Chapter Text
Alina cautiously wandered through the tight, crowded streets of Seadog, bumping passed strangers and trying not to make eye contact with anyone for too long. Not that they could feasibly be called ‘streets’ anyway. The shanty town was more a cramped series of confusing paths between buildings built of driftwood and old ships, barely held together by grit, spit and sheer willpower. Seadog was just one of many such open secrets hidden away in a sunny cove. Everyone, even the navies, knew about the shanty towns, it was just rarely worth the effort to do anything about them. There were usually too many pirates that could be beaten by a small fleet and even if there weren’t; two more such towns would just spring up in its place. This made them excellent discrete meeting places for pirates and meant it was extremely unlikely Alina would run into anyone she knew.
She’d dressed as best she could for the situation, if she’d worn her navy uniform she’d have found herself swiftly stabbed and left in a dark alley. So she acquired some old drab clothes and pulled a hood over her head. It seemed to do the trick, most people left her alone, except for a few enthusiastic salesmen selling ‘repurposed’ items. She just wandered passed without a word, she knew where she was going.
Ok, she was lost. She knew where she was going, just that getting there proved more difficult. She’d been walking all morning hoping to find their rendezvous and it was now early afternoon. She was getting anxious and would have to resort to... other measures.
The next time she wandered passed a friendly-enough looking merchant she stopped. As if smelling prey, he beelined straight for her. “Hello missy! You look the type that would enjoy some fresh fruit, fresher than a fish straight out the sea-”
Alina tried to get a word in. “Umm, no thank you. I’m just-”
“Finest fruits, dwarven produce. You wouldn’t believe the deal I made to get a hold of it.” He continued unperturbed, eager to make a sale. “But if that doesn’t suit you, I have liquors as well, make them myself from the fruits I don’t sell. Sweetest firewater you ever tasted.”
“Stop!” Alina said, using the tone she usually reserved for lazy sailors. It seemed to work as the merchant bit his tongue. “I’m just looking for directions. I need to find a pub, but I don’t know where in the hells I am right now.”
The merchant scratched his chin. “Well, I’m afraid I can’t really help, I’m much too busy selling my wares...” He held out a hand expectantly. With a sigh Alina pulled out a coin and planted it in his palm. “Oh, elven coin.”
”Is that ok?” Alina said, defensively.
“More than.” The merchant smiled as he shoved a large, bright-red fruit in her hand. “Don’t get elven coin much round here. Where you off to then?”
“I need to find the Kraken’s Leg.” Alina said, happy to make some headway.
“Which one?”
Alina wracked her brain. “Umm, the fourth one?”
“Ah yes, you want to go down there.” He said, pointing down a dark and relatively shady alley. “Then go left, left, left, straight on, then left again, just passed the Kraken’s Ninth Leg.”
“I see...” Alina was beginning to understand how she got so lost. “Thank you.”
“Thank you.” The merchant said, before turning away to harass another passer-by.
Alina stared at the strange fruit in her hand, it looked something like a cross between a pineapple and a ruby. She took a curious bite out of the thing and grimaced, tossing it on the ground as she trudged on.
To be fair to the merchant, his directions were spot on. Alina had followed the inexplicable streets and found the Kraken’s Ninth Leg, then just beyond that; the Fourth. Much like everything here in Seadog it was a haphazardly built shack, stuffed anywhere there might conceivably have been space. There were no windows to peer through, but it sounded busy inside. She pushed her way through the door.
Inside was as cramped as the streets outside. It was dank and smoky and every available bit of floorspace was packed with tables and pirates. Alina half expected everyone to spin around and stare at her, but no such thing happened. They all kept to their own conversations; undue curiosity was a sure-fire way to start trouble in a pirate town.
Glancing around the small establishment it didn’t take Alina long to spot what she was looking for. Along one wall there was a gang of pirates all squeezed into a booth and sitting tall above most of them was an orc. She would have stood out even if Alina didn’t know her, with her bright red coat and golden eyes The Dread Pirate Gaelug was hard to ignore, but regardless of what she looked like she just oozed confidence and piratey flair which naturally attracted attention. She was currently too busy laughing and drinking to notice Alina enter and walk up to the bar.
