Part 22 (1/2)

He lowered his head, ”Yeah, you're right. I thought maybe an adventure would be good.”

”Then a pirate s.h.i.+p might be perfect for you.” I laughed before adding, ”Trust me, plenty of adventure.”

He thought about it for a moment, even looked at the s.h.i.+p, before someone knocked right into both of us from behind.

”Ah, good. Roberts, I was wondering when you were going to come out of the shadows, you're just in time to help me set sail.” Bonny said as she pa.s.sed by us and turned around to make sure the rest of her pirate troupe were straggling along up the steps well enough.

I watched them all go, then glanced back to Bonny. She had known Roberts was following the entire time and just let him be?

I pushed the boy toward the eye patch wearing woman and nodded to him. ”Go ahead.”

He glanced back at me with brilliant wide eyes before turning to look at Bonny and lowering his head quickly. ”Uh, whatever you are doing for Gnidori, I want to help.”

Okay, so... that was not quite what I had been expecting him to say, but it worked.

Bonny stepped down the plank and leaned in to glare at him with her one visible eye. ”Gnidori told you, didn't she?”

Roberts nodded sheepishly.

The Pirate King sighed and pulled back. ”Well it's no easy task being a pirate, especially on my s.h.i.+p. Are you sure you are up to it?”

He quickly pulled himself straight and saluted her. ”Y-yes, Captain.”

She shook her head a few times. ”I want to see you, Roberts. If you don't keep your individuality on a pirate s.h.i.+p then you just become another one of the crew. It's life or death here. If you can't handle that, then you aren't a pirate. Can you, Roberts?”

He was still stiff but he took a deep breath and the words poured out of him firmly, ”To avenge Ashley, I'll do anything. And Gnidori was right, traveling would do me better than orders I never wanted. Besides, I've wanted the underworld t.i.tle of dread pirate, ever since I'd heard about it as a kid.”

Bonny smiled then bowed her head and showed off her s.h.i.+p with a wave of her hand. ”Then welcome aboard the Siren's Song, Future Dread Pirate Roberts.”

Twenty-Two.

Waterworks The lack of warmth at my side stirred me awake and into a dreamy stupor as I sat up on my cot. The rock of the s.h.i.+p on the ocean waves was almost soothing enough to make me fall back over if it hadn't been so cold. I could hear Bonny sleeping in the bed near me as she made quiet, happy noises.

My head spun as I stood up, the sea taking a dive at my senses, which forced me awake far too quickly. I looked around Bonny's cabin to find the cot, pulled up next to mine, was empty except for my cloak laying on it.

Now I knew why the warmth had vanished; Ashe must have taken Reynard with her. Or maybe he just didn't like sharing the bed with me and left to explore or follow my new travel partner.

What am I saying? He's a three day old fox.

I ran my hand over my face as I sat back down. My nose was freezing, but that's expected at night on the sea with nothing more than Ashe's undergarments covering me. It must not have reached midnight yet.

I looked down; realizing I still had my former charge's body then jumped up quickly before my mind went anywhere else. There was no way I would be getting to sleep now, I didn't want to think of the dreams I'd have.

So I threw on the dress I was forced to wear, since Ashe would only agree to change with me if I wore one, and snapped up my cloak to throw around me before emerging from Bonny's cabin.

Almost immediately the sea knocked me on my a.s.s with the strong scent of salt and the minor traces of magic. But I recovered and followed the sounds of battle to the upper deck stairs.

Reynard couldn't have gotten his tiny paws up here, which meant Ashe must have taken him.

My bare feet trembled against the cold and wet wood as I ascended, but a voice sent me ducking to just look over the top of the stairs.

”You're getting better already.” Roberts exclaimed as he held a rapier in front of him. He paced the wood with gentle steps before continuing. ”I'm surprised Gnidori never taught you to fight. From all the tales about her, even the non-legend ones, she doesn't seem like the type to hold someone back.”

He lunged forward multiple lengths but Ashe side-stepped and swung an axe to push the blade out and away from her. ”She's more about freedom than anything. She never wanted to force anything on me, but it also meant sometimes...”

Ashe gritted her teeth hard as she ducked under a swipe of Roberts' blade and took a sweep with the axe, which Roberts jumped back from.

”Sometimes she wouldn't give me the choice to decide for myself. Like she was protecting me. But I don't want her to, I just want to be next to her, not behind her or far away from her. Next to her.” Ashe finished as she stood back up and wiped some sweat from her forehead. The red hair, she currently had, clung to her from all the moisture around.

It was strange seeing my body fight when it wasn't me. It was even more bizarre to hear Ashe's opinions of me. Was I wrong to be eavesdropping on them?

”I can understand that. Ashley used to be the same way. Never giving me a choice except on the rare occasion; just always deciding things for me. Like the military.” Roberts replied while wiping the sweat from his eyes. They both seemed to be taking a break, but still stood like they were ready to strike at any moment.

Ashe frowned with sympathy. ”I'm sorry about him. He still sounded like the kind of person that would have gotten along with Gnidori. And don't be hard on yourself, if something happened to Gnidori I would be out for revenge too.”

He? Ashley was a he?

”Yeah well... it doesn't stop me from missing him. I never even got a goodbye. I said my goodbye to a pile of guts. I would have broken down in tears if Gnidori hadn't been there.”

”That's what scares me the most about Gnidori traveling. One day, months after leaving, I'd suddenly get one of her friends coming to see me to tell me she isn't alive anymore.” Ashe sighed and added, ”The first week she leaves, I never get any sleep since I'm so worried about her.”

My mouth fell open. Ashe had really been keeping all of this in? I never even knew. So the worrying wasn't new; I just never saw it before.

”How long were you two together?” My former charge asked as she swiped one of my hatchets through the air a few times.

”We knew each other all of our lives, but a month from now would have been our fourth year anniversary.” Roberts explained as his head fell sullenly.

Ashe stopped in mid-swing and stepped forward to lay a hand on Roberts' shoulder. She tried forcing a smile but it came out just as sad. ”You'll find someone else to ease the pain. And if it wasn't for what happened you'd never be here, having an adventure you wanted, living your life as you chose.”

He smiled and looked up at Ashe. ”I'll find someone else on a boat full of women?”

Ashe giggled and shrugged. ”You never know. Besides I saw at least one cute boy in the crew.”

Both their smiles softened as Roberts replied, ”Maybe.”

Ashe nodded curtly, ”I know you will. You have a good heart, I can feel it. And someone else will too.”

”Thanks.” Roberts concluded with a sniffle, and wiping at his eyes again. Probably sweat again.

I s.h.i.+fted with my seat on the stairs, feeling my body numb from the cold. I adjusted my position and wrapped my cloak tighter around me, before looking back to Ashe and Roberts.

Between the two of them, over the stern of the s.h.i.+p, was a ma.s.sive wave of water closing in, which shouldn't have been there...

Midnight Magic...

”Get Over here!” I yelled to the two of them as I stood up on the steps. They both turned to me with a mix of confusion and surprise. I pointed behind them before motioning for them to head to me.