Chapter 21!! Omg I can't believe this story is in the 20's now :D So exciting!!!
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Daisy xx
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(Circe's P.O.V)
My face was burning as I finished dressing Obsidian's wound, trying to touch him a little as possible. I hadn't realized that I had gotten so close to him until he had asked me coldly to remove my hand from his shoulder, which I had been subconsciously using as a support as I cleaned the dried blood off his skin.
I quickly wound the bandage around his chest, checking that it was neat and tight before fastening it with the safety pin.
"Thankyou." He muttered, standing as soon as I was done. There was a pregnant pause before Obsidian's door was flung open and Lacy bounded in, her hands full of clothes and Cobalt right behind her.
"Hey Cee, Cobalt gave me some clothes that he had from when he was younger and I think they are probably ... closer ... to your size ..." She trailed off awkwardly, noticing the tension in the room and her eyes flickered from Obsidian to myself and then back to Obsidian.
"I see you got your bandage changed," She said, turning around to dump the clothes in Colby's arms.
"Hey!"
Lacy ignored him and walked over to Obsidian, catching him by the arm and turning him around.
"What are you doing?" He growled. "Get your hands off me."
Lacy rolled her eyes. "Don't be a big baby, I'm just checking to make sure it's tight enough." She gave the bandage a yank and Obsidian winced. "Yup! It's seems pretty good!" She turned to me. "Where did you learn how to do that?"
I looked down at the ground and folded my arms over my chest. "First aid was just something I was taught back at home when I was attending classes." I mumbled, my hair swishing around my face.
"Oh" Was all that Lacy said, choosing not to press the matter any further. I lifted my head and sent her a grateful smile which she returned.
"Come on then," She said cheerily. "let's get you dressed so we can start to have some fun! Cobalt give me those." She said, turning around once again to snatch the clothes out of Colby's surprised arms.
She grabbed my hand and dragged me towards our bedroom and. I was starting to get the feeling that I was going to have to get used to being pulled everywhere as long as Lacy was around.
"Bossy little thing isn't she?" I heard Colby mutter as we exited the room.
Obsidian grunted in reply. "I'm seriously beginning to regret ever allowing her onto this ship." His voice was grumpy and I could imagine his eyebrows pulled together, his arms folded across his chest like a spoilt child. I couldn't help but snicker in amusement as Lacy turned her head to look at me, her lips twitching.
"Now whatever can you be finding funny Miss Cee?"
I just shook my head. "Nothing of importance, that's for sure." I laughed, running a hand through my hair. "Now are you going to teach me how to dress like a boy or not?"
* * * *
Thunk
"Almost Circe, you need to relax, you're over thinking it. Try again."
Lacy's voice was calm and I wondered again how she had managed not to get frustrated with me yet. Sighing I walked forward to pull the dagger out of the main mast which I had been using as a target for my throwing practice for the last three hours.
It had been almost a week since Lacy had begun to teach me how to fight and I was still horrible at everything except hand fighting, which, if I was honest with myself, wasn't the most ladylike way of fighting, nor the fairest.
I walked back to my line and took a deep breath, shaking my shoulders out and trying to calm my mind. Holding up the dagger, I gripped the handle and eyed my target. Pull arm back, flick of the wrist to add spin, and ... throw.
Thunk
The dagger sank into the wood, just inside the outer ring of the bulls-eye that had been painted on the weathered mast.
"Good job Cee!" Lacy cheered and I couldn't help but roll my eyes.
"Lacy I'm terrible and you know it, so stop acting like I'm doing something right because I'm obviously not." My voice came out sharper than intended and I slapped a hand over my mouth as soon as I had finished. "Lacy I'm sorry!" I blurted, rushing over to give her a hug. "It's just getting so frustrating!"
She laughed and patted my back. "I know, I was the same to start with, it's probably harder for you because you're learning so late." She pulled back from me a little., a mischievous glint in her eye. "At least you are actually hitting the target now." She laughed and I growled, ruffling her hair.
"Quiet you."
She did have a point though, I had improved a tiny amount during the week. I cringed as I remembered my first attempt at throwing a dagger, I had accidently let go of it as I swung it backwards and almost skewered Hobbs in the eye. The look on his face had been priceless but I hadn't been able to stop apologizing. He had just grinned and shaken it off, although I noticed that he now preferred to stand up on the helm with Obsidian, safely out of harms way.
I glanced up there now, studying the silent figure that stood behind the ships wheel, his strong hands on two of the rounded handles as he gently turned the ship every now and then, keeping us on course. Hobbs was standing to the right of the Obsidian, leaning on the railing and looking out to sea. He had his padding back on, to keep up pretenses he told me, and looked the way that he did when I first met him at my Birthday Ball, round and jolly.
