The clang of steel against steel woke Agatha up.
She slowly sat upright, feeling the cold morning air on her bare shoulders. Agatha peered down from her bunk to find three empty beds, all neatly made with the pillows put in their correct positions. She groaned and pushed the quilt off her before starting to climb down her bunk. Someone's voice rang sharply above and Agatha quickly got dressed, finding a pair of grey cotton pants and a comfortable cotton shirt. She took a glance at the mirror and ran a hand over her hair, which was tangled from a night of tossing and turning. She had never been on sea before, so it was hard to fall asleep. The constant lurches and crashes that the ship made worried her. With another yawn, Agatha limply grabbed the her cloak from the small writing desk in the room and quickly went upstairs.
Climbing onto the deck, Agatha saw Hester and Chaddick engaged in a spirited sword fight. Around them were the fellow crew members who were cheering for their captain to win. She saw the proud expression on Anadil's face and already knew that Hester's prowess at sword fight would not be outmatched. Agatha was right. Before Chaddick could attack, Hester swiftly swung her legs out and broke Chaddick's stance, which sent him off balance and sprawling onto the wooden floors of the deck. He was about to get up before spotting the sharp point of the sword directed at his throat. He looked up to see Hester smiling victoriously, barely sweating. Another chorus of cheers and groans erupted.
Hester dropped the sword and offered a hand. Chaddick took it with a sullen expression, using one hand to wipe off the sweat on his face.
"How...where did you learn how to fight like that?"
Chaddick asked, still panting and moping his face. Hester shrugged, crossing her lean muscular arms together.
"Hours and hours of training with Professor Lukas finally paid off"
Chaddick raised his eyebrows and finally was able to talk in a even voice.
"Princess Sophie is in good hands, I guess."
Chaddick said to the four of them, picking up the fallen hat he had. He gave all of them another smile before walking off, towards his fellow crew members who were still excited and buzzing about the four students and their skills.
Hester looked over at Agatha, before grinning again.
"Is the teacher's pet jealous? Because someone is finally better then her?"
Anadil and Dot laughed while Agatha merely scoffed.
"Jealous? We'll see about that"
Agatha returned simply before going over and picking up one of the fallen swords. She held it in her hands, testing out the balance and the weight of it. The silver gleamed in the sun. Agatha looked over at the coven and raised a eyebrow.
"Now any one of you up for another fight?"
Days melded into weeks. During the day, Agatha and the coven would often spend their time helping out with the crew members, many who were all the same age as her, or going to the deck to practice their skills and fight each other. Hester and Anadil particularly liked the huge stock of weapons that the ship had, full of new weapons that were made with today's modern technology. The four of them would then test out each weapon. Of course, some of the weapons were tricky to maneuver and someone would always almost end up dead (Agatha almost ended up with a bullet in her leg because Dot accidentally pressed the trigger). But after that, the four would burst into peals of laughter, gushing about how crazy and clumsy they all were. Chaddick would give them odd looks from the steering wheel, and some of the crew members gave they wary glances.
However during the night, all of members of the ship would come up onto the deck, each with their own bowls of food and sit in front of the lanterns in the center, talking and chatting with one another. It was fun, after a day of strenuous work, everyone would easily settle down and joke or chat. Sometimes Agatha would look upon the dark sky and see the stars and try to recognize some of the constellations that she had learned. She talked to some of the other crew members and found out amazing backstories from all of them and some of those stories were very much like Agatha's. Starting from having nothing at all to having something of their own.
One night, like the others before, all the crew members were on the decks, shoving potatoes and meat into their mouths, hungry from another day of work. Agatha had sat next to the coven, feeling a tad sick of the normal potatoes from her meal. She looked over at the lanterns, and the bright flames inside them, licking the glass. Everyone was joking around and chatting happily, much like anymore night.
Chaddick cleared his throat and everyone turned towards him. Agatha could see that through his taunt facial expression, something was wrong. The joyous mood died down. The air was eerily silent, expect for the constant slaps of the waves against the hull of the boat. Agatha gave Dot a nervous look before turning her attention back onto Chaddick. He swallowed and his Adam's apple lurched.
