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Catching Stars: Chapter 2

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Chapter 2
Our Benefactor


The days on the ship were like any other uneventful days on the ship. Sienna did her part of keeping the ship in top condition. This meant such jobs as picking astro barnacles off the hull, cleaning the heads (which was spacer talk for bathrooms), swabbing the deck, washing the dishes, and helping prepare breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She didn’t particularly mind the last part, Sienna had always prided herself on her cooking abilities.

She had been the cabin girl for so many years her talent for the culinary arts began to expand. She enjoyed it when she got to watch her crewmembers’ faces light up whenever they tasted a new dish. Occasionally, if she had the ingredients and the time, she would shape certain vegetables or fruits into animals. When the crew would come to dinner, each would find a little swan apple on the side of their plate.

It wasn’t much, but she delighted in hearing their praises. It was one thing she could be proud of in the mess that was her life. She tried not to change her clothes as much, for that meant exposing her back. She changed every few days when she bathed, and she always made sure her father was close by to guard the door.

Every night before she fell asleep she’d touch her shoulders where, hiding just beneath the fabric of her shirt, her wings lay folded into her skin. Everything was as it should be in her world. Despite the miserable circumstances of being out in space for so long, Sienna couldn’t complain too much. She was used to these sorts of conditions, and secretly she would put up with anything if it only meant she could see the stars.

The only person on board that still unnerved her was Captain John Ehler. She didn’t know what agitated her when he was around. It was like his very presence rubbed her the wrong way. She would often catch him staring at her when she was alone at work. Sometimes he’d address her straightforward like, but even though his words held no ill-intent, there was something malicious in his tone of voice.

Sienna didn’t spend too much time dwelling on it. Her duties aboard the vessel kept her mind otherwise occupied. She had to admit her arm muscles had certainly toned over the course of six years spacing. As she examined her naked body in the mirror again on the night of one of her baths, she couldn’t help but give a little flex, admiring the bump she saw. A smirk curled at the corners of her lips while she washed her hair, brushing out her wings, careful not to get them wet.

It had been so long since the last attack with the hunters she had to wonder if they were still coming after her at all. As she sat in the cold bathwater, running the soap bar across her skin, she pondered if it had been that urgent she and Farleigh relocate from their most recent home. The only reason Farleigh had suggested they pack up was because he had gotten supposed ‘wind’ of hunters in the area. Sienna wasn’t sure she believed him now. How would they have found her anyway? Right as her life was starting to pick up again, right when she had found someone who cared about her and her wings, it had to be ripped away. Sienna sighed as she stood from her bath and wrapped a towel around her body, taking care to fold her wings into her back once more.

“I won’t forget you,” she whispered to the mirror as she touched its cool surface. “I won’t forget you, Will.”

***

Farleigh rubbed his face as he stood on deck later that evening for night’s watch. Nothing much interesting happened to the ship at night. Still, he knew it was an important duty, though a boring one. Pirates or other natural hazards were certainly not uncommon. The ship had been en route around the edge of the Phantom Nebula all day. It was an enormous nebula if it was taking them this long to go around it, Farleigh thought. It wasn’t safe for a ship to sail through a nebula. Nobody was ever sure how long it would take and because of the thick stellar clouds starlight could not reach the sails often causing ships to lose power and be sent adrift. As Farleigh patrolled the deck, staring the nebula down once in a while, something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. It was the helmsman, or rather the helmsman and the captain.

Both were in front of the wheel and arguing in low voices. Farleigh was about to confront them to see if there was any threat he should be aware of, when something held him back. He pretended not to notice their conversation, but Ehler did not look pleased. At last the captain returned to his stateroom. Farleigh watched as the helmsman placed their small vessel on autopilot before turning to follow the captain.

It was very dangerous for a helmsman to resort to autopilot when sailing a ship. It was almost only ever done in such cases where the helmsman was needed elsewhere for an emergency of some sorts. Surely, this wasn’t an emergency.