Squeezing between some pirates to get a space, she rapped on the woodwork hoping to get the attention of the bartender. When that didn’t work she pulled out a coin and knocked that on the bar top instead.
Within seconds someone appeared in front of her. “What’s ya wanna order?”
Alina jumped as she found herself staring into the face of an older human woman. She grinned with what teeth she had left, leaning close so she could hear over the crowd. Alina tried to look her in her good eye. “Have you got any whiskey?” The bartender looked at her as if she was crazy. “I’ll have a whiskey, but can you send it to that table over there?” Alina pointed over to where Gaelug was sat.
The bartender glanced at the packed table. “Which one’s it fer?”
Alina leaned closer to whisper “Gaelug.” But the bartender couldn’t hear her over the crowd, she tried again a bit louder. “The Dread Pirate.”
This the bartender heard, raising an eyebrow but electing not to say anything further as she took the coin off Alina. Alina didn’t watch as the bartender delivered the drink, keeping her eyes glued to the countertop. She waited, drumming her fingers against the wood.
She kept her hood up and pulled her cloak around herself, hoping to avoid any attention. Till she felt an arm wrap around her waist. “What’s a pretty little thing like you doing here, hm?”
Alina firmly took the hand from her hip and placed it against the bar. “Just looking to have a drink.”
“You sure?” The pirate said, leaning over the bar to get a look at Alina’s face under her hood. Gaelug had her usual arrogant grin plastered across her face.
“Quite sure.” Alina said with a smile. “I wouldn’t be caught dead cavorting with the likes of you.”
Gaelug bit her lip and nodded. She reached round Alina’s hip again to slip something in her pocket. “In case you change your mind.”
Gaelug walked back to her seat. Alina fumbled in her pocket, pulling out a room key.
No sooner had Gaelug walked through the room’s door then she was slammed back against it. Alina grabbed the orcish pirate by her collar and pulled her down into a deep passionate kiss. Together their hands roamed over one another’s body as they touched each other for the first time in months.
Gaelug hoisted Alina up carried her over to the bed, only breaking the kiss to drop her onto it.
“Oof.” Alina groaned; the bed was harder than she expected. “Careful, darling.”
“Sorry.” Gaelug replied meekly. Given their circumstance they never managed to book rooms in any fancy places, choosing exclusively to meet in unassuming, out-of-the-way dives. Gaelug shed her coat as she crawled onto the bed after Alina, pressing herself on top of her partner. Alina’s hands reached round to go under Gaelug’s shirt, lifting it up and over her head before tossing it to the ground leaving Gaelug with just her smallclothes. Getting a good look at her lover’s bare body she admired the muscles along her arms and stomach, running fingers up and down her strong back. Though Gaelug dwarfed her in practically every way she was incredibly gentle as she kissed into the crook of Alina’s neck.
The same could not be said for Alina as she hummed in pleasure before digging her nails into Gaelug’s back. “What was that for?” Gaelug said, half laughing.
“~That~ is for shooting at me last month. And this. ” She scratched again. “Is for standing me up in Lauseaux.”
Gaelug grabbed each of Alina’s hands and pinned them against the bed above her head. “You know I was detained. But what about after? I sat in a cold cell waiting for you to come, but you didn’t. I had to let myself out. Is it ok for you to stand me up, but not for me?”
Alina pulled her arms free in a show of power and cupped Gaelug’s chin in her hand. “That’s exactly right.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I’m sorry about Lauseaux, Ali.” Gaelug said as they lay together under the scratchy sheets. Alina hummed as she pressed soft kisses along Gaelug’s shoulder, following the line of her clavicle till she was looking up into her lover’s eyes.
