingers dug into her wrist, and then with a gentle pull he instead gestured to the right. There wasn't any argument, and within three quick steps the two of them suddenly jerked the opposite direction and headed instead towards where he had pointed them.

A few moments later they burst into a busy street.

Sea air washed over them, the docks coming into view as a crowded surrounded and swarmed around them. From where they had come from he could just make out a few confused yells, though too distant to hear any sound for certain.

His finger reached out and tapped Emilie on the shoulder, pointing towards a nearby dock that seemed mostly devoid of people.

 

[Emilie]

Emilie didn't argue. She assumed he knew this place better than she, and so she let him take the lead. Her heart played a staccato in her chest and she looked over her shoulder at every turn, her face flushed and her breaths heavy.

As they emerged into a busy street, she pulled her dark hood up over her coppery hair. It was easy enough to blend in that way, there were shady looking people everywhere she looked and she'd no doubt have looked more suspicious by looking like she didn't have something to hide. She threaded her way through the throngs of people and looked up at Mako as he tapped her on the shoulder, still trying to calm her breathing as she stood up on her tiptoes to follow his pointing finger toward the dock.

She gave a nod and continued toward it, the crowd thinning more and more until they stepped from dirt to wood and she stole a deep breath, her wrist dragging across her brow and her shoulder rolling irritably.

"I'm assuming.." she growled after a moment. "That you're here for the same reason that I am. So how 'bout you help me find whoever it is we have to find and go our separate ways." her brow quirked and she dragged her eyes from him disdainfully, her hand pressing to the slash in her side. The bloody patch in her shirt had grown, and though she knew she wouldn't bleed much more, the filth of this place made her more eager to get the wound cleaned and sewn before she died of some sort of fucking infectious disease.

"Check the docks!" she heard someone grunting from the crowded streets and her head whipped, seeing figures pushing their way through. She looked back to Mako in exasperation. They had to hide.

 

[Mako]

Mako rubbed his face.

Would this shit ever stop? It felt like he'd been running for hours, and the game was getting old. Fingers tightened for a moment as the voices rang out behind him. Quietly he thanked that not everyone was like him. People gave quite a bit away just shouting.

That way. Mako thought, as though Emilie could somehow read his mind.

After a second he shook his head, quickly realizing that she was no mage and gently pushing her towards a mass pile of crate that stood at the end of the dock besides a War Galleon. He gestured quickly, and then rushed towards the create.

Without thinking he shoved Emilie into one of the wooden boxes, quickly following behind her and pulling the wooden slat over their heads.

"Nothin' on this one! Check the next one over!"​

Footsteps echoed away, and then suddenly a heavy thud echoed as another crate was stacked atop the one he and Emilie had hidden away in.

 

[Emilie]

Emilie had been about to argue, but the heavy footfalls on the docks didn't give her much opportunity. She let out a disgruntled growl as she was shoved into a crate and made sure to shoot Mako a glare as he joined her.

She held her breath as their assailants passed them, her eye pressed to a small hole in the wood, watching as they moved on. A brief smirk tugged at her lips, but the moment she heard the thud above them, it was replaced by a look of panic. She couldn't yell, not if she didn't want to risk being caught, but she pressed her hands to the roof of the crate and pushed.

Nothing.

"You've got to be kidding me..." she had whispered, half growled as she tried again.

"Heave!" a male voice bellowed from outside the crate, and a moment later the entire thing jolted. Em shrieked silently and peered out of the air hole to see that they were being lifted into the air.

"Fuck!" she beat her fist against the wood and looked to Mako, his face visible thanks to the thin slivers of light that poured into the box. A box. She was being shipped off in a fucking box with the one person she didn't want to ever see again let alone be so close to.

"Spectacular." she huffed and crossed her arms, staring at him expectantly. "Now what, smart ass?"

 

[Mako]

She was right to be mad of course. This 'plan' of his hadn't exactly turned out to be the most genius thing in the world. They were now stuck in a crate just big enough for the both of them. There was no food, no water, and it seemed they were being hoisted onto a ship.

