"And the highest grade goes to...Allis Eaton."
Groans and cries of outrage rang out from the crowd of kids around the docks. It had been an assessment day, to see how well the students were coming along. This assessment was to judge their skills with handling a boat and reading the waves and sky to predict weather; Important pirating skills. Allis had swept the floor with the other kids, she was a natural at sea. Naturally, her fellow pirates-in-training were more than a little pissed to see that the "outcast" had passed them up. Even the teachers seemed less than happy to hear this.
There wasn't anything any of them could do, though, because these assessments were always conducted by the Head Priest to avoid such conflicts. In the islands little school teachers would lie and award the student with the next highest grade instead of her, but the Priest was unbiased and he judged them equally. Allis beamed around, her head tilted cockily. She knew that she had found a loop-hole in their system, they couldn't always overlook her.
"You must be very proud to have such an attentive student, it's been years since I've seen such a young student succeed this easily." The Priest complimented the teacher.
"Why, of course." He responded through gritted teeth.
There was visible tension between the two of them, but only a few students noticed it. After exchanging more comments on other students who had done well, the Priest bid them all farewell and retreated back to the tiny, sister island where the church was homed. The two teachers then dismissed all of the students for the rest of the day, assessments always meant they got out early. With no adults to supervise them, things quickly became heated between the kids who stayed near the docks instead of heading home.
"You only got mentioned 'cause the Priest feels bad for you. He knows that nobody likes you." A big, brute of a child stated hotly.
"Yeah, Lady Ianite probably told him to have pity on you. There's no way Capsize could get the best score." Another kid chimed in.
"Oh yeah? Why don't I send you to Lady Ianite's realm so you can ask her personally?" Allis retorted, rolling her sleeves back and balling her hands into fists.
A couple of the kids stepped back, and one actually retreated back to his house before a fight could break out, but the two that were more vocal just sneered. They'd seen her get in fights time and time again, so they weren't intimidated. The brown-haired girl had a reputation for taking quite a beating in her fights, so most people tended to forget that she didn't always lose. Her fighting streak was about half and half, some wins, some losses. Two on One was an unfair fight, but that wasn't going to stop her from trying.
"Go on, say that again. I dare you to insult my pirate skills again!" She spat in their faces.
The shorter boy opened his mouth to respond, but before he could even speak Allis struck hard and fast. She hit him square across the jaw and heard a soft popping noise. He fell to the ground with tears already streaming down his face, holding his mouth and eyeing her fearfully. She took a step forward and he scrambled backwards with a terrified whimper. She had made a mistake in forgetting about the bigger bully, and turned around too late as she saw movement from the corner of her eye. She lifted her hands up to cover her face, fearing another black eye, but no blow came.
A dull smacking noise sounded in front of her and she lowered her arms a little, peeking over them to see her brother blocking her view. Samuel had shown up in the nick of time, catching the other boys fist and stopping the fight. He pushed his arm away, the boy looking incredulous, and motioned for them to calm down.
"Come on, man. Just back off, okay? She didn't do nothing wrong so stop being so salty."
"She's the one being salty, she swung at Barley first. We woulda left her alone without a fight if she hadn't."
Samuel didn't believe the boy for a second, but he wasn't about to start arguing with him. He just shrugged and turned to make sure his sister was alright. The bully helped his friend to his feet and the two of them left, casting angry glances over their shoulders. Allis refused to make eye contact with her worried brother and just rolled down her sleeves with a mutinous frown.
"Allis, you have to stop this. They say those things to start a fight and then they can blame it on you. If you'd just leave, they'd give up."
"You sound like our parents." She spit back at him, hurt and anger flashing across her face.
Samuel struggled to find the right words, and his silence only made his sister angrier. She narrowed her eyes and then shoved him aside, running in the direction of the lighthouse. He stumbled to find his footing again and then sighed. Fearing a fight with his beloved sister, something that had never happened before, he went home instead. He sent a silent prayer to Lady Ianite that Allis would understand why he didn't follow her.
Allis slowed to a walk when she realized that she couldn't hear her brother's footsteps chasing after her. She was about to change course and go back to apologize, when she felt a burning sensation on the back of her neck. She glanced around self-consciously and noticed a boy staring at her from a little past the docks. She made a face a him, pulling her lips back in a snarling gesture. To her, he was just another bully, another kid that would rather go along with the crowd than actually get to know her.
He surprised her by standing up away from the wall he had been leaning on, and taking a few hesitant steps in her direction. She mimicked him, taking the same number of steps backwards. A smile seemed to cross his face and he stepped forward again. He thinks this is a game, She thought angrily. So, when he moved ever closer this time, she turned and fled to the lighthouse again, confident that she could outrun this enemy. Unlike earlier with Samuel, she could clearly hear the tapping of boots on stone in pursuit of her.
