High Seas: Part 2

Part: 2

“M-Mr. Evary! Mr. Evary, please be careful!” Marigold followed right on the irate neko's tail, which lashed back and forth behind him. “H-He's very skittish, d-don't hold him-Eep!” As she followed behind, once they stepped up onto the deck she couldn't stop herself from stumbling over, having no sea legs to speak of as the ship rocked. “S-Slow down, you know I can't keep up up here!”
Most of the crew had either finished their jobs and were lounging about on deck, or in their respective quarters, leaving the top side of the ship relatively empty looking. This only let Mr. Evary make a beeline for the captain's quarter's, a closed fist held before him with a quivering form enclosed. He completely ignored the pantaur behind him, turning and shutting the door on her as he arrived at the captain's quarter's.
“No no no! M-Mr. Evary please, he's a very nervous human, a-and you're only scaring him!” She called in, groaning as it was made apparent her pounding on the door did nothing. Frowning, she placed her ear to the door and leaned against it.
The silver haired neko stopped in front of a large desk, looking far more in order than Marigold's... in fact the entire room appeared far nicer. Taking a deep breath, he sighed. “Captain, we've got a problem. This... was found in Marigold's quarters.” With that he held his hand over the desk, letting the human drop rather unceremoniously.
Landing with a thud and a groan, he quickly righted himself and looked up... not seeing anything other than a large window on the other side of the desk. “... W-Wha-”
“Not a word out of you.” A different voice spoke up as something sharp touched his neck, prompting him to freeze up. Shifting his vision from the window, he looked down... down... and wound up looking at someone his size with the tip of a sword poking his neck. She looked to be about as old as the neko that had grabbed him away from Marigold, golden eyes and short black hair... as well as pointed furry ears, and a large fluffy tail behind her. Was she like Marigold and that neko then? But... then why was she so small? “Now I'm going to ask a few questions. You're going to answer them. Your answers will determine whether or not I slit your throat here, we toss you overboard... or we find a different solution.” She stated rather bluntly, staring him down.
He nodded lightly, letting out a yelp as he heard and felt something crash down behind him, Mr. Evary having slammed his hand down just inches away. “The captain gave you an order. Respond.”
Gulping, he attempted to take a breath. “Y-Yes... m-m-ma'am...” He said, doing his best not to break down.
She huffed, pulling her sword away a couple of inches, though kept it pointed at him. “What's your name boy?”
“... M-Maxwell.” He said simply, lowering his head now that the sword was taken away.
“And how long have you been on this ship, Maxwell?” She asked, unmoving.
“... I-I... um... m-maybe a half an hour?” He guessed, unsure himself.
“How did you get on this ship?” She pulled her sword away another inch or two.
“I was s-sorting through the fruits, l-like my... m-my old master instructed... a-and the crate I was in was t-taken here.” He explained to her. He hadn't done anything wrong, so... maybe if he just explained himself, he wouldn't get hurt.
“... Ok, then that answers the why as well. A former slave then?” She arched a brow, lowering her sword finally.
He gulped and nodded, before remembering the neko's reaction the last time he didn't immediately speak up. “Y-Yes ma'am. I... I-I was a slave.”
She sighed, nodding and thinking for a moment. “Alright, nothing to do with the navy then... You're lucky I'm a good judge of people. All that stuttering you're doing someone else'd have assumed you were a spy.” She informed him, sheathing her sword. “So, you're here by mistake. Not a big deal, next human town we're near, we'll drop you off.”
Evary snorted, glaring down at the human for a moment before walking around the desk and taking a seat, looking away from the both of them and starting to scribble something down on a few papers. Navy or no, he was still a human. At least they'd be rid of him the next chance they got.
“Now then, Max.” She said, snapping to get his attention as he'd jumped away when the neko took his seat. “I'm the captain of this ship. Jean Gallaway. You are to call me ma'am, captain, or Miss Gallaway. You are to respond with any of those titles. So long as you're on my ship, you follow my rules, and you do as I say.” She said with the same bluntness she'd been speaking with. “Am I understood?”
