Author's Note:
Thank you Whisperwings, thou art awesome!
Rebecca woke up earlier than the rest of the crew, other than those who were at the helm or on watch duty, and made her way to the ship's galley. Her morning sickness hadn't yet kicked in and she was craving purps like there was no tomorrow.
The young woman knew that no one would be able to hear her in the galley as Jim had taken the cook's quarters rather than the first mate's quarters (which she occupied) and he was currently on watch with Henry and Martin. Even so, the young woman was careful as she entered the empty galley and soundlessly closed the door behind her. She tiptoed -for reasons beyond her- to the barrel of purps in the corner of the galley and looked into it. It was nearly empty.
'Strange. I thought our stocks were filled last week.'
Rebecca double-checked that there was no one around and leaned over the rim of the wooden barrel to grab one of the purps. Before she knew it, Rebecca tumbled head first into the purp barrel for the mere wanting of one of the violet fruits. She was glad she was wearing her trousers at this point in time and blushed at the thought.
Suffice to say that the purp barrel was hardly accommodating for a fully-grown woman, even as empty as it was, and Rebecca was having trouble getting her self out of it. She tried propping her arms against the sides of the barrel to no avail.
'Great way to start off the day, just get yourself stuck in a purp barrel, Rebecca.'The young woman sighed to herself and contemplated shouting for help.
To her great alarm, Rebecca heard the creaking of the galley door as someone came inside. Her face quickly flushed crimson red from humiliation.
"What in blue blazes?" John's familiar voice came from the other side of the galley. "Is that yeh, Juanita?"
Rebecca would've smacked her forehead had she an adequate amount of space within the purp barrel. 'I guess with my trousers on, I look like Juanita waist-down.' She thought.
Rebecca could hear John walk towards the purp barrel. She felt his hand on her hips as he hoisted her out of the barrel. Rebecca felt her face flare with heat.
John set down the young woman and then recognized her. "Rebecca?" The young man exclaimed. "What are yeh-?"
The young man was cut off when Rebecca spun around to face him and shoved a purp in his mouth, "Don't you ever tell anyone about this, John Silver!" Rebecca ordered, her pale green eyes livid and her face a bright red. "Understood?"
John smirked as he took a bite out of the purp and pulled the fruit from his mouth. "A little jumpy this morning aren't we, Miss Clarke?" He mused with a raised eyebrow.
Rebecca sighed. "Sorry, John." She leaned against a nearby counter, fiddling with the other purp in her hands. "You have no idea how uncomfortable a purp barrel is."
John's smirk widened and he shook his head. "I'll take your word for it."
Rebecca felt herself smile as she met John's eyes. There was a short pause between the two young adults before they broke out into warm laughter.
"Hey. What's all the commotion about?" Jarred asked groggily as he was dragged into the galley by Juanita to cook breakfast. Apparently he had just woken up.
Rebecca looked firmly at John, who paused before saying, "I'm afraid me lips are sealed, Jarred." He admitted.
Jarred rolled his eyes at this and began his work. Juanita simply raised an eyebrow at the couple and began assembling what she needed for the day's breakfast.
The female Shikaran walked over to the purp barrel and did a double take when she realized how empty it had become. "What in the Etherium?" Juanita exclaimed.
"What?" The males asked.
"Didn't we restock on purps last week?" Juanita enquired.
"We did." Rebecca stated.
Juanita looked back into the near-empty purp barrel. "Well, there's no way that we've been using this many purps in a week, this barrel could've lasted us a month!"
"Hmm… Someone's got to be behind the missing purps." Jarred pondered. "Any thoughts come to mind?"
There was a pause as the four sailors thought about what had happened since they had left the forested world of Zarnia. Rebecca's eyes were the first to light up with an idea.
"Well…" Rebecca furrowed her brow in thought. "I don't recall seeing much of Scroop since our launch from Zarnia."
"What are you suggesting?" Jarred enquired.
"Well," Rebecca shrugged. "Perhaps he's behind the missing purps, after all he has been eating much more during meals than he usually does."
"What?" Juanita exclaimed after safely retrieving a few purps. "You mean that little guy's responsible for emptying almost an entire barrel of purps in a week?" She looked at Rebecca in bewilderment. "He would've exploded!"
"Not exploded…" John thought aloud, stroking his chin, "but maybe, grew."
"What?" The two Shikarans and human exclaimed.
John sighed, "Arachnids shed their exoskeleton as they grow." He stated, "Usually once a year when their younger an' then once every five years –or so- when they're older."
"And he's eating us out of house and home, because?" Juanita looked at John.
"It's typical, really." Jarred cut in, "I remember when I was younger, I went through a dramatic growth spurt and couldn't seem to stop eating until I had fully grown." He stated, "Scroop's likely going through the same thing."
"Exactly." John added. "He'll probably skitter off into some dark corner when the actual shedding begins an' then we won't 'ave teh worry about our stocks for a while."
"Well then, let's hope that it's soon." Juanita chopped up some vegetables for the breakfast and poured them into a pot of boiling water. "Because we actually need something to eat."
Rebecca spent the rest of the day sparring with Martin and Juanita, improving her skill with a broom handle. She was still a little skittish about practising with her new sword, fearing that she'd be the one at risk rather than her instructors.
The young woman quickly went to bed, bruised and bloody-knuckled from her intense practising, without even the slightest thought of speaking to anyone. She was out like a light before she even knew it.
