-Age 16-
The dinner was tonight and she was already behind. Melodia threw the bags to the side, trying to get her bedroll back to the wall in an orderly manner, trying to clean her area before the Captain arrived. Everyone had been required to clean their spaces, and even ones like hers, down in the bowels of the ship were no exception. She saw a rat and shooed it away, growling loudly at it and in her fit had missed the footsteps.
"Ye don' need t' be so angry at it....it's like us....lookin' fer it's own piece o' the world." Her voice like silk and cut through Melodia's bones each time. She froze and turned quickly, standing and took a deep gulp. She had always and would always fear the Roe woman, her imposing aura always powerful throughout the ship. The Captain was clad in a semi-formal military jacket and her thighboots and gloves made her look as if she were a commander of an attack rather than a woman preparing for a dinner. She approached Melodia's sleeping area and looked around with a stern eye.
"Pardon, Cap'n....I was....jus' startled was all." Melodia's voice was timid and she looked down to the floor, clasping her right arm in her left hand, a defensive posture of fear. One she had learned to take when the Captain approached over the years due to the beatings she had received.
"If yer so startled by a rat, then yer a dead woman in all other respects. Now stand aside an' let me see yer work." The command was flat and Melodia stepped aside a small shudder as the Captain passed by her, eyeing the bedroll and the small mess beside it. Her head craned back and looked with a narrowed gaze at the smaller Miqo'te.
Melodia began timidly. "I'm...I wasn' finished yet...still have some...."
The Captain held up a hand to silence her. The hand seen the side of Melodia's face a number of times and her instinct to flinch was one she couldn't control. "Shut yer excuses, lass. I gave ye an order t' clean yer area. This mornin', correct? And yet....it's still a great pile of shite. An' now ye give me excuses." She heaved a deep breath and with a single motion, placed her foot on the pile of her goods, kicking them to the side, spreading them around the area in disarray. Seeing a small box fall out she swiftly smashed it with her bootheel, not saying a word. "Clean this crap....an' there'll be no food fer ye tonight an' ye'll no' be joining us. Stay here an' think on this." She turned, walking past Melodia and bumping her to the side as she walked away without a word, her heavy footsteps echoing in the silence until she was gone.
Melodia began to pick her gear up and reorganize it with tears stinging her eyes and then came to the small box, smashed to pieces. She picked up two of the small wooden fragments and remembered the box as it was, a gift from Tomas after their first job together. He'd fashioned it after some time, carving it in a very fancy yet crude way, but it had been doen with care. "You can keep stuff in it. I mean...whatever you want really. Well..uhm...it's for you."Â Gods he had blushed when he'd given it to her and had run off like a child. And they were children at that time.
She smiled and then broke down, holding the two splinters of wood in her hands and wept aloud for some time, alone in the hold of the ship for the box she would never have again.
The dinner was tonight and she was already behind. Melodia threw the bags to the side, trying to get her bedroll back to the wall in an orderly manner, trying to clean her area before the Captain arrived. Everyone had been required to clean their spaces, and even ones like hers, down in the bowels of the ship were no exception. She saw a rat and shooed it away, growling loudly at it and in her fit had missed the footsteps.
"Ye don' need t' be so angry at it....it's like us....lookin' fer it's own piece o' the world." Her voice like silk and cut through Melodia's bones each time. She froze and turned quickly, standing and took a deep gulp. She had always and would always fear the Roe woman, her imposing aura always powerful throughout the ship. The Captain was clad in a semi-formal military jacket and her thighboots and gloves made her look as if she were a commander of an attack rather than a woman preparing for a dinner. She approached Melodia's sleeping area and looked around with a stern eye.
"Pardon, Cap'n....I was....jus' startled was all." Melodia's voice was timid and she looked down to the floor, clasping her right arm in her left hand, a defensive posture of fear. One she had learned to take when the Captain approached over the years due to the beatings she had received.
"If yer so startled by a rat, then yer a dead woman in all other respects. Now stand aside an' let me see yer work." The command was flat and Melodia stepped aside a small shudder as the Captain passed by her, eyeing the bedroll and the small mess beside it. Her head craned back and looked with a narrowed gaze at the smaller Miqo'te.
Melodia began timidly. "I'm...I wasn' finished yet...still have some...."
The Captain held up a hand to silence her. The hand seen the side of Melodia's face a number of times and her instinct to flinch was one she couldn't control. "Shut yer excuses, lass. I gave ye an order t' clean yer area. This mornin', correct? And yet....it's still a great pile of shite. An' now ye give me excuses." She heaved a deep breath and with a single motion, placed her foot on the pile of her goods, kicking them to the side, spreading them around the area in disarray. Seeing a small box fall out she swiftly smashed it with her bootheel, not saying a word. "Clean this crap....an' there'll be no food fer ye tonight an' ye'll no' be joining us. Stay here an' think on this." She turned, walking past Melodia and bumping her to the side as she walked away without a word, her heavy footsteps echoing in the silence until she was gone.
Melodia began to pick her gear up and reorganize it with tears stinging her eyes and then came to the small box, smashed to pieces. She picked up two of the small wooden fragments and remembered the box as it was, a gift from Tomas after their first job together. He'd fashioned it after some time, carving it in a very fancy yet crude way, but it had been doen with care. "You can keep stuff in it. I mean...whatever you want really. Well..uhm...it's for you."Â Gods he had blushed when he'd given it to her and had run off like a child. And they were children at that time.
She smiled and then broke down, holding the two splinters of wood in her hands and wept aloud for some time, alone in the hold of the ship for the box she would never have again.
