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Vanshira — The Pearl
Published: 2008-03-10 23:02:41 +0000 UTC; Views: 1923; Favourites: 33; Downloads: 50
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This is the better version of Seed Pearl.Related content
Comments: 1784
(( What? Other RPs? What are these other RPs you speek of? For I know them not. 
I'm not going to make it this time...
The boy shivered, burying his head furthur into his tattered excuse for a blanket, nd stared at the ground in defeat. I can't believe it... After all that I've gone through, and al that I've survive, all that it's going to take to wipe me out is another winter... I should have never left my dad's... He could almost feel tears rising into his eyes... Almost.
He sat by the huge dumpster for a few more hours, literally feeling the life seep out of his body bit by bit, until a stranger approached him and grinned.
"Hey, kid... Wanna make 20 bucks?"
Myde slowly looked up.
(( Remember that conversation we were having before? About what the Demyxes would do if they hadn't joined the Organization? Yeah...
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Lea stuck his hands in his pockets and smirked, waiting for the answer. He figured he was bound to get a "yes" - if this kid had so much as a dollar to his name, he'd be shocked. And if he decided he was too proud to exchange a little dignity and honor - like anyone in this pit had any genuine honor - for a shot at survival...well, Lea was not and had never been above just taking what he wanted. Buying caused less of a hassle, but taking was quicker, if it came to that - not to mention cheaper.
He didn't realize he was being watched.
(( Guess who else never joined the Organization. ))
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(( O FUK ))
Myde could almost feel tears rising into his eyes. "Y...Yes, sir..." he croaked. "More than anything... Are you offering me a job...?"
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Lea smirked even wider. "Just a one-time thing for now, but it's 20 bucks for not very much work out of you, and if you're good, there's a better-than-even chance I'll come looking for you again next time I...need someone to do a job for me."
Edmy listened closely from a place of concealment. Time had worn the distinctive coloring he'd had in childhood to an even greyish-brown; his hair and skin were both approximately the color of dust, and so was most of his clothing. This tended to make him difficult to see when he didn't want you to, and he didn't especially want either predator or prey to catch sight of him. One wrong move out of either of them, and he could kiss his shot at making this predator his prey goodbye.
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"Thank you... Thank you, sir..." Myde whispered, a slow smile cracking his face in two. "Sh...Should we hurry...? It's almost dark now, and I heard it was unsafe to be out at dark... I heard there have been mysterious disappearings... I'm only lucky I haven't been caught yet..." the boy murmured in his thin, cracking voice as he tried to stand. He'd spent the whole day on that little corner without food, thinking it'd been the end. Now that he had a tiny glimmer of hope again, he'd do nything to make sure it didn't fade away again.
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Lea nodded. "Yeah, we better hurry...I got a place, but it's a ways from here..."
"Chip in an extra thirty and you can have twice the party," a faintly accented voice drawled from somewhere nearby. "Plus I got a room not too far from here." The dust-colored man looked appraisingly at Lea. "Probably not half so cushy at what you're used to, but it's close, and it's gonna be a cold night. You can bring the kid."
Lea gave the man the same appraising look - he wasn't the handsomest man-whore he'd ever seen, far from it, but he more than made up for it with his very fine body. He did some quick mental calculations - if he offered this guy a joint once they got to his place, he'd probably let Lea do him for no cost beyond that, and then he could probably do whatever he wanted to the kid for free. Two guys for the price of a joint. He liked that bargain. "Deal. Show us where your crib is."
(( Yup. And the route to Edmy's place is gonna lead right by the river... ))
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Myde blinked, staring at the new arrival, then glancing at his new "boss", and back at the new arrival. Twice the party...? He cleared his throat, and stammered, "Um.... W-What kinda job did you s-say this was ag-gain, Mister...?" He rubbed his hands anxiously, trying to restore the blood-flow.
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Lea grinned, putting a hand on Myde's shoulder. "Tough to explain here, but I'll show you when we get there...so where's your place?" he asked Edmy.
"About four blocks west of here. Quickest way is to go next to the river." Edmy started moving in that direction, gesturing for the other two to follow. Lea smirked and followed him, propelling Myde along.
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"O...Okay... Will it be warm there...? And will there be lots to eat? I haven't eaten for days, so I'm kinda weak right now, but if one of you could just spare a bowl of cereal or a piece of sausage - or even a half-eaten sandwitch, I'd be back on my feet in no-time..." Myde continued to chatter - more to keep himself conscious than to make conversation. His movements were stiff and jerky with the cold and even his cracked lips were a faint blue color.
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"Oh, I'm sure we'll be able to come up with something for you once we're there," Lea said glibly. He couldn't really care less about Myde's chances of future survival, but figured the promise of food would keep him cooperative. "And it's definitely gonna be warm..."
Edmy suddenly dropped to his knees when they'd gone no more than a block down the riverbank. "What's up? Lose something?" Lea asked, nettled. He didn't like being out in the cold very well himself, and the delay didn't sit well with him.
