*Note, this takes place after "Try to Make Me Go to Rehab." For reference on characters, please see "Yo Ho Ho, A Pirate's Life"
Melodia slammed the mug down onto the bar and cheered, her laughter filling the bar area of the Quicksand. She held her arm around the blonde woman with her and flirtatiously nuzzled into her neck. "You see...I told you that I could take a fourth." The blonde woman chuckled and slid coin onto the bar and nodded to the barkeep. "Another! For my friend here. She can't possibly handle a fifth."Â Melodia laughed again at the challenge, clearly drunk and trying not to lose her bearings too much.
Across the way, at the railing, were the typical gathering of women looking for their nightly companionship and a few men, bravely trying to get those women to notice them. One man however, was oblivious to the women. An older Elezen with an eyepatch covering his right eye, gloved hands, and clad in black, he stood out, though with the traffic coming in and out of the Quicksand he went unnoticed. And as she was inebriated, Melodia didn't notice him either, though she should have. His eye was locked onto her and he finally, after what felt like hours of staring, smirked and limped away, his right leg not what it used to be. The scars on his cheek under the eyepatch and the limp denoted a hard life, or at least a hard moment in said life. One of the women at the railing smiled and brushed up against him. "'Ey baby....you looking for a good time?" The Roe woman grinned and the Elezen didn't even bat an eye. His tone was flat and cold and he spoke in a low voice.
"Ye c'n get th' fuck out o' me way whore. 'Fore I gut ye here an' ensure tha' even th' damn Twelve don' recognize tha' hideous face o' yers." He stared at her and his look was cold....terrifying. She knew he meant ever word and looked away as she moved, allowing the tall man by. He said not a word as he continued, out of the Quicksand and to the Chocobo porter. He hated the damned birds but he wasn't about to walk to the refugee camp out in the desert.
As the mount brought the Elezen to the dusty camp, its tents and ragged dwellers mulling about quietly, he brought the bird to a halt and dismounted. With purpose and striding in the cool night air he approached one tent and tapped on the door. "'Cap'n...permission t' enter." His voice was rugged and sounded as if he'd swallowed gravel. The voice from inside was just as terse, but feminine and deep. "Aye, Ramsay, ye c'n come in."
The Elezen, Ramsay, entered the tent and saw the large Roe woman, dressed down in a simple pair of trousers and a linen top, sitting near the back and relaxing. "'Pologies, Cap'n. I never know if per'aps ye were ruttin' some poor lad ye found lost in these parts. Hence th' knock." The Roe smirked and shook her head. "Ye'd 'ave 'eard it. 'Sides...don' act s' damn pure. Ye'd likely o' wanted to watch." He smirked. "There's no' quite enough pain in yer activities t' keep me int'rested, Cap'n...no 'ffense."
The Captain laughed and nodded. "Aye, likely true. Now why'd ye come bother me today? Ye know I like me quiet time durin' the day. An' I know yer no' jus' curious 'bout me sex life." Ramsay grinned like someone who'd gotten the greatest gift ever and waited. The Roe scoffed and shook her head. "Well on with it!"
He nearly hissed the name. "Melodia."
The Roe felt her neck muscles tighten and teeth grind. Her voice was cold but a bit distant as if remembering some important fact. "Why d' ye bring tha' name up? Have no' heard it in years." Ramsay smiled like a viper. "Tha' lit'le bitch is here...or least nearby. In Ul'dah. Watched 'er with me own eyes in th' Quicksand f'r a bit."
The Captain's eyes snapped to his and her narrowed as she glared. "An' yer sure 'twas 'er?" Ramsay nodded, still standing and looking at the woman. "Aye...changed 'er hair t' red, fakin' no' 'avin' an accent...but I know tha' face. Those eyes...when ye've been as...close....as we've been, ye never f'rget th' eyes." He suddenly felt and looked aroused as he recalled her under his torturous hands.
The Captain was silent for some time, considering this and she finally nodded. "Well then....maybe time f'r a lit'le reunion with our runaway flower." Ramsay chuckled and she continued. "Go let th' others know. An' thank ye...fortune smiles on us, lad." As Ramsay left the tent she gritted her teeth and pulled a knife from her belt, running the blade against her hand as she grinned.
The knock on the door was sharp. The loud raps that ripped her from her slumber immediately. Those weren't the knocks of one lost, or of a routine visit. At this early morning hour those were knocks that meant alarm. She saw Alara had slept through and gently slipped out of bed, her red camise and pantolettes all she was wearing while she quietly padded to the door. Along the way her eye caught the sight of her axe, unused in some time and she had a twinge of regret and nostalgia at her time as a Yellowjacket and leaving.
