The Andromeda (Pirate RP//closed)

"You look like you could," Dara agreed. She stepped out onto the main deck, taking a deep breath of the sea breeze. Wow, the sea smelled amazing. It was almost intoxicating. She was starting to understand why Daso stuck with the whole pirate thing.

"Have you ever been on a ship?" Leah asked, a tad curious to see if Dara had ever been beyond Sole. Most people had never been beyond their homes since sea travel was quite expensive, though stowing away was always a possibility. After all, Daso had done that on this ship.

"Me? No way," Dara shook her head, heading towards the edge of the boat and leaning out over the sea. "I'm hardly allowed to leave the house. Ever since Mom died, I've had more freedom, but I still get stopped on the streets because I'm an unaccompanied, unmarried female."

Leah nodded in understanding as Dara spoke, leaning against the wooden edge of the boat as well. When she was growing up, she always had problems with men since she was unmarried at twenty years old, though being on the sea took her away from all of that. "Sailing has always given me some sort of freedom too. It's helped me get away from old memories in the sectors and the problems there. Though, if Daso does decide to let you tag along…I think you'll like it here," Leah explained, brushing a few strands of ginger hair behind her ear as she watched the water.

"I hope he does," she said, her face, for a brief moment, appearing something other than smug. "I want to stay."

Leah nodded in understanding, pausing for a few moments as if she were lost in thought. "Daso would talk about you a lot, you know? How you two grew up in Sole and how he wanted to go back for you," she explained after a few long lapses of silence, referring back to before Daso was almost hung in the sector. "He really cares about you, Dara. I hope he'll let you stay too." She added, realizing that she was warming up to Dara. Sure, maybe they were practically crazy before, though now Leah knew about some of their past.

"Really? Wow," Dara grinned, "I'm more likable than I thought. Alright, well, I'll try my best to be helpful around here."

"You're likable once you open up a bit," Leah answered, a small grin crossing her features as she looked over towards Dara. "You can look around the ship some more while we wait for your brother, or feel free to talk to other crew members," she suggested.

"I think I'll stay out here and wait," she said, squirming a bit. "I don't want to impose. Plus, they're pirates. Not saying there's something inherently wrong with pirates, but I don't really want to be mistaken for an enemy or something."

They ended their storytelling both of them looking back out to the sea. Zanna let out a sigh, "I always knew you would come back."

Cicada chuckled lightly, "I guess I did too. So you know Dara?"

"More like almost acquaintances, we started talking just a few minutes before the ship docked. She's a bit, odd, but in a good way. Like James odd," Zanna said with a slight grin.

Cicada had a light blush remembering talking to her about James for the first time, then she got sad, "Yeah. James odd is a good odd. Wonder if she'll stay."

"I think I'll stay out here and wait," she said, squirming a bit. "I don't want to impose. Plus, they're pirates. Not saying there's something inherently wrong with pirates, but I don't really want to be mistaken for an enemy or something."

"You don't look like the enemy type to me," Leah answered, raising a brow as she looked over towards Dara, though she nodded in understanding. "Joanna should be ready with food soon, so if you want to grab a few bites of that. It's always good," she proposed, suggesting a thought so that Dara could get to know the crew a bit more.

"Sure, okay," Dara agreed, looking around. "Once dinner's ready, I guess I can introduce myself to everyone. You do have a place everyone gathers to eat, right?"

"Correct. We use the main room below decks in order to eat and discuss any other matters, though some people take food back to rooms if they'd like to," Leah explained as she pushed herself off of the edge of the ship, tucking a few ginger strands behind her ears.

"Okay," Dara repeated, nodding. She remained by the edge of the boat, her eyes on the sea. "Just let me know when it's ready." She paused for a long moment, still peering over the blue abyss of the ocean. "I wonder where Daso is."

The hood on his jacket obscured his face as he hurried down the crackled cobblestone streets. He kept his eyes glued to his feet, partly because he didn't want to be recognized, and partly because he didn't know if he could bear seeing the familiar sights of the city around him. The cathedral bells went off yet again, startling him. He tucked his hands into his pockets and did his best to ignore them.

The bells were ringing the first and last time his father hit him. He could still taste the blood and terror and rage, could still hear the gritty disappointment in his father's voice. He'd been defending Dara, but somehow that was wrong. So he ran. The bells rang again when his father tried to have him hanged. He'd been trying to talk to Dara, but somehow, that was wrong too. So he ran again. Had the bells rung when his mother passed? Had the bells rung as she took her final breath and cursed his name?

He tried to shake those thoughts away, but they lingered like the persistent chill in the wind. He took a shaky breath and continued walking until he reached the site. The grave site where his grandparents were buried, and where he hoped his mother had been buried.

Her grave was simple and unadorned. The flowers –peonies, her favorite– he'd brought were the only ones in the graveyard whatsoever. Her name was inscribed on the stone, and below it the dates of her birth and her death. Nothing else. It was vanity, according to his father's teachings, to adorn something like a grave. Daso placed the flowers on the dirt near the stone. He knelt by them, his face tipping towards the overcast skies, his hood slipping from his head.