"Yeah," Edmy muttered, apparently scrounging for something among the rocks...then he suddenly sprang to his feet, a large rock in his hand, and clobbered Lea with it. Lea went down like a sack of bricks. Smirking to himself, Edmy pitched the now-bloody rock in the river and started going through Lea's pockets. "You can bolt if you want to, kid, but if you want a shot at food and a warm bed, you'd do better to stick around," he said almost conversationally.
(( No, he's not going to dump Lea in the river...yet. ))
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Myde gasped, going rigid with shock and falling on the ground. H...Had he really seen what he THOUGHT he'd seen?! "Wh-Why d-did you d-do that?! That poor, nice man...!" Tears welled up in his eyes at the thought that he might be next.
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Edmy laughed shortly. "Oh, trust me, I've been out here long enough to know - he was not a nice man at all. Not at all. You know what kind of job he wanted you to do for him? He was gonna pin you down and stick his dick up your ass. Break you inside and out, tear what little bit of heart and soul you had left to ribbons, then leave you lying there with no pants and twenty bucks, as if twenty bucks was gonna compensate for what he'd just done to you." He looked speculatively at the man whose pockets he was emptying. "You remember who this douchebag is? It's Lea Murphy. Remember the guy a few years back who burned down his house with his parents inside? He ended up on Death Row for that, but the governor pardoned him at the last second. Said it would make the state look bad if they executed a teenager, but there was a big stink about him pardoning a rich white boy when there were so many poor black and Hispanic boys on Death Row who weren't nearly so obviously guilty. So on the really, really slim chance that he really did have an actual job for you - and if he did, it probably involved drugs - this shit killed his parents. So he deserves it."
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myde could feel his hands shaking. "N...No s-sir... I d-didn't know all of th-that s-stuff... I-I'm new here... I just blew in a few months ago and have been scraping for survival ever since..." His eyes filled with tears. "It seemed so easy in my mind... I'd run away from home, taking a few provisions, come to the city, and get a job, and rent an apartment and everything after that would be easy... But all of my food ran out in a matter of weeks and then winter came, a-and...." He gave tiny sob. "It's... too... hard...! I don't even know who to trust anymore...!"
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Edmy shook his head with a wry smile. "Nothing's ever that easy, kid. I've been here for almost ten years, and it's never been easy for one day. But if you come with me, things might get a little easier for both of us."
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Myde sniffled and nodded. "Y...You won't t-try to s...stick your.... i-in m-my... Right...?"
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Edmy shook his head forcefully. "Absolutely not." He pulled a bag of white powder out of Lea's pocket. "See that? If it's not cocaine, I'm gonna eat that rock I decked him with...but the cash I can get out of that is gonna keep the heating bill paid for a while." The man's pockets seemed to be completely empty by now, and Edmy pondered what to do with the man himself. The usual answer was "shove him into the river and hold him down until he drowns", but he just couldn't do that this time. Though the odds of him either remembering the event or recognizing Edmy were damn slim, Lea Murphy had saved his life once.
With that in mind, Edmy had no choice but to spare his life. Once.
Edmy straightened up, stuffing the bag of cocaine into his own pocket, along with Lea's wallet, loose bills, watch, rings, and marijuana. "Come on. My place really is this way."
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"O-Okay..." Myde stammered, glancing back at the unconscious man before scuttling up to his new partner. "W...We won't get in any trouble for this, will we...?" he squeaked.
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Edmy laughed out loud. "What's he gonna tell the police? 'I tried to pick up a hooker, and he knocked me out and stole my crack?' That ain't gonna get him any further than jail. Come on. You look like you're gonna drop dead if you don't get some warm food in you."
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"Thank you, Mister... Thank you, thank you..." the boy whispered, following behind closely, as if he were some kind of protecter of some sort.
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"I'm not doing anything for you that I don't wish someone had done for me way back when..." Once at the apartment, Edmy forced the boy to sit down on the rather ratty couch, dropped a blanket over him, plugged the space heater in, and went to the kitchen to heat up a can of soup. "I never did ask - what's your name?"
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"M... My name is Myde..." the boy stammered, rubbing the goosebumps off of is arms. "What's yours, sir...?"
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"Edmy. If you wanna watch TV, the remote is probably lost in the cushions somewhere...the set doesn't work too well, but I get good reception when it does. And you can knock off the 'sir' thing. It's just Edmy, unless you insist on a last name too."
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"No - I'm fine... I'll just wait here s--Um... Edmy... I don't need TV..." Myde replied softly, wrapping the blankets tighter around his thin arms. He closed his eyes, seeming to soak in the warmth greatfully.
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A few minutes later, Edmy returned and handed Myde a steaming bowl of clam chowder and a spoon. "Don't eat too fast, or you might burn yourself," he warned.
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Myde took the bowl carefully, his eyes brightening. "Oh, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU...!" He whispered. "You're an angel - an absolute angel..."
He spooned up a bit of the chowder, blew on it anxiously, and sipped at it, immediantly feeling a million times better. The food still seemed to singe his lips, but he definately didn't care at the moment.
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Edmy laughed out loud as he ate his share. "Trust me, I'm hardly an angel...I just don't like the thought of any more kids having to go through what I did. You don't happen to take any meds, do you?" he asked suddenly.
