Ariqa's quest: Origins of Maria

Chapter 3, part 2

Sebun Seas's point of view 

Me and my 'crew' were sitting around a campfire. It's been a good few hours, and they told me their tall tales, and now it was my turn to tell my tall tale.

Sebun Seas: 'My tall tale began when I was a small boy...

...I was born in a desert island in a group of desert islands where we have guilds working on the grounds of the islands and ships filled with crew, booty, and passengers.

My parents were both Marine guild workers and had to complete sales targets required to be paid for just for a shiver of gold. Many people hated the Marine guild, but they had to work for the treasure.

When I became an adolescent, there was a revolution an arch-rival crew called the freelance crew. At the time, just like you, I didn't know or understand what freelance is, but what they wanted to do was to allow the guild workers to make what they wanted with regulations alongside others with out any sales targets and paid fairly.

Arbour:" Ooooh! So that's what freelance is. To do what they think is good for people whilst following the regulations, work with others if needed, and then get paid fairly without being put under pressure to get a sales target done."

Katelin:" That sounds great to bring fair-trade with everything you can think of."

Sebun:" Indeed me hearties..."

... But the Marine guild was selfish, their greed manifested along with wrath and envy, coloured in red and gold. They first painted themselves gold with them not paying the guild workers properly while they get to have it all. And red for spilling blood to whoever defied them.

This destroyed my home, the desert islands that I once knew, and both my parents that I loved dearly as I was manage to join the freelance crew and escaped to live another day before we pay for the lives that we lost....

Arbour's point of view 

 Sebun started to sniff tearfully. We all understood what it was like to lose something very significant.

"We are sorry for your loss." I said sadly. "If it upset you. Then you don't have to."

Sebun said:" Not all tall tales are glorious and fun. Some are hardships in life."

Sebun Seas's point of view

 After pulling myself together, I continued with my tall tale...

... Growing up in the seven seas was hard when alone, but with other people, it was as easy as apple sauce. I made different tools on my own whilst at sea and worked on bigger projects with my trustworthy crew. Before long, I became one of the hundreds of freelance crew captains.

While at sea, I control the ship, sea turtle with a crew to function the ships, navigation, travel, and cannons. While at Land ahoy, I do make sure that no tool is faulty, quality was prioritised instead of quantity, and every crew member paid fairly with them knowing that they deserved it. This was the life until the Marines captured us at sea.
On the day of the trail, we were all found guilty of crimes we did not commit. Labelling us as pirates and me and my other captain was forced to see all our crew mates hanged one at a time, agonising us.

When my other captain was beheaded by the guillotine, that is when I started to wish that I had left behind the cruel life that the Marine countries had made. As I got trapped to the guillotine, I closed ya eyes and began to embrace the bittersweet ending of my life when I was licked.

I opened my eyes again to see a wolf licking my nose. I immediately got up in fear, tripped over another wolf, and triggered a trap that cut off my lower right arm! Hence, the wooden pincer here...

I showed my wooden pincer to Arbour and Katelin.

She said:" You're lucky that you are still alive."

And he said:" That must have felt painful!"

"It was painful, but the wolves were led by a blue cross tribe doctor who was able to amputate it..."

... Using everything I learned, food that I packed and a small wooden boat. I rowed the seven seas to an island group called Steamburg, where red brick buildings and steampunk machines roam throughout. I then got to the Oceanic Mountains island. It was too cold for me, so I wasn't there for long.

Then I docked for Psychic City, where modern skyscrapers, roads, and technology stand out for creating a better tomorrow for Maria. I only looked at the Ink Colour and the Zip Lash Districts so far, though.

So I returned to my boat only to see the remains of it. So I left the city via a huge wall that leads to the wastelands, got to the plains region and that's how I got here...'

Arbour's point of view 

That tall tale was both a good story of his life but also bittersweet knowing how hard things got going. We all had lost something that kept us happy.

For me, it was my parents, a roof over my head, and care from the outside world.

For Katelin, it was her humanity that was lost to the world destroyer asteroid.

And for Sebun, it was his crew, his family, and one of his lower limbs that the Marines had taken away (although the last one was indirectly caused by them).

As the sky turned to nearly pure dark, Sebun made his own hammock without needing help while Katelin and I sat together with our arms around each other sitting on the boat, looking out the night sky...