I should probably address this issue quickly. Umm…just in case you had noticed…yes, the chapters are somewhat short. It's mainly so that the characters can each have a scene that relates to them without overlapping with someone else's chapter. If that makes sense. Remember, the character narrating will be at the top of the chapter. Thank you for reading!
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-Asher-
At least the newcomer knew her way around the ship. That way, Talia didn't make me show her around. Oh, right. My name's Asher, and I'm Talia's first mate. She adapted quickly to one of the rooms and, not to be rude, but spent a lot of time in it. Okay, maybe I do mean to be rude. She could have been helping us, but she wasn't. I wondered what she was doing in there. Wouldn't you? I probably shouldn't be complaining, though, because after we set sail for the next island, she emerged from her room and began socializing.
I may have just been paranoid, and that's possible, but even though she acted normally, interacted normally, and followed orders normally, there was something suspicious about her, like she had some other motive that she wasn't sharing. She wasn't saying, I wouldn't ask, but there was something I didn't like about her.
Like I said, I might have just been paranoid--but who can say.
Two days out (kind of jumping the gun, ain't I?), I addressed my thoughts to Talia.
"Don't you think…she seems sort of suspicious?" I asked, watching Talia dig around for something in her room. She looked up, brushing the red strands of hair out of her face with an elegant air.
"…Perhaps." To tell the truth, she looked more suspicious of me than of Pandora at that moment. Rethinking my statement, I licked my lips and thought as she went back to searching.
"Well…I mean…I'm sure you think it's odd that she knows all this information about us, am I right?"
Without looking at me, she nodded and threw a knife out of her way--and into the wall, with a chthunk and a wobbly noise. "Aye. That is fairly strange." She looked up at the wall, where her knife had hit--amazingly, it had hit the center of knothole. Nice shot, I thought, trying to hide my smile of admiration. "However, Asher, mate, she hasn't done anything out of line, so I cannot rightfully intervene." She paused, thinking. "Rightfully, mind ye." Nice.
"Still," I followed her as she moved across the room. "there's so much we still don't know about her--she came out of nowhere, she knows too much to be natural, she…she's talking about…this whole future, past thing…what does that even mean??" She rolled her eyes, looking toward me again.
"I don't--" She stopped dead and stared at me for a minute in total silence. Then she shook her head and looked around.
"What?"
"…Nothin'." She looked slightly dazed, which worried me a smidge, but she seemed alright otherwise. I decided not to press the matter further. Finally, after watching her sift through her belongings for what seemed like an eternity, she stood from her crouched position and dusted off her hands. "Listen. There isn't anything I could get out of her, I hate to admit." I could tell. Talia, in general, hated to admit that she couldn't do something. Especially dealing with someone she thought to be inferior, and she most assuredly thought Pandora was inferior. She shuddered. "However…" She stepped close to me. She was so close that her black eyes looked like one eye. I believe I might have spent the next few minutes trying to keep a blush from creeping on my face. "…do me a favor, Asher dear, and keep a close eye on her." I hurriedly nodded.
"Umm…Talia? You're a bit close."
I swear she blushed, too. I swear it.
She backed away and the look on her face was all I needed to usher myself out of the room. As soon as I was out of the room, the door slammed shut, and I heard Talia begin throwing things around. Such a strange woman. Perhaps I should have been more suspicious of Talia. Or not. Then something caught my attention. From the corner of my eye, I could have sworn I saw Pandora, possibly listening to our conversation, with a smile on her face--or, again, I could have just been paranoid, because when I turned completely to look, there was no one there.
Maybe I'm just naturally paranoid.
So…the next morning, I watched Pandora as she wandered the ship, seemingly aimlessly. The more I watched her, the more I wasn't sure if I was overreacting or not. After a while, she seemed to remember/notice/realize something, and rushed up to Talia. I listened in (what, no one noticed!).
"Uh, captain?"
"What."
Pandora tapped her fingers together for a moment. "Um…the next island we stop at will likely…uh…have someone there…who you definitely won't want to meet." She looked around. "It's not Jack," She added quickly.
"And why wouldn't I want to meet this person?" Talia's cool eyes glared at Pandora, who was now trying to explain why she wouldn't want to meet this person.
"…Because the person, if he meets you, will begin stalking you and will, in eventually, kill Asher. Believe me, I know." I frowned. Was she serious?
"Are you saying that we should skip the next island?" She seemed to be getting annoyed. Who wouldn't? Pandora shook her head.
"Not at all, just that…you shouldn't come off the ship when we arrive. Least…not until I tell you the coast is clear." At least it was a sensible answer. Anything else, and Talia would have likely found some reason to attack her. Wait, was I siding with her??
"I'm not one to run from something, wench, and I'm not going to hide from someone I don't even know, got that?" She snapped, turning around to leave.
"Listen to me," Pandora protested. "I know what that man is like and you most definitely do not want to make contact with him! I disagreeing with me, you're practically delivering Asher to him!" She spun back around and stared at her. She had pretty much hit nerve, I believe.
"…So you want me to stay on the ship."
"Aye, but only until I get rid of him. It won't be too long, I promise." Talia looked skeptical, and gave me a glance. I suppose my look of neutrality didn't help her much, but when she turned back to the woman in front of her, she reluctantly nodded. Pandora smiled, relieved, then left to leave Talia alone. Just as she did this, Talia froze and stared blankly, just like she had in her room, then shook it off and, with a confused look, called Pandora's actual name. She turned.
"Pandora…rain omens…?" Was all she said, and though I, personally, was baffled as to her meaning, Pandora's jaw nearly dropped. Talia retained her confused look, but it soon mingled with anger and frustration and she turned away to occupy herself. I briskly walked over to our newcomer and grabbed her arm.
"What does that mean?" I asked, for once more curious than suspicious. She smiled a little.
"A memory."
A memory? Talia had never mentioned this "rain omens" thing before…was…was Pandora perhaps correct about remembering…?
