A Pirate's Song.

Chapter Eleven.

Rebecca was barely drunk, sat on her barrel and watching me with smiling eyes as Ben too enjoyed the conversation.

“Tell me a secret" Becca urged, swishing the liquid in her cup back and forth as she leaned her head against her palm with her elbow propped up onto the railing of the ship.

Caleb had taken a seat on the steps that lead down to the deck, his own cup in hand as he listened in on our words. I looked at my fifth cup and hummed.

“I've never been with a man" I stated to which Rebecca nearly chocked on her wine and Ben grew awkwardly silent. Caleb glanced back at me from over his shoulder, his one eye emotionless as it watched me. I turned to face him, slamming my cup down on the table.

“But apparently despite that fact, I am still a w***e" yes, drunk me was still slightly upset about his prior comments.

Rebecca erupted into a fit of laughter, finding it all amusing and wanting to throw some wood onto the fire. She evilly twisted her cup back and forth in her hand and tilted her head to the side, faking curiosity.

“Oh? How so?" she asked, causing Ben to clear his throat loudly, turning so that he was gazing out onto the black sea, not wanting to be part of our conversation. I furrowed my eyebrows up in question, mauling over my response.

Why haven't I been with a man before?

“I guess it's because I've never been in love" everyone fell silent, Ben shooting me a glance as Caleb watched me with stern features. I stared down at the table in front of me then gazed at the liquid in my cup.

The crew began playing an upbeat tune that made me want to dance for some reason and before I knew what I was doing I was up on my feet hobbling over to the steps. I pushed past Caleb who bit out his annoyance, thinking that I was going to head down to the deck but I stopped on the steps, grabbing hold of his hand with both of mine.

“Let's dance" I insisted to which Becca snorted into her cup and Ben's mouth began to drop. Caleb tore his hand out of my grasp, causing me to sway back and forth, having to grip the railing to stop myself from falling.

“Go dance with the boy" he shot at me, his head jerking in Ben's direction. I pouted, bottom lip sticking out as I leaned down so that our faces were only inches apart. His golden eyes seemed almost glowing or maybe it was because of the amount of alcohol causing my head to spin but they were more beautiful than I remembered as they glared at me.

“But I want to dance with you" I whined like some small child, the act only seeming to amuse everyone around us. He breathed in, taking in the smell of alcohol lacing my breath then turned his head away, not bothering to reply to my ridiculous request.

“Please" I urged, my hand moving to brace myself on the step between his legs as I stared up at him with big mismatched eyes.

He leaned back when I leaned towards him as if trying to avoid me but I could see his eyes flickering down to my pouting lips then to my chest that was left slightly exposed to his gaze.

He only watched me so I threw my hat aside, letting it land on the deck below as I snatched his from the top of his head and stuck it on top of mine.

He instantly got up like I had hoped he would and rushed after me. I ran across the deck, barely able to feel the pain in my leg anymore as I laughed.

Strong arms wrapped themselves around my waist and scooped me up into the air. I shrieked and kicked, my toes pointing in the air while the crew around us laughed at the sight. The music had stopped playing and the laughter grew deaf to my ears as Caleb pressed me up against his chest with one arm and used the other to retrieve his hat.

Everything happened in slow motion, my smiling features, his arm winding around me in a familiar way, the way he moved his hat back onto his head and an image filled my mind of a smiling Mary, stood in the sand, watching the sea with her back pressed up against his chest flickered past my eyes.

I turned my head to look up at him, the rim of his hat hiding our faces from the rest of the crew as I met his gaze.

Time stood still, Mary's emotions fluttering around in my chest, the emotions from her memories tangling in between mine at that moment. I stood on the tips of my toes and felt his breath tickling my lips before they touched his for a brief moment, a tender, sweet kiss that lasted seconds but felt like a lifetime.

I saw her, Mary, wrapped only in bed sheets and laying across his bare chest, her hair a mess and their bodies covered in sweat, breathing hard from what they had been doing. It was her first time; I could tell from the emotions that the scene created.

She had given herself to him, she had loved him so much that she was willing to give him all she had to offer. She was happy, the happiest she had ever been in that moment, listening to his heartbeat thundering in her ears as they lay on the bed in his chambers, wound together.

I lightly pulled away from him to find that he was looking at me in both confusion and need that faded the moment I tore his arm away from me and hobbled off, uttering a quick "Sorry" as I headed below deck to his quarters to slump down into the chair opposite the bed, my mind filled with memories, scenes from the past that weren't my own, emotions that were starting to cloud mine.

I was drunk, sad, frustrated, angry and felt tears streaming down the side of my face as I tried to understand how something like that could happen to me.

I wasn't falling in love with Caleb, I was merely feeling the love that a woman from the past had felt for him. I fiercely whipped at my tears, questioning why I was having these unwanted visions, these unwanted emotions but I forced it all aside to curl in on myself, not wanting to use the bed because of what I’d seen so I leaned my head against the back of the chair and closed my eyes, feeling the dizziness start to fade into a deep sleep.

