Sea and Sky

[PiperAllen]

The rocking motion of the ship made Cara feel a bit drowsy. She welcomed sleep, considering it a sweet relief from the unpleasant thoughts that turned the princess’s mood sour. Her dark brown hair tumbled gracefully over her shoulders but Cara knew that she only had a few more minutes before her servant came to pin it up. She sighed, getting up from her position at the desk to stand on her tip toes to peer out the small window. She couldn’t see much, just the sea. It stretched on for as far as Cara’s green eyes could see. She smiled bitterly. Maybe the ship would never reach it’s destination and continue sailing for all of eternity.


“It’s nice to see you smiling, m’lady.” Cara turned at the sound of her servant's voice. The older woman stood in the cabin’s doorway, various garments slung over her arms.


“I was thinking about the ship never reaching it’s destination.” Cara said, settling back down at her place at the desk.


“You would the ship go down then reach your future husband?” The servant asked, shaking her head slightly.


“No, Erwyn, not go down.” Cara said thoughtfully, watching Erwyn in the mirror as the servant set the garments on the bed. “Just drift along forever.” She heard Erwyn chuckle.


“Do you really think getting married will be that bad?” The servant asked, beginning the task of pinning up Cara’s hair.


“It’s not the idea of getting married I don’t like.” Cara said matter of factly. “It’s the idea of marrying a man I have never laid eyes on, much less gotten to know.” She sighed.


“Our Kingdom depends on this marriage, m’lady.” Erwyn said gently. This was something Cara had been told many times.


“I know. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it.” Cara said stubbornly. “It’s a shame my soon to be husband’s last wife died.” She said calmly. “How did she die again?”


“She was poisoned.” At that, Cara turned in her seat to look at her servant. Erwyn looked nervous.


“I thought she merely fell ill?” Cara asked, already knowing the answer. How Cara was told the last Queen died was a lie. Cara wondered if her father had been trying to avoid her getting scared. He was too dense to realize that Cara wasn’t scared, just sad. Erwyn just sighed.


“Is there anything else that I should know?” Cara asked, realizing that the old servant wouldn’t know the answer to that question but not really caring. Erwyn just shrugged. Cara sighed, turning to face the mirror again.


“How long?” Cara said, her voice lowering to barely above a whisper. She knew Erwyn would know what she meant. Cara had asked the same question many times in the short amount of time they had been sailing.


“About three days now.” Erwyn informed her. Cara was silent for a moment before sighing again. Three days was all that was left of Cara's freedom.


“I’ve heard horrible things about him.” Cara said quietly. “That he had his last wife killed for not giving him an heir. That his court is full of murderous men who would kill anyone if the idea pleased them. His kingdom is evil, Erwyn.”


“You’ve never been there, m’lady.” Erwyn said patiently. Cara frowned, staring down at the desk in front of her blankly. Her head snapped up, however, when she heard shouting.


“What’s going on?” She asked Erwyn, who was frowning. “I can’t hear what they’re shouting.” She frowned, standing up and heading towards the door.


“M’lady, you should let me see what is going on.” Cara frowned at Erwyn’s words.


“Why?” Cara asked, glancing towards the door. “Do you think something bad is happening?”


“I’m not sure. Just stay here, m’lady, I’ll return shortly.” Cara watched her servant open the door and slip out. Cara stood in the middle of the cabin, a confused expression on her pretty face.

 

[Hexed]

Laughing. That's all Kaito could hear from behind him, even if he'd wanted to hear something else it would have been drowned out by the sound. He stood on the end of a large wooden boat, his light blue eyes fixated out to sea. There was much to do with sailing that he loved, just the feel of being on a boat was great to him but he wasn't out on a leisure trip. Himself and the rest of the crew were out looking for ships, ships that they could steal from and possibly sink if they had to. Usually it didn't come down to that though. So far none of the crew had seen anything, even Kaito himself hadn't seen a single ship. He was getting bored and tired of waiting for something to come along, if it carried on like this he might as well go to sleep.


