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Mesapolis
by Aelyva
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~*~*~*~
It was a beautiful spring day, allowing the crew
of the Nomad time to work on the ship.
A soft wind caressed their skin and a shy sun showed
itself at times, when the clouds did want it.
The Nomad drew alongside a port in the city of
Mesapolis, with many other ships. Doubar sang
an old song that he learned from one of his old friend
when he was an ordinary seaman. Sweat fell
on his forhead and and he abstractedly wiped it with
the sleeve of his shirt. He was watching
Sinbad, who was talking to a girl on the next ship.
She laughed at almost all of his words and
smiled blissfully. Doubar shrugged and continued his
work. He was accustomed to that kind of
scene, which happened very often. His brother
attracted women like honey for the bees.
He sighed when he saw that Bryn was observing him
sadly. He knew exactly what she thought and
it made him sad. Doubar loved Bryn very much, but
Sinbad will break her heart, just like he
does with all the other women. Doubar shook his head,
telling himself that it wasn't his problem.
It's theirs.
Watching the scene too, Firouz had almost the same
exact thoughts as Doubar. Women always
liked Sinbad, even when he was young, but Firouz
never saw their attraction to him
Since Maeve was gone, Sinbad had changed. Firouz
didn't know if it was because she wasn't there
any more, or if it was something else. He sighed
quietly and turned to look at Dermott,
Maeve's hawk, who was perched on the mast. He was
looking right in front of him and Firouz
asked himself what he was thinking. Dermott was no
ordinary hawk, and Firouz was sure that
Dermott thought ordinary human thoughts. He only
wished that he could figure out Dermott's
secret.
On the next ship, the young lady who was talking with
Sinbad smiled."You know, I've always
dreamt of one day meeting Sinbad the sailor, master of
the seven seas. I think that my dream
finally came true," she said, looking at him eagerly.
She drank all his words. She would do
anything to pass one night with him. "I don't think I
introduced myself. My name is Janna," she
says, as sensual as she can.
Sinbad smiled. "It' a pleasure to meet you, Janna. I
enjoyed talking to you, but I do have a ship to
repair." He said goodbye to her by a sign of his hand
and walked to the tiller, where Doubar was
standing. Sinbad was surprised to see that some of
the crew ahd listened in on his chat with
Janna. But most of all, he was angry that he can't
have a private life of his own on the ship. He
joined Doubar, who lost his smile when he saw the
expression on his face. "Why is it that half my
crew is spying on me, when they should be working?"
Sinbad yelled loudly so everyone heard him
and rapidly went back to work.
"Relax, little brother. No one was spying on
you..." Doubar tried to reassure him. Inside of him,
he was wondering where was the old Sinbad, the one who
always laughed, always nice and gentle,
always smiling and attentive with his crew. Probably
gone with Maeve...He missed that Sinbad a
lot and wished he would come back soon.
Sinbad watched Doubar, trying to read his mind.
Something was going on abord the Nomad.
Everyone was acting strangly, even Dermott. Sinbad
will find out what's wrong and soon.
"Change of subject. How are the repairs coming?"
"Well, it's almost over. The sails were replaced with
new ones, and the stairs were repaired. The
deck just needs a little work done to it and we should
be finished. I say maybe two days, max to
finish the repairs," Doubar answered,
On their last expedition to an unknown island, the
Nomad hit some rocks that the darkness hid
well. By chance, Mesapolis were just at two hours from
there.
"Good, good. We'll leave as soon as all the repairs
are done. "I believe that's going to be it for
today." He turned around to face his crew. "You can
go. End of the day. Meet tomorrow, same
hour." He went down to his cabin for a moment and
when he got out, he almost walked straight
into Bryn who just arrived in the passage.
"Sorry," she whispered, while continuing her way
without looking him. She entered in her cabin
and closed the door loudly.