I looked at Obsidian again who was still staring straight out in front of him. He hadn't spoken to me since I had changed his bandage, studiously ignoring me whenever I had to walk through his room to get to the outside deck and I had given up trying to figure of what was wrong with him. If he was going to act insist on acting like this then who was I to stand in his way.
As though he had heard my thoughts, his eyes flickered in my direction and he caught my gaze for a split second before his full upper lip curled in a sneer and he looked away, moving back slightly with one hand still on the wheel so he could say something to Hobbs. Hobbs looked to me, smiling slightly before looking out to sea again, replying to Obsidian. I could see his mouth moving but I couldn't make out what he was saying. Where they talking about me?
Frustrated I ran a shaking hand through my hair. I couldn't let him get to me like this.
"Can we try something else for a while?" I asked Lacy, almost desperately. "Please?"
She frowned and opened her mouth but before she could speak, Cobalts smooth voice came from her right.
"She's right Lace," He said, getting to his feet from where he had been sitting, leaning his back on the railing of the deck. "She needs to do something else for a while, there is no point in trying when you're frustrated." He winked at me. "Ready to take me on in some hand fighting?"
I paused, sizing him up and feeling a little unsure. I had only practiced hand fighting with Lacy so far and had caught on rather quickly, pinning her down after only two days. Hobbs told me that it was because of my Water Sprite blood, apparently they were amazing at hand to hand combat because of their heightened speed and strength.
I had been learning alot from Hobbs recently. He had decided to take it upon himself to teach me about my heritage and how to control my Siren blood so I could become more familiar with it. No-one else was allowed to attend my lessons which happened just after the sun had gone down and mostly everyone had retired to bed.
Cobalt had pointed out that it shouldn't matter really seeing how half of the crew already knew what I was, but Hobbs insisted on privacy so for an hour after sunset, Obsidian had the deck cleared of any hands that were still awake, until I had finished my lesson.
Cobalt's voice suddenly broke into my internal monologue and I looked up at him suspiciously. He had a smug smile on his face that instantly made me annoyed.
"If you're too afraid to take me on, it's okay, I understand." He said, his eyes twinkling with mischief. He knew I wouldn't back down now.
"Fine." I growled, taking a hair tie from my pocket and plaiting my hair in a long braid so it wouldn't get in the way.
Looking around I noticed that the crew on the deck had perked up a little. There wasn't much for them to do at the moment other than lounge around in the shade. The ocean was dead calm and had been for the past few days as far as the eye could see, the sky a crystal cornflower blue with not a cloud on the horizon. The weather was hot but there was still enough warm wind to fill our sails and keep us on a steady course.
Most of the crew stayed below decks on hot days like these, organizing stock, playing cards, practicing with their swords or just sleeping to pass the time. However my lessons on how to defend myself brought quite a few people up onto the deck as they seemed to enjoy watching me struggle, especially Samson who would sit in his hammock and laugh loudly and obnoxiously whenever I failed, which was alot of the time. Now they were all sitting up, eager to see the outcome of this fight since I had a new opponent.
As I headed over to the middle of the deck I saw Hobbs had come forward to stand by Obsidian and was watching with keen interest. Obsidian's face was expressionless but I thought I could see the faint stirrings of some distant emotion flicker in his mismatched eyes.
I turned around, settling into my stance as I faced Cobalt who was smirking.
"Right," He said, clapping his hands together. "I think that we should have a fight first so I can assess what you need to improve on, and then we will focus on improving your strategy and also finding ways to make the best use of your size. Fighting a fully grown man is alot different to fighting a 14 year old girl. No offense Lacy." He said quickly, throwing a grin in her direction.
"None taken." She said, poking her tongue out.
I nodded and wiped my hands against my pants, feeling slightly surprised by his professional tone. I hadn't really expected him to take this seriously at all.
"Okay." I said, taking a deep breath. "But I have one rule."
"And what would that be?" He asked, raising one eyebrow.
"No unnecessary groping."
Cobalt let out a loud bark of laughter and I heard a few of the men that were watching chuckle.
"Oh my Dear Circe," Colby said, his eyes twinkling. "No groping is unnecessary."
I scowled at him and he laughed again throwing his head back.
Perfect.
Without giving him time to realize what I was doing I leapt towards him, diving downwards and sliding between his legs before using the momentum to push myself up and leap onto his back.
"Wha-
I wrapped an arm around his throat so his neck was in the crook of my elbow and pulled back putting pressure on his windpipe.
"It seems you're the one that needs lessons from me," I hissed in his ear as his fingers found their way up to my arm and yanked against my hold. "Didn't anyone tell you never to let the enemy distract you?"
"You little-" He choked out before his sentence was cut off as I tightened my arm around his neck.
