After Cris finds Rain, he argues with Vondrike, the rogue who kidnapped her, telling him that he alone is Rain's lover. Vondrike mentions several things about Rain that Cris isn't too happy about, but he insists on winning Rain over. Rain chooses Cris over Vondrike and they both go home after a long, trying day. This is the way it should have been...;_;
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He gazed up at the star-filled sky and took a deep breath. The woman beside him shifted in his arm, placing her head against his chest and entwining her leg along his. Cris gazed at her and sighed softly. She was back in his arms. Rain, the woman he had lost a few days before. Rain, the woman he almost lost a few hours prior. Rain, the woman who chose him.
As much as he was tired, he simply couldn’t sleep. The man who had half of Rain’s heart was dead, but his words haunted Cris. The way they stared at each other made it hard for him to forget the intensity behind what he had said and they silently drove Cris mad.
She loves me. She told me so…
It was true. Rain had a big heart, but in Cris’ eyes, he had given her his world and all he wanted was the same devotion he showed her. Perhaps he didn’t deserve it for all the times he slept around in his past, but this was Rain and had been nothing but faithful to her. She loves me. She just told me. In front of Cris, she had sent her silent message and he had no reason not to believe his words. She would do such a thing. Cris was ready to walk away. If Rain wanted this man, so be it, but he kept coming back to her. He wanted to see her reach out for him, something she never did as she stood by the man. Nonetheless, as foolish as he felt, he accepted the fact that she loved another. He could live with that, even if it meant sharing the woman he loved. Or could he?
It’s my ring she wears on her finger…
Cris remembered the small ring he threw into the ocean. He had spent many nights working on it, trying to make it perfect for her, only to throw it away and make it disappear forever. And here she was, wearing another man’s ring. After the fact, she let him know that it was simply a piece of metal to communicate with him, but he put so much meaning behind it, that it meant more to him that her. Rain told Cris that rings are simply items. He sighed and closed his eyes, the image of the ring he got rid of spinning in his mind. She wouldn’t have liked it anyway, he thought, a veil of sadness falling onto his face as the ring in his mind slowly disappeared into nothingness.
I was the one who held her all night.
Jealous wasn’t something Cris suffered much of, but Rain brought that raging monster out of him. He didn’t like others touching her, looking at her, trying to protect her when he himself could do the job. And to know that she had been in the arms of another enraged him. He wanted to kill the man there and then, but if she really did love him, he felt that she would never forgive him, as much as she would have said she did. All sorts of thought raced throughout his minds: the man’s arms around her, his fingers caressing her skin, his lips kissing her, the soft gasp she made when she enjoyed the touch. Cris wrapped his arm around her tighter, fighting back the tears forming in his eyes. He understood that she was friendly and open to the world, but at the same time, he felt rage at the thought of other men wanting to claim her. Never had he felt this way for a woman. Never. She told him that it was just an embrace and nothing more, and he believed it. He took her word for it. He trusted her. He looked down at her sleeping face and kissed it softly, trying not to stir her. “I trust you,” he whispered.
You’re a bigger threat to her than I am.
She told him his dark secret. She told him that he harvested souls. It wasn’t her secret. It was his. And she told him. That to him was the biggest betrayal out of all the events that happened that week. The man knew how to kill Cris now. He could have simply reached out for the shark tooth, yanked it off his skin, and kept it or destroyed it on the spot, condemning Cris to death in a matter of hours. But instead, the man told him that both he and she didn’t trust him. That she worried that she could be the next victim. Cris didn’t believe his words. Rain had offered to be his surviving soul once, but he refused. He wasn’t going to hurt her. He would rather die than kill her. It wasn’t an option, but this man didn’t see it that way. Cris was ready to befriend this man, in order to survive, but now, he was dead, and so was his secret. There was a certain comfort in knowing that he was dead. Now, he no longer had to keep Ziggly on watch. Ziggly would have killed him. In an instant.
Cris took a deep breath and watched the stars overhead sparkling on the dark shadowy background. The shadow, he thought. She spoke words that made him think and reconsider his way with Rain. His jealousies he would have to deal with himself, but she told him that she smothered her. “It’s for protection,” he told her. “I protect her,” she responded. As do I. Rain was a free spirit, just like he was and while he did want to protect her, he understood exactly what the shadowform was saying to him. He made a promise to himself; if she wanted to go, he would let her go. As long as she returned safely and back into his arms, he had no need to restrain her. On occasion, he would have Laerchel following her, but not because he didn’t think Rain could protect herself. He knew she could. He had seen it. Rain’s worry about the assassins was real. They were still out there and now both of them were going to be hunted. Laerchel had her own life as well, so it would only be for a while. He was sure both women wouldn’t mind.
Rain had spent the entire evening working hard to mend what she believed was her hurt relationship. Her words soothed his spirit and calmed his nerves. She swore her devotion to him. For life. She mended the scar she was trying to keep. For him. She stared into his sea-green eyes and held him close. For them. And while he felt satisfied with all her words and actions, a tiny speck of doubt was kept in the back of his mind. Is she doing this to make me feel better? He trusted her, but he felt that her words were repetitive, as if she was really trying to convince him. But Ziggly was right, she domineered his heart and he was quick to fall for her pretty words and talk of devotion. He was loyal to her. He was her wolf. In his heart, she just couldn’t lie about things like that. Could she?
Cris rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath. That day was over. She was in his arms and he had won this round. He was thinking of leaving the ship with Ziggly and having him run the errands while he travelled with Rain around Azeroth. If she was going to go out on her own, he could at least show her the world before she started leaving him. Leaving him. Leaving you. His mind betrayed him and he pressed against his head, as if he were trying to take those thought out, erasing them from his mind. No. No more, Cristianno.
He sighed and knew what he had to do. Ziggly had told him time after time, year after year, “When are you going to grow a pair and start being a pirate?” He was right. He was doing the legal trade because of Kahlen. Kahlen had no claim on him anymore and Rain loved him for who he was, so why was he still hiding? He knew what had to be done. Once his main crew was established, and he showed Rain the world, his first order of business was to intercept a ship and take its cargo. His ultimate goal: intercept a Horde or Alliance ship. A sly grin spread across his face. He liked that idea. And as soon as he reached Booty Bay, he was going to set out a notice to other captains. There had to be others who would want a percentage of the booty, and perhaps an adventure. A council of pirates. What better way to keep his enemies close than to make them allies? It worked for the Horde and Alliance, didn’t it?”
And all this because of Rain. In the end, everything he did was now for her. “You want me as pirate. I will be your pirate.” She nestled against his body and he closed his eyes, his mind now clearing, allowing for sleep. Things were looking up. Rain was back and his. He was going to be a stronger man for her, something he didn’t feel capable of being until now. Cristianno wasn’t a hero. He didn’t care about saving lives except of those that mattered to him, and even then, some of them were a convenience, like the crew.
Rain’s devotion to him, his revelation about his life, the seed of bloodlust implanted within him. Change was going to happen once more.
But, at what cost?
"This is the way it should have been...;_;"
ReplyDeleteYes. Yes it is.