Adrift-mxm

Chapter 1

"Fresh snapper! Sir, you surely can't pass up such a beautiful fish!"

He fidgeted, startled by the man's yell. There had been no reason to raise his voice... he was already stopped right in front of him.

Disgruntled, he continued to the next booth, but made sure to step back a few paces.

It didn't seem to matter. The next seller quickly chimed in, seeing his chance to make a sale.

"Our grouper is freshly caught just this morning! You can't get anything better than this!"

He really could get something better. It was called peace and quiet.

Licking his lips nervously, he hurried forward, mixing in with the bustling crowd as best he could. His leg was beginning to ache but he refused to limp. He already stood out enough to the local vampires being a werewolf. Even with the bracelet Vrasje had given him to warn vampires about trying anything with him, it wouldn't be able to trick their eyes.

Even with Vrasje's protection, an injured werewolf wasn't likely to be ignored.

Just find some fish and go.

Determined to get out of the busy area, he hurried up to another stall and, thankfully, wasn't yelled at.

"Hello sir, I don't have as much as my neighbors, but I caught all of these myself early this morning. Please have a look and let me know if you'd like anything," the tanned young lady in front of him said with a pleasant tone.

He nodded as he looked over the fish. They all looked fresh and weren't stacked up on top of each other like all the other booths.

They look good.

Now he just had to figure out the prices. They were labeled, but math wasn't exactly necessary out in the forest. He could count to ten, but he'd never used money before, let alone had to add up monetary amounts.

I shouldn't have been so stubborn and accepted an escort.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when a cold hand suddenly slid along his wrist until the money was no longer in his hand!

Turning his head to the right and the slightest bit up, he was about to demand his money back when his slightly parted lips slowly closed.

Pirate.

He'd seen them from afar several times when he was looking out over the sea on a hunt, but he never dared come close to the saltwater waves. He'd lost several of his old packmates to their curiosity. Kidnapped to foreign lands.

Now that he noticed, everyone that had previously been crowding the area had drifted away. There was only one person besides the man to his right that dared come close.

"Captain... he smells a little like that elder who's always trying to get ahold of you," the man behind them said, drawing his attention to him for the briefest moment before he returned it to the man still calmly standing beside him.

He knows elder Vrasje?

He also wasn't even trying to hide the fact that he was a pirate.

The man was wearing a weathered tricorne hat with a faded skull carved into the side and a dark, worn long-coat. His face was in need a decent shave considering the other males he'd seen around, and his hair was clearly just tossed up into a ponytail without much thought. Dark tendrils even hung down haphazardly. A few were gently being nudged by the wind in front of his left eye every so often.

He couldn't see much else without leaning forward, and he didn't dare. What did it matter what the man looked like, anyways?

"What would you like?" the man finally asked, his voice raspy, as if he'd had too many salted dishes recently and hurt his throat.