#Captain Redfright

[schrijverr]

Raid on Crown of Five (The Truth)

Before our crew can reach Staketown Port they have a run in with a Navy ship and subsequently sink it. Miekka is on damage control and fully realizes what it means to be part of the pirate crew

On AO3.

Ships: none

Warnings: description of a siren corpse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Queen Hermanwas nearing Staketown Port every day. With their bounty from Dunnhouse Cliff, the crew was eager to get there so that they could pawn the corpses for money to supply their ship again.

Miekka had no clue why anyone would buy siren corpses, but they also didn’t want to ask. The Company had never put their claws into it, but it seemed they were worth a lot of money and Miekka did not want to know why people on the pirate market paid highlyfor them when The Company wouldn’t burn their hands on it while they would burn down the whole world for a bit of gold.

They were closing in on the port from what Miekka had gathered. Their arm had been healing nicely and they were allowed to help with the sails again.

It was nearing noon when Stephan called from the crows-nest: “Ship on starboard! Ship on starboard!”

Captain Redfright got out his telescope and looked starboard as he called back: “Can you make out any identification?”

“Looks to be a Navy ship, Capt’n,” Stephan said.

“Navy?” Captain Redfright repeated more to himself.

“Yeah, I can barely make out the name, it says Crown something,” Stephan answered.

“Crown something,” Captain Redfright mumbled to himself, Miekka only heard it because they were nearby, “The name’s familiar.”

“Could be the Crown of Five,” Anna said, “Maybe good old Admiral Teal was assigned these parts after Gunpowder McGee and his crew blew that other ship to smithereens.”

“Aye, Mickey is a right one,” Captain Redfright laughed, before turning serious once more, “But if ‘t is Navy, no m’tter who, then we’d best sink ‘em now. We don’t want stragglers following us to Staketown Port, eh.”

“You give the order, Captain,” Anna told him.

“I sure do,” Captain Redfright said, before bellowing, “Get ready to board, we got a few Navy officers to meet. Sasha, divide the crew.”

There were some jeers from the crew as they set to work sailing towards the Navy ship, hijacking material at the ready. While they worked Sasha walked among them calling out orders: “Voyin, Karter, Lulu, Elijah, Tyrke, Nox and Dána, you board first. Go grab your stuff.”

Miekka heard some affirmations around them, but not every name had a face yet.

“Jonny, Wyatt, Pearl, you get the ropes to board,” Sasha ordered, “The rest of you, focus of getting our ship there. Keep an ear out if I send any more of you there.”

“Aye,” some said, before turning to their tasks.

They were slightly saddened that they had not been appointed to board the Navy ship, but they understood, they were both new and still not completely used to their prosthetic. However, they wanted to prove themself loyal and a good fighter.

Still, they decided that following orders was probably the smartest course of action, so they focused on tying the knot in front of them.

“We’ve been spotted. Incoming!” Stephan yelled.

“Krut!” Captain Redfright yelled, Miekka recognized the name to belong to Krut Cannon, the gunner on the ship. They weren’t entirely sure if Cannon was zir last name or a nickname.

Right at that moment the first cannonballs made impact with Queen Herman. The whole ship rocketed and Miekka was almost thrown off balance, only their years over the unsafest routes to save money kept them standing.

Others also stumbled, but no one fell, expect the few closest to impact. Miekka suspected that they were more used to cannonballs hitting them, a realization that made them swallow heavily.

Krut was meanwhile ordering a few mates around to ready the counter fire.

Sasha yells were heard over the noise: “Miekka, Iris, George, Talita, make sure we don’t loose cargo in the front. Dibu, James, Bertie, Manon, you get the back.”

Miekka tied down their rope, making sure it was secure, before hurrying down into the hold with three others they had vaguely talked to once or twice. As they walked, they heard Captain Redfright order: “We’re going to parallel the ship, get ready to fire!”

Loud bangs echoed from above them, but it was only background to Miekka’s ears as they saw what had happened in the hull. The tank that ran along the middle of the hold had been hit and water was gushing out.

The tank was an unusual feature on the ship and Miekka had been confused about its existence, untilthe Doc had explained it to them. Siren corpses wouldn’t rot as easily in the water and if they caught a live one, they needed it to stay like that until they’d sold it.

Still, that didn’t stop them from pausing on those stairs, watching horrified as water from inside the ship streams into the hold, colorful bodies swishing in the water and light shining through the holes in the hull.

“Come help!” Talita yelled, ey was bailing water back into the tank, something that would be futile if Iris and George weren’t grabbing stuff to patch the holes.

Miekka snapped out of it and ran to grab a bucket to help Talita out.

While they bailed water, they looked out one of the holes in the hull, trying to see if they were closing in on the Crown of Five. They saw the ship, sadly they saw the ship firing right at them. Wide eyed, theyyelled: “Incoming!”

Queen Hermanrocked heavily, throwing them off their feet against the tank. Water streamed over their face and they spluttered as they gathered their bearings, heaving themself up with the edge of the tank.

Iris and George seemed fairly well off, being to the sidelines when the convoy hit and Talita was already getting up as well. Ey saw them blink and offered: “You’ll be okay, just bail the water and we’ll fix this.”

Miekka didn’t know how they could ever fix the amount of damage done to the hull and the tank, but they dutifully started bailing water back into the tank, feeling a bit like they were carrying waterto the sea.

Iris and George were hammering away next to them. The tank would need better repairs later, but the planks they were installing slowed the gushing water considerably.

Slowly but surely the water that had sloshed around their ankles got shallower and shallower until it got it was manageable.

They were now close enough to the Crown of Fivethat any cannonballs would hit above them and not damage to hull close to the sea level. So, they could focus on bailing the last bit of water out to the sea, before securing the cargo and patching up the worst of the damage.

Above them yells were heard of the first people boarding and Miekka faintly heard Sasha yelling out more names, while Captain Redfrights voice bellowed loudly over the commotion to steer the raid.

Since they and Talita still had their buckets, they bailed the water while George and Iris hammered down the planks.

“Do you always have those lying around?” Miekka asked, nodding towards the planks and hammers.

“It’s a safety measure, can’t really get somewhere on a broken ship,” George shrugged.

“Hmm, how curious,” Miekka replied, they’d never seen anything like that on a Company ship. Of course, The Company didn’t much care fore the safety of it’s crew, just the cargo and were not prone to getting attacked regularly, so they wouldn’t offer precious cargo space to something so idioticas spare planks to fix up the ship.

Iris looked up from where she had been hammering and spotted something. They wrinkled their nose and said: “One of them escaped.”

Miekka looked to where she was in confusion, until they saw the siren corpse laying in the cargo hull next to the tank.

“Come on, Miekka,” Talita grinned, “looks like we’re testing the strength in that arm of yours.”

If they were honest, they would rather not carry the dead siren, but even with all em bulging muscles, Talita wouldn’t be able to carry one by emself. Since sirens were not only colorful, but approximately seven feet long.

So, Miekka made their way over to the corpse and heaved the tail.

This particular siren was purple. It had purple stripes running up its side and a purple fin at the end of its tail. Along its cheekbone was a purple ridge and it had wavy fin like hair on top of its head and sharp fangs peeking out from its lips.

They also spotted some blood still under its big claws and the wound on its throat, which had been killing.

It was heavy, more heavy than Miekka had expected. Talita noticed their reaction and grinned: “It’s the muscle. Sirens are faster than you’d think.”

Miekka remembered how they had descended upon them and grimaced, before answering: “I think I can paint a picture.”

Talita cocked a brow, but didn’t say more as they tossed the siren corpse back into the tank, before gesturing up the stairs. Ey said: “We should go see if they need us up there. I would rather not face Sasha’s wrath, she’s mean when she wants to be.”

That made Miekka chuckle and they gladly focused on something other than the siren corpse, so they made their way back onto the ruckus that was the deck.

Most of the noise was coming from the Crown of Five, since they hadn’t made it aboard Queen Hermanyet. Small groups were protecting the ropes holding the ship together, while the others lined up at the side of the ship to stop anyone from entering that shouldn’t.

It was at this point that Miekka first got a good look at the Crown of Five. It was a sixth rate Navy ship if they remembered correctly from the convoys they’d seen around Company ships. That might be lowest rate ship, but those still had a crew of about a 150 people, which meant Queen Hermanwas outnumbered 1 to 5.