“I know, I’m sorry too.” Alina said as she fiddled with pirate’s messy hair. “They invited me to this admiral’s summit there. I tried to get away but there was so much politicking someone would have surely noticed and got suspicious.”
“Sounds awful.”
“It was.” Alina grumbled, before sitting up suddenly. “Not that it was worse than being in a jail cell, of course.”
Gaelug laughed and patted Alina on the thigh. “I don’t know. I’d take a cold cell over a boring meeting any day.”
Together they laughed and held each other until they were interrupted by a knock at the door. The pair looked at one another expectantly, before each shaking their heads. Gaelug got out from under the covers, still mostly naked, she picked her sword up where it had been carelessly dropped on the floor and crept to the door. Alina watched her, bare and concerned, as the door was pulled open a cautious fraction.
Gaelug and whoever was at the door had an inaudible conversation. When she finally closed the door Gaelug turned around and began to immediately get dressed. Picking her bits off the floor where they’d left them. “We gotta go.”
“What’s the matter?” Alina said, getting out of bed to dress herself.
“Bar’s been commandeered. By Don’t-Call-Me-Shorty.”
“The Pirate Lord?” Alina said in disbelief. “What’s he doing here?”
Gaelug shrugged. “Wants a word with me, apparently.”
Alina knew there was more than Gaelug was letting on, but now wasn’t the time. “Should I just wait in the room then?”
“No. If I know Don’t-Call-Me-Shorty, you won’t want to be here when he and his crew are.” Gaelug looked Alina up and down, then began fiddling with her clothes.
“Hey!” Alina objected to suddenly being manhandled.
“You’ll never pass as a proper pirate like this, Ali.” Gaelug said unbuttoning Alina’s shirt.
Alina protested, grabbing Gaelug’s hands to stop her. “I’ve managed to make it through town well enough so far with no one bothering me.”
“Yeah, but this is Don’t-Call-Me-Shorty. He’ll sniff you out instantly if you don’t look the part.” Gaelug said, waiting for Alina to let go.
She did, she knew Gaelug was right. “Fine... He’s smarter than the average pirate I take it?”
“No, he’s just got a good nose.” Gaelug smiled to herself, Alina rolled her eyes. “But not really, he’s probably as stupid as any pirate. But you don’t get to be a pirate lord without instincts.” Alina lifted up her arms to allow Gaelug to tie up her shirt and gritted her teeth when Gaelug began to tear holes in her fine trousers. “He’s a ruthless little fucker though. There’s all kinds of pirates about, some are in it for the coin, some for the fun. Lots because they’ve got nowhere else to go... Don’t-Call-Me-Shorty's in it for the infamy, he lives for it.”
Alina had to smirk. “Oh, and you don’t? Miss ‘The Dread Pirate Gaelug’ doesn’t like infamy?”
“Of course I do, but it’s different kinds. I love the fame, you see, he loves the fear.” Gaelug took a step back to admire her work. “That should about do.”
Alina looked down at herself, feeling rather cold and exposed. “I really don’t feel comfortable like this, do I have to show this much skin?” She could feel Gaelug practically licking her lips and so crossed her arms over her chest. “Gaelug!”
Gaelug forcefully contained her grin. “This isn’t your navy, Ali, pirates aren’t known for modesty.”
Alina wasn’t happy, but she knew she was out of her depth here. They stepped up to the door as Gaelug’s donned her long crimson coat. “Why do you get to get away with it, then?”
There was a twinkle in Gaelug’s eye. “Because I’ve got the infamy. Before we meet him, I should give you a warning though; he really doesn't like being called Shorty.”
“I’d think that’s fairly obvious.” Alina scoffed.
“Yeah, so just be ready to run when I do.” Gaelug was enjoying this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back in the main room of the bar, it had been cleared out save for Don’t-Call-Me-Shorty and his crew. They had gathered round the largest table in the centre, everyone standing on one side with only their captain sitting at it. Well, not sitting. Being a gnome, the table was too tall for him to peer over if he sat, so he stood on a chair, arms crossed across his chest, watching Alina and Gaelug descend the stairs.
