Scarlet was pretty positive that she had never been as wet as she was in the current position she was in. Shortly after they had left Coriakin's island, a violent storm and a thunder storm had overwhelmed them. The teen could barely hear the crewmen shouting all around her for the roar of Mother Nature, Thor the Norse God or a third thing. Shivering with her regular clothes beneath a special made storm – and raincoat, Scarlet was trying to help the crew where ever she could. It was difficult, but she managed to warm herself up a bit, but she could only focus for so long with how her body was shivering. Lucy had taken Gael off Rhince's hands and brought the little girl down to Caspian's quarters which Scarlet and Lucy currently vacated as a courtesy from their friend.
The ship was creaking, and at times it made Scarlet stiffen and look one more time to make sure that the ship wouldn't betray them without them noticing. But the warrior had to give it to the builders and Caspian's faith in them. The Dawn Treader had lasted for hours and there hadn't been any reports on any leak yet. Slight wobbly and with some difficulty, Scarlet was managing to make her way around deck. Currently, she was helping in the area around the helm where she clearly could hear Drinian's commanding growls, "Three spokes to starboard!"
"Aye, aye, sir!" Scarlet then proceeded to walk down the stairs with difficulty before approaching Tavros and several crew men, who were handling the sails. "May I be of service, Tavros?" Scarlet yelled while trying to keep her drenched brown hair out of her mouth. The enourmous minotaur turned to look wide-eyed at the teen.
"But, my lady..." Tavros stammered in a growl. Scarlet snorted, and although her voice was kind, it was also determined and non-negotiable.
"I can handle a little rain. Give me that rope." The minotaur reluctantly handed the teen a rope with a good natured snort. Scarlet then took a firm hold of the rope with both her hands.
"On my call, men, lady." Tavros acknowledged. Scarlet smirked. Where after she gave the minotaur a small nod. Tavros looked at her before growling, "Heave!" And so Scarlet did as she felt the energy surge through her and out through her hands as she along with the other crew members concentrated on keeping the sails steady. She had never tried being hit by a large wave before, so when she suddenly was hit by a massive force of water coming over the railing, she nearly toppled over and she lost focus. She managed to keep the rope steady, but not before she felt stiff and incredibly cold again. But she hadn't been the only one as the crew members around her too were soaked once again.
"My lady!" a distant voice sounded over the crashing waves and other shouts. Scarlet turned in the direction of which the call came, while making sure not to loosen her already slippery grip on the rope. She soon recognized the figure approaching to be Drinian. She hadn't seen it right away because of the hood he was wearing.
"King Caspian wants to see us both, my lady." The old sea captain announced when he was standing directly in front of her. Scarlet nodded while summoning another crewman to take her spot with her hand.
"Where?" she asked.
"Captain's Quarters." Drinian replied. Scarlet nodded.
"Lead the way, Captain." Walking or rather scrambling behind Drinian made it a little easier to walk as Drinian's form took most of the wind and rain – in front. The transition from walking outside to entering the captain's quarters made Scarlet shudder suddenly as warmth embraced her entire body. Drinian held the double door open for her before he lost his rain coat by it. Caspian sat on the couch, looking out of the rain cloaked windows when she entered. Edmund was standing off to the side, holding his balance by holding onto a plank in the ceiling – yes, he's become that tall – and when he saw his daughter's disheveled looks, the smug bastard just smirked and shook his head.
"You look like a drowned cat." Edmund stated smoothly with a charming smirk. Scarlet's eyes narrowed as she made a face at her father and playfully stuck her tongue out at him.
"Oh for Aslan sake, Scarlet, come here quickly, you'll catch a cold." Caspian mummer lightly about her being stubborn, as he stood up, grabbed a blanket and approached the father and daughter. Scarlet normally didn't appreciate people fussing over her, but she barely got to react before Caspian had reached them, helped her get rid of her coat, wrapped her up in the blanket and led her towards the couch with a firm arm around her.
As Scarlet was forced to sit down by Caspian, who in turn sat down next to her, she scrunched her face into a grimace as she tried to blow a strand of hair away from her face in an up giving manner. Through her locks, she could see Edmund smile and roll his eyes at her. To her left, she could feel Caspian staring at her and when she turned to meet his gaze, he sent her a small smile while he shook his head lightly.
"What?" she exclaimed softly,
"You and Edmund were out there too." Caspian let out a snort and smiled softly at her before gently ruffling Scarlet's wet hair, at the same time removing the annoying locks from her forehead.
"So where are we right now, Drinian?" Caspian questioned the Captain next who was roaming around the table in front of them, a single candle flapping lightly at Drinian's movements.
"So we're stuck here..." Drinian drawled frustrated and pointed at a place on the map before turning to face them. If Scarlet had to guess, it had to be somewhere not far from Coriakin's island,
"At half rations, with food and water for two more weeks, maximum." Drinian then looked sternly at Edmund and Caspian in turn before continuing with a grim look on his face, "This is your last chance to turn back, your majesties." Scarlet frowned. This seemed to come out of nowhere to her. But she noticed Caspian look worriedly at first her and then Edmund before Drinian continued, "There's no guarantee we'll spot the Blue Star any time soon. Not in this storm." Scarlet could see that Caspian was thinking very hard and fighting an inner battle. She knew that he could see where the captain, responsible for his crew, came from but she also knew that Caspian felt like he owed his father to find his friends and to help Rhince save his wife.
