The Summer Siren

Astrid

Breaking the surface of the water, I quickly realized that this wasn't a dream and I just jumped into an unfamiliar body of water and now I'm soaking wet. I looked at the deck of my boat, and from what I could see the pirate was nowhere to be found. Realizing that he didn't know I jumped, I quickly made my way to the ladder that I had propped on the back of my boat for the rare occasions I did go swimming back at home.

Climbing up the ladder I'm able to get a better view of the deck and I see that the pirate is still in the control room. Walking back to the door I had another quick look at our surroundings and noticed something that I hadn't seen before.

"Hey," I tap on the pirate's shoulder, but he shrugs me off. I punch him and louder, "HEY!"

He finally comes to his senses and turns around; I was about to tell him about the oncoming ship, but his eyes go wide as he noticed it. "Shit, can you get us out of here? As quickly as you can preferred."

I think about how quickly I could get us out of here. I decided that I couldn't get us out of here very quickly because I need to make sure that there is nothing broken on my boat from the storm since I was ripped away from that old man's deck. This boat is my life, and I would have nothing without it. I shake my head at the man, "I can't, I'm sorry."

He groans in frustration. He starts to shove me under the deck when I heard an unfamiliar voice, "Don't even think about it Ace. I've already seen you and I'm coming for you."

Ace? That must be the pirate's name, now to just figure out who the other guy is. I try to turn around, but Ace is holding me tightly. I tried to jerk out of his hold, but my efforts were futile. Ace turns around, dragging me with him. I'm upset that he's still got a stupid tight hold on my arm, I'm glad that I can see what's going on. "Erik, you're not welcome on this ship," Ace says through his teeth.

At least I knew the names of both men that were on my boat. "What's going on?" I ask, trying to stay caught up in the situation.

"Nothing, except a no-good son of a bitch that needs to leave," Ace grunts.

"You're one to talk, old friend. Last time I checked, it was pirates that were on the bottom of the pyramid," the other guy, Erik glared at Ace.

I managed to get two things out of this short interaction. They aren't friends and Erik isn't a pirate. I look Erik up and down and he looks like he could be a pirate, but then when I look at Ace there is a difference between the two. Ace is wearing clothes that look like that haven't been washed in months. His hair is shorter, but it looks like it was cut with a knife rather than scissors. I didn't think that he had a wooden peg leg, but he was wearing pants so I couldn't exactly tell either. When I look at Erik, he seems to be cleaner and wears a lot of what looks like clothes made from animal carcasses. His hair is longer, but it's kept neat, along with his beard. He's not wearing a helmet with horns coming out of it, but if I had to guess I would say he's a Viking, through and through.

I don't remember my history lessons from school very well, but I don't remember Vikings and Pirates being around in the same time period. I know that Vikings are pirates of a sort, but they tend to pillage land rather than capture other ships from the sea. If I remember correctly, Vikings are also more territorial when it comes to their land. I can't help but wonder if this part of the water is part of Erik's territory and that's why he's so mad.

The men are going back and forth passing back insults when I cut Erik off, "Excuse me, sorry to interrupt but you both are currently on my boat, and I would appreciate it if you would both get off so I can try and figure out a way to get home."