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Garret looked at the young girl behind the cell. He noticed that her demeanor shifted to a more panicked grimace after mentioning the Navy. She no longer leaned lazily against the cold bars but was now passing back and forth, muttering to herself about something that Garret couldn't make out.
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In the background was the sounds of the nightly celebration that were already in full swing. Suddenly the sounds of heavy boots against the pavement can be heard from outside the guard house.
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The door swings open to reveal three men of various sizes. The tallest was a man that was a foot taller than Garrett. All men wore the same uniform, a very fitting knee length white trousers with a dark blue padded silk jacket with a high collar and gold trims all in the shape of waves and scales. All the men wore rigid velvet caps with the sea snake emblem pinned to it.
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There was no doubt in Garrett's mind. He knew for certain who these men were and he suspected that the girl knew as well. Garrett turned to see her and the expression that was plastered on her face was not the usual arrogant smirk that she would infuriatingly wear, but now that expression was replaced by a look of pure, unadulterated fear.
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...
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The Pirate
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Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit...
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I felt as though my soul had sunk to the deepest depths of my stomach, as a distinct ringing is heard faintly, I could feel cold sweat falling down my face.
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No, no, no, no...I can't... I can't go back.
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My heart hammered against my chest as if it were ready to burst out from me. I felt like I couldn't breathe.
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Breathe~ A soothing voice reminded me.
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Images flashed before my eyes, the sounds of screams and the scent of blood and steel reached my nose.
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No...no...no...not again.
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The screams were getting louder, and the ringing too, I covered my ears to keep the sound out but to no avail. Just like that day, when the lights rained down from the dark, stormy, night sky of the Cerulean sea.
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There was so much happening I couldn't make out, but something I would always remember was those fucking azure blue uniform of the Navy, the colour seemed to command the very atmosphere as it shimmered in the light of the burning ship. Even through the inferno I could still see the blasted colour of the Navy.
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"Hey, kid?" A voice echoed. "Hey?" I looked up to see Garrett facing me with a worried expression. Something about his face made me reach through the bars and wrap my arms around him.
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“Please,” I whispered, my voice shaking. “I need water… sea water… please.”
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“Where the fuck am I supposed to get that?”
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Are you serious? We're near a bloody port.
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Before I could answer, a heavy shove sent me sprawling to the ground. My heart slammed against my ribs, my breaths growing shallower and shallower.
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Shit, I'm...out...of time.
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╔═══════《✧》═══════╗
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The Captain
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“Oi—leave the girl be. She’s just a child.” I lifted both hands, palms out, trying to soothe the Navy men closing in.
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“A pirate,” one of them spat.
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My gaze snapped to the speaker. “Excuse me?”
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The man didn’t flinch. His eyes stayed fixed on the kid, hard with hate.
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“That child is a pirate and a cursed one at that. No sense keeping scum like her around, not if you don’t want a bigger problem when she’s older.”
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"Alden, enough,” the man's comrade said to him.
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The man—Alden, had ginger-blonde hair and stood a couple of heads shorter than the other Navy men. His eyes, an unnaturally bright, burning green glittered with hatred. His gloved fists clenched as he stared me down, then he turned and took his place beside the colleague who’d called him, hands clasped behind his back. He wasn’t wrong, but…Even so, I felt conflicted.
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The scene looked familiar, too familiar for my liking. The man next to Alden walked up to the cell where the girl laid on the ground in a daze. His uniform was different to the rest of his colleagues, he wore a long robe that had a hood, and around his neck he wore a brooch that was in the shape of the sun, a symbol of the Holy Order. He had black hair but I couldn't make out the colour of his eyes, it was green but when he moved it sometimes switch to gold, his eyes seemed to change colour whenever he moved.
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The girl was still on the ground, I expected her to get up but she seemed to be out cold.
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Did the man kick her hard or...was it something else? I wondered. Was it something that had to do with the effects of the tattoo.
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The man's eyes began to glow otherworldly and he began to scan the cell. Finally, it suddenly clicked for me.
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Ah, he's a war priest... No wonder.
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For the Inkbound extermination campaign to take place, they needed war priests, the only ones who could stand toe-to-toe with the tattoo-marked. They could sense the dark magic on their skin and pinpoint their demon classification. The Order never speaks of how it works, for reasons only they know.
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Suddenly the man flinched, his face turned into a painful grimace and backed away quickly. Alden walked up and held him.
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What the fuck?
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That was strange. I’d seen war priests in the navy scan tattoo-marked pirates to determine their class, but I’d never seen one react like that before. It made me wonder who the kid really was.
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“You okay?” Alden asked, and the man shook his head.
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“She’s the one…” he began. “The one they’ve been looking for.”
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“Really? The corporal’s going to be happy when she hears this. Can’t wait for the real fun to start.” Alden's face brightened up instantly, and began to get all giddy like a little school boy, I stared at him with a look of critical bewilderment.