Fearsome was rarely a word associated with gnomes, but Alina could feel it aptly described the pirate known as Don’t-Call-Me-Shorty. His antics were known across the seas, and his reputation dwarfed even that of Gaelug’s. If she had taught Alina anything, it was that stories of pirates were rarely completely true and almost always embellished. But looking at the gnome, Alina could believe all of them to be true, he had enough scars for someone three times his size, though miraculously he still had both his eyes. The thing that really stood out was his dyed purple hair and matching sideburns.
He smiled at them, a golden glint amongst his teeth. “Have a seat, Gaelug.”
Gaelug nodded, but first she turned to Alina, speaking loudly so everyone could hear. “Well, it’s been fun, love, but I think you can go now.” Gaelug slapped her on the arse for emphasis, earning a silent glare from Alina.
“No.” Don’t-Call-Me-Shorty said sternly. “She can stay.” It wasn’t an offer.
Gaelug took a seat, a single chair had been left round this side of the table so Alina was forced to stand while Don’t-Call-Me-Shorty and his entire pirate crew crowded opposite them. If Gaelug was nervous, she didn’t show it. They waited while the bartender brought Don’t-Call-Me-Shorty a drink, what looked like strong whiskey.
“Been a while, don’t normally see your ugly face round this side of Seadog.” Gaelug started the conversation, if she didn’t, she might have seemed intimidated. “What’s happened? Burned down your last hole and decide to darken this one?”
Don’t-Call-Me-Shorty gave her another toothy golden grin. “Not quite, lass. Figured I’d see what The Dread Pirate saw in a place as inconspicuous as this.” He drained his glass in one gulp before wiping his mouth on a hairy arm. “Clearly it’s not the drink.”
“Hole’s a hole. But could be you’ve just got shit taste.” Gaelug laughed, hers was the only laughter but she laughed loud enough to fill the room.
If he was angry, Alina couldn’t tell, it was hard to read Don’t-Call-Me-Shorty's face. Besides the scars he permanently wore a wide grin, like a shark playing with its food. “Listen, kid, I been at this piracy game longer’n you’ve had teeth. I seen pirates like you before. Think you’re wise, think you’re smart. All end up the same after a knife in the belly, let me tell you. Now normally, I wouldn’t mind you being around. No threat to me, really. But see, I heard a nasty little rumour.” Gaelug shifted in her seat, placing a hand on the hilt of her sword.
“See, I had this map, old friend of mine gave me it. His last treasure.” The gnome melodramatically wiped a non-existent tear from one eye. “Snarled Scales, perhaps you’ve heard of him? We went way back, thick as thieves, till tragically he caught a knife in the belly and that was him done. 70 years of hoarding treasure, that old dragon did. But I had his map, the key to his treasure. I like to think he’d want me to have it. Till that map was spirited away one night about a month ago. But you wanna know that rumour I heard?”
Gaelug shrugged.
“I heard Old Snarled Scales used to have, in his employ, a young little orc. Sneaky Gaelug they called her. Could whisk away anything, then herself, as if by magic!” The gnome flourished his words with exaggerated movements, clearly having fun adding flair to the story. Alina had to wonder whether pirates were dramatic by nature.
Gaelug leaned back in her chair, hand still on her sword. Hers and Don’t-Call-Me-Shorty's eyes never shied away from one another. “Couldn’t have been me, don’t know a thing about magic.”
For a time, no one else dared even breathe, the only noise being made came from the streets outside the tavern. Don’t-Call-Me-Shorty chuckled softly. “Of course not. Plenty of orcs out there called Gaelug. Just thought I’d tell you a nice little story, because what else are old pirate’s for, besides teaching the younger generation.”
“Old lessons from an old pirate.” Gaelug stood up, her chair scratching against the floor. “So, unless you’ve got any actual wisdom, I’d like some fresh air. Beginning to smell like the Kraken’s arsehole in here.”
