Robert had found that being a pirate was not a very profitable profession. As a kid, his mother had always told him that pirates were the “villains” in his stories, but he had never quite believed her.
What could be more heroic than doing whatever you pleased?
The reason being a pirate was not profitable was because there was no one on the high seas to steal from. No one ever ventured out into the ocean that was filled with monsters out of their worst nightmares.
Robert had always known that he should give up on the high seas-based pirating and move into the rivers that covered the Hearted continent. But honestly, he and the boys had really started to enjoy this life.
There were no taxes, they ate well, if one was willing to forgo vegetables for a while, and most of all, they were happy. Robert spent most of his days sitting near the edge of the boat fishing, which was wholly ineffective because of the first mate’s gift.
Johnny had a gift from Loneliness that made the whole ship totally invisible, this helped keep them safe from the sea monsters, but had the unfortunate side effect of keeping fish from noticing Robert’s lure.
Everything had been going so well for their crew. Lila and Brandon were about to get married and there was going to be a wonderful celebration on the mainland, and Robert was filled with pride that his little ragtag crew had brought such a beautiful marriage together.
The whole crew had pulled out all the stops to make it the perfect event. Everyone used their meager funds to buy out a lovely seaside venue, and a couple of the guys had pulled together quite a charming little cake. The night had been filled with booze, merriment, and marriage. Everything a pirate could hope for.
Then everyone started hearing rumors about expeditions. About royals and churches wanting to brave the great, blue ocean. At first the crew thought it was ridiculous, what could those pansies know about going out into their territory. It took everything they had to survive out there, so how were these floosies going to just waltz in like they owned it.
Robert himself had thought it was quite entertaining, the rich were going on some sort of noble quest that was doomed to fail and his crew would be happy to watch it all burn to the ground.
Unfortunately, Johnny saw one of the ships. And after Johnny saw it, with his big mouth and disposition for grandeur, every single crew member went to see the goliaths that were being built.
The princess’ ship was massive, and for some reason, a light shade of red. The wood had taken on some sort of hue during the process of the ship being built. The front of the ship had intricate linework, creating some sort of foreign shape. It was quite beautiful, but none of Robert’s crew were sophisticated enough to truly understand the deeper meaning behind it.
The church ship was a bit smaller and cleaner. It was polished to a shine and had an aura of perfection that surrounded it. The most daring of the pirate crew who tried to sneak on board to see the boat more closely couldn’t even find a loose splinter. It was incredibly impressive, especially since the church outlawed its members from using their gifts in any way, shape, or form. That meant that the entire ship had been built without any sort of magical assistance. It was truly an inspiring sight.
Finally, the prince’s ship was a bit dull in comparison. It was still luxurious and spacious compared to the little dingy boat that Robert’s crew had been using, but it was nowhere near as ostentatious as the other two ships.
Robert had found that the problem with most people was that they always wanted more. Give a man a drink of water he will drink you dry.
But Robert felt he was different than most people, he knew he was not the king of the high seas and that pirating had ended up being a way to hang out with his buds on the ocean, away from the noise of Vena Cava. He was happy though, he fished all day and pretended to be the scourge of the seas at night.
Greed is an insidious desire; it wiggles its way into the human psyche slowly, but surely, until it is in control of someone’s life. The crew had never been properly acquainted with greed before, they were petty thieves who masqueraded as loathsome pirates. But once they all saw the ships that the pompous fools had built for themselves, they wanted it.
They wanted one of those ships more than anything they had wanted in their lives.
The crew started planning then, planning a true raid. Not one of their play raids, but a truly devastating blow against the king, the prince, the princess, and the church. They were going to get one of those ships if it killed them.
That was when the incessant questioning of Robert started. It was cordial at first, the crew just felt they would be much more menacing if they were riding in one of those beauties. But Robert told them that they should be happy with their little ship, and privately thought to himself that they should be happy with their little lives. They were not people with massive fate and karma.
Then it devolved into shouting. When two people are of differing opinions and one side knows that there is no way to change the other’s mind, it always devolves into shouting.
Robert knew that he had two options when it devolved into shouting. Either he could deny them again, and they would just steal his ship and do it on their own. Or he could go with them and try to save them from this horrible mistake they were going to commit. With his kind heart, and the love he held for his crew, he knew that there was only one real option for him.
