A Runaway Princess at Sea (bill x fem.dipper)

Chapter 28

At that Dipper froze. Pyronica never used her real name over the past few months. Ever. Not even on accident. She hadn't been looking at Pyronica during this time, so she didn't realize the concerned look on her face that she had at that moment. Dipper's eyebrows narrowed in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, not at first. Th' ship was just bout away from th' docks when I came along. Had to take a runnin' leap just to make it on board. Ran up to the top but no one was there. I went to stop it but when I went and grabbed it, someone saw me."

"Who?"

She shrugged. "Dunno, bastard got away before I could catch a glimpse of 'im. Knew I was gonna be screwed either way, but I couldn't go back to shore since we'd most likely be caught. So I wen' ahead and moved it off to the side of the cliff then went to fetch you. But I dunno how the captain got wind that it was me who touched it."

Dipper gave this new information some thought.

"Is that why you didn't say anything when Bill threatened you? You were trying to protect me, but it was also because you didn't do it."

Pyronica shook her head in disagreement. "Oh but that I did!" She confirmed. "Ya ain't gotta be seen by the Captin steering it to be in the deep end. If the Captin' didn' put ya there, yur a goner. I might'a not have been the one who touched it first, but I'm the one who was caught."

Dipper groaned. This was just getting ridiculous. Things were really just getting out of hand, and it was sending Dipper in a spiral around and around. Even with her thoughts in a twirl, she tried to think hard about, well, everything. It was then something clicked.

"But there's something I just don't get."

Pyronica hummed, letting Dipper know that she heard her and to keep going, while she moved to Dipper's right side and continued to wrap up her friend's injuries.

"This destination wasn't on the course Bill set, it was a detour. We've also only been on shore for a few days. The news of us being there should've taken a week, maybe even longer than that after we left to reach their ears before they sent a ship. Not to mention the connection between us and the death of whoever that guy was would only be made way afterward. It doesn't make sense."

Dipper's head shot up, startling Pyronica who had just finished tucking in the end of the bandage into place. Their eyes met. Dippers were full of fear and concern.

"So how on earth did they know we were here?"

________

Dipper sat solemnly at her desk, twisting the journal key in her hand like a focusing point, just staring at it under the light of a lantern, the candle sitting on the corner of the desk. It had been a few hours since their retreat to the sea. She could still hear the loud laughter and cheering of the crew upstairs celebrating their escape.

The music of someone playing the lute, the clink of mugs, spoons, and plates being knocked against each other, and all sorts of other noises that had sounded concerning were muffled by the wood above her. Bill, as upset as he was, decided that a party was just the thing to raise spirits up and to relieve the tension everyone was feeling. It was also a way of giving thanks to Dipper for her quick, and yet equally idiotic, plan.

However, Dipper didn't feel like participating. She had stayed there only for a few moments to just show some face but ultimately pardoned herself for the night and headed back to her room. She sat down in the slightly rotting chair the moment her door closed, taking out the journal and scrambling to get her thoughts on paper. Dipper was trying to piece together the who, what, where, and why of the day. It wasn't going well and she was getting nothing but blank pages.

Her mind was going over what had just happened in town. No matter how hard she thought about it, she just couldn't wrap her mind around it. Knowing she wasn't getting anywhere, Dipper sighed, took the key, and placed it inside her trunk that was provided when she first joined the ship alongside the journal and locked it.

After securing it, Dipper slowly inched to her bed and promptly dropped herself on the uncomfortable mattress, faceplanting into the thin pillow. The blankets that were once fluffy clouds were now flat and rough. She then cursed herself for doing that, wincing at the tingling sensation under the bandages. Her ears focused on the little things around her. The sounds of the wave outside her window echoed as it splashed against the side of the powerful sea vessel acting like a soothing sound to try and relax her. It did not.

She heard the creak of the wood board, many footsteps, and even the occasional drunk snoring. Dipper spent the next five minutes practically suffocating herself before turning over to stare at the ceiling. It wasn't hard to move, but with her neck, hand, and arm bundled up, she felt like a mummy.

Speaking of which, Dipper lifted her arm in front of her, bending it at an angle so she could take a look at the wound. She could see that the blood was beginning to soak the fabric and showing through the other side. Today was a really close call. Extremely close. Dipper was lucky it was just her arm and not her leg or anywhere else for that matter. It'll be a little more difficult to work, but it's more bearable than having to limp everywhere. With the ship always rocking on the water, a hurt leg would be the worst injury to have.

"It just doesn't make any sense," Dipper said to herself. She started picking at the skin around her thumb. She would usually just chew on a quill pen but had picked up the nasty habit after not finding one around her when deep in thought one too many times.

"The military for the jurisdiction we were in should've taken a week if not more to show up. Our destination wasn't on the route we were heading on so they should've been unaware that was where we were."

It really perplexed her that this was the one thing she couldn't understand. Numbers? No big deal. Heist plans? Child's play.

"My estimations are never wrong. I've always been confidently correct in my strategies, it's always been one of my best abilities and - and it's never failed me in the past. Figuring out animal tracks, the best hunting spots, and even what would bring the shack the most revenue usually worked out flawlessly. So why is it going south now?"

Dipper grumbled while working her brain. She only stopped long enough to become aware of the tender throbbing of her skin, and feeling the sticky liquid of blood. She gave a deep, long sigh and then winced when a headache bloomed behind her temple. Dipper grunted as she rubbed the spot.

'God, Grunkle Stan's home remedy is sounding really good about now. Honestly, nothing's been going right since the wedding.'

That made her pause. "Wait. The wedding!"

She quickly sat up and brought back the memory of that day. Dipper realized that their departure from the chapel had been nearly foiled by a sudden appearance of unexpected soldiers. They had gotten pretty far, but they still caught up as if they were hidden and waiting. Then the same thing practically happens again at their most recent stop at the shopping square. Anywhere the ship went, the soldiers appeared too! She finally had a small lead.

Dipper has her suspicions and she hoped it wasn't true. Someone was revealing their position and selling the crew out to the enemy. Yet she still needed to talk to Bill. To let him know he has a rat on board his ship. Of course, Bill isn't still too pleased about Dipper taking charge and Dipper knew she was on thin ice on this. So she won't say anything. Yet. Not until she could get her hands on more solid evidence. It's going to take a lot of sleuthing, and investigating and keeping an eye on everyone.

Her head throbbed again. She sighed. For now, she just wanted to sleep the night away. Dipper moved underneath the bedsheets and just stared up at the ceiling. Tomorrow was the start of two long months of barnacle scraping and Pyronica's deadly food. While the punishment itself wasn't intense, death didn't sound like a bad option right about now. At least it would be faster. As the candle across the room grew dimmer, Dipper's eyes slowly shut, and was finally able to end this insane ship crash of a day.

________________________________________________________________________

Chapter 28! Had a bunch of ideas and it's a good thing too! This was done sooner than I thought. I wish I could do more back to back but my brain can only create so much lol! Enjoy!

-Dancerheart 41