Original Stories Fan Fiction / Romance Fan Fiction ❯ The Ocean in a Pirate's Eyes ❯ Chapter Four ( Chapter 4 )

Dinner with the girl had left Noir quite pleased with himself and his astounding negotiation skills. He quickly called Cassie in as soon as the girl announced she would be heading to bed, telling his first mate that his plan had worked. The woman looked annoyed and uncertain, but congratulated the captain.

 

“Now, the only question is, what to do with her once she's used up,” she said, cleaning off the small dining table. “Surely you won't keep her around.”

 

Noir smiled. “Jealous, are we?” He sniggered at the woman's glare. “Don't worry, Cass, I have no intention of keeping her aboard forever. I guaranteed her a safe passage back home, and she asked for nothing more.”

 

Cassie smiled, relieved. “Though I must say, it may be nice having another woman on board for once,” she added. Noir looked questioningly at her.

 

“Well, which is it, woman? Do you want her to stay, or not?” Cassie shrugged and told Noir that it was up to him. “You're the captain after all,” she added, quietly leaving while carrying plates stacked up to her shoulders.

 

Noir smirked, enjoying that his decisions were always accepted, as unintelligent as they may be at times. He hummed quietly to himself, wandering out of his cabin and to the helm. The captain stopped short as his eyes caught the girl leaning against the bow, her elbows propped against the wood as her hands cupped her face gently. She seemed to be consumed by her thoughts.

 

He cleared his throat loudly, grinning as she turned around cautiously. “I thought you said you were going to bed,” he remarked, grabbing a hold of the helm. “I'd like to steer my ship in peace, if you'd please.”

 

The girl nodded and scurried off to her temporary quarters, shyly muttering her goodnight to the captain. He laughed quietly to himself, thinking, Nice goin', mate. You got yourself a coy one! Noir's eyes wandered to his side where he saw Cassie appear from below deck. Hasn't she made her entrance to my presence enough for one day? he asked himself desperately, attempting to busy himself.

 

“Captain,” she said sternly. He rolled his eyes and turned to look at her. “She never met the crew.”

 

His eyebrow arched, as if he expected some sort of complaint, or at least something important. “Pity,” he muttered, steering the ship westward. “She'll have to do so tomorrow then.” The truth was that Noir didn't really care if she met the crew or not; his gut feeling was once more in his mind, telling him that it would be better to keep the girl comfortable for her temporary trip. Not simply because if they didn't, she would refuse to help them. Noir just sensed that it was right, though he kept that bit of information to himself.

 

“Get some sleep, Cass,” he grumbled. “One of us needs to for tomorrow. We'll be making port sooner than expected. Apparently Caerni is not as far as we imagined.”

 

“What? Already? Captain, that's impossible,” she said, a puzzled look creasing her face. “Unless the—”

 

“Winds are in our favor,” finished the captain, smirking. “I told you, Cass. Never question your captain's madness.” He laughed haughtily as the woman rolled her eyes and turned around, waving an uncaring arm to bid her goodnight.

 

“She's doing it,” he whispered to himself. Satisfied, he smiled and whistled to Jack, whom he assumed was sleeping in his hammock on deck. When no reply came, he narrowed his eyes and wondered what the man was doing at these hours. Apparently not his job, he thought irritably.

 

 

Aurora walked briskly to her cabin, her eyes glued to the fancy carpeting that seemed only to be below deck. I never noticed that before, she thought, admiring the golden and crimson embroderies on the carpet. She was lost in her thoughts about the fascinating carpet until her head collided with something that was soft, yet firm.

 

She looked up and took a giant step backwards, blushing as she muttered her apologies. Oh no! I ran into the heartbreaker. What luck, eh? she thought bitterly, keeping her eyes off the man in front of her. He simply chuckled and pat her on the shoulder before walking off, albeit hesitantly.

 

Breathing a sigh of relief, she continued to make her way a few more steps to her cabin, keeping her chin held up the entire time. She closed the door quietly behind her and let her exhausted body collapse onto the bed. It was much more comfortable than she imagined it should be, and soon she was consumed by the inevitable depths of sleep.

