Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven: The Stargazer and the Scotty Little

The guardians looked around their berth on board the Stargazer. It was small, dark, and smelt ever so slightly like damp. Like Torah's bedroom without all the mess. Three bunk-beds had been arranged for them.
Daniel shoved Torah out of the way. "I call dibs on the top bunk!" he cried, sprinting across the room and vaulting onto the bunk.
"Fine. I didn't want it anyway; who knows what's lurking in those corners? Spiders, beetles, cockroaches..." Torah shuddered.
"I call dibs on the bottom bunk!" Daniel cried, falling from the top bunk and landing on the floor with a resounding thump, but it was too late; Torah was already sitting on the bottom bunk.
She gave him the finger. "Finders keepers, dumbass. This is my bunk now."
Daniel swore. "How about we do a timeshare? I'll sleep in it one day, and you the next."
Torah looked at him. "My ass you will. Knowing you, you'll hog it for the whole trip. Besides, didn't you suddenly shriek "I call dibs on the top bunk" as soon as we entered?" She pointed up. "Up you go."
Fortunately, the remaining four got themselves sorted out much faster.
Sonia was in the bed above Yuri. She cooed down to him, "how long is this gonna take? I get sea-sick."
"If you get sick, you could always, come down with me," he purred. Sonia giggled. Daniel pretended to be sick. Eleanor mouthed "Eww" at Philomena.
Torah moaned loudly, "go be gross someplace else! I'm gonna hurl thanks to you two." She made loud vomiting noises.
"You go be gross someplace else!" snapped Sonia.
"I'm not being gross."
"That's because you already are gross."
"Not as gross as you."
"At least I have a shower every day."
Torah gave Sonia the finger.
"Please can we stop arguing?" begged Philomena, "we're all gonna be together for this trip, let's not start fighting now."
"Why don't we all go and explore the ship?" suggested Eleanor.
"You go and explore, we're gonna stay here and "be gross" as Torah says," purred Yuri.
"I'm gonna barf," groaned Daniel, running for the door and making fake sick-noises. Torah followed and did likewise. Eleanor and Philomena left normally.
The Stargazer was a two-masted sailing ship that had been lent to the SAOS by its private owner. The Scotty Little was very similar; the only thing that separated the two ships was the royal blue stripe that ran down the edges of the Stargazer's sails; a symbol that meant the ship had been recognized by the Sinarian Royal Family.
It was windy on the deck. The ship rocked. Torah felt seasick.
"I think I really am gonna barf," she moaned to Daniel, who had pulled his jacket up over his ears.
"Well, don't just stand there, go barf over the side!" he replied, shoving her gently. Torah promptly threw up.
Daniel swore very loudly and leapt away. "I told ya I was gonna barf!" she wailed.
Eleanor and Philomena, meanwhile, were wandering around below deck, trying to figure out who else was on board the Stargazer. They had found Leslie and Imogen, and were approaching the kitchen when they heard a dreaded voice screaming at someone in the kitchen.
"What do you mean you have no vegetarian options!?"
"I-I'm sorry, Miss Cochon, but we weren't really informed..."
"Lies! Of course you knew I was on board!"
"Dammit," whispered Eleanor to the group, "Katrina's on board."
"Queen Bitch, more like," murmured Imogen.
Eleanor giggled quietly. "The cat's ass-cheeks."
"I thought we agreed she was a pig?"
They giggled quietly to themselves when they heard another voice. This one was gruff, sinister and threatening.
"Listen you ass-wipe, my sister is a vegetarian, and if you can't find anything for her, then you'll have me to answer to."
"Piss, we've got Simmons as well..." said Eleanor softly to Imogen.
Imogen was about to reply when the hulking frame of Simmons Cochon lumbered out of the kitchen. A very orange Katrina followed, with her hair backcombed very badly. She looked like a pair of cats had had a fight on her head. She noticed the four standing by the door.
"Well looky here," she sneered, trying to sound tough, "if it isn't the Musicians of Bremen. What are you doing here?"
"We could ask you the same question Katrina," replied Philomena, "but first, I must ask this; since when were you a vegetarian?"
