To Yonder

Something Left To Give
“I’ve got stars in my great big sky
I shall gaze upon without leaving small ones behind
Because they’re harder to find”
- The Starting Line

“Come on Nell! Can you move your butt a little faster?”

“We are going to get caught… and we are going to get in trouble… and then we are going to die… and I really do not want to die… I am far too young for it to end like this…” Regardless, Nelly still kept close following Alessia discretely. To be truthful, Nelly’s mind was still reeling from her near slip up. All she wanted to do was get some nice, peaceful sleep and forget about pirates even for just a little while. With Alessia around, that was virtually impossible and any thought Nelly had about a good night’s rest was cast from her mind.

“Come on, it will be fun,” Alessia turned and whispered to her before continuing on her way, “We are on a pirate ship, we came looking for adventure, we came to be free! Now we have it! Why would we ever want to be cramped into a small cabin when we have got the whole world around us just waiting? Besides, actually having some from fun for once is hardly going to kill you Nell, now, let us go before we get caught.”

Nelly shot the Princess an incredulous look. How did Nelly even manage to get herself into this position to begin with?

“We are not free,” Nelly mumbled to herself. She hadn’t really ever chosen “pirate-freedom.” Actually, Nelly distinctly remembered wanting to do the exact opposite. “We are serving an infamous pirate and confined to the dimensions of this ship. This is treason… or something ridiculous like that. You should know! You come from the family that makes all the rules in the first place.”

“Oh come on, do not worry so much!” Alessia grabbed Nelly’s hand and hurried her along, “Besides, I heard it is a full moon tonight!”

As if that could possibly make everything suddenly better. Nelly needed to find out who kept volunteering her for these ridiculous adventures of Alessia’s and put it to a stop at once. She was a handmaid, not a sail swinging, bad mouthing pirate enthusiast.

Slowly, Alessia pushed the cabin door slightly ajar. She quickly scanned the deck, but couldn’t see much through the small crack. Alessia then went to open it just wide enough to get through. That’s when she saw a single silhouette illuminated by the moonlight. She mumbled some unladylike profanities under her breath before moving to close the door, so much for freedom tonight. Had she really expected him not to be here?

Of course not.

“You can come out. I am not worried. What could you possibly do? Double team me? I would still take you both one handed.” His voice scared both of them, “Try to escape? We are in the middle of an ocean. You would drown,” Blunt as usual.

Of course Tanek would be standing on deck at the most unexpected times. What was Alessia thinking? She would have been genuinely surprised if she didn’t run into him. Subconsciously she probably did want to run into him. That was it; her mind was playing all kind of tricks on her. And if it wasn’t her mind, then it was heart. It was flip-flopping like a fish out of water, and it was all stupid Tanek’s fault.

There it was again, black, pirate voodoo magic mind tricks. She was sure of it.

Nelly on the other hand knew this was a horrible idea right from the beginning – even before Alessia had thought it up. She had been sleeping innocently when the tyrant, Alessia, woke her from her peaceful slumber thinking it was a good idea to go sneak up on deck. Nelly insisted on going back to sleep, but Alessia wouldn’t have any of that. Nelly had instantly begun praying for her life and protection hoping to avoid Tanek. Someone had it out for her though; she knew they’d have a run in with Tanek.

This was an even worse idea than it started as.

Alessia on the other hand seemed to have no qualms about anything. The world would come and go as it liked, she was just living in the middle of it. Unlike her good friend, she welcomed danger and rejoiced when adventure struck. Life was a mystery waiting to be solved, it was a puzzle and she was just a tiny piece.

“So?” The deep voice spoke again, “Are you going to just stand there like fools and keep me waiting?”

Alessia and Nelly slowly straightened themselves out before making their way over to Tanek. Alessia noticed him slightly turn his head in her direction before returning to his stiff posture. For a pirate, Tanek always seemed to be pristine. There was no way he was just a pirate, Alessia had a feeling that Tanek once lived another life, just like her. He was impeccable, and intelligent, and virtuous.

The two had made their way over to Tanek when Nelly suddenly grumbled a few words closely sounding like a spew of complaints before asking and then making it known, “Why am I here? You dragged me out of bed… I am going back.”