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They? Who are they? What what does this have to do with the kid? And also, what the hell is this guy on? I had so many questions, but my train of thought was interrupted by the two men's conversation.
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“You’ll have to ask her later." His friend, the war priest says to him. "You know how she gets when you go off script.”
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“Yeah, yeah, I know." He waves him off "Besides, I wouldn’t mind breaking a couple bones, it'll do us good before we have to cook the brat later.” The two men chuckled, and I stood there, stunned.
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The fuck!?
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My blood went cold. I knew exactly what they meant: a public execution, burned at the stake. And the way they talked about it so casually…
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“What the fuck is wrong with you people!?” I said not quite a yell, but loud enough to snap their attention to me. “Are you even hearing yourselves? Who the fuck jokes about burning a kid alive?”
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Alden’s eyes narrowed to slits as he stared at me with undisguised fury. His friend stayed expressionless, but I could tell that he too was angry, I stared back with an equally hard expression.
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"The fuck you said to me!?—"
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The priest puts a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down, Alden." But Alden did not adhere to what his friend said and looked as though he was ready to lunge at me, is if that was going to be a problem for me. The fucking carrot top was the size of a 16 year old girl.
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"Answer me you fucking dotard!"
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"I said what I said, copper knob" At this the man lets out an audible gasp. I would probably laugh at his reaction if only I wasn't fuming mad at these men.
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"She's just a kid" I repeated one more, but before continuing an older, broad-shouldered man stepped forward, taller than the rest by half a head. A jagged scar like claw marks cut across his face, and brown hair fell over his face. He rested his hands on my shoulders. The gesture was meant to be placating, but I could feel the weight of them, heavy and strong.
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“Best to cut ’em down while they’re still sprouts.” His voice was gentle, yet stern which left no room for argument.
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I went cold, mortified.
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Then a woman stepped forward from the hallway of the guard house, elegant blonde hair covering the right side of her dark brown eyes. The other men dipped their heads in a shallow bow as she passed by them.
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Her hat was fancier than the others, with detailed gold embroidery on the edges of the hat and pinned with a gold sea snake emblem. She was shorter than her comrades, but one thing was clear because the air of authority around her made it obvious: she was their superior officer or someone of a higher rank.
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"Finnigan?" She asked, her voice sounded annoyed and maybe a little bored. She turned to the war priest who called for Alden earlier, and asked him.
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"Is she?"
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The man next to Alden—Finnigan, I presumed—nodded.
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"Good." She scratched the back of her head. "We got to her before the pirates did" She almost looked like she was already tired with the situation.
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She sighed then she turned to me, her arms crossed. "Apologies, I don't think we have been introduced"
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She gives a slight bow "I'm Corporal Vanstone and these are my subordinates, officers Alden" Gesturing towards the walking matchstick himself and to the war priest next to him. "Solian Finnigan our war priest, and last but not least Officer Thornley. We are of the third division."
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Third division? That sounds familiar.
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"Our task is to retrieve and dispose of any pirates and sea bandits that threaten the stability of the crown."
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Ah, of course!
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"Thank you for your service to the crown, you and your men will be rewarded handsomely"
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The way she said it sounded like a rehearsed script that she read a hundred times over. She raises her hand for a handshake, but I didn't take it immediately and just stared at it. I could feel the gaze of her soldiers looking at me with a critical gaze, I eventually sighed and quickly captured her hand in mine.
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"Captain Garret Gentry of the town militia here in Port Thompen" Corporal Vanstone lets out a hum of something that maybe sounded like a an approval or boredom either one I didn't mind and quickly let's go of my hand.
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“So...your the one who captured the girl—”
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“The pirate.” Alden interrupted.
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She shot him a sharp look before turning back to me.
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“The one who captured the pirate, yes?.”
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I nodded, I looked to the sleeping form on the cell floor and back at the woman. "Where's Finnwick?" I asked.
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"Oh, your lieutenant was on his way here but had to escort the governor's wife, Lady Aldrea."
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Yep, that sounds like something he'd do.
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“Anyway, with that out of the way” She gestured towards the cell keys tied around my belt. "May you kindly open the cell, captain”
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"What are you going to do to her?" I asked.
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There was silence, I looked at the woman's face and it was devoid of emotions, before a slight smirk appeared on her face.
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“My, my, what an inquisitive man you are Captain Gentry.”
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The others looked ready to pounce at me for another one of my questions. Alden looked like a man who had witnessed someone spitting on his mother's grave, I could physically feel the daggers that he was sending me. With a soft chuckle, Corporal Vanstone sauntered closer. She pushes back a stray strain from her visible left eye and looks at me.
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With a smile she puts an arm on my shoulder. "What she and the rest of her kind deserves...death"8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFLaZpg2zny
and then Add to home screen.