Chapter 13

The water washed away to a strange calm. The ship was still rocking, but not nearly as violently as before. The air was still, a warm and humid stillness that had come so suddenly it seemed almost eerie.

The Captain stood up from crouching on the deck, a bit dizzy after being thrown around. He offered his hand to you to help you stand up.

"Are you alright?" the Captain asked you as he helped you to your feet, wiping the saltwater from your tightly shut eyes.

It was still overcast...except for the clear, blue-sky hole that seemed to have magically opened up in the clouds.

"Anika, are you alright?" the Captain repeated gently.

You could barely speak, like your breath had been washed away with the last wave. "Is...is it...is it over?"

"No. We're in the eye of the storm. This marks the definite halfway point."

"Only halfway?!" You dismayed.

"Only halfway." the Captain sighed.

"Well...how much longer until it starts up again?"

"We've got a few minutes at the most," he said. "Let's get you a rope while we're waiting. Does anybody know where some extra rope is at?!"

Most of the crew was tied to the mast in threes. (The Captain was the only one who had just a single person on his rope, as he was supposed to be.) The soaking wet sailors gave him this look that said, A-hoy?! We be kinda low on rope here, Cap'n!

The Captain glanced around for anything that might help. His eyes fell back on his cabin, and he ran to it, leaving you behind. "Captain, can I just pair up?"

"No rope left!"

"Can't we just shorten someone's?!"

"No enough time to untie someone's and tie yours!"

You opened your mouth to say something else, but nothing came to mind. You swallowed.

Wait, was this it? Were you about to be defeated by a lack of rope? Were you going to be washed away to drown and die in the ocean as soon as that storm came back?

The Captain grabbed something from his cabin, and taking a noticeable bit of time to do it, and then slammed the door shut. He was surprised his cabin was still there, as he'd thought it would have washed away by now, (which was why he got you out of it).

He ran back to you. "Here," he said, holding two leather belts. He quickly tied one around your waist to the rope around his, and then tied the second one the same way just to be safe.

"Umm, Captain, are you sure about this?" you asked tentatively.

"I hope so," he said, finishing securing it. You both stood front-to-front, and the Captain looked down at you desperately, a fleeting look in his eyes, buckling the belts around you.

"Well..." You darted your eyes from him to the watching crew. You hadn't meant safety, you meant reputation. They had confused, irritated, and not-at-all disguised glares being thrown at him.

"Cap'n, there be a policy you got, you know."

"For?"

"The cabin slave policy. You be not allowed to be in a' cabin-close relationship to anyone on this ship."

"So you think I've had a cabin-close relationship with her?" the Captain asked calmly, continuing to buckle you down.

"You be sharin' a cabin, Cap'n."

"That's not what I meant with the policy. We're just in the same room."

"Then specified that should'a bin."

He stood up and spun around. "Then I specify now. No cabin-bed-close relationships with anyone on the ship."

They exchanged glances. "Whatever you be sayin', Cap'n," one muttered.

The Captain was stunned at his crew's lack of respect. He narrowed his eyebrows and gave them all a very offended look. "Do I get so little respect from you that you will openly attempt to mock me?" He asked in disbelief. "Whether you realize it or not, I paid quite a lot of gold for Anika, and I am going to protect her! What else might you suggest as a better idea right now?"

"Avast! Threw away more booty to save her than you be payin' for her you did," Jagger noted loudly. "There be something we don't know about?"

You were afraid they might guess you were the Princess, and that the Captain felt the need to protect you as part of another favor. They'd get mad at him for not telling them.

The Captain was afraid they thought he might've had an affair with her, which would take all respect they had for him and throw it into the sea.

"So a lot of booty, that buxom wench must be worth," Blagden said sneeringly.

You swallowed. In the pause that followed, you started to hyperventilate.

"Or at least, she be to you," Blagden muttered.

You were relieved, and calmed down. The Captain was furious, and did his best to keep his tone down.

"That, Blagden, was a bit too unconcealed of a threat. And I suggest that all of you think about exactly what you've just accused me of. I promise you on my life and the life of this ship that I have not had any affairs with the servant I call Anika." You flinched at the harsh reference to you. "Now anybody who thinks otherwise may as well jump in with the next wave that comes down, because if they don't jump now, I'll throw them in later myself! Now do you hear me?!"

Their instinct to obey their Captain took over, along with the little ripple of fear that just passed, like someone threw a big stone into the water. Mind you, it would've been more effective to throw a stone in when the waters weren't so high. "Yes sir, Captain!" they all responded immediately.

"And if I hear any of this crap again, you will find yourselves on the bottom of the ocean in Davy Jones' locker, do you hear me?"

"Yes sir, Captain!" Their fear was almost tangible in the air.

The Captain didn't reply to them, and he wouldn't meet your eyes.

The Captain never loses his cool.

The crew saw his face look red with anger, something that never happened.

But that was because you saw his face redden as he blushed.

Just then the rain came back and the ship lurched again.

The Captain immediately wrapped his strong arms around you protectively, holding you tight, and you wrapped yours back around him as the two of you banged across the ship.

You clung to him, the only thing you had, for dear life. And so did he.

He didn't let go of you, and you didn't let go of him.

All you remember of the next few hours was being, wet, tired, and miserable, and having nothing but the Pirate Captain of the Scurvy Raider to hold onto.

You heard the splashing of the waves all around you, but it was hard to hear with your ears so clogged up.

You and the Captain, along with all other sailors on a ship trapped in a hurricane, braced yourselves in silence.

Until one particularly big wave thundered in without warning, and you were twisted from the Captain's grip, hit your head on the deck, and everything went black.