Let's Play Pirates: Chapter 2

Chapter 2
The battle was somewhat short, with Kurissyma’s skyship as the obvious victor. Throughout, she offered a sort of commentary to the horrified twelve-year-old novice who served with a hanger by her side.
‘They’re relying on their mechanisms and devices- their technology- to keep them in the air,’ she said, ‘sabotage that and they fall like Lulu’s mood on Christmas Day.’
‘Lulu doesn’t like Christmas?’ asked Bessie, trying not to sound quite so repulsed as she knew she looked at the idea of killing.
‘Concentrate,’ Kurissyma snapped, ‘and don’t change the subject.’
‘No, captain!’
‘That’s good- now let me teach you how to hold that hanger.’
-
‘Your first battle, huh?’ said Masou, when it was over, shoving a pile of men’s clothing at Bessie, who looked down at it in horror.
‘Yes… am I supposed to wear this?’
Masou ignored her pointedly, ‘don’t worry about it- Lu cried all through her first battle.’
‘What Lulu?’ said Bessie, who, in spite of only being on the skyship for a few hours thus far, knew enough about Lulu to find this both shocking, and entirely amusing, ‘I mean… I wouldn’t have believed it of her.’
‘It was seventeen years ago,’ Masou laughed, ‘she was only six-years-old,’ he paused a moment before adding, almost proudly, ‘I was seven.’
Shifting the pile of clothing in her arms carefully, Bessie looked up, ‘Masou…’ she said wonderingly, ‘if I may, what is the difference between a witch and a fairy?’
‘What’s this?’ said Masou, ‘witches? Why?’
‘I was just wondering…’
‘Myeh!’ said Masou, shaking his head, ‘I hate seriousness! Go be serious with Xatu- Xatu! Get your butt over here!’
Silence… then one of the bulky men who had stormed Bessie’s cabin only a handful of hours before trudged over.
‘Xatu, my friend!’ said Masou brightly, ‘Lady El’beth is of a mind to know more about witches.’
‘Witches, huh?’ said the man called Xatu, sounding pained, ‘I know an awful lot about them- how much d’you already know, eh?’
‘Only that they are unnatural, evil creatures with powers that threaten to overthrow the Five Great Nations of Asheia.’
‘A typical response,’ laughed Masou, trying to find some humour in my words and only just succeeding, ‘you’re from New Canaar, right? Me and Lu lived there once- it was where we grew up.’
‘How did you come to be on the skyship?’ I asked curiously.
‘Captain Kuris, of course,’ said Masou, ‘don’t let what that grump tells you defer you- she’s as nice as anything, our captain, and Lu’s real tight with her, no matter what she says.’
‘But how-?’
‘Do you want to know about witches or not?’ asked Xatu, eyes hard.
‘I’m sorry,’ said Bessie, ‘yes, of course I do- there are just so many questions-’
‘I understand,’ said Xatu, ‘I was new once also. We’ve all been through it.’
‘Witches then,’ said Bessie, giving him her full attention.
‘Witches are what fairies become when they cast a curse- a harmful spell. Lulu, Masou and Cori- they’re all fairies, if they hurt anyone with their magic they’d turn into witches too. Witches… their hearts turn black and corrupt… even a good fairy, even if the curse was an accident- their witchblood boils over and they turn evil. It happens- they have to be stopped.’
‘But they live on a skyship- how can they not get their hands dirtied?’ asked Bessie, ‘I mean… the battle we just…’
‘They stick to keeping us in the air. Lulu especially doesn’t like battles,’ said Xatu, ‘or at least, that’s what Masou says, and nobody knows Lulu better than him. They’ve been together all their life.’
‘Must your go over our history, Xatu?’ asked Lulu, from where she now stood behind them both, not angry so much as exasperated, ‘I lived it once- and I’ll not live it again for all the fine silks in Thrace.’
‘I’m sorry, Miss Lulu, ‘won’t happen again.’
‘You all seem pretty friendly for pirates,’ said Bessie, ‘how can you bear to kill?’
