Mud Puddles [Jim Hawkins x Reader]

Chapter 7

(Y/N) was awoken by the sound of footsteps passing outside her cabin. Sunlight wasn't shining through the curtains which meant the dawn still hadn't broken, raising the question: who would be up at this hour?

At first she rolled over, but as her mind continued to wake up she realised that the footsteps weren't something to be dismissed. Especially because the rest of her squad left the previous evening and the other squads' cabins' were located further down the campus.

She groggily rolled out of her hammock and slid into a pair of boots before creeping out of the cabin and into the brisk early morning.

In the distance there was a figure fiddling with the smallest ship in the docking bay. They appeared to be loading bags onto the ship; some preparation of sorts, and the closer she drew the more she recognized the ship and the cadet.

~~~

Jim felt a presence behind him just as he was boarding The Fat Lady. Stopping dead still, he slowly turning around to look at the unexpected company.

"Oh, it's just you." He breathed a sigh of relief as he looked down at (Y/N), who looked like a spirit in the soft moonlight from Cresentia. The pale nightgown hung loosely around her frame and her hair was untamed, but her exposed collarbone and neck looked smooth to the touch. The unlaced combat boots she wore marred her delicate aura, but still she seemed like an ethereal being to Jim, vastly different to the girl he had quarrelled with many times before.

"You were going to leave without telling me." She said, looking up at Jim on the top of the gangplank. Her voice was calm though a small sadness laced her words.

"I didn't think you'd care, and I'm not going to wait another year."

"I understand." Jim knew she would; she would understand the best out of anyone. A small breeze ruffled the nightgown and she wrapped her arms around her waist self-consciously as she became aware of how little she was wearing. Jim watched her turn heel and walk wordlessly back to the cabins. Her dismissal mildly surprised him; he expected her to insist on joining him, to which he would pretend to begrudgingly accept.

A disappointed shadow fell across his eyes as he turned back to the ship and continued to make the final arrangements for cast off.

Just as Jim was unfastening the tether, a duffel bag landed heavily on the deck. Soon after, (Y/N) (now clad in her uniform and hair sensibly styled) clambered over the railing. He stifled a smile and raised his eyebrow at her.

"What? I'm not letting you have all the fun." She said, playfully punching his arm.

They then cast off and drifted silently away from the docks, the engine turned off as to not alert anyone of their departure. The sails glowed yellow for a moment as veins of bright light coursed through strands in the sails towards the heart of the ship. Jim swung on the rigging and dragged his hand through the cool air of the etherium, eager to explore the path ahead that lay just off of their helm.

"I'll be captain!"

(Y/N) stifled a disgruntled protest and let him have his moment. Instead, she focussed on not hitting any of the dingies surrounding the ship.