Their eyes grew wide and they froze in place for a second. Why the ever loving fuck, would Captain Redfright decide to pick a fight with a ship five times their size? He was famous for sound judgment, so why was he leading his crew to their deaths?

They looked around helplessly, trying to see if anyone else was seeing their impending doom.

The Doc noticed them and walked up to them. She gently elbowed them in the side to get their attention, they looked up and she asked: “You doing okay?”

“I am afraid we’re near the point of all perishing,” they answered honestly.

“The raid?” the Doc chuckled with disbelief, “We haven’t had a raid this good in ages. Admiral Teal really doesn’t live up to his reputation.”

“You must be joking. My good doctor, we’re hilariouslyoutnumbered,” Miekka said.

“For sure,” the Doc agreed casually, “But that’s not the point, the point is keeping them off our ship and sinking theirs. If we want their stuff, we might go for a less protected ship, but we just don’t want them to follow us.”

“Won’t they overrun us at any moment?”

“I mean, they could, but not with those insane bastard we send aboard,” the Doc told them, “Voyin by xemself is enough to make most piss their pants, but they send Flicker and Sam with the second boarding and those two are troublemakers, not to mention Tryke with their axe. We got some heavy hitters, don’t worry about it.”

“Are you sure?” Miekka wanted to believe the Doc, of course they did, it was just on the wrong side of insane.

“Very sure, they’ll come back.”

She was naturally correct. It took a while and Miekka was send into the line to keep anyone of their ship with their sword, but at some point other ship started to sink and they saw a man with an important-looking uniform flee in a life boat, while others jumped ship.

After that, their own people came back. Miekka didn’t count exactly, but it were about twenty armed people, who all differed from each other.

One impish looking kid skipped forwards and reported to Captain Redfright: “It was part of Admiral Teal’s fleet, but the captain here was a wuss and fled when we got near him. Dreadfully boring, he was.”

A tried looking boy next to them grumbled: “He only fled because you bit through the throat of that other guy. He could’ve had useful information, Flicker.”

“Oh, lighten up, Sam. We got them off our tail in the end,” the other kid waved their friend’s concerns away.

A big looking woman with an axe stepped up behind the two and said: “Sam’s right, Flicker. That escaped captain can easily go warn the rest of the fleet.”

“Then we’d bett’r get out of ‘ere,” Captain Redfright said, “To the sails. And Flicker, you’re on clean up,” the kid whined, but didn’t protest, “All the wounded check in with the Doc.”

There were a few scattered ‘ayes’ as people set to work, heaving the sails and tying them down and before soon the boat was gliding over the water to the hidden port of Staketown.

I know nothing of boats and all I do know, is in a different language, so I’m just winging it here, pls show me mercy on my boat stuff

Oh and the strategies are based of me and my imagination

Also there are a lot of new names being introduced here, so I will add a chapter to the first part with an oversight of the crew if you want to go check that out :D

[schrijverr]

Arrival on Queen Herman (The Truth)

How Miekka found themself aboard Queen Herman and why they decided to stay.

On AO3.

Ships: none

Warnings: slight recovery from loosing an arm. Tell me if I missed anything or if you want me to tag something!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~

Miekka woke up disorientated. Their right side was burning and they were pretty sure that opening their eyes would make them pass out from the pain again. They were about to give up on even trying to get back when a voice called out: “You’re awake, eh?”

They groaned and the person laughed: “I can imagine you’re feeling like that,” then continuing with a more serious tone, “but I need you to wake up a bit more. You need to drink this to gather a bit of your strength.”

“Who’re you?” their voice sounded liked it was hanging on by a thread, which was quite similar to how they were feeling overall.

“I’m the Doc.” the Doc answered, “I’m here to make sure you don’t die, alright. Let’s just focus on that.”

“Tha’s not really a name.” Miekka slurred, not entirely sure why they were still attempting to talk at all.

“I know.” there was something they couldn't place in her voice as a big hand cradled Miekkas head, bringing it up to help drink a bit, “You can also call me Adora if you’d like, but most just call me Doc or the Doc.”

Miekka hummed noncommittally and just focused their strength on swallowing, not having the energy to ask what was going on nor the energy to hear much of what the Doc told them. The broth was soothing, though they fell asleep halfway through.

When Miekka woke up again they were feeling much better, but that was compared to the first time, so the bar was low. They still felt terrible, just less so.