Rap rap rap! The knocking came again, more urgent, louder. The sound almost deafening to her as she imagined her wife sleeping just past her partition. She opened the door and immediately the knife was at her throat. Her breath stopped cold and she waited. Either the blade would sink home and end her life or the would be killer would announce himself.
"Don't ye fuckin' move....hands out th' door lass. No sudden movements. I see a hint o' heroism in yer eyes I'll make sure ye get a special lobotomy from me....an' then yer pret'y wife as well." The feminine, youthful voice had surprised her. She was no fool and the woman had sounded convincing in her threat toward Alara. Melodia's hands lifted slowly and out the door to show her still out of sight captor she was compliant. And she felt all the more of a fool for it. She'd been so clueless she didn't suspect...but why would she? She hadn't had any grudges or threats from her time as a Yellow-
"Get yer ass out here..." The command was forceful and Melodia wasn't going to risk her wife. She stepped out of the door and looked at her captor around the corner. The blade pushed up a bit as she did, emphasizing who was in control. She nearly doubled over as she saw.
A young teen. Miqo'te. Blue hair as she had at that time. The markings on her face were not exactly the same but she felt as if she were looking into a mirror to the past. She stammered and whispered, "Wh-what is th-this about?"Â The young girl smirked and replied.
"Lift yer hands on yer head. An' I'm gonna lead ye." She leaned in and her voice sent a chill down Melodia's spine, and the words made her tanned complexion go nearly white.
"Yer Cap'n is waitin' t' see ye."
Rurutani walked the outskirts of Ul'dah, the sand whipping up in a light windstorm, the small pebbles plinking against his Paladin armor. His short white hair was a bit tousled and the heat was ferocious but he maintained his smile. Another day back home and he was finding his footing again. He'd made a mental note to himself that later in the week he wanted to try and approach one of the Sultansworn. He didn't know if he would even be allowed to attempt to join again, but he wanted to try.
If ye don't try I'll slap ye upside the head, Flit.Â
He smiled. Zhi was always with him now whether he wanted her to be or not, though these days she was much more pleasant than she was before when he felt lost. "Don't worry...I will." He replied. The words were a soft mutter as he paused to take a drink of water from a small canteen he'd brought with him. He was enjoying the drink and lost in thought when the large Hyur Highlander hand pushed him out of the way, making him spit some of the liquid out onto the dry sands that gratefully stole it away. Â
"Out of the way boy." The man said gruffly. Ruru looked stunned as he saw the large man with the beard stalk past him, but not more so than what Ruru saw in tow. Following the man was a chocobo and riding it was a young blue-haired Miqo'te woman giving him quite the sneer. Behind her was another Miqo'te, male this time, and in front of him, a female Miqo'te, a red-head.
And she was bound.
It wasn't obvious, but his eye'd been trained to see the subtle hidden things. His time in Limsa had made him more than just a simple man being shoved aside for a caravan. His armor allowed him an air of authority and the male Miqo'te did flash him a quick glance as they passed, one that said 'stay out of this.'
The woman....th' bound one. She look a bit familiar to ye? He heard Zhi ask and he nodded as the memory slammed home fast. He'd run into her, literally, in Limsa.
When he was a killer and she was a Yellowjacket.
And now she was being taken to the west....toward the caves and the refugee camp.
Ye know ye can just walk away from this.
For a second he considered it. Just turning, going back into the city, to find the Sultansworn and moving beyond what he'd just seen. But he couldn't. The Twelve had fated them to see each other again and he had the choice to help her. To be the good man he wanted to be.
To redeem himself. After some time and the group had moved out of sight, he took a deep breath and began to follow.
The Captain was standing at the tents, on the edges of the group of them, when the caravan and their prisoner arrived. Melodia looked stern and when she saw the Roe, her eyes went wide. Her voice was a whisper, "By the hells....tha' can'no be..."
