My name is Anna. Just Anna, no surname as far as I know. Though I've been called various curse words in my time so, if you want a surname from me, I suppose you could pick one of those. I'm Eighteen years old…I think, no parents that I know. Obviously I have parents, everyone has or had parents, I'm no orphan either. As far as I know my parents are alive, they just didn't want me. Probably because I was born out of wedlock, and I'm a real pain in the… I wasn't left out on the streets to die either, so forgive me that I have no tale of woe to tell you. I was given to a kindly old woman. Poor Aggie, she's had to put up with me all these years….
I suppose it's always nice to be able to put a name to a face so I shall describe myself; my eyes are a yellowish/goldish colour mixed with Hazel and my hair is White. Aggie says that I may be an Albino. I'd say I'm some sort of throwback. I'm not too fond of my hair, I wouldn't say that I'm beautiful, though besides the unusual hair and the eyes I don't look particularly ugly either. I'm slim (as peasants can't afford to gorge themselves silly, though if you'd like to donate food I'd gladly devour it) and whilst I'm not particularly tall, I'm not vertically challenged either.
Since my hair and eyes are so unusual, something has to be done about this unless I want to end up being trialled as a witch. Whilst nothing can be done about the eyes, I do dye my hair Black.
Well, now that introductions are done and dusted; on with my tale of daring, heroism and adventure! Or rather; on with my tale of my misadventures and stupidity!
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I wish I could say that it was a nice sunny, wonderful day in London. Well, actually, it was. In London! It didn't feel like a wonderful day for me, though. Aggie had sent me away from our village a, some miles outside of London, to the capital a few days earlier. She had said that I couldn't rely on her forever and had grand visions of me seeing the world or at least making something of myself in the capital. I had a good whinge at her about it, I didn't want to leave and was less than enthusiastic about being "cut off" as I saw it. In the end I did leave though, by way of being dragged by the ear by an annoyed old woman who then gave me a sound kick up the backside and some provisions to send me on my way. Lorcan, I noticed, was given much better treatment when he was shooed out with me to be my companion. Sheer favouritism, I tell you!
Lorcan is my kitten, the misfit of the litter with all black fur and adorable Blue eyes. Though I'm sure these may turn Golden when he gets older. Lorcan isn't an orphan either but Aggie is a crazy old cat lady and so, with so many Cats around the house it was only natural that I would be gifted with a Kitten sooner or later. And a misfit one at that, misfits with misfits, seems natural.
Well, anyway, I had just arrived in London and whilst looking for a place to stay, I also tried to get to know the place better. People have images of the city being so grand and beautiful and some parts of it are. There are majestic, beautiful buildings but when you're a peasant such places are out of your price range and out of your league. Unless you got stuck building one, you'd never really play a role in such a place if you were of low status. Needless to say, I definitely wouldn't be staying in a palace and so I kept to the busy streets in search of an inn. As I browsed through the marketplace, and tried not to notice the smell of the offal that a nearby butcher was so graciously blessing the ground with, I managed to learn a little about recent events from local gossip. The departure of Pocahontas and John Rolfe was the talk of the day but the name of one John Smith was also mentioned. Apparently he had been given a ship by the King and was planning another voyage of exploration. Must be nice to have money.
A young maid only a few paces away from me struggled with two buckets of water. The accident was just waiting to happen. She slipped, one bucket crashed to the ground and another flew into the air, the contents spilling on to me. The dye I use on my hair is nothing special, it was made by Aggie herself from various plants and therefore I have lots of it. Unfortunately this dye had been in for a month or two and though it had previously shown no signs of needing to be touched up or washing out, it washed out that day. Instantly. In a crowd full of excited people who are deeply religious, a girl with White hair holding a Black Kitten can seem very unnatural and suspicious, it only takes one person to yell "Witch!" before you have a mob on your hands.
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Being chased through the busy streets of London by an angry mob doesn't make one feel at home in the capital but since stopping could mean a trial that would most certainly end in a short drop and a sudden stop. Luckily an old inn keeper looked kindly on me and dragged me inside, I watched as the mob raced past and uttered many thanks to the old man. He clearly suffered a joint problem, no doubt brought on by years of hard labour, but his Green eyes were bright and despite his haggard appearance and weathered face, they shone brightly with a wise and understanding kindness about them only found in the elderly who aren't cantankerous. The old man spoke with a thick accent that was common in the poor parts of London, I think it is referred to as "cockney." He gave me food and board for the night and, though he could not spare me a pale of water to assist in dying my hair, his wife gave to me a thick woollen Black cloak with a hood to help hide my hair, for which I was deeply thankful. The cloak didn't look unusual with my grey skirts with a faded White blouse and black Bodice. Since my hair reaches my thigh the cloak would be ideal for hiding all of it.
