NEED

Chapter Four

Silver stood just beyond her reach, frustrating her without comparison. She could see him, just barely touch him. Her fingertips were so close she could feel the warmth radiating from his flesh. Tears burned in her eyes. Why was it so hard just to reach that little bit further? Silver began to disappear and the tears that burned, fell.

--

Micha woke with a gasp and threw off her thin strip of a blanket, rushing onto the deck for air.

The past few days had yielded no results. After remaining in Kinapis for two days, they'd set sail again only to run into a dry spell. The winds had shifted against them, slowing their course by a significant amount of time.

Micha was bored, the pirates were bored, and they were definitely in the mood for something different to do besides swab the deck for the thousandth time. The ship was in respectable condition due to their boredom.

Captain Warrick often had the men hard at work when they were caught standing around, but not Micha, nor Reiyll, who'd taken to spending more and more time with her. The fact that she was a younger face like him was probably refreshing to him, though he'd been warned by the captain on more than one occasion that she was off limits.

He understood the rules, but that didn't mean he had to abide by them. Not if she was okay with it, anyway.

Reiyll joined Micha on the deck nearly half an hour later and sat next to her in silence.

"What are we doing today?" she asked, not even directing her question at him.

He shrugged. "Warrick says we're reaching a new planet today. Gotta stock up…maybe pick up a few new men."

A few of the older men had passed on during their slow spell and they'd had to dispose of the bodies lest they start to rot on board. Micha was intrigued. New members? That would make her…practically higher in rank! Well, maybe not, but she wouldn't be the baby of the crew any longer, would she?

Reiyll could see the wheels turning in her head. "Don't get yer hopes up," he added.

"Huh?" she asked, turning to him in question. He smirked. "Warrick doesn't pick weak ones. Yer still gonna be at yer lowly place when this is done."

Micha cursed quietly, scowling. "All that hoping for nothing."

Reiyll shrugged. "Well, yer up in rank in my mind. How's that?"

She glanced at him and raised an eyebrow. "Your mind doesn't matter to me."

"Well, that's a relief. I should think you'd have something to say about my thoughts as of late."

"Oh?"

"Aye, missy."

"I won't ask."

He smiled, a glint of something sinister behind his eyes. "You probably shouldn't."

--

The newest port was dingy and smelled like rotting fish. This port was actually in water, and Micha was almost relieved to see water, even if it was more brownish-green than blue in color. There were fishermen all over the place, and there was plenty to look at, even if it was dirty and old.

A lot of scrubby looking men approached the ship a few hours once they'd landed, and asked to speak with the captain.

"Ye be wanting something, men?" Warrick asked, Micha standing quietly behind him. Reiyll was a few feet off, his arms crossed. This was what he'd been talking about, he nodded to Micha, who nodded in understanding.

"Aye, sir. We're wanting jobs," one of them said. Warrick scanned the bunch.

"Any of ye of a decent age? I need lads with strong backs and good legs," he said. He pointed to one of the men towards the back with long, dark hair and a young face.

"You. Get over here."

The man obliged and looked at the captain with dark, troubled eyes. "Yes, sir."

"You want a job?"

"Yes, sir," he repeated. He glanced over the pirate crew and made eye contact with Micha, the corner of his lip twitching in an attempted smile at her.

"Aye. I'll take ye and ye alone. And fer the record, kid. My First Officer's off limits," he noted, sending the other men away and nodding towards Micha, who frowned at her 'title'.

She'd discuss it with the captain later.

--

The new boy's name was Adrian Townsend, and he wasn't a boy. He was thirty-five years old with a face too young for his own good and a haunted past that he didn't want to share with anyone, not even a pressing young girl.

He didn't really know how to handle a sword nor swab a deck, but he learned the latter rather quickly. Easily picked upon, Adrian became the butt of many jokes and pranks, but he didn't let it bother him. Micha almost felt sorry for the man. The more his shoulders hung low, the older he looked, and the more curious she got about his mysterious past. One day she'd get him to tell her.

--