Prelude

Written by Amihan del Rosario for Amihan del Rosario's backstory

The stars were gone, swept out of sight by the sudden arrival of charcoal dark clouds that choked out that night sky. Gone were the lights that danced in the heavens like brilliant white jewels, leaving the navigator Amihan del Rosario without her near-constant guides. Caught in the sudden storm, the ship haphazardly tilted back and forth on the choppy waters as rain poured down in heavy sheets.

To make matters worse, the merchant vessel was under attack. No one had noticed the pirates approaching until it was too late. The brigands quickly caught up and boarded the merchant vessel, pouring onto the deck like a hoard of rats.

Amihan stumbled back from the rails while her fellow crew members rushed forward, drawing out cutlasses and pistols as they prepared to defend the vessel.

“Han!” a familiar voice called.

At the nickname, she spun around, immediately catching a glimpse of the first mate, Celio Vela, as he grabbed her arm and tugged her away from the fighting. He pulled her off to the side in a faraway corner and stuffed a folded square of paper into her hand.

“Sir?” she stuttered in confusion.

“‘Tis the new star chart you made, the one that shows the location of that new island,” he told her, looking her dead in the eye as he spoke his next instructions. “Take it. Do not let the pirates steal it. Hide in my cabin ‘til the raid is over. There be a secret compartment you can slip into. Just—”

Celio suddenly cut off. His eyes widened and he shoved Amihan behind him. She heard a clang and turned to see that the first mate had managed to unsheathe his sword just in time, blocking a blade that had cut the space where she once stood. Across from the first mate stood two pirates.

“Han, run!” Celio shouted.

The urgency in the first mate’s voice prompted the navigator to immediately race across the deck toward the stairs. As she fled, she heard someone else bark “After th’ lad!” The thump of footsteps thundering after her caused her pulse spike with dread. She glanced over her shoulder to see a young man with long raven hair tied into a ponytail chasing after her, and he was quickly gaining ground.

Amihan gritted her teeth. As soon as the pirate got uncomfortably close, she skidded to a halt, ducked down, and rammed her elbow behind her, aiming for his gut. She heard him grunt and stumble back, wrapping an arm around where she had made contact.

“You rat!” he growled. “Ye’ll pay for that!”

Then, a series of events happened one after another. One: the pirate lunged at the navigator. Two: Amihan scrambled back to avoid him, but slipped on the wet deck and lost her balance, her feet lifting off the floorboards. Three: the vessel pitched sideways at a sharp angle, tilting away from Amihan’s now falling figure.

And suddenly, she was tumbling overboard. One leg hit the rails on her way over, sending a bursting ache up her leg as she shouted in pain. But that was soon forgotten as she realized she was falling through open air, straight toward the stormy sea.

The last thing Amihan saw before she hit the raging waters below was the shocked face of the pirate as he too tumbled off the ship, and the starless sky behind him.