Archive of Our Own ^beta

Marine shrugged her arm wildly, finally managing to slide it into the pesky sleeve of her coat after a good minute of struggling. She let the door to the captain’s quarters swing shut behind her as she stepped out to survey the decks of the Hallowed Life . 

All was quiet, on account of it being ungodly early in the morning(or night?). The only sound was the insistent lap of the sea against the side of the ship and rickety creaking as she bobbed back and forth atop the waves. Fog the color of pea soup(and about the same consistency, too) lazily rolled across the scuffed wooden decks. Pallid moonlight filtered in from above, where the fog thinned to reveal the inky black night sky. All in all, a perfect night out at sea.

The clomping of Marine’s boots broke the eerie silence as she strode down the stairs and across the deck, slowing to a stop near the main mast. Suppressing a yawn, the captain tilted her head back, squinting past the fog and mess of jibs and halyards and stays and other what-have-you rigging lines to get a good look at the crow’s nest perched atop it all.

“Botan!” She called up. No immediate response. Maybe the damned fog was muffling her voice. “Hey! Shishiro Botan!” 

She spotted a pair of white ears poke over the edge of the crow’s nest at last. “Captain?” The lioness called back down, question evident in her voice. Marine just waved her down, hoping she’d get the message. Though most of the crew slept like rocks, there were a few known insomniacs and she really didn’t feel like drawing any more attention to herself by shouting in the middle of the night.

Botan, bless her, got the cue, and her furry white ears retreated as she presumably made her way down the rigging. 

Marine cast her gaze around the deck once again as she waited, shifting her weight from side to side. Still not a single soul to be seen. There should still be time until the next night watch shift came to take over, but she’d already woken up later than she’d intended, so there was no telling how much time had already been wasted.

Finally, Botan gracefully dropped from the rigging, landing on the deck with a muffled thump . She straightened back up quickly and nodded to Marine. “Hey, Captain. I thought Omarun had next shift?” 

Marine winced internally. That was Botan for you. Right to business.

“Well, originally, yes,” Marine began, hiking her coat back up her shoulders. That sea breeze was cold. “But after dinner, you see, she told me she wasn’t feeling too well so I offered to take over her shift for her.”

That was a lie, of course. She’d plied Polka with an extra cup or two of mead, nothing so much as to get her sloshed(she couldn’t afford to lose any crew members to hangovers!), but just enough so that the normally unwavering fennec could be convinced to just take it easy for a night, let Captain Marine cover her night watch, it would be fine.

Polka was smart enough to not ask questions. Botan, on the other hand, was too smart to not ask questions.

“Are you sure? She seemed fine when I ate with her,” Botan pressed, plowing straight through Marine’s masterfully crafted lies. Though she kept her easygoing smile affixed, on the inside Marine really wanted to drive a hand through her forehead. Maybe even both her hands. Damn Botan’s curious wit. Sure, it had saved them on multiple occasions, but it was the worst for when she was trying to do sneaky stuff.

“Yes, yes I’m sure,” Marine replied, waving a hand in what she hoped was a nonchalant manner. “You know, she had more than usual to drink, maybe Korone undercooked something, I don’t know.”

“Do you want me to check on her? I could fetch some medicine. If she ate something bad, the rest of the crew might—”

“NO! No, it’s fine, I told you.” This encounter was already dragging on far too long. Marine could feel her smile wavering. She scratched at the skin around her eyepatch. “I checked on her earlier, she’s fine, she just needs to rest. Now hurry up and get below deck so I can take over the nest for you.” She punctuated the end of her sentence with a shooing motion, hoping it’d put an end to any more of the lioness’s questions.

Botan regarded her passively for a moment. Her steely gray eyes flashed in the moonlight and Marine gulped, suddenly getting the feeling that those eyes were drilling right into her soul. Beastfolk couldn’t read minds, right? No, of course not, don’t be silly, Marine. Get a grip.

As soon as it had begun, the moment was over, and Botan’s eyes flicked away. “Alright,” She shrugged. She pressed the telescope into her captain’s waiting hand and sauntered to the stairs that led below. “Don’t dislocate anything trying to climb up the rigging!” She called over her shoulder.

“I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear that,” Marine called back. She pretended to fiddle with the telescope, waiting for Botan to disappear. She sure liked to take her sweet time, that woman. After what felt like a few minutes but was assuredly only seconds, Marine risked a glance up, only to meet Botan’s eyes once again. The lioness loitered by the stairs a second longer before disappearing below at last.

“Finally,” Marine muttered, shoulders slumping under the weight of relief. Sneaking one last furtive look around, she slipped the telescope into her coat pocket and continued past the main mast. She had no intention of climbing up there in the first place. The ship would just have to go without someone keeping watch for an hour.

Continuing on her way to the bow of the ship, Marine fumbled through her other coat pocket, digging past various scraps of paper and coins until her fingers finally closed in on the cool metal edge she was searching for, and she yanked it out.