He yanked at my arm again before moving backwards until my back hit the mast and I gritted my teeth in preparation, realizing what he was going to do.
Taking a step forward, Cobalt suddenly moved backwards again, ramming my back against the strong wood. I groaned at the pain but shut it out quickly and before he could do it again I tightened my legs around his waist and squeezed as hard as possible.
Men might be strong in other areas but nothing could match the strength of a woman's thigh muscles, as Lacy had kindly demonstrated for me earlier in the week. I still had the bruises.
Cobalt roared as I tightened my hold and he fell down to his knees, bringing up both of his hands to try to find a grip on my arm. Too late I realized that my hold around his neck had weakened and this time his fingers found grip as he ripped my arm away from his neck. In one movement he pulled me over top of him, throwing me down onto the deck.
My back hit the hard wood with a thump and I was momentarily winded, staring up to the sky and feeling stunned. Two boots came to stand on either side of my head and Colby grinned down at me.
"Nice try," He snickered, putting emphasis on the last word.
I scowled at him and twisted to the side, wrapping my hands around his leg, just below the knee and winding my legs around his foot. I then proceeded to hold on as tight as possible, clinging to his pants like a limpet.
"Hey!" He yelped, shaking his leg as he tried unsuccessfully to get me to let go. Lacy was rolling on the deck with laughter as Cobalt walked around the deck, dragging me, still attached to his leg, behind him. I grinned, realizing of course that I wasn't fighting in the most professional way and that if this were a proper fight I would probably be dead by now. It didn't make it any less funny however.
Cobalt wasn't finding the situation amusing at all and he reached down wrapping his hands around my upper arms, now attempting to pry me off.
"Goddamnit Circe!" He yelled as I clung tighter to his leg. "This isn't hand fighting, I thought you were going to take this seriously!"
I scowled at him. "I am taking this seriously! Pardon me for not wanting to be pummeled by someone three times my size!"
His face turned beet red as he yanked and pulled at my arms. "But thats the point! It's not supposed to be fair and you're not exactly going to have a choice when you have to use these skills in real battle are you?"
I narrowed my eyes as I glared up at him. "You want me to take this seriously? Fine I'll take it seriously!" Trying not to feel anything but professional about what I was about to do, I swiftly let go of one hand and before he could pry me off, I reached around behind him, grabbed his crotch and squeezed. Hard.
Cobalt let out a roar of pain and dropped to the deck faster than I could shout 'crown jewels', clutching his hands inbetween his legs.
I stood up and dusted myself off as everyone watching tried not to pee themselves with laughter.
"Oh God," Cobalt said in a strangled voice, his eyes watering. "There goes my ability to Father any children, I think she just popped them all the way back into my stomach."
Lacy staggered over, clutching her stomach and appeared to be laughing so hard that she didn't seem to be breathing. Suddenly she sucked in a huge breath and let it out again along with a garbled of words mixed in with laughter.
"You HAHAHA got beaten heeeheeehee by ... by ... by!" She gasped. "A GIRL!!" She squealed finally, her eyes brimming with tears of laughter as she leaned on my shoulder for support. "Oh my goodness, that has to be THE funniest thing ever!"
Cobalt attempted to get to his feet, leaning against the mast for support as he clutched his crotch shamelessly. "What happened to 'no inappropriate groping'" He said the last part in a falsetto, obviously trying to imitate my tone. He wiggled his eyebrows. "You just couldn't keep your hands off me could you?"
I looked at him in disbelief. "You're not serious are you?"
Cobalt grinned and attempted to swagger over to me although I noticed he was still flinching. "You know you want me," He teased, puffing his chest out and leaning one hand on the railing behind me. "I am irresistible after all."
I folded my arms and leaned back against the railing, trying to look like his closeness didn't affect me. "Whatever helps you get to sleep at night." I teased.
He leaned in closer and brushed his lips against my ear, smirking widely. "Is that an offer?"
I blushed at the wolf whistles and whoops that echoed around the deck as Cobalt pulled away, his eyes still locked onto mine and an inviting smirk twitching at his lips.
Suddenly the was a bang of a gun that made us all jump and a furious voice rang out over the deck sending chills down my spine.
"Stop lolly gagging around and lower the anchor!!" Obsidian roared. "Are none of you fools paying attention? Do you think this is a holiday? Get. To. WORK!!"
He pointed off the bow of the ship and instantly everyone sprang up and scurried around, trying to make it look as though they had been busy all along while Obsidian yelled orders.
"What's going on!" I yelled at Lacy but she just shook her head.
"I don't know!" She was just as confused by the sudden ruckus as I was, the day was perfectly calm, so what was the fuss?
"Come on," Colby said, grabbing my arm and he tugged me towards where Obsidian had pointed. "You'll be able to see better over here."
