The Nature of the Serpent

Reaching land once more, Musetta unloaded her hoard by the shelter then walked back to the beach to take a break and look out at the sea. She didn't even realize that was what she was intending as she sat on the sand, with a content sigh, looking out at the water, relaxed. After some time looking out at the water, she had the nagging feeling something was off. As it continued, she looked out at the wreck. What was she missing? Then she knew, Aias! She had not seen the man surface once since she took her break. With alarm she sprung to her feet and raced into the water.

Musetta was trying not to panic as she dived into the water, heading for the wreckage. Yet she could not help berating herself, that she should have been paying more attention. If she lost Aias along with the rest of her crew... the guilt was already swelling in her chest. It was with too narrow of focus that she didn't notice it until it swam near her, a shark! Now was the worst time for this, she didn't have the time to be careful! And then she saw it turn, it saw her, was targeting her. There was nothing between her and the shark, and she didn't even have a knife with her. Knowing it was likely pointless and the fear quickly stealing her breath she tried to stay still, hoping it would pass if there was no motion, but even if it did, she was already feeling her lungs burn.
 
He was trying a locked door when he felt panicked movements and turned. Swimming slowly he looked out a gun port and saw Musetta.. she was staying still and there was a shark, cute she was meeting spot.. the great white with a harpoon scar on his.. wait he could read the deadly intent in the shark's movement and dashed out pressing his arms against his sides shot out of the gun port and rocketed past the captain intercepting the shark like a torpedo where he spread his limbs between it and her. It came regardless, subtlety not one of it's kind's strong points.

It was hen that Aias used something that even many humans knew about in old wives' tales. Though it was a lot trickier with the shark already rushing forwards. He grabbed it's nose at it tried to pass him and ignoring the danger of the mouth pulled himself in front of it to press his lips into the very tip and instantly the shark's body relaxed.

Let us be on out way and you on yours." he whispered the the beast before pushing away from it and watching it turn away then he turned to Musetta and grabbing her hand pulled her to the surface.
 
Musetta couldn't believe her eyes. One moment the shark was racing toward her, the next Aias was there, and then he kissed the shark! Before she had a chance to really grasp what just happened, or pass out due to the lack of oxygen Aias had grabbed her hand and pulled her to the surface. With a loud gasp she released the bad air and in took as much air she she could back into her lungs. She was panting for several breaths before she could focus on the man next to her in the water.

"I thught you, and then..." her thoughts were jumbled and made her speech a bit in coherent. "Back to land," she said forcefully and without waiting for Aias' reaction she started swimming back to the island. Only once she was several steps away from the surf, which never seemed to go any furer up or down the island, did she stop. Then she flopped down on her back, covering her eyes with her arms.
 
Not the reaction he was expecting but then land was the last place he wanted to be after a scare. Yet he followed her and say down on the sand next to her. "Sorry about that.." he said not really knowing why he was apologizing. "Spot gets out of hand... though hes never attacked me before." he was hugging his knees looking out at the sea. The creature for her had to be to her what the land ones were to him, and that thought only made him want to hug her.. so he did, pulling her off the sand by her arm and closing his around her.

Then he let her go and lay down on the sand himself, putting his ear to it and closing his eyes listening to.. something. He wanted to keep her safe but not restrict her, it was getting harder and harder to do both.
 
Musetta was confussed, Aias spoke of the shark as some sort of companion or pet. It almost was odd enough for her to uncover her eyes, but Aias was seeing to that himself, pulling her up by her arms and then wrapping his arms around her. She did not fight it, in fact she did the exact opposite, leaning into the hug for a moment.

Already moving back when he released her, she looked at him in wonder. For a long while she said nothing, just watched him as he laid on the sand, half wondering what he was thinking. With her head laying on her knees she sighed finally and spoke. "You scared me. I hadn't seen you surface. I wouldn't have thought there was an air pocket, and we shouldn't have split up. That was my mistake." Musette closed her eyes for a moment. "That's the second time in too short of days," she said, her thoughts now upon death and failure. "I am sorry and I thank you."
 
He opened his eyes and say up his eyes finding hers. "You shouldn't worry." he said lightly touching her shoulder in reassurance. "I am at home in the sea and have dove wrecks deeper than this one." he moved to sit next to her and lean against her slightly deciding she needed distraction. "Find anything?" he asked out of genuine interest. "I didn't, nothing but wreck in the lower section. Shes not going to last another storm." he looked out to the horizon as if wondering if a storm would come in the night.

Then he was standing and taking her hand. "Water and food will make everyone feel better." weather she wanted to or not he was pulling her up and towards the camp.
 
