Chapter Text
The pirates watched their captain disappear across the shore and behind the jagged rocks bordering around it.
They'd already lost more than a couple — the shipwreck had promised them that. Loyal friends had been swept away, taken from them one by one. But the last thing they had been expecting was the loss of their leader. Their guidance. The eye in the storm.
Her loss was more gradual, her voice of reason withered away as time wore on. She tried to keep it together, hold fast for the sake of her crew, but the gifts brought by the shipwreck tore her down one by one.
She grew violent. Angry. Poisonous eyes glaring at whoever crossed her path, tight fist gripping the handle of her sabre. She carefully studied her loyal crew as if any one of them was ready to ambush her the moment she let her guard down.
She was quiet and precise.
She was exhausted.
When the tide sung it's song, she was drawn in. A lonely mutt being offered shelter and care, instincts telling her to bite back yet her own drowsiness overpowering her.
The ocean and it's comfort drew her in, like a warm hug on a cool night. She wanted to let it take her in, fill her lungs, pull her underneath to never resurface. Decay on the furthest level of the ocean floor, reunite with those she'd lost.
The pirates, concerned yet curious, froze as they watched their captain descend down the beach. They wanted to reach out and pull her back, but they didn't know how. They had tried, once before, to bring her back but she never listened.
But they had to try, didn't they?
One brave pirate steps forward. Something else pulls her back.
She's too far gone.
You can't reach her.
Only I can.
So they watch as the shore washes away their captain's footsteps, knowing it was bound to take her away as well.
✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:
The girl on the shore is unpleasantly rocked awake by cool ocean waves washing over her.
Everything hurts. Her limbs feel like jelly, her muscles heavier than stones. She didn't want to move out of passive fear something would snap off if she forced it too hard.
The feeling comes sudden and urgent. The water, her lungs. She can't breathe.
She rolls onto her stomach, knees and palms digging into the sand as she pushes herself up. It stings, harsh needles dragging across her skin with each strain to get herself steady. She can't breathe.
She can taste the bile as it slinks up her throat and past her lips. She spits and gags, coughing up anxieties she couldn't remember. Her tongue lingers on fears that aren't her own, names she doesn't know, concerns that no longer concern her. She balls her fists, sand crawling underneath her fingernails. More vomit finds it's way back up her throat, collecting in the sand before being carried off by the waves.
She wheezes, eyes squeezing shut. The moonlight was her only friend on the quiet beach.
She doesn't know who she is.
The girl rolls onto her back, staring into the moon as if it could remind her of things she didn't want to know. Answer questions she didn't ask. Glancing to the side she can see a shadow.
It is then that she realizes there is someone else on the beach.
She shoots to her feet, backing away — a fearful instinct she didn't know she had — and inspected the stranger. The movement came all too soon, and the ache in her muscles reintroduces itself. It hurts. Everything hurts.
The stranger holds a hand out, as if beckoning a frightened animal. Is that what she was? An animal? Is that what she wanted to be?
"Hey, it's ok," The stranger's voice is soft, and comforting, "I didn't mean to scare you."
"Who are you?" The girl's voice comes out harsh, a sore tone she wasn't sure was her natural sound or the result of the water.
"You know who I am." The stranger is too confident when she says it. The girl is confused, borderline angry about how this stranger could know better about herself than she did, but the stranger's voice unlocks something the girl didn't know she had locked away.
"Oh," The girl drawls, letting the familiarity piece itself together, "I guess I do."
Lottie nods before she continues, "Do you know who you are?"
The girl simply shakes her head.
"Yes you do."
"I…" Shauna has to pause and really think about it, "…I think so."
Shauna finds her previous disarray has disappeared as Lottie continues to approach, still treating her with caution as if Shauna was bound to attack. She wishes she knew why.
Lottie combs one of her hands through Shauna's hair, "How do you feel?"
Horrible, is the first thing that comes to mind, but it never reaches her tongue. The ache seems to have disappeared, dizziness and shock dissipating upon Lottie's touch.
"Okay," Shauna finds herself saying, "I think."
Lottie nods, her hand making it's way to Shauna's shoulder, down her arm, and into her hand. Their fingers intertwine. Shauna doesn't fight it.
"Let's go back to the others."
Shauna tilts her head to the side, "Who?"
"Your friends," Lottie begins to walk slowly, guiding Shauna across the beach, "They're waiting for you."
"Oh," Shauna doesn't understand, but she pretends she does, "Okay."
Lottie continues to walk, and Shauna finds herself dragging her feet. She stops. Their hands fall apart. Lottie glances back, confused.
"Wait," Shauna murmurs, "I want to stay."
"I know, but we can't."
"I don't…" Shauna's tongue feels heavy. She has to force the words out, "I don't want to go. I want to stay here."
"We can't," Lottie drifts back to Shauna, taking both hands instead of just one, "They need you."
She places a soft kiss on Shauna's forehead, and Shauna begins to move again.
She doesn't feel needed, but those words never leave her throat.