Evenstar
Wild - Hostile - Noble
Pet Name: Evenstar
Owner: Faerie
Theme / Type: Zodiac Obsideon
Gender: Female
MisticPal Name: Ship
MisticPal Age: 4907 Days
Battle Portal Stats
Hit Points: 5 / 5
Strength: 5
Defense: 7
Speed: 3
Intellect: 6
Misticpower: 4
| Attached Weapons | |
Books Read
Books Read: 1/373 [ View Books ]
1. Tales of Lysithea
Exotic Foods Eaten
Foods Eaten: 0/1254 [ View Foods ]
I saw sky
I saw everything inside
You saw me
Light from dark
Shine on night
Solar-systems open wide
You saw me
And you're opening my eyes
And you're leading me on
And I'm following the light
That you shone on me...
~Stars, from "The Secret of Moonacre"
Pearls of water slid down her face as the prow of The Emerald sunk low beneath the waves and then popped up again like barrel rolling down a river. But this was not a river. It was wide open, dangerous, freezing, wonderful, beautiful sea. The Captain stood there for a while more, her clothes slapping in the wing like the reefing ribbons were flapping on the cream-colored sails. The thrill of the dip into the embrace of a wave never ceased to make her heart fly. As the storm began to calm down, the Captain shivered. She'd forgotten herself in the wind and the waves. The smell of salt was constant here as were the calls of sea birds above her.
She shook herself and drew her midnight blue cloak around her. White stars were woven into the cloth. It was a beautiful thing, but practical as well. The waterproof spells on it kept her warm and dry, which was more important on a ship than beauty. Hands still trembling a little, she placed a strange headdress over her face.
The contraption was a cross between a mask and a helmet. Made of the metal called mithril, it was light to wear and did not chafe across her skin. The abstract structure of it was skull-like, but also reminded some of a bird of prey. The light shone off it like an oil lantern, and she nearly blinded herself with it as the sun, peaking through the clouds, reflected into her eyes. She had perfect visibility with it on though, and her crew could still see her brilliant blue eyes. They are so dark blue that they sometimes appear to be black. However, if a sailor stared into them for too long it was said, he'd go mad in an instant and throw himself overboard, giving himself to the sea, seemingly willingly.
No one knew why she wore the mask. The Captain was never to be questioned anyway. No sailor asked for her to remove it. No one dared even think that for fear that the Captain could hear their thoughts. She was a mystery in that way, but fear kept the crew obedient. If not for the stories about her, these men would never let a woman be in charge of them.
The Captain jumped down from her perch and her high-healed boots hit the wooden deck with a thud. The noise scared a cabin boy out of the rigging and he tumbled down to the deck, landing safely, but he scampered away from the Captain's feet in panic before standing to salute her. The Captain ignored the boy, walking passed him, and she heard him let out a breath of relief when she was a couple feet away.
When the crew of the Emerald saw their captain approach they also jumped up in a salute as she passed by. Some hurried to put out their pipes and pocket them quickly, cursing under their breath when the embers burned their fingertips. Others busied themselves with coiling rope, turning their eyes away, hoping not to catch the gaze of their frightening captain. Inwardly, the Captain sighed but kept a stern look in her eyes for the crew. If only they knew the truth of her, then they would not be seized by fear.
Suddenly feeling close to tears, she quickened her pace and practically ran into the captain's cabin in a panic. She stumbled to the mirror that was on a large desk near an elegant four poster bed, and started to calm down. The Captain closed her eyes and breathed slowly in and out, clutching the oak side of the desk. The crash of the waves outside lulled her into peace again, and the sounds of the crew's whispered faded into the back of her mind. Looking at herself, she saw the Captain of a fine exploration ship, the person her crew saw. The woman in front of her was very tall, stern, with piercing eyes. The crew probably thought she had gray hair tied in a tight bun, and a long pointy nose with aged jagged features. They must think she had some terrible scar as well, to cause her to wear the mask. This woman was fierce and strict, old and terrifying. She ran her hand over the grooves of the metal, and closing her eyes, took off her mask again.
Opening her eyes she saw a completely different person. Staring back at her was a young girl in her teens named Cecily. The beauty of that face would have charmed any man. The flawless pale skin, and the eyes glinted like gems, surrounded by thick dark lashes were enchanting. Her pink lips asked to be kissed and her hair was a raven black, cascading down to her waist when she pulled it out of a bun. However, this was a face no one could see, or her life would be over again. Cecily sat abruptly down on the hard oak chair and, putting her head in her hands, openly wept, knowing no one would hear her hiccups over the storm raging outside. For a moment, she just needed to be the teenage girl she really was.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
History:
Cecily's father was the leader of a very popular and wealthy exploration company, the captain of a huge fleet of beautiful vessels which sailed out of England. The flag ship was the Emerald, and that is where little Cecily grew up. She had a sheltered, though well educated, perfect life on the sea. She learned from her father and tutor how to navigate by the stars, and how to sail a large ship all by herself, though never one as large as the Emerald. Though they had a home on the shore, in London, her family rarely visited it. Family being, for Cecily, her father and herself. Her mother disappeared when she was three years old, and so Cecily hardly remembered her. Some whispered that her father had wed a Selkie, who, having stolen her seal-skin back, abandoned her daughter and husband to return to the sea. Cecily was unaware of this however until she was 16 and she knelt at the bedside of her dying father who had developed a fatal illness at sea.