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Morning saw me leave the inn, for though I intended to return I had to find some form of employment, and a well if I were to dye my hair again. Unfortunately someone else caught a glimpse of my hair and saw Lorcan in the sling like satchel I keep him in close to my chest. Making yet another mad dash throughout the streets of London, it was quite some time before the mob tired and I was able to seek sanctuary in a Church. The mob soon formed again outside but I was under the protection of the Church for a period of thirty days. (A/n; not sure if they still did this in the 1600s but in the Middle Ages, people could seek sanctuary in a Church for so many days though I'm not quite sure it was for thirty) As my poor luck would have it, this was not to be.
"You desecrate the house of God!" I looked up to meet the furious gaze of a priest and other clergy members. Lorcan mewed to show his displeasure and I realised at once my mistake. I had brought and animal into the Church. But what else was I to do? Leave my poor Lorcan to the hands of some furious mob who believed me to be a Witch and Lorcan my familiar? Hastily pulling back the cowl of my cloak, anger surging within me, I met the priest's look of fury with a defiant glare of my own. I shouldn't have said it. But I did. "You're the only one desecrating the house of God, ugly." At least I was honest. God wouldn't want me to lie in his house!
I was promptly dragged by my hair to the Church doors by my hair and, as I was about to be thrown towards the mob, I grabbed the priest by his collar, his grip on my hair loosening in his surprise, I threw him into the mob instead. Lorcan hissed as a means of farewell to the priest as I hugged the fluff ball against me in his sling and took off running in haste, again.
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Running along one bank of the Thames, my lungs burning, I eventually collapsed near the harbour. I'd have to find board on the other side of the city. At least I had all my possessions with me! Lorcan was content with batting a long lock of my hair that had fallen into his face whilst I whinged in my mind for Aggie to "take the boo-boos away" and cursed my luck so far. The mob was nowhere to be seen but that didn't mean my hair wasn't drawing anyone's attention and so I hastily drew my hood back up and resumed walking, or rather; staggering, whilst out of breath. I had only managed a few paces when I bumped into someone. I raised my head a sneered at them whilst I told them to "kindly sod off and watch where you're going!" My eyes met pools of bright Blue and I scanned the face of a man who seemed to be in his twenties with a head of Blonde hair that must have been the envy of many women. One of my first thoughts was Hello handsome but, as I scanned his attire I saw that he was dressed well and seemed to have some status. From the thick Gold Chain and pendant that went around his neck and hung at his breast I realised he may even have connections to royalty or was a favourite of the King (A/N; think of the clothes he wears at the end of the second movie, the last time we see him, I hate that second film. I don't hate Rolfe but it could have been so much better and Smith seemed awfully arrogant in the second film.)
He raised one Golden Eyebrow and I thought; I'm going to die. I've insulted someone of high status. I'm going to die! Instead, of being slapped or yelled at, I was nearly driven to dying out of fear and humiliation as he asked "Are you alright? Quite the charmer, aren't you?"
Unable to move or utter anything coherent, my sorry state seemed to answer his question as he gently gripped my hand and lead me to a nearby inn. Taking me to and enclosed table in some sort of booth in the far corner, he ordered for food and ale but also brought with him some whisky as he returned to the table and awaited the food and ale he had just ordered. Forcing me to drink the whisky, he made me come to my senses as fire burned down my throat but left a pleasant feeling afterwards. I began to apologise profusely but he soon calmed me again and even laughed! Yes, laughed! To my astonishment.
He introduced himself as we dined on the broth he had ordered, Lorcan quite happy with his own bowl that "John Smith" had ordered for him. So, this was the other man who had been talk of the market place! Given a ship by the King, he certainly had some status and although I was nervous about this he seemed to be very down to Earth and I was soon conversing with him freely.
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As we left the inn, the mob decided to make their presence known again and I was unable to stop the "oh bugger!" that slipped from my lips.
"Friends of yours?" John asked, as he surveyed the mob his eyebrow was raised again. I had briefed him on my situation before hand and though I could just see that John was the type of person who wouldn't mind taking on a mob, I also knew he wasn't stupid either as he hastily pulled me onto a nearby Galleon and into the cabin. He explained to me that this was his ship as the mob passed. The sun was setting and it was clear that it was no longer safe for me to journey back out and so I was allowed to stay on The Siren for the night, John offered me his bed and, in case the mob decided to venture on to the ships in the harbour, he locked and bolted the door and kept watch for the night.
When morning broke and the crew arrived to stock the ship full of provisions, John made a most kind and unusual offer when he asked me come with them on their voyage though the ship would not sail for a while. Aggie had always said she wanted me to see the world and, taking this as a sign, I accepted the offer.