"Oh but it is ye harlot....an' based on me own reports, tha's th' apt title f'r ye of late." She retorted. She was carrying a cane and thumped it to the ground, chuckling. The others laughed along with her aside from Ransay, who smirked but stared at Melodia from the side. She hadn't even seen him yet. "'S been a while, Melodia. Ye've had us all in such a state o' worry, wha' with ye runnin' off th' way ye did...." The Captain approached and the others parted allowing her to close in on the smaller Miqo'te. When she was within mere ilms, her large hand grabbed the woman's ponytail and jerked her head back with a vicious pull and she hissed. "...joinin' up with th' Jackets...whorin' yerself out th' way ye do now. Ye should'a let me kill ye on tha' beach when ye had th' chance....save ye from th' life ye chose." She let Melodia go and turned to walk back, her cane gesturing at the Elezen who watched keenly from the side. "Ye remember Ramsay? He remembers ye quite well, whore." The Roe's words stung Melodia each time she spoke.
As Melodia looked and saw Ramsay, her heart broke, and she wanted nothing more than crawl into a hole and curl into the fetal position. This man who'd tortured her, had....done the unspeakable. He chuckled at her reaction. "Girly's 'fraid o' me, Cap'n. Maybe she'd feel more comfortable with me if I rutted 'er in one o' these tents...wha' say ye, lass? Ye don' seem th' type t' say no t' anyone." The group laughed heartily at that and the Captain had taken a seat and had plucked up a whip that had been near the tent. "Aye...ye c'n have her....after I've had me piece."
Melodia was trembling. It had been years since she'd seen either of these two, and had never seen these new faces, but she was sure Ramsay and the Captain had been dead. Sure of it. Why then now, when she was just finding happiness, did they -
She was suddenly being moved to a spot near the water in the cave behind the tents. Guards were posted to lookout on all entrance ways and it was clear that these pirates had bought their time at the camp, to afford them some privacy. Melodia was pushed to her knees and forced to lean forward while her top was nearly ripped off, exposing her back. The Captain's voice was cold. "Th' water's a luxury....s' ye c'n piss yerself if ye need with some dignity. After I finish an' Ramsay's had his fun with ye, I'll finish what I should'a done with ye three years ago."
Melodia began to weep as she was bound and unable to run. She'd gotten so lax in her recent days. Had made it so easy for people to track her, to catch her off guard. And now she was stuck.
*CRACK*
The whip ripped at her back and she screamed in pain, her voice echoing throughout the cavern, accompanied by the laughter of the half dozen men and women surrounding her.
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Ruru watched from a hidden position and had listened. His sword drew easily and he took a deep breath. The piss poor guard stationed at the entrance still hadn't seen him and he moved quickly, the steps quieter than they should have been when his sword sank into the back of the man's neck and through his throat, silencing any scream he would have mustered. As he fell dead at the lalafell's feet Ruru counted off in his head.
'One down...six to go.'
The second and third lashes bit into Melodia's back, her wails filling the cavern. This was not how she envisioned the end of her life. She had pictured it with her wife, enjoying the sea breeze of La Noscea, not being whipped to death by her former pirate captors. The sun was rising and she had no chance to see the Lalafell in the guise of a paladin kill one of the guards near the cavern entrance.
The fourth hard lash brought not a scream as her back was going into a heated numb state as the nerves were struck. Sweat was dripping from her brow and she wondered why she'd even opened the door that morning.
"Ye know it pains me t' do this, Melodia....ye were like a daught'r t' me." The Captain's words were warm, caring, and likely honest. "An' then ye broke me trust...left me f'r dead on tha' beach." Melodia couldn't even reply. She was panting and praying for the end. Her eye glanced to the left, she saw the glint of the blade as it swung through the air and wondered what was happening. The sound had been sapped from her ears and the thundering crack of the whip was all she could hear at the moment. The young woman fell to the ground in a heap and the male Miqo'te looked as if her were in pain as his arm...came off? Melodia was in a haze of tears, pain and sweat and wasn't sure if she was hallucinating or not. The din of the screams and shouts came though suddenly and she knew wasn't imagining this at all. The Lalafell came into view and she recognized him from outside the gate. But she suddenly realized she'd seen him before. When she'd been on Kink's trail in Limsa. His hair was black at that time, but the eyepatch and face were the same.
"Wha' th' fuck is happenin' here?" The Captain's roar was louder than one would expect from an older woman but it came all the same. Melodia looked and the Lalafell was engaged in a battle with the Hyur while Ramsay slinked back like the viper he was, letting the shadows take him while he watched.
