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starboy-acer · 9 months ago

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outlaw, traitor, exile [chapter 2: to the riptide pirates]

(WOAH... CHAPTER 2 UNDER THE BREAK... ALSO OLLIE IS IN THIS ONE FOR THE OLLIE LOVERS! AND MARSHAL JOHN/GILLION BROMANCE!)

A plank of oak wood crashed onto the side of Chip's ship. Jay Ferin began to walk towards the plank to cross over to the deck of the other ship. Her orange hair stood out against the dark background of the night sky behind her. It was put up into a high ponytail with two curly strands to frame her face. She wore the traditional Navy admiral getup with a golden eagle pin right beside all of her Navy pins and badges. Her hands were behind her back, but it was clear that she wasn't holding anything. She didn't have an aggressive demeanor, just an intimidating one. She was especially intimidating to Gillion. Even in the dead of night, she shined like the sun. Gillion, being a child of Lunadeyis aka the moon, was highly intimidated by Jay's aura. He was cold like a cozy autumn night where she was warm like a wildfire. He was blue and green where she was red and orange. He was Moon and water while she almost seemed to be blessed by Sun herself and had a fiery aura about her.

As she walked across the small plank, she held her head high and even. She didn't look at anyone on the ship. If she even saw anyone other than Chip, who was right in front of her, she didn't make it known. She didn't even speak as she slowly walked around Chip. She seemed to be analyzing everything about him from his dirty boots to his ruffled brown hair and red pirate hat. She finally made her way back in front of him and stopped. "Captain Black, I presume." She didn't phrase it as a question. It was a statement. She was saying 'This is Captain Black' instead of questioning whether or not he was. Her assertiveness sent a chill down Gillion's spine.

Gillion tried to get a bearing on his surroundings. He looked over to her ship. It looked empty except for one little figure who was cowering behind the mast of Jay's ship. He was small and appeared to be a child. 'A child on a navy ship?' Gillion thought. 'What is he doing there?'

His train of thought was interrupted by Chip finally speaking up. "The one and only! I assume you're..." He tapped his chin while he looked her over. "Admiral Jay Ferin? Youngest admiral in the entire navy and youngest of the Ferin line? Niece of Drey Ferin of The Black Rose Pirates? Sister of the late Ava Ferin, daughter of Admiral Jayson Ferin, and granddaughter of the one who started it all, Faye Ferin?" He smiled. Jay smirked very slightly, it was almost unnoticeable.

"You did your research. Nice job. I've done mine as well." Jay cleared her throat. "Captain Black, but that's not your real name. It's simply a title. Nobody knows your real name, however, I might could take a guess... Chip, is it not?" Again, she said this assertively. She wasn't asking for confirmation, she was telling Chip that was his name and she knew it. "Youngest pirate lord in all of Mana, leader of the revolution on the navy, captain of a nameless ship and crew, and a bounty of a little over 500,000 gold. You used to roll with The Black Rose Pirates before their mysterious disappearance and are the only publicly known survivor, as well as the youngest one. Your last venture was taking the Navy outpost on Zero for the people and you recruited a few ex-Navy, including Marshal John, afterward."

Chip's jaw fell open as she listed all of the info she knew about him. Barely anybody knew his real name. He kept it hidden to avoid people from his past tracking him, like a certain Captain Price who has made a name for himself lately. Jay then turned to Gillion. Her gaze felt like needles in his skin. He stood up straight and kept his hand on the hilt of his sword. "Curious thing. I don't know who you are. You're not a part of Black's crew."

"He showed up less than half an hour ago. I didn't manage to get much out of him before you showed up in all your glory, Ferin."

"Admiral Ferin to you, pirate." She shot back at him. She faced Gillion and took a few steps toward him. "What is your name, triton."

"Gillion Tidestrider. Champion of the Undersea, Hero of the Deep." He squeaked out.

"Champion of the Undersea?" Her head turned to the side. "You're lying."

"What?" Gillion's voice shook. "No, I am not!"

"Ah, you're that triton that stabbed my father a little while back. Were you not exiled?"

"How do you know that..."

"I am a Navy admiral. I know a lot about a lot. I also did a venture to the Undersea and heard rumors." She left it at that while Gillion shook like a wet dog. She turned back to Chip. "I assume that you know why I was sent here."

"To capture me?" He smiled. "Well, that's not gonna happen, sureshot. The closest you got was when you shot me dead in the arm at Zero."

"I'm quite literally standing on your ship right now."

"Yeah, and with no crew. Surely, you're smarter than that."

"I don't need a crew."

"Oh, please." He laughed. "Like my crew would let you just take me like that."

She looked past him to his crew. All of them were former Navy. They feared her. They knew what she would do if she captured them too. "Leave us be and I'll let you free from me. I won't guarantee your safety from other Navy members, however."

The crew all looked at each other and began to back up. Marshal John stood strong where he was. Chip looked back and smiled at him. "Two against one, sureshot."

