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Chapters 1-3
Chapter Four
The Unthinkable
Rina Lee sat next to the unconscious airhead-of-a-shopkeeper. The catgirl rubbed her eyes and glanced at the clock. “Damn. Three AM. Five minutes went by fast. Time to check her vitals...~” she thought, stretching her short legs out. As often as she sat in that kitchen, she always felt uneasy among the unnatural cleanliness. Masshiro kept it too tidy for it to feel livable. “How’d I get saddled with taking care of her...? Oh yeah, I was still drunk, and they promised me more rum if I watched her...~ I really should lay off the alcohol...~”
“Pulse...~” she muttered as she grudgingly removed her paw gloves, placing two bare fingers on the woman’s neck. Her eyes widened. “SWAY!!!!~” she hollered, frantic, “SAICHEN!!!! SORROW!!!!” Rina’s eyes darted around; should she run for help or stay here?! “Nobody’s coming.....~” she whispered, excruciatingly afraid.
The small woman checked Sasha’s pulse again, “Oh gods.....it’s so weak....what do I do...?!~”
“I...i...ia...Ian....?” “Sasha! Sasha, don’t go! Stay –away- from the light! Don’t die on me! ~” “W...where’s...Ian...?” “He’s not here; Bob’s taking care of him; he’ll take good care of him, I promise. What is it?” still holding the woman’s wrist. Sasha feebly attempted to make her request, “Tell...him...I’m sorry...” “Sorry for what? Sasha, don’t die! ~” “I’m sorry I never told him...about...” she was fading in and out. “Sasha, hold on! I’ll go get Bob!” “I...never...told...him...about the...tell Gino...it wasn’t...his...fault...Ian...I’m...so...sor...r...” Sasha’s hand went limp, and her pulse faded into nothing.
Chapter Five
Rather Unsettling News for all...
“Someone?!?! Is there anyone listening?!?! We are SNOWED IN, for gods’ sakes; I know someone’s in here!! ~” yelled Rina as she darted through the parlor. She rushed into the living room to see several of the women just awakening to her shouts. The catgirl scurried over to Captain Sway, grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her forcefully.
“Gawd! Rina? What’s –” “Sasha died and I couldn’t do anything and now she’s dead and I don’t know what to do and you gotta help me Sway you just have to!! ~” she blurted, gasping for air at the end of the sizable run-on. “You’ve got to be kidding me...”muttered Sway as Rina dragged her to her feet and dragging her into the kitchen.
“What the sh—?” exclaimed the pirate as she looked into the kitchen, “I can’t believe this...it finally happened...” “I’m glad you’re taking this so well~” Rina muttered sarcastically, inwardly wanting to smack her for being so casual about it. “I mean, it’s; it was, Sasha. I know we hated her, but...we just...she died...~” Sway was rightly confused at Rina’s sudden display of compassion for the now-deceased shopkeeper.
Rina sunk down to the ground and curled up into a ball; knees to her chest, head tucked down. “Rina...? Rina, calm down. It wasn’t your—” The woman’s head jerked up; her face streaked with tears, “But it –was- my fault...~” she whispered, “I should have done something...I just sat there...and now she’s gone, and it’s my fault...~” she trailed off, tucking her head back down.
A moment later, Rina raised her head again, “Who’s going to tell Ian...? ~”
Chapter Six
Bad News, Good News
Upstairs, Ian was still unconscious. Bob, of course, was not far away from the sleeping merchant. The redhead was trying not to blush as he lifted Ian’s wrist to check his pulse. Part of him knew that it wasn’t entirely necessary to keep checking, but another part truly craved even the slightest touch of their skin. “Still normal...” he resisted the urge to double-check by placing his head back on the other man’s chest.
Bob sighed deeply as he moved back to his sitting place, peeking out the window on his way. He wondered how long it would keep snowing. The redhead settled back into the chair, and sighed again. The man looked back wistfully at the sleeping figure in the bed, and sighed one last time, looking down at his feet.
