Sorry, I've been drowned by baby-sitting duties these past two weeks
by Noelerin
Here's the rest. Thanks for the feedback, tell me what you think of the conclusion.
Dermott flew over to their passenger, *So this is Rumina’s kid sister. Funny how she never mentioned her in all the time we knew each other. Oh, Rumina, I can’t think about you without regret. And now to find that Fierren really does exist. “Hello, Bryn. Thinking about Sinbad?”
Her startled eyes flew to his knowing dark eyes. *”I guess I am. He confuses me, or rather my reaction to him does. I have never felt attraction so strong for any man before, and I’ve always been able to shove it away. With Sinbad, it’s like I’m being carried away by a strong undertow. You feel the same way about Rumina?”
*”I don’t know why I’m surprised that you know. Yes, it’s the strong pull of true love. A love that can’t be denied.”
*”Love? Are you sure?”
He nodded, *“You and Sinbad have so much potential as friends, and more. Don’t be foolish and throw it all away because you’re scared.
*”I’m not scared, much.” There was laughter in her voice when she admitted it. *”It’s just that with this Fierren thing, I don’t need the complication that Sinbad would be. I need to concentrate on Fierren, but when I’m around Sinbad…”
*”You can’t think about anything at all. Bryn, you know I’ll help you defeat Fierren but I don’t know how.”
*”You have to help Rumina believe in herself again, in the good within herself.”
*“I don’t think I can.” He flew off sadly. *It’s too much to ask.
Bryn watched him, *Only he can unlock her heart. I must do something to help them. Sighing, she turned around and saw Doubar looking at her curiously. She walked over to the big man at the tiller. “What’s up, Master Doubar?”
“Oh, nothing much. Call me Doubar.” She liked his big voice and open manner. “You looked to be deep in thought. My little brother giving you a hard time?”
She laughed, “Not really, Doubar. I was thinking about my mission.” Her blush betrayed her. Doubar said nothing, respecting her wish to remain silent on the subject.
*But I will talk to my brother about her. Doubar had decided to take her under his wing, “Tell me something of your life, lass.”
“I was raised by gypsies. Travelling was a normal part of my everyday existence. I loved to sing and dance, it was a more equal society than one normally sees. The men and women shared jobs, we each learned to fight. Performing was always a thrill, Shirez was a part of our tribe until Ali Rashid came into the picture. She thought she loved him, and against our protests, went away with him. I’d always hoped she’d come back.” She ended on a sigh. “What will I be expected to do? I mean, I’m not used to just being a traveler.”
“What ever the Captain asks, I imagine.”
“Within reason, Firouz.” Doubar said to the physician, noting how flushed Bryn suddenly was.
Bryn turned to greet the newcomer. “What on earth is that?” She asked, pointing to the strange contraption in his hands. It was a small box, with funny gears inside.
“It’s my latest invention. It plays music, well it’s supposed to. I can’t figure out where I went wrong.”
“May I see it?” Firouz handed it over, Bryn carefully examined it. “You know, Esmerelda had something like this. She was very proud of it, I think if you were to put a spring here” she pointed to the little gear, “and had something to wind it up with, I think it would work.”
Firouz nodded and took the box, “Excellent idea. I’ll get right to work.”
“You know of such things?” Doubar asked, looking at her with something akin to awe.
Bryn shrugged, “Not really. Ramon, my adopted brother, loved to show them off, and discuss them in great detail.” Rongar and Doubar laughed in sympathy at her exasperated tone. Bryn turned to Rongar, “Hi. I don’t think we’ve met, I’m Bryn.”
He smiled and then he signed, “A pleasure to met you. I’m Rongar.”
“Forgive me my surprise, I hadn’t realized that you couldn’t speak.” Bryn hadn’t noticed their sudden drawing away from her. She bit her lip and looked down at her feet. “But that was a dreadful thing for me to say. I’m sorry. What I said was unpardonabely rude.” They relaxed, Rongar nodded that he forgave her. “Let me guess? That creep, Ali Rashid, did this to you. I heard all about him in town.”
