Chapter Text
“Hey Zanka!” Enjin entered the bar in HQ. It was located in a bay that’s hidden away from the sea by rocks and from land by hills so it was the perfect place to be unnoticed by the majority of traffic.
Zanka shifts around as she notices the tall woman with an eyepatch, a busted up umbrella firmly in her hand. Her big earrings dangle under her loose, short, blonde hair.
“Boss got a mission for ya kiddo!” She grins. “Ya get to go on another mission alone! Ain’t that buncha fun?!” She grins wider as she uses Zanka as her personal arm rest. Enjin is grinning a little too wide for Zanka’s liking but who is she to complain? She always loved when Enjin gave her attention as a teenager but being a young adult it feels awkward being called kiddo in front of everyone at the bar. Regardless, she still feels a sense of pride and excitement at the attention that her big sister figure gives her. She just rolls her eyes and tries to suppress a smile.
”Yeah, yeah very great very cool. What’s the mission?” She watches as Enjin sits down next to her at the bar.
”So boss said that you’re supposed to deliver some message she has for team eager. It’s right in the giant crate that’s already being loaded onto your lovely ship” She points leisurely at the vague direction to where the ship is docked.
”Oh so yer just loadin’ up lovely now without telling me? Not cool.” Zanka rolls her eyes annoyed. Lovely is one of two of her beloved keep sakes. There’s lovely and there’s assisstaff. The latter being a stick that wasn’t cut off of a wooden beam before the assembly of the ship. Zanka got so attached to it that she claimed that it’ll be her weapon of choice, so she kept it. She treasures both equally which is hard to believe to most considering one is a ship and one is a large stick..
”It’s fineeee, ya gonna take Gris, rudo and follo with ya?” Enjin taps on the table and Semiu, the bartender, glares at her before bringing Enjin a whisky.
“Thank ya shnuckums!” Enjin made a joking kissy face and Semiu just rolls his eyes and corrects his glasses.
“This one isn’t on the house by the way. I’ll have you paying me plenty back.” He replied dryly.
“Ah your sarcastic humor always hits too close to home my love!” Enjin sighs dramatically.
”I wasn’t joking” And with that Semiu walks away to tend to other people at the bar. Semiu is probably the most informed at the base. She constantly overhears stories of other crew mates, visitors, criminals.. Zanka wouldn’t be surprised if Semiu had some dirt on the higher ups..
”Enjin please stop trying to flirt with him, I’m getting second hand embarrassment..” Zanka sighs, tracing the rim of his empty glass.
”You know we just playin’!” Enjin chuckles and sips the whiskey.
“So when ya gonna head off?”
”Probably later today, I don’t have anything planned and I’m just gonna go out on a limb here and assume you so generously prepared MY ship.” There’s a snap in the was she finishes her sentence, clearly unamused that her ship had been touched without her permission.
“Yeah yeah, I just told Riyo to load it. Don't worry hun I told him to be careful with it” She leans back. “So you go off and shoo! Get ready for yer trip kid” she waves Zanka off with a smile.
Zanka sighs and gets up. She was finished with her drink anyway, might as well go and get ready for her departure.
The sun was going to set soon. Zanka grabs her Assisstaff and bag before going to her ship. There was Gris, Follo and Rudo waiting in front of it. The girls don’t seem very happy to be there.
“Why am I being put on this mission?” Rudo asks, unsure what she’s doing here.
Gris sighs “You don’t HAVE to come along. Enjin just suggested you’d come along for the experience.” Follo chimes in ,”I mean we have Zanka and we’re not all that weak ourselves. I think we can handle it without the extra hand.”
“You guys the ones comin’ along?” Zanka approaches the group and Rudo looks at her.
“Nah I’m bouta leave. I wanna go and see where Amo ran off to.” Rudo shrugs.
”Me and Gris are coming along though!” Follo says with a bit too much excitement.
Gris just chuckles and pulls out a sheet of paper. “So here are the details of the mission.” She shows it to Zanka who nods along as Gris explains the info of the mission. Follo is left to look between the two women as they talk, slowly snoozing off.
“Alright then it’s settled!” Zanka clasps her hands together which shakes Follo awake. “We’ll try to make this trip short, the sooner we head off the better.” She gets onto the ship and the other two follow.
