Sailing the Seven Seas *Starting/Not Accepting**

JEX

I smiled and shook my head as Quinn closed the door, striding over to the window. If I couldn't be in the storm, I'd at least watch. Watch and wish I was on the deck, shouting orders that the captain even knew he had no power to denounce. Watch and wish that Rosa was at my side, grinning at me in pride... How many times had she actually come onto the ship with me? Six or seven?

I sighed and tried to shove the memories away along with the lump in my throat. I had been crying too much and Quinn had been right. Rosa would want me to be happy. Would she want me to find love again? Or would that be disrespectful and selfish to both of them? There would always be a part of me that wished Rosa was still alive, that I could hold her again... That really wouldn't be fair, would it?

Well, if Rosa would want me to find love again... She was a strong believer in fate... I sighed and watched as the first raindrops pelted the window, wrestling with my feelings. Guilt, love, hope, depression... I felt more or less like I was being smothered.

"Well Rosa, fate seems to have led me here. And here is where..." I didn't finish my sentence. Why was I talking out loud? "Because I'm messed up and broken?" I suggested, once again out loud. I needed to stop talking to myself before I went crazy.

Thunder cracked and a delightful shiver ran up my spine. The rain was coming harder... I fought off the urge to burst through the door and run onto the deck. Lightning flashed in the distance and I could hear frantic shouts without being able to make out the words.

Quinn

Up on the top deck, I figure it will be about...oh, ten seconds before I'm completely soaked. My thick shaggy hair is weighed down with much water and acting as a blanket for my head. "Cap'n! What can I do to help?" I yell to Clare over the pounding of the rain.

"I'll tell you, but first...Everybody!" she barks, and the attention of the crew is her's. "Quinlan has an announcement to make." Oh, she did not just do that.

"Uh...hey..." I stutter when all eyes are on me. "I'm, um, my name is actually Quinn, and I'm a girl..." This is absolutely humiliating.

Mela

So. Quinlan-Quinn- was a girl. Interesting.

"Good to know, Quinn, now Cap'n, me and Ry have got to adjust the sails before they get ripped to shreds!" I shouted. She waved her hand as if to say "Alright, alright, do it, then," and turned on her heel. I swung over to the opposite sail and began tying it up in places. I kicked Ryker in the rear and yelled at him to do the same; my kicking him sent him hurtling across to the other sail. I smirked.

While others were starting to get wet, me and Ry were already soaked to the bone. Any strands of hair that I had let go loose were slicked to my skin. The thin shirt I wore was completely drenched, and most of it was sticking to my body. The pants were relatively dry, thank god, though I had no idea how. My eyelashes were clumped together, and my skin was nearly as wet as the ocean herself.

Up this high, it was cold, too; not only was I going to freeze to death, some drops of rain were turning to ice and cutting my skin, so my skin was streaked with both grayish water and bright crimson, wonderfully warm blood. Quinn was still explaining (with much encouraging from Captain), but I was barely listening. A, because I could barely hear anything other than Ry's shouting over the rain, and b, because all I needed to know was her actual gender.

Finally, we had tied the sails just so, and we dropped to the deck. I tied my rope around the mast, Ry did the same, and we began to tie down loose objects on deck, both still thoroughly soaked.

Man, I loved storms.

Quinlan was a girl?

Turtle didn't even have to look her up and down to confirm. It was obvious; how had he missed it? But the real question was, why had she disguised herself as a boy? It puzzled David. It wasn't like the Captain, who was female herself, wouldn't admit someone to the crew because they were female! There were plenty girls on board. Shaking his head, he just ran with the gunpowder in the protective sheet and tied a covered bucket sturdily to the cannons.

Because a storm was a perfect place for an ambush. Maybe he was just being paranoid, it wouldn't surprise anyone. But he knew the facts, and precautions never hurt. Did they?

JEX

I was fighting off an impulse to jump run out the door and start giving orders. Back with my old crew, not even the captain dared undermine me during a storm, they had been my thing. Of course here, all I could do was watch and fantasize as running out onto the deck, storm or not, would probably end in me suddenly headless. Or overboard. Again.

I fiddled with the ring as it got harder to see out. Stupid rain was making the glass not as... transparent as it should be. Sheesh. Ruin what little fun I was going to have. I kept watching anyways, though now I was more or less focusing on the raindrops hitting the window than what was going on past the window.

Oh Rosa...what fun we would be having right now. I thought, sighing. She really would want me to be happy, but the past was something I tended to dwell on. It was Rosa herself that told me never to forget it, that it made you part of who you are. Of course, I believed every word and I still did, which is why I refused to let myself forget.