Sinbad frowned. Bryn was habitually so gently and
always smiling; today, she seemed not to
be herself. Sinbad was almost sure he saw some
sadness in her eyes. Or maybe it was regret, he
didn't really know. He decided to find out what's
going on and knocked on her door. He waited a
moment, but nothing. So he knocked harder. "Bryn, it's
me. Can I come in for a minute? Bryn?"
"I'm sleeping," Bryn muttered from the inside.
"Can't we sleep in peace oon this boat?!" She
shouted, little furious.
"Ok, ok, I understand. I just wanted to talk for a
moment. I'll come back later. And Bryn...it's not
a boat, it's a ship!" He sighed and went up on deck
In her cabin, Bryn took a deep breath and slowly
opening the door to quickly look around.
Finally, he was gone. She laid on her bed, her eyes
looking at the ceiling. Why are all these women
after him? Why? And why did he flirt with them all?
She could not even count the number of
women he kissed since she joined the crew.
She sighed sadly, if only she could remove him from
her thoughts. But it was too late. Since he
first looked her, he stole her heart and she was now
thinking about him night and day.
Unfortunatly, he wasn't feeling that way for her.
"Damn you Sinbad. Why are you doing this to
me? Can't you see I love you? You don't need all those
women. I'm here..." She whipered to
herself, trying to hold on the tears that came to her
eyes. "No, you won't make me cry. Never!
She turned around and fell asleep.
~*~*~*~
The next day, everyone went back to work early. But
this time, the atmosphear was very different.
No one talked and they seemed all furious against
someone else. They just concentrated on their
work.
Janna was already at her post, watching the handsome
captain from her father's ship. She dreamt
about him all night and was more certain than ever
that she would pass one night with him. She
smiled, laughed and looked away a moment. Her eyes
went on the only woman of his crew.
Janna could bet all she owns that the woman was madly
and deeply in love with the captain.
Janna did not blame her at all, it was hard to resist
to resist Sinbad's charm. Never would a man
like Sinbad ever love a woman like that. He needed a
passionnate and experienced woman., like
her. She laughed again and disappeared from the deck.
Firouz and Rongar just arrived at the Nomad with
supplies, when they heard screams coming
from the city. Soldiers were running to the ships-
mostly to the Nomad. "SINBAD!" Firouz
screamed, trying to catch his attention. He pointed
the warriors who just arrived and were trying
to get aboard. The complete crew waited for them,
swords at the hand, ready to attack.
"What do you want?" Sinbad yelled to them. They did
absolutely nothing to provoc the anger of
anyone in the city.
"Our master will offer to us a big reward if we
bring him back the head of Sinbad the sailor,"
their chief answered, laughing.
On those words, they began to attack. They were more
soldiers than there were of Sinbad's crew,
but Sinbad had a
great crew and each of them were skilful with a sword.
The warriors fell one by one overboard,
but the strongest stayed and gave the crew a run for
their money. They had already lost two men.
Doubar was stuck with a man who was twice big as him
and impossible to touch. Doubar
tried everything he could, the man struck him harder
and harder each time, until he suddenly fell to
the ground. The man took adventage of Doubar's fall
and lifted him and he threw Doubar to the
ground.
Without having the time to think about what was going
on, Doubar fell hard on the ground,
knocking his head on a box. Satisfaid, the man took
one of his daggers and threw it at Doubar,
but the trajectory of the dagger was changed by
Sinbad, who just threw himself on the back of the
man. The dagger penetrated Doubar at the shoulder.
"DOUBAR!" Sinbad screamed. The fury that he felt gave
Sinbad more strength and he was able
to push the man overboard. Sinbad ran to his brother
and kneeled near him. "FIROUZ! Come
here!"
The scientist rushed up to Doubar. "He's unconcious
and bleeding a lot. We need to get him to his
bed. But be careful!! I can't be sure if he has
something broken."
" After getting rid of the warriors he was
fighting, Rongar went over to Sinbad to give him a
hand with Doubar. Bryn and the rest of the crew got
rid of rest of the men that were still on
the ship.