“That he did.” Rongar signed.
“Well, I hope he got his just deserts.” Rongar were surprised by her quick defense of him, “I know, you didn’t expect it from me. Friends?” She stuck out her hand and Rongar shook it firmly. As the voyage progressed, Bryn grew to be a valuable part of the crew. Always ready to leap up the rigging, or stay in the crow’s nest during a heavy storm. The crew watched in awe as she leapt to any challenge the Captain placed before her, she never left a task undone and would volunteer to do the worst of jobs. Her calm manner of accepting things never seemed to break. Sinbad found himself making excuses to talk to her, be with her. And though she was friendly and warm, she seemed to throw up a wall between them. He found it very frustrating.
After a particularly hard day, Fierren finally decided to shake things up for the Nomad. “They’ve gone far enough. Now, let’s have some fun.” He conjured up a thick, foggy covering over the Nomad, then let a ‘little’ fishy find them.
“I don’t like the feel of this place.” Bryn’s voice floated up into Sinbad’s ears as he stood at the tiller. He turned and his breath caught in his throat. She looked so ethereal, so much a part of the fog that wind might have blown her away.
He had a hard time remembering what she had said. “We’ll keep an eye out.” She nodded and walked away, his eyes following her. Sinbad was badly tempted to pull her into his arms and break through the wall she had thrown up between them but he remembered Doubar’s lecture and his promise.
--------Flashback--------
“Now, Sinbad I know she’s attractive but I want you to leave her alone. She’s not the kind you would love and leave.”
Sinbad was shocked by his brother’s vehemence on the subject of Bryn. “But Doubar…”
“No buts. I don’t want to hear you excuses. She reminds me of my wife and what my daughter may have been like if she’d lived. I will not have you toying with her. Is that understood?”
Sinbad looked at Doubar and knew that if he were to hurt Bryn in anyway, Doubar would make him pay. “I would be a monster to take advantage of her. Doubar, you have my word that I will not lay a hand on her. Bryn deserves better than that.”
Suddenly Sinbad was pulled back to the present by one of the largest sea demons he’d ever seen. “All hands! Doubar, the tiller!” Everyone rushed around, bringing in the sails for less resistance, tying down cargo and food. Doubar pulled on the tiller with Sinbad to avoid hitting that creature. “Bryn! Is there anything you can do?”
Bryn concentrated and produced a large water spout to the left of the sea demon while causing a wave to move them around him. The demon was distracted for a moment and they were able to put a little distance between them. The demon roared with fury and swung out his tail, smacking it down and knocking Bryn over. Firouz meanwhile got out his catapult and a large arrow, Rongar aimed it straight at the demon and fired. The direct hit knocked the demon down, but the subsequent landing knocked the Nomad for a loop. “Lass, do something!” It was after Doubar’s cry that they realized that Bryn was missing.
Sinbad left the tiller and grabbed the magnascope, looking into the water he frantically searched for any sign of her. *Please, oh please let her be all right. Don’t let me lose her. His heart in his throat he barely acknowledged what his heart was saying.
“Sinbad, your bracelet.” Firouz’s voice broke into his search. Sinbad looked down in surprise and then he threw the magnascope at the scientist, leaping into the water.
*As long as it’s glowing, she must be alive. He searched the stormy water until he saw her struggling to get out of the demon’s tail. He surfaced only to grab a breath and call to his worried crew, “I found her! Stay back, that thing is right here!”
“Aye, aye sir!” He drove under and with his sword, chopped repeatedly, quickly running out of air.
Bryn watched for a moment then called to him to come closer. He looked surprised to hear her voice, she was amused by his look. “Don’t be so surprised, I do have power over the elements.” Taking a deep breath, she leaned into him and gently kissed him. Suddenly he found that he could breath under the water!
“How on earth did you accomplish that?”
She shrugged, “I just gave you the ability to breathe under water. Unfortunately, it only seems to work if given in a kiss.” He noticed her blush with tenderness, then he proceeded to cut the tail. Finally, they floated to the surface and swam towards the Nomad.
