Theo made her way up the stairs and walked out onto the deck. She crossed the open deck until she came to the other side of the Galleon where the deck raised once again and provided an extra story of storage and shelter. Surely enough, the only other door on the whole deck was straight across from the captain's quarters and it apparently housed Tuni. Theo knocked on the door, waiting for a beat, then opened the door and walked in. Ava followed her inside and saw a young, short woman with tan skin and brown hair tied up in a bun sitting on the far right of the room.
"Good Morning Cap," the girl flashed a warm smile then stood up and made her way over.
"Good Morning Tuni," Theo responded.
Tuni placed her hands on Theo's cheeks, brought her face forward and kissed her forehead.
"You have not been getting sleep, child." Theo simply smiled at her and pulled Tuni's hands off of her face slowly.
"Enough about me, I've brought you company."
Tuni nodded quickly and turned to Ava, "You must be the fresh face, Ava. Morgana told me about you. I'm Fortune. It is so nice to meet you. You look rested, child. What a pleasant thing! Sometimes the sea brings some wretchedly sleepless nights for those inexperienced to her wiliness. "
Ava nodded, "I slept well last night, yes, thank you. It is nice to meet you too, Fortune."
"Oh! So polite. So sweet. Tell me, child. What do you need?" the short woman looked up at Ava with wild, inquisitive eyes. Ava was at a loss for words and looked over to Theo for help.
"She needs to wash up. She's been on the road and needs a bath," Theo helped.
"Right. Right. No baths right now, we are conserving water for the long journey. But! I can bring you a pail of warm water and a nice clean washrag. I'll even find ya some fragrant soap from Rose's secret stash. Right. Off I go," without another word, Fortune was dashing out of the room.
Ava watched her go, perplexed by the character she had just witnessed. Theo was fondly smiling and then she fixed her gaze at Ava, "Fortune is fun. The most genuine person you'll ever meet, probably the most caring too but I think she is also one of the most eccentric people you'll come across. Come, I'll fetch you the clothes before she comes back."
Theo exited the room and Ava followed, "How old is she? She called us both children but she looks younger than my sister."
Theo laughed, "21 lengths, that one. I think she thinks she's lived a thousand lengths. Wouldn't be surprised if she had, in a different life."
They made it across the deck quickly and as Theo went inside, Ava glanced around the ship. She was beginning to see people emerging onto the deck and could begin to hear the clattering of plates from the mess below. The sun was higher now and its subtle morning beam cast a warm glow on everything she could see. Before long, Theo had emerged with the black garments in hand.
"Looks like people are getting ready for a treasure hunt," Ava commented.
"Aye, busy sun ahead of them. Everyone is huntin' except for Rose, Tuni, Misses Yurwa down in the storage rooms, and you. They don't leave the ship much unless there is an easy ramp to land."
"You're taking the rowboats?" Ava questioned.
"Aye. All of them."
"Can I come?"
"'Fraid not, missus. Passengers aren't allowed on pirate type missions."
"What if you leave me all alone here and I steal your gold? Or go through your office for secrets to sell to the enemy," Ava tried to rationalize, "Taking me is for your own safety."
Theo stopped in front of the infirmary and handed Ava her clothes, "Almost convincing enough. Except I can just lock my office to avoid being sold out and you wouldn't steal. Too risky because the blame would be pinned on you when we found out. You would be smart to try and do it when everyone is around. That's when I should keep an eye on you."
Ava rolled her eyes playfully and stomped her foot, imitating a small tantrum, "Fine, I'll just stay here and plot my major gold heist. And to think you gave me an expensive outfit for so cheap."
Theo laughed and pushed the door to the infirmary open, "Go on and enjoy your tiny pail bath."
Ava laughed and walked inside before Theo closed it and began walking up to the helm of the ship. The girl was charming and funny and Theo had no idea where she had come from. Usually, it took weeks to get girls to come out on the deck, eat with others, and ask questions. Ava had begun to do it after one night. She offered up nothing about herself though. Not where she came from or what she was doing in Asher's Cay or why she needed a ship off of Elox. If Ava wanted that information to be known, she would tell someone Theo reasoned.
Once Theo arrived at the helm, she found Xyra there. Xyra had a look of concentration on her face and was staring down at a piece of paper in her hand. It was probably an inventory list. After the island, the journey ahead of them was a long one. Ten suns on a pirate ship is a stretch in terms of resources and food but they've done far worse trips with many more people. That didn't stop Xyra from worrying though, Xyra never stopped worrying.
"Are we ready to disembark ahead of the rest of them?" Theo asked.
Xyra looked up from her paper and nodded, "Aye, Captain."
"Good. Let's go. I want to find it and get out of here before Espbar gets here with his men. They were only 3 suns out and we wasted a lot of time at Barian."
