Shipwrecked

Chapter Four

Anchors

For hours I lay awake in my hammock, staring up the planked ceiling. Unable to stand it any longer, I stood and walked up onto the main deck. The moon was full and high over my head, its light like a spotlight, making the ocean waters appear as if it were dancing. Leaning on the edge, I let the water spray onto my moonlit face, my lavender and gold eyes wander and dance amongst the water.

Smiling softly, I felt at peace, as if one with the night... Then, I felt something push me. Letting out a sharp gasp, I plunged into the icy waters. Instantly, I began to swim up, but the more I swam, the deeper and deeper I sank... Slowly being swallowed by the dark depths.

"Luna! Luna! Luna, wake up!" I awoke with a jolt, covered in cold sweat. Ravensight's hands were clutching my shoulders, shaking them. "Wh-Wha? I'm up!" I said sluggishly, "Are ye alright? Ye was screamin' and thrashin' in yer sleep, ya woke the whole ship!" Ravensight exclaimed, at that moment I winced. The sun was stabbing into my pupils through the spaces between the planks. Shielding my eyes from it, I grumbled, "Yeah, I'm fine... Just another nightmare. Sorry that I woke everybody."

"Didn't sound like something I'd shouldn't be worried about!" Ravensight squawked and I winced. "I didn't say that. No need for turning into a bird," I grumbled at him, clearly upset by my awakening. "Well, it sounded like ye were saying that! Now, talk," he demanded. He seriously does not quit. I thought to myself as I sat up, beginning to tell him about my nightmare, then eventually the rest of them.

"Well, seems like they'd be all something important. All occur near or in water, at night. Ain't that mean anything to ye?" Ravensight asked after I explained my nightmares to him. I shook my head, "No, not at all other than dad found me on a plank from a sunken ship on a full mooned night... A blue moon, actually," I said softly, my body just starting to wake up. At this comment, the captain looked serious, as if deep in thought. It was odd, some moments Raven acted like an adult, but around me, he was childish... And he could potentially be someone I could call a friend.

All friends will be lost. I thought and I sighed, the negative side of me always won... Plus, the last friend I had turned into my worst enemy, I hadn't told dad but I always got beaten up in school because of the ex-friend. There was no way I could trust Ravensight, or anyone else. At any moment they could just turn and potentially kill me, I realized. It was just me on this ship I could trust... But, could I really trust myself? Those dark thoughts vanished right as I heard Ravensight snap.

"Are ye alright? Ye looked... Lost," he said hesitantly as I looked at him. Surprisingly, I let my doubts pour out like honey, "...Ravensight... How can I trust you and the crew?" I asked, my words colder than ice. "I... Where did this come from...?" he said, looking at me in disbelief. "You can never know who is telling the truth and who isn't until it's too late, then your life crumbles to pieces and everyone just keeps breaking it, never fixing," I said, my voice filled with a clouding negativity.

"I..." he sighed, "Life be like a ship sailing on the sea... The ship be life, the waters be death. Each emotion be a piece of weather, others be on the ship with ye, but ye can't see them... As if they'd be ghosts, until ye nearly fall off the edge, one crew member grabbed ye and pull ye away from the depths. That's when ye can see the others. Some jumping off, some falling, some helping others stay aboard... Whether or not ye can see them, yer not alone," he said softly, looking into my eyes with his deep brown puddles of loving chocolate...

Tears forming in my eyes, I was unable to take it any longer, instantly I hugged him, beginning to cry. "Thank you," I whispered as my voice wavered. "I can't have those anchors weigh ye down, Luna..." he said softly into my dark gray hair as I felt him return the embrace.

At that moment, it felt as if nothing else existed, it was just Ravensight and I. Playing a game of tug-of-war, and he was winning. He was actually earning my trust, it is an odd thing. Isn't it?