[[ I do NOT own art or music. AND the music will have a cue when I think you should play it since it doesn't fit the first part]]
The sun beat down on the girl as if she was being cooked in an oven. It had been a month since she boarded the ship, and she had never physically worked so hard in her life.
But she never complained.Currently, she was scrubbing the deck on her hands and knees. Her knees ached, and her hands were forming blisters. What made it worse, the princess could feel the crew eyeing her, as if their gazes were constantly prodding her.
She did not like the attention that having female parts on a ship of men got her.
She wore the dress her maid had given her, but her new short hair was now covered in a plain cream-colored cloth Leopoldo, the older white-haired man, had given her. As modestly dressed as that, she was still being looked at like a pile of meat in a cage of wild dogs.
The princess was only comforted by the fact that the four men had made sure the crew did not touch her.
When it happened usually one would intervene quickly leaving the perpetrator with a warning. as far as Alana saw.
She was truly thankful for them. She had been introduced to all of them properly on her first day of being the ship's maid.
The man with onyx hair being Kazumi, the captain of the ship, she had seen him the least her stay here. She wondered if he was still angry with her for boarding without permission."You've never worked a day in your life, have you?" A small voice made the girl look up from her duty, Leven stood above her, looking down at her progress. "You are useless, how hard can it be to scrub?"
Alana looked up to the man with a sweet smile, "I admit, I am not used to this." She chuckled. "I'll try to do better, I'm sorry, Leven." She continued with her chore, putting more force onto the brush.
Leven was thrown by her calm, and kind response to his invectives.
He had never met a girl, or anyone for that matter, who smiled no matter what.
Nor anyone who said his name just as sweet, and how he hated to admit his name rolling off her tongue, and out her beautiful plump lips, made his heart tighten.
He had spoken to her in passing the past few weeks and has come to find out that this girl was never really in what would be a bad mood.
Even if everything he said to her had a hint of an insult, she always smiled at him and never retorted with the same.
Leven rolled his eyes and began up the stairs to where his comrades gathered by the wheel.
"An odd little dove she is." Ivo chuckled softly eyeing the girl working hard.
"Dim more than anything," Leven scoffed.
"Oh, brother, I disagree," Leopoldo smirked, his younger brother came to stand beside him, leaning against the banister. "She is many things, but I don't think she is dim, maybe... naïve."
The four men looked down at the girl, they did not share their own thoughts, but they were all becoming interested in this strange girl that stumbled upon their ship.
"Um, Captain..." The girl called out to Kazumi, he eyed her as a response. "What is that?" She girl pointed out into the sea; all the men followed her finger to see a foggy impression of a silhouette.
It was far out in the distance, but it caught the princess's eye.
[[AN: CUE THE MUSIC]]
"It looks to be a ship," Kazumi whispered to himself, pulling his spyglass from his pocket.
He spotted the Jolly Rodger and his brow twitched.
"The Loyal Doomed," Kazumi said loud enough for the three to hear.
"In these waters?" Ivo speculated.
"What stupid little men." Leo joked.
"Should we remain on course, or avoid?" Leven questioned.
Kazumi thought about his options and peered down at the girl who had continued scrubbing. The captain is far too territorial to allow them to sail in his waters, but a pirate fight is something he did not wish Alana to be a part of or even witness.
"Stay on course. Leopoldo, take the girl down to her room and stay there with her until whatever happens is over with." Kazumi ordered.
"Happily," Leopoldo smiled, and began his descent down the steps, to meet with the princess.
"Alana, dear. Come this way."
Leopoldo gestured for the girl to follow him to the lower levels.
"Are you sure? I haven't finished-" Alana began but Leo held up a single hand.
"Never mind that, leave the bucket and come." He urged.
Alana had thought Leopoldo to be the kindest so far, so she did not hesitate too much to follow him.
"Is something wrong, Leo?" Alana asked as she took the steep steps slowly.
"Nothing to be concerned about, dear." He said guiding her all the way to her room.

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FantasyA kind, gentle, yet naive princess runs away from her caged up life, hoping to finally experience life beyond the palace walls. However, her freedom is short lived when she stumbles into the hands of four, devilishly handsome, pirates. As their pr...