And Then There Were Two (W.I.P + Content Warning)

[Sarawr!?]

Note: This is the story of Emily O'Malone and her 'Sister' Jaelyn, and of how they came to be the operators of the Rogue Gunboat known as the "Chains of Freedom".

811AS


Emily
The brown haired girl awoke, pushing herself up off her side, tiredly rubbing at her eyes and trying to stretch until something stopped her from moving her arms any further. As she began to remember where she was she lowered her arms with a weak sigh, finally looking at the stiff metal bracelets that bound her wrists together and tethered her to the wall behind her.

Her vision was now free of the grogginess of sleep, though still blurred for reasons she couldn't discern, at least she thought, she could finally observe her surroundings and figure out where she was. She had been sleeping on a grated metal floor with a giant dome-shaped light beneath it, coloring the room a dim shade of orange which was only amplified by the rusting metal walls that surrounded her on four sides.

"Where the hell?...Hey! is anyone there? What am I doing in here?!"

The girl had shifted onto her knees, the chains linking her wrists to the wall were too short for her to even stand completely. Angrily she struggled against the chains, thrusting her arms in the opposite direction until a sharp pain shot from her shoulder blade, down her left arm. A long gash across her back that had begun to heal, had torn itself open partially.

"D-Damn it...you bastards!...let me out!...I know you're there!" She cried out pathetically, not even really sure if there was anyone on the other side of the walls.

It was all she could do to cry out desperately, unable to even hold her wound to stop the pain, before falling sideways against the wall, passing again into unconsciousness.



Jaelyn
The small blonde girl was crying softly as a pair of scruffy, rough looking, men brought her into a room already inhabited by a worn and ragged looking, older girl, pushing her down callously next to the other girl. Jaelyn barely struggled as they grabbed her again, staining the sleeves of her white outfit with a disgusting brown grime as they bound her wrists and shoved her back to the floor next to the other girl

As the men turned to leave, one of them stopped by the older girl, laughing and wagging his booted foot in front of her face as she lay there, seemingly lifeless, on the floor.

"Aw..haha..c'mon girly! nothing to say this time?! Looks like you'll be gone soon!" He laughed coldly, kicking her head against the wall before leaving the room, still laughing.

Jaelyn sat there for a long time, burying her face in her knees and sobbing uncontrollably, not noticing that the older girl had turned onto her side and was silently watching her through the long, dirty and knotted brown hair that was practically stuck to her face.

After a long moment, the older girl coughed weakly and begun to speak with a soft Bretonian accent, present despite the rasp in her voice."St...Stop crying, I'm...trying to bloody...sleep."

The younger girl would've jumped up if not for the chains tethering her to the wall. Instead, she snorted hard and tried to wipe her eyes against her knees before looking to the older girl, obviously embarrassed to be seen crying.

"S-Sorry!..I just...it's so...I don't like it here! I wanna go home!" She whimpered, making a pouting face toward the older girl.

The older girl scoffed, leaning on her left arm to take her face off the floor for a moment so she could get a better look at the child nearby.

"Don't you get it..? This is your home now...you're never going back to your family...You're never gonna bloody see 'em again, You're screwed, just like me. So just stop crying, shut the hell up, and let me die in peace already!"

"D-Die?!..." Jaelyn swallowed hard, staring at the older girl. "Y-You don't have to be such a jerk!"

The older girl let out a defeated whimper as she lay back down against the floor, sighing softly as she heard the child begin to cry again. After another long moment the older girl let out a long sigh, looking toward the child again.

"Look...I ah..m'name's...E-Emily.." She coughed harshly, looking back to the girl afterward. "Don't go...gettin' used t'me being 'ere..or anything..."

The younger girl stopped crying and scowled at Emily for a long moment, wiping her face against her knees again.

"I..I'm Jaelyn...H-How long have you been here?" She looked down a bit, biting her lip, almost afraid to hear the answer.

Emily coughed a few times before being able to answer. "It's been...eleven months, near as...near as I can tell.." She sighed weakly, turning her back to the younger girl, curling up as best she could, falling fast asleep, leaving the younger girl to wonder how bad things were going to get.

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