Zanka goes through the deck and checks everything, she opens the sails as Follo and Gris pull up the anchor. Finally after everything is good to go she heads back up to the helm. “SETTING SAIL!” She shouts out as her ship starts moving, before they know it they’re out to sea.
The waters are calm, swaying gently with the waves as the sun sets. Oranges and reds dye the ship as the light dims. Follo turns on an oil Lamp as she plays cards with Gris on deck, although it’s hard to play with all the swaying. Zanka steers steady holding her compass in hand and using the stars to guide her. She doesn’t need a map, she knows the seas and the seas know her and with that confidence she knows she’ll sail to her destination.
Some time passes and the night swiftly overtakes the ship. Gris had already fallen asleep, Follo didn’t bother to wake her since she knew how tired Gris had been. Her attention shifts to the Captain as she walks up to the helm. Zanka is staring forward, her eyes shifting between sky and sea. Suddenly two arms wrap around her, startling her.
“Follo-“ She gasps as she recognizes her crew mate. “Sorry didn’t mean to startle you.” She snuggles into Zankas neck in a more than friendly hug. “Where’s Gris?” Zanka asks, Follo opens her eyes and she looks at the sea. “Asleep. Thought I’d lend you some company since you’re always alone in the front during your solo missions.” Zanka takes another glance at the giver who’s currently snuggling up to her before her eyes drift back to the sea. “Is it okay if we just stay like this for a while?” Follo asks, her eyes closed once more and her embrace tightening. Zanka spares a hand and gently lays it on Follo’s head. “Yeah, that’s fine.” Zanka knew what this was and Follo knew why it could never work. Still. That never stopped them from having moments like these. Tender, comforting and almost loving. But cleaners should try to avoid having lovers when they go out to sea. If they did then they’d be easy victims for Sirens. Zanka doesn’t have the heart to tell Follo off in moments like these, so she just lets her.
They stay like that for a while until Zanka gently nudges Follo awake. “You should go to the cabin and sleep. Take Gris with ya.” Zanka says softly. Follo rubs her tired eyes and nods before heading back down to Gris who’s still asleep on the chair next to scattered cards. She gently nudges Gris awake and they both go to the Cabin. Zanka watches the seas continuously.
Time passes as the stars start to move. Suddenly the faint sound of singing can be heard from the distance, it’s gentle and soothing and Zanka knows exactly what this means. They’ve arrived at the sun rocks, the hot spot for Sirens and shipwrecks. Sirens lure Sailors to the lime rocks, the rocks reflect the sun and blinds the sailors, then the sirens make their ships crash before they take the poor souls and drag them under water. That’s why it’s best to sail through here during the night, it’s easy to see the rocks without them being blinding. But you can’t see the Sirens outside of their eyes glowing dimly in the darkness.
Zanka grabs Assisstaff firmly in her hands, still steering. There’s no reason to wake up the other two, she can handle this by herself. Besides only a few Sirens have actually started to sing, thank god that these creatures were mostly active during the day time.
Suddenly she can feel her ship shake. They’ve arrived. Zanka leaves her wheel and maker her way towards the middle of her deck. She holds her Assisstaff firmly and prepares to fight. Her eyes dart to the corners of the ship, scanning for any Sirens who want to be unwelcome passengers tonight. Before she knew it she had already started to swing her stick viciously, swiftly and without mercy. Blood quickly covered the corners of the ship as Zanka took out one Siren after the other. The wails of sirens could be heard as their skulls got shattered, ribs broken and teeth knocked out. It all happened in a moment and suddenly the songs have dissipated. Well almost all. There was a song in the distance still humming. It was vicious, it wasn’t even pretty. This alarmed Zanka and she swiftly turned her head towards the direction of the song. Theres under the full moon was a Siren with locks that somehow swayed in the wind. Her eyes glowed red, teeth sharp and a grin so wide it reflected the moonlight. Zanka swallowed hard, that siren looked like she personally wanted to skin her alive. The song grew louder and louder until it was a ringing in her ears. Zanka rubbed her temples and closed her eyes, when she opened them again the siren was gone, but the song wasn’t. She wouldn’t dare to sleep now.
Gris woke up first and heads out to the deck. She almost screams in shock at the sight of the brutal gore in front of her. The sun had long risen and they were almost at their destination, island already in sight.
