Chapter 15: Chapter 15
I wrote confusion on her face.
“Let me do my thing. I’m always been good at destroying someone’s integrity. If you know what I mean. While I do my part, observe your surroundings. Keep your stupidity to yourself,” I said before leaving her at the table.
I looked at a pirate who was lying on the floor. His eyes were closed, but he was unconsciously smiling from ear to ear, revealing his decaying teeth.
I grabbed the cowboy hat on his head and wore it. They already wore it out over the years of their voyage and probably battling against pirate hunters.
I scanned my eyes around every corner until I detected a potential target. It was a drunken man who was talking to his friends who were already asleep.
The floor screeched as I walked towards him and sat on the empty seat beside him.
“That’s a wonderful story, my friend,” I said out of the blue while tapping his shoulder.
I did my best and vocalize to sound like a man.
He glared at my face for a moment and tried to recognize me. He has droopy eyes and was clearly having trouble keeping his eyes open.
“Where should we go, my friend?” I asked.
I pretended to be a drunken man to convince him I was one pirate.
“To Port Mariannas, the stronghold of our kind!”
Port Mariannas? I haven’t heard of such a name.
His eyes rolled back.
“What about our guests? Why are they still alive?”
A sly smile formed from his dry and cracked lips.
He leaned closer to my ears and covered the side of his mouth.
“We will trade them,” he whispered.
His eyes were glassy and bloodshot.
“Trade? Is that possible? I mean, who would be interested in those trashes?”
“We will trade them with the merchants at the Port in exchange for iron, knives, gunpowder, cloth, beads, ammunition, and many more! The guests will be their slaves,” he said as he burst into laughter.
The terrifying news brought me to silence. I knew it. I knew they were plotting something to get rid of us, but I didn’t expect them to be old-fashioned.
“Come on, my friend. I know you’re bluffing,” I said in disbelief.
“The captain never bluffs. Do you know why he became our captain? Aside from being the strongest among us, he’s ruthless than you could ever imagine. No one dares to defy his commands. He’s famous for torturing prisoners until they can no longer breathe.”
The man chuckled before his head dropped on the table.
I don’t know how to deal with pirates because they never sent me on a mission with them. But I know how to tame criminals.
I went back to the table and grabbed Kylo’s arms. There was a worried look on her face. We went to an isolated corner where only the tides could hear us.
“I know what they are up to,” I muttered.
“What is it?”
“They are treating us well because they are going to trade us with the merchants at a place called Port Mariannas. I guess it is the pirate’s haven.”
“What? Trade? Why?”
She looked dumbfounded.
“Either we become slaves or they’ll sell us to a butcher when they starve. Who knows? But expect the worst because they are not Saints.”
I stopped and made a grimace. It’s better to expect something unpleasant so we could prepare a coping mechanism.
Her brows furrowed as fear swallowed her whole being. She darted her eyes to the ocean, which was calmly waving at us.
“What are we going to do?” she mumbled.
“I’ve read an article about them when I was a kid. Pirate strongholds are ports of call for thieves, prostitutes, and pirates of every stripe. We should stop the ship from going there,” I explained with a straight face.
“They have weapons. You’re too ambitious if you think we can kill all of them.”
“Who says that we’re going to kill all of them? We just have to focus on one person who controls everyone here.”
“The captain? Have you lost your mind? You have no match,” she said in a hushed tone.
“There you go again with your impaired judgment. I have to take him down no matter what happens. You have to believe in me if you don’t want to be sold.”
A couple of minutes passed by after I looked for the captain. Red beard stood at the deck, looking through his telescope.
“Captain!” I yelled.
He looked at me through his telescope.
“I would like to challenge you for a duel.”
The pirates looked at me for a second and laughed.
“You’re drunk, kid.”
“She wants an untimely death.”
“What a moron.”
They gossiped insulting words in front of me.
The captain approached me, and we stood face to face.
“What are you saying, little girl?” he asked out of curiosity.
“I’ve heard all about your plan. We are staying here as captives and you’re going to sell us to the merchants.”
He flashed a sneer that was almost scary.
“I can execute you right now if you misbehave,” he said.
“Do you mind negotiating? If you defeat me, you can do whatever you want with us. But if you lose, I’ll be the captain of this ship,” I strongly said.
The captain giggled in amusement.
“You’re the dumbest human I’ve ever met,” he said.
“Don’t call me dumb. Call me an imbecile, instead,” I replied.
“They’re just the same.”
“It’s a fancy word for dumb. If you’re going to insult me, say it with class.”
Others didn’t notice it, but I know I stupefied the captain with my words.
“Watch your mouth. You don’t know who I am. Say your death wish before I slit your throat. I am the dragon of the west. I burn everything that’s against me and I will drown you with your own blood.”
He clenched his jaw in anger. I could see the fire in his eyes. His desire to cover me with wounds was clear in his face.
“You have quite an impressive background, captain. Let me formally introduce myself then. I am Vad Wagner. They define my name as wild, untamed, uncontrolled, and unregulated.”
I flexed my neck side by side. It produced a crackling sound which released my tension inside.
“I am the tardigrade of the east. Tardigrades are the most indestructible species on the planet. Someone who tried to kill me realized they encountered practically an immortal. I am the notorious criminal hunter. My name is sacred that they shiver in fright when they hear it.”
The thunder roared when we made eye-contact. The pirates were gossiping words I couldn’t decipher.
I pointed my cutlass at him. I stole it from a drunken pirate a while ago. They adapted it from long knives used to butcher meat. It has a blade length of about two feet and was slightly curved with a single edge.
“Do you accept my challenge?” I fiercely spoke.
He struck his cutlass against mine and they flickered as we exerted our strength.
“I accept.”
He gazed at me with greeted teeth like a predator.
“Any last words?” he grinned.
My brown face creased with thought.
How I miss the splash of fresh blood all over my body. It’s time to end the Golden Age of Piracy.
The creases on my face bent with a smile.
“One last trivia captain…”
His red beard glimmered as the sunlight tenderly caressed it. Its strands harmoniously danced with the rhythm of the thin air.
“You must know that I have a crush fetish and I’m in the mood to be aroused by observing your skin being fatally crushed against my sword. The scent of your blood excites me,” I said as I bit my lower lip.
His facial expression tells me he finds me oddly stunning.
“Psycho,” he said.
“I told you to use sassy remarks, captain. I am intimidating.”
Our blades were smashing like lightning bolts. None of us were born to give in. I must say that our skills were almost the same. It would fall as a battle of endurance and reflexes.
The pirates were looking intently at our every move. No one wants to miss a single stroke.
His defense was almost perfect, not until he let his guard down as my blade kissed his dry skin. He groaned in pain and swiftly covered the blood flowing from the wound of his left arm.
The bloodstains smoothly ran through his clothes. The mixture odor of his sweat and blood lingered through my nostrils that I spit in disgust.
“Oh my, captain. You better step up your game,” I said in a sarcastic tone.
He looked at me in a rage.
He intensely swayed his blade like a wild bull. My blade was shaking as I felt he has gotten stronger than before. I guess his wound fed his eagerness to kill me.
“Not too fast, captain.”
“This fight will be over.”
He suddenly stamped on my right foot that I lost my balance. That’s when he grabbed the chance to slice my left leg.