Crimson Threads ♡Sinbad X Oc♡

Chapter four: Reim

"STOP SLOUCHING SINBAD! FIX YOUR POSTURE JA'FAR!" Rurumu glares at the two boys who immediately jump in compliance. "Seems like Rurumu isn't letting up today either." Hinahoho laughs heartily as he wraps the halyard around one of the pegs on the headboard. Turning around to fasten another rope, he spots Yunalesca sitting on the deck, staring at Rurumu and the two boys. She seemed to be listening closely to what Rurumu was saying.

"Rurumu's a great teacher, right?" Hinahoho's ebullient voice made Yunalesca jump. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!" Hinahoho quickly apologises. "Don't worry about it.. I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings.." Yunalesca smiles, wringing her hands awkwardly. After a long silence, Hinahoho cleared his throat. "Do you want to go see what they're doing?" He asks, pointing to his wife and the two boys. "Uhm, ok... I'd like that. " Yunalesca answers nervously, still fidgeting with her hands.

"I hope you two aren't giving my gorgeous wife any trouble." Hinahoho pats Sinbad on his back. "Not at all. They're very well behaved." Rurumu smiles sweetly, sending shivers down Sinbads spine. "What are you working on Ja'far?" Yunalesca's voice grabs Sinbads attention.
"It's a sentence Rurumu asked me to translate, but.." Ja'far frowns at the paper in front of him. Leaning over his shoulder, Yunalesca peeks at the sentence. "Here." She points to a word at the top of the page. "That refers to a person you don't know instead of a person you do know." Inspecting his work again, Ja'far corrects his mistake. "Now I see!" He exclaims, fervently correcting the rest of his work. After completing his translation, Ja'far hands the paper to Rurumu. She slowly scans the page and then smiles. "This is correct. Well done, Ja'far. "

"So you can read, Yunalesca?" Hinahoho asks, puzzled. "Oh..yes.. a little bit.." She nods. "When I was on the other ship, some of the people taught me a few basic words and phrases from their native languages." She continues, nervously rubbing her index finger over her thumb nail.
"It must have been fun to learn new things." Sinbad suddenly says as he stands up to stretch his legs. "Yeah, it was." Yunalesca smiles at him, her nervousness fading away, replaced by a different fluttery feeling. "Then how about you study with us!" Ja'far suggests excitedly as he looks with pleading eyes at Rurumu. "It's up to Yunalesca if she wants to or not." Rurumu smiles softly.
"I'd love to!" Yunalesca beams, her smile so wide it almost reaches the corners of her eyes.
"Then it's settled. Starting tomorrow, Yunalesca will be joining us in our studies. Let's give it our all, okay, Yunalesca. " Sinbad says confidently, mesmerised by Yunalesca's bright smile.

                           ~~~~~~~
"You're such a quick learner, I'm impressed." Rurumu places the paper down on the crate in front of her. "At this rate, you'll catch up to the boys in no time." "Thank you, Miss Rurumu. Although, I do enjoy the language part far more than the numbers." Yunalesca laughs. "Numbers are super fun!" Ja'far interjects, lifting his own paper in protest. "I didn't say they weren't fun, I just enjoy learning about cultures and plants a little bit more than making calculations." Yunalesca laughs, taking the paper from Ja'far and handing it to Rurumu.

"It's only been about a month, and she's almost caught up to them." Hinohoho says as he pulls on a rope to unfurl the sail. "It seems she's warmed up to us a lot, too." Vittel comments, helping Hinahoho tie the rope to the mast. "It feels like she's been with us from the beginning." Hinahoho nodds in agreement, looking over at the enthusiastic young girl. Her hair has lightened slightly due to the sunlight, and she wasn't as pale as a month ago. Her face was a little fuller, and her fingers were less boney. Her tattered clothes were replaced by a robe-like cloth sinbad had loaned her. The gold and purple pattern embroided at the edges of the fabric suited her. Rurumu gave her a pair of Imuchakk boots, but they were far too big for the dainty girl.
"I see it! Land!" Sinbad calls eagerly from atop the main-topyard. His dark hair flowed with the wind, whirling around him as he stared at the port in the distance.