There was a loud thunk was the crate the pallet was on was dumped onto the ship. All around them he could hear men moving about, orders being shouted. 'GET READY TO SAIL!' was shouted loudly behind him somewhere. He frowned, looking at Emilie as she crossed her arms and questioned.

Mako stared back at Emilie as she huffed at him, his face blank.

Then, slowly, very very slowly, he raised a finger to his lips.

A cheeky spark floated through his gaze, a look that had gotten him beaten more than once back on the Crow. Something he might experience again now if Em snapped, but he'd noticed something that she likely had not.

The itch on his back had gone down.

He had no idea where this ship was going. No idea how they were going to get out of this crate, but it seemed that they had stumbled upon the right path. That was something.

 

[Emilie]

If looks could kill, Mako would surely be suffering a most painful death. Emilie wasn't stupid. She had no idea what sort of vessel they had unintentionally smuggled themselves onto, but she knew the sort of penalties paid by stow aways and she wasn't about to risk being hanged from the rafters by calling for help.

She bared her teeth as he silenced her, that cheeky sparkle in his eye one she had once found infatuating, now made her want to stab him in the face. "You better hope that this is a particularly short voyage." she half whispered, half growled at him.

Her hand reached to her shoulder to knead at it, but her frown slowly eased as she realised that the pain was not nearly as strong as it had been before..

Oh that lucky bastard. She only hated him more.

 

[Mako]

It wasn't a short trip.

Mako had absolutely no idea where this ship was going. He had no idea where they would end up or even what path they would take to get there.

He'd traveled fifteen years on the open sea. Radic had taken him all over the world. Teth, Allirial, Cerak, fuck he'd even been to Mallian once. The ship could be going anywhere for all that he knew. The trouble was though...they were in a crate.

A night passed.

Emilie and him were still stuck.

It was after dawn, or at least what he felt was after dawn that he first felt it. A frown touched his face, and the looked at her with that odd gaze again. I have to pee.

Mako thought, as though somehow Emilie could read his mind.

A frown touched his face, eyes flickering towards the top of the crate. Lips thinned, and he shifted slightly in discomfort.

They needed to get out of this crate.

 

[Emilie]

Somehow she felt at times she could read his mind. Whether it was her initiative or that he was particularly skilled in portraying his thoughts in the ways in which he looked at her, she didn't know, but his mind was clear right now.

"Hold it." she demanded with a scowl. She'd had to go for what felt like hours now and there was no way she was about to degrade herself. Then again, she supposed there was only so long she could hold it and the sound of the waves crashing against the ship wasn't helping matters.

She growled and peeked out of the little spy hole. The deck was quiet enough from what she could tell, at least on her side. "If they catch us and want to kill us I'm telling them you abducted me." she sneered quietly and turned a glare on him.

"What do you suggest?"

 

[Mako]

He shook his head and shrugged, though what he was answering was hard to tell.

A frown touched his face for a few seconds as she asked him for a plan. Hand reached up to run through his hair, and then slowly an idea formed in his head. Lips thinned, and he reached up towards the collar of his coat. He dragged down the leather vest, revealing one of the other tattoos he'd received.

It was a crow, feathers tinged with red. Mako pointed to it, then gestured out towards the ship, then towards his throat with a quick slice across it. Kress, I wish she knew fingertalk.

Mako thought to himself with a frown.

He pointed to the tattoo again, then made a slashing motion.

The young Reckoner knew it wasn't easy to understand mimicry, particularly when he was trying to get across something so complex. The Tattoo was that of the Red Crow, the ship ran by Radic, one of the most feared pirates and smugglers in the world.

His name would carry weight on any ship, perhaps even this one.

A second later he let the vest fall back into place, and then shrugged. As though saying it was either that or they acted innocent.

 

[Emilie]

Emilie's eyes narrowed on the tattoo, her nose wrinkling in confusion at his gestures.

