Soldier, Poet, King

Chapter 1: Ship in a Bottle

June the third, 1717...

Warmth radiates off the scrubbed cherry wood deck, the gentle lull of the mid-day sea making you feel even sleepier. Your back is pressed against the mast, a so-so hand of cards resting on your chest. You haven't won the last five games, and something in your gut told you that your luck isn't changing for this sixth round. The wind had become stale early this morning, meaning the esteemed crew of the Revenge was stuck at the mercy of the ocean and the tension that has been slowly building up the past weeks was coming close to snapping. After taking another glance at your cards, on the off chance that something useful had manifested itself amongst them, you glance at Frenchie and give a small nod.

"Call." He murmurs, absentmindedly chewing on his nails, a sign that he wasn't going to win this round either.

"Beat that! I bet none of you've got anything better than a Spider." Roach sets his down first, a couple of grubby fours and an eight with one of the corners burnt, though he seems proud of his hand.

"What's a couple of fours and an eight got to do with a spider?" Frenchie asks, showing his own rather sad hand.

"They've got eight eyes and eight legs," Oluwande chiming in, setting down his pair of jacks and an ace, "Which even if it was a real hand wouldn't beat mine."

"That's not true, is it?" Frenchie asks, eyeing your pair of threes and a five.

"Afraid so. Real hand or not, it's still better than yours, Frenchie. I'm not sure that's even a proper playing card..." You lean down to take a closer look at what appeared to be a poorly drawn goat.

"Well, it's not an official card but I figured a goat's got demon eyes so it would beat pretty much everything." Roach nods in agreement, staring down at his cards more disappointedly than he had been a few moments prior.

"This is bullshit-" Black Pete grumbles, slamming his cards down on the upside down barrel they had been using as a makeshift table.

"Actually it was Three Card Stud, but we can play that next if you want." You giggle, bumping Frenchie with your shoulder who was holding in a laugh.

"I mean this sorry excuse for piracy! We've been out here for weeks and we've played more card games than we've seen ships. This wouldn't have flown on Blackbeard's ship, and I'm certainly not going to just sit by with my thumb up my ass and let it fly here."

"That does sound more fun than playing cards again." Roach teases, wagging his eyebrows at Black Pete.

"Fuck this. Fuck you and fuck this stupid game." Black Pete growls, scrambling the cards up on the table in a huff, revealing two more goats and a very angry looking chicken card to which Frenchie shrugs cooly at.

You lean back against the mast once more, massaging your temples as the men squabble amongst themselves - as they usually do when they are hungry or haven't had a nap yet - too sleepy to be bothered to mediate the arguing that is breaking out. Stede's slow take on piracy or not, the current situation you are in is worlds better than anything you have going for you back on land and is considerably more tolerable than the first crew you were a part of. With the only real expectation being to help out around the ship while you do your best not to draw too much attention to yourself, your quality of life has significantly improved to the point where now keeping up the cheerful mask you force onto yourself is less of a chore and more so out of habit. Buttons' voice cut through the bickering, and your idle thoughts, motivating you enough to open your eyes once more to see Stede clearing his throat.

"Listen to your Captain!"

"Crew of the Revenge! I have set sights on our next raid. We are only moments away from battle, so I warn you to mentally and physically prepare yourselves now for the peril that we are soon to face," The blond states, the lace fluttering about his face making his warnings much less ominous than you were sure he intends, "Looking out at your faces, I can only hope as your Captain, and I hope guardian figure, that I'll be seeing them all after our next crusade."