He looked back at her, nodding before correcting himself. “Y-Yes ma'am, I understand... Um... m-may I ask you a... a question?” He asked her carefully.
“You just did.” She stated simply, turning to look at something else.
“W-What? N-No, I meant... I-I mean, I'm sorry... I-I just-”
“Oh shut up and calm down, it's a joke. What is it?” She asked, smirking at him and crossing her arms.
He gulped, looking a bit sheepish. “S-Sorry, ma'am... How... h-how long till... till we reach l-land?” He asked her.
“...” Giving it a moment's thought, she shrugged and turned around. “Mr. Evary?”
“By my estimates it'll take us a week with favorable weather, two weeks at the most.” He stated quickly and simply, not looking up from whatever he was working on.
She nodded, looking back at the human. “There you have it, two weeks tops. Don't worry kid, you won't be stuck with us for that long. And Evary intimidates everyone, don't worry about him.” In response the neko licked his thumb, running it against the captain's tail and ruffling the fur. In response she quickly reached back and slapped his thumb, ears flat for a moment before smirking. “... Anyway. You'll need a place to stay...” She mused to herself.
“Miss Fernpad seemed quite interested in him.” Evary commented rather simply.
“Oh, perfect. I doubt the boy's got sea legs, so I doubt he'd be any use anyway.” She reasoned, shrugging. “Could you go get her and let her know she'll have a guest in her quarters for the next... up to two weeks?” She requested, walking over and taking a seat at a smaller chair, relaxing.
Without question he stood up and walked over to the door, opening it... and watching a pantaur somersault inside, landing on her back.
Quickly righting herself, she took only a moment to look around before quickly scooping the human up and starting to look him over. “Maxwell! Are you alright? Not shaken up are you? I'm so sorry I shouldn't have let him grab you like that.” As she spoke she turned him in her hand, looking him over before sighing once she was satisfied he wasn't hurt.
He tensed up a bit as he was suddenly picked up and turned around, still very on edge with the idea of being lifted by such massive beings, even if they weren't as big as the stories said. Once she stopped and he found himself sitting in her palm though, he sighed, offering a shaky smile up to her. “I-I'm ok, M-Miss Fernpad-”
“Marigold, please. I'm only a couple years older than you by the looks of it.” She told him, tail swishing once she was sure he was alright. Satisfied he was ok, she curled her fingers to make sure he wouldn't fall... and glared at the first mate. “What were you thinking grabbing him like that?! He's very clearly a very nervous human! You could have scared him to death!”
He simply glared right back at her, overpowering her own glare and causing her to take a step back. “... The navy's been on our tail for years. He could have easily been a spy of some sort, or a plant by them to get intel on us. I acted as I should, and now we know he's not a threat...” He said, glancing down at the human before huffing and taking his seat again.
“... Oh? Oh that's great!” She said, sighing in relief. “Well then I-”
“Will be housing him until we can drop him off. It'll only be for the next two weeks at the most.” The captain said, taking a sip of some drink she had.
Pausing, she chuckled. “O-Oh, I... I was actually going to request that he room with me anyway.” Adjusting her glasses, she nodded. “Alright then, that's fine by me. You?” She asked, looking down at him.
Looking up at her, he shook his head and smiled. “No problem with me.” He told her. She was so... so different than he'd expected. And honestly that was contributing a lot to him being able to relax a little here. With all these giant beings around, it was good to know one of them seemed to care about his well being.
“Good. Mr. Evary, do we still have human sized clothes? Those rags look uncomfortable and gross.” She noted, looking up at his attire. Evary reached into a desk drawer, rummaging around before handing a small handful of human sized clothes out, Marigold taking them in her other hand. “Alright! Well, done and done then. You're dismissed, Miss Fernpad.” The captain said, waving her off.
“Y-Yes Captain, thank you.” She nodded and walked out, sighing as she made her way back to her quarters. “So... guess everything worked out better than I thought they would.” She said down to the human, ears flattening. “Sorry I let him just... grab you like that. I didn't think he'd do that.”
