Devil With a Silver Compass

[Levy]

Storms peppered the skies east of the port town; far, far away from the dwellings of the townspeople and the pirate ship quietly stowed away at the edge of the harbor. In the town, people bustled and bubbled, tugging along children by their wrists or rushing in and out of corner shops. It was a busy town, but it was also a kind town.

April, too, kept in tune with the town's rhythm and skipped across pebbly roads, waving hello to passing children and old women. The girl held a cloak wrapped close around her shoulders and a bag slung to her side, bouncing slightly with her footsteps. A boisterous wind, however, knocked her from the soles of her feet. Off her cloak flew. April didn't stop to skip a beat, however, and bounded for her fleeting item.

Soggy wood of the docks turned into primed and polished floorboards of the quarterdeck right underneath her feet. With her eyes set for her one and only target, she hadn't noticed herself stumbling—no, intruding onto an entire ship, complete with a hull and mast and gunports. April made one last reach for the cloak, teetering on the edge of the railings. Addled footing and all.

 

[KorghontheTerrible]

Lane was standing at the large ship's wheel, murmuring with one of his crew members. It appeared they were in quite the heated battle, until a loose cloak in the wind caught Lane's attention. He frowned at it, finding it strange that someone would simply throw their clothes into the wind, which quickly altered to the thought of why was a girl on his ship. He stared her down and quickly leaped to action as her feet came onto his deck. He swiftly moved down the steps and came to her side, grabbing her shirt to pull her back "Woah, ma'am!" He said, gusts of wind threatening to throw him off balance "Get back here.." He said, trying to pull her back.

 

[Levy]

April skidded back as her shirt tugged, and for a good 10 seconds, she was utterly confused. In the following few moments, the discombobulated girl scanned around her surroundings, alertness coming back to her. She quickly pull away, giving the space between her and the man a good 3 feet. Unfortunately, her back was pressed to the railing, and she was presently staring at the significantly taller man before her. The girl barely topped a mushroom.

"Oh, haha, um," She laughed nervously. "I think I've made a mistake. My deepest apologies. It'll never happen again. Now if you'll excuse me," April turned and booked it, making a straight bee line for the docking point.

 

[KorghontheTerrible]

The crew members of the ship quickly blocked her path, bulky men standing at the docking point with their arms crossed and wicked smiles on their faces. Lane rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and chuckled a bit, like it was all a joke "Yea...about that.." He began, looking over at her "I can't really let you go...what with me being a wanted 'scourge of the sea' and whatnot." He said, lifting his hands and making air quotations at his profound title.

 

[Levy]

April staggered back a little, turning to face the man who'd kept her from falling. "Scrooge of the Sea? You? You look like you could barely bend a spoon." April muttered, before covering her mouth. She scanned her surroundings for a moment, attempting to decipher an escape path. For one, she could always just jump off the side of the ship and swim back to the dock. The only problem there was... she didn't know how to swim.

Still, the girl bolted and took a leap of faith, praying for shallow water.

 

[KorghontheTerrible]

The water was unforgiving, almost like a wall. It sent large waves her way, bombarding her with the cold liquid. Sadly, it wasn't as shallow as it looked, which made it all the more unbearable. Lane leaned over the side of the ship and glared at her, scratching the back of his head "Can someone please get her back up here? She's gonna drown, y'know." He said, watching her from afar.

 

[Levy]

"Aye, I'll throw her a raft!" One of the bulkier men shouted, running down the stairwell to fetch one. Another crewman grabbed him by the back of the shirt and sighed.

"She'll just swim back to port, doofus."

"Well, someone's got to help the thing! She's dying!"

"I-I'll go," A gangly young boy said, the new recruit off the coast of a village. And with that, he dived in and grabbed the girl by her arm, pulling her waist up. "C'mere- Aye! Stop that!" He shouted. April, once she'd been able to, tugged and shoved and kicked the boy who'd been trying to help her not drown. Eventually, he'd been able to climb up a rope that was thrown down, with April in tow, and tossed the fussy girl into the center of the deck, a coughing, sputtering mess. Sea water had clogged her lungs.

 

[KorghontheTerrible]

Lane blinked and stared at the girl, crossing his arms over his chest. "Check for seawater in her lungs!" He yelled, glaring at the bigger crewmates. One of the biggest, the one with a multitude of tattoo's over his arms came up, chuckling wildly like a baboon. He looked down at the girl, and gave her a rather dumb smile, like he knew some joke and didn't want to tell anyone else. He got down onto his knees, made a fist and punched the girl in the gut. Seawater would flow right out from a punch at that magnitude

 

[Levy]

A few of the surrounding sailors cringed, the gangly boy even turned away. And just as predicted, she spat out every milliliter of sea water that clogged her system, along with a little bit of blood too. April, she wasn't doing too well. Presently, she clutched her stomach and held her forehead to the quarterdeck, well, whatever part of it that wasn't already soaked, and refused to make any groans of pain.

"I can't believe you just fucking punched me!" She gasped. And with that, she was out like a light.