This chase went on for a while, with Allis zig-zagging around houses and palm trees easily. Every time that she thought she had finally lost him, she would hear the telltale sound of his footsteps drawing rapidly nearer. She was determined now, it had become a challenge to her and she wasn't about to lose. With her breath coming in heavy pants, she ran around the side of a large house and made it look like she had kept going. He had been running a little behind her, on the opposite side of the houses, so she doubled back and hid behind one of the first buildings instead.
She covered her mouth with her hand, to stifle her gasps for air, and sank down along the wall. Allis smiled beneath her hand, happy with her clever ploy. She didn't have much of a chance to stay that way, though, because as soon as she had caught her breath again a shadow fell around the side of the house.
"Hello!"
Allis let out a half-gasp, half-shriek of surprise and scrambled backwards across the ground. The boy was standing close to her and he reached a hand out, but she quickly jumped to her feet and ran off again.
"H-hey, wait!"
The boy called out for a second before taking off after her again, but she didn't bother to answer. Instead she chose another dodgy route and tried to lose him again, though she doubted it would work if she hadn't shaken him the first time. After a while she felt her steps begin to falter and she could hear her pursuer getting closer and closer. When she had nearly crossed the entire island, she finally gave in and collapsed onto the ground beside the lighthouse. Her chest was burning from lack of air and she rolled onto her side, gasping like a fish out of water.
They boy slowed to a stop in front of her, breathing just as heavily. Allis couldn't understand why he was smiling so widely, unless he was some sort of sadist and he was happy to see her in pain. She bared her teeth up at him, but couldn't find air enough to confront him. Instead of attacking her or taunting her, he sunk onto the ground beside her and laid back on the cool grass.
"What...do you...want?" She asked finally.
"To talk to...you. I saw you...fight those guys." His breaths weren't as labored as hers.
"And I'll fight you too."
She had caught her breath enough to speak normally now, but her chest still ached. The boy only laughed at her comment and she screwed up her face at him, sticking her tongue out. Even she couldn't stay distrustful for long around this kid, he had such a carefree air about him. It made her want to trust him. Besides, if he had set out to harm her, wouldn't he have done so already? Allis decided that she would give him a chance and she broke into a smile too.
"So, why'd you chase me like that? Most people wouldn't try to catch a girl who just outright attacked someone."
"I dunno. I guess I just thought it was cool, the way that ya stood up for yarself. Although, it was a little rude to treat yer bro like that."
Allis blinked in surprise at first, noticing a heavy accent that she hadn't heard before when he was panting. Then his words clicked and she shot him a suspicious look.
"How'd you know he was my brother?"
"I've lived my whole life on this island, lass. Everyone knows 'bout Samuel Redbeard's little sister."
She sat up and looked him up and down, trying to remember if she'd seen him around the school before. He seemed like he was about her age, so she must have. With a prick of dismay she realized that she honestly hadn't noticed many of the kids other than her tormentors, the ones who left her alone had never caught her attention because she'd been too busy defending herself.
"Er, yeah, of course. So, what's your name?"
"Ye don't know me? We've seen each other practically every day since we started school!" He teased her, a playful look dancing in his blue eyes.
Allis glanced away, feeling her face grow hot, but before she could figure out how to respond he started laughing again.
"I'm just messing with ya! My name's Jardon."
"You mean Jordan?"
"That's what I said, Jardon."
Now it was her turn to tease him, and he turned bright red as she pointed out how much his accent changed the name.
"It's just me pirate speak, yar know!"
"I'm a pirate and I don't speak like that."
"Well, this pirate does!"
They both broke into fits of laughter, making fun of each others speak patterns. Suddenly a loud voice called out her new friend's name, quite obiviously with an "o" and not an "a", as Allis pointed out.
"That'd be me dad, I best be getting home. See ya tomorrow?" He asked.
Allis blinked in surprise and then smiled, her eyes shining. It meant the world to her that this boy she had only just met already wanted to see her again. He didn't judge her like the others, in fact, he thought it was cool that she stood up for herself. Her heart felt like it was going to burst, she had a friend!
"Of course."
AN: That's not the Sparklez Jordan, by the way, they just share the same name. Conveniently named characters are convenient. Fun fact; That chase scene wasn't how I was originally going to have them meet, I came up with that on the spot because, at the time, I had forgotten to write down how I wanted them to meet. Originally, I was going to have Allis get beat up and then run and hide, and have Jordan follow her and the comfort her. I kind of like this better, though, what about you guys?
Ianitethecookie: I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that xD Everyone else has been so sure he would have another appearance so I was just like oh...Maybe I'm being too pessimistic with my predictions xD (Not that I would be upset if he did show up again, they just seemed to be hinting pretty heavily that that would be the last time they ever saw Skipper)
Today's Question; Do you think that the next season of Mianite will start with them back on the main island, or somewhere completely different?(I'm still going to stick by my headcanon that the Void is going to drop them off in a new world)
(Hey pssst, if anyone wants to play one Mineplex with me, I'm definitely not going to be on server 54 in the lobby for a little bit. And my name definitely isn't Pocket_Whale -wink wink)