Don Gibert

The bullet whistled, smoke rising from the end of the pistol. I watched Jacob's eyes widen in horror. I accepted that he didn't know any better. How could he? I never told him to leave the pistols alone.

Taking a step back, I felt it.

My heart seemed to pound in my ears as I raised a hand. Blood. At least it wasn't in the head. But was it mine?

Another step back.

The ground was missing, the air welcomed me. I hadn't realized how close to the stairs I had been. My shoulder slammed first into the ground before I rolled the rest of the way to the bottom.

I clenched my teeth to try and ignore the pain and get back up. I couldn't. My body wasn't listening to me.

Someone appeared before me, the ringing in my ears making any sounds void. Masque was quick to come, brown bandages that didn't look clean in his hands, with some sort of white fluff, and a grin that I didn't approve off. Someone helped me move into a sitting position as Masque knelt in front of me.

I watched as his mouth moved, the words still not reaching me. He grabbed one side of me as someone else grabbed the other to pull me so my back was pushed against the railing. The fighting seemed to have stopped as others gathered around us, to watch what was happening.

I flinched as Masque worked on me, my hearing slowly coming back, even as the world still spun. I could swear there were two of him at times. I hissed as he tugged against the bandaged he wrapped around me before he patted my shoulder.

Attempting to scoot away from the so-called medical expert didn't work. He wasn't any better at fixing me up than a flying sea fish. Who used unclean bandages on an injured person?

Jacob was nowhere to be seen, at least not from my position on the ground and surrounded by pirates from both crews. Though they were still tensed, each pirate eyeing the other up, no more fights broke out. I watched as both captains got along as they headed to go into the hull, having some sort of conversation.

Why had they attacked us? Did they want something we didn't have? Or was this just to see how we handled it?

Saul and Edgar stood right in front of me, both men with their arms crossed and scowls on their faces. If I didn't know any better, I would think they wanted to yell at me. Which, from the storm brewing in Saul's gray eyes, I expected him to at least.

Did we suddenly come to an agreement to make them get along?

"She's all fixed up," Masque said, going to pat my injured shoulder.

I attempted to swat his hand away, missing it. "You call poking my wound fixing it?" I grumbled, ignoring the smile that formed on his face. "Don't even start. You fake doctor."

"Hey now, you're going to hurt my pride." Masque moved to his feet. "Some good ol' ale, or Captains' good stuff, will make her through the worst of it. Some bed rest too." He gave Saul a wry look. "But so long as she's not climbing up the crows' nest, she'll be fine."

"Good for me," I mumbled, pushing my legs out to stand up.

A tanned hand appeared. Taking it, I winced from the pain, my jaw clenching. Juliet patted my hand, giving me a sad look.

"You'll be fine," she said before leaving me to face Saul alone.

At least she offered to help me up.

"Where's Jacob?" Saul demanded.

I looked at him, seeing that he was looking at Semund. Or was that Englehard. The two looked too much alike for me to tell a real difference between them. At least, until one of them talked.

"Haven't seen him. Still checking though." It was Engelhard. "Beside Capt'ins room, we still have the water, food, and ammunition storages."

Saul turned to face me. "Find him. Captain Velwyn wants a word. The rest of you get back to doing what you're supposed to!" He ordered. "And as for you."

My lips shifted into a painful smile. "Me?"

"Yes, you," he said, taking a step towards me.

"Your glare makes me feel like I killed a baby," I muttered, seeing his eyes narrow. "I didn't!"

Why did it feel like I had to defend myself on that? I wasn't the one that fired the pistol, so why is he blaming me? I also wasn't the one to teach the kid.

That went to someone else.

"I didn't say you did." He sounded cold, too cold. "Come, I'm sure he'll want to talk to you as well. Don't even think about ditching, Edgar. I might hate having you and that filthy crew of yours on this ship but I'm following Captain's orders. You were also involved in this."

"I didn't shoot anyone," Edgar grumbled, staring Saul down. "Besides, I can't blame the kid. He's a horrible shot."

Saul didn't say anything as he turned, walking to where the Captains went. Following more slowly and unwilling, Edgar stayed a step behind me.

"I didn't expect to see you here," Edgar said, spiking a conversation up.

We passed Helmut and Juliet, who looked like they were pulling a net out of the water.

"Should I be happy that I'm a familiar face? I'm sure you've met a lot of people."

Gregor looked as if he was arguing with Herbert and Rosa, both of whom were pointing at the ship next to us. I thought I heard something about ale.

"I have, but you're a face I haven't forgotten." I glanced towards him as he continued to talk. "The scrape on your cheek will heal, eventually."

Reaching up, I touched my cheek. After everything else I got, I hadn't even noticed that. I thought it was only a busted lip and bruised eye.

"I didn't even notice."

We paused as Semund carried a large box from the hull. I watched him for a second, wondering what it was.

"I never thought you'd leave that bar."

I gave him a half shrug, wincing when it didn't work like I wanted it to. "Leaving was the only real choice I had."

We walked down the set of stairs, booming laughter reaching us. It sounded like Don.

"Well, life as one of us ain't so bad."