A large hand clapped down on Kaito's shoulder making him jump and turn quickly. A slightly older man looked at him, grinning. "Now who did you think I was?" The man asked, putting a hand through his blonde hair.


"Oh be quiet Adrian." Kaito muttered, turning back around to look at the sea, "You only made me jump slightly because you came up so quickly."


"If that's what you want to believe lad!" Adrian laughed and walked to stand next to Kaito, "What you look in' at?"


"Nothing." He sighed, "Just the sea, and what do you all happen to be doing?" He asked, he didn't look back to see for himself though. He was waiting for an answer from Adrien.


"We're havin' some fun! You should join us instead of sulkin' up 'ere all day." Adrien turned back to look at everyone, whilst they were doing their jobs they were having fun with it. The crew didn't expect to see a ship soon so they were lazing off a little.


"I'm not sulkin'." Kaito muttered with a shake of his head, why was everyone being so stupid? They could see a ship any minute.


"Oh lighten up boy!" Adrien grinned before pulling at some of Kaito's short black hair, "We 'ain't seen a ship in ages! Might as well make the knot of our free time."


Kaito lifted a hand and swatted Adrien's hand away from his head, "Yeah? Well what if you suddenly saw a ship? What would you do then?" He asked.


"This crew knows what they doin' lad, I'm sure they'd be ready." Adrien said confidently.


"Good you think so." A third voice came form behind the two, they both turned to see a slightly shorter male with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes staring at them.


"What is it Ethan?" Adrien asked as he stepped away from the edge of the boat.


"Seems we've spotted somethin' off that a way." Ethan point out in front of the two, "Get them all ready."


"Looks like Kaito got sumthin' right this time." Adrien grinned before walking off and starting to shout orders at his crew.


Kaiko's previously bored eyes had lit up at the mention of a ship, this meant that they could finally have some fun. Of course there was the money part of it too.


"We're approachin' fast lads! Get ready!" Adrien shouted from further along the boat.


The laughing had changed to the sound of voices shouting to one another, getting things ready, barking orders. It really was rowdier than before!


"Kaito! Get down here an' help us out already!" A voice shouted down to him.


Kaiko turned quickly and nodded, "I'm there, one second!" He called, a massive grin plastered on his face.


The ship approached quickly, they were almost close enough now to jump and everyone seemed ready. Kaito sat on the edge of the boat in front of everyone causally looking over and swinging his legs back and forth.


"Ready men!?" Adrien shouted, a loud cry from all of the crew answered him.

 

[PiperAllen]

As the shouting grew louder, Cara realized that there was something very wrong. She bit her lower lip, rushing towards the small window and peering out. This time, the sea wasn't the only thing she saw. There was another ship, approaching quickly. Cara frowned. The ship coming towards them wasn't a ship from any Kingdom that Cara knew of. She thought frantically of possiblies. If the ship wasn't from a Kingdom, there was a very slim chance that it was good. She hoped it wasn't pirates. She had never met a pirate, of course, but she had heard enough to get scared. Cara wasn't sure what she should do. She didn't know how to fight, so hiding seemed like her best option. But where to hide? Cara had no idea.


After a few moments of standing by the window and watching the ship come closer, Cara turned away. She glanced towards the door. Her servant hadn't come back yet. Cara had no idea what people were susposed to do in situations like this. She had been too consumed with the impending marriage to worry about anything else. Letting out a frustrated sigh, Cara went over and pulled open a chest. It was full of clothes, so Cara started throwing them onto the bed. After a minute, Cara climbed inside the chest and pulled it shut, holding the lock so she wouldn't get trapped inside.

 

[Hexed]

Kaito grinned, "Time to have some fun." He mumbled to himself, they were close enough now and people were already jumping. This was what he loved, now they could actually do something productive, something that was going to benefit them all.


