Arg, sorry for taking so long. I will explain everything in an extended rant after the story. But for now, here's Chapter Ten. Woohoo.
PS: I'm editing this at the moment, and there's a large space between here and the actual writing. No clue what's going on, but I can't do anything about it, so if it shows up, then...deal with it.
The Prince stayed above decks long after Nesia went to bed, watching the sea as it flowed past the ship. At midnight, though, he decided it would be best to try and get some sleep. The man quietly made his was down the stairs and into his cabin. Once inside, he pulled off his boots, and placed them in a corner of the room. He dropped his cloak by the bedroll that he assumed he would be sleeping in, and then began to unbuckle his armor.
"No...stop, don't..." The Prince spun at the sound of this voice, dropping his armor to the wooden floor with a clatter. He felt somewhat foolish when he realized that it was just Nesia, talking in her sleep.
"Getting jumpier every day," he muttered to himself, placing his dropped armor in the corner with his boots. He took off his wrist bracers, tossing them by his armor.
"Get away from me!" Nesia cried out, this time louder, The Prince glanced at her, and saw the woman struggling in her bed, as if fighting some unseen force. He went over to her quickly, and realized that she was having a nightmare. The Prince tried hard not to laugh at the irony of it, and sat on the bed next to her.
"Nesia, wake up," he said quietly, shaking the woman by the shoulders. "You're just dreaming..."
The woman sat up suddenly with a gasp. She looked disoriented for a moment, until she saw the Prince sitting right next to her, his hands still on her shoulders.
"I didn't know you felt that way about me, Prince," she rasped through dry lips. The Prince snorted in disbelief, although he removed his hands, and stood up off her bed.
"You were having a nightmare," he pointed out.
"Tell me something I don't know," Nesia retorted, running a hand over her sweat-soaked forehead.
"It's getting to you," The Prince stated, smiling wryly. "This means you won't be getting a good night's sleep for a while."
"Give me something to look forward to, why don't you," she muttered darkly. "Anything else I should know about?" The Prince sighed, and sat on his bedroll, running a hand through his thick hair absently.
"You won't need to eat either. Not that you'll want to," he told Nesia. "I also found that after a while, you get...numb." The woman raised an eyebrow at him. "You just stop feeling," the Prince clarified. "All you think about is surviving."
"Doesn't that just sounds peachy," Nesia muttered darkly.
"Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to attempt to get some sleep," the Prince said, lying down on the bedroll, and pulling his cloak around him like a blanket.
"Lucky bastard..." the woman whispered to herself. She also lay back on her bed, but didn't sleep. Sleeping would mean the Dahaka would come back to haunt her, torturing her with images of her bloody and mangled crew. Nesia stayed awake, staring up at the rough wooden ceiling, past when she heard the Prince's breathing became steady and regular, and up to the point that he started to have a nightmare of his own.
The woman threw her blanket off with a sigh. The Prince was flailing around on the floor, his face contorted as if he was in a great amount of pain. She knelt down next to him, and tried to shake the man awake like he had done to her, but only succeeded in getting hit on the face.
"Will you just bloody well wake up!" Nesia ordered through clenched teeth, trying to keep her voice down. The man's eyes flew open at this, and he struggled to sit up. He saw the woman next to him smiling ironically, and realization dawned on his face.
"I didn't..." The Prince started to say hoarsely, but trailed off with a sigh. "Well, the sleep was good while it lasted," he added weakly. Nesia shrugged, and sat down on the floor, her legs crossed, and her back resting against the bed.
"Will I be looking forward to this every night from now on?" she asked, pushing her hair back from her face. The Prince also crossed his legs, and studied Nesia's face intently.
"Did I do that?" he asked, pointing at the red welt that was starting to form on the woman's cheek.
"Yeah, well, it's not like I haven't had worse," Nesia explained quietly. She reached to her sword belt that sat on the floor beside her, and drew a long-bladed dagger. The captain twisted it around in her fingers, getting some kind of comfort from the cold metal.
"I guess there's not much point in either of us going back to sleep, then," The Prince remarked absently. Nesia simply shrugged again, and continued to play with her knife.
