I stood on the crow’s nest of a ship as the wind tugged at my hair and howled in my ears, looking down at the large port city named Orabel. I felt the mast begin to crack and, figuring it was my time to go, I climb onto the ledge of the crow’s nest and jumped from the mast of the ship. What was supposed to be a few hundred feet drop was merely ten or so as I landed on the dock. I looked behind me to see the rest of the ship I had stolen from a merchant sink into the crystal-clear, teal water of the port. I turned back around to find people gawking at me, but, not giving a flying apple, I continued my way down the port.
I lowered my pirate hat down a little farther, covering my eyes from onlookers. I reached down, letting my nerves dissipate a little when I felt both of my daggers, my four muskets, and my sword. I felt a hand brush my shoulder and nearly shot the man’s head off before looking over my shoulder and realizing he was just an unarmed citizen that probably ran the port.
“Ma’am,” he said in a sophisticated tone, “you can’t just leave that broken ship there.”
I turned to him, “What would you like me to do then? Fish it out?” I gave him a wicked laugh before turning away.
The darn man, not taking the hint in the slightest, grabbed my arm forcefully. “Ma’am, if you’re not going to move it, you are going to have to come with me.”
I frowned and glared at him, though he couldn’t see my eyes, and replied with a calm but sharp, “Get your hands off of me.”
“Ma’am,” he continued, “I said you are coming with me to the guards.”
“Sir,” I spat, “I said that you better get your grubby hands off of me before I do something that I may or may not regret.”
The man looked like he was going to say something else but then a giant, dark-skinned hand grabbed his shoulder. The port man whipped around to find a colossal man the size of a grizzly bear (probably even bigger) standing behind him. The man with the skin the color of mud crossed his arms over his chest that was threatening to rip his shirt to shreds due to the tight fit over his muscles the size of trees.
I sure do love knowing Kai, the huge man, because he made everyone look like ants as he towered one to two feet over everyone.
“Captain,” Kai said in his voice that was as deep as the port man was scared, “is this man causing you trouble?”
The port man’s head whipped to me,, “Y-y-y-y-you k-know this m-man?” he stuttered as his eyes threatened to jump out of their sockets to grow feet and run away just out of fright of seeing Kai.
“Why yes,” I grinned, “this is my co-captain, Kai.”
Kai looked down, just now seeing that the port man had his hand on my arm. Kai’s face contorted into a scowl and he began to pop his giant knuckles that might just be as big as my elbows. “Do you want me to take care of this man?”
I’m pretty sure that right then and there that the port man had soiled himself. “No, it’s okay Kai, I have a use for this man.”
The port man’s horrified expression turned to me, “A u-u-use?”
“Mhm, you are the harbor master here, right?” I asked and the man nodded his head. “Good, you see I own another ship, a ship that isn’t sunken, and her name is Armina. You see, Armina is my most prized ship that I so dearly love, and so does Kai since he is co-captain. Now, Armina is a large ship and a very expensive one and will no doubt bring unwanted attention. Basically, what I am getting at is that if anything happens to Armina, if she gets one scratch or if one bread crumb is stolen, Kai is going to hunt you down and break every single bone in your body, starting with your fingers and toes and ending with your neck. Do I make myself clear?”
