Wanted: Palaye Royale Back Stories

The Pirate

I sit here on the deck. We just cleaned it all up but the place is still a mess. These dirty tyrants have no manners, they're brute and violent. They find joy in murder, whores, fights and annihilation. The only beautiful thing about this God forsaken hell hole is what it once was. It was a big ship without damage. It looked regal and it had style. I remember the day that I stepped foot on this deck for the first time. A vivid dream of that wondrous day comes flooding into my head...

It was a nice summer day. Not too hot, not a single cloud in the sky, a calm sea and a nice summer breeze. Many people gathered around today to admire the ship. It's the newest and biggest ship of the continent and I'll be joining all these talented men on an adventure around the world. They're all artists like me, our goal is to spread the power and the message of art across the world. Today is the big day, I'm very excited. I dressed up nicely in fancy dress pants, a striped blouse and a golden-black jacket. I tied a red bandana around my neck and armored myself with fancy jewelry. And of course, I'm wearing a nice hat against the sun.
I struggle my way through the crowd, mumbling "Excuse me" a bit too often. Once I finally make it to the front I'm completely astonished by what I see. An enormous ship with big white sails, with crow nests, everything made of wood with fine details, stained glass windows etcetera. My eyes glide over the gorgeous floating castle. I notice the golden engraved letters on the captain's cabin, "Stephanie 747" I whisper with the wind. This is salvation.

The day was so fine, the ship was so breathtaking, the deck was so pure... But now... Filthy pirates scramble their unholy lives all over the place. The deck is scrubbed with a dirty mixture of ingredients that remind me of tar. The sky is gray, the ocean is restless, the egocentric people ugh, I'm not even starting. I grab my sketchbook from beside me and start to sketch what the Stephanie 747 used to be like. I'm trying to relive that time but I keep falling back into that one day... The day that ended our glory...

We've been living on the sea about a year and a half, it's just a few miles to the shore of East Europe. We're going to France. I slip into reverie again. All those cities we'll see: Venice, Paris, Versailles, Orléans, Marseille, Avignon, Bordeaux, Toulouse... I dream away.
But my nearly imperishable embodiment comes to an abrupt end; I wake up to the sound of a panicked scream followed by a bang that makes the whole ship tremble. I shoot up and push my hat back to make sure I can see. People are running around everywhere. I stop one of the men from running, "Gerard, what's going on?!"
"Pirates!" He yells in distress.
"Pirates?!"
"We need to run! Come with m-" He couldn't finish his sentence. A sword pierced right through his ribs, slowly cutting its way up to his heart. Gerard coughs up blood and mutters something I can barely understand, "K-Kr-o-p-p." The pirate pulls his sword back and Gerard drops to the ground. I shiver in agony as the pirate stares at me with a devilish grin plastered to his in dirt covered face, "Hello, pretty boy." He spits at me. I try to run but his blood dripping sword quickly stabs into the wood in front of me, "Tsk tsk tsk, not so fast now." He smirks at me.
"What do you want from me?!" I nearly cry out.
"First, your name."
"M-Mister E-Emerson B-Barret-t, sir." I choke on my words as I find eye contact with lifeless body of Gerard on the floor. I shiver at the sight. He was such a fine and passionate man with a musical heart that played as beautiful as a starry night sky. I hear the agonizing screams of my dying friends around me. Today is my final day, it has to be, "Sir, p-please kill me quickly, d-don't torture me like t-this." I close my eyes and hope that the pirate will shoot me. He tangles his hand in my hair instead and drags me into the captain's cabin. He throws me into the chair a tells me to shut up. I nervously fidget with my ring as I feel the tears start to form in the corners of my eyes.

