𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙢𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙩-𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙨 || ʲ. ʰᵒˡˡᵃⁿᵈ

murmurs of the past, vi

          "Sarah, my dear, you've gotten soft!"
         
          Wide, bright hazel eyes darted around this particularly dimly lit section of the ship's underbelly, feeling the soft sway of water of a calm night as he stood behind the thin fabric in neverending curiosity.
         
          Funny word, that is. Curiosity. Something that nine year old Jacob Holland had plenty to gain from, and plenty of to spare.
         
          Curious was a word many used to describe the young lad for his first few months of stay in the Inevitable. 'Curious' was a word thrown around a lot; alongside cheeky, annoying, bugger, a cheeky annoying little bugger, 'how the hell did you even get up there?!', eager to help— to simply name a few.
         
          His answer-seeking reputation only served to grow the longer he stayed on the wooden vessel, earning himself a reputation of being a know-it-all that prided himself on knowing everything about everyone. From the new scar that Morgana had gotten that week, to that new hat Old Nick bought for himself recently— he really did have the means to hear about everything.
         
          So of course it should be to absolutely nobody's surprise when the boy so easily finds out how they might be getting a new member added to their tight knit crew.
         
          "It was freezing and dirty, I wasn't about to just let it die. . !" Sarah hisses back,  noting the way they sat in front of the makeshift bed of the small clinical area. Crow was across her leaning back with his arms casually resting on his lap, watching her with a layer of teasing glossed over his own form of curiosity beneath. "Plus it's not like it's the first time we've picked up a stray."
         
          "Okay, that stray, is a chipper little lad with a knack for trouble and a natural talent to beast hunting." Jacob found it foreign when Crow's laugh was less boisterous than his usual ones, reaching up to remove his hat and scratch the shortened ends of the few white strands on his otherwise balding head. "Who knows, this lass might just be the next Sarah Sharpe that the world needs! Could never have too much of those, yeah?"
         
          "I say it with full respect when I tell you to save your blabbering, captain." That only served to make him laugh louder, as she continues with a huff, "We've already had high enough stakes with just us on the ship, but now you're somehow deciding that we should make it worse by tripling it with another gods-damned child."
         
          Jacob flinched and hid himself better behind the curtain when he saw Sarah shift in her seat, but deemed it safe enough to still be able to watch undetected. The woman was leaning back on the seat, and with this he was able to see that the bed—which was really just a table—had a lumpy form barely hidden by a thin white cloth. It moved.
         
          Some imaginative part of him thought that it might be a tiny sea beast they somehow captured, but the edge of the blanket slides down and shows a head full of hair. It was somebody laying on their side.
         
          "It's far too young, an—"
         
          "She," He corrects her, almost condescendingly as he snickers. "Using 'it' won't make the lass any less cuter." Sarah's eyebrows furrowed at the captain who remained unphased, a quiet groan that didn't match the look on her face as she reaches into her coat and pulls out her familiar flask. "She," she almost hissed, before sighing, "is. . .far too young, captain."
         
          "Hmm, how old is she then?"
         
          "Says she was seven now." She rubs her temple with her eye squinting shut, "Says she only remembers one winter since the last age she remembers, being six. Smart little bugger, but. . .I don't know. I'm not liking any of this."
         
          Jacob watches as he found himself gripping onto the curtain in neverending curiosity, wanting to lean further in to take a look at the blanketed form better but not wanting to be seen. Honestly he wasn't listening much to the conversation, much more intrigued when the head of hair shifted.
         
          "You may not like it, but you know we don't have a choice. We're out at sea, and the orphan situation in Three Bridges is already bad enough." His attention is shifted to his adoptive father, who's form is still relaxed but noticeably somewhat more giddy. "Honestly we'd doing the king and queen a bloody favor by taking this child in."
         
          Sarah stammers, "But—"
         
          "But nothing," The captain is quick to reassure her by leaning over and patting her shoulder, a lot less stronger than what the blond was used to seeing but strong nonetheless. And as always, the woman took it like a champ. "Honestly Sarah, you've got to stop guarding your heart like this. No one's going to blame you for wanting to save a child."
         
          Before she could retort whatever, the blanket shifts, his curiosity spiking to an all-time high as he stands on the tips of his toes. It was a hard endeavor, but at least the adults' attentions were turned as well, no one having to see him awkwardly try and see the situation a lot more clearly. No words were spoken between the three while the fourth tries his best to make himself taller without having to jump, an annoyed huff as he all but force all his weight onto his big toe.
         
          Which of course inevitably made him lose his balance. Which, in turn, made him grab hold on to the nearest thing to try and steady himself and regain stability. But with that nearest thing a curtain, and that curtain being a thin white sheet held by rusting hooks that was meant to simply mimic a curtain, it didn't exactly provide him with much.
         
          The crash that followed his fall was surely loud enough to catch the attention of any nearby beast, but more importantly the adults so near. Sarah looked livid at the sight of him tangled in sheets and barely missing being hit on the head by the hooks that fell off the equally old beam above him, but Crow looked ecstatic as he reaches down and picks the boy up so easily.
         
          "Jacob! Glad to see you here, lad." The blond was much too distracted to even realize half of what had happened, noting the dull thumping in his legs as he was propped up onto his father's lap. In his dazed distraction he hadn't even realized he was so close now to the whole reason why he came here, blinking in an attempt to get his mind straight before the shot-up figure of a girl did that for him.
         
          His eyes met yours for the first time in what would soon form into a life-long friendship, an ecstatic grin growing on his face as he shoots out a hand. You looked visibly disgusted before masking that look off with confusion.
         
          "Hello!"
         
          You stare at him, not taking his hand. "Uh. Hi."
         
          "Nice to meet you! My name's Jacob Holland, future captain of the Inevitable!" He misses the raised brow on Sarah's face, and the shrug from Crow. "What's your name?"
         
          You stared at his hand that had started to wobble now from having to hold it up for more than five seconds, about to protest before you're forced to take it when Sarah nudges your side. "Uhh, Y/N. Future adult, I'd hope." You didn't miss the painful sounding snort from Crow and Sarah throwing her head back with a blank stare, but you found yourself much too preoccupied staring at the grin on Jacob's face that only grew wider by the second. He was shaking your limp hand up and down far too excitedly for you. "No last name?" You shook your head. "That's okay, I know tons of people who don't have last names. I think we'll get along just fine, Y/N No-Last-Name!"
         
          The force of which he was shaking your arm was enough to make your head spin, still managing to find entertainment in this action though by cracking a small smile. "Yeah."
         
          "Welcome to the Inevitable!"

note ; HI I'M SO SORRY FOR THE SHORT UPDATE I KNOW I'VE BEEN GONE FOR A MONTH AND ALL I HAVE TO OFFER IS A DAMN MURMURS OF THE PAST

BUT I SWEAR AND I PROMISE I HAVE LIKE 3K WORDS READY FOR THE NEXT ACTUAL CHAPTER, N IM IN THE PROCESS OF REACHING 5K SOON. JUST BARE WITH ME I HAVE LIKE 50 DIFFERENT GROUP PROJECTS TO WORK ON AND THIS UPCOMING WEEK'S MY EXAMS SOB.

LOVE YOU ALL STAY SAFE THANKS FOR CONTINUING TO READ DESPITE THE INACTIVITY <3333