Little Bits and Pieces (M)

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Eve remained alone for a time on the brow of the ship, but when the winds became too chilly for her, she brushed away her tears and curiously ventured into Zavimaat's room, where she opened the door and peeked in, watching him eat.  After a moment, she pushed the door open and stood inside, keeping her head bowed low as she quietly asked,
"Might I have something to eat or drink?" here she paused, hesitating to ask. "Perhaps some water."

She wasn't sure what she could stomach right now, but her throat was parched, and probably felt as dry as her hair did, which now hung all around her body in knots and loose curls at the end.  She looked worse for wear, needing a good bath, her clothes needing a good scrub and her hair could use a nice long, brushing.  Though her face was lightly smudged with dirt, that was the least of her worries.

[Paradox]

Eve's intrusion gave the young man quite a start, "Shit!" He leaped off the bed and turned quickly to face her. Immediately, he felt stupid. He turned his head aside, doing his best to conceal the light flush on his face.  Had she been listening to him talk to himself? That's all I need. Her thinkin' I'm some kinda nut.

" Eve. Haha...I was jus'...ya. Course. Ya help yerself to whatever I got. I don't got water no more. Got some 'o this and er...think I got some ale down below. Um...I ate yer fish ,but I got some more. I got plenty. I'm a fisherman. Did I already tell ya that?" He didn't wait for her to answer him. " Well, lemme see what I got down below, okay? Sit tight. " He left the cabin for a few minutes and returned with four more sun-dried fish and a bottle of cheap, watered-down ale. She might appreciate a "This was supposed to be my dinner, but you need it more than I do. Take 'em. I won't take no for an answer. " He held the fish and ale out to her. 

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Before she could consider rejecting his request, he was already away and gathering her food.  She felt pathetic as she waited, but kept her hands clasped before her, her head bowed down until he returned, then slowly lifted her eyes, her green eyes staring out widely from beneath a curtain of her red hair.

"Thank you," she said softly, accepting the fish and ale and took a seat on the edge of his bed as she ate it in small, cautious bites.  Though she wasn't used to ale, she wouldn't complain at the foul taste of it as it at least afforded her something to drink.  Though because she hadn't eaten in countless days, and although it was watered down, the drink went straight to her head as her cheeks burned subtly.

Once she was finished eating the fish, she lowered her head again and said again, "Thank you."
She felt awkward, not sure what to say to him, as she was used to eating and being alone- lest her father was around when he had punished her.

The memory made her eyes flutter for a moment, before the horrible memory faded away.  She didn't want to cry again, and found herself growing angry with herself when tears threatened her eyes again as she turned away from the young man who had sought to help her.
No, she couldn't burden him, despite him being unfortunate enought o find her and allow her to stay on his ship. It wasn't that she wasn't grateful, it was that she didn't understand.

She should've died.  She was worthless- yet why had those men....

And before she knew it, she was crying again.  She rose to leave, but the alcohol rushed straight to her head as she let out a noise and began to fall towards the ground... her hands barely catching her as she fell but inches from Zavimaat's boots as her red hair fell into piles upon them.
She had smacked her cheek off the floor, which smarted, but out of frustration, she found herself sobbing again as her entire body shook from it.

[Paradox]

He watched her eat and he found himself wishing that he had something better to offer her. She looked, well, terrible. Not my fault, but still. Poor girl. "Don't eat too fast. I did that once after goin' days without. All came back up. Was a fuckin' mess." He wrinkled his nose.

Zavimaat shrugged at her thanking him. He was still disappointed that she was the only thing he'd managed to find among the wreckage. He wasn't going to make any profit off of her. If anything, he'd probably end up burning a hole in his pocket getting her settled in Serendipity.  "No problem. Maybe when we make port, I'll treat ya to somethin' nice. Sound good? I " Most of them places ain't decent to take a girl an' all them nice places I couldn't afford. Meh. I'll think of somethin' later.

