A few of the men were carrying turtles that were half their size towards the galley, so she tagged along to see where she would be making the meals and the like.<br/><br/>Underneath the fo'c'sle, it reeked of body odor and bilge water, with just a hint of rotting fish. Aris had to hold her breath as she walked into the main part of the galley. A sudden whoosh and a cleaver was wedged into the wood beside her, humming softly. "Who in Davy Jones' bleedin' locker brought that frail creature down here? She should be keepin' moral high up on deck!" A fat, and quite boisterous man shouted. Aris looked with concern at the blade that landed near her head, and then at the man who was stomping towards her.<br/><br/>"What are ye lookin' at, ye mouse-faced jack-a-nape?! Git back up where ye belong!" The cook barked, inches from the girl's face. "The captain said she's here to help ye cook, Barnaby, since we all know ye could use the help." One of the men answered, putting a massive turtle onto the floor and wiping his brow.<br/><br/>Barnaby's face turned red with rage, and he grabbed for a butcher's knife "What? So far, everyone I've fed hasn't died from me food, so I see no reason to keep a girl down here. If she don't know how to cook, she can just be throw overboard for all I care!" A pirate shrugged, arms full of wriggling turtle, and muttered, "Ye don't know how to cook turtle, Cookie, so I wouldn't be complainin' about another young set o' hands down here, even if they're attached to a lass of her stature." He nodded awkwardly to Aris, who stood by, blinking in confusion.<br/><br/>"Alright! One of ye stay down here, we may need help heaving these things onto the cuttin' board! Lass, whatever yer name is, do ye know how to cook turtle?" Aris gave a brief nod, her father had been a sailor, and when he saw that the Greenport market had some turtles for cooking, he had to go and get some for dinner. Aris had helped because "It's a two-person job" as her father said, plus her mother hated the sight of blood.<br/><br/>The remaining man heaved a good-sized turtle onto the table with a groan. "Now what!" the cook barked impatiently. I would have the cook's arm be used for this, but I don't need my jaw broken by the captain, she thought, smirking to herself at the thought. "Do you have a wooden spoon?" The large man slapped one right into her open hand. She held it in front of the turtle's head, and it snapped down hard.<br/><br/>"Cleaver" she muttered, hand extended. The extra man came back from across the room with it. With a quick chop, the turtle's head was hacked clean off its body and still holding onto the spoon. "There" Aris murmured, grinning as she remembered her father doing the same thing, "Now put it in the pot, and let's make some soup."