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florentine, d4b ❁
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treasure hunting |:| sparrow sisters blitz Jan 27, 2014 6:07:14 GMT -5

Post by florentine, d4b ❁ on Jan 27, 2014 6:07:14 GMT -5

[presto]

liliana sparrow
fifteen
district four

[/presto]

WE GO WHERE NOBODY KNOWS

We chase the dawn as though we have a chance of catching it. It's past five, now, and we've been docked since just after the District was enveloped in darkness. It's not long enough - time dances just out of our grasp, teasing us. "Come on, girls, keep on working," I say as though I do not know they are doing their very best. As I tug at the ropes and adjust the sails, I watch them carefully. (Each night I try to put into words exactly how proud of each of them I am, how in awe I am of how strong and fearless my sisters can be. They're fighters, each and every one of them, and I can feel every inch of me swelling with pride when I watch Gracie scrubbing the decks or Ophelia standing proud at the mast.) It's days like these, when we're enveloped in the rush of setting sail and I have a thousand lists running through my head of things everybody else has forgotten that I feel as though we could take on the world. (The ocean, I think, is big enough for now.)

Glancing fearfully at the sky, I double check Eve's work and run my fingers through my hair. "There's a Peacekeeper ship scheduled to cross our path directly in half an hour's time, girls. We need to be long gone by then." Somebody mutters something about tying them up and taking all they've got, and I take a moment to tut disapprovingly and tap the maps we have strewn across the table. We have plans. Briskly, I march up the decks toward my eldest sister, ready to demand the location of the socks. Before I can manage it, however, a breathless Artemis arrives before us, waving a piece of paper as though she wants to lose it with the breeze.

WE'VE GOT GUNS HIDDEN UNDER OUR PETTICOATS

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treasure hunting |:| sparrow sisters blitz Jan 27, 2014 17:37:51 GMT -5

Post by gamemaker kelsier on Jan 27, 2014 17:37:51 GMT -5

[presto]

I was watching the proceedings from my place at the wheel, one eye on my sisters, one on the star chart, and yet another on the sea. I don't need to look to see the sea. It's there like I am here. It doesn't disappear when I look away. Well the stars seem to, night leaves us even as we keep on eye on it, trying to keep it in place. I can hear Liliana down below, on the deck, shouting encouragement. I am not worried, she worries enough for all of us. Just as I know the that the tide goes in and out, I know that I will have us out of here well before the Peacekeeping ship comes around the bend. I am stupid and dull in so many ways, but when it comes to navigating, there is no one better. Not those Finches, not those Peacekeepers. I can outrun them all.

My sister studies my carefully drawn maps below and a small flower of pride blooms just underneath my lungs. Despite my slowness, my maps are useful. I am useful. Today we are meant to go out to sea, the glorious sea. There is an island that we can sometimes hide away at, a secret bay. Every good Pirate needs a secret bay. Ours is one we came across quite by accident when we were hightailing it away from the Finches, our noses bit and our cannons empty. My eyes search for Grace, and a small smile comes to my lips when I spot her. My sisters. Ophelia is at the front of the boat, shouting orders that I should be repeating to the crew as the first mate, but we've never been an entirely conventional ship.

I flip the page of the star chart, to reach the day chart that coincides with where we are. As I do so, a piece of paper, browned and thick comes tumbling out. Intrigued, I tie off the wheel to keep us going in the right direction and bend down to pick it up. My fingers caress the paper. Canvas, it's not paper, it's old canvas. Excitement tumbles through me like I've been sitting up in the rigging as I unfold the paper. It's a map. My eyes follow dotted lines and sentences, "Here there be dragons," that all lead to a black 'x'.

My breath hitches and I throw my head back, ginger hair flying everywhere as I rush to my feet, and skip the stairs entirely, grabbing a rope to take me tumbling down to the main deck. Something in me, five years old and gleeful is screaming at the map I've found. I skid to a halt in front of Ophelia, Liliana reaching us just as I do. "A map!" I say breathlessly as I wave it in the air, shaking with excitement, "I've found a map in me star charts!" Yes, that's a shocker. I shake my head, trying to be clearer, "Treasure map!"

“A n d y o u s a i d ,
"We go where nobody know,
we got guns hidden under
o u r p e t t i c o a t s .”

[/presto]

Last Edit: Jan 27, 2014 17:43:35 GMT -5 by gamemaker kelsier

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treasure hunting |:| sparrow sisters blitz Jan 29, 2014 19:12:00 GMT -5

Post by ✨ zozo. on Jan 29, 2014 19:12:00 GMT -5

G R A C E S P A R R O W

She talks in her sleep, mutters in her wake, and lowers her voice around her sisters. "Parrot and I are finding hiding places," she trembles to herself. "Aren't we Parrot?" The bird squawks back an approving few words - she's tiny, she can fit almost anywhere. Hunched in a barrel, lone friend in her hands, she sits and waits for the day to end. Peacekeeper uttered from her sister's lips has sent her into hiding - she doesn't like to admit she's scared of anything, but the white robots that hunt her down day after day seep through her battle armor and steal her into the shadows. (After all, she's only a little girl.)

"They won't find us in here, will they Parrot?" Her bird flutters his wings and blinks, not quite the answer she was looking for, but it will suffice. "We should just tie them all up and take their guns," she continues, imagination boiling inside of her cylinder shell. "Round 'em up, tie 'em down, and pop!" Fingers clasped together in pistol-like fashion, she blows the top of her index finger and clicks back her trigger thumb. "Atta girl, Captain Grace!" Childish nonsense babbles through the musky air that smells of alcohol and salt, but her mind wanders in the muted light. She thinks of the Finch girl and smirks, convinced her Captain would let her round up Peacekeepers. Perhaps she should have stayed. Perhaps she should have run away and never looked back. Just a girl, and her bird, and her boat, and her new best friend. Perhaps.

But she came back anyway.

"Treasure map!" leaks through the wooden hideaway and in an instant she has burst upward, the top of the barrel falling to the ship floors with a clunk! and Parrot shooting out with a cry. Bright eyes flood the room and a head of red and Ophelia's stolen hat greets her sisters. "Did someone say treasure?" she beams, and with a cry yells "I want some, I want some! Let's go now and get it!"

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