Chapter 14 - At Sea
"It's been raining for three straight days!" Red complained. "Make it go away!"
"No," Blue retorted. "I like it."
"But I hate rain!"
"Shut up, both of you!" Black ordered. "I'm trying to eat."
"You haven't touched anything," Blue pointed out.
"I'm at the end of my rope, Blue," Black snarled, "and you're tugging at it."
Blue looked down. Things hadn't quite been the same since the interrogation. There was still that general feeling of mutual resentment, but now…it was just different.
"Rain, rain, go away," Red sang softly, "don't bother coming back again."
"Hey!" Blue cried.
"That's it!" shouted Black, slamming the table with her fist and standing up. She pulled her hood up and exited the captain's cabin where the other thieves were eating. She stood out in the rain, contemplating. She would never find peace.
Back inside, Blue's mind began to wander as well.
Red's mind, never one to stay on the same track for more than two minutes, was running back and forth between how much she hated rain, and how much she really wanted a huge piece of steak just then.
"Whatchya thinkin'?" Red asked Blue when she had forgotten what it was she was thinking about.
"Just about my home," Blue answered. "My old life before Black…"
"Oh," said Red. "I don't really remember my home before I met Black. Actually, I don't remember much of anything before I met Black."
"Really? Nothing?" Blue asked.
"Um, no."
"Why not?"
"She hit her head one too many times," Green answered. "Literally. It was the second time that did it."
"And, nothing ever came back?"
"Nope," Red piped.
"Don't you want to remember?" Blue asked.
"Er…huh," Red mused. "I never really thought about that."
"What are you doing?" Black had suddenly reappeared in the room.
"How come Red can't remember anything before she met you?" Blue demanded.
"She hit her head one too many times…" Black began.
"I know, the second time's what did it," Blue finished. "But why hasn't she remembered any of it?"
Black glared. "What are you trying to do? Do you want her to remember?"
"I think she has a right…" Blue started.
"Well stop," Black ordered. "If she'd wanted to remember she could have. I swear, you've made it your mission to completely undermine me in any way possible."
"Excuse me?" Blue said. "Undermine you? May I remind you, it was you who came to me."
"Yes," Black replied curtly. "AndI've regretted it ever since. So there was that one job you proved useful, but since then, you've been nothing but a hassle."
"That's your own fault!" Blue cried. "I would have left, I tried to…"
"I'm aware," Black interjected. "That's another reason you're such a pain to drag along."
"Then why am I still here!" Blue demanded.
"Yeah, why is Blue still here?" Red wondered, finally rejoining the conversation after going off on her own little tangent.
Black turned to the blonde woman. "In case you die," she stated dryly.
"Hahah…" Red trailed off. "Wait…" she studied the expression on Black's face before the fire-flinging woman left the cabin again. It was then that Red became paranoid that Black was actually out to kill her.
Red jumped at everything now, and always kept something solid behind her back. Blue was a bit edgy as well. Green started showing signs of anxiety only because of the tension between the other two thieves. Black was the only one who carried on as usual.
"Blue, you're going to cause an international draught if it keeps raining here like this," Black said once to the Water Woman. Blue reluctantly made the rain stop, though it was still overcast much of the time.
Red had finally surfaced out into the open since the rain stopped. Not that that improved matters. Her eyes darted around constantly, expecting Black to jump out of any and every dark shadow she passed. She walked by the actual Black one afternoon, muttering to herself as she often did, only this time Red listened, and heard something with the words 'must kill' in it.
"I don't want to die," Red whispered to herself. "Maybe if I killed Blue…"
No one spoke at diner that night; the tension could be cut with a dull butter knife.
Black kept her eyes looking down at a piece of paper while she ate. Red watched her every move. Black picked up a roll, tore a piece off, chewed, and swallowed. She tore off another…and then she suddenly was reaching toward Red.
"I knew you were out to get me!" Red screamed as she jumped back from her chair and drew a sharp hunting knife.
All eyes were on the blonde woman. Black gave her a look that she often gave Red, one that said 'you idiot,' and went back to eating. Red calmed down after that, re-sheathed her knife, and continued with diner.
There were no more incidents after that. Though Green told Black what the pirate king George had told her, about a man looking for a woman of Red's description, so the dark woman kept a close eye on the shape-shifter after that as well.
"I'm bored," Red whined one afternoon.
"Figures," mumbled Black as she shot perturbed fireballs out across the ocean, "no men, no bars, and no one to steal from. Dreadfully dull."
"I wish we could go back to Middle-earth," sighed Red. "Elves are hot. And the men weren't bad either, despite their possessed jewelry." She sighed again.
Black stopped in mid-fireball. Wheels started turning. "Of course," she muttered. "The Ring…" The dark woman stared at the ball of fire for a moment more, than flung it too out across the water.
"Red," Black whispered, turning to the blonde woman, "I need you to take me back to Pirate's Lost Port."
"Huh?" Red mumbled, snapping out of her daydreaming trance.
"I'm leaving," Black said. "Whip out one of your eagle feathers."
"Why?" asked Red.
"I need you to take me to Pirate's Lost Port," Black repeated.
"We're going back to Middle-earth?" she asked excitedly.
"No," Black retorted, "I am. I just need you to take me there."
"But that's no fun," Red complained. "I wanna go back."
"It'll get you off this boat for a while," Black said.
"Okay," Red agreed. She opened up her cloak to reveal a stash of feathers tucked into the lining and picked out one large brown and white one. "This one looks good," she said. She replaced the feather, and closed her eyes in concentration. Immediately she began to change. The woman swelled, her arms lengthened, she sprouted feathers. In a matter of seconds Red had morphed into a giant Eagle.
"Excellent," Black muttered, hopping onto Red the Eagle's back. "Pirate's Lost Port," she ordered.
The bird squawked and took off in a flurry of feathers.
"What in the world…?" Blue exclaimed as she noticed a giant bird flying up from the other side of the ship.
They flew on peacefully for a while, until Red happened to glance down. She balked and lost altitude, then in a panic started flapping again wildly. She squawked a few times as well.
"What the hell's the matter?" Black demanded, reaffirming her grip.
"You never said anything about flying over water!" Red replied in bird talk.
"We're on a boat in the ocean!" Black yelled. "Of course there's going to be water!" Pause as Red chirped some more. "Well then flap faster!" Black retorted.