Private Tales Lost At Sea

[Mako]

The Ocean - Middle of Nowhere
Izzetta Rex

Trouble with pirates; the bastards were never trustworthy.

Radic had always warned him about working with outsiders. Told him time and time again that any other crew would stab him in the back. Mako hadn't wanted to believe him, hadn't wanted to think their own would be so fucking dirty...but here he was proven wrong. Perhaps he'd been naive, or perhaps he'd just found the wrong crew.

Either way, Mako was floating the middle of the ocean.

He'd made a deal, and that deal had gone wrong. A tip for passage and a share. It had seemed easy, simple, and fairly nice. Yet the other side had gotten greedy, and now here he was. Reduced to clinging to a piece of a wrecked ship. His clothes sodden by the sea, his rations probably already soaked through, and what little fresh water he had near u-

The pessimism in his thoughts died away as she spotted the speckled brown hull of a ship drawing near. Every hope suddenly bursting forth as she sparked and threw up any sign that he could. Shouting himself hoarse, waving his arms, and drawing on a small flare that he'd stashed away in his belt. Waving it wildly until he was noticed. Desperately seeking the attention of those aboard the ship.

Knowing without the, he'd be dead.

 

[Izzetta Rex]

Izzetta had been captain of the Crimson Lady for nearly four moons now, and it was the best four moons of her life. It had been four moons of plenty of plunder and drinks and no mutiny whatsoever. It was still early and she knew that but she was by no means worrying too much about the future when the present was so great.

Sunset was near, thin pink and golden clouds streaking the sky. The ocean was a sparkling blue, and as Izzy stood at the prow, shiny boots balancing on the wooden railing, tan fingers wrapped around a rope. It was from this vantage point that she saw the figure floating in the water at the same time as her man in the crow's nest.

She raised an arm at the same time he called down to the rest of her crew on the deck. Her first and second mate came up beside her.

"Fetch a rope to haul him up and more ropes to bind him. Arm yourselves and be ready in case he tries anything funny."

She spoke with authority and also curiosity and interest. Her authority came from the large tricorn on her head and her girlish curiosity came from the nearly empty bottle of rum in her free hand.

They did as asked and she hopped down from the railing, following behind them to help and watch. They pulled up alongside the man who was clinging to a piece of wood that looked like it belonged to wrecked ship. She still could not see him very clearly, and the mystery excited her.

She backed away from the edge of the railing, waiting behind a few of her men, lowering her head so her hat shadowed her face. Her first mate would act is he were captain, a routine the two of them had planned for such events; in case the stranger could brave and thought he'd kill the captain of the ship, or even just in case the stranger did not like the idea of a woman captain.

Her men pulled him on board and she watched to see what he would do.

Mako

 

[Mako]

This was really turning out to be a shit day.

Mako wasn't really one to balk at being saved, but the flag flying over the ship was one he recognized as belonging to Pirates. He didn't know who they were, he didn't know where they hailed from, but in truth; he was just sick of pirates.

He'd much rather preferred a merchant, or perhaps even a smuggler. It was an ironic feeling, given his own nature, but the recent betrayal was still hot on his mind.

A long, wracking cough echoed from his throat as he unceremoniously dumped onto the deck of the Crimson Lady. His left hand coming up to beat against his chest a few times, sea water spilling from his guts onto the floor before he managed to suck in a deep breath. His chest rising as he pulled himself back, slaking a hand through his hair.

After a moment of collection, he opened his eyes. Finding himself on his knees directly in front of Izzetta Rex. He blinked for a moment, and then let one hand float in front of his chest.

Hello there. He signed weakly, knowing already it would likely be a futile effort.

Pointing to his mouth a second later, and then making a zip motion to signal his muteness.

 

[Izzetta Rex]

Now that the man was properly on board, Izzy got a better look at him. He was nice to look at, which would make him a lovely prisoner. Wheneer she was bored, Izzy could just go down to the brig and look at her new piece of eye candy. But she was getting ahead of herself.

