Elizabeta
After the "talk" with our prisoners, my feet took me upstairs on deck. Feliks had called me a few times before I was finally in the fresh air. It was time to buy some supplies. Pondering about the conversation which had occurred moments ago, my head started to ache. Persuading the Prince to work with us will surely lead to some conflicts. He was stubborn, annoying (in his own way) and extremely hateful towards pirates. It was the logical consequence after abducting him, but still.
The necklace remained on his neck because we hadn't been able to open that darn closure of said jewellery. Feliks suggested taking care of that problem later on.
Just as some of us were about to enter the village, Mathias tapped my shoulder. "Liz… We have a tiny problem." Using the word "tiny" while we were being followed by one of the strongest Kingdoms with their allies and holding a suborn Prince in the cell, was really ironic. Tilting my head I waited for him to explain his worries.
"You asked me why there weren't any guards watching the ship as we stole it. I did not really think about it until we examined the vessel," he sighed desperately. "The ship is quite damaged by shipworms. We need to careen the ship in order to clean it."
The response he got from me was a nod. I couldn't add anything else; he knew what he was doing. Considering him as one of the most experienced seafarer in my crew, he had my full trust. Unsure about these circumstances, I joined Natalya and Feliks who were already waiting for me by the entrance of the village. The latter one welcomed me with a huge smile to heighten my spirits.
"Come on Lizzie, we totally need to buy some things."
We were pirates, yet we would pay for our stuff on this island. It was no secret that this town was a stopover for most of our kind. This place was often filled with pirates or other sea voyagers. Inhabitants made their money by selling fish, supplies for boats, grand ships, etc. Of course there were also other services offered which was specialised for male travellers.
"Mathias informed me about the state of the ship. It is full of shipworms, so we are in need to buy some time to resolve this problem." I told my two accompanies. Feliks' face changed from happy to worry while Natalya didn't show any emotional change.
The sunny weather created a wonderful atmosphere, despite the market of the village being filled with not so innocent persons. As usual, they stared at us three. Our presence was odd for them; two female pirates and one male, who was very aware of his fabulous looks. While Feliks and I would get strange stares; (me, being the manliest of our trio as Feliks tend to say), Natalya would get lecherous looks. There were times man glanced at me with the same wolfish eyes yet it was always her who was not spared from these regards. Long white blonde hair and dark blue-violet eyes were really catchy after all. However there had been a kind man years ago who offered her a smile (in a friendly way) but was frightened when he saw her weapons and cold glare. Afraid of being attacked, he stopped looking at her and ran away from her. From that moment on, she ignored everyone who stared at her. People had made harsh statements about her; Calling her a "psycho". Being involved with Natalya, I knew that she was a survivor with a heart. She just hid it and was misunderstood by others. Furthermore to be close and attached to someone was not her greatest ability. The few persons she was loyal to, was Feliks and me.
That's why almost everyone kept their distance from her and admired her looks from afar, in fear of having a knife thrown at their head. The skill of knife-throwing was one of the reasons she was feared for, making her extremely strong in combats.
I never thought that she could be defeated, until I saw her condition yesterday; an exhausted Natalya with blood all over her hands. She got me worried but after having slept and eaten, she was just as fit as ever. The injured hands of hers got bandaged and seem to heal. Still we needed to look for a doctor and get some medical treatments, considering the fact that we had not really disinfected her wounds.
"Oh look Lizzie, there are cloths in different colours," Feliks exclaimed happily; he had a sense for clothing and was always excited about it. "And Natalya, there are some sets of beautiful knifes."
With that they ran towards the offers of their favourite things with the objective to gain possession of it. I on the other hand remained quiet and all by myself. Shaking my head I made my way through the market to buy the needed supplies. Knowing that Feliks would look for medical care, I ttok care of getting citrons, water, rum and hens. In addition to all these stuff, finding a doctor was also on my list.
"And how am I supposed to carry all these?" I sighed.
"Do you need help, Miss?"
The sound of a new friendly and somewhat cute voice made my body turn around. In front of me was a teenage boy with blond hair which fell over one side of his face and striking green eyes. He was one of the few new members who joined the crew. I remembered him being accompanied by a tall blonde man whose hair had the same structure as Mathias'. The teen must have sensed my thoughts. "My name is Noah" He smiled pleasantly.
"I am Elizabeta, you are one of the new crewmember, right? How old are you?"
"Yes. I am twelve." He stated. Noah was so young, his face innocent, not stricken with any scar. His eyes held pure curiosity yet he was aware of the life of a pirate. Still he did not strike me as a ruthless pirate with his formal manners and sweet grin.
"Well Noah, it would be very nice of you to help me."
