I really hope you like this chapter. i noticed some grammar errors, so i redid it again so now its also a bit longer. Where oh Where are the reviews? (Hint, Hint). i know last chapter was just a fill in, but i still need helpful reviews for all my chapters. Please be kind and tell me what you think. I need opinions. Read and hopefully enjoy!
A loud creaking of the floorboards outside in the hallways woke Orianna. Still a bit dazed and confused from just waking up, she dismissed it as nothing. She stretched herself contentedly, rubbing out the aches and pains from being crouched so uncomfortably.
Letting herself wake up, she leaned back into the chair and let her eyes wander without purpose until at last they settled upon the clock, she stared at it puzzled for a few minutes before realization coursed through her. Orianna caught her breath, 'but that's not possible'. In all her weariness she had managed to sleep through half the night and now seeing the time to be into the very early morning, she knew she had to find someway to get back into her room.
Scrambling up from the chair, she decided to go see the captain straight away, not minding how late it was. She figured that if he was asleep, she'd just have to wake him up. She was halfway across the room when loud thumps and piercing screams met her ears, followed by angry shouts and a noisy fumbling. Orianna stood frozen; she had no idea what to think or what to do. She was still half asleep and found it hard to determine if she was still dreaming or not. The sounds were now starting to get closer and clearer. She could make out arguing and shouting when a loud and commanding voice boomed along the hallway. "Gather up everyone you can find, search every room, there's bound to be someone we didn't see. Do it swiftly and quietly, I don't want any confrontations, so try to not be so aggressive"
Slowly her mind began to react and made a quick start to the buffet table. It was the only place available in the whole room that could fit Orianna and at the same time hide her. Pulling up its table cloth covering, she slid herself underneath and waited, her nerves going rampant. She stayed as still as possible, not knowing what was going on; who had caused such a terror in the passengers? What had happened to the passengers? These questions weren't going to remain unanswered for long.
Orianna unconsciously held her breath when she heard the door slowly creak open. She listened as a pair of heavy footsteps descended into the room, leisurely striding around before coming to a stop, only a few feet from where she was hiding. She pressed her back up against the wall, hoping it would swallow her up, but since that wasn't possible, Orianna closed her eyes and expected the worst. In all her fear she didn't notice that he found the room to be entirely empty and so had now retreated to the other side of the room, visibly interested in something on the wall. After a few minutes of nothing happening, Orianna opened her eyes feeling a bit perplexed: she was still a secret? Summoning all her courage; well what was left of it anyway, she dared to peek underneath the table cloth to get a glimpse of the situation. That was going to be tricky to do since she was in such a confined space.
Expertly getting on her hands and knee's without making a sound, Orianna peeled back the cloth off the floor only a few centimetres; just enough to squint through. She was met with the sight of a very stout, short man attempting to dislodge something from the wall on the other side of the room. Her eyes travelled up and down the oddly terrifying individual. He was no taller than Orianna's shoulder but was almost twice the width of her; his thighs reminded her of thick tree trunks supporting the rest of his overshadowing bulk. He looked to be getting on in age, with his dark hair already thick with greys, but it was his clothes that interested Orianna the most. They were like she'd never seen before, finely cut and tailored to suite, decorated with a fine silver emblem delicately stitched on the back. Even she had to admit it was a pretty impressive uniform for a…for a...what was he?
No form of memory could answer that for her, so Orianna settled that most likely he was some filthy pirate, dressing in such fine clothes only to gratify his purely sad, miserable and selfish existence. She hated to be so cynical and spiteful, but in situations like these it was easier to replace fear with hate. She continued to watch the pirates' ongoing struggle to unhook the painting. Too short to easily unhook it and too proud to admit defeat, he kept at it; determination the force behind him, kicking him to go back every time and try again, never relenting. Orianna almost laughed at the scene, but caught herself just in time before she realized just exactly what he was so determined to steal.
She stared in transfixed horror as he finally yielded to his exceedingly impatient tendencies and yanked the painting downwards, causing the strings holding it to the wall to snap. A victorious smile firmly etched onto his face while he tucked it underneath his arm and walked back across the room towards the door.