Gaelug walked up to the wall of pirates and glowered at them, Alina followed close behind.
“Let them through.” Don’t-Call-Me-Shorty allowed.
Ushering Alina through first, Gaelug opened the door and let her out before stopping to look back. “Good luck with the map, Shorty.”
The crowd of pirates parted way to give sight of where the pirate lord still stood on his chair. His response was less explosive than Alina had expected. He cracked his knuckles, cracked his neck and turned slowly. “Better get running, Gaelug.”
Through the winding streets of Seadog they ran, Don’t-Call-Me-Shorty's crew weren’t far behind by the sound of it. They went in what felt like circles so much Alina was beginning to feel dizzy. “Are you sure you know where we’re going?”
“Ali.” Gaelug panted lightly. “Have a bit of trust, if there’s piratey streets, I’m going to know-”
She stopped abruptly when she realised they’d hit a dead end.
“Oh, great sense of direction Gaelug!” Alina huffed. “What now?”
Gaelug through her hands up in frustration. “This is supposed to be a throughway! Who built this fucking hut here!” Listening out they heard a cacophony of pirates on the trail behind them. “Fuck!” Gaelug screamed and kicked at the wooden wall in frustration.
The hovel wobbled and Gaelug smiled. She kicked again, then kept kicking till, on the fifth boot, her foot went straight through the wall. With Alina’s help they tore open a hole wide enough to squeeze through. Gaelug clambered through first, glancing around the dimly lit little shanty house.
A group of goblins sat huddled in one corner, dice and cards in hand. “Oi!” One of them squeeled in anger.
“Oi yourself!” Gaelug yelled back, pointing a threatening finger at them. “This is supposed to be a throughway!”
Together the pair ran out the other end of the hovel. Alina kept pace, following Gaelug's lead. “He seems a bit obsessed with that map. I thought you said he didn’t care about money?”
“He doesn’t, he just cares that I’d dare steal from him.”
Soon enough they made it to port, spotting Gaelug’s ship; The tactfully named Dreadcruiser. They ran up the gangplank fast as they could. “Raise anchor, set sails, quick as you like, gang!” Gaelug yelled amongst the crew, those that were already on-board sort of shrugged and lazily got to work, till Gaelug stomped her foot hard enough to shake the entire ship. “NOW!”
That did it. Suddenly the ship was abuzz with activity pirates moving every which way, pulling up the gangplank, unfurling the sails while the anchor began to rise. Ducky, Gaelug’s halfling second in command, tugged on her captain’s coat to get her attention. “Uhh, cap’n I don’t think all the crews made it back on board, think some still might be in Seadog. Don’t you wanna wait for them?”
“I called him Shorty.” Gaelug said by way of explanation, grinning to herself, much to everyone else’s horror.
“Right you are, Cap’n.” Ducky gulped, then looked at Alina, who was hiding behind Gaelug and gave her a scrutinizing look. “Who’s her?”
“Uhh, tag along is all.” Gaelug said.
“Yeah, nice to meet ya, Tagalong they call me.” Gaelug cringed as Alina badly mimicked a pirate’s drawl.
Luckily Ducky didn’t seem to notice. “You got weird tastes, cap’n.”
“What do you mean?” Gaelug and Alina both said, Alina with no small amount of offense.
Ducky shrugged. “You don’t think she looks a bit like that elf what’s always after you?”
“What? Her? No. You think?” Gaelug made a show of eyeing up Alina, who looked less than enthused.
“Well, I suppose all elves looks a bit alike.” Ducky conceded. Alina breathed a sigh of relief. “Still, kinda weird cap’n. Dunno how I’d feel, imagining going off with my nemesis like that.”
“You don’t have a nemesis, Ducky.” Gaelug reminded her.
“Well yeah but, like, if I did.” Ducky mused to herself.
“You don’t think there’s a little bit of romance to the idea; a quick tumble with the other side?” This earned Gaelug an elbow in the side. She looked over at Alina who rolled her eyes while barely concealing a smile.
