An alien with 6 eyes was looking out with a telescope, looking down. "We're all clear, Captaaaain!"
Amelia was standing straight, wearing her Captain's hat with Arrow in the same position. They were both looking at a crew member steering the ship while Delbert was peeking over the edge. "Well, my friend. Are we ready to raise this creaking tub?"
"My pleasure, Captain," Arrow responded, earning a nod with a smile. "All hands to stations!"
Jim emerged from the staircase while Ari was heading to the bathroom when people rushed by her. She gasped in realization and followed after them.
"Smartly now!"
"Come on, you scurvy scum! I'll race ya!" A woman called out as they climbed up the mast. Other aliens raced to get to their posts.
"Loose all solar sails!" Arrow commanded them and they did so, the sails opening up.
Someone rammed into Jim while pulling ropes and he glared at the alien. "Come on!"
Ari ran onto the deck, swiftly jumping past people rushing around frantically. She clutched her clothes to her chest. The ship slowly rose in the air and Jim looked over the edge, seeing the birds fly by. "Heave up the braces. Brace up!"
A small sail opened up and Jim smiled up at it. "Jim!" He glanced behind him and saw Ari rushing up. She joined his side, looking excited at the sails. The masts started to shimmer, while power was rising below them in three tubes. The crew member watching it put his hand around the lever.
As the ship was still rising, so did Jim and Ari due to the lack of gravity. Ari yelped as she held her skirt so that it didn't fly up. However, her maid clothes fell out of her hands. "No!" She groaned as she was too busy holding her skirt to get it.
Jim reached up and caught them. "Gotcha!" He gave them back to Ari, who put them underneath her arm holding the skirt. Jim took a hold of her hand.
Delbert gasped and failed while Amelia and Arrow themselves were used to it at this point. "Mr. Zoff, engage artificial gravity," Amelia called out to the fart alien. He saluted and let out a few farts before pressing the lever. A purple light surrounded the ship, putting on the anti-gravity.
Jim pulled down Ari safely. "Thank you..." She murmured in relief.
Delbert meanwhile landed on his face while Arrow and Amelia landed safely. She glanced down at Delbert, essentially ignoring him. "South by southwest, Mr. Turnbuckle, heading 2-1-0-0."
"Aye, Captain. 2-1-0-0," The alien maneuvering the ship did exactly as she asked, a flag appearing from the top of the ship.
"Full speed, Mr. Arrow, if you please."
"Take her away!" Arrow shouted into a tube where the one controlling the lever was. He pulled it and the ship's engine powered up.
"Brace yourself, Doctor," Amelia told Delbert as he stood up, dusting himself off.
"Brace yourself," He mocked to himself snidely before the ship took off in high speed. "Aah!" He screamed as he flew backwards, hitting a wall. Meanwhile, Arrow and Amelia were of course fine.
As the ship flew off, Ari and Jim ran for the netting, climbing up together. Once they reached a good spot, he put an arm around her while she hugged the rope next to her. She glanced up at him briefly, blushing, and decided to take in the view instead. Though his arm was distracting her throughout. As they were flying, the wind blew in Ari's hair as her mouth opened slightly at the view. It felt like she was in a whole new world.
Jim then noticed something to her right. "Whoa!"
She looked in his direction and gasped. "Space whales! And stingrays too!"
Jim smiled at her as she pointed excitedly to the flying animals. Several of them flew above, Jim looking at one straight in the eye. "Hey, uh," He spoke up to Ari, turning to face her. "What was that one?" He jerked his head at it. Hearing her talk about them, specifically the way her eyes lit up at them, was kind of adorable to him.
Ari turned to him...and saw that they were very close to each other's face. "Um..." She faltered in what she was about to say. "It...it's a..." She then hung her head in embarrassment. "I can't even say it with you looking at me like that! It's probably boring for you to hear me talk like this."
"What? No, no!" He shook his head rapidly. "I actually...kind of like it."
She looked back up at him in surprise and smiled. He returned the favor.
"Upon my word..." Delbert adjusted his glasses, smiling. "An Orcus Galacticus!" He took out a camera and leaned in. "Smile!"
"Uh, Doctor, I'd stand clear-" Amelia was interrupted by the Orcus sneezing out of the blow hole, landing right on Delbert. He did take the photo, however, as disgusting as he felt right now. Amelia actually laughed a bit at him, smiling.
