Instant dizziness overtook Signe, distracting her from the feeling of falling. There was only a short moment that she realized that she had fallen quite a ways when the stars covering her view cleared for a brief moment, showing her just how far away the deck she had previously been standing on was. That moment was quickly taken away though at the sudden shock of the freezing waters surrounded every inch of her body.
Signe instantly went into shock, leaving her dead in the water. Her brain went numb, and even though she had full knowledge of how to swim, all her body was capable of doing was moving her arms ever so slightly in a light treed that wasn't very effective in the waves.
The current all around her floating body was rough and strong. The storm was pushing her body all around the waves, not giving her any chance to see the surface. Her numbed brain didn't realize that she couldn't breath and was still trying to function normally, hurting her more that helping her. She felt her head pound as her lungs began to burn, her vision becoming more and more faded. Her brain still was in shock and couldn't do anything to help her, forcing her to surrender to the current of the waves.
Out of the corner of her fading vision, she saw a splash, with many bubbles rushing to the surface around it. Signe could see a figure swimming out towards her, but couldn't focus on who it was. They quickly reached out and wrapped an arm around her waist and began swimming back up. It was now Signe realized just how far down she had sunk into the unforgiving depths, as it took them a short while to reach the surface again. Eventually they did break from the sea as she was pulled above it.
The waves around them still threatened to cover them, so she was being pulled back over to the ship. She felt as they were leaving the water, slowly ascending up the side of the ship. Everything was very blurred to her still. Her eyes were open, but she couldn't move them. She was above water, but she couldn't breathe. She was still alive, but her body was like a rag-doll, refusing to move an inch, leaving her in the saving grace of the arms of whomever had come to save her.
She felt her body jostle hard, knocking her out of her daze. She realized they weren't climbing up the side of the ship anymore, but rather, she was on the top deck laying on her side. There was another jostle through her body. This time she knew it was coming from her back, but she wasn't controlling it. Then there was a third. She could feel the pain that came with that one, as if she was being punched in the back. Then there was a fourth. When the fourth hit her back, water quickly forced it's way up her throat again. She began coughing violently, trying so hard to breathe in, but couldn't get passed the water spilling out of her lungs.
She continued to cough and hack, shaking her whole body, as water spilled from her mouth. She felt a had gently touch her face, moving wet hair out of her eyes. Signe reached up and gripped onto the hand. She didn't know who it was, but she didn't care, she needed someone to ground her as she felt like she was drowning all over again.
Eventually, she coughed up the rest of it and took in a big breath. Her whole body shook, not only in getting over shock, but also with the lack of a steady breathing pattern. Panic that had taken over her body began to calm as she was finally able to breathe.
As she began to become stable again, the hand that was holding hers moved to hold her close. Signe looked up, not quite sure who to expect, but was nonetheless surprised when she saw Anthony look back down at her. He looked completely soaked and totally exhausted. His large brown eyes still looked extremely concerned though.
Without a word, he lifted her up into his arms as they began to walk off the deck. The storm was still raging on, so this was probably not the best spot for the two of them. Signe didn't get to fully see their travel though, as a heavy fatigue covered her brain. But as they were walking, one of the last things she saw was the wheel deck. Captain Jack, still struggling with the wheel, didn't even glance at her for a second. When he was out of sight, her eyes fell closed and stayed that way for a while.
When Signe did open her eyes again, she was on a make shift bed on a floor, with heavy blankets above and below her. Directly in front of her was a fire burning stove that was kept low enough to contain, but still was giving off a large amount of heat. Signe could feel her head pulse and her body ache, most likely from the hit and the shock.
Signe sat up quietly, moving to hold herself up with her elbows. She looked around her surrounds, seeing that behind her was many cots strung between beams. Most of them looked full as well. That was also proved with the sound of light snoring that could be heard.
She looked back to the fire to see someone sitting to her left, slightly in front of her. They seemed to be unaware that she had woken up as they sat completely still, a blanket wrapped around there shoulders, staring directly into the flames in front of them.
But the most shocking part was when Signe looked past this person to see her purple dress laid out to dry. She looked down at herself for the first time. Sure enough, she was not wearing any dress, but rather just the slip that didn't go any further than her thighs. The fact that she was only wearing that wasn't what turned her face red, but rather the fact that someone had to peel her wet dress off of her. The embarrassment was nearly too much for her.
Just then, the person sitting in front of her, turned around to face her. Signe could easily tell now that it was Anthony who was sitting with her. He was most definitely surprised to see her sitting up now.
"Hey." he said in a hushed tone, accounting for all his other crew mates that slept behind them. "How are you feeling?" He turned fully around to better face her.
Signe sat up completely now, keeping the blanket to cover her lap though. "Umm...my head hurts...and so does the rest of me...."
Anthony gave a light laugh, "I bet. First a metal pully to the face, then a quick dive into the water. You sure had us all panicked."
"Sorry." she replied timidly. She genuinely felt bad for causing a group of pirates to worry so much about her. It was a silly thought, but she just accepted at this point that she might be going crazy.
"Hey, there's nothing to apologize for." he said gently. He reached out a put his hand on her shoulder. He smiled, "This is no ones fault. It's just a damn storm that will take anyone it can."
