Celeste was stone-cold, balls-out crazy sometimes, and that was precisely why Isabela was friends with her. As she straight up dropped herself into the arms of the yelling crew below her, she whooped, and Isabela roared with laughter at the exasperated expressions of the crew. As for her? She grabbed a rope and jumped, swinging herself across the deck before spinning in a ball and landing in Gideon’s arms. He was clearly unimpressed to have been used as a landing mattress twice in quick succession, but any protest was cut off by a quick kiss. She sprang out of his arms and towards her own men.
“Alright, yer swabs! We’ve got a prize idiot on the way who thinks we’re easy pickin’s. We thought, rather than scare-sing them away, we’ll give them a nasty surprise. Mr Adams, Ms Molley, and Mr Szari, make like you’re just a bunch of happy, cheerful merchants!”
The three designated to decoy duty were good at it, and the three of them were quick to hide their weapons below various artfully designed pieces of clothing that would look a lot more expensive through a telescope than they did up close. The three of them stood together as though they were gossiping, while the others blended into the background as regular members of the crew.
The cabin girl on Celeste’s ship had been ordered below decks, and Isabela stepped back a little from anywhere that she might be seen. She was supposed to be notorious, after all, and if the rapidly nearing ship spotted her they might turn about and ruin the fun.
At the right moment, her crew reacted as though they’d just seen the ship heading for them, and a carefully arranged sort of chaos broke out. For all intents, it was as though the ‘merchant’ ships were trying to detangle from each other so they could flee, but were doing a disorganised job of it.
The other ship came at them quick, turning smoothly in the water as several grappling hooks were thrown their way. Good helmsman on them, which was about all could be said for it. From her hiding spot, Isabela tsked to Celeste. “Look at the state of them all!”
The ship was clearly in dire need of repairs, some of them fairly basic in nature, speaking of a crew that was either inept or – worse – simply didn’t care. And while a liberal coating of general grime was expected, quite often the sea took care of the job of giving you a wash now and again even if you didn’t bother to anything. These people were dedicatedly dirty. “Don’t bite. You might get the plague.”
“Merchants!” A man on the deck of the other ship had stepped forward. He was a large sort, and carried a sword in one hand and a crossbow in the either. He was grinning, which didn’t make for a pleasant sight at all. “My name is Captain Tarquin Urquhart Callow.” Three names, clearly a dick. Nobody good was ever called ‘Tarquin’. “No need to be afraid. Just hand over your valuables and we might not kill all of you.” He cackled. “Some might get to join our little pleasure boat! I like the look of you,” he added, directed at Kali.
Isabela could barely suppress her glee. This guy had it coming.
“Alright, yer swabs! We’ve got a prize idiot on the way who thinks we’re easy pickin’s. We thought, rather than scare-sing them away, we’ll give them a nasty surprise. Mr Adams, Ms Molley, and Mr Szari, make like you’re just a bunch of happy, cheerful merchants!”
The three designated to decoy duty were good at it, and the three of them were quick to hide their weapons below various artfully designed pieces of clothing that would look a lot more expensive through a telescope than they did up close. The three of them stood together as though they were gossiping, while the others blended into the background as regular members of the crew.
The cabin girl on Celeste’s ship had been ordered below decks, and Isabela stepped back a little from anywhere that she might be seen. She was supposed to be notorious, after all, and if the rapidly nearing ship spotted her they might turn about and ruin the fun.
At the right moment, her crew reacted as though they’d just seen the ship heading for them, and a carefully arranged sort of chaos broke out. For all intents, it was as though the ‘merchant’ ships were trying to detangle from each other so they could flee, but were doing a disorganised job of it.
The other ship came at them quick, turning smoothly in the water as several grappling hooks were thrown their way. Good helmsman on them, which was about all could be said for it. From her hiding spot, Isabela tsked to Celeste. “Look at the state of them all!”
The ship was clearly in dire need of repairs, some of them fairly basic in nature, speaking of a crew that was either inept or – worse – simply didn’t care. And while a liberal coating of general grime was expected, quite often the sea took care of the job of giving you a wash now and again even if you didn’t bother to anything. These people were dedicatedly dirty. “Don’t bite. You might get the plague.”
“Merchants!” A man on the deck of the other ship had stepped forward. He was a large sort, and carried a sword in one hand and a crossbow in the either. He was grinning, which didn’t make for a pleasant sight at all. “My name is Captain Tarquin Urquhart Callow.” Three names, clearly a dick. Nobody good was ever called ‘Tarquin’. “No need to be afraid. Just hand over your valuables and we might not kill all of you.” He cackled. “Some might get to join our little pleasure boat! I like the look of you,” he added, directed at Kali.
Isabela could barely suppress her glee. This guy had it coming.