We've got cabin fever! (closed to the Pirates de les Cirque)

Fully confident in his most trusted companion's abilities, Jean, giving the despairing duo one final glower, turned, fanning his long coattails and retreated below deck. Shira would be more than enough for the job. Crouching, like a big-cat ready to spring on it's prey, Shira simply stared at Jackson and Ziv through her wild, copper hair. It was several moments before she spoke.

"Leave." she whispered, "Get out while you still can."

Wait, what?
Ziv took on a look of disbelief. She had always thought she could understand what people said, but it looked like she had been wrong, seeing as the girl had just told them to leave. It must have been something like I'll kill you both and throw your corpses into the sea.
Now she was insecure. Maybe the cat knew what to do? Not like she was depending on him, but, well... Despite being a pathetic human being, he was still more experienced when it came to such things.
She really, really tried not to, but couldn't keep herself from giving him an asking look.

"You're not pulling my leg, are you?" Jackson uttered, the words coming out with haste and surprise. Eyes narrowed skeptically, he glanced at Shira. This wasn't some sort of trap or test the captain cooked up, or was it? Leaving just like that was too good to be true, and it didn't feel quite right. He crouched there on the rocking lifeboat, speechless and tongue-tied.

Returning to the ship didn't seem very appealing, nor did following Shira's strange advice. Turning to Ziv to see if she had some sort idea of what to do, he quickly became discouraged. Of course, she had to be looking at him expectantly in the first place. His eyes quickly darted back to Shira, who he proceeded to stare at with curiousity.

"... And what about you?" he then asked, truely hoping that this wasn't some hoax to get their hopes up, only to take them back onto the ship from which they had just left. That wouldn't have surprised him much at all, though.

Shira's eyes flitted between the two, before she stood upright and handed Ziv a pistol. The expression on her face did not betray any sense of jest or malice. She was simply trying to get an important message through to them. Her large, dark brown eyes stared at them incessantly, with the slightest gleam of concern and frustration. This wasn't quite the reaction she had hoped for.

"Don't worry about me or Jean." she said in a low, threatening voice, "If you don't leave, there's a chance he may kill you. Jean doesn't take kindly to deserters. You two are better off running at this point.

"But be warned, he will pursue you two for a long time. Become strong and avoid another meeting with him him if at all possible." The tone in her voice was honest and dire. Also, she spoke very quickly as if she feared Jean's return. At this point though, he would be growing suspicious. Turning her focus to Ziv, she glanced at the pistol she had given her.

"Ziv, release a few shots into the air and then I want you to shoot me in the leg."

If Ziv would have had a voice, she would have made some squeaking noise right now. This way, she just looked a little squirmish. Well, they could go, okay. The cat'd come with her. Less okay. She had to shoot someone...
Even though it was only the leg, it was still... Normally she ran away whenever signs of violence were around. Couldn't the cat do this?
Her eyes darted between him and Shira, like a mouse that truly had nowhere to run anymore. She was scared to death, she could hear her heart beating loudly in her chest as she took the gun into both her hands. she had no experience in this. What is she did something wrong?! what if she hit the wrong spot?! Oh god, what if she slipped and shot herself?!
She knew those fears were ridiculous, but she never held such a weapon before, and she wasn't sure if she could approve of this.
The first task was relatively easy. Shooting in the air, she could do that.
Still, her hands were shaking, and she winced as she fired in the air. One, two, three... Three shots into the dark sky.
This was easier than she had expected. She could do this.
But this had only been the sky. Next was a human being. Her hands were shaking violently as she aimed the gun at Shiras leg. Well, not so much aimed, more pointed. At this distance, aiming would be a waste. Still, she was terrified. What if she missed?!
She couldn't stand the sight. So she closed her eyes and turned her head before she pulled the trigger a fourth time.

Although rather reluctantly, Jackson was eventually swayed by Shira's words and gaze. "He'll be breathing down our necks either way, huh? How comforting..." he replied, not expecting a response to his rhetoric. Shira being kind enough to help the two of them fly the coop was rather unexpected, and part of him still wasn't entirely convinced about the matter. That thought quickly changed, however, the moment Ziv had a gun in her hand.