So, he pulled his crew together and gave a speech. Many eyes trained on him as he was about to start, every pair glimmered with greed and Robert began.
“I would not like to commit treason for a nicer ship, but it seems we have no choice in the matter. We are going to take one of those ships and no one is going to stop us until we are dead. Anyone who does not want to partake in this is welcome to leave right now.”
No one budged an inch from their places, all were sitting with rapt attention at their captain.
“Then let’s start planning you fools.” Robert said with a little grin.
Robert found that planning a hostile takeover of a ship is incredibly difficult when he cannot damage the other ship in any meaningful way. Since his crew wanted the ship so badly, they couldn’t even use their trademarked tactic that they rarely used when doing any real pirating.
Robert’s gift had been what finally convinced him that he needed to be a pirate back when he was a child. He got a magical octopus that followed his every command. It was still a living being that he needed to feed and take care of, but it was a monster able to drag ships down to the bottom of the ocean, then extract any of the precious cargo to give to Robert and his crew.
He had been so happy as a child to receive a loyal partner, unfortunately his naming skills were quite lacking, so he stuck with naming his trusty ally after his most distinctive feature.
But Eight wouldn’t be able to help them here. His tentacles lacked a finer touch.
It took many days and nights that could’ve been spent partying or fishing, but the crew finally came up with a viable enough plan that Robert couldn’t dissuade them if he tried.
The plan had a simple start. They would travel, using their myriad of sea-based gifts, to get ahead of the princess’ ship. Then Johnny would activate his gift to hide their presence from the incoming ship. The next part would be tricky, but with a bit of Eight’s help, the crew would tie the two ships together.
In a normal situation they would use Johnny’s gift to hide a chunk of their crew and infiltrate the ship to attack it from the inside. However, he had to keep the pirate ship hidden or else the other crew would be alerted to their activity. They could spend a few weeks searching for another person with a gift like Johnny’s, but all the ships were leaving soon, so they couldn’t waste what little time they had left. Instead, they all agreed to just try and sneak on board the ship in the dead of night and slit as many throats as possible before the alarm was raised.
It was all basic, but Robert felt that sticking to the basics was very important here in such a large-scale operation.
With a respectable plan and a respectable crew, they had one final night of partying, full of drinking and merriment before they all boarded their ship, aptly named The Sea’s Scourge. The Scourge was small and dingey, but hopefully the crew would be able to acquire a new ship before the week was over.
Then they set out upon the waves. Johnny kept them hidden, while Eight lurked beneath the surface eating lots of little swimmers that got too close. Everyone on the ship was antsy and unable to sit still. Normally, the crew was full of laughs and joy as they sailed, playing games along the way. Instead, the crew sat in silence or paced the deck trying to get rid of their nervous energy.
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Inexorably, time passed, and the plan was set in motion. The red ship that heralded the princess’ presence along the blue ocean could be seen from the Scourge’s deck. The ship towered over them, and only that size difference is what made them so confident that no one would notice the extra weight they were about to attach to it.
Robert gave Eight a quick pep talk, then put the rope into his tentacle. The rope was slowly drawn between the two boats and tied onto one of the railings. It was quite deft and agile for such a gargantuan creature, and the crew had a silent celebration at seeing the apparent success of their plan.
As night drew nearer the crew readied themselves for what was bound to be a bloody night. Robert himself carried two knives at his belt, ready to go into the fray with his men, even without his trusty buddy Eight there to help him.
Johnny, who could not participate in this raid directly had decided to spend his time as efficiently as possible and was checking all the crew’s preparations. He looked out over the dark water, at the red ship. It was the color of blood and seemed quite auspicious, but that never stopped a good pirate.
However, something did stop this pirate in his tracks. He looked out over the ocean where the rope had been just minutes earlier and he noticed how it had been cut. The line was lazily snaking its way through the ocean, Johnny knew that nobody could notice them because of his gift, but they had somehow found the rope. Now they had no way to board the ship; what was going to happen to the plan?
He was just about to go find Robert to see if he could convince him to stop this raid and reevaluate their plan, when he was interrupted by the first volley.
The sky above had been beautiful, not a cloud in sight. The air was clear and clean and filled the lungs with the refreshing scent of life, with a slight hint of dead fish. The moon shone down upon these two boats, casting its shimmering light upon them. Until it was blotted out by arrows.