For hours, the two sat in silence, both absorbed in their own thoughts, neither wanting to go to sleep for fear of the dreams that would plague them. They were both brought sharply back to reality when something rammed into the ship, making it shake unsteadily.
"What the hell..." Nesia started to say, but stopped when a giant missile, one that would come from a ballista, shot through their cabin, and water started to pour in through the hole it left. Her and the Prince were both on their feet in a second, and fumbling for their weapons. She pulled on her tunic and boots, and belted on her swords, while the man strapped on his armor and belts. Once he too had his boots on, the pair rushed out into the corridor.
In the hallway outside, the crewmen were running by, looking angry and confused. Nesia grabbed the arm of one of them, and pulled him towards her.
"What's going on?" she asked him.
"Pirates are attacking the ship!" the man cried, struggling to get out of the woman's grip. Nesia nodded, and released the man. He dashed down the corridor and up the stairs onto the deck, drawing a sword as he went.
"Friends of yours?" The Prince murmured, raising an eyebrow.
"It's kinda hard for me to tell until I've seen them," the woman pointed out dryly. "Now let's go."
The two rushed down the hall, and ran up onto the deck, where a grisly scene met their eyes. The ship was swarming with rough looking pirates, who were brutally slaughtering the crew. The Prince shot a glance at Nesia, who shook her head.
"I don't recognize the crew, but it's a safe guess that they're aren't real nice " she shouted above the din.
"Very perceptive of you," the man yelled back, then they both sprang into action.
Nesia's swords flew into her hands, and she leapt at a pirate who was in the middle of decapitating one of the crew. He couldn't get his weapon out of his victim's body quick enough, and she smoothly ran him through the heart with her longer blade. She kicked the body off of her sword, and moved on to the next attacker.
The Prince didn't draw his swords right away. Instead, he vaulted over a body, landing on his hands, and springing up to kick one of the pirates solidly in the chest. The man stumbled backwards, and the Prince punched him hard in the throat, collapsing his windpipe, making him slowly suffocate. He was back at Nesia's side in a flash, his scimitars in his hands.
The two took another look around the deck of the ship. They were outnumbered badly, with over half of the crew on their side dead or dying.,
"Now what?" Nesia murmured in the Prince's ear. "It looks like this won't end well for us."
"I'm doing the best that I can," he shrugged. "May as well do as much damage as we possible." The woman chose not to think about what would likely happen to them afterwards, and instead concentrated on fighting as hard as she could.
She felt adrenaline coursing through her veins as she fell into the familiar rhythm of battle. Attack, block, eventually kill, and then repeat. Nesia was doing well until she came up against one man who's skills significantly surpassed the previous ones she had been fighting, and got slashed along the stomach with his cutlass.
The woman gasped as she felt sharp pain, and blood began to soak through her tunic. The Prince turned to see what happened, and quickly bounded to her side, blocking the hit her attacker meant to kill her with. The pirate was caught off-balance by this, and the Prince hit him on the head with the hilt of a scimitar, knocking him unconscious,
"Are you okay?" the Prince asked, kneeling by Nesia's side.
"I just got cut by a bloody sword," she snarled. "What do you think?" The man bit back a retort, and tore a strip of fabric from a nearby corpse's cloak. The woman pushed his hands away, though. "It's just a scratch. Besides, we have more important things to worry about. Let's see if we can get to the lifeboat."
"If I don't at least wrap the cut, you'll bleed to death before we even get there!" The Prince tried again to bandage her, but Nesia stood up defiantly, swaying slightly. She lunged at an unsuspecting pirate who was engaged with another man, and ran him through from behind. He sighed, and was planning on staying close to her when some sixth sense told him to move now.
He rolled to the side without hesitating, and heard something smash into the deck where he had just been. The Prince was on his feet in a n instant, and saw a man charging at him, a large war hammer held in his hands. He threw himself to the side as the hammer came down again, not in a frenzied swing but a tight, controlled arc. It appeared that he was dealing with a professional here.
