A Bloody Encounter (Sophos&Troylus) @meerclar

As the sun went down and darkness began to settle over the ship, Sophos left her hiding place on the docks and began to pick her way carefully towards the ship. She flitted silently from shadow to shadow, behind barrels of fish, and crates and coils of ropes, until she reached the gangplank leading onto the ship. If she’d been able to swim, she might have considered another way; she was going to be exposed and vulnerable as she made her way across. She paused to glance around, then scurried furtively across. Her soft boots gripped the smooth wood of the deck and made no sound as she ducked behind a barrel of water to ensure she hadn’t been seen.

There was no call of alarm. No cries to alert anyone to her presence. The deck seemed deserted. There was a sailor stationed at the very back of the ship, presumably on some kind of guard duty, but he was slumped against the rail and seemed to be either asleep, or in deep contemplation.

Her uncle hadn’t been specific about what she was supposed to take from the ship. Something of value, had been his only orders. There was no point risking disturbing the guard. She might as well try somewhere else first.

There was the door to a cabin, and a light inside. Presumably the captain, or someone important, was inside. She would wait until they went to sleep and then sneak in to find something worth stealing. Easy. Sophos was very good at being patient. Moving slowly, and trying to get used to the way the ground shifted under her feet, she moved across the deck, seeking a hiding place with a better vantage point of the cabin, as well as the rest of the deck.

The mast was the obvious choice. It provided cover, as well as a possible escape route, if it came to that. The jump from the very edges of the mast to the nearest rooftops would be unpleasant, but not worse than being punished if she was caught.
As she neared the mast, her eyes moved quickly, picking out details in the darkness so that she didn’t trip on anything. There was an odd shape against the mast, something hanging there, but it wasn’t until she had almost reached it and it moved that she realised with horror that she had almost stumbled right onto one of the crew. She froze, hoping that she hadn’t been spotted, and waiting for the alarm to be raised.

The seconds stretched on in silence, until they became minutes and Sophos breathed again. He hadn’t seen her. In fact, he was so still that she wasn’t even sure that it had been a person at all. She took a tentative step closer, trying to make out more details. It was probably just a sack or cloth hung against the mast. Bravely, she stretched one hand out, fingertips reaching to touch whatever it was.

“I’m nobody,” she reassured him, frightened suddenly that he might guess that she was a thief, or that she wasn’t supposed to be there. He could still call for a guard, even in his current state. “I can get you some water, if you like.”

It was only when she offered him water that he realised how desperately thirsty he was, his tongue thick and swollen in his cracked lips. “Are you a demon, temptin’ me?”

He sounded half delirious. She remembered a time she had been so thirsty that she would have placed the value of a drink above almost anything in the world, and was sure he must feel the same. She reached a hand out, slow and careful and touched her fingers, warm and real, gently against his cheek. “Not a demon.” She reached out her other hand with a small flask of water, “Here, you should open your mouth and drink.”

He still had some doubts as to whether this was a strange test from a monster, but the tenderness of her touch and the closeness of the water to his parched lips was too much. He opened his mouth and drank greedily, revelling in the sting of the fresh water sliding down his damaged and dry mouth and throat.

She pulled it away before he was done, saying apologetically, “You’ll be sick.”

He nodded, knowing well the dangers of drinking too fast after a long time without. He still wanted more but he knew she was right. “Thank you.” He closed his eyes and savoured the feeling of coolness in his belly as the water settled.

Sophos checked around the deck, making sure that it was still clear of sailors. It wouldn’t do to become complacent. The light was still on in the cabin, and she shifted awkwardly, unused to company. Was she expected to talk? She wasn’t sure, so she asked the question that she was most curious about. “What did you do?”

He opened his eyes, hearing the youth in her voice and feeling less nervous of her the longer she stayed. “Ta get flogged, you mean?”

“Yes.”

“Will they cut you down soon?” Sophos asked. “Or do you have to be here for days?”

He lifted his head, regretting the action moments later as his whole body started to shake and tremble with the pain and the effort. He gritted his teeth and lowered his head back down again slowly. When he could speak again he said, “I sure hope it won’t be days. Don’t know if I’ll live through that. Anyone around?”

“No. There’s a guard up the back of the boat, but I think he’s sleeping.” She glanced over to make sure.

“Boat?” He asked lostly, wondering why in the world someone was sleeping in a life raft. It was strictly forbidden, but then, sleeping on watch was also strictly forbidden, so perhaps it was a good hiding spot. Not terribly good as far as hiding spots went if this small girl had found the man though.

“This,” she stamped her foot lightly on the deck to indicate what she meant.

“The ship?” He was about to explain the difference between a ship and a boat, but he simply didn’t have the energy for such trivial matters.

The light in the cabin was suddenly extinguished, and Sophis breathed a sigh of both relief and regret. She didn’t want to stand here in the open any longer than she had to, and at the same time, she was enjoying this strange conversation. “Yes. The ship. There’s just someone asleep at the back of the ship. I suppose everyone else is downstairs.”

“Below deck, aye.” He licked his lips, “Don’t suppose you got any more water?”

She held the flask to his lips and let him slowly finish the rest of it.

She shook her head, “Don’t get in trouble for me. I’ll be long gone by then. You can tell them whatever you like.” She tilted her head thoughtfully, “What’s your name?”

“Troylus Cobbler, young miss. You?”

She shook her head regretfully, then realised that he couldn’t see it in the dark, “I’m...I don’t think I’m supposed to say. Sorry.”

He frowned, very confused now. “How come? Don’t that make it real hard to make friends?”

His confusion carried over to her. Friends certainly hadn’t been a concept her uncle had brought up. She had heard the word mentioned once or twice, while spying on people, but the overall concept had been difficult to ascertain from just those stolen snippets. She knew it had something to do with other people, and was reluctant to ask this man. He had asked as though he expected her to know the answer. As if she should. But the question was confusing. How could you make something that was other people? “I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve made any before.”

He thought about that for a while, trying to imagine what it would be like to not ever have had a friend. He had always found it easy to make friends, at school when he was very small, and now at sea. There were a few people on the crew he didn’t like, especially the vile first mate but he got along with the rest easily with his kind, quiet manner. “Don’t you get real lonely?”

Loneliness was another concept she was unfamiliar with. She had spent most of her life alone, and hadn’t known there was anything different. Sometimes there were so many people around that she couldn’t think straight, but lately she had sometimes wished she could be out, watching people, when she was locked in her rooms instead. She blushed in the darkness. For some reason she didn’t understand, she didn’t want this man to think she was stupid or strange. “I don’t know. Maybe?”