The Monster

Why does tab not work. What do you have against the tab key, Wattpad?

          Grian watched Joel's face morph from confused to utterly despairing, and offered him an understanding smile.

          "Don't worry, my reputation doesn't apply to friends," he said. "And any friend of Scar's is a friend of mine."

          Then Scar started to speak, and Grian corrected himself.

          "No, the fae still do not count, Scar," he interrupted his friend. Scar pouted, arms crossed over his chest.

          "But they're nice, Grian!" he protested. "Why can't you see that?"

          The man rolled his eyes, sighing. Then he turned to face Joel. Caution hovered in Joel's mind, sharpening his gaze and tensing his muscles. Even though he knew he couldn't beat this guy, that didn't stop him from readying his hands to grab a weapon.

          Grian's eyes stayed on Joel's face, but there was no pretending he hadn't seen the movement and understood the threat. The side of his mouth twitched, indicating that he was hiding a smile. Of course he was, any threat Joel made would be empty compared to the other pirate's skill.

          Grian started to reach for something behind his back, and Joel jumped back. He had remembered the loss of his sword, but his muscle memory didn't seem to, going for the sword first rather than the knives. By the time he course corrected and went for his knives, Grian had already taken out a sword.

          Joel stilled, hands frozen.

          Instead of stabbing him with the sword, the other captain presented it to him like a gift. "I believe you dropped this somewhere," he said.

          Wait. Was that his sword? Now that Joel was paying attention to the design rather than the threat, he noticed the green leather wrapped around the handle. A while back, Etho had come onto the ship with it and suggested the captain replace his fraying leather with it. Being his favorite color, Joel couldn't refuse.

          "How did you get it?" Joel asked, eyes flickering between his sword and Grian's face.

          Grian tilted his head slightly. "One of my men picked it up after your scuffle."

          Ah, so Scar's friends had still been watching them, then. It figured that they'd leave someone in the area to keep an eye on the odd pair that had come across their radar.

          He didn't want to leave his sword with Grian, and he needed it back, so he reached out to gently lift it off the man's palms. He carefully sheathed it, then settled his hands well away from his sword. Grian observed the action with a slight smile, most likely appreciating the unspoken declaration of peace.

          Now that the tension had settled into something more amiable, Scar hopped back into the conversation. "How long will you be at this port, Grian?" he asked.

          Grian turned his attention back onto Scar, and Joel felt a weight lift off his shoulders that he hadn't known was present.

          "Not long," was the response, and Scar's shoulders drooped like a wilted flower. Joel decided he should step in.

          "Scar, we're also leaving," Joel reminded his crewmember. "Even if Grian stayed, we wouldn't be here."

          Scar acknowledged his words with a nod, but his dreary mood still lingered. Grian put a hand on his friend's shoulder, and Scar looked back up into Grian's face.

          "I'll see you in a few weeks, Scar," he said in reassurance. "And you know I'll fill that promise."

          Joel frowned at the frankly terrifying words, but Scar seemed bolstered by them and smiled. Grian smiled back at him, then took his hand off Scar's shoulder and turned to walk away.

          As he left, Joel leaned towards Scar and asked, "How will he know where we are?"

          Scar's smile widened into a grin. "He has his ways."

          Joel shook his head and turned to finally go get his business done. As he walked away, he said, "Your friends are terrifying, Scar."

          "I know!"

________________________________

          When he got back to the ship an hour later and climbed up the ladder, Etho was sitting right in front of the ladder, Joel's hat in his lap. He hadn't been visible from the bottom of the ladder, so Joel startled and almost fell, but quickly tightened his hold on the ladder and regained his balance. Etho just silently watched, probably with a smirk under his mask.

          "You need to ease up on that ninja thing," Joel told him when he was on the solid surface of the ship again, trying to calm his wildly beating heart.

          "I have no idea what you mean, Joel," Etho stated, still probably smirking under that mask. It was infuriating how much the first mate could get away with, having that thing on. If Joel thought he could succeed at it without getting his throat sliced, he would have been tempted to remove the mask a long time ago.

          Actually, maybe the sliced throat was worth it.

          ...

          Nah, Etho would just put it back on, and then Joel would die for nothing.

          Etho waited for Joel's breathing to go back to normal before he held out Joel's hat and asked, "So, long day?"

          Joel snorted, untying the white bandanna still wrapped around his head. "You could say that." He accepted his hat and gave the bandanna back. "I suppose Scar gave you the rundown?"

          The ninja nodded. "Complete with heart-bursting levels of excitement."

          Internally, Joel sighed with relief at the comment. So Scar was back to being energetic enough for ten people again.

          Placing the green hat on his head, Joel adjusted it. Speaking of feeling like your old self. That hat really carried a part of him, even not being his originally.

          Seeing that the conversation was over, Etho got up from sitting on the deck, brushing himself off. He turned to walk away, but paused.

          "Hey, Joel?"

          Joel turned his attention to the man again. "Yeah?"

          "Avoid the crow's nest tonight. And ignore any screaming." With those cryptic comments, Etho walked away.

          Joel just stood there for a second.

          "What?"

          Then the realization of what Etho meant kicked in.

          "Oh, no. I should have told Scar to avoid that part of the story."