"I don't like this James, I don't trust them." Luci Sorwen whispered to her brother. She had been a pirate since she was 10 when she snuck onto her father's ship and refused to leave until he let her join his crew.
"Of course we can't trust them, but they paid good money and you're curious about that tree too. I know you are." James Sorwen was a tall man and nearly identical to his younger sister with brown hair and eyes.
"How much longer till we arrive?" The siblings turned to look at the interloper, one of the men who had paid for passage on their ship.
Markus Lensin was a retired soldier with greying hair, but his strength was obvious even with his age. He wore black armor with gold embellishments and a sword at his side, he was stern and serious but had paid upfront so James had told his crew to either be respectful or keep out of his way.
"Roughly 3 hours, if the wind stays the same." With a nod, the man walked away having no issue moving with the rocking of the ship.
"Something about that guy unnerves me," Luci grumbled and leaned on the railing watching as Markus joined his small group of 3.
The group had approached them the night before in the tavern as they waited out the storm. Apparently, their cleric had received a divine message to go to the tree. Luci douted it as the Gods had stopped speaking centuries ago, but the old man had paid 5 gold coins and there was no real reason to refuse.
James grunted and waved over Lucky, a member of their father's crew that had joined them when they set out on their own.
"Captain?" Lucky was short and looked like a simple sailor, slightly pudgy, with black hair and brown eyes, but he was fiercely loyal and an excellent spy.
"Heard anything interesting yet?" James asked and Luci leaned forward interested.
Lucky scrunched his nose and sighed, "Nothing much, that boy of theirs is skilled. He notices me every time I get close," This was clearly frustrating him, he prided himself in his skills.
"The one with the black hair?" Luci asked and looked at the group using her peripheral vision.
"Yeah, his name is Zu and he's 19 but that's all I've learned about him." Lucky sighed and moved on. "The others I've got more on. The woman is a cleric of Su, 26, and leans towards the healing aspect of the goddess, a bit pompous but seems to know her stuff. Names Sora Meis."
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The siblings eyed the blonde woman warily, they hadn't had good experiences with the healers of Su. Those that followed her other aspects could be trusted a bit more but even then needed careful handling.
Lucky gestured at the last member a cocky-looking blonde male, "The last one is Luke Varson, 25, water mage, and related to nobility." He rolled his eyes, "Likes to brag about being level 5."
Luci scoffed, she was 20 and at Level 7. Level 5 was when it became difficult to advance, the first real challenge and she was proud to have broken through it at such a young age.
She eyed her brother and scoffed again, James was 27 and Level 11, he was a prodigy. The first challenge at Level 5 stopped most people, but the second one at Level 10 halted the majority, only the rare few made it past that and legends were those who reached Level 15 and there were only stories of Level 20 and beyond.
"Anything else?" James asked and Lucky shook his head, "Alright keep watching them we'll be arriving soon and I still don't believe their tale about a divine message," he sighed.
The siblings watched Lucky walk off and meet the other's eyes, Luci grinned wildly as a seagull cried above them and marched off to shout orders at the crew.
James shook his head and grinned as he watched the approaching island and giant tree, danger was in their blood and the siblings could feel their next adventure approach with each beat of their hearts.
This was why they were pirates and whatever was coming they would face together just like always.
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"We'll arrive in a few hours are you all ready?" Markus asked the three children in his care.
"I've been ready for hours old man," Luke laughed loudly ignoring the stares of the crew around them.
Sora rolled her eyes and brushed a speck of dirt off her pale yellow dress. "I am ready as well Markus," Ever since the Goddess spoke to her in her dreams she had felt a nervous energy that had only grown as they neared the mysterious tree. It had been 234 years since the deities stopped speaking to humans and that she was the first one to hear her Goddess voice still made her want to kneel and pray, but she had a task to do and couldn't afford to get distracted.
"Zu?" Markus turned to the youngest and quietest of the group when he didn't speak, but the boy just nodded and kept his head down.
Luke scoffed and turned away to play with the water in his travel gourd. Markus sighed, the two boys always seemed to be at odds. Although Luke was older he was significantly weaker than Zu, and although now an exiled Noble the fact that an orphan peasant and a boy not yet 20 was stronger than him made Luke irritable.
Markus sometimes wondered how he got into this situation, it felt like just yesterday that he was climbing the ranks of the imperial army and receiving fame and glory at every turn. Now he was exiled to a small portside town caring for three children with even worse luck than he.
Zu turned away from his companions and watched the approaching island, he frowned and eyed their destination carefully. Although he had never sailed close by he distinctly remembered sailors mentioning that the small island the 'divine' tree had grown from was only big enough for a small shack. In fact, if his memory wasn't wrong the island he was going to wasn't even an island a week ago it was an inhospitable rock and nothing more.
With a sigh he turned away, there was nothing he could do about it now and he had already voiced his worries to Markus, the only thing to do was be prepared. If life has taught him anything it was that everything could and often would go wrong, it was best to be ready for anything.