MEMENTO MORI ✶ our flag means death

⠀⠀⠀𝒊𝒊. aboard the revenge

⠀⠀⠀They found their spectacular entrance when the Spaniards had attacked their ship. Then, the Gentlemen Pirate had nearly died from a noose around his neck. Now, he recovered in his suite aboard the ship.

⠀⠀⠀Nikita, Blackbeard, and the rest of their small crew boarded the Revenge and waited for the Captain to wake up. Instead, Blackbeard stayed in the man's room. Izzy ordered the new crew around while Ivan and Fang pestered them from the sidelines.

⠀⠀⠀On the other hand, Nikita kept her distance from the new faces. She had climbed up the mast and perched on one of the beams not long after the Spaniards were dead. She watched the specs of people below her as they shuffled around, the tension between crews apparent.

⠀⠀⠀One after the other, Nikita noticed one of them stop in their sloppy version of cleaning. A pair of eyes would slowly follow the mast and then the beam she sat on before locking eyes. Her cold stare would hold their gaze, watching as they tried not to look intimidated, but hardly moments later, they were shooting their gaze away with pale fear. They acted as if she was a White Lady, haunting them for their devilish crimes.

⠀⠀⠀"Nikki!" Blackbeard's voice called up to her. She hadn't even noticed him come out on deck. The crew below tensed, pausing as they stared with worried yet awestruck expressions at the famed Blackbeard. "Come down and watch the clouds with me!"

⠀⠀⠀Nikita sighed in annoyance, appreciating her time alone. However, she did as he bid and fell backward, so she hung from the mast by her legs. While she took a moment to swing, she heard a strangled gasp behind her. Nikita turned to find the effeminate light-skinned man with dark hair and mutton chops staring at her with wide eyes. He blushed, embarrassed he had overreacted, before dashing away with a prance in his step.

⠀⠀⠀Nikita let out a chuckle before turning back to her father, crossing her arms over her chest while the blood rushed into her skull.

⠀⠀⠀"Shouldn't we be doing other things and not staring at clouds?" Nikita asked Blackbeard, raising a brow.

⠀⠀⠀"Now, Nikki, we have all the time in the world to do the boring stuff. We never look at clouds together anymore," Blackbeard whined, turning back to look at her with hopeful eyes.

⠀⠀⠀Nikita drew a blank expression across her face, watching as her father forced himself to grow teary. Then, finally, she rested her hands on the mast and flipped herself back to land on the deck.

⠀⠀⠀"Do you think cats shape-shift?" a voice asked behind her, trying to maintain a whisper, but Nikita and likely the rest of the crew could hear his worries.

⠀⠀⠀"I don't know, mate," a Swedish accent responded, a tremor of fear in his voice. "But you might be onto something."

⠀⠀⠀Nikita ignored the two. Izzy was right. They were imbeciles. She walked over to the front of the boat, standing beside her father as they stared at the beautiful landscape ahead of them. Blackbeard had a content smile on his lips as he watched the clouds swirl with one another and dance upon the horizon.

⠀⠀⠀Nikita tried to keep her gaze on the clouds, but it wasn't long until they dipped back to the sea. A ripple of blue and green within the waves while streaks of white cloud reflections highlighter the water. Nikita's constant, that had always been there, between the orphanage and now when her father's lunacy ran amuck.

⠀⠀⠀"What do you see?" Blackbeard asked, bending at his side so he could whisper the words to her.

⠀⠀⠀"The ocean, the sky, some clouds," Nikita said blandly.

⠀⠀⠀Blackbeard made a noise of indignation, snapping back to his full height, and shook his head.

⠀⠀⠀"Sometimes, I wonder if Izzy should've adopted you," Blackbeard cried, resting his hand over his heart. "Sometimes, you act just like him. No fun at all. I would've never taught my daughter to behave like this."