Hell Hath No Fury - Book One

Stormy Night

"How long until she's on us," Theo asked and bent down to grab the rope. She began to tie it around her waist too and she secured it with a knot she trusted.

"Wind should start pushing us forward soon. Cargo being so heavy will make it easy to navigate through the storm but it's going to be a fucking mission," Navi informed Theo, "Do you need to switch with Xyra or is your shoulder okay?"

"My shoulder is fine," Theo defended. It was, she wouldn't put herself or her crew in danger by lying. It would be hard to hold the wheel and steer the ship even with two people but Theo would be okay.

Xyra ran up the helm, looking between the both of them with ropes tied around them. Theo knew Xyra was fighting with herself to not say anything too solemn. She also knew that Xyra was panicking at the fact that both Navi and Theo were up there, braving the storm alone.

"I'm giving the order. Everyone inside," Theo said, there was no use in having her crew outside. The storm was so big that the crew would not be much use anyway, they would slip and slide around the deck and face the jaws of death that way. All sails had been secured and any rope that slipped would just have to stay that way. They had made the necessary arrangements so that safety for her crew would be possible.

"I'll make sure everyone is secure," Xyra promised, then stepped forward and pulled Theo into a hug, "You need anything and Cooker is there to sound the alarm bells for help."

"I know, Xy. I will be okay. Get inside and make sure water stays the fuck out of this boat," Theo said. Xyra was in charge down below. In case any damage to the ship happened, she had the team and the tools ready to repair damage and pump out water. Besides that, only Cooker would be on the deck, tied to the mast, and ready to yell for help if the need came.

Xyra said her goodbyes to Navi then headed inside. Leaving just Navi and Theo at the helm, facing what felt like impending doom.

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Ava didn't know what a storm on a ship was supposed to be like but this one did not seem normal. She was bruised and sore from all of the banging around she had done while the ship flung her from side to side. It was chaos. At one point there was a loud crash and she heard panic. Somewhere on the lower decks, something had been broken. She felt helpless as she heard yells and screams and instructions being called out, a hole had managed to breakthrough. Ava wanted to help but as she went forward Tuni held her arm in place, forbidding her from moving.

A little while later, she heard commands being shouted between the women and some of them got up to leave. Morgana, Oceane, Iona, Hop, and three other girls couldn't quite see through the dark. They went up and didn't come back down. There was a pit at the bottom of Ava's stomach. What if when they went back out no one was there? What if the storm had wiped them all away? Ava had nerves in her stomach all night, it seemed like the storm would never end. By the time the waves stopped rocking the ship, she was sitting on a few inches of water and her body was shivering from the cold. With no fires on the ship allowed during a storm, there was nothing to keep them warm or lanterns to light the way.

Ava was wrapped up with Tuni, trying to share body heat, when a bright light shone on her face. She squinted and saw that the hatch was being exposed, the tarp keeping water out had been lifted. The tarp was replaced by a smiling face and Ava felt nothing but relief. Peeking through the holes were Theo and Cooker, drenched from the rain.

"Storm is officially behind us!" Theo announced and all those that were awake gave out a small cheer.

Tuni scrambled to her feet and made her way to the exit of the lower decks, stepping over others with the small bit of light provided. She was on a mission to make sure her partner and her crew were okay. Ava followed Tuni's lead but at a slower pace. While she was still a cabin girl, her time being Tuni's assistant technically started that morning. She followed her out and saw just the amount of damage the storm had caused. Pieces of wood were splintered, the deck looked mostly empty. And all nine people who were on the deck the night before were accounted for. Tuni ran to Morgana and let herself get picked up by the vanguard leader.

After getting set down, Tuni immediately called everyone who had been on the deck to come into the infirmary. Ava followed along with everyone else that was requested to go and she tried her best to help Tuni treat the injuries seen. Most were scrapes and cuts, a few bruises, and one broken wrist. Ava had been expecting much worse given that even she was injured and all she did was sit down the whole night. Ava was eventually pushed to the side and only observed as Tuni gave everyone a checkup. Theo had walked over to Ava, avoiding a check-up.

"Theo-" Ava started but didn't know where she was going with it. She wanted to apologize for the night before, ambushing the captain the way she did. She had seen Theo's attitude shift from tough and mighty to hurt and defensive when she found out exactly how Ava knew she couldn't read. Ava couldn't begin to imagine the things Theo thought of her and she had spent most of the storm worrying she would never have a chance to make up for it.

"It's fine, Ava," Theo said, not even letting her finish.

"Still, I'm sorry," Ava whispered, "I never meant it to be malicious."

"As I said, it's fine. Training starts tonight though, be prepared," Theo said and pushed off the wall she was leaning against. Theo walked out of the room, slipping out without Tuni noticing and Ava thought she owed Theo as much as to not rat her out.