Author's Note:
(Hums the tune to the Batman theme song) Action! Action! Yeah!
"Rebecca, we've got less than a week until we arrive on Alpha Diego." Juanita began as she unsheathed her sword. "That sword isn't just for show, you know."
Rebecca bit her bottom lip. Juanita had a point -no pun intended- if they were going to go up against cutthroats that had handled swords since they could stand, she was going to have to get accustomed to using her sword. "What do you suggest?"
Juanita shrugged. "Just a short duel, to disarm your opponent." She stood by the mainmast and looked at the young woman.
"I'm not sure, Juanita." Rebecca nervously gripped the hilt of her sword.
"Come now, Rebecca." Juanita urged. "You've really gotten good, what with all that Martin and I have taught you. I'm sure you'll be fine handling a sword."
"I-" Rebecca searched for an excuse, stopped short and sighed. "All right, I'll try."
"That's the spirit, Rebecca." Juanita said, switching the grip on her sword so she was ready to duel.
Rebecca sighed, slowly unsheathing her sword. She looked down at the polished blade, seeing her emerald eyes staring back up at her and then looked up at Juanita.
"Ready?" Juanita asked.
Rebecca inhaled slowly and exhaled, readying herself as she had been taught. "Ready."
Juanita pounced towards Rebecca with a shout. Rebecca leapt out of the way, narrowly dodging Juanita's attack. Juanita swept her foot underneath Rebecca's causing the young woman to hit the deck. Juanita then kicked Rebecca's sword from her grasp, grabbed it and pointed both blades at Rebecca's throat.
"Hey…" Rebecca said through pants. "That's cheating." She shook her injured hand.
"We're going against pirates, Rebecca." Juanita said gravely. "To fight a pirate, you've got to play dirty." She flipped Rebecca's sword in her hand and held the hilt to Rebecca.
Rebecca took her sword and got to her feet, her hand was stiff from Juanita's kick.
"Again." Juanita said bluntly.
Rebecca inhaled, pulling the sword beside her face and charged. Juanita smirked, stepping aside and kicking Rebecca hard in the stomach. Rebecca was on her back again, the breath knocked from her lungs, but she managed to roll away from Juanita before she could get her hand kicked once more. Rebecca scrambled to her feet and pulled her sword in front of her, glaring at Juanita.
Juanita's smirk widened. "Better." She stated. "Again."
The two women duelled over the course of the day. Most of their companions, who weren't working the helm or sleeping, came to watch the sparring, offering tips to the inexperienced swordswoman. Still, with each duel, Rebecca ended up on her back and disarmed by Juanita's finest.
Rebecca groaned, picking herself up after yet another defeat. She was ready to turn in, her body bruised and battered, and her head spinning. The young woman looked up at Juanita, who had not a scratch on her and was still fully alert despite the gruelling hours of sparring.
'I guess this is why she's the mercenary and I'm the one that hired her.'
"Juanita, I'm exhausted." Rebecca groaned. "Can't we call it a day?"
"Rebecca." Juanita looked sternly at the young woman. "You've got to fight like a pirate." She implored. "To beat a pirate, you've got to think like one. Think: pirate."
The young human paused and looked down at her sword. She imagined a bloodthirsty cutthroat staring up at her and sighed. She couldn't think like a pirate. Being a pirate was the least of her wants. She closed her eyes as she remembered the ravaging of her home and the horrendous laughs of the pirates.
'If I can't think like a pirate… I'll simply think about pirates.'
Rebecca relived the memory, seeing the fearlessness of the pirates as they took on the innocent citizens. Her grip on her sword tightened as she remembered the petrified screams and the mansion crumbling around her.
The young woman opened her eyes and charged at Juanita with a shout. The Shikaran was slightly taken off guard, but smiled -as this was what she wanted- and parried the attack while leaping backwards. The swordswomen danced to the beat of their clashing swords, weaving around the main deck.
Juanita made a sweep for Rebecca's legs only to have Rebecca leap over her leg and come at her from behind. Juanita blocked the attack and leapt away from Rebecca.
Rebecca charged at Juanita. Juanita stepped aside and prepared to kick Rebecca in the gut. Rebecca caught Juanita's leg before it could hit her stomach and pulled it away from the railing, causing the female Shikaran to fall onto her side. Rebecca scurried forwards and kicked Juanita's sword from her reach, grabbed it and pointed both blades at Juanita's face.
The young human panted from the adrenaline rush as she looked down at Juanita. She took a lengthy breath and exhaled. "Now may I retire to bed?" She asked.
Juanita smiled. "Sure thing, Rebecca."
"Thank you." Rebecca sheathed her sword and pulled Juanita to her feet. She then handed the Shikaran her sword and made her way to her quarters.
Rebecca woke with a start after something bumped against her side of the ship, causing her to tumble out of her bed. Rebecca sat upright and looked around. There was nothing in her room to have pushed her out of bed. She concluded that it had to have been something hitting the ship's exterior.
The young woman got to her feet, pulled her thick light green robe over her silky nightdress and made her way to the main deck. The ship jostled lightly before Rebecca could reach the main deck, but she managed to stay on her feet.