Xyra nodded and turned to some women and screamed some orders and they marched off to complete what was asked of them, "Let's go."
Ava did not have to wait long before Tuni had come back into the infirmary. In one hand she held a small wooden pail that had a bit of steam rising from the water within. Her other hand clutched a small white rag and a white square.
"Wonderful! You are still here. I've got the stuff!" She made her way over to a wooden screen at the edge of the room and set everything down, "You can wash up behind this."
Ava made her way over with the clothes still in her hand, "Thank you, Tuni. This is very nice of you."
"My pleasure, child. Now I'll be off in my nook. If you need anything just give me a shout, sweets," Tuni backed away and made her way back to the chair Ava had first encountered her on.
Ava stepped behind the screen and slowly began taking off the dress she had on. She was thinking of giving it to Rose as an offering to the food gods that lived inside her furnace, let the filthy things burn. Stripping her boots and her undergarments next, she shoved all of her clothing items off to a corner. Picking up the washrag she dipped it in the water. It felt hot and welcoming against her hand. She soaked it in water and dripped it over her body not letting the clean rag come into contact with her skin. She repeated the dunking and wringing process until all of her body was wet then she took the small fragrant square of soap and began rubbing it all over her body. She felt bad for Rose because by the time Ava was done scrubbing her body as thoroughly as she wanted the soap was as good as gone.
Once she was done, she repeated the same process of dunking and wringing one body part at a time. Once she had washed away the grimy bubbles on one body part she would soak the rag again and scrub her skin. She wanted her water to stay as clean as possible. There was no point in bathing if the water one used to clean themselves was dirty. She repeated this process until her whole body had been clean. Face, neck, body, toes. It took what felt like ages before she finished and once she put away the washrag there was a sizable puddle under her. About half of her pail remained full and she decided to wash her hair with it if she managed to find a brush.
Ava realized she had nothing to dry herself with and had to stand behind the screen, exposed until she dried. Once she did, she ran into another problem. She would have to wear her clothes with no undergarments as her underwear were not only dirty from weeks of travel but also were now wet from the puddle that had made its way over to her clothes. She looked down at herself as she thought through her only option, reaching up with her hand to cup her breasts. She shrugged to herself, she wasn't exactly the biggest in that area so wearing a shirt with nothing under would be fine. She was pretty sure between the shirt being so loose and the wind being so windy she could get away with it and no one would tell. And even if she couldn't get away with it, she honestly didn't see the problem. It was all women on here, what was the worst that could happen. Pretty sure in Theo's rules there was something against being rude or harassing a passenger.
As for the pants, she could not wait. She had never worn pants before and it was all she had ever wanted to do. If she wasn't always under surveillance from her parents or servants she would have snuck into her brother's room to steal his before she left. When no one was watching, when she was all alone in her room, she planned to make an absolute fool of herself dancing around in the pants. She was suddenly grateful to have an excuse to ditch her underwear for this. The first time wearing pants and nothing underneath them felt like a risk. It felt pirate-y.
Once she was dry she slipped on the clothes. It was soft and comfortable and she shook out her legs in the pants. Twirling and jumping, she spent a few moments relishing in the fact that a skirt wasn't lifting and making her uncomfortable.
"Are you alright love?" A voice called out.
"Oh! Uh! Yes! Thank you I will be right out," She answered and covered her face to keep herself from laughing. She felt alive. Free. Bloody Pants, she thought.
She looked at the puddle she had made and then at her dirty clothes. She bent down and used her clothes to mop up all the water off of the floor and scooped it up. She walked out with it in her hands and walked towards Tuni.
"Uh, is there anywhere I can put this? I made a mess." Ava admitted.
Tuni laughed, "Hand it to me. I've got just the place."
Ava gave it to her and Tuni walked out with it in her hands. She wondered where she was going to put it. Hopefully not the ocean, that did not seem okay. She took a seat on one of the chairs near Tuni's designated one awaiting her return. It was taking a long while and it had been close to an hour that Ava had been sitting there. Ava could not imagine what Tuni would have been up to. She wanted to leave but Tuni seemed resourceful so Ava thought to ask where she would be able to find a hairbrush to use after she washed her hair with the rest of the water. Her hand lifted to her hair and untied it from the bun it had been kept in for a while. Her curly red hair was well known around where her family was from and she did not want to risk being recognized with it.
When she untied her hair though, instead of falling into the long curls it used to, it just fell into a short stiffened knot. As she passed her hand along it and felt the size of the knot, she began to feel tears falling from her eyes. She knew it had gotten worse and it would take a bit of work to get it untangled but this!!. There was no working through this. She was going to have to cut her hair and she felt the sobs rising in her chest. She leaned forward and put her head in her hands trying to contain herself.
Her hair had always been her pride. If she had anything to offer it was her hair. When she didn't grow into a nice body like her sisters, her mother commented that she was lucky her hair made her so beautiful. At least a boy would marry her then and bring the family honor and new allegiances. It was the first thing people complimented her on. It was her most distinguishable feature and now it was a matted mess. Of course, this would be the moment Tuni decided to walk in.
"Ava?" Tuni asked in a panic, "Sweets, what happened? Are you hurt?"
Ava shook her head and sat up, "I'm okay," she wiped her face and took a deep breath, "I'm fine I just- I just needed a second."
Tuni pulled up her chair next to Ava and place her small hand on Ava's knee, "What is going on? You look full of sorrow."
That inspired a new round of tears and Ava didn't know what had come over her. She had not cried in so long and it felt like this was a release of everything she had built up. It was a ball that was rolling down a hill, too fast to stop. She cried for a few minutes, unable to stop herself. Tuni said nothing, only offered a soft touch to ground her. Somehow, she knew Ava did not need talking or questions. Once she had stopped crying, her eyes were puffy and her nose was bright red.
Ava finally looked up at Tuni and found a warm smile reflecting at her. "I'm sorry."
"No apologizing, Ava. I know the reason for your pain. Let me help," Tuni got up and went to a cupboard. She pulled out scissors and walked over to Ava.
"Okay," Ava said. It had to happen, but she wasn't ready. She was glad there were no mirrors in her room so she would not have to face it every time she was in there. Maybe she would grow to like it. She hoped she would.
"You still have water left over from your rinse?"
Ava nodded.
"Good, we'll give your hair a good washing when I'm done. I've got some nice oils and perfumes to put in there that I got from the market yestersun and Morgana would not let me use it on her." Tuni giggled excitedly, "Oh! I cannot wait."
Ava was glad that Tuni was getting joy from this. At least one of them was. She began and took the scissors to Ava's hair. She chopped off the giant knot in the middle of her hair and then Ava lost track of what Tuni was doing to her hair. She was snipping and cutting and mumbling to herself for a few minutes and then she was finished.
"Okay. Up, up. Come with me over here," Tuni put down the scissors then rushed over to where she had washed up. She grabbed the pail and hauled it to a medical bed, "Lay on here with only the nape of your neck down on the bed. I need your head to be off of it."
Ava had no idea what Tuni was trying to do but she did not question it. She sat up and brought a hand up to her hair as she walked over. It was short but she still felt some curls. She laid down on the bed as instructed and Tuni shuffled around the room. She grabbed an empty bucket and placed it on the floor under Ava's head and brought a nice smelling jar with her. Ava watched from the side of her eye as Tuni dipped a cup in the water and poured it over Ava's head. She repeated this until her hair was completely wet and then began to wash it with the jar of a sweet-smelling concoction.
Ava got lost in the feeling of having her hair move and her scalp breathe. Before long, her hair was being rinsed and then dried off.
"Up," Tuni commanded and Ava obeyed.
Tuni squealed and continued to towel off Ava's hair, "It looks so good! And red! And shiny! Oh, Ava, you'll love it darling."
"Can I see?" She asked.
"No. Not yet. I have this magnificent oil! I got it in Asdrenair. They have the most beautiful hair there and they use this in it. We have to let it dry and then I can put it in."
Ava just nodded and let Tuni keep talking. She told stories of her travels and talked a lot about Morgana and Theo and a lot of people she didn't know. About half an hour passed and finally, Tuni brought out the oil. She dabbed a bit on her palms and got to work on her hair. Tuni was making small quips and comments about her hair and the oil and the wonderful smell and when she finally pulled away, Ava was laughing at her antics and playing along with her comments.
"Here. Wait there. I have this looking glass Morgana found me a length ago," Tuni dug back in the cupboard she had been in before and pulled out a small handheld mirror and held it out to Ava.
Ava's mouth gaped a little and she had to turn her head a few times before even blinking. Who was this in front of her? She could see a bit of the smooth black shirt in the mirror and how it contrasted her short red hair. Her curls were there, thick and bouncy but so short. She looked like a shaggy-haired boy and when she shook her head then went back and forth. She laughed and then stood up and hugged Tuni.
"Thank you. Thank you. I love it. Thank you."
Tuni simply laughed and clapped, delighted with her work.
Ava thanked her about fourteen more times before she even started to make her way out. Once she was all out of gratitude, she headed towards the door.
"Wait. Take this. It's for you. It doesn't work well on my hair but you can use it instead," Tuni placed the oil in her hand. "Take joy in something I couldn't."
Ava smiled and nodded and already knew better than to protest at Tuni. She took the oil, thanked her one last time, and made her way out of the cabin. Her free hand went up to her hair and ran through it. She loved it. It was symbolic. It was that moment in her favorite book where the commoner becomes the beginnings of a hero. Showered, refreshed, and growing happier by each passing hour, she set out to explore the empty ship.