The Scathed

[Crestshot]

Here you are mates! Food for thought! Well... ok, maybe not so much for thought as entertainment. My apologies on the lateness of this. Homework and theater and drama... etc etc. Still Thursday here though, so HA! to all of you East Coasters. Anywho...

Port Again



“Run, Kat!” Lawrence cried. He grabbed her hand and pulled her along after him. It was foggy. She could only see the shadow of Lawrence in front of her.

And then the shadow was gone too. “Lawrence?” she cried fearfully. No answer. “Lawrence!” she yelled again.

“Throw her in the brig!” The words echoed around her. She reached for her sword, but the weight wasn’t there. Frantically, she looked for anything: her pistol, a dagger, even her compass, but none were there. She began panicking.

“Kat, Kat!” Lawrence’s voice tore through the fog. She turned wildly, searching for the source, but it echoed all around. It was impossible to figure out.

“Thank you for saving me Kat,” a voice said softly behind her. She turned on the spot to see the ragged Solomon. He gave her a malicious grin. “I have to look out for myself though.” A sword formed from the fog and he swung…

~~~~~

Kat sat up in her bed and rubbed her face in frustration. All she had was a haunting feeling of dread and fear. She remembered fog… bah! All she knew was that something was wrong. She put it to the back of her mind for now. They had to get to port.

She dragged herself to her maps. They had head out from Tortuga at south west, so they would be about…here! Her finger landed on a spot near one of the uninhabited islands. That meant… her finger traced south east, looking for a port. She grinned. Port Royal was only about a day’s travel away. That would work well enough. She was sure Lawrence would enjoy the opportunity to see Josie.

Her compass was open on the table, so she picked it up to double check her bearings. She walked outside to figure out the right direction from the position of the sun. The compass pointed in the correct direction. Perhaps everything was starting to turn their way.

Lawrence and Solomon were about to take down the sails to try and fix them up a little more. “Hold up there you two!” she called to them. They stopped climbing the rigging for a moment to look down on her. “We’re going to head to Port Royal mates! Shouldn’t take long to get there!”

Lawrence hung upside down from the ropes and saluted. “Aye Kat!” he called back.

Kat laughed. “C’mon Lawrence, but it out before you fall into the sea!” He grinned at her upside down and flipped off of it.

“So, Port Royal?” he asked when he landed. “Brilliant, I haven’t seen Josie in months!”

Solomon crept over to Kat. “Are you sure you want to be heading to Port Royal? It’s not exactly a safe haven for people like us.”

Kat’s eyes sparkled. “You underestimate the wit and the wiles of a woman, Solomon. Don’t worry about it.” She sent Solomon off to work on minor ship repairs, while she took the wheel for Port Royal.

The sun was setting on the water as they neared Port Royal. They lowered anchor just off the coast and took one of the dinghies to shore. Kat changed into a more appropriate style before they left, so as not to reveal they were pirates quite as easily. Lawrence rowed steadily to the docks, muscles rippling underneath his tank. Kat caught herself staring for a moment before Lawrence glanced up at her with those eyes. She quickly averted her eyes.

Her gaze reverted to Solomon instead. His entire posture was stiff and his eyes flickered rapidly in paranoia. She reached over to put a hand on his shoulder, making him jump a little. “Relax,” she muttered. His shoulders loosened a little, but his eyes were as untrusting as before. Kat sighed internally. This was going to be a long trip.

At shore, the poor dockworker tried to charge them twenty gold for the parking of the ship, but Kat giggled and acted like a foolish young maiden, hanging on his arm playfully. They ended up walking away with only half of the fee missing from their pockets. Kat winked at the man who had just stared at her. “Never underestimate the power of a woman,” she said.

They took care of business first. Truehound may have worked in clothes, but he and his team also worked with Darby Drydock to create sails. The group walked into the shop at the tinkling of a bell.

“Hello, I’m Nathaniel Truehound,” the tailor said with his back to them. He began turning towards them. “How can I-” He stopped abruptly at the sight of Kat. His eyes narrowed. “Out!” he shouted. He thundered towards them and tried to shove them out the door. “Out, out! I’ll not be serving the likes of you again!” Kat merely sidestepped the portly man and he slammed into the door.

