~Chapter 1~ “Well that was a doozie.” Sorva said with a wide smile as she plopped down on the sofa. “Agreed.” Furvo said bowing with a flourish. “Here you are.” He said dropping a huge bag down on the little table in front of Sorva. It tinkled with coins. “Wonderful.” She said, glancing up at the heated sounds of a game of cards coming from the table in the corner, occupied by Holly and Jack. “Yup.” Holly said absentmindedly as she focused on playing. “Always.” Jack said with a smile as he looked up. “I win!” Holly said as she shot a fist into the air. “You’re good,” Jack said. “I’m the best here.” She said using the table to boost herself out of her seat. “And super modest.” Furvo added winking. “Sarcasm Doesn’t look too good on you, Furvo.” Holly said, rolling her eyes. Suddenly Sorva sat up straight. “Whoa! Are you alright?” Jack said, sounding concerned. “Yeah I’m fine, I just thought of something important I had forgotten. Jack, I need you to go check on our prisoner, Holly and Furvo, find Rave and tell him to meet me at the docks.” “Where are you going at this hour?” Furvo asked. “I’m going to go look for someone.” She said, pulling on her coat. “Got it.” They said as they all jumped up to go about their various tasks.
“Thanks for meeting me here,” Sorva said addressing Rave. “Sure why not-” he started but cut off at Sorva’s “Shh!” She started to walk, the planks of wood creaking under her weight, then she remembered the reason she was out so late and sped up. “Pick up the pace sailor!” Sorva barked. Rave hurried along faster. They walked around port Tavir looking for the person Sorva had seen in the crowd last night. After a while Sorva’s legs started to get sore and she noticed it was starting to get dark, “It’ll be night soon we should head back.” As they walked back Rave started to chatter about nothing and Sorva just tuned him out and started thinking. “Aha!” She shouted jumping up. “I know! I’ll ask Bri!” She said referencing the short stocky women at the far end of the Tavir pier. They walked down the pier toward Bri. “Bri!” Sorva shouted, speeding up so much that Rave flapped his wings hard enough he caused a mini tornado. “Sorva.” Bri said with a smile. “how’ve you been?” She asked. “Sorry, no time for pleasantries. I have questions.” “What is it, dear?” “Do you know what happened at my circus last night?” “No, but please, tell me more.” She said with a sly grin “You know I like a good story.” “Last night when the circus started I looked upon the crowd.” She said in story mode. “And I saw the most awe-inspiring chase ever, the one running, a rabbit. The one chasing, a creature of untold graceful movements jumping and swirling over the crowd. The creature landed in front of the rabbit and apprehended the lout placing their foot on the rabbits back with the utmost gentility.” (IRL: Beckett slammed his foot down on lulu’s back knocking the breath out of her, but this was told from Sorva’s perspective so…) “Wow, that was a dramatic retelling.” Rave muttered to himself. “What was that?” Sorva asked sharply. “Nothing.” Rave mumbled. “Ok so what do you need to know, child?” Bri asked hoping against hope it wasn’t what she thought. “I need his name.” She said promptly oblivious to the whitening of Bri’s face. “U..um I don’t think that wise.” Bri spoke calmly but her face told another story. “Why not?” Sorva asked. “Because… because he’s a pirate.” Bri said hesitantly. “Ok, so what’s his name?” Sorva said, pushing. “Beckett.” She responded “Don’t you go looking for him.” She said in alarm. “Ok.” Sorva said slyly “If you want me to avoid him, but to make it easier to avoid him, why don’t you tell me where he usually is at this time of day?” “All right, fine.” Bri said in a conspiratorial whisper, “He goes most often to the Crusty Barnacle.” ~~{}~~ Sorva looked around the tavern, and spotted the stranger by the name of Beckett at the bar. He was at the counter sipping some amber liquid from a flagon. Sorva walked confidently over and sat down next to him. He glanced over at her, skeptical. “Whatever you’re selling, I don’t want it.” He said, looking at her brightly colored clothing with distaste. “Not selling,” she said in a chipper tone, “offering a job.” “Oh really? And what makes you think I would want to accept a position?” “Cause I’m offering.” She said hopefully, “and it pays well.” He raised an eyebrow. “A job that pays better than what I do now? Ha, I doubt it.” He said scathingly, taking another sip of his drink. Grumpy thought Sorva as she motioned to get the attention of the person behind the bar then motioned for a drink he nodded and went to work. Once done he slid it down the bar towards her. “you’re right I don’t pay as well as being a pirate does, but you’d have a more enjoyable job with me.” She said, taking a sip of her dark blue drink. “I enjoy my job just fine, thanks.” Beckett downed the rest of his drink and set his flagon down, flipping a coin over the counter to the bartender. He pushed his stool back and stood up. “It’s an intriguing offer, but I’m going to have to decline.” He turned to go. She saw a flash of something on his arm and smoothly intercepted him. “What’s that?” She asked curiously. “What’s what?” He said, instantly hiding his arm behind his back. “This.” She said, grabbing his arm and pulling it out from behind his back to examine it more closely. Beckett looked at her, his gaze calculating, as if he was considering what to tell her. Finally, he took a deep breath. “That’s… my curse.” He said, sighing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In collaboration with Previous chapter: Next chapter:
