Of Pirates and Princesses
Chaptre Thirteen: Robinson Crusoe'd
A/N: The must have trope of any pirate story: a deserted island!
"I'll be upstairs then, if you need me," Emma said, shuffling her feet and leaving.
Regina let out a long sigh and dropped back heavily. She could not believe she had just touched herself to imagined ideas of what the captain would do to her. But she had, and while she felt guilty and disgusting for doing so, she couldn't deny it had felt amazing and she felt so much better right now. Better than she had felt in days.
And dare she say...she wouldn't mind doing it again.
...
"Holy fuck," Neal's voice cut through the air as his eyes opened wide and his jaw dropped. From his perch on the crow's nest he saw it. At first he had thought he had imagined it, then wished he had, and by the third time he sighted the massive tentacle slicing through the water he was sliding down the mast, going to inform his Captain.
"Swan, I think there's going to be a slight issue," he reported, shaking in his boots. Sure, it wasn't the first time he had heard tales of massive sea creatures that could eat boats in one swallow. But it was another thing to see it and be heading towards it.
"Why, what's wrong?" Emma asked, brow furrowed over as she looked down at a map, crystal in her hand hanging over it on a rope as she tried to divine a way out of this triangle. If Ruby's skills failed and the stars offered no hope hidden behind clouds every night, than she had to try other increasingly desperate methods.
"There's...there's a giant squid coming over way. We need to change course and now."
Emma's head jerked up and she looked at his face to see he was serious. She rose, grabbed her spy glass, and looked through it to see that indeed slimy tentacles were beginning to poke out of the water, hungry like. "All hands on deck!"she ordered out, snapping everyone awake from their midday nap. "Get this ship turned around. Now!" They rushed to, even Emma helping out. But there was too few of them to do this quickly. Their stolen ship was too big for them to man just the small group of them. But, they had to or else it would be insanity to continue going ahead.
Sails went up, rigging was pulled down, tightened.
The ship groaned as Emma hopped behind the wheel turning it sharply to the left. She grit her teeth and leaned all her weight into the turn, like it could do something. It was only terrible because they had been so close to an island and now this beast stood in their way. Five tentacles were out of the water now, waving high in the air, as if greeting them.
"Mother of Neptune," Ruby gasped out as she saw the beast. She hurriedly tightened the rigging. Regina came out from below deck, face paling when she saw what they were heading towards. "Emma!" she shrilled out at the woman, needing her word that they would be safe.
"Don't worry, I'm turning this ship around!" Emma huffed, hands bleeding on the wheel now. If only they had Leroy. An extra pair of hands would have helped. One of the tentacles snaked out, landing in the water next to them with a loud thud. Water splashed up and drenched the deck.
"Shit, get the harpoon gun, Sabine!" Neal ordered as the ship careened to the left, almost fully turned around. But the beast was moving towards them, slowly but surely. Almost like it was in no rush to catch up to them. Toying with them.
Sabine rushed to get the harpoon, hefting the heavy machinery so she could set it on the deck railing. August was behind her, bringing up an extra supply of harpoons. "Load her up. Keep her steady," he insisted, looking calm in the face of this. Emma had righted the ship and with it Regina was able to stand upright on her feet. "How can I help?" she asked Ruby who was next to her.
"Bring me torches and kersone. This ship may not have cannons so we'll have to make do with what we've got."
Regina nodded her head and at once went to fetch the items requested. When she came back up, arms full, she saw that the harpoon gun was finally ready.
Sabine was at it, aiming at the beast's tentacles which had followed them steadily along. With a snarl on her lips and a loud howl she fired, impaling it through one appendage. The creature, if hurt, gave no indication of this. "Quick, load her up!" Sabine ordered the two men standing by her.
Ruby turned to Regina, grabbing some of the torches. "We'll try to attach these to the harpoons. Maybe we can set the thing on fire. That'll teach it to come after us."
