Upon the Waves

1

The black ship teerered back and forth lazily on the waves, the ocean just now releasing its hold on the gentle, morning sun. Seagulls chirped quietly, and aboard the ship, the pirates that manned it slowly started to awaken and begin their daily chores in order to keep the midnight vessel afloat.

As the men started to holler at each other, one man exited his bunker, his entire body standing rigid with authority. As he walked the deck of the ship, his eyes surveyed the working men before him that kept his ominous ship in tiptop shape. "Alright men, get some coal in your fires! We need to hurry this along, we got a busy day today! The Witch is leading us to our treasure boys! We're gonna be rich!"

A chorus of hoots and hollers sounded out as all the pirates took a moment to cheer the glorious promise of riches to be had. "Aye aye, Captain!" they yelled in delight. The captain of the ship gave one small nod of his head and continued to walk along the deck and supervise his men. Then, as he reached the bow of the ship, he took a deep breath and cast his dark eyes to the sky.

As he was enjoying the salty, morning breeze, his peaceful moment was interrupted by a presence coming up beside him. "Cap'n, she's awake. And... She's hungry." The captain scoffed at his first-mate. "Well then feed her." The other man sighed. "She refuses to eat until we allow her on the deck to get some fresh air since she's been in the brig since we've captured her from those other pirates she was with." The older man let out a small groan of annoyance before sighing tiredly. "Lemme go talk to her," he said gruffly before turning away and marching in the direction of the stairs that led below the deck.

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

I rested my back against the cool, stone wall of the cell, my eyes staring at my shackled hands that rested on the floor in the space between my thighs. My forest green hair cascaded down my shoulders and back like a pool of green ocean. My icey eyes continued to focus and unfocus as the angry jaws of starvation began to gnaw at the pit of my stomach.

I winced from the sharp pain, but I refused to give in to it. I wasn't going to give in this time. As I continued to fight my intense hunger, I could hear heavy boots stomping their way down the stairs to where my cell sat at the bottom of the ship. My eyes shot up, and my blood ran cold as I met the eyes of the horrible man that greeted me.

"Aye, what is the problem, Witch?" the captain spat at me. I glared up at him, my eyes narrowed to slits. I imagined they look almost animalistic in this lighting. "For the last time, I'm not a witch, and I have a name. So, I will ask again that you just call me Rosabella." The captain let out a guttural laugh, his solid build jittering. "Lass, I don't care what your name is, you're a witch. Only a witch could possess the magic you do, Witch."

I sighed in annoyance, clearly gaining no ground with the disgusting pirate standing before me. My legs shifted a bit as I tried to maneuver my body some to fight back the stiffness in my joints that settled in just after days of being in this concrete cell. "Fine, but at least let me get some fresh air. What am I supposed to do, swim? Fly away? I'm not a siren, and I can't fly; you have absolutely nothing to worry about." The captain walked over to a plate of dried bread and a cup of water before lifting it and walking over my cell. I couldn't stop my lip from curling in repulsion as he knelt down to meet me eye-level.

"Now listen here Witch, I'm not gonna ask you politely. I will force every last crumb of this bread down your gullet if you refuse to eat again. All we need you to do is take us to treasure, we don't have to keep you alive after that happens." I could feel the chills running down my spine as I stared this brute of a man in his eyes. I knew he wasn't going to release me from his brig unless he had a reason. But even still, I wasn't prepared to give in just yet. "So be it."