But to be happy again meant what? Love? My eye twitched and I instinctively raised my hand to rub at it, flinging the ring across the room. I spun around and held my breath, waiting for the clatter. It never did come, which meant that it must have landed on something soft... the bed?

I ran over to it and started to search, to no avail. What? So it had just vanished from thin air?! My breathing quickened and I started to run around the room like a chicken with its head cut off. Now, had this been Quinn's room, I wouldn't have hesitated to start throwing things around. But it wasn't Quinn's room... no siree. This was the cap'ains room. I couldn't throw everything around and then attempt to put it back into place.

But I couldn't not find the ring. It was all I had left of her... all the physical evidence I had that she actually existed. I groaned and sat on the edge of the bed, trying to stop the tears from running down my cheeks.

Mela

I whooped into the rain. I had only gotten more soaked, and it was fun watching Quinn deal with her first storm. She was faring pretty well. Ryker leapt up and click his heels from the opposite side of the ship as I knotted down a spare crate. I laughed and did a little jig for him. I slipped on the wet deck and fell; when Ry laughed, I charged him.

Cackling, he dashed across to the opposite side- where I was ten seconds ago. Blast that boy.

So I ran across- or at least, I tried. When I was running, I lost control. Skidded. Tumbled over the side of the boat.

I grabbed at the ledge and screamed Ryker's name as loudly as I could. Not even a second later, something warm and wet wrapped around my arm and pulled me up- Ryker's hand. I hugged him with everything I had, then remembered something.

"If I could fall overboard, to the east..."

"Means the wind's from the west. Good thinking, Mel." Ry said. We both relooped our ropes and scurried up to the sails, untying certain knots and tying others.

My hands were shaking the entire time.

Captain Clare Davies, on the decks/in the storm:

She watched the scene of the storm unfold. Her crew ran along the soaking decks of her beloved ship, slipping once in awhile and tying loose ropes. Sighing, the Captain looked at the sky. They were approaching the eye of the storm, and Clare knew what was coming.
The height of the storm was always the worse. She remember how her brother--curse him, she thought--used to love storms. He'd always been a bit odd.
Shaking her head as if to clear the memories, Clare strutted over to Turtle and Quinn, who were talking in a carefree manner.
"Aye. Quinn, how are ye liking the storm? We've almost reached the eye of it." Clare winked and turned to Turtle, who she appraised with a raised eyebrow.
"You sure do carry that sword around like a five year old carries a teddy bear," she joked.
Her mood was lightened.
For now.

Mela

I gulped in air, rain temporarily stopped. The eye, as Captain called it. I wiped sheets of water of my face, my soaked black sleeves covering my hands, and smiled at Ryker broadly.

"We made it, Ry!"

"Just for a while, Mel."

"I know, I know." I laughed, unknotting my torso-harness-contraption. We were sitting at the base of the mast; Ry's blue shirt was hanging off his elbows, still unbuttoned, his bare feet shining with rain, as mine were. I ran a hand through my hair, pulling it all back again. Captain looked over and smiled sympathetically; she must have seen my little... slip up.

And then the thunder cracked again.

I looked at Ry. He looked at me.

"You ready?"

"By the cliffs of home, I am. Let's go fight a storm, Ryker. Let's go battle the tempest."

Quinn

At the mention of the sword, I remember leaving mine in Clare's room. Turning back to Turtle, I say, "I'll be right back. Um, I kinda forgot my sword again." I run back to the Cap'n's quarters to find Jex crying on the edge of the bed. My sword is just lying on the floor.

"What's wrong?" I ask with concern, sitting next to him and draping my arm around his shoulders.

"The ring...Rosa's ring...I lost it," he cries.

"How did you lose it?"

"It flung out of my hand." I glance around the room and my eyes rest on one porthole that's open a crack. Getting up, I walk over to it and swing it all the way open. Jex stares at it in dismay.

"Jex, do you believe in fate?" I ask.

He looks at me strangely. "I do. Why?"

"Maybe losing the ring means you have to move on from Rosa. Rosa isn't part of your life anymore." I didn't have the guts to tell him what I wanted to. Rosa isn't part of your life anymore...I am.

He - she - left her sword behind again? Was that likely. Turtle swung his sword again, rolling a finger over the tip. He ducked as a rope shot over his head in the storm, flailing everywhere. David heard the cry of pain and surprise as it hit someone less adapted to a hard storm on a real ship.

"Ryker, tie that over, will you?" he yelled over the sound of the storm.

"What would you know, old man?" Ryker yelled back. He laughed crazily above the sound of the rain. Turtle squinted; the rain thundering onto the deck was sending sharp droplets of rain onto his face. It was like being pricked by thousands of tiny needles on every spot of bare, pale skin. He could just see the shapes of Mela and Ryker swooping around, tying themselves in and pulling on knots. They were good kids, and very sturdy - they knew their stuff. But if he would ever admit that to the two trouble makers, may he be thrown overboard. Speaking of which, he'd better move in more towards the middle of the deck - the storm was starting to bite back. He tangled his fingers in the cord of his turtle pendant as a comfort thing.

