I feel as though fanfiction has become a diary for me. Not a lot of friends or family know I have one, and those who do don't know my account. In which case, they have no idea what I write about. It's like my own little secret with you guys! Those of you who have stuck with me through the years and have read my other stories know that I have had one heck of a ride with life. But then again, everyone does, don't they? Thank you for your patience and coming this far with me.
Our morning routine was simple: get up and get dressed at the crack of dawn. Do our stretches, eat breakfast and then start our chores.
I was in charge of helping Mr. Omi with the dishes after every meal. I wasn't going to complain. At least I didn't have to clean the bathrooms like Lucard. Maria, however, was lucky. After breakfast she was in charge of dusting Jim's estate room. Not many people have been inside of there and I tried desperately to get Maria to tell me what it looked like inside. She would only smile and tell me that I had to wait my turn...if I ever got a turn. Maria knew full well that I liked Jim and she never let me forget it.
Once I was done with the dishes I'd meet with Zee on the top deck. There she would show me how the digital maps works.
"Why doesn't Jim...I mean, why doesn't the Captain just use this to tell him where he needs to go rather than following the stars?"
Zee sighed and smiled at me; as if I should have known the answer to that already. "Briar, however true that may be, the stars never lie. We use this map as last resort. Besides, this map does more than just give you directions."
I curious to know what else it did, so I asked. "Pray tell me what those things are."
Zee cleared her throat. "For starters, it can tell you when a storm is coming a few minutes before it hits us. Sometimes even up to thirty minutes. It also scans any area that may have traces radioactive energy. In which case, we want to stay clear away. The Captain would report it and someone whose job revolves around that would come handle the problem." She told me more about this little green and blue flat screen device that lay before me, but most of it were on subjects I still knew little about.
Lucards POV
"And that's how you get the engines started again if the power goes out." Finished Lug. He was about to say more but someone called him over. "Just a minute, kids. I'll be right back."
I gave a sigh once Lug was gone. "He sure has an odd way of explaining things."
Maria held back a laugh. "Be happy that you get to know him." A moment passed with a word being said. Finally, Maria spoke up. "How much time do we have left?"
"A month. That's go by fast, I'm sure." I was whispering now.
"Are you ready?"
I felt to perplexed. "Yes and no."
"What ever happens I'm with you to the end." Maria told me, and I knew she would be.
Back to Briar's POV
I was still looking at the map and trying to memorize what buttons did what when Jim walked away from the helm and scanned the ship. He spoke with a few of the crew members and walked to the middle of the ship. He put two fingers to his lips and whistled loudly. Everyone stood at attention. By this time Maria and Lucard returned from below deck.
Everyone gathered round once again as Jim stood in the middle.
"The academy taught you how to defend yourself in combat, but what they spoke little on was fighting back." Jim spoke directly to Lucard, Maria and me. "The reason for that is: each Captain has a different way of teaching a unique style. The reason why the academy has us teach you is because if we were all taught the same, then it would make it that much easier for pirates to overthrow us since all they would have to do is find our fighting technique." He paused. "Are you still following?" We nodded. "Good. Because today we're going to learn a few things about offense."He took off his Captain's jacket and handed it to a nearby crew member. "Timothy!" He called out, and then proceeded to take off his shirt.
I tried not to make a subtle movements that reacted to Jim removing a bit of his clothing. I'd never seen him without a shirt and damn did he look good! It took all of my willpower to keep my eyes on his face and not his chest.
From the crowd Timothy came through. He was a crossbreed a rhino and some kind of beetle. He and Jim got into a fighting position. No one said a word as they stood there still for a few seconds, and then like that they went after each other. I thought for sure Jim would have a hard time with Timothy but he hurled him over his back and brought him down with just a few moves. Jim held Timothy down with his weight and swiped a knife from his boot, bringing it to Timothy's neck. It would appear that Jim was stronger than he looked. "That's one way to take down a pirate." Jim said and he let Timothy go. "Thank you, Timothy. You can return to your position." He offers him a hand and helps him stand. And without looking us Jim says, "Lucard!"
Maria and I look over at Lucard who is shocked and taken off guard. He also seemed very proud that the Captain called on him.
"Yes, Captain Hawkins!" He said with pride and stood at attention.
"Take your shirt off so you can move more freely, unless you prefer to fight like that?" Jim said.
