AN: necessary 5k chapter warning
Theo was laid back during shoe shopping, only buying two pairs and taking the low price the vendor offered. The vendor she bought them from was a woman and Ava had a sneaking suspicion that Theo, notorious man fighter and skeptic, gave men a harder time when bargaining. Ava, as opposed to Theo, indulged in shoe shopping. She walked away having had 11 pairs of shoes delivered to the ship. Shoes proved to be Ava's forte and she needed no help spotting what shoes Morgana wanted. Whether the word was in common or not, Ava knew the name. All in all, she had spent 9 gold for herself and 7 for Morgana.
Clothes shopping was a large chunk of their day. All three of them spent hours perusing the dozens of stores that were around. Shirt stores, pants stores, dress stores, coat stores, stores with all of them in them, stores that only sold one color. Ava had always been stuck wearing traditional Northern Eloxian robes and garments and when she was allowed to buy her own clothes, she was strictly limited to dresses from two stores in town. She now had unlimited options and all the money in the world to spend.
By the time they had finished at the last store, the three of them had established a pattern. They would walk into a store and first, Xyra would let Ava know if Morgana needed anything from that store. If she did, Ava would ask the clerk for the items that were needed, pay, get the receipt, and then begin her own shopping. Ava would get lost in the clothes, grabbing too many to try on. She would pay for the clothes and hand them in to be handled for delivery. Xyra was less restrained with clothes than she was with other goods. Xyra was just as bad as Ava was, turning armfuls of clothes over to be delivered. There was a significant dent in both of their coin purses by the time they had finished all of their clothes shopping. A 139 gold coin dent.
So much for saving.
Ava couldn't help herself when it came to the sheer amount of gorgeous one of kind pieces sold in the shops of Niveal. Neither could Xyra. Theo, during this whole process, had been lost. When they would enter a store, Theo would get quite the royal treatment from the store employees or owners. She was always taken to the back where there was a rack of clothes specially picked for her just waiting there. Ava was already planning on seeing if she could read up on Theo but the reception Theo received from everyone just made her more interesting.
The final step in their established pattern was a fight. After Xyra and Ava had both finished and were waiting around a while, Xyra would march them to wherever Theo had been taken to hurry her up. It never failed. In every store they went to, Xyra had to drag Theo out of it to stop her from wasting the whole sun there. Ava found it funny, the little squabbles between them as they would walk out of stores. Here, people seemed to kiss the ground Theo walked on but Xyra refused to treat her any differently, they acted like the way siblings acted. Not that Ava's ever paid her that much attention.
By the time they finished clothes shopping, the sun was beginning to lower and they were starving. After some traditional street meat, they continued to shop. There wasn't much left on the list and Ava was glad, she did not know how much more her pockets could take. Xyra decided to take a break from shopping when she encountered someone she needed to talk to on the street. Ava and Theo took on the next few shops by themselves. First, a shop that sold hundreds of different materials that could be used to make medicinal remedies. Second, they shopped at a store that sold paper, journals, canvases, and ink pens. Then they visited a paint shop. Lastly, they visited a store that sold spices and rare ingredients.
Her time alone with Theo had proved to be interesting. She was less obnoxious, loud, and proud as she had been for most of the sun. Mostly because she did not need to buy anything and was just accompanying Ava to do what was on Morgana's list. When Ava asked for Theo's help in the first three shops, she proved to be of no use. Theo had said there was no point in showing her the list because she didn't know what was in the shops. Ava doubted that. If what she had was Morgana's usual list and Mor usually went shopping with Theo then Theo would have been to those shops dozens of times. She could have just peeked at the list to help. Instead, Ava had to show the list to the salesperson and ask for their help.
By the time they left the third shop, Ava had ended up getting frustrated with Theo. Now Ava regretted the laughter she had directed at Xyra earlier in the sun. Theo was being unhelpful when she could have made everything easier. It was so out of character for the captain. Ava had only spent a few cycles with her but Ava knew that Theo was kind and helpful. She always went out of her way to answer Ava's questions and comfort her. Theo didn't always have the answers but she loved to help. That is why her attitude made no sense. Ava understood Theo's need to be spoiled and unhelpful for a day but her behavior was out of sorts.
At the last shop, something shifted. Before they went in, Theo asked to see the list. She scanned it and kept it.
"Alright, I've got this," Theo offered with a smile and opened the door for Ava.
They walked in and approached the counter, Theo taking the lead with the conversation. The shop clerk and she engaged in familiar conversation for a while, as Theo had done at the previous shops before she got to business. Theo introduced Ava as a new pirate on her ship and Ava greeted the woman. Theo explained that Ava had been doing Morgana's shopping and needed some things. Theo looked at the list and read off several different ingredients and the shop clerk went to retrieve them.
The woman was attempting to carry too many things at once and was struggling to get back to the counter. She called out something in a language Ava didn't understand and Theo smoothly sprinted into action, hopping over the counter and helping the woman with the goods. Theo spoke with the woman in a different language as they carried the things back to the counter. Once it was set down, Theo took the long way around back to where Ava was. The shopkeeper and Ava finished the transaction and they promptly made their way out. Despite the help Theo had provided, the frustration with her was still there.
The more Ava thought about it, the more she began to think there was more to the situation than what she was seeing. She would have to figure it out. As they left the last shop, Xyra rejoined them.