Quickly, Nelly made her way back to the staircase leading back to her haven where should could dream she were stuck anywhere but this pirate ship. “Goodnight to you two, I shall see both of you in the morning,” She said briefly before disappearing from sight content she would no longer be dragged around. This was Alessia’s problem now.

It stayed silent in the moments to pass after Nelly had left. It was a comfortable silence nonetheless and Alessia took the time to take another look at Tanek. His dark hair was tousled messily to one side and his white linen shirt appeared to almost be see-through in the moonlight. His taught abdominal muscles were clearly visible to Alessia and it took everything in her power to try and not stare. The man before her was an absolute vision.

“Full moon…” Tanek trailed off breaking the silence without giving a second thought about anything other than its pure brilliance. For a second he forgot Alec was there. He didn’t even have a single thought about the other one once he had left. Tanek hadn’t simply stated the obvious but instead had managed to voice a million different thoughts and emotions all with the utterance of two words.

Alessia looked up at it admiring its luminescence. She sighed content, she’d rather be here getting lost in the beautiful night sky than dreaming of anything else that’d surely be much less wonderful, especially when she would wake up and realize it was all a figment of her imagination. It was truly a beautiful night and getting the chance to share it with Tanek just made it even more worthwhile. She studied him as he stared out into the night seeming to be deep in thought. Alessia would give anything to know what he was thinking about at this very second.

For a moment Alessia disregarded his very agreeable physique and wondered about his mind. Tanek, a man with a mysterious presence and an even more mysterious past – when she got back home she would have to do more research on the enigma.

The moon, for all sorts of different, unexplainable reasons strangely fascinated Tanek; it held such dominance over the night sky even though it was nothing more than a thief. People marveled at its beauty, but it would be nothing more than a rock if the sun weren’t there to compliment it so nicely.

“Is it not strange?” Tanek spoke as Alessia clung to each word that graced his lips, “The moon is always there. It waxes and wanes and then it seems to disappear, but it is never really gone. The smallest sliver of the moon might appear to be a scratch in the sky, an accident, but it is just as beautiful as any other time…”

Alessia carefully studied Tanek’s face as he spoke so fondly of something was nothing more than a ball of gas millions of miles away. She thought about the moon, and then she thought about Tanek. They both seemed to be untouchable.

“It is probably irrational, but I have always admired the moon. It is probably because of my Mother…” Alessia was curious, but she didn’t want to push the topic further if Tanek didn’t say anything. She was extremely curious about his family though. Maybe she’d finally be given a little insight to where he had come from.

Something about Tanek made Alessia assume he was some sort of poor orphaned child. It never occurred to her that he had some kind of family, that he had a life beyond piracy. Maybe he was kidnapped as a child… or saved by pirates… or born into a line of them… is that how it actually worker? The possibilities were endless and every single one seemed to make it’s way through Alessia’s mind. Where had this glorious man come from?

“… She always had a tendency to talk about the moon as if it were the most breathtaking thing. Just the idea that you are looking at something millions of other people have looked at… for centuries before you… and for centuries to come. That some people worship such a thing… The moon is something that everyone can revel in; it is not something to be possessed…”

Alessia studied Tanek once again, this time with intense admiration. He looked forlorn, as if he were somewhere else, somewhere far, far away from here. That’s when she realized, even if Tanek had a family at one point, he didn’t seem to have any now. That thought made her extremely depressed.

She thought back to her own family and began to desperately miss them. She wondered what her parents were doing at this very moment and her baby brother must’ve grown since she last saw him! And who was there to drive him absolutely nuts with their absurdity? Alessia decided that poor Alistair was probably going through severe withdrawal and missing his beloved sister like crazy.

She looked at Tanek once again. What was she thinking? Maybe he didn’t have the same overbearing parents or a sibling like hers, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have anything. He did have a home and a family, all right here on this floating citadel. He had accepted her into his home and his family had taken her in like one of their own. The sheer irony of the whole situation befuddled her mind. Why hadn’t she thought of that sooner? She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry… maybe both all at the same time.

That got her thinking again. Alessia really didn’t know anything about him, but in the short time she had come to know him she had learned so much. He was a pirate who was misunderstood by the world. Perhaps she could do something to change the situation with the pirates. She had experienced them firsthand, she knew who they really were. Maybe she would return to the throne and make a change, it was time things be different.

“… You think it is yours and suddenly it is gone, shining brilliantly for someone somewhere else…”
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