A hand landed on his shoulder again, "C'mon lad. Let's have a competition. Who can bring the most back off of this ship." Adrien grinned and jumped to the other boat.


Kaito grinned, "You're on!" He called before standing up and jumping himself. Immediately people came at him, he took them out easily and sighed. "Wow..." He muttered before running around and taking out few more guards. He'd realised before entering the ship that there were a lot of very armoured guards guarding this boat, but even they weren't a match for some of the men on his boat.


Whilst the others fought Kaito had moved on to look around for anything on the ship that could be valuable. He saw a room and entered it, inside he saw there was a desk and clothes were chucked all over the floor. "Looks like someone has been in here recently." He muttered to himself as he kicked the clothes around and looked for anything. There was a large chest in the room, one of those fancy ones that valuables could be kept in. Kaito grinned and moved over to the chest, before even attempting to open it he looked to see if it was locked. It looked like the lock had been pulled inside the chest, that mean it was open. Smiling widely, he put his hands on either side of the lid and lifted it up. His eyebrows raised as he saw a well dressed girl cowering inside of it.

 

[PiperAllen]

Cara held her breath when she heard somebody enter the room. She shut her eyes when she heard someone talk. She hoped that whoever was in the room was just talking to himself. She might be able to run from one pirate. She didn't know where she would run, but she decided not to worry about that right this second. She heard footsteps approach the chest and realized that the chest really wasn't the best place to hide in. It was a chest that normally held valuables. It might be the first place someone looked for money, or jewels or something. After years if learning how to avoid her guards, she should have realized this. Cara sighed softly as the footsteps drew nearer, pondering how likely she was to survive this. When the chest was open, Cara froze for a moment before hesitantly looking up at the pirate in front of her.


"Um... please don't kill me." She said, her fear obvious.

 

[Hexed]

Kaito stood there with a interested expression. Who was this girl? She was well dressed and this boat was pretty big and very well decorated. Could it be possible that they had stumbled upon royalty, really? Maybe this really was his lucky day. She was obviously scared, that might just come in handy. If she was rich she'd have servants, he wondered if they already been trapped, killed or taken... It was most likely they'd been locked in a room. He laughed to himself when he realised once they were don't there would be no one left who could actually steer a boat. He heard footsteps and people walking around now, they must have gotten most of the guards. That means the rest of the crew would soon come to this room too. He looked down at the scared girl and sighed, "Who are you?" He asked as he took a step back, he felt like he was awfully intimidating standing over her like that. If he wanted her to talk he knew he couldn't stay doing that.

 

[PiperAllen]

"Cara." She said quietly, slightly relieved when the pirate stepped back. "I'm the..." the princess paused. If the pirate knew she had royal blood, things might go badly for her. Well, worse than they were already going. Then again, if the pirate thought she was nobody, he wouldn't have a reason to keep her alive. Not a pleasant reason, anyway.


"I'm a servant.. the new q-queen's servant." Cara stuttered, wishing for a moment that she was a more convincing liar. She realized that she was probably extra defenseless cowering in the chest. She stood and stepped onto the floor, watching the pirate wearily.


"Who are you?" She demanded.

 

[Hexed]

The girl's name was Cara, she said she was a servant eh? Kaito snorted at that, "You don't look much like a servant." He muttered before looking back to her. She looked weak hiding in that chest even when he was talking to her. She'd noticed it as well obviously since she stood up and stepped out of the chest. He could see her clothing more clearly now, he'd never seen a servant who wore that sort of stuff.


"The name's Kaito." He replied with a slight smirk, "There's nothing important about me." He looked at her with almost disgust. If she was a servant or a royal she was still involved with the royal family, he didn't like that. "Wait," he said, "did you say new queen? Who is getting a new queen?" What was this about a new queen? He didn't know about this.

