A pirate life for me

[redblood]

6 years earlier

Leon looked with wonder at the ship. He had wished to travel around the world and now he might have the chance. It was a pirate ship, and he wanted to join them. They were in need of new crew members, and they were probably desperate enough to even take a 15 year old inexperienced male with them. And he was right.

"Come with us." He had asked his best friend. But he pleaded in vain. It crushed his heart to be separated from the person he had been with his whole life, but there was no future for him there. He was an orphan and had no education, he lived on whatever job he could find at that age. He didn't know if he would stay with the pirates, maybe he could find something better along the way. But at the moment it was better than staying where he was.

He said farewell to his friend and left.

Present time:
Leon woke up by a banging on the door, they told him they had reached land. At first he muttered that the crew had no respect for waking him up like that, but then he remembered that he actually had told them to do so.

They had entered the same chore he had left all those years ago. He wondered if his friend was still there, and in that case what he would look like now. Six years was an awfully long time. They both must have changed a lot. Both on the inside and outside. Would he even remember Leon? Would they even meet? Was he still there?

Well, if they could meet then that would be perfect, they could talk about old memories and have some fun before it was time to leave. Leon didn't think for a second about staying there because of a childhood friend, nor did he think about taking his friend with him. They had their separate life's now, and he intended to keep it like that. But that didn't mean they couldn't meet to talk for a day.

He walked off the ship, the crew was already working hard to get off the stuff they were selling and get on the stuff they were buying. Not everything they had was stolen, even though the sold items usually were.

"Look after the ship while I'm gone. Make sure everything goes smoothly." Leon ordered one of the men.
"Where are you heading off to?" The man asked.
"Anywhere but here." He answered and left. He strolled through the city, trying to see if he could remember any faces or people. He couldn't recognize anyone. Not because he had cared much for the towns people when he had lived there. There was only one he thought he actually would be able to remember if he saw him.

 

[May]

There were some nights where he dreamed about the day that Leon had left. It was never pleasant waking up after those dreams. Because then he spent the day thinking about then and how now was very different. And not the kind of different that he wanted it to be. He missed his best friend greatly. And while he had others, and siblings, they wren't Leon.

The two had been closer then brothers, doing everything together. Thick as thieves as it were, and sometimes, they could have been. An orphan and a son of a whore slipped people's notices easily after all.

Nicholas pushed ginger hair out of his face, looking around him before he crossed the busy street. Another ship had pulled into port. Thus there were a lot of extra men bustling about the port. Every time a shipped pulled in he had to go and check. Had to go and see if it was his ship. To see if maybe he'd come back to see him again after all this time. When he'd first left, he'd gone as quick as he could. But as the years went by, he took a longer time getting in. Perhaps he'd miss him. But then again, if Leon really was back, he might come and seek him out.

His green eyes scanned the crowds, hoping to catch a glimpse of a familiar face, see his light brown hair catching the morning sunlight. Maybe today was the day at last. Nearly six years to the day that he'd left him standing on the docks, watching the ship pull away and disappear beyond the horizon.

Nike turned quickly, he thought he saw something. Just a flash, but could today actually be the day? "Leon?" he called to the man he thought might have been his best friend. It wasn't the first time he'd done it, he'd made a fool of himself before. If this wasn't him, it'd just be another time he got his hopes up and was wrong. He started angling towards him through the group of people, gently pushing when he needed to. "Leon!"

 

[redblood]

Leon didn't have much expectations when he went into town, because he knew he might become disappointed if he let himself have such luxury. Either he would meet his old friend or he wouldn't, and that was that. It didn't take long before he heard something, at first he actually thought that he had imagined it. But then he heard it again. Someone was actually calling his name, and the voice didn't match his men.

He turned around and saw a familiar face. "Nicholas?" Leon's face shone up in a smile when he saw his old friend. It didn't take him many steps to reach Nike that almost had been able to completely catch up to him. "My friend, it wasn't yesterday." He said as he gave Nike a fast hug before putting himself on his friend's right side with his left arm on Nike's shoulder. "I'm surprised that you're still here after all this time. But I'm glad that you are. What have you been up to?" He couldn't hide his excitement, and if his crew members had seen him in that moment they would probably have believe that he were possessed by something.

There was no difference to the town, everything was exactly the same as it had been six years earlier. It was a disappointment, but what else could he have expected from a small town at a harbor.

