Greetings,
I have promised @KattTruewalker, a long time ago, that I would write a story based on Sea of Thieves. Later on, I did a big mistake and caught @khaleesibot's attention and she made me, forced me to post it. So, without further ado, I invite you all to read "The beginning of a journey".
The fireplace was burning bright, bathing the room with its warmth and light, as the tavernkeeper was scrubbing some stains from the countertop. A faint melody was playing in the background, the screeching sound coming from an old wooden music box. It was a peculiar object, with two round disks made of bone. She carefully took the box in her hands and cleaned the little skeleton pirate that started spinning on top of one of the disks, as she accidentally turned a small key at the side of the case.
“Ah, my good old George; I still remember the day when you came in my tavern and gifted me this weird music box” she said to herself, looking at the box, smiling nostalgically. “Ms. Tracy, please accept this gift as a token of my love for you, you said to me.” She giggled as she looked towards the tavern’s door. “Silly sailor, you told me that the bones were those of a Kraken, and the sound that it played was the weeping of the beast.” She shook her head and sighed.
The tavern’s door suddenly opened wide and a tall man stood in the doorway, soaking wet. He was fairly skinny, and his wrinkles, grey beard and hair told many stories of old. He had a strange tattoo under his left eye, a small tear drop. He was dressed somewhat elegant, with a light blue long sleeved shirt and a fancy scarf.
“Ms. Tracy, I have talked with the Shipwright and we managed to find a sloop that would be willing to set sail shortly, on this weather, for the right price.” He spoke as he walked inside, combing his wet, slick hair backwards with his hand.
“What wretched soul would be crazy enough to do that on this weather, Charles?!” she eyed him, tapping her fingernails on the countertop.
“That fool of a Collier…” Charles inhaled deeply as he took a seat at a table. It was right by the fireplace, long and built from a really sturdy wood. He sat with his back at it, letting the soothing warmth of the fire caress his back. He pushed the plate that was in front of him towards the other side and grabbed a tankard, looking towards Tracy. “Give an old man some grog to soothe his throat, would you?”.
“Are you actually going to pay for your drink this time, old man?!” she grinned as she walked to him, taking his tankard and filling it up. Some of the grog accidentally dripped on a candle that was slowly burning between them, extinguishing it.
“Now, how much does that rascal want? For how much would Collier set sail for?” Tracy asked as she looked up to one of the chandeliers. It was an improvised one, made from an old ship’s steering wheel, hanged with rope from the tavern’s ceiling. On top of it there were candles burning on the handles of the wheel, giving a dim light in the establishment. She got up on her toes and snuffed the one candle that was facing towards her countertop. “Darn candles, I will never again buy any of them from that mystic woman!” she puffed as she walked towards the back of the room.
“That fool asked for 150 coins; well, I guess that’s somehow fair, for one must be crazy and a real fool to sail on such weather.” Charles scratched the back of his head, shaking the grog in his tankard.
Tracy walked past a couple of red and blue barrels, filled with different kinds of alcohol and stopped in front of a wooden door, with metal strips on it. She slowly opened the door and walked inside, where a shabbily dressed woman was sitting on a bed, together with her child. She was in her mid-twenties, even though she looked a lot younger than that and her girl didn’t seem to be more than 8 years old.
“Liz, we managed to get you and your kid on a sloop. It will cost some coins, but me and Charles will pay for it.” Tracy smiled at both of them, gesturing for the two to follow her.
“But, how much would it cost us?” Liz asked, getting up on her feet, holding her daughter’s hand.
“It’s not going to be cheap, 150 coins. But, don’t worry; Charles and myself got it covered.” She assured them, walking together out of the backroom.
“Mr. Charles!” the little one exclaimed, running towards him.
“Hey there, kiddo; you and your mom are finally going to leave” he hugged her and smiled.
“But, I don’t want to go, I like it here” she pouted and looked up at him.
“Dee, you’ll be going with your mother on an amazing adventure! You do like adventures, don’t you?” Charles pat her head and looked at Tracy. “How are we going to get 150 coins though?” he asked, intrigued.
“Leave that to me…” she said as she walked to the fireplace. Near it was a small bookshelf, with a few books in it. On the bottom shelf of it there was one book that stood out. Its cover was made of leather, brown and with peculiar engravings into it. She carefully picked it up and dusted it off, walking back to Charles.
“Tracy, are you sure you want to do that?” he asked her, looking at the book that she was holding in her hands.
“We don’t have any other choice. That slimy b*****d has been wanting to get his hands on it for a long time and now, for the right price, he can have this darn book” she nodded, walking outside the tavern and into the rain.
As she walked down the establishment’s stairs and onto the wet sand she turned to her left and headed towards a green hut. “Stay inside while I deal with this!” she told the three, which were standing in the doorway. A small flag, of a slight darker green, was hanging down a wooden pillar; a golden key was painted on it, the same key that could be seen on the sides of the hut. Inside, there was an elderly man, with white short hair and silky looking beard. He was dressed in a long and tight turquoise coat, with buttons made of gold. He had a chain of keys on his belt and a small golden key on a chain around his neck.
As she approached him, the bags and piles of gold started glistening in the pouring rain, even in the dead of night. But, that wasn’t the thing that made him stand out. He had a small golden ornament under his right eye and his right hand’s middle and ring finger were covered in a thick layer of gold. Upon laying his eyes on her, he smiled widely, revealing his rotten teeth.
