Levi 》
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Captain Dok.
His name was just about as god damn annoying as the man himself. I couldn't help but wrinkle up my nose each time he smirked, showing off his dirty gold tooth. His beard had the left over smell of rum on it, which would have made me gag if my chest wasn't currently tightly wrapped with ropes.

"Ah. Don't you just love it how we always meet up this way?" His grimy hand patted my cheek as he spoke.

Jerking my face away from his hand, I clicked my tongue. "Don't act so sly with yourself. You know I won't be staying long." I replied, struggling against the palm tree I was tied up to.

Nile Dok snickered, standing up from his previously crouched position. "Not happening this time, mate. My crew is stronger than little ol' you."

I glared at him with my eye that wasn't covered with an eye patch, as his disgusting smelly breath hit my face. "I'll give you this, you've got guts. But you and I both know you're wrong."

He waved the topic off before stalking off, probably to drink more rum with his crew. Glancing around, I noticed two other pirates from his crew standing watch over me. They were far enough away for me to get away with my plan.

Struggling, but succeeding, I brought my booted foot closer to my tied hands. Using a finger to push on the heel of my boot, I finally got it to slide; revealing a hidden dagger. Using my index finger and thumb, I slowly pulled it out from my heel and was finally able to grasp the dagger. I glanced back around at the men at watch, and quickly cut through the thin ropes that held me tight to the tree when the men weren't looking.

Nile definitely needed to invest in thicker ropes if he was up to keeping me hostage again. Fuckin' shit face.

The ropes unraveled around me, and I quickly darted to one of the men that had his back towards me. Using my knee to his back, I tackled him down to the ground and slid the sharp dagger against his throat. Blood spluttered over the grass and my hands and he was gasping for air.

I smirked. "Better luck next time, lad."

Chuckling, I darted over to the other man, keeping sure to duck under the tall grass to stay hidden. Stupid boy was clueless that I was even untied. He was too busy biting at his pinky nail.

Standing up right behind him, I poked his shoulder with my dagger. He slowly looked around and when he saw me his eyes widen.

"H-how did you--?"

"Tch, are you really asking such a thing, when you're supposed to be killing me?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. He quickly reached for his sword before I stabbed my dagger into his eye, and twisted it around. It went straight to his brain, so he was on the ground in almost an instant. Shaking my head at his body, "You bloody kids never learn, do ya?"

Slipping my dagger into my thick, leather belt, I wandered off out of the jungle. I could see my ship not far away from shore, which was no surprise. They all knew I wouldn't be here as hostage long. This was kind of a normal thing for me.

I would go and kill Nile, knowing it would be a piece of cake, but it was kind of fun to make him angry by getting away from him not even an hour of being caught. He never really tried hard.

Pushing a row boat off the sand and into the water, I climbed in and pushed myself out into sea and towards my ship. Turning around in my seat, to look at it over my shoulder, I could have grinned. My ship, she was quite a pretty thing.

Rowing myself up to the side of the wooden ship, I climbed the rope ladder my crew threw over for me. I was met with a hand sticking out once I reached the top. "I'm thinking that you beat your record this time." Hanji said, laughing loudly.

I huffed, gripped her hand before she pulled me up on deck. "Surprised? He's too easy for me."

She chuckled, wrapping an arm around my leather covered shoulders. "Aye. I couldn't think any less of you, you never let me down." She replied, guiding me up the wooden stairs to the Quarter Deck. "Lose somethin'?" She asked, holding up a three cornered, black leather hat.

"Ah, I thought I dropped it over seas." I said, sighing in relief as I took the hat from her grasp, slipping it on my head and on top of the red band I had wrapped around my forehead.

Hanji smiled, before looking down at the main deck. My crew was busying themselves with either cleaning the cannons, fixing the sails, or the swabbies scrubbing the deck while on all fours. "I'm thinkin' we may need more mates, don't ya think?" She asked, turning to face me for a moment before looking back at the crew.

I shrugged. "Could use a few more. Difficult to do so when everyone runs from ya though." I replied, leaning against the wooden railing to watch my crew.

Hanji Zoe was my second mate. Normally, ships would only have a first mate, but Hanji annoyed me enough to give in and give her the title she wanted. Hanji was an annoying asshole who never shut the fuck up. She talks loudly and she's even gave away our hiding places from being loud before; about got us killed. Though, besides the amount of times I've hit her upside the head, she's always been beside me at the ship's helm from day 1. She's helped my crew grow, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thankful for her at times.

"Captain, we're ready when you are."

Glancing over at Mike, my first mate, I nodded. "Very well. Take over for me, will ya? I have... Something to take care of." I replied, shifting my weight to my other foot.