 

[PiperAllen]

Cara paused at the pirate, Kaito's, question. "The king of the Kingdom... to the West." She said slowly. She decided that the less details she mentioned, the better. "At least I think its too the west. I'm afriad I've lost my bearings since the ship started its journey." Cara forced a soft chuckle at this, trying to stall while she figured out how to get out of this mess. If that was even possible at this point.


"The old queen died before giving the king an heir. We're sending our princess to be his bride. In xhange for that, our Kingdom gets protection." Cara finished, avoiding looking at the pirate directly. She didnt want him to realize that she was, in fact, the King's soon to be bride. She knew she didn't look like a servant. A servant would never be dressed like she was, but hopefully the pirate didn't realize that.

 

[Hexed]

So the Queen had died, well that wasn't a surprise to Kaito. According to some the man who ruled the country to the west could be very demanding and vicious, if she didn't produce an heir well... Why was she laughing? Did she feel safe? She shouldn't. Kaito grinned slightly, "Well whoever is going to be his new bride is a very unlucky woman." He mumbled before looking towards the door, it wouldn't be long before the rest of the crew came into the room. He knew she was stalling but he was also getting some information out of it.


"So if you're the servant," Kaito started, looking the girl up and down he didn't fully believe a servant would have such expensive clothes, "Then where is the princess? Why were you cowering in a chest instead of helping her like you should be? And if just a servant gets such expensive looking clothing what exactly is the princess wearing?" He really was putting her on the spot now.

 

[PiperAllen]

Cara sighed softly when she heard what Kaito muttered about whoever marrying the queen being an unlucky woman. ' I'm aware.' she thought, but remained silent. She shifted nervously at the pirate's question. She realized that at this point, Kaito probably didn't believe her lie about being a servant. For a moment, she considered to try and convince him, but that might make him angry.


"I.." Cara's voice trailed off. She didn't know what exactly to tell him. After a long moment of silence, she spoke. "I lied. I'm not a servant." She said, not looking at Kaito. She stared down at the ground instead. "I'm her. The princess, I mean."

 

[Hexed]

Kaito sighed and crossed his arms, he then grinned. Oh this was fun, people always lied about who they were he'd kind of worked out how to tell one from the other with ease. If this was the princess then he might just win Adrien's challenge, she might be the most valuable cargo on this ship. His mind was just filled with winning that competition now, he didn't really care about much else.


"You think I didn't already realise?" He asked her, "Well, I have a bet to win so get moving." He told her motioning towards the door. He wasn't about to drag her out, he didn't do that well ...only if he had to anyway. He waited for her to start moving.

 

[PiperAllen]

"I had hoped that you wouldn't realize that I was lying." Cara said bluntly. She raised an eyebrow when Kaito said he had a bet to win but didn't comment. Cara had no interest in the pirate's personal affairs. She paused for a second when Kaito told her to get moving before deciding just to follow him. Maybe if she cooperated, things wouldn't go as badly for her. At least she hoped not.


"What's going to happen to me?" She asked Kaito as she followed him.

 

[Hexed]

"See that word," Kaito said, "hoped." Now he was just trying to annoy her, he annoyed everyone when he was in a good mood. He scared everyone when he was in a bad one. As Cara started to move Kaito followed on behind, he was so winning this thing now! There was no way Adrien could take over. He opened the door to let her out onto the deck of the boat. They'd walk and then board the pirates' boat.


Kaito turned and shrugged, "I couldn't tell you." He replied.

 

[PiperAllen]

Cara let out a soft sigh. "I figured thing wouldn't go as badly for me if you all didn't know who I really was." She grumbled. She twisted the silver ring around her thumb as she walked. She did that when she was nervous.


Cara walked in silence for a moment but froze the second she saw the body of one of her dead guards. A look of horror crossed her face. "Are all of my guards and servants dead?" She asked quietly, part of her not wanting to know the answer.