Fierren watched them in amusement, “So you do have a weakness, my darling Bryn. This Sinbad is a rival worth my time, but he will not have you.” He closed his eyes, deliciously contemplating the moment that she would finally be his.
Bryn and Sinbad climbed up the rope, “Fierren’s decided to play with us.” Sinbad held out a hand to help her up and gave her a slight hug.
“And we won’t stop no matter what he does.” Sinbad kept his arm around her waist, she leaned back and took the strength he freely offered her. “I promise.” She squeezed his hand, then went below to rest. Sinbad watched her go, worried about her. “Hold the course. I’m going to change.”
After changing he went to Bryn’s room. He softly knocked, then opened the door when he received no answer. His heart went out to her as he saw the tears streaming down her face as she slept. *Oh, Bryn, how did you get to me? If I stay in here much longer I’ll break my promise to Doubar. Why won’t you share you burden with me? He brushed his lips softly across her forehead, admiring the silky feel of her skin. Walking over to Doubar he softly said, “Bryn has something on her mind. Will you talk to her tomorrow?”
Doubar looked at his little brother, “You think so?”
“No, I know she does.”
“Sinbad, how can you be so sure?”
“Because I seem to know her better than I know myself.” Sinbad met his brother’s eyes, not flinching. Something inside told him it was more, but for now he chose to ignore it.
“I’ll talk to her.” *I knew my brother felt something more for her than friendship.
Bryn knew that Sinbad had been in her room, she had felt him come in. *Why now? There was a knock on her door, she opened it and saw Doubar. “You’ve probably come to find out what’s on my mind.” He nodded, “I was going to tell you, the captain, Firouz and Rongar. Come along.” Soon they were all sitting, waiting for her to speak. “Some of you may have noticed that Dermott is not here. You probably thought he went back to Maeve and Dim-Dim but he didn’t. He’s with Rumina, I sent him there. I don’t know how much you know about Rumina and him but they knew each other. He and Rumina are soul mates in the truest sense. Fierren threw a wrench into the works when he, disguised as Rumina, turned Dermott into a hawk. When his heart froze over, so did hers and she turned to evil with a vengeance.”
“So where are they?”
“I sent them to a place because they need to learn to rely on each other. He is her eyes, she is his wings. That is all I can say. I’m sorry.” To her surprise, the crew agreed that she did what was right.
Sinbad signaled the guys to leave, “Bryn, you were crying last night. Why?” He laid his hands on her shoulders, gently rubbing them.
She sighed, “I just wondered if I was doing the right thing.”
“Tell me how this happened.” He pulled her down to his side and placed an arm over her shoulder. She leaned into his embrace.
“Well, I was watching them. They were fighting again. I will never understand how people so obviously in love can spend so much time fighting. Anyway, it was the same argument and I knew that before long one would…”
--------Dissolve to Rumina and Dermott--------
“Dermott, what do you want?” Rumina’s voice expressed her tiredness. *Why does he delight in torturing me with that which can never be?
“To talk to you about Fierren.” He knew his words had hit their mark when she turned towards him, paler than death. “Your sister came to us, she’s trying to find you.”
“Impossible! My dad told me she’s with the gypsies. Why would she leave to find me?”
“Because Fierren is a threat to all. I’ve seen him, he’s wicked, and only you can stop him.”
“I’m too tired, and I don’t care.” Her heart was aching to be so close to Dermott and yet so far. “Leave, go back to the Nomad.”
“Fine, I will! And may the destruction that happens be on your head.” His anger scorched Rumina’s heart but she turned away. *Sorry Bryn, I tried. Though he knew as he said it, he could have tried harder.
Bryn was watching this all from the Nomad. *This is ridiculous! I have to do something. Remembering something Vivian had said, she sent Rumina and Dermott to another world. “You must learn to be one. Rob one of sight and the other of flight.”
Suddenly the ground dropped from under their feet and they were falling. Rumina screamed as the colors faded from before her eyes. Dermott shrieked in utter agony as his wings became like lead weights. Dermott opened his eyes, “Where are we?”