"I'm sorry," he started, and then he stopped. "I'm sorry," he tried again. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

He couldn't find any other words. So, he stood, tucked his hood back over his head, and staggered from the graveyard. Tears blinded his vision. He had to see his father. He had to make things right.

(Aw, our poor lil Daso.)

Leah hummed in agreement, looking out towards Sole as if she were trying to figure out where Daso was right now. She would have come along with him just to make sure he was alright, though she doubted that he wanted her there. She wasn't very good at condoling others anyway. "What did you do in Sole, exactly?" Leah asked after a few moments, not wanting to be left alone with the silence of her own thoughts.

Dara paused, humming lightly as she considered. What did she do? That was a loaded question. "Oh, well," she started, turning her back towards the ocean and leaning against the side of the boat. "I mostly just piss everyone off. I avoid men, I read a hell of a lot of books, I write, and I invent. I don't get paid for any of those things, although I feel I should be paid for my efforts. It's hard to avoid men when it's required by law to be married by twenty five. I also…make things. I make my own hair dyes, which I think I said, I make my own little pieces of rudimentary machines, and I draw designs for the things I don't have the resources for. I chart stars. I…I don't know. I do stuff."

"You're quite the interesting person. Most women that I've met that live in Sole are usually nuns or mothers," Leah answered in faint thought, her green eyes studying the other for a few moments as she leaned her side against the edge of the boat. "Though, I like that you have interests. If you stay, you should meet Kameo since both of you are inventors," she added.

"I'm asexual," Dara said flatly, making a face. "Men aren't exactly my style. They don't like women who want to do other things besides make them dinner. Although, maybe men from places other than Sole aren't like that." She turned back to the sea. "Kameo, as in the guy who lost a leg? Sure. I'd love to put a face to the name."

"Trust me, most men in the sectors want women to sit around at home and make their dinner. At least, that's what it was like in Trieste," Leah answered, a small smile tugging the corners of her lips up at Dara's comments. That was one of the main reasons she left the cities, since being on the ocean meant that she wasn't bound to idiotic stereotypes.

"Sometimes I was tempted to wear a sign that said 'I burn everything so no I can't be your housewife" but when I proposed the idea to my mom when I was ten, she yelled at me." She laughed at the memory, shrugging. "The sea sounds perfect. I don't really have to deal with people or cities if I'm here."

Leah laughed at Dara's comment, the first time that she had done so in a while. "God, when I was fourteen I shoved a boy off the docks for trying to kiss me. That would probably explain my faulty love life," she joked with a small laugh. She had never been quite interested in men when she was younger, and instead wanted to get away on the sea.

"Whenever guys would try to come on to me, Daso would…never fight them." Dara sighed an exasperated sigh. "He hated violence. He'd just kind of yell at them until they got annoyed. Since Daso is likely in love with you, although I haven't had time to properly research this, he'll yell at men for you if you want him to."

"In love with me," Leah repeated with a small scoff as she shook her head faintly, though she still pondered the thought. How could Daso ever be in love with her? He was so sweet and good with others, whereas she wasn't…that at all. He couldn't be in love with her. It was almost impossible, right?

"He's been in love one other time, as far as I know," Dara mused aloud, kind of to herself, but mostly to the captain. "I think he has a type. He likes girls who have kind of a take charge attitude, since he's more of a follower than a leader. I don't know what else. She wasn't a red head, but who knows? Maybe he's not picky and doesn't mind all the freckles." She realized belatedly that she'd insulted the captain. Oops, too late to amend that.

"I can't help the freckles. It's a package deal with the red hair," Leah answered, crossing her arms her chest as she looked over towards Dara, though the faintest flush made it across her cheeks. Dara couldn't possibly know if Daso was in love with her from one moment. No one had that ability…but they were twins after all. Weren't they supposed to know each other like the backs of their hands?

Dara continued to peer at her, studying her freckles and pale skin under the light of the mid-afternoon sun. "I don't know. I guess you're pretty." She pursed her lips. "What, do you not love him in return? I figured with all the blushing and the concern, you must."

"I…I don't know, Dara," Leah answered after a long pause as she returned Dara's peering gaze. They were quite pretty as well, with dark skin and eyes, though she wasn't going to admit out loud. "I've never really loved somebody before," she added. Of course, she had loved her family, but never someone else romantically. It was an odd territory for her.

Dara exhaled heavily, glancing back towards the sea and then towards the sky. "Sometimes I pity him for being able to love so deeply and so easily. Other times I envy him. I've never been able to love like that, but I suppose it's for the better. I'm willing to bet that you, however, can learn to." She smiled slightly at that and decided that she would play matchmaker. If she was allowed to stay, that is.

"I have a feeling you're going to be our matchmaker on the ship. 'Pirate cupid' to be exact," Leah said with a small laugh, her own smile tilting the corners of her lips upward. Though, she nodded in understanding at what Dara said, deciding that she had always admired the way that Daso could love someone so much.

Dara smirked at that. "Pirate cupid, hmm? Maybe I will." She tapped her fingers against the side of the boat, considering. "I hope that's not my only role on the ship, though."