Chapter 1 [Editing]

"Look," a man whispered to his friend sitting beside him. "A pirate without a ship." They chuckled quietly. "Look," said the pirate, his head looking over his shoulder at the two men seated by the bar. He smiled at him with a grin. "A drunk without  a drink, would you like some money old man?" The man at the bar felt a chill travel down his spine. He'd heard about Captain William, the former captain of the whip, the fastest, and most infamous ship of the lot. He'd heard about the whispers, how he had a mind as cunning as the devil's himself, among others. William took a big, hearty swig of his liquor and spat it at the man. With his pride on the line, the fisherman stood and readied himself for a brawl. He lifted his fists and landed a powerful blow to his opponent's stomach. Who replied with a swift kick to the left of his head and an elbow to the throat. Since when did a pirate fight fair? Watching the man choke on the ground, he laughed and walked away.

"Seemed a bit much don't you think?" Asked an expensively clothed man to a fellow wearing blacksmit's attire. They were seated on a balcony across the street, and had been observing this man for  quite some time. "Mutiny's a hard thing to deal with, or so i've heard." he replied blankly. "So lets cut to the chase, Slade, you think you can handle him for us?" He asked, lips upturned. "Of course," said the man named Slade, relieving the table of a money pouch. "Of course."

"I will miss your company, my dear, Amy." She said. The mercenary looking figure walking out of the room replied "And i yours, my Queen. Goodbye." The Queen of Albrecht heard her parting words echo against the cold stone walls. "Goodbye." she said smiling. "She didn't talk very much did she?" asked the maid, almost rhetorically. "Not with her words, no." said the queen, carefully eyeing a small stone in her hands. 

The sun was setting as the pirate left the inn for a quiet walk. He'd wooed the innkeeper to half price, and there weren't any birds around he noticed happily. After leaving a line of footprints along the beach he headed back. A small rustle of leaves caught his attention. He decided not to take on the footpad directly (if there was one) and instead wait until before he attacked to lash out and  surprise him, ironically enough. He heard the thud of feet against the ground quieter than rain falling from a branch an spun around, drawing his Japanese-made wakizashi and barely deflecting a katana to the back. He saw the shine of the blade, and in the next moment, it was gone. He decided to scale a nearby rock structure to check things out from a bird's eye view. he saw the gleam of a sword once more and dodged in the last second. He turned and saw his assassin under the moonlight. "Your quite impressive," He told him. "Slade i presume?" he guessed, knowing the stories of the an with red eyes. He lunged at him. "Yourself as well." He replied, ducking. "superb footwork, better than mine in fact." he complimented, almost laughing. "Why thank-you, Slade." Steel clashed against steel. "Where did you learn to fight sir Gavin?" he asked captain William curiously, almost losing his balance on the jagged rock. "S'been awhile since someone called me that" he smiled. "Well, i grew up as a noble, not far from here, Jack Greyborn." another block. "That child that died from a remnant of the plague?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Well tht's just it," he laughed. "Reputation and pride made them tell those stories, how would you tell everyone your son ran away, and that t was your own fault? I joined up with some thieves, and on a ship raid gone sour i became a navigator for some rookie pirates on some no-name ship south of here, I killed them all, sold the ship, bought the whip and here we are." he said, knocking the sword from Slade's hands as he tripped over a small ledge. "Fighting on masts and over tides makes you wary of your feet." Slade smiled. "So that's it?" "Actually," replied Gavin, "I have a request of sorts." he said helping his foe and handing him his weapon. "Is it really a request?" he asked. "Or compensation for sparing my life?" he asked slicking his hair back. "A bit of both." He said, looking over his shoulder as if to say come on, let's go.