A pirate life for me

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Leon laughed at Nikes comment. "I'm a pirate my friend, I'm not supposed to have rescues on my mind. So for my reputations sake maybe we should call it a kidnapping." He then said jokingly. Many pirates did kidnap people whose families could give them a lot of money, or people they could sell to slave traders. But neither the past captain nor the present had ever thought about kidnapping. The past captain because kidnapping meant having noisy people on their ship, which he didn't want to deal with. And Leon because he only were into the adventure part of being a pirate and didn't feel like taking away someones freedom, since he himself thought that freedom were the most important thing for a human being.

"I will have to get back to the ship in a couple of hours." Leon then said a bit more serious. "We are leaving tonight since we have a very short time to reach Attika." He couldn't help but sound a bit down and embarrassed as he spoke. They hadn't seen each other for so long and he couldn't even stay a day. But it took a lot of time to get to the port of Attika and there was someone they had to meet there. Someone with lust for the same kinds of adventures Leon loved. It was a man he had met while their past captain still had been alive. He sailed all on his own around the world, trying to find new adventures. Leon had wanted to go with him a couple of times, but Jan was a lonely wolf and wouldn't accept to take someone with him for any reason.

But they did enjoy each others company and met up when they could, which was rarely. Sometimes rumors was spread where the pirate ship was heading to and if Jan picked those rumors up then he sometimes went towards that direction, and the same went for Leon. He knew that Jan would be in Attika, and that was a good place to make business so it wouldn't kill them to take a detour to there. But he also knew that Jan never stayed at the same place for long, so they had to get there fast. Even stopping to see his old friend on the way was a gamble since it could make them miss Jan. It wasn't just the worry of not being able to talk to Jan that made him want to go, it was also because Jan and Leon did business with each other, trading treasures, maps etc. And Jan always seemed to know the governments movements, which was good information for a pirate since they tried to stay away. There was always the risk of getting hanged for piracy. Not because any government ship had ever been able to defeat them before.
 
Nike found himself almost frowning again. "Why do you have to leave so quickly?" he asked, a little rhetorically. He knew he didn't get to change how things went and that no matter how much he wished that Leon was staying in port longer, it wasn't going to change anything in the end. Sighing and rubbing at his eyes some he tried to decide what they should do in the time that they had. Which didn't feel like enough to really do anything at all.

He looked up at Leon and smiled a little sadly. "Well what do you wanna do with what time you have? It isn't like I can really thrill you with stories of my time here doing nothing much but working. And I can assure you that being a roofer is no sort of fun. It's hot and sweaty, and a lot of heavy lifting. It isn't something I really want to spend my whole life doing, that's for sure."
 
Leon didn't know what to answer, so he became very glad when Nike changed the subject. "Well, as far as I remember there aren't any interesting places here so...." Leon started but paused with a teasing smile. "Want to see the inside of my ship?" He asked eventually. He might not be able to take Nike with him, but he could show him a bit of his world for a little while. And maybe he just wanted to show off a little bit.
 
The smile that lit up Nike's face at the offer was like a child getting the gift he wanted on Christmas morning. He nodded his head eagerly, looking more and more like a child. He was just too excited to not. Especially when something he'd been waiting for for so long as presented to him. "Yes, please," he said, standing up quickly, fishing out the coin to pay for their food and drink, and starting towards the door without hardly waiting for Leon.
 
Leon wasn't too surprised to see Nikes reaction, mostly since he still had the picture of the little kid he once knew in his head. Nike hadn't changed much on the inside. "Still a kid." He laughed as he stood up, taking his time just because he knew how impatient Nicholas would be at the moment. "Why in such a hurry? The ship won't go anywhere if I'm not there." He said teasingly, not even knowing if his friend was listening to him.
 
"Yeah well," he shot back rolling his eyes. He didn't know what else to say though and instead just waited for Leon to draw level with him and the two of them walk through the people back to the docks and back to Leon's waiting ship. It was still a bit for Nike to take in that his best friend was the captain of this thing. That he was in charge of all the other men. "It's just exciting," he said after a long moment. "It's something you've been living for years now and it's something I've wanted to live for years. So you offer and I'm gonna jump on it."
 
