Royal SMP

A Breath of Fresh Air

It turned out that running from the cops was not as fun as Hannah had originally thought. The week after her last gig was filled with panic and anxiety, jumping at every siren or flashing light. Paranoia keeping her from getting a good night's sleep. But she was almost there, almost there, almost there, almost there she repeated over and over in her head, those two words the only thing keeping her going. If she could make it to the boat, then she could get out of the country, then she would be safe. If you were to ask Hannah why she had stolen the money, she would give you one simple answer, because she could and she needed the money. Hannah only felt a tiny prick of regret as she trudged on her sneakers gathering more and more dirt. Hannah did not regret stealing the money, she did regret being seen. A horn sounded, and Hannah looked up, she had made it to the docks, and there was the boat she had been planning on getting on slowly pulling out of the harbor. Hannah started running and before she knew what she was doing she was flying through the air the blue green ocean water dancing below her. Her hands wrapped around the rail of the boat. What? How?

I'm going to fall, Hannah's brain whispered, it finally catching up to her body. Hannahs legs dangled off the side of the boat and her fingers started to slip, oh how Hannah wished she hadn't skipped the gym so many times. She tried to tighten her grip, to pull herself up but only managed to lose her grip even more. Hannah braced herself for the cold water below her, accepting her fate. A hand grabbed each of Hannah's hands and yanked, Hannah used her feet to push against the side of the boat, determined to help her unnamed savior as best as she could. The stranger hauled Hannah over the railing with a grunt. Hannah sprawled out on the deck of the boat, her bag landing at the strangers feet.

"You dropped this," the stranger murmured with a small chuckle. Hannah stumbled to her feet, drawing herself to her full height and brushing off her pants. At six foot and a few centimeters, Hannah stood exactly a foot taller than the stranger standing in front of her,

"Thanks," Hannah stuck out her hand, "Name's Hannah, I uh don't usually jump onto moving boats." The stranger let out a small laugh and shook her hand,

"Eggy, and I don't normally talk to strangers," Hannah narrowed her eyes, sure they were playing a trick on her. What kind of name is Eggy?

"Eggy?" Eggy brushed their hair to the side of their face giving Hannah a clear view of their eyes, a stormy grey, before shrugging. Not a trick then, but who names their kid Eggy? Hannah decided not to comment on their weird name instead choosing to pick up her bag and take another look at her savior. They had short brown curly hair with bangs that fell over their stormy grey eyes. Curled taupe horns sprouted from the side of their head. Hannah knew the world had people of all sorts, but she had never been this close to someone touched with magic as they called it in Dimore. Eggy seemed to notice where Hannah's eyes had landed and they pulled up the hood to the jacket they were wearing blocking their horns from view.

"So, where you headed?" Hannah tried to make small talk, afraid that she had made the person uncomfortable by looking at their horns. Eggy replied with a small shrug,

"I don't know,"

"Me neither," Hannah smiled, trying to catch their eyes again to gage their feelings. Eggy turned back to Hannah and looked up directly into her eyes,

"Um, uh, what are your preferred pronouns?" Hannah blinked, she wasn't used to being asked, but it felt nice, the fact that this stranger cared enough to make sure they didn't misgender her.

"She/her, you?"

"I don't really care, whatever you want to use is fine," Eggy replied with a shrug again. Hannah decided to go with what her brain had used automatically, they/them. Eggy sat on a bench on the boat and stared out at the ocean, Hannah sat next to them, the two sitting in a comfortable silence for a while. Hannah normally didn't like silence, not when she was with people at least. She liked to know what people were thinking and when they weren't talking that was harder to figure out. They weren't in complete silence though, the splashing sound of the waves hitting the sides of the hull and the purr of the engine filled the space nicely. It hit Hannah that she had made it, her first step in escaping the country had succeeded. She was on a boat, leaving everything she had ever known. Not that she would miss it much, but still the unknown scared Hannah, only a little though. Starting over wasn't going to be pleasant, Hannah knew that, but this time she had money, she wouldn't have to steal anymore. As Hannah thought the sun slipped away under the waves and the moon started to rise in the sky. With a yawn, Hannah closed her eyes and drifted off into a deep dreamless sleep.