The Sea Witch's Revenge (ON HOLD)

Chapter Seven

Victoria rations her food. It isn't hard. As she fed before she left, her hunger for human food isn't as strong. A week and a half has passed both quickly and slowly. Sitting on the front of the ship with nothing to do had gotten boring quickly. Though she loves staring at the ocean, having nothing but her own thoughts for company may make her go crazy real soon.

She lounges with her legs sticking out and hanging over the edge, enjoying the spray of seawater as it hits her skin. The sea is rougher today, making the ride a little more fun. A few days ago, they had sailed through a massive thunderstorm during the night. Victoria smiles, remembering how fun it was as she was thrown around.

Most of her entertainment has come from the crew. Strangely, they aren't very active during the day. In fact, on the sunniest days, there's been nothing but silence from the deck above. At night, however, she can hear them working and shouting. Sometimes, she can make out Thessaly's voice as she orders the crew around. Other times, she hears actual conversations held by the crew. Most of the time, they talk about what they would do when they next come upon a ship.

It sill makes Victoria chuckle when she thinks about the fact that they have no idea she is here. She wishes she could go up there and join them, but she isn't sure how well they'll take to stowaways. At some point, she is going to have to sneak up there and into their food stores. She suspects she can go like this for another week if she really rations. If the crew find her and give her too much trouble, she could always eat them.

So, Victoria stays hidden away, bored out of her mind, but enjoying the fact that for these two weeks, no one in the world knows where she is. For these two weeks, no one can find her. In fact, minus one nightmare, she hasn't slept this well in a year and, with nothing else to do, she sleeps a lot. 

As it reaches the two-week mark, Victoria knows she can't stay in this little nook any longer. Her food and water supplies are out and her legs ache deeply. She desperately needs to stretch and walk.

She decides it would be best to sneak on during the day when the sun is at its highest. That is when she noticed that there is the littlest amount of movement. As the sun rises, her heart starts to flutter with nerves and her palms go clammy with sweat. If she could sneak to the food stores and back to her hiding spot without being noticed, that would be perfect.

What she would do if she were caught, well, she hasn't thought that far ahead. As the temperature starts to warm, Victoria listens carefully to the thumps of the crew walking around. They quieten and soon, the ship is silent.

Carefully, she pulls her body out of the gap and climbs up and onto the deck. Her muscles groan and shake from two weeks of being cramped in the tiny gap. Victoria can't help but groan with relief as she stretches them out.

Shakily, she hauls her body over the side of the ship and onto the deck. She stands and pauses, her mouth dropping as she looks upon it properly for the first time.

It is huge. The masts tower above her, the black, torn sails arched as they catch the wind. The deck is vast and the black wood is dusty and faded. Two sets of stairs lead up to a second area, the wood curling around and the bannisters decorated with elegant, curling carvings. There are a set of double wooden doors between them. On the second level are more beautiful stairs. They curl around another giant set of double doors that are adorned with spectacular carvings. Victoria expects that they lead to the captain's cabin. There are four levels in total and at the top is where the wheel sits. There are also trap doors on the floors.

It is still and eery. The sails flutter in the wind and the wooden masts creek deeply. Victoria crouches low and moves silently across the deck. Hopefully, the food stores wouldn't be too hard to find.