Enduring the Storm

Chapter 15 Wake Up Time

Brooke's POV

Pain runs through my body as I feel something scraping over my head. I groan out, hating how it is stinging, but I can't seem to pry my eyes open. I keep groaning shaking my head until I hear someone softly speaking as I feel more pain and stinging but this time in my leg. I groan out even louder as I pry my eyes open, looking down to see what is making my leg sting as much as my head was.. but it's not stinging as much now.

I look down seeing an elderly man on his knees but putting some type of cream on the open wound I had received on my leg during the fight. I move my leg wanting to get him to stop touching me but he doesn't stop.. and before I knew it he is wrapping my leg up in a bandage. I stop moving not understanding what he is doing. I look around to see that I am in some sort of hut. There are palm tree leaves covering the roof and sides, and across the room is a little bed of leaves with cups, a bowl of fruit and meat beside it. A small fire sits in the middle of the room slightly illuminating the surroundings but not as good as I would like.

My eyes continue to ping back and forth around me as I try to move but quickly discover the reason I cannot is because I am bound to a pole. There are multiple of these poles, so I know that I am not attached to the main pole helping this hut stay standing.. making the idea of bringing this pole down so I can escape, a pretty good sounding idea. I struggle trying to see if I can even budge the pole but it does not even remotely move, and I am not a light person by any means, so that is saying something.

I start to panic at what I should do to get out, that is before the elderly man stands still talking to me in this foreign language, but even though I don't know what he is saying, it's still very calming. His voice has a rumbling to it, but sounds like he is trying to bring me a calming understanding since there seems to be only peace in his eyes. But with the language barrier between us, it's hard to know if his intentions are truly harmless, especially when I am restrained looking like his captive.

I try to talk with him, but there is something in my mouth keeping me from doing so. He sees this as he just ignores it before turning and grabbing the food he has next to the make-shift bed. He comes back to me with the bowl of fruit still in hand, he uses his open hand to pull the rope out of my mouth before speaking once again. I get frustrated not knowing how to communicate with him, but I have to try. "I'm sorry I don't understand you.. thank you for helping with my wounds, but.. can you help me? can you please let me out of here so I can try to go home?" I inquire of him as he just shakes his head saying something else.

"I don't understand." I say flabbergasted about this conversation already. He just keeps shaking his head as he brings a piece of fruit up to my mouth, but I close my lips, just being worried that it will be another fruit that will make me feel sick, maybe poisoned or possibly hallucinate. He keeps pushing it on my lips until he says something else to me, looking impatient. I shake my head as he looks down at the fruit, plopping the bite into his mouth showing me it is not going to harm me before humming and grabbing another from the bowl to bring back to my lips.

It smells sweet like honey dew, making my mouth water as my stomach growls, singing to this man as he hums and nods as if my stomach and him are having a conversation. I quickly give in, not being able to take my stomach's emptiness straining my insides. I eat the fruit letting it's juice and sweet flavor fill me as I hum out loving it. He keeps nodding and giving me one after the other until the bowl is empty. He turns to put it away as he grabs another that has some meat in it.

He gives me a couple of pieces of meat as I start to cough. He sees this before turning back to put the bowl back down, but grabbing the cup beside it. He comes up to me as he places the edge of the rim to my lips, as I willingly take the liquid just hoping it hasn't been poisoned, but my body needs this nourishment. I quickly sip as much as he will allow me to before we are interrupted by a young man who comes barreling into the hut and throwing the cloth covering the doorway to the side.

The young man looks concerned, maybe just worried. He starts talking to the elderly man as he turns his face just slightly to the side listening to his words as he continues to let me drink. He nods then hums out, pulling the cup away from my lips, putting the rope back into my mouth before setting the cup down and saying only a couple of things to this man in response. The young man runs out of the hut as the elderly man stands right behind the fire in the middle of the room, he stands tall, as I try to talk to him with my muffled words, he just ignores me and keeps his eyes on the doorway.