”Zanka what is this?! I told you to wake us if there was a monster attack damn it!” Gris sighs and tries to tidy up the ship a little, she scrunches her nose at the spilled brains and scattered teeth. She finds the cards from their previous little game to be covered in blood.“Dude..” she sighs but disposes of them too. Zanka eventually notices that Gris is awake and shouts over her shoulder.
“Oh good morning Gris! Yeah sorry bout the mess!” Her eyes are still focused on the route ahead. Gris just sighs and manages to get most of the detached Body parts and organs cleaned up. Follo wakes up shortly after and comes out yawning. “Good morning everyooOAH.” Follo gasps at the bloody sight. “What the hell happened here last night?!” Her eyes turn to Gris who is carrying a few bags of waste to the corner. “A Siren attack based on the.. scatterings..” Follo grimaces. “Eughhh gross! Zanka you need to stop splitting Sirens heads open while we sleep!” She turns her head towards Zanka, but before her head could make the full turn she stumbles as the ship reaches the coast. “We arrived! Set the anchor!” Zanka shouts down at her crew. Follo just pouts before following Gris to set the anchor. Zanka sets her ship lovely gently before hopping down to the deck.
“Next time there’s trouble please just wake us!” Gris sighs, rubbing her temples.
”It was just a few Sirens, nothin’ I couldn’t handle. They’re not really rare or anything and are weaker humanoid sea creatures anyway. Besides I need ya to lock the hell in for the job because i’m BEAT!” She stretches out her arms and yawns.
“They may be ‘weaker’ but they usually lure sailors to their doom-“ Gris starts but gets cut off by Zanka.
”PENT UP sailors. Did you forget what Corvus said? I’m the most resistant to their song! No one can withstand their songs like i can!” She crosses her arms. “So don’t worry bout’ it yeah?”
”Just because you’re the most suited for this doesn’t mean you can’t rely on us” Gris sighs. “But yeah I guess it makes sense to let us get rest so we can take care of the actual Job. Go get rest we’ll deliver the message.” Zanka nods in acknowledgment and makes her way to the cabins before locking the door behind her and collapsing onto the bed. She watches as Follo and Gris leave before she let herself fully rest.
She could still hear the screeching sound of the song. It’s been ringing in her ears all night and it hadn’t gone away. But the siren was gone and she was no longer at the sun rocks so why. Why was she still hearing her song? Had she not been as resistant as she thought? Was Enjin wrong about her? Was Corvus wrong to make her go on so many solo missions? The anxiety of disappointing those who she looked up to pooled heavy in her stomach. Her throat closed up as she’s trying to hold back tears. She gets up and closes the blinds before collapsing in front of the door, sobbing. The feeling of having failed rushes over her and spikes her nervous system, her legs too weak to hold her as she just weeps.
After a while her tears have stopped and all that’s left was heaving. She collects herself from the floor and lays down in the bed again. No one will know. No one can know. She decided to keep this a secret from everyone. She can handle it. The song, ringing loudly in her ears, starts to sooth her to sleep. Her eyelids feel heavy and she finally drifts off.
Zanka awakes to banging at her cabin door. Still tired, she gets up on weak knees, rubbing her eyes as she reaches to unlocks it. “Yeah?” She murmurs looking up at who just woke her.
“Good eve-“
“GOOD EVENING FELLOW CREW MATE!!”
Oh it was Tamsy and Delmon.
“I told you to quiet down damn you!” Tamsy hit Delmon on the head with her distaff. “I’m terribly sorry Zanka, i told her to be more gentle with her approach today but it seems someone got too excited.” Her tone got bitter but Delmon doesn’t seem to pick up on it at all.
”WE WANTED T-“ Tamsy nudged her in the ribs. “I mean- We wanted to thank you for coming all this way to deliver the message!”
“Yes, Gris and Follo mentioned you having quite the night, so as a thanks we wanted to treat you guys for a meal before you depart back to HQ.” She smiles.
Zanka sighs. “Give me a minute I’ll just get my shoes on.” She turns back around and gets her shoes on before locking up and patting her face to wake herself up. “Alright! Where to?”
Tamsy notices Zanka’s eye bags but just before Zanka notices her staring, Delmon interrupts. “THERE’S A LOVELY SEAFOOD RESTAURANT THAT OPENED UP!” She takes Zanka and hugs her with one arm. “LET’S GET GOING FRIENDS!”
Tamsy eyes Zanka suspiciously but decides to let it slide for now. They meet up with Gris and Follo down at the docks. Follo waves.