The shots broke through the silence, and Jackson flinched every time the gun was fired. Either the loud noise in such proximity was too much for him, or Ziv waving a pistol around haphazardly was making him skittish. It didn't take a genius to see that she wasn't very comfortable with a gun, and it only made him more wary of her. She could probably miss on accident and hit him without batting a single lash. He had already been smacked across the face once. In attempt to preserve himself, Jackson scooted as far away from Shira the target as he possibly could without falling out of the small boat.

A white-hot, searing pain shot throughout her leg. Although she was prepared for it, that didn't keep her from crying out in anguish. Clutching at the wound, she collapsed to her side and seethed in misery. Glaring at the two figures through rapidly blurring eyes, she pushed herself up.

"Leave," she spat, "Now!" With all of the strength she had left, she staggered to her feet, gasping sharply as the pain shot through her leg again. Now came this problem-- how was she going to get back on the ship with a bum leg? Gritting her teeth, she crouched as low as her leg would allow her without passing out from the pain and with a fierce cry, she put all of her energy into a geppou jump and crash landed on the deck, cursing all of creation.

Now when Jean had heard the gunshots, he couldn't help but smirk in triumph... until he heard Shira. Throwing his log and pen to the floor, he scrambled to unlock his door and rushed onto the deck. Kneeling by her collapsed figure, he felt his heart sink as he saw the incarnadine stain, seeping though the layers and layers of Shira's garments. All she could do at this point was pray that they got away, and pray that she recovered from this.

Even though she was the one who was holding the weapon, not the one it hurt, Ziv, for a moment, thought she could feel the pain in her own leg when she saw the bullet hit.
One would think firing a gun would feel different from using a knife, and it certainly did, but still, something made her feel as though she had been right there, ramming the bullet into the flesh herself.
Right after te shot, she dropped the gun as if it were a snake and scooped away from it, giving it nervous looks.
She was shaking, especially her hands were. Of course she had to hurt people before, but never badly. Just kick them, in the worst case, point a knife at them, then run away. She had never drawn blood before, and it was a terrifying new experience.
Over all the chaos inside her, she forgot where she was completely.

Jackson covered his eyes at the last moment, not wanting to lay his sight on the outcome quite yet. After what had seemed to be a long enough time, he split his fingers apart far enough to peer through the cracks between them. It was hard for him to believe that Shira of all people would be willing to take a bullet for the two of them, even after seeing it for himself. Now they'd absolutely have to get away; no doubt Lafayette would be after their hides with new found vigor now, if he wasn't already... Maybe this shoot-and-run tactic wasn't the best idea after all.

Leaping to his feet and causing the boat to rock yet again, he clambered for a paddle when he noticed Ziv in her petrified state. He gave a low, determined snarl as he momentarily glanced towards her, and then focused his sight in front of them. Jackson would paddle them out of there all on his own if he had to. It'd be a bit easier after punting useless rat off the boat at the next hunk of land they got to, but he wouldn't be able to rest in peace until he was far, far away from that psychotic freak show. Even then, he wasn't quite sure.

"Don't just sit there; snap out of it!" Sticking the end of the oar in the water the flicking the tip of it towards Ziv, he splashed enough of the frigid water towards her to get her good and damp if it hit. Would it kill her to not sabotage their chances of success and actually pull her own weight for once? An annoyed and degrading glance later, he began to row from his position at the back end of the boat. Mentally, he was praying that Lafayette wasn't in the mood for taking out the canons and having some target practice.

Ziv snapped out of her terror induced trance when something was thrown at her yet again. She raised her hadns up reflexively, but was still hit by... something cold, and wet. Water, no doubt. What else. She looked down on herself, now soaked save for some parts of her face, which she had covered, then raised her eyes to give the cat an angry look. Still, she took one of the paddles. she knew this wasn't the time to argue, the captain would have spotted his partner soon, and then she wanted to be far, far away from here. She could still srgue with him later.
She wasn't really a good rower, but whatever she could do to get away from here was worth it.