He nodded once before yelling out orders to the crew, telling them to take their places and get the sails down. The crew instantly sprang to life, ropes were flying everywhere and the ship was quick to shift and headed east. Mike took over the helm, while keeping an eye on the crew.

"Hanji, company me, will you? I may need an extra set of hands for this." I muttered towards the brunette. She giggled before joining my side.

"I've been waiting for this all day." She exclaimed, clapping her hands together which were wrapped with fabric from previous injuries. "Poor guy has been dreading this, shaking in his boots."

I rolled my eyes, walking down the stairs from the Quarter Deck and onto the Main Deck. Glancing down the line of people, who were tying down ropes, I spotted the man I needed.

"Oi! Auruo!" I called out. He stepped out from the line, head high.

"Yes, Captain!"

I gritted my teeth and glared at the man in front of me, looking him up and down in disgust. "I assume you know why I am approaching you. Am I correct?"

He was hesitant to nod, looking to the wooden deck below his boots. "Aye, sir. I apologize for my doings."

Stepping forward, I grabbed his white shirt pulling him down to me and glared at him. "This is not the first fucking time you've ratted me out to Dok. If I catch you once more talking to that son of a bitch, you'll be walking the plank. Do I make myself clear?"

He nodded, his body was tense. "Aye, sir. It won't happen again."

I scoffed, retrieving my dagger from my waist band. "Oh I know it won't happen again, and I'm making sure of it. Open up that filthy pie hole of yours."

"... Sir?"

"You fucking heard me, do it!"

He looked at me as if I was crazy. I motioned towards Hanji and she took action. She stepped behind him, kicking the back of his knees to force him to kneel. She gripped his dirty hair, pulling his head back and used her other hand to force his jaw open. His eyes were wide, knowing what I was going to do.

"Now, I was going to cut your tongue off, but you do at times have some helpful things to say. So I decided to go for something else of yours, something you take too much pride in." I muttered, flipping the dagger around in my fingers. A small crowd joined in behind me, snickering every now and then. I raised an eyebrow at Auruo and smirked. "Can you guess what that is?"

He struggled in Hanji's tight grip but didn't succeed. His protests were muffled since his mouth was wide open. I tightly gripped his jaw, aiming it up to give me a good view of teeth.

"Hmm... One, two, ah I see three of them. This is going to be even more fun." Chuckling, I gripped my dagger and entered it into his mouth. I shoved the blade into his gums, right under one of his golden teeth. His screams made their way into my ears, but that didn't stop me. I shoved up on the dagger, and the tooth came falling out of his mouth and onto the deck. Blood was flowing out of his mouth, down his chin. I snorted, "one down, two to go. Let's take the other two out in one go, shall we?"

Shoving my blade back into his gums, under two of his golden teeth, I created a long slit and cut the teeth out. More blood fell from his mouth, as more screams met our ears.

"Ah, shut the hell up. You know you deserved it." I muttered, wiping my bloody hand on his shirt. Flipping the dagger back into my waist band, I waved my hand at Hanji and she let him lose. Auruo laid down on the deck, groaning in pain and gripping his mouth. Turning to the shocked crowd behind me, I pointed my finger at them. "Let this be a lesson to all of you! Don't let me catch you fucking up." All of their eyes widened, and jaws were dropped. "Now get the fuck back to work!"

They scattered across the deck like scared mice, finding something to keep them busy.

Hanji cackled, throwing her arm around my shoulders. "Sometimes you scare me when you're angry. Though, I know you'd never do such a thing to me."

Glancing over at her, I raised an eyebrow. "Don't test me, I may just shoot your teeth out." Her only reaction was another laugh. "Gah, I'm gonna catch some sleep. Wake me if something urgent happens. And no, spotting a mouse is not urgent. Don't wake me for that again."

"But that bloody thing was about as big as my forearm!"

"More like the size of your mouth." I muttered, walking towards my office.

Sighing with relief when I shut the wooden doors behind me, I rested my head on the wood for a moment.

These fucking people wear me out sometimes.

Stepping forward, I wandered into the small room that held my bed. Removing the leather coat from my shoulders, I folded it on top of the desk I had beside my bed. Throwing my dagger, and all of my belts onto the desk as well. Walking to the mirror I had bolted to the wall above my desk, I threw my leather hat off, and removed the red band I had wrapped around my head. My long black hair raveled down onto my shoulders, which smelt like salt water. Wrinkling my nose at the smell, I tossed it behind my shoulders.

Slipping my fingers between the thin black strings of my eyepatch, which covered my left eye, I slowly removed it from my face. I glanced into the mirror and glared at what I saw. Whenever I wonder why so many people get afraid of me and run from me, all I've gotta do is glance into a mirror, look at my eye and I would have all my answers right there.

