Ponies out at sea

"Oh, come on, you're alive? What am I gonna eat now?!" the mare would complain... Of course, she's the only survivor other than him... Perfect

Umbra quickly stands up, ready to grab at his blade, "E-Eat me?! God, you pirates really are a bunch o' sick fucks!" he'd almost growl out.

"Hey, woah there big boy, keep that toy away~" she'd chuckle, letting out a soft murr "let's be happy you're alive, eh? Unless you want to change that~?"

He huffs "Fuck. You." he stays ready to draw his sword, half tempted to do so already, "You killed off my entire crew! All my friends, all the ponies I've been sailing with for these past few weeks... You laughed while doing so, you bitch!" he'd slowly draw his blade, glaring.

She'd just rolls her eyes, "oh cmon... It was more like a suicide on their end~" she'd laugh but, would get quickly shut up as the dark blue stallion jumps and pins her, as he'd noticed her missing sword. "W-WOAH! H-Hey, now one second! W-We're stuck here together! W-Wherever... "this" is, we... You, have a better chance of not ending up like all of my crew if I'm not dead... R-Right... ?" she'd gulp softly, a vine going to grab him by the neck. He'd react by suddenly cutting the vine before it got the chance, then stabbing his blade through her hoof, making her scream.

"Yeah? Here I thought I had a better chance not taking chances with some fucking, pirate witch!" he slightly states his blade, making her tell out louder.

"AGH! F-FUCK! O-Okay okay please! I-I have a large bounty on my head, Alive! Y-you take me in, you get more bits than you know what to do with! C-Clearly I'm outmatched, I-I don't pose a threat!" she winces and tries to break free, her hoof leaks honey.

He just ignores the weird biology of this... Creature... And considers his choices... "... You're lucky I might need you alive..." he huffs and yanks his blade out, getting off of her.

She pants and quickly clutches her hoof, "F-Fucking... A-Asshole..." she mutters, a vine wrapping round her wound til it stops the bleeding. "Ngh... Damn, I really wish I'd had my blade still while you were out..." she slowly gets to her hooves, limping a little.

"Shut it... First things first, I'm in charge, that means I get first on any food, any water, any shelter, any warmth..." he huffs and puts his blade away.

She seems... Unhappy with these rules... However, seeing as she's basically as good as dead on her own, she has to go along with it... At least till she has something to cave his head in with. "Y-Yes, sir..." she'd sigh out.

He'd look at her, shaking his head, "Well get on with it, witch!" he'd yell out, trotting next to her.

"I'm not a witch... Plant pony... Figures your type would be ra-"

Umbra smacks her with his hoof, glaring, "Did I ask what you were? Get to fucking work..." he'd say, and push her a bit.

This would, at least, get her to move, scouting out for... Anything... Any shelter, food, water... Maybe civilization? Umbra follows, scouting with her as they enter the tree covered part of the island...

It felt... Weird, to both. Neither him nor her were used to being on solid ground, especially not in nature. The mare trotted slowly, carefully, partially to not miss any bits of food, any sources of water. A big factor in her speed was also her now very heavily injured hoof... Luckily, she didn't need to worry about getting any kind of infection in that wound, so that was... At least a positive. It was... Silent... Neither of the two talked, no reason to, hearing her speak in that, condescending, unapologetic voice of hers... It was... Frustrating. As much as Umbra wanted to avenge his fallen crew, the friends he'd just started making, the ship he'd called his home... Hell, his favorite damn flintlock now down in the depths of the great, deep blue... He'd give her a scar for each, eventually... But he couldn't afford to have her go any slower.

Their search lasts over an hour... Before the mare seemingly pucks up on something, suddenly changing directions, heading in a straight line, and, right there... Wild strawberries... Not the most filling, but... A few hoof-fulls would be at least... Distracting.

"Good eye... Now pick 'em" he'd order the mare.

"P-Pick them…? But... M-My hoo-"

"Pick. 'Em." he'd repeat, glaring at her harder, a good bit of annoyance in his voice.

She lets out an audible whimper, but, goes down and begins to pick the berries. It wasn't fun, each one required her to bend her injured hoof, one she tried to avoid bending... By only the fifth one, she'd already have tears in her eyes, though it didn't seem he'd care... By all means she deserved this but... She still didn't exactly... Enjoy it... It takes some time, but she manages to pick every single one. Every last one, eaten by him, all of her pained picking, gone in just, seconds, and none of it having been twords her own hunger...

"Heh... Good girl... Glad to see ya didn't lie about having use... Now, water..." he'd give her a shove, and start walking as she did as well...

Luckily for them, there was also a fresh spring right near where the berries grew. He'd check out the water, seeing her beam a little, he'd smirk "You don't get to drink... Look around, maybe you'll find some more food, chop chop..."

This makes her glare... But being completely helpless... She'd nod and, move away...

