Running from a Nightmare

[Guest]

Jacks dreams were brief and flitting like the turning pages of a book. Each scenario would last no more than five minutes and then Jack would fall through the fabric of the dream into another. They were normally pleasant dreams, to him anyway. What went on in that little crooked brain of his may disturb many, such as the burning of a town or the often brutal murder or two. But mainly these types of dreams were scattered sparsely among his nice memories. Getting drunk, gambling, fighting onboard mighty enemy ships, running from savages on numerous strange islands, getting drunk somemore...All these were great, but tonight just wasn't his night...

Jack was stood at home and his physical self started to quiver and break out into cold sweats. He knew what was going to happen in this recurring monstrosity of a dreamscape. His home was quaint, nothing much and Jack was crouched in the wheat field that surrounded the house. He didn't look anything like his present self back then. He looked more mature....more fatherly. The pirates hair was longer and tied back in a lazy but handsome ponytail, he still had both his eyes and even though he wore many scars, some were still not there yet. Suddenly a body launched out of the wheat behind him and onto Jacks back, wrapping its arms around his neck and clinging onto his back tightly.
"AVAST YE SWAB!!" The giggling boy shouted and Jack rose from his crouch and hoisted the boys legs onto his shoulders so the boy pre-occupied himself with fiddling with the strange beads in his fathers hair.
"Aye yer got me thar, m'lad" he chuckled and above the golden plants saw a familiar figure, which he sauntered casually toward, with his son laughing on his shoulders.
"Jaysus, Maree n' Joosef women, yer keep appearing like that and I swea-" Jacks playful words were cut short by a kiss from his wife and he could feel his son squirm on his shoulders.
"Get a room, you two" he scoffed to which Jack replied "We have a hool house fer ye infermation young man"
It was a happy scene. A lovely family scene. Until....Jack reached up to tousle his sons hair to bring his hand back and discover it was covered in ash. The familair weight of the 8 year old vanished and the pirate felt a tingle down the back of his shirt and the smell of burning filled the air. In a blink his wife's skin cracked, showing angry red inside. Her skin blackened and turned to ash and right in front of Jacks eyes she collapsed to the floor, where the impact smashed her into pieces. The house spontaneously caught fire and Jack could hear screaming, crying and shouting, but could no longer see out of his right eye. The pirate screamed and collapsed near the remains of his life.

He awoke drenched in cold sweat and shaking uncontrollably. Not bothering to grab a shirt or boots, the pirate did what he always did when he had that dream. He raced out of his room, found a window, climbed outside and legged it. He would run till he couldn't and then he would either pass out from exhaustion or collapse where he ended up and wait to fall asleep again.

Jack ran out of steam when it came to his second time running around campus and he had run everywhere. The training and magic squares, the field, all around the lake, the forest, the stables, the temples...everywhere he had ran. But exhaustion finally crept back up on him while he was near the temple. The pirate hadn't been inside the temple while he was here. He'd never actually liked any of the Gods and he doubted he ever would, but it was either going inside or staying out here. He had cut his bare feet in the forest and ambled into Poseidons temple with a tired, drunken looking lurch and with bloodied footsteps. The pirate dropped to the floor at the altar and hung his head, hiding tears. One track of tears was bloody and it was coming from his damaged eye but Jack took no heed. Instead to calm his nerves he started singing the song that had haunted him all throughout his run.

Lay down your head
And I'll sing you a lullaby
Back to the years
Of loo-li,lai-ley
And I'll sing you to sleep
And I'll sing you tomorrow
Bless you with love
For the road that you go

May you sail fair
To the far fields of fortune
With diamonds and pearls
At your head and your feet
And may you need never
To banish misfortune
May you find kindness
In all that you meet.....

He swallowed hard, there was more to the song....it was just.....

[Achlys Adonia Argyris]

Adonia sat in the window in her scale clothing on her half of the room she shared with Calla, as usual, unable to sleep. As she stared at the stars above her, she felt more alone than ever before.

"Why did I even bother coming here?" she muttered drawing her knees to her chest and resting her chin on them. "I'm still going to be alone.... forever."
As she continued to stare out at the sky and the grounds dispassionately, her ears suddenly perked up. Was she dreaming or was there someone running out there..... and crying?

She sat up, eyes sweeping the grounds for any sign of movement. The sounds came closer and closer until she saw.... someone... a man... running as fast as they could.. no shirt and no shoes... But watching him run along.... that drunken, staggering run could only belong to one person.

"Jack..." she whispered, her gut clenching and eyes widening as she saw him stagger out of sight leaving a trail of bloody footprints behind. She leaped down from the window, not bothering to collect her water dress as she sprinted after him, completely silent following his trail of blood.

As the blood led into the the temple of Poseidon, she hesitated. Poseidon was not her patron. Who knew what would happen if Hera found out and thought she had been in the presence of a rival god. But her anger at Hera prompted her to enter the temple whatever the consequences.

Summoning up her courage, she stepped into the temple quietly, following the trail Jack had left; the sound of his sobbing fading into a faint song of terrible beauty. The song was not without gasps or shudders from his sobbing and finally stopped altogether. Adonia approached him cautiously where he had fallen.

