Strange thoughts enter your mind when you believe yourself condemned to death. I often feel compelled to throw myself into danger to kickstart the creative process. Now that I have retired from buccaneering, I no longer have the same spark I once did. I imagine I’ll meet my death trying to rekindle that old flame. No lover’s kiss can compare to the cold embrace of the ocean, however.
-Excerpt from ‘The Eternal Affair’ by Desmond Mint
There was a flash of silver as the pirate’s blade descended. Halfway through its arc a cannonball exploded into the poop deck beside them and showered the pair in splinters and debris.
A thick splinter pierced Rose’s thigh, but she was thankful for it even as a stream of scarlet blood started to stream from around the wood. The timely explosion had knocked the pirate off balance and his cutlass had only nicked her shoulder, drawing blood rather than cleanly beheading her.
There was no time to think of the consequences. Even when she had believed the pirate dead, it had shaken her to the core. To take a life was a heavy burden.
She had seen the way the man’s wild eyes had turned fearful as he fell to the depths. When he had climbed over the edge of the ship it had been something of a relief, even if his arrival was a threat to her safety.
Rose pulled the flintlock pistol from where she had tucked it. The varnished wood glistened and the rusted metal fell away in flakes at her touch. She worried it wouldn’t be functional, but there was a resounding click when Rose pulled the hammer all the way back and it locked in place.
Even gripping the pistol her hands shook. It took her a while to take aim at the pirate as he regained his balance, but she managed to place his head in the centre of the iron sights right as he started to rush at her for the second time.
He looked far less confident now, having failed in his opening strike and with a lethal weapon aimed at his vitals. Rose took a deep breath, the salty air drying her tongue as her arm stilled with the pirate’s eye aligned with the little metal nib on top of the pistol.
Skill up!
Focus 8 > 9
She pulled the trigger when he was just two paces away. Then, chaos erupted.
Another cannonball blasted past her and smashed the wheel into smithereens. Without it keeping the ship on a steady course the Unrequited Love was left in the care of the wind.
It listed to port and smashed into the pirate ship. Someone had tumbled across the poop deck and knocked into her right as she pulled the trigger, ruining her precise aim and saving the pirate from certain doom.
However, a pained yelp gave her confirmation that her shot had at least done some damage. A small consolation.
You have learned a new skill!
Pistols 0 > 1
You have learned a new skill!
Firearms 0 > 1
It was becoming harder to tell which splashes were from the tide and which were caused by cannonballs falling short of their target and booming into the ocean. Her limbs were tangled up with the stranger who had collided with her.
Glancing down she saw it was one of the pirates and almost twisted her ankle in her desperate leap away. I was just about coping with one, now I’m screwed.
Reloading the flintlock pistol would take too long. It was useless now, so she tucked it back into her belt and gripped her cutlass tighter.
A gaping hole in the deck let her peer down into the captain’s quarters. They were ruined. His polished wooden desk had been blown apart by the latest explosion and most of the bookshelves had met a similar fate. Rose was relieved to see some of the precious tomes still intact but doubted they would survive the rest of the battle.
Across the destroyed planks her original opponent was stumbling about while clutching at his ears. Blood was streaming from one of them and his deafening shouts suggested he’d lost his hearing. Good.
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She had a window of opportunity while both the pirates were incapacitated. However, she was still struggling to take decisive action.
Shooting someone with a pistol was one thing, but stabbing them with a cutlass was far more visceral. Rose knew if she wanted to help the crew and pay back their kindness she would need to get over her childish quibbles. She took another deep breath and stepped toward the pirate in front of her, who was still struggling to his feet.
It was now or never.
Rose thrust the cutlass at his chest. In hindsight, aiming for the neck would’ve been smarter but she had little to no experience with this sort of thing.
The man had managed to grab hold of the blade right after it pierced his skin and only a thin trickle of blood leaked out of the wound. She grabbed the handle with both hands and pushed, but the strength of a dying man was not to be underestimated.
A desperate tug of war ensued, far from the quick and clean kill she had envisioned. Boom. Another cannonball rocked the ship and his hands slipped enough to let the cutlass pierce straight through his heart.
Skill up!
One Handed Weapons 2 > 3
Skill up!
Blades 1 > 2
You have earned a new title!
Murderer: When this title is equipped you will emit a murderous aura that frightens small animals and innocent folk. Dampens the negative emotions associated with murder, at the cost of your sanity.
The title was just rubbing salt in the wound. Rose watched as the light faded from the pirate’s bloodshot eyes and they glazed over. He slipped down the length of the cutlass and his corpse fell limply to the deck.
She stood frozen over the body, still gripping the cutlass in both hands. Fuck. It had been both easier and far more difficult than she had expected.
Surprisingly little guilt, but she suspected that was because her motivation for killing him was just. They had invaded her ship and tried to kill her friends after all.
Harder to deal with was the adrenaline racing through her system and the rapid, shallow breaths that she was unable to control.
It was tempting to equip her new title, if only for the benefits it offered. Rationality prevailed in the end and she opted to leave it off.
Creak. Rose whipped around at the sound of footsteps on the deck behind her and unleashed a wild slash with her cutlass.
“Woah, easy there rookie,” Jordan exclaimed, holding his hands up in mock surrender with a wary gaze at the extended tip of her blade.
“Crap, sorry. I thought you were-”
The bang of his pistol interrupted her mid sentence. He had whipped it from his belt and fired it over her shoulder, causing Rose to leap sideways with a yelp. She turned and saw the pirate from earlier falling to the deck, blood dripping onto the planks from a hole in his forehead.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it. That’s what crewmates are for, right?”
“Right.”
Jordan didn’t stay long. After they had defeated the two pirates the poop deck was clear. Most of the others had boarded the main deck where they were gaining ground against the struggling crew of the Unrequited Love.
The man had rushed down the stairs two at a time with both cutlasses raised, barrelling into the nearest pirate and cutting him down in a few swift strikes. Rose envied his raw strength and seeming lack of fear.
She made a rash decision and equipped the Murderer title. The image of the pirate’s body slipping off her cutlass faded and blood lust filled her thoughts.
Looking to the nearest pirate she wanted nothing more than to hack and slash her to pieces. This would help her fight. Rose glanced at Felix. She wanted to slice him to pieces. Okay, that’s enough.
The red haze faded when she removed the title. She looked back to the bodies on the poop deck. I chose this life. I knew what I was signing up for.
The stories never mentioned the shaking hands that still quivered well after the deed was done. The images seared into her memory. How many times had Castell Saltbeard felt like this? Perhaps never, or maybe more than once.
Rose wasn’t sure if she would get better at this, but she knew one thing. Her crew needed her to fight.
Hands drenched in blood, more from the previous wounds she had inflicted with her furious cleaning spree than anything else, she ran towards the main deck. She made it halfway down the wooden stairs when a cannonball exploded right underneath her feet, sending her flying through the air and into the ocean.
Following that there was an echoing volley of booming cannon fire that tore through the entirety of the Unrequited Love.
The explosion had stunned her and even now her ears were ringing. She was desperately treading water while trying to gather her bearings.
Skill up!
Swimming 7 > 8
The pirate ship hadn’t escaped unharmed. Unrequited Love had countered with a volley of her own cannons, tearing through the back of the invaders’ vessel. Boom. Another explosion from within the pirate ship sent pieces of it flying in every direction.
Thunk.
A plank smacked into her head and her flailing arms stilled.