Lulu seemed amused by this, ‘you’ll get used to it.’
‘You didn’t,’ said Masou, grinning unhelpfully.
‘I don’t count,’ said Lulu, as though this were obvious.
‘Because you’re a fairy?’ said Bessie.
Lulu raised an eyebrow, ‘because I’ve seen more blood shed than you’ve got in that puny body of yours,’ she said tonelessly.
‘Shouldn’t you be nice if you’re a fairy?’ asked Bessie nervously.
‘Lu’s not totally heartless,’ said Masou, slinging an arm around the fairy’s narrow shoulders.
Lulu shifted away and flicked her short dark hair out of her eyes, ‘gee, thanks, Masou.’
‘No problem, Lu!’ said Masou, apparently not hearing her sarcasm, or perhaps choosing to ignore it.
‘Ahem,’ said Lulu, shaking her head, ‘I don’t even see why you’re on this ship- so young and naïve! And a lady too! What use could you be to us! Xatu, you brought her on board- explain it to me.’
‘Couldn’t let Nik Hartfield’s li’l sister burn,’ said Xatu, shrugging as though it were that simple.
‘Ladies…’ Lulu snorted, ‘she’ll know nothing about anything we do here, mark my words.’
‘Heh!’ said Xatu, sounding amused, ‘what difference does it make? How many nobles have we got on board, guys?’
‘Orphaned,’ said Masou, shaking his head.
‘Same here,’ said Lulu sadly.
‘A slave,’ Xatu himself admitted. ‘Cori, right?’
‘Lady Collette Amelia Isaaru,’ said Cori, making a fake sick noise, ‘…formerly.’
‘Check this out,’ said Fern, grinning, ‘Master Fernando Edward Karroi.’
‘And our dear captain?’ said Xatu, grinning at Kuris who did not reply, deep in conversation with another woman on the port side.
‘Heh,’ said Fern, answering for his cousin, ‘that’d be Lady Kathryn Lenne Karroi- daughter of Sir Archemedes Yenke Karroi.’
Bessie knew the name; it was the man who owned the Slayer and the rest of the fleet… But all that is at the bottom of the ocean now, she thought forlornly.
‘She sunk her own father’s ship?’ she said instead.
‘Yep,’ said Fern proudly, ‘there ain’t anything my cous’ won’t do!’
‘You certainly don’t sound like a gentleman,’ Bessie pointed out, and Fern laughed.
‘Let me introduce you to the rest of the crew,’ said Cori happily, ‘we pick up odds and ends from all over the Five Great Nations!’ She took Bessie’s hand and dragged her along the length of the ship, pointing people out, ‘that there’s Morro-Chai, she’s seven-years-old next week, but her real name is Lady Marisa Lily Cheng of Thrace- we took down her papa’s airship last year. A speedy little worker, she is.’
‘Heya, Cori!’ said the little girl, ‘who’s the new ‘un?’
‘I’m Elizabeth,’ said Bessie.
‘Lady Bess,’ chuckled Fern, who had accompanied them while the others went back to work.
‘Nice ta meet ya!’ said Morro-Chai, holding out a small hand, which Bessie took slowly.
‘She’s great with mechanics,’ said Cori, ‘and she has a fair hand in carpentry- Kendo’s teaching her.’
‘Kendo?’ said Bessie.
‘I’m sorry,’ said Cori, grinning, ‘I mean Lord Reese Kendo Kenichi. Yo! Kendork! Get over here!’
‘Hey, Cori,’ said the man named Kendo, nodding companionably, ‘hey, new girl.’
‘Her name’s Bess,’ said Cori, ‘Bess this is Kendo.’
‘Good seeing you,’ said Kendo and he returned to his work.
‘Then there’s Mina,’ Cori went on, ‘but she’s busy patching up Kuris’ leg.’
‘The Captain was hurt?’