“Now now Mr. Truehound, you wouldn’t be chasing away one of your finest customers, would you?” Kat asked as the plump man untangled himself from the ground.

“Finest? Ha!” cried Truehound as he brushed himself off. “Last time you were here, you ran off with a box of me finest clothes without paying! That completely ruined my budget that month!”

Kat waved the accusation off. “That was Blakely’s fault. He let it slip I was in port. Go ask him for the money.” Truehound huffed, but Kat ignored it. “Besides, if Blakely doesn’t sound another alarm, I’ll actually be able to pay this time, rather than running.”

Truehound seemed to battle with himself for a moment. “Fine, Ms. Crestshot, what is it you need?” he asked rather reluctantly.

They left the shop not long after, having paid for the sails. “Remind me to visit Drydock first next time I need sails,” she sighed when they were gone.

“Lawrence!” Josie cried when they walked into the Royal Anchor. She placed her broom down behind the bar and came behind it to give him a hug.

He embraced her with a laugh. “Haha, hi Josie,” he said.

“What am I, chopped liver?” Kat joked behind his back. Josie removed herself from Lawrence to give Kat a hug as well. “Good to see you Josie.”

It was then that Josie noticed Solomon standing silently behind Kat. “And who might you be?” she asked without preamble.

He stepped forward. “Solomon Sharkfury miss,” he said, bowing slightly.

Josie nodded her head back, plainly measuring the man up. “Good to know,” she said with a slightly furrowed brow. “Well, anyway, I suppose you all didn’t just come in here to chat. What can I get you?” She moved back behind the bar and began fixing them up something.

The night continued with Kat, Lawrence, and Josie chatting and laughing over rum and food, with Solomon throwing in the occasional witty comment. He sat rather stiffly, nursing a bottle of rum between his hands. Josie and Kat tried to engage him a few times, but he was rather distant. He mostly sat back and watched, not seeing the need to include himself.

Eventually, the seemingly endless chatter died down. Josie let out a content sigh. “Hey Kat, will you come with me in the back for a moment?” she asked. Kat shrugged and followed Josie back.

“Got a little something for ya,” Josie said, looking through a barrel. “Aha!” She pulled out a dusty little bottle filled with a brown liquid and handed it to Kat. “Came on a merchant ship a few days ago. It’s a pretty good 25 year old rum. Go easy on it Kat.” Josie winked at her.

Kat examined the contents of the bottle. “Wow… thanks Josie!” she said and began to head to the main part of the tavern.

“Wait Kat,” Josie said, all serious now. “I wanted to talk to you about Solomon really quick.” She sat on a crate and smoothed her skirts. “Where did you find him?”

Kat went to stand in front of her. “We found him yesterday aboard a Navy ship. They tried to attack us, so we boarded it and found him in the brig. Why, are you worried?”

Josie grimaced. “Only a little. I can assure you that he’s not Navy or EITC though,” she told Kat.

“And how do you know that?”

Josie raised her eyebrows. “Please Kat, I work in a tavern. It’s not difficult to overhear stories from sailors. Solomon is most definitely pirate. From what I hear, he’s rather ruthless; doesn’t care a touch about the corrupted Navy or EITC. I heard barely a week ago that he got captured aboard his ship. His crew gave him up in exchange for their freedom. They were supposed to be shipping him off here for a short trial and most likely a hanging.”

“No wonder he was jittery about coming here,” Kat muttered. It was beginning to make sense about Solomon, but she knew that the whole story was still hidden.

“Well, thanks for telling me Josie,” she said. “Shall we head back out?”

“One more quick thing Kat,” Josie said. She seemed a little hesitant now, but Kat waited patiently. “Kat… is there anything going on between you and Lawrence?”

Kat froze. “There’s nothing, Josie,” she muttered, her eyes downcast.

Josie studied the young woman. “Don’t be blind on purpose, Kat. I see him, the way he sees you. Don’t deny it.” She left Kat and went back into the tavern proper, leaving the young woman stunned.



I love Josie as a character, I truly do.

Thanks go out to KeeperoftheCode for the use of his character again. I'm gonna have to be saying that a lot... haha.

Well mates, what do ya think? I anxiously await for my phone to buzz, telling me in an email that I have a new review, haha. As always, Thanks for reading!

-Kat Crestshot