PODW, Tula/Bloth, 086 - Choices Title: Deception Among Enemies (Part 1). Fandom: Pirates of Dark Water. Characters: Tula, Bloth and Solia. Prompt: 086 - Choices. Word Count: 1,318. Rating: PG Summary: Solia is captured and taken prisoner on the Maelstrom. Tula has to find a way to help her escape before she is harmed by Bloth or any other sadistic crewmember. Disclaimer: PODW belongs to AOL-Time-Warner.
The commotion on the deck woke Tula up from a light sleep. She’d been exhausted and was less than pleased at being dragged out of her nap. At first, she assumed some members of the crew were fighting but, as she listened closer, she realised that they were bringing something onto the ship.
Getting up from the bed, she ran her hands through her hair and tried to smooth some of the wrinkles out of her clothes. Satisfied that she didn’t look as dishevelled and exhausted as before she came to her room, she made her way onto the deck.
***
The whole crew, including Bloth, were standing in a half-circle around Konk and a prisoner he had brought aboard – a young woman with brown hair and dark eyes. She was kneeling, and her head was bowed, but her downcast eyes showed little emotion. Tula’s eyes went wide when she recognised the woman as Solia.
“She knows where one of the treasures is, my lord.” Konk informed his captain enthusiastically, hoping to be rewarded for his catch. Konk hadn’t seemed all that interested in Solia after their first meeting, so Tula could only assume he’d actually crossed her accidentally and saw a quick opportunity.
“Does she now?” Bloth raised an eyebrow, “and where does she say it is?”
“Well...” Konk faltered, glaring at the woman, “she won’t say.”
“I see.” Bloth stepped forward and grabbed the woman by her arm, yanking her onto her feet. “Is this true? You don’t want to tell us where the treasure is?”
“No.”
“Well, we’ll just have to find a way to deal with her insolence, won’t we?” Bloth smiled at his crew who cheered in response.
“Oh, and how are you going to do that?” Solia snapped defiantly, glaring at the massive captain.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Bloth rubbed his chin with his hand, still holding Solia’s arm with the other, “maybe a few beatings? The whip? Something that’ll loosen her tongue...I will have to think about this for a while.” Bloth gestured for two of his crew members to step towards him. When they did, he flung the woman backwards towards them and they both jumped forward to catch her. “Put her in a cell for now.”
Bloth turned away from the prisoner, planning to head back to his quarters. As he did, he spotted Tula standing nearby and stopped short. “I thought you were going to sleep?”
“Hard to sleep with so much noise,” Tula replied sharply. “What are you going to do with the prisoner?”
“The wench,” the pirate lord smirked, “I’m not sure. She seems very strong but I doubt it’s little more than an image; I will break right through it. A few beatings are all it will take.”
“Not for a while, though?”
“What do you mean?” Bloth placed his hands on his hips, his eyes narrowing suspiciously at Tula. He had recently become wary of listening to Tula when it came to prisoners; he thought she was far too soft.
“Well,” Tula hesitated, watching Solia being dragged off, though fighting every step of the way, toward the cells, “you said you needed time to think.”
Bloth shrugged his broad shoulders. “I don’t really think I need to. I don’t want that stubborn wench on my ship – a few encounters with the whip and a visit to the constrictus and this headache will be done with.”
Tula bit her lip, she didn’t want to see Solia hurt but wasn’t sure how to convince Bloth not to do anything to her. “Well...why don’t you take some time to think about it? Maybe not do anything to her for a while?”
“Why not?”
“She expects it,” Tula said quickly, “she’s expecting you to hurt her soon and she’ll have time to make herself ready for it. If you wait, she won’t be sure and it’ll start to break her down, not knowing when you’re coming.”
Bloth paused and stared curiously at Tula for a few moments while she held her breath. “I like the way you think, Tula,” Bloth suddenly smiled and Tula had to suppress a sigh of relief, “I’ll only leave her alone a day or two, though, there’s no need for her to become comfortable here.”
“Agreed.”
***
That night, Tula was creeping towards the cells where the prisoner had been taken. Most of the crew were sleeping and only a few of the others, assigned to keep watch that night, were wandering around the ship. Tula had so far managed to sneak away unnoticed and hadn’t caught the attention of anyone.
The man guarding the prisoner, a tall man with pale skin and light hair, had been dozing slightly but suddenly took a more alert stance when he saw Tula approaching. “What do you want, lass?”
“Bloth sent me to see the prisoner.” Tula said in the sternest way she could, she was, after all, of a higher rank than him.
“Really?” the guard looked confused, “why didn’t he come down himself?”
“He wanted to sleep,” Tula shrugged, “it’s been a long day.”
“And he sent you?”
“Look,” Tula sighed, “I could easily just go back to the deck, wake Bloth up and tell him that he is not permitted to sleep because someone is questioning his orders.” The young woman smirked and folded her arms, “it’s your choice.”
The guard immediately changed his tone. “No, no, lass, it’s fine, go right in.”
Tula strutted past him as the guard muttered curses under his breath. The cell was quite large but, as it was night, the darkness completely enveloped the whole room. The prison part of the ship was always the darkest and coldest – granted, why would Bloth take on the extra expense just to house his enemies?
Despite the darkness, it was quite easy to spot Solia; she was pacing frantically like a wild animal in a small cage.
“Solia?” Tula asked gently.
The familiar voice snapped the girl out of her trance and she stood up straight, her eyes narrowed. “What do you want?”
Tula looked around nervously, the guard was still very close outside and she couldn’t risk him hearing her. She took a few steps closer to Solia, dropping her voice to a whisper, “listen, Solia, I’m not your enemy. I want to help you.”
Solia snorted, “Why should I trust you?”
“You’ve already met me; you know that I’d never betray Ren or your brother.”
“Maybe that was just because the offer wasn’t good enough then.”
Tula gritted her teeth but knew that losing her temper wouldn’t help the situation. “I swear to you, Solia, I’m on your side.”
Solia turned her back on the young woman and sat down on the cold cell floor. “Don’t waste your time, Tula.”
Tula sighed and, deciding the conversation was going nowhere, left the cell. Maybe Solia just needed the time to calm down before she’d listen, she concluded. The guard slammed the huge barred door closed as she walked out.
“Much luck with the prisoner?” The guard said smugly, noticing Tula’s dreary face.
Tula glared and walked back toward the deck of the ship, her shoulders slumped.
The guard chuckled and turned towards the prisoner, “I hope you aren’t expecting her to help you.”
“I’m not,” Solia spat. She paused for a moment, a frown forming on her face, before taking a confident step forward and wrapping her hands around the cell bars. “Hey, how about we make a deal?”
“A deal?” the guard repeated sceptically.
“Yeah, you see, I’ve been looking for treasure.”
“Treasure? Where?”
Solia hesitated for a second before she replied, “...Stalagor, there’s treasure on Stalagor.” “Stalagor?” The guard snorted and turned his back on her, “there’s no treasure on Stalagor, the dark water got that island months ago.”
“Well...there’s...”
“Give it up, wench.”
Solia growled, storming away from the cell door and back into the darkness.