In Doubar's cabin, Sinbad and Rongar gently laid
Doubar on the bed. Firouz immediatly went to
work, trying to repair the injury to the shoulder.
Sinbad was sitting near his brother, is hand in his.
Bryn entered in the cabin, breathless. "They are all
gone. Eman and Asir are putting everything
back together on the deck ," she explained, her eyes
never leaving Doubar. "How is he doing?"
"Not very well. His injury at the shoulder is very
deep and he hit his head very hard. But he's
going to make it...he's strong, " Firouz declared,
trying to convice himself more than the ohers.
He soon finished with the bandages. "We need to let
him sleep. Only time can cure him now."
"I'm not leaving," Sinbad declared. He looked at
everyone who was in the room. "As soon as the
repairs are finished, we'll leave. We can't take any
chances. Now, I would like you to leave me
alone with my brother."
Firouz, Rongar and Bryn left the room silently and
went up on deck. No traces of the soldiers
could be found.
~*~*~*~
The night had fallen and silence reigned in the
darkness. Sinbad was on deck, watching the stars.
Firouz was with Doubar, to see if there was anything
new. Sinbad was feeling better now that he
could breath some fresh air. He had some time to think
during the day, but his thoughts weren't
very clear.
Bryn was watching him, sadly. She wished with all
her heart that Doubar would heal soon She
walked over to Sinbad and put an hand on his shoulder.
"How are you doing?" she asked, gently.
He sighed. "I'm worried about Doubar. He isn't doing
very well...I...I don't know what I would
do without him. He had always been there for me.
Always. I...I couldn't live if he isn't here..."
Sinbad whispered, mostly for himself. The words left
his mouth before he could stop them. He
guessed he had to tell them to someone and inside, he
was glad it was to Bryn.
"Doubar is strong, he'll get better soon. He's a
fighter. He will survive, I'm sure," she answered
him, trying to assure Sinbad the best she could.
Bryn hasn't know Doubar long, but she was sure
that he could make it through this.
Sinbad put his hand on hers. "Thanks. I hope that
you're right. He watched her go, his eyes mid
closed. She had stayed with him a good part of the day
in Doubar's cabin. Her presence made him
feel better, but he didn't know why. He was startled
when he heard a voice near by. He turned
around and saw Janna who was observing him, an
indescrible look on her face.
"I learned that your brother wasn't doing very well.
I am truly sorry. If there's any thing I can
do..."
"I thank you, but I don't think so..." he answered
her. He looked at her, without seeing her.
"Can I come on board? Talking like that is kind of
strange," she asked, smiling gently.
Sinbad shrugged. "If you want." He watched her coming
on board and walking to him. She was
almost as tall as him. She was very beautiful, he had
to admit it. He knew her intentions, and she
knew that he knew. He needed and she was there,
just in front of him, playing all her cards.
Sinbad couldn't remember how they got in his cabin.
Janna locked the door and was now
removing his shirt while kissing him sensually. He
really didn't have the strengh to resist, so
Sinbad let her do what she wanted with him.
Janna pushed him on the bed, a satisfated smile on
her lips. Her dream will finally come true.
She continued to carress him until he started to do
the same. His hands burned her skin. Never
before a man had this effect on her.
Janna knew that Sinbad wasn't indifferent to her
either, in fact he was far from it. He wanted
her as much as he wanted him. A hugh feeling of
satisfaction passed through her body and she
lost all sense of time
~*~*~*~
Sinbad suddenly awoke in the middle of the night and
was surprised to feel something on him.
When his eyes had grown accustomed to the darkness, he
recognized Janna. Suddenly everything
returned to him, how she had seduced him,
walkingtowards his cabin and into his bed.
He sighed. He wasn't very proud of what he had done.
