A/N: So glad you all took well to "A Pirate's Proposal," and hopefully you're back for part 2! I know I already have a story set after APP, but I really wanted to write a fic about Isabela, Hawke and Merrill all on a ship. Read and Review just to let me know how it's going
Disclaimer: Bioware owns all!
Chapter 1: Life at Sea
The sea breeze was fresh and fed the sails nicely, the sun provided a gentle warmth, and Isabela could not think of a more perfect day. The sounds of lapping water, her happily, hard working crew and… a sickening groan. Isabela snapped out of her bliss and looked to her side only to see Hawke bent over the side of her ship. As much as she enjoyed seeing Hawke bend over, the sickening hurl of Maker knows what wasn't all too pleasant. It had only been 3 days into their voyage, but Hawke wasn't adapting half as well as Isabela thought she would.
Before she could go and assist the seasick mage, she heard a roar from her men on the decks. When she looked to see what the commotion was all about, she nearly choked on all the curse words she could think of. She swiftly made her way down to the decks and examined the strange, but familiar mess of twine that had caused one of her men to drop some precious cargo while walking.
With a swift flick of her wrist the twine was no more and her daggers already sheathed. She could simply leave it at that and hope that Merrill would stop making webs for her crew to get tangled in, but she knew Merrill would have no idea she was causing trouble until told so. The pirate followed the twine until she found herself at Merrill's cabin which was only a hallway away from her's and Hawke's. She sighed as she entered and found Merrill clutching to the ball of twine; where she procured so much, Isabela did not know.
"Isabela!" Merrill greeted her companion.
"Merrill... " Her voice was stern and the elf picked up on the use of her name instead of the pet name Isabela usually called her by. "One of my men got caught in your twine."
"Oh, sorry about that, is he hurt?" The elf panicked immediately, "I can use my healing magic, or perhaps a salve? I also have a chest full of potions."
She would have babbled on further if Isabela hadn't raised her hand and cut her off, "could you just stop using the twine. I mean… you used it in Kirkwall because you got lost, but you're on a ship now. How could you possibly get lost on a ship?"
"Oh, I haven't gotten lost, not yet anyways, but that's not why I use the twine…" Merrill blinked as her cheeks tinged with pink.
Isabela raised her brow in question and then saw that the twine was wrapped around a sturdy oak pillar in Merrill's room, and upon inspecting the elf further, the pirate found that Merill had somehow wrapped the ball of twine around her as well.
"You see, since you're always busy taking care of things on the ship, and Hawke is usually too sick to take two steps forward without throwing up… poor thing, maybe I should lend her some twine too, but you said no more twine so I guess I'll have to make do," Merrill took a deep breath and confessed, "I don't know how to swim."
"But what's that have to do with the…" a light when on in Isabela's mind and she smacked her forehead and slowly dragged it across her face as Merrill's train of thought merged with hers. "You're afraid of falling overboard and drowning, so you've used the twine to anchor you down just in case."
"Exactly!" Merrill's eyes lit as someone other than herself came to the same conclusion to her current problem.
Isabela leaned on the wall and massaged her temples. Somewhere on her ship was a seasick mage, and sitting before her was an elf that could not swim; what had she gotten herself into? She loved Hawke and Merrill was precious to her, but damned if they didn't make her job as captain harder.
"If you promise to give the twine a rest, I will personally see to it that you don't fall overboard, and if you do, I promise you won't drown," Isabela stated calmly as she opened her eyes to meet with Merrill's calm, green gaze.
Merrill twirled her twine with her fingers nervously as she contemplated the risk of removing the safety of her twine anchor, but saw there was no room for bargaining in Isabela's fierce, honey gaze. The elf lowered her head and handed the twine over to Isabela.
"Thank you kitten," Isabela took the twine and pet the elf's head. "Now let's go rescue Hawke from feeding any more of the fishes."
"She's been feeding the fishes? This whole time I just thought she was hurling for no particular reason. How very generous of her to empty her bowels for the sake of such tiny creatures." Merrill would have continued in her praise for Hawke's selfless nature if Isabela's incredulous look hadn't hinted to her that she was, once again, mistaken. "Oh… you were speaking figuratively."
"No, she is literally feeding the fishes, but I doubt it's out of the goodness of her heart." Isabela muttered as she walked back on deck. "Hawke!" Isabela called ahead to the woman holding on to the railing of her ship.
"Isa…." Hawke hurled the rest of Isabela's name into the ocean waters. "Maker this is worse than being any hangover I've ever had." The mage groaned and wiped her face before turning her attention to Isabela.
"Were you like this the entire way to Kirkwall?" Isabela asked.
"No… not quite, but I wasn't walking so much as I was laying in a cramped corner. Up on the deck it feels so…" Hawke felt the planks beneath her shift from side to side as the ship glided through the sea, "unstable."
"I'm sure you'll get your sea legs soon… until then, do you mind staying in our cabin?" Isabela, while she was able to punish her men for ogling her mage as she bent over, could not blame them for it. Hawke's ass was fine even when she was regurgitating all of her breakfast into the vast sea. She was also worried that Hawke would tumble over and suffer from dehydration. "Kitten would you mind tending to her until she feels a bit better?"
