Lynn woke up in darkness, the air smelled like poo, and whatever room she was in was damp. She got to her feet and was hit with a headache like a horse. She staggered across the room with her arms outstretched, attempting to feel out where she was, for she couldn’t see three centimeters in front of her.

Her hands bumped into thick iron bars, she ran them back and forth, finding more bars. She was in a prison of some kind. “Hello?” She called out, her voice echoing in the empty room. She listened intently for a response of some kind, but all she heard were voices from above her somewhere, she must have been underground.

Then suddenly the whole room lurched to the right, the ground seemed to tilt. No, not underground, she was on a ship, below decks. Lynn staggered to the side, banging hard against the wall with her head. “Quiet down there!” Came a voice from across the room, Lynn heard heavy boots thump against wood, someone was coming.

“Hello? Who’s there? Where am I?” Lynn called to whoever it was. Suddenly a fist slammed against the bars.

“I said, keep quiet.” Eye-scar seethed the words through clenched teeth. Lynn backed away from the bars as Eye-scar produced a knife. “You wouldn’t want me to give you a matching scar.”

Lynn stepped back, trying to feign bravery. “What are you going to do to me?”

Eye-scar rolled her eyes, “Captain says we can’t kill you, but that doesn’t mean… I can’t make you suffer in other ways…” She slid her knife across the metal of the bars, creating a horrid screeching noise. Lynn’s eyes had adjusted to the darkness by this point, and she was able to see her surroundings. This revelation did not make her situation any more comfortable. Aside from scar-eye’s gnarled eye, she was very plain altogether, with matted shoulder-length brown hair, a simple pair of breeches and a sarashi wrapped round her chest. The scar along her belly was clearly visible. The most exotic thing was a few colorful silks wrapped around her head. Scar-eye gripped her hand around the lock to the cell. Down her arm crept a long thin creature covered in scales. It was dark and hard to see, but the green color was vibrant and practically glowed. Lynn was more familiar with plants, but she knew her snakes. It was a pit viper. She backed away from the bars.

“Wangi!” Came that soft, drunken voice of the captain. “Be nice to our guest, she’s doing us a great service.” Scar-eye, or Wangi-Lynn assumed- turned to the captain and scowled, leaving Lynn’s cell and heading topside. After she had left, the captain descended towards Lynn’s cell, his footsteps were not that of boots, but of feet against wood.

“Captain Tai Hoa, at your service.” The captain introduced himself as if he were at a dinner party.

“I don’t care who you are,” Lynn said in defiance. “They’ll send soldiers for both of us, you know.”

The captain sneered, he came close to the bars, his breath was vile. “And what makes you certain of that?"

Lynn gave a smile, “Because, you stole the dragon gem. Neither you nor the kingdom will rest until it is returned.”

The captain held up a finger, “Incorrect.” Lynn raised an eyebrow, “Are you certain it was I that stole the gem?”

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Lynn almost laughed, “What kind of question is that?” This man was practically a lunatic if he believed no one thought it was him that had stolen the gem.

“Don’t you find it odd, that no one came to defend the gem but you? Why the guardian of the gem wasn’t there? Why everyone in the palace, slept so peacefully?”

Lynn collapsed against the wooded wall, realization dawning on her. “You drugged everyone in the palace.”

“Sleeping drought in the food.” The captain said with a toothy grin.

“I cooked the food. You drugged it. I’m missing. So is the Dragon Gem.” Lynn felt her lips go dry, her heartbeat slowing as the implications of her situation got worse every second.

“By all accounts, butterfly, you stole the Dragon Gem.” The captain said with a smile. Lynn slid to the ground, sitting on the damp wooden planks. “An enemy to all of Kumandra.” Lynn put her face in her hands. This was impossible, there was no way anyone would believe this. You don’t know that. What if they do? You can’t go home. You’ll never see Somwang again. Somwang. Her name gave Lynn hope. Somwang had seen her before she was taken. Somwang would know what happened.

Just as Lynn’s hopes were beginning to climb, she sunk again. Somwang hadn’t been in the dragon gem temple. Lynn had left Somwang. No one knew where Lynn was. She was the one there were searching for. She began to cry.

She didn’t care the captain was watching, she didn’t care if anyone was there. It didn’t matter. Her life, her dreams, were over. She just sat in that prison cell and cried. The cell where she would surely spend the rest of her days.

The cell door opened, the captain entered her cell. “Welcome to my crew.” Lynn looked up, the captain had his hand held out to her. Lynn wiped her eyes, his face seemed genuine.

“Wh-what?” She asked, somewhat incredulous.

“We could use a good chef around here.” Somehow, Lynn got a feeling that response was a front for the real reason the captain was attempting to be so friendly.

“But, if someone sees my face, won’t we all be captured? Why not kill me? Abandon me?” She was glad neither of those things were what was going to happen, but she was very confused as to why.

“We’re not in Kumandra anymore, butterfly. You’re about to find the world is far bigger than you know it.” A swift breeze of wind blew from above decks, and as the captain said this line, the wind fluttered his hair. Lynn took his hand, and he helped her to stand, leading her above deck.

The light of the sun was harsh on Lynn’s eyes, she had become well-adjusted to the darkness below by that point, and the light was sudden. The deck of the ship was abuzz, ruffian men and women hustled here and there, busying themselves as best they could, each one looked different from another, as if they came from all reaches of the world, certainly none of them were Kumandran. Lynn counted around twenty that she could see. The ship deck itself was something to behold, with deep mahogany planks for the floor and masts that almost looked to be made of charcoal. The battened sails were a magnificent deep red, from the battens hung flags that were decorated with insignia of small birds, the birds were surrounded by a circle of crystals, each crystal seemed to shimmer with red coloration. Some other flags were decorated with a design of two thick and visceral-looking claws. The whole of the ship was decorated with black accents.

“Welcome aboard, the Crimson Songbird.” The captain said dramatically.

Lynn drew her gaze over the side of the ship, over the vast ocean, and the rocky waters. She wished she hadn’t, suddenly feeling very shaky, and nauseous. She found herself leaning against the captain as her legs began to feel weak.

“You’ll get used to that feeling.” The captain said, nudging her off of him.

“No, I don’t know if I will.” She groaned, she felt like she was going to throw up.

“You’ve already met Wangi, she’ll show you the basics of working on a ship.” He gestured to scar-eye, who was close by. The snake curling around Wangi’s shoulder gave Lynn a menacing hiss, flashing its fangs. Lynn winced, not happy to be near that woman. Judging by Wangi’s reaction, neither was she.