The red ship was massive, but the storm of arrows was even larger. It was as if a battalion of soldiers somehow fit on the deck and fired in unison at the Scourge. There was some gift at play, that much was obvious, but the pirates did not have time for such luxuries as thinking when the arrows rained down upon them.
One silver lining was that Johnny’s gift was still in effect, so it was obvious that whoever shot the arrows at them was using quantity over quality. Hoping that the ship was damaged beyond repair from this storm of arrows.
The pirate crew watched as death came to them. There was nothing any of them could do to help their chances of survival, some still tried futilely to run below decks to use the thin wooden boards to protect themselves. But most resigned themselves to their fate, if they died, that was just their shit luck. Nothing else.
Robert stared at the mass of arrows falling on him and his crew. A single tear dripped out of his eye as he surveyed the damage done. His crew, his friends, lay dying around him and all he could do was run.
At the top of his lungs he yelled, “Eight, save us!”
The great octopus grabbed their ship, and the crew hightailed it out of there. Robert walked along the deck seeing who was still alive and who could be saved. He weaved between the arrows sticking out of his deck and stopped when he saw Johnny. He sat there with an arrow in his gut, holding his eyes deeply shut in the utmost concentration.
Robert knew he had to keep Johnny alive. That was the only thing keeping the rest of them from being slaughtered. Whatever gift was being used to attack their ship obviously couldn’t see The Scourge, so they were just blasting the entire ocean hoping to hit them. He put his hands on the wound to staunch the bleeding, and called out, “can anyone fill a hole?”
The second volley started after he shouted that. The ocean was bathed in flames, and the flames scorched Eight, but thanks to his meaty tentacles the ship itself didn’t light up like a bonfire.
A crewmate ran up to Robert looking scared. “Where’s the hole that needs plugging?” The crewmate, Silvia was her name, had a simple gift from Wood. That allowed wood to grow to fill up holes. Not a useful gift usually, but for a pirate ship it was invaluable.
“Here.” Robert said while pointing at Johnny’s stomach.
Silvia’s eyes widened as she realized what her captain was asking her to do. It was going to be endlessly painful for Johnny, but the crew couldn’t have him dying here, and no one on their ship had a healing gift.
She gritted her teeth and made the shaft of the arrow grow until it blocked off the hole. Johnny screamed then retched onto the deck. It took all of Silvia’s and Robert’s willpower to not retch with him, it was a horrifying sight.
The third volley started. Great clouds formed around the red ship. Big, black clouds that looked like evil sheep. The temperature dropped, and it started to hail. Giant icicles and stones the size of a man’s head dropped all around them in the ocean.
They kept running as fast as Eight and the remaining crew’s gifts could carry them. The fourth volley missed them completely as great serpents of the ocean came out seeking them, but Johnny was still alive and keeping them unnoticeable.
The crew didn’t even see the fifth volley, as they were so far away. But they could hear the thunder and knew they had escaped death by lightning.
Night turned back into day, but they kept running, hoping beyond Hope that the princess didn’t try to follow them. That ship and that princess were monsters, not to be reckoned with.
Robert surveyed his crew, the ones remaining. Only a few had died, surprisingly, mostly there were a couple flesh wounds from the rain of arrows. And he was disappointed. Robert was incredibly disappointed. Because once the crew had realized their luck, and that most of them were still alive the glint returned to their eyes.
The gleam of greed. They wanted to try for round two against these behemoths. Thankfully he didn’t have to convince them not to go after the princess again, but they wanted one of those ships, since theirs was so damaged from the previous encounter.
Everyone decided that they were going to go after the Freer Men ship. Their church outlawed the use of their gifts, so they would stand a better chance, right?
Robert only sighed at their foolishness, but he was their protector, he needed to keep them safe from their bad mistakes. And maybe they could win against a bunch of ungifted holy people.
By pure chance the crew saw the ship. It was huge, not imposing like the princess’ ship had been, but still large enough to make a person feel small and inconsequential. Johnny had been suffering, but he had been doing his job. The Scourge was unnoticeable as they approached the large wooden ship.
Robert prayed, he prayed to every god he could think of. Luck, War, Battle, even Fate as he hoped that his crew would survive this.
