With the mission to accompany a cargo ship and a strict old captain, John and his friends found themselves in a position they hadn’t expected. With the innocent idea of getting something to eat, they saw a man in the poorly lit corner of the dining deck. Dark hair shimmering in the light of the gas lights, his sheathed rapier clanging against the wall and his black coat swinging in motion of the ship made it clear to them.

Larson, Ewins brother, stood before them, the man whose stance with the shady organization was still unclear. However John merely wanted to remember the man’s faults.. Without giving it a second thought, John began drawing his sword but was stopped by Larson’s flat hand, signaling him to wait.

“Save your effort, I am not here to fight you and neither are you here to fight me,” Larson said, lowering his hand.. “I was ordered by my boss to make sure the cargo arrives where it’s supposed to, and since you are here too I guess you have similar orders, right?”

“Why would your boss want you to do something like that? Don’t you have to kidnap more people?” John said.

“Honestly, I don’t even care what you think but there is no reason for me to fight you, it’d be better we work together,” he sighed, stepping past John.

“Wait, so you know why we need to protect this ship?” Aaron asked.

Abruptly turning around, raising the corner of his mouth, Larson said. “Oh, so you don’t know yet? Well I believe the Captain will explain everything in due time.”

Seeking quiet time, he walked out of the room and left them alone. John took a swift step toward him but Aaron tugged his sleeve.

“What do you want to do? It doesn’t look like he’s lying, right?” Matt asked John.

“I don’t know,” John scratched his head. “As much as I’d like to beat him to a pulp right now, I guess I agree that we should be working together for now..”

“Right, but we should really find out what the real reason is for our being here. It sounded like Larson knew.” Aaron crossed his arms. “I just hope we aren’t already in some kind of trap.”

“Yes, we really should--”

John held his words as he saw a person slowly creeping up behind Matt who stood closest to the entrance. Expecting Aaron to have spoken of the devil, John ran at the person, pinning him down with his palm against his chest. His left hand already formed a fist but during his outburst Aaron shouted. “Stop!”

Snapping out of it, John took a closer look and noticed something was off about the person, although it seemed like he was just one of the deckhands. Looking into his young and reddened face however made John let go with a blush as he mumbled “Sorry.”

“Sorry lad, bad timing I guess. We were just talking about how suspicious everything was until you showed up. John here kind of goes a little overboard sometimes,” Aaron explained.

“La- Lad right.” John slowly stepped back. “So then what’s your reason for sneaking up on us?”

The deckhand caught his breath, still in shock. “I actually just came here to tell you that the Capt’n wants you to come meet him at the rudder. Seeing you folks talk I thought it would be best not to interrupt ya’ll.”

“I see, thank you for informing us. Sorry for that,” John said.

Without letting the Captain wait any longer, they went right up the stairs to the helm where Larson and the Captain were already waiting. They formed a clean line in front of the old man, aligning themselves next to Larson while the deckhand stood next to the Captain.

“Thanks son, ye did a good job rallying ‘em up here,” the old man said, surprising the four of them.

“Son?” John asked without thinking, being met with a deadly stare of the man.

“Yeh, anything wrong with that, landrat?”

“No, Captain, nothing wrong.”

“Right then, I think it’s about time for ye to get to know why yer all here. Long story short, a group of pirates have been terrorizing the trade routes for a while now and have taken many lives of good men,” he went silent for a second. “Anyhow, fact is that the cargo on this ship is crude oil. If they were to sink this baby then a lot of valuable money would be lost.”

“So you need us to fight the pirates when they appear. Aren’t mercenaries better for the job?” Larson asked.

“The cargo belongs to the state, so the state got to decide the ones who protect it. Besides, normal mercenaries might not be enough. Them people are ruthless and mysterious.”

“Mysterious? How so?” Matt asked.

“Among the Captains they are known as the Mist Pirates. Whenever they are about to attack a ship, all you see is a cloak of damp, warm mist appearing. They do it to hide their ship from our canons right before sending dozens of fighters aboard and slaughtering everyone like pigs.”

“I imagine they are strong, but are there any that peak out?” John asked. .

“Most of them aren’t, they are just there to cause confusion. But I know that they have three leaders, each with huge weapons. A sword, an axe and a lance. They are no normal weapons, keep in mind, they are steamworks weapons.”