Obsidian's voice stopped him in his tracks and we slowly turned around to see the furious Captain looming over us, his fists clenched and his eyes flashing gold. My eyes flashed up to the poop deck where Hobbs was now manning the wheel, his face calm despite the panic, how had he gotten down here so fast?
"You." He said darkly, and for a second I thought he was talking to me but then he reached out and grabbed Cobalts arm, squeezing tightly. "Come with me."
Before Cobalt could protest, Obsidian dragged him off, their staunch figures disappearing almost instantly into the mass of bodies rushing around.
"Come!" Lacy shouted in my ear, grabbing my hand. "Let's get out of the way!"
We pushed our way across the deck towards the small platform that was tucked into the bow of the ship and Lacy pulled me up onto it so we could peer over the side and see what all the fuss was about.
I scanned the clear waters in puzzlement. "There is nothing there." I said frowning. And indeed there was nothing there. The water was flat like a lake, with not a ripple in sight. I looked down to see if perhaps we were heading towards a sandbar and gasped, tugging on Lacy's arm.
"Lacy! Lacy look!" I said, pointing down. "Look at the water!"
She looked down and gasped. "Oh wow, fancy that!"
The water was impossibly and completely crystal clear. I could see all the way down to the sandy bottom of the ocean, and the ripples in the water cast soft shadows upon the submerged sand.
"Well that must explain why Obsidian is slowing down the ship," Lacy said. "The water must be shallow if we can see all the way down and he won't want us running aground."
"But Lacy, that doesn't make sense." I said, gesturing to the view around us. "Look at where we are, we are in the middle of the ocean, there is no land in sight." I pointed out.
Her brows pushed together. "Well I don't know." She said, disgruntled. "What's your theory then?"
I looked back over the side of the ship that was still moving at a considerable pace, cutting through the water like a hot knife through butter. Staring down at the sand bed below, I focused again on the shadows that were being reflected on the sand from the waves above. It was impossible to create that kind of light unless the water was shallow wasn't it?
My eyes zoomed in on a larger shadow that was moving at the same pace as the ship, and almost directly below us, but just a little to the right. I squinted. What was it? Was it some kind of fish? Suddenly it grew bigger only to shrink back smaller again and when the same thing happened once more, I realized that the shape was also a shadow and when it changed size it was going over hills and rises in the sea bed.
Cocking my head to the side I tried to figure out what it was a shadow of. It was medium sized ... oval shaped, with a pointed front and a blunt back.
I stared at it for a moment longer before realization dawned.
"Oh my gosh." I whispered before shaking my head and saying it louder. "Oh my gosh! Lacy, see that oval shaped shadow down there?" I said excitedly, pointing down below the water. She scrunched up her eyes before nodding.
"Yes?"
"Lacy that is the ship's shadow, thats our shadow running along the bottom of the sea!"
She shook her head. "That's impossible, it's too small."
"But don't you see?" I said, making her look down again. "It so small because its so far away! Lacy we are still in the middle of the ocean, the water is still hundreds of leagues deep but we can see all the way down to the bottom of the sea."
"But ..." She stuttered, her mouth agape. "But that is impossible, for one thing the suns light shouldn't be able to reach all the way down to the ocean floor if its really as deep as you think and there certainly shouldn't be enough light to create a shadow!"
I took her by the shoulders. "Lacy." I whispered quietly. "I have a feeling that we just crossed the line between the possible and the impossible."
A shadow fell over the both of us and we looked up to see Obsidian standing quite still, looking out to sea, his face blank and his eyes flat.
"Yes we certainly have." He said softly, raising a hand. "Look back over there now and tell me what you see."
I looked at him warily before following the line of his arm to where he was indicating and gasped at the mass of white that covered the horizon and that had certainly not been there before. I realized now that the ship was moving slower and slower and when I looked behind me I could see that half of the crew had moved to the oars and were holding the ship back against the current, the anchor obviously not being able to find hold on the flat sea bed.
"But whatever is it?" I whispered, leaning over the side of the ship as we drew closer and closer.
"I do believe," Cobalt said, coming up behind me to wrap his arms around my waist so I wouldn't fall over board. "That it is an indication to suggest that we are on the right track in searching for the place that cannot be found. Am I right Hobbs?" He yelled the last part over his shoulder and the old man on the wheel nodded, his face splitting into a wide grin.
"Aye! That be true lad! Steady as she goes boy's! We want ta be comin' ta a complete standstill so we can try to drop that blasted anchor aga'n!"
There was a cry of agreement from the crew and I turned back around to lean over the side of the ship again, noticing that Obsidian was staring intently at Cobalt's arms around my waist.
"But can we sail through it? It isn't land is it?" I asked in confusion, and this time it was Obsidian who answered my questions.
"That's what you and Hobbson are going to find out tonight."
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