Tidal Waves

9. Closer

As the two of them reached the crows nest, Raven gazed out at the large sea that stretched out over the now orange horizon. There wasn't an island in sight.

Raven held her hand up to point her finger in a specific direction. "It's that way."

Damian raised the spyglass up to his eye to scan the area she had gestured toward. "And how the hell do you know that?" he questioned after lowering the device, giving her a skeptical look. There were no stars in the sky due to the fact that it was daylight, nor had she even glanced at a map, so it was improbable that she had the slightest clue what she was doing.

Raven pondered his question for a moment so she could come up with an answer. "I thought you trusted me?"

Damian closed his eye before letting out a long, drawn out sigh. She was right. "Get us lost, and you're fish bait," he said once he opened his eye to glare down at her.

Raven gulped as she watched him climb down the ladder. Once he was gone, she pulled the chained gem from her shirt and watched as it glowed once she turned towards the direction they were heading.

As much as she wanted to tell him the truth of her real intentions, she knew it would be better for her to keep her mouth shut. Besides, he would think she was insane if she did.

—

After dinner, the crew began drinking booze. Not because they wanted to get drunk necessarily, but because beverages were limited on a pirate ship. They were already out of any fruit or vegetable juices and were forced to resort to drinking alcohol.

While the crew stayed outside drinking, Raven made her way inside to take advantage of this moment and clean herself up.

After collecting a few large pails full of seawater, she heated as much of it as she could over the wood stove before dumping it into the large wooden tub inside the washroom.

No matter the circumstances, Raven decided the first day she stayed aboard that she would be clean. She didn't care where she was, but the stench of her own body odor bothered her far too much. Just because she was named a pirate didn't mean she had to smell like one.

Raven took her hair out of her braid and let it flow freely as she climbed inside and sank down in the tub. Doing so allowed her to soak in the lukewarm water. While she did this, she began to reflect on her youth.

If she was being honest with herself, life at sea was a lot more enjoyable than back home. Not Azarath, because she was only a child when it was destroyed, but back in Jump City. Her and her mother barely had enough food to get by, and bathing was a luxury to them, so she was often dirty. They lived in a small, run down house, which is where she stayed before the Navy captured her to be executed for witchcraft.

Raven also never found out the reason why her mother abandoned her. Perhaps it was because of the cult she was in, or maybe it was the fact that her child's father was an other-dimensional demon that claimed he would take over the world. Arella was never a woman who enjoyed confrontation, after all.

After using a bar of soap to cleanse herself thoroughly, she rinsed herself off and used a towel to wrap around herself.

Before she could change clothes, the sound of the door creaking as it opened caused her to jump. Luckily for her, her back was turned to the door.

"Ever heard of knocking?" Raven angrily questioned as she hurriedly wrapped the towel back around her damp frame.

When she heard Damian's deep voice, her face immediately flushed.

"That's a funny-looking tattoo."

The statement caught her off guard. Her embarrassment quickly turned into shame when she realized what he was referring to; the black symbol on the small of her back.