‘She puts on a good cover, huh?’ said Fern proudly, ‘that’s my cous’! Never let’s anything keep her down. But the stubborn old mule never asks for help when she needs it, so it’s good we’ve got Mina on board- she always seems to know these things.’
‘Uh-huh!’ said Cori, ‘she’s awesome. You’ll meet her later.’
‘What’chu doing?’ asked a small voice from behind.
‘There you are!’ said Cori, ‘Bess, this is the last member of the crew.’
‘Hero,’ said the boy, ‘at your service.’
‘He’s Lulu’s pet,’ said Fern jokingly.
‘Miss Lulu saved my life,’ said Hero, grinning, ‘that’s why I joined Lady Kuris’ ship- to pay it back.’
‘How did you all come to be here?’ asked Bessie, feeling a little overwhelmed.
‘Most of us joined of our own free will,’ said Fern.
‘I was threatened,’ Cori admitted.
‘Hmm?’
‘I was in school with her,’ she said, shrugging, ‘and I had some secrets- no big deal, except if they leaked out, of course. So I joined her.’
‘What was it?’
‘A couple of things,’ said Cori casually, ‘mostly that I was a fairy- no one else knew, see?’
‘Do witches have wings?’ asked Bessie, cocking her head to one side as she tried to imagine a black-clad witch with a tall hat, standing around a cauldron with a black cat- Oh no! Thought Bessie suddenly, cat! Where’s my kitty!
She opened her mouth to ask but, seeing the look on her face, an approaching girl smiled, ‘the cat’s downstairs,’ she said.
‘Who are you?’ asked Bessie, trying to recall if she was one of the people she had just been introduced to.
‘This is Mina, remember?’ said Cori, ‘we told you about her.’
‘The freak who knows how people are feeling,’ said Fern, laughing.
Mina threw him an annoyed glance but overlooked it, ‘Bess, right? Don’t answer- Kuris’ told me about you already. Nik’s brother, huh?’
Bessie nodded silently.
‘Nik and Xatu were the ones who got Kendo out of that horrid military place, they sent me with him, see? So I know. Nik was nice, I liked him.’
Bessie just nodded again.
‘She’s overwhelmed,’ said Mina, turning to the others, ‘I reckon you should show her to her room.’
-
‘Thank you,’ said Bessie slowly as Fern led her to her cabin a little while later, she paused, ‘everyone seems like really good friends around here.’
‘We go back,’ said Fern, shrugging, ‘the ship’s been running a good two years. Wanna hear the story?’
‘Yes,’ said Bessie, sitting down on her bunk and stroking the nameless kitten smilingly, ‘yes, alright.’
‘We’ve all got our own stories,’ said Fern, ‘but Kuris? She was a lady, I think I already said. Lady Kathryn Lenne Karroi- the Archemedes’ fleet you were sailing with- that was her father’s, he owns thousands of ships. Mostly merchant ships and slavers, though. Anyhow, two years ago, she got sick of the fuss and ran away from finishing school with Cori and Lulu. Lulu’d been sold as a slave to her and had to hide her wings but Kuris still knew. So she steals one of her father’s ships and Lulu and Cori manage to get it into the air. Now Lu, you gotta admire her devotion, she forced –and I mean forced- Kuris to find Masou for her- they’d been separated, see?’
Bessie nodded, grinning at his extravagant gestures and movements as he spoke, ‘are they married? Do pirates get married?’
‘Naw,’ said Fern, ‘I mean, they could if they wanted but it ain’t like that- if you’ll believe Lulu, that is.’
‘I’m sorry… it’s just… they seem to fit together, you know?’ Bessie didn’t know what she was saying; she just hoped it made sense and that she wasn’t offending anyone- least of all Lulu.
‘I know what you mean, no worries,’ said Fern, ‘in fact, me and Cori like to tease them about being so close- but they stick to their story- tight friends, no more. So I suppose that’s how it is.’
‘Yes,’ said Bessie, embarrassed, ‘please go on.’