Farleigh pursed his lips as he scanned the deck and the rigging. Nobody else was awake. Taking care to be silent, he crept up the helm’s steps toward the captain’s stateroom door which was partly cracked allowing a small sliver of light to flood the darkness outside.

Farleigh was about to knock and question what was going on when he heard a name that made his blood run cold.

“Sienna…”

Immediately he shifted into the shadows to listen.

“If she’s the one, why don’t we take them now?” the helmsman was saying.

“No, we are not going to jeopardize this situation. It’s delicate. We’ve only been aboard for two weeks. They need to gain our trust,” Ehler snapped.

“Sir, with all due respect, they are vastly outnumbered,” Olson spoke up making Farleigh scowl. So the first mate was in on it as well?

“Vastly outnumbered? Yes, but we have strict orders to deliver them to sector 7. Perhaps we could get away with skewering them both and just cutting off the lass’ wings now, but do you really want to risk a mistake with our benefactor? If you idiots try anything at all, I will not be the one to cover for your mistakes,” Ehler hissed. Farleigh felt like the wind had just been knocked out of him. He couldn’t believe it. All of this time their enemies had been so close, trapping them and herding them toward Sector 7 without even the slightest of suspicion on Farleigh’s part.

But who was their benefactor?

Farleigh didn’t want to wait around to find out. He had to wake Sienna and they had to escape tonight. With the nebula so close they could easily disappear in the clouds. It was their only chance, albeit a risky one. The man crept down to the bunkhouse below deck before gripping Sienna’s arm and shaking her awake. She stared up at her father with sleepy eyes.

“Dad, wha -?”

“Grab your things, come with me,” he ordered. “And don’t make a sound.” Sienna snapped to attention. She knew that voice – it was the voice her father took on when they were in danger. Sienna had learned long ago that whenever her father held that tone with her she was to follow and not ask questions until the danger had passed. As quiet as she could, she grabbed her knapsack and swung it over her shoulder before following him back up the steps to the empty deck.

Sienna didn’t understand when she saw him glance at the helm, releasing a breath of air when he noticed that nobody was around. She wondered where the helmsman could be and a sinking feeling began clawing its way up her stomach. Something about the situation was very wrong. Her primal instincts to flee kicked in. She wanted nothing more than to begin an all-out sprint to the longboats below deck, but they needed to be quiet lest anyone find them.

They darted through the corridors of the lower levels, pausing every so often to listen for followers. When they had finally made it to the longboat hold, Farleigh wasted no time in pulling down the lever to open the hatch below. The skiff’s cables ground into motion, bringing the small craft over the opening that led to deep space.

“Sienna, listen to me, we have little time. They’ll spot us for sure once the longboat launches from the underbelly. We’re going to fly into the Phantom nebula and seek cover there. It’s our only chance to escape I’ll explain everything when we –”

“Well, well, well!”

Sienna’s heart stopped as she and her father turned to see Captain John Ehler, Mr. Olson, and the helmsman standing before them. Farleigh’s jaw clenched as he stepped in front of his daughter.

“I suspected this would happen. When Olson told me you were on watch it was fruitless to assume our plan was still well concealed,” Ehler sighed.

“Sienna, get in the boat,” Farleigh ordered in a low voice. Sienna noticed the pistol he had taken out of his belt and was holding behind his back. Sienna didn’t hesitate. She reached to pull herself into the skiff when Ehler’s voice stopped her.

“Oh I wouldn’t do that, Lady Kestrel,” he spoke in a low voice. Sienna hesitated. “Farleigh, you of all people should know by now that you have nowhere left to run. I would appreciate your company as we travel to sector 7.”

“Why? So you can hand us over to your mysterious benefactor?” Farleigh sneered. “No thank you, Captain.”

“Do not make me take you by force,” Ehler growled, his face hardening now. Sienna used this opportune distraction to pull herself into the longboat. Her heart was racing. She had no weapon on her, no way to defend herself or her father. Her face drained of color. Ehler still didn’t realize that her father held the pistol behind his back. Her father was not afraid to shoot, that she was certain of, but he would not aim for the kill. He’d aim to wound them.

