The Brave

The Braves Weakness

A soft wind blows through the forest. I let out shaky breaths. The thorny plant that was wrapped around my legs dig deeper into my skin as I shifted my legs. I moan in pain as sharp pain sliced through me. I lay against the dirt and leaves. My brown hair blended into them. A black wolf emerged from the shaking bush. I tried to use my magic to bring my coin to me, but I couldn't. My weakness has taken my powers away. My glazed blue eyes follow the wolf as he steps towards me. The wolf had a line of red fur on his head.
He is a werewolf.
I struggle to get up but the pain causes me to collapse. Tears seep from my eyes. A blood red glow surrounds the wolf. When it fades, the wolf was replaced with a kin. He had red eyes and black hair. The kin wore a black leather jacket. He had an claw earring that had a red stripe. He looked at me.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
I dart my eyes to the ivy.
"Help. Thorns." I force myself to mutter.
The kin kneels next to me. He touches my leg as he starts to remove the plant. Gold magic swirls around him then fades into him. His earring glows and a gold stripe appears on it.
He stole some of my magic!
Anger fills my gaze as I defenselessly look at him. He looks at me with a shocked expression.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to..." He stops and quickly takes off the rest of the thorny plant. When it was off I felt so revealed. My life and magic rushed back into me and my hair turned light pink once again. I sit up. I felt bruised all over and I was tired. The kin looks at me.
I unsheathe my sword.
"Give me back me powers landlubber!" I snap.
I wave my sword in front of him. He looks shocked.
"I don't know how! Don't hurt me! I just helped you!" He said.
I clench my teeth and sheath my sword.
He paced for a few moments while thinking, then he looks back to me.
"My name is Burn. I live around here. I will find a way to get your powers back okay? Meet me here tomorrow, same time." He says.
I nod.
"My name be Cordelia. I'm not from here. I be leaving soon enough. Once I get me powers back." I say.
I start to turn around to walk to the outpost when Burn grabs my shoulder.
"Wait!"
He takes a step back.
"Stay for a little bit. I feel bad for taking your powers." He says.
I hesitate, but I agree.
He tells me to follow him so I do. We walk together through the woods. Burn chats next to me.
"I'm a werewolf. I lead a pack of werewolf's closer to town. If any of them give you trouble then tell them that you know me." He says with a smile.
I felt like I shouldn't tell him anything more, but he was being nice, he even told me where he lives. I decided to be a little more open to him, maybe he could join my crew?
"I be a pirate-" I get interrupted by a small laugh from Burn.
"Of course your a pirate. It's obvious. You have the pirate slang and look. I bet you even have a ship full of gold?" He said and eyes me carefully.
I smile at the compliments. I'm a pirate.
"Of course I have a ship with gold. I even keep a coin with me at all times." I state.
My hands glow gold and my lucky coin flew out of my pocket and spins around me. Burn looked extremely interested.
"Woah. That's not a pirate power. How can you do that!"
I feel a little uncomfortable. What would he think if I said that I was a mutant. Would he be afraid of me? He looks at me with a serious gaze after I didn't answer the question.
"Come on. Tell me Cordelia!" He says and tips his head.
What harm could telling him do?
I pull up my trench coat sleeve, revealing the sickening M. Burn looked horrified.
"Who did that to you? Your a mutant aren't you? Are you ashamed of that?"
I cover the reminder up.
"I was enslaved once. They did that to me because I am a mutant. Everyone thinks that mutants are evil, so I hide it."
Burn hugs me. Startled by the sudden embrace I freeze.
Burn whispers into the air behind me.
"Soon, no one will be scared of you."
After the hug he tells me that he had to go. He reminds me of when we will meet up, tomorrow, then he transforms into a wolf and runs off. I stare at the space he disappeared into.
"Burn..." I whisper.
The outpost was a small little cottage with stone walls and a leave covered roof to keep it hidden. I could hear lots of voices inside and light showed from the windows. I open a wooden door and step inside. A few steps in front of me was a counter. Above and around it we're food menus and a lists of things that you can buy. The lists included, crafting recipes, information, maps, survival supplies, and ingredients. Behind the counter was a door. I assumed it led to the outposts storage. To my left was a small wooden table for two. A kin sat at it. She had dark wings and black hair. I flinched when she looked at me. She had grey eyes and her left eye had red cracks along it that sparked from time to time. Farther behind the strange kin was more tables that sat up to four people. Two kins sat at one of the large wooden tables with cards all around them. They were laughing and the table they sat at shook.
"What can I do for ya ma'am?"
I look back at the counter to see a ogre behind it. She was tall and twice my size. She had red dreadlocks and yellow eyes. A yellow horn came out of her forehead. She wore a tight outfit and had rings on all of her fingers. I step up to the counter.