While we were getting the needed things, Noah and I had a conversation. I didn't want ask him about his earlier life because I knew it was none of my business. But my curiosity got the best out of me when I questioned his choice of joining us.
"Because of my brother… We are both alone, without any parent and he took care of me since I can remember. I only know that my father was not married to my mother. We are illegitimate children and my father is now married to another woman," he explained with sadness in his voice. "We have no future in that kingdom. Our mother died a few years ago and we were left with nothing. Bastards don't have the best reputation and my brother said that no matter how hard we will try, no one will accept us. That was the decision that made him join you. It was a desperate move but I wanted to be with him and we were taken in very warmly. I feel comfortable with you. I finally got a home."
The down-cast look he first held was now gone and replaced by a more happily expression. His smile was sincere even though the story he just told me was sad. Nevertheless I was content to know that he felt better with us. Patting his head with my free hand, I smiled down at him.
"Oh look, there are some hens we can buy." He whispered kindly. Taking my hand, he dashed towards the booth which sold several animals. Happily chirping chickens were hatching out of the eggs, while others were still enclosed by it. Pointing out on few eggs and hens, the old salesman packed them in a box full of hay. Before we left though, another tiny egg caught my eye. It held another colour as the others and seemed so extraordinary in comparison with the rest of the eggshells. Without thinking much about it, I bought that one as well. Noah did not question my decision on buying it, he only smiled.
It had been an easy feeling to wander around and buying things; the hours we spent on the market were a good distraction and I was gladly welcoming it. The last few days were stressful but I knew that this pleasant air would only be temporary.
Speaking of the devil, I witnessed from a farer distance as Natalya paced towards me and Noah. Her walk was not as confident as usual. It was odd. As she stood in my range, my hand automatically touched her forehead, seeing as sweat drops graced her face. With quivering lips, she tried to say something. "I-I..." Though it was the last thing her lips breathed audibly before her body went limp. Panic took control of all my rational thoughts while I was standing there with an unconscious Natalya in my arms. My small blonde male companion on the other hand knew exactly what one should do in such a situation, and left me with the promise that we would look for help -meaning the one of the crewmembers- and return immediately. The bought supplies were taken with him.
My hands held her form. Never before had I thought that Natalya of all people could faint. She was strong and never took ill. A new anxious feeling was forming in my pit of the stomach. The looks I received from the people in this area were odd and the negative feeling in my body only grew.
"Elizabeta Héderváry."
My body froze. Turning around I found myself starring at green eyes. The man's smirk was the most noticeable feature beside his bushy eyebrows which could not be clearly seen as the shadow of his hood denied me that sight.
"Arthur Kirkland." I acknowledged. The typically red coat he was always wearing was hidden under a dark cloak. It would draw to much attention which he clearly wanted to avoid. Captain Kirkland was a well-known pirate, loved and hated at the same time. He was on the wanted-list of the Marine and barely showed his face when he was on land. To describe our encounter as a friendly one wasn't quite right. He and my father were rivals, trying to chase each other, wagging who would gain more money from treasures, etc. But still one couldn't say that we were enemies.
Kirkland caught me in a rather uncomfortable situation, with an unconscious Natalya leaning on my body.
"How is it going? I heard about your royal package and his amulet," He smirked and observed my frozen frame. How did he already know about it? "W-What?" I uttered nervously.
The smirk that was painted on his face only grew. "Yes I know about it and I am not the only one. I must admit I was quite amused and stunned by this tale," He softly laughed at my expression. "The Marine and army of the Borussian Kingdom are after you."
My mouth refused to open. The man in front of me came nearer and whispered in a voice only the two of us could hear. "But I must warn you do not trust anyone. You do know that your Royal guest draws attention; especially the one of evil persons."
He disappeared as fast as he had arrived, leaving me and my thoughts alone. After the 'conversation' I looked around me and for the first time and analysed the surroundings. The stares people shot me were not harmless. They knew what we had obtained the night before. Their glances were dangerous, dark, just like one of a predator. The once wonderful atmosphere changed abruptly. Uncertain of what to do with it, I reacted out of instinct and carried Natalya on my shoulder. We needed to escape immediately. Remaining as quiet as possible, I made my way through the crowd just as Noah came back with Feliks who was carrying lots of cloths and seemed to be out of breath. "Oh Gosh, Natalya… Elizabeta, like what happened?"
"She fainted and …," Seeing as everybody in our range looked at us, I gave the two males a sign to move and get to the ship. "I don't really know what weakened her and brought her in this state, but I had not been able to look for a doctor." I continued while we paced through the area.
"That is bad news" Feliks commented with a slightly worried face.