A palm-sized, scuffed silver disc stared back at the captain. After a bit of prying, The lid flipped open to reveal the face of a compass. The needle within spun about wildly like the eyeball of a crazed drunkard, and Marine could feel a heartbeat pulsing through the metal. It had grown much fainter since last time. She grimaced and lengthened her strides till she arrived at the bow.

Slowing to a stop, Marine once again tipped her head back to gaze upward. This time, she looked beyond the rigging lines to stare up at the sky. The murky fog had receded considerably, leaving her view of the stars relatively clear. How fortuitous. She muttered to herself, turning around in place a few times until… there. She finally had the star she was searching for in her sights. 

“Hoshimachi Suisei,” Marine whispered, and it seemed as if, just for a moment, the harsh sea breeze stilled and the lapping of the waves receded.

Soon enough, the spell broke and Marine returned her gaze to earth. Leaning on the ship railing a few feet away was someone who had not been there before. She had shoulder-length blue hair that swayed in an ethereal breeze and wore a simple dress that certainly didn’t belong on a ship at sea. Her skin held a pale, otherworldly glow that sent colors dancing across the fog.

Marine allowed a smile to spread across her face. “Hoshimachi Suisei,” She repeated. “I swear you get easier on the eyes every time I see you.”

Suisei scoffed, pulling her gaze up from the oaken planks to stare at the compass in Marine’s hand. Wouldn’t even meet her eyes, how cold. “You need to stop carrying that thing around.”

“Not even a proper greeting? How you wound me,” Marine lamented, throwing her hand over her forehead like a delicate maiden. She dropped it a second later, though. “You and I both know I can’t do that, though.”

Suisei shifted her gaze up to Marine’s eyes. “It’s going to kill you someday.”

Gazing forlornly, hair and dress flowing gently as if underwater, Marine thought Suisei looked a lot like one of those specters that appeared to warn pirates of their imminent doom. She wasn’t all that, though. Look past the barbed words and aloof personality and Suisei was just another lost spirit wandering the waves. Just like everyone else on the Hallowed Life .

Marine opted to artfully dodge Suisei’s not-quite-question. “You know what I called you here for, right?”

Suisei’s shoulders slumped and her expression shifted from resigned-but-slightly-concerned to something decidedly more annoyed. “I told you, it’s going to kill you someday…” The specter trailed off, sighing. “Whatever. Come here.” She pushed off of the ship railing to face Marine expectantly.

Marine wasted no time in trotting forward like an obedient dog to close the gap between the two of them. She could certainly feel her (invisible) tail wagging. She let her eye fall shut and suppressed the urge to do something silly like rest her hands on Suisei’s shoulders or hips. A moment later, she felt Suisei’s hands make their way to the back of her neck to pull her in. Then, the press of Suisei’s lips on her own.

It was like heaven. For someone like Suisei, you’d expect her to be just as cold as her words or her stare, but she was warm, so warm. She felt Suisei’s teeth snag her lip and she wanted so badly to press forward and take more of that warmth for herself, but before she knew it, the moment was over and Suisei was already pulling away, leaving a respectable gap between the two of them once again.

Marine took a moment to compose herself. As much as she could, anyway. “I’ll never get tired of that,” She proudly declared, a lopsided grin stretching its way onto her face.

“It’s just an exchange of mana. Don’t get carried away,” Suisei shot back, already back to leaning on the ship railing as if nothing had happened.

Marine was going to say something clever, like how she could definitely see a tint of pink on Suisei’s impossibly pale face, but before she got the chance her world suddenly tilted dangerously on its axis. She spun and braced herself on the railing. Had she not known any better, Marine would’ve called it seasickness. But she didn’t get seasick. She didn’t. 

The warmth from before returned twofold, now a scorching heat that threatened to burn her up from the inside. The churning surface of the sea stared back up at Marine as she heaved over the railing. Each gentle rock of the ship felt like it was thrashing her back and forth, brain rattling in the confines of her skull. Mana sickness— Or something. Maybe Suisei had given her too much. Maybe doing it so many times really was taking a toll. Marine wasn’t good with magic and thus she didn’t know. All she knew was that it was happening more and more often whenever she and Suisei did this.

No hands reached out to steady her or offer reassurance. Marine didn’t expect it, but it still stung somewhat.

Eventually, the heat subsided, the world stilled, and the captain managed to push herself back upright. She found Suisei hadn’t moved, other than turning her head to watch her struggle.

After just a few seconds, Marine couldn’t take it anymore and lifted the compass back up just to have something else to look at. The pulse beneath her fingertips thrummed stronger now. Good.

“Thank you, Suisei,” Marine said.

“…We have a promise, don’t we? Don’t worry about it.” 

Marine smiled. She looked up from the compass to respond and— Oh. Suisei was gone. Nothing but empty air and a bit of fog where she had been. She always had to have the last word, didn’t she?

That was fine. She would be back in a few days or weeks or whenever the compass demanded that they repeat this complicated, clumsy tango.

Marine dropped her head back onto her arm, resting it on the railing. She regarded the compass clutched in her other hand, idly watching the needle. It no longer spun wildly, but pointed stock straight with the occasional twitch, aimed towards their next destination.

There she stayed until the hour ticked over and it was time for the next watch shift to take over.