DerpinaxPowder

[Powder]

The wind made the sail audibly ripple as the captain of a fine sloop lays lazily under the sun. His crew working merrily about him and the rocking of the calm blue sea lulls him slowly to sleep. It's a good day to be a pirate.

"CAAPTAAAAIN!!!"

The serenity is broken by the shouts of a crew member. The captain grumbles and stirs.

"CAAAAAAPPTTAAAAAIN!!"

Jesus fucking christ. "WHAT?!"

"SHIP INCOMING."

He adjusts his hat on his head and pulls a brass telescope from his sleeve. It was a goddamn ocean, of course there will be boats. He scans the horizon while the crew stirs around him. He spots a galley floating towards them. "Kahahaha, a galley, eh?". He spits into the water and squints to get a view of the mast. He turns pale and frowns to himself. "Blast. Man the cannons."

"MAN THE CANNONS!" His mates echo. They set to loading the cannons while the captain stood up and moved briskly to his wheel. This bastard wasn't taking him in. He steadies the boat, the incoming ship coming straight on. "If ye've a shot, take it!" On the captain's mark, the cannons are fired alternatively, shattering parts of the front of the enemy ship. The captains color returns to him. "Bahahah!" He bellows, "Keep firing!"

Suddenly the incoming ship's front opens to reveal three cannons in a line. They fire all at once, sending six cannon balls forward, three pairs of two tied together. One wraps around the ship's main mast and cracks it, another one hugging it and bringing it down. The captains pounds on his wheel and grits his teeth. "DAMMI' TALL! PREPARE YOUR RIFLES, DON'T GIVE THEM A CHANCE TO COME CLOSE!" He barks as the galley comes closer. It turns to it's side, an entire row of riflemen staring down at the small pirate's crew from the galley's deck. The crew quickly surrenders as the grapples come out and bring them close. A ladder is dropped, and the sloop is quickly flooded with armed pirates. The captain holds up his hands and scowls. "I never woulda thought I'd be a target, Bounty," He calls out loud. In the galley, a man in a yellow and blue coat waves his pistol around nonchalantly. "Ahoy cap'n. Fine day we're having, eh?" He grins. The crew is brought on board, along with their treasure and supplies, the fine sloop de-massed and left out in the ocean.

"Nice work out there, cap'n," Bounty's first mate admires as he enters the captains quarters. Bounty lay across his table, his hat next to him and a trash can close by. "Aye... How long until port?" He asks miserably. "Ahaha... It's going to be maybe two days yet..." He replies meekly. "Aye... Aye..." Bounty dismisses him with a wave of his hand. He didn't handle the water well, and he had run out of his medication. He didn't stock up with any last time they were at port, and only had what was left from before that. He sighs and re-adjusts his hat onto his short messy black hair. He rubs his face in his hands and looks at his black stubble in his desktop mirror. He would be scolded for sure if she saw him like this. He sighs and takes a gulp of his water.

"I'm coming, Hester."

 

[derpina]

Hester sat in the tavern alone with a drink in one hand and her hat laid haphazardly on the table. It had been a long day, what with docking into the port city. The Maiden's Shadow lay hidden by a port-like shore and the deck-hands stay on there while the others get their business done in the town. The most important to get done was the selling of their plundered goods which she had melted down in her forge into simple gold and silver chains so they were unrecognizable from their original shape. She had a few associates here with whom she was able to easily trade with and make a nice cozy profit as well as stock up on supplies for their next voyage.

It was late at night and she would head to the ship soon since they must leave before daybreak. She knew her first mate must be making his way back to the ship as well as some of the others. They had invited her to go to the brothels as well so she could lay with one of the men there, but she refused, much preferring a drink to ease the oncoming headache to the whorehouse. Her face scrunched up in distaste at the thought of those brothels. She never said aloud but she despised those places. As much as she had the respect of her crew now, they oft forgot that at one point she almost ended up like one of those whores in the whorehouse herself and the only thing saving her was her father's teaching.

Hester rubbed her temples as her migraine got worse, and ordered another drink. She would prefer not to think about it. Sometimes it was hard not to though when they came into port towns such as this one. The sea reminded her nothing of her former life, but land... Land always reminded her of that place. Venom practically dripped in her voice at the mention of it, and Hester grumbled as she realized she had already finished her beer. She waved the bartender for yet another and he gave her an incredulous look before handing her the drink that she took more forcefully than necessary. A few men had given her lecherous looks when she had walked in, one even dared to speak with her, but one look and they knew not to mess with her. She may be a woman, but she can be as scary as the Devil himself when need be. Thank God, they would be living in a few hours. She had had plenty of this town to last a year.

 

[Powder]

(I'm still alive, I promise.)

Bounty wakes up to the hustle and bustle of his crew. The red light pouring in from the window shows that he had slept through most of the day. He sits up and rubs his face. More accurately, he smears the night's accumulation of drool across his face. He looks at his hand in disgust before his eyes immediately dart to his table. He flips through his papers. Only the top layer was wet. He heaves a sigh of relief and slowly stands up. He hates sleeping on his desk, but fuck if he can help it. Laying down seemed to make his sea sickness worse when the waters are bad. He fixes his hat onto his head and looks to the door. His crew seems to be hustle-bustling more than usual.

He steps out to the blinding sun. "Jesus... There ain't a cloud in sight...", he groans, holding his hat over his eyes. "What's goin' on out here?"

"There's been a miscalculation," A crew member happily reports. "We'll be portin' tonight Cap'n!"

The crewman goes back to whatever it was that he was doing before. Bounty still wasn't good with all this pirate junk. He watches the mate in a trance, thinking about how he got into this whole mess. Five years ago, the love of Matthew Berkley's life was kidnapped right before his eyes. He spent the next few days in tears, and then the next few after that in solemn solitude. A year had passed, and Matthew's family advised him to move on. He started to hate his family. They didn't even care. They wanted him to move on, like she was nothing. It was then that he realized he was essentially doing the same thing. If she meant so much to him, why the hell was he just sitting here letting her image slowly drift away? He was going to find her. He ran away from home, taking several of their family jewels with him.

He had no idea what he was doing. He had jumped aboard a passenger boat carrying people to the Caribbeans. Once there, he really had no idea what to do next. He spent several days there, thinking of his next course of action. One day, he woke up to an alarm. There was another pirate invasion. Suddenly memories of that day came flushing back, anger welling up inside him. He ran with the other residents to a safe building, but him and a few others got intercepted by a few pirates. They pushed Matthew to the ground, who at this point was shaking in fear, and grabbed a woman by the hair and began interrogating her about where she keeps her valuables, particularly gems and accessories that they could sell for a high price. Matthew clenches his fists, remembering what happened to his wife that night. Finding his resolve, he jumped up, throwing dust he had gathered in his fist at the pirate's face. He doubled back, and Matthew took his sword. Another of the men he was with got inspired and grabbed a stick on the ground, jumping up to join the fight. Together they managed to take out the pirates, saving the woman. Eventually, the city was secured, the pirates either chased off, killed, or captured. Matthew realized what he's to do. Together with the man that helped him fight off the pirates as his first mate, he starts a pirate hunting crew. The rest, as they say, is history.

The crew mate he was watching has long since left, leaving Bounty staring off into space. He snaps out of it, looking around to see if there was anything he could do in his limited knowledge. Soon enough, they're slowing down and dropping anchor. It's late at night, and Bounty curses himself for sleeping for so long. Sighing, he and his mates escort their bounty to the local pub, where they show off their hunt and make themselves more widely known.