Suddenly a group of at least fifteen pirates crashes through the door. They start talking to each other in a dialect I can not understand. They point at me every now and then.
"Oi, kid!" A pirate yells at me. I try to get up out of the chair as the pirate nears me. He pulls his sword and presses it against my chest, pressuring me to sit back down.
"Yer gonna be part of this crew. Yer gonna obey us. Yer gonna be shark food if ye try to run. We'll find ya."
I shiver at his words and look at the pirate, "W-Why me, sir?". The pirates laugh in the background.
"The rest is dead. Don't ask too many asks, kid. Yer stuck now, yer a pirate now. Yer part of the crew." He pokes me one last time with his sharp sword, leaving a hole in my black shirt. He turns around and tells everyone to leave the cabin. The other pirates yank me out of the chair and throw me back on the deck. It's now covered with my dead friends. "Clean this shite, princess!" A drunk pirate yells at me. The others just laugh and wait for me to start cleaning. I spent the rest of the days cleaning the blood and corpses off our ship.

Suddenly I get an idea, one that could actually work. Mutiny! Everyone hates our captain anyway. If I can get them to fight the captain they'll maybe be distracted long enough to forget about me. I get the last lifeboat and escape!
"Richie! Come here!" I yell at Richie as he walks by. He comes over to me and sighs, "Whatcha want?" he asks bluntly.
"I'm done with captain Slash."
"Who ain't? We ain't gettin' rid of him, though. Back to work, ye lil bastard."
"Why not?"
"'Cause Slash is the strongest pirate of the seven seas. And most of us are too dumb to do anything."
"Well, that can't be true. If we all cooperate we could maybe attack the captain at night. He won't be prepared nor armed. I'm sure we'll be stronger. And-"
"Stop talkin' so much, ye dreamy rat. I'll talk to Bill 'bout it. Ye just do yer work 'til I'm back."
"Yes, sir."
Richie leaves me again. He's unkind and fairly rude but I'll have to deal with it. He's uneducated like the others so they're probably too stupid to succeed and think of a further plan. It'll be more than easy to escape.
I wait and wait but Richie doesn't come back. I fall asleep after two hours of waiting.

"OI!" Richie yells as he kicks my calf harshly. A stinging pain rushes through my leg as I pull my knees closer to my chest. I hear some soft snickering laughs from other pirates and open my eyes. I see a small group of lack-all's standing in front of me. I sigh and sit up, "What do you want?", I ask people while I rub my eyes.

"The plan." Richie answers. "I got these assheads for yer plan, now it's time for yer part of the plan. What now?"

I grin 'Fools' I think to myself, "We get the whole crew on our side. Spend your time convincing the others about the plan. I need everyone to be gathered around tomorrow night. He always goes to bed earlier on Saturday evening so that's when we attack."

The guys nod and leave again. I can't believe it was so easy. I know I'm not free yet, but I'll get there.

"Back to work, ye sneaky rat!" Captain Slash yells at me from the cabin. I grin at the thought of my own freedom as I start scrubbing the deck again.

****

"Is everyone here?" I whisper loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Yeah we are, ye blind fuck." Danny yells back.

"Shut the hell up, you're gonna wake him up!" I hiss at him.

"Anyway, everyone gets a weapon and then we storm into the captain's cabin. Don't think twice, just keep running, stabbing and creating chaos until Slash surrenders or doesn't move anymore."

"Aye!" They all yell back. I quickly shush them and I start handing out the weapons. I look at the side of the ship where the last lifeboat dangles.

"Time to go everybody." I whisper as I point to the cabin. They quietly break into the cabin and wait for my signal. I nod and they all brutally attack Slash. They scream and shout and break all the stuff in the cabin. I quickly run out of the cabin and start untying the last lifeboat. It lowers pretty quickly but not quick enough. I pull my sword and cut the ropes. The boat crashes onto the waves and I jump after it. It's a high jump, this landing is gonna hurt for sure. I crash down into the little boat and feel my ankle bend. A sharp pain rushes through my leg as I reach for the oars. I've got no time to lose. I start rowing in the opposite direction of the ship's course. We passed a little island pretty recently, I'm aiming for that one.
The ocean seems even bigger now I'm in such a little boat. It's like an endless void surrounding me. I'm a lost voyager out in the open. A Void Voyager.
I see the Stephanie 747 in the far distance, I think they're changing course. Did they notice my absence? I'm pretty far ahead of them now anyway, I hope they won't see me.