Upon hearing Silver's cry, you stepped back anxiously and watched as everyone cheered and made their way to the weapons storage. You ducked behind a stair rail and watched through the gaps as someone broke through the door and held out solar rifles and laser guns in their four hands, emitting a cheer of triumph from the crew gathered in front. They clambered up the steps and crowded the stateroom door. It took you a moment to realise the map was inside and maybe Jim and maybe the Captain, Delbert, and Stygian. If so, they were trapped.
Your blood rushed heavily through your veins and your heart beat with trepidation. There has to be something you can do--anything. There's too many gathering by the door for you to charge and fight to give everyone inside more time to escape. In this matter of fight or flight, you'll have to flee.
"Jim..." The words went past your lips and were carried off with the wind.
He'll make it. If he's in there, then he's one among three brilliant minds. They will come up with a plan somehow.
You perked up as you thought og sonething. The only way for them was to go down and make their way to the longboats where they'll escape. You have to catch them before they leave.
Silver had pushed aside the crew impatiently and blasted the door open. You then dashed from your hiding spot and clambered down the steps of the crew's cabin and made a beeline for the engines. You felt your throat close up when you heard multiple footsteps far below you--through the hissing of gas and clangs of metal--and then much louder steps and ugly cries. As you turned a corner to a hallway, at the end of the hallway you saw the figures of Jim and Delbert zoom by. And in their pursuit were the pirates. You threw your bck against the wall as you waited for them to pass by you. The door to the longboats was just through this corner and straight ahead. Peering through, you saw the pirates have all gathered once again and banging on the metal door.
You were trapped. There's no way you'll make it to the longboats with Jim and the others and escape in time. The pirates will surely go after them since Jim has the map and use the last remaining longboat available. Then you'll really be trapped for sure.
The pirates managed to break down the door and barged in. Soon after you heard the Captain calling the pirates names and ammunition firing. There was a loud bang and then more firing. You don't know how long you waited, but you needed to get to Jim before they took off. Finally, you ran from the corner and ran through the hole in the door and took a split second to observe your surroundings.
The longboat in which Delbert, the Captain--and thankfully--Stygian were fleeing in was half falling as the platform was barely done opening beneath them. As you reached the catwalk, you saw Jim lunge just before the boat was pushed by the platform and fell to the sky.
"No!!" You cried out when you tripped on your feet and fell face first on the cold metal.
The platform was almost closed, but you caught a glimpse of their longboat sailing away. You scrambled to get up--determined to follow after them in the second longboat--but when you turned around, you were met with Silver as he stood on the other side of the catwalk.
For a moment, you were in shock. To believe this man had burned down Sarah's inn, and acted like it never happened and then played with her son's and your emotions, disheartened you. Your fists clenched and you let out angry tears as you stared at Silver with a lowered gaze. This man separated you from your loves ones and now he dares get in the way of reuniting with them again?
You pulled out your Berretta and pointed it in his direction. Your arm trembled the whole time you spoke. "Get. Out. Of my. Way."
Silver was standing awkwardly to one side and held a hand over his right thigh as if in pain. He had an expression on his face that was one of concern and something else. You noticed this and refused to fall for whatever he planned to say to you.
"I'm sorry, lassie," was all he said before firing something from his automail arm at you.
You didn't see anything when he fired, but it occurred to you as your vision went foggy, that his arm contained almost every common weapon imaginable--including a tranquilizer dart gun.
These were your thoughts before your Berretta clattered to the floor and the world around you seemed to shift as you slowly drifted out of consciousness.
* * * *
"Okay, everybody, just settle down while I go get your drinks."
The table you just waitered too cheered and began conversing with each other. The bar was usually packed in the late afternoons after many have finished work and wished to stop by for a drink and relax before heading on home. Many have been here since the morning--the jobless, usually, but many are also old men with no families. Over the years, you've come to recognize many of the customers and avoided those who you suspected were pirates. And many were. After all, The Dragon's Bar has one of the--if not, the best--beer in the whole planet. There were so many customers, and the owners made so much profit, that they had to build two more establishments in the whole planet.
You snaked past crowded tables full of men and their prostitutes on their knees and went behind the bar table and pulled out several wooden tankards. You placed them on two wooden platters and began filling each one by one with rum. After, you skillfully slid one platter with tankards filled to the brim with bubbling rum and carefully trekked through the floor until you found your table.
"Here ya go, fellas," you said with a plastic smile as you set the platters on the table. "Just holler if you need a refill."
"We know how it goes, lass," the creature closest to you said before and waited for the customers to each grab their own tankard before taking the platters and tucking them under your arm.