"Me need a map that directs me to thi neares' outpost." I state.
The ogre goes through the door then reappears a moment later with a small map. She sets it on the counter and I study it. The map showed the outpost that I had just come from. I look at the ogre again.
"Sorry. What's the second closest outpost to ye?" I ask.
The lady looked unsure. She leans on the counter and taps the wood with her rings.
"Let's see... Other than that, there is a outpost that is farther inland, about a months walk away..."
I grow worried.
"Does The Sea connect anywhere near there?" I ask.
The lady thought for a moment then shook her head no.
I grab my lucky coin and rub it in my hand. I grow frustrated. I needed to find a outpost that was on the coast so I could travel there with Bubbles.
"What about farther up thi coast? Any outpost there?"
The kin shakes her head.
"Sorry, I don't know. Farther up the coast is a different territory. I wouldn't go that way if I where you."
I shake my head. What would I do now? What would I tell Bubbles.
I look back over at the tables and I see that all the kins in the room are staring at me. I look back at the kin behind the counter.
"Thank ye anyways. My name be Cordelia." I say.
The kin smiles at me and says that her name is Deja. I turn and head to where the two kins were playing cards. I wanted to properly apologize for the disruption I caused. The two kins eye me as I step up to their table. One was a ogre and the other was a fairy. The ogre sets one of his cards down.
"Would you like to play?"
The fairy scans his cards. I look at the ogre.
"I'm sorry for thi commotion I caused. What are ye playin'?" I ask.
The fairy shows me the back of one of his cards. The word VIM was written on the back of it. I shake my head.
"I don't know how to play." I state.
The ogre pulls out a chair.
"Watch me play, I'll teach you." He says.
I take him up on the offer and I sit and watch. The two placed cards down each round to earn points. The loser of the round has to crack a magic rock called a vim. Whoever cracks all their rocks first loses. The ogre wins and takes the coin that he won. The fairy looks a tad frustrated but he nodded kindly to the ogre then after gathering his cards, he leaves. The ogre looks at me.
"Are you ready to play?" He asks.
I wanted to say yes but I knew that I had kept Bubbles waiting long enough. I shake my head no.
"I have to leave. We will play another time." I say.
The ogre looks pleased with my response. He starts setting up another round, as if some other kin will play against him soon. I walk out of the outpost and head  towards the cove. I didn't want to tell Bubbles that this outpost was a dead end. What would we do? I keep hearing noises behind me as I walked. I turn around to see who was there. A shadow darts behind a tree.
"Come out. I found ye!" I say.
Someone was following me!
The kin steps into the light. It was the mayfi inside the outpost. Her huge black feathered wings had talons coming out of them.
"I wasn't following you. We were simply walking the same way."
I don't believe her.
"What do ye need at the cove?" I ask.
The kin shrugs.
"I wanted to go for a swim."
I draw my sword. This kin kept lying. Was she dangerous?
"Tell me thi truth. Now." I hiss.
The kin smirks at me, as if she thought that I was no match for her. She slipped a dagger out of her boot. I realized that there was no way she would tell me why she was following me. I would just have to get her to lose me. My hands glow gold as my lucky coin flies out of my pocket. The kin try's to block it but I kick her, causing her to stumble. The coin hits her in the head and I catch her before she falls. She was asleep. I set her up against a tree and bring my lucky coin back to me. Then I walk towards the dock. She should stay asleep for a while. When I get to the old crumbling dock I get sprayed with salty water. I wipe it off and look at the annoying Kelpie.
"Bubbles, there is no need to spray me because I came late."
Bubbles sprayed me again.
"I was worried sick about you! You said that you would be back hours ago! The sun will be setting soon!" She says.
I jump into the water. The cold water feels nice against my skin. I get onto Bubbles back.
"I got a lot to tell ye." I state.
Bubbles starts swimming towards the ship.
"Then get on with it. The ship isn't to far." She says.
"While walking there my leg got wrapped around some type of thorny plant. It was my weakness. A kin came to help me but he ended up stealing some of my powers in the process."
Bubbles voice was thick with outrage.
"What! You need to get your powers back!"
I watched the waves rolled nearby.
"I will. He told me to meet 'em there tomorrow, at thi same time. He said that he will figure out how to give me my powers back."
Bubbles stays silent for a moment.
"You trust him?" She asks.
I nod.
"Yeah. I do."
I then tell her about what Deja said.
"The closest outpost is the one we just came from. And the second closest is farther inland, where you and a ship can't go. This outpost has no maps of any outpost that is farther up the coast because it's a different territory, one that we shouldn't go to." I state.
Bubbles thinks this through.
"We are at a dead end. We only got two reasonable choices. We can circle back to the last outpost, or we can settle here."
The sea around us starts getting foggy.
