Entry for the Harry Potter Monopoly

Astronomy Tower: (task) Include a full moon into your story, but do not write about werewolves.

Entry for Myths and Legends at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Task #3: Write a story set aboard a ship. Max 2,500

Entry for the Chocolate Frog Card Club

(Gold) Kappa; Challenge: Incorporate someone sneaking up on someone or making them jump into your story.

Entry for the Last Ship Sailing Competition

Prompts:

(dialogue) "You don't mean that."

(word) smoke

(word) weakness

(object) binoculars

(colour) magenta

Bonus Prompts:

(colour) grey

(emotion) nostalgic

Entry for the Gringotts Prompt Bank

Various Prompts: Jane Eyre

(eye colour) brown

(emotion) sadness

(event) being locked in a room

(action) being accused of lying

(emotion) loneliness

(item) a dark-coloured dress

(item) a letter

(item) a quill

Various Prompts: Bambi

(season) autumn

(colour) red

(word) careful

(action) being unsteady on your feet

(action) protecting someone

(action) fire spreading

(action) first kiss

(action) trapped

Various Prompts: Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice

(quote) "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

(character) tall, dark, handsome

(OC Name) Elizabeth

(emotion) longing

Persuasion

(quote) "None of us want to be in calm waters all our lives."

(action) a kiss

Northanger Abbey

(plot point) a trip

(item) a nightdress

Emma

(quote) "I may have lost my heart, but not my self-control."

(character type) The saviour

Thank you to Emily, who betaed this for me!

(2320 Words)

Sailor And Saviour

The full moon was hanging low over the horizon, its silvery light touching the waves of the ocean. A long path of moonlight was spanning over the ever-moving surface of the cold sea, seeming as endless as the Atlantic itself. The autumn breeze that moved the waves was light and cool, making the sails of the ship creak as it was pushed forwards. Only a few men were on deck; the helmsman and three sailors for the look-out, moving silently as they fulfilled their tasks. In this clear night, they could see all the stars – it was as if the whole galaxy was visible to them.

Away from their eyes, just above the figurehead, a young woman stood in the wind, letting it play with her brown hair. Her gaze was wandering over the marvelous stars above her, a certain longing shining in her brown eyes. However, whenever her eyes met the horizon ahead of the ship, the longing disappeared, and was replaced by fear, sadness and unease.

Her dark grey dress moved in the breeze, and her hands were clutching the wooden railing in an attempt to steady herself on the rolling deck.

The ship had left the port in the early morning hours, but she already felt homesick. It hadn't been her choice to board the ship; it had been that of her mistress. Katherine Bell was only a servant to the Duchess after all; it wasn't up to her to decide if she wanted to travel to the new world with the Lady or not.

Already now, after a mere day of travel, she was longing for home; she missed Scotland, the Loch their castle had been near. She missed the green meadows, the rides, the castle they'd lived in. If she could, Katie would probably jump into the sea and swim back to Scotland. These nostalgic thoughts were hurting her, stinging in her chest and making her heart heavy, but she still couldn't stop herself from remembering everything she'd never see again.

Never before in her life had she felt so lonely; all the maids she'd been friends with had stayed in Scotland, and Lady Elizabeth was no one Katie would have confided her sorrows to. For all Lady Elizabeth cared about was herself and how comfortable her cabin aboard the ship was; there was no space for the feelings of someone else.

Suddenly, a deep, calm voice ripped her from her thoughts, making her jump, as she'd been unaware of her surroundings. She turned around, even though she hadn't really understood what had been said. Katie was surprised to see the tall, dark and rather handsome Lieutenant Flint standing in front of her; she'd only briefly seen him in the morning while boarding. The first thing she'd noticed about him was how good he looked in his blue Navy uniform; the second thing had been how rough he'd been towards everyone at the dock – she'd immediately found him unsympathetic.

"My lady? Do you understand what I said?"

Katie blinked in confusion and stared up at him with wide eyes, stuttering: "What... what did you say, Lieutenant?"