Emma continued steering wildly, trying to get as much distance between them and the beast. She was also trying to circle back around, try to make it to land with the monster chasing them.
Sabine shot another harpoon, sinking it right into a lower part of the fleshy appendages. Neal and August cheered at the sight of it.
"Here, try this," Ruby suggested, bring to them the lit torch. "Set that thing on fire," she gave a wild grin. Sabine took it and quickly attached it while the gun was loaded up. Third time proved to be the charm. The monster let out an unearthly shriek of pain at the flames and retreated down into the water.
The crew all cheered loudly at this, jumping up and clapping hands. Regina let a relieved smile part her lips. She had been worried there for a second. With one of the crew being lost to one of the islands, Regina had come to realize the mortality of this all and she had been worried there might not be a chance for them on this.
But it had all worked out. Emma came down from the wheel, wiping her bloodied hands on her shirt and grinning wildly. "Seems we were too much of a match for it." Emma had been severely worried there, because she could not afford to put her crew in danger again. Leroy's loss had been enough. She couldn't bare to have another.
"What was that thing?" Regina asked her when adrenaline started to calm down.
"Some monster of the deep. I thought it merely a thing of legends but it seems in the Triangle, anything is true," Emma stated grimly. She headed back up to the wheel, knowing that Regina would need some comfort now- the poor thing look terrified. But Emma had to make sure they made it to the island. That was a priority right now.
As she steered the ship along, looking at deceptively calm waters, she felt the ship shudder a bit. That was odd. Had she hit an underwater rock?
Suddenly, a huge ripple went through the water and a second later an arm of the monster jerked up, picking up the ship with it's motions. The ship went flying, everyone getting rocked off their feet. Emma slammed into the railing hard enough to black out and when she awoke it was on a hot sandy beach, her shoes missing, clothes half dried and pieces of ship surrounding her.
"Oh fuck," she groaned out, wincing as she sat up. Her head throbbed and she touched her sore spot where she had a big bump. She repeated the curse more firmly when she realized what had happened. They had made it to the island, but not how she had wanted them to. The ship had gone sailing meters into the air, the crew getting tossed like rag dolls as they landed into the water. The broken belly of the ship was off shore by a few meters.
Would the rest of the crew be there? Would Regina be okay? She sucked in a sharp breath when she felt a pain in her chest. She couldn't bear if she lost Regina. The princess was young. And innocent; she didn't deserve such a fate. Emma and her crew were a different matter; they pillaged and plundered and took lives. But Regina...she wasn't intentionally evil and if she had been lost to the sea...
Emma shook her head to shoo away unwelcome thoughts. No, she mustn't think that way. She must look for them. Leroy's loss was still fresh in her heart and she couldn't bear it if she lost anyone else. A hat washed up next to her. It was August's. She'd recognize it anywhere. She picked it up and crushed it to her.
Emma had no idea where any of them could be. But she had to look. She rose to her feet, tired and beat. She coughed up some salt water and went on her way, squinting in the glaring sun.
After what felt like hours of wandering the coast, Emma had found Regina, sitting on a rock and staring forlornly at the water. When she saw Emma approaching she rushed into her, nearly knocking her over. "I was worried I would be alone. That everyone..had perished!" She clung to Emma with desperation. Emma wrapped her arms around the princess.
"It is alright. We are fine. And we shall find the others. I promise," though Emma wasn't sure if it would be an empty promise. Regina pulled away, trying to put on a brave face for her and Emma's sake. This situation was plain awful! There was no telling if the others were okay, were they were, and how Emma and Regina would deal with getting off this island. Though, now that Regina had found Emma she felt more assured. Regina on her own knew no way of foraging for food or hunting animals. She would not have lasted more than a week out here. Emma knew about these sorts of things, she would keep them safe for sure.
Emma felt her emotions overwhelm her despite her best efforts in holding them back in front of Regina. She felt immeasurable relief at finding Regina but she also felt horrendous worry and fear over the rest of the crew.
