Howdy Folks
As you know this is a collaborative Fanfic between Whenanxietykicksin and myself (wunderwolfer); we're taking it in turns to write a chapter WAKI wrote the first chapter and I've written this one.
I'm a big Fan of WAKI's writing (don't tell her she'll use it against me) and I really enjoyed reading SWMA on her page all those months ago, so it feels a bit strange to be writing a chapter for a story I was following but I'm also super excited about writing with her and writing my first Shiznat. She also forced me to do it...HAHAHA she's gonna kill me, I can only be nice for one sentence HAHAHA.
Anyway here's my first chapter I hope you like it and it lives up to the first. Oh and please R&R, we both love feedback.
Disclaimer: I own nut'in, not even a doughnut.
WW
Shizuru woke up shivering. "Ugh...cold, cold, cold," she chanted as she launched out of the freezing bath and immediately wrapped herself in one of cabin's warm, thick towels.
'How long had she been asleep and why hadn't anyone woke her?' she wondered idly as she finished drying herself and wrapped herself in one of the silk robes. Turning off the bathroom stereo she wandered through into the bedroom. She paused; her instincts told her something was very wrong. She looked around her bedroom: her luggage was still there, the door was still locked from the inside and her engagement ring was still on the bedside table but she still felt like something was missing. She frowned not liking what her gut feeling was telling her.
Sound.
It was so quiet. Shouldn't she be able to hear the sound of the engines?
Curious she walked into the living room, unlocked the suite door and poked her head outside to look up and down the deck. How long had she been asleep? She wondered again. When she had entered the suite it had been light but now the entire ship appeared to be bathed in darkness, if it wasn't for the high moon and the light from the living room behind her she wouldn't have been able to see anything, not that there was anything to see the ship seemed completely empty. Still drowsy from her long sleep and slightly confused by the silence and darkness she forgot decency and stepped onto the deck in her short silk robe.
So quiet, so eerily quiet.
She hadn't been on many cruises but she was sure that wasn't right.
"Hello," she called her voice raised slightly, barely noticeably to strangers but acquaintances of the calm heiress would have shocked to hear the slight inflexion in her typically cool melodic tone. She stepped further away from the suite wrapping her arms around herself. There was no one, not one person in sight. For a busy cruise ship it was inconceivable. She'd had nightmares like this (an unconscious visualization of her loneliness) which led her to think that perhaps she was dreaming. It had to be a dream it would certainly explain a lot of things: the deserted ship, the quiet, the darkness, and the cursing door that was running towards her, it would also explain why the door sounded so familiar.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit," Natsuki chanted with increasing anxiety as she ran round the ship trying to find a ladder. Perhaps it had been a mistake to use an axe to remove the thin door she was carrying in front of her, the delay had cost her at least ten minutes, but if ship sinking disaster movies had taught her anything it was that if she was going to get into the sea she needed as many floatable objects to hang onto as possible, especially with her poor swimming capabilities. She had a thin door and a life jacket hung over one arm and they made her feel slightly better about getting into the sea in the middle of the night with an approaching storm and swimming more than a mile in a direction she hoped was land. It was possibly the craziest thing she had ever done but if she stayed on board with no one to navigate the ship she'd probably go down with it. So although it seemed like the actions of a lunatic her plans were reasoned and made with a sound mind, it would have been much easier task if she was insane because her clarity of mind meant that she was astutely aware of all potential dangers and consequences of her decision to take her chances in the sea and explained why she was sweating profusely, swearing anxiously and feeling so terrified that if she had more time before the hurricane reached her she'd probably be using it to vomit every single meal she'd eaten for the last year.
"Shit, shit, shit," she repeated as she sped around the deck peering over the ship's railings to search for the ladder. 'Fuck it,' deciding to throw the door overboard and jump after it she raised the door over her head.
"Natsuki!" an astonished voice called behind her.
"WHAT!" she turned aggressively still holding the door above her head (she was always annoyed by people interrupting her when she was about to do something stupid).
"Shizuru!" she exclaimed in astonishment after immediately recognizing the woman in front of her.
Shizuru seemed as shocked as Natsuki and the two women stared at each other in silence. Despite the number of years that had passed since Natsuki had seen Shizuru, she can still easily recognize her. Same perfect skin, same long chestnut colored hair, same deep crimson eyes and even though she was wearing next to nothing, she still looked elegant and dignified—a tribute to her breeding and status and a reminder of why they had stopped being friends.
