Disclaimer: Perhaps now would be a good time to do one? I don't own Disney. Or Pocahontas. Or any characters including John Smith (damn!) except Anna, who is, of course, my own creation. And hopefully not a Mary-Sue. I despise Mary-Sues!
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
I awoke to the sensation of a certain Black Kitten batting at strands of hair that had fallen into my face, it was still early on in the morning, just after John Smith had made his offe,r and I realised that I must have dozed off again in the cabin. Seeing John slumped in a chair in the corner, I felt a pang of guilt for being so rude as to take his bed again. Luckily, I did not think he would be in an ill humour, when he awoke, because of my rudeness and the stiffness his slumped posture would no doubt cause.
I intended to leave the cabin quietly, and take a walk on the deck of the ship, without waking John Smith. Lorcan, however, had no intention of leaving poor John to his rest. A quick leap into John's lap, and another onto his shoulder, provided Lorcan with the perfect vantage point to play with John Smith's hair now that he had lost interest in mine. John shifted in his sleep. Lorcan pounced onto the top of his head and woke Smith with a start. Thankfully, Lorcan did not decided to dig his claws in.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
The rude awakening was looked upon with great amusement by John, he must have a way with animals as Lorcan quickly became quite attached to him in only a short space of time.
"Did you think of the name Lorcan for your Cat first? Or did you have another in mind?" I was later asked by John.
"Actually, I was going to call him Graymalkin..."
"Graymalkin?"
"Well, it's…sort of...a joke. Since Graymalkin is a traditional name for a familiar and I'm often accused of being a Witch because of my hair, I thought about calling him that since people are so convinced I'm a Witch. Maybe it was out of defiance" I struggled to put my thoughts into words but he seemed to understand.
"That sounds like something I would do in your situation but I think you did well to name him something else, for his safety" was his reply. Although I was already convinced that John Smith was definitely someone I could trust, his reply also told me that he was someone I could probably relate to as well.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Later, I was introduced to some members of John Smith's crew. Three of whom I took a liking to immediately; Thomas, Ben and Lon. In fact, if you didn't get along with these three I'd think you were either miserable or stuck up. Ben and Lon are a funny pair, I'd assume they are best friends although Ben makes sure to have a good jibe at Lon if he does anything silly, this only adds to their amusement factor. If you're feeling a bit Blue I'm sure you could always rely on them to cheer you up. Thomas seems to be very good-natured and we instantly became friends. Those three could make fast friends out of anyone, I'm sure.
And then there's John Smith, or rather; Captain John Smith. I'd found out that he was quite the adventure enthusiast and if he had anything to say about it (which, being the Captain, he did) we wouldn't be disappointed.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Work had to continue in order to ready the ship and it seemed we still had lots of supplies to buy before we could even think about sailing. I was sent out to the marketplace with Thomas to run some errands, John Smith told us that he had other business to attend to and more supplies to order but he would meet up with us later.
Too preoccupied with hiding my hair (I still hadn't got the chance to dye it) I followed Thomas rather than helping him find our destination. I realised that he must know the city well, or at least part of it, since he came from London. I must confess to being slightly amused by the people's habit of bursting randomly into song, even Thomas seemed startled and confused and he was from London! (I caught him whistling along later on, though!)
(A/N: Don't get me wrong, I don't mind it in the films but it is rather funny in the second film where they burst into the song "what a day in London" and John Rolfe has a; what the hell?! Expression on his face, even though he lives there. Maybe somebody put something in the drinking water whilst he was away?)
According to Thomas, our job was to ensure we had enough Rum for the period of time we would be away, when, however, we got to the merchant selling Rum, it was made very clear that he had been indulging in his own stock. "Quality control" according to Thomas, was what the slurred words the merchant had yelled at us were supposed to be. The fact that Thomas understood this drunken speech so well made me wonder whether he was prone to drinking himself but I quickly dismissed this as drunkards often do not recall their words or actions from when they are in their cups. Thomas didn't seem to be the type to turn to alcohol and so I wondered; had he served under someone with a habit of drinking a little too much? Perhaps John Smith? I was suddenly bombarded with images of John Smith staggering in a drunken stupor. These images seemed wrong. Very wrong. John Smith would never been seen in such a situation because he, like Thomas, was not the type to drink or to sink that low. When I enquired as to whether or not Thomas had served under such a low excuse for a person, his answer was merely the name "Ratcliffe" and he visibly both paled and seemed angry at the name. I wisely decided to leave it at that, I'd rather not know about such a horrible person.
Still, thinking of either of the two stumbling along in a drunken stagger was funny.
Pulling myself away from such thoughts, lest a laugh escape my lips and Thomas think me crazy, I watched the merchant sober up soon enough when Thomas made an enquiry as to the price of his stock. Taking Thomas for a pushover, the merchant gave an extortionate price and, when I questioned his reasons for such an excuse, he mumbled a few feeble excuses before settling on what I assumed to mean "Taxes." This response earned a raised eyebrow from me and the merchant made it known with a glare that he had no liking for me either. No matter, the feeling of dislike was mutual. I decided to take care of the haggling. The merchant tried raising the price above the already extortionate existing one, I fixed a glare onto my own face and Lorcan told the merchant exactly what he thought of him with a feral hiss and a yowl. Eventually I got the price I wanted, after Lorcan and I came close to bodily attacking the merchant, it was made clear to him that he wouldn't be lining his pocket with much profit.
A short time after, we continued at a leisurely pace through the marketplace, having long finished our errands, Thomas was kind enough to point out certain places to which it might be useful to know the locations. Being able to walk through London instead of being pursued through London was pleasant. It didn't last long.
Gasping as I felt my hood being tugged, I turned around to come face to face with his holiness Father Ugly whom I had escaped from yesterday. Before I knew what was happening, the damned priest started a whole sermon he must have prepared especially for me yesterday. Words can sometimes be more powerful than words and yesterday's mob of superstitious old fogies congregated before the priest I had dubbed Father Ugly. I could think of stronger words to describe him, and he probably served to have such insults hurled at him but that wouldn't have helped my situation anymore. At least Father Ugly was a clean name. Didn't want to reinforce their belief that I was a blasphemous evil Witch.
Grabbing Thomas' hand in a vice grip, I made a run for it. Lorcan had the sense to dive back into his sling and hold on. Dashing down an alley, I watched as the oh-so-intelligent mob raced past. They had a habit of doing that. I wonder if they were really after me or just looking for an excuse to brandish various items, some actual weapons and others which had been picked up in the hopes that they would at least make a mediocre club of some sort, whilst running a marathon. I think I saw someone brandishing a Marrow and another swinging a Radish. Such a waste of good produce.
Some idiot "do-gooder", in a not-so-dashing act of "heroism" raised the alert as he passed the alley we had taken refuge in. Since there was no other way out, we climbed up onto the roof of a nearby tavern, the Timber frame of the building aiding our ascent. Building houses and such close together was certainly a fire risk especially due to the Timber frames present in the buildings but since the structure were close together, it made leaping along the roofs that much easier. I suspect that we travelled in this manner for a space of thirty minutes before a familiar Blonde head came into view.
Yelling out to him, I caught his attention. Thomas began climb down the Timber framing of the building we were currently on as I waited for him to finish his descent so I could begin my own. The sound of ladies gossiping was rapidly approaching and before I could tell which direction it was coming from, John Smith had been surrounded by admirers. Although he wasn't discourteous to his admirers, it was apparent both to me and Thomas that the attention wasn't exactly wanted or appreciated. It seemed John Smith also had a mob of sorts after him. Perhaps it would be best to head back to the ship. I decided not to delay our escape from either mob and so I made the leap from roof to ground in haste, not aware that John Smith had decided to move.
With a shock, I landed on top of him, whilst he landed on his back. That could not be comfortable and I probably winded him when I landed on his chest. Heat rushed to my face as I realised my own stupidity and cursed myself for it.
"If it's any consolation; the ground here isn't dirty!" I choked out.
A chuckle escaped his mouth and, as I got up, it turned into a full blown laugh. When my mob decided to join John's, we grabbed Thomas and ran, John leading us down some lesser-known shortcuts and back to The Siren.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Back on board, John asked me "you have quite the number of admirers don't you?" with an understanding smile forming on his face.
"The same could be said of you" I said, returning the smile.