The two drew back and circled each other. The Prince's opponent was of African background, tall and muscular with dark skin and black hair that was in loose dread locks. He wore leather armor with metal plates attached in parts, to give the wearer both flexibility and protection. From the way he carried himself, he was sure that this was the captain of the attacking ship.
"You fight well," the large man said in a deep and slightly accented voice, circling his opponent. The Prince used this opportunity to get in front of Nesia, who was leaning heavily on the ship's rail, mostly hidden from view in the shadow of a large crate. He was expecting some kind of taunt from the other man, but he attacked with out warning, a downward slam with the hammer.
The Prince got his blades up to block the hammer, and quickly pushed it away. He responded with a series of whirling cuts, and was surprised with how fast his opponent moved the war hammer. He only landed one glancing blow, that scored a shallow cut on the man's bare arm. He was searching frantically for a way he could gain the upper hand, when he heard a groan and a thump behind him. The Prince turned his head to see Nesia collapsed on the deck.
He blocked the next swing on one sword as he turned to rush back to the woman, feeling his arm muscles protest from the pressure of the hammer. He knelt next to her, and saw her look up at him, then her eyes closed. He felt for a pulse on her neck. It was there, so he assumed she had just fainted. Then he felt a crushing blow on his back, and was sure for a moment that his spine had snapped in two. He twisted to see the large man raising his hammer for the finishing blow, and half-heartedly raised his blade. The man noticed Nesia however, and lowered his weapon.
The Prince suddenly noticed that the battle was over. Their crew had been entirely overwhelmed and slaughtered...except for the two of them.. The pirates has formed a half circle around them, and a few were staring at Nesia with a mix of recognition, loathing, and dark amusement on their faces. He decided that this was not a good sign, and stood up hesitantly, his back feeling like one solid bruise.
"It seems that we have some honoured guests who will be joining us on our ship," the black man said to his crew. He flashed the Prince a grin. "Apparently you keep the right kind of company." The his grin turned into a smirk, and he swung the hammer towards him again. The Prince started to block the hit, but pain shot through his back, and his defense crumbled. The weapon continued its course, scoring a glancing blow on his head, and knocking him to the ground. He slipped into unconsciousness so quickly that he was convinced he had died.
This turned out to be, unfortunately, not the case, as the Prince awoke later with a blistering headache. He sat up groggily, and realized that the pain was not contained to his head, but extended to his back and arms as well. His eyes slowly focused, and he found himself in a small room that could be called a closet, except he and Nesia were the only things in it.
He was reminded of the woman's condition, and tried to reach for her, but his hands were shackled behind his back. The Prince grunted, and slid his arms under and around his feet, his back and arms protesting all the way. With his arms now in front of him, however, he rolled the woman over, and felt again for her pulse. It was still beating, but slowly and weakly. The front of her tunic was entirely soaked with blood, and he realized that he needed to do something about it now. He probably should have when she first got the wound.
The Prince wasn't surprised to find that neither he or Nesia had their swords, but he still had a dagger tucked in his boot. He used the blade to cut away the bloody material on Nesia's stomach, and hissed when he saw the cut was long, extending right from hip to hip, and seemed to have the beginnings of an infection. He started to cut strips from the bottom of her tunic, then cast about for anything to wash the wound with. There was bilge water collected in one corner, which the man used to soak a rag. He hoped that the salt in the water would clean more than the dirt also in it would infect, but it was his only option.
Nesia flinched when he applied the cloth, and the salt entered her open wound, and she stirred. Her eyes opened and she looked up at him, confused for a moment, and then she scowled.
"What the hell was that for?" she asked irritably, sitting up weakly. "It's not like I haven't gotten hurt before." The Prince looked confused, and her scowl deepened. "You just had to come and check on me when I fell."
"When you went unconscious," he corrected, going back to cleaning her cut. She inhaled sharply, but didn't pull away.
"You were in the middle of fighting someone," she protested.
"Not that it would have made much difference. Did you see the size of the hammer he had?" The Prince figured he had gotten her wound as clean as possible, and laid a thick pad of cloth over it. Then something struck him. "He knew you."
"What?" Nesia frowned. "Why do you say that?"