"As you know, we are transporting four students from the Academy to Camelot. And because of further complications, our route to Camelot requires us to travel through some...Winter Clan occupied waters. Tomorrow we have to travel through a narrow strip of water, deep into Winter Clan territory. Because of the weather, there is no other route around it..."
Chaddick stopped talking and watched the everyone's face around him grow apprehensive with worry. Agatha felt sudden panic rip through her. After all these nights and days of utter bliss, the familiar panic she once felt now felt like a stranger. Winter Clan territory? She heard rumors about the force that could take down kingdoms in days. Many had fallen prey to the Winter Clans, like Galvadon, Avalon and more. Because Camelot was further away from the central land, it was safe. For now. Agatha had heard about the Winter Clans themselves. They were half demons and half humans, many say, with dangerous abilities and powers. Villages near the Academy would speak about the abilities that these Winter Clans possessed. Some Winter Clans could spit out fire while others could summon a angry storm of crows and such. Agatha shuddered, now feeling the panic rising inside her. They had guns and swords, but what match could that be against a being that could manipulate a element itself?
Chaddick cleared his throat again and everyone stopped nervously taking. He unfurled a map, and motioned everyone to gather around it.
"This narrow strip of land that we must take is called the Slit Throat.."
He gestured towards the thin piece of water on the map. Among the crowd, Agatha peered closely at it. Between two chunks of land was the thin body of water, Slit Throat. Much fitting to the name indeed. Chaddick furrowed his brows, studying the map before looking up to see his worried crew numbers.
"Do not panic, everyone. Slit Throat is a abandoned part of the Winter Clan territory, but we still must be wary. Tomorrow, I want everyone on the deck at dawn. We need to be prepared, for anything to happen."
Suddenly, the boat lurched and everyone immediately steadied themselves. Chaddick grimly rolled up the map before tucking it beneath his navy military coat. He met the worried eyes of everyone and sighed.
"I know that it may seem dangerous, but we will have to try our best. I couldn't have asked for a more well trained crew, so we have nothing to worry about..."
Even with his mouth saying the words, Agatha could see the unease inside Chaddick's eyes. She felt someone put a light hand on her shoulder and looked to see Dot, brown eyes wide with fear stare motionlessly at her. Agatha gave a uneasy smile and squeezed Dot's hand before looking back at Chaddick.
"Everyone, go back to your rooms and rest. You will need it for tomorrow"
Chaddick said and all the crew members gathered up their bowls and lanterns, defeated. Among the crowd, Agatha's eyes found Hesters and the four of them rejoined. Although Hester was one of the bravest people Agatha had ever meet, there was a dash of fear in her eyes. It only unsettled Agatha further. She glanced at Anadil, who always held a face of no emotion, but there was a crack in her mask. A tiny furrow in her thin brows, a unsettled look in her eyes.
The four of them trudged with defeat into their room and sank into their bunks. There was a long silence before Dot finally spoke up.
"Hester? Are you alright? You haven't talked in a few minutes or made any sarcastic remarks at all. It's very unlike you.."
Hester scoffed from her bunk above.
"Of course I'm alright, you twit. It's no big deal. Remember, Chaddick said it was abandoned, so it's probably nothing..."
Silence continued before Agatha finally said something.
"I think we're going to be alright. After all, who did we train with?"
"Professor Lukas.."
Anadil whispered back, one hand stroking her rats.
"And if we spent hours punching metal walls, I think we can handle a few Winters.."
Hester grumbled back. Agatha felt a little bit relieved. Her training had prepared her well for these kinds of encounters.
Dot laughed a little before leaning over the the writing desk and blowing off the lantern. The room submerged into pitch black. All Agatha heard was the rolling waves of the sea.
"Good night.."
She whispered into the darkness.
"Good night.."
The coven whispered back.
Agatha sighed and prepared herself for another night of tossing and turning.
Ahh, and the plot starts to get exciting. I hope everyone is enjoying Red Roses and Curses. Follow, review and favorite. See everyone next time-princessthornofcassia
P.S I hope to incorporate other ships into the story because I ship something other then Tagatha...(hah, I hope) so I wanted to incorporate Hesterdil into the story if you guys haven't noticed already.