He noticed her look away from him and he wondered what was going through her mind. Before he could say something, she was rising to stand but just as quickly she fell. "eve!" He was at her side in an instant. He didn't even need to think about it, " Damn! Are you okay?" He noted the flush in her cheeks and felt her forehead. It was only now that he realized that he should have offered her his spare shirt to replace those wet raggedy dress she was wearing. " Yer such a dumb shit!" He was talking to himself , but forgot he had company. He was accustomed to spending weeks, months alone at sea. " Lemme help ya there. " He hooked an arm beneath her and lifted her up, slowly and as gently as he could. 

It was only then that he noticed the ale bottle lying on the floor. He nudged it with his boot and it rolled along a little too easily to contain much fluid. "D-did you just drink all of that?" He shouldn't have been surprised. For all he knew she hadn't had anything in days, maybe a week or so. But was it even possible to be affected that quickly?

He shook his head, " Oh man. I toldja to take it slow. C'mon, let's get ya over here." He helped her to sit back down on the bed. " Yer body's gotta be weak from bein' hungry and uh...dehydrafication. Donchya worry though. I'll take care of ya and get ya back in shipshape in no time. "

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Eve was still a little dizzy, and when Zavimaat escorted her to the bed, she found herself leaning against him for support.  And because she didn't know better, his irrational ranting she assumed was directed towards herself, and suddenly turned her face and pressed it against his arm as she sobbed, "I'm sorry."

She was a pathetic sight indeed, and never felt anything she had ever done was worthwhile. After all, she had been treated horribly her entire life, so why was she surprised when she ended up inside that box?  Had it not meant to be her coffin?
Though, she had always feared there was a worse fate in store for her...
Had she made it to the Island.




But....


Here she was...



Some strange twist of fate, had her crying into some strangers arms.

"Please, Zavimaat, I don't want to go back."she said, shivering as she held onto him.  "When we get to a town, you can just leave me there. I don't have any money. So I can't pay you anything.  But I don't want to go back home. I'd rather be anywhere.  I don't care about anything else. "
And really, she didn't. She didn't even aspire to keep on living-
She just wanted to fade away and be forgotten...

Then maybe... she'll be at peace and figure out why she was even ever born at all.
She never asked or any of this to happen to her, and i n fact, would have preferred to remain, living in her father's basement, eating scraps of rotten meat for the rest of her life.  After all, that was all she really knew.  And even the recent turn of events, and change of fate to her own body, had been strange and foreign to her.

Most of what she was experiencing was new-
And she could barely remember it at all.. what had brought her here...
What had happened, what had begun...
but as she wept, she felt her stomach twist with anxiety, for she knew, from this day forth-

Everything would be different.
Even if this Zavimaat fellow had intended to bring her back home- she would find herself back into the same predicament as earlier..
but perhaps...

She could just run away her entire life.
And hide away from all the scars.

[Paradox]

"Go...back? From where? I dunno where yer from." Zavimaat blinked, not quite sure how to respond to her clinging to him or to her plea. He considered embracing her, but he didn't want her to get the wrong idea. Didn't want to think he was going to harm her in any kind of way. At the same time, she was probably in desperate need of comfort which was not something he was experienced with. Tentatively, he placed a hand gently on the small of  her back and rubbed in a slow, circular motion. Something he recalled his aunt doing for him when he was a child. He wasn't quite sure if it worked very well but he wasn't sure what else to do.  He let her lean on him. Tears, snot, whatever...it didn't bother him much. He wasn't a priss.

Her next words cut into him, made him feel guilty as hell. He wished that they didn't. It seemed she'd come from a bad place only to end up in another bad place. "Whatever ya want. I jus' wanted tah help. Ya don't owe me nothin'. I'm glad I found ya an' uh...earlier...I was jus' hopin' ...no. Nevermind. It don't matter. S'gonna be fine. I got money if ya need it. Not a lot , but uh when I reach port, I'm gonna meet with my boss an' get paid.  " He wasn't going to tell her the truth. That underneath in the cargo hold he was ferrying stolen possessions from influential individuals.  She didn't need to know and it was likely for the best. " And ya can have some. Maybe it'll help get started. And ya can go wherever ya want. Maybe start a better life somewhere. Forget all the bad shit in the past that's buggin' ya."