Shizuru recovered from the surprise reunion first as her shocked expression quickly changed to amusement. Natsuki followed Shizuru's eye line to the door above her head and Shizuru quietly giggled as she slowly placed it onto the deck a little more than irritated that even as an adult the Kyoto woman could still make her blush.
The appearance of her old friend had been sudden, almost mystical and had stunned the biker making her forget her current terrifying circumstances. But as she placed the door on the deck the life jacket slipped down her arm she remembered everything: the engine, the ship, the storm and now Shizuru. 'Just what the hell was Shizuru doing still on board? She's always doing stupid things.' They may not be friends anymore but that didn't mean she didn't care about her but expressing emotions, especially those of a caring nature, had always been difficult for the biker so she reverted to the one emotion she always felt comfortable expressing.
"Shizuru, what the fuck are you still doing here?" she snapped.
Shizuru's friendly smile faded into a frown. "I see that Natsuki-chan is still well-informed on etiquette and social graces," she said with a thin smile clasping her hands behind her back. "I know we didn't leave each other on the best of terms but we could at least be civil towards each other..."
Natsuki was dumbfounded by Shizuru's unruffled composure. "No, no, no," she reasoned aloud rubbing her forehead agitatedly, "even you are not reserved enough to be calm on a sinking ship."
"Excuse me, on a what?" Shizuru said quickly hoping she misheard the woman.
"Didn't you hear the alarms," Natsuki pointed towards one of the alarm speaker outside Shizuru's door. Her answer was pretty obvious as Shizuru stared at her blankly. "The ship's engines are not working and a storm is coming. Everyone has abandoned ship and they've taken all the lifeboats with them," she lamented pausing to let the gravity of their situation sink in.
Shizuru was confused. "Can't you just fix it?" She frowned glancing at Natsuki's tool belt.
"What is it with you people and ordering me to fix things, like it's the most reasonable solution to everything? Do you just walk through life completely oblivious to how the world works," she said sharply. "I can fix the engine," she explained slowly and acrimoniously as if speaking to a child, "but someone has to pilot the ship. Do you know how to navigate a cruise liner through a hurricane because the last captain sure didn't feel confident?"
Shizuru blinked a few times but stared vacantly at the mechanic. She certainly appeared to be taking the news of their dilemma better than Natsuki and the mechanic was astounded and a little impressed by the Kyoto woman's ability to be so relaxed. She didn't gasp, cry or even scream at the news of their imminent demise she just stepped closer to the biker and pinched the mechanic's arm.
Natsuki yelped in pain.
"You're real. I'm not dreaming," Shizuru responded evenly.
"Of course you're not dreaming and FYI you're supposed to pinch yourself not other people." She pouted looking at the red spot on her arm she couldn't believe how painful that was. "Ooooo that's gonna bruise…"
Shizuru couldn't hear Natsuki's complaints for she was in complete shock and although outwardly she remained composed, relying upon her cool facade that has taken years to perfect, inwardly she was reduced to a quivering terrified mess that was quickly losing control of all reason and rational thinking. Void of all thought except 'oh god I can't swim, oh god I can't swim...' her strong instinct for self preservation kicked in and took control of the helm.
"Well Natsuki it seems I'm very fortunate that we met before you abandoned ship," she smiled sweetly as she stepped closer to the mechanic. "If you could just lend me your life jacket..." she said nonchalantly beginning to pull the jacket from the biker's arm.
"Hell no!" Natsuki yelled in shock just catching the jacket and tugging it back towards her she was no idiot and she was certainly no Jack, she had already given up her last chance of safety for a bunch of elitist snobs so there was no way she was giving up her chance for survival for another one. "It took me twenty minutes to find this jacket. I need it."
"I need it more. You'll be fine, you're…," Shizuru paused to look Natsuki up and down and try to think of an appropriate description of the mechanic. "…rugged and you'll have the door," she reasoned.
"What the hell does that mean?" Natsuki huffed indignantly sweeping her hair over one shoulder, "and it's not your door to bargain with." She frowned leaning angrily towards the heiress and tightening her grip on the jacket, "I found both of them and I'm keeping both of them."
Shizuru's hung onto the preserver and mirrored Natsuki's posture leaning towards the cobalt haired woman until they were almost nose to nose. "Same old Natsuki, you haven't changed one little bit," Shizuru sneered.
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"Bad-tempered, self-serving brat…"
"I'm selfish!" Natsuki chuckled humorlessly. "Oh that's rich coming from you princess! How's Mummy and Daddy? Still pandering…sorry I mean paying for your every whim and fancy?"
