Author's note:Finally! I finished chapter two. Sorry it took so long, but with finals going on I put the story on hiatus. But not anymore!
Also, chapter 1 was pretty short because it was an introductory chapter. Should've put prologue.
Gorillaz © Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn
Across the Seas
Chapter Two: New Friendships
It was dawn. Overseas, the shining reds oranges and yellows cast a warm spell over the ocean and the RMS Titanic. The vessel itself was moving steadily, slicing through the ocean like a knife.
Quietly, so as not to wake anyone who may be able to hear her, Noodle walked up onto the main deck, the sea scented wind whipping her face gently as she walked over to the front of the boat. She stepped onto the bottom railing and held onto the top as she looked ahead at the sunrise before her. She smiled at the feeling of the moment, but that was short lived.
From the far end of the ship, yelling was heard. Running from two officials was the man with the mismatched eyes. "Get back 'ere!" yelled one of the officials as they started to gain on him. "Bloody 'ell!" the man, Murdoc if we recall, cursed as he sped up. His hair was messy and his shirt was only half buttoned, his jacket completely forgotten.
Noodle jumped from the railing and looked over at the men, curious as to what was going on. The rugged man turned his head and made a rude gesture with his finger to the officials. This, of course left, him unaware as to where he was going. Thwack! He ran right into Noodle, knocking her down.
"Shit!" he cursed. The officials were really gaining now. He scrambled up and ran off, not even bothering to help Noodle up or apologize. The officials stopped as Noodle stood, dusting herself off.
"We're terribly sorry, ma'am." One of the officials apologized. "Did you happen to see which way he went?" the other asked. Noodle nodded and pointed the opposite direction of the man's true escape route, for some reason not wanting him to get caught.
Once the officials left, she followed the path that the man had taken. She turned the corner only, to find him sitting on a chair with a bowler hat on and a newspaper covering his face, in hopes of avoid the officials if they happened to come his way. Noodle gently tapped him on the shoulder and he jumped up, glaring at her and startling her. "Whaddya want?" Murdoc almost spat at her, but she held her ground firmly.
"I just was curious as to why those officials were chasing you." She said with an air of simplicity, watching him.
"Bugger off!" he growled, going back to covering his face with the outdated paper.
"I sent those men chasing you the other way. You can uncover your face for now."
"Why the 'ell did yeh do that!" he questioned, lowering the paper and showing his baffled expression. She shrugged. "You seemed different to me. I could feel it."
Murdoc stared at the young girl in front of him, puzzled as to what her "feeling" about him was. He continued to look at her for a moment before holding out his hand. "The name's Murdoc…"
2D groaned as he woke up, rubbing his head. In all of the excitement of the night before, he had forgotten to take his pain medications. He grumbled to himself as he climbed down from his bunk and began to search his luggage for his pills. Once he located them, he popped a couple in. Sighing, he returned his meds to their rightful place, then stood up and stretched.
2D looked around, noting that his roommates were still sound asleep. He quickly and quietly got dressed before heading out onto the main deck. He covered his eyes from the sudden brightness from the sunlight. Once he got used to it, he began to walk around, exploring.
Noodle and Murdoc sat against one of the ship's walls, side by side, both looking out at the sea through the railings. "Noodle?" he inquired, looking at the girl beside him, her eyes hidden by her bangs the shadow cast on her face from her hat. "What kind of name is that?"
"My name." was her response. Her simple yet meaningful reply got the cogs in his head turning.
As Murdoc was puzzling over Noodle's reply, 2D walked towards them. He stopped for a second to glance at Noodle before continuing on. Noodle raised her head slightly, remembering his blackened eyes and almost zombie-like appearance. She smiled slightly at him and he smiled back before walking off to look at the other side of the ship.
Murdoc looked back at his small companion. She looked up at him. "Why were you running from those two officials?" she questioned, tilting her head a bit.
He chuckled, showing his green tinted teeth. "I snuck intah First Class, banged up some gal, got caught, and here I am." Noodle raised an eyebrow at his "unique" ways. "So," he continued, looking over her attire, "What class are yeh in?"
"Why does that matter? It's the class of your heart that should."
Murdoc was starting to get a headache from all of her philosophy. "Yer what? 13-14 years old and yeh talk like a bloody shrink!" he muttered, mostly to himself, while Noodle only smiled.
Back in the cabin, Russel was just beginning to awaken from his slumber. He stood, stretching as his stomach let out an enormous growl. "Breakfast time…" he muttered to himself, getting dressed. He slumped out of the cabin, still in a sleepy haze.
In the bed across from the bunks, Paula opened her eyes and, as if nervous someone would catch her, looked around. Once she seems satisfied with her surroundings, she stood, dressed, and then sauntered out of the cabin in hopes of catching up with 2D, her latest love interest. While she was walking out of the room, she was stuffing into her pocket Russel's most prized possession; his great-grandfather's pocket watch.
