Here's chapter three! I hope you all like it!
Light
"Dare to reach out your hand into the darkness, to pull another hand into the light."
~Norman B. Rice
The wind whistled and howled around the Leviathan. The great airship itself seemed to tighten with tension as lightning crackled only a couple miles away.
Inside her cabin, Deryn couldn't sleep. Just the thought that lightning might strike at any moment woke up a deep fear inside of her. As long as it didn't hit the ship, they'd been fine. It wasn't like the great whale was leaking hydrogen like it had been that time she and Alek had first met. They'd be fine.
But no matter many times she told herself that, she could still feel her skin prickle in fear. The ship could burst into flames, like Da's balloon. Except this time, she'd be on it, with everyone else. Newkirk, Dr. Barlow, Count Volger, Captain Hobbes, all people she knew, if not exactly got along with. Tazza and Bovril, and the bats and the great whale Leviathan itself, would all be subject to a flaming death if the lightning were to strike the poor beast.
And Alek. He'd never get a chance to become the archduke of his country if the ship blew up.
Deryn's eyes were wide open as she lay awake in her bed. The blackness around her began to envelope her body, choking her, smothering her in ebony throes.
She sat up and swung her arms about wildly, then jerked her head towards the porthole at yet another flash of light. Was it farther away? Or was it just a trick, and in reality it was really really close?
"Stop being such a ninny," she whispered to herself. But no matter how hard she shut her eyes, she couldn't get rid of the image of her da's burning balloon, and the bursts of light outside.
Giving up, she threw off her sheets and clambered swiftly out of bed, checking to make sure that her nightclothes hid her chest, and laced up her boots. She speedily left the room and began to wander about the ship.
Everything was dark around Deryn as she wandered through the different corridors of the great ship, not pausing to actually think about where she was going. It didn't matter. As long as she got out of her room.
Still, the walk wasn't as distracting as she thought it would be. Soon, dark thoughts began to creep into her head once more, and she shook herself, trying to rid herself of them.
Deryn had faced countless threats before. So, it was one little storm. It was okay. The captain would steer them through this. The Leviathan had made it through storms before. Maybe not as bad, but still.
Passing an open seating area by a large porthole, she stopped as she saw a light. Not the soft luminescence of the glowworms either.
Running over, she stared at Alek seated cross-legged on the floor, watching the storm with a Clanker lantern by his side, an actual flame inside a glass container.
"Have you gone cracked?" she hissed.
Alek jumped, startled. Turning around, he relaxed when he saw her. "What do you mean?" he asked courteously.
"That," she spat vehemently, pointing at the flame.
Alek waved off her comment. "It's just a lantern."
"Aye, a Clanker one. And if it fell over? It'd blow the barking ship up!" Deryn exclaimed, thought still keeping her voice down a little. She began to shake. First the lightning, now this? The ship was in too much danger!
They would burst into flames just like her da.
"Are you okay?" Alek asked, concerned, noticing the frightened look on her face. Deryn said nothing. The archduke studied her, then realized with a jolt why she was scared.
He held out his hand, and looked from it to her, telling her to take it. Deryn looked at him, then backed off slowly, shaking her head, eyes wide.
Alek got up and held out his hand again. "Trust me," he whispered.
Deryn still wasn't sure what to do. The whole thing was barking daft. Alek was mad. Mad as a hatter, mad as a hare. He had gone completely off his rocker. There was no way she was going to take his hand, and go along with whatever daft idea he'd come up with.
He stared her in the eyes. "Trust me."
Her arm slowly stretched out. Deryn glared at the traitorous limb, but it kept moving, until her hand was in his.
Alek gently pulled her along, from the darkness to the lantern. Slowly, he pressed her palm against the glass, though she flinched and fought it. Once she felt the glass, however, a tension seemed to release from her.