The painting was in full view for Orianna, and what she saw made her breath catch in her throat. If she wasn't certain before, she was damn certain now. It was the very painting that held within its canvas, a small delicate green jewel. Her mouth fell shamelessly open. She hadn't any time yet to properly study the painting, seek out its history or even to look at it accurately without interference. Now, out of all times, some brute was daring enough to rip it straight off the wall and attempt to walk away with it as if it was another everyday object, which Orianna knew very well it wasn't.
The livid and spiteful thoughts operating in her mind almost made her crawl out from under the table, stride straight up to him, grab the nearest and heaviest object, knock him out, grab the painting and run like hell. But as usual her sense came through the hero and she stayed put, a sense of resentment welled up slowly inside her as an alternative.
Still watching silently, Orianna monitored every move the man made. With the painting still held safely in his clutches, he inquisitively wandered about the room, studying every statue, opening every box, table and drawer and selecting anything that caught his fancy. Orianna could tell that he was a powerful man, not only in strength but in the mind as well. The way he held himself, so straight and proud made her question her earlier accusations; the more she studied him the more she saw of his stature. There was more to the story with him than she had first presumed. This study him made no less scarier, maybe even a little bit more so since Orianna feared that his eyes would be keen enough to pick her out, cowering under a whimsical carrier tray.
She had no reasons for her reservations since once done; the man intensely scanned the room for any place untouched, a drawer or box left unopened. Finding everything to his approval, he turned on his heel and made his way in the direction of the door.
Just when Orianna was confident he was going to leave, he stopped as if he sensed something. He turned slightly so that he almost faced the buffet table. Orianna's heart stopped when she saw his eyes scan about, mostly in her direction. Little did she know, but he could smell something in that area, only that area, it smelled a lot like perfume; a woman's perfume. He took a few steps closer and stopped again.
Orianna was so scared she wanted to scream but never faltered being as still as her shaking body would allow. By now she had stopped looking out from underneath and was presently pressing her forehead to the ground, trying to control her breathing. As he came once again closer, Orianna quietly scuttled herself against the wall, pushing back so hard she feared she'd crack the thin barrier. She watched with mute shock as the pirate ran his hand slowly along the table cloth's material; his fingers pinched a small part and he rubbed it between them, feeling its quality. Just before he could do anything else, a voice echoed out from the hallway. "Captain" a few seconds of silence passed before it called out again. "Captain Rebus".
"In here, just hold on a minute" the man in the room yelled out, scaring the wits out of Orianna. She could only guess as to what he was doing or thinking for those few uncomfortable moments before, all too slowly, the pirate known as Rebus, left the room. Orianna was safe for the time being.
Finally breathing again, noises from behind her in the passage way inclined her curiosity. She put her ear up against the wall behind her and tried to make out the conversation that was currently taking place between the captain and presumedly one of his crew men.
"We've rounded them all up sir, what now?"
"Are you sure you got everyone?"
'Aye sir, we searched every room on this ship, the passenger's have been loaded up and locked in one of the larger cabin rooms"
"Good, what about the Captain and his men"
"All taken care of sir" - Orianna froze, her blood running cold.
"Well then… go tell the men to start loading up our ship, leave no room unturned, take anything of value and bring this along with you as well, it's a mighty fine painting, should fetch a bit dare I say. Go find my son and tell him to meet me on deck".
"Aye sir... still can't believe we pulled it off as we did, it was a brilliant idea to put your son onboard, and without him here… there would've been a hell of a lot more work. Lady Luck's sure taken rather a fancy to us"
"Aye Soblin, she has, let's just hope it'll last and the seas stay calm"
From that point onwards, Orianna could only hear a few muffled sounds and retreating footsteps. Although safe under the covered buffet trolley for now at least, Orianna knew she would have to do something potentially stupid. If they were searching every room, then the only thing she ever treasured in the world apart from her father would be laid bare for their greedy hands. Her reasonable thoughts argued that a simple wooden chest wasn't worth the risk, but her conscience and her heart made the decision. Listening once more through the wall to make sure no one was there; she squeezed herself out and buried her fear.