 

 

Aurora woke up to a loud, repeated knock on her door. She whined, still tired due to a recent lack of sleep prior to her boarding the ship. Crawling idly out of the bed and across the cabin floor, she opened the door, her red hair sticking up in places they normally didn't. “Cassie?” she yawned. “What do you want this early?”

 

“We've made port,” replied the other woman. She looked at Aurora's state of being and cleared her throat gallingly. “The captain is to go ashore to gain information and maps from the Caerni of your world. He wanted to know if you'd like to go with him.”

 

Aurora's eyes widened. “Wait! He hasn't left yet, has he?” Cassie narrowed her eyes, curious as to what the girl was fretting about. “He can't talk to the locals. I'll have to do it. True enough, the Caerni both in your world and mine share the same language, but not quite the same looks. Here they are known quite well for their dark skin, dull eyes, and light hair. They'll think you're deceiving them.”

 

“Deceiving them, how?” asked the crew member. “Is it really that suspicious that we have darker hair and brighter eyes?” She crossed her arms, thoroughly irritated at the absurdity of this argument.

 

Aurora sighed, knowing they would not believe her. “Deceiving them, as in… Pretending that you're a Caernic to gain their trust. They all have bleached hair from the sun, and their eyes are grey. They do not breed outside their people,” she explained, her eyes begging Cassie to believe her. “And yes, I'll go with Noir—I mean, Captain Noir. I could talk to the locals and explain that you're merchants.”

 

A few moments after Cassie left the room, Aurora was tidied up with her hair braided down her back. She quickly walked aboard deck and met with the captain at the top of the stairs. “Sorry if it took a while,” she muttered, blushing. Assuming that unlike most of the crew, she thought was the only one who liked to look decent when in public.

 

Noir shrugged it off and led her down the stairs, onto the dock, and past the stares from the eyes of local Caernic sailors as they walked by. Aurora rubbed her arm nervously, looking to see if the captain had any reaction. He seemed to have noticed, but thought naught of it.

 

“Oi,” called a man, standing with a clipboard and wearing a fancy white coat with golden stitching around the hems. “Who, may I inquire, are you, sir? And what is your business at Caerni?” he asked, suspicion etched into his features.

 

The captain opened his mouth to speak, but Aurora moved in front of him to stop him from blowing their cover. “Actually, sir, this is my step-brother's second cousin. Surely you've heard of my step-brother? His name is Demetri, and he's a merchant sailor,” she said, without a hint of ambiguity in her voice.

 

The man's eyebrows rose and he nodded vigorously, replying, “Ah, yes, Demetri! I remember him. He docked here not three days ago. The boy should still be here, if you're lucky.” He smiled, though Aurora still saw the suspicion hidden in his eyes. “I'm sure he'll be quite pleased to see his family.”

 

Aurora smiled weakly at the man's strained words, though she humbly thanked him. “Well, sir, my good captain has taken up trading as well, hence our business is of the trade, as is my good brother's.”

 

The man nodded. “Run along then. Oh, but it will be three coins to dock.” Aurora's face fell, and was soon contorted with small guilt when Noir paid the man.

 

The only words that came out of Noir's mouth were, “You owe me for that, darling.” Aurora smirked, casually placing her arms behind her back.

 

“Actually, Captain, I got you out of getting us caught,” she replied coolly, admiring the small shops across from the port. “So I think we should call it even.”

 

Noir laughed, and Aurora felt her stomach flip. Pink tinged her cheeks as her breathing became hitched. What just happened? she asked frantically within her mind. His laugh… When Noir laughed, I got butterflies? Her thoughts were once more interrupted when he added, “I knew you'd do that from the start, which is why I had you tag along. I myself would `ave explained that I'm a merchant from a faraway land and learned Caerni through a fellow sailow, but I suppose your story was acceptable as well.” He chuckled when the girl blushed.

 

“Well, you still could have said something wrong. And I doubt he would have trusted us if I hadn't mentioned my brother!” When Noir simply grinned, she sighed, exasperated.

