Yuxuan

3

I had just finished packing my medium-sized leather backpack, a gift given to me by my father, onto the small ship. Today was the day I was going to leave and take off to whatever adventure awaited me. It felt good, to finally be away from all the 'being a lady' upkeep. I knew I'd feel even better when I'd be an ocean away from this darned land.

"Whew!" My assistant named Hansel, who was also very interested in the study of animals, exhaled a large breathe as he placed a large crate next to my bag. He was a short and plump man, with graying hair and glasses, dressed in a torn brown leather coat and beige trousers with a few holes in them.

"What's all that for?" I pointed to the crate in shock.

"For you, Miss!" He smiled and leaned against it. "I made sure to pack a few extra notebooks and some of your pencils since I know you like to draw a lot of creatures."

"How long do you think I'll be staying?" I giggled at his response and sat on the main deck's wooden floor right next to him. "It'll only be a few weeks at most. I've heard that elephants aren't that hard to find. All we have to do is get there and reach the village, and ask them to lead us there."

"Just in case!" He tapped the crate and widened his smile. "I also packed a few books for us to read if we ever get bored. Work can be hectic sometimes."

"Are you saying that I work too hard?" I snorted and placed a hand on my chest. "If you don't want to help, you can stay here you know."

"And miss my chance of traveling?" He gasped. "No way! I also want to see an elephant, Miss Alexandrea."

I tapped his shoulder and sent him a soft smile. What an adorable older man he was. I knew that sometimes I overworked him, but after discovering these elephants and getting more research done about them, I'd have to give him a raise once I earned quite a chunk of dough.

"Alexandrea!" I heard my father's voice and whipped my head in its direction. I stood up and jogged over to the edge of the boat, and saw my father next to two tall and bulky white men with rifles in their hands.

"Father?" I asked, getting a little worried about the two mysterious men. I hopped off the boat and raised my skirt so it wouldn't get wet as I walked towards him. "What are you doing here?"

"I know that we didn't get off on the right foot the other night, but... I want to let you know that I love you." My dad wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a hug. I returned it. "I don't like this decision you're making, but I'm going to support you only because I know it's something you want to do that makes you happy."

I smiled and hugged him even tighter. "I love you too, daddy." I then glanced at the two men beside him briefly, before pulling away. "Father, who are these two?" I pointed at them.

"Manners, Alexandrea." He narrowed his eyes at my pointing. "You didn't think I'd send you off by yourself, did you?"

"Allow me to introduce ourselves, Miss." One of the men grabbed my hand and gave it a light kiss. "I am Peterson, and this is my partner James." The two nodded at me in sync.

"It's a pleasure to meet such a beautiful woman as yourself." James, who has dressed in a button-up dress shirt and brown slacks and boots winked at me flirtatiously.

"Yeah, okay." I scrunched up my face in disgust before looking at my father.

"I've hired them to protect you. We don't know what savages roam the island."

"Savages?" I spat through clenched teeth.

"Cannibals." Peterson shook his head. "Lost a cousin to them once."

"Father, I can take care of myself!" I whined and grabbed his hands in mine. "These sailors know the island front and back. They've traveled there hundreds of times!"

"Not another word, young lady." My father pulled his hands away. "I've been to islands like those before, and danger always exists. I don't want to hear you whine anymore. These men will go with you and you will respect them. Understood?"

I bit my lip and looked away. I didn't want my father to be involved in my work, because he was a major control freak. I should've known that he would do something like this. Now, I was going to be controlled even while a whole world away from this country. "I understand." I huffed and stomped in the water, back over to the boat.

Peterson and James followed behind. "How soon will it be until we set sail?" James hovered over the helmsman intimidatingly.

"W-we will raise the anchor now, sir." The helmsman stuttered in reply, before commanding all the other sailors to take their places. I slouched on the floor next to Hansel, feeling very disappointed. The ship rocked a bit as it carried us away from the docks.

I never looked or bothered to say goodbye to my father, as we pulled away.

~