“That sounds like trouble,” John muttered. “Do you know what mechanics the steamworks weapons have?”

“Sadly I do not, I didn’t fight them, I just remember them use these weapons,” he explained.

“Well, if that is all then let’s hope they don’t come for us that quickly. Thank you for the information Captain!” Aaron said.

“I don’t exactly like you shrubs but I don’t wish death to anyone, so that is hopefully enough to keep you, no us all alive,” the Captain concluded and went back to steering the ship.

Larson’s brow twitched and he decided to leave them to watch the sea while Aaron, John and Matt went over what they wanted to do next.

“Matt,” John said in a serious tone. “I want you to go up that mast and inform us if you see anything. You are the most agile, so you should be able to come down quickly if anything should happen.”

Stolen novel; please report.

“Aww,” Matt sighed. “That is so boring though, I want to fight too!”

“As uncommon as it is, I will agree with John here. You can still fight them if they come on board but even then, prioritize those without steamworks.” Aaron pat the boy’s shoulders..

“Fine,” the white haired boy muttered. “You can count on me!”

Excited, he climbed up the mast and sat on top of it to keep his eyes open for anything unusual. Meanwhile Aaron looked at John with judging eyes. “You don’t actually care if he sees them right?”

His shoulders shrugged, John answered. “You got me.”

“You just want to keep him away from the danger,” Aaron said.

“It’s not like I don’t respect his strength, believe me I know he is skilled. But I don’t want it to repeat again,” John mumbled.

“To be honest, I will probably follow the advice too. I will leave those three troublemakers to you and Larson and focus on aiding the injured.”

“Good choice, you don’t have to worry about fighting, just concentrate on what you can do best. You are a doctor after all!” John hit Aaron’s shoulder with a smile. I’ll go watch the sea for a bit, what’ll you be doing?”

“I will join the chef in the kitchen and see if I can help out a bit.”

“Alright then, I suppose we should meet up again in an hour or so to see if we need further plans. See you until then!”

As Aaron went to the kitchen, John stood right at the front deck of the ship, watching the waves bubbling up as they hit the ship, and the seagulls ever so amazingly gliding above the surface.

His bangs pried into his eyes due to the strong wind, so he pulled out a woolen hat out of his pocket and put it on, tucking his hair under it.

“I guess the fresh air of the sea that surges through the hair is quite a nuisance to you too, ey?” The son of the Captain clung to the railing of to the right of John and leaned back.

“Well I guess that confirms it then,” John points at the son’s weirdly deformed hat.

“What do you mean?” He blushed and turned his face away.

“Come on, it’s not like I am numb. I know what I felt, even if it was rather flat,” John smirked.

“What!” The son shouted in a high pitch, stomping on John’s foot. “How dare you say that to a la….lad!”

John laughed, holding his sides. “You just about caught yourself there. But honestly, why hide it?”

The young deckhand turned around, back leaning against the railing as he looked up.. “You know the old saying right? A woman on board brings misfortune.”

“Idiocy!” John interrupted.

“I know, but it is a superstition that has dug itself quite a bit ‘round these parts. You see, I want to one day help my father out and lead this crew, but until I can do that I need to prove myself so that I can actually reveal my identity of, you know,” the person shrugged. “Actually being a girl.”

“Do you want to know my opinion?” John sighed.

“Hm?”

“If I was one of them, I’d like my boss to be honest with me and not hold anything back. No, rather, if you were to reveal your identity now it would show your courage and probably make me feel safer,” he said, watching a seagull catch a fish with a swift dive.

“That’s kind, but I’m afraid, afraid that they might reject me. But with this journey my dreams could become true. If those pirates come and threaten my crew, I will pierce through their scummed hearts to make my crew acknowledge me.”

“Can you even fight them?”

“Why of course!” she holds her hands at her hips where her two rapiers are sheathed on either side. “I am a proper swordsman!”

John chuckled. “Sure you are!”

“What, is every man that stupid? Just because I am a woman doesn’t mean I can’t fight! If you want to, we can have a duel right here!”

“No thanks, I’d rather not,” he declines motionless.

“You think you could simply beat me in a flash anyway, huh?” she slams her fist against the railing. “You afraid of hurting me?”

