Riara in Morocco

Chapter 5: Part One: The Last Of Blackbeard

Hey guys! New part! Last Blackbeard part! Very short part but I thought I would send this one separately and make it easier to work on the Rafe and Kiara parts, so maybe I can try and write them a little better. It's quickly written so I hope its ok! I will check tomorrow. Anyways, hope you enjoy!!
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Pulling an arrow tightly back against the string, until the bow is taut, Aiukli holds it snug between her fingers and draws it back at arrow rest- her eyes move over, glued to the man knelt on the swampy ground beneath the towering eerie lifeless tree. The entire woods has a life force she takes time to listen in on... the air tainted with a grimness, a darkness clouded the atmosphere and she keeps mindful of. But she contains her focus fixed on her target... why she had been here.

Black Caesar heaves heavy breaths as he continues to sink his spade further into the turf, digging into the mucky soil, until he'd heard the clink beneath the spade. It had to indicate he'd finally reached what he'd came for... he discards the spade to the side, dropping to his hands, using them to scoop out the rest of soil to uncover the chest. He'd unearthed what Teach and he had buried a while ago. He wipes an arm over his sweaty forehead, a pleased smile widening along his face, gazing down at the steel chest that had still been covered in sprays of dirt, when his gaze shoots up hearing the cracking of sticks somewhere in the nearby distance. He sweeps his gaze around, looking for where it came from. "Who go there?" his deep voice echos out... he's met with an eerie silence. He'd always felt these parts of the woods held some kind of dark sinister force- like when he'd entered them he'd been walking into a death trap. He swipes his gaze everywhere until his eyes finally land on her... Aiukli standing tall, with an arrow pulled back firmly across her chest, directing her bow toward him.

"It's not what it seems-" he says, putting his hands up gently in surrender, and she pulls the arrow back even harder.

"Where's Teach?" she questions, tilting her head. Black Caesar heaves out a deep exhale, dropping his head a little. He hangs his head more, a look coming over his face... she'd sense something bad he'd about to say ... he did not know how he was going to tell her.

"Errrm..." he mumbles, and swallows. "His errmm... gone, darl... dead."

Aiukli's eyes flicker over him quickly, letting his words try to settle in... until she reads his face more as he'd pulled Teach's head scarf out from the pocket of his long jacket. Her eyes grow, his words finally beginning to sink in... she couldn't stop the tsunami of feelings that flood her next- her heart began to beat at a rapid pace, and everything slowed down, her vision becoming a blurred mess, her head faint...

"N-no..." she murmurs.

Black Caesar raises his head back up, but his eyes can't meet hers. He swallows hard. "Gone, darl." he swallows hard again, reinforcing what he'd said for her mind to take in. He clears his throat, and waits a minute before he could continue... his mind also in turmoil. "A man named Maynard... he'd be after Ed, sent by another man who wanted 'im dead... and he errrr... he stood his ground, darl, till the very end... he fought bravely till 'is diein' breath." he says, placing a hand to his chest in honesty and loyalty to his captain... and his very good friend.

Aiukli felt dizzy. His words struck her... her world spun... her knees felt weak and she dropped her bow, her legs crumpling to the ground... the despair was crippling... her eyes well, and she can't look at Caesar. Caesar offers her a sad but encouraging smile when their eyes briefly meet. He gets to his feet slowly, moving over to her slowly, his trousers sodded with mud. He held out his hand... he'd held something tightly in it, waiting for her to take it... Aiukli gazes down, her vision clouded by tears, but when she blinks, she could see what he'd held out... something she'd recognised was hers, something she'd thought she'd lost... it had been an armband... made by her and her people, weaved with intricate designs that told unique stories about her tribe... this one she'd made with her mother... it held irreplaceable memories... and yet, she'd almost never realized she'd lost it. Her eyes come up to him as she takes it within her own hands. She didn't need to say another word, Caesar could already read her question.

"Ed found it... kept it like it'd been his finest treasure... he'd held it very close ta him, sweet'art. He found it da day he first meet you and yar tribe... he couldn't get ya outta his head da day he saw you... the last thing he ever said ta me was this be da best fortune he ever come across." he laughs softly, warm-heartedly

Aiukli smiles faintly, her smile broken. His sad smile lingers on her for a short while, assessing her.

"Here." He hands her Teach's burgundy head scarf, smudges of his blood still stained over it. He waits for her to take it. She reaches out for it timidly, like she couldn't be careful enough, gingerly wrapping her fingers gently around the material, and brings it up to her cheek, closing her eyes.

Caesar could hear the sudden shouts of soldiers, sounding as though they'd been encroaching in the area, and had not been off too far. He begins to make his way back hurriedly to the treasure chest.

"Is be taking our loot... gettin' outta 'ere before they finds me... my fate if I stay is ta be hung, darl, like all da others who survived... so I's be traveling over the open ocean- with what Ed and I's found. Da loot is ours- they's can not take from us no more... last thing Ed would want-" he says as he begins to haul it out with his bare hands and own strength from beneath the ground and out from within the dug hole.

"Where you go?"she asks, wiping her tears from her eyes with her forearm, and starts to delicately tie Teach's scarf around her wrist.

"I don't know..." his eyes flicker around urgently, hearing dogs skulking around "-but I'll take the river- get as far away from 'ere as I can. I know the rivers- I can travel out fast before they's get 'ere... I's thinking if I could make it as far as Africa or ta Egypt I be safe from the crown- make it to me home land... they will not get me there. They will never find me."

As soon as Black Caesar is gone, Aiukli mounts her horse, disappears into the woods too, and easily vanishes... the soldiers never finding the trace of either.