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As he held her, she continued to cry, but after a time...
She calmed.  Then felt numb.
Never in her life could she remember something like this, and closed her eyes, imagining the rotting smell in the dank cellar in which she had dwelled.

But what he said, this man, if it were true- than what was to become of her?  She had no place to go, no direction, no desire for stability.  Though internally, she hungered for what she had never had before and feared that if she were to move, this simple moment in her life might break.

[Paradox]

He felt her breathing slow, didn't hear the sobs anymore of feel her small form shiver. She seemed to have calmed down for the moment which was good.  "In the meantime, I'll look out for ya. I got a cousin. She's 'bout yer age, ya know? Kei. Good kid. She'd probably be spoilin' ya rotten if she was here. Heh." His hand stopped rubbing and he stood back, looking down at her.

"Don't expect yer gonna feel too well for some time. If ya need somethin' from me , ya don't gotta be shy 'bout askin'. Probably don't got much to offer, but I'll see what I can do.  "  He gestured to the bed, "Rest as much as ya need. I uh...really don't got clothes for girls or anything but ya could borrow my spare shirt if ya want . I shoulda thought 'bout that last night but I dunno ...my head was spinnin'. Still kinda is. " He didn't seem quite as distressed as she was, " That part of our lives is over now , eh? Now we just gotta think of what to do next.  "

He moved for the door, " First course of action is tah get the hell outta here and set them sails before the weather changes. Almost forgot..." He moved away from her and snatched up a bucket from the opposite end of the room. He held it up for her to see. "This is the pot where ya take a dump or a piss. When yer done, ya gotta toss it into the sea."   

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His incessant talking actually calmed her.  Where she had not much to say, or rather, not much she wanted to say, he would go on and it lulled her.  After he left, she took comfort into his bed, but grew restless after a time and began to wonder about the world around her.

Rising, she moved out of the room and gently explored the place.  Her bare feet lead her deeper below the deck where a bunch of old crates and cargo was stored.  She paused before the, her fingers lightly brushing over the fishing net before she found her toe bump against a small box.
Then she thought she heard something but when she turned around, a spider came crawling down, nimbly weaving a web against a tall structure, covered by a thick blanket.  It looked rather worn, even dusty as she approached.

Curiously, she lifted the blanket and when a metal man inside was staring back at her, she gave a scream.

[Paradox]

ooc: What the hell is Tony Stark doing down there? o.O

ic:

Satisfied with her response, he left her alone to what he assumed would be a long and much needed rest. He'd use this time to raise the sails and get the boat on proper course. The sooner they left these pirate-infested waters, the better. He'd sweep through another day , combing for lost treasure some other time. It wouldn't be good to be caught by pirates with a girl on board. He shivered to think of what they'd do to her. After all, she was kind of a cutie even with all that muck on her. Sort of.

He'd just completed the task of releasing the sails when he heard a girly scream coming from below. Cursing , he took off running for his cabin. He retrieved a lamp and some matches from his desk , lit the lamp and vaulted down the stairs. He stumbled into the cargo hold and was but wasn't surprised to find the girl there. "What are ya doin' down here?!" He demanded, feeling just a little bit annoyed and pissed that she'd caused him alarm and that she was wandering around in an area that he didn't want her to be. It didn't occur to him that he hadn't told her that this area was off-limits down here. "And what are ya screamin' abou-" He followed her eyes and raised the lamp to illuminate a suit of armor. He looked back at her with an eyebrow elevated curiously. Was she seriously freaking out over that?

