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Hijacking the army’s supply ship was beyond successful. Several things had contributed to the plunderers' success, from the fact that there was the wind rather abruptly stopped that day, halting the ship’s journey, to that the fight the crew put up was rather pathetic, so Sophia didn't consider this particular victory to be that big of a deal.
And yet, her fellow plunderers were congratulating each other, and herself by extension. Some would pat her shoulder as they passed by, smiling wide. Their happy attitude was almost infectious, she couldn't help but smile along with them.
While one more ship would be useful to the gang, they all collectively decided that they’d set this one on fire. The ship wasn't that far from Venice and since it was getting dark, the burning ship would be visible from there, a sincere “fuck you” to the Venetian army.
So the plunderers made sure they emptied the ship of all valuables onto their boats, making sure that there was no stone left unturned.
By the time they were all done, the wind had returned, and along with it, the sky became filled with dark clouds.
“It's going to be storming soon…”, Ezra muttered as he looked up and then over at his fellows. “It should help cover our tracks somewhat, but we should hurry, we don't want our boats to capsize!”
“Aye, we’re all done!”
Everyone made it back to the boats and started on steering clear from the ship, some already making their way back to the den.
The boat Sophia and Ezra were on would be the last one to leave. The latter lit up a torch, looked over his crew mates and eventually handed the torch over to Sophia.
“Do you want to do the honours?”
“It would be my pleasure.”
The young woman grabbed the torch and threw it at the ship with all her might.
It didn't take long for it to start burning, but the others wanted to contribute as well, throwing torches of their own.
The ship soon was alight, like a beacon in the encroaching darkness, and once more the plunderers were cheering over their success, and not even the oncoming storm could dampen their spirits.
Even still, they still had to make all the way back home. The waves were starting to grow intense very quickly. Everyone on the boat was holding on tightly, and even Sophia was having a hard time keeping her bearings, left to pilot the vessel.
The rain and the sea spray were getting pretty bad, the salty water stinging the young woman’s eyes.
“Can't see anything!”, one of the plunderers called out over the sound of the sea, trying to make out the light of the other boats ahead.
Another wave hit hard against the hull, rocking the boat so hard, Sophia lost her footing. When the next wave hit just as hard, even holding on to the rudder for dear life couldn't save her.
“Sophia-!”
A loud splash. The ambient hum of water.
And cold. So, so damn cold.
The shock of the freezing water was overwhelming enough that it made her release any air she still had in her lungs just for salt water to take its place. That wasn't good. Not even in the slightest.
Distantly, through vision blurry from both the stinging water and the shock, she watched the air bubbles go up. Up… Up…
Up! The surface! She had to get to the surface.
Frantically, Sophia began swimming up, everything in her body screaming at her to keep going.
Thankfully she wasn't too far. Upon breaching the surface, she was sputtering and gasping for air. She could barely make out voices not far from where she was.
“I see her!”
“Come to us, come on!”
“Be ready to…”
“Sophia, come on!”
Still blinking the salt out of her eyes and feeling oddly exhausted, Sophia managed to nod.
“Yes. I’m… I’m coming…”
They meet halfway, Sophia flailing towards the vessel the best she could in her current condition and the gang rowing manually to get closer.
A strong arm grabs her by the vest and pulls her on, so there she is, on her side in the middle of the boat, completely and utterly soaked, shivering like crazy.
Without warning, a large cloth is thrown over her and someone is holding her close. Sophia briefly thrashed in surprise before calming down. It was just Ezra.
“That was a close call, kid. You gave us quite the scare!”
Sophia tried to respond but it was hard with how her teeth were chattering from the cold.
“Don't worry about that now, eh?”, someone else said, she couldn't focus enough to tell who. “Just try not to freeze to death on our watch. Faro would be mad, heh.”
“Of c-course. How else can he h-have me d-d-draw those damn…”, she managed in a small voice before cutting herself off.
“What was that?”
“Nnnnothing.” She was only about to spill too much. “I’m f-feeling a little tired though…”, Sophia muttered, eyes drooping.
“Took a lot of energy to get back to us while trying to not drown, I recon.”, Ezra hummed.
“I-I guess?”
“You need to get all warmed up first. This kind of exhaustion isn't good to fall asleep into, y'know.”
“Yeah, could very well cause ye to sleep like the dead! Or even join them…”
“Very reassuring.”
“What? I’m just laying down the facts.”
“Either way, we got you, kid. And we’ll be back home before you know it. Can someone else take over from here?...”
The storm was calming down at least and so was the sea. And it only took someone falling overboard for that to happen.
Oh well. Not much that could be done about it now. For the moment, Sophia simply settled against Ezra's side and listened to the sound of the sea.