The first time Missy met her was on one of her, definitely unapproved, late night outings into the docks.
She was just wandering through the halls of a half sunken ship, carefully avoiding the sharp rusty edges that seemed to sprout from every corner, when she stumbled into the bridge. After wandering around for a little while and poking at the various decayed instruments, she found herself running a finger along a gun of some kind that had rusted solid onto the wall when a flash of colour in the corner of her eye caught her attention and she turned to look, peering through the filthy but intact glass of the bridge window.
The flash of red far down the front of the ship was just barely visible past the giant turrets taking up most of the front, leaning forwards and squinting she could just about make out a girl sitting on the bow, hair gently fluttering in the cool night wind that washed over the deck. More than a little surprised to see another person, and a little miffed that her fantasies about exploring a never before seen wreck were interrupted, she left the bridge and made her way down the front of the ship to get a closer look.
Staring up at the behemoths of steel that were the guns above her head as she passed by, Missy mused on how quiet it was. The lights from the city just across the bay somehow didn't seem to reach this place and the ever present background noise of cars and the general bustle of civilisation felt like it was just a little too far to hear. It was just the soft moonlight and quiet rumble of the ocean.
Despite the silence, the girl on the front of the ship didn't notice her as she approached her from behind, even though she was doing nothing to hide her footsteps clanging against the steel deck. Taking a moment to inspect the her from behind, Missy put her at thirteen, maybe fourteen. She looked oddly tall and small at the same time, like she was trying to squeeze herself down so she was harder to see as she hid inside the ratty coat she was huddled under. The thick, dull red scarf wrapped around her neck explained what had drawn her eye earlier, even if now that she was closer she could see that it was just as worn as the patchy coat, the ends were threadbare and she could make out rips here and there along it's length. The only thing about her that didn't scream 'homeless bum' was the fact that her dark hair was clean and straight, even if the short cut did make her look a bit like a boy from a distance.
Having finished her inspection, Missy mentally slotted her into the 'poor but not a druggie' box and cleared her throat, frowning as the girl sat completely unresponsive. Adding 'maybe druggie' to the list she tried again a bit louder and was rewarded with the girl violently flinching forwards and letting out a little cry as she began to slip over the edge. Without even thinking about it Missy darted forwards and grabbed the older girl by the back of her coat, gripping the rough material and yanking back hard enough she heard stitches tear, hard enough that even the rough metal under her feet lost it's grip and she fell backwards.
Her back hits the deck with a loud thud and a sharp exhale, a similar sound reaching her ears as the girl lands next to her, the bulky coat cushioning her fall to a quiet whump. Lying back on the cold metal, Missy lets out a long breath as she tries to calm her hammering heart, butterflies dancing in her stomach as she realises how close she came to accidentally murdering someone. Feeling a little light headed, she can't hold back a little bit of relieved laughter as she sits up, looking at the girl sprawled next to her. She's starting up at Missy with wide eyes, like she's not sure she's actually real or not.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I was quieter the first time but you didn't hear me." The ruffled looking girl doesn't say anything and continues staring, Missy can just about make out her eyes shifting as the girl looks at her face, but otherwise she remains still. They sit in silence for an awkwardly long time as the girl doesn't respond and Missy mentally adds a notch to the 'maybe' on 'druggie' isle. "Alright... I'm just going to... go?" She twitches a little as Missy stands, but remains stays where she is laying as the younger girl slowly begins to move away. Missy can feel her eyes on her back as she turns to walks back down the deck, the odd silence making her footsteps echo loudly with each step. Making up her mind to leave the weird girl alone, she heads off the ship but the feeling of someone watching her doesn't fade, even as the ship shrinks in the distance behind her.
When she looks back the girl is nowhere to be seen, just the moonlit silhouette of an ageing warship resting in the bay.
When her parents get into another shouting match about finding her missing at night again, Missy takes the opportunity to escape into town, thankful that it's the weekend so security can't hassle her for being out at school hours. After aimlessly wandering around the shopping district for a while and idly looking through the big armoured windows, she finds herself at the waters edge and looks over to where the giant of a ship was beached yesterday, only to blink and then squint as the spot she could have swore it was sat empty, nothing more than the ends of a few mostly sunken, rusting wrecks poking out of the murky water. Huh. Must be on the other side of the docks. She hadn't thought that she'd gone that far, but it was dark.
Gazing out over the water, Missy wondered as she thought about that strange girl, feeling a little embarrassed at the way she'd just run off on her last night. She'd have to apologise properly when she saw her again.
Somehow, she knew she'd find her again.