He tried to resist the urge to laugh, "Yer not afraid of this thing, are ya?" He reached out and wrapped his knuckles on the iron breastplate twice. "It's just a suit of armor." There was humor in his voice and he didn't mean to laugh at her ,but it was funny.

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She was so terrified at the very sight and idea of a man made of metal that she stumbled backwards in shock, kicking open the small box she had spotted earlier.  Gasping as the lid clamored to the floor, she stepped away as her eyes traced into the narrow haul of the box.  THough as the lamp light flickered from where Zavimaat held it, eventually light had spilt over the contents inside the smaller box-
and a small leather book, looking worn and ancient, lay with- with a burned image pressed into it's binding. 

It was the image of a fruit tree.

And the very image itself burned into her memory- pulling her back to that day when there was fire, water, heat, pain....
dust, decay...
and death....


It was the same symbol from the tomb...
The tomb they had taken her to-
one she believed would be her own.


And here it was, on some unknown boat..
on some unknown waters...

Staring back at her in the dimness of the light.
And all Eve could do, was whisper,
"The Tree of Paradise..."
before she fainted to the ground.

[Paradox]

"Careful there! This is valuable shit. The boss'll kill me if there's so much as a scratch. " Zav scolded her and bent over her, extending a hand out to her to help her up. He noticed that she had a funny look on her face and was staring at something as if she'd seen a ghost. He turned his head to look, swinging his lap around to give light to the situation. "Eh? Whaddya babblin' 'bout now? Tree ? What tree?"  He saw the book now and wrinkled his nose, "Eve, ya might wanna get yer eyes checked. That's a book. "  He chuckled, " Never understood the value of 'em either. They're just a bunch of paper 'n words. "

He turned around, " It's kinda dark here and the light must be playin' tricks on yer..." then he noticed she'd collapsed. Feinted, probably. "Damn it!" He knelt down beside her and slapped her cheeks lightly with his free hand. "Aw, c'mon! Ya gotta be kiddin' me here. Eve, Eve...geeze... stop layin' there like a dead fish. " He poked her with a finger. "Eve?"

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Eve gasped, her hand suddenly gripping onto his in brief panic when she opened her eyes.  She was confused as he was for a time, but then as the memory returned, she turned fearfully from him and glanced over at the book. She clutched against her shirt, a necklace, hidden beneath the clothe, held a delicate rock, and upon it was engraved the symbol of the sun.  It was one of the matching pairs against the legend-

Though she couldn't recall any of it. She had been too fearful when she was dragged into their plot-
the plot of men she did not know.

Her eyes could not be torn away from the book as she looked at it, and suddenly she pulled away from Zavimaat and crawled over it, staring down at the leather bond book before lifting it from the box.
She felt her breath caught into her throat the moment of contact.
Then, after a time, she turned to Zavimaat and asked, "Where did you get this book?"
And fear gripped her as she backed away from him.

He had seemed pleasant enough, but now she began to dread he was part of that secret society, of those men who sought to harm her, those men who's laughter was as cold as stone.

[Paradox]

"I didn't steal it, if that's what ya mean!" Zavimaat snapped at her defensively. He was a thief, he knew that deep down but he didn't like being accused of it, didn't like all the negative stigma that came with it.  He wasn't a bad guy. He just needed the money. His family needed the money. He always told himself that.

He didn't like the look she was giving him. She looked close to being horrified. Maybe she had put two and two together. Maybe she thought he was a no-good pirate or worse.

" I jus' -look,  I transport stuff for uh some guys. I dunno their names and I don't care to know either. They gimme a crate.  They pay me some money to not ask questions and deliver it across the sea to someone else. It's nothin' shady!  " He insisted, but wouldn't meet her eyes as he told her. " What's the big deal, anyway? Does it belong to you or somethin'? " He wasn't aware of how he'd raised his voice at her or how red his face had become. He had no reason to be angry with her, but the anger he felt was more towards himself for being ashamed of what he was doing.

