It was mostly black, dark. All I could make out was the color of the falling cobalt waves of the ocean, and the feeling of a cool substance lapping against my salty cheek. It felt like a dream, like I was floating. My mind began to slowly turn over events.

I could swear I was dreaming. Wasn't I?

My mind eased into a memory of a Shop keep that used to peer down at me with a need for a shave. His cheeks would crease into a terrifying toothless smile. The man would ask me if I wanted any sweet mints, and I would swiftly decline. I was five then. My mother used to take me into town every Sunday, and we would walk through the dirty streets of the town whose name escaped me. I can recall passing by women whom I once thought were beautiful; however during the elapsing of age, I learned them to be nothing but street walking whores. Drunkards…

Why did I suddenly think of this? I was in a haze.

Total blackness now.

If I strained my mind, I could hear the remote bellows of men. Was it a part of my imagination?

There was a pressure inside of my chest specifically around the regions of my ribcage, and it lurched for attention. The pressure began to increase, and soon screamed for a release. It felt like hours until the tension became an indescribable agony.

It was like a snap, when I felt the urge to realize my surroundings. My head popped up with a force, and I began to swallow air. The pressure subsided, but I couldn't understand where I was, or where I was going. My mind was racing different thoughts, memories, and all the while I was trying to take in my surroundings. This attempt was failing miserably, considering the world was spinning and getting worse by the minute. All I knew is that I was grasping helplessly on a curved wooden object, and that there was water that encompassed the area around me.

I could still hear the voices of men. They grew louder, as my head whirled faster. I began reaching around myself, in a state of confusion. Thus, letting go of the wooden object keeping me afloat.

I expected to sink. The water would flood up my nostrils and inside my mouth. But instead of water surrounding me, I felt pulled into the air. How long this occurred? I don't know. But it felt like quite a while.

My feet wiggled as I was suspended in air, and my body began to lose temperature. It was freezing.

Slowly my eyes rolled back into my skull.

It became black again.

-------------------------------------------------

"Jaysus, Mary, and Joseph..."

A man with the longest and grayest of beards was crouching down upon the carefully swabbed deck of a ship.

"She doesn't look too good!" A man cried with concern.

"What is she doing all the way out here?"

"Is she dead?"

"Cap'n?"

What was he to do? A girl's body was lying at his feet. Her brown sopping hair was everywhere; inside of her mouth, twisting on the deck, and covering the majority of her facial features. Sand and salt also littered her face, and seaweed was entangled into the locks of her hair. She obviously wasn't a normal lass, as she was dressed not in a bustier and frilly garment, but a brown coat of leather. It was as if her pants used to be a man's white pajamas, along with her blouse. A string of pearls resided around her neck, as well as a matching pearl ring around her finger.

His men were restless. He suspected most of the restlessness was in the shiny trinkets the woman carried. If she perished, a squabble would soon commence for her little belongings. Also, this ship had not docked in over five months. Leaving a slight hunger for a woman.

He decided to act fast.

The Captain felt the woman's white clammy touch. His fingers trailed over her neck, and then rested upon her mouth to feel some sort of breath.

There was nothing.

Pushing away her white blouse, he slowly bent further to rest his ear against her chest. If she was dead, she was free for the picking.

Silence came among the crew, as the Captain listened for a heartbeat.

After a few seconds of quiet, the men began to exchange hopeful glances; some, waiting for a prize.

"Nickolas!" The man waved to a young boy beside him, beckoning him over. His head turned to Nickolas, as he approached. "Get an empty cot ready, this young lass is alive. And pick her up, will ye? I'm too old for that sort." Slowly, the captain stood up. He towered over his crew like nothing else, only a mountain Gorilla could equal to his height.

"And keep her awake too, the lady may be suffering from a concussion. Call Ol' Sawbones as well. Tell him we've got a live one."

There were mixed reactions. Half of the men began cheering, but the majority of them began grumbling with disappointment. The crowd began clearing away, as Nickolas bent to pick the young lady up. He cleared the hair out of her face, and dusted some of the grimy salt off of her cheek.

She really was light, and damp.

-------------------------------------------------

A quick slap to my cheek woke me up with a startle. The side of my face quickly began to burn, as I attempted to open my eyes.

I wasn't cold anymore; in fact, it felt quite warm. My hand passed along my chest, when I really had all intentions of putting my palm to my forehead. There was a terrible ringing noise in my right ear.

"Hello! Who… are… you?" An eager and monotone voice yelled at me.

Surprised, I felt my legs jolt. I opened my mouth to respond, but for some reason I found it pointless.

"She isn't speaking," said a different tone.

"I can see that!" The first voice replied. "You would call it a 'concussion,' I expect."

There was a silence for some time, as the voice blurted again,

"Can… You… Hear… Me?"

My eyes were fully open now, as I tried to get a look around. My head pounded something awful, as I squinted up at a man who appeared to be only a little ways away from my face. The room was spinning, and from the looks of things the male was incredibly frightening. I tried to be startled, but my body wouldn't react to it.

"Hello!" He grinned a terrifying toothless grin.

Toothless grin…

"No, thank you." I slurred. And then, I threw up what remained in my stomach.

Darkness.

. . .

I still didn't know where I was when I woke up. The stench of stomach sickness filled the air, as I opened my eyes to take a look around. The whirling didn't stop. It felt like if you spun around a thousand times, mixed with a permanent hangover. Down was up, and up was down every time I tried to understand my bearings.

The high-pitched ringing in my ears was slowly getting softer now, but it was still there.

My hand began to grasp and caress a rough knit blanket that was spread across my bodice. My fingers were weak, as I moved them to shake the sleep off.