Pirates For The Mainland

Sitting at the bar of the Wet Whistle, Captain Nog stared at the rack of empty mugs and partially-filled bottles in front of her. The establishment she decided to patron wasn't the most glamorous of places in Gray View, but it was plenty friendly to those outside of the law. A moderate-sized bar and restaurant filled with pirates and criminals of all kinds, dimly lit and somewhat clean. Nothing too out of the ordinary.

"Well, well," the bartender's voice said. "I almost didn't see you there, short stuff."

"Ha, very funny, Grif," Nog replied. "Just give me rocky vodka and something with potatoes in it. And expect my two mates to be here soon."

"Making the rest of the crew eat on their own?" Grif asked.

"The rest of the crew are dead," Nog answered. "The Cray got them."

Grif didn't have a cheeky response.

"You know better," he said after a pause. "You know going out towards the mainland is suicide."

"Yes, I f.u.c.k.i.n.g know!" Nog yelled in anger.

The bar became silent and looked for a fight to follow the outburst but those who recognized Nog knew better. The little captain would not make herself unwelcome in one of her places of refuge by starting a brawl.

"I'm just sick and tired of scratching at this world, Grif," Nog said. "I'm sick of fighting for food and wood and steel and every other f.u.c.k.i.n.g resource to get by because we live on a splattering of islands while the beasts sit well and fat on the mainland!"

"That's just the way things are," Grif replied. "Just cool your head, Missy. I'll get you your drink and grub."

Grif quickly poured the heated captain a drink before walking over to a grill behind the bar to get her food going. It wasn't that long before Dart and Neko came to sit with her.

"The dock crews won't touch the jewel," Dart told Nog. "But they'll refill our water tank and I purchased some provisions for the trip to the islands."

"They remembered the last time we came into town with damage," Neko said. "And how Captain Nog nearly cut up some poor fool for the ridiculous cost."

"Never again are we repairing here," Nog said. "We'll be fine until we reach the Mercidian Islands. Only a few more days."

"What are we doing after we get to the islands?" Dart asked.

"I have to talk to Redstone and that stupid idiot Motroy," Nog explained. "I need something to give us an edge."

Dart and Neko gave each other a knowing look.

"So we'll head out again to the Red Ocean once we're ready?" Neko questioned.

"Yes," Nog answered. "I'm not giving up on this. You two already know that."

"We know that," Dart said. "But what will ensure this third time will be the charm?"

"I never asked for help before," Nog explained. "I'll make some sort of bargain with the capitalist mighties and maybe they'll have something fancy for this problem."

After a bit of quiet thinking, food and drinks came for the trio and they hungrily ate. Their drinks were quickly emptied for the sake of their conversation.

"Well, despite our massive loss in the end, I think we got a lot closer to the mainland this second time," Dart said, in between mouthfuls.

"But learning about our enemies each time we lose an entire crew isn't a very efficient," Neko pointed out. "Would we even be able to gather up a new crew this time? It took us near a month for the second one."

"Snatching up poor souls who were willing to die, regardless of how, didn't exactly provide a skilled crew," Dart added.

"Yes, yes," Nog said, through a mouth of potatoes. "But I got more out of that fight than you two know."

The two crew members stopped their chewing and looked at their captain. Nog purposefully finished her chewing to a swallow before answering them.

"What do they say the Cray keep secret?" Nog questioned her crew.

"Treasures," Neko answered.

"Treasures that define their leadership," Dart elaborated. "Items sacred to their people that define their hierarchy."

"And all these items are said to be in one place," Nog said.

"The Low Sun Cray temple," Dart answered.

"Correct," Nog said, happy that they received new drinks. "Captains and admirals and anyone of importance all the way up to their fat king has keys to enter the temple because their item of importance is in there."

"Did you nab the keys off a captain during that madness?" Dart questioned.

Looking rather smug, Nog reached into the coat and slammed a ring of many keys down onto the bar top. Her crew members gave her an odd look.

"Oh wait, those are my keys," Nog said. "I thought I put it on the ring."