The stranger managed to collect himself, and instead of looking to Izzy's first mate, Lox, like he was supposed to, he turned his bright eyes on her. Her face was still shadowed by her hat, but he had noticed her. She could not help but smirk. Of course he had noticed her. She supposed it was silly of her to pretend to be invisible.

He made a strange motion with his hands, and she wondered if it was supposed to be some sort of gesture of greeting. Lox spoke up. "What were you doing in the middle of the ocean?" He asked, authority ringing clear and sober in his voice. Lox was her first because he rarely ever drunk more than two sips of alcohol and he helped keep her grounded. They made a wonderful team.

Izzy cocked her head at the dark-haired stranger as she and the rest of her crew waited for some sort of response.

Mako

 

[Mako]

(Apologies for the delay, It's been a busy time for me at work!)

Mako's head turned towards Lox as he spoke, a frown touching Mako's lips almost instantly as he let out a sigh.

This was the trouble with being mute. Not a lot of people actually believed you were mute when they first met you. They hear the odd scream or noise of pain pass from your lips, and suddenly its all lies and acting! Not that he blamed the man.

Wasn't exactly easy to trust a shipwrecked man.

Mako frowned slightly, and then once again pointed to his lips. Making a slow zip motion across them to show once more that he coul-a frown touched his lips. Perhaps that was it? Maybe they thought he was being obstinate?

Quickly he opened his mouth, pointing to it and quickly mouthing to the bulk of a pirate. I cannot speak.

Moving his lips as slowly as possible, hoping that the man or the woman besides him would at least catch the gist of what he was trying to communicate to them. Then, he made a wavy motion with his hand, doing his best to make his palm look like it was a ship.

He 'sailed' the hand ship through the air, then brought up his other palm, acting as though it were a tentacle. He slammed his finger down on the ship, and then mimed the whole thing sinking. Waving his arms dramatically as he acted out falling into the water. Going through the whole routine with a surprisingly straight face until he was finally finished.

Looking up at the two expectantly

Izzetta Rex

 

[Izzetta Rex]

Izzy tilted her head at the strange man at her feet. He seemed truly unable to utter a word, and made wild motions with his hands and mouthed words slowly with his lips.

After his little display with his hands, Izzy took a moment to put it all together. She almost asked that he do it again but thought it would make her look rather stupid, so she didn't. Suddenly it clicked. Perhaps it was because she was already drunk and could make sense of what couldn't be made sensible, because Lox beside her still looked completely lost.

"The ship he was on was sunk by some sort of kraken and he was cast out to sea," she explained to Lox flatly, keeping her gaze on the man before her. Lox nodded as if he had known that all along.

"Take him to the brig and get him some dry clothes. Put him in a cell for now," he ordered the others standing around. Izzy's finger twitched, but it was the only sign that she did not like that she wasn't the one giving orders.

It occurred to her that if a kraken sunk a ship, there would be other castaways, and perhaps more floating debris, but the ocean was clear as far as Izzy could tell. There were holes in this man's story that needed to be filled.

Once he was properly imprisoned and as dry as one could be on a boat in the middle of the ocean, Izzy would seat herself on a crate outside the man's cell and fix him with a smarmy smile. She was no longer wearing her hat- only a gold bandana was tied around her forehead.

Mako

 

[Mako]

As the mysterious woman said out loud exactly what he had meant, Mako smiled wide. Clapping his hands and pointing at her in excitement. Only for it to all instantly fall away as the man besides her uttered the words; 'Take him to the brig."

His face fell, and head tilted back as something that might have been a groan squeaked passed his throat. The sound more of an odd growl more than a proper sound of exasperation. A second later he tilted forward against, only barely catching the slight twitch in the woman's hand.

His head tilted to the side, but two arms slipped beneath his own before he could offer another lesson in miming.

Offering no fight or further objection, Mako allowed himself to be dragged onto his feet. Figuring they were at least giving him some new clothes.

Going along with the pirates that had plucked him up and following without so much as an attempt to converse. It was rather difficult anyway, and he figured moving his hands too quick might end with a knife between his ribs.