”Good morning sleepyhead! Did you rest well?” She asks as they both approach Zanka.
“Yeah, so we’re getting treated for seafood?” She chuckles. Follo grins and grabs her hand. “Yeah! C’mon!”
They all make their way to a small seafood restaurant at the edge of the dock. It’s slightly hidden away from the main traffic area so it’s quiet. They get in, take a seat and look at the menu.
“Oo i think I’ll have the crab!” Follo points at the picture.
“Yo that looks good I’ll order that too!” Delmon exclaims with excitement. And with that an evil alliance has formed between the two people who were about to wreck crab legs at the table.
“Zanka what about you?” Tamsy asks, which snaps Zanka out of her daze.
”huh? Oh uh.. I guess I’ll be fine with whatever..” she props her chin on her face while looking through the menu. Tamsy looks at her puffy eyes again before shifting her attention to Gris.
Eventually they settle for two orders of crab for Follo and Delmon, an order of shrimp pasta for Tamsy and two orders of surf n turf for Gris and Zanka. Everyone also ordered the local beer except for Zanka, she had to stay sharp to lock in on sailing later tonight.
Once the waiter leaves the conversations start going again. Tamsy leans in towards Zanka and whispers. “So why were you crying? You seem bothered.” This shook Zanka up and for a moment, Tamsy could see genuine horror in the woman’s eyes. It quickly subsided though as Zanka collected herself. “I- uh- It’s nothing please don’t read into it too much.” Suddenly Follo was leaning on Zanka which startled her.
“Zanka you think that crab should be best enjoyed with rice too right?! RIGHT?”
“ZANKA TELL FOLLO THAT EATING ANYTHING WITH CRAB DISRESPECTS ITS LIFE!! CRAB SHOULD BE ENJOYED BY ITSELF!!”
Delmon and Follo continue to argue about how to eat crab the best while Gris tries to gently get them to let it go. Meanwhile, zanka turns her gaze back to Tamsy, who’s looking at her with a knowing smile. Something about it makes her skin crawl.
Soon the food and drinks arrive and they all get chummy with eachother as their satiated hunger and intoxicated minds calm any disputes.
”Honestly you should’ve seen the mess! This girl needs to stop slaughtering everything so violently! There were guts and brains and-“
“TMI!! Ewwww we’re eating!” Follo interrupts and Gris just chuckles.
“Hey Gris, what creatures did you encounter last night?” Tamsy asks.
”Oh it was just some sirens, Zanka didn’t bother to wake us. But honestly the cards man? Totally ruined!” Gris exclaims.
”THE CARDS?! NOO WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ALL NIGHT?!” Follo groans at the sudden loss.
”Sirens huh.” Tamsy looks at Zanka again who was laughing along with the others.
“Did you guys hear any songs?” Tamsy asks.
Gris raises an eyebrow, “No not really, i mean we were asleep and only Zanka was awake. Zanka were there any songs?”
Zanka suddenly got nervous but her self control is better than that. “Yeah but nothing I couldn’t handle.” She exclaims with every amount of confidence she can muster. Tamsy notices however and continues to push.
”Are you sure? You seem nervous” And with that everyone’s attention was on her. Suddenly she could feel the floor sinking in on her, the song ringing in her ears hammered against her skull and she almost wanted to disappear. But she persisted.
”I’m fine, I’m just- really tired okay??” She sighs and rubs her temples. Now everyone is worried and an awkward silence suddenly floods the table.
“So Delmon what was the message for?” Follo breaks the silence first and the attention on Zanka was gone.
A few times during that dinner, Zanka noticed Follo and Gris glancing at her. She hopes Tamsy falls into a ditch for this, she always does this, prying into other peoples business.
After dinner they thank Tamsy and Delmon for paying before heading off to the ship. They walk in silence for a while before Gris speaks up. “So.. You good?”
Zanka groans and walks faster “We don’t have time for this, if we don’t head out now the sun might set before we get past the sun rocks.”
”Zanka if.. if you’re not doing well we can stay at a hotel and-“ Follo starts but gets interrupted by Zanka.
”NO. Just..” she sighs. “Just get on the ship and let’s go home.” She continues walking, the song still in her head, hammering against her skull.
Follo and Gris exchange worries looks but follow close behind her as they make their way back to the ship.