Zane sat complacently with his legs crossed and hanging over the mast of the ship. The sun was high in the sky and reflecting off the sand almost blindingly. Moving one hand up to shield his eyes, Zane looked far out to the city of Zolorous. The city glossed for half a second before fading back into the dullness of its being, and turning his head, Zane looked back forwards again. He had only been sailing the sands of the Anarden Kingdom for a few days at most, but the winds were profitable and carried the lightweight ship through the sand at a breakneck pace. Nivar is not too far away now… and I can get all of this sold soon enough. Smirking to himself, Zane let his eyes drop to the deck of the ship as he almost seemed to see deeper into the hull where the precious cargo lay. It was stolen, of course, and yet there was still a high price to be paid for it. Moving his eyes back up again, Zane felt another smirk run through him.
Almost too suddenly, the winds seemed to take a sudden shift to the right causing young sand pirate to nearly fall straight off the ship. Leaning forwards and allowing himself to fall onto the deck, Zane landed and allowed his knees to bend so far that he could place his hand straight on the hull of the ship. Regaining his stance, Zane seized the steering wheel of the small ship and spun it trying to get the ship to once again resume course, and yet the ship continued towards Zolorous as if on its own expedition. Growling to himself, Zane shoved the steering wheel as hard as possible but to no avail. Finally swearing and then looking towards the city, Zane felt his head shake.
“Damn it,” he swore again less harshly than before. “I do not wanna end up with all those royal guards running around.”
Looking up to the masts that were bloated with air dragging the ship towards Zolorous, Zane felt his eyes narrow. There was nothing that he could do short of cutting the sales with the winds blowing as violently as they did. Finally crossing his arms, Zane closed his eyes and began to plan exactly how he was going to deal with this turn of events.
Time passed in the blink of an eye, and within only a few minutes, Zane was staring at the citadel of Zolorous that towered over the small houses and farms that surrounded it. The walls of the city were shorter than any of the other capital’s in the world, and yet they were still high enough that one would not be able to get over them easily. There were several entrances into the city, and one of them included a place to dock sand ships. Sighing to himself, Zane unwillingly came to the docking.
There were already several people waiting and ready to take the ship into the dock. Zane’s eyes narrowed as he looked upon the group, and with somewhat of a relaxed effort, Zane slid up the collar of his shirt around his face in order to accumulate somewhat of a mask. It was a dual effort both in the fact that it provided protection from the sand that had started to blow into the air but also for the fact that he would not have to directly face anyone in this way.
Those that took the ship didn’t seem the least bit wary of him but rather, they were more curious to see what he had brought in the ship that could possibly hold trade value. It was not an uncommon site in the day to see a one-manned ship dashing across the sands, and in truth, the smaller ships were often better for sand travel rather than the larger ones. However, there was always a distinction that there were larger ships in the sand armies of the four great kingdoms more or less birthed by pride and vanity. Zane felt his eyes half narrow a bit trying to think of a good enough excuse as to not allow anyone near his ship.
“Sir?” one of the men asked trying to approach the ship.
“I said don’t you dare get into my ship boy,” Zane snapped to the boy probably not much younger than he was who stood to move a few more inches towards Zane’s ship. The boy seemed to nod his head very quickly before bowing even lower. It was in that half second that Zane realized simple intimidation would keep most eyes away… perfect.
“Y-yes sir,” the boy said nervously.
“And, boy,” Zane said sharply causing the boy to jump up once again.
“Y-yes?” the boy asked breathing out lightly with his eyes shaking more or less from nervousness.
“When the winds change and blow out of the city, let me know,” Zane said after a moment.
“H-how, sir?” the boy asked back, and with that, Zane shot him a completely sharp but controlled look.
“By coming and finding me in the city,” Zane answered back. The boy’s eyes grew large, and in that moment, he nodded vigorously. Zane allowed a smirk to escape onto his face as he turned around once more.
Moving onto the wooden rises, Zane stepped out and looked towards the giant holes in the walls that more or less stood for entrances into the city. Shaking his head a moment, Zane couldn’t believe what he was about to do. No turning back now anyways…. The winds have decided my fate. What will this city hold for the greatest sand pirate alive?
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Ok I'll give everyone their guest poster status, and you can begin. Try finding an excuse to be in Zolorous maybe or something of the like.