“I don’t know. I can’t see a thing.” The fear in her voice startled Dermott, who was used to her bravado in the face of danger. “Why don’t you fly around and see?”
“I can’t fly.” He saw her slowly reach out, trying to find him but she jerked back her arm in time. Dermott got up and slowly walk towards her, nestling into her arms. She slowly stroked his feathers, her tears falling onto them. They sat like that for sometime, then Dermott asked “What are we supposed to do?”
“Get out of here, together I suppose. But how do you suppose we got here.” She slowly rose to her feet, stumbling, reaching out for anything to help her.
“There’s a tree to your right. I think Bryn might have something to do with it. Why not use your magic?”
“My magic has been weak ever since the goose egg incident, they would do no good against the magic of my sister.” She felt the tree then gently felt around, following the sound of his voice and picked Dermott up. “Do you want me to carry you or would you like to ride?”
“I’ll sit on your shoulder.” She placed him on her shoulder and in this manner they traveled many miles, many times she stumbled or tripped because she couldn’t see. But she carried on, following Dermott’s instructions. Dermott’s heart softened as she struggled forward, relying on him, trusting him not to lead them astray. Rumina found the shell cracking around her heart as he once again brought out the best in her. “Rumina, why don’t you try to use your magic, after all it has been many days since you last tried.” Under his patient guidance, Rumina found that her powers were returning. They were much stronger than they had ever been, it was almost as if only together could her powers reach their full potential.
At last she decided to try and reverse the spell. “I’m going to try and send us to the Nomad, or at least back to Natchez. Don’t be disappointed if it doesn’t work.”
“Oh, Rumina. How can you doubt yourself when I believe in you.” She smiled and then slowly whispered an enchantment. Slowly the wind rustled and swirled around them. They found themselves floating upwards.
Bryn let out a squeal of delight, “So you’re my older sister, Rumina.” She pulled away from Sinbad and hugged her. Rumina looked at Dermott in surprise, he winked.
*“You never told me she was a beauty.” Rumina pulled away and looked at Bryn, “You resemble mother.”
*”I hadn’t noticed, yours was the only beauty I was aware of.” Dermott landed on Rumina’s shoulder again. The crew rushed downstairs and saw Rumina. But since Sinbad and Bryn were grinning, they weren’t worried.
A voice rang out, “Well, my dearest Bryn, it seems I underestimated you.” Bryn and Rumina paled, then looked at each other. Bryn clutched Rumina’s hand for encouragement.
“Now or never, sister. I’m not your anything!” Bryn shouted as she and Rumina ran up the stairs. Dermott and Sinbad followed quickly.
“Never did I think you’d chicken out, Rumina. You were doing so well.”
“You mean I was taking the easy route. Not anymore.” Rumina and Bryn knew what had to be done, before Fierren had any idea of what they planned to do they leapt easily into the air surrounding him.
“Chains of light”
“Chains of darkness”
Together “Bind him now
Lock his powers
Trap him now in a
Prison of his own making.”
Their powers combined, bridging the gap between light and dark and forcing Fierren into a medallion.
But Fierren had one trick up his sleeve. Before disappearing he shot out at Bryn, “I swore you’d be mine forever. So let it be done.” The dark force left his hand.
Rumina saw it and knew what it would do to Bryn. “NO!” she leapt at her sister, taking the full force of the blow and began to fade away. She saw Bryn’s face pale and lost consciousness.
“Mina!” Bryn screamed as she watched her sister start to fade, without even thinking she destroyed the medallion. Rumina fell down, Bryn barely managed to catch her. The tears fell from her eyes as she looked at the still form of her sister. Dermott watched in disbelief as the woman he loved lay in a coma. Bryn’s body shook as the wracking sobs ripped through her. Sinbad watched helplessly as the woman he loved cried and knew that, for once in his life, he was truly helpless. “Dermott, there must be something I can do. I can’t let her die!”