"J-Jack?" she whispered inching forward to lay a hand on his shoulder trying to hide the panic in her voice seeing his bloodied feet. "A-are you.... W-what happened to you?"

[Guest]

((hmmm what to make my lil' pirate man do >;D *is evil*))

Jack whipped round swiftly, unsheathing the small curved blade that was stuck in the sash around his waist. Due to his blind spot he didn't see who it was and in a state of defense couldn't place a face to the voice. Its always those who sound most gentle that are the most cruel! Jack remembered and twirled round, pinning his 'attacker' to the nearest wall and holding the deadly knife up to whoever's throat. He couldn't see because of the shadows. "What are yer doing here cad! Speak, or so help me God I'll gut'ah like a fish! Ya hear me!" Jack barked, tears streaming freely from his eyes even with his new found anger they made no intention of stopping. Obviously he didn't wear his eyepatch to bed and didn't put in on before he went on his 'little run' round campus. His right eye was damaged alright and covered in blood from the tear ducts, the skin around his eye was mangled and baby pink, a more redish scar running down the middle from his eyebrow to the bottom of his eye. His pupil was a blind blue, the iris was a mixture of green and baby blue and the sclera was a painful looking, angry red. It was a neat-ish injury but it certainly wasn't pretty. It looked like someone had pressed a firey brand into his eye then slid a knife down it when it was closed. Maybe that was what happened....

[Achlys Adonia Argyris]

(Mwahahaha ooooh my word yay for evilness XDDD Say, do you use Msn?)

Adonia gasped in pain as Jack grabbed her and slammed her up against a pillar, his knife at her throat.

"What are yer doing here cad! Speak, or so help me God I'll gut'ah like a fish! Ya hear me!"

She was unable to answer his angry words for a moment in her panic, as her eyes were fixed upon his bloody right one. What could possibly have happened to it? What had happened to him to put him such a state? She tried to announce herself, but his grip on her throat was too tight.

As she frantically struggled, pulling at his hands she finally managed to gasp "J-Ja-... Jack!" Her vision was beginning to grow fuzzy as her lungs continued to struggle for air, and her arms began to grow heavy.

"P-please..."

[Guest]

((Actually I just got it recently XDDD Do you want me to send you a message with my addy ))

"HOW DO YER KNOW MA'H NAME! SPEAK!! I'LL KILL YA!!" Jack yelled frantically, paranoid, his knife hand shaking and his jaw locked, teeth ground painfully together. "WHAT MORE CAN YOU TEK FROM ME!!" He gripped the blade hard, blood snaking from between his clenched fingers and dripping onto the already bloody floor. His limbs grew tiresome and all his strength seemed to leave him, the pirate dropped the bloodied weapon and fell to his knee's, burying his face in his left hand before raking his nails across his face, desperate and fearful screams muffled between his fingers. "What more can you tek....." Jack quivered uncontrollably, his body threatening to collapse in on itself and a thin layer of sweat covering his body as fine as mist.

[Achlys Adonia Argyris]

(That would be awesome!)
Adonia slid down the pillar Jack had been holding her against as he finally fell at her feet; her body becoming painfully aware that it had only narrowly escaped being strangled by the pirate.

"What more can you tek....."

As her vision came back, she put her hand gently on his shoulder, using her other hand to cup the side of his face.

"J-Jack.." she gasped, still recovering from near suffocation. "I-its me... Adonia... Its just me..." she used both hands to force his face up so his eyes looked right into hers. "You know me.... I won't hurt you... You're safe...."

[Guest]

((awesome X3))

Jacks head was stubborn at first before giving up and letting it be moved. His eyes were squinted painfully and he nuzzled into the sirens hands, sobbing quietly. Like a defenseless child he reached up and grasped Adonia's wrists, not looking at her, just relying on her to be there.

"Please...don't leave me..." he shook, blood pooling around his feet and falling like crimson raindrops from his eye.

"Pleas...just stay..." the pirate uncharacteristically whimpered, breathing raggedly into the sirens palms and increasing his grip on her fragile wristbones.

[Achlys Adonia Argyris]

"Please...don't leave me..."
"Pleas...just stay..."
Adonia cringed as his hands squeezed her wrists, his bloody tears staining her hands as he cried into them. As she worked to pry her hands free of his grip, she could feel him trembling.

His words, spoken as one with no hope, cut into her as easily as any knife would. ...don't leave me... She was a child again.... waking up alone on a harsh island with nothing but her name. Completely alone for her 17 years of life... not a friend in the world... afraid of men.... of her own voice and the terrible power it held

"I-its Ok Jack." she said, tears pooling in her eyes to see him in such distress. "I'm right here. I-I promise I won't leave. " she stammered as she finally managed to pry one hand free, wrapping it around him and pulling him close to her, moving her other hand to stroke his hair in an attempt to calm him.

"I promise..." she choked out, failing to hold back her own tears as she held him. "I promise I won't leave you.... you're safe now...."

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