Verse One:
“Kaito.”
“Yes, Len?”
“WHERE THE HECK ARE WE???” They – referring to the ragtag group of heroes consisting of Len, Kaito, Meiko, and Gakupo – had been lost for quite some time, struggling to find a ship that would take them to the Eastern Continent where they could hide out for a while. Why, you ask? Well, they had finally done it. They found Len’s sister, Rin, and were all ready to hide from the authorities chasing after them. But before they could do that, they needed to find a ship. Or at least a port town. Which they might have been in, but none of them could tell. Kaito was the one with the most traveling experience on the Western Continent, and he did say that he knew someone that would let them aboard their ship. Yes, that wasn’t a problem. The real problem was that Kaito couldn’t seem to recall where his supposed friend was making port next. If they couldn’t find a ship soon, the Dragon Cult along with the new empress Luka, could find them faster and kill them, take back Rin, and do who knows what else.
“Relax~! I know EXACTLY where we are!” Kaito smiled, his easy-going attitude usually helps the party’s spirits, but today, it didn’t really help Len’s. “She should be around here somewhere...” He scanned the horizon, looking up and down the tiny port – if you could indeed call it that. “Her ship isn’t exactly the largest one around, but it’s pretty noticeable.” He chuckled a bit. “But you’ll probably see her before her ship.”
“Why’s that?” Meiko asked, cocking her head.
“Easy. She’s loud, angry at me constantly, aggressive, speaks with a strange accent and ah, yes, she’s also a ginger-” Before he got another word in, a red shadow snatched Kaito, threw him to the ground, and pointed a very large cutlass at his now exposed neck.
“Call me a ginger again, ‘n I won’t hesitate t’ run this through yer neck.” The shadow spoke, but it wasn’t really a shadow anymore. It was more like a teenage girl – no more than eighteen – with bright red hair pulled back into a long ponytail, bangs hanging her face, a long black jacket with red trim, a tan tube-top shirt that exposed her much defined midriff, and black pants stuffed into heavy black boots with shining buckles.
“Everyone,” Kaito said, either not caring or not noticing the sword at his neck. “This is Dia. She’s the one I was telling you about.”
The girl – Dia – poked Kaito’s neck with the tip of her sword. “Yer as much of ‘n idiot as the last time I left ya.” She sheathed her sword and helped Kaito up. “Ya also forgot the rest’a my name too.” Her black eyes shone playfully as she lightly slapped him on the head. “Arencha gonna introduce me t’ yer friends?”
Introductions were made, and the party got the rest of Dia’s name along with some very helpful information. Kairiena Dia Anafel who typically goes by Dia was the notorious Flame Witch of the Sea; the title given to her because of her avid love of anything aflame (particularly any ship other than her own, aptly named Flame of Rebellion). Through some small talk, Kaito managed to bribe Dia into giving them passing to the Eastern Continent.
Of course, that was after she grudgingly agreed. “Fiiine!” She threw her hands in the air. “I’ll give y’all passing. But only, ‘n I mean ONLY if ya stay outta me ‘n my crew’s way ‘n pull yer own weight.”
“You finally managed to get yourself a crew?” Kaito commented, catching up to an ever-distancing and walking Dia.
“Yep. Finest group’a guys I’ve ever seen. They’re a bit strange, but I don’t give a fu-” Even at eighteen, she swore like a real sailor. “They do good work ‘n don’t complain. Also the sweetest boys I’ve met. They really look out fer me ‘n each other.”
“Ah, that’s good. I was really worried about you being on the sea alone, you know.”
“Yeah, right!” Kaito and Dia continued their idle chatter while the rest of the group talked amongst themselves. It seemed that everyone – other than Rin and Kaito – had a sort of suspicion about Dia. Len said that they shouldn’t be quick to trust her, especially because she’s a pirate, but Rin said that since Kaito trusted her, they should too. However, Gakupo came back saying that Kaito trusts everyone. Meiko stood up for Kaito a bit, saying that since Kaito was a traveling entertainer, he doesn’t fully trust anyone, but if he really trusts her, they should too. Of course, things kept going round and round the smaller group until Dia and Kaito suddenly stopped.
“’Ere we are!” Dia dramatically swept her hand to indicate her ship. “This is my most precious possession, the Flame of Rebellion!” It was a grand ship, painted mostly red, with any trimming in swirls of orange yellow. The sails were a bizarre blue hue, like the kind of hue only found in the very center of a flame. True to her profession, a flag with a skull and crossed swords motif was flying. She added an interesting customization to it though, and that change was that instead of a black background, it was blood red, and there were flames coming off the top of the skull and the tip of the swords that were black. Strange enough, there were no cannons or really any firearm in sight on the ship.
“Captain Dia!” A young male shouted from the deck. “You’re back!” Waving from the edge was a boy around fifteen with sandy hair, a slight tan most likely from being on deck all day and expressive baby blue eyes. He was wearing a green vest, tan cargo pants and sandals. A severely uncoordinated red bandanna kept his unruly bangs back.
“Yo, Mattie! Bring Nate up here, ASAP!” Dia called and then turned back to the main party once Mattie disappeared. “Well, ya jus’ met half’a my crew. That’s Matthias. He’s in charge’a anythin’ dealin’ with the ropes or the sails. Nathaniel, also known as Nate, he takes care’a anythin’ else ‘cept for the overall handlin’ of the ship and divvying up the catches. Those’re my jobs.”
“Captain.” A low, resonating voice came from behind Dia, scaring the heck out of Len, Rin and Gakupo (Kaito and Meiko saw him coming; Dia was presumably used to it).
“Oh, hey Nate.” Nate was at least two years Dia’s senior and had an overbearing quiet presence. He had short black hair, cat-like green eyes, and was dressed simply in black pants and boots, no shirt (not that the girls minded, he had very sculpted abs) and like Mattie, he also a red bandana, but it was tied around his left bicep.
Nate nodded toward Len’s group, but said nothing, and looked at Dia.
“Chill, we’re gonna take care'a them fer a while.” If people really could talk by just their eyes, Nate could. All he did was look at Dia to get her to answer another unsaid question. “Not fer very long. Jus’ ‘till we reach safer waters.”
“Really?” Mattie popped out of nowhere and wrapped his arms around Nate’s neck. “Safer waters? We haven’t been there in a while! Isn’t that right, Nate?” Nate nodded.
“What’s ‘safer waters’?” Meiko spoke up.
Glancing around, Dia motioned for everyone to get on the boat. “Later. This ai’nt a good place t’ talk ‘bout stuff like that.” Dia somehow managed to pry Mattie off of Nate. “’Nuff playin’ ‘round. Both’a ya. Ya need t’ start doin’ yer job. I pay ya guys, after all. ‘N ya know I pay better ‘n any other captain ‘round here. So get goin’.” Grumbling, Mattie and Nate jumped back onto the deck (a large feat, for the deck was rather high up) and began preparations to cast off. Dia rejoined Len and everyone else on the foredeck. There, she explained the Port Code they have. Being outlaws, they can’t openly voice where they’re going, because even though they can semi-trust the other pirates, if a civilian or even a broke pirate told the officials where they were going, she could lose not only her ship, reputation and more, but also her livelihood. After having a nasty run-in with authorities, they decided on some simple, commonly used phrases that they would use for various locations. For example, ‘safe waters’ referred to the Eastern Continent, where there were ports that were safe for pirates (and her) while ‘mad waters’ referred to the Western Continent that wasn’t safe for anyone.
After what seemed like an eternity, they cast off and begin their long journey toward home.