Rebecca awoke in darkness, hearing the smallest sob somewhere below her. She lit one of the solar lanterns at her bedside and checked under her bed. Nothing. Still the tiny cry was coming from one of the lower levels.
The young woman though about the layout of the ship's lower decks and what was under her quarters. The first level of the ship was the crews' quarters, the captain's room, her room, the galley and the cook's quarters. Below them was the ship's cargo hold and below that was the ship's brig and longboat storage room.
'To the cargo hold.' Rebecca thought to herself as she pulled her thick night robe over her silky nightdress. She grabbed the solar lantern, dimmed the light by turning down its luminosity setting, and set out for the cargo's storage.
Rebecca stopped at her doorway and contemplated taking her sword with her. If they had a stowaway of some sort, they could be hostile, however Rebecca wasn't so confident in being able to handle her sword.
The young woman took her sword anyway, tucking it under her night robe, and left her quarters for the lower deck.
The ship's cargo hold was the coolest room in the vessel, as it was sheltered from the warm solar winds of the Etherium and had no portholes to let in starlight.
Rebecca listened closely as she dimmed the solar lantern. She reached for the hilt of her sword, to avoid being caught off her guard, when she heard the sound once more.
It was a muffled whimpering, like that of an animal in pain, or of someone trying to hide their cries.
Rebecca released her hold on her sword and proceeded cautiously towards the sound. She lifted the lantern above her head so that she could see more of the hold.
The young woman heard some scuffling and turned her attention to the farthest corner from her on the port side of the ship.
"Hello?" Rebecca called out. Her nerves were beginning to fail her as she tried to keep a steady hold on her solar lantern. She gripped the hilt of her sword so tightly that her knuckles had begun to turn white.
A pair of golden eyes shimmered eerily from the corner from the lantern light and Rebecca instantly felt relief.
"Scroop." She sighed, releasing her hold on her sword and walking towards the corner. "I was afraid that we had a stowaway." She squinted through the shadows of the dark cargo hold. "You should come on out."
"No." Scroop said quietly. "I can't…"
"Why not?" Rebecca asked.
"I can't show my face to them, not when I look like this." Scroop then fell silent.
Rebecca stepped around a group of crates and gasped at what she saw. The young arachnid's exoskeleton had what appeared to be an intricate web of cracks. Under the cracks, Rebecca could see crimson flesh pulsating, as it forced its way outwards.
Scroop looked up at Rebecca, his golden eyes conveying the helpless and vulnerable state he was in. He wrapped his pincers, which were also cracked up his arms, around his self and turned away in shame.
"Are you alright?" Rebecca knelt down beside the young arachnid, looking at him.
"I never grew this much when I was younger…" Scroop began. "I think it's because I was never properly cared for. I didn't really have someone to take care of me." He looked up at Rebecca, seeing that she had sat down on the floor and was listening attentively for more. He continued. "My mother was sold off on Los Terrano a year before I met you… and I never met my father." The young arachnid sighed. "My mother said that he escaped the slave caravan when they were on Winterchill… so she assumes that he died from the cold." Scroop gulped. "I was thinking of going out to find my mother when you released me, but I realized that I might not be able to find her… Los Terrano is far too vast."
"Is that why you decided to come with us?" Rebecca asked.
Scroop shook his head. "I saw a sign in a dream that I had before that… of you."
"Of me?" Rebecca looked at Scroop quizzically. "You had a dream of me?"
Scroop nodded. "You we staring up at the sky, with a… baby in your arms."
"A baby?" Rebecca was intrigued by what Scroop had seen. She paused for only a moment, instinctively touching her stomach. "What did the baby look like?" She asked.
"A girl…" Scroop thought for a moment, "with copper-brown eyes."
Rebecca was silent at this, thinking about her family and about the baby growing inside of her. Both of her hands went to her stomach. "Was there anyone else with me?"
"No." Scroop stated.
Rebecca looked away, pondering. She had been looking at the stars without anyone with her. Did that mean that she wouldn't live her happily ever after with John at her side? Did that mean something horrible was going to happen to him?
"John." Rebecca gasped under her breath. Her arm shot out and knocked over the solar lantern. Luckily it remained intact.
"What about him?" Scroop enquired.
Rebecca realized that Scroop had heard her unintentional outburst and she quickly picked up the solar lantern. "N- Nothing." She cleared her throat. "Just thinking aloud." She gave him a half-smile. "Are you certain that you're going to be alright?"
"I was wondering the same for you." Scroop looked up at Rebecca.
Rebecca half-laughed, "I'll be fine Scroop." She reassured. "I'm worried about you."
"I'll be fine." Scroop winced as another crack formed along his arm and a chunk of ebony exoskeleton fell from his shoulder, exposing the crimson flesh. He looked up at Rebecca. "I just need a few nights' sleep." He stated.
"You're certain of this?" Rebecca asked, still obviously concerned.
"Yes." Scroop nodded. "Go ahead back to bed." He implored.
Rebecca chewed her bottom lip and nodded. She was still quite tired from all of the sparing with Juanita and Martin. The young woman made her way through the cargo hold to the entrance.
"Good night, Scroop." Rebecca called.
"Good night, Rebecca." Scroop replied.
Author's Note:
Well, there's nothing like a bit of filler before another action sequence and such…
MG#6