Lucard didn't seem bothered and removed his vest and white shirt straight away and handed them to Maria. Lucard was well built also and seemed confident. "How is this, Captain?" Lucard asked as he chose a position to stand in to ready himself for a fight.
Jim nodded. "Your footing perfect." He then asked, looking a bit curious. "What stance is that. I'm not sure I've seen it before."
Lucard grinned. "It's something I came up with."
Jim looked impressed. "Well now. We'll see how you fare against me then."
At first Jim started off by going a little easy on him, but when Lucard was gaining the upper hand Jim quickly turned the fight around. Fists were quickly blocked, their forearms smacking each other to block a blow. They were fast...really fast. Even though Timothy was bigger he moved slower, but Lucard was smaller which allowed him to move at a faster pace.
After a few minutes Jim finally overthrew Lucard and brought him to his knees. He held Lucard there with his hands behind his back. "Well done, Lucard. You did well."
Lucard smiled. "Thank you, Captain!" He seemed very honored by Jim's complement.
"Where did you learn to fight like that?"
Lucard shrugged. "An old buddy of mine from my home town."
Jim nodded once. "They taught you well, but you still have much to learn." He looked back at Maria and I. "You two over here."
Maria handed Lucard back his things and walked up with me. I was nervous.
"You can take off your vests, ladies, if you want." He said to us. Maria and I gave our vests to Lucard and rolled up our sleeves and unbuttoned the first few buttons.
Jim then called forth Zee and one other crew member, both female. He stood facing the side us. Maria and I on one side, Zee and the other crew member on the other. We were just a few feet apart.
"Zee, Sasha. Go ahead and show the girls a few moves. I'll observe for now." Jim told us.
Zee took me step by step while Maria followed right along Sasha. We repeated the moves a number of time, each time going a little faster. We were learning how to block moves coming from all different directions; not just punches but kicks as well. I had seen a few kung fu movies in my past, but this was nothing like it. I should have expected that.
Jim stopped us for a moment and walked over to me. He took hold of my arm and raised it. "You're moving this arm too slow and not raising high enough. Try again." The touch of his fingers on my skin sent shivers through my body.
"Okay," I said. I went through the movements with Zee again and my performance was better.
Practice went on for a little more until Jim finally stopped us. He ordered us, his students, to wash up and take care of our chores before supper.
The next day I woke up and did my usual routine and helped Mr. Omi with the dishes after breakfast. As I made my way on deck I spotted a spaceport not too far off. The slug man sitting atop the crow's nest shouted out, "Spaceport up ahead!" I thought back to being on Silver's ship and his crew members. I missed them and wished I could see them again. However, my thoughts were interrupted when Lucard pulled me up to the railing by gently grabbing my arm. "Look at that!" He said. "Our first shipment is underway!"
I laughed. "You're really hyped for this, huh?"
He looked at me with a big smile on his face. "I've been waiting for this. We get to help people, m-I mean, we get to do all these amazing things, Briar!"
I raised a brow. "Were you about to call me Maria?"
Lucard laughed nervously. "You caught that? Yeah, sorry."
I shrugged. "No big deal."
A half hour passed before we finally landed at the spaceport. I noticed a familiar ship next to ours and realized that it was Kate's ship. She must've had business here, too. I turned around to see a group of ten crew members carrying heavy cases of boxed items down the bridge an on to a wagon. When they were nearly finished loading it up Jim walked out of his room and down the stairs where he met with Lucard and me.
"Where is Maria?" he asked.
"Right behind you." Maria's voice chimed.
"Ah. Good. I want you three to follow me. We'll be taking these crates to a regular customer of ours. I want you to see how the business is done."
We followed Jim off the ship and got on to the wagon with him. Once we broke free from the business of the spaceport we drove into the depths of the town itself and stopped at a small shop. It was up to the four of us to carry all boxes into the store.
"Inside the elevator, please." Instructed one of the workers there.
It was a half hour before we finally piled all boxes into the elevator. There was barely enough room for us as we went down. The shop was bigger than I thought for when the doors finally slid opened we were met by a large underground facility. This time a group of men came to pick up the boxes so we didn't have to. We followed Jim a few paces as he stopped to talk with who looked like the owner.
"Thirty crates in all?" Said the owner. He wiggled his shaggy dog tail.
Jim nodded. "I counted them myself."
The owner jotted a few things down on a paper with the clipboard he was holding and then handed it to Jim. "Thank you for your business."