“Now, what brings you to my humble tent, in this lovely night?” he asked her and grinned as he stared at the book that she was carrying.
“I need money, a big amount and …” she sighed and looked down at the book.
“And? And what, Ms. Tracy?” he smirked.
“And I am willing to sell this for the right amount of coins.” She handed him the book, slightly reluctant.
“Oh my, you must be really desperate if you’re willing to sell your late husband’s precious journal!” he opened the book and nodded.
“Just…give me what I need and let’s get this over with” she eyes him.
“Fine, fair enough; I can give you, let’s say, a hundred coins!” he pulled out a small pouch of coins.
“Is this a joke?! If I wanted a hundred, Humphrey, I would have gone to your brother over at Ancient Spire Outpost!” she raised her voice.
“Okay, okay… 150 coins! That should do it.” He dropped a few more coins inside the pouch.
“Hm, 200 and you can have it!” she grinned as she looked at Humphrey.
“Bloody hell, just take your money and go!” he puffed his cheeks and handed her the pouch and a stack of coins.
She took the coins and held them tight in her hand as she turned around and looked at Charles and the two girls. “Come, it’s time to go!” she shouted and gestured for them to follow her. Charles covered Dee’s head and shoulders with a small green blanket and looked at Liz, nodding. They walked outside and hurried after Tracy, who had already started walking towards the small dock. At the end of the dock, she stopped and exchanged a few words with the Shipwright, as she was tinkering at the cap of a wooden barrel. Right next to them there was a sloop anchored and a man walked down from it and towards the two women. As Charles, Liz and Dee caught up with Tracy, they could hear her talking with the man.
“I have 200 coins here; I want you to take the best of care of the two ladies, am I clear?!” she poked his chest and handed him the pouch of gold.
“I would take them to safety and make sure they get out of here safely, you have my word” he said as he turned his head towards the three that just stopped next to them.
“Are you the one who’s going to get us out of here?” Liz asked as she looked at the man.
“Aye, James Collier, at your service.” He bowed and smiled.
“And, what exactly do you have in mind, young lad?” Charles eyed him, scratching his beard.
“Well, if everything goes well, by tomorrow morning we’ll reach an island north of here, through where people are known to…” he stopped in the middle of his sentence and looked at the Shipwright.
“People use it as a smuggling bay, a place where things come and go, depending on the price that you’re willing to pay.” she said as she looked at Charles.
“Enough chit-chat, we are running out of time and time does mean money, in this case. The sooner we reach there, the better.” Collier explained, turning around and grabbing the ladder at the side of the ship. It was made of rope, with wooden planks to hold them together.
“Come, sweetie.” Liz grabbed her daughter’s hand and walked towards the side of the ship where Collier offered his hand to help Dee climb on board.
“Go ahead and go below deck; your mother will be there with you in a second.” He smiled and pointed Dee in the right direction. “You better be careful though.” He warned her, for the ship was swaying from left to right.
As Dee walked below deck, a young boy peeked from behind two barrels. His hand was laying on the side of the bottom barrel, covering a faint painting of a fish and chicken drumstick. He waved at her and smiled as she walked towards him, blushing slightly. He extended his hand and cleared his throat.
“Hello, I’m Tim. You must be the ones that are going to sail with us for a bit, aren’t you?” he gently squeezed her hand as they introduced themselves.
“I’m Dee and yes, me and my mom will be sailing with you and your…dad?” she asked him, looking into his eyes.
“Oh, no; he’s not my dad. I’m, ah…” he nodded and continued. “He picked me up on Shipwreck Bay. I was working as part of a crew, a few years ago and he purchased me from the captain of the Blackwyche, and since then I’ve been with him.” He smiled at her.
“Is that the place where we’ll be going?” she looked at him, intrigued.
“Oh, no. Actually, let me show you where we will be going.” he took her hand in his and walked to the middle deck of the ship, at the stern. There was a table with a piece of cloth tied onto it and nailed tightly to the wood. As both of them approached it, they could see shapes of islands, coordinates, the charted map of the lands and seas.
“This is so big, I had no idea there were so many islands out there!” she looked at the map, mesmerized. “Where are we?” she giggled.
“The region where we are is called The Shores of Plenty and we are anchored right here.” He dragged his finger over the map, pointing at an outpost.
“And where are we going?” she asked, looking back at him.
“Oh, we will be going up North.” He moved his finger upwards on the map.
“Are you sure it is safe to set sail on this weather?” Liz asked Collier, as the walked down to the second deck.
“Safe, no; but this is the only way for you to get out of here, as fast as possible. And, I heard that you were in a real hurry.” he told her, while looking at Tim.
“He is right, ma’am. We will get you out of here in no time” Tim smile warmly at her. “Oh, and I am Tim; It’s a pleasure to meet you”.
“Nice to meet you, Tim.” She nodded at him, turning her gaze back towards Collier. “May the sea be with us on our journey” she took a deep breath, as she walked to Dee, hugging her tight at her chest.
“May the winds and seas be in our favor.” He mumbled, afterwards thinking to himself. “Please be on our side, for I can’t risk it again, with …it being out there; this is truly my last and only chance”.