She knew that her cheeks had to be coloured a bright magenta by now, and she was only glad that the moon and the lanterns on deck weren't providing enough light for him to notice her blush.

"I asked if you were alright, milady. You looked a little lost, if I may say so," Lieutenant Flint explained, sounding polite and relaxed; in complete contrast to the way he'd shouted at everyone except the Captain and the Executive Officer this very morning.

"I... yes, thank you. I was just deep in thought, Lieutenant."

Katie smiled softly while her fingers played absentmindedly with the golden pendant hanging around her neck from a red velvet ribbon. She noticed that he did something similar with his left hand – his fingertips were wandering over his binoculars as if he needed something to occupy them so they wouldn't hang down awkwardly.

He nodded in understanding and for a long moment, he gazed out over the illuminated ocean before he responded.

"This is a good place to ponder. I too have stood here quite a few nights. The sound of the waves seems to wash all the unnecessary thoughts away, and you are able to focus on the important ones. May I ask what you were thinking about?"

Katie hesitated; living at the court of her mistress had taught her to be careful with whom she talked. Every thoughtless comment could become a weakness, real trust was rare, and had led to the suspiciousness Katie now always had when someone asked her something.

"I was thinking about how much I miss home already. I'm not particularly fond of adventures, I admit. And I don't understand why my mistress chose me to accompany her," Katie answered after a long moment of silence, turning towards the ocean again.

"But what is life without a little adventure? None of us want to be in calm waters all our lives," Lieutenant Flint said after some time, and Katie shook her head.

"I am just a maid; excitement usually isn't my cup of tea. You're a sailor, Mister Flint. Aren't you living for the adventure? I cannot imagine being away from home all the time."

"You get used to it over time, milady," he answered and she stared at him, a sudden thought crossing her mind that she needed to voice.

"But don't you have a wife at home that you miss? A family?"

A dry snort escaped the sailor and he shrugged, answering in a sarcastic tone: "It is a truth universally acknowledged; a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. I don't think I will ever marry; my heart belongs to the sea."

"You don't mean that, do you? I mean, you cannot be sure about your future yet," Katie responded and felt herself blushing as he gave her a questioning glance. She didn't know why, but she felt odd about his statement on marriage. Looking up, her gaze met his and a slight shiver ran down her spine; his dark eyes were surprisingly warm and there was something about them that made her stomach feel fluffy.

Knowing full well that she was currently blushing, she cleared her throat and smiled politely at him, stating: "I think I will go to bed now, Lieutenant. I wish you a quiet watch."

Inwardly scolding herself for having lost the control of her tongue in such a way, she walked away from him and climbed down the stairs into the belly of the ship. She and the other maid had been given a small cabin to share; the air was thick down there, but at least it was a little bit or privacy on this ship full of males.

However, she was unable to find any sleep this night – her thoughts were circling around her clumsy conversation with Flint, refusing to grant her some rest.

OoO

The next evening, Katie and Lieutenant Flint coincidentally met at the bow again, and this time, their conversation was completely different. As the most embarrassing thing possible had already happened to Katie, she felt a little bit more relaxed about conversing with him. At some point, he asked her to call him by his first name, Marcus, and after a short discussion, she finally accepted.

She found that it was nice to talk to him; he'd appeared rough and unfriendly at first, but now she discovered that he was a rather intelligent and humorous man. And with him, she didn't have to keep her tongue in check; he seemed to like it if she made sarcastic remarks, something that was normally frowned upon.

And with every vespertine meeting, they learned more about each other; they laughed together, shared stories – Katie wanted to hear everything about the pirate encounter he'd once had – and discussed books they'd both read.

Katie had never been in love before, but she could imagine that this was how it felt. Whenever he looked at her, her heart was beating faster and her hands were sweaty. Also, there was nothing she was looking forward to more than their little conversations.

OoO

They'd been at sea for over a week when Lady Elizabeth summoned Katie into her little office close to midnight; wearing only her nightdress and hastily thrown on robes, Katie was supposed to write a letter for her. Katie was already tired, so the quill was shaking in her hand and some ink spots covered the letter, but her mistress of course wasn't bothered. While Katie wrote, Elizabeth was standing behind her, and suddenly, she placed a hand on Katie's shoulder, pressing rather hard.