Most times, I didn't mind if people were afraid. It meant I didn't have to risk mine and my crew's life so much. I may seem like I don't respect my crew by the way I act around them or towards me, but I really did. They've stuck with me for a long time and they trust and respect me. Least I could do is put trust in them. I've sailed them through tough storms, and dangerous ship fight incounters and they have all put in their all and are willing to fight for the rest of us until the their lives were ended. They're not a horrible big group of idiots all the time.

There were also times that really just pissed me off when people ran from me. It usually meant it was extremely difficult to gather new crew mates. I've never met one person who didn't know who we were, word travels like fucking STDs around here - which actually happens quite frequently. Even when passing through town, sometimes all you hear is "Look, it's Captain Ackerman. He's the one with that eye. Stay away from him, he's dangerous." And "Have you seen his eye? It's disgusting, he should get it checked out." Also, "Legend has it he's got a demon trapped behind that eye patch of his."

The words don't bother me. I couldn't give a shit about what people think about me, but my god, it's annoying as fuck at times.

Sighing loudly, I toed my tall boots off and sat them near the bedroom entrance before climbing in my uncomfortable bed. I pulled the covers up to my chin, and fell asleep to the waves rocking the ship.

~

"Oi, Levi." I felt something poking my shoulder repeatedly. "Wake up!"

Groaning, I pushed Hanji away from me. "I told you don't wake me unless it's urgent."

She sighed loudly, and I felt my bed's mattress shift as he sat down on the edge. "We're at land, and there's a town close by. We need more grub!"

I slowly looked at her from over my shoulder. She had a grin on her face, while she was fiddling with her feather earring. "How long did I sleep?"

She shrugged. "Possibly 7 hours, I suppose. It's a bit past morning now."

Groaning, I pulled the blanket off of me and I sat up in my bed. "Now that you mention it, I haven't ate in over twenty four hours."

"Exactly my bloody point. You're gonna end being a bag of bones soon if you keep this reputation up." She pointed out, standing up from my bed. "Now get dressed and come on. Mike and I won't wait long for you!" With that, she skipped out of the Captain's office and back onto the Main Deck.

Sighing, I did as she said and got dressed back into my normal attire but sliding a sword into my leather holster. I slid a few more belts on, one crossing my chest and rest on my shoulder. I'll admit I have a bit obsession with belts, they come in handy.

After dressing, I made my way back onto deck and spotted Mike, Hanji and Petra near the railing of the ship. They were chatting, well Hanji and Petra were; Mike isn't one to speak much unless it's necessary. He mostly spent his time sniffing the air, saying he can smell near by ships. When I first met him, I thought I had hired a dumb ass to join my crew, but turns out he's been correct every time. Plus he's dead shot at the pistol.

"It's about god damn time. How long does it take to put on all that leather, aye?" Hanji said, chuckling.

"Can it, before I push you over board." I muttered, stepping to the rail beside Petra. She was another crew mate, who was usually working the cannons and sails when needed. She was skilled at the cannons and swords, which is the exact type of person I needed.

Petra smiled at me sweetly, fiddling with the strings on the corset wrapped around her small figure. "You didn't get any injuries while being held hostage, did you?" She asked. She was usually the one who tend to my wounds when needed.

"Not this time, just a punch at the jaw." I shrugged, glancing at her. A flash of concern showed on her face but she nodded.

Hanji threw the rope ladder down after another one of the crew members tossed a row boat down. The four of us all climbed down and rowed to shore. We all walked to the town that was nearby, searching for a food market and ignored the odd looks we got from people around.

"Is that Captain Ackerman?" I heard someone ask another, behind a cuffed hand around the ear. As if cuffing your hand is going to block out what you're saying, bloody idiot.

"Isn't he a pirate?"

"I think so; disgusting creatures."

I gritted my teeth, hearing the young boy's words. "Will the three of you go for food? I'll stay out here." I mumbled towards my mates.

They nodded, and entered the market.

"Oi, boy." I called out to the kid who called us disgusting creatures. He looked at me with wide eyes, pointing to himself in question. "Yeah, you, with the ugly hair. Come on."

He stepped towards me with caution, watching my every move. He stopped moving when he got up to 5 feet in front of me.

"Have you ever heard of me, kid?" I asked, folding my arms across my chest and raised an eyebrow that wasn't hidden by my black patch.

He fidgeted where he stood, looking back at his friend. Probably asking for help, but his friend didn't dare step in. He looked back at me with fearful eyes. "Y-Yeah, I think so. Captain Ackerman, right?"