It was just her and Regina on this tiny island. Where was the rest of Emma's crew? She hoped they weren't dead. She could never forgive herself if they were. If she had dragged them on this mission only for them to meet their end in the Bermuda Triangle.
She slumped down onto the sand on her knees, tears welling up in her eyes as she clutched August's hat. Regina crouched down next to her, resting a hand on Emma's shoulder to support her. "It's going to be okay. We have to have hope." But even Regina's voice was flat.
Emma shook her head, willing the tears back. She had to keep moving forward, otherwise, "We can't think about them right now. No use in worrying our heads when we need to find food and shelter before night falls. Otherwise we might not survive either." She took a deep shuddering breath and rose to her feet, trying to be brave in this situation.
With Emma leading the way they did just that. Though Emma tried to come off as confident in the matter, it wasn't easy being confident.
This wasn't the first time Emma had been stuck on an deserted island. It was guaranteed to happen given she was a pirate. The first time it had happened, it had been because she'd slept with a pirate's daughter.
The second time when she tried looking for treasure and the map had been wrong.
And now her third time was with Regina.
Emma doubted the princess knew very much about the wilds and so it would be up to Emma to help them both. And though Emma knew things about survival it had been a while and her memory was a bit wonky.
That was why, her dumb ass, ate the wrong berry by mistake when she and Regina were off picking some. "Shit," she only managed to curse out when she had already swallowed it down. On second look, this berry was very closely resembling the edible kind.
"What, what's wrong?" Regina asked.
Emma didn't want to alarm the princess. Emma had only eaten one berry, which meant it wouldn't be a fun time, but she'd be fine. "Uh, nothing. Just, I think these are the wrong types of berries. Let's not collect anymore of them." She dropped them to the floor, wiping the red juices on her shirt. "Let's try to find some fresh water and meat instead."
"Okay," Regina mimicked Emma's actions and followed her deeper into the green foliage of the island. The effects of the berry arrived much faster than Emma expected. Within ten minutes of eating it, she was shivering and yet sweating out her clothes.
"Fuck," she muttered under her breath. She closed her eyes as dizziness overtook her.
Regina noticed this, because Emma had to lean against a tree to stand. "Emma, what's going on?" Regina asked, worry plain on her face.
"Nothing. The sun must be getting to me," Emma waved it off. With a grunt of effort she rose off the tree, snagging a flat giant leaf from a nearby low hanging branch. She approached the rock they found from which water dripped down the side of it. "This is how to collect water to drink," she murmured, cupping the leaf under the water and indicating for Regina to do the same.
The princess did, her eyes never leaving Emma's. Emma's leaf filled and she hastily gulped down the water. She was so thirsty all of a sudden. And her head throbbed. She needed to sit. She made to sit down but suddenly the world was spinning around her and she was falling backwards, blacking out.
Regina's terrified utterance of her name was the last thing she heard.
Emma came too, finding herself lying on a bed made of dried huge leaves, Regina propped up by a tree trunk next to her. The poor girl had dozed off, hand on the hilt of her sword. A small fire burned next to them. Emma sat up, finding that she felt much better and that her clothes were off drying on a log. She quietly got up and put them on, glad to see that her underwear was still intact.
She wondered...had Regina seen anything down there? Hopefully not.
That would be an awkward conversation.
Eventually Regina startled, coming awake with a loud unprincesslike snort as she sprung to her feet. "Oh, it's just you," she said in relief, putting away her sword. "I thought it was some animal. How do you feel?"
"Better. What happened?"
Regina didn't meet Emma's eyes. That was most troubling, the pirate thought but did not comment. "You fainted on me. I didn't know what was wrong. You kept moaning about berries and being thirsty so I made a bed for you and kept bringing you water to help quench your thirst. I almost thought..." here Regina trailed off, unsure what else to say. She was worried she'd be all alone here. She'd die of loneliness first before anything else got her.