“Hello?” they called out, not moving their head to see if there was anyone in the room with them.

“Awake again, I see.” that was the Doc, a name faintly tickled the side of their brain, but it floated away before they could grasp it.

“Yes, I am.” Miekka answered.

“And more coherent too.” the Doc sounded pleased with that.

Miekka smiled weakly and nodded, before they asked: “Where am I? What happened?”

“We found you nearly knocking on deaths door with a bunch of sirens trying to make you their lunch. You’re lucky you made it out alive.” the Doc answered, “We’re the crew of Queen Herman, glad to have you aboard.”

“Queen Herman?” the name sounded familiar, but Miekkas pain-addled brain couldn’t figure out which connection it had to make.

“It’s the name of the ship.” the Doc told them, thinking that was their question, “But that’s enough talking for now, here I’ll apply some numbing salve to your side. Then I got some more broth for you.”

She applied the salve gently, before getting the bowl. While she fed Miekka the broth, she talked them through what their options were from here. The Queen Herman would be able to provide them with a new arm, but they would have to stay in order to help pay it off or they could drop them in the nearest port with a decent hospital.

“You don’t have to make a decision now, especially when we’re still a good while from any ports and you should focus more on healing, but it is certainly something to think about.” Doc said.

Miekka made a noise of agreement, their mind already twisting with possibilities and choices. If they were to stay to could have it all. A new life, a chance at glory, no more Company with shitty regulations that didn’t care for the people that made them big.

In the back of their mind a voice reminded them of Bertrand and the others. Would it be a betrayal to grab this opportunity of freedom without them? Another harsher voice told them how alone they’d been, how no one had come for them, cared enough to follow. Why would they sacrifice even more for them? Were they not betrayed as well?

Hadn’t they done enough?

Their mind was already beginning to set on of the options, but they stayed silent. No need to bind themself just yet, just in case.

The Doc seemed to catch on to their thoughtful mood and left with a soft goodbye, telling them to just call if they ever needed her and to get some rest, they were going to need it.

And so the days passed. Miekka saw the Doc from time to time when she came to check up on them and make sure they rested. They fell in and out of their surroundings until they were healed enough to start moving again.

When they were able to get out of bed and walk to the table on their own the Doc announced it was time to make a decision: “Captain’s told me we’re closing in on a port. He wants to meet you properly and hear of your decision.”

“I shall be delighted to meet the leader of my saviors.” Miekka said, “What is to be expected of me? Any courtesy that is meant to be granted?”

The Doc huffed lightly, then said: “Just make sure to call him Captain Redfright and be sure to have a plan. He doesn’t like hesitation.”

“Thank you, good doctor, I will remember that.” Miekka smiled.

They ate their meal and got ready to meet the Captain. They got some new clothes that actually fit them and looked presentable as well as. Allowing the Doc to buckle their belt that held their sword, they wondered how they had managed to hold on to it.

Doc lead them through wooden halls stacked with crates and they could hear the sounds of life all around them. No one stopped them, but Miekka saw all sorts of different people glance at them, sizing them up.

Unconsciously they straightened up their spine, trying to appear taller and more in charge, though they doubted they were very successful with their small stature and mangled side.

When they were standing in front of a dark green door with an impressive handle, Doc turned to them and said: “Well, I’ll be going then. Good luck.”

Miekka appreciated the sentiment useless as it was, especially when the door seemed to loom over them and the realization hit them that they had no clue of what to expect behind those doors.

They swallowed and knocked.

The short silence that followed seemed to stretch out until a heavy voice called out: “Enter.”

Not wanting to be told twice, they opened the door and did exactly that. Inside there was a big desk filled with maps, books and measuring equipment. Behind it sat a man with a thick black beard dressed in a red coat and a big hat resting crookedly on top of his head.

“You’re alive I see.” he grinned, showing off a gold tooth resting between yellowed brethren, “We weren’t sure you were going to make it for a while there.”

“What can I say, I am amazingly talented at survival and tough as nails. No one takes me down without a fight.” Miekka responded, the words spilling out of their mouth without thinking about them.

Luckily it seemed that Captain Redfright didn’t seem to mind, he just let out a hearty laugh and said: “That’s the spirit, young-en’,” then he turned more serious and continued, “Speaking about spirit. Do you have the fighters spirit to stay or are you going to depart when we reach land? Siren hunting is not for the faint of heart, nor is piracy.”

