Snow was falling heavily and endlessly, leaving a blanket of snow across the island. It was pure white, only tainted with lone human footsteps. A young girl, no older than the age of fifteen, stubbornly trudged through the storm relentlessly.
Her vision was quickly deteriorating from the storm, but she blinked away the snowflakes that stuck to her eyelashes. Her body was trembling, clothed by a black hooded cloak and combat boots.
Warm puffs of air left her chilled, blue lips. She looked pale and fragile, and if she were to collapse into the snow, no one would know, if not for her long raven hair.
A thin smile stretched along her chapped lips as she saw her destination in the near distance. One single grave. Pure white as the snow, with small cracks littering it from erosion. She dared not slow her pace, for if she did, she feared she would not continue.
She was now standing right in front of the grave, which was bare except for the harshly engraved name. The name was engraved in jagged lines, most likely with unexperienced knife handling.
'Ciel Lockwood'
The girl smiled bitterly at the grave. "Well Ciel, it's been a while." she whispered against the cold, refusing to shed any tears. To the side of the grave was a Bokken, a wooden sword used for training purposes.
A cold chuckle passed through the girl's lips, her bright sky blue eyes dulled with repent. "You were never good with the sword, or any weapon, now were you, Ciel?" The girl shook her head, as if the thought amused her. The long haired girl bent to her knees and held her hands in prayer.
"I was never really religious, but I hope you rest in peace." she whispered. She stood there, kneeled in prayer for a long time. Well, a long enough time for a thin veil of snow to cover her from head to toe.
The cold smile never left her trembling lips, and she only moved when she lost all the sensation in her hands. She rubbed her hands together, waking the dead muscles. As she did this, her eyes flickered up to stare at the grave.
"Ciel, you lived a short life. Died at the age of six, it's a pity, really." she sighed, a warm burst of air puffing out.
The girl started to stand, and fought the urge to stay kneeling. She closed her eyes, and silenced the sharp howls of wind in her head. She tried to remember of happier times. Along with Ciel, there were two others. She could probably remember them if she saw them once again, but as of now, their faces were blurred save for their grins.
She turned her back to the grave, and as if the gods above knew this would be their final farewell, the snow lightened up and the wind slowed to a breeze.
"Goodbye Ciel. I told you I would avenge you, and I'm sorry it took nine years for me to actually act on those words." she smirked.
Her smirk curved into something bitter. "Unfortunately, the only face I can remember is that man's. Not our old friends, not even yours, Ciel."
Her feet started to sink into the snow as she walked. Her feet had long gone immune to the cold, either that, or they were dead. She didn't mind, as long as they could carry her to the man she detested the most, she could live with two lost limbs.
The girl stopped in her tracks, about fifteen miles away from the grave. A smile started to appear on her face. "Oh right, I didn't tell you my name." she laughed, and shook her head at her small blunder.
When she opened her eyes, they were once again a burning sky blue. "It's Aria. I suppose I should have a last name too, shouldn't I? Then, Aria Night. Since like, it's night right now." she answered with a soft chuckle.
She continued to trudge through the snow, and it wasn't nearly as cold as before. Aria wasn't sure if that was because of her newfound conviction or simply because she had gotten numb. Either worked for her.
Aria had no idea how long she was walking, but she got to the edge of the island fast enough. She had no possessions, save for the clothes she was wearing and some bandages covering her right forearm. The below freezing water chilled her entire body, but she forced herself to swim.
For nine years, she watched the same thing. A faraway, but loud, ship treading through the icy cold water. She looked into the distance, about fifty seconds until they would be close enough for her to climb aboard. About thirty seconds until they would notice that indeed, she was a human and not a floating piece of ice or wood.
So, when the thirty seconds mark hit, she submerged herself into the water, hiding herself from clear view. She would have to hold out for twenty seconds underwater. Then, she could climb onto the small balcony, and enter through the forever unlocked door. She knew that they never locked it. The cold made it hard enough to open unlocked.
She could feel her long, waist length hair twirl in the water as if they were weightless. She opened her eyes, and tried not to gape at the view. Clear, pristine, blue tinted water stared back at her. There was no life, yet she felt like she was surrounded by it. There was barely any sunlight to begin with, but a small amount filtered into the water.
Aria decided she quite liked the sight, and if she ever chose to go scuba diving in ice cold water again, she would come back here. Finally, the sunlight was filtered out completely when a large shadow above blocked it. Aria swam to the right, and popped her head out of the water, greedily drinking in gulps of air. She body was trembling, but she managed to swim to the side of the boat on adrenaline alone.
She hoisted herself up to the balcony from the metal bars, but it was a thousand times harder than she could've imagined. Add in the weight of the water and numbing senses, and she was close to just letting go and submerging herself in the pretty sight once again.
She would die though. She had given Ciel her word that she would find revenge, and although Aria broke promises like there was no tomorrow, she couldn't remember once she had broken her word. She prided herself in that one, small fact.