As we finally arrived at the port, the crew had everything packed and was ready to sail. My eyes wandered to the front part of the ship. It had been cleaned a bit from the shells but I was not sure how much damage they could repair. Shipworms were after all a ship's death sentence.
"There you are," Mathias shouted from the main deck, but as he saw Natalya's condition, his face fell a bit. "What has happened?"
Noah rushed on the vessel to report him about the happenings on the market.
While Feliks and I carried Natalya on the ship, a shudder ran down my spine. The feeling of uneasiness dominated my body. Something was off. As we crossed the plank to get on the wooden ship, my head turned to the side and I captured the view of several odd men who watched us carefully with sinister expressions. In the background, ships of different sizes arrived at the port. They all had dark sails making their presence dangerous. At the same time Kirkland's words echoed through my head, 'but I must warn you do not trust anyone. You do know that your Royal guest draws attention; especially the one of evil persons'.
"We need to bring her to your cabin." I heard Feliks muttering, bringing me out of my thoughts. Right, our cabin. Being females brought us a further advantage in form of our own room. Sometimes Feliks slept in our quarters, but we never minded; he was family.
Before we reached the cabin, I heard orders from Mathias which signalled the crew to finally let the ship leave the land.
"Her temperature is worrying me," Feliks remarked while he felt Natalya's forehead. "I could get some medical supplies besides the new cloths."
"But we have no doctor," I told him softly while patting the sick woman's hair, sitting down next to her bed.
A knock sounded on the door. "Liz? Can I come in?"
Answering with a 'yes', Mathias entered the room, approaching us with an uneasy face. "Noah told me about what happened. Do you already know what must have caused the fever?"
"I don't know. She was fine this morning, after having slept and eaten. Her wounds were bandaged and everything was totally okay." Feliks informed the taller man.
Suddenly a thought came up in my head. How could we have been so oblivious? While we were bandaging, we did not really treated her open wounds with something that would avoid an infection. I abruptly shot to my feet. "Her wounds… we did not treat them carefully." I muttered nervously, taking the long white cloth from her right hand.
We all gasped upon seeing it. The entire skin around the wounds was red and swollen. I touched it softly and felt the pounding of her heart. The injury itself looked hideous.
"Damn. Feliks?"
The blonde man grabbed his little bag. "I have bandages, ointments and a few herbs. But I don't know how to use them on someone who already suffers from infection."
"Me neither." Mathias and I answered in unison.
Feeling the anxious tense take over us one idea popped into my head. "I know this is weird, but considering the situation, that we have an ill person and no doctor, who could possibly have any idea of medicals, wounds or infections?" I asked, making the other two waiting for my conclusion. "Someone, who faces bloody battlefields every day." I added.
"You can't be serious," Feliks groaned. "He was the one who is responsible for her wounds."
Mathias questioning expression grew. "The Colonel?" He finally asked.
"Yes. I believe he knows more about these wounds than we do. We always had a doctor and I only know how to bandage, but not how to treat such extreme injuries, especially if they already are infected. And I think the Colonel knows something about such wounds, considering that he was involved with them daily. We could ask him if he has any experience." After my argument left my lips, Feliks walked nervously up and down through the room. "I will let him treat her, under my watch. And if he dares to hurt her…" he muttered darkly.
With him, I made my way down to the hold with something to eat. Standing before the two tired imprisoners, I gave them their food through the iron bars, receiving an annoying glare from the Prince. Feliks on the other hand showed his mood with crossed arms and an angry frown that he was clearly against the idea to ask help of them. He was a proud man, but with Natalya's current poor health, we were in need of the Colonel.
"We need your help." He exclaimed powerful and with every piece of pride he had, staring the Colonel down. I looked at the prisoners dumfounded faces before I noticed a noise behind me. Turning around, my eyes caught the blue irises of a young lad who tried to hide behind a box.
[A/N: I was looking for a name for Luxembourg. He does not have an official name and I like the name Noah :3 I really love his sweet character. And Captain Kirkland made an appearance (Capt'n Iggy :'D) he will also play an important part in the story :). I thought about describing how Natalya is being seen from other people. Sometimes I see how some of the Hetalia fandom say that she is a psycho and totally obsessed with her brother, etc. And I think that she is completely misunderstood. Well starting with next week, my holidays will be over and I don't know if I have enough time to post every week. It's going to be a new life chapter for me, going to University :). But I will try to update as often as I can, but I think if I write only one POV per chapter, that would be possible :).]
Shipworms: despite their name, they are clams which bore themselves in the wood of the ship, damaging it. If they aren't removed, the wood will be destroyed.
Careen: to remove shells, shipworms or repair the ship, one had to lean the ship on one side (with the help of the tides) to clean or repair it.