"Likewise." Jim took the paper and folded it up before placing it safely on the inside of his jacket.
Once we reached the outside of the shop Zee was outside waiting for us.
"Just in time." Said Jim. He then turned to us and said, "You three get an hour break here in town. Spend that time wisely. Zee will be with you. I have to head back to the ship."
I was excited to be able to roam free for a little bit. Not only were we learning from this voyage , we were getting paid for it also. Every week we were given an allowance. It wasn't much, but it was something.
We visited all the nearby shops and I bought a few soaps. I wanted more than just the regular that came on the ship. It had little scent and I wanted to smell nice for obvious reasons. I didn't want to risk smelling like an onion in front of Jim.
Maria bought a few things for her hair, which I was jealous of because I missed the butterfly hair ornament Jim gave me. I still had it with me tucked away in my drawer, but my hair was still to short for it.
Lucard on the other hand spent his money on trying new food. It's not like the food on the ship was bad but you were limited with your choices.
"You'll spoil your dinner with all that food." Said Maria.
Lucard grinned. "No, I won't, because I'm always hungry."
Our hour had come and gone too fast it felt like and we were making our way back to the ship.
"Ah, Briar!" Delbert called out to me before crossing the bridge. "I few minor things to attend to before returning. Will you give this envelope to Jim? He should be in his estate room. I'd do it myself but I have a few more places to go and he needs these as soon as possible."
"Sure," I said and took the envelope.
Jim's POV
I returned to the ship within a reasonable amount of time and headed to my estate room. I needed to figure our next plan of action and the coordinates. The lives of my students were in my hands and I didn't want to mess anything up by not taking the time to look things over.
After a while a knock sounded on my door. "You may enter."
"You seem busier than ever." It was Kate. "I'm glad we arrived roughly the same time. I'm about to take off but I wanted to touch bases with you on a few things first."
I sat back in my chair. "Go ahead."
"First of all, how did your first shipment go? I know that with new students there can be screw ups."
"It went fine. The three of them listen to directions really well."
Kate nodded to this. "That's good. The same goes for me." There was a short pause. "Second of all, is Nephium your next stop?"
I shook my head. "No, Lumenox is."
"Ah, I see. Then you will be meeting up with Amelia then?"
I nodded in answer to her question. "Anything else?" I asked.
She seemed hesitant at first but then finally spoke up. "I wanted to talk about us."
"What's there to talk about?" I didn't really feel like talking about it.
She moved around my desk and stood just a few inches from me. I turned my seat to face her better. "I want to try again."
"Didn't we already do that once before?" I said.
She nodded weakly. "Yes, but maybe a third time's a charm?"
I stared at her for a few seconds before answering her. "I don't think so. The spark between us isn't there anymore, Kate."
She seemed really disappointed, but I had to tell her the truth. "Is there someone else on your mind now?"
I was taken aback by her very forward assumption. I looked to the window. I tried not to think about Briar, but she was all I could think about. "No," I finally answered Kate.
Kate quickly moved and sat down on my lap. She forced me to look at her. "Is it Briar?" She asked in a whisper. I didn't say anything. "You sly dog. Is that why you wanted her to win during the finals? Amelia had dibs on her and you got her to change her mind. " A sad grin spread across her face. "You know a relationship between a student and a Captain can never work. It's against the law. You'd be stripped from your title as Captain and Briar would lose the opportunity to become one herself."
"How dare you." I managed to say after a moment of not being able to speak. "You need to leave."
"I'm right, aren't I?" she said rather quickly. "Tell me the truth. I want to know."
I refused to say anymore to her on the subject. "You need to leave." She held me tight and brought me in for a kiss. Shocked, I sat there still for a moment, and then I saw Briar from the corner of my eye and broke the kiss. "Briar!" A look of utter disappointment was plastered all over her face.
"E-excuse me." Her voice was barely audible and she quickly left.
Back to Briar's POV
I slammed the door shut and ran below deck to my room. Somewhere between me leaving and running away I slammed the envelope on the floor. I didn't care and I locked myself in my room for the rest of the evening. I skipped out on supper too. The idea of food made me sick, plus I didn't feel like seeing Jim. I hoped that what I saw what I thought it was.
Later that evening I was called to the crow's nest to watch out for the ship for a few hours. It was my turn.