"Come closer child," her father whispered, grimacing in pain as fever made his limbs feel like they were on fire. Cecily scrambled to obey him, shaking with grief, her face white as his. The candle spluttered as the ship rocked backward and forward in a heavy gale and books slid across the dresser-top. Leaning closer, Cecily breathed in his smell: pine tar and salt. He tucked a stray ebony curl behind her ear and tried to speak again. Then he began to tell her a story. She slowly sunk into the sound of his calming voice, and all hint of illness and strain had melted from it. His voice could charm any wind or storm, the sailors used to say, and he could enchant the breeze to carry him where ever he pleased. The story he wove was of a beautiful maiden who wore the pelt of a seal. He told of a young sailor who had captured this seal maiden and after they had fallen in love, married her. Their daughter's hair was as black as the Selkie mother's, and her eyes just so deep blue, they were almost black as a seal's.
A sudden tremor shook the man but he relaxed immediatly after, and Cecily snapped out of the story of her birth. She started to ask her father why he hadn't told her all this before and where her mother was now. Her voice caught in her throat as she looked up into his face. The late Captain of the Emerald lay still as a tide pool separated from the sea. His eyes were closed as if he had fallen asleep at the helm, as he had been known to do once and a while.
Rising slowly, Cecily summoned the first mate, and told him that the Captain had passed on to the gods and that his body must be given to the sea. The necessary ceremony was preformed when the wind calmed down the next day. She hardly remembers it, for that day, and many days after were a numb blur. That was when her life seemed to have ended. Her best friend and dad was gone, and she was to be sent to boarding school in America, which was one voyage she planned never to take. But, a couple days after her father had passed to the house of his fathers, she remembered the tale his father had woven with his last breaths. Her mother was a seal-maiden of the Scotish Isles.
It was then that she became determined to take over as Captain of the Emerald, and explore the seas as her father had. She sent a letter to America in secret letting the school know that Ms. Cecily Swiftwater: "would not after all be attending their school, so sorry for the inconvenience". It took months for Cecily to come up with and create the person who now captained the Emerald, and she wrote many letters to insure that no one quite knew exactly where Ms. Cecily was. However, she was also careful that no one was quite worried enough about the whereabouts of Ms. Cecily that a search was not started. Cecily had the mask made in a silver smith's workshop far from anyone who may take an interest to it. So, Captain Elanor Stonesdaughter came into being, a powerful woman who had traveled all the way from the far north of Scotland seeking a ship, and had a reputation to be a genius sailor but an extremely strict captain.
Cecily of course had to adopt this disguise, for who would follow the command of a 16 year old girl, and someone would be bound to report her immediately for such foolishness. She also had no choice but to make the new crew fear her as much as possible. Only then would they obey a woman, even though it was written in the official ship's records that she was captain.
The Emerald had set sail nearly a month ago but Cecily was not content with her new life. It was turning out to be a lot harder that she thought...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Her Tale Continued:
Now however, though Cecily had her ship, and she had the papers allowing her to explore up north to the coast of Scotland, she was miserable. She wanted to throw the inkwell and all the papers on her desk onto the floor and scream. She wanted to let the ink sink into the cracks between the floorboards and drip away along with all the pain and stress in her chest. She was only 16 for goodness sake and she was tired of living a lie! She wanted to be held again and loved. She wanted to take off the mask and throw it into the sea and Captain her ship as Cecily, just Cecily!
She half hoped that one of the crew would tear the mask off and get it over with. It was only a matter of time that the wind would catch it and reveal the girl hiding behind it. Someone would surely recognize her eventually. A couple of the midshipmen and cabin boys were the same men and boys who had sailed with her father before her, and who she'd been good friends with. Cecily hated seeing their frightened looks whenever she passed. The boy who feel out of the sails not a couple minutes ago for instance. Tommy was the sweetest little boy she'd ever met, and he was like a little brother to her. Now she could only look at his scared face, not being able to comfort him, and being the cause of his distress. Couldn't this nightmare end? Couldn't her father be hear again, and then she would have no need to hide her beauty and youth, and she would have no need to find a mother who obviously didn't even want her.
No. What was done was done. She'd have to deal with it if she ever wanted to find her mother, and be loved again, or at least know the truth of why she left. Was is just the overpowering lure of the sea that made her abandon them, or was it... something else? Also, she'd have to deal with it if she wanted to be free, and not stuck in some bording school, grounded forever. With her mask in place again, Cecily marched out to the main deck, to find their heading, sextant under her arm and a spyglass at her belt. A girl with a quest.
To be continued...
Pet Comments
| Claret says -He shrugs- |
| Claret says I'm here because I can be. |
| Claret says I am. -shrugs- |
| Claret says -snickers- The underworld. |
| Claret says Nothing. |
| Claret says -frowns- |
| Claret says -he rolls his eyes- |
| Claret says I wasn't teasing. -he grins- |
| Claret says Jokes are pointless. |
| Claret says Mine not girlish in anyway. -rolls his eyes- |
All Comments
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