- Adaptation -
Learning is any change in a system that produces a more or less permanent change in its capacity for adapting to its environment.
"What are you blundering idiots doing!" the captain bellowed at his men. "Pull the lines! Pull the lines tight!"
The chaotic movements of the storm though thwarted the captain's men. They scrambled around as they tried to follow orders through the heavy rain and thundering storm.
The sounds of pulleys, thunder and the occasional cursing from the captain were all that were heard on this frenzied night.
"Captain! It's no use! The storm is just too strong for her!" one of his men down on the deck yelled.
The captain's piercing glare made the crew shiver, and men who live out in the cold, hard seas did not shiver.
"We will stop when my dead body is at the pit of the ocean. Is that clear?"
The crews' silently agreed by continuing their fruitless workings of the sails and ropes.
The captain stood at the top of the deck, trying to steer his girl to any dry land. He knew that trying to fix the sails was a useless waste of time, but it kept his men doing something besides worrying. He took out his compass and stared at it as if it held his only salvation out of this damned rainstorm.
"Captain!" He heard from the overhead deck. "Over there! It may be land!"
The captain's head snapped in the direction the man was pointing, and while difficult to see at night through the pounding rain, it was most definitely land.
"Aye! Head due east! Now!" the captain ordered.
The crew, now filled with hope of getting somewhere dry, enthusiastically went to work fulfilling their captain's direction.
Alas, this adrenaline rush of sailing the harsh seas that these sailors lived for was cut short. A wave as mountainous as Everest came crashing down upon their beloved ship, knocking most of the men overboard and then soon after, the ship herself.
Men's shouts were deafened by the waters as their arms flailed in the air hopelessly.
The blackness that encased the captain frightened him and he wished that none of his men see him such a state. No honorable captain should be afraid of anything. The fire of suffocation was nothing compared to the feeling of isolation he was experiencing. He thrashed about, gasping for air when the seas allowed him, before he too, succumbed to the almighty Mother Nature.
It was cold, absolutely, downright cold. And Roxas really hated being cold. His head felt clogged and sluggish while his body was rigid and numb. He wanted to move, start getting the blood pumping in his body, but he couldn't even wiggle his toes. In fact, he couldn't even seem to open his eyes.
He felt something warm touch his forehead. The warmth though was soon retracted and he wished he could voice to put whatever warmth it was back on his head. This feeling, however, gave him a sense of power. He willed his eyes to open for the longest of time and for a second they did.
He caught a glimpse of golden hair flying through the air.
It was absolutely beautiful. It reminded him of the sun, the blistering sun he had come to love so much. The sun that gave him burns upon his back and shoulders when he stayed out too long, the sun that provided him with light, the sun that shunned the darkness away.
But this flitting moment was all he saw before the darkness of unconsciousness took him away again.
An audible groan could be heard from the corner of her hut. The script that was in her hands was long forgotten as she hurried over to the bizarre man that was found upon the shorelines earlier that morning.
His eyes were still shut closed by the time she crossed the room to him, a wet cloth in hand. She gently placed it on his forehead, hoping it would bring him to consciousness.
The cool sensation did just as she hoped for as his eyes fluttered open, blinking rapidly from confusion.
"Oh!" She gasped. Not knowing what to say to such a strange man.
Roxas didn't seem to notice her presence immediately, but instead his eyes fell upon the leaf ceiling and the native décor hanging about the room.
"You're awake!" the girl said, more to herself than him.
It was then that Roxas realized he wasn't at the bottom of the ocean, but still in fact, very much alive and breathing. He then looked over to the side to see a girl, who was way too close for comfort, in his face, staring at him like a new trinket she had just discovered.
He rushed to his feet in a battle stance, a strategy already forming in his head on how to escape. But this plan was ruined when a pang of pain hit his head. His hands grasped his head from the ache.
"Oh my! Here! Drink this!"
He heard a rustling go about the room before a drink was thrust into his mouth, much to his displeasure. Roxas didn't exactly go around taking strange drinks, yet alone taking one from an even stranger girl.
But his irritation was set aside as the sweet liquid quenched a thirst he had not noticed. The throbbing in his head dulled and he regained his senses for the most part.
He then truly looked at the person standing in front of him. She was smiling just a bit too perky and had a twinkle in her eye that he didn't like. Her fair skin made the blue in her eyes more pronounced.
"Hi there!" she welcomed loudly. "I'm Xion! What's your name?"
A/N time!
Land ahoy!
So I was watching Pirates and then this popped in my head... :) Enjoy and merci beaucoup!
Yo ho yo ho a pirate's life for me!
I should probably just stop with the pirate jokes...