"I've dealt with more all on my own." She took a few steps back and drew her gun faster than lightning. She fired off a shot at Marshal John.

Chip immediately used the small crowd of the crew running to the bottom deck to hide himself as he ran to the starboard side. He cut a rope that sent him flying up into the sails. Gillion's eyes tried to follow as he flew up, but he lost Chip almost immediately.

"I was told to bring you dead or alive. Make this difficult and I'll bring you in dead!" Jay yelled up into the sails as she ran across the railing. Marshal John held his shoulder as he took a few steps back. Gillion ran over to the big man and held his hand over the wound.

Marshal John immediately felt refreshed as the wound closed up. "What was that?" He asked.

"Uh, don't know. Just something I can do." John smiled at Gillion. "Dap me up, man!" He held out his hand. Gillion had no clue what that meant.

Chip ran across the top of the sail and spotted Jay. He grabbed a random rope and used it to drop down behind her. He swung his sword at her back, but she managed to move just enough that he only nicked her arm. "C'mon, Jay. You can't possibly want to be with Navy your whole life!" He swung again, and this time he grazed her cheek. Blood spilled down her face as she scowled. "Navy is my whole life, you bastard."

She jumped back a few feet and shot off at Chip. The bullet had just missed him. "The navy is corrupt! It's trying to control all of Mana and expand outward. I know that you can't possibly think that's fair!" He yelled out as he grabbed another rope and flew back up.

"So, you just-" Gillion said as he swiped his hand into John's and their hands closed into fists. He then pulled his hand away and smiled.

"YEAH! YOU GOT IT, MAN!" John laughed. "Sometimes, you can even change it up and like snap after or pull your bro into a hug!"

"Show me more of this... 'dap'" Gillion replied.

He didn't seem to notice the little boy inching closer and watching them quietly.

"FACE ME LIKE A MAN, BASTARD!" Jay yelled at Chip. This was now his third time flying into the sails to avoid being hit by Jay. Jay had cuts on her arms while Chip had a few grazes from bullets. One even managed to strike right into his arm, but he pried the bullet out and chugged a minor health potion. He watched as the wound glowed red and closed up. Jay took a moment to cast cure wounds on herself. Her cuts glowed a light blue as they healed over. She shook off the euphoric effect the spell gave and honed back into the battle.

"Just listen to me, Ferin! You don't want this life!" Chip said as he jumped back down in front of her, hands up in the air. "How can you be okay with this? You're just okay with the Navy taking over and restraining everyone? Are you okay with them imprisoning hundreds and having military control over all of Mana? You can't possibly be okay with that. I know that you've seen what the navy has done already, how scared the people of Zero were when they saw your ship pull into their dock. You can't possibly want people to be scared of you. Don't you want people to praise you, and love you? Don't you want to be revered as a hero who helped save people instead of a villain who only hurts?"

Jay's expression barely changed, but her eyes softened. She thought back to her days as a child, before training for the Navy. She thought back to standing beside her father while the Navy destroyed outlaw land. "This is what they deserve," he would say. "These criminals don't deserve the freedom we've given them after everything they've done." She can't even remember what those people had done. All she could remember were the screams and the fire. Her arms fell to her side. She felt all of her repressed emotions come to the surface. She had always known that the Navy was awful, of course she had, but it was her entire life. She had no idea what to do other than be in the Navy, and frankly, she was terrified of what her father would do. Her eyes began to burn. She hadn't cried in ages, it felt strange to do so. The last time she did, her father punished her for it.

"I don't want to hurt people." She muttered as she put away her gun and looked at Chip, tears streaming down her face, but she didn't even look like she was crying. "I only did it because I was scared of him."

"Your dad?" Jay nodded. She didn't know why she was opening up to this outlaw. There was something about him that gave her hope. When she first heard about what he was doing, her eyes lit up. She quickly repressed it, but she felt hopeful. She felt like there was a chance that there was an out, a way that the Navy could stop hurting people. To her, he was hope, and that comforted her.

"Stay with me then." He said, causing Jay to look up at him in shock. "Stay with me and help me liberate the people."

"You don't want me with you. What if my father finds out? I don't know what I would do if I had to face him."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. I need strong and capable people on my crew, and you're the strongest person I know just for admitting that you don't want to be Navy anymore."

Jay had never been called strong. Her father always said that she was capable or powerful, never strong. A warm feeling crept across her chest. Someone finally saw her for her strength and not just her status. Suddenly, nothing but dread and doubt crossed her mind. What if her father found out? Her grandmother? Her friends in the Navy? They'd all be so disappointed in her. On top of that, she would be hunted by those same people. Traitors never end up living when they get caught. She expressed these feelings to Chip and he nodded.

"Good thing you won't get caught then." He said with a smile. "You're the only person to have ever caught me and that's because I allowed you to. You'll be perfectly safe with me, I promise. Sure, those people will be disappointed in you, but do you really want their approval? Navy doesn't exactly have the best judgment."