Turtle grinned. "I love the sea," he whispered.

Mela

I yelled a few swears at Ry and dropped to Turtle's level.

"I'd apologize for him, but he has reason. That's our fall back rope- something goes wrong with the harness, we grab that rope. We should tie it somewhere..."

"OI! Mel! Shut ye trap and tie that barrel to the mast before we lose the rum!"

"Oh, of course YOU'D want to save the rum!" I screamed back. I grumbled something else and swooped over to the barrel, fastening it to the mast. I pulled myself hand over hand up the rope, yelling another apology back to Turtle, and flew over to a crate of somethings and others, tying it down. A swell of rain hit me straight in the front, and I swooped off again. The ropes chafed against my collarbone.

I'd have rope burns where ever the ropes touched my skin, but rope burns are better than death, by my reckoning.

JEX

I looked up at her and blinked. She was right of course, Rosa was gone and there wasn't much I could do. But to push her out so quickly just seemed... undoable. "You're right about that much, but Quinn, that ring is..." I didn't finish my sentence, I couldn't think of the right word. It would sound stupid to say it was all I had left. Everybody said that, it just didn't seem quite...special enough.

It was also worth a lot, if somebody found it I would probably never see it again. I had never, ever considered selling the ring, and I doubted I ever would. But who's to say the lucky finder of that ring wouldn't?

"I know I'm gonna have ta move on, but you've got to help me find the ring." I was practically begging now, and it was pathetic. I hated doing things like this, especially to people I liked, they really didn't deserve it.

Quinn

Of course I understand why he'd want the ring back, but that doesn't keep me from being disappointed with his reply. Sighing, I rest my forehead on the heel of my hand. "Where did you hear it land," I grumble, incurious, but wanting to help all the same.

"I didn't," he sighs.

"I'll help you look." I sincerely hope we don't find anything. This Rosa shit is getting old. I look through the folds in the sheets of Clare's bed, and after several minutes of searching I come up empty. Then something glints and catches my eye. I reach for the ring, and hold it up.

"This it?" I ask Jex. He nods, looking grateful. I hand it to him, but it slips out of his hand and through a crack in the wood. "Um, do you think we can loosen the floorboard after a couple days and get the ring out?" I ask insincerely.

"I hope so," he mutters, seeming depressed and tired. As bad as I feel for him, he has got to quit moping! Rosa is dead, Rosa is gone, Rosa is not coming back. But I'm never going to be cruel enough to tell him; he needs to figure it out on his own.

Mela

I gave an indian battle cry as I swung over the ship, holding the rope with both hands. Ryker whooped and crossed in front of me. At this point, we were swooping around making subtle adjustments to the sails, or moving people away if we saw a powerful swell of water about to fall on them.

Oh man, this was blasted FUN.

Turtle was chuckling at our monkey-esque behavior, and Captain looked amused herself. I loved this- slicing through sheets of rippling gray water, cold air ripping goosebumps up on my skin, torrents of water rinsing the blood off my body. Ryker's shirt had been yanked off by the wind and laid, forgotten, wrapped around the mast. He had tied it there after realizing that clothing was a rather useful thing.

I snickered at the memory and launched off again, tweaking a knot that was starting to come undone. I laughed at Ryker, with his dark hair slicked straight down, water fling off his bare torso in sheets. I doubted that I looked much different, other than the bare torso bit. My ponytail had come loose, and now strands of hair were plastered to my face, the rest of my hair flapping like a blonde flag. My shirt was rippling as well, being as loose as it was.

I gave a giddy laugh and high fived Ry as we passed by each other yet again.

Captain Clare Davies:

Standing at the bow of the ship, the Captain faced out to the sea, observing the storm's wreaking havoc. So far her crew had fared well; she was proud, but still weary. Anything could happen at sea, and being in the midst of a storm like this was both the perfect time for a surprise enemy attack and the worst time for sailing. Ryker and Mela were doing well enough, though they pranced around like children.
Turtle chuckled softly, being only a few feet away from the Captain.
The sky was turning to a lighter shade of grey, but now hail started to impend down on them. Claire grimaced as she side-stepped a piece of hail the size of a walnut. Her blonde hair was wet and plastered to the side of her face, though still beautiful. Her grey-blue eyes twinkled with amusement and all around alert-ness.
She turned on her heel and strode over to Mela and Ryker.
"Hello, my monkey-children. I suppose you are enjoying the storm?" Her eyes twinkled with delight.