It has been one week since he left Jaguero Isle.
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The sky filled with clouds as the night settled overhead. They had been coming and going, filling Booty Bay with rain, on and off. As the thunder echoed in the cove, a shirtless elf pirate made his way to his home, walking through a business, politely nodding to the goblin, who was busy sewing, and taking the stairs to his apartment. It was a small one-bedroom loft with a simple bed and a rickety table, but it was home now. It was the place where no one would bother him and if there was a lady in mind, he knew where to take her, however, since his return to the living and the distance Kahlen was putting between them, he was slowly starting to close his heart to the idea of romance and love.
Upon arriving to the loft, he saw the open doorway to the balcony, one of the main features he admired about the little room. A silhouette shot up from the bed, making Cris reach for his dagger’s hilt, but once he heard panting he realized who it was. He walked toward the nightstand and lit the oil lamp. The white wolf looked at him fondly and Cris gently patted her. “You want to be the only girl to claim my bed, huh?” He smiled and bent down to kiss the top of the wolf’s head. Misae lowered her head against her paws. “Bored, huh? Yeah I hear ya.” The wolf’s head shot up as the thunder rang throughout the cove. Cris walked out to the balcony and sat on the large wooden rail. Misae followed him out, resting against the wall, near the doorway.
It had been a trying few days. Not only had he arrived back to Booty Bay, but he also made his rounds in Stormwind, avoiding the law and dealing with a pesky human girl who left him with an ominous feeling. She was eager to figure out why the black obsidian obelisk reacted to him, but he didn’t even know. He could have told her that he had to collect souls in order to live, but that would mean revealing his weakness and the way she had attacked him with her dark magic, he was pretty sure he wasn’t going to reveal anything about him to her.
Lightning flashed once more across the sky, followed by a loud thunderous crash, and the wolf whimpered, placing her snout between her paws. Cris looked back and chuckled, “It’s just thunder, Misae. You’ve survived sea storms worse than this.” A curtain of water began to fall from the sky and Cris took a deep breath, extending his hand out from the shelter of his balcony. Droplets of cold water fell onto his hand and he smiled.
“Rain.” Immediately he thought of the woman with strawberry blonde hair who was listening to his problems. She didn’t speak, but she sure said a lot. He had sworn never to tell anyone about himself, but for some odd reason, he felt comfortable with her. And she made sure to make it known, more than once, that he was not some lowly pirate. He was a man, first and foremost. No one had made him feel that comfortable before. He had no need to be witty or crude with her. Her tender smile and emotion-filled eyes were so sincere, he couldn’t help but be gentle and courteous with her. Cris wondered why she couldn’t speak, but he couldn’t bear the thought of making her uncomfortable, so that wasn’t something he would bring up anytime soon. He chuckled softly and ran his wet hand through his hair, “You’re a very interesting woman, Rain. Very interesting.” He turned and looked at his white wolf, who lifted her head, ears perked up, as if he were listening to him speak.
“Well she is. Rosaelynn knew what I was and that excited her. She wanted to upset her father, but you know how that worked out. I was too much trouble for her. Then Kahlen…” He sighed, leaning against the large circular wooden post. “…She wanted me to change so much; to abandon what I truly was.” He looked at the wolf. “Do you think that’s fair to me? To be unhappy?” A crash of thunder rumbled throughout the cove once more and Misae whimpered. “Exactly! I was not happy. However, Rain…it’s as if she wants me to just be myself and be happy with who I am. How many women have been so gentle with me like that, huh girl? The whores I’ve been with don’t care what the hell I am as long as I’m pleased.” He closed his eyes, listening to the rainfall down to the sea at bay. He heard footsteps below and he opened his eyes to see a pirate walking with a woman under each arm.
“It’s never enough, Misae,” he whispered, watching them soak under the rain as they snuck into the nearest brothel. “But they don’t make us feel alive. They’re just there to please.” He smiles warmly and stretches his shoulders back. “I don’t know about this girl, Misae. She seems too delicate; too fragile. You just don’t want to hurt a girl like this, ya know?”
The rain was lighter and a cool breeze gushed through the town. Cris took a deep breath and smiled. “I think I’ll go to bed. Come on, girl.” As he turned to walk back into the room, he stopped and clutched his chest, falling down to the balcony, onto his knees. Misae whimpered and nudged him softly, but Cris couldn’t move. “What’s…going on?” The sharp pain in his chest seemed to rise up and pulse around the large shark tooth. He closed his eyes tightly, gritting his teeth and he rode the wave of pain until slowly, it began to recede. Cris took a deep breath and looked up at Misae, who gradually approached him and licked his face. “I’m fine girl, I’m fine.” He struggled a little to get up and when he did, he took a deep breath, watching the clouds began to dissipate and the moon peeking from behind the left over clouds. Suddenly, he remembered Tia’Zula’s gesture. She had lifted one finger up and mouthed the word week.
“Has it been a week already? Hell…” Touching the shark tooth, Cris closed his eyes and in the privacy of his home, he felt no shame in letting his emotions overtake him. He knew what had to be done. “I can’t do it…” he whispered. Misae rubbed her head against his leg and he blinked, teardrops falling from his eyes. “I’ve never killed anyone for the sake of killing, Misae.” The pirate in him was ready to jump at it and do whatever had to be done to survive, but whatever was left over of him was terrified. “But I can’t die.” Cris shook his head and walked into the loft. Something had to be done, and it had to be done soon, or else his triumphant return would have been in vain.
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