Eventually, after what felt like nearly an hour, Mako found himself thrown into the brig. A small thing really, but without enough space at least that he could stand up fully. As Izzy popped herself down onto the crate opposite him, Mako offered her a smile. His amber eyes catching the bare light streaming through the one porthole down here.

Hi. He mimed with his hands, sitting himself down on the cot behind him.

 

[Izzetta Rex]

Izzy wished she had saved some rum in the bottle to bring down with her but she supposed it was what it was, and she was already pleasantly drunk so she didn't care too much.

"Hello yourself," she replied, although the man technically hadn't said anything. A thought occurred to her and she waved down one of the men passing by. "Get me something to write on and with, if you please,"

He nodded and went off. She turned back around to face the stranger again. "Are you literate?" It was hard to tell with pirates; more often then not they could not read or write.

Her man came back with the parchment and quill (from her own supplies she noted; pirates will be pirates) she took it, thanked him (manners never hurt) and stood to hand it through the bars to Mako.

Mako

 

[Mako]

Mako nodded emphatically as she asked him about his literacy.

Neither of his parents had ever bothered of course, in fact, they might not have known themselves. His sister had taught him though, painfully taking the darkest nights to ensure they would not be caught. It was not until later that they turned the written word into a language of signs, but that wasn't much use to him here.

It usually took someone weeks to learn that.

After a few moments wait, Mako stood and reached out to grab the small piece of parchment and quill. Quickly scribbling upon it before turning it over so that Izetta would be able to read what he had written. My name is Mako.

The Pirate had scribbled by way of introduction, smiling at her before turning the page once more and writing something else.

Thank you for scooping me up. Manners never hurt, after all.

 

[Izzetta Rex]

So his name was Mako. An interesting name, an interesting face, and an interesting story. Izzy's day was going well.

She stood from her crate, walking to the bars to be closer as he wrote on the paper again. She saw his response and nodded, returning his smile with one of her own.

"Don't get too excited yet, we haven't decided what to do with you. If your ship was really sunk by a kraken, where is the rest of your ship and crew? We saw no wreckage or castaways,"

She tilted her head at him as she spoke, placing a hand on one of the metal bars. His amber eyes were even brighter up close, and she wondered if hers were half as bright. Certainly the rum helped with that.

Mako

 

[Mako]

It was a good question, and truthfully he probably should have thought about the answer before they'd scooped him up.

In fairness to himself, he hadn't exactly been considering a cover story. Most people would scoop someone out of the sea and think it was a miracle they were still alive. That bought you a lot of leeway, at least in Mako's experience.

Seemed this crew, and it's Captain was a bit more savvy. Good on them, honestly.

Mako thought to himself.

"Dead, probably." He scribbled onto the paper, pausing for a moment, and then letting out a sigh. His face twisting as though he had been struck with a bout of sadness, though the acting was hardly convincing. "Wasn't very fond of them."

He wrote next offering her a charming, if brief smile, as he held up the paper.

 

[Izzetta Rex]

Izzy read the paper as he wrote, and then looked up at him, meeting his smile (he was certainly charming) with a raised eyebrow.

"So your entire crew died and your ship evaporated?" she drawled, mocking his story. She also noted he put on a very unconvincing expression of sadness and then wrote about how didn't even care for them in the first place. The pieces were not exactly falling together, and she decided he was lying.

"Had you been sent off the plank for some purpose?" Either he had been sent as a spy to try and get in with other ship crews on the sea, or he had been kicked off the boat by his former crew. Perhaps that was why he wasn't so fond of them.

Mako

 

[Mako]

Fuck.

Well, turns out there were a few clever pirates left sailing the seas. It was really a shame, he'd hoped that some fool of a merchant would scoop him up. Usually scamming them was easy enough. Not like he was looking to rob anyone, Mako just wanted to get back to shore.

A long sigh escaped his lips, head hanging for a moment as it became clear that he had been caught. Izzetta was asking the right questions, and from the way she looked at him it was clear she wasn't in any mood for more lies. Fuck it.

He thought to himself and began to scrawl. His head tilting in a nod as he answered her question.