He swore himself it wouldn't happen any
more. He sighed, Sinbad wasn't very proud of what he
had done. He swore to himself that is
would never happen again. A picture of Bryn appeared
in his mind. He felt like he had betrayed
her. Sinbad passed a nervous hand through his tousled
hair and looked around him. His clothes
were on the ground, mixed with Janna's. He was too
tired to think, so he fell back asleep.
~*~*~*~
When Sinbad woke up, he was alone and Janna's
clothes were gone. He conclued that she had
left before dawn, so no one would see her. He jumped
out of bed and dressed quickly. He left his
cabin and went into Doubar's, where he found Firouz
sleeping. He shook him pronoucing his
name at the same time and Firouz woke up. "Good
morning. " Sinbad waited for Fioruz to get up
and sat, near Doubar. " Has anything changed?"
Firouz stretched and yawned. A chair wasn't the best
place to sleep. "No, nothing. But he did
get some color back, which tells me that he is going
to be fine soon. Well, I'm going to eat
now, " he declared , hearing his stomach gurgling. He
left and dragged himself to the kitchen,
where he found Bryn. "Hello!" he greeted happily,
sitting in front of her.
She glanced at him. "What makes you so happy? I find
nothing to be happy about this morning."
Firouz was surprised by her unhabitual coldness.
"Doubar is much better today," he said to her
prudently. "Is there something wrong?" he asked,
chewing on some fruit.
"Everything's fine! Wonderful, perfect!," she
shouted. She brusquely got up, overturning her
chair in the process. Bryn didn't make a move to put
it back on its legs. Bryn turned to head back
to her cabin and ran into Sinbad, who had come to get
something to drink. "Look where you're
going," she mumbled.
"Hey, I want to know what's going on with you," he
asked, a little anxious. When Sinbad saw
that Bryn wasn't going to answer, he followed her into
her cabin, before she could lock the door.
He leaned against the door, his arms crossed on his
chest. "Now, tell me what's wrong..."
"What's wrong??? I think that I should be the one
asking that question. I would have never
thought you could do something like that. I thought
you had more respect for your brother!" She
cried, hysterical. Inside, her heart was bleeding,
crying with pain over everything that happened..
"What exactly are you talking about?"
"Sleeping with a girl that you've known for barely
two days, while your brother is fighting for his
life is very lousy in my opinion!" she shouted. She
didn't recognize herself. When she had seen
Janna come out of Sinbad's room earlier, her heart
broke in two. But it was what Janna said that
was worse. Janna walked closer to Bryn, smiling. "I
just had the most wonderful evening." she
laughed. "But then of course, you'll never know what
that's like, will you? Face it, Sinbad could
never be intersted in you, when he has someone like
me." Janna growled.
And she also had told her she would probably never
know it, because Sinbad wasn't interesting in
girls like Bryn. After Janna left, Bryn ran back to
her cabin and fell on her bed in a fit of tears. She
swore that she would never cry because of Sinbad, but
it was too late. But what was worse, Bryn
still love him...
Sinbad scratched his chin and sighed. He had hoped
Janna would be discret about what happened.
"Bryn...I'm sorry. Truly I am, but I don't know what
to say. I regret what happened, believe me.
But..." He tried to explain the situation, but he saw
that Bryn didn't want to hear a thing. Sinbad
tried a different tactic. "So what? I don't have to
explain myself to you! Doubar is doing much
better and I have the right to do whatever I want,
when I want. You have no right to
judge me! After all, it's none of your buisness and
I don't see why you care," he said to her,
coolly. Sinbad then left the room, before Bryn could
answer.
Bryn stared at the door. Sinbad was right. It wasn't
like he had promised her eternel love. They
simply exchanged a kiss. For luck he had said. It
probably didn't count for him. She was simply
a friend for him... "Go to hell, Sinbad. Why do you
have to do this to me? Just...damn you..." Bryn
fell to the floor and shedded the last of the tears
left in her.
Written: September 5, 1999
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