As per usual, you went back to refilling tankards and cleaning tables for the next customers--though the most fun was breaking up fights. Sure, it was a boring life, but after what happened to Flint and everything else, you couldn't be much happier. Plus, the pay here to be a simple barmaid was to die for.
You vividly remember your last visit to Treasure Planet. Upon Flint's orders, you cooked a meal fed with poison and fed the whole crew the last meal they'll ever eat. While on the planet, they began getting hallucinations and internal bleeding before dying immediately. Only you and Billy Bones, Flint's trustees, were allowed to live. You took Flint to the center of the planet where he took B.E.N's memory chip and sat firmly on a throne in the longboat with the last treasure he had stolen. He made sure it was a big ship.
He allowed you and Billy to take one small pouch of gold or a small jewel as payment for your work. Then you sealed him inside where he'll br watching over his treasure even after death.
As you and Billy sailed away on the Walrus, with the map in its chest you turned to him as he steered. "What happens to us now?"
Billy, being a hybrid of a tortoise, didn't look much older than fifteen years ago. He'll live for a hundred years longer if he took care of himself more. He didn't look at you as he said, "There's no 'we'. We ain't a crew anymore."
"How are we supposed to take care of the map, I mean?"
"We won't. I will. I'm Flint's first mate and we stick to our promises. He nay have given us the map, but only I will protect it. You can go on and live whatever normal life you wanted with your Kenway."
You stared wide-eyed at him. He didn't know that you regretted the years you haven't gone to see Edward. Rejection was something you feared but later you realized you never needed him. Besided, it was for the best since your curse allowed you to never age. It would seem unfair for him to grow old while you lived on as a young teenager. A terrible, terrible curse you never understood or dare question. You only know that after the battle of the Aynes you woke up in your cabin at Nassau with a fresh new feeling. It wasn't long until you realized your wounds would heal miraculously overnight and you would still look the same after five years.
You looked away so Billy wouldn't see the hurt look on your face. "That was a long time ago. He should have...a family and all that. I can never have that."
"Don't ye say that. Yer still young and you can have what he has too. Look at it like this, lass, you're free--a hundred percent now. You can do whatever you want now. But being a pirate is never the option. You're done with that life now, forever. If we stick together, we'll arouse suspicion about the map, understand? So, tell me, where'd ya wanna go off?"
You threw your arms up in frustration. "I don't know! I'm not familiar with the planets and their ecosystem. Nassau isn't an option. And I don't remember when I was born."
Billy hummed, a thoughtful look on his face. "I know a good place. It's just a galaxy away from Nassau. I can take you there."
"But what about you? Where will you go?"
He laughed a laugh that sounded more like wheezing. "I'm old, and I'll be living for decades more no thanks to my type of breed. I'm going to do my own thing somewhere else and take the map with me; sell the ship for money and buy me a nice home somewhere in the middle of nowhere."
"Sounds like a good plan." You were quiet, the next words made you nervous to speak because you knew he would laugh them. But you just don't want to be alone again. "Will I...will I ever see you again?"
Billy barked a scoff. "Why would you want to see an old reptile like me again? Hopefully never."
"You're...right. Its just...we were never close. I thought maybe we could just tell each other about how the map is. Not everyday of course. Just in case something bad ever happens to it?"
"Sounds good. I swear on me life it will be in safe hands. I'm always careful. Now, I'll drop you off at Eritrea--a good, peaceful planet, I swear on me life. Once you're there, you can start a new life."
You stepped away for a moment to think. A new start would be good for you. It's exactly what you need. "Alright. Drop me off there. But I need a ship first. Where can I find a good one?"
"That's the spirit!"
"I also trust you to watch over the map and I swear I'll live a normal life. I will live. You'll see."
Someone knocked into while you were cleaning a table, disrupting you from your thoughts. You shook your head to be rid of any dizziness and went back to work. It was getting late into the night and the bar was still full, but now there were some people who were beginning to get drunk and some who were asleep. Creatures began arguing over bets and were a breath away from getting into a fight. The band playing in the corner were playing a playful folk song and there were some drunks swaying to the music.
With a dishpan on your hip, you went over to a table with one sleeping man and pulled his empty tankard from his fingers and put it in the dishpan. Then the doors burst open. The band stopped playing and those who were sober raised their heads and looked at the spectacle.
A creature, one you recognized as Frank, who delivers the barrels of rum to the inn, had a limping figure in his arms. "Please...he needs help."
