【oo8 : the other ship】
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Kina glanced at the boarding dock of the harbor. It was still connected to the ship and Kina could easily run up to its decks judging by how far she was from it. She only had one chance in this small plan of hers, and all she wanted was to be luck on her side for it to be successful.
Kina had a split second regret in her decision of coming here alone without the company of Sujin. Sujin was very much unlike her. Yes, they were both adventurous and brave, but when it comes to strategies and plans, Sujin had always excelled at this part. She was capable of doing unexpected things and her insticts were always terrifyingly accurate, like that one time in the past where Sujin had told them that she had a feeling that a big storm would happen the next day, but no one believed her for the sole fact that Noinea was an arid country and they haven't exprienced rain for months, let alone a big storm.
Of course, in the following day, a huge typhoon struck over Noinea, surprising the population greatly. Since the people were unprepared, a few lives were lost and some were injured, but the biggest impact that the typhoon had affected was the grave destruction of Noinea's argriculture. It took them a year to recover from the loss.
Sujin also had this fearless aura around her, and her thirst for freedom is always unmatched to everyone. Kina had realized this as they grew up—that Sujin always had a free soul unlike her—a princess, who always had to follow the rules and keep her head held high at all times no matter what happens.
Kina shook her head. There's no point in worrying, because she's alone right now. Kina wasn't afraid, but she was nervous that her plan would not work. It's not a grand as the kind of plan Sujin would come up with, but Kina was sure that it had a high chance of working.
Well, it all depends on the persons aboard that merchant ship.
The bandits gave her a sinister grin, and she gave them a smile back too—a meaningful smile—before giving out a shout:
"Look, the royal navy!"
All the bandits whipped their heads towards the direction where Kina had pointed, their faces pale with fear and worry. But after seeing no sign of a single navy officer, they all sighed with relief.
That is until the leader realized something. "Wait, we aren't even pirates so why should we be scared of the navy?"
His members furrowed their eyebrows in confusion, widened their eyes in realization that they had just been tricked, then they all turned back to see the disappearing figure of the former princess into the merchant ship on the harbor.
"That cunning little princess—" The leader's eyes fired up in fury. "Follow her, and don't let her get away!"
The bandits nodded after their leader and hastily ran towards the merchant ship where Kina had just entered.
"Keep her alive, folks!" The leader had a sinister grin as he took out a gun. "You can shoot her feet to make her unable to move but other than that, leave her unscathed."
"I'm pretty sure a former princess would sell well on the black market." The leader whisphered, "She would make a good slave."
Another bandit beside him snickered, "A princess as a slave? Now that's something you don't get to see everyday."
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Kina's heart was pounding hard as she ran towards the merchant ship. She took a quick glance back at the bandits to see that they still haven't realized that they have been tricked yet. With a wide stride, she entered the ship's deck and immediately searched for a hiding place. Kina wasn't familiar with an actual ship, but she had knowldge as for what a ship's interior looks like thanks to her and Sujin's constant researching about pirates and their ships.
But this is no pirate ship. This is just a simple merchant ship. Her inner voice had retorted.
She shook her head to discard her thoughts and looked around. Everything was silent and dark in this ship. She could see nothing in her perspective that moved.
"Is this ship empty?" She asked to herself.
Her eyes scanned the empty deck of the ship once more. The poopdeck was empty and there was no one at the helm. There were many crates and boxes that may be full of foreign merchandise stacked and scattered along the deck. The rigging were neatly arranged. Its sails were neatly tied to the masts, and the sole flag of the ship that read, 'KQ MERCHANTS' was the only one waving gracefully to the sea winds.
Kina took this opportunity to go down the lower decks. It was then that Kina realized that the ship was pretty small in comparison to what an average ship would be in size.
There were only a handful of candle-lit lamps that illuminated the space. A few craters were scattered along with some barrels. She could see a few cannons situated at the sides with normal sized cannon balls, some grape-shots and hail-shots stacked beside them.
Kina raised a brow at this. Why would a bunch of merchants need cannons?
For self-defense to pillagers like pirates, duh. Her inner voice responded.
Then at the far left was a door to what she presumed to be leading to the sleeping quarters of the crew. She was about to walk to it but then she heard footsteps from above.
She froze, suddenly not knowing what to do.
The bandits were already at the upper deck.
She took a step forward towards the room but stopped before she could open the door.
What if there's someone inside? Her mind had asked.
She shook her head to disperse her thoughts.
I'd rather be caught by a merchant and be accused as a thief rather than be caught by crude bandits like them. Her inner voice had said.
"Besides, this ship looks empty so I doubt that there's someone in there anyways." She whispered to herself.
She heard the footsteps get closer to the stairs that leads to the lower deck where she was currently in so she quickly grabbed the doorknob and opened the door. She could see a few hammocks that hung by the ceiling. So far she could see no sign of a single person inside.
Darkness enveloped the room as she closed the door and immediately locked it.
But as soon as she heaved a sigh of relief, something in the dark tackled her from behind.
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