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Ruru had seized the initiative the moment he heard the other lashes coming faster. He swung the blade on the smaller under armored Miqo'te woman slashing along her back and moving it to a turn and down the male Miqo'te's arm as he stood next to her, working to eliminate two threats for one move, knowing he'd not have this advantage again. As he got a better view he noted the Elezen moving away and counted his thanks to the Twelve for now leaving him with just the Hyur and the Roe woman. His blade came up and blocked an incoming swing from the Hyur who was using a small axe and his chanced upon Melodia, the red headed Miqo'te nearly on her hands and knees, back bleeding and welted from the lashings. As he saw her look at him he felt so badly for her in that split second as he finally saw the woman for what she truly was underneath all of that brvado she'd portrayed in Limsa, for whatever she portrayed now....she looked to him as if she were a young child, alone and in pain.
The Roe woman turned and snapped the whip at Ruru and it struck his arm. When he moved to adjust he felt the hatchet sink into a crease in the armor. Well-aimed it hit where it meant to and he felt the blade bite into his shoulder. He screamed and looked at Melodia.
"R.....Run!!"
Melodia saw the man yell something to her but her mind was a haze, the pain now setting in. She saw he'd been cut and his blood was running down over the white paladin armor and by the Twelve she wished she'd never answered the door. Wished to hells that she'd not re-invited this element back into her life. Hd she just remained in Limsa....had stayed as a Yellowjacket...
The vision flashed for only a second but for her was a godsend. The breeze on the grass as she overlooked at the ocean from La Noscea, the warm embrace around her and she heard the small voice from somewhere a bit off to the side. When she looked it was the most beautiful little girl she'd ever seen, a small Miqo'te girl with the bluest hair she'd ever seen. She was holding out a yellow flower to her and nodding with a smile only a child of innocence could pull off.
"Time to go home mommy."
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Ruru gave a wild swing of the blade. The Hyur mocked and slshed the hatched again, hitting another vulnerable point, drawing more blood. Ruru fell to one knee and was panting, breath labored by the deep cuts. He felt the whip strik her face and he screamed knowing it had cut his cheek wide. He had an instant and moved the sword up and held it still as the leaping Hyur was impaled on it. The Captain cursed and threw the whip to the side. Ruru lowered the blade and pulled it out of the dead man. Through his breathing he noted droplets of blood escaping his mouth.
"Ev'ry time I try t' finish 'er off some gods damned do-gooder has t' stick his nose into it." The Roe said as she moved grab one of the blades of the fallen crew.
Not long now, Flittermouse....not much longer. Zhi's voice sounded sad in his head and he knew she was right. As he saw the Roe turning he took a deep breath and swung his blade hard, aiming for the kneecap. The blade went through easily enough and the Captain roared in pain as she collapsed to the ground, one leg less than she had a moment before. Snatching the hatchet nearby, Ruru moved quick as he could, crawling atop the still shocked woman and swung the hatchet in a quick killing blow to the skull. As it sank in, the Roe twitched and fell still.
The Elezen was long gone, having fled the scene and amid the bodies, Ruru let out a labored breath as he collapsed onto his back. Each heave of his chest caused a sputtering blood splatter that was no longer in his control. His eye drifted up and he saw Zhi there, frowning and shaking her head. Her voice was shaky and something he wasn't used to hearing.
Ye s-stupid bastard...what were ye thinkin'? She went to her knees and brushed a hand across his cheek. Suddenly the red-head was in view, sweating and in pain, weeping but looking grateful as she peered down on him.
"Aww no no no....I jus' need t' find a healer....someone t' fix ye..." She sounded rushed and he shook his head, his voice calm but weak.
"No...it's too late. Did I help?" His question was almost naively innocent. Melodia nodded and smiled, tears beginning to run as she noted how pale he was starting to look. "Aye...ye helped so much, little one."
Ruru took a deep breath and felt so sleepy. His eye drifted to Zhi and he reached for her though to Melodia he appeared to be reaching for no one. "I loved you, you know? You....were always...more'n..more than partner..." Melodia looked confused but nodded. Zhi's eyes teared up and she shook her head.
Shut it, Flit....ye know it...it was just business.
As the lights began to grow brighter and he felt more tired he thought he would just rest here and move on soon.
Once he felt better.
He whispered, "I'm gonna see my mother soon...Zhi...proud...of...me..?"
He just needed a rest. That was all.
And the lights seemed to engulf him.
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Melodia saw his chest stop rising and she wept openly in the cave. She didn't even know the man but he'd saved her. Given his life so she could go free. Picked him up and cradled him as she wept, her mind wandering to the vision she'd seen.
It was time to go home.
She held the body and wept, saying "I'm sorry..." even as she made plans in her mind to return home. His death would not be in vain. She would go home.
To Limsa.
To the Yellowjackets.
-Fin-