"Since I became concerned for the welfare of animals," Katrina snapped.
"And since when have you been concerned for that?"
"None of your business!"
Simmons planted himself between the two girls. "Back off bitch," he snarled at Philomena.
Leslie jumped to her defence. "Why does she have to listen to you?"
Simmons looked a little surprised. Nobody had ever challenged him before.
He glared at Leslie. "Because I'll kill her, that's why."
"Hardly. You don't have the guts to do that," challenged Imogen.
Eleanor had remained silent for the whole argument. She had a mental rule that she wouldn't stick up for anyone other than herself, but if others stuck up for her, she would give them the cold shoulder. For some reason, she couldn't bear the thought of her friends standing up to defend her.
Simmons noticed she had said anything. "What do you have to say, White?"
"I'm staying out of this." Her tone was as cold and emotionless as her eyes, which burned a piercing ice-blue.
Her group looked at her as if you say "What!?" Eleanor didn't care; there was no way on Earth she would sully herself by answering back at Simmons. Not when he hadn't said anything rude to her.
"Suit yourself," growled Simmons, trudging off. Arguing with the guardians was no fun if Eleanor didn't get involved; he liked annoying Eleanor. He liked to see how far he could push her before she'd finally snap. He liked hearing her swear with her posh English accent. But most of all, he liked to see how far he could go before one of her friends stepped in to defend her. He took great pleasure in watching her tell them off.
Katrina scuttled behind him, poking her tongue out at Imogen as she passed.
When they had gone, everyone turned to Eleanor, whoes face was so devoid of emotion it was unnerving.
"What happened with you back there? You could have totally smashed him!" asked Philomena, who was clearly shocked.
"You completely blanked!" quipped Imogen.
"What went wrong Whitey?" asked Leslie.
Eleanor replied, "I've told you all before; I don't stand up for people. And if I catch you standing up for me..." she paused, "I don't know what will happen, but it won't be nice."
She turned and walked away.
*
The day on board the Scotty Little was much less eventful. The most exiting thing that happened was when Amit put Raven's earlobe stretcher up his nose and it got stuck. Don't ask why he did it, but he was probably trying to impress Florence. Florence most certainly wasn't impressed, and later complained to Hope and Yume.
"Why does he like me so much?" she wailed.
"Hey, you're asking me?" replied Yume, "how would I know? Don't they say beauty is in the eye of the beholder?"
"She's right hon," quipped Hope, "besides, you should feel flattered, not humiliated! This boy loves you so much that he's willing to...put an earlobe stretcher...up his nose..." her voice trailed off, "y'know what honeybee? Maybe being a tad embarrassed isn't such a bad idea."
"I suppose we'll all get an embarrassing admirer, right?" soothed Yume, applying eyeliner.
"I guess you're right," sighed Florence.
At around the same time, Aysé was trying to help Amit with his, uh, problem.
"Hold still, Amit!" Aysé was saying, "Honestly, I can't believe you would put something like that anywhere near your nose, let alone up it!"
Amit shifted sheepishly. "I was doing it to impress Florence..." he mumbled.
"If you like her that much, why not get her flowers of chocolate or something? Write her a song, maybe. But whatever you do, don't ever use insults."
"Why would I insult the girl I love?"
"Well, that's how they show their love in America, I've heard."
"American's are weird."
"Not all of them. Philomena is a normal person. And so is Hope. But I see where you're coming from. It is a bit odd to believe insults are a form of love."
Amit paused. "Torah's American, and she insults lots of people. Does that mean she loves everyone?"
Aysé paused this time. "I don't know. Perhaps you're right; maybe American's are a bit weird. Oh, I feel so bad for saying that."
Aysé squeezed Amit's nose and the earlobe stretched finally popped out.
"There! I've done it." Aysé held the object up and grimaced. "Yuck, it's all snotty. I guess you'll have to wash it before we give it back to Raven." She handed it to Amit.
"Why do I have to wash it?" he moaned.
"Because you're the one who stuck it up your nose in the first place."
Amit held the ring at arms length. "Gross. Why did I do it?"
Aysé laughed. "Only you can answer that."