The Endless Tide

>Famished, you stared at the deck.
>Tides washed against your ship as tides of hunger rolled in your stomach.
>What good was all the plundered gold in the hold if you were in the middle of the ocean? You cursed the bastards who had left you here alone, and weakly slammed a fist down.
>Bringing your other hand up, your tilted the bottle of rum to your lips. At least you wouldn't go thirsty.
>While they were occupying your mind, your thoughts drifted back to those three.

>First was your surgeon. Privateer Purple, you called him.
>Hell of a swordfighter, and even better at his chop jobs. Took your foot off so cleanly you were up and sailing two hours later!
>So when you came across that purple haired maiden working at the blacksmith in the port town and he said she was making the finest blades he'd ever seen, you trusted him.
>He struck up a conversation that you didn't care for, so you and the boys had left him there to hit the tavern.
>When he didn't meet up after a few hours, you went back for him. He muttered something about milk, and spoke to you clearly about his intent to stay in this port with her.
>Reluctantly, you agreed to let him go. She was a fair lass, and they seemed to like each other quite a bit in the short time you'd seen them together. Even though your crew would be significantly less fierce, you couldn't come between love.
>Plus, if he was wanting milk, there was none in the sea.
>You gave him his final cut of the bounty, wished him well, and when your other two shipmates joined you aboard the ship, you set sail.

>Downing the last of the rum in the bottle, you chucked it out onto the deck, smiling as it shattered against the hard wood.
>Adjusting your hat to keep the sun out of your eyes, you pondered more. Who was next?
>Oh, right, gunner Green. Crack shot with all manner of firearm, whether it be flintlock or cannon.
>Grimacing, you recalled as you clutched at your chest.
>It was only a day after you left port.
>Flagged down by a vessel several times larger than yours but waving a similarly black flag, you prepared for a fight.
>However, a fight it wasn't. Almost instantly, it seemed the three of you were tied together on your deck, with a woman looking downward at you.
>She seemed relatively tall, from where you were sitting, with hair of bronze and eyes of emeralds.
>Poking your chest with her sword, she introduced herself as Captain Monika, and explained that she was looking for someone.
>Aye, you'd heard of her, you said. She smiled and gave a small giggle as she inspected each of you.
>The mysterious woman with the mystical powers, captaining and maintaining the frigate Saevenlode while searching the seas for an unknown person.
>What rotten luck to run into a witch!
>Hearing a satisfied giggle, you were suddenly on your feet, standing next to your last crew member. In front of you, the Saevenlode separated from your ship, with Captain Monika waving goodbye aside gunner Green.
>Not being stolen from so easily, you ran below deck to fire your cannons at her, but by the time you had the fuse lit, the ship had disappeared from vision.

>Sighing, you returned below deck, passing that cannon as you walked toward the rum stores.
>Retrieving another bottle, you looked around the lower deck for anything that might be considered food.
>Barrels and barrels of grog and gunpowder, but not so much as a wharf rat in sight.
>Anger grew in you as you looked at the barrels. Damn that cooper Cobalt! Him and his finely crafted barrels and bottles.
>But you know you couldn't blame him. It wasn't his fault what happened the day after your encounter with Monika.
>As your ship glided forward through the waters with you behind the wheel, you hummed a shanty you once heard to yourself.
>Yo ho, yo ho, take all of their gold.
>And burn their ships down to ash!
>Make sure those bastards never grow old,
>And send em to Jones with a splash!
>Splash! Splash!
>You didn't remember the song having actual splash sound effects. You saunter over to the side of the ship, inspecting the waters.
>Nothing. Making your way around to the other side, you spot a rock jutting out of the water with a woman on top.
>Coral hair, with a fishtail. Neptune be damned, it's a mermaid! And a beaut at that! You wave to her, and she waves back.
>You begin to turn back to the ship, when you notice something else in the waters.
>Cooper Cobalt, floating aboard a barrel and paddling toward her! You yelled at him to get back to the ship, but he didn't respond.
>That's when you heard it. She was saying something, but you couldn't quite hear it. Her siren's songs were piercing his ears, but not yours!
>Damn it! You thought about turning the cannons on her, but realized your former shipmate would be in the blast radius.
>Deciding against blasting him to pieces and not wanting to get near the siren lest you fall victim, you simply stood at the back of the bridge and yelled obscenities while shaking your fist at them until they disappeared over the horizon.

>If you'd known that barrel was the one filled with your food, you might've risked turning back for him.
>You'd go back if you knew which direction he was. Bastard was also the navigator, and while you could read the stars a bit, you weren't nearly as good at it.
>You turned in the direction you thought he was, but there was nothing you could do aside from wait it out. You were but one man, sailing the once fearsome Endless Tide by yourself.
>You chuckled to yourself. So this was the end of ol' Captain Rosebeard. Not by someone else's blade, but by a little starvation.
>What a shame. You flicked the cork out of the bottle of rum as you slid down the wall of the hold.
>Oh well, might as well get smashed if there's no other options. For old time's sakes.
>Listening to the seagull's cries, you downed the bottle in one go. There were plenty of bottles here, and if there was one thing you weren't, it was wasteful.
>As you reached for another, the contents of the ship lurched forward, including you as you fell to your knees.
>Were you under attack? You scrambled to your feet as you looked out both sides of portholes.
>No other ships in view, and the waves stopped rolling past. As you surveyed, you smelled something.
>Something sweet. You looked down to your bottle; usually you only started hallucinating after drinking from your private stash.
>This was not your private stash. You slammed the bottle into the ground and ran above deck, dumbfounded at the sudden stop.
>As you stepped out into the sun, your questions were answered immediately.
>Your ship had run ashore at a small island, and near the shore was a small hut.
>Outside of that hut, a woman with pink hair stood holding a tray of some sort of baked good, staring at you.
>"Hey! Are you okay?" She yelled, not moving from her position.
"Uh... aye? Yes?" You responded, taken aback by both her beauty and convenient location.
>"That's good. Are you sailing that big thing by yourself?"
"Aye. Well, I wasn't, but I am now. Er, was. Say, could I be havin' some of your food? I'll pay ye handsomely."
>She laughed.
>"Keep your money for now. Looks like you'll need it for your ship, anyway. Come on over."
>You shrugged, and thought about how you'd get down. Looking over the side, you noticed a sizable hole in the hull from where your ship got smashed.
>That'll do. You went below deck to the treasure hold, and seeing the hole, you climbed over the now soggy pile of coins towards freedom.
>Now that you think about it, maybe these weren't the treasure you'd been hunting for. Maybe the true treasures were the Dokis you found along the way.