"See?" Alek said. "The glass is hard. Safe. The flame can't get out. It can't hurt us, or the Leviathan." He looked out the porthole, to the sky, which, though still dark, seemed to be lightening up a bit. A crackle of light flashed in the sky, but farther away. "The lightning can't hurt us either. It's gone, and the Leviathan's safe. Both flames will soon be gone." He gestured to the sky, and indeed, lightning failed to show up.
Deryn stayed silent for a minute, staring out at the swollen clouds, but they remained black. Wind still pitched the Leviathan, but the lightning was gone. She looked at the lantern.
Alek opened up the hatch, and Deryn immediately cried, "No! Are you daft?" She reached out to snatch it away, but he simply blew, and his breath snuffed out the candle.
He held the extinguished lantern towards her. "There. The flame's gone. Feel better?"
Deryn smiled sheepishly. "A lot, thanks."
A moment of silence stretched in between them, until Alek broke it with the words, "You were worried the Leviathan would share the same fate as your dad, weren't you?"
Deryn stared at him, shocked. Slowly, she nodded her head, biting her lip and fighting back tears. She was a boy, not some ninny girl. Why would she cry for something like this? Yes, she was scared. She had a right to be. But there was no way she would cry in front of Alek.
And she didn't.
Maybe it was because she was dead scared of the embarrassment it would cause.
Or maybe it was because Alek had placed his arm around her shoulders and gave her a sort of one-armed hug. Together they sat there, Alek holding her gently as the shattered feeling slowly seeped from her.
"Are you okay now?" Alek asked as the sky outside began to turn a blurry light gray.
Deryn pulled away and punched Alek lightly. "Are you a Dummkopf? Who said I was feeling bad?" Standing up and brushing herself off indignantly, she offered her hand to a chuckling Alek.
As the two walked back to their rooms, Deryn whispered a soft, "Thanks."
…
By the way, I hope none of you thought this made Deryn seem weak. I just think that she would be unusually scared because of what happened with her dad.
Also, on another note, a lot of you may take this in a romantic way, but if you think of them instead as two boys (straight ones), this would definitely be seen as a comforting scene between two friends, and that's the way I meant it. If you'd like to think of this as a romantic scene, by all means, go ahead, but its intention, as all my chapters will be, was centered on that sort of friendship you have with one person where you can let them know all your weaknesses because you trust them so much.
Call me Mad AKA Ninja Fish: To start off with, awesome username. Really. ;P And to actually reply to your review, thanks! I figure there are enough of romance fanfics, and while exposing Deryn's secret would be fun, I feel that's best left to next year at the release of Goliath. Plus, writing real romance scares me half to death, and sends the other half of me hurling in a distant corner. I can barely read it. I guess you can say I'm aiming for cute, as that seems to be the general thought. Cute friendship all the way!
Holly Marie Fowl: …*pales* *runs off to tweak wording* *runs back* Better? Darn, I hadn't realized that when writing it. Considering I am in high school with a bunch of dirty minded classmates as well, you'd think I'd have noticed that. *facepalm* Anyways, I'm glad you like the chapter! …And darn it, now I have that song stuck in my head…I've only heard it a couple times, but didn't think about it as I named the chapter…eh.
Akward Turtle: Thank you! I'm glad you think I'm keeping the two in character, and that I'm also keeping their relationship-in character?-as well.
Ailat: That's neat, so it's a signature. I like it! Now now, don't be calling Alek a weakling. I never actually said any won, they just sort of stopped. And Deryn did have to struggle a bit before knocking Alek off of her. I'd guess that they'd be more or less equally matched. I didn't mean to have Alek seem weak or anything. And haha, well, Deryn and Alek are friends, and from what I've gathered from books, brothers and such might wrestle with each other (as a fight or for fun) and so I know Deryn's a girl and all, but in that moment, just assume she forgot the fact of the genders and just wrestled (yeesh, I'm scared to use any other word for fear of misinterpretation) with Alek as a friend. By the way, I can completely picture the French thing. I have a friend who does that sometimes too. ;D
…Wow…my responses to reviews are longer than the actual reviews themselves…That's just sad…I'm such a rambler…
See you all in chapter four!