The plan was the same as last time. They would tie a rope to the other ship, then sneak over in the dead of night, killing as many people as they could before the alarm was raised.
The rope was tied, and it was a dark and stormy night. Everything seemed perfect, the crew who could still move slowly started climbing across the rope and slinking onto the deck of the Freer Men’s ship. The entire stealth party had made it across, Robert himself stood atop the deck of the marvelous ship, scanning for any movement in the night.
Click. Click. Click.
Robert heard something above him. And he looked up at the crow’s nest. There was someone dressed in all black sitting up there, with a bow and arrow. But the arrow was on fire.
“Shit.”
The arrow released, and the arrow touched the deck of the Scourge. Obviously, none of the stealth crew were in danger from this, but all their injured were stuck on that boat with nowhere to go. They were going to burn or drown.
At the same time as the arrow was released, the shadows around the stealth team seemed to come to life as men and women jumped out from their hiding places. They had an assortment of weapons, daggers, swords, shields, bows, spears, and garrotes.
Robert and his crew were decimated in moments. All they could do was watch as their friends and crewmates were slaughtered around them.
Mason, a man with a gift that made him as strong as ten men, was engaged by a group of three figures. Two with shields that kept him from fully utilizing his strength, while a third with a sword jumped in for strikes when he opened himself up. After a few moments the sword met the flesh of his neck and he died.
Nigel, a man whose gift was only useful for making their ship go a little faster through water. Was cut down carefully and precisely by a group of figures. They treated him with the same respect as they had Mason, despite his total ineptitude in battle.
Famina, a woman whose gift made her hands invulnerable, was engaged by one man with a razor-sharp sword. Clangs and pings could be heard as their heated battle was fought, until her hands were severed at the wrist, and she fell to the ground crying before being beheaded.
Robert watched these scenes and more as his crew was gutted around him. It was a scene out of a nightmare, his ship was burning behind him, his crew that could move jumped off the side of the ship, hoping they could survive somehow. While his remaining crew was being killed in an ambush.
He yelled for Eight. And a giant tentacle came crashing out of the water and crushed a few of the figures. Instantly their attention moved to him and Eight. Instead of trying to take out his crew’s small fry, they started climbing on Eight and cutting him to ribbons. It was just a tentacle, but it was reduced to scraps of flesh barely hanging together. The Freer Men moved as a one unit, in an almighty wave of human power.
Robert saw they had lost, even the trump card of the giant octopus had done no real damage to these people. He yelled, “Into the water.”
He jumped off the side of the ship and called Eight to pick up as many of his crewmates as possible. Only six others made it over the edge before being killed. Robert and his six remaining survivors were carried away, again by an injured Eight.
They only stopped one time, when they saw Johnny barely clinging onto a hunk of wood. He was spluttering and gasping for air, about to fall into the ocean when the remaining few picked him out of the water. They forced Johnny to stay awake and keep them from being noticed as they let Eight carry them away from their mistakes. He left a trail of blood on the surface as he left, the only marker of their escape.
The remains of the Scourge’s crew found themselves on the run again. But this time they had no resources. They had no food or water; they were starving as they were ferried around by their giant octopus.
No one spoke, they had been defeated easily, and the only ones who survived were the ones who were lucky. They all stared at the endless ocean, wallowing in their depression.
Many days passed like this, the only thing keeping them alive was Johnny and Eight. Johnny was near death though, his breathing raspy and his wound started to stink. It was obvious he was a dead man walking without a healer, but where would they find a healer in this awful ocean.
They passed by a giant sea serpent that had been split in two. Normally they would pass right by, since the blood attracted bigger predators. But they were just too hungry, they all tore into the corpse. It was disgusting and nearly rotting, but they didn’t care, they just wanted to eat something.
After the corpse, the crew had a little more strength, but they were still on Death’s door, as they still hadn’t drunk any water.
They floated until, in the distance, they saw a third ship. It was not as large as the other two had been, but it was still grandiose. And they all knew what it was, the third ship, the one carrying the prince.
This time they weren’t going to be caught off guard, they were going to slaughter these pompous fools and steal all their supplies, then go back to the mainland like nothing happened. They were going to live. The glint reappeared in all their eyes, even Robert’s, as Eight approached the ship.