 

“Ah, yes,” he muttered. “This brother of yours. You never mentioned him.” Aurora rolled her eyes, stating that the captain had never asked about her family. “Do tell.”

 

Aurora was hesitant to tell Noir the details of her `family' and general past, but as he was captain, she had no choice but to oblige. For the next hour or so, the two walked about the town, easily finding the market and asking around for information on Demetri's whereabouts. When they finished asking questions, Aurora summed up her past and told Noir, little by little until she felt there was not much more to tell.

 

Aurora was surprised that Noir hadn't asked many questions. Only occasionally would he stop her to ask about her foster family or life at Owleyes Academy, but it was hard to tell whether he believed her or not. He probably doesn't trust anyone, she thought. They walked past a barber shop and took a right, as directed by a man of the market, and in front of them stood a scruffy looking bar. Aurora led the way into the bar and saw that it was actually quite cozy.

 

A few men sat at the bar, and a group or two sat at tables near the back. She immediately spotted Demetri and nearly jogged over to his table to greet him. He was laughing at some story his crew mate had told him, but once his eyes caught Aurora's, his jaw hung open. “Aury?” he asked, cautiously standing up. “What are you doing here?” He quickly walked around the table and gave her a strong hug. “It's been too long.”

 

Aurora laughed and blushed at her old childhood nickname. I hope Noir didn't hear that, she silently wished. “Yes, it has,” she agreed, smiling. “Ah, well, Demetri, this is my… Captain, Noir.” She stood to the side for Demetri to observe the tall man, who had thrown all his possessions over his tunic as well as his royal blue coat.

 

“Pleasure to meet you, sir,” said Demetri, though his eyebrows creased charily as he gave his step-sister a quizzical look. She mouthed that she would explain later; satisfied, his eyes wandered back to the man as he shook his hand and nodded. “How, may I ask, did my sister come aboard your ship?”

 

Aurora coughed and scratched the back of her neck nervously. She knew that her brother would ask questions, but she did not want to start a scene in a less-than-full bar. But, unable to come up with some sort of elucidation, she let Noir do the story-telling this time.

 

“Ah, well, me crew and I made port in Syrania to gather a good deal of needed supplies. Your darling sister, here, was admiring my ship, and I asked if she'd like to come aboard to see it,” he started, a grin playing on his face. His eyes seemed to say, though he was lying, that he was not as bad as this Demetri boy thought him to be. “Of course, she was surprised I caught her. But after a tour of the deck, she wanted to stay aboard for a while. We are merchants, as you can understand, so taking up another crew member is not something we'd turn down.”

 

“I see,” said Demetri, scratching his chin thoughtfully. “Aury here has always been interested in ships, though I never knew she had any intent of sail with merchants. You hardly look the part, Mister Noir. Excuse my frankness.”

 

Noir chuckled. “No offense taken at all, Mister Demetri,” he replied mockingly. Aurora inwardly sighed; just what she needed—a verbal fight between her captain and step-brother. She tried to interrupt, but Noir shot her a look that said he would soon be finished. She backed down, though she wished that he would simply get to the point. “As I was saying, we accepted dear Aury aboard, though unfortunately, business called urgently, and we had to leave as soon as possible. She was unable to gather her belongings, including information that would be useful to us, thus here we are, requesting help. From one merchant to another, eh?”

 

Aurora cringed when he used her nickname, her silent hope that he hadn't heard it completely diminishing on the spot. She turned her eyes back to Demetri, who, as expected, looked completely irritated. “Pray tell, what information is it that you inquire?” he asked, his voice lowering.

 

“Come, Demetri, let us speak of merchant matters in private, eh?” He wrapped an arm around Demetri's shoulder and requested a room in the seemingly attached hotel. He looked back and winked at Aurora; his eyes told her that he had everything under control, though she doubted him.

 

Once the two men disappeared up the stairs, Aurora sighed audibly. She turned to leave but bumped into an all-too-familiar face. “Oh, hi Jack…”