Sons of the Seven Seas (TMNT)

𝟑 || 𝓢𝓾𝓷𝓴𝓮𝓷 𝓒𝓸𝓿𝓮

     The weight of everything that had just happened finally seemed to set in. Overwhelming feelings of shock began to disappear and the reality of a home destroyed and pillaged, friends blown away, a brother taken by the English, and a sister lost at sea with their forsaken uncle.

     As Tavia shouted the last of her orders, she led the family into her quarters. There was still much to discuss and Yoshi was having second thoughts. To have their lives plundered by pirates just to accept protection from more pirates? Second thoughts indeed. 

     The group sat around the mutant's desk. She sat comfortably in her oversized, red cushioned chair behind her desk. Tavia clasped her hands together. There was silence at first. The three boys looked up to their father and mother, then the wolf. Yoshi sat forward in his chair.

     "We greatly appreciate your willingness to help," Yoshi begins.

     Tavia nods.

     "But I can't help but feel this is a mistake."

     "My kindness is conditional." Captain Soren leans forward. "I make it a point to know who I'm bringing in. Savvy?"

     "Of... course."

     "My kindness to people like me—to mutants—is unconditional. I have never offered my haven to a human before."

     "What are you saying?"

     "I'm saying," Tavia sits back in her chair, "there is no going back."

     "No going back," Mikey repeats to himself in a whisper.

     "There is a reason I have never brought any humans to my island. You have found yourselves in a very... curious situation." Tavia tilts her head back. "You're now caught up in glorious legend. Should ye choose to come with me, you will not be permitted to leave 'less ye build my people's trust."

     "And if we choose not?" Yoshi questions.

     "Your gig awaits." Tavia grins. "Your three boys will be coming with me no matter what."

     Shen shakes her head. "You can't just-"

     "I can. I have never left a mutant behind. Now will not be any different. I will find your lost son and investigate your daughter's whereabouts," Tavia says. She eyes the parents deliberately. "How much are ye willing to part with for my kindness?"

     Yoshi clenches his jaw. "Only costs us our freedom," he mutters to himself.

     "You'll learn in time. My resources are worth far more than your freedom. Information you seek, I can provide. Firepower kills on my command."

     Shen's trust wavered slightly but there was not much else they could do. "It's not much of a choice, is it?"

     Yoshi scoffs. "You're deceitful."

     Tavia stands from her chair, placing her hands on the edge of her desk and leaning forward. "Ye forget I am a pirate." Captain Soren sneers. "Welcome aboard the Cursed Knave."

     The Captain stepped around her desk and passed the family. She shoved open the doors, sunlight splashing into the room. The sound of her crew hastily shouting orders to one another and performing their roles became that much louder.

      The family made their way to the doorframe. They watched as Tavia marched through the crowd, spewing her commands.

     "Put your backs into it!" Tavia howls. "Weigh anchor!"

     A lizard mutant joins Tavia's stride. Her first mate. His skin was a dark green, accented with even darker tattoos and scars. He's adorned in a similar fashion, with a feather cap much like Tavia's. "Aye, Captain," he says. "And where shall we be headed first?"