"You're nervous tonight, Katherine."

"Only tired, Madam," Katie answered and blinked a few times; her eyes were burning, and her mind was longing for sleep.

"Really? I would have thought you're so flustered because you know that I've detected the absence of my ruby collier. You've been the only one who could have gotten hold of it without me noticing, Katherine," Elizabeth hissed and her nails dug into Katie's shoulder; a shiver ran down her spine as she realised what was going on. She'd heard of this before, but she'd never thought that the rumours were true. Servants had spread the word, whispered into ears in dark corners that Lady Elizabeth got rid of servants whom she disliked by making false accusations. Because who would people believe – the mistress or the maid?

"Madam, I assure you, I'm no thief!"

"You're lying, Katherine!" Elizabeth exclaimed and grabbed Katie by the robe, pulling her to her feet. "You're a filthy little thief, betraying me, who gave you a home and respectable work! I'll go and get the Captain now, so he can punish you."

A sadistic gleam was visible in Elizabeth's eyes as she pushed Katie onto the ground and Katie accidentally knocked the table over with her legs. Elizabeth's malevolent laugh made her ears ring, just as the loud bang as she slammed the door shut behind her and locked it. She didn't listen to Katie's pleas, and the young maid ran a hand through her brown locks, unable to believe that she was truly trapped in a situation that only had one possible outcome.

However, seconds later, she realised that she had another problem, despite already having a fair share. The candle that had stood on the table had fallen over, and now all the parchments were catching fire; the flames were consuming them, and it was spreading, feeding itself with the papers and the curtains of the narrow room.

Katie coughed, the smoke already burning in her lungs, and her fists desperately hit onto the wooden door. She screamed for help, hoping that somebody would hear her.

OoO

Marcus was just returning from a cargo check when he heard muffled screams in the distance and smelled the one odour a sailor normally dreaded – fire, smoke, burning wood. Screaming at some sailors that they had a fire on board, he started to sprint, following the noise and the thickening smoke to a door. His heart jumped in shock as he recognised the voice.

"Katie? Katie, get away from the door!" Marcus exclaimed after trying the handle; the door was locked, so he would have to try to break it. Throwing himself against the wood, his right shoulder ached and pain shot through his body, but he ignored it. Upon the third try, the wood splintered, and a man with an axe arrived. It was only a matter of seconds until he was able to pull Katie through a big hole in the door.

She was staggering, holding on to Marcus for support, and he slung one arm around her shoulder to guide her on deck, ordering the men to take care of the fire.

Katie was still coughing as they stood at the bow; she was shaking in the cold night air and Marcus took off his coat to wrap it around her shoulders.

"Are you alright?" He asked when she'd finally caught her breath, and she looked up at him with tears in her eyes. Her voice was raspy as she answered, and he grabbed her hand.

"Thank you... you saved me... I guess I'm unharmed."

She squeezed his hand gently and Marcus growled: "I don't want to imagine what would have happened if nobody had heard your screams! How did this happen?"

His worry flattered her, and she wasn't afraid to tell him the truth: "Lady Elizabeth, she shoved me and the candle fell over... and she locked me in."

Anger flashed across his face and Katie grabbed his hands tighter, a pleading look on her face as she whispered: "She tried to get rid of me. But please, promise me that you won't confront her! She has too much power."

Marcus glared at the air before gazing at her with a softer expression, susurrating: "I may have lost my heart, but not my self-control, Katherine."

A small smile turned the corners of his mouth upwards and he lifted his hand, gently shoving a lock of her hair behind her ear before leaning down to her and brushing his lips over hers. The kiss was short, tentative and sweet, but nonetheless it made a tingle run down Katie's spine. She'd never felt something like this before, and she was glad when he kissed her again after murmuring against her lips: "I think I have fallen in love with you, Katie."

Caressing his cheek, Katie kissed him back, a little bit surprised at how such a dramatic situation could suddenly turn into a good one.