I gave him a sideways look as we approached both of the captains and Saul, who was tapping his foot. It was like he couldn't wait those few extra seconds it took us to reach him.

"I know. I've heard tales. Just glad it wasn't your crew I tried to join." My smile grew. "I'd have fed you to the fishes already."

"Not with how you fight."

He was right. I was no match for him when it came to fighting, but there had to be something I was better at. We finally reached them, Saul's scowl deepening. I was surprised that it even could.

"I shoulda guess that ya pick on a pretty face," Don said as he looked at Edgar.

Don Gibert was not the average man I would find in Carlisle. He was tall, his muscles were bulky, with veins popping out of them. When he grinned, you could see his missing teeth that were knocked out during a fight.

What always drew my eyes was the scar on his neck. A thick, pink line that only went halfway around it. Like the person had attempted to cut his head off but failed.

I could never get that story out of him. George had, but he never told me what it was. Even when I attempted to bribe him.

"Ya smuggling? That why ya'd on this ship?" He asked, bring his cold eyes to me. "What'd is it this time? Ale? Luna Dip?"

Luna Dip?

"I joined his crew." I used my thumb to point at Velwyn, who was watching us. "Reckon, I've caused him a lot of trouble."

Don laughed, spit flying everywhere.

"Quite a bit," Velwyn agreed. "You two know each other?"

"Aye, how'd ya think she knows a ship so well?" Don shook his head as a wide grin formed. "That wench, she'd take ya money and make it seem like ya spent it all."

I shrugged at the true words he spoke. I couldn't deny that.

"That's not the issue at hand," Saul cut in, his foot tapping with the impatience he seemed to be holding in. "What do you want to do about her brother almost shooting him?" His head jerked towards Edgar.

Saul looked a little redder than he had before.

"Since when did ya have a brother?" Don asked.

I blinked, staring at him. I wasn't expecting us to run into anyone that I knew out on the sea. Let alone a pirate that visited the Going Sally. At least I had never talked much about my life to him.

"Since they were born." I shifted, crossing an arm across my chest. "No blood, no foul."

"You got shot." Well, wasn't Saul a clever one.

"I meant, none of his blood fell from the bullet," I stated. "Besides, he's still a boy and learning. What did you expect him to do in that chaos? Skip stones?"

"Not have a pistol."

I scoffed.

"Right, because people on the sea don't have those." This got me a glare that said to shut it before I made it worse. "Clearly, the responsibility of this is your poor training of him."

I didn't think there was any sort of training with pistols, but I might as well point the finger at someone. Well, someone that wasn't me.

"I'm not the one who taught him to shoot. That lays in your bed of responsibilities. It's your job to fix this mess."

Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today.

"Alright, alright." Velwyn stepped between us. "Tensions are a little high here, so best we all just cool off, right? If Gibert and his lackey doesn't mind, I see no reason we can't just drop this."

Saul raised a hand, pinching his nose. "It's like trying to teach a kid to be a captain," he grumbled.

"I'm not a lackey," Edgar stated. "I'm still alive so do what you want, Captain."

Don grew serious, losing the grin as he looked from Edgar and to me. His expression reminded me of that time when I asked what happened to his throat. Dark. Threatening.

"Just make sure the boy learns that shooting a man in the back out here will get him marooned." It felt like whiplash as he grinned again. "Ah, one more thing ya have ta know."

It was odd how he could be so different at that moment. Shaking my head and getting a shooing wave from Velwyn, I started making my way back to the top.

I heard something about a pirate meeting before I could no longer make out the words they were saying. Glancing at the four, I could see that Velwyn was still watching me. The look on his face was hard to read.

Reaching the deck, I found Rosa. Her arms were folded across her chest, her braided hair looking like it needed to be redone. She glanced at the door as it open.

"How's the wound?"

"Hurts." I looked around, seeing the pirates working together. "So, what was this fight about?"

"The scrimmage?" She nodded towards the boxes that were being moved over. "Whenever we run into the Ghost Pirates', it usually ends up like this. Though," she looked at me, "this is the first time someone got shot. Nice job."

I couldn't muster up the frown I wanted to give. "Thanks. Bullets just love me," I said, feeling exhausted. "So, this is normal? Fighting with them?"

"Well, yes. You'll have to have Saul tell you the story. This agreement came before I joined," Rosa stated. "I do know that Captain Velwyn used to raid the Ghosts ship."

Nodding, I stood next to her, watching as the two pirate crews worked together. 

The ship swayed, the sound of laughter drifting to me as I laid in a hammock. Loud and somewhat drunken laughter. It reminded me of what it was like back in the bar.

Folding my ankles, I placed my good arm over my eyes as I thought about George. I was sure that if he had been there, he would've done things differently. One of them things being him not getting beat to a pulp.

He had always been a good fighter.

Sure, he'd get a bloody lip, a bruised eye, or some scratches but he would still come out on top. He was still the winner at the end of those fights. At least, he was when the drunks stumbled over their own feet and all but knocked themselves out. I couldn't say if he would be the winner in a fair fight but George had never disappointed me.

There was one time when I saw him almost get into an actual fight, where both men were sober. And both were ready to put their lives on the line. All for a stupid reason too.