You left the dishpan on the table, arousing the man awake, and dashed towards Frank. "Couldn't you have taken him to the hospital?" As you got closer, you could see the creature's limbs were black and bloodied horrendously "Oh dear, God."
"We could have, but we just came from the docks," Frank explained.
The hospital was several blocks away from the inn, and even farther coming from the docks.
You raised your head to look at him. "Tha docks? What the hell happened that caused this?"
"I'll explain later. You have the gift of medicine, do you not? Can you help him?"
You looked down at the poor creature with blood soaked cloths wrapped messily around his head and at the black remains of his limbs. You took in a deep inhale and whirled around to face the curious crowd.
"What are you all staring at? Clear a damn table and someone go fetch the hospital!"
As soon as you spoke, creatures stood up and fumbled to get out of the way. You motioned for Frank to get the creature to a table in the center. With one sweep of your arm, you pushed all the objects on the table to the floor and then demanded a clean tablecloth to be placed in the table. Once that was done, you bundled up another table cloth and set it underneath the boy's head as Frank set him down.
"Amara, get my tool kit inside the kitchen. As well as a bucket of hot water and some clean cloths," you told one of the other barmaids.
As you waited, you tied a bandanna around your head and noticed all the curious looks. You raised your voice, "Everyone! The bar's closed now! Go back home and come back tomorrow." When hardly anyone moved you said, "Now! One free round for everyone tomorrow!" As soon as you said that, everyone shoved each other to get out. Amara returned with another barmaid, Gabrielle, with your toolkit and bundles of cloth.
"Where's that water that I asked for?"
"It'll be ready soon."
"I need it now. Can't you see this creature is dying?"
Amara gulped and went back to the kitchen for the water.
"What will you do?" Frank asked.
You sighed and then opened your toolkit and pulled out some cleaning alcohol and then some other tools.
"I'm going to save him. You go on home or help me by holding a poker over the fire. We'll need it as soon as it gets glowing."
"What for?"
You looked at him dead in the eye and said, "I'm going to cauterize any wounds."
Frank then left and went to the fireplace in the corner and lit up.
As you cleaned your tools, Amara returned with a bucket of steaming water and set it on a wooden stool beside you. During this entire time, you have been observing the creature before you. He was thin and scrawny, but tall since his legs reached past the table. He was a hybrid of a dog and human. His skin was the color of dust and covered in fuzz and he had a round patch of white on his stomach. His brown hair was in short waves that stuck to his forehead with sweat. You were facing his right side, where he took the most damage. His arm and leg were burnt bad, you feared he may have to live without them. Using a stethoscope, you searched for a heart beat. It was strong, an indication that this boy was fighting hard to live.
"I'm going to save you. I never did much of that before," you whispered to him.
Amara and Gabrielle exchanged congused glances.
Before fixing any wounds, you had to examine them first. You picked up your scissors and very carefully began cutting his clothing while the other barmaids removed them gently. Then you snipped at the bandage around his face and said to Frank behind you, "So tell me, Frank, what the hell happened?"
"An explosion. He was a part of some gang that stared it, I assume, since no one recognized him."
"What? Why would they do that?" You finished cutting and slowly began to peel the cloth away with your pincers.
"Like I said, he was a part of a gang. Had a bandanna tied to his arm with a sigil and everything. Who knows what trouble they're up to."
You were done peeling away and gasped. His right eye had a piece of metal stuck inside and the blood was drying around it. His ear, being already melted and sunk until it was nothing but a fleshy mound, would be irrepairable. His eye was bloody and you hissed in some air when you smelled burnt flesh and blood. On the other side of him, you heard Gabrielle gasp and cover her mouth. She's never seen wounds this bad before.
There was nothing you could do for his eye except remove it before it get infected. He was already showing symptoms of a fever, but first, you had to check for any minor cuts and damages.
"Clean the are around his eye and face gently. Then add a cool cloth on his forehead. We can't have that fever getting worse just yet."
While Amara set to work, you and Gabrielle cleaned the cuts in his chest, and once you were done, you focused on working on removing his eye.
The only other operations you've done on this bar was helping a man remove a piece of glass from his arm and deliver a litter of children of s former barmaid. The rest were just minor cuts and bruises.
"Frank, take a small break. I'll need that poker in a few."
"Is he going to be okay?"
"Maybe. He's going to lose both these limbs and his eye. But I knie can find replacements--maybe not for the eye, but still. On the bright side, if you're right about that gang thing, they might think of him being more cool because of his scars. What's the belief? Having scars show bravery?"
Your dry humor was not unnoticed but you were the only one who cracked a smile.