Ducky laughed. “There you go again, cap’n.”
The crew scrambled to get the ship moving fast as they could. Slowly they started drifting out of port under what little wind they had. Looking back they saw the wild gang of pirates stop at the edge of the docks. Pushing himself to the front Don’t-Call-Me-Shorty simply stood there chuckling to himself as he stared straight at Gaelug, it unnerved her somewhat but so long as he was there, they were safe and even more so once they made it out the cove of Seadog.
Spying the open seas just beyond everyone started to breathe in relief, though that was short-lived. The inviting sun glistening at them from the open sea had a shadow cast over it as a huge ship came into view, threatening to block their way out of the cove and bearing the taunting, grinning flag of Don’t-Call-Me-Shorty.
“How’d they get here so fast?” Alina heard one pirate cry out.
She turned to look at Gaelug who was still staring back to the dock. “The little bastard had this planned.” She muttered so only Alina could hear. Gaelug for once had a dour look on her face as she realised she’d been outsmarted, and by Don’t-Call-Me-Shorty of all pirates. “Row, scallywags!”
Wasting no time several pirates darted below decks. The ship lurched slightly as Gaelug walked up to the helm. The helmsman, a young, tiefling lad named Harkner, looked at her nervously. “We’ll crash into ‘em if we keep goin’ like this, cap’n.”
Without a word Gaelug shoved him out the way and took the helm herself. Keeping her eye on the horizon she steered towards what little space was being left between coast and ship. Instinctively Alina grabbed hold of a railing.
“Should we load the cannons or something, cap’n?” Ducky asked as she wandered up, biting her nails.
Gaelug simply shook her head. “Won’t help.” She pointed at Harkner who was just standing there, dumbstruck. “Turn the sails into the wind, we need as much speed as we can get. Ducky!” The halfling girl jumped while the lad ran off. “Tell everyone to row harder!”
Faster still Gaelug’s ship aimed for the open ocean, it was smaller by far than Don’t-Call-Me-Shorty's ship which was slowly blocking off more of the cove entrance. Ploughing on through the surf, Gaelug gritted her teeth, there was barely room left to make it. They could see the faces of the pirates on the other ship clearly now, as they turned from sadistic joy, to confusion, to suddenly fear as they realised Gaelug had no intention of stopping. But still they went on.
Alina shut her eyes, Ducky grabbed hold of the main mast and Gaelug braced her hands against the ship’s wheel as, at the last second, she turned into the other ship, crashing bow against bow with enough force to knock them out of the way. Bits of wood splintered off of each ship as members of both crews screamed and were flung about. But it was enough that Gaelug and her ship were able to push past and out into freedom.
After the initial shock, there was a pause, then a cheer went up through the ship. Pirates hugged each other in relief and Gaelug staggered back. “Wheels yours, lad.” She looked about. “Harkner?”
“Here cap’n!” She heard a meek reply and looked over to a pair of hands gripping over the edge of the ship. With one hand Gaelug yanked the boy back onto the deck. “Thanks cap’n...”
With a shining grin, Gaelug turned around. “Did you see that-” But she stopped as she realised something was wrong. “Has anyone seen Al-The elf?”
Dark waters surrounded Alina, her head spinning with the currents as she struggled to figure out which direction was up. The world and waters around her were a blur. She gasped as she tried and failed to suck in breath.
Quickly, sense returned to her and she clutched at her mouth. The world came into focus and she looked to the sun shining through the surface waves far above her. Refusing to give in to panic she pushed upwards with all her strength. As her lungs strained with the effort she saw a lifeline; a rope dropping into the water just above her and she gripped onto it for safety.
Up she was pulled, crashing out into the air, coughing and spluttering as she was pulled further up onto deck. “Thank- Thank- Thank... You.” She struggled to get the words out between coughs. There was an uneasy silence as she wiped water out of her eyes and looked around.
Unfamiliar faces looked down at her. “Don’t-Call-Me-Shorty wants a word with you.”