"Hurry up," A panicked whisper filled the area. "We're gonna get caught!"
"If you stopped shouting in my ear, I'd be done already." A low, gruff voice replied. The blue-haired girl in question continued fiddling with the makeshift lock pick, until she heard the familiar click come from the rusted padlock. "Alright, Rin, start grabbing anything you can!" She dropped the now cracked lock to the ground, which landed with a resounding clank!
Unbeknownst to the crew of 4, they were being watched. The onlooker was a red-haired gypsy who curiously stared from behind an old wooden barrel. She'd been planning on robbing this place herself, but it didn't hurt to have a few unexpected helpers.
"Sweet, nya!" The orange-haired girl apparently named Rin triumphantly showcased the first box. "They've got ramen in here!"
"That's good and all, but make sure you're getting the necessary food too." The one who appeared to be the leader called to the shorter one.
"Um, excuse me, Umi-chan, but ramen is necessary nya!"
The blue-haired girl narrowed her eyes at Rin's insolence. "That's Captain Umi to you, Rin." The shy, nervous girl from before whispered expressively to Rin, most likely warning her not to disrespect the captain again.
"She's right, Rin-chan." A gray-haired girl who hadn't spoken up much before now spoke to Rin as well, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You wouldn't want Captain Umi to leave you stranded here now, would you?"
When the reality of her fate flashed before her eyes, Rin gulped and bowed before Umi. "I'll be good, C-Captain Umi nya!" Umi flashed a grin in response, finishing with a curt nod.
"G-guys, they're coming!" The light brown-haired one frantically pointed at the food storage area's designated guards, who were very quickly shuffling towards the crew.
"Dammit, there's no time!" Umi stacked three boxes of assorted goods on top of one another, hurrying to bring them to her docked ship. Rin quickly got ahead of her, carrying another three, while the last two settled for one box each and trailed behind slightly.
Maki was tempted to dash in to get whatever she could but the guards took sight of her and ran towards her direction. 'Shit, this is gonna hurt.' She hurled herself onto Umi's boat, praying that she would not be caught. Much to her dismay, she felt a hand on her shoulder.
She gulped and looked up to stare Umi in the face. She had a dangerously evil face right now, and she could feel her grip tighten. "Girls, come look at what we caught." The other three curiously gathered around to see what Umi was referring to.
"Oooo, another girl, nya?" Rin went to move closer, but she was pulled back by Umi.
"I'll deal with you later," Umi grabbed Maki by the collar of her shirt, practically tossing her in Kotori's direction. The gypsy went crashing before the gray-haired girl's feet. "Kotori, strip her of her clothing and give her a uniform." The blue-haired girl readjusted her hat, then hobbled away on her thin, wooden leg.
Maki nervously gulped, realizing how dehydrated she had become when it hurt to swallow. Umi took notice of this, gesturing to a line of oak-barrels. "Give her some water first."
Kotori nodded, dragging Maki toward the first of the barrels. "Alright, drink up~." Without a pause for Maki to respond, Kotori unceremoniously dunked her head into the lukewarm water. The violet-eyed girl immediately pulled herself back out, coughing and sputtering as water flowed down her face. "That doesn't look like drinking to me." She happily giggled, shoving Maki back under the murky water. This time the redhead was somewhat prepared, taking a bit of the water to drink. It tasted off, almost like it was partially mud, and it felt like it'd been heated under the sun all day.
The barrel nearly tipped over as Maki freed herself from Kotori's grip, crashing against the floorboards of the deck. "I-it tastes warm.. And dirty." Maki's face scrunched up as she attempted to wipe away the remaining liquid.
"Tough shit," Umi gruffly replied, signaling to Kotori. "She's had enough, you can take her away."
Kotori began dragging Maki away by her hair, despite the girl's loud protests. "If you keep screaming like that, Kotori's going to have to punish you~." The amber-eyed girl's voice sounded sweet as honey, but it didn't match her demeanor at all. Maki quickly clamped her mouth shut to prevent any more noise from escaping, scared of what this 'Kotori" person was capable of. "That's much better~."
Once they'd reached the stairs leading inside the ship, Kotori roughly shoved Maki down them, who was lucky not to tumble to her death. She let out a groan, rubbing the back of her head from the hard contact with the floor she'd just had. She had no time to recover before Kotori was yanking her up again, forcing her to sit down in a nearby chair. "I'm not taking my clothes off."
Kotori pouted at Maki's indignance. "But Kotori needs to give you a uniform, so please lift your arms up for me?" She batted her eyelashes in an attempt to charm Maki.
Maki felt heat rise to her cheeks, and unwittingly lifted her arms so that Kotori could more easily remove her silk shirt, then followed by the crimson head scarf that at this point had fallen to her shoulders. The next to go were her many bracelets, her long flowing skirt, and the last remainder of her clothes. "Hey, those are mine!" Maki used one arm to somewhat cover herself, while the other reached out for her gold and silver jewelry.
"The Captain would want me to confiscate these, all treasure is to be brought to her." Kotori leaned down to peck Maki on the cheek. "Thank you for cooperating~." She pointed to a coat rack that held up a single outfit. "Your uniform's over there; get dressed, and Captain Umi will be down to greet you shortly." The clothing designer bowed before taking her leave, hugging the smooth fabrics she'd retrieved to herself.
Once Maki heard the door creak shut, she sprinted across the room so she could get into her uniform. It was a bit too loose for her, and had quite a few tears, making it apparent that it was a hand me down. She tried to make up for how low it hung in regards to her chest, but there wasn't much she could do aside from tie her new ascot over it.
