Mainsail, Captain of Legend

by KonceptKarma

Chapter 5. In Light of Our Problems

The leopard jumped at Mainsail with its claws extended. Mainsail rolled out of the way, and the leopard chased him. It seemed to completely forget about Celestia's presence. It concentrated purely on its new target. Mainsail and the leopard circled one another, seeming to size each other up. They did so for about a minute, until suddenly, the leopard jumped at Mainsail again. This time, he sidestepped the attack, and brought the blunt end of the spear down on the leopard's right eye. It yowled in pain, and swung its left paw at him. The leopard's claws hit their mark, scratching a deep wound into Mainsail's right foreleg. Mainsail growled in pain as the leopard wheeled around to attack again, this time, he spun around and thrust the sharpened end at the leopard. The animal ducked the attack, and pounced onto Mainsail, pinning him to the ground. Mainsail attempted to swing the spear at the leopard, but it brought its paw down upon it as he swung, snapping it like a twig. Mainsail's eyes widened as the leopard brought its head back to deliver the final strike.

Suddenly, the leopard roared in pain as Celestia dug the spear Mainsail had thrown earlier into the back of the leopard's shoulder. It twisted to get free, snapping the sharpened end off, and fled into the jungle. Celestia stood over Mainsail grinning.
"I guess that.. makes us... even." He huffed between exhausted pants.
"I guess so." She agreed, "But we still have a problem."
"Oh, and what's that?" He asked, still lying on his back.
"It's growing dark, and we're still lost in here." Celestia worried.
"No we're not," Mainsail pointed to a column of smoke above the treeline, "look there."
"A signal fire, when did you do that?" Celestia asked.
"While you were busy getting yourself lost. I managed to do that, and make these spears to fish with, but now that's kind of out of the question." He pulled himself up with a grunt.
"Yeah, sorry about that." She kicked at the ground in disappointment.
Mainsail shrugged, "What can you do, I'll make more tomorrow." He then noticed Celestia's wing, "Uh, I'm no expert, but that looks like it hurts."
"I tripped, and I think I sprained it." She winced in pain as she tried to move it. Mainsail thought for a second, then an idea hit him. He ran off into the jungle, leaving a confused Celestia standing in the clearing. In a minute or so, he came back with a bunch of vines draped across his back.
"Give me the spear." He ushered. She gave him a quizzical look, but handed him what was left of the spear. He placed the spear on top of the injured wing, and tied the vines around it, forming a makeshift splint. Celestia looked over the splint.
"Wow Mainsail, this is pretty good work." She said, sounding rather surprised.
"Hey, a sailor's gotta know his knots." Mainsail crossed his forelegs and nodded, a big smile plastered on his face.
"What's with the smile?" She held back a chuckle as she spoke.
"Well, that's the first time you've complemented me." He looked at Celestia to see her blushing ferociously. Without saying another word, the two of them trotted back to where Mainsail had set up the signal fire.

As Celestia lay beside the fire, she could only feel one thing, hunger. Even the pain of her injured wing couldn't overwhelm hunger. She glanced over at Mainsail, who was laying on his back, looking at the stars and whistling a tune.
"How do you do it?" She asked.
The question slightly confused him, "Do what?"
"How do you act so relaxed in a situation like this?" She spoke a little louder than she intended to, "I mean, we could die out here, and you don't even look bothered."
"Believe me, I am bothered by it, scared to death in fact. But there's no point in worrying about something we can't change. We've done what we can to get ourselves rescued, and if it doesn't work then it doesn't work." He responded flatly. Celestia wanted to say more, but couldn't find the words. She just looked intently at the fire, and let Mainsail for back to his tune. Eventually, it was Mainsail who decided to speak up.
"I honestly think you worry too much." He said bluntly.
"I do not!" She blurted back.
"Uh, yeah you do." He chuckled to himself as he retorted.
"How do I worry too much?" She stood up, genuinely irritated with him.
"Well for starters, we're marooned on an island that overlooks one of the busiest shipping corridors in the world, with a giant signal fire lit, mind you. Secondly, you're Princess Celestia, and your farther, the king, probably has all of the royal navy out searching for you by now. By tomorrow we'll be rescued, and this whole ordeal will all be over." Knowing he made his point, Celestia slowly lay back down on the sand.
"Thank you." She spoke softly.
"For what?" Mainsail asked.
"For saving my life, twice." She responded.
"I did do that didn't I?" He asked rhetorically. "In that case, that doesn't make us even."
"What?" Her head shot up.
"Yeah, I saved you twice, and you only saved me once. You still owe me one." Mainsail sat up, the same big grin plastered on his face.
"Oh?" Celestia stood up, and slowly stepped towards him, "Well in that case, I think I know of a way to make us even."
"And what would that be milady?" He asked. Celestia suddenly jumped on top of him, pinning him to the ground. "M..milady?" He asked again, beginning to blush. She said nothing, only drawing her face closer to his. Mainsail's heart thumped like a war drum. Was she seriously about to do what he thought she was. He closed his eyes in anticipation, he could feel her breath on his lips. Just as they were about to meet, she stopped.
"Or not." She whispered, and quickly drew her head back. She picked herself up off of Mainsail, and returned to the fireside. His face was so bright red from blushing that it nearly glowed in the dark. He did his best to calm himself as the stared up at the night sky.

Comments

[hailetheking]

And the prodigal son returns. I have to say, your writing has improved a lot, and that last scene had me go

"Oh. OH. OH! OH OH OH!!! Oh..."