❝ she loved him,
but she kept pretending
she didn't because
she knew he didn't
love her the same ❞
In which the Snake of Ketterdam slithers out from the cracks of the Barrel to raise her head and break some bones.
【 Kaz Brekker x OC】
【 Grishaver...
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∘☽༓☾∘
𝕽ocking waves and high winds left Stasiaj bed ridden, curled up beneath her covers and shivering as she hid from the brine and the howls. Memories were threatening to overwhelm her, sending the teenager back into her shell, a far cry from the confident Snake of the Barrel that Stasiaj fooled others into believing she was.
She hadn't eaten anything for days, tremors wracking her body and her stomach twisting too much for her to even force anything down her throat lest she wish to throw it back up.
Stasiaj knew that she shouldn't have agreed to this cursed trip across the sea, and once more, the girl found herself contemplating how she would kill Kaz Brekker for forcing her to do such a thing.
Though, in her heart, Stasiaj knew that she had chosen to do this of her own accord and this was not the Crow Man's fault.
A knock came at her door, but Stasiaj did not wish to open it. They could not see her like this, see her so weak. It was not the facade she had built up as the Snake of the Barrel. The knocking stopped, and Stasiaj sighed in relief, before narrowing her eyes as the door unlocked and opened anyway.
"I should have guessed," She hissed, as best she could through trembling teeth and harsh breathing. "Crow Man."
"Snake..." He didn't seem surprised about her predicament, closing the door behind him softly as he hobbled over to her prone form. "I'll fetch Nina."
"Don't you dare," She tried to look intimidating, she really tried, but it did not work. Kaz found no trace of the woman who backed him into a corner and forced him to beg on his knees for her help. The Snake he knew was not the same as the one before him, huddled and wracked by fear. "I'm fine."
"Don't lie," Stasiaj tried to push herself upright into a sitting position on shaking arms, her glare venomous despite her feebleness. "Snake. Snake."
"Shut up,"
"Stasiaj!" Kaz finally snapped, as Stasiaj paused, staring at the man with narrowed eyes. "Enough."
She flopped back onto the bed, pulling the covers further around her, but not tightening them for fear of feeling ropes around her once more.
"Here," Kaz held out a disc in his leather hands.
"What is it?" Shaky fingers, pale and fragile, reached towards his dark gloves, taking the coin from his palm.
"Put it behind your teeth. If something happens, this shall provide you with ten minutes of air," Stasiaj stilled momentarily, before shaking further as she quickly snatched the coin shaped object from him and placed it behind her teeth, trying not to bite down on it. "Rest, Stasiaj, I need all of your guile for this plan to work."
"Are you going to tell me of the plan?" Stasiaj murmured, watching Kaz with narrowed eyes. "I suppose we go in through the prison."
"We will, you won't?"
"Will I now?" Stasiaj asked, and Kaz nodded, noticing the way Stasiaj's tremoring had lessened as she began to feel more back in her element of plotting and planning.
"You will go in through the embassy," Stasiaj nodded. "I trust you can get an invitation, even if it's fake, and suitable attire."
"You doubt me, Bastard," Stasiaj smirked at him. "My contacts still run to the Ice Court."
"Then I trust it shall work," She began to think, turning the words and actions that she would need over in her head. "You will be our eyes and ears inside, get in and try to make sure that you later get out and meet up with us undetected. I'm sure that you can slither your way around."
"And my information?" The man nodded at her words.
"You will get it, I swear on it,"
"Double cross me, Brekker, and I will take that cane and beat you with it," Kaz nodded, even though he could not picture her doing it in that state.
"I'll leave you to think on my death and your plan,"
"It is something I do often, Bastard," Kaz nodded, leaving the room so that Stasiaj could return to her plotting and scheming.
∘☽༓☾∘
Six painful days and nights later, they had finally reached Fjerda and Stasiaj was sure that she would kiss the ground as she stepped off of the boat on shaky legs.
"I did not see you, Stasiaj," Jesper's cheerful voice reached her ears, as Stasiaj glanced over at him and slung her pack over her shoulders. "Where were you for our voyage?"
"Counting my coins like a villain in a fable and trying to remember all of the secrets that I have on this little crew of seven," Stasiaj sent him a grin, which reminded the others of a wolf's snarl. It warned them not to ask further question or she would start biting back.
"Snake, stop trying to scare the crew,"
"They are easy to scare," She replied, finally feeling her stomach settle as she stepped back into her element and donned her mask of Snake of the Barrel. It would protect her in these hostile environments, and she was not speaking of the land.
"See you in Djerholm harbour," Specht, the captain of the little ship that Stasiaj had commandeered, called. "No mourners."
"No funerals," the others replied and Stasiaj caught the Fjerdan, Matthias's eyes, which were now a toffee brown instead of bright blue.
"They are strange people, Helvar," Kaz sighed ahead of her, though it hid the small flicker of amusement in his eyes as he heard Stasiaj's snarky tones. She was back to herself. "I have learnt that it is best not to question the bizarre things that they do lest you want an even more bizarre answer."
"Snake, you call your informants vipers and are well known for playing to your particular aesthetic," Kaz retorted as the took off towards the cliff face. "I do not think you are one to talk."
"Yes, but I do not have a crow head walking stick," She sent him a wicked grin, her eyes dancing with mirth as she praised any god out there for the good fortune to be back on solid land, even if her feet did feel like they were going to freeze off of her body.
"It is good to see you back in your high spirits, Yahontov," The man murmured, as the others began to ascend the hill. Stasiaj paused, following Kaz up carefully, being wary of the ice. "I thought you were going to be a shaking lump for the entire trip."
"And rid you the absolute joy that you get when in my company?" Stasiaj asked, scoffing at the thought. "Never, Brekker."
"Shut up, Snake,"
∘☽༓☾∘
Hiya,
Stasiaj and Kaz's banter is a lot of fun and poor Stasiaj is not having a fun time with her sea experience and that's not fun for her,