The young gypsy was dragged from her thoughts when she heard the door slam open again, the booming sound soon followed by the repetitive clack of Captain Umi's artificial leg hitting the stairs on her way down.
Maki straightened her posture at the sight of her, nervously picking at a loose thread.
"Hmm," Umi poked the side of Maki's stomach with her walking stick. "Seems a bit large on you; I'll have Kotori tailor it to fit you." Though Umi was just a bit shorter than her, Maki was nonetheless intimidated by the way she eyed her.
"S-so," Maki placed her hands behind her back. "When do I get to leave?"
Umi remained stoic at first, before suddenly bursting into laughter. She used her cane as support while her other hand went to clutch her side as she shook.
Maki grew more and more irritated as Umi persisted, offering no explanation. "What's so funny?"
Umi slowly came back down to earth, wiping a stray tear and clearing her throat. "Oh, you were serious." She made her way over to the chair that Maki had previously been sitting on, plopping herself down and sighing in relief. "When you come aboard my ship, you don't just leave my ship." Umi bent down to rub the ankle that still existed.
"Wait… what?" Maki furiously stomped over to Umi. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"
Umi narrowed her eyes, picking her fallen stick back up. "You should shut your mouth while you can; I've beaten people with this before, and I'm not opposed to using it on you either. Do you want a test drive of it?!" She angrily slammed the carved driftwood into the ground, causing both the stick and the floor to splinter a bit. "Maybe that's what I need to do to straighten your act."
Maki stepped back in fear, wincing at the sound of the contact. "N-no, please…"
Umi grunted, using her cane to push herself back up into a standing position. "Obey my orders and you'll be fine. Now I have the others to deal with, so you just get some rest. Your real duties begin tomorrow."
"Um," Maki looked from side to side, searching for a bed. "Where, exactly?"
She pointed at a corner of the room, where a small pile of empty potato sacks was laid. "There. Now go sleep; I can't have a tired crew. It makes you work less hard." Umi turned her back to Maki, and began making her way back to the rest of her crew. "By the way, the name's Umi, Sonoda Umi. I'm the captain of this ship, so I expect you to treat me with respect." She flashed a confident grin in the younger girl's direction, "And welcome to Poseidon's Dishonor."
Maki found herself left with more questions than answers as the clambering sound of Umi's leg disappeared. She sighed in defeat, making her way over to the makeshift bed she'd been given. "I can get through this," She whispered to herself. "I've slept on less when I had to live in the streets." She curled up on top of a few of the burlap bags, while using the remaining ones for blankets.
"Psssssst," A familiar voice called down to her from above. "That doesn't look very comfy, do you want to sleep with Kotori and her partners~?" Kotori let out a giggle, "It's warm, and you can be in the middle if you want~."
Maki threw off the bags, dashing over to the staircase. "Y-yeah, I can sleep with you instead." Kotori beamed in response, quietly leading her to the center of the ship.
"You've gotta be quiet though, I didn't tell Captain Umi about this." She held a finger to her lips as she began tip toeing past the helm, where Umi was silently steering. Maki followed suit, being careful not to make even a peep. Once they were safely past the steering area, Kotori grabbed Maki by the hand and led her to the hammock inside the small, sheltered room.
"Ah, Kotori-chan!" Maki recognized the shy girl from before when she popped out from beneath her blanket. "Y-you brought the new girl?"
Kotori giddily nodded. "I sure did, Hanayo-chan. She'll be keeping us company tonight." Kotori left Maki behind to lay next to Hanayo. "Well don't be shy, come join us~." She patted the spot between them both, coaxing Maki with her gentle voice.
"O-okay," Maki gingerly slipped between the two of them, allowing herself to be surrounded.
"G'night, you two~." Kotori snuggled up next to Maki, who could feel her cheeks growing warm again.
"G-good night," Maki somehow managed to choke out in response, which was returned by an equally shy good night from the girl on her right side, who slowly wrapped herself around Maki's arm. "I didn't imagine that I'd end my night sandwiched between two girls. …nor did I imagine that I'd be a part of a pirate crew." She shut her eyes in an attempt to block out the thoughts that invaded her brain. "I should try to sleep now, Captain Umi said that I was going to need it." The red-haired girl fell into a half-sleep, when a final thought occurred to her. "Didn't Kotori say "partner(s)"? Where is the second one?"
Maki wished that she hadn't asked that question, when she was jostled fully awake by a body slamming directly on top of her. Any breath that she'd held was squeezed out of her in a drawn, wheezing gasp. "What the fuck was that for?!" She whispered in frustration to the intruder.
"Nya, you're one to talk; what are you doing in my spot of the hammock?!" Maki recognized the voice as belonging to the orange-haired girl named Rin. "Go back to the potato sacks, you- you hammock stealing rat, nya!"
"Rin-chaaaan," Kotori sleepily called from the side. "I told her she could sleep with us, please be nice to her." The gray haired girl sleepily rubbed her eye, before turning away again.
"Ohhh fine, nya…" Rin huffed as she collapsed onto Maki's chest, which was still sore from the small girl's previous assault. "But just for tonight! And I'm warning you, rat-girl, I toss and turn in my sleep a lot nya!"
Maki groaned in pain, finding it hard to breathe beneath Rin's weight. "N-noted…" The girl attempted to sleep and ignore Rin's constant shifting against her, but not much rest was granted to her that night. "Well tomorrow's just gonna be wonderful, isn't it?" Maki tightly shut her eyes, hoping to grasp at even a hint of rest before her first day as an official crew member, and managed to fall asleep among the three girls.