Because George had checked out the other man's man.

"Oi, get up." A voice brought me from my thoughts of home. "The town is in view and you're coming with us."

Shifting my arm slightly, I looked at her. "How could we have reached it already?" A yawn escaped me from the lack of sleep I was getting. "I thought it was still another three days away."

"Not this one, so get up," Rosa said.

Lowering my arm back over my eyes, I ignored her. I didn't have the energy to get up at that second. At least not enough energy to get up and follow them around.

It had only been a day since we saw Don Gibert and his crew of pirates. Very little had happened in those 24 hours, besides me getting put onto a different schedule with the others that had kept watch during the night. There was a new set of five that would be staying up all night.

My new assignment was cleaning the ship. Plus anything else that needed to be done but everyone avoided doing.

The hammock moved, my body rolling before it dropped to the ground. I gasped, grabbing my stomach while pulling my injured arm into me.

"I told you to move." Rosa's voice came from above me.

Clenching my teeth to avoid hissing, I watched as Rosa turned with Baldor. The pair going up the ladder, figuring that I would follow behind. Adding pressure to my arm, I slowly moved from the floor.

Sighing, I found the bag I brought with me from Carlisle. Digging through it, I pulled a small black bag out. I was used to Carlisle currency, but I knew that each town had its own system for things. Some might see the paper bills I had as nothing more than scraps of useless paper. Or the gems as fake and worth nothing.

Being much slower than the two that interrupted my attempted nap, I struggled to make it up the ladder and into the cannon room. I spotted the pair of drunks, whose laughter had reached me before. Shaking my head at him, I walked to the stairs across the room and outside.

I squinted at the bright sunlight.

Looking around, I spotted most of the crew had their arms folded over their chests as they stared in the direction the ship was heading. Others were leaning over the white railing. Spotting Rosa and Baldor, I walked towards them before pausing.

It wasn't like they could see anything from standing in the middle of the deck. At least, not the so-called city we have already reached.

Deciding I wanted to see the city, I walked to the railing. Spotting it, I felt a slight wave of amazement and excitement. It looked different from Carlisle. Besides being much smaller in size.

The houses were small, the roofs flat, making it seem like water would be able to easily build on top of them. Even if they were small, there was a charm to the houses and the wooden bridges that connected them. The wood looked black, which struck me as odd.

I've only ever seen white and the rare light brown wood.

I could see no signs of ships. No signs of people either. Smoke didn't rise into the air to show signs of life.

"It's called Aramox."

"Aramox?" I asked. "Why?"

I never heard of the city before. From the size it though, it didn't look like very many people could've lived there.

"Never questioned it."

Sounds came from above and behind, as others brought the sails up and worked to slow the ship down. Water splashed as someone dropped the anchor that wouldn't reach the seafloor. Seeing Rosa and Baldor move, I went to help the two of them with lowering the boats we would be using.

From the looks of it, only three of the boats would be going to the city. Each one taking three pirates. I followed Rosa, with Baldor coming last, as we climbed down the rope ladder.

The boat rocked slightly, but no one fell in. Baldor sat in middle, grabbing the oars that someone tossed from above. He pushed us from the ship, rowing us towards the town.

The closer we got, the more I wondered if anyone actually lived there. What were the chances of coming across an abandoned place in the silver seas?

It took a few minutes before we reached the bridge.

"Tie the rope."

Listening, I grabbed the black wood, feeling some sort of smooth coating on it. Tying the rope, I climbed out of the boat first, to make sure that it wasn't going to come apart. Standing up, I looked at the small houses before me, a frown forming.

They were made out of wood, unlike the stone houses in Carlisle. The black sticking out against the silver that surrounded them.

Footsteps echoed from behind me, the others pulling themselves onto it as well. They walked past me as I waited for the two I came with. Everyone else seemed to be familiar with the town, unlike me.

Rosa took the lead.

Passing the houses, I found them to be windowless. A sign hung cracked and like one good hit would shatter into pieces. It stuck out like a sore thumb, made from silver stone instead of wood like everything else around it.

Words that looked as if someone tried to scratch them out were engraved on it.

Salanop's Magnifications

Looking away from the sign, I found Rosa opening the door to the place it belonged to. Baldor didn't follow, choosing to remain outside with me.

"Just what sort of place is this?"

He gave me a sideways glance. "Never been here, have you?" I shook my head at his question. "It's a strange town but a good one for people like us to visit," he explained.

"Pirates?"

"Not only pirates. There are also bounty hunters, smugglers, barristers, and the likes that use this town. Sailors tend to leave it alone because it looks like a ghost town during the day."

I could understand that and couldn't blame anyone for wanting to avoid it. Did anyone even live there? Someone had to if he was right about people visiting it.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it," Baldor continued as I said nothing. "She's just getting a few things looked at and then we'll move off to the real place that we're here to visit."

There's a place we were supposed to visit?

"Where are we going?"

He pointed to a bridge that could be seen between the black windowless houses. Behind it was the largest building I had yet come across in the town. Towering above the houses, and looking more intimidating.

"Vonbin's. We need to stock up on food, timber, and other supplies that we didn't have time to grab."