Your family are the most important people in the world. Conversely, they’re also the bastards that will kick you hardest when you’re down. Just make sure they never see you resting.

-Quoted from Branmore Saff, Commodore of the Minenblum Royal Navy

Trent narrowed his eyes at Yasmin. She squirmed under his gaze but quickly composed herself with a cough. “It’s too late to explain, sorry. We might have an enemy ship approaching from port… or two,” she said with a guilty smile.

“Of course we do,” he sighed, standing up and glaring at her as he walked out of the mess. “Come on you bastards, get the cannons ready,” he added without turning back.

***

Two enormous frigates were fast approaching from the rear. Flanking Liberty, there was one on each side as they sought to pincer the Ascendant Pirates.

Trent was manning the wheel, doing his utmost to stay out of their pursuer’s trap. Unfortunately they had the advantage, with a fierce headwind nullifying Liberty’s speed.

He was glowering at Yasmin, who was looking towards the port-side ship through a telescope. Nasar and Felix were scurrying around the main deck, hurriedly adjusting the sails as needed.

“So, my dear Yasmin,” said Trent, grinding his teeth. “Who exactly are your new friends? Or are they more of the same friends?”

“Hmm?” she mused, still observing the distant foes. “Oh, well… let’s just say the governor has kept his position for so long because he has friends in low places,” she chuckled.

“And you didn’t believe it pertinent to inform me of these… friends, prior to having us scare the crap out of that bastard?” seethed Trent.

Rose was quite entertained by the spat, but a few lingering tendrils of fear took hold. She’d never seen Trent this angry. Yasmin really knew how to wind him up.

As the two ships drew closer, she was able to see the flags on the sails. The broken chain. Pirates. A little more and she was able to make out the design of their pirate flag.

The flag was black, picturing a sword-nosed shark with chains wrapped around its body. The sword on its head was piercing the chain, breaking it in two.

She didn’t recognise it, but that wasn’t a surprise. While she could be considered a pirate fanatic who had read almost every infamous pirate’s life story, Rose hadn’t quite memorised every single flag the world over.

Such a task would be impossible of course, owing to the fact that the vast majority of pirate crews weren’t that famous in the first place. I should make a compendium of every pirate crew in the world, she thought to herself.

However, she immediately discarded it. Such a book would be as valuable as a mesopelagic treasure to any of the world navies. Rose wasn’t the type to create something that might get other pirates caught and killed.

Whatever the name of this crew, the fact remained that they were most likely here to kill them. The governor hadn’t taken kindly to their midnight visit and wished to dispose of his tormentors.

She could appreciate his decisiveness, but the looming battle was heavily weighed against them. In this sort of situation…

“Why don’t we attack them before they can attack us?” she asked.

“I’m a little busy trying to keep us out of range of their cannons, Rose,” grunted Trent as he heaved on the wheel.

A huge wave smacked into the side of the ship and it took all his strength to keep them on course. Yasmin finally closed the telescope with a click and turned to face the pair with a devilish smile on her face.

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“Don’t be a coward, Trent. I think Rose’s idea is absolutely marvellous,” she said, striding towards Rose with a smirk. “Now dear, what level is your highest combat skill?”

“You don’t have to tell her that,” Trent immediately said.

“She doesn’t have to, you’re right. But if she doesn’t tell me then I won’t know which of the ships to throw her at,” she cackled as Rose’s eyes went wide in shock.

“Hold on, I don’t think I’m ready for-”

“Stop blabbering,” she cut Rose off with a cold tone. “The only way to prepare yourself for the journey ahead is to put your life on the line every single moment. Nothing else will cut it.”

Rose was frozen on the spot, thrown off by the sudden shift in Yasmin’s personality. Then again, it wasn’t so much a shift of behaviour, but a change of target.

Before it had been Trent facing the woman’s wrath, but now Rose was on the receiving end. And whatever happened it looked as though she was about to be thrown into a fight for her life against a murderous crew of pirates.

I guess I can only blame myself. I did say I wanted an opportunity to hone my skills… “My highest combat skill, you ask?” she replied with a grin. “It’s level 21.”

There was no need to be scared of Yasmin. Or the pirates. She’d been blessed by Sylack and her dream was far too grand to end in this backwater sea.

Yasmin whistled and nodded. “That’s not bad, Rose. I wasn’t expecting you to be such a menace. Knowing Trent, I expected him to babysit you and leave you unable to fend for yourself,” she said, closing the last few metres between them. “What skill?”

Rose spun on her feet and mimicked tossing out a fishing line. “Fishing,” she announced with a beaming smile.

Contrary to her expectations, Yasmin didn’t get angry or frustrated at her joke. Instead, she simply replied, “Wonderful. The passion of youth is so inspiring for us ageing buccaneers.”

Then, she took a single step and arrived next to Rose before she could blink. Two sturdy hands gripped her waist and she suddenly felt her stomach sink.

“Have fun fishing your way out,” Yasmin cackled as she launched Rose off the back of the poop deck.

Wiping her hands together, she watched as Rose sailed through the air. Satisfied with a job well done, she walked back to Trent and flicked him on the ear.

“Now, be a good boy and keep the ship warm for me,” she said with a sadistic grin.

After that, two tendrils of midnight black ink slipped out from underneath her robes and wrapped around her legs. They formed into a disc and more ink continued to cascade from her sleeves until she was standing on a surfboard made of ink.

Without bothering to check her surroundings, she dropped off the edge of the ship and shot towards the other pirate ship. Earlier, she’d spotted the captain of the Swordshark Pirates aboard the ship that was her target.

Rose would only be facing a bunch of low-level ruffians and perhaps one of the lieutenants of the crew, but she didn’t need to know that. The more danger the girl believed herself to be in, the harder she would fight and the more her skills would grow.

Even more ink spilled from her sleeves, this time forming a black spear that she held in her left hand. It continued to grow and then condense until the ink looked solid and the tip was sharper than a shark tooth.

Without so much as a breath, Yasmin let the spear fly and watched as it ripped through the air towards the ship. It was time to get the party started.

***

Mansville Redhawk stood on the deck of Vicious Pilotfish. The crew raced around him, preparing to board that hateful woman’s ship. This time, Commodore Sharksbane had given him command of an entire ship.

He wouldn’t fuck up this responsibility. Despite the nimble prey’s speed advantage, it hadn’t managed to shake them off. They’d been patient and waited for a fierce headwind to whip up instead of ambushing them while they were just leaving Clissolt.

Looking around at the crew, he sighed. Most of the competent men were over on the Swordshark Herald, under the command of the Captain—Commodore. It would be difficult to get used to calling him that, now that there were two ships in their fleet.

He didn’t know why he insisted on using the same titles as the bastard navy. If there was one thing Mansville had learnt in his decade-long career as a pirate, it was to never question the decisions of someone stronger than you, unless your life was at immediate risk.

Often even with your own life on the line, protesting a dangerous order wasn’t the right choice. He’d perfected the art of sucking up.

This would be an easy task too. Just load up the cannons and blast away, before sending this bunch of fools to their deaths while the Capta—Commodore—and his men took out the real threat.

With an ear-to-ear grin, Redhawk raised his cutlass into the air and yelled at the top of his voice. “Let’s have ‘em, ya scallywags. Fire at will!” I bet I looked dashing in that pose, he thought to himself.

At that moment, he heard a faint cry and looking into the sky, saw a whirling ball of limbs falling towards Vicious Pilotfish like a meteor.