Hello 'GuestfromFrance' ... glad to have you back! Best of luck in your new job and new country. I missed your comments 😛
And no this is my first writing attempt, LOL , i'm very flattered.
New chapter tomorrow and day after as well.
Nulla tenaci invia est via
Translation: For the tenacious, no road is impassable.
Tony took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the salty, morning air of the Normanian Sea. The ocean stretched on endlessly in front of him and behind him, a rippling, cerulean blue surface. He stretched himself and began to walk up and down the main deck briskly.
They were aboard the Botafogo, a huge galleon warship, complete with battle cannons and three large sails. Normally, warships did not take civilian passengers but thanks to the Duke's influence, Lord Stark and his female companion were allowed on board, as special guests. This was the only ship docking at Loros for the current month, so Tony and Pepper had no choice but to travel with this ship to Lorinthia.
Not that travelling on such a vessel was a hardship. Quite the contrary. As esteemed guests, Tony and Pepper could roam around the ship as they pleased. The Captain was a naval gentleman, who did not balk at the presence of a woman on his ship. So he was pleasant and charming to Pepper. They also got their own rooms on the first floor below deck.
Yesterday they had reached Loros just in time, to board the ship and settle. Both were exhausted from the long ride and their afternoon in the sun, so they had retired to their rooms quickly and eaten. Then they slept early.
Now as Tony walked up the deck, towards the stern, he recalled their arrival at Loros.
This is quite a change from the Sambuca.
He nodded as he passed by the Quartermaster.
It is going to be a beautiful day. I wonder if Pepper has woken up.
He walked up and down the deck once more. Then he stood at the stern, looking at the approaching horizon. The wind was gently blowing in his face, the sun was shining down on him and Tony took another deep breath, filling his lungs with the briny, tangy air.
It feels good to be alive. After two or three close brushes with death, it feels good to be alive.
Amen, whispered the Dragon, Amen indeed.
A floor board creaked and Tony heard it but did not glance back. A slow smile started to grow on his face, because he knew someone was trying to creep up on him. And even though the wind was too strong for him to smell her fragrance, he knew who that someone was.
Give her this one. Let her catch you unaware for once. whispered the Dragon gently.
Tony agreed and stayed perfectly still as he felt the boards dip every so gently. Then his vision was blocked by two warm, soft palms. They covered his eyes and he drawled out, "Why, someone has crept up on me... Whoever could it be?"
The someone giggled and he caught her palms and lowered them, kissing them as he did so. He turned to see Pepper standing in front of him, eyes wide and bright, hair drifting gently in the breeze and a beautiful smile on her face.
She stepped to his side and gasped at the view of the ocean from the stern. "Oh Tony, look at the sea... it is so beautifully magnificent and... so blue" she whispered. "It will never fail to take my breath away."
Tony looked at Pepper, adoringly wearing his white shirt, which was too large for her and a pair of his trousers, tied tightly around her waist with an abundance of cord. She had been delighted to wear his clothes, as she missed wearing her lad disguise on this adventure. Her lips were parted with joy and her eyes, blue and deep like the ocean around them, were staring ahead in wonder.
Yes, so beautifully magnificent, so blue... she will never fail to take my breath away.
Then Pepper turned to look at him and said in the same awed tone, "But I know from where the view of the ocean will be even better! And Tony, we must climb there together!"
The word 'climb' should have warned him what Pepper was talking about but still he stared at her, confused. "But Pep, the stern is the highest point on the deck. The view is best from here."
She grinned at him mischievously, nodding her head in the negative.
Oho... the Dragon started to guffaw with mirth. Your lady has a bold idea... I want to see how you will talk her out of this one, Anthony.
Pepper raised her right hand and pointed away from the stern. "The best view of the ocean is available from that vantage point on this ship."
Tony looked at where she was pointing and gasped with fright. "Oh God no! Pepper, you cannot be serious! We are not climbing that!"
Pepper's idea to get the best view, was to climb the main mast of the Botafogo. Literally, the highest point on the deck, on the ship and perhaps even on the ocean, as there was no known island in the Normanian sea.
Tony looked at her grinning face and then at the mast and back at her face again. "Pepper," he roared, "are you crazy? That is the main mast! It is so high above the deck!"
"But Tony," she said patiently, "it is perfectly possible to climb the mast. You did so yourself, on the Sambuca. I saw you."
Tony blurted out, "But at that time, I was trying to stay away from you and that was the only place, I knew you wouldn't be able to reach!"
Pepper started laughing in earnest and Tony huffed at her in irritation. "Pepper, this is not funny! It is seriously dangerous! If you slip, if you fall from there, if you fall..." he did not even want to think about it, so he stopped talking.
His lady, aggravatingly, was still smiling at him. Then she said patiently, "Tony, I am sure there is some safe way to climb up there. Come on, see there is a sailor, climbing up there right now. How difficult can it be?"
"Pepper, firstly, it is not only difficult, it is dangerous. Secondly, the Sambuca was a much smaller ship than this one, so its main mast was not that much of a height to climb. Thirdly," he floundered here. "Pep, it just too dangerous. Please."
She bit her lip at his pleading face and Tony relaxed, thinking he had managed to change her mind. Then he noticed a steely, determined glint enter her eye.
Good Lord, this woman will be the death of me.
Pepper stood in front of the main mast, impatiently excited to begin climbing. Hoping to reassure Tony and get some support, she had suggested approaching the ship's Captain for a third opinion, on whether climbing the mast was safe or not.
While the Captain had hemmed and hawed and avoided Tony's glare, he had provided a handy solution to Tony's concern about her safety. She had to be careful where she placed her foot on the rigging and had to be able to hoist herself upwards. It was not difficult for someone with her light body weight or agility. But Tony's worry was if she slipped and fell.
