Chapter Text
Red stared at the ship looming in the distance, gripping the banister of the boat tighter. Around him, the other passengers were panicking, most of them just being travelers who had no experience on the sea at all. It was just his luck that the ship he was on would get attacked by pirates twice in the same week.
The first time wasn’t his fault. When he joined the Navy, he was told multiple times that pirate encounters were inevitable. Red had been half awake eating breakfast when someone had rushed below deck, shouting about pirates. Since the ship had mostly new recruits, almost everyone rushed above deck to see.
It was only Red’s second time at sea on a Navy ship, so he was curious and followed. In the distance, getting closer, there had been a larger ship that looked like it was made out of obsidian, with the name Medusa clearly visible on the hull. The captain had shouted at the crew to prepare for combat.
It had been pointless. The pirates, Medusa, had easily defeated them, basically destroying the ship and taking the survivors. Red had to stand on the deck of the pirate’s ship and watch three people in snake-like masks run his captain through with a sword.
The pirates had then interrogated everyone for information, but it had all been a blur to Red. The only thing that was clear was the moment when the masked pirate came up to him and held a bloodied sword to his neck.
After he admitted that he didn’t know anything about Navy bases, the pirate had sneered and asked Red why he should live. Red had stumbled for an answer, but then one of the other pirates had held something glowing up on a chain, saying something about sacrifice. The pirate had turned away from Red, so he took the chance to drive his fist into their face and run. As he ran, the other pirate tried to stop him, but he dodged, his old thief ways returning to him, and impulsively grabbed the glowing thing. However, there is only so much room on a boat, so the only place to go was in the water.
Thankfully, no one had followed him, although someone had tried to shoot him. Another Navy ship had appeared, rescuing Red and scaring off the pirates, but not destroying their boat. As soon as he got back to land, Red had immediately booked passage on a ship to get as far away as possible, since he still had the thing he had stolen. It was like a small glowing star, encased in glass, and felt like some magic item Red didn’t want to get tangled up in. If it belonged to pirates, they would probably go to any lengths to get it back.
So these pirates might be after him, and Red felt a sinking sense of dread as the captain of the vessel told everyone to not resist and just let them take what they wanted.
As the larger boat approached, Red could tell it was owned by very successful pirates, or they had stolen it from someone with a lot of money. The ship pulled up beside their’s, and with a lot of shouting, the pirates began jumping onto their ship, raising their weapons.
“Surrender your ship, and no one gets hurt.” A voice rang out across the deck as the captain stepped aboard the ship. It was obvious he was the captain as soon as Red saw him.
He had a dark purple coat lined with silvers and golds, and dark hair tied in a loose braid, part of it swept over an eyepatch. He had a sword at his waist, and one hand holding a gun.
It was obvious from his face and the way he carried himself that this pirate wasn’t human, and he was dangerous.
The captain motioned to his crew mates. “Get the cargo and search the passengers.”
A few pirates nodded and headed below deck, while the others began grabbing the passengers, taking jewelry and money.
Someone grabbed Red, and he tried to struggle, but was quickly stilled by the sharp point of a knife. They searched his pockets, taking his knife, the few spare coins he had, and then the star thing he’d stolen from the other pirates.
“Uh, captain?” Red felt his stomach drop as the pirate held up the treasure to their captain. The pirate captain turned and his eyes immediately locked onto it, then flicked over to Red.
“Where did you get this?” The captain approached and carefully took the treasure. The pirate motioned towards Red, and the captain turned to look at him, his violet eye boring into him. He refused to say anything.
The captain stared at it for a moment, thinking, before pocketing the item. Then he turned away, waving at his crew. “Grab the cargo and take him aboard the ship. Leave the rest.”
Before Red could process, he was being grabbed by his arms and hoisted up, causing him to protest and struggle, until someone hit him on the head with the hilt of a knife. All he saw was a brief glimpse of the deck before everything quickly faded to black.
—
When Red awoke, the first thing he noticed was that he couldn’t move his arms. They were tied behind his back and to the chair he was in. The room he was in was pretty small, filled with crates and barrels, which probably meant it was part of the cargo hold.
“Finally,” Red jumped, startled by a voice from behind him. He tried to turn around, but the restraints stopped him. The person moved in front of him, and he recognized them as the pirate captain. “About time.”