"You didn't jump on it six years ago." Leon reminded him. At the time he had been very hurt by the fact that his friend didn't follow him out to sea when he had the chance, but with time he had realized that he was happy over Nike's decision. After all, if Nike had decided to come with him, then Leon might had been forced to watch his best friend die. It was a great comfort to know that Nicholas was in a safe place, and at the same time a bit terrifying to know that his friend had started to want the same kind of adventures he himself had. And now he might be brave enough to actually go out there. One day Leon might return and no one will be there waiting for him. He forced the thought away before the hopeless feeling of sadness could overtake him.

As they came close to the pirate ship, some of the crew members that worked with loading and unloading the ship looked curiously at the person beside their captain. The looks became even more curious when they went onto the ship. Leon often spoke with strangers in shore to get information, but he never invited them to the ship, actually he was against anyone taking strangers onto the ship.
 
He looked back at Leon and gave him a bit of a sad smile. "And that has been a decision I have regretted every day since. I'm not going to be stupid enough to pass it up again." And he really had regretted it every day since and it had ate at him until it was raw and painful to think about sometimes. It was only the thought that one day he'd return and offer him the chance to come with him again that had soothed the ache and made it bearable. That wasn't what was happening now, but he'd just have to make it work out. And he would.

As they approached the ship he could feel his excitement growing even more. Even with the looks he was getting from Leon's crew. He wouldn't let them bring him down, he wouldn't let them tarnish this moment. "Your crew doesn't seem too welcoming," he did comment though, shrugging his shoulders a bit and letting it slide right off of him.
 
Leon turned his head down a bit, trying to hide the shameful expression on his face. He couldn't regret Nike's decision not to come with him, he was happy that his friend hadn't accepted the invitation, even though he suffered for it now. He wished he could invite his friend now, but knowing that the answer would be yes held him back. He couldn't risk Nicholas life like that.

He chuckled a bit at Nike's comment. "They're probably annoyed since I'm breaking my own rules." He started and took a small break before he continued to explain. "I usually tell them not to take any friends or strangers or anything in between onto the ship when we're in shore, if they aren't new crew members of course. I myself have never broken that rule, before now. So they will probably use this against me. See how much trouble you're causing me." As he finished he shook his head and pretended to look bothered about the situation. "I won't get any peace of mind for month's after this." He sighed dramatically as they walked onto the ship.

The ship was in a much better state than when Leon had joined six years earlier. While the old captain had liked the ship as it was and didn't mind that some parts of it had been broken and looked a bit ragged, Leon had insisted on giving the ship a make over after he became captain. Even though the ship was in a good condition now, everything was thrown a bit everywhere. The most important things and the most valuable things was kept in order in safe places on the ship, while everything else pretty much was thrown at a random place and then it could take them way too long to find those things once they were needed.
 
Nike smiled at Leon and shook his head. "Breaking rules for me, are you?" he asked a little rhetorically. "Well I don't want to get you into trouble so I won't stay too long. Look with my eyes only and all that." He laughed and stepped a little faster after Leon as they walked on to the ship. It looked good, if not a little cluttered. He could hear his sister in his head saying how they could use a woman on board and he laughed to himself, thinking better of saying that out loud just then.

"It looks real nice," he said after a moment of standing and looking around him still a little wide eyed. "Nicer than I remember it looking last time it was here..."
 
"I might have fixed it up a little bit." Leon confessed. "Just don't enter my room, that would break the illusion." He then commented with a laugh. "I swear to the Gods of the sea, you could try to clean it up for years without finding the floor nor walls." Maps over the world and old papers that gave hints towards treasures was covering all the walls, while the floor was covered in both papers and various things they had found during their travels, most which wasn't worth much but he liked to hustle with.

Leon led the way towards their treasure room. It almost looked like a museum with old things like masks, statues etc. covering walls and floors very arranged. Most of it would be sold sooner or later, but certain items was kept as souvenirs. He took up a key from his pocket and opened the door. "This is some of the things we have found during the last couple of years." He told Nicholas before pulling the door up completely for his friend to see. "Sadly the mummy is already sold so you can't meet her. Too bad, she was a lovely lady." He mentioned jokingly.
 
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