I woke hours later to the sound of voices yelling, one of which I knew exactly who it belonged to.

I groaned, gripping the side of my head when the prior evenings events came popping up. Caleb's shock and confusion, the taste of wine on his lips, those soft lips.

I grunted loudly, leaning forward with my face in my hands. There was a sharp pain and I flinched, running my hands through my messy curls as I glanced down at my leg. I felt like an i***t for having ran like that with a wounded limb, for having challenged Rebecca in the first place.

There were red stains soaking through the bandages but they were small, not enough for my stitches to have torn so I pushed myself onto my feet and limped across the rug to the steps where I used the railing to pull myself up on deck.

There was a barrel of water stood beside the door where I dipped my hands in, splashing the water onto my face and ran my palms over my features as if to wash them.

“She's alive" a feminine voice called out when I gripped the edges of the barrel and stared down at my own reflection. I tilted my head back to look at Rebecca, stood on the bow of the ship and grinning down at me.

My head spun from the sudden movement and I groaned, clutching it in hand. The boat rocked "Make it stop" I muttered, my legs dancing beneath me to steady myself. Rebecca's laughter pierced the air, the sky grey and gloomy, reflecting how I felt.

“A hungover pirate-." she began, shaking her head from side to side as heavy boots approached me “That's a first”

I looked up to the person nearing me to find Ben, dressed as plainly as ever in a white shirt and brown trousers with his brown leather boots that were a few shades darker than the rest of his attire.

“We all had to start somewhere" he defended, gazing up at her with his thumbs hooked onto his belt. She dramatically rolled her eyes, leaning against the railing and swiped her hand in the air as if to brush him off.

“Details, she's a horrible drinker" Ben's lip twitched up into a smile that I didn't notice since I was too busy staring at myself in the water.

My hair was down in wavy curls, my skin burnt a few shades darker from life on the sea and my cheeks were still red from the previous night's drinking.

“Not to mention a terrible navigator" Ben added to which I shot him a glare, dipping my hand into the water to flick it at him. He dodged, chuckling when I quickly gripped the sides of the barrel again. My stomach began to do flips when the ship rocked for a second time.

“But when it comes to a first mate, I say she's doing a pretty fine job" Rebecca finished, shooting me a brilliant smile.

My lip twitched but as soon as it did, I had to squeeze my eyes shut and tightened my hold on the barrel, trying to fight the wave of nausea that overcame me. Ben agreed, coming to my rescue when he realized that I wasn't going to go anywhere on my own.

“One-." he began, bending down to place one arm beneath my knees and the other underneath my arms.

“Two, three" he scooped me up, the quick motion causing me to groan, my hand clasping down over my mouth as if to stop whatever wanted to crawl up from my stomach from escaping my lips.

He laughed, heading up the steps to the bow with little regard for my hungover state. I was sunk down into a chair the arms of which I grabbed hold of, my teeth clenching as I tried regaining my composure.

When I could finally open my eyes again, I noticed Caleb behind the wheel of the ship, his eyes locked onto the horizon, heading South-East with features set in stone. He was angry, I could tell from the way he cursed when a wave struck us from the side "Damned wind!”

I jumped at the harshness of his tone but noticed that he didn't blame the sea. Pirates worshiped the waters and to him, insulting the sea would be like placing a bad omen on the Sunken Soul.

“Steady them sails!" he snapped at his crew, his voice growling as they rushed to do as they were told. Ben was above me within moment, untying the sails and adjusting others.

Watching him climb was like watching a mermaid swim. It seemed to be almost second nature for him.

The yells of men faded into the distance when I looked down from where Ben was perched, eyes landing on an Island that seemed to pop out of the water in front of my gaze. My lips parted, eyes growing wide as the trees penetrated the surface followed by jagged rocks and a shore of white sand.

“Gigas" I muttered under my breath, getting up onto my bare feet as I stared at the gigantic structure moving alongside us. A large wave struck the side of the boat when the island had surfaced, forcing me to grab onto the wheel and table to steady myself.

“Gigas" I repeated, my hand moving to grab hold of Caleb's upper arm. He looked down at my grip on his red coat, eyes filled with irritation. His lips parted, about to snap at me when my free hand moved to point at the island that only I had seemed to notice "A moving island”

His golden gaze followed my extended arm until they landed on the island that hadn't been there before. My hand dropped away from his arm when he moved to bark more orders, demanding that the row boats be lowered, handing the wheel over to Rebecca who steered us closer to the shore. Ben grabbed onto a piece of rope and used it to slid his way back down onto the bow, landing on the balls of his feet beside me.

“Mermaids, Sirens and now this-." he mumbled more to himself than anyone around him. I couldn't avert my gaze, having heard many rumors of an island that could disappear and appear as it pleased in various different locations across the seven seas.