Russel sat inside outside with his plate, sitting at a table at the back of the ship. After a few minutes of silent eating, he noticed 2D walking by. "Hey, 'D!" he called out, waving his massive hand. 2D looked over at Russel, waved back then sat next to him.
" 'Ello, Russ." 2D greeted, secretly nicking a piece of toast from Russel's plate. Russel growled, showing that he indeed saw the toast being taken, but he didn't do anything about it. 2D began to munch it silently, appearing zoned out.
"Yo, D', you alright, man?" Russel asked after he swallowed a rather large bite.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm fine." He replied. Russel raised an eyebrow but questioned him no more.
Murdoc, dressed back up in his black suit and this time adorning the bowler hat he found earlier, made his way back to the First Class cabins. Like a sleuth, he snuck in undetected. 'Now, back to the young lass I was screwing last night…' he said to himself in his head, walking towards the far end of the cabins.
Back on deck, Noodle was alone, venturing the ship's immense space and amazing view of the ocean. She smiled to herself as a couple of boys ran past, both playing pretend pirates with a couple of sticks.
On the other side of the deck, Russel and 2D were in a major discussion with two other men. They were debating over whether they should agree to sign with a certain company or not.
"I mean, I've heard this company isn't that reliable…" one man said, sipping a cup of fresh coffee.
"Well, a good friend of mine works there, and from my research everything there seems normal…" Russel replied, staring the man in the eye.
2D and the other man sat back and watched them chatter away, the debate getting more heated. He sighed to himself while chewing at the unlit cigarette in his mouth while the man beside him looked off into space, thinking about his wife and children back at home.
The liner lurched, making things shift a little and startling 2D and the gentleman beside him back into the real world while the others were gathering up the paperwork that had fallen off of their small table.
Just as they were straightening the slight mess, the two children with the "pirate swords" came running by, completely knocking over the table and sending all of the paperwork flying, some of it landing like a feather into the water then sinking. The men sighed as they decided to call it a day, giving farewells before going their own ways.
2D sighed, walking along with Russel back to their quarters. Today things just seemed very screwy. Russel looked over at 2D. "You wanna grab a bite to eat?" he asked.
2D nodded. "Sure." And with that, they walked off to the lower deck dinning areas, not in the mood for anything too fancy.
Inside the dinning area, Noodle sat with the family she was rooming with, enjoying a small lunch with them and entertaining the children with stories of heroes, villains, and morals of goodness. Once she was finished with her captivating tales, the family left, bidding her goodbye until that night. Noodle smiled and continued to munch on her food.
Russel and 2D entered the crowded room, searching for a place to sit once they got their food. The only place they could find was the table Noodle was currently sitting at. 2D recognized her and quickly led Russel to her table.
"May we sit 'ere?" he asked. Noodle looked up and smiled. "Yes, you may! Company is always enjoyable."
2D smiled and sat down along with Russel and both began to devour their food, Russel at an almost alarming rate.
2D looked over at Noodle. "I never did catch your name." he said, biting into his sandwich.
"You met her before?" Russel asked, raising an eyebrow.
Noodle nodded. "Yes, we met just before we boarded. My name is Noodle."
"Noodle, eh? That's unique. My name's 2D." the dark eyed man replied, taking another bite.
"That is a nice name." she said, looking over at Russel. "What is your name?" she asked him.
"Russel," He grunted in reply, swallowing his last bit of food then wiping his mouth with a napkin politely.
The three sat in silence for a few moments before Russel spoke up. "So, Noodle, where you from?"
"I was born in Japan, but I moved to England when I was little." She replied. She was starting to like these two.
A few nights later when Russel and 2D were returning to their quarters, there was an unpleasant surprise waiting. 2D put the key into the keyhole, opened the door and stared wide-eyed and pale at the image before him; Paula was having sex with Murdoc in her bed. Russel came inside and dropped his suitcase. Pure rage filled him as he saw 2D's "girlfriend" cheating on him right then and there. He marched up to them, swiftly punched Murdoc in the nose and literally kicked them both of out the cabin.
"I don't wanna see your sorry asses back here ever again!" he roared, pulling an emotionally unstable 2D inside and slamming the door shut.
2D sat on his bed in a state of shock. Russel sat next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be alright, man. Jus' go to sleep."
Outside the cabin, a naked Murdoc was rubbing his bottom where he landed. "Well, tha' was unexpected!" he muttered as he grabbed a nearby towel from the outside of another door. He turned to Paula, smirked, and left her. Paula stared in disbelief before walking off to find another cabin to possibly room in.
2D could barely sleep a wink that night.
Author'sNote: More exciting things wait in Chapter 3! Please review, but no flames!