“Psst!” The man raised his head. “I...I have some...bad...news,” whispered Sway from the doorway, careful to not wake Ian. Of course, when one hears such a comment, one begins to worry. Bob tiptoed to the doorway, then slipped outside of the room and slid the door closed behind him. “What happened?” “Rina...” Sway trailed off as she motioned to the very disconcerted catgirl behind her. “She...~” Rina coughed; Bob noticed the glistening of the tears on her face, “What’s wrong? What happened?” he repeated. “Sa...Sasha died ~” she choked. “How long ago?” The woman began to sob, “A...about twenty min...utes...I couldn’t do...anything! ~” a fresh wave of tears broke free from her eyes, but she was forced to continue, “She told me to make sure Ian and Gino got a message. She said that she was sorry for not telling him about ‘something’, and that ‘something’ wasn’t Gino’s fault ~” “Do you know what the ‘something’ was?” Rina shook her head.
“We thought you should...be the one to...I don’t think any of us are strong enough to...nobody could tell him except you,” Captain Sway murmured, trying not to look at Bob. When she did look up, she was flabbergasted to see the look on his face. She had expected a glare, a furrowed brow, something; he almost looked like he was going to cry. “Bob?” she questioned. “It...It’ll really hurt him. This is...huge,” he leaned up against the wall, placing a hand over his eyes, “I don’t want to hurt him like that...” he whispered, the pain in his voice very apparent. “If...If you want, I can tell him...~” offered Rina. “But Sway’s right,” Bob winced, “None of you could really handle that...” As he trailed off, he slid the door back open, stepped inside, and slid it shut behind him.
“I wonder if he’ll wake Ian up to tell him, or wait until he comes to?” muttered Sway, noticing that Rina had curled back into a ball. “Rina!” she placed a hand on the catgirl’s shoulder; Rina’s head jerked up, “What? ~” “You need to get some sleep. Go back downstairs and find some blankets.” “...no~” Smack! “You go downstairs right now and go to sleep!” Rina slunk off down the hallway, “I’m not sleeping downstairs. I’ll sleep in storage again~” Sway raised an eyebrow, absently thinking, “What did she mean by ‘again’...?”
Bob’s vigil had become rather dismal. He could no longer spend it absentmindedly daydreaming; it had developed into a seemingly endless wait to tell the one he loved that the one –he- loved had died. He couldn’t imagine what his reaction to such news would be. Thinking back, there was a time when he thought that, at any time, he would get such a message. Those weeks...the saying ‘no news is good news’ was never more false. Those weeks had been agonizing. “I really don’t want to do this...” he whispered, closing his eyes, once again, with a sigh.
Despite the cloud cover, Bob noticed when daybreak arrived. Ian would wake up very soon; he could feel it. Sure enough, “...Bob...?” came a weak voice. “Right on time,” he thought bitterly. “Where’s Sa...” Ian noticed the look on the redhead’s face, “What’s wrong...?” “I’ve...I’ve got some news for you,” he sat down on the bed.
Bob’s voice was shaky; there were so many other things he wished they could be talking about...“I honestly don’t know how to say this...Ian...I have some really bad news.” The oh-crap-my-world-is-going-to-end? look flashed onto the shopkeeper’s face, “Ian...I don’t want to tell you this, but I have to. Sasha...Sasha died, last night,” he managed to croak, holding back tears at the reaction splayed on his love’s face. “No...No, that can’t be true. That’s impossible. If I wasn’t there to save her, then Gino would have!” Oh, how it pained him to have to say it, “The injuries she sustained last night...were really severe. None of us could do anything.”
The look on Ian’s face got worse by the second, but there was more, “She said something, right before she,” he choked again, “died. She said that she was sorry for not telling you about something. She didn’t say what, though.” Bob didn’t even notice his own tears; just the tears of the sandy-haired shopkeeper, flowing steadily down his face. “Is...that all? Is that all she said?” “Yes.” Both men’s voices were shaking; both men’s cheeks wet with tears.
Sway was coming up the stairs with breakfast as a loud, sobbing scream echoed through the second floor. “I guess he knows now,” she turned a 180 and went back downstairs.
 Talice-Derae · Thu Jan 18, 2007 @ 09:42pm · 1 Comments |
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