But Farleigh couldn’t injure all three men at once.

“Who is your benefactor?” Farleigh whispered, a vein in his forehead throbbing as he attempted to remain in control. John Ehler smirked and turned his back to Farleigh. Time seemed to slow as it passed. Once Ehler was at least four feet away he whirled back around, taking the gun out of his own belt and firing at Farleigh’s leg.

“Dad!” Sienna yelled as her father crumpled, releasing a tortured cry. She had to do something. The men could take her stupid wings for all she cared. Ehler aimed his gun at her next causing Sienna to hesitate in leaving the boat. Her fingers gripped the wood as her father raised his gun, also pointing it at her. Her pupils constricted and her ears rang. “No,” she whispered as he pulled the trigger.

Sienna screamed as the boat fell, fell through the air into deep space, leaving her father behind on the ship. He had shot the cables holding her in the skiff. There was no way for him to escape now and Sienna was so lost in her fear that she couldn’t understand up from down. The universe was spinning. The millions of suns and moons swirled around her as her hands shook.

Get to the nebula, she thought. Get to the nebula. Oh please god let me get to the nebula.

She pulled open the solar sail and took the tiller. Her hands were shaking so bad she could hardly control the craft when the faint sound of thunder reached her ears. Before she had time to understand what was happening, an explosion of light and dark washed over her. She was thrown forward from the momentum, the nebulous clouds beginning to surround her. Sienna’s longboat was thrown forward, its engines completely ruptured. Yet the shockwave from the cannon’s laser ball sent her skiff sailing deeper into the stellar dust, covering her from the eyes of the men on the ship.

Sienna gasped, her eyes blurry, her ears still buzzing from the fiery noise. She gripped the part of her skiff that hadn’t been blown away in the detonation and tried to sit up when her arms and legs gave out. She lifted her hand to see a wavering image swim before her eyes. She was bleeding.

Stop the blood flow, she thought. Survive.

She reached for her shirt to tear a piece off when she realized that the blood was soaking through the fabric. Ripping off the material her stomach twisted. Sticking out of her side was a sharp remnant of the longboat’s wooden keel. It had blown off and cut into her side. Gripping the splinter, she tried to control her sobs while she pulled it out and threw it off the ship. Her wound wasn’t as deep as she had thought, but the pain came in sharp bursts. It ripped through her belly, singing her pain receptors.

Perspiration dotted her brow as her stomach finally gave out and she threw up off the side of the boat. She tried desperately to clap her hands over her injury and put pressure on the wound, but between her heaving moans and the pain she couldn’t hold her position.

“Please…” she whispered to the darkness of space. “Please…”

She didn’t really know what she was asking for. Perhaps it was a silent prayer, a silent plea to the stars to save her father.

John Ehler pulling the trigger.

Will kissing her goodbye.

Her mother’s picture hiding at the bottom of her bag.

She had lost everything in her life because of her wings, and as Sienna watched the misty star dust swirl around her, she felt it was only right that she should soon lose hers.
Okay, so I guess here’s the next chapter! Again, Jim’s not yet in this chapter, but he will be in the next chapter, that I can promise you. I don’t really know where this story is going. I have a very vague idea and I’m just sort of writing whatever comes to mind. Usually when I write stories I plot out every scene from beginning to end so that when I sit down and write there are no plot holes or mistakes. But because this story is not one of my more serious stories and this is just kind of being done for practice you’ll all have to bear with me.

So I guess I’ve decided that I’m going to make this a JimxOC story because it’s the cliché thing to do and because I need to work on refining my romance skills. (I’m forever alone!!!!!!) Totally kidding. So, again, you guys might be getting antsy for Jim to pop in, but this chapter was important because now Sienna is on her own and she’s wounded. Enter Jim Hawkins en le next chapter! Again, probably not that many people going to be reading this story but what the heck?

Thanks goes to all my readers!

Treasure Planet © Disney
Sienna/Other Characters/Story Plot © :iconeventhorizon6:
© 2013 - 2024 Eventhorizon6
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