"Aye." I replied, sticking out my hand, which currently was wrapped in multiple beaded and braided bracelets. "And you are?"

He looked at my hand like it was going come alive before slowly moving his own hand towards mine. "M-Marlo, sir."

I gripped his hand tightly, before nodding my head once. "Please to meet ya. Now that we have officially been introduced to one another, I hope you wouldn't mind me doing this." I pulled his hand towards mine quickly, grabbing my dagger with my free hand and easily sliced his thumb off his hand.

He screamed loudly, falling to the ground. "You b-bastard! What was that for?!"

I snickered, kicking the bloody finger away from me with my black boot. "Oh, you don't know? We're disgusting creatures, that's why." I replied, just as Hanji, Mike and Petra exited the market. They glanced at the boy on the ground for a moment before turning to me.

I heard Hanji and Mike chuckle under their breath, while Petra just shook her head towards the boy that was in pain. "This is why you don't mess with Levi." She muttered, and walked with us towards the ship.

They were used to my kind of behavior. They knew I get angry when I hear people talking shit, and I act upon it rather violently.

Returning back to the ship, there was a lot of commotion going on. A huge group was huddled together talking, and I made way over to them.

"What do you bloody shit heads think you're doing? Get back to work." I snapped at them, glaring at each of them.

Surprisingly, they didn't scatter this time and stood still. "Captain," one of them spoke up, "we caught a thief."

My eyebrows raised at this. "A thief? On my ship?"

He nodded, "Aye, sir. He's currently in the brig."

I nodded once. "Good lad, Erd. I'll take care of him."

With that, I turned to the middle of the Main Deck and opened the hatch that was on the deck. I made my way down the stairs, closing the hatch behind me and walked to the cells. I saw movement in one of them, and I gripped my hands into fists.

"You've got a lot of nerve trying to steal from my ship." I commented, grabbing a near by stool and went to put it front of the cell he was in. Once my eyes caught him, my eyes widen. He was nothing but a young boy. "Damn. A lot of nerve."

His eyes were angry, and he was glaring at me. "I don't give a shit. I'll do what I want, and I don't need some old man telling me what to do."

I snorted, sitting down on the stool. "You've got spunk. You clearly are oblivious."

"Fuck you. I'm not oblivious."

I rolled my eyes and made myself comfortable as I could on the stool. "Do you not know who I am, lad?" He looked at me as if I was stupid. "Do you not know what ship you are currently on?"

He shook his head, wrinkling up his nose. "How would I know?"

"Well, it's kind of written on the side of the bloody ship if you haven't realized."

He glanced at his nails and shrugged. "Even if I did know, why would that matter?"

I gritted my teeth, standing from my stool and wrapped my hands around the metal bars. "Kid, you're on The Cursed Maria."

That made his eyes go wide and his jaw drop. "Wha-?"

I held up a finger. "Ah, so you have heard of us."

"I-I mean, I've heard stories about this ship. They say the Captain of this ship, has some kind of problem, or something."

I felt my eye twitch at his words. I don't have some kind of problem. I almost preferred being called a disgusting creature rather than being said I have "some kind of problem or something."

I went back to glaring at the brunette, who was staring at me with his wide blue-green eyes in confusion. "What's with you?" He asked.

"What else have you heard about this ship?" I asked, curious to what else he heard, sitting back down on my stool.

He shrugged, shifting in his seat on the bed in the corner of the cell. "Just people saying it's dangerous, and mysterious and not to get close to it."

"And yet, look where you are now. Obviously you don't like to go by the rules." I pointed out.

"I didn't know this was The Cursed Maria! I'm sorry, it was a mistake."

I sucked at my teeth loudly, crossing my legs. "Give me one excuse to why I shouldn't make you walk the plank."

His eyes widened again at the mention of walking. "S-Sir... I didn't mean it. It won't happen again. I...I-I could be your cabin boy... Or your swabbie. I'm good at cleaning."

I titled my head to the side before taking the boy's appearance in. He had shaggy brown hair, that was tied back. His hair was a bit shorter than my own. He had a white band wrapped around his forehead with beads hanging from the side, and a golden hoop pierced into his right ear. He wore a white, loose shirt with a vest on top and black boots that reached his knees finished the look. He was dirty looking, with patches of dried dirt on his skin. It looked like he hasn't bathed in weeks.

I sighed, "looks like you could learn about cleaning all you can." I watched as his face turned to relief, knowing he wouldn't be thrown off the ship with his hands tied. "Fine. You'll work off your foolishness by joining my crew. But don't think that I'll you treat you like one of my own."

"Wait, your crew?" He asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

I stood from my stool and smirked towards him. "Ah, did we not cover that detail? I'm Captain Ackerman."