Plance One-Shots

My Lost Treasure (Part 4)

WC: 1834

~💚🌱💙~

Pidge leaped along the deck, spouting orders off at every crew member she saw. Shiro was watching from the deck, an amused smile on his face as he tried not to laugh aloud.

"Pick up the pace, you dirty sea-rats! When my father gets back, do you want to have a dirty deck on your shoulders? I didn't think so!" As she said this, she knocked a bucket of soapy water onto the deck and tossed a sponge in it. "Now put your back into it!"

This time, Shiro choked on air and sputtered a minute before regaining his composure. He watched as this fifteen-year-old girl scared the life out of a grown crew with ease and bossed them around like they were children. How she could do that, he hadn't the faintest idea.

"Shiro!"

"Yes, Katie?"

Katie grabbed a rope and swung onto the quarter deck easily, landing with her hands on her hips. "What happened to that crate of beef jerky?"

"Below deck. Want me to get it for you?"

Katie waved a hand dismissively as she descended the stairs. "Nah, I got it."

Katie had just made it to the trapdoor to the hold and was about to enter when Shiro called her.

"Hey, Katie?"

"Yeah?" Katie asked, slightly annoyed.

"If you don't mind me prying, you've been taking considerably long trips for the past few days. Have you found anything interesting?" Shiro asked, his fingers trailing along the railing.

Katie shrugged in response. "Just the usual creatures."

"I see. Well, good luck finding the jerky."

"Thanks, Shiro."

~~~

Shiro was suspicious.

As Katie walked below deck, that was the only thing she was thinking.

Did he know she had a merman for a friend? And if he didn't, what would he do if he found out? Sure, they'd just met and probably couldn't even be considered true friends, but she'd been out looking for someone she hardly even knew was there all those days before.

Shiro had always been kind to her, but if he found out she was talking to a merman of all people, he might try to hurt him. After all, merpeople were said to be a danger to pirates.

Some claimed that merpeople were the reason so many ships went out to sea and never returned. Others believed that they made men go mad if they interacted; those who found a merperson never normally stopped their research until they drowned or were drowned.

But none of these rumors were true, of course. At least to Katie they weren't. She may have just met Lance, but he seemed different, like he didn't want his life. He didn't want to be tossed into the same basket as the rest of his people and instead longed for the freedom of land. Should that ever happen, Katie would gladly be right there with him.

It was only when Katie tripped on a coiled rope below deck that she realized she had been thinking too much. She barely knew Lance, yet it gave her butterflies to think about how he talked to her. He was kind and forgiving and it was her turn to repay that kindness.

After lighting a candle, Katie shoved aside some large, wooden crates and bent down to look for the smaller crate of beef jerky.

"Come on, you little sea-rat, where did you go— aha!" At last, she pulled aside a barrel of pickled fish to reveal the small crate. She picked it up, as well as some other foods she thought Lance might like to try, and went above deck into the bright, late morning sun.