"Ah, tis' a grand day for sailing, Captain," Her smile dropped as she heard Silver's voice from below. She looked down to see him, Morph hovering nearby. "And look at ya! You're as trim and as bonny as a sloop with new sails and a fresh coat of paint," He tipped his hat and bowed with a large smile.
"You can keep that kind of flim-flammery for your spaceport floozies, Silver," She blatantly told him.
Morph then shape-shifted into Amelia. "Spaceport floozy, spaceport floozy," He mocked, shaking his hips before Silver covered him with his hat.
"You cut me to the quick, Captain. I speaks nothing but me heart at all times."
"Nothing but me heart," Morph mocked again, earning being hidden underneath the hat again.
She looked up towards Ari and Jim, watching as the girl was still pointing to the sky. There was eagerness and happiness in her, Jim staring at the girl as she was living a part of her dream right now. Amelia just stared at Ari for a few seconds before speaking.
"And, um, by the way, isn't that your cabin boy and the scullery maid aimlessly footling about in those shrouds?" She demanded to him. Especially since Ari's maid clothes were now on the deck.
"Yep, it..." Silver gave a look of embarrassment. "A momentary aberration, Cap'n, soon to be addressed," He stammered nervously before turning to them. "Jimbo! Lass!"
Jim gave a slightly annoyed look of his time with the girl being interrupted, but he turned around anyway. Ari glanced at Silver. "I got three new friends I'd like you to meet." The two looked but saw no one, confusing them. "Say hello to Mr. Mop, Mrs. Bucket, and Mrs. Dirt and Grime!"
He threw the mop, a bucket, and Ari's maid clothes. Jim managed to catch both, just barely, while the clothes smacked right into Ari's face. This almost caused her to fall off, but Jim quickly reached out and pulled her back. Silver laughed as she reached up, slowly sliding the dress off her face with an annoyed look. Jim didn't look so amused either.
"Yippee..."
"So...great..." Ari rolled her eyes, jumping onto the deck and walking off. Jim looked baffled, since they were sharing a moment, and then groaned.
Jim started to mop the floor with a wet mop. "Yeah, I got your Mr. Mop," He grumbled to himself.
A large alien bumped into him and he fell backwards.
"Watch it, twerp," The alien snarled at him and then walked off. Jim stared at him and then saw three crew members murmur to themselves. They looked sketchy, to say the least. He grabbed his mop, but he had been staring for too long because the trio noticed him. They looked right back at him.
"What are you looking at, weirdo?" One of them crossed his arms, the head crawling off his body as a second alien was the body.
"Yeah, weirdo."
Jim raised an eyebrow and then heard hissing. He looked up and saw a large spider-like alien crawl down from the masts. He also had bright yellow eyes. "Cabin boys should learn to mind their own business," He hissed at the boy.
Jim looked to his left and flinched when he saw Ari. She was holding two baskets full of clothes, both of them in her arms to the point where it covered up her face. She was walking over to them, as it was a shortcut to the wash room. The girl was wearing a white dress with a blue smock over herself. She had a bonnet on her head with her hair being down. Her bangs were resting on her cheeks.
Unfortunately, Jim wasn't the only one who noticed her. The alien stared at her intensely and she looked past the basket to see where she was going. She noticeably flinched and a look of fear hit her face briefly once she saw him. Jim couldn't help but wonder about her reaction. It was as if she had seen the alien before…
Arianna then ducked her head behind the baskets, trying to walk past them with no trouble. The spider-like alien held out his leg in front of her and then she tripped, dropping the clothes all over the deck.
His friends chuckled as she sat up, glaring at them. She stood up slowly, and the laughter stopped as she was glaring right into his eyes. He just kept a glare of his own.
"Pick it up."
Everyone around stared at her in shock. By the look on her face, she was dead serious.
"What did you just say to me?" The alien growled at her.
"You heard me. Pick. It. Up." She gritted her teeth at him, having a brave face on. She was terrified of him, but there was no way she would let him push her around and treat her like dirt.
"Perhaps you're mistaken, maid. I don't take orders from you," The spider-like alien pointed at her.
"There's a first time for everything, isn't there? So maybe I'm not the one mistaken, but you need to read my lips. Pick it up and let me pass, and then we'll just forget about this," She narrowed her eyes angrily. He snarled at her and then he looked at her locket.
"Well, well, well…what have we got here? Seems like we've got a bit of gold coming our way."
He lifted up the locket and she shoved him off. Angry at her for her insolence, he gripped the locket again and tried to steal it from her by pulling on the chain. She struggled and then he squeezed her wrist tightly.