I don't understand, just trying to see anything that would tell me what he is doing. I am about to try to say something else before a couple of young men in loin cloths come in through the doorway and holding the cloth to the side as a group of men walk in the hut. They have their eyes glued on the Elderly man so I don't think they have even noticed me. But this gives me a chance to get a good look at them. They fill the small enclosed space, expelling danger and mystery in every single sense of the word.

I keep my voice silent at the sight of them, scared of how they will react to seeing me when I don't want anymore attention then I have already gotten. I keep my eyes glued to the group of men, they are everything I have ever read or seen in movies that would describe pirates. They have the leather, and torn frilly shirts, they look dirty but with their big hats and long hair it starts to mask that. They have trinkets that hang in their strands of hair, with dirt or maybe makeup around their eyes. Their boots stand tall but not as long as their swords on their hips. I'm baffled by what I see, just wondering if this is all a dream that I haven't woken from.

I keep staring as the main man in this pirate-looking group. He bows first, getting one in response, as he then starts talking with the elder. They go back and forth in their common language as the men start to wander around the hut, obviously not apart of the main conversation just waiting to go. I see one start meandering towards me and he is tall with broad shoulders. With his dark hair hanging down around his face it almost hides his amazing features, but luckily for me I can see just enough. From his strong jawline that leads to a clef chin covered in stubble. To his eyes that bounce around nonchalantly but looking dark and just as mysterious as he seems.

With every move he makes, I can see his shirt fluctuate with his muscles, showing that there is more under that shirt that seems to be barely covering what could possibly be the best parts of him, aesthetically speaking. He keeps wandering with his hand tightly wrapped over the handle of his sword, showing he doesn't trust these people but is here to help, or protect maybe. With every step that he takes, the metal on his boots jingle louder, letting me know how much closer he is. With just one source of light, how far he is from me is deceiving in that aspect, making this more intimidating then I had imagined.

He gets right beside me as I feel my heart beating so rapidly, as if it may pop out of my chest at any moment. I anticipate for him to notice me, not knowing what he will do when he does. I watch as his eyes bounce around the room until they land on my boots, then slowly trail up my thighs and to my torso before locking his eyes with mine. The air is sucked right out of my lungs at that sight. His eyes are more beautiful than I had imagined. There is a mystery wrapped up with a light in his eyes that makes me feel something strange. I shouldn't feel anything for a stranger. I don't know how or why, but here I am in a type of shock just wanting this moment not to end.

He inches closer, making it so he is hovering over me now. He slowly reaches up, caressing his fingertips gently over my cheeks to grab hold of the rope, before pulling it out of my mouth. I'm in shock and don't know what to do besides stare. He has me locked in this trance of his. His hand doesn't go far, as it trails over my cheek, which is tender and sore. My eyes squint shut as he takes his hand away, I think feeling bad as if he has hurt me. I open my eyes to see he looks shocked.

The man talking with the elder behind him is saying something until the elder points over at me as he answers him but in this other language before he looks curiously back at the men, then back at me. They keeping talking but I can't understand what they are saying. The man talking to the elder laughs loudly in a type of disbelief as he wanders over to me. He takes my face into his hand as I groan out in pain, seeing he isn't as gentle as the other man was. They talk back and forth between each other as the man lets go of my face and spats. "Five men? I doubt that."

He keeps talking with the elder, turning to face him as he takes a couple of steps towards him. He scoffs loudly before turning around and then states to the man still standing right in front of me. "Well Owen, if you're just going to continue to stare at the stunning young woman.. can you at least tell me what you see? anything to be alarmed with?" he inquires as the man right in front of me or I guess Owen clears his throat, straightening his back.

"Captain.. She looks like a captive, not native by the clothing she wears.. but does have some wounds, that look as if were given to her by the natives, probably when they brought her here.. but there are not many wounds and the medicine man has put the healing cream on them so she should heal quite quickly.. beside those wounds I don't see anything that would state disease.. She looks quite healthy.. Proving probably useful if he is willing to part." he says to him while keeping his eyes locked with mine.