He thought he'd be able to get over it when he'd started the trade, but deep down he'd always hated himself and he knew that if his grandfather were alive , that he wouldn't approve.

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The words struck her, not helping to ease her anxiety as she cradled the book in her arms, eyes watering with more tears.  When the first few tears hit the leather book and began trailing down the sides of it, she got to her feet and ran away-
bolting out the door, through the unknown darkness and up the stairs.

In seconds she was on the deck of the ship, where a sudden, and most violent gush of wind nearly lifted her from the ship as she stumbled against the ledge, the book falling from her hand and landing onto the deck.  It was only then she noticed the change in the air around them, as enormous dark clouds brewed over head, and a loud, rumble of thunder announced it's arrival.

Lighting flashed, and as another loud crack of thunder roared over head, Eve shot her hands to her ears and cowered, dropping to her knees as the winds tore threw her hair and began spilling open the pages of the books.
The yellowed pages, ancient from time, began to flutter furiously as the winds continued to howl around her, until it became too much, and a page or two broke free, fluttering off into the air.


It was only then she let out another scream, and leapt upon the ancient book, sealing it shut, but to her dismay, the two other pages were sailing worlds away, tossed about int he violent airs above.

[Paradox]

"Hey! Where the hell do ya think yer goin'!? " He snarled after her as she ran off with the book. He was being paid a small fortune for that. The money would keep his cousin out of the brothel for a few years. "Get back here, dammit! " He chased after her. She wasn't faster than he was, but she still managed to beat him to the deck.

He caught her by the arm , grasping her a bit roughly. "Look , girly. I been nice to ya cause I felt bad for ya bein' nailed up in a box 'an all , but yer walkin' on real thin ice with me right now.  Yer parents ever teach ya to not go pokin' around in a man's cargo hold, huh? How'd ya like it if I started pokin' around in your private places?! Huh!? " He fumed at her, paying absolutely no attention to the sudden and unexplained change of weather.

"I don't expect YOU to understand, but I saved your life and this is MY ship. The least you could do was respect-" He was aware of the wind now and heard the not so distant rumble of thunder. He whipped around to face her again, hearing her scream. His eyes caught the pages being violently stolen away by the wind. "No! Son of a bitch!" He ran after them , leaping forward to grasp them but the wind taunted him, carrying the pages higher, just out of his grasp. He fell onto the desk face first , his nose smacking down on the hard wood. He lay there for a moment. Still. Had he been knocked unconcious? Perhaps.

He sat up quickly and looked up, searching for the pages. "Damn...damn it." He felt his anger building up. The book was going to be worthless now. The buyers would check the pages. See  two missing. They wouldn't be happy. And all he could think about was how they probably wouldn't be interested in it anymore. "Damn it, damn it DAMN IT!" He bellowed , his rage could have rivaled the storm. He  spun on his heel to face Eve, pointing at her, shaking with so much wrath. So much frustration. "YOU!" He snarled. "You...ARGH!" He turned away from her and stomped away to throw a tantrum that one would not have expected to see coming from a man his age. He punched out at the boat's mast, "Worthless! Worthless piece of SHIT! "


ooc: Epic Mantrums abound! Wheee!

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OOC: Oh those mantrums! Gotta love em lol
I just feel bad because Zav does all of the talking~
Oh well, I'd rather not post an incredible amount of fluff to get the point across that Eve isn't one to talk, so yeah.. XD

I shall TRY To post something, um, good enough in return, but brain = fail right now and also, that was an EPIC mantrum :3

IC:




Terror gripped Eve as the man went on a tirad. She feared at one point he might strike her as she cowered away, but when he didn't and rushed off after the pages, she watched him as if captured in some sort of bad dream.  But it was too late, those pages were gone for good.

When his anger returned to her, she had already bowed her head from where she remained, perched upon the ground, her legs tucked beneath her while the winds tossed the ends of her white skirt and brushed her long red hair into her face.