 

[May]

When the man turned, when he looked at him and smiled...he knew it was Leon and the smile on his face was hard to contain. He was glad that Leon had decided to hug him because he would have done it even if the other man had objected. He didn't know what his friend might have become in the six years they were apart. He was sure he was a different man. But not that much different. Hopefully Leon wouldn't be too different either.

"Well I don't really have anywhere else to go," he replied, shrugging his free shoulder, still grinning like a bit of a fool. He felt almost like he was in a hazy dream. Like this couldn't be real, but he was going to cling to it like it was. And cling hard.

Nike shrugged again, lips pursed a bit as he thought how to phrase that. "Not been up to a whole lot," he sighed, looking over at Leon. "Sure that whatever petty little things I've managed to do in the last six years is nothing compared to the fun you've had on that ship." He knew he sounded a little wistful. There were moments where he regretted not going with him. Now was one of them. "You must've had so much adventure."

 

[redblood]

"There's a whole world to go to, it's just to pack a bag and leave and hope that you can find something new. I did, and it turned out alright." He told Nike. "Well, as alright as it can get when you are on a pirate ship. We met some ships that didn't like us that much, and I might have gotten into some near death experiences. But sometimes you have to live close to death to get the most out of life, right?" He laughed as he finished the sentence. He loved the life on the sea even though it was dangerous at times, both because of humans and because of other creatures that lived deep under the sea.

"Real life adventures are completely different from the ones I had pictured in my head. It was so easy in the stories, but when it came to reality it suddenly became so hard to do. I was completely useless during my first two years at sea, I were always the one hiding in the ship when something attacked us. It was first during my third year on the ship that I forced myself to pull myself together and actually become useful even in hard situation. And now I have a hard time staying out of fights and adventures." He continued and almost dreamed himself back in time.

"If you wanna hear some stories then I suggest that we go somewhere where we can sit down and eat something, if I remember correctly there was an inn just around the corner and down that street. Or have I gone completely senile?" He then said, barely noticing how much he had spoken. There was so much to tell, but also so much he wanted to hear. There was so much they time they had lost that they could now try and get back. But he only had a day, then he would have to return to the ship. How would Nicholas take those news? Did he already suspect that Leon would go back to the ship? He probably knew already, but it still felt a bit hard to have to tell him sooner or later.

 

[May]

He listened to his friend talk and nodded his head when he needed to. It was easy for Leon to say that it was easy to just up and leave. If it had been easy for Nike he wouldn't have begged Leon to stay, he would have gone with him. But of course, everything had always come so much easier for Leon then they had for Nike. And he was just left behind to pine. Pine for his friend, for the adventure that he was never going to have.

"Still there," he said with a chuckle and a nod of his head. "Nothing at all has really changed," he went on, steering the both of them towards the tavern. "New rugrats about, some people dead. But you know, nothing ever changes, really."

And he was right about nothing having changed. The tavern they came into was dark and a little dingy, full of the same sort of crowd that was always there. Locals, sailors, and whores. Nike was familiar with almost all the whores in town, his mother was one after all. And so was his sister. He spent plenty of time with them. He waved to a few before taking a table about half way between the back and the door. As they sat, he gestured to one of the girls to bring them drinks. "So tell me," he started, the grin still plain on his face. "How much fun is it being a pirate?"

 

[redblood]

Even though the people was foggy in his memory he could still recognize every street as if he had been there yesterday. When Nike said nothing ever changes he meant it, nothing had changed except for a few people. But it wasn't like Leon would have recognized them even if they still had lived. And he wouldn't know which people were new in town if they weren't infants.

"It's more fun than anything you have ever heard of. If you ever have listened to a pirate story and thought the adventure sounded fun, then it's probably ten times better in reality. Trust me, nothing compares." He said, glorifying everything as much as he possibly could. He could talk about all the times he had been about to die, and all the times he thought about getting back to a calm town. But it wasn't like Nike would actually go on an adventure with a pirate ship anyway, so making it sound more exiting couldn't hurt. Plus, he liked to exaggerating things just to sound cooler.

