Batten Down the Hatches [Mature]

[Flamebird]

Tears slipped down her face as she ran across the ship. The red sun bathed sky seemed symbolic of the blood Felicity had spilled. Leoric was right, she had failed today. She wanted to be a hero. She wanted to be adored and respected so she would never be shunned again. She genuinely wanted to help people. She hated the idea of anyone suffering what she had. Yet, she had failed today. She had failed at everything.

The wind swirled around her as she slowly walked the edge of the ship. Her hair, the hair Leoric had just complimented, flung into her face. She leaned against the ship's side, wincing at the pain in her cut hand. She lifted her hand for a moment, then gritted her teeth.

I deserve it.

She slammed her hand against the side of the ship with a hiss. She leaned against the ship, gazing out into the pale blue sea. Icebergs floated like ships in a bay. A herd of some kind of underwater animal swam beneath the frothy waves. She had just sentenced an entire crew to die beneath those waves. She thought of Shinsou. She thought of Whitevale. Had she failed to protect them too?

She heard footsteps creak the floorboards, announcing someone's presence.

"Can you leave a girl to her misery?" Felicity mumbled without looking at the figure.

"Thank you for helping us today."

It was the captain. Felicity could not say you're welcome. The images of the drowning ship kept flashing before her eyes.

"We don't have the money to pay you." Felicity turned to see the captain reaching into a bag, "The least I can do is give you this."

He pulled out a genuine, authentic, M.A.D.

Felicity turned to him, shaking her good hand, "I-I don't des-need your thanks, captain."

"Nonsense." The captain stepped closer. He attached the maneuvering device to Felicity's wrist. It was comfortable and light for such an advanced piece of equipment. The captain flashed her the smile of a gentle, caring old man. "This is yours now."

Then, he walked away.

~~~

Once again, the days rolled on. Once again, Felicity's struggles intensified. Leoric spent the days swinging on a hammock above deck, training his magical abilities. He would shoot gusts of wind into the sails, laughing when the wind caused his hammock to swing. Felicity would roll her eyes and resume her unarmed training. It was hard training in her normal, heavier clothes. Yet, she was not willing to let Leoric, or anyone, get a peak. As Felicity would swing another roundhouse kick, Leoric would call from the hammock, "You swung too wide! If you leave yourself open like that, you'll be taken down faster than Seamus was!"

"Hey!" Seamus would call from the rope he was pulling.

Felicity danced with her mixing guilt and stubbornness. "Can't handle an easy task!" She performed rapid successions of punches, followed by a would be grapple, "I'll show him!"

Felicity soon enough was helping around the ship to get her mind off of, well, everything. She carried a massive stack of heavy crates across the deck. Seamus dropped the cup he was holding, and his jaw, upon witnessing her insane strength.

"Doesn’t that hurt your hand, lass?" The captain called to her from the helm.

"Nope!" Felicity called, finishing stacking the crates as she tried not to wince from the stinging of her cut.

The weather steadily grew warmer. Icebergs disappeared. Felicity really struggled to train in her normal clothes now. Still, sweating and panting, she completed a karate kata. Leoric sipped rum from his hammock, watching. Felicity felt goosebumps ripple in the back of her neck when she turned to see his eyes narrowed with a smirk on his face.

She scowled, "So, does the kata meet your standards?"

Leoric's smirk grew, "Absolutely."

"I meant the martial arts, you idiot!" She burned beet red.

Felicity could not escape him. Not even while he was confined to his hammock. As guilty as she felt for his injury, she felt a sense of dread when he started walking again. He leaned on a crude crutch as she practiced her M.A.D. She was actually having fun, laughing as she swung from one beam to another. Then, she saw Leoric staring at her. She gasped, losing her balance and falling into the crow's nest like a fish tossed into a barrel.

The evenings were soon spent above deck, eating fish and drinking booze. Well, Felicity was not a drinker, she just drank water. Leoric sat across from her one night and kept gazing at her. She looked up to see him staring into her eyes.

"With those beautiful emerald eyes of yours, if I stare into them for too long I feel like I am in a verdant oasis." He chuckled, taking another bite as he stared into her eyes, "And they are my favorite shade of green as well."

"Your eyes, green like some sort of weird poison! No one else looks like that!"

Felicity nearly dropped her fork in confusion. Had Leoric just called her eyes... beautiful? Leoric of all people! Felicity's cheeks flushed as he continued to peer into her eyes. Felicity was strangely captivated by his own icy blue eyes.

Then, she blinked rapidly, snapping herself out of that daze. She stood up. She had no need to eat anyways, why was she here? "I'm not hungry."

As she darted away from the table, she heard so many voices. Leoric's, the Eiskaltian girl's, her own self loathing's... She covered her ears, trying to drown them all out.

One day, Felicity walked above deck. It was a crisp morning with a yellow sun. The waves were cascading against the ship in a serenade. Felicity stretched, wearing a white shirt and black pants. Her muscles rippled as she raised her arms. She closed her eyes, feeling the cool wind. She could not tell how, but something felt different. The sound of boots on the floorboards alerted her that someone else had come. She opened her eyes, then turned to see...

"Oh. It's you."

His long, messy black hair. His golden skin, tall and strong figure. That cocky look in his eyes, that agitating smirk on his face. The way he carried himself with overconfidence larger than a dragon. Leoric Blackwell. His back had completely recovered. He was now standing as if he had never suffered that injury in the first place.

As much as he annoyed her, Felicity was relieved that he suffered no infections and made a full recovery. After all, it had been her fault he was wounded in the first place. With that in mind, she took a step forward. Perhaps, she should apologize again.

"Listen-"

"-Land ho!" Seamus called from the crow's nest.