Jay nodded. She agreed with him wholeheartedly, but she was still struck with fear. Chip could tell by her expression that she was second-guessing herself, so he walked up to her and threw his hand on her shoulder. "Jay, join my crew. Just say fuck it and do it. I'll make it worth your while."

"WOAH!" John yelled out and pointed behind Gillion. "There's a little boy there!"

Gillion spun around and spotted the boy. He was small with brown hair and big eyes. He hid behind a barrel and Gillion could tell he was shivering. He calmly approached the barrel. "Small boy, are you okay?"

The boy peeked out from behind the barrel and nodded slowly. "We won't hurt you! Don't worry!" John said as he followed behind Gillion. "Small boy, do you know how to dap?" Gillion asked.

The boy slowly shook his head. Gillion smiled. "Do you wish to learn?"

Jay and Chip walked back over to where John and Gillion were sitting to find the boy from Jay's ship sitting with them. They were all laughing and dapping each other up in various ways. At one point, John and Gillion dapped each other up and threw each other into their chests so hard that they bounced off each other, which caused the little boy to laugh. Eventually, Gillion spotted Chip and Jay walking up. "Oh, welcome back!" His eyes narrowed at Jay. "Are we like... cool with her now or do I need to pull out my sword?"

Chip laughed slightly before he replied. "Yeah, we're cool now. She's decided to leave the Navy."

"WELCOME TO THE TEAM!" John bellowed as he went to give Jay a high-five. She reluctantly high-fived him. "Feels good to leave the Navy, doesn't it?" Jay just quietly nodded.

Chip pointed to the boy. "Who is that?"

"This is Ollie! He says that he hid on Jay's ship during the fighting at Zero and then she left with him on it." Gillion replied as Ollie hid behind him, trying to get away from Jay.

"You kept a small boy on your ship instead of just taking him home?!" Chip questioned Jay.

"I had to stay on track. I couldn't turn around." She replied.

"She, uh, used me to like put up the sails and stuff..." Ollie replied from behind Gillion. "But I kinda had fun... I learned a lot about ships and pirates..."

Chip looked at the boy and then at Jay. The boy seemed a little scared of Jay but was warming up to John and Gillion. Chip decided to just shrug it off and worry about it later. "So, considering the rest of my crew is a bunch of cowards, I need a new one." He looked around at the four others on the deck. "I think this is a pretty solid crew here if you'll have me as your captain?"

They all looked at each other. Two ex-Navy, an exiled triton, and a little boy from Zero. To Chip, this was the start of something great. He didn't see their titles, he saw who they could be. He saw a large man with a passion like fire to cause real reform to Mana, a strong, independent woman who knows the Navy from the inside and out, a clueless, but dangerous triton with a big sword and an even bigger determination to find his destiny and rid the world of evil, and a small boy who could grow to help where he can. To others, this might be just some group of low lives with nothing better to do, but Chip saw their potential. He knew that this was the crew he would live with and die with.

"I believe that it is your DESTINY to be our captain, Chip!" Gillion smiled and John threw an arm around Chip. "I agree with Gill over here."

Chip looked to Jay. Jay looked around at everyone else. Despite her history, these people wanted her as part of their crew. They wanted her for her power, not her status. They didn't just see her as 'Navy Admiral Ferin'. They saw her as Jay Ferin.

"Whaddya say, sureshot? Ready to be a pirate?" Chip smiled and held his hand out. Jay hesitated before she nodded and shook his hand.

"Absolutely... Captain."

"Well, now that we have a crew, we need a name!" Chip said as he and John were repairing some of the damage to the deck from Jay's gun and Chip cutting ropes. Gillion and Jay were sitting against the door to the captain's quarters, getting to know each other. Gillion was easy to get along with and he understood where Jay was in her situation. Their situations weren't the exact same, but they were pretty similar. Jay perked up when Chip asked about a name. "Was there anything that the Navy would call me or my crew that you can remember?"

Jay thought about it for a moment. "Well, it wasn't the Navy, but I remember some people at Alport talking about how you 'rocking the waters' with your revolution and called your movement 'a rip current that was dragging people in'." She said with air quotes around the terms she had heard. Gillion nodded and Chip put his hand to his chin.

"A rip current... A wave..." He thought aloud.

"Would you like a water-themed name?" Gillion asked. Chip shrugged. "Gimme whatcha got, Gill."

"Riptide!" Gillion smiled. "It's another name for a rip current, just even cooler."

"Hm... Riptide... How about... Riptide Pirates?"

John threw his arm around Chip, almost knocking him over. "I second that name! I think it sounds sick!"

"Sick? Like ill? How does that apply to a word?" Gillion asked. John just laughed. "It's another word for cool, Gillion!"

Gillion's head turned slightly as he thought about the word. Jay interrupted his thought process. "I think Riptide Pirates is perfect."

Chip smiled brightly as he pulled out a bottle of liquor from a crate nearby. "To the Riptide Pirates!"

"To the Riptide Pirates!" Everyone else cheered in response.

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