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"Well, no, but I do seem to have a problem..." Myde murmured, frowning a bit. "I have narcolepsy, I think... Sometimes, I'll be walking on the street one moment, the next, I'm on the ground and it's almost night. I lost all of my munny one time that way... I think someone might've robbed me while I was asleep, but I was just so thankful that I was still alive and unharmed, that I didn't even care..."
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Edmy tilted his head to the side, giving him a strange look. "Well. That's...interesting. Guess I'll have to keep an eye on you just in case...but you're not taking anything for it? Okay. Just wondering, because I spend a fair chunk of change on my own meds...I have asthma, pretty bad. I could probably keep it under better control if I had more money and better health care and shit, but I don't, so I just work on keeping myself alive and breathing."
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"Oh.... I'm sorry to hear that..." Myde whimpered, pouting deeply. "Maybe the both of us working together would help you get the help you need... Which reminds me - is there anyway I can repay you for what you've done for me? You barely know me, and yet you've given me food and a warm place to stay... If it wasn't for you, I probably would have been dead by now... Or..." He shuddered. "With Lea..."
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After almost ten years on the street, Edmy was nothing if not cynical, but he still couldn't help but smile at this innocent kid. "Try not to get into too much trouble, and try not to do anything stupid. That'll do until I can think of something more specific."
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"Done! A-And I'll find sme way to repay you for this! For all of this! This is probably the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me, and... And I just want to make sure I can do something for you in return... I'll find a way!"
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Edmy chuckled. "If you don't look forty and feel sixty by the time you're twenty, I'll be happy. If you want something more concrete, start by staying away from drugs, including alcohol. Drugs cloud your mind, and out here, you gotta be as alert as possible. Besides, you dunno what might really screw you up."
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Myde nodded. "I got it! Are you sure there's nothing else I can get you, Edmy? Because, really I'd work as hard as I could to make whatever it is work. Anything!"
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Edmy shook his head. "Right now, I'd like you to rest up and put on a little weight before anything else. Have you slept indoors yet this month?"
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"On Wednesdays and Sundays I sleep in the church..." Demyx murmured, sipping on the chowder a little more now that it'd gone a little cooler. He smiled a bit. "I'm in the choir, ya know..."
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Edmy raised an eyebrow. "Is that so...do you play any instruments?"
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Myde stared at his hands. "W...Well, this is going to sound really weird, I USED to play the sitar..."
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Edmy tried to hide his disbelief, not sure whether or not he could believe his ears. "You used to play sitar?" he repeated, trying to keep his voice casual.
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"Yeah. I'm suprised you even know what it is," the boy giggled. "It was an old, hand-me-down one our store had because... I guess someone sold it to the store. It was just sitting in the back gathering dust, but when I saw it... I-I just KNEW it was mine and I had to have it. It took me two years, but finally I raised the munny to get it myself. And, at age 7, I got my very first instrument with my own two hands. I don't think I've ever been so proud."
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Edmy nodded thoughtfully. "What happened to it?"
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"Oh, uh... I... I, um... L-Lost it..." Myde lied, looking down at his half-emptied bowl of chowder.
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Edmy raised an eyebrow - that was the first obvious untruth Myde had told him so far. It seemed minor enough to let slide, however. "Is that so...well, it just so happens that I have a sitar of my own, handed down from my grandmother..." He went into the bedroom to retrieve it. "It came with us all the way from India, when I was only four years old. After my grandmother died, I sold everything of hers - her jewelry, her clothes, her furniture, everything - but I preferred to sell my own body rather than sell the sitar."
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Myde's eyes went wide. "C...Can I see it...?" he squeaked. "... Please...? I won't break it or nothin'..."
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Edmy found himself genuinely grinning for the first time in years as he opened the case. "Of course," he said, as he lifted out the precious instrument. "See the little pocket sewn into the lining of the case...there are a couple picks in there. I keep it in tune."
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Myde gasped very loudly, hands shaking with excitement. "Oh... Oh my god... Oh my god, oh my god, OH MY GOD...!" he whispered, gingerly taking the sitar out of Edmy's caring hands and into his own. He hugged it gently, stroking the strings with his fingers.
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"Beautiful thing, isn't it?" Edmy murmured, his eyes shining. "I dunno what I'd do if I ever lost it...it's how I kept myself alive that first summer. Sitting on street corners, playing next to an open case and hoping for donations. I'm not cute enough to pull that off anymore, but I'm making more money elsewhere that I can just play for fun now."
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"I'LL DO THE DONATIONS THING!" Demyx blurted. "I-I mean... when you're out doing your job, of course... I wouldn't want to take Sophie away from you..."
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"................."
"I... I'm sorry... That's what I named my sitar... After my mom... It's a pretty name..."
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"Ohh..." Edmy half-smiled. "I never named my sitar, but I guess...Lakshmi is as good a name as any. After my grandmother." He sighed faintly. "I never knew my mother...don't even know what happened to her. I...guess she just walked out one day and never came back."
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