Slowly creeping out of the room and into the corridor, Orianna had to restrain herself from running back and hiding. She made it to the end of one hallway and was about to turn into the other when she saw three faint figures skulking their way in her direction. Orianna knew she had the benefit of the shadows and was confident she was unnoticed. Careful to not step on any loose floorboards, she turned back around and scampered softly until she reached the adjoining corridor that led towards the back of the ship. Looking for anywhere to hide, her eyes settled upon a half opened door and before she knew it, she was inside the room, pressed up against the door frame passionately hoping to remain undetected.
Trying to hear over her thumping heart was no easy task, but she succeeded in at least determining that the men had travelled into a previous hallway further back, since she could hear no sounds showing otherwise. Taking in another deep breath of confidence, Orianna slid back out of the room and into the hallway. While her body moved forward, her mind retreated back to traitorous thoughts of safety that the buffet table provided. At any time she could have gone back, been comforted in the knowledge of protection. But now, she decided, now was too late, she had gone too far to run and hide like a coward.
She could hear the gentle pounding noises her feet made as she swiftly moved through the hallways, constantly aware of the ever present danger. She passed door after door, all of which were open to her view. There was no doubt that the pirates had already succumbed to the attraction of greed; every room, every closet and every box were penetrated for hidden delicacies. The mess and chaos around her was evidence enough to make Orianna quicken her pace until she was almost in a full run. The muscles in her chest tightened instantly upon the sight of a familiar stretch of hallway, all the doors as with the others, were flung open… including hers.
She warily crept to her door, knowing she wouldn't like what she saw; Orianna prepared herself for the most unpleasant. Reaching to push open the door, a noise from inside the room made her stop in mid action. She wondered if she had imagined it, her fear playing up. Another noise followed soon after, this time more distinct. To Orianna it sounded like drawers were been opened, ravaged through and then carelessly pushed closed. When these noises were soon accompanied by footsteps walking across the room; her suspicions were confirmed, someone was still inside. One of Orianna's flaws was the tendency to think a situation through for far too long. She got a stark realization of this when her door was pulled wide open from the other side, and she was face to face with an equally surprised Rebus. He had just finished probing the room for anything worth taking when upon opening the door; he got quite a shock when he saw Orianna standing there frozen in absolute transfixed horror, a small whimper escaping her lips.
Quickly recovering, Rebus smiled heartily at the girl before him, astonished at the days turn of events. Tempted to laugh at her state, Rebus gave into the appeal, letting out a deep, rumbling laughter that echoed through the room. All Orianna could do was blink. All her mind could concentrate on was forcing herself to breathe. Out of all the outcomes she had imagined, she hadn't planned for this one.
Somehow Rebus' laughter had brought her out of her thoughts and her body immediately went into action. Orianna knew that the array of hallways near the back end of the boat could potentially conceal her; she took one last look at the still smiling Rebus, noting the pile of her belongings draped over his arms and shoulders, along with none other than her revered box tightly held in his arms. Tempted to reach out and pry it from his arms, Orianna realized the need to get away as fast as possible. She turned in the direction of her left and ran along the hallway; blinded by fear and pushed on by adrenaline was the only was she could describe it.
Now that she had been discovered, Orianna had no chance other than to run and pray to whomever for protection. This would have been a smart idea if her legs weren't still in unmeditated shock; every step she took the more her legs would tremble, the more she trembled the more she stumbled.
Rebus on the other hand was too weighed down by all the plunder he had collected to run after her, deciding instead to send one of his men to fetch her when he reached the deck. Little did he know that it wouldn't be necessary, since his own heir was currently intrigued at seeing a very pretty young woman he recognized, skid past him as he was turning into adjoining hallway. At first he thought he had imagined it, but upon hearing her ever fainter footsteps travelling further down the hallway, his curiosity took over.
He had a feeling that she hadn't seen him since it was a T shaped hallway, and deciding to use it to his advantage, he decided to follow her. A mischievous spark now appeared in his eyes, a roguish smile tugged at his lips. He was going to have a little fun with this.