Finding Hope

Chapter 1

The rain roared as it clashed with the oakwood of the ship. I remember the waves rising and crashing against the haul as I was locked in a duel with her; A rival captain of our ship. Captain Arrietty of the Wishtaker was one of the most ruthless crew of pirates that we have ever encountered.

Clang!

I blocked her attack with Hope, my bastard sword. Thunder clapped as her steel met my steel. I stepped forward and took two quick slashes at her arm, but she parried them and smiled. A smile that could kill the dead. I took a quick look around, and saw my crew either lying down bleeding or tied up by her crew.

"Can't you just accept that we beat you, Dreemurr?" Arrietty gloated. She took her free hand and gestured to how uneven the odds were against me. My brother, Rylei was down on his knees with a sword at his throat. Kaladin, our captain, laid next to him unconscious with a sword near him as well. Lastly, my beloved, also kneeling on the other side of Rylei, was tied up and looked at me with worry. Worry that I was going to be killed and that she would have to watch my life fade from me.

"Never." I hissed back and lunged at her again with a fury of attacks. I heard her laugh as she quick maneuvered around me and flung Hope out of my hands and over the side of the ship, lost in the sea. A look of horror washed on my face, "Fuck".

I turned around and was met with a sword on my shoulder, a hair away from my neck. I fall to my knees in defeat.

"Well Dreemurr, it looks like you've been beat." Arrietty bragged. "Your sword is lost to the ocean and you are now kneeled before me about to be executed. It seems like to me that the Predator became the prey."

"Do it. Arrietty." I coaxed. Looking into her dark green eyes.

"With pleasure." she sneered as she pulled back her swing. "I never thought I would be able to take down both of the notorious Dreemurr siblings." I saw the blade glimmer with the full moon shining down. I smiled at her as I saw the blade coming as I grabbed my hidden blade under my skirt, rolled left, and thrusted the knife into her side. A scream of pain escaped her lips and I grabbed her sword from her hands ran her through the heart, "In your dreams." I whispered to her as her eyes rolled back and she took her last breath. I let her body fall to the deck and I looked around. "Release my crew and get off my ship" I commanded to the rest of them, "I have killed your captain and I now am in command. Get off this ship or I will help you, " I held up her sword "in a very bloody way."

Needless to say, the crew of the Wishtaker got the hell off.

My crew ran up to me and yelled "Huzzah!" in celebration that our rival captain was defeated and their crew is now disbanded. We took any booty they had stowed on their ship and claimed it as our own as well as the navigational charts, seeing how our navigator wanted them particularly.

Rylei hugged me and thanked me. He was my world and I was his, because in the end it will always just be us. Ever since our family was killed and we were being sold as slaves, it took each other to survive. We've been through alot but if it wasn't for Kaladin setting us free during his younger years, we never would have found a home or a family. I'll never forget the day when he broke us out as long as we agreed to join his ship when he got one. He was so young then, 18 I believe.

Kaladin came up and smiled at me, "Seems as though all that sword training paid off" he smirked as he wrapped his arm around me waist in a friendly hug. How badly I wanted him to wrap his arms around me in a more passionate way, but he never quite got the hint.

Then she came up to me and leaped into my arms and kissed me deeply as her legs wrapped around me. Her hands slid down my long white hair as she softly played with it, she knew I liked that. She broke off the kiss and looked at me and flashed a smile, "I was so worried about you, but yet I knew deep down that you would never let her get you." the words came out of her mouth so gentle and loving; hard to believe she was an expert marksman who has killed hundreds of people.

The night carried on, the crew celebrating with drinks and food. Our captain gave speeches of future goals and what the plans were next for the money and supplies they acquired. I sat next to her and my brother and shared the meal. But yet I shared a look with Rylei that only he would get, a look of pain and sadness. He looked into my eyes trying to see what it was but then it struck him. Hope was missing from my side. He nodded and smiled assuringly. He knew what I was gonna do once the night ended and when everyone went to bed. It was something I tried to keep from the rest of the crew as it was not something heavily shared. Granted, I have been caught multiple times, but it was just shrugged off as 'bathing' or something of the sort. Never what it truly was.

.....

I woke up a little after falling asleep, she was next to me and sleeping heavily. I smiled as I carefully got out of her bed. I had a hammock in which I slept, but she had a bed. I carefully stepped through the crew quarters and to the steps that brought me to the deck. Magical light guided me along the path as we tend to try not use fire too often, could cause issues as Kaladin would say. I stepped up to the deck and was greeted by the full moon shining down upon me. The wind picked up and my long white hair carried softly in the breeze as I walked towards the bow of the ship. My purple laced nightgown danced around me as I walked and took in my surroundings. It was quiet, all I could hear was the sounds of the ocean rapping up against the haul.

Quiet. It's how I liked it. Especially when I would go for a night swim. It seemed to happen only on a full moon and it happened for as long as we were back upon the sea. Just something I was drawn to, but I didn't want to be bothered, worried about, or even have company with me. So I tend to go alone and secretly. Rylei knew, but that's only because he claimed it was something happened during our childhood too. I vaguely remember it. He also never seemed surprised and tend to fiddle with the mermaid necklace he owned whenever I mentioned it.

Either way, this was more than just a leisure opportunity this night. I had a mission and that was to retrieve my sword as it now sits on the ocean. Most of the crew couldn't handle that kind of swim or even hold their air long enough, but for me it never bothered me and I could hold my air a very long time without even trying.

I got to the bow and saw the empty trunk that sat there and I looked inside. I smiled as Rylei once again took care of me in some way even though I didn't need it. "Oh Lee." I whispered to myself. I looked inside to find my regular day clothes, his dagger attached to my garter belt, an empty back sheath, a light stone with a cord around it for seeing in the dark, and a note written in his hand.

"Xara -

I figured you were gonna go after Hope. So take my dagger, light stone, and Forever's back sheath. As always, here are your day clothes for when you finish so you can find a spot to sleep the rest of the night. Be safe, my sister.

Always and Forever,

Rylei

I donned the gear he gave me, knowing that there might be some trouble in the depth I am going and stepped up upon the railing of the ship and looked out upon the horizon. I closed my eyes and let the moon wash over me, and I stretched out my arms and took some deep slow breaths.

Feeling prepared, I opened my eyes, let out a small giggle as I leaped upwards. I swan dived down into the deep blue dark ocean, off to find my light. My Hope.

To Be Continued.