It's A Pirates Life For Me

Chapter Three - The Black Bird

"You seemed to have a nasty run in with Piper." Raven laughed as she climbed the steps with Jonathan.

"What's... A Piper?" He asked, clearly confused.

"She's our prized possession," Raven said as she came up into the sun light. "She's half Siren." She clarified.

Johnny just stared at Raven in shock. "You have a girl that's part Siren in your crew?" He gaped.

"We do indeed..," Raven looked around the deck at her working crew. Although they were pretty relaxed out in open seas. "She should be around here somewhere-"

"You called?" Johnny jumped, but Raven stayed unfazed, when a girl with bright red hair dropped down in front of them, she couldn't be older than fifteen. Her eyes were a bright sky blue and opened wide in curiosity. "Who's this chump?"

The girl-- Piper, looked at the Johnny closely before finally recognized him. "You're the guy I took down in the pub! You went down like a sac of potatoes!" She laughed.

Johnny caught Raven smirking out of the corner of his eye and felt his cheeks flush of embarrassment. He caught himself staring at the girl. She sure looked human to him. But it was obvious as she aged, her beauty would be recognized as more than a coincidence.

"Is he coming with us to Carladam?" the girl asked, not even looking at Johnny anymore.

Raven nodded to her, before she started discussing that Johnny had no knowledge about. Something about the crew.

"Jonathan." He winced at the name, tempted to snarl at the devil-woman. "I think it's time you met some of the crew. Since you're part of them now." Her pirate accent was there, yet she still spoke like a noble. Her entire persona was off putting.

He started sweating, even if the cool breeze off the sea was keeping the deck at a moderate temperature. Were the rest of them cruel hybrids like the little red head? He knew that hybrids of mythological creatures and humans existed in their world, even if the noble world refused to acknowledge it. They thought their existence went against every thing natural. Especially those that possess magic. Like the red head. The royal family especially despised hybrids and all mythological creatures. Maybe that was why they all seemed to become pirates and the like.

Johnny stood tall, shaking off whatever nerves he had about meeting her crew. Who which was rumored about across all seventeen seas. "All right, where do we begin?"

The two female pirates before him exchanged glances, before Raven grinned at him in a way that put a knot in his stomach. In an attempt to hide his nervousness, he pushed back his dark locks with a hand.

"All the interesting people aren't on deck," the captain began, gesturing with her arm towards the lot of pirates milling around them on deck. He noticed black ink swirling around her forearm in some kind of pattern. Noticing his gaze, Raven put her arm down, and the image disappeared in the folds of her skirt. "Let's begin below deck actually." He noted that Piper looked rather disappointed by that. "I don't think you're ready for the lookout yet," Raven said and started to head back towards the doors that would lead them below deck, the hybrid right on her heel.

When the girl started to protest, Raven put a finger to her lips and Piper shut her mouth. Johnny sighed and followed the two through the doors and back into the darkness below deck.

§

Raven sighed as soon as they entered the kitchen, wordlessly ducking as a pan of flour came flying at her head. The flour hit the wall behind her instead, exploding in a flurry of white powder, splattering on Johnny's face. The look of utter shock and confusion on his face made her smirk before she turned her attention back to the kitchen and its cook.

"Damn it all, Kingston!" A shrill voice exclaimed from across the counter. The woman flopped onto the counter dramatically, burying her head in her arms.

"Honestly, Ingrid. What have I told you about that temper of yours?" Raven said, tsking at her.

Ingrid threw her head up, her shoulder length black hair flinging over her shoulders. Her bright golden eyes glared at her captain. "Like you know anything about fixing your temper," she hissed, before standing up straight.

The kitchen was not very average. Boiling cauldrons sat around, holding multicolored liquids that could be poisonous for all Raven knew. Jars of odd items sat on shelves. Eyeballs, fingers, toad legs and more. Ingrid was allowed to do whatever she liked in this kitchen, as long as it was kept separate from their meals.

"Ingrid, I would like you to meet a new addition to our group of misfits, this is Johnathan," Raven said, ignoring the cook's statement. This was like another one of her visits down here. "Johnathan, this is our... Comedic cook."

Johnny's face had gone pale. The Black Bird's kitchen wasn't for the weak. "Your cook is a Witch?" he asked.

In response, Raven just nodded with a grin. "Hybrid between Witch and... Something else." At Johnny's confused look, she just shrugged. "I thought it rude to ask."

Ingrid's burning golden eyes stared at them, always holding a mystery.

"How's dinner coming along?" Raven question, popping a grape from the fruit bowl on the counter. Or at least she hoped they were grapes.

Ingrid crinkled her nose, turning away to throw a pinch of some red powder into a cauldron with some boiling green substance. Upon the powder reaching the liquid, it turned purple. "Don't ask." Her accent sounded like it was from the Western kingdoms, mountain kingdoms. But, Raven never thought to ask where she was from.

The hybrid then turned to Johnny, a great smirk on her face. "He looks like quite the weakling, doesn't he?" She glanced over at Raven who shrugged. "If he needs some toughening, why not just take him to our lookout. If he can handle her, he could handle any of our lot. Or maybe that first mate of yours... I would let him toughen me up any day..." She trailed off when Raven cleared cleared her throat in annoyance.

"You can't really blame me, Captain, you can't say you haven't noticed either." Ingrid grinned at Raven as she popped another grape in her mouth.

The Captain of the Black Bird pursed her lips, staring at the Witch hybrid. Unable to take her golden questioning gaze any longer, she stalked out of the kitchen, a whiff of the potion brewing stuck in her nose. It smelled of sea and someones hair. She felt the urge to growl. Curse that Witch.