"Settle. You mean, live here?" I say.
I've never settled anywhere. Pirates are always on the move.
Bubbles swims through the thick fog that hid our ship.
"Yeah. Settle. This could solve a lot of our problems anyways. You still need to wait here to get your powers back, we can earn a lot more coin if we settle, and if we leave then we have to go through the mermaids again."
Even though I didn't like the thought of settling she did have a point.
"Fine. We settle, not for to long though." I say.
When we got onto the ship I was starving. Bubbles caught herself some fish and I ate bread, an orange, and dried meat. Then I busied myself with chores around the ship. I swabbed the deck. Cleaned everything. I secured the sails. My clothes were dry by the time I was done and the sun had set. I take off my coat and set it in my room. I realized that my leg was cut up from the ivy. I didn't want to bother Bubbles who was sleeping, so I grab one of the one-time-use potions that I make. The potions were poured into the jewelry for emergency use. I break the jewelry in my palm and red magic swirls around me. The magic seeps into my cut and it was healed. After that I shower than lay in my hammock to sleep. I didn't realize how exhausted and sore I was. I drifted asleep immediately.

Morning
I scream as I come in contact with the sharp stone. Everything went black.
———
I wake up from my nightmare when I hear a thud on the ships wall. I sit up and look out the window. Bubbles was at it. She was shaking her head.
What does she want?
I walk upstairs and call down to her. She looks at me.
"Your going to be late Captain!" She said.
I look at the rising sun and realized that she was right. I dash downstairs to put on some clothes and when I'm done I jump into the cove. Bubbles swims under me, putting me on her back. I wipe salt water from my face as she swims through the fog towards the old dock. When we get there I haul myself onto the rotting wood then sprint off to where I was told to meet him. When I get there he wasn't there. I see the plant that caught me. My blood was still on it. I sit down next to a tree and wait. He would be there soon.
—
I constantly move my head to every noise I hear to the point where I get dizzy.
Where was he?
The sun was high in the sky now. Yet he was nowhere to be found. I waited so long that I dozed off. I wake when I hear the crunch of leaves coming through the woods. I stand up. Burn was here! I look into the woods to where the noise was coming from. Bushes trembled as he pushed his way through them.
"Ahoy Bur-" I start to say when a kin emerges from the bushes.
Her grey eyes dart over to me. The kin from yesterday!
I draw my sword and point it at her.
"Landlubber." I spat.
The girl holds up her empty palms. Her wings dragged behind her. They were bent in a weird way.
"I'm sorry. We got off on the wrong foot the other day. I'm Mia." She says.
I let the tip of my sword touch the dirt floor.
"What happened to ye wings?" I ask.
She looks back at them.
"I had a run-in with an Indus worm. The beast threw me against a tree. My wings are trashed." She said.
Indus worms are revolting beast. They are giant and slimy and have four fang-like teeth that they use to kill anything they can get ahold of. Kins aren't the monsters that humans should fear. Beast are. I felt bad for Mia. Her beautiful wings looked horrible. I sheath my sword and nod to her.
"Follow me." I say and walk away.
She follows without question. I figured that Burn was to busy with something else to meet up with me.
He will meet me tomorrow.
I take Mia to the rotting docks. Bubbles must have saw her because she stayed underwater. I kneel next to the water.
"Bubbles. I need ye to heal this kin for me." I say.
She didn't surface. I roll my eyes.
"Arg." I say in frustration.
"That's an order." I say.
Bubbles rises from the water. Mia looks impressed.
"A Kelpie! I've never been so close to one before!" She says.
I tell her to put her hand in the water and she does. Bubbles heals her wings then sinks back under the water. Mia looks at me, I could tell she was thankful even though her face was as emotionless as ever.
"Thanks." She says.
I smile at her. I see the sun setting .
"It's getting late." I say.
Her eyes grow wide.
"I have to go somewhere. I owe you one." She said and with one flap from her wings she was in the air, flying away.
I went home with Bubbles. I told her what happened. We both agreed that I would have to go back tomorrow to wait for him again. I needed to get my bit of magic back that he stole from me.
——
I go back the next day, and the next, and another. I lost track of days. I was running low on supplies at my ship. I needed to stop waiting eventually. I needed to start looking. But my heart knew that he would come. He must have a reason for why he missed so many days. He wouldn't miss on purpose. Everyday I waited there until sunset, then I went home and ate and slept. I did this for a long time. I got really bony again due to my lack of eating. I started missing the taste of fish. One day I was sitting against a tree, waiting. The bushes near me trembled as something was shoving it's way through. I put my hand on my dagger and wait. The wind whipped the green leaves of the trees. Beatles scrambled around in the dirt. A woodland creature that was sitting in a tree ran off. I take a deep breath.