"Deal gone wrong." Mako wrote, finally admitting to the truth. "Bastards double crossed me."

A frown pulled at his lips, then he wrote one more line. "Didn't want to give me my fair share."

 

[Izzetta Rex]

Aha. And there was the truth. Izzy smiled to herself, but it hadn't been hard to work out. Mako wasn't the best of liars.

"Now that makes more sense," she replied, leaning a shoulder on one of the bars of his cell.

"So your crew's abandoned you. You wouldn't be here in search of a new crew, would you?"

She was sure that had at least one open spot, and Mako was definitely interesting so if she could keep him around she would enjoy that.

Mako

 

[Mako]

Mako paused for a moment, wondering how much truth he should actually tell. The wrong would could still see him hanged from the main mast, but the right one...

The mute shook his head, then wrote. "I have my own crew. The ones that threw me off their boat weren't it."

He decided not to expand upon whom he sailed with, though Izetta might soon spot the mark of the Reckoners upon him. They were no Pirate gang of course, but there were few sailors who wore it; the only other that did was Captain Jack Radic of the Crimson Sails.

Radic headed not a ship, but a small fleet of pirates. Each one crewed by cut-throats, murderers, and mercenaries who preferred not to make their home in Cerak or Teth, but instead the depths of the great Bayou Garramarisma.

"But." He quickly scribbled. "If you're looking for an opportunity."

A grin spread across Mako's face. "I know where the bastards are headed, and the cargo they have on board is worth more than one man on your crew."

 

[Izzetta Rex]

So there was indeed more to his story. He certainly enjoyed keeping his secrets, didn't he? Izzy grinned. That would make this so much more fun.

"Tell me," she started, ignoring his offer. At least for the time being. "If you have your own crew, why were you on another boat with another crew that hated you so?"

She would come back to his mention of getting revenge on the ones who had abandoned him; she certainly loved a good fight and she was nearly certain her and her crew could take them out no problem (confidence is a virtue).

Mako

 

[Mako]

How much did he tell her?

The question popped to the forefront of his mind. Truth was a powerful thing when it came to dealing with Pirates, more so with those that were distrustful in the first place. She had already caught him in one lie, would peddling more make it worse?

"Because..." He wrote at first, and then sighed as he explained the truth. "My father runs my crew."

Adopted, but that distinction hardly mattered to folk like them. "I wanted to strike out on my own, make a name."

He shrugged as he held the paper up to him, the final two lines scrawled out quickly.

"Can you blame me?" The Parchment said. "I don't want to live in anyones shadow."

 

[Izzetta Rex]

Izzy could see whatever resolve he had to keep some of his secrets to himself begin to falter. She smirked to herself as he continued to write on the parchment. It was quickly growing full.

"Ah, that sounds more believable," she replied. "But it would seem you have been unsuccessful in creating a name for yourself thus far." There was a hint of sarcasm in her voice. She was having too much fun doing this.

"No one wants to live in anyone's shadow, you're not particularly special," she added as an after thought.

She took a step back from the bars as footsteps drew closer. It was Lox, and he was carrying her hat and coat. She shared a look with him before he came into view of Mako in the cell.

He stopped in front of her and handed her her hat and coat. She put her hat on her head and swung her coat over her shoulders. "You're needed on deck, Captain," he said, his voice more confident now that he was not having to pretend to be the captain.

Izzy nodded at him, and turned a shit-eating grin on Mako. "Well, then," she drawled. "Don't you go anywhere now."

Mako

 

[Mako]

A shrug rolled over his shoulder that seemed to answer her comment with; Never claimed I was.

Mako wasn't under any impression otherwise. He'd been born poor, and for most of his childhood life had scrapped by in any way that he could. Not an orphan, but close enough to it. The first person that had cared about him left him behind, the second?

He'd been a pirate.

A mocking smile flickered over his features as Izetta told him to stay put, his eyes rolling in clear signal that he wasn't about to try to escape.

It wasn't like they'd left him with much for the attempt, though most locks found in a brig like this weren't exactly the best. Briefly he allowed his gaze to flicker around the cell, searching for any piece of metal or loose thread he might be able to use.