You pulled out a syringe with an antiseptic and stuck a little bit in above his eyelids. You heard him groan and his eye budge and you pulled out a small bottle and dripped some substance into a cloth and set it over his mouth and nose so he could breathe just a few whiffs. After a few minutes, his face went slack and his head rolled to the side.
You grimaced as you began to work on removing his eye. Your back began to ache and your head as well, but you kept going. Not once did you ever save a dying life before when working for him. You couldn't stop on some raided ships and heal people bc thats not what pirates do. But now you had a chance at it, and you're not going to fail.
After several hours, you removed the piece of metal and his eye and plopped them on an empty dishpan. To Frank, you asked for him to heat up the poker. Meanwhile, you looked at your two disheveled assistants who looked queasy and tired.
"Hold down his body. I'm going to cut them off."
Amara held down his shoulders and Gabrielle had the guts to hold down the decaying arm for you. You pulled out a saw and cleaned it, then gave the boy a few more whiffs of the sedative just in case he would awake. Hovering the saw over his shoulder first, you took a huff of breath before pushing your arm forward and began sawing slowly, so as not to create a bigger hemorrhage. You felt and heard bone crunching and muscle slicing, and the rancid smell of blood, but you refused to lose focus. Your face kept a permanent grimace the while time. Once you were done, you called for Frank as you placed the decaying arm on the dishpan nearby and hurriedly cleaned the dirt around the shoulder and pressed cloths to stop the bleeding. Already the boy looked as pale as the white patch on his stomach.
Frank handed you the red hot poker and you pressed it over the cut wound as blood seeped through the wound fast and boiled and stuck to the table. Flesh bubbled and popped and you knew well to cover your nose from the smell. You heard Amara retch but she kept a straight face as she covered her nose. When that was done, you waited for the flesh to cool before cleaning it and covering it with a roll of bandages.
"Now his knee. His thigh is burned, but it's nothing like his calf. Something sharp cut sliced through the leg and is now covered with what smells like gunpowder." You shook your head in disbelief at the boy before you. How could he be so foolish as to get himself into this kind of situation? He reminds you of yourself decades ago when you joined the Walrus.
Gabrielle held down his thigh while you did the same to his knee like you did to his arm. At least he wouldn't lose it entirely. Once you were done with the whole process, you finished bandaging it and rubbed it with a healing oil. You asked Frank to carry him to the couch on the wall and as he did, you slumped on a stool and wiped a glove-free hand over your sweaty forehead. Amara and Gabrielle were gathering the used cloths and the dirty bucket of water to dispose of it and later return to clean the rest of the table.
"Jeez, I hope after all that he will be thankful. If he weren't so young, I would not have felt bad for him. It's not everyday you see a young person with a missing limb or limbs."
Frank looked at you as he placed a blanket over the boy's body and dragged a stool to sit near him. "You really know your stuff, huh? Where'd you learn to do all this?"
"My father's library was packed with medical books. I was also a nurse somewhere else." For the past few years, you managed to fool everyone that you came from a wealthy family and grew bored of being a lady and ran away. And during your free time you read medicals books and worked as a nurse before moving here.
"Why not take a job at the hospital, then?" Frank asked.
"Cause the most injuries happen in bars. Plus the time it takes to get to the hospital is the time it takes me to pop an arm back in."
Frank grimaced at the thought of an arm popping from its socket then remembered the boy next to him and his expression saddened.
You leaned your head back on a table and closed your eyes for a few minutes. Then the boy began to stir and groan. You immediately stood from your stool and washed your hands thoroughly before fetching a cup of water for him and dripping a small dose of painkillers in it. When you came to the couch, his good eye closed tighter as he frowned. His left arm rose gently and tried to find his other arm. You placed a gentle hand to stop it and held it gently. He can't gind out yet.
"My...arm..."
So he was right handed. He didn't have his arm to rub his eye and tried to feel for it.
"Don't. You're in pain right now. You shouldn't be able to move," you said and pulled the blanket to cover his upper body more.
His eye opened and he looked at you with eyes the color of coal. You pressed the cup to his lips and he drank small sips while Amara appeared and dabbed a cool cloth on his forehead. He was quiet for a few minutes and seemed to be asleep but he roused once again.
"Where am I? Why can't I feel my arm and leg? Are they-?"
"It's the painkillers," you lied. "You hurt your leg and eye too, but you'll be okay, I promise."
The boy frowned and his eye widened. "Why can't I hear you well?"
You glanced at Amara and offered a small explanation to the boy. "There was...an explosion and...it damaged your ear."
"Am I going to be deaf?"