“Where…” Red trailed off as the pirate captain pulled out a knife.
“Listen, I’ll keep this short,” He twirled the knife, eyeing Red. “I normally don’t like taking prisoners, but I need to know where a little Navy shit got this from.” The pirate pulled out the magic item Red had stolen.
“I’m not–”
“You’re wearing a Navy badge on the inside of your coat.” Red glanced down, realizing he was wearing one of his Navy issued coats, which he mentally kicked himself for. “Now, you can tell me where you found this, or I can stab you several times and watch you bleed out.” The dagger was suddenly at Red’s throat, and the pirate captain had an almost maniacal gleam in his eye. “So?”
“I stole it,” Red said, trying to keep his voice from shaking. “From pirates.” He tried to lean back, away from the knife at his neck, but he could only move so much.
“Who?” The tip of the blade pressed harder against his throat.
“They were called Medusa, I think.”
The pressure on his neck lessened, but the captain frowned. “Of course it was fucking Medusa,” He muttered, glancing at the glowing star, then back to Red. “Do you know what this is?”
“No?” Red asked hesitantly, but got no response from the pirate who just pocketed the item again.
“Well then,” The captain sighed, turning his attention back to Red. “A Navy soldier who is a thief and a deserter. Give me one reason I shouldn’t just kill you now.”
Red blinked, stunned. “I don’t want to die?” He offered, unsure.
“Compelling,” The pirate replied sarcastically, using his blade to tilt Red’s chin up so he could better examine his face. “Although, you might be worth good money elsewhere. How much of a bounty does the Navy put on traitors?”
“I- I have information,” Red stammered. “Navy bases, ships, stuff like that.”
The pirate stared at him for a moment, then slowly took the knife away from his neck. Red let out a breath of relief. “Well then, I guess I’ll keep you around. As long as you’re useful.” With a quick motion, he sliced the restraints, allowing Red to move. He stretched his arms hesitantly, allowing blood to flow back into them.
“Alright elf,” The pirate captain grabbed Red by the arm and pulled him up, dragging him out of the room. “I hope you know your way around a ship, because you’re going to be doing a lot of work.”
“I’m not an elf.” Red stumbled to keep up with him, blinking as his eyes readjusted to the light.
The captain glanced at him, unimpressed. “Really? You’re a terrible liar.” When Red didn’t respond, he just sighed. “Fine then, what’s your name?”
“Red. Reddoons.” He knew there was very little he could do to change the fact that he looked like an elf, but Red had hoped years of Navy training and growing his hair out just enough to cover his ears would’ve made him seem more human. It had worked around humans, but he guessed other species were more observant.
“Well Reddoons,” The two of them finally arrived above deck, and Red was momentarily blind by the sun before the ship came into view. It was huge, and there were many pirates at work, some of them distinctly not human. “Welcome aboard.” Red was dragged across the deck, where a few turned to stare at him. The captain brought him to someone with long golden-brown hair and bright green eyes, who was tinkering with something and looked up as they approached.
“Captain,” She greeted him with a nod, then glanced at Red curiously. He noticed she has slightly pointed ears. A half-elf.
“Mid, this is Red, make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.” The captain shoved him forward, and then he was gone.
“So,” The half-elf, Mid, watched him take in his surroundings. “What’d you do to get him to keep you?”
“What?” Red blinked, still a bit disoriented. “Oh– I just offered him information.”
Mid studied him skeptically. “Sure.” She stood up, sliding whatever she was tinkering with into her pocket. “Anyways, you do know how to work on a ship, right?” Red nodded. “Good, because Ash is probably going to want you to do most of the dirty work. All the stuff that no one wants to do.”
Red was about to nod, when his brain caught up with what he was hearing. “Wait, Ash?”
“Yeah, Captain Ashswag,” She gestured to the pirate captain, who was on the other side of the ship talking to someone. “Did he not introduce himself?”
Red shook his head. No, he did not introduce himself as Captain Ashswag, one of the most dangerous pirates alive, probably the most wanted person on the seas. That was a little fact that had not been mentioned, so now Red had been kidnapped by him, and forced to betray the entire Navy, to the Captain Ashswag.
What had he gotten himself into?