Writing prompt 2 Explosion
Tina rubbed at her face. This day had gone too fast. But she was free. For now, she was finally off that damned ship. She shuffled through the small, quiet town. Over her dress was a burlap shawl she’d found upon entering the marketplace. Creatures, human and beast alike, meandered and pushed past her. She scanned faces, searching for any familiar features. The longer she found none, the more confident she became. Not calmer, but confident.
She slid into an alleyway, never more grateful for the musty smell of garbage. It surpassed the wooden, stale scents of the pirate ship she’d been trapped on for...how long had it been now, months? Time had become a nuisance for some time now. Tina ran a hand through her hair, feeling the greased, brown locks fall down her shoulders. She was in desperate need of a bath...the swim to shore had been unkind to her. But first, she needed a change. A queen’s attire was nothing to wear in the open.
Her shoes caught a fine price by a elder vendor, who gave Tina just enough pay to purchase a loose blouse and pants. She managed to weasel a small ration of lather for her skin and hair as well. With a stroke of dumb luck, she managed to convince a younger vendor to direct her to the public baths. Unsanitary as they were, Tina needed to scrub off some of the sea salt and sand. Hopefully, with cleaner hair and clothes, she’d be unrecognizable. Thanking the young man with what she had left, she headed to the outskirts of town.
True to the younger vendor’s word, a public bath was nestled between two large buildings. She was thankful there was no charge to bathe. Tina removed her new outfit from her person and bathed, mortified at the mount of filth that came out of her hair and skin. Had the walk to town been that far? It had only been a day at best, hadn’t it? Tina shook her head and sighed. She let the steam and quiet sounds of splashing overtake her. For now, she just needed to get clean and out of town. If she was lucky, the captain hadn’t noticed her absence.
When Tina was cleaned and dried, she returned to town. Her feet hardly felt the hot stones and sand. Walking barefoot on wood for as long as she had calloused her feet, she supposed. Tina stepped through the crowd, donning her burlap headscarf once more. As she moved through the hustle and bustle, she caught word of the town gossip. It was almost unavoidable, she supposed, in a town as small as this marketing stop.
An elderly woman commented on the horrendous attack on an unfamiliar ship that appeared in the harbor. A group of young women tittered about the state of the crew. From what Tina could tell, the crew was safe. Part of her felt relieved, and part of her terrified. While she was glad everyone was alright...that meant she had to be twice as careful to avoid getting captured. Tina stopped to let a group of people pass. As they walked, she listened to them chatter.
“Heard those pirates caught a queen and held her captive…” a burly, bearded man muttered. The man’s voice alone was enough to keep Tina’s attention.
“Mmh,” his skinnier, more nasally friend agreed. “Didn’t they lose her in the fight the other day?”
“As I’ve heard,” the burly man nodded. “Evidently, they’ve got her pet on board…”
Tina hissed. Razzy. He’d thrown her off the ship after the blast. She’d left him behind! Turning, she looked towards the entrance of town. It was then she caught a pair of familiar faces. The queen swore beneath her breath and turned, now moving further into town. The Captain had sent out their search party. She pressed past crowds of people and vendors, her head ducked low.
A quick glance over her shoulder gave her some hope. Kellian and Pine were looking around them. Better still, they were in human guize, most likely to prevent panic. That meant they’d be slower, at least to some degree. She had time to get away. Hopefully they wouldn’t pick up her trail. Though, with Pine being a naga, and Kellian part dragon...her chances of staying hidden for long were slim.
She moved fluidly through the crowd until the sight of a hat caught her gaze. Tina scowled. Of course, the damned Captain came to help search. Her eyes darted to an alleyway. Tina crept towards it, then broke into a sprint. If she could stay undetected until dark, her chances of finding Razzy and escaping with him would spike. Just stay hidden until dark in a strange place without any means of defending herself. Easy.
Ollie scowled as they caught sight of their first mate approaching them. The lanky man crossed his arms as they approached, eyeing Kiwi at their side.
“We ‘aven’t found ‘er yet.” He said flatly, blue eyes still scanning the crowd of market partrons. Pine ran a hand through his teal hair.
“Boss, I’m thinkin’ she left town,” Pine added. He rubbed at his legs, his distaste for them over his tail clear. “She’s smart-”
“Wouldn’ be searchin’ fer her if ya kept yer eyes on her properly,” Kellian growled. Pine glared at the taller man, but cast his gaze to the ground. He knew better than to challenge Kellian. Turning his attention to the captain, Kellian flicked his ears. “I caught ‘er scent at tha community bathin’ place, but after that things get tricky.”
The captain sighed and rubbed their face, then glanced to Kiwi. The snoodle growled at their side, but offered no input on the queenie’s location. With the queen’s snoodle out of commission from the blast, they were running out of means to find her. Their only chance now was the queen returning for Razzy… Knowing how attached she was to the critter, she would at nightfall, if not sooner.
“We’ll head back ta’ tha ship,” Ollie instructed. “Help patch tha ship up, an’ put Razzy outside under some trees. Let queenie see ‘im, and keep ‘im close enough so ya can grab Queenie when she comes fer ‘im.” Kellian and Pine nodded, and turned back towards the town’s entrance. The Captain spared one last glance into town and followed after them.
In hindsight, Oliver couldn’t blame the queen for running from the ship. They could hardly blame her for anything she’d said or done thus far. She made it a point to constantly remind captain and crew of what they’d done to her, what they’d taken from her, and how their abuse of her kindness hurt her. Oliver dragged a hand over their face. Why they’d done it was still beyond them. Taking the queen hostage had done nothing but cause their crew pain and frustration.
Every chance she got, Tina attempted to flee. Ollie hadn’t planned on keeping the queen on board as long as they had. Wherever they were in a position to take the queen home, something like the explosion threw them off track. Even the crew began questioning just when their captain would release their queenly captor and end whatever plan they’d had in mind. But for now, it was an explosive, terrible mess they had to fix. Soon.
Ooooh boy, part two of the fifty prompt long list I’ve been working on ajsjsj
I wanted to make this story longer so I might go back and add new parts later but this was getting too long for what I had in mind >~> this was supposed to be easyyyyy
Anyways this story is set in the pirate!verse owned by @oliverthesaltyedgelord and I. It’s by far one of, if not our edgiest and angstiest verses. If you’re not sure what’s going on, the Captain (Ollie) kidnapped the queen (Tina) from her home after raiding her kingdom, who trusted the band of pirates. And...hell pretty much ensues for Captain ;9;
Pine, Kellian and Captain!Ollie belong to @oliverthesaltyedgelord
Tina, Razzy and the writing belongs to me, @tinyliltina!
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