Chase the Stars

Mila knew that too calm a sea was just as bad a sign as a violent one. She tried to sail the Peregrine as quickly as possible as the faint smell of rain and electricity tickled her nose. Storms arose suddenly and without much warning in the Brehz Sea. The tingle in the air was enough of an indication to an experienced air pilot that bad weather was on its way. She was practically at the halfway mark between the Isle of Sharks and the next place she could safely dock.

Mila had steered successfully through storms before but she had just gotten her bird fixed; she didn't want to be grounded to make any more repairs if she could avoid it. South Plymm was one of the furthest ports from the capital of the Terrapin Empire, and it was at the southernmost point of the entire Empire. If she could make it there, she could pay the dues required to leave the Terrapin Empire and then she'd be beyond the reach of the Regulatory Force forever. Not to mention beyond the reach of Stanton Harkness.

Her father had no doubt been looking for her for the last nine years, but even he would have a difficult time convincing anyone to search for her outside the Empire, and they wouldn't even know where to begin looking. Several fat raindrops jarred her out of her brooding and Mila looked up to see the sky, which had been blue mere minutes before, was now filling quickly with ominous black clouds.

"Dammit," she growled. She made sure the course was set and abandoned the helm, racing across the deck to secure the sails. If they were fully released in the storm they'd be torn apart. She monkeyed up the ropes while Charlie shouted from below, wondering what was happening.

"What do you think is happening?" she shouted back. Sails secure, Mila slid back down to deck, nearly toppling down on her face. The sky opened up then and released buckets down on their heads. Mila skidded all around the now slippery deck, throwing a rope to Charlie.

"Tie it on!" she yelled over the angry wind. She pantomimed tying it around the waist before grabbing her own rope. She had just looped it around her waist and was preparing to knot it when a particularly brutal gust of wind rocked the ship, making it lurch downwards. Mila's shriek was swallowed in the noise as she fell. She hit the deck and slid, banging her head against the helm. Her vision swam as her skull throbbed and she staggered clumsily to her feet.

Rain and wind were howling around her now, the sky so dark it almost felt like nighttime. Mila pushed against the wall of wind, trying to get back to where the tether ropes were. If she didn't get her rope secured another strong gust could-

Mila didn't even have time to scream when the ship jerked again. She was stumbling, then her ribs banged into something hard and she was falling through open air. She twisted wildly, barely catching onto the railing. She could see the green-grey ocean churning below her. Pretty soon she was going to feel it pummeling her to death because her hands were cold and wet and slipping from the rail. One hand slid free and she was clinging to her ship by nothing but the fingertips of her left hand.

A pair of hands caught hers just before she lost her grip completely. Mila could barely tell which way was up and which way was down as she was hauled back over the side of the ship. She crumpled in a dazed, shivering heap. She felt someone lift her and the world spun dizzily around her.



"Mila? Hey, wake up. Mila."

Mila flinched away from the voice, turning her head away. She felt a little queasy and when she slitted her eyes open the light felt like a knife in her skull.

"Mila."

"What?" she snapped, covering her eyes with her hands.

"Well I see the injury hasn't altered your personality."

The dryly amused voice was annoying. "Go 'way," Mila muttered.

"The storm stopped, in case you're interested. I thought for sure you were a goner. I can't believe I was able to get to you in time. I can't believe I was even able to see you fall over the side."

"Mmmph." Mila rolled onto her side, stomach churning. She nearly jumped off the table when she felt a damp cloth touch her neck.

"Whoa, relax. It's just a cold rag. You look really pale. You should eat, maybe?"

"I feel sick."

"Okay maybe we wait on the food, then. Wait. Crackers!"

The annoying voice disappeared for a few minutes and then came back and offered her some crackers. Mila slowly sat up, wincing. She cracked her eyes open again and saw a blurry sandy-haired shape. She blinked a couple of times and Charlie's face came into focus. He was still holding out a handful of crackers.

"What are you doing?" she asked blankly.

"Trying to give you crackers. They'll help settle your stomach."

Mila took the crackers reluctantly and nibbled at them. She eyed Charlie suspiciously. "You pulled me back up," she said slowly. "Why?"

"What do you mean, why? Was there another option?"

"You could have let me fall," Mila pointed out. "That would have solved a lot of your problems."

Charlie stared at her, looking mildly horrified. "I can't just sit back and let a person drown, for God's sake. I don't even know how anything on this ship works, so I would've been pretty thoroughly out of luck. Besides, you might be bossy and annoying and kind of a bitch sometimes but I don't want to kill you."

Mila didn't know what to say to that. She polished off her crackers and climbed out of her bed. Her head was still throbbing but at least her stomach wasn't pitching anymore.

"How long have I been out?" she asked.

"A couple of hours. The storm calmed down a little while after you passed out. The ship seems to have survived it pretty well."

He followed her back up to the deck and she caught his sleeve as he walked past her. "Um. Thank you," she said awkwardly. "For saving me, and for the crackers."

"You're welcome."

Mila dropped her hand from his sleeve, biting her lip. "Do you...want to learn how to steer?"

His eyebrows shot up. "You're going to teach me something about the ship?"

She shrugged. "Sure. You may as well know, I guess. I'm still kind of cold and wet, so I was going to get cleaned up. But I'll show you how to steer first."

She shooed him to the helm, showing him how to steer and how all the levers and knobs worked. Trying to climb the ropes made her too dizzy so she tried to walk him through unfurling the sails. He almost fell half a dozen times but in the end he and the sails were all in one piece. He scrambled back down, out of breath with his hair mussed. Mila flicked a piece of hair that was standing up above his forehead.

"I guess I'm a certified pirate now, because you look like a parrot." She flicked the cowlick again, starting to laugh. Charlie pushed her hand away, scowling. It just made her laugh harder.

"I hope you packed a comb," she said teasingly as she headed belowdecks again. "I'm going to change. Try not to crash while I'm gone."