“Yes, that is basically it,” John turned his face to her and nodded at her stomach. “Your passion shows either that you are overestimating yourself or that you have a lot of pride in your skill. But either way, even if by mistake, if I just stumbled and accidentally hit you right there, then I couldn’t forgive myself.”

“How do you mean?” She calmed down, surprised at his answer.

“What I am saying is that you not only have an entire future before yourself, but you also hold the future of everyone around and with you. So don’t be reckless and throw it away.”

As she realised what he meant, she lowered her shoulders and mumbled. “If that’s the case, then thanks. Sorry for being rude.”

“Don’t worry about it. The fact that you are able to understand it makes you a good leader too.” He smiled. “Rather than being stubborn, it is good if higher ranking people can look at their mistakes, understand their people and forgive.”

“You are much smarter than you seemed to be, Mister… uhm.”

“John, John Sterling,” he helped her.

“Right, you seemed to be more dense at first, Mister Sterling,” she said.

“Ouch,” he held his heart. “Well to be fair I am not the smartest, but I think the reason I have those two with me is because we treat each other as friends and care for one another. I usually leave the brains to Aaron and lately even the calmness to Matt.”

“That reminds me, where is Aaron?” she asked.

“Aaron? He said he’d help out in the kitchen. Why?” he looked at her in wonder.

“I guess I’ll have a chat with him too then, get to know you people better. For all we know, we will have to rely on each other eventually.”

As she turned around and walked away, she let out a word too faint for John to hear. “Thanks.”

Stretching his arms into the clear blue sky, John yawned from the fresh air and saw a man in black just a few meters next to him. It was Larson.

While he enjoyed his black hair waving with the blow of the wind, John carefully inched toward him and mumbled. “Nice weather, right?”

His expression showed barely any care for John’s attempt of breaking the ice but after John coughed every few minutes, expecting an answer, Larson gave up and grumbled. “What do you want?”

“So you did hear me after all!” John smirked. “I was just wondering what your plan will be for when the time comes to fight.”

“My plan is not to have a plan, simple as that,” Larson sighed.

“Wait, what? Aren’t you going to prepare at least a little bit? Three steamworks weapons aren’t a joking matter.” John broke a cold sweat.

“That is exactly why I don’t want to make a plan yet. I don’t want to rely on a plan when I barely have any information about the actual size or mechanics of their weapons. Doing that would only hinder me.”

“I-I see,” John said, not quite understanding Larson’s logic. “Well then, at least care to tell me about your sword? That way I might be able to work better with you.”

“Nice try, Sterling.”

John clicked his tongue.

“You will see when the time should come, but don’t forget that after this is done that we are still enemies. Besides, I would rather worry about our Captain for now.” Larson turned his back to the rail to have the wind blow against his back coat, fluttering from the blow.

“Why the Captain? I mean, sure, he is strict and annoying but why should you worry?”

“Are you deaf? Did you not listen to what he said?”

John itched the back of his head as he tried to remember his exact words but couldn’t find any reason for doubt.

“Try recalling what he said he remembered,” Larson hinted.

Still thinking, his forehead covered in wrinkles, John eventually sparked up his eyes. “You don’t mean?”

“Aye, dead men tell no tales!” Larson said in a sea man’s accent.

“Then that means that he abandoned ship as it sank, but... ,” John had trouble imagining the idea.

“That is most likely also the reason why he is trying to teach you respect, he probably hasn’t had this crew for long since the last incident and is trying to show them their place. Normally, if you have traveled with people for a long time you’d get to be friendly with them right?” Larson concluded.

“Lower the Sails!” the Captain shouted through the ship. His men slowly following the order, not even answering him once. “Oy! Are ye listening?” he shouted again since there was no reply.

“Aye, Aye Captain!” they shouted back, noticeably without enthusiasm.

“You are right,” John said. “It really does seem that way. But why would he abandon ship? Isn’t it a rule for the Captain to go down with the ship?”

“It’s the usual ethic, but we have no idea what his circumstances were so who knows. Nonetheless, this all seems fishy.” Larson said as he walked away, leaving John alone to let him make up his own mind.

Few hours passed, some staring at the endless sea, some working on board and one wondering about what he should do as the sun slowly set before his eyes.