"Um, well, a few things...." she started, then blinked as Aias pulled her up. A weak smile formed as he lead her off the beach. "I found a few items that will be useful. I also found two bottles of rum. I had thought maybe to save them for when we get off of here. To celebrate...." Her voice found some of its old confidence by the time they reached the cold fire.

"It's been a busy day though, and since we aren't going back to the wreckage today," there was no way, even if there was a certainty there would be a storm tomorrow, Musetta was going back into the water today, "why don't we make agood dinner and split the first bottle. Two bottles likely would have been pushing it, no matter how could you might be at holding your liquor." Not that she had any idea if he could, but every sailor she ever knew claimed he could out drink any other sailor.
 
He looked at the bottle and tilted his head. Then slowly nodded and sat down with her. "That would be great." she was sharing with him and for some reason that made him feel happy and he was smiling even though he had no idea what he was getting himself into. He even sat next to her as opposed to opposite her like he usually did.

He picked up the other bottle, not to open it but to looks at it in his hands wondering what rum was and what it tasted like, maybe he could surprise her with a few ore bottles if he found some in the wreck later, she was after all low on water. Setting the bottle down he looked at her again. "What do you want for dinner? You name it and I'll get it."
 
Aias had a good smile, Musetta thought as she looked at him beside her. It was something she enjoyed seeing, and the pirate thought it would be good for both of them to relax after a stressful afternoon. She nearly frowned when he mentioned getting something for dinner, as he'd go back into the sea, but she had a hard time faulting him for that. He was at ease in the water, was good at catching fish, and seemed to even know how to take care of himself, even with large predator.

"Any fish you want is fine by me," she told him with a soft smile. "but if you run across any crab that might be nice." If she had the means and the ability Musetta would have liked to make a feast for Aias, but she was no grand cook and there wasn't much other then what Aias brought for her to cook with. That though was better then how many ate, so she counted herself lucky. Musetta couldn't imagine doing this all on her own. Not the physical work, which she could manage, but keeping her spirits up.
 
He returned to the sea and was beneath it in no time, watching not time with frolicking this time. He knew there the crustaceans liked to hide in their holes and how to her them to come out. Bait, a soft sound, a certain display of color and he already had two de-clawed and ready for preparation. Then he caught a small fish just for good measure and picked a few of the more succulent seaweeds that dotted the reef. He had to take off his shirt to carry it all in but it was worth it.. he was already wondering what she would do to them.

Walking up the surf and into the trees he placed the bundle near the fire and sat down. "I tired to get different kinds of things this time." he said opening it and stopping the crabs from drawling away by dropping them into the pot. "Anything else?"
 
Musetta started the fire after gathering some new wood. It gave her something to do, but it wasn't distracting enough to keep her mind from wandering. In some respects her brush with death today was worse then that which brought her here. At least with the wreckage of the ship, there had been so much going on, the storms sudden appearance, the surprise of the reef, the need to evacuate her crew, Musetta hadn't nessisarily welcomed death then, but it seemed so innevidable at that point.

But she had been rescued. How she still wasn't sure. She knew that Aias had pulled her out of the water, but her last thoughts had been she was caught and there was something else too.

Musetta shook her head she didn't want to think about it, but thoughts of the shark took its place. There she had been terrified. Already she had been worried, panicked even that something had befallen Aias. Instead though he had rescued her. She could have resented him for the seeming ease that had been for him. She didn't however, instead she was grateful. Grateful to be alive, grateful to Aias.

By the time Aias had returned, Musetta had managed to actually turn around her fear and anxiety over the events that happened that afternoon. As he put the crabs in the pot she smiled at him. "You've done more then enough for one day, haven't you? You should relax. I'll have dinner ready quickly."
 
He looked at the sun wondering what time it was and if this meant he had the rest of the day to himself. But instead of commenting he simply smiled and pulled a ranch closer to the fire to sit on and watch her cook as he tried to contain his curiosity about the bottles. They looked to contain nothing but darkness and puzzled him. "What do you plan on doing with the crabs?" he asked watching them scuttle around in the pot their legs making a clanking sound against the metal.

Humans always seemed to find things for themselves to do.. Aias was more than happy chewing on raw fish but they seemed to face to dry it out, not that it tasted bad it just seemed like work. "You like to keep yourself busy.." he observed. Maybe thats what distracted her from what was around her, which was good for Aias, not so good for Musetta.
 
"I'm thinking a salad with the seaweed and the crab. We can eat the fish on the side." She was going to need to boil the crab, which of course meant more liquid from the odd fruit, but as long as she didn't think about exactly how odd it was she was fine with dealing with it. She had to admit things tasted pretty good with the fruit liquid and she half wondered how the flesh tasted, but that would mean cutting more then the top and brought her back to not wanting to know why the fruit was so odd!