She smiled back, "Thanks, Anthony." There was a moment of silence as he moved his hand back. The more Signe looked at him though, the more she could see the top of his hair still dripping water down to his face. Below the blanket that covered him, she could see that he was shirtless, and was only wearing his pants. When she looked over to where her dress was again, she could see the rest of his clothes lying on the floor next to it. It all started to click in her head. "Did you come in the water after me?"
Anthony looked up at her, slightly shocked at the sudden question breaking the silence. "Yeah...." he shrugged.
"You...you saved my life." Signe said.
"I suppose." the man shrugged again. His calm nature about the whole thing was slightly annoying to Signe. He just saved someones life, shouldn't he feel proud or something? "Honestly, I was just the first one in the water."
"The first one?" she questioned.
"Yeah. I'm sure everyone else on this ship would've probably jumped in after you, had they needed to. I was just already on the shrouds, so I just turned and jumped."
Signe sat, a little taken back by his words. He acted like it could've been something he did daily with the calm spirit he had about him. He wasn't pompous in the slightest, but spoke as it was a simple thing that wasn't very important. "Well, you could've all let me drown. So thank you...for saving me."
He looked confused as he laughed, "Why would we let you drown?"
"Well I mean, I'm just kinda cargo for you. You all...kidnapped me and intend to give me back, so I shouldn't be anyone important to you." she shrugged.
"Maybe that's true of...other people we've come across in the past." he sighed. "But you're...not them." Both their eyes met again as he spoke, "I mean, you're not just cargo, or someone who fights us every chance they can. You're a...a uh...." Signe smiled at him as he struggled to find his words. "You're a...beautiful woman who should be treated with care. You're not just some money to me...or the rest of the crew, frankly. I think that even though you've only been on board for a couple of nights...and even though the first one was a...little rough...." he gave an apologetic smirk. "Sorry for that by the way. But you're a nice person that everyone seems to like so far."
Signe couldn't help but giggle at the addition to the end. "So far."
"No! I- That's not what I meant." he laughed, waving his hands in defense.
"I know." she smiled. "But that's very sweet of you to say, Anthony. For some reason, I feel like because you're all pirates, that I should be terrified. And even though the first night, I was scared, I'm not anymore. For some reason...I feel safer now than I've ever been." Silence fell across the pair as they thought of each others words. Signe shook her head, "Silly, isn't it?"
Anthony gave a small laugh, "Maybe it is. But I'd rather you feel safe than feel scared when you're aboard the Red Lion. Cause even if we do stupid shit from time to time that makes us... not so good people, we're really not evil at heart." He looked around the room full of the cots, all with his friends sleeping inside, "At least, not from what I've seen. These guys aren't half bad."
"So why become a pirate in the first place?" Signe asked. Before he got the chance to answer, however, a door was opened and someone began coming down the stairs in the back of the room. They both looked over to see Captain Jack walking towards them. He looked more than exhausted from his raggedy appearance, as he tiredly walked towards him. His coat looked like it hadn't totally dried yet, and his green hair hung down in front of his eyes.
He walked up to the pair, and Anthony stood at command. Jack didn't seem to notice though as he looked down at Signe. "Glad to see you're awake again. How are you feeling?"
"Umm...fine." she answered. She could feel that Jack was far from glad right now, but it was nice that he was trying.
"Good." he nodded his head. "The storm has passed finally, so I recommend you should head back to my corridors now. I don't think a floor or a cot surrounded by noisy pirates is the best place to recover."
"Yeah...you're probably right." She made to stand up, but that's when she remembered what she was wearing, or rather, what she wasn't wearing. "Umm...may I have my dress back please."
"It's still rather wet." Anthony informed her.
"Well...my slip isn't very...modest." she answered quietly, her face becoming red again. She looked down at the floor, blushing a little too much to look either man in the face. But then she felt a familiar warm presence wrap around her shoulders again. She looked up to see that she was once again wearing the Captain's jacket. She looked over and saw him kneel by her side.
"Now do you feel comfortable about it?" he asked her quietly. He held his hand out for her to take. She quickly slipped her arms through the arms of the jacket, and took his hand, letting him help her up.
She held the coat closed as she stood, her legs being a little shakier than she remembered. Jack began to lead her out to the door, but she stopped and turned back to Anthony, "Thank you." He just smiled and nodded his head in response as she turned back and left the room again.
Jack continued to hold onto her hand as they walked up the stairs and out the door, back onto the top deck. They walked slowly on the cold deck. Signe could see the lanterns lining the railings again, as the moon had still not returned. Although, the clouds that had previously been hanging in the sky all day, were giving way to that stars again, that shown brightly like the night before.
They made it up the other set of stairs that led to the balcony. Before they went into the short hallway, Signe looked up to see Seananners, quietly sitting at the wheel. He glance down at the pair to meet Signe's gaze and gave her a smile, of which she returned.
Once they made it to the Captain's corridors, Jack still held onto her hand, leading her over to his bed, helping her sit comfortably. He held up the cover for her to crawl under as she returned his jacket, then quickly covered herself with the blankets again. He pulled them up to her shoulders, before turning the lap down low. He went back to his desk, sitting down in the chair.
Signe closed her eyes, letting the tiredness of the day wash over her again. "Do you think my dress will be dry by tomorrow?" she asked with a tired slur.
"Don't worry about it." Jack replied simply. It was the last thing she heard, before sleep easily took over again.