Shizuru was outraged. "Why you little…Give it to me," Shizuru hissed through her teeth trying to pull the jacket away from Natsuki.
"No!" Natsuki growled tugging it back towards her.
"YES!" Shizuru tugged.
"NO!" Natsuki tugged.
Back and forth, back and forth the jacket was pulled between the two women. The wind increased, swirling and whistling round the two figures locked in battle reminding them of the fast approaching storm. Their tug of war became more desperate and intense verbal quarrel reduced to growls and exasperated yells as the two participants saved all their energy for their physical scuffle. After a few minutes of intense struggling Natsuki seemed to be getting the upper hand over the pampered heiress as she pulled it closer towards her body even attempting to place the life jacket back over her arm, but Natsuki had forgotten an important characteristic of Shizuru—no matter the odds or the opponent, in business as well as in life, Shizuru always got what she wanted.
With her last remaining strength and a primal scream fueled by terror and desperation Shizuru suddenly jerked the jacket backward and down unbalancing the surprised mechanic and forcing her to follow the jacket's trajectory. Shizuru used her momentum to turn slightly away from Natsuki and (in a fluid motion a matador would be proud of) pulled the jacket back up, round and straight from the mechanic's hands just before Natsuki hit the ship's deck face first with a grunt.
Shizuru roared with victory. She had experienced the exhilaration of winning battles in the boardroom but they were insignificant compared to the thrill she felt from her victory from their physical battle. Shizuru body was coursing with adrenaline, she felt powerful, wild like a fierce animal freed from its suffocating cage. Consumed and dizzy from a mixture of residual anger and triumph Shizuru thoughtlessly raised the jacket above her head with another roar of victory and let the defeated Natsuki watch from her position sprawled at the champion's feet as she threw her spoils of war straight over the ship railings.
Natsuki scrambled to her feet, "What the fuck did you do that for?" she yelled running over to the railing just in time to watch the jacket teasingly float away from the boat and out to sea.
"If I'm not having the jacket then you're certainly not having it," Shizuru shrieked wildly pointing at herself and then Natsuki. Indulging in savagery was immodest, barbaric and to the respectable heiress it felt incredible and glorious, until Natsuki turned back towards her and brought her crashing back to reality.
"And now neither of us has it idiot!"
Realization dawned and Shizuru's jaw dropped and her eyes widening in terror. "I don't know why I did that. I...I don't like surprises," she finished in a whisper, embarrassed and astonished by her moment of madness.
Natsuki groaned miserably as she dejectedly slid down the railings onto the deck her head in her hands. "It took me twenty minutes to find that jacket! Where the hell are we going to get another one before the storm hits us?" Natsuki grumbled. "The wind is already becoming stronger. It's only a matter of time before…"
Shizuru nervously chewed on her fingernail and drowned out the rest of Natsuki's rant so she could think clearly, she had to think. She hadn't really listened to the onboard induction from the sleazy Bellboy but she vaguely remembered something he said about abandoning ship and life jackets...
"My cabin! There should be one in my cabin," she said excitedly as she ran back into her room with Natsuki close behind her.
"Where?" Natsuki asked as Shizuru ran into the living room and began ripping open the cupboards and pulling out the dresser drawers.
"I'm not sure. Search everywhere! Take the bedroom," Shizuru said pausing to quickly point towards the bedroom door.
Natsuki followed Shizuru's instructions and raced into the bedroom. She didn't even stop for the obligatory whistle at the size and extravagance of the bedroom before she began to overturn the luxurious room following Shizuru's example. Rain began to pelt against the bedroom window and the noise made Natsuki pause and grimace with anxiety. The storm was getting closer and if they didn't get into the sea soon they'd be stuck on a sinking ship.
Resuming her search she tipped over the heavy wooden bed to find a large enticing safety box. She ripped it open excitedly and squealed with joy when she found not one, but two top of line life jackets and another waterproof bag full of emergency provisions such as dried food, rope, binoculars and a torch. She hugged one of the jackets and thanked every God and Deity for the upper classes because they certainly know how to look after their own.
"Shizuru I found them!" she shrieked.
Shizuru eagerly bounded into the bedroom. "Thank God!" she breathed in relief as Natsuki threw a life jacket towards her and she embraced her chance of survival.
