Cassia, I’m out of time.

“Christelle!”

She spang upright, but her body buckled almost instantly under the searing pain that tore through her body. She hissed, gritting her teeth and curling into herself in an attempt to quell the agony. Sweat coated her brow as she gauged the amount she could inhale without aggravating her wounds, whose locations were quickly becoming apparent with each breath. Her body gradually calmed while her eyes pierced through the darkness, slowly discerning silhouette from shadow as the tiny room came into view. Moments passed and the sound of her own ragged breathing ebbed, making way for the subtle sounds of creaking wood and the gentle rushing of waves as the vessel cut through ocean currents.

Her fingertips brushed over the bandages wound snugly over her chest and she turned her head to peer out the tiny window beside the bed. Her previous frenzy seemed to fade as she methodically began to analyze the situation. It was far past midnight, judging from the position of the moon and stars. She was on an unknown ship that was sailing across the ocean to an unknown location. And there was a figure looming in the far corner of the room that she hadn’t yet acknowledged.

“How long have I been out?” She asked, her voice cut through the silence; hoarse, but steady.

“Just a few days, surprisingly,” the voice replied, silvery and boyish. “You scared the hell out of my crew.”

“You shouldn’t have bothered with me,” she murmured.

“I thought the same, but when a young lady, near death, and dressed in the garb of the Old Kingdom falls from the sky… one has to wonder what sort of game Fate is trying to play,” he said, watching her every move. She didn’t seem to have anything to say and a silence lapsed before he ventured to try again. “What’s your name?”

The young woman did not move, continuing to stare at his silhouette in a manner that almost made him think that she could see him. It was the most simple of questions to start with, but when she did not respond he began to wonder if she was suffering from a bout of amnesia. He quickly realized that the young woman was not confused or lost. Her silence was deliberate.

“Fang,” she said at last.

“Alright, Fang,” he nodded his head, glad that they were finally getting somewhere. “What happened to you?”

Silence lapsed once again and he would be lying if he said that her piercing stare wasn’t beginning to unnerve him. She was petite and seemingly harmless when he pulled her out of the ocean. Nothing about her indicated danger aside from the wounds she sustained and the scars that she bore. Now that she was awake, his impression was drastically different.

Fang did not react as he expected a young woman would. There was no inkling of fear or uncertainty in her eyes, nor was there any tension in her shoulders aside from the pain in her body. He meticulously tried to glean any bit of information from the slightest movements and reactions, but he quickly found that Fang had little to none to read.

“I fought with the Grey Magician's men,” she murmured. “And I fell.”

“Ok…” He was trying to decide how he wanted to pursue this matter. He didn’t want to come on too forceful, nor did he want to completely let it go. “Can you explain where you got the uniform? Or this blade?”

She watched as he came away from the wall and walked over to a small, round wooden table in the middle of the room to set something down. Fang knew what it was even before he struck a match and lit the oil lantern beside it. Her eyes lingered on the sword before travelling up to the face of the man she had been speaking to.

Fang could tell that he was young, but he appeared younger than she expected. He was tall and modestly built, his skin toasted a slightly darker hue thanks to his time spent under the sun. Dark hair feathered to the nape of his neck, framing his face and falling over his brows. She said nothing and gave away nothing of her impression of him as she returned her eyes to the sword on the table.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“No.”

She didn’t relent, even when he tried to fix her with his most stern stare. He knew that this wasn’t going to be easy, but he didn’t expect her to be so difficult.

“My lady, I must insist you cooperate with me here. My men are extremely ill at ease due to the strange manner of your appearance,” he sighed. “They’re saying that you’re an omen. A vengeful ghost of the Old Kingdom whose appearance will bring the Grey Magician down on our heads.”

“I’m curious, why a pirate would go out of his way to save the life of a woman that he’d simply happened upon,” Fang said. “Your motive makes no sense to me.”

“How did you know that we’re pirates?” He asked, surprised by her insight.

“I didn’t,” she said. “But your interrogation skills are atrocious… you’re too soft to get anything out of me.”

He was rather offended at her claims, but at the same time intrigued. She could have been bluffing, putting up a strong front to cover for her weakness. He knew that she was right. It wasn’t in his nature to be rough with women, but he wanted to test her a bit further.

“You’re brazen,” he chuckled, folding his arms over his chest. “But you really should choose your words more carefully. We are at sea and you are trapped on this ship with a crew of pirates. I could easily toss you to the men if you insist on being troublesome.”

“If you’re looking to cull your numbers, then by all means… try it,” Fang replied without missing a beat. There was a calm ferocity in her tone and an underlying viciousness in her gaze that warned him not to try her again. “I may not be in prime condition, but I have no issue with teaching anyone who crosses me a lesson.”

It wasn’t necessarily a threat, yet it sent chills down his spine. What disturbed him more was that he couldn’t sense any lies from her. In that moment, the woman was frightening and he wasn’t eager to test it any further. He watched her carefully as she watched him, but he was caught off guard when the corner of her mouth suddenly tugged into a faint, half-smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“I apologize. Did I scare you?” She asked, amusement lining her tone.

“No,” he replied, too quickly. “Of course not! It’d take more than that to rattle the Captain of the Raven’s Wing.”

He could tell that she was drawing her own conclusions about him now and he was curious as to what judgement she would pass. She didn’t seem like a bad person, but he couldn’t deny she was dangerous. To what extent, he had yet to witness, so he had no choice but to back off and avoid antagonizing her any further.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Fang spoke suddenly. “About me. About where I come from and what happened.”

Whatever she had come to assume about him had apparently brought about a change of heart. He bobbed his head slightly, not sure what to think of it as he pulled out a chair and sat down. He leaned forward to prop his elbows on his knees so that he could listen to her story.

“Well, I must implore you to try me,” he said. “I imagine it’s no more unusual than the circumstance that led you here.”

“Alright then, so if I told you that I’m an Eonian knight, what would you think?” She asked.

He was fully aware of her lingering eyes waiting for some type of reaction, so he was careful to keep his face straight. At first, he thought that she was merely fooling him and he let a moment pass to give her time to redact her statement. But when she didn’t, he knew that he would have to give an appropriate response that wouldn’t shut her down.

“I would tell you that that is impossible,” he replied. “Firstly, you’re far too young and the Old Kingdom was destroyed long ago. Nothing remains and any mention of it is forbidden. The Grey Magician's faction is swift when it comes to dealing with any whispers concerning that ruined crown.”

“So, I come from a Time when it was not,” Fang said. “I came here with the Crown Princess, but we were found by the Grey Magician's soldiers. I fought them. The Princess was killed and I fell from the cliff.”

“You’re saying you travelled through time…?”

“You don’t believe me,” she smiled again, sadly. “What if I told you it was magic?”

“I would say that the Arte of Magia was lost a long time ago, milady,” he murmured. “It’s but a fairytale now.”

“Then how do you explain the Grey Magician?”

He stared at her as a long silence fell between them. Then he suddenly leaned back and rose to his feet, pushing the chair under the table.

“I think you should get some rest, Fang,” he suggested, almost gently.

There were tears pouring out of her eyes, though the line of her mouth never once faltered. Whatever happened to her had clearly inflicted a great trauma and he wouldn’t feel right in pushing the matter now. From what he had perceived about her so far, it didn’t seem like it was his place to even see her in this state. He leaned over and blew the lantern out, excusing himself from the room to give her her privacy.

“You never told me your name, pirate,” she called.

“The crew calls me Captain,” he said, casting her a glance over his shoulder. “But the ladies call me Roux.”

“Roux…” she tried the name on her tongue. “That’s a nice name.”