Otherside

Chapter 14: The fire

It had been two and a half days since George found out about the plan to save his sister. Though he had been preparing tirelessly for battle, George was surprisingly relieved to be back in the office working with Wilbur. It was nice to get a sense of normalcy again with everything that had happened days prior. Well, as normal as it can get living as a rogue pirate who was kidnapped at sea. Most of the others were elsewhere, sharpening their weapons and tightening bows. George and Wilbur however, had "the most important job" as Dream had put it. They were in charge of making extremely detailed maps of the castle and all its routes. The crew needed to know all exits and places to run in case anything went wrong. It was vital that the guards did not have that on them. So while everyone else was probably in a fighting ring sweating their asses off, Wilbur and George got the privilege of peaceful paperwork. However, they had been working for almost 4 hours now and George's hands were beginning to ache. He turned to Wilbur and broke the silence in the room. "If I have to draw one more hallway, I'm going to combust. Break?" He asked, setting down his pen. Wilbur stood and stretched. "Thank God you said that, I was starting to think the quill was one of my fingers at this point". George chuckled and the pair stood and walked out of the door. They never explicitly said it, but they knew they were going to the main deck. Through all of this chaos, a breath of salty fresh air was exactly what George needed.

The cool breeze was refreshing as it hit George's face, making the sticky hot air slightly more bearable. He leaned over the wooden rail and took a deep breath, admiring the rippling green water and the clear blue skies. "The calm before the storm," George thought grimly as he continued watching at the lapping waves. He felt a presence beside him and he saw Wilbur also looking at the skyline just as he was moments ago. "What are you thinking about?" George inquired, pulling Wilbur away from his inner conversations. "Just thinking about tomorrow. Truth be told, I'm a little excited". He said with a grin. "Excited? I don't know if that's the right word, maybe fearful for certain death is more like it," George said in a playful tone. "Well yes that's true, but I'm sure we'll be ok. We're excellent fighters and more than enough prepared". George nodded his head though he was still a little lost on what he meant. "So you have confidence. That I can understand, but excitement, that I don't get." Wilbur considered this for a moment. "I'm excited for the adventure of it. Saving dozens and potentially hundreds of people. The heat of the battle, the high risks, wondering if ill makes it out alive," Wilbur said, looking out at the sky once more. George laughed slightly. "I thought you weren't much of a fighter." He commented. Wilbur considered this for a moment. "You're right George, I'm not big on fighting. But damn does it make a good story". This George could understand.

"Fellas there you are!" Wilbur and George turned to see Quackity jogging towards them. "I've been looking for you all over, why are you up here?" He asked, catching up to them by the rails. "We needed some fresh air, all this invading a country thing is stressing me out". George said dramatically, though he wasn't technically lying. "Oh George, you do not need to worry about anything. I'm gonna show up there and beat all their asses just you watch. That is, if they don't cower in fear the moment they see me." George couldn't help but giggle and Quackity did not take kindly to this. "Yea yea laugh away, but you keep laughing and as long as your bodyguard is out of sight, you're gonna catch these fuckin hands," Quackity said cackling loudly and pointing a finger at George. "I haven't a clue what you're talking about" George retorted, sticking his nose up at Quackity. "Oh so you don't pay Dream to follow you around everywhere?" He said challenging George. George hoped he wasn't blushing as he laughed with Quackity. "No, he does that all on his own, no way I'm paying him to annoy me every day". "Simp" Wilbur said through a cough. George snickered along with him. "This is simply true, I've seen it myself", he said nodding vigorously. "Ok enough talking about George having bitches, I'm starving," Quackity said, they all nodded in agreement and followed him out and down to the dining hall.