A Sirens Journey

What a Happy Reunion...

I could hardly contain my excitement as I walked across the deck of the ship, the sea breeze whipping my hair out of my bun, the salt spraying into my face. 

I was supposed to be meeting the captain so he could assign me to my quarters and go through some rules with me. But as realization suddenly hit me, I slowed my walking to a stop, the sailors barely taking notice of me as they scurried around, throwing ropes and untying sails.

q I didn't know where the captain's quarters were, and I didn't know anyone on the ship either. 

I was beginning to panic. I was a very shy person to people I didn't know very well, and I hate introducing myself to new people. 

'Oh well,' I thought, 'Here we go'. 

I tried to gather myself and walked up to the nearest sailor before I could lose my nerve. I tapped him on the shoulder and tried to chirp,

"Um, excuse me, sir?"

The sailor stopped what he was doing with an exaggerated sigh and turned around to face me.

"Do you think you would be able to-" 

My mouth dropped open and the sailor and I stared at each other disbelievingly.

"Addison??" I spluttered.

"Serena?!" She gasped in return.

"Yes, it's me! Oh Addison it's been so long! But why are you-"

She quickly clamped her hand over my mouth and dragged me into a large cupboard that I hadn't even noticed.

After she had carefully closed the door, she turned to me with a note of despair in her voice.

"Serena, what on earth are you doing? Why are you here, it's much too dangerous! Oh, they'll all turn on you the minute we run into a storm!"

"What in the world are you talking about? And why did you cut off all of your lovely long hair!? You look like a boy, you know. And what's that on your arm?" I gasped. "Addison Monger are those tattoos?? Addison, I knew you always wanted to be a sailor, but this is ridiculous!"

"Shhhh, keep your voice down!" She hissed in her rough, low voice. 

Her once long and luscious honey blonde locks were now shaved into a messy coup au vent, and her arms were covered with a manner of tattoos. 

"I had to change my hair! I had no choice! If I kept it they would know I was a girl! And they can't know!" She cried.

"Why not?" I asked her. "Addison, come on tell me! You were missing for a year!

"Alright, alright! Just please keep your voice down!" She pleaded.

"Fine! Just tell me what the bloody hell is going on!"

"Ok, so you know how sailors are extremely superstitious?" Her voice had suddenly gone really high, a drastic change from her normal voice. 

"What? Of course!" I scoffed.

"Then surely you know that sailors believe that a woman on a ship is an easy way to anger the gods and cause terrible storms?" She hissed angrily.

"So?" I demanded, not seeing how this was relevant.

"So, if we run into any storms, they'll get scared. They don't want the ship to sink! They'll think the gods are angry with them."

I still didn't see how this was relevant. Well, not until she dropped the bombshell at least. 

"Then as an attempt to appease the gods, they'll throw you overboard as a sacrifice, just to save their sorry asses. 

She was breathing heavily now, and I suddenly understood why she looked so scared to see me on the ships, why she had been pretending to be a man, and even why most of the crew had been eager to avoid me! 

I was beginning to panic again, with every breath I took my chest tightened and my lungs started feeling like they were made of lead.

"Oh my god." I whispered. "And there's nothing we can do! The ship left port over half an hour ago!"

She groaned loudly and opened her mouth to reply, when the door to the cupboard slammed open. There stood the captain, glaring so hard at us I almost felt like I should have burst into flames. He looked at me and said,

"Ah, Miss Barlowe, there you are. What a pleasure it is to finally meet you." His voice was raspy yet commanding, and I didn't like the way his eyes seemed to gleam with a predatory sort of hunger. 

"You do realise I have been waiting for you for over half an hour?"

I struggled to form words. This was the man who could ultimately make the decision to throw me overboard to die a slow, watery death. "I-I.."

"Come", he grasped my arm and swept me out of the cupboard. He scowled at Addison and commanded her,

"Alec, I think you had better get back to your post, while I debrief Miss Barlowe here.'

Addison managed to pull herself together enough to give him a salute, before walking out of the cupboard to return to her work. 

As the captain steered me towards his quarters,  I glanced back. Addison was staring right back at me, her eyes brimming with fear.

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Hello, my dearest readers! (Gives an elegant curtsy)

What do you think about Addison? Wasn't it just a beautiful reunion between the two best friends (dabs eyes with handkerchief)? I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! Please put what you think of it in the comments! Next chapter we are meeting yet another new character (waggles eyebrows mischievously).... MWAHAHAHAHA.

Anyway, lots of love from your very clumsy author,

Flowerqueen :DDDD