*”Daughter, there is a way.” They turned and saw an older version of Bryn. A doorway opened just off the port side of the Nomad, revealing a dark, scary realm. *”Through that gate lies the path, only one can go. One whose pure love for Rumina may enter and leave safely with her. Beware, though Fierren is destroyed he has trapped Rumina. You must find a way to break that spell. Farewell.”
Bryn looked at her sister, then at the doorway. She stood up, knowing what must be done. But before she went through Dermott cut her off. “This battle is mine, Bryn. I will get the woman I love back. Depend on it.”
Bryn watched in disbelief as Dermott flew off to try and defeat this foe, she fell on top of her sister crying out, “Why Mina? Why did you do it?”
Sinbad walked over and gently pulled her away. As he stroked her hair, he listened to her sobs. “Because she loves you.”
“Loves me?” she looked at him, stunned at that thought.
“You gave her back that which was most precious to her, Dermott. You opened her heart and made her whole.” *As you did for me, oh darling. But Sinbad didn’t say it, he wasn’t ready to admit it to himself, or to her. She curled trustingly in his embrace and together they watched Rumina.
Dermott flew for what seemed like hours, yet he knew only a few minutes had passed. The darkness crept into his soul, making him shiver in fear. *Oh, my Mina. What must you be going through? He saw her soul, shrouded in darkness, bound by chains. “Mina!”
She opened her eyes, joy filling them briefly then they deadened. “Dermott, what are you doing here? You have to leave before you are trapped.” She croaked, her voice breaking his heart.
“I’ve come to get you, take you home with me. I’m not leaving without you.”
“But this is where I belong, in this prison.”
“That’s Fierren talking. You are better than this.” Her head weakly shook, “You are. I didn’t fall in love with a quitter. Is that what you are, a quitter?”
“Dermott, I’m evil.”
“No. You’ve made some mistakes but your heart is good, I knew it when I first saw you.” Dermott landed by her side, looking into her eyes.
“Was I dumb
Or was I blind
Or did my heart just lose its mind
Why’d I go and throw our perfect dream away?”
Rumina felt the chains loosen as she began to sing, dared to believe his words.
“Looking back
I’ll never know
How I ever let you go
But destiny could see we deserve
To have another day”
(Together)
“Love lead us here
Right back to where we belong
We followed a star
And here we are
Now heaven seems so near
Love lead us here”
Dermott barely noticed that he was becoming human again, so intent on freeing Rumina.
“I confess
It’s sad but true
I lost myself when I lost you
But I held your memory
Through each lonely night”
Rumina saw the light in his green eyes and felt only the need to comfort him.
“Oh, let’s forget
What’s gone before
Now we both know so much more
And we’ve been given another chance
To make it work out right
(T) “Now I know that life can take you by surprise
And sweep you off your feet
Did this happen or are we just dreaming
We followed a star and here we are
Now heaven seems so near
Love lead us here”
Dermott walked away from Rumina as her chains finally fell off. He reached his hand:
“So take my hand”
Rumina read the fear in his eyes as he realized that he was a man again. She brushed back an auburn lock:
“And have no fear”
(T) “We’ll be all right
Love led us here.”
Dermott led her out of the darkness and into the light. “Hello, everybody.” The crew was shocked to see the auburn haired man come out of the portal, “Yes, it’s me Dermott. I’m free from the curse.”
Rumina opened her eyes and saw Bryn, they hugged in sheer delight, “I’m so glad to see you.”
“Double for me.” She whispered in Bryn’s ear, nodding towards Sinbad “How do you feel about a double wedding?”
Bryn blushed and shook her head in denial as Rumina laughed and left with Dermott. “What was that about?”
“Nothing Captain.”
“Call me Sinbad and it must have been something because you’re turning the most delightful shade off red.”
“Mina just asked how I felt about a wedding.” She was staring in fascination at her feet.
“That doesn’t seem to be anything to blush about.” Sinbad looked at her in confusion. “You must be leaving something out.”
“That’s for me to know, Captain.” She smiled at him cheekily, “A girl needs a few secrets.”
The End.
“Love Led Us Here” is from Muppet’s Treasure Island. “I’m Gonna Build A Mountain” is from Stop The World, I Want To Get Off.