“I did not nearly die to be called a coward, Captain Redfright. I’m not going anywhere if I have the chance to get back at them.” they answered.

That was apparently exactly the answer he was hoping for, because he extended his had with a grin: “Your words prove that you are not. Welcome aboard the Queen Herman, Miekka. I will inform the Doc to get you that prosthetic. Now get going.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.”

[schrijverr]

Raid on Crown of Five (The Bar)

Miekka tells the embellished story of the raid that happened on the Crown of Five down at the bar.

On AO3.

Ships: none

Warnings: none, tell me if I missed anything

~~~~~~~~~~~~

They’d gotten their new round and settled down again in their chair once more. They waved with their hand and said: “But me jumping of a boat wasn’t all that interesting, more interesting was the first boat I sunk.”

There was immediate indignant replies from the sailors surrounding them. This was a natural response from anyone who worked on a ship, no one wanted to sink.

“Hey, hey, hey,” they called out above everyone, “It is not on me that you all forget what a pirate’s life is like while sitting safe on dry land.”

This was not the right thing to say if they wanted everyone to calm down, because everyone around them only got more indignant. Though, they didn’t seem to mind, just taking it casually as they leaned back in their chair and waited for everyone to sort themselves out.

It took a while, but then everyone did settle down again as one man demanded: “So why did you even sink that ship then, ey, high and mighty?”

More people supported him and they grinned as if this challenge was what they had been waiting for. They shrugged: “I mean, it was just a part of Admiral Teal’s fleet that had been on the edge of discovering Staketown Port, but I suppose you’d rather condemn me still.”

The man, William his name was, grumbled as he had to concede that that was a very good reason indeed to sink a ship.

“Admiral Teal?” Edmund asked.

“You don’t know who that is, lad?” the old sailor in the corner asked. Edmund shook his head and the old sailor grumbled something about the youth.

“Admiral Teal, young Edmund, was a harsh, fighting Admiral. High up in the Navy and ruthless out at sea,” the original speaker took back control, “And after old Gunpowder McGee had dealt him an embarrassing blow, he was determined to eradicate all pirates.”

Looking at their nails casually, they shrugged: “It was the dumbest decision of his career and cost him his life, but none of us knew that back then.”

They let a dramatic silence fall, before they said: “It was a calm day. No clouds, no whirlpools, a steady breeze and a harbor close. You could say it was perfect. Sadly, no good weather can last and neither can peace, for Stephan, our lookout,spotted a Navy ship on the horizon.”

“Which ship was it?” William still wasn’t completely convinced and hoped to trip them up.

“Crown of Five,” they replied without hesitation, smiling when William cursed.

“They’re speaking truth, William,” the old sailor said, “I recall that ship, it was a pride of the Navy way back, suddenly disappeared without a trace.”

“Really, Salim?” William asked.

“You think I wish to deceive you?” the speaker asked, slightly offended.

“Lies is more natural to you than talking,” William spat.

“I would be offended, but I could kill you right now if I wanted, but then my entertainment would be gone,” they said coolly, “Not even Adora, the best doctor I ever knew, could save you then.”

William quieted under the threat. He might be a grump, who had heard enough tall tales not to believe them, but he wasn’t stupid and he heard a threat someone could follow up on when he heard one.

“Great,” immediately cheeriness came back, “So there we were with a Navy ship sailing towards us at full speed. They fired at us the moment theycould and the whole ship rocked.”

They took a big sip before continuing: “I was assigned to bail the water from where we’d been hit. We had a big tank for the sirens below deck and we couldn’t afford the spilled water to pull us under with the water that was coming in from the hull.”

“Cannonballswhizzed around our heads as above us Krut, our gunner, made sure to give them a taste of their own medicine aswe prepared to board,” they were getting into their story, gesturing wildly as they talked.

“Were you one of the people boarding?” Edmund asked.

“No,” they answered honestly.

“Wha- why?” Edmund was confused.

“You have to understand, lad, that I was new aboard and as much as I had already accomplished, they weren’t sending me out without proof of undivided loyalty,” they explained.

When they saw Edmund understood, they nodded to themself, before going on: “Still, you have to understand that the Crown of Five was a big ship. Grade six. 150 men, while we only had 34. We were outnumbered almost 1 to 5.”

There were gasps from the audience, this was not sounding good, most knew out of experience.

“But!” gusto appeared back in their voice, “We had some insane sonsof a gun aboard, who were more than willing to smash their way through. Voyin and Tryke on their own are comparable to a small army.”

“Even so, a small army against a big army isn’t a fair fight and we were loosing by the time I had secured the ship below,” they said, “When I realized, I knew I didn’t have much time. Against my orders, I boarded the enemy ship through the holes in both our sides.”

They nudgeda lady next to them and winked: “All that cannon fire good for something after all, right beautiful?”

The lady blushed and agreed with a giggle.

“And there I was, in the hold of the Crown of Five,” they went on, building up tension, “I hadn’t been spotted yet due to all the fighting above me and if I didn’t succeed, we’d all be dead. It was do or die, with more chance of die.”

“My sword,” the gestured towards the weapon, “wasn’t enough, so a searched through their cargo until I found an axe. I grabbed it tight and hacked into the bottom of the hull and water started to stream in around my feet.”

“Did you get out?” the lady asked, big eyed.

“No,” they answered, much to everyone’s surprise, “The ship was sinking, sure, but it wasn’t sinking fast enough. I had to do more. I ran around almost hacking out the entire underside of the ship and it wasn’t long until they noticed.”

“What did you do?” Edmund gasped.

“I stood my ground, it was not necessarily me versus them, but them versus the water,” they smirked, very pleased with themself, “If they wanted to get me, they would have to fix the hull of the ship and by then that was impossible.”

There were some hoots and cheers at this point, which they accepted gracefully with a bit of glee.

“In the end, I left the Crown of Fivethrough the bottom of the ship and swam back, where I was fished out by Captain Redfright himself,” they said, “Once he’d realized what I had done, he gripped me by my shoulders and told me: ‘Miekka, I had underestimated you, my favor to you grows. Tonight we toast to you.’ And they did.”

“Wow,” Edmund breathed softly.

“We sailed to Staketown Port without trouble and the port was never found by Admiral Teal or any of his colleagues,” they finished.

[schrijverr]

The First Hunt (The Bar)

How Miekka recounts their part in their first hunt aboard the Queen Herman later in the bar.

On AO3.

Ships: none

Warnings: none, but tell me if i missed anything or if you want me to tag something!