Eventually I got tired of standing and sat down, wrapping my arms around my knees and peered out at the night sky. Not a single thing was in sight save for the stars that were billions of miles away. A few tears ran down my face and I wiped them away. More came down and no matter how many times I dabbed at my eyes the tears wouldn't stopped. My lower lip quivered. Was all the hard work I had done up to now for nothing? I had to wonder if I ever stood a chance with Jim.
Here I was, Briar Edwards, a shy girl who was not only short but a little chubby (although I wasn't really anymore since I started the academy). Briar Edwards, a little nobody from a planet called Earth, a place most everyone had forgotten about. Briar Edwards, the girl who tried too hard.
Behind my tears I saw a blurry yellow light, no, it was smoke and a giant black cloud was headed our way. I got rid of my tears and stood up, taking the scope to get a better look. A storm was coming. I rung the bell hard and fast to alert the others. Within seconds the crew came sprawling out, Jim included.
Jim called out orders and a second barrier was set up.
I was still atop the crow's nest when a gust of wind hit us. The ship shook with great force, knocking me down, and I had no choice but to stay where I was. I was too afraid to move.
The storm engulfed us within seconds. If not for the lights on the ship we would have be submerged into darkness. Purple and blue lighting flashed all around us and few bolts even us, rocking the ship once more. The ship was spinning and I could feel the momentum of it weighing me down. I really had no choice but to stay down. Everyone else below me readied their life lines and as Lug tried to make his way to me to hand me my lifeline but the ship shook again and he fell off the ladder. Thankfully he didn't fall too far.
The sound of the raging storm left me deaf and I couldn't hear what was going on on deck from all the way up in the crow's nest. I was helpless.
Another bolt hit the ship, breaking a small part of the ship. The sound was louder now and a massive gust of wind came spewing in. The post the crow's next sat on was being pulled towards the direction where the barrier was broken. I could feel and hear the wood cracking, giving way, and like that it snapped and I fell right along with it. The Barrier broke even more and I gripped the railing so tight my knuckles turned white. I could feel them slipping as the suction was pulling me. I was a mere five feet away from the raging storm outside the barrier and I all I could do was hold on for dear life. It didn't help that I was awkwardly positioned in the crow's nest either.
From the corner of my eye I saw Jim making his way towards him. In one hand he had an extra lifeline, and in the other a knife which he stabbed the post to steady himself against the wind.
I prayed that Jim would make it in time. My hands were slipping and there would nothing else for me to hold to once I lost my grip. I would be whisked away into the storm. And like that, Jim grabbed my leg. The weight of the two us make the post snap and we fell. Jim wrapped the lifeline around my waist just in time as the post slipped off the ship. Jim was quick to wrap his arms around me as we fell together, our lifelines catching us with a rough tug, but they were designed to leave a small space as to not squeeze us. We banged against the side of the ship but because Jim was protecting me he took most of the damage.
I felt bad. I didn't want him to get hurt.
We dangled there, swaying from side to side as the ship moved trying to avoid dangerous hits. And like that, we popped out from the other side and the storm was gone; the ship settled. It didn't take the crew very long to haul us up on deck and when we finally were I was so happy to standing on something sturdy, although I wasn't standing. I was on my hands a knees still trying to catch my breath.
"Are you two alright?" I heard Maria say.
"Give them some room." someone said.
"We're fine." Jim said. He stood up, wincing in pain as he did so. "Briar?" He held his hand out to me. I looked up and took his hand. "Good work everyone."
I tried to steady myself but I felt so dizzy and couldn't see straight. How many people were surrounding us? I couldn't keep count. Plus my ears were ringing so it was hard to hear what everyone was saying.
"Briar, what's wrong?" Jim's voice was muffled but I could still hear him.
I held my head with one hand while Jim tried his best to steady me with the hand he was holding. "I...I don't know."
"...Briar?" It was Lucard but I couldn't see where was staying. Everything was going black. I fell into Jim's arms as I was no longer able to hold myself up.
"Hang in there, Briar!" I looked up into his blue eyes. They were so wonderful. How could I ever be upset with this man? He was so kind to me.
And then there was nothing; no Jim; no crew. Nothing. And then I saw it: Rome was on fire and among the chaos a tall, black, misty figure wearing a long cloak stood with its back to me. Finally it turned and something glowed a bright red in the middle of its chest. Where had I seen that before? Oh, yeah...the little girl from my dream.
Tada! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. I've been waiting a very long time to get up to this point in the story. I'm so excited to be able to share this with you!
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