“It's Gigas" I found myself breathing, catching not only Ben's attention but that of Rebecca and Caleb as well. The Captain paused on his way to the deck to glance back at me from over his shoulder.

“One of the protectors of the sea-." I elaborated to which Caleb and Rebecca shared a furrowed brow look while Ben listened intently "It's said that he is a giant sea turtle that carries an island on his back”

Rebecca's head whipped around to look at the large scale portion of land, traveling at breakneck speed beside the ship. The palm trees bent against the force of the winds and the sand washed away at the edges to reveal the small portions of brown shell that resided underneath.

“You're telling me that, that is a turtle?" Rebecca questioned, her hand motioning towards the sight as if it was beyond believable.

Ben remained silent, his lips slightly parted, knowing that I was right from everything he had witnessed beforehand.

I nodded my head once, sharply and Caleb descended the steps to head for one of the row boats, leaping over the side of the ship to land with a thud on the wood below. I moved to follow him but Rebecca grabbed hold of my wrist.

“You're hurt" she stated, her eyes flickering from my confused gaze to Ben. She jerked her head in the direction of the row boats as if to urge him to go with Caleb.

He looked to me then left despite my protests. I tried to rid myself from Rebecca's grasp but she had an iron grip.

“I have to help him!" I argued to which she simply ignored me, keeping her focus on the wheel and steering the ship as close to the edge of the turtle's shell as possible. I clawed at her hand with my free one to no avail.

Caleb was ordering his crew to push off the side once they got close enough to slide the boats onto the shore of the island.

“I have to-." she cut me off, turning her head to look down at me with narrowed eyes. She seemed deadly serious, not the usual playfully sinister Becca that I had grown used to.

“You have to stay right where you are, Captain's orders!" she shot back over the harsh winds that were whipping our hair in every direction. I had to squint past pieces of ashen hair that struck my face from all sides to make out her stern features.

She turned her head to steer the ship closer, the grey clouds above growing darker, the winds becoming colder.

“Now men!" Caleb ordered and the crew pushed off the side of the ship as hard as they could. I twisted my arm out of Rebecca's grasp and ran toward them, my hands slapping down onto the wooden railing as I leaned over the side, my eyes locking onto clouded golden ones.

“The gem lies at the bottom of an endless pool!" I yelled as loud as I could against the wind.

The boats struck the side of the shell, skidding up onto the shore where the crew hopped out to tug them upper onto the layer of sand so that the water wouldn't wash them away.

Caleb nodded his head in response to my words then commanded for his men to depart into the forest of trees that lay beyond the shore.

They were gone and I glanced up at the sky, praying to the ruler of the seas that the turtle didn't decide to dive any time soon. All I could do was watch and wait as seconds ticked into minutes, minutes into hours of Rebecca manning the wheel and I staring at the island, expecting it to go under at any moment.

I was worried about Ben, worried about Caleb, Snaggletooth, the Irishman despite his rudeness towards me.

I slammed my hand down onto the railing, the sound catching Becca's attention even past the howling winds.

“That i***t!" I yelled, turning to start hobbling across the bow, going in one direction then the other until it appeared like I was pacing back and forth regardless of the pain in my leg, throat or throbbing head. The red head watched me in silence.

“He planned this from the start" I concluded, coming to a halt near the table in the middle of the bow.

Caleb had told Rebecca of his plan to leave me behind on the ship and made sure that I fell right into their trap. I grunted in frustration, running a hand through my hair but pausing to tug at a few of the strands.

“He's worried about you" the words were like ice water, causing my entire body to stiffen as I looked to the floor with wide, mismatched eyes. The shock quickly turned to confusion and then annoyance since I knew she was lying.

Caleb Campbell only cared about finding the treasures and to do so I had to be kept alive because of the simple fact that I could read. For a person to be able to read and write was rare and I regretted the day I had started to understand the English language to such an extent.

“He's worried about finding the rest of the treasures" I corrected, shaking my head as I sank down in the chair close to the wheel.

I tried thinking about how mortal men could fetch a jewel from the bottom of an endless pool of water.

Did he think he could hold his breath for that long? Did he not stop to ask what this treasure would require him to do?

He was a moron, a reckless i***t.

“You've been passing out a lot lately, sometimes for days on end, you're badly wounded and hungover-." she began, her eyes boring into mine. Her grip on the wheel tightened when she looked back in the direction of the island, a mixture of jealousy, understanding and sadness coming from her when she spoke up again to repeat herself once more.

“He's worried about you" she placed emphasis on the word 'you' when she said it.

There was something in the way her eyes clouded over, how her hands wrung the wood of the wheel that made me believe her but it also made me realize that I knew nothing about the woman before me, nothing from her past, her present or what she desired in the future.

I decided then that if we all survived to see another day, that I would try to get to know her a bit more and get that bloody Irishman's name while I was at it.