Lunars of the Caribbean

Starry Night (24)

Scarlet loved watching the stars. She sat on a barrel and smiled up at the sky, witnessing comets and glimmering stars dance across the sky. The darkness was merely a background for the beautiful jewels in the sky.

She adored them, each and every one of them. After all, they were what she used to navigate her paths to her next great adventures. Always and forever, she used to stars to show her the way.

A light chuckle rumbled from behind her. Scarlet knew the owner before hearing him speak. "Still star gazing, hm?"

She didn't turn around. She kept her eyes on the sky, on the stars. "I did it when I was on your ship, Wolf. I didn't stop after I left, and I'm not going to stop now."

Her burly friend pulled up a barrel next to her, then moved to sit down. But when he sat down, the barrel buckled and splinter under his wait. It collapse, and Wolf was left on top of the pile on the ground.

Scarlet snickered, being careful not to wake the others. Getting off her own barrel, she held out her hand to Wolf, offering to help him to his feet. Even though she knew he didn't need it. Still, he grasped her hand, but didn't use it much to stand.

Continuing to grin at the incredible and complicating strength that was Wolf, she pulled at his hand, leading him to the bow of the ship. "It's been a while since he actual had some time together."

Wolf jokingly replied, "Well, if you stopped getting into fights with my crew, maybe we'd have a bit more time with one another."

"Horus was asking for it," Scarlet argued.

He chuckled again. "That doesn't mean you had to make him see stars in the daytime." He rested his elbows on the rail, joining Scarlet in watching the stars. "You can't fight everyone, Scar. You have to start picking your battles, Scarlet."

She scoffed. "Well, I'm full of rage and I choose all of them."

Wolf looked both amused and worried. She sighed. "I have fought all of your men in fair fights, and beat them in under five minutes. I think I can handle anything else the God of War throws at me."

"That's just it, Scarlet." He tore his eyes from the gems in the sky, and placed them on his only true star. "Most people won't fight fairly. My men don't play dirty. They fight by the Rules of Engagement in Hostilities. We may be pirates, but we're pirates with honor. And Ran wasn't-"

He stopped himself short. Whenever the subject turned to Ran, Wolf didn't finish his sentence. Scarlet knew they'd been close as children. Wolf told her that much. But after Levana cursed them, they grew apart. Ran became a power hungry mercenary, and Wolf tried his hardest not to allow his new changes to dictate his life.

Eerily enough, Wolf still hadn't told her what became of his brother. He said he was no longer a part of his crew, and Scarlet hadn't seen him on the ship.

Though the thought of him being with them on the ship was unsettling, not knowing where he was was terrifying. "Wolf," she said. "What happened to Ran?"

He avoided her eyes, assuring her, "You don't have to worry about him anymore, Scar. He can't hurt us again."

Something nagged at her, but she didn't fully understand what it was yet. "I'd feel a lot better about the whole thing if I knew where he was. So ... please, just tell me." The fact that Wolf won't give her a straight answer frightened Scarlet. If only a little. She wasn't one to scare easily.

Yet, something told her it wasn't that simple. That it was just her jitters about what they were up against or the fact that Wolf wouldn't say anything.