"Of course I wouldn't mind," Merrill perked up and offered Hawke her assistance in standing.
"Isabela, how much longer until we reach our destination?"
"We still have about a day's worth of sailing," Isabela informed the mage and leaned over to plant a chaste kiss to her forehead. "Come now, go recover so that we can at least have fun when I retire for the night."
"Right…" Hawke tried her best to muster up her boyish grin, but another bout of sickness turned in her stomach. "Let's go Merrill."
Merrill happily obliged and walked with the mage back to her quarters. Isabela sighed and scratched the back of her head. She had imagined her voyage with Hawke to be very different than what it was turning out to be. For some reason, she had just assumed Hawke would be a natural salior, but the woman could barely walk across her deck without spewing all over it. She had imagined Hawke swinging from sail to sail and perching on the crow's nest from time to time, but perhaps she would become a good sailor in time. She headed back to the ship's wheel and confirmed their progress.
"Aye, aye Captain, we should be there in roughly one day with the way the wind's been holding up."
Isabela nodded and dismissed her first mate. Riley was an adept sailor and everything Isabela could ask for in a second-in-command at sea. She was young, malleable but not too impressionable that she could be swayed by just anyone. Isabela had found her at the docks, running from a pack of men that Isabela had often seen at the Blooming Rose. However, Isabela had not known she was a girl til much later. She donned young men's clothing and her hair was cut short like a boy's, and although she was pretty; she could easily pass for an effiminate young man.
Isabela still recalled the day Riley ran right by her; her amber eyes flashed as the men chasing her shouted at Isabela to "stop that boy!" Before the seemingly young man could get caught, Isabela intervened and the led the men astray as he continued to flee. When she followed the youth, she found him at the alienage handing out gold that no doubt belonged to the patrons of the Blooming Rose. It was strange to see a human in the alienage, and even stranger to see one actually helping its residents.
Isabela confronted the boy and was surprised at how quickly he had drawn his blade and swiped at her. Thankfully the pirate was the superior duelist and outmaneuvered the youth. Fully disarmed, the boy attempted to flee, but Isabela was quicker and much more interested in learning more about the boy and his motives. After a couple of fists, the youth reluctantly followed Isabela back to the Hanged man. The pirate could tell from the way the boy's body tensed and his eyes darted to and fro that he did not trust her.
After a few pints, the boys posture slackened and Isabela thought he was finally opening up. The boy had been a slave on a ship, but survived by killing a crew member and donning his clothes instead. Isabela listened with a speculative ear; she couldn't be sure which parts were truth and which were lies. Riley made neither apparent. The young boy continued to tell the pirate that a family of elves had taken her in and he was in the process of paying them back. After listening to the youth's tale, Isabela made him a deal to be part of her crew. It was then that Isabela stumbled upon Riley's secret.
"I… I need to go." Riley looked at the strange woman who had all but forced her to enter the tavern.
"I just offered you a way to make money that doesn't involve being chased by raucous men, where would you need to go?" Isabela slammed her mug down.
"No, I mean…" Riley's face blushed and wondered if there were restrooms in this establishment. She had never been in a place like this before, and neither had she ever drank whatever it was that was in those mugs before.
Isabela thought the boy cute if but a bit too young for her tastes, but still couldn't fathom why he wouldn't take her up on her offer.
"You would be able to pay back the family that took you in." Isabela further enticed him.
"Are there bathrooms here?" The youth finally asked unable to hold it any longer.
"I wouldn't suggest going to the ones here…" Isabela pinched her nose in jest. "You're a boy, go do it out in the alley."
To this Riley blushed even harder and for a split second Isabela questioned whether she was looking at a boy or a girl. Without further ado, the pirate extended her hands and cupped Riley's chest. The youth gasped and threw her mug at the groping pirate. Isabela caught the mug before it could smash into the wall, and handed it to the annoyed bartender.
"Sorry about that…. she's just a bit emotional right now." Isabela apologized and then turned back to Riley. "You're a girl?"
Riley nodded once and looked away, her eyes filling with tear of anger at being found out. "I can't just pee in an alley."
"Nonsense," Isabela grabbed the girl by her arm and pulled her outside. "I pee outside all the time."
Riley looked at her with wide eyes.
"Well you know, not ALL the time, but sometimes there isn't much of a choice." Isabela winked, gave the girl a nudge and turned around. "Just don't get it all over your shoes; I'll be on watch for you meanwhile."
And that was the start of a beautiful friendship, or more like a mentorship. Isabela treated the girl like a younger sister and took pride in the fact that she had made her into a fine sailor. She had never wanted kids; Riley was probably the closest she'd ever get to that.
Isabela ended her reminiscing and stared out ahead in the direction of their destination; a land she once called home; a land where a girl named Naishe had lived-the land of Rivain.
A/N: Alright, hope you all like it so far! I can't wait to go to Rivain in the actual game... hopefully that becomes an option one day. For now I'll just make it up as a go with all the reference material I can gather :3