The Princess and the Pirate

Chapter 8

It wouldn't be long now. Since Tom had relayed the info about the Kingdom's actions to his father, everything had been carried out in one swift motion. With Mewni believing Star was dead and therefore out of the picture, the duo was able to put their plan into action. They had set sail the night before, searching for the band of pirates keeping the princess captive.

It would be any moment now, Tom thought. Any moment they would see the black sails of a pirate ship in the distance, a ship containing the one thing that could bring salvation to his kingdom—and to himself.

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Miraculously, Star had managed to stay on the bed throughout the night. She woke with the same dull ache in her head as the morning before, with no desire to move from her comfortable place in the sheets. However, as she racked her brains for a recollection of the night before, she found several gaps in her memories.

She got out of bed slowly as to not make her headache worse and exited the room wearing the same disheveled peasant garb from last night. Much to her surprise, the deck was devoid of life. Not a single crew member was in sight, leaving Star dumbfounded. There was always several of them out and about at a time.

She walked out onto the center of the deck and looked around, searching for anyone. As she got closer to the captain's quarters, she heard voices from within. Curious, she put her ear up to the door.

"...going to now?" one voice asked.

"Now that we've refilled our supplies, we'll be heading east, traversing the Waters of Lamania to dock at the great city of Antaver," She recognized Marco's voice. "It'll be a 2-3 week journey, but by the time we reach it the kingdom should be off our backs."

Star backed away and put her hand over her mouth, shocked. They were already that far from Mewni? What should she do? I thought I would have been rescued by now... she thought to herself. Perhaps that was the wrong mindset to have. She wasn't just a princess waiting to be saved. She'd have to get herself out of this. She took a deep breath and began to walk back towards her own cabin when the door opened.

The entire crew shuffled out of the room one by one, chattering away amongst themselves. She paid them no mind and continued towards her room until she was stopped by a voice calling out to her. "Er... Star! Wait."

She turned around to see Marco standing in the doorway of his cabin waving her over. She wanted to look at him as the man that had kidnapped her and held her hostage, but the anger from before began to dissipate when he flashed her an awkward grin.

She sighed and headed back towards him. "Yes?" she spoke, putting on a cold front and crossing her arms.

"Well," he started, a bit taken aback by her demeanor. "I was just about to check up on you. You were pretty wild last night." He chuckled.

She looked at him in confusion. "Wild?"

"You don't remember? Perhaps you had a bit too much to drink," he said thoughtfully, then added "...Again."

"Wha—seriously? What did I do?" She exclaimed, mentally slapping herself for making the same mistake twice.

"Oh, you merely drank enough rum to convince yourself that dancing around the tavern and on the tables would be a good idea—and it was quite entertaining, might I add." Marco recalled the memory of an over-excited, rosy-faced Star zig-zagging across the room, inciting an assortment of cheers from the patrons.

Her cheeks regained the same shade of pink as the night before, unable to hide the embarrassment she felt about something she did not remember. "Did I really?"

"Oh, you definitely did." He couldn't hold back his laughter any longer. "To the point where you passed out in the middle of the room, which left us no choice but to call it a night."

She hid her face in her hands. Why did she always end up making a fool of herself? She took a deep breath and dropped her hands. "I'm sorry for causing so much trouble then." she said, regaining her composure. "Especially when I can't recall most of it..." she added under her breath.

"That's alright by me. I take it as a sign that you're growing more comfortable around me." He winked. "Would you like some breakfast?"

"Ah, um... sure." She murmured, somewhat flustered by his sudden slyness.

He gave her a warm smile. "Alright, thankfully we've got something other than old bre—" he was cut short by a frantic yell that echoed across the ship.

"Navy vessel approaching from the East!"

"What?!" Marco gritted his teeth, rushing up to the quarterdeck and pulling out a telescope. Indeed, a large galleon was headed straight for them, but the sail they flew was not of the Mewman navy as he had expected. It was one he did not even recognize.

Star couldn't help but gaze out at sea, searching for the incoming ship. She could see it in the distance but couldn't make out the emblem of the flag. The pirate crew was bustling around her, shouting orders and making preparations to flee.

Now's my chance, she steeled herself and slipped into the captain's quarters while the others were distracted. She felt a wave of deja vu as she searched the cabin for her wand. If the ship chasing them was one from her kingdom's navy, she could easily fight alongside them and make her escape.

After thoroughly combing the room, she decided to look in the same spot she had found it before. While the small chest had been moved to another part of the room and haphazardly covered with a thin curtain of fabric, she could sense that it contained her precious wand. She approached it and attempted to open it. It was, as she expected, locked. However, a glass bottle with a small ship inside was nowhere to be found.

She narrowed her eyes. Where could the key be? She searched several locations and pondered where it could be. If Marco tried to trick her by hiding the wand in the same spot as before, perhaps the key was also in plain sight? Trusting a hunch, she searched the material covering the chest, and to no avail. Tch. She kicked the trunk in frustration, causing it to fall over onto its side.

As if by magic, the key appeared in front of her. It had been stuck to the bottom of the chest, wedged between two uneven planks of wood. She grabbed it and used it to open the small compartment, finding her baby resting inside. "Eeeeeee!" she squealed, grabbing the wand.

As she got up to leave, a piece of parchment resting on the captain's desk caught her eye. It seemed to be a letter written by Marco himself. Star Habitually glanced around the room nervously. As much as she hated invading others' privacy, her curiosity won over.

The paper read:

Dear Mother,

I hope you're doing well. The plan I wrote to you of earlier has been put into motion, and the princess has been on board for three days now. She's truly nothing like what I thought she would be. She's quite rowdy for royalty—Star scoffed at this—but there's a certain charm to her that I can't seem to explain. She

The letter was unfinished, but it inspired a mix of emotions that swirled around inside her head. He thought she was charming? Did he think other things about her? What were those things? Why did she care?

She felt her face grow hot as a faint pink tint rose to her cheeks. Why did she care? Her thoughts were interrupted by several panicked shouts from outside of the cabin. Now was not the time to be questioning her own feelings.

Shaking her head and gripping her wand tightly in her hand, Star made her way out of the quarters and into the fray.