Person+vs+Person+Conflict

A string of panic-striken invectives spill through my mind as a rough hand presses my face further into the sun-baked wood of the ship deck. I cringe from the action as the sea water from my hair and clothing pools around my face. Above the coarse laughter and jeers that ring throughout the ship, I can hear Stancileo's efforts of struggle. He is, no doubt, in a similar position. Cracking an eye open, I blink away the salty water to get a good view of Leo. The lanky knight has two crew members on him, forcing his arms behind his back and flattening him prone on his chest. He grimaces and bares his clenched teeth as his head is yanked back by his mop of tangled auburn hair. I stifle a cry as a boot and a rapier point aquaint themselves with my lower back. Leo gives a feral growl in response.

The company of pirates give a collective cheer as something happens beyond my view. They quiet down as a new pair of leather-booted feet march to stand in front of me.

"What have you for me now, Men?" the owner of the boots barks, his tone as haughty and confident as his stance. The ship ripples with waves of taunts and rattling weapons.

"Catched us a couple of Cashmian dogs," a rough voice shouts, emphasizing the word 'dogs' with a stray kick to Leo's ribs. Laughter rolls down from the boots.

"What are two Cashmian travellers doing sailing our part of the seas?"

"Deathwish, Cap'n!"

"Death!"

My heart pounds loudly in panic as the bloodthirsty crew gives cries of delight at the mention of our demise. But this was all a huge mistake... We weren't Cashmian. We only stepped inside the gates of Cashmia once to buy passage to Mortolva. But how would we bargain our lives from pirates? Pirates who obviously had a beef with Cashmia. While we, by chance, are wearing tunics of the Cashnian royal crest.

Awesome.

I pray with all my heart that Dimitrio and Cassie would hold out as long as possible in Mortolva.

"At any rate," the assumed Captain of the ship, and owner of the boots before me purrs, "Being the glorious and weathly merchant-capital of the western hemisphere of Zephyria, Cashmia must not be degrated by the disrespectful conduct towards two of its fine, fine Knights of the Order. Geoff, James." I cringe as a vice-like grip clamps down on my arm, previously twisted painfully behind my back, and hoists me to stand before the Captain. Leo snarls as he is treated the same. I glare with silent reserve at the Captain of the pirates, who stands a few feet across the deck, his lean arms folded over his broad chest, and his feet set apart at a strong angle. His crew forms an isle around us; two ragged lines of men on either side of the ship.

The Captain is young. Far younger than I imagined, yet still a few years my senior, from the look of his appearance. His skin is startlingly pale, especially for a ship Captain's, much like the papery color of my own complexion. In contrast, his hair is a dark ebony. It's long and shaggy, falling over his eyes and touching his shoulders in shiny black waves. From behind the dark tresses, eyes of blue scan Stancileo up and down in grim calculation. A smug smile tugs at the Captain's lips as he absently strokes at his stubbly chin in sly bemusement. "What should we do with em, Cap'n?" my possessor inquires with an evilly gruesome note in his tone. The Captain's mouth parts to respond as his eyes shift in my direction. And his mouth stays parted. The smirk falls from his face slowly as the Captain just... stares at me with slight alarm. I hold his now blank gaze in frightened confusion. His eyes, I notice, are a mirror of my own; cutting electric blue.

"Captain?" His pointed stare doesn't leave me as he sets his slackened jaw.

"Put them in the brig," he breathes before turning on his heel and disappearing into the Captain's quarters. The ship erupts into cheers as the lines of men merge into a mob, and I am separated from Stancileo as rough hands seize me and drag me toward a flight of stairs leading into the stomach of the ship. I let out a shuddering shout as my arm is twisted at a sickening angle.

"Aurora!" Stancileo's guttural cry of protection tears above the descending mob. Tears prick painfully at my eyes as we enter the dark hull of the ship, and beyond my sight, Leo is struck in punishment for his outcry. I am shoved roughly into a small barred cell near the back of the hull, and I stumble to fall against the side of the ship from the force. The door of the cell slams shut, and the sound of blades striking the bars fills the hull in a metallic chorus. Leo is kicked into the cell beside mine, and my friend falls roughly to the wooden floor. I scramble to the bars that separate us, struggling to reach for him. He groans, his face a grimace of pain as he tilts his head up in my direction. His smoky colored eyes are foggy with confusion, and I stifle a sob as I see a trail of blood dripping down the side of his face.

"Leo!" I cry above the clatter of blades. He grits his teeth as his disoriented gaze focuses on my frantic arm, stretched toward him through the bars.

"Roar," his mouth forms the word soundlessly to my ears below the clamor, and he drags himself to my side. Tears roll from my eyes as I cradle Leo's head as best as I can through the bars of the prison cell.

"You're bleeding," I sniffle, ripping a strip of fabric from the end of my tunic. I use it to carefully blot the blunt-force wound on Stancileo's head, only pausing to wipe the tears from my vision.

Leo eventually blacks out, and the mob soon disperses from the brig. The hull is silent, except for the sound of the waves against the ship, and the occasional strut of boots above us. I sit in silence, leaning my side against the barrier of bars that separate Leo's cell from my own. My shoulder fits snugly between the bars, enabling my arm to rest upon Stancileo's neck and chest. He is lying flat on his back, with the top of his head resting against the bars between our cells. Beads of cold sweat glitter his forehead.