"Bird. Red bird. Dead red bird? You want to kill a red bird!" she whispered loudly as though she'd solved something before settled her back against the crate again and ran her hand down her face.

"That makes no sense! What has that got to do with having to pee?!" she growled irritably and stopped herself from going on as footsteps approached the crates, her eyes on Mako with a grimace.

 

[Mako]

His own hand ran down his face as she 'put together' what he was trying to say.

I really need to teach her fingertalk if this is going to be a long trip. Mako thought to himself as she suddenly raised her voice to a whispered yell. His eyebrows shot up, and he leaned forward quickly to put a hand over her mouth.

A finger placed against his lips as he shushed her, lips thinning.

The footsteps passed by close to their right, thundering against the deck.

He froze in place, practically on top of her as he waited for the boots to move away. After a few seconds he could hear them thunder against the floor once again, this time moving away. A breath left him, his hand slowly slipping away from her mouth.

 

[Emilie]

Her eyes burned into him in horrified rage as his hand covered her mouth. She froze, not daring to breathe even as he about crushed her under his weight. The breath that escaped her was more of a growl and she snapped her teeth at the recoiling hand as he drew it away.

It was then that the light flooded into the crate, her eyes narrowed against it as she looked up at the silhouetted man and the crossbow he aimed at her.

“What the fuck is this eh?!” he barked.

 

[Mako]

Mako looked up at the man, his face blank, a curse running through his mind. For a second he hesitated, and then suddenly he jumped.

The man let out a barking cry, his finger slipping on the trigger. There was a spark, a brief flash that ran over the weapon, and then the bowstring snapped forward. A heartbeat passed, a single stroke, but the bolt never came.

Instead Mako jumped up, striking the man in the face with a solid thud.

There was a crash, a series of yells as a dozen men drew sabers and swords. They all turned to the mute at once, a few of them taking steps forward. The man on the ground groaned loudly, his hand coming to a now broken nose.

"Mako?!"​

A familiar voice called out, a woman's voice.

The Mute turned, spotting Captain Amara De'Ris with her golden hair. His eyebrows raised in surprise as she spoke.

"What the fuck are you doing here? And why are you knocking out my men?"​

 

[Emilie]

Emilie braced herself for pain and potential death, her eyes squeezed shut as she awaited the bolt that never came. At the sound of chaos erupting she opened one eye cautiously and then the other as she watched, still curled tightly into the corner of the crate.

"Shit shit shit shit shit..."

What the fuck was she thinking going off on her own with nothing but a dagger? She'd had a death wish, she realised. But now, she realised, that she didn't particularly want to die. She'd been about to call out his name when someone else did it first, and Em froze, her mouth slightly agape as she peeked over the top of the crate and settled her gaze on the blonde woman.

"Oh I hope to fuck he hasn't pissed her off too." she muttered in a whisper to herself.

 

[Mako]

"And who the fuck is she?!"​

The Captain said incredulously as she pointed towards Emilie.

Mako, for his part, seemed to break out into a laugh. At least it certainly looked like a laugh. No sound passed from his lips of course, that was an impossibility, but his lips split open in a wide grin and he clutched at his belly half doubled over.

His head shook, and he let out a massive sigh of relief. Sometimes, sometimes you just got plain lucky. Right now he felt like he couldn't have been luckier if he'd asked Kress himself for it directly.

With a grin he looked up at Captain Amara, and then for the first time Emilie would see the way Mako spoke. At least close to it. His fingers flickered, some bending, others crooking, flashing in quick signs. Amara watched, glanced towards Emilie, and then pinched the bridge of her nose.

"The fuck were you thinking? Any other ship and they would have thrown you under the keel! Stupid boy, you should know better. Radic taught you better."​

Mako offered a sheepish grin, flicking his fingers again.

"Aye well I should throw you under the keel, I won't, but I should. Don't go thinkin I'll be helpin' you with your little mark 'neither, you go where we go and that's that. I'm not changing course for this shit again."
​

Slowly the young pirates head rolled, his lips breaking out in a smug smile at Emilie.