"We need to get into the sea and we need the door if we want to reach land," Natsuki said putting on her jacket. She crammed her own belongings into the emergency pack. "I'm assuming you still can't swim?" Shizuru nodded worriedly as she put her own jacket over her robe.
"Don't worry I'll help you," Natsuki reassured confidently even though her swimming abilities was best described as floating with frantic arm movements.
"There's a private ladder from my balcony we could use." Shizuru suggested.
"Good idea. I'll get the door, you unlock the balcony." Natsuki instructed beginning to follow Shizuru back into the living room. She paused after catching a glint in the thick carpet; she bent down and picked up a metal object she identified as a diamond ring. 'Wow precious.' It looked expensive and probably cost more money than Natsuki made in five years. Thinking Shizuru would probably want it she put it in her shirt pocket and immediately forgot all about it, she had bigger things to worry about.
Reconvening on the balcony Natsuki crouched on the deck and hastily secured the emergency bag onto the door with a rope.
"What's next? We can't just get into the sea and start swimming in any direction?" Shizuru said nervously shifting from foot to foot and chewing her fingernails.
"Errrr…I have a map…sort of." Natsuki said hesitantly without looking up.
"That's not very comforting. What do you mean sort of?" Shizuru frowned. Natsuki sighed and handed her a leaflet from her jean's pocket.
Shizuru read the title, "Freddy the Fish is on his way to Greece," she said impassively opening the Children's travel leaflet to reveal a cartoon map showing the Cruise liner's course to Greece.
Natsuki finished and stood up pointing the map. "I think we're about here so if we head North East for about a mile we should reach this large island here," she explained, turning to quickly lower the door over the railing and into the sea by the left over rope.
"And if we pass Ollie the happy Octopus," Shizuru deadpanned pointing at the picture of the smiling Octopus waving from the sea, "we should be heading in the right direction," she ended dryly as Natsuki finished lowering the door into the sea.
"It was the only thing I could find and I have a compass under my watch's face," with one hand still holding the rope Natsuki snatched back the "map" with one of her famous glares. "Do you have a better idea?" she challenged, Natsuki smiled in satisfaction when Shizuru shook her head demurely.
"Hurry up then," Natuski barked lifting her leg over the railing and making her way down the ladder with the rope still in her hand. Looking down at the door making sure it stayed close to the bottom of the ladder she felt Shizuru climb over the railing as the ladder shifted slightly with the added weight. The wind and rain assaulted the two women as they climbed down the ladder and a few times during their descent they had to stop and cling to the ladder.
"Errrr…Natuski don't look up." Shizuru yelled over the wind trying to hold down her short robe with one hand but Natsuki was only human and so did exactly what every human would do, she immediately looked up.
"What do you mean don't look….gaahhhh," she screamed in shock letting go of the ladder to shield her eyes from the sight that greeted her and with a frightened scream, she fell from the ship straight into the sea. She hit the cold water with a gasp, plunging into the dark water, luckily her swimming abilities stretched to floating and with the help of the buoyant life jacket she kicked her way back to the surface.
As she reappeared a few meters away from the ladder to find Shizuru at the bottom of it frantically calling her name as the heiress searched the water.
"What the hell Shizuru!" Natsuki shouted furiously as she swam back towards the ladder glad she was still holding the rope, "Where the hell is your under…gah" she yelled as Shizuru ignored the hostile mechanic and jumped into the sea pulling Natsuki into an embrace.
"You're ok, I was so worried," Shizuru said between sobs. Natsuki's anger immediately dissipated and she blushed, unused to anyone showing concern for her wellbeing.
"With good reason you nearly killed me," she said pulling away with a smile to show Shizuru she was joking. Shizuru returned the smile and reluctantly let go of the mechanic. Happy that both jackets were keeping them afloat Natsuki began pulling the door towards them.
"Now come M'lady your vessel awaits," she gestured gallantly towards the door. Once Shizuru was half laying on their makeshift raft her legs dangling in the water Natsuki put the loose rope on the door and climbed beside her.
"A mile is a long way for us to swim," Shizuru said turning to her. "Despite the fast closing storm I suggest we slowly make our way North-East to try and conserve our energy…"
Natsuki listened, nodding along and agreeing with Shizuru's "slow and steady" strategy until she felt something brush against her legs. Her face blanched, her eyes widening in terror, "Something really, really big just swam past my leg," she said slowly trying not to panic, "…and I don't think it's Ollie."
The two women stared at each other for a few seconds before silently agreeing to paddle like their life depended upon it, and knowing their luck on this particular day it probably did.