This is the last thing Cassie and Dimitrio need right now. The longer Leo and I waste away in the brig of this ship, the more time we lose in reaching Mortolva. My stomach twists at the thought of my dear friend and my younger sister, being held in a prison waiting for slave traders to arrive in three days and auction them off. Something stirs spitefully in the back of my mind, and I inwardly kick myself for the thousandth time for rushing into the voyage from Cashmia to Mortolva. Had I given it time, or any scrap of calculation, I might have thought to ask around about dangers like //pirates.// Especially pirates who hated Cashmia. Then we would have at least not worn the tunics of the Cashmian Knights of the Order.

The sound of boots descending the stairs to the brig pushes the rueful thoughts from my mind, and I protectively grip Leo's shoulder as the Captain of the ship appears at the gate to my cell. The glimmer of a smirk plays across his face as he gazes down at me through hooded eyes. His booted feet are at the familiar wide-set stance, and his arms are set loosely crossed over his chest. I meet his cocky gaze with a guarded glare, which causes his smirk to broaden.

"How is my cell treating you?" he asks, one of his charcoal brows disappearing under his hair as he raises it in inquiry.

"You're making a mistake," I say, my voice shaky and my tone low. The Captain blinks at me briefly before slowly kneeling beside the bars.

"And what mistake is that?" he purrs, now at eye level.

"We are not Cashmian. Nor do we have anything that pirates could want."

"That's what most say."

I look away from the Captain in frustration, desperately trying to think of a way to appeal to him. My vision blurs as tears of hopeless anger well in my eyes at the thought of Cassie and Dimitrio's dire situation.

"Pirate Captain," I begin, steadying my shaky voice as I keep my head turned away from him, "I don't know what there is that I can say to you to make you understand... or what I must do to make you believe me, but my companion and I are from Grand Heights. He is a Court Guard Knight, and we took rest from our long journey to Cashmia with a legion of the Knights of the Order. That is why we wear their crest." I turn my head to look at the Captain, who surprisingly, is gazing back with calm contemplation as he listens.

"We are on our way to Mortolva to rescue two of our dear friends... Another Grand Heights Court Guard Knight, and my younger sister..." An odd look flashes briefly across the pirate Captain's face as the mention of Cassie.

"You have a sister?" he asks softly. I give him a guarded look before answering.

"Yes." He looks at me with deep contemplation for a good few moments, his icy stare piercing. I look away nervously. With an exasperated scoff, the Captain grasps the bars of the door and leans his face between them, catching my gaze with a strong look.

"Aurora," he says my name deliberately, "Look at me. Look at my face." I am taken aback by his words, and the look I give him shows it. I stare at him speechlessly, confused. "Look at my eyes..." he implores. I gawk at him, not comprehending what he is getting at. "Honestly, when was the last time you looked in a mirror?" he breathes, "We both inherited practically all of our physical features from our mother. Our hair, our skin. Our eyes." His gaze is steady as this news sinks in, and my eyes widen significantly. . "...What?" I whisper in shock.

"Aurora... Did you never notice how similar we look? Did you not even know you had an older brother?" he wonders, the last part more to himself. I shake my head 'no' dumbly.

"My brother?" I choke on the words, taking in this man's every detail. My mother's eyes. Our distinctively pale complexion. My father's thick, arched brows.

"Why would they not tell me about you?" I ask incredulously, leaving Leo's side to crawl towards the brother I never knew existed.

"They think I am dead. They believe I fell in the war between Cashmia and our beloved Lae'yera. And so does the rest of the world, and that is how I keep a low profile. I regret that they cannot know about my existence." The more I listen to him talk, the more I hear my father's voice in his. "The last time I saw you, you were just an infant, when we lived at Grand Heights... The news of my death was devastating to our parents. It must have been too hard for them to tell you about me. And you said we have a sister? What is her name? How old is she? What does she look like?" he asks, his eyes bright. I smile, fresh tears streaming down my cheeks.

"Cassidy. She's 14 now. She has Mom's hair... our hair, and dad's hazel eyes. And she has our infamous complexion." My brother's smile broadens greatly as he too learns of the existence of an unknown sibling.

"And Mortolva, you said?" he murmurs, scratching his scruffy cheek. "The capitol of the slave trade. Filled with scum even lower than that that fill the walls of Cashmia. No sister of mine will rot there to be sold." My chin quivers as relief and joy wash over me. Not only were we going to be on our way to Cassie and Dimitrio's aid... we were bringing reinforcements. I give a happy sob of relief before throwing my arms around my brother's shoulders through the prison bars. He hugs me tightly in return.

"By my blade, we'll bring them back," he assures me, "I must meet my second sister after all." I cry as I hold my brother, who shows all the courage and strong will of my father. He strokes my hair gently.

"Hush now, Aurora. I'll be right back with our doctor for your friend's injury," he tells me, releasing me and beginning to stand.

"Wait," I breathe, rising as well, and grasping the bars. He pauses to look back at me. "What's your name?" I ask, peering at my brother with wonder. His eyes glint with a warmth as a smile glimmers over his face, and he pauses to look at me before answering,

"Gabriel."