Raw Winter

Chapter 29: Whistle

Whistle was younger than the rest on the Red Liar, and everyone treated him like it. It was his job to swab the deck, check for rats, and keep a lookout. Not that hard of a life, especially since he was proud of what a good job he did. He thought maybe Hades thought so too, and it was always nice when the great and powerful captain smiled on him. He always fantasized that one day, after so many years of hard work, his captain would one day notice him. He would take his rightful place at the captain's right hand. He would be the first to admit he saw Hades a lot like a father after his own parents died when he was so young and he had spent so much time raising himself. He was sure the captain must have seen something in him after taking him in. That dream crumbled little by little until vanishing altogether.

He wasn't there when his captain was shot dead, but he had heard plenty of interpretations from his crew members. Some directly and some overheard, but they all seemed so different despite describing the same thing in the end. He didn't know how to feel. He had felt a certain resentment for Rawintr Wlyfric from the moment she stepped foot on deck as it was. She gained the captain's favor in every way he had craved effortlessly. At first, he comforted himself with the thought that it wasn't the same for her. She was a girl, and a pretty one. That's all there was to it. It meant nothing. Hades spent his time with a lot of women, even if he had brought none of them back to the ship. It wasn't as if he had a choice this time. She had come straight from the sea.

Then he had watched her try to kill his captain from up in the crow's nest. He hadn't been able to sleep with the worry of her arrival on his mind. Hades not only brought her back up to the surface with him but seemed to find it amusing, to elevate her further.

No one liked Nagyra. Every time Whistle came too close to the man, it was almost certain he would have a nightmare the night after. It was true he wanted to see the man dead, but then she was the one who did it. She killed him, and the captain praised her for it. He was one of their own, albeit one no one really liked, but it didn't change the fact he was a crew member.

And then she was the bosun. She became the person Hades always kept at his side, except she never was. They were rarely together, and when they were it was in private. Whistle couldn't imagine she even liked their captain. She had simply crawled onto the deck like a sea serpent and started taking everything over, little by little.

The fateful day she slew Captain Hades Smith arrived. He had expected nothing like that to happen. He was down below, cleaning up a mess. A bottle had come free from its rack and shattered all over, and it had taken him forever to clean it up. He had heard the bang of the gun and it had startled him. By the time he reached the deck, his captain was dead, and that dreaded woman was retreating. Whistle stayed with his corpse for as long as he could until they finally gave him a proper burial at sea. After, he had stayed in the crow's nest and cried.

He had been up above when Cartledge had challenged her. He knew the man was stupid and knew she couldn't possibly take him seriously no matter what he said. Whistle was wrong. It wasn't long before Cartledge laid dead as well, and it filled Whistle with dread.

Now they docked, and he had stayed on the ship. He had heard her declaration and knew she was offering a way out. He couldn't imagine serving on her crew after what she had done, and yet here he was still on the ship. He was still young. He wasn't a boy anymore, but it felt like all he had ever known was this ship and the streets, and he didn't want to return to the streets. He had hoped they would have mutinied against her by now. He couldn't imagine them siding with a woman, allowing a woman to be captain, but the opposite happened. They obeyed what she had said. They didn't react violently, even though he was sure if they all attacked her they could kill her. It was only fair considering how she had handled everyone else in her way.

He had to believe it was coming; she wouldn't survive the week. They couldn't have really wanted her as captain. Those who were discontent wouldn't leave the ship they had served on for so long.

He had seen it before. He had seen an entire crew flip before his eyes, but that was for Captain Hades. She couldn't possibly convince an entire crew to stay, go, or find extra crew members that would want to serve a woman like her.

He knew all it would take to get out from under her command was to leave. He might have been a worthless kid before, but now he had solid work experience. He could do any job he pleased. He could find a new crew that didn't fancy a devil woman that had risen from the sea. However, he just couldn't do it. He couldn't leave his captain's ship behind, and not in the hands of someone like Rawintr Wlyfric. He was sure the rest of them would see sense and she would be gone in no time.

As he brooded, something caught his attention. It was subtle. He told himself it had to be nothing of importance, but something was off. His grip tightened on his mop. He ducked as the arms of a big man with hairy arms tried to wrap around him. His heart was beating with adrenaline and he was running to get away as another man and another appeared on deck. Men who were definitely not his crew surrounded him and leaped for him. Another reached out to grab him, but he stumbled back a few steps to find another behind him, and their fist swung to connect with the side of his head. He moved sideways just in time, but his ear was still clipped and ringing.

He dropped to the deck and shuffled along, arms pulling and legs pushing him between a group of three that all tried to grab him, but he came out and up on the other side with none of them catching him. He searched frantically for a way out, but his heart was heavy at the thought of abandoning their ship to these intruders. He knew he could check the nearest pub and there would have to be at least three Red Liars. He had to hope so. He hoped maybe he could make up for leaving the ship to these men if he could only bring back reinforcements to take it back in time, assuming that's what they were after.

While he was looking for a way out, four men tried to surround and corner him. He moved with an almost unnatural ease, slipping through the slightest crack in their formation as his panic grew. He felt almost exhilarated at his feat, surprised at how good he was until he realized it for the trap it was and felt hard metal strike his temple. He didn't really know what was happening, but knew later upon recalling the sensation of hitting the deck and tasting blood in his mouth.

He sat slumped in the wooden chair they dragged from Hades' dining quarters, a bruise sprouting brilliantly over his forehead. He sucked in a few breaths and tried to lift his head, but the pain was intense, and he slumped back down. Gravity would have brought him to the floor, but twine held his hands steadily behind his back, behind the back of the chair. He licked the blood from his gums, groaning as if the rest of what he did was not enough to alert those that had him to the fact that he was now conscious and feeling everything. He imagined they must have stomped him to hell by the way his entire body ached.

"Ah, so the lad is awake, eh? I didn't imagine in me life that ye'd be waking to set ye straight, but here ye are," the deep, rumbling voice of a man with thick, unruly, dirty blond hair standing in front of him said. Unlike his own Hades, this captain had sharp, blue eyes he imagined if someone should look through long enough, they might see what's in the man's thick skull. Whistle wasn't looking up, so he didn't have time to check his theory.

"Captain Derevi," Whistle muttered, blood dripping from his mouth, finding it harder to speak than he originally thought it would be.

"You know me, lad? Of course you do," he laughed. "Tell me then, where is that old bastard, Hades? I've been looking all over for him, but he aint on his ship and he aint in the port, I reckon, else I would have seen him for meself. Some dumb bastard said he aint no longer of this world, but not Hades. Hades aint got it in him to die. Where the hell is he?"

Whistle swallowed a few times, wondering how long he had been out. He considered what he would say, though he didn't feel careful about it. He made an uncomfortable choking noise, knowing this man, his rival, wouldn't accept anything he didn't believe, even if it was the truth.

"Hades was betrayed," he said, trying not to let anything drip from his mouth. "A devil of the sea betrayed him; he couldn't have seen it coming. She's out and about now. Out with his crew and out making a mockery of our name." When he spoke, he had only intended to put the rival captain off him but spoke with honest anger.

Captain Derevi's eyes brightened with glee as he didn't miss it, his teeth—stained with gold—flashing. "Is that so? I think we ought to do some hunting, boy, and I think you want it just as much as I do. One way or another, we'll have our Hades."