The Cursed Fleet: A Sea of Thieves Story

Chapter 9: The Merchant and the Madame

     The cool breeze blows through the caverns on Thieves Haven, as an unlikely pair of souls awoke from slumber inside the belly of a wrecked ship. One is a man, tall with wide shoulders, dressed in what used to be fine silks, with a large curled mustache covering his face, and long hair, neatly tied and kept. The other a woman, shorter, and very thin, wearing mere rags, and adorning the curse of an Order of Souls mystic.

     "How many days has it been Jackboot?" she asked

     "Hell if I know, I lost track after thirty-seven" replied the man.

     "Well, I'll be damned if I'll stay on this island much longer, I need to return to Plunder Outpost and finish my training, and truly embrace the title, I can hear them now, swearing me in to the order... 'Madame" Oranges..."

     "As far as I'm concerned, you're as much a mystic as the rest of them, now if you could spin some of that magic and get us off the miserable island, we'd be in great shape." Replied Jackboot. Formerly known as Jack Thomas, Jackboot was previously employed by the Merchant Alliance, only to be exiled for calling out his captain's greed. He believed the crew was entitled to more of a share than they were getting, and when trying to involve his crew, they reported him, resulting in his discharge.

     Shortly thereafter he met the mystic-in-training Madame Oranges, and requested to join her in her travels, as she trained with the Order of Souls. Over time, Oranges noticed Jack's love for fine boots, and nicknamed him Jackboot. Since then, the name stuck, and he's been known around the seas as Ol' Jackboot ever since.

     Just over a month ago their brig was ambushed just outside of Thieves Haven by a band of pirates. They were knocked unconscious and awoke washed up on the shore, with their ship nowhere to be seen, and nothing left in their possession, save for the clothes on their back, and the weapons in their holsters.

     "We should have tried to signal one of the ships from the other night." Said Jackboot.

     "Are you mad?!" shouted Oranges, "They were fighting each other, we'd be as good as dead."

     "At this point, I'd likely chance anything to get off this godforsaken island." He replied.

     "Well next time you see a pirate ship, be my guest and signal it down, see how that goes. In the meantime, I'll see what I can scrounge up around the island. Maybe we can repair a rowboat, and get off this damned rock."

     Oranges walked off towards a clearing in the cliffs, to find some planks. Jackboot stood up, and brushed the sand off his trousers, before climbing the wreckage of the ship, towards the top of the island. Once he reached the top, a smile grew upon his face. The sunrise over the island was breathtaking. Jack was raised in The Wilds, and had always heard of the beauty in The Ancient Isles, but it wasn't until his employment with The Merchant Alliance that he was able to witness it, and even then, it was only brief.

     "If I weren't stranded, this would be a damn good home..." he mumbled to himself. Just then he heard Oranges shouting to him from the beach below.

     "Pirates! The pirates have come back!" she shouted, running for cover. Jackboot looked up to see a blood-red ship with black sails billowed in the wind headed straight for the island. He hopped back onto the ladder that brought him to the top of the island, and slid down, then running to a nearby bush to hide. Oranges was lying in a bush, just across the water from him. As they settled in, something neither of them would have expected happened. The pirate ship sailed through the western opening of the island, and came to a stop in the middle. As she slowed to a stop, a rugged looking man with fiery red hair emerged from below deck with his cutlass drawn. The captain shouted from behind the helm to his crew.