The Shrouded Seas

Done Running

We arrived to a huge crowd of pirates. Ships from sloops, to brigantines, to even galleons were anchored off the beach. Thieving and fighting is strictly prohibited during an execution. We anchored next to a blue and white galleon and rode our rowboat to shore. The beach was lined with rowboats, all parked just in front of the waves. Some pirates were outside waiting, most were enjoying themselves in the Tavern. We walked in, this time without a big entrance. I leaned up against the back door and started surveying the room. There was a counter to my right, where the Tavernkeeper, Tina, sold rum. There were several round tables littered with plates and cups, and a long rectangular table in front of a fireplace on the far left side of the room. There were stairs to my right, but they were broken and collapsed. I made eye contact with a larger fellow sitting on a barrel near the door. He quickly looked away, probably meaning he was shy or hiding something. Or both. I walked over towards him.

"Will ye serve?" I asked. By asking a pirate if they will serve, you're asking them if they're useful, and if they're loyal. He wore a white shirt with a brown coat over it. He had a black and yellow hat with a blue feather on, along with an eye patch made from a playing card.

"What I be servin ye?" He said back with a toothy grin, standing up.

I glanced around to see if anyone was looking. "It be against the code," I said quietly. He leaned back, a serious look on his face. Then he grabbed his tankard and drained it.

"Me name's Dagur. Yer either a weevil, a scallywag,... or brilliant." He said. I patted him on the back as he walked past me, pointing him to Gervaso.

"I guess ye'll find out soon enough." I turned to head outside but caught sight of an old mate.

"Hodgins!" I said.

"Jackson! It's good to see you!" He said. We hugged. "Last I heard you got stuck in the storm!"

"Yeah, but now I'm here. And, I'm looking for a crew," I said, pulling him towards the back corner with Gervaso and Dagur. "We have the Devil's Compass," I said quietly. Dagur exclaimed in French, and Hogins' face darkened. In the Shrouded Seas, every pirate knew what the Devil's Compass was, and more importantly what it did. "You want to come with us?" I asked.

"Of course! You know I'm in!" Hodgins said.

"Ok, great. Hodgins and Gervaso, gather more people to come with us. I trust you guys to make good decisions," I said. They nodded and walked away. I turned to Dagur, "I need your help outside."

We walked outside to the gathering crowd. There was a scrawny pirate with a huge beard in the cage. The crowd had begun to throw things at him. Dagur and I weaved through the crowd, heading towards the beach. A stray mango knocked Dagur's hat off. I ducked under a pineapple and pushed a pirate aside. I looked towards the beach and saw an Emissary, a big, scary, and mean Reaper sent out to find people who could be against the code. I reached behind me to push Dagur back the other way without taking my eyes off the Emissary.

"Go, go go go!" I said to Dagur. The Emissary caught my eye. Emissaries look like Reapers, but their bigger, meaner, and their head has no flesh, just bone. The rest of their body is still skin, just the shoulders and above are pure bone. Although, they're not really human. It looked back at me, then started moving towards me. Pirates scrambled to get out of its way. Dagur and I began running in the opposite direction, but we were blocked by the crowd of pirates. We pushed them out of the way, but the Emissary gained. I turned around to meet face-to-face with the monster. I looked up at the holes in his face, where its eyes should be.

"Why ye runnin' boy?" It said in a voice that sounded like a sword against gold.

"Ah, hi. Hello sir. I, uh, have pirate things to do," I said nervously. Even though its face moved very little, I could tell it was narrowing its eyes. I stepped up on a pineapple near my feet to meet its eyeline.

"Ye smell of discontent, pirate," It spat the last word like a disease. "Yer sailing dangerous waters. There be a storm coming," He leaned into my face. I looked around at the rest of the crowd. Several pirates were trembling, others were ready to run away. An unspoken rule on the Shrouded Sea; fight to run away. I was done running.

"I am the Storm," With that, I plunged my sword into its chest. It leaned back and yelled. At that moment, all the Reaper's in the area drew their swords and started closing in on me. The crowd of pirates also drew their weapons, they started attacking the Reapers, and each other.

Chaos ensued immediately. The Emissary stumbled backward, then rightened itself, yanked my sword out of its chest, and broke it in its hands.

"Ohhh...," I said. I twisted my feet and sent the pineapple into the air and caught it. The Emissary pulled its own sword out and walked towards me. I threw the pineapple at him, and it stuck to his sword. He looked at it, then back at me. That had given me enough time to take out my flintlock. I aimed it at his face, then realized that it probably wouldn't do anything. I noticed that above him was an empty cage with no bottom.

"Huh. That's oddly convenient," I said to myself. I aimed the pistol at the cage and shot the chain holding it up. It fell on top of the Emissary with a deafening clang, trapping it inside. "Time to go," I said to Dagur, who was watching with awe. We ran towards the beach. I heard the Emissary screaming and rattling the cage behind me. We moved quickly, running through the fight with several Reaper's chasing us.

"Yer definitely brilliant!" Dagur laughed as we ran. "Now what?" He asked as we stopped in a clearing.

"I don't know, I just make it up as I go along!" I yelled over the noise.

"That's also either brilliant or madness," Dagur said.

"It's amazing how often those two traits coincide," I said. "Go! There!" I pointed to an opening towards the beach. We took off, avoiding bullets and sword swings. A pirate and a Reaper clashed swords right in front of me, sparks flying. I leaned back and slid underneath them, grabbing the pirate's gold pouch as I went. I somersaulted and kept running, not losing any momentum. We reached the shore finally and saw Hodgins, Gervaso, and several other pirates in a dinghy past the waves. Other pirates were beginning to grab their dinghies.

"Here!" Dagur shouted. I looked over at him. He was pushing a dinghy out into the water. I ran over and helped him. We pushed the dinghy out just as the Reaper's caught up with us. I pointed Dagur towards Temperance as he rowed.