"Keep busy? If you mean busy work, not really." Musetta glanced out at the sea. "If we are to get off the island there are things that must be done and it's not going to happen if we are just sitting around. I have to do as much as I would expect anyone else, more so..." realizing she was talking about much more then just getting off the island she shook her head, and looked at Aias with a smirk. "You know I'm half convinced you never were a pirate. You're too good at introspection."
 
He looked at her and tinted his head. "I never said what I was before I came to be here." he pointed out. "I don't feel it matters much now. I look ahead, not behind." He picked up a spick to push the burning logs closer together. He had been very careful with his wording because he didn't like to lie. "I am here, I know what to do, that is what I think about. "

He looked out at the sea. "Do you really think you can escape?" he asked. "Its a big ocean and you'll have to find your own kind. I think that will be harder than getting to them in the first place."
 
Musetta looked at him, her eyes narrowing slightly, thoughtfully. "No, you never have..." it made her wonder more though she wasn't going to pry, not yet at least, he didn't seem like he wanted to share no matter what the past had been.

"I won't know unless I try." Her words were not inspired or optimistic. In fact the seed of doubt had been planted by Aias. He atleast was very content living here, but she had never given much thought as to what it was here that made him so, assuming him at first to just being odd in the head. Looking away from him and back at the food she was cooking she asked him, "What is the alternative?"
 
He tilted his head. "You men might come for you." he said. "I see no boats on the ocean floor, nor along the beach in either direction. No debris." he kept his eyes on her. "They could have made it away." he was playing with a hand full of sand as he spoke. Then he closed his eyes and sighed. "Or if you really want to leave I will help you. I might not be good with building or making things or making boats move, but I do know the sea."

He looked back at her and then stood. His walk was like it had been when her had buried the stone from inside the fruit and he reached a shrub on the edge of the clearing and picked a slip walking up to her and handing it to her. "This helps with stress."
 
While she hoped, feverishly, that her men had somehow survived the storm and the serpent, she knew that there was little chance of a rescue. She felt like Aias was trying to be kind to her, and she chose to keep hoping her men were well, but she would not go so far as to hope they would come for her. They likely thought her dead, surely!

When he handed her the strange plant material she looked at it oddly for a bit and then grinned. "Am I that bad?" she shook her head but figured she would humor him and she on a small bit. "I would hope you might actually like to return back to civilization. I'm not sure I understand what is so compelling to you about this island, but you must being able to talk to other people." It didn't even dawn on her that just having one other person on the island might have made it far less lonely for him.

The crab cooked, as did the fish, and eventually Musetta was able t declare they had a dinner. She was fairly pleased with how the seaweed crab salad turned out considering there were no condiments of any sort.
 
He smiled at her, the only response he'd give to how bad she was. "You said this evening we would relax." he said "So no more talk about getting off, or what brings us here." he said accepting his food and chewing on it thoughtfully. "Instead we can talk about what we are going to do since we are here." he said. "If you are going to be working on a way off then you should leave diving to me while you do that." he said. "But I'll still make you swim for fun, don't worry about that."

His salad was gone and he had no idea what had happened to it only that he was feeling full. "This was good." he said looking at the empty leaf. The crab had tasted a little like the fruit but that had been okay and now he was wondering if she'd make it again.
 
"Alright, you're right we are suppose to be relaxing," she should have been slightly out off by how he took charge of things, but she was infant somewhat relieved. It had been a while since she had someone else making a decision, and it being an honest attempt for her betterment. There was a fond smile upon her lips as he declared he would ensure she would swim for fun, believing he might just do so.

"Thank you, it did turn out well didn't it?" she said with a small bit of delight, her own dinner also gone. "Shall we top it off with some rum now?" Leaning over to where the bottles were laying in the sand she grabbed the neck of one and opened the bottle. She then realized they didn't have any cups. "Don't mind sharing the bottle do you?"
 
"I don't?" he said moving to sit next to her and look at the sky. It would be getting darker soon and he really didn't mind sitting and watching it with her. "Wait..." he stood again and grabbed her arm to pull her up too before walking through the trees inland. He didn't way where they were going or what he was going for, the path they took circled around to an outcropping of rock between the two bays where the sunset would he perfectly framed. Despite being being close to the sea the rock was mostly covered by soft moss that made it feel like a mattress to sit on.

"Its not going to storm tonight, or get too cold, so we can sleep here. And it will have a great view in a few moments."
 
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