Umbra drinks up from the fresh spring, washing down his recent... Snack... He'd observe her, making sure she doesn't go in for water... A part of him did feel bad, she seemed like a sweet mare... Besides the pirate part, he'd be left to wonder... How'd she end up like this... Seeing her limp around, and seeing a few tears roll down her cheeks, he'd relent, if just a little... "... Go... Go get a drink first... You're slow enough, don't need dehydration making ya even slower..."

She seemed... Cautious... But, slowly, approached the spring, and drank up, her pained expression softening a bit... This made Umbra feel a little better about himself... As much as he hated doing this, he had to make sure she was scared of him... Else, he'd be risking his own life for some lowly pirate...

The mare finally lifts her head, after a long, healthy drink... Sighing softly, she'd slowly stand up straight. She glances at him, then, trots off to look around for any more food... To no luck, at least, not yet anyway...

Umbra follows close behind, making sure she doesn't run off, or that she doesn't eat everything if she were to find something... "S-Sorry I... Haven't seen anything else..." she'd meekly say, that, confidence she just oh so emanated now all but gone.

He shakes his head and sighs, "yeah, well... We'll find something... We need shelter still... It'd be best to set something up near the water..."

She nods, "R-Right away..." this was good, something he definitely couldn't pull off without her. She trots back to the spring, reaching her hooves out, and closing her eyes... The ground gently crackles, a bundle of thick vines shoot out in a cone like shape, enough room for them both to have space to sleep in. Even if it'll be uncomfortably close. She'd pants gently and almost fall to her side, this little move seemingly having drained a lot of her strength...

"Woah" Umbra would state, looking over to her creation, made in a mater of seconds... He'd glance at her, honestly a tad bit worried, his distaste for her slowly starting to fade... Especially seeing her in this shape. He'd, feel a bit guilty of the hoof stab... "Hey, you okay...?" he'd trot closer as he looks her over...

"What's it to you..." she huffs softly sitting up "... I-I'm fine... I'll find more food for you.. ."

He'd shake his head, "I- no you..." he sighs, "just... Go, rest... Start a fire if you can, I'll... See if I can get more food..."

The mare seems a little confused, but... She happily takes the opportunity to rest, especially after making that shelter for them... How he expected her to light a fire was beyond her...

Umbra heads out solo, looking for... Preferably an animal to hunt... Of course, fate wasn't about to make life easy... He'd spend hours wandering the woods, leaving little marks in trees and landmarks he could retrace to avoid getting lost... After a full 3 hours of aimless wandering... He'd have only found a single berry bush... Unfortunately, these we're not edible... He'd eventually be forced to turn around... He'd retrace his steps faster, it'd only take a third of the time to come back, however, around halfway he'd spot some tracks... No mistaking it... A wild chicken...

He carefully follows the tracks checking around him, keeping low, making sure he doesn't alert the bird if he gets close enough... After a few minutes of tracking, he'd see it... Slowly pulling it, his blade, more than ready to come back with something to eat... For both of them... He'd swiftly jump at the thing, managing to stab it through the side. It thrashes and clucks and screams, before he finishes it off.

After picking up the bird corpse, he'd start to slowly retrace his steps, which would take a bit, but, once on track, he'd finally be back at camp... And the mare hadn't started a fire... Though, she did have a fire pit set.

She looks over, she looked excited but, it quickly faded, kind of expecting to not get a piece when it's cooked... "Sorry... I... Don't know how to start a campfire..." she'd huff.

"It's... Fine... I'll get it started..." he'd toss down the bird beside her "prep it while I do so..." he'd take his sword and unscrew the hilt, leaving him with a piece of flint, and the steel of his blade. He gathers some more, dry-er grass, dry leaves, thin sticks, and begins striking with the flint.

It's silent at this point... Just the sound of him sticking flint against his blade. It takes a good few minutes of striking before he speaks up, "... So... What's your name...?" he'd ask

She stays silent... Continuing to prep the bird... Her name didn't matter, nor did she want it in his mouth... Why would she, so far he's been sending mixed signals, as far as she could tell, he just wanted to torture her, give her hope and snag it away last second...

He doesn't bother her again... With the fire soon roaring, and day slowly fading to night, he'd begin to cook. Soon, the bird was, in fact, cooked... And he'd dig in, though the mare didn't dare even ask for a piece... A good 3 minutes in, he'd realize this, "You can come get some... You need food... We wouldn't have been able to get this cooked and had shelter by now if not you... You may be a pirate, but... Don't mean you deserve to be starved..."

She hesitates, but, nods, sitting down beside him... The two then dig into their first meal... It wasn't anything special, but it was far better than a small amount of berries. After they were done eating, they'd put the scraps into the fire. The plant mare retreats to their shelter, and Umbra soon follows...

"... Cotton... My name's Cotton..." she'd say softly, not looking at him...

"Oh... I'm... I'm Umbra, I wish it were nice to meet you but... Well..." he sighs...

She simply nods, "yeah..." she lays her head down on her uninjured hoof...

The two take some time, but, eventually drift off to sleep... They had to get off this place before their luck started running out...