A Pirate's Life For Me

Strays

Piper kept the knife up, but her grip was a little looser on it.

"I thought you were on Nico's ship?" He noted her use of the son of Hades' real name.

"It felt weird. You had all left, I was alone on that ship. So I quit. Actually, I snuck off the ship and I guess Nico just didn't care."

Piper thought about this for a few minutes. "Come with me."

Jason frowned. "Where are we going?"

"Just follow!" Piper hissed, taking off down the alley.

After a moment of hesitation, Jason followed.

The light footed girl dodged easily through the crowded streets, forcing the larger, less graceful son of Zeus to follow close behind her to keep up. (heehee, Graceful, get it? No? Okay, I'll stop.)

Piper led him down to the docks.

"Why are we down here?" Jason asked.

"Keep coming." Piper slowed to a purposeful walk, marching through the forest of ship masts. 

"Here we are."

Jason inspected the ship she had stopped in front of.

The hull was a dark blue, clean and well taken care of. The masthead depicted a beautiful woman, her arms spread behind her and her brown hair flowing down the sides of the bow.

"Well, are you coming?" Piper started towards the gangplank. 

"What's her name?" Jason asked warily.

"The Doriana. Now, come on!" Piper scampered up the gangplank.

Jason's boots thudded on the wood as he trudged up after her.

He stepped on deck to see a scene of chaos.

A woman with her back to him was furiously locked in combat with a black haired man whose face was concealed by his opponent. They were fighting sword on sword and had a small crowd around them.

Leo was watching from a low-hanging spar in the rigging. Frank stood next to the mast, where the Stoll brothers were tied. A small blonde girl was also watching, her bright eyes alert. She was dressed in bright, random colors. Dyed rags were tied around her wrists and ankles, and her slacks were blue. Her shirt was dark green and the scarf tied into a band around her head was orange. She was accompanied by three boys.

The first boy was cheering loudly. "Show 'er wha' fo', Cap'n!" Only one of his eyes was visible, the other one under a small patch. His black hair was tied back in a small ponytail and his clothing was completely black. His feet were encased in worn leather boots and a sword was strapped at his hip.

The second boy was small. He was skinny and had floppy brown hair. They were hard to see, but Jason could see his eyes had the same kaleidoscopic eyes that Piper and Drew both had. The eyes of Aphrodite. His clothes were simple, a brown tunic and pants. He was barefoot, as his half sister was. He was watching the fight quietly, interested, but not excited about it.

The third boy was grinning. He had short blond hair cut close to his scalp. His eyes were dark and his face and arms were covered with scars. He was muscular and had a large sword hanging from his belt. He was dressed similarly to the small boy.

"Come on, you've got more than that!" The girl jeered. I could hear the friendly challenge in her voice.

"If I went full out you would be on the ground begging for mercy." The man retorted jokingly.

Leo wolf whistled.

"Shut it, Valdez!" The man barked.

"Yes Captain!"

Piper scrambled up the mast, using one of the Stoll brothers as a stepping stone. She slid down the spar to sit next to Leo.

The clashing of blades sped up as the two danced back and forth.

The woman took a swing at the man and he ducked under the blade completely. She stumbled forward and he grabbed her braid, then stood quickly and touched his sword to her throat. The both of them had their backs to me now and I could see that the man had his hair pulled into a ponytail similar to the eyepatch kid.

The captain leaned forward and whispered something in the woman's ear. She attempted to elbow him in the stomach but he chuckled and sidestepped.

"Aw, just give it up, Reyna. He's got you." Piper called.

Jason raised an eyebrow. He remembered Reyna. The girl was violent and would not take well to being bested.

"I yield." Reyna finally announced, sounding irritated.

"Wonderful." The captain stepped back and Reyna turned to face him with a scowl. Her eyes drifted to me and lit up with surprise.

"What are you staring at?"

"Turn around, Captain." She said.

The man turned and I found myself face to face with a familiar face.

Percy Jackson sighed and rested his hand on the back of his neck. 

"Piper McLean, what have I told you about bringing home strays?"

[A/N it's hard to write things when you keep distracting yourself....especially when there's a packer game on....we lost again, those boys need to pick it up]