HIRAETH // Captain Puffy X Reader

17

After your little conversation with Puffy, the rest of the day went normally - you helped Gemma fix that bit of railing, and then you disappeared down to the hold with Tubbo to work on his reading and writing. You were seeing steady improvement from him, and every time he remembered a word you couldn't help but swell with pride. 

Things were great until after dinner, when you spotted a crowd gathering at the stern of the ship, peering out over the edge. 

You had been planning to play checkers with Tubbo for a while, but instead you found yourself on the edge of the group, trying to peer over the heads in front of you. You couldn't see what everyone was looking at though, so you started to edge through the crowd, muttering apologies in your wake. 

As you passed, you picked up some of the whispers and mutters of the crew around you. 

"...came out of nowhere..."

"...probably been tailing us for days, just out of sight..."

"...think we can blow another one apart? The first one was just luck..."

You tried to edge forward a little more, but it was no use - everyone was trying to get to the edge of the deck. It didn't matter too much though, because soon enough the crowd was parting. Puffy strode through her crew, Gemma by her side. As the crowd parted in their wake, you slipped to the edge of the ship, edging to see what everyone had been looking at. 

When you spotted it, your heart dropped. A ship, on the edge of the horizon behind you, blue and cyan flag fluttering in the wind. They hadn't dropped the chase, no. They were still tailing you, and by the look of the ship, it was even more outfitted for battle than the Knave had been. 

Your eyes darted to Puffy. She held out a hand, and Gemma dropped a spyglass into it. Puffy extended the arm and brought it up to her eye, surveying the ship as best she could from this distance. Her mouth was set into a grim line, and beside her, Gemma tucked her hands into her pockets. 

The crew waited with baited breath for a moment until Puffy closed the spyglass, handing it back to Gemma. Her eyes were still set on the ship on the horizon, and for the first time in a while, you were seeing hints of the Puffy that you had seen in that battle - serious and focused and fearsome. 

"Well captain?" Someone said from the crowd. 

Puffy clicked her tongue. "Its from the navy again."

A mutter of curses and despairing comments came from the crew around you. 

"Doesn't matter though." Puffy said, louder this time. "We blew apart the first ship that tried to stop us, and we'll do the same now!"

Whatever fears the crew had been feeling before, this seemed to alleviate them. A cheer came up from the crowd at Puffy's words, and you watched her put on a smile for the crew. There was something not quite genuine about it though. 

"All right you lot, back to work." Gemma said, clapping her hands. The crew began to disperse then, heading back to their stations. Before long, it was just you, Puffy and Gemma left at the stern.

You looked back to the ship in the distance, thinking of the Knave again. No doubt this new ship was just like it, only with a new crew. No doubt everyone on that ship was just as eager as you had been to retrieve the map and bring the crew of the Ghost back to the mainland to be tried and convicted. If they caught up, it would all be over. 

Gemma set a hand on Puffy's shoulder next to you. "We're almost there anyway. We can outrun them."

"We can try." Puffy muttered. "I thought that the Knave would be the only one... I don't know if we have enough firepower to blow through another ship."

You dug your fingers into the railing. No doubt this new ship was outfitted for full combat after what had happened to the Knave. If your old crew had made it back, they would have briefed them on what had happened - this new ship wouldn't make the same mistakes the Knave had. 

"If we can just get there before they catch up-" Gemma started. 

"Mum?"

You turned around to see Tubbo peering around the side of the ship, eyes wide. He had no doubt come toddling up to see what the commotion was. 

"What's going on?" He asked, walking forward towards the edge of the ship. Puffy and Gemma traded a look, and then they were smiling - ever the happy family. 

Puffy got down on her knees, reaching out to ruffle Tubbo's hair. "Just looking at the sea, kiddo."

Tubbo seemed skeptical - he tried to peer around her, but Puffy's hair made it hard. 

"Tubbo." You said, drawing his attention to you. "Why don't you and I go play checkers like we were supposed to? I think I might beat you this time, I got pretty close-"

Tubbo stopped trying to peer around his mother's hair and instead puffed out his chest. "Yeah right!" He said. "You couldn't beat me if you tried!"

The ship out of his mind, Tubbo grabbed your hand, dragging you back towards the hold of the ship, where the checkers board was. You let him, tossing a smile back to Gemma and Puffy as he dragged you away - Puffy smiled back, grateful that you could distract him while she and Gemma figured out what to do. 

As Tubbo dragged you down to the checkers board though, you couldn't help but feel a little relived yourself. Seeing that ship... that could be your rescue. Those could be the people that brought you back to the mainland - back to the king. That ship could be the end of all this, of Puffy and Gemma, and Tubbo.

No matter how things played out, you wouldn't let them get Tubbo.