So the Captain suggested that Pepper could be harnessed to the crow's nest at the top of the mast. To do this, a long rope would be looped around her waist and tied, then the other end of the rope would be tied to the iron loops at the base of the crow's nest, which supported the rigging. A sailor would climb the mast in advance to do this.
Tony, of course, had to ask difficult questions, such as would the rope hold her weight, would the loop be able to take her weight, what if the rope broke mid-way and so on. But the Captain had shrugged and said they would just have to accept such risks if they wanted to climb up.
Then Tony had gone one step further and suggested that he be harnessed to the rigging loop and Pepper could be harnessed to him. That way, if he slipped or the rope failed, he could hold on and prevent Pepper from falling. She had rolled her eyes at that but agreed because, whether she liked it or not, it was a good idea.
So here they were finally, standing at the foot of the Mão Do Demônio or the 'Devil's Hand' as the main mast was known amongst the crew. The sailor, who would be securing the harness, had climbed halfway up and Pepper gulped as she saw the man become smaller and smaller to her eyes as he ascended the rigging.
"We do not need to do this, Pep." Tony murmured as he tied a rope around her waist and knotted one end of it firmly. He then tied the other end of the rope to the rope around his waist. She was now anchored to him.
"Tony, it is going to be alright." She whispered back fiercely. "We are going to reach the top, we are going to see the ocean and the view is going to be amazing."
He did not meet her eyes. She whispered mischievously, "You know Tony, you do not need to climb up if you are scared. You can stay here and watch me."
As predicted, he snorted at her. "Really Pepper, if you think I am going to wait on deck, while you risk life and limb to do something foolhardy..."
He stopped mid-sentence as the sailor had reached the crow's nest and was yelling at them to start climbing.
Tony took a deep breath and placed his left foot on the lowest square of the mast's rope rigging. He then placed his right foot and told her, "Pep, climb with me, not after me, as the rope connecting us, should be loose. If it becomes taut, it may snap."
She obeyed him and placed her right foot on another low square. It sagged under her foot's weight but she ignored it and placed her other foot. Then they started to climb up.
It feels like climbing an angled rope ladder. One that is swaying with the breeze. But the Captain was right, it takes effort to hoist oneself up. Shit, it is hot!
Tony climbed one step above her, to her left, silently. They stopped as the sailor who fastened their harness, descended, the rigging swaying with the weight of three adults.
Then they continued upwards, the sun beating down on their heads. Pepper stopped to look around. They were halfway up the rigging, the crow's nest visible now above them. She could clearly see the smallest mast, the mizzen in front of them. They had climbed higher than its height. A gentle breeze blew but it was not enough to cool her from the heat of the sun. She wiped her sweating brow with her elbow.
Tony had also stopped and was looking at her quietly. "Tired?" he asked solicitously.
She shook her head firmly and he grinned sweetly at her.
The wind picked up in strength. Then the ship rocked heavily with the force of a wave and Tony's right foot slipped from the rigging square. Pepper shrieked as he swung backwards, holding on to the rigging with his left hand and foot.
"Hey, Pepper, hold on to the rigging!"
"Tony! Get back here!"
The rope between them was long enough, so Pepper felt nothing but a slight tug around her waist.
The ship dipped again and Tony dangled there for a moment and tried to regain his footing. As he swung back to place his right foot back on the rigging, she leaned sideways and grabbed at him.
She managed to catch his sleeve and pulled him onto the rigging. He stumbled slightly but could place his right foot and leaned himself heavily on the rigging, trying to catch his breath.
Pepper was breathing hard herself from fear. "I got you, Tony..." she said firmly more to herself then to him.
He looked at her sideways and laughed at her shocked expression. "Sweetheart, I got you first." He tapped the connecting rope for emphasis.
She rolled her eyes at his impudent grin.
"Come on Pep... we are nearly there. Let's not let this Devil Hand defeat us."
She nodded and they climbed steadily upwards.
Tony reached the crow's nest and hauled himself onto it. Then he extended his hand and pulled her up. Pepper looked around her. The sea was all around them, endlessly blue, extending as far as the eye could see.
Then she made the mistake of looking down at the deck, far, far, far below. It seemed to be swaying with the motion of the waves. She felt dizzy but somehow Tony sensed her discomfort and pulled her against him firmly.
"Hey, hey... it is okay ... do not look down. Here, look at me, sweetheart. Look at me."
She looked into his dark brown eyes and felt her center, her mind steady itself. He gently helped her sit down on the wooden ledge, leaning her back against the mast.
Tony sat down next to her and pulled out his hip flask from his belt. He lifted it to her lips and made her drink deep. The water felt so good and Pepper drank it all greedily.
Then she rested her head on his shoulder and entwined her fingers with his hand resting on his knee.
"Are you going to say I told you so?" She whispered to him contritely.
He whispered back, "I thought you were going to say I told you so... because you were right Pep... the view from up here is gorgeous. Look there's nothing but ocean for miles."
She raised her head and smiled smugly at him. "See Tony, I told you so... It is a good thing you decided to follow me."
He laughed and then bent his head, to touch his lips to hers gently.
"I would follow you to the ends of the Earth, my lady, if you will let me..." he whispered to her lovingly, kissing her forehead then.
She turned slightly and kissing him deeply, her hands around his neck, holding him close to her. Tony sighed against her lips.
And so they stayed like that, engrossed in each others company, at the top of the world, ignoring time, ignoring the sea around them, as the Botafogo sailed smoothly across the wide blue Normanian Sea.
Botafogo (Spitfire), was a Portuguese galleon warship built in the 16th century. At that time, it was considered the biggest and most powerful warship in the world.
And to truly understand the crazy stunt that Pepper and Tony pull, i.e. climbing up the rigging of the mast, check out this image: images. .