"Get off of me!" She shouted at him as she tried but failed to get free and Jim stepped in towards them.
"Hey! She said get off!"
"Perhaps you didn't hear me. Mind your own business, cabin boy," The spider alien glared down at him.
"At least I don't have something to hide by attacking innocent people, bright eyes," Jim remarked back. He flinched at the insult, getting angry. He grabbed Jim and threw the locket off Arianna in the process. However, he threw her too hard into the pillar and her head hit the back of it hard. Jim opened his mouth in shock as she fell face first behind him unconscious.
"Ari!"
The spider alien waved the locket mockingly in front of Jim, who scowled at him. "I see your ears don't work so well. Trying to protect your little girlfriend, are we?"
"Yeah. Ahem," Jim looked away, clearing his throat. "Too bad my nose works just fine."
"Why, you impudent little-" He slammed Jim into the pillar. The crew shouted around Scroop for him to slice Jim.
"Go ahead! Slice him! Dice him!"
"Any last words, cabin boy?" The spider hissed, pointing his claw at Jim's throat. Then his arm was grabbed tightly and yanked by Silver himself.
"Mr. Scroop..." He ate a bite out of a purp. "You ever see what happens to a fresh purp...when you squeeze real hard?" He twisted Scroop's arm, causing him to drop Jim a few feet away from the girl. He looked up and gasped as she hadn't sat up yet.
"Ari!" Jim crawled over to her. He reached out a hand to the girl. "Are you okay?" He asked softly, but got no response.
"What's all this, then?" Everyone grew quiet as Arrow stepped down, flinching as he saw Ari. "You know the rules. There'll be no brawling on this ship."
"Aye-aye, sir."
"Any further offenders will be confined to the brig for the remainder of the voyage, and anyone who lays hands on the staff will suffer punishment by the Captain!" He stopped in front of Scroop, leaning in with a glare. "Am I clear, Mr. Scroop?"
Scroop got angry at being reprimanded, glancing at Silver, who was glaring at him as his eye shined.
"...Transparently."
"What is going on here?"
They all looked towards the stairs to see Amelia and Delbert standing there. She saw Arianna and ran over, bending down.
"What happened?!"
"The young girl was being cheeky. I tried to stop her and then she assaulted me. So I had to stop her by defending myself," Scroop spoke up.
"That's not what happened!" Jim glared at him angrily, turning to the captain. "She was being harassed by Scroop. He tripped her and made her drop the clothes, and then he tried to steal her locket. I stepped in to stop him, but then he threw her and she hit the mast."
"I see," Amelia glared at the group, who did not look happy with Jim. "Mr. Arrow, Dr. Doppler, take Arianna to the medical bay."
"Of course, Captain," Mr. Arrow bowed his head. He put Arianna's right arm over his shoulder, Dr. Doppler taking the other arm. Jim stared after her in concern as she was whisked away. Amelia's eyes softened just a bit as she watched them. It was only her first day and yet she was already injured. She turned to Scroop and the others.
"As for you and the rest of the crew, Mr. Scroop, you have the pleasure of taking care of Arianna's duties until all of her bruises are unrecognizable. And afterwards, you can expect a load of extra work for the rest of the expedition."
Scroop glared at her in hatred as the crew did not respond.
"That wasn't a suggestion," She growled at them.
"Yes, Captain," They grumbled at her.
"Now, back to work!"
They left and she turned to Jim and Silver.
"I can assume you two were not part of this incident?"
"Of course not! I've known Ari since we were newborns. I would never hurt her," Jim insisted to her, not wanting to be punished too.
"Aye. I stepped in to 'elp t'e poor kids," Silver gestured to Jim.
"Very well then. No extra work for the two of you. I'll see to it that Arianna is comfortable and gets the best recovery. Mr. Hawkins, Mr. Silver," She nodded at them and took her leave.
"Well done, Mr. Arrow and Cap'n!" Silver called out, dispersing the crowd. "A tight ship's a happy ship, sir." He then snatched the mop from the floor. "Jimbo, I gave you a job!"
"Hey, I was doing it until that bug thing was harassing Ari-"
"Belay that!" Silver shouted in his face. "Now, I want this deck swabbed spotless," He threw the mop into Jim's hand. "And heaven help you if I come back and it's not done. Morph?" He looked towards the shapeshifter. "Keep an eye on this pup, and let me know if there be any more distractions."
He stormed off, Jim staring after him. He glanced up at Morph, whose eyes got bigger and he sighed, starting to mop. The entire time, though, his mind was on Ari...