"But it's not only the adventures that's fun, sometimes going into chore can be even more exiting. The others usually find their excitement in the women, while they waste a night in bed I waste my night in the bar, searching after interesting people with interesting stories. Sometimes you get to hear legends of treasures. And then the next day you take your crapulous men and sail off to the next adventure. Sometimes the stories are false, but you still find something interesting to do, and sometimes the myth actually is reality." He told his friend. "But I doubt there would be any people here with such an interesting tale to follow, so you'll just have to do." He then teased Nike just like he used to do when they were children. In reality he wouldn't have cared even if someone had a map to an ancient city of gold, as long as he was in that chore, his friend would be top priority.

 

[May]

The tavern girl brought their drinks over and Nike rattled off something to eat, he didn't care too much, he was focused on Leon and what he had to say. But he had asked to go somewhere to eat, so they might as well. The girl waited for Leon to order as well before she nodded and left them again. Nike looked back to Leon and just grinned stupidly for a moment before he realized what he was doing and shook his head to clear it.

"Well you know all that tales from here," he chuckled, rolling his eyes. "Nothing changes." He took a healthy swig of the ale the girl had brought them, buying time to think of the next thing to say. He was still so in awe that today had been his lucky day. "Why didn't you waste nights in bed with the girls?" he asked after a moment. He remembered when they were boys how a pretty girl could distract the both of them. But that had been so long ago. "Not the kind of fun you wanted to be having? I can't imagine that listening to drunk men tell tall tales all night is more fun then that."

 

[redblood]

Leon drank a big portion of his drink, he wasn't too found of alcohol, it was just something ha drank because everyone else did. Plus he had never been drunk before no matter how much he drank, so when negotiating with people it was easy to trick them into giving him stuff he needed almost for free by drinking as much and fast as possible. The other person would most likely not want to seem less manly and would start to drink the same amount, and in the end the other person usually became so drunk that they were easily tricked.

He couldn't help but laugh a bit at Nike's comment. "In the beginning I did." He said still laughing. "But it became boring fast. I can enjoy the beauty of a woman, but they are all the same. I want adventure, and every adventure is something new. But every time I'm sleeping with a new woman, it's exactly the same as with the others. There are bigger pleasures in life than sex. Though I can't say I don't mind it once in a while." He explained. "So everyone in the crew are pretty much waiting for me to marry either the ship or a treasure map. It's very interesting to hear what your men are saying about you behind your back."

He took another sup which almost emptied the glass. "So what about you? Any women that gets into your bed?"

 

[May]

Nike blushed the slightest bit under his freckles, smiling slyly at his friend. "Of course," he said with a shrug like it was nothing. And it really was. There was a benefit to being friends with whores. They didn't normally charge him. "I don't find I get quite as bored of them as you do. Then again, I have no adventure waiting for me either. So every girl's an adventure, even if I've had her before."

He laughed, downing a bit more of his ale, wiping his lip with the back of his hand. "I'm not for sure how well your captain would take to you marrying the ship though. That seems like something that'd be more his gig then yours." The idea that his friend had been gone six years on a pirate ship and become captain was obviously not something that had clicked for him. He was sure he was better than the lowest of the low. But captain in six years? That was a bit much even for Nike to believe of Leon.

 

[redblood]

Leon laughed a bit too loudly and some heads were turned their way for a short amount of time. "That old man left the ship over two years ago, so I don't think he minds at all. Especially not since he left it to me. I am the captain right now." He explained, though left was a very nice way of putting it. Their captain had been wounded after they had been attacked by another pirate ship. He suffered for three days before he passed away. Leon had been trained by the captain and was the only one that their captain had thought was as driven by adventures as he had been. That's why he had chosen Leon as their next captain if he wouldn't make it, even though he was very inexperienced at that time.

"It was hard in the beginning and no one thought I deserved to take the captains place. Some even tried to kill me. But I were able to gain their trust and now they are more protective than a bear mother over her children. It's kind of annoying sometimes." He said with a small chuckle. He was the youngest among them, so even though he were their captain and they looked up to him they still couldn't help but treat him more as a little brother at times. He was also less experienced than them and that probably made them a bit worried. But he weren't the weakest, not anymore. He actually were one of the strongest, though at the time of the captains death he was still just halfway to that point.

 

[May]

The man sputtered some, swallowing quickly before he spewed his drink out. He was utterly surprised by the news that Leon was the captain now. And had been for some time it seemed. Years even. And he'd taken this long to come home. For not the first time he felt a stab in his chest. He had been over looked for adventure again. He would have thought that after six years he would have been over that pain. But he wasn't. And finding out that it was his choice that kept him away was even more painful.