"He was going to kill me, until he got a look at you. That's why we're here, and not dead. Can you stand up?" The woman did so, with some difficulty as her hands were also bound behind her back, and then the Prince began to wind longer strips around her waist, holding the pad in place. He had to walk all the way around her to do this, and she fought the urge to laugh at this.
"What did he look like?" she asked over he shoulder as he tied off the makeshift bandage.
"Tall, African look, dark hair in ringlets, had a very large hammer," he listed off. "Ring any bells?"
"I'm thinking..." Nesia said, then realization dawned on her face. "Shit..."
"What?" The Prince was going to inquire further, but the door to the small room they were in opened, and the man in question stepped through, flanked by two other men.
Alrighty. Here's my story/excuse. I had writers block for a while, and then when it finally got up and left, my computer that I normally write on went kaput. Well, the monitor did. So I couldn't get at my stories until a week ago. That really really killed me, especially at the beginning of the summer, when I wanted to write so badly I was considering dragging the monitor from my other computer into that room and hooking it up to my story computer. The sensible side of me told me that would be a stupid idea, and I'd probably break the monitor.
So I waited, and bugged my dad constantly to get a new monitor. Then, the day after he did, my internet went kaput. So I could write, I just couldn't upload anything. We've called Cogeco, our internet provider, and they said that they "couldn't" send a technician until we proved that it was a problem with the internet, not a problem with the computer. This means we have to hook our computer up to some other place and see if the internet works there.
So I have ideas to write, just no place to upload the chapters once I am done. I'll try and mooch off my friends to do so, but it may be a while before the next chapter surfaces.
Now some replies to my lovely reviewers...
Saddened Soul: As you may see, I decided to use your idea. Thank you so VERY much! I shall bow down and worship your idea-ness :worships:
Lady Discord: Yes, I work so very hard on the dialogue. It's very fun to write! Nesia's slowly becoming less hostile towards the Prince. I'm sure eventually they'll be able to talk without trying to kill each other. I've been thinking a lot about her background, and I promise there will be more information in the next chapter, which will have something to do with the pirate captain they just encountered. I really hope you update your story soon, because...well, it's past the middle of July. Your reviews are always awesome, and I love you for them!
Ancient-v: Oooh, you've made me blush. The Prince is an interesting character, and I'm trying to show both the darker and more carefree sides of him, from the two games. I'll have to work on it more once the third game comes out...
Gravemaker: Hmm, a capturing...interesting idea. I shall tuck that away in my head, and see what comes up.
Sadoko: My goodness, that's come very forceful complimenting. I can't say I completely agree with you, but really, who doesn't like getting told they rock. Nesia is a great character to write. I just need to come up with more information about her background.
Kathryn Kelly: So many reviews! I'll try to reply to them all. That would be my mistake about the Prince...ehe. The Prince seems to have a bit of a temper, and Nesia enjoys pressing his buttons. That last line is a little pointless. I'll have to get rid of it. Good point about the Zelda reference, I'm proud of myself for (unknowingly) slipping that in. Nesia tried to sleep, but gave up the next morning around dawn. She put two and two together, knowing that the Dahaka was after the Prince, and that he had came from the Island of Time. Yes...a hat-wearing Dahaka. Teehee. I'm trying to make Nesia nicer, but it'll be a slow progress.
Anonymous: More many reviews. Woohoo! I'm trying so hard to keep the Prince in character, and it's good to know it's working. I'd have loved to make the Prince win, but it would have seriously screwed up the plot. The Prince is a little scary looking with the dark cloak and such.
emeraldLINK: More MORE many reviews. Let's go through this again. Lots 'o angst in the first chapter, although not as much as the story goes on. When I wrote the first chapter, I wasn't expecting to continue it. I got Nesia's name somewhere, based on a meaning, although I can't remember what it is. The others just came out of thin air. When I play the game, and see what the Prince can do, my jaw always drops in awe. It makes me want to hug him Oh yesss, he looked hot. Hahaha. Nesia just paid for passage, not buying the crew and such. I'm sure they'll be friends eventually. And sarcasmgood.
Thanks again, and I will see you...eventually, when I manage to upload the next chapter!