The Pirate's Girl

Blood in the Water

Shenzie sat on the top steps of the deck leading into the lower quarters whittling away at a hunk of driftwood into the shape of a gull bird angrily. She knew Devon was up there in the Celestial Realm captured or worse all due to that Proper. To be honest, it was only a matter of time before he got himself into trouble with those damn bird people. He had gotten sloppy over the years, and she noticed them on the streets and corners watching him, though she never spoke on it.

"When d'you thin they will return, ma'am? Any reckonin?" One of the younger cabin boys by the name of Christian, she thought, looked down at her with worry in his blue eyes. "I haven't the slightest. But if sometin' comes up we will see it. They be up 'dere." Shenzie pointed up at the clouds above and the boy frowned, "We figured that, miss. We can hear them chatterin' about, but we don't know what. Too far away, you see?"

Christian was called off by one of the older crewmen and Shenzie glanced longingly at the puffy clouds above. If Finn hadn't shown her where the Realm lay, none would be the wiser. But now that the crew had quieted, she realized he was right. The faint noise of cheering and announcements could be barely made out and that could mean only one thing. A gathering. And gatherings are rarely good, especially when their most wanted man is in captivity.

Suddenly, an uproar filled the air, and the entire crew stopped their tasks to watch the sky. He's prolly escapin' right now, yeah? one of the men said hopefully. Then, a shot rang out followed by something dark falling from the heavens.

"Devon!" Shenzie began tearing at her clothing and threw them to the deck as soon as they gave way. She glanced at one of the men who had stopped watching Finn to see the show, "Man the wheel! Take us to him!" The ship pitched as he tore the wheel from its position and that was enough for Shenzie to jump overboard.

The moment the cool water surrounded her, Shenzie let her true form take over and began swimming with all her might in the direction she saw him falling. After a few more moments, something plunged into the water ahead of her and then began to sink.

Shenzie's white tail pumped the water harder to reach him, and then she saw her. Devon had himself wrapped around Casta who was missing a hand causing blood to float in the water like small ribbons. But not all the blood was hers, Devons shirt had opened upon impact of the water showing a large wound on his chest.

Finally reaching them, Shenzie untangled Casta from Finn's arms and attempted to pull both to the surface only to realize that Finn was too heavy due to the metal on his wings. She released him and blew a large bubble in her hand before placing it over his mouth. That would keep him from drowning as she took Casta to safety first. As she ascended, it ripped her heart out to watch Devon sink to the bottom of the sea alone and helpless.

Once they broke the surface of the water, the ship had finally reached them. One of the crewmen hung on the side of the hull on a flimsy ladder holding out an arm to them, "Give 'er to me! Go get the capn!" Shenzie obliged and handed the limp girl to him before plunging back into the sea to find Devon.

Diving deep, she finally saw him sprawled on the bottom in the sand. The bubble she had given him was nearly gone so she needed to act quickly. She pulled his arms first before draping his body over her shoulder then began to slowly rise from the bottom as to not cause any more damage from the pressure.

Back at the surface, the crew had lowered a fishing net for her to place him in. She lay him in the net as gently as possible and ensured he wouldnt slip out. "Bring 'im up!" she ordered. The net began to lift and she could hear a couple gasps escape the men above as they hadnt known his secret. Hell, they didnt know hers either. A safe ship is an ignorant ship.

Shenzie grabbed onto the swinging ladder and allowed her other form to fall away leaving her bare again. As she climbed up, she could hear that the crew was growing restless and panicked.

"Arthur! Grab me a linen, aye?!" she yelled. Hiding her body against the side of the ship, she could hear someone respond with an "Aye!" before running away. Not more than a few minutes later, the sound of running approached her, and a cloth was thrown of the side almost hitting Shenzie in the face. She wrapped herself in the large cloth and climbed the rest of the way up and over the railing of the ship to see the chaos that had ensued.

Nicholas the medic was already heading below deck with Casta slung over his shoulder like a ragdoll. But the rest of the crew had backed away to gawk at Devon who was still laying in the net on the deck sprawled out like a fallen angel bleeding out quickly.

Shenzie rushed over to him dropping to her knees. Carefully, she scooped his soaked head onto her lap. "Someone needs ta help 'im please." she mumbled. Her shoulders stiffened once she realized not a soul had moved a muscle at her command. As angry tears filled her eyes, she glanced around at the still crew. "Help 'im damnit!" she cried.

At the outburst, Christian came to her side and lifted Devons entire weight onto his small shoulders with a grunt. "Thank you, child." Shenzie praised as she wiped the salty tears from her cheeks.

"He is still my capn, miss." Christian glared at his fellow crew, "He is all of our capn. Shame on ye for turnin yer back on him when he would die for any of us on a good day!" Christian took a few shaky steps towards the lower stairs and eventually another crewmate shouldered some of the weight.

The crewmate looked back at his brethren, "Pray, boys. Pray for them both." he said grimly as they began the descent into the belly of the ship leaving everyone in silence. Not even a gull bird sung that day.