"Needle in a haystack, trying to find this Ramandu place." Drinian drawled, he too holding onto a plank in the ceiling. "We could sail right past it and off the edge of the world."
"Or get eaten by a sea serpent." Edmund replied, a light sarcasm evident in his voice. Scarlet felt doubt fill her heart by the captain's words and slight unease by her father's easy joke, and she unconsciously leaned closer to Caspian. It wasn't until she felt Caspian rub her back soothingly before giving her shoulder a squeeze that she realized that she pretty much leaned into his side. When Scarlet looked up at Caspian, she noticed that he was eyeing Edmund with a glare.
"I'm just saying the men are getting nervous." Drinian replied eyeing the Just king calmly, but his eyes showed annoyance at the jab Edmund sent his way. Drinian moved around to face all three of them again. "These are strange seas we are sailing, the likes of which I've never seen before." Caspian put a gentle hand on Scarlet's shoulder before he calmly with stress in his voice started speaking before eyeing Drinian with a scrutinizing stare before standing up, nearing where the captain was standing,
"Then perhaps, Captain, you would like to be one to explain to Mr. Rhince that we're abandoning the search for his family." Caspian's voice didn't leave any doubt. It was challenging, in a way Scarlet had never heard before. He had grown as a man and as a king in the time Edmund and Lucy had been away. It suited him, but only because Scarlet also knew how soft and kind he could be. Caspian had placed both hands on the table, leaning towards Drinian who stood on the other side, and who was eyeing his king with a startled and regretful look. Drinian sunk a lump in his throat before he regretfully and swiftly shook his head, his eyes meeting both Edmund and Scarlet's gaze before starting to speak again.
"I'll get back to it." He then grabbed his coat from the stand behind him before turning towards the three of them again, "Just a word of warning. The sea can play nasty tricks on a crew's mind." Drinian then pulled the hood up over his head. "Very nasty." And then he made his way outside in the storm again. The three of them looked at each other, Scarlet having joined the two standing males.
"What are your thoughts on this?" Caspian asked Scarlet quietly. Scarlet's lips twitched to the side as she thought about it.
"I think," she paused. "He has a point, but you do too. It's difficult, Cas. We could get trouble for choosing few individuals over the majority, but...we promised Rhince and there was a reason why the two of us went aboard this boat to start with." Caspian bit his lip but nodded. "Thank you." Scarlet smiled sadly at her fiance figure's despair and gently wrapped her arms around his middle and squeezed softly. Caspian's arms immediately went around her figure. After a couple minutes in silence, Scarlet frowned and addressed her father, still locked in Caspian's embrace.
"Sea serpent, dad?" Scarlet felt Caspian's body shake lightly as he chuckled while Edmund snorted. "That was what you got out of that conversation? -- You really are my daughter."
Scarlet's was wrapped in Caspian's arms when she felt sea sick again. The ship was tumbling in every single direction. Also, she felt weird when she finally got to sleep, nightmares took over her normal dreams. Normally, she'd dream about herself, Caspian and the Pevensies. Now, she was dreaming about Miraz.
She was standing in Caspian's old room. She looked at Miraz as he was laughing at her. ''You, a princess? Don't make me laugh.'' He stopped as Edmund was standing there.
''I'm so disappointing to be your father, who could ever love you?'' Her eyes grew wide as she looked at her father.
''Dad ... How can you say that? I'm your daughter!''
''I really don't care, for me, you're no-one. And you'll always be a no-one. Narnia would have been better of without you. You never did anything for your people.''
''How could someone ever love you?'' Caspian smirked as he crushed his ring. ''You're just a simple girl, someone who doesn't deserve everything she got. You're a spoiled little brat!''
''Stop it! All of you!'' She covered her eyes and started crying her eyes out.
''Wake her up!''
''Scarlet!'' She jolted awake, looking at Edmund, Caspian and Lucy standing around her.
''Let me guess, bad dream?'' Scarlet gave a weak nod at her father who leaned back onto his bed. ''So either we're all going mad ... or something is toying with our minds.'' Lucy looked at her brother before he moved over, allowing his sister to crawl under the cover. Scarlet on the other hand, was still shaking.
"Hey," Caspian said softly, trying to regain Scarlet's attention again, as her eyes had started to flash around. "Hey," the young King said a bit sterner before taking a hold of Scarlet's face, softly removing some loose locks away from her face. "It's okay, sweetheart. It was just a dream."
"But it seemed so real." Scarlet croaked. Caspian forced Scarlet to look at him again. The Telmarine softly shook his head before sending her a soft and sympathetic smile. "It's the mist that is playing with our minds, Scar. None of what you've seen is real. I promise."
Although somewhat soothed by Caspian's words, the realization that she was indeed on board the Dawn Treader, and the fact that her heart rate had gone down, Scarlet suddenly started shivering. Caspian frowned worriedly before he swiftly grabbed a duvet and motioned to Scarlet to come with him,
"Come on. Let's go grab something warm to drink, yes?" The teen automatically stepped out of the bed and into Caspian's awaiting warm embrace. Scarlet managed to mutter 'so sorry' towards Lucy and her father before Caspian led her out of the cabin – the same words that sounded hauntingly like an echo from her nightmare, only this time, it was her saying sorry.
Welcome back to my story. So, Scarlet's biggest fear is being unloved by her father and Caspian. If you enjoyed this chapter, please let me know with a vote, comment, follow and maybe even a theory/suggestion for my story. See you soon!
-X Violet's-library