‘The ship was flying easier with three fairies on board but they needed more crew, especially since Lulu, Masou and Cori aren’t allowed to use offensive magic, yeah? So they grab me on board and we attack a fleet of Takan ships- the battle went on for ages! All night! But guess who came out victorious? Our Skyship against, like, twelve airships! We won and picked up Kendo and Mina, who were pretty damn grateful to get away.’
Bessie had to smile at his boyish enthusiasm but instead of commenting she listened dutifully.
‘I can’t tell much ‘bout how Xatu came on- not sure if he’d want it,’ said Fern, suddenly unsure, ‘but Xatu has a twin, right? They’re both accepted on board… but… Xatu’s bro, Davus… he… had to… eh, Kuris killed him,’ he grimaced at the look on Bessie’s face, ‘don’t be like that! It was necessary! He was a witch.’
Bessie drew back in shock. Witches were evil and destructive… evil and destructive… that’s what she’d always been taught.
‘Now, Kuris wouldn’t have me say this- might damage her ego, you know- self importance and all that,’ said Fern, lowering his voice and laughing, ‘but when we took down this Thracean airship next and saw little six-year-old Morro-Chai falling… she got soft and picked her up. A couple of months later you turn up. Guess you must be pretty glad having Nik as a bro, yeah?’
‘Yes,’ said Bessie, ‘…but how do Xatu, Mina and Kendo know him?’
‘Eh…’ said Fern, ‘we’ve all got our back-stories. Some things are better left behind.’
Bessie furrowed her eyebrows in concentration but was soon distracted by a disgruntled mew as she dropped the boy’s garb Fern had given her earlier onto her unnamed kitten.
‘I guess I should be going then,’ said Fern, ‘if you need anything- don’t ask Kuris, she gets grumpy.’
Bessie stifled an amused giggle, ‘who should I ask?’
‘No one,’ said Fern, ‘you’ll be treated the same as us all and like it. Buuuuut if you’re ever feeling down,’ he winked, grinning, ‘Mina makes a mean chocolate tart.’
Bessie smiled, ‘I’ll remember that.’
‘But you didn’t hear it from me,’ said Fern and he winked again before leaving the room and shutting the door behind him.
‘You need a name,’ Bessie told the kitten forlornly, quickly forgetting about Fern, ‘how about Kitty?’
The cat seemed almost amused, yet disgusted at the same time.
‘No, you’re right,’ she said, nodding, ‘then how about Jolly Roger? If we’re going to be pirates, I mean. It’s tough and all…’
And so Jolly Roger the kitten became.
‘Well now that’s settled, Jolly Roger,’ said Bessie, putting the work clothes aside and getting into her bunk, ‘I guess I can talk to you properly.’
The kitten mewled and Bessie wondered light-heartedly if it was questioning her sanity.
‘I don’t know why I think I can trust these people, Jolly Roger,’ said Bessie, rolling onto her side and staring across the pillow at the cat, ‘maybe it’s because I’m not a prisoner and because they treat me like a friend… or maybe because it’s so exciting. I mean,’ she giggled, ‘there’s something to be said for people who go around knocking airships out of the sky for a living!’
‘Could you talk to yourself a little more quietly?’ asked a foggy voice, ‘some of us are trying to sleep.’
Bessie got out of bed and stood on her toes, peering at the top bunk, which she had thought to be unoccupied.
‘Stop staring at me and go to bed,’ said Lulu grumpily, ‘we’re headed down tomorrow and I need to rest up.’
‘Down? Back to the sea?’ said Bessie, surprised.
‘No, down to Hell,’ said Lulu sarcastically, ‘of course back to the sea- do you think we can land a boat in a city.’
‘Well it is a flying boat-’
‘Just go to sleep, okay?’
‘Yes, Lulu, of course,’ said Bessie, nodding determinedly.
‘Well?’ said Lulu, when she didn’t move.
‘Oh! Right! Yes! Now! Of course!’ said Bessie and she scrambled back into her bunk, ‘goodnight, Lulu!’
‘Night,’ said Lulu wearily and the lamp flickered out.