 

[Hexed]

Kaito shook his head and sighed, "Things would have gone worse for you if you hadn't come clean." He muttered, he wasn't trying to scare the girl. He was only telling her the truth.


He stepped over the body of a guard and shook his head, "Not all of them." He replied, "We only kill the people who try to fight us. All the guards will be dead, as for the servants...They will probably be locked in one of the room. It'll be up to them to get out and get to land once we're gone."

 

[PiperAllen]

Cara just nodded slightly. She finally stopped staring at the dead guard, stepping around the body instead of stepping over it like Kaito had. She was concerned about her servants, and how they were going to sail the ship to land, but she realized that there really wasn't anything she could do for them now.


Cara blinked at the sunlight as she stepped onto the deck. She tried to avoid staring at the bodies of all the dead guards, or the pirates for that matter.

 

[Hexed]

Kaito walked through it all with a blank expression, he was too used to it all to be bothered anymore. He saw that they'd bridged the gap between the two boat and were bringing things across. "Okay, let's go across here." He said with a sighed and walked towards the wooden board bridging the gap.


He saw that as he moved forwards with Cara more of the pirates started to look at him, confused. They were obviously wondering who she was.

 

[PiperAllen]

Cara just nodded, stepping unto the wooden board serving as a bridge. For a moment, she considered jumping into the sea. She dismissed the idea almost immediately. Aside from back on to one of the ships, there was nowhere else to go.


As she stepped on to the pirates's ship, she heard someone yell her name. Turning around, she saw Erwyn, her ever faithful companion, being lead below the deck. Cara opened her mouth to respond when Erwyn was pushed out of Cara's view. Cara stared helplessly after her before turning away.

 

[Hexed]

Kaito walked silently along, he'd take Cara to Adrien and win. With a grin he moved along the bridge quickly and recklessly, after all it wasn't all that stable...It was just a piece of wood.


Kaito heard someone call Cara's name and turned just as the girl did to see another girl, slightly older, who was being pushed off below deck. "Now that looks more like a servant." He said, coming right up behind Cara and pointing over to the girl. He turns to someone near, "Where's Adrien?" He asked, the other man pointed to a door to his right.

 

[PiperAllen]

Cara took a step away from Kaito as he moved towards her. She watched him as another pirate where Adrien was. "Who is that?" She asked, looking at Kaito again. Maybe it was the ship's captain. That seemed likely. She noticed a few of the pirates looking at her. She shifted nervously, wrapping her arms around herself.

 

[Hexed]

Kaito sighed, "He's the captain here, get used to him. He's a pain." He muttered as he started to walk towards the door. Everyone seemed interested in who Kaito had brought onto the ship, well she was dressed all fancy after all. She was definitely different to everyone on this ship. Kaito grabbed the handle of the door and turned it.

 

[PiperAllen]

Cara nodded slightly at what Kaito told her. She followed Kaito towards the door, not looking at the other pirates on the ship. She didn't want to draw any more attention to herself, she knew she stood out as it were. When Kaito opened the door, Cara stepped inside and glanced around nervously. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust from the sunlight. When they did, she focused her gaze on the captain. She was silent, waiting for someone else to speak first.

 

[Hexed]

Kaito opened the door and stepped inside, he closed it once Cara was inside as well. Adrien sat at a desk with his legs up, looking towards the door. He grinned as he saw Kaito, "You don't have anything with ya lad." He started, "So why're ya here?"


Kaito grinned and moved aside, "I brought something with me." He replied as he motioned towards Cara. "This is Cara," he told Adrien, "and she's a Princess. Was going to become a queen."


Adrien raised an eyebrow and looked at Cara, "Well haven't you done good."

 

[PiperAllen]

"Up until getting kidnapped by pirates," Cara shrugged. "I've done fine." She glanced around the room again. She was silent for a moment before looking back at the captain. "Should I even bother with what I assume is the usual plea?" She asked. "That my father is rich and would pay you handsomely for my safe return, and all of that."