With great effort, she lifted her legs over the protective metal bars and as soon as she did, she slumped into the balcony, her back against the metal bars. Her breathing was ragged, and the wind chilled her to the bone. She shook away the urge to close her eyes for just a few seconds, because she knew eternity wasn't just a few seconds.
Heaving, she forced herself to her knees and finally her feet. Her trembling hands clutched onto the door handle, and with the last bit of adrenaline in her body, she yanked the door open. A burst of warm air enveloped her, and with that, she entered but she was hesitant to close the door behind her.
Aria was fairly certain she would not have enough power, at the moment; she was rather strong normally, to open the door again if she closed it. That would mean no going back.
Aria didn't even have a chance to decide, because at that moment, the wind chose for her and shut the door behind her. She smiled weakly and passed it off as a sign from above. Her body was warming and weakening at the same time.
"I have to find a place to hide..." she winced, feeling a headache coming in from the sudden change of temperature. Her heart started to beat erratically when she heard voices complaining about why it was suddenly so cold.
Without another thought, she sprinted into the closest unlocked door she could find, and hid herself in there. It was a storage room, and looked very undisturbed, but clean for the most part. She tried to keep from shaking as she found a worn out sofa tucked into the corner, hidden by towers of boxes. She moved some out of the way, climbed onto the couch, and put them back into towers again to hide her from view.
She fell unconscious almost immediately, and a small voice in her head nagged she should at least take off her soaked clothes, but she was too far gone to even realize the cold surrounding her. She could only focus on the softness and warmth of the couch.
She dreamed of nothing but darkness, which she was thankful for. In the middle of her slumber, she felt the headache leave too. Aria would've been pleased to stay there forever, if not for the loud men that were moving and taking stuff out of the very storage room she was hiding in.
With sad effort, she woke up to stare blankly into the darkness. "-over there too. There's a couch, bring that out as well." a man ordered.
Oh shit. Aria quickly scrambled into a lone box near the sofa, it was semi-comfortable. It was narrower than it was tall, so Aria just lied down with her knees tucked to her stomach. She heard some rustling to her side, waited a few minutes before the sound stopped.
Then there was nothing, just silence. She didn't move until she heard the door click. She hesitantly popped out of the box, joints sore and abused but she ignored them. She grinned and tilted her head, "Well they took my bed. Thanks, losers." she stuck her tongue at the door before finally stepping out of the box.
There was give or take the same amount of boxes the last time she checked, however, some new ones caught her attention. Aria wandered off towards some very colorful boxes, some even had glitter and sequins on them.
One said 'wigs' so she pried that one open. Aria was half expecting to see heads with hair on them for all she cared, but to her bemused relief, they were all real wigs. She grinned as she looked around childishly and rubbed her hands in mischief.
"Operation: Turn Myself into a Boy, in action." she laughed quietly, pulling out a hairband and a short, blonde wig. It was long known women were banned on ships, at least normal ships, since they were considered bad luck. To her right was a full size mirror, so she adjusted the wig with ease.
To her luck, Aria wasn't born with over feminine features. Add in the dry face, peeling lips and dark circles under her eyes, she looked just like any other overworked labor worker. She examined herself, her cloak and boots were moist, but not soaking. Still, a quick shower and change of uniform was a must.
Aria grimaced at the thought of showering. She hasn't showered in a long time, unless you include swishing around in the ocean. Call her unhygienic, but she simply highly disliked showers.
She pulled out what looked like to be a spare uniform, and she noted it was the same uniform she saw some of the men wear during the nine years she observed the ship. She held them gingerly and sneaked to the door. The noises had died down, so she could assume moving supplies was their last task and they had headed off to bed.
She walked along the hallways with a little cation, but almost childish glee. She found the showers easily enough, a room filled with rows of showers, thankfully covered by doors. She entered one, placed her dry clothes up on a plastic shelf and welcomed the hot water.
She didn't have a towel, but if she waited long enough, she would dry, wouldn't she? Thankfully there was a soap and shampoo dispenser too.
It was easy to say that the next forty-five minutes was the the most hellish experience Aria had ever experience in her life. She grimaced as she tugged the hair out of her fingers and wrapped them in toilet paper, hiding the evidence of her long hair.
"That was disgusting." she winced. By the time she had fought the tangles out of her hair and made her body squeaky clean, the shower water was a dark brown from the dirt that had accumulated over the years. Once she felt she was dry enough, she squirmed into the slightly bigger uniforms.
To her endless joy, she found a forgotten hairdryer and plastic bags. She quickly dried her hair, and placed her newly washed cloak and combat boots into two separate bags. Once she was pleased, she tied her hair up, and placed the wig back on.
She grinned, "Okay! Operation's on!" she cheered quietly.
Hello, minna~ This is an OC crew and while the start is a little boring, there will be more action in the next chapters! Aria is an oddball character. You'll learn more about her later and the rest of her (will be acquired) crew. Please, review, favourite and follow.