For now, she looked at the book, keeping her focus upon it as tears returned to her eyes.  The tree... the sun... what did it all mean? And why did she happen to find this symbol, here of all places? Could she trust this man? How much did he know? Would he even have answers for her? Would he care?  Lifting her head up, she hugged her book against her chest as a bolt of lighting dashed over head.  And her tears began to fall, along with the cold droplets of rain.

[Paradox]

ooc: Eh. It's cool. My posts are shitty, but I know you forgive me! x3

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His tantrum might have lasted longer than it did, but the storm grew weary of Zav's antics and intensified. Great waves about as tall as the angry young man slammed into the boat's hull, causing it to teeter violently. Zavimaat lost his balance and fell flat on his back. He lay there in a daze, staring up at the darkened sky and not comprehending how he could have missed this storm. He didn't have a lot of time to think about that as the wind picked up , ripping the sails from the mast and all the while the boat kept rocking more and more precariously. The last thing he'd recall seeing was an enormous black wave descending upon them right before the boat capsized and water rushed up all around him.

He knew darkness , then, nothing more....

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Lighting cracked the mast in half, forcing the wood to smash into the deck between Zavimaat and Eve.  Eve panicked, but could do little about their situation as a massive wave surged over head, blackening the lighting filled sky as it sent the boat into a tumble.

And she recalled the water being cool as she began sinking, bubbles rippling around her body.  And slowly, she opened her eyes.  All around her was a suffocating blackness, a water so heavy and potent she was numb to it...

And then a great pull had her drawn upwards and tossed about a waves, as she swallowed waters and was treated as limply as a rag doll.  She felt exhausted, barely managed to think of ways how to stay afloat when something caught her eye.

It was the book, floating pathetically before her in the sea of black.

That was the last thing she saw before the waves took Eve again....



.........




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As the sea calmed, the morning sun rose again.  Everything appeared as normal against the jagged, cliff like shores on the remote beach where Eve had been spewed upon.  Her cheek was pressed against the rocks, a rough and untamed branch of beach, which was the only one for miles, lest a sailor was lucky enough to find homage in a cave.  One such cave existed, with a wide, open mouth gaping behind where Eve lay still in the sand and rock. 

Her red hair lay in tangles about her body, her white dress suctioned against her form in a pathetic attempt at giving her warmth and modesty.  Though, despite the raw destruction the storm had offered, there she lay, gently breathing- though not awake...

with the book clutched fervently in her hand.

[Paradox]

He woke up feeling cold and wet. He felt a cold wet wash over him, immersing him up to his waistline, only to recede moments later. He felt the hard, compact gritty surface beneath him and heard the familiar sounds of ebb and tide. It took his mind a moment to register that , somehow, he had made landfall. Zavimaat  pushed himself up to a sitting position and looked around. He had no idea where he was or even how he'd ended up here.

Recalling the events that led up to this moment, he found himself doubting that any of it was real. It seemed too melodramatic. Like something out of some stupid storybook his grandpa used to read him as a kid. He must have had too much to drink and passed out for a long time. Yeah. That was logical, right? The storm must have hit while he'd been unconscious. He was damn lucky to be alive and he cursed his stupidity. This was proof that he needed to lay off the booze.

He rose to his feet slowly and turned to survey his new surroundings. The coast wasn't familiar to him. This didn't appear to be the Serenian coast. Oh boy. "Where the hell am I?" He muttered and raised a hand to shield his eyes as he peered up at the sky, catching a flock of gulls as the wheeled overhead, riding on the southwestern breeze.

Behind him , the sandy beach gave way to a grassy expanse , sloping up to form tall and ominous rocky precipices. Further up the slopes, he spied some trees. He could only hope this island wasn't small, or uninhabited. He turned back to face the shoreline, his eyes sweeping over the waves and searching for the remains of his boat. Little had washed up on the beach with him.

He felt for the knife he usually kept in his boot and was relieved to find that it, at least, was still there.