~~~~~~~~~

They were there again, it seemed like they always were. Tonight the were reclined in their chair, feet on the table as the told their tale by a low burning fire with the usual crowd surrounding them.

“My first hunt with the crew of Queen Herman was mayhaps less trilling than one might think.” they said, “Hunting, while exciting at times, is also about stealth and skill.”

They got more comfortable as they began: “Rumors had taken us to a small town near a reef called Dunnhouse Cliff where fishermen had been disappearing.”

“Now, our Captain, Redfright, knew exactly what to do and I fit immediately into the well oiled machine that the crew formed. Two scouts were send out and we got to putting up some traps.” they continued.

“What sort of traps?” Edmund asked.

“Siren traps are quite similar to fish traps actually, you just got to be aware of their hands.” they grinned as they wiggled their own, “So the materials are stronger and the bait more, well, more human-shaped.”

Edmund face paled slightly with the answer, but the storyteller either didn’t notice or care as they plowed on: “We couldn't communicate and it was misty and dark. There were shapes in the water and we could only hope none of them would pull us down, never to resurface again.”

They had stopped reclining in their chair was was now bend over conspiratorially as they went on: “I was in a sloop with Anna Read, our first mate, and Stephan, the lookout. We had already put down a few traps and were on the last when I suggested we’d put one near the waterfall. They looked at me like I was crazy, it would be useless. However, I was insistent and they listened. Even if it was with an eyeroll.”

“Well it’s quite useless to put a trap where no one will come.” one man grumbled.

“And that’s where you’re wrong.” they grinned as an answer.

“What?”

“Allow me to explain, good man.” they said, “We set up the traps to return the next day and take out the rest of the relatively young colony. We did not know exactly where they were staying, but as it turns out, they were residing behind the waterfall.”

