Reunion at Sea

Overboard

In retrospect, he was being incredibly petty. But, if anyone asked, the horse started it. That's what was running through Eugene's mind as he was drifting in the water with Maximus, watching the ferry leave without them after they fell overboard and Shorty, in his ever-so-helpful (not) way, failed to alert anyone.

Maximus let out a huff and a knicker and Eugene fumed. "Oh-ho! Oh, this is my fault, huh? Why couldn't you just let me lean on the railing?!" He gestured to the ferry, which had disappeared into the fog. "Heaven forbid, someone would break a rule!"

Maximus huffed and used his hooves to part the mane that had fallen loose in front of hiseyes. "Well, don't worry," Eugene went on, "we're out in the middle of nowhere." He gestured around them, then sighed heavily. "I'm sure a ship'll just come by and rescue us any second now." He added sarcastically.

As if on cue, they heard something moving in the water behind them and looked up to see a ship passing by. "Okay," Eugene said, after they both recovered from the shock of its arrival, "I'd like to take credit for being right, but that was pure sarcasm just now."

Still, a ship was a ship and they'd take what they could get. There was a rope hanging off the side and they used that to climb up on deck.

"There." Eugene said as they got onboard. "Made it." He looked around. "Not the nicest of accommodations, but a boat's a boat, right?" He looked down, his brow furrowing. "And this boat just so happens to have dozens of jail cells." He sighed, his shoulders slumped. "Max, we've hitched a ride on a prison barge."

Maximus let out a horrified neigh and Eugene patted his side. "Hey, hey, hey. Easy, Law and Order. All the bad guys are locked up." He assured him. "Now, c'mon, let's go find the captain."

Maximus neighed indignantly as he followed him.

--

"Eugene!" Rapunzel stepped out on the ferry's deck. "You've gotta come down! We're playing charades and..." She faltered, not seeing any sign of her beloved. "Eugene?" She walked further out on deck, looking around. "Max?" She looked around the boxes. "Hello?"

She didn't see any sign of them and stood back. "Huh. Where'd they go?"

--

"Look, trust me, buddy," Eugene said as he led Maximus through the oddly-empty deck of the prison barge, "I'm sure this prison barge is heading to the mainland. It's got nowhere else to go. And we'll meet up with the gang there. Easy."

Maximus suddenly grabbed him and yanked him behind some boxes, moments before they heard someone saying, "The last of the guards have been taken out! The mutiny's complete!"

"Did he say 'mutiny'?" Eugene whispered, and they slowly peeked up over the boxes to look at the deck that they'd walked onto.

The prison barge, apparently, had been occupied by a good many criminals, many of them Lady Caine's goons.

"Whoa. Uh..." He looked at Maximus, who was giving him a dirty look. "Okay, well, a mutiny might complicate things, but we can still—"

"The ship is ours, boys!" Lady Caine declared from behind a sail, which she promptly tore a hole into to reveal herself before she jumped down to join the others.

Eugene cringed. "Lady Caine...Anthony the Weasel...Pocket and Otter...and every other bad guy we've ever put away." He said in horror, rubbing his forehead.

Maximus reached up a hoof and turned Eugene's head to look to the side and Eugene spluttered. "Really?! The horse, too?" He shrank down a bit. "This boat's like a who's who of people who want us dead."