Chapter Text
The mist hung thick over Mukesh island, heavy and green as pea soup.
Sarah Sharpe stood at the bow of the ship, her arms crossed firmly over her chest and her jaw set in a scowl as she waited for Captain Crow. The island made her uneasy.
Perhaps it was the reputation it held, or the eerie tendrils of fog that gripped its craggy peaks and ghostly buildings like the tentacles of some long dead beast. Either way, Sarah didn’t like it, and neither did the crew. None but the captain had dared set foot ashore. Even Sarah had stayed behind. Loyal as she was she knew better than to play with fate.
She knew what a visit to Gwen Batterbie entailed. There was no honor in employing her services, but Crow, driven half mad by his thirst for revenge and the loss of Jacob, had let their code be damned and visited the witch woman anyways.
Soft footsteps wrenched Sarah from her stormy thoughts, and she turned to see a familiar mop of red hair and a freckled face looking up at her.
“you alright, Sarah?” The Boatswain asked her, her brow knitted with concern. “Ye’ve been out here fer hours”
“Aye.” Sarah answered dryly, her eyes shifting forward once more.
Miss Merino nodded, her gaze following Sarah’s up to the highest point on the island where the vague outline of a hut could be seen through the soupy fog.
“Captain’s been gone a long while” Miss Merino spoke again.
“Aye” Sarah repeated, her eyes still firmly facing forward.
“Won’t bring him back any faster to keep standing there” The boatswain told Sarah, her voice noticeably softer than usual, laced with a gentleness that was rarely heard.
Sarah nodded, finally turning to face the other woman, taking in the dark circles under her eyes and the way her hair was beginning to come loose from her braid. Miss Merino looked as worried as Sarah felt.
“You’re one to talk” Sarah said. “You look dead on your feet woman.” Miss merino scoffed.
“I look no worse than you, first mate, nor the rest of the crew. There’s been naught a moment of rest since we took on the Bluster, and I reckon there shan’t be one ‘till crow’s got his revenge.
Sarah frowned. It was true. The battle against exhaustion had been more brutal than that against any beast they’d faced as the crew had fought to keep The Inevitable afloat long enough to reach Mukesh and start their repairs.
“Ye should eat something” Miss Merino told her, turning her back to Sarah, the softness had left her voice, replaced by her usual brusque tones. “Won’t do any good to have our first mate keel over” she said as she walked away.
Sarah watched her go, missing the woman’s company once she had gone.
She turned back to face the island, waiting for the captain to return and wondering what the future would hold for the crew of the Inevitable now that their captain had played with fate.
She knew he would take the Bluster by any means