There were gasps around the table and they nodded: “Yes, my friends, when we returned, on guard and looking around for any movement, they came from the waterfall. The boat closest to it was carrying Elijah, Stephans brother and a fine mate to have aboard. Had my trap not been there, he would not have been able to tell the tale.”

They checked if there was enough admiration in the eyes around them, before they went on casually: “After that it was as calm of a hunt as one could be as we terminated the colony and returned to ship. Where Elijah said: ‘Thank you, Miekka ‘Siren Slayer,’ I am indebted to you.’ And I told him it was my job and there was no need to thank me. That’s just life.”

“That wasn’t really an epic tale.” Edmund said.

“No, it’s not.” they said, “But life is not all about the muscles, kid. The brain is most important in combat, especially against such foes as sirens, you’d do good to think more.”

Edmund thought about it, but didn’t seem entirely happy with the response he got. They caught on to it and grinned: “If you get me another round, I’ll tell you a more epic tale. How does that sound?”

That did brighten his face as he hurried to get them another round, curious to see what story they would tell next.

[schrijverr]

Arrival on Queen Herman

In the bar, Miekka tells the tale of how they got onto the Queen Herman and why they stayed.

On AO3.

Ships: none

Warnings: none, but tell me if I missed anything or if you want me to tag something!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~

“Is it really true?” the younger sailor approached them where they were now sitting at the bar.

The evening had died down and they had been staring into their glass for a while now, clearly the question startled them as they asked: “What?”

“Is it true you served on the Queen Herman? Did you know Captain Redfright?” he asked.

Their face started to split in a grin and the twinkle from early came back when they realized they were being asked to tell another tale. They settled down more comfortably, then said: “Yeah, I knew him. Great man, he was. I could tell you about our first meeting if you’d like?”

“Oh, yes, I’d love that.” there was excitement in the young sailors face as he took place beside them.

“My- what’s your name, lad?”

“Edmund.”

“My journeys with Captain Redfright started many years ago, Edmund. Our friendship was birthed at the cliffs of The Reef, when I saved him and his crew.” they started, “Twas soon after I had slain most of The Reefs population and the critters had retreated back underwater.”

They gestured to the barmaid to refill their jug as they went on: “I was stranded there, having to hold vigil day and night, standing on the rocks with the water coming to my waist. I stood there for many days until a ship appeared on the horizon.”

“The Queen Herman?” Edmund asked.

“Yes, Edmund, the Queen Herman. They’d been having trouble with The Reef on their latest hunts and their ship was on the brink of collapse.” they told him, “When they saw me, they assumed I was one of the sirens, but I managed to fend off the first attacks and explain what had happened.”

They took a small pause to drink out of their refilled jug before going on: “With me keeping guard they were able to start fixing the ship by using the elevation underwater. And it was good I was there, for with the new arrivals, the sirens regained their courage.”

Edmund was drinking up their every word and gasped, getting a satisfied smile from the other at his reaction, before they went on: “Slowly they crept back onto the rocks, slithering in the shadows, hoping to take one of us and drag them down to a watery grave.”

After a quick glance to check if Edmund was still enamored by their tale, they said: “Alas there was no feast for them that night, for my blade was stronger than their life. They almost got Adora Genlyd, ships Doctor and an amazing woman all around, but I pulled her back and cut off the hands of the siren, who dared to try and take her.”

“What happened then?” Edmund probably just asked the question as reaction, since there was no way it wasn’t going to be answered.

“We lived through the next few days, my young Edmund. Until one day the sun rose over a working ship and we could leave. Regather to return to finish our clash another day.” they said, “It was at that point that there was rest enough for anyone to properly introduce themselves. I’ll never forget what he told me, even if it was hardly heroic or notable. He said: Greetings, fierce fighter, I’m Captain Redfright and who might you be?”

“And what did you say back?” there was a shine in Edmunds eyes.

“I said hello, told him I was Miekka Walraven and that it had been my pleasure to aid him and thanked him for picking me up.” they told him, “He put his hand on my shoulder and said: I would be honored to have you on my ship, Miekka Siren Slayer.”

“Is that how you got that name?”

“Yes, that’s how I got my moniker. Miekka ‘Siren Slayer’ Walraven, that’s me.” they answered, “Be sure to remember it and perhaps you will be the one I’m saving, just like Captain Redfright.”