"So you could have come before now?" he asked softly as the shock faded from his face and was replaced by something akin to sadness. "You could have come back to see me. Take me away with you before today. Yet you didn't. I sure hope that adventure was worth it..."He looked away from Leon, not wanting to sound like a whiny little boy. He was a grown man after all. But he couldn't help the way he was feeling. As much as he hated it and was cursing himself for being such a fool.

 

[redblood]

Leon was amused by the way Nike reacted at first, he knew that it would surprise his friend to know how much had changed. But then the reaction changed from entertaining to somewhat more serious. Leon had no idea how to react towards his friend's pain. He had have thoughts about coming back earlier, but it had been hard to do so. There was not much for the ship to do in such a small town, not many people to trade with, especially since they were a pirate ship. It wouldn't have benefiting them at all to come there if it weren't to just pass by on their way to other places. And since he was a new captain it was critical to not make any faults. If he suddenly decided for them to cross the oceans just to visit a friend, even a very good friend, then they might not see him fit as a captain.

But there was something else that bothered Leon, not that his friend was sad that he hadn't visited, but something in his sentence. Did Nike want him to take him on the ship and out to sea?

"Nicholas... I'm sorry I didn't come back earlier. It wasn't that I didn't want to see you, but as a new captain of the ship I had responsibilities. To just decide to go to a place which has no benefit for the ship and the crew would make everyone questioning my managerial skills. I swear I would have come back earlier if I had been able to." He explained a bit saddened. "Was that what you wanted?" He then asked after paus. "For me to come and take you with me?"

Leon had an almost pained expression on his face, even though he tried to hide it. "Because that would be something I could never do. I could never take you into such a dangerous situation Nike." Even though he once had wished for his friend to come with him, he had soon understood how lucky it had been that Nike had stayed. Because people died, Leon had lost many friends on his journey. Many of them had been far stronger than him when leaving this world. He wouldn't be able to see that happen to Nike.

 

[May]

He didn't look up when Leon spoke, instead keeping his eyes fixed on the mug in his hands. He was hurt and angry. And he knew that the words that he spoke made sense, made all sorts of sense. But he wasn't being particularly logical right that moment. The hurt was a bit too much to just let it all go like it was nothing to him. Eventually he would, but just now he couldn't. That would take time to get over.

But then he said he would never take him with him. "Because you don't think that I could handle myself?" he asked, finally looking up. His eyes burned a bit the anger now. "Because you think I'm too weak to do what you do? We did all the same things growing up. Always. Now I'm not as capable as you?"

He huffed some, pushing back from the table and looking tempted to stand. But he didn't. Just looked evenly at Leon. "I'm sorry," he said after a moment. "It's just...it was a lot to take when you left and left me alone. And now you come back and tell me that you can't take me with you. It just hurts a bit."

 

[redblood]

Leon was filled with shame as he saw his friend hurt by his words. But what could he do? Not even he had been fit for the pirate life when it had started and he had been close to death many times ever since. Even now it happened that he barely made it out of situations alive. It wasn't that Nike was less capable than Leon had been when he had joined the ship, it was because Nike was as capable as Leon had been at that time. Sure he had survived, but most of the times during the first years had mostly been because of luck.

"I'm sorry Nike." Leon said. "But trust me, this isn't something you would want to get involved in. It's too dangerous." He was certain that there was nothing he could tell Nicholas that would make him feel better, but fact would remain. Nike was not going to board his ship as long as he was the captain.

The tavern girl came with their food. Leon had looked forward to eating with his childhood friend, but now he was a bit concerned that it might turn into an awkward silent lunch.

 

[May]

He said nothing for a long moment, silently eating once their food had been delivered. He kept his eyes down too, for the most part and just kept to himself. He didn't want to be angry with Leon, didn't want this brooding silence between them either. But he knew if he spoke right now he'd say things that came out very angry. Might say things that he would regret later on as well. And he didn't want that. He wanted to be friends with him still. Wanted to go with him, but he knew that that wasn't going to happen now. He would never take him along like he'd hoped.

