Destined

Chapter 4: Challenge

As Astoria opened her eyes, she hoped that she was back at home and in her room. But as she looked around, she saw that it was not a dream. Astoria was on the ATINY, taken by the Ateez pirates, and was now assigned as the chef and cleaner. Astoria sits up and stretches. The tears she shed before now stained her cheeks. Astoria cleans up her face with her hands as best she could. She did not want the pirates to tease her for crying.

Then a new sense filled the air. It was the smell of something Astoria did not find familiar. But to her, it smelled good. She decided to stand up and go investigate. As Astoria opens her door, she looks to her left and sees there is someone in the kitchen. She feared that it was someone who did not want her around. But when she stepped out to take a closer look, that figure was Seonghwa.

Astoria calmed down and walked over to him as quietly as she could. But he heard her and looked over at her. He gives her a small smile. "Do you feel better, Astoria?" Astoria nods and goes to stand by him. She was like a curious child. "What are you cooking? It smells good." Seonghwa smiles at her complement and looks over at what he was cooking. "It is called Kimchi, a dish that is popular where we are from. It will be done in a moment."

That made Astoria wonder. "Where are you all from?" She looked up at him. "We are from Mirabilis, a country far away. If you want to know more, best to ask later." Astoria nods. "I will help with setting up dinner since it is my job now." Seonghwa looks at her with worry and goes back to cooking. He did not agree with having her only doing the chores. Seonghwa can tell that there was more to this girl than just her title. He knew it when Astoria spoke up to Mingi with no fear in her eyes. It was only a matter of time until the others saw it too.

The door upstairs opens and down comes Wooyoung. He enters the kitchen and sees Astoria. "Hey princess! You must have been exhausted. We heard nothing from you for hours." He says with a childlike smile. Astoria gets nervous and goes to find the utensils. Wooyoung notices that she is visibly shaking. He goes over to help her out. "We keep them in this drawer." She nods, paying attention. As she and Wooyoung set the table, she notices that he is putting down an extra knife, fork and plate on the table. "Why set one for me?" She asked him. Wooyoung chuckles. "Well you are part of this crew. We are not bad people who will make you starve or eat in the corner." It was then that Astoria remembered what Seonghwa told her earlier, 'We are not all bad.' Hopefully she can trust them and see the good in all of them.

Slowly, the rest of the crew came down to eat. Seonghwa had finished and set the food down. He also made tuna pancakes and kelp noodle salad on the side. To Astoria, the food was foregin. She had never been exposed to exotic dishes back at home. So she was nervous to say the least. Now that Astoria was on the ship, there was no room at the table for her. Seonghwa decided to get up and bring a chair from his room for her. She thanked him and sat down at the end.

This of course was awkward for her. Everyone was now staring at her. Well, almost everyone was. Mingi looked down at the table. Hongjoong notices everyone else. "Stop it, you guys." Everyone then grabs some food and begins to eat. Astoria takes small pieces of each dish. She tries the kimchi first. A smile forms on her face. "Seonghwa, this is amazing." He smiles at her and thanks her. The rest of the dinner goes on with little conversation. Maybe it was because Astoria was there and that they don't feel comfortable around her yet. That was what she thought.

Soon, everyone stops eating and Seonghwa cleans up. Yeosang helps after losing at rock paper scissors to see who was gonna help out. The rest scatter. Mingi, San, and Hongjoong go off to their own rooms while Wooyoung, Yunho and Jongho go up on deck. Astoria wanted to join in but Seonghwa said, "Maybe going up on deck will help you feel better." She had no clue what that meant but she trusted him. She looks at Yeosang and notices that he has not spoken a word to her since they met properly earlier. He has not made eye contact with her but she sees it as him being shy. So she goes up the stairs. Before she goes up, she hears a voice. "Welcome". It was Yeosang. Astoria could not believe it. Maybe she can trust another person. "Thank you" she tells him before she goes up the steps.

Astoria makes it up to the deck and scans the area. Jongho is watching Wooyoung and Yunho play wrestling. She decided to watch and see what the dynamics are like. But before she could even relax, Jongho catches her attention. "You don't seem like a princess." Astoria looks over at him. "I don't dress like I should. The gowns are too much trouble. Father always did hate when I would wear trousers. He did not want me to be mistaken for a man." She looks on her left and sees a broom leaning against the wall. She starts to clean the deck and stays out of the way of the trio.

As she cleans, she daydreams about how the broom looks like one of her practice swords. She decides to use the broom as one and imagines herself at one of her fencing lessons. She takes what she learned from Jackson and pretends that that pole used for the crows nest was an opponent. What she didn't notice was that Wooyoung and Yunho stopped and were watching her. Soon, Jonho began to watch as well. They did not think she would be into that kind of stuff.

Wooyoung goes over to her and tries to grab her attention. "Wanna use a real sword and a partner there?" Astoria stops what she was doing and gets scared. "I'm sorry. I kinda got distracted." He chuckles. "Well let's see how skilled you are." He goes inside the ship and comes back a moment later. He has real swords with him. Astoria has never used real ones before. Wooyoung gives her an encouraging smile. "Come on, Shortie! Let's see what you can do. Besides, I know you won't harm me." He puts a sword in her hand and looks at her with confidence. Astoria takes a deep breath and assures her that it is just like fencing. And with that, the challenge begins!

Wooyoung was good, almost too good. But Astoria was ready for it. She used what she learned and even what she learned from playing pirates with her brother when they were kids. This intrigued Yunho and Jongho. They have never seen any girl like her. She was a tough girl. She knew what she was doing and was not backing down. The look of determination in her eyes replaced the look of nerves she had all day. With all the commotion going on, the other 5 members came up to see what was going on.

Hongjoong was surprised to say the least. It was her first day there and she was already impressing the crew. But, he wanted to see more of what she can do. Hongjoong goes to the front of the deck where they were and stops the pair by yelling, "Enough!" Wooyoung and Astoria stop at their tracks and look at the captain. He goes over to them and looks at Astoria. "My room."

That was all he needed to say for everyone to look at each other with nerves. He walks across the deck to the door and Astoria hesitates. Yunho whispers to her, "It'll be alright."She nods. Hongjoong turns his head and notices that she hasn't followed. "Come on, I don't have all day." She quickly goes to follow him. Astoria looked over at Mingi, who was leaning against the wall by the door. He was looking ahead with his arms crossed. He kept the same expression he had when they met.

Astoria follows Hongjoong down the stairs and into his quarters. He sits in his chair, leaning his chin on his hands. "Close the door" He says firmly. Astoria does as she is told. She then goes to stand in front of the desk. Hongjoong looks up at her. "Since when did you learn to use swords?" She gets nervous. "Well...I took fencing lessons for about 3 years and I used to play with my older brother with fake swords when we were little. I took what I learned and used them to my advantage." Hongjoong nods, listening to her. "What else can you do?" She thinks, "I know self defense." He stands up. "Prove to me you got what it takes to be an official crew member."