When Noelle came to, she felt a gentle hand on her forehead. She was lying down. Her eyes cracked open slightly to find a pair of pale blue eyes staring into hers. She gasped and instinctively tried to back away, only to find she was lying in a hammock against a wall and couldn't. She whimpered, but the crewmember only smiled at her.
"Take it easy," he whispered gently to her. "Ye're alright."
Noelle looked closely at him as the crewmember tended to a wound on her head. He had a starfish growing above his left eye, coral growing on the shoulders of his cloak. He had… wait! It was the man she had seen before she was knocked unconscious! Now she could get a good close look at him, and saw that his eyes were kind and sad; apologetic. His voice was soft and mournful; full of hurt and sadness. He pressed his hand against her forehead to check for more wounds. His hand was rather slimy, but felt cool against the throbbing pain in her skull.
"No major wounds," he told her.
"That's good," Noelle paused. "Why did you save me?"
"Why not?" he replied. "I couldn't just leave ye there. Ye would've gotten hurt even more."
Noelle stared at him in wonder, awed that anyone on this ship would care for her.
"Thank you, sir," she said.
He smiled through all the gruesomeness of his face, covered in slime and barnacles.
Noelle shyly smiled back. A yell came from outside the room she was in, and the man's head snapped toward the doorway, seaweed hair flying.
"I've got to go!" he whispered frantically. He apologized quickly, stood, and rushed from the room. Noelle stared at the doorway for awhile after that, hand raising to gently touch the spot on her forehead where he had placed his hand.
Gathering her senses after a few minutes, she stood, weaving on her two feet for a few minutes, then looked down at herself.
Her blue dress was soaked with salty sea water and was ripped at the bottom. Her hands were covered in slime. Her face was just barely stained with some blood from her blow to the head. Noelle made a face before going to the door. Just as she was reaching for the doorknob, the door burst open. Maccus stood there, glaring down at her with a nasty smile.
Noelle gasped and fell back. Maccus hauled her up by her hair, and growled, "The captain's ready to see ye." And he laughed cruelly.