Sleep was an easier thing to envision than to accomplish, Piper soon realized. After turning this way and that, pulling her thin, scratchy blankets close or tossing them to the side, she resigned herself to staring at the ceiling of her cabin in the darkness. Her earlier indignation had fled her heart, and left in its wake a solemn gloom. Her mind whirred, flicking through her experiences aboard the Lockjawe like a motion picture only to be disturbed by the humming of the ship. Doubting that such noise paired with the rocking of the vessel was doing much to aid her insomnia either, she believed that the only comparable distraction to be Olivian's snoring. This, Piper surmised, must sound as close as one could imitate to a bear choking to death on the bone of a moose.
She sighed and swung her legs over the edge of her bunk. Careful to move as quietly as possible so as to not wake her cabin-mates, she clambered down the side and landed lightly on the balls of her feet. Pausing only for a moment to ensure that her movements had not disturbed Emeline's sleep, Piper silently glided out through the cabin door as soundless as a ghost. Her feet guided her troubled mind throughout the labyrinthian ship without a thought to where exactly she was destined, though with a mind to caution her steps as she had not yet grown used to the ups and downs of the sea. Within minutes, Piper found herself ascending the stairway to the main deck, illuminated by the pale light of the moon.
Stepping out into the night, Piper noticed that several sailors, whose features could not be identified, moved leisurely about.
She assessed it to be a night watch similar to those of the militia. Making her way to the bulwark of the ship and into the open air, Piper gazed at the twinkling lights so far above her head. She recalled a number of times as a young girl how her mother had taken her out of their little home late in the evening if they had managed to stay awake long enough for the moon to rise. Her mother would point out the constellations that she knew of, and Piper would reach up towards them with a grasping hand. Although no magic nor science was yet able to ascertain how far away those twinkling lights were, Piper vividly remembered how she would have very much liked to touch them herself and hold them in her hands. That, she figured, was when her love of the sky first began.
And then it all crumbled to ashes when her mother gave her up.
Piper bitterly turned her eyes down to the turbulent black waves, illuminated only by the broken reflection of the stars above.
Can't blame anybody but myself She thought, as she had told herself countless times before.
Piper shivered as the frigid ocean breeze salted her face and chilled her bones as she stayed as long as she could bear it in her thin, uniformed nightclothes. Eventually Piper managed to tear her gaze from the view, shaking her head. She found it harder to detach herself from the emotions that had been building inside her since the reassignment.
No use dwelling on any of that now, just have to do what I can here so I can get off this ship as soon as possible
Though this is what she told herself, she was surprised when her vision was blurred by the moisture that came unbidden to her eyes. Quickly, she attempted to swipe them away in the unfounded fear that someone had followed her and could be watching, but they were replaced just as quickly as they were wiped away. Resigning herself to stifling her sobs as best she could, Piper strictly allowed the tears only to fall over the rail into the sea. Had she taken the time to think back, Piper would have found herself unable to recall the last time she'd been overcome by the emotions she kept under such close guard. This thought did not come to her, however, as her mind drew only blanks in the wake of this unfettered reaction.
Steady tears trickled over time into uncertain droplets. Soon enough, Piper clenched her eyelids tightly shut; sniffing hard, she measured her breaths evenly as she regained her composure over the emotional mutiny. When at last she decided to reopen her eyes, she felt quite again like herself, though sudden exhaustion the likes of which she had only hoped to feel lying restlessly in her bunk finally overtook her. She took only a final moment to gaze out at the endless expanse before before turning back. After ensuring that she had truly been alone, Piper stepped across the deck and to the stairway below.
Hardly paying attention, she deftly navigated the narrow halls back to her cabin. Her sudden drowsiness coupled with the shadowed corridors caused her to nearly stumble directly into the figure that blocked her way through the passage. Only after the man's chest came within an inch of her face did she realize that her path was barred..
"What are you doing out of your quarters?" the voice warbled sharply.
Piper stepped back, puzzled. She recalled the voice vaguely.
"Well? I haven't all night, Raddendale."
Wonderful, he remembers my name Piper thought, as she recognized the voice of that belonging to the birdlike officer who acted as Tartan's right hand.
"I was just heading to the latrine; the sea has made me nauseous," she lied.
"A valiant attempt for excuse, Raddendale, but the head is abaft of Cabin #17, not amidships - but you'd know that even after a day as a swab, wouldn't you?" he chastised pointedly.
Ash take this man Piper swore to herself as she gritted her teeth, deciding to change tack. Her emotional and physical exhaustion was beginning to wear on her already fringed attempts at courtesy.
"Right. Well it has only been a day at work, and it is difficult to see in this dark."
The officer scoffed. "You may have earned respect as an experienced soldier - rightly so perhaps - though I doubt you could ascertain the broadside of a ship if you were hanging from the gunwale. However, whatever you may have earned is tarnished by your personal lack of honor."
Piper was taken aback, the altercation reminding her altogether too much of her interaction with Captain Tartan. "My lack of-"
"You understand me perfectly fine," he squawked, pointing a bony finger sharply at the center of Piper's chest, "return to your cabin and count this as a warning."
He jotted something down that Piper couldn't see on a clipboard before shoving quickly past her in a flurry.
Piper stood another moment or so, watching the officer march down the long hall into the darkness of the ship, dumbfounded by the interaction. Sighing, she turned back to her original course and made her way back to the confines of her cabin.