Though of course he found nothing.

After a while, watching Izzetta go, the young Pirate let out a sigh. Leaning back against the wooden boards of the ships hull and crossing his arms.

Better than floating in the sea. He thought to himself.

 

[Izzetta Rex]

Izzy strutted off feeling rather good about herself (and Mako). He did not seem like a pirate, mostly because he had such a pretty face, but then here Izzetta was, not only pretty but also a woman. She chuckled to herself as she made her way above deck. Back in her role as Captain, she felt much more comfortable (and so did Lox).

The only other woman on her crew, the lookout, called down from the crow's nest. "Still wanna make haste for dock?"

Izzy tilted her head back, squinting and grinning into the sun. "Why yes, of course I do. What a silly question. We are out of rum, aren't we?"

Her crew had just been successful, and piles of gold and jewels sat in hidden spots throughout the ship. They needed some supplies for food and upkeep of the ship, but they also needed rum. A pirate without rum was like a fish that couldn't swim. It was just wrong.

An hour or so later, after Izzy had bossed a fair number of people around and laid in the sun to work on her tan, she descended once more below decks. After staring into the sun more than was likely healthy, it took her eyes a minute to adjust to the sudden darkness dimly lit by the swinging light of hanging lamps.

Izzy walked down to the brig, feigning surprise when she saw Mako. "Ah, fancy seeing you here!" she said. "You look a tad pale, as if you could use some sun and fresh air," she went on, tapping her chin.

After a moment, she plunged a hand down the front of her bodice, pulling out a key. She took a step forward and unlocked Mako's cell, swinging the door open. She waved the key at him before dropping it down her bodice once more.

"Don't get any funny ideas, pretty boy," she said, taking a step back.

Mako

 

[Mako]

Mako passed the time like he always did while sitting in a cell; counting.

It was a terrible habit, one that he'd picked up when his father would throw him in the closet, but he'd never quite managed to change it. Every minute trapped was a minute he could make no choice, but the choice he could make was to focus. That focus came in observations, and ultimately in counting what he could.

Down here in the brig, that amounted to things of little interest. He counted the bars of his cell, the rivets within them, the amount of boards in the hull.

The whole thing was naught but an exercise in keeping his mind occupied, so when finally he heard the sounds of someone coming down below he practically jumped with relief..the arduous boredom of being by himself once again coming to a close. Though he didn't let his excitement show. As Izzetta came before the cell once more, the silent Pirate glanced up, doing his best to appear as though he'd been napping.

A muted mock expression of laughter crossed his features as she made her joke, eyes rolling, though the smile never disappearing.

His eyes almost instantly locking on the key as the pulled it from her bodice. No shame on his gaze as he let his eyes linger for just a moment. The smile on his lips quirking to genuine joy as she unlocked the cell and began to pull it open.

Shooting to his feet, Mako raised both of his hands as if to say; Wouldn't dream of it.

His new boots echoing against the deck boards as he slowly approached her and stepped out of the cell.

 

[Izzetta Rex]

Izzy couldn't help but note the joy that flickered in his gaze when she returned. She grinned back at him, and led him back up to the deck of the ship. The sun was lower in the sky than before, dusk taking over. Izzetta took a moment to take her ship and her crew in, before turning to Mako.

"So the sun's gone, but you can still get fresh air," she said with a shrug of her shoulders.

The other crew members did not attempt to hide their stares. They hadn't seen another soul outside of their number in months. Even Tressa, the only other woman in Izzy's crew, was eyeing him, but Izzy didn't particularly like Tressa's stare. It held too much hunger. "How's Harden, Tressa?" Izzy called as the younger woman walked by. Tressa's gaze snapped to Izzy and her jaw clenched, the only sign of embarrassment she would give.

"Just fine, Cap'n," Tressa said. The flaxen-haired pirate nearly rivaled Izzy in levels of self-confidence, and she took it out on all of the men on board the ship. Nearly all of them had welcomed her into their beds at some point. But Izzy wouldn't let her set her hooks into Mako. At least not until she'd had her fun first.

Mako