"It'll take a lot more than that to get to me, princess," Emma said with a hint of her cocky grin on her face because she did not want the princess to worry over her anymore. "Thank you, for taking care of me."
"You are welcome."
"I'm going to make this fire bigger. I don't know about you, but I am starved. Sadly, I don't think I'm in the mood to try anything the island has to offer right now."
Emma set about finding more dry kindling. She tossed it into the fire, making it grow steadily higher. "I am impressed. I didn't know you could make a fire."
"I had to figure it out. I read about it in fantasy books and I followed what it said there. I needed to get you warmer."
"You may just be more resourceful than me," Emma said with a grin.
They sat by the fire, watching the flames flicker. Regina was still acting a bit off. Emma had to find out why. She didn't like her princess being distraught.
The younger girl's cheeks were flushed and she oddly avoided Emma's eyes. Emma didn't know what was wrong. So she probed. "You know, it's quite all right," she said, making Regina jerk guiltily away from the fire like she had done something wrong.
Emma noted the behavior with a frown. Why was the princess so jumpy? "We're both women. You know what breasts look like." She figured this would be the cause of Regina's sudden discomfit. But it was not. Sudden clarity kicked into Emma's mind. Of course. If Regina had disrobed her, than that might mean she saw what else lay in her trousers. This time it was Emma's turn to flush.
"I'm so mortified," she said, giving a self deprecating laugh. "You saw didn't you."
"I didn't mean to!" burst out from Regina's lips in a rush. She turned from the fire she had been tending. "I only meant to clean you up. I didn't mean to..." here she flushed and bit her lip again.
"I'm sorry. I didn't want you to see it. It must have been quite jarring for you," Emma continued, fiddling with her buckle, not sure what else to do in this awkward moment.
"I am aware what they are for," Regina said in a shaking voice, mustering up her courage to get through this discussion. "A man sticks a rod inside a woman and they produce a baby. Mother made it clear it was my job to do this with my husband so the family could grow."
"There is more to that, then just sticking it in. But I won't delve into it," Emma commented, relieved to know she hadn't horrified the princess too much.
"I just..." here the princess hesitated heavily, debating between her curiosity and her modesty. "I never knew a woman could have one."
Here was the question. It was only natural that it came up to this point. "Aye, tis how it be. God works in mysterious ways. I was a woman and yet he added a bit too much."
"Does it..." Regina hesitated once more. She couldn't imagine having such a thing between her legs. As a woman it felt liberating to feel nothing there. "Does it hurt?" She truly had no idea how those things operated, only that when she would be wed and her husband would take her to bed, it would hurt when they first did share intimacies. But did it hurt if a woman had it placed on her own body instead of a man's?
Emma laughed at this. What an innocent question. Emma almost felt bad for furthering the topic. "No, it does not. There is still much you must learn about the body and what pleasures it can have and receive. But I will not push you towards learning it. You shall come to an understanding in time."
Regina nodded her head, still looking into the roaring flames of the fire before her. She was still curious. So curious. But she did not want to press Emma on this. All she knew was she did not feel disgust at the idea of Emma having one. In fact, it almost seemed fitting. She was feminine and yet masculine.
Regina wondered if men's looked the same. Or maybe it was just Emma's that was that big. Regina felt even more feverish and flustered as perverted thoughts filled her mind. It had nothing to do with the flames roaring before her, but it would do nicely as a cover up in case Emma noticed her state.
Regina wondered how such a massive thing was supposed to go inside her. Could she even fit it all the way? She wasn't sure. And would it eventually feel good when it went in? Did she do all the work? Would the man do all the work? So many questions but she felt it improper to ask or to even linger more on this.
She shook her head, embarrassed and frustrated with herself for thinking so indecently on a fellow person. She buried her head in the crook of her arms as she sat on her bottom, knees up, and tried to do her darnedest to ignore Emma and thoughts of her for as long as she could.