He shrugged in response, smiling sheepishly. “Well... I-I mean, I'm ok now. Just... a-a little overwhelmed... Before today I thought...” He trailed off, frowning.
Her ears perked back up, swiveling towards him in curiosity. “You thought... what?”
Pausing in thought, he shifted uncomfortably in her palm as he looked at his own lap. Would she be offended? Angry? Upset? … Sad? “Well... I-I'd never really been outside the manor much before today either... so I only know about stories... i-including horror stories. And... w-well, people talked as though... people like you were... m-monsters.” He explained, glancing up to gauge her reaction.
She was taken aback at first, pausing in thought before offering a smile. “... Hmmm... well, to be fair I thought you couldn't speak or were perhaps a pet not ten minutes ago... so I guess we both have a fair bit to learn about each other, don't we?” She asked, laughing lightly.
He smiled at the reaction, surprised. “I-I guess so... But yeah, I-I'm just a little shaken is all. I'll be ok... believe it or not, this... this is a dream come true for me.” While they were still on deck, Maxwell looked ahead between her fingers, watching and now listening to the sea around them. “... I've always wanted to be out on the open sea... for the beauty, the adventure... the freedom. At least until we get to land... I'm alright with being brought here.” He said up to her, offering a smile.
She smiled down at him as he spoke, letting out a light purr as she padded back down to her quarters. “Well that's certainly good to know. Like I said too, I'm very careful with my plants so you haven't a thing to worry abou-Eep!” As she spoke her paw missed the lowest step, causing her to fall forward. Landing on her back, she rubbed her head before looking down, seeing the little human buried in the tummy fur of her lower half. “O-Oh! Maxwell, I-I'm sorry, are you ok?”
He simply laid on his own stomach for a moment, confused as to what had happened within the last couple seconds. Feeling the soft surface bellow him, one that was rising and falling, he shifted and got up onto his hands and knees. Looking around the vast expanse he finally caught sight of Marigold, realizing where he'd landed. “Hm? … Oh, yeah... yeah I-I'm alright... I uh... had a soft landing.” He told her, arms shaking a bit. He was more than a bit shaken up from flying through the air for a moment, but he didn't really want her to know that. She seemed so nervous about him being hurt. Standing up to walk off of her belly, his balance was thrown off by another set of rumbling purrs.
She giggled a bit, reaching out and scooping him up. “Um, sorry about that. My uh... my stomach's a bit... ticklish.” She told him, smiling sheepishly as she righted herself to keep walking.
Taking a comfortable seat in her hand again, he waved a hand. “I-It's alright. Like I said, I’m not hurt...” Pausing in thought, he looked up at her curiously. “... So... when you're tickled or something... you don't laugh, you purr? Like a cat?” He asked her. Now that he was growing a bit more used to just being around her, his curiosity was starting to poke through his nerves.
She blushed and looked away. “Well... I purr a bit more than some other pantaurs or nekos, but... I mean, I make that sound when I'm happy.” She explained to him. Pausing in thought as she got inside, she set him on her desk. “Come to think of it... you don't know much of anything about me or my kind at all, do you?”
His smiled faded, shaking his head and looking down. “... eh... no, not really... learning about other things outside the manor was... not high on the priority list.” He explained. “Sorry.”
She waved her her hands, plopping down behind her desk. “O-Oh no! I wasn't... I wasn't calling you out on not knowing or something. I was just saying that because well... you must have a lot of questions.” She reasoned, correcting herself. “... I do too though... so how about this?” She smiled, crossing her arms on the desk and resting her chin on them. “I'll ask you a question. Then, you get to ask me a question. And we just go back and forth like that. Sound good?”
He thought for a moment before smiling and nodding, shifting and taking a comfortable spot on the desk too to face her. “Alright, sure thing... I'm not sure what all I can tell you... but I'll do my best.” He said, offering a smile. Within not even an hour, he had been given his freedom, and made friends with a monster that it turned out wasn't a monster. So far today was turning out pretty good, to say the least. Here's hoping the rest are even better.

Part 2: End