"Ready for weapons?" Xyra asked.
"How convenient that you miss the four most boring shops and leave me to it just to come in time for weapons shopping," Theo theorized, "I'm accusing you of not even having an old acquaintance you needed to catch up with."
"I plead guilty," Xyra laughed, "You made it too easy. Everyone you know, I know. I don't know why you wouldn't have asked who I was meeting with. You didn't call my bluff and that is on you."
"Shopping day has got me distracted. I cannot believe I let that happen," Theo mumbled and Ava laughed. It served Theo right after being spoiled all day, Xyra deserved a break.
"No point in dwelling on your failures," Xyra shrugged, "we've got weapons to buy."
Ava was buzzing from the excitement. A weapons shop. When they entered the shop it was just as Ava had pictured. Weapons lined all four walls, mounted by weapon type. There were different kinds of accessories that were displayed on the shop floor. Sheaths, armor, training equipment, leather to customize weapon handles. She was one thousand percent going to walk out of that shop with all of the weapons she saw. Upon walking in, Theo made a beeline to two people sitting standing behind a counter.
"My favorite couple!" Theo exclaimed, "Well, my favorite koldi couple. I hope you don't mind the few nox couples I hold to a higher degree than you both."
There were a man and a woman behind the counter in the traditional Dove Island robes she had learned about while shopping. The man, tall with dark features and dark hair, stopped his conversation with the woman and turned around.
"The one and only Captain Theo," the man had a deep voice and an even deeper laugh.
They hugged and Theo patted his back.
"Lanvin," Theo said, stepping back, keeping her hand on his shoulder, "mate, you look good. How have you been doing?"
"Good, good" Lanvin responded with a smile.
"Am I invisible?" the woman that had been next to Lanvin asked.
"Of course not, Yera," Theo turned to her and pulled her into a long hug. The woman hugged Theo back and rubbed the captain's back.
"I know I'm never as dramatic as her with my entrance but that doesn't mean I don't deserve the same welcome," Xyra teased and walked over. She hugged both of them and then Theo motioned Ava over.
"This is Red," Theo introduced, "She's a new trainee on our ship, filling in for Mor today."
"Is Morgana okay?" Yera asked, concerned.
"Aye, now she is. She got injured and Tuni wanted to make sure she was fully recovered before walking about."
"Well, I'm sorry for having to meet you under these circumstances but it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Red," Yera extended her hand and shook Ava's.
"Hate to get right down to business but do you have it?" Theo asked, excitedly. She even tried to peek over the counter to see if she saw anything.
"We have it," Lanvin laughed and pushed at Theo's shoulders so she would stop leaning over the counter, "we close in an hour. How about you shop and once we close we'll talk."
"Good call," Theo said, "Alright. We'll look around."
Before Theo turned to go shop her heart out Xyra stopped her, "Remember our rules."
"We only buy what we can't get at the armory," they both repeated at the same time and Ava laughed at the pair.
Ava walked up to Yera and showed her the list, "So, I'm new to the whole violence and weapons thing. I'm not too sure what she needs. Can you take a look at the list?"
Yera took the list and then handed it back, "I'll be right back with those items."
Yera brought two different weapons back and laid them in front of Ava. Seeing them, Theo walked over. Yera pointed to the one on the left.
"This one is a mace," she explained to Ava then pointed to the right, "and this one is a flail."
Yera then jumped into the description of each of the weapons. Ava was thankful for the explanation, Yera didn't have to. Ava picked up the flail, which was a spiked ball on a chain dangling from a wooden handle. Theo grabbed the mace and slowly executed different combat moves.
"She can't buy a sword if it fucking killed her," Theo commented with a laugh and put the mace down.
"Can you blame her?" Ava held the flail and stared at it in awe. It was an amazing piece of equipment. She would have loved one too. Morgana didn't have to have all the fun.
"I want one," Ava said and put it on the counter.
"Fuck no," Theo said.
"That's not fair," Ava immediately protested, "I deserve a weapon. I am becoming a pirate now."
"Aye, you deserve a good weapon. Swords, not these monstrosities. Offensively they are good but they're shit on defense," Theo said and took Ava's hand and led her over to a section of the store with swords lining the wall.
"For you, I'd say a relatively lightweight blade would work best. What Morgana uses is heavy and mostly good against armor. She has a lot of force behind her hits so she can get away with using it in nonarmored fights. You and me? Not so much," Theo explained.
It made sense. Ava was skinny and there were not many muscles on her. Her dagger was already a little too heavy for her liking.
"What makes the swords any different for defense?" Ava asked and looked at the wall, eyes visually sorting through the different kinds of them.
"Swords aren't top heavy like blunt force weapons. Plus, you usually have a larger area to block hits with when it comes to having a sword and you've got handguards," Theo replied. She pulled aside the collar of her shirt, exposing a scar under her collarbone, "got that while fighting with a mace."
Ava saw the large scar and wondered how many more of them she had around her body. She stared at it until Theo covered it back up. Scars were cool to Ava, but the pain that preceded them was not something she wanted to deal with. A sword would have to replace the flail she wanted so badly. In front of her, there were so many options it was intimidating. Curved, short, long, heavy, light, double-edged, handguards, no handguards, there must have been a dozen different types of swords. She was so very interested in getting to know facts