After what felt very long Nike looked up, looking a little embarrassed about his outburst. "I'm sorry, Leon," he mumbled, glancing down for a moment before looking back up and locking eyes with his friend. "I overreacted a bit there. I shouldn't have snapped at you. Forgive me?" He looked so hopeful that he would, that they could just put this behind them and enjoy what time they had together before Leon pulled out of port again.

 

[redblood]

The minutes passed by as they ate in silence. It was an uncomfortable silence, but Leon didn't dare to break it. There was nothing he could think of saying that would lift the mood at the moment. Even if he tried it might just make it worse. But after some time, Nike finally broke the silence and instead of being stubborn and angry with Leon he seemed to forget about it.

Leon gave his friend an understanding smile. "You don't have to apologize, I'm in the wrong too. I left for years without contacting you. If our places had been reversed then I would have half killed you for not even sending a letter while in shore. Forgive me, in the future I will at least do that much." He said a bit ashamed.

 

[May]

Nike smiled some again, actually smiling. He would never hurt Leon, but at least he understood why he had acted the way he had. But that he said he would write him? That just made things better. He still wasn't very good with his letters, but he did well enough. And he could always have someone read to him if he couldn't get it himself. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to be left behind again.

But he knew that wasn't going to hold true for forever. Leon would still be the one out having all the adventures and Nike would still be the one left at home hearing about them and not getting to experience them. But what if...He could feel the beginnings of an idea starting to form in his head. One that might solve this problem for him without Leon's permission. He would just have to think about it some more, but think quickly.

"So tell me, what's been your greatest treasure?" he asked to fill the silence while he was tried to think his plan through.

 

[redblood]

Leon shone up as his friend asked him the question. There were many people that knew of his adventures and usually listened to his stories when he came into shore. He could talk for hours and hours about everything that had happened during his travels, very few were able to listen to the end.

He started to tell Nike about the time when he and his crew had traveled toward Amon, a harbor that was quite dangerous for pirates to enter since it was heavily protected by the governments watch dogs. But it was worth the trouble, because they had an underground black market that gave irresistible prices. And it was the best place to find new recruits.

He spoke about how they got lost in a storm on their way there. Once the storm had subdued three days after it started they found themselves somewhere on the ocean. There were no ships to be found, nor land. They had no idea in which direction they should go, the sun was hidden behind clouds and so was the stars. "We started to get really worried, but on the seventh day after the storm had started, and four days after it had ended we finally found land. But it was a bit of a curse as it was a blessing, because it was an island that weren't on the map so we couldn't use it to find our way. Though we didn't know that at the time." He said and smiled. He continued to tell Mike how he and three of his men took a lifeboat and rowed it into land to explore. One of his men got killed by a poisonous snake while they walked around, even though the others had done their best to safe him.

Leon stopped in that sentence with a small sigh. "He was a good man." He was silent for some seconds before continuing.

He talked about how they found a stone port which they couldn't open. But Leon didn't give up, he was certain there was something amazing behind that door. It took some time, but eventually hours later they were able to find another way in, a way that led down into catacombs. It was filled with deadly traps that only made Leon more curious about what it was hiding. It took them thirtyfour hours to get through all the traps and find the treasure. It wasn't the biggest of treasures, but it was the most valuable they had ever found. A mummified woman was sitting in the middle of a room, she was still wearing her dress and jewelry. Them alone was worth more than everything they had found since Leon became captain. At that time he had only been captain for two and a half year, and most treasures wasn't that valuable. They usually got most out of stealing from other ships. Or taking other pirates hidden treasures.

"It's not everyday you get to rescue a maiden from her prison. Though I would have preferred it if she could have told me her name at least." He then finished his story with a joke.

 

[May]

He listened attentively, taking in every detail that his friend gave. The more he talked, the more Nike wanted to join him. Wanted to do daring things and find rare treasures locked in trap filled catacombs. He was so hungry for something, for anything more than what he had. And it was a sweet sort of torture to listen to Leon talk and tell his tale. The sweetest kind.

Even the talk of his man dying wasn't enough to stop him wanting to go. He was killed by snake after all, he could be killed here by a snake. Or shot by some other man over something stupid. How was it any different than what Leon did? Well it was more fun sounding, that was for sure. And that seemed worth the maybe slightly increased risk of his life. At least he'd live to the fullest then.

"So you rescued a corpse?" he asked, smiling, when Leon had fallen silent and he was sure the story was over. "Not quite the daring rescue you had in mind, eh?"