When Rebecca finally stepped onto the main deck, she beheld a sight that she could've never imagined. Hundreds, if not thousands, of elegant Space Whales were migrating alongside the ship. The pod consisted of massive bull whales, their mates and their smaller baby whales, which kept to their mother's side.
Rebecca was speechless, watching the whales in silence just off the entrance into the lower decks until someone interrupted her quiet.
"Remarkable, aren't they?" It was Martin, perched on one of the lower solar sail booms on the starboard side. The squirrel humanoid looked out at the numerous pods of Space Whales and then returned to his watch.
"Yes, they are." Rebecca agreed, making her way to the bow of the ship, to get a closer look at the magnificent creatures.
Orcus Galactacus they were called. Rebecca recalled doing a bit of research on the gentle giants of the Etherium when she was younger. It had been outside the scholastic curriculum of her finishing school, and she remembered having to search the school's library for some credible source material. It turned out that most resource material regarding sailing activities could not be found within the halls of a private school for young girls (go figure). Rebecca had had to take a trip to the always-opened library in Towata in the wee hours of the morning -while the school's prefects were sleeping- in order to find what she wanted.
Rebecca sighed, leaning against the bow's railing. 'Those were the days…' She thought quietly to herself. 'When sneaking out at night to read books on pirates and creatures of the Etherium was the biggest risk I could ever take.' Rebecca smiled fondly at her memories. 'And I never did get caught once.'
The young woman looked back at the elegant creatures and noticed a small baby whale come up alongside the bow of the ship. It looked up at Rebecca; it's light blue eyes wide with curiosity. Rebecca smiled softly to the baby whale.
"You should get back to your mother, before she worries about you." Rebecca instructed.
The baby whale glanced at a large female whale watching the ship close by, as if understanding what Rebecca had said.
"It's alright to go off exploring, every once in a while." Rebecca continued. "But don't you forget that she's somewhere, waiting for you and wanting to see you." The young woman smiled. "She'll always be with you, and love you, but what she wants most is for you to be safe and to see you." Rebecca paused. "All right?"
The baby whale made a small noise that seemed to agree with what Rebecca had said, and it darted to its mother's side. Rebecca couldn't help but smile.
"Didn't know we 'ad a Whale Whisperer aboard the ship." John said, coming up beside Rebecca and leaning against the bow's railing.
Rebecca shrugged. "I just said what came to mind." She stated.
"Aye, but truer words 'ave never been spoken teh a baby whale." John smirked.
Rebecca looked flatly at John. "I wasn't joking, John."
"An' did yeh think I was, lass?" John retorted, looking at Rebecca seriously.
Rebecca glanced back, raising an eyebrow.
John cleared his throat. "That was some impressive fighting yeh did against Juanita."
"Oh." Rebecca flushed red. "You saw that?"
"I 'ad the best seat in the house, Rebecca." John smiled broadly. "I think yeh'll 'ave those pirates running for the hills."
Rebecca looked out into the Etherium, thinking about what was to come. She looked down at her clasped hands. "Thanks."
There was a paused between the two young adults. John cleared his throat. "Now what exactly was it that yeh meant by what yeh said teh that whale, Rebecca?"
Rebecca sighed. "It's just-" She started, looking at him and then looked back at her hands. She considered how she was going to word her thoughts. "I know that it's not going to be like this forever, John."
"Go on." John said after a pause.
"Eventually," Rebecca chewed on her lip. "We're going to have to separate."
John was surprised at this. "What do yeh mean?"
Rebecca felt her stomach sink. "We…" Her hands balled up into fists. "We won't always be together, John."
"Don't say that, Rebecca." John placed a hand on Rebecca's shoulder.
"But it's true!" Rebecca exclaimed, her eyes filling up with tears. "What if something happens to you, John?" She looked at him. She shook her head. "And even if something doesn't happen, we'll have to separate when I go back!"
"Yeh don't 'ave teh go back, Rebecca." John stated. "We'll sail together, get away from all of that."
"No!" Rebecca shouted, tears falling from her eyes. "I'm tired of running away…" She paused to let out a sigh. "I can't-" She tried to form something understandable. "We have to separate, John."
John looked down at Rebecca; his coal-black eyes were swimming with confusion.
Rebecca sighed. "But when we do." Rebecca pushed the stray tears from her eyes. "I just want you to know that I'll always be with you…" She set her hands down upon John's and looked him in the eyes, "and I'll be waiting for you, hoping that you're safe."
John pulled his hands out from beneath Rebecca's, "No," he said shaking his head. He wrapped his arms around Rebecca and pulled her against him, "I will never leave yeh, Rebecca." He swore, holding onto her.
The young woman rested her head against John's chest, feeling his heartbeat against her cheek as tears slipped from her eyes.
Something within her heart betrayed the hope that everything would work out and that they'd simply all live happily ever after. Together. Something deep inside her knew that it wasn't going to be that way.
Author's Note:
Thank you Whisperwings for your fantastic betaing!
MG#6