Oren [On Hold][EDITING]

Chapter 1: The Beginning

Author's Note
Please be aware that some of the content in this book is adult material and may be sensitive to some readers. Enjoy, comment, vote!

The crow's nest was the best place to escape Kelpie when he wanted help with crew meals. Myles crouched, peeking over the side. Below, a few of his friends scrubbed the deck tirelessly. The heat was especially radical today, and Fat Tom had already passed out from heat exhaustion. It didn't take much physical activity for him to quickly tire, but even Myles had to admit that he had been feeling sluggish. He was accustomed to the heat. The sun was his constant companion, as you could tell by his golden complexion and bright blond locks. The saltwater gave his choppy hair a misshapen tussle, and the wind chapped his cheeks just below his eyes. He was lean and tall, and his muscles were tight under the strain of his arms when he climbed the mast.

His blackened toes curled when he saw Kelpie come waddling from the Captain's quarters. The ogre was a direct descendant from the Dratsaci indigenous people, or so he liked to boast. He was overweight and bald, and his forehead was speckled brown under his pale blue skin. He stepped side to side when he walked, wobbling under his weight, and he usually carried a long iron mace over his shoulder when he wasn't in the kitchen cooking. He could make delicacies from all across Oren and was also experienced to the foods from his home-land, though not many crew members were interested in that.

Myles watched the cook eye each crew member in search of him, walk over to a few groups of people, whisper something unintelligible, and then stomp back down below to the kitchens. Myles leaned back in the nest and sighed in relief, wiping sweat from his brow. He untied a bandanna from around his arm and fastened it about his head, pushing the hair from his eyes. He stretched out with a yawn and tucked his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. The salty air and the sound of rolling waves brought the young man into a tranquil place; it was a place full of concubines and ale and...

"You smell like you've been bathing in the bilge, boy," a voice said, suddenly bringing Myles to alert.

Freckles under a tumble of blonde hair stared back at him. Green eyes pierced his brown pools and for a second, he thought he was about to live his dream. But when he became fully roused he recognized those eyes and freckles and the tan skin and voice that accompanied them.

"Ah, Evie. I thought you were a whore for a second. Best not to sneak up on me like that in my sleep, or else I might have grabbed you and nestled between those breasts of yours." Myles pushed himself to his feet, and adjusted his bandana, flashing a smile and a wink.

The slender girl pulled herself up through the hatch and stood adjacent to him. "That would be, if you had a head to nestle. Kelpie told us if we find you then to send you straight to him so he can decapitate ya," she challenged, folding her arms across her chest.

The pair of them were close in age, though Evie seemed to be a few years older. Evie had been born on the ship, while Myles was discovered at the age of four, wandering hopeless in the hold. No one could figure out how he had stowed away on the vessel, but they adopted him nonetheless. They had handed him over to an orphanage on the mainland once, but he had been discovered aboard by the time they next left port. He was clever enough to make his way onto a ship without falling off the dock and being drowned in the swells of the ocean. And for that, he was useful. Since then, Myles had been taken into the care of the crew, particularly in interest of Kelpie, who sought after something of a squire. "More of a slave," Myles had jested once. Yet, as he had grown, Myles became a better pirate than half the crew. Captain Enigma was fond of the boy's talents as a plunderer and oftentimes relied on him for raids.

Nebula, who was Enigma's first mate, was an elemental elf, and was the closest thing Myles had had to a mother. She specialized in alchemy, and was usually at the foot of his bed when he was sick or injured. Nebula also raised Evie, since he could remember, and was very close to her as well. Their crew was similar to a family, though they could all not be any more different in race as well as appearance. And the most shocking of all, was their captain, an Eastern Satyr easily over 800 human years old, but looked as young and handsome as a royal.