Vuela

Chapter 8

Vuela eats as slowly as possible that noon, which doesn't seem to impress either Sora or Ms. Savage, as entertaining as it would be if they all don't have jobs to do. Savage tells the girl if Vuela doesn't have the same appetite as the rest of the crew that she would have to give the girl less to spare the stomach pain. After eating the anticipated lunch, it's time to start swabbing the top deck of the Gloire.

When Savage tells Vuela to swab the deck, she actually means from the bow to the stern, having to cross to the other side through the floor below the top deck. The bow half of the deck is easy and quick to clean without anything to distract Vuela and her partner. All they agree on is that they each do half of the deck so that they can get the swabbing done as quickly as humanly possible.

It's the stern half of the ship where trouble likes to hang out and that the cleaning is a longer process.

Sora takes the back end while Vuela starts to rub down on the part of the floor that's perpendicular to the wall. The scrubbing process starts smoothly. That is until Vuela starts washing by the door's underframe, and an unsuspecting crewmember swings the door into the girl's face. Before saying anything, Vuela makes sure her nose is not broken by moving it slightly. It only hurts, which is a better sign.

"Watch where you're going, fatty!" she barks.

The man comes to a slow halt. His fast head turn makes Vuela bounce back. "Watch for the door, you flee." He returns to walking towards the starboard side where another crewmember is looking.

She's about to yell back at him, but Sora calls from the meeting center point of the deck to check up on her face. Vuela dismisses her pain, trying not to stir up that type of drama, especially since she doesn't fully trust Sora to get that close. If Vuela is feeling bad, she can handle it herself. She's not going to let a stranger help her with that.

As they are about to finish the last part of the deck, which is where Vuela and Sora meet at the center, a third crewmember barges out the door and meets up with his two other friends at the starboard side. He seems pretty excited to be meeting up with people he's forced to work with, and his whispers are not perfectly quiet for Vuela to ignore. An interest in gossip sparks in her when she hears something about "destination."

Since this is the first day on the boat, it makes sense to her that people can be talking about where they are going. As far as keeping this location a secret until further on, Vuela finds the crew's conversation unnerving.
Then, a fourth member joins their party, and she appears the leader of the rest of them just by how tall she stands. Her back is military straight like Captain Delilah Kujo's, but she's dressed in dull-colored, skimpy work clothes, showing more skin than Maxime will ever allow Vuela to wear. After one of the men stupidly giggles, having something whispered to him, the tall woman smacks him upside the head and pulls his ear closer to her mouth. He doesn't make a sound afterwards.

The leader's appearance reminds Vuela of her trashy, disappointing mother. They both have the idea to treat men like stupid animals for their own personal power, whether it's confidence or something else. This crewmember, though, probably doesn't bother with risking her body for conception of children. Just watching that woman's every move angered Vuela. Just thinking about anyone who could resemble her mother made her blood boil like a kettle.

Sora calls for her again, but this time, it sounds more like a warning than it does "Are you finished yet?" Once she finishes the next line of suds and water, he grabs her by the collar of her blouse and pulls her closer to him. His voice when he speaks the next time is at its all time quietest. "The last thing I'd do is eavesdrop on Ursula Shanks' posse. If they saw you, you'd be shark bait right about now."