"A little, to that ear."
After a small moment of silence, the boy closed his eye and you saw a tear run down his cheek.
"Anything else I should know about? My injuries?"
"No," you said cooly. "But rest assured, you're in good hands right now. What's your name?"
His eye closed as he fought hard to remember his name. "It's...." His head lolled to the side and he became unconscious.
Frank stood up abruptly. "What just happened?"
You kept your eyes on the boy before looking at Frank. "Painkillers. I couldn't have him wake up knowing his limbs were gone yet or else it'll stress him out and cause some sort of panic attack. He needs to be better before he finds out."
"I see."
You sighed and rubbed your aching neck and looked at the clock on the wall. It was past midnight. You sucked the air in your teeth in annoyance. "Where is that goddamn doctor? Its been hours!"
* * * *
You gathered the plans wrapped in cloth and tucked them under your arm before snatching your satchel. It was time to visit the poor man who you had to remove his limbs before infection spread. He was taken to a hospital and recieved slightly better attention than you have given him while exhausted. He's been asleep for days, enough time to go on the drawing board and create something special you hope he'd like.
You opened the boy's hospital room door and paused in the doorway. He was awake and a nurse was leaning over him and checking his I.V. He was wearing a white blue spotted hospital down. Your eyebrows raised and you smiled wide for the first time in years.
"Oh my God! You're finally awake," you said and stepped right toward his bed.
He didn't respond but only looked over at you despairingly. His stumps and the right side of his face were wrapped in bandages. His eyes were droopy and seemed red from crying or the drugs.
The doctor told him yesterday that his limbs were gone in a soothing voice, but it didn't keep the man from bawling his eyes out all night. He told him while he was beginning to get the high effect from the drugs which caused him to become emotional and cry. The doctor clearly deserves a "Worst Doctor of the Year" award.
"I'm the one who..." you looked over at his stumps. "Who mended you up. You were in bad shape."
The man blinked and said nothing.
You smiled nervously and pulled out your rolled up plans. "I have something for you, but if you want to see them, you must tell me your name."
The nurse rose. "He hasn't said anything all day. He's in shock."
"You would be too, no?" You responded. The nurse narrowed his eyes at your tone. You pursed your lips. "Can I talk to him alone?"
The doctor nodded and closed the door before he left.
You sat at the edge of the bed and looked at his report file. It said he was in his early twenties and was not from this planet, but some where different. His name wasn't written down.
"So, do you have a family somewhere?" You asked.
Nothing.
You sighed. "Look. I have shed tears and I bled for this project I made for you. It will literally change your life. Er, for the better, I mean. I will show you if you just tell me who you are."
Nothing.
"Some of us know you were the one who set fire to those explosives at the docks. We won't rat in you, you know. We're a small town and we take care of our own, even strangers if you'd just return the favor."
The man closed his eye and inhaled. He seemed annoyed.
"Fine. I'll just show you."
You unrolled one paper and it showed the sketch and plan of a simple automail arm. "We can remodel it if you'd like. I have something for your leg and eye, too. It's pretty amazing, no?"
The man looked at the sketches and then at you. You smiled friendly, but that brought nothing from him.
After failed attempts to make him speak, you packed up your things and promised to return later, then he spoke.
"Can you add a gun or something to it?"
You looked at him. "Uh, Maybe. It would take longer to make. I just don't know if I can trust you with something like this. After what you did."
He looked at you. "I'm married, you know. And she knows what I do. We just needed the money to buy us what we need."
"Ah. And you resolved to get money through destroying goods and injuring innocents?"
"The explosion was accidental. We--I meant to grab a box and leave."
"You don't have to do it that way, you know. I....knew someone who did the same as you and nothing good came from it. They killed many and hurt those around her until they left her for good." A dark feeling cast over your body like a shadown.
"If I leave the gang, they'll...." His Adam's Apple bobbed in his throat and he leaned his head back to look at the cieling. He looked at you again with his ever-so innocent eye all red and shiny with tears. "If I tell you who I am, will you still make it? I need to earn their respect. I'll stop as soon as I make enough money. I'll get a decent job, I swear."
You pursed your lips and thought about it for a second. He reminded you so much of Edward. It would have been fifteen years after the battle of the Aynes before you would see Edward again after Flint died. you paid him a visit and he said he'd never resolve to pirating ever again to provide for his new family. You haven't cried about him in so long but now, your eyes watered and you pressed your palms to your eyes and wiped them away before they flooded. "Yes. If you keep your promise."
The man lay his head back on the pillow. "Thank you. My name is John--John Silver."
* * * *