Unforgiven Swords: Chapter 16

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Hiruna didn't remember anything that had happened a few hours before.

In fact, she thought the most probable hypothesis was that she fell asleep and the daughter of Locke Wolff invented a whole story to trick her.

Being inflexible as she was, Grainne quickly decided to give up on convincing the woman she greatly admired.

In a bad mood, looking to the night sky up on the deck, the Hound finally decided to appear.

Although she only noticed it after a time.

Hound: We need to talk.

She yelled. The ghastly presence could manage to walk until he was next to her, without making one sound.

Grainne: You have to stop doing that! I swear one day I'll just die with these...

Hound: We need to talk.

Grainne: Oh, sure... How was the attack, by the way? And where is my dad?

Hound: Your father is doing some... research. As for the attack, it never happened... And that is why we need to talk... Have in mind that this will not be easy... I lied to you because your father...



<p class="MsoNormal">Grainne refused to think over the matter.

<p class="MsoNormal">With her head under a pillow, she yelled and cried all she could. Sometimes, no matter how she tried to convince herself of the contrary all the time, she just realized how she was nothing more than a confused girl. A girl who grew under the protective wing of a loving father, a father that she, even though he certainly loved her, never really cared much about learning anything about the girl.

<p class="MsoNormal">Consequentially, that girl also knew nothing about her father.

<p class="MsoNormal">As such, finally realizing the true nature of Locke Wolff, Grainne of the Tides cried as the girl she knew she was... After all the crying, however...

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<p class="MsoNormal">Kanpare was bitting a nail, an act that demonstrated, for someone as vain as herself, a parte amount of tension.

<p class="MsoNormal">Hiruna: Are you sure, Hound? Should I really leave my niece like that, by herself?

<p class="MsoNormal">Hound: I know I'm not exactly the one you'd trust, but I recommend doing it this time. She needs to reflect alone, who know for how much, before she can stand up and choose by herself.. By seeing the true colors of someone she is so close to... No. By realizing she never knew the true colors of such a person, our little miss felt cornered... Summarizing it, the right way to do that is leaving her to decide for herself.

<p class="MsoNormal">Hiruna: What are you talking about?

<p class="MsoNormal">Hound: I realized I'm not a Hound, Kanpare. So I stopped barking and started saying the words I needed to say for a long time...

<p class="MsoNormal">Hiruna: You really do not care for any of us? Not even a little bit?

<p class="MsoNormal">The blue eyes turned to her face. For once, they were not mysterious nor emotionless. For the first time, Hound's eyes demonstrate something closer to... nostalgia?

<p class="MsoNormal">Hound: I'm being egoistic, believe me. I do not care for any of you as I should, I lost the capacity of doing so, but I used to care for someone else, who crossed the same path as Grainne... Seeing it again would bring me sadness, and I do not want to remember how is to get sad...

<p class="MsoNormal">Behind the mask made of bandages covering Hound's face, Hiruna Kanpare Nu thought she could glimpse a smile.

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<p class="MsoNormal">After the crying, Grainne laid her head on the pillow and stared at the roof.

<p class="MsoNormal">What she needed to do was to think.

<p class="MsoNormal">Priorities, she thought, priorities... She wouldn't follow her father after hearing he'd act as a terrorist, but at the same time, she loved her more than no one, and hadn't the willpower to contestate his word. She wished she could talk to her brother, who had passed the same before her, however her brother was never in sight...

<p class="MsoNormal">Basically, Grainne had no idea on what to do.

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<p class="MsoNormal">Macabre: ... we just received a letter. Hound tells that we have to go to a temple, nortgh from here.

<p class="MsoNormal">The pirates and Ainer Grave were reunited in the hiding place, discussing the last plans before the fateful day.

<p class="MsoNormal">Grave: (drinks a sip of tea) That's Shigeru, not a temple, but the ancient ruins Shigeru.

<p class="MsoNormal">Macabre: Yes. We just have to go there, and the Unforgiven Swords will be waiting for us.

<p class="MsoNormal">Grave: (fills his cup with tea) Can we trust him?

<p class="MsoNormal">Macabre: It's this or hiding your whole family... Twenty to more people, right? Yes, we have to do it...

<p class="MsoNormal">Alina: I don't think he'd come to us just for arming a trap. I mean, he is stronger than all of our crew.

<p class="MsoNormal">The revolutionary among them drank the whole cup in one sip.

<p class="MsoNormal">Grave: You can count on my Fire Dance! Hohoho ho!

<p class="MsoNormal">Karen: Huh... What?

<p class="MsoNormal">Grave: The sword of a sword dancer, Fire Dance!

<p class="MsoNormal">Naishi: What?

<p class="MsoNormal">Grave: ... It's the name of my sword... Why are you all quiet all of a sudden?

<p class="MsoNormal">Macabre: I abstain from commenting...

<p class="MsoNormal">Naishi: I don't. The name is bad, that's it.

<p class="MsoNormal">Grave: You're kidding, right?

<p class="MsoNormal">Macabre: No.

<p class="MsoNormal">Grave: Shut up! And weren't you abstaining from commenting?

<p class="MsoNormal">Jon: What the heck does "sword dancer" means anyway?

<p class="MsoNormal">Diarmuid: Yeah. Sounds like the name of a bad ballad...

<p class="MsoNormal">Grave: Shut up!

<p class="MsoNormal">Like that, the discussion took more time than their planning.

<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family:SimSun;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:ZH-CN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">There wasn't much to do anyway. They just depended on Hound's honesty... and on their own skills.

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