Uncharted Waters

A stranger on board

As the smell of wood and familiar sounds of a boat creaking engulfed her senses, Willow felt a huge weight on her chest. Her mind was groggy and her eyes felt too heavy to open. Whispers of the crew were surrounding her and a familiar song was being sung on her left hand side. Willow felt a pair of hands holding her left palm, squeezing lightly and sending comforting vibes through out her body.

 "Come on you stubborn girl! WAKE UP!" a voice said sternly. It was the captains wife and the medic on their ship, Claire who spoke. She was like a second mother to Willow with her stubborn words but kind actions. Willow couldn't help but smile as she felt her body relax and her strength growing. 

Feeling the weight lift off her and her strength growing, Willow finally  opened her eyes to see her bed surrounded by the crew of the Ruby Rose. Most the men were too tall for this room with the tops of their head rubbing off the ceiling, all dripping water beneath them as the rain had obviously soaked their clothes. Smiles and looks of relief came over their faces as they saw her smile weakly. 

"Go update the captain" said Claire, who was sitting next to her. She was 5'4 in height with a slim waist but rounded breasts and buttocks. She had blonde hair and blue eyes and didn't look a day over thirty-five. Willow had often envied her appearance as she was quite flat chested as a teen and looked more like a stick figure growing up but Claire had always told her that the body changed at its own pace. Two men nodded and obeyed her as they walked out the door to let the captain know she had woken up. 

"You see she's awake," Claire continued as she stood up. "Off you go now, she needs rest and you need yo change. I don't have enough space to deal with ye if you catch a cold. ROBBIE! Go get the mop and clean up these puddles... can't be slipping in here, too dangerous." All the men nodded and left, although she was small in stature, she was twice as scary as the captain if not obeyed. Things needed to be done and they weren't  in the mood to argue. 

A small scrawny boy with mousey hair and blue eyes looked at Claire and went to get the mop. He looked sixteen and was about 5'9 in height. With the room near empty now, Claire moved over to Willow and placed her hands on her forehead to check her temp. 

"Seems you got away lucky, young one..." she mumbled as she got out a cloth and rubbed dow Willows face. Her eyes showed relief but Willow knew she was in the dog house. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!" she started as she placed the cloth back in the bucket. "YOU COULD HAVE DIED! WE COULD HAVE LOST YOU! STUPID!!!!" she was red in the face from giving out and smacked her lightly in the shoulder with the cloth. "Owww" Willow feigned pain, "I'm sorry Claire... please don't beat me.. I'm injured..." she teased the last words knowing she could ease the wrath of Claire with a little humour. 

"Don't start!" Claire huffed. "If you do that ever again... I'll drown you in the myself." Willow nodded. "Cross my heart and hope to die." she smiled at Claire who gave her a look. "No dying!" she mumbled. "Yes Ma'am." Willow said as she got comfortable. 

Looking around the room, Willow noticed another person in the medics room. Had someone else got hurt? she wondered as she looked at Claire. He didn't look familiar but it was hard to tell with his back to her. "Who's that?" Willow asked curiously. Claire looked over and shrugged. "He was next to you when we fished you out of the ocean. Captain said to bring him aboard. Must have been another ship near ours."  Claire mused as she went to check his vitals. 

When she pushed his black hair out of his face, Willow observed his features. He had pale skin and looked about the same age as her. His hair was down to his shoulders and his frame was mid built. As Claire moved her hand to his wrist to take a pulse, he quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her in, placing his other hand around her neck. "WHO ARE YOU!" he shouted, clearly confused and agitated. "WHERE AM I?" he asked before placing his eyes on Willow. 

His anger then changed and he released Claire neck who took several steps towards the door in case she needed to make an escape or call for help. Her throat, which was visibly red made her splutter and rubbed it. She looked at Willow who looked at her. The boys eyes which were a opal blue/green were latched onto Willows face. "Willow... is that you?" he asked.

"Who is this boy Willow?" asked Claire.

"I've no idea...." Willow responded in confusion. "We have never met before."