Lauren stayed aboard exploring the ship until she found an old black and white picture in one of the empty bedrooms, she studied the picture wondering who the people in it were. Both of the people in the picture were women and they were dressed in the traditional cloths the showed that they were pirates; one of them was tall with long curls hair she wore a captain hat, the other was shorter with scars on her face and a black and white striped shirt. They had their arms around each other and were smiling happily as if they were in love, next to the picture carved into the wall were the words the love I feel for you Grace is as deep as the sea, I will always remember you- Stripes.
After a bit more exploration the curious nineteen year old went back to Illiana's bedroom carrying the picture with her, she sat on the floor and waited for Illiana to return. The words carved on the wall in that empty bedroom kept ringing in her mind. She wondered for the first time why there wasn’t anyone staying in that room, space seemed tight on the ship and that room seemed to be big enough to fit four sets of bunks.
The confused sailor leaned against the frame of Illiana's bed grateful to be out of the horrible tavern, she had been the owner's property for almost a year and was subject to all manner of abuse by him leaving her fearful of any sort of sudden movement or loud noises. As if on cue a sudden bang echoed in the hallway making her cower in place, her captain burst into the room then stopped seeing the fear on her new crew member’s face. A very scared Lauren looked up as Illiana entered "hello captain" she said her quiet respectful voice
"We have a new crew member love, come and meet him" Iliana said. She smiled to herself when she realized she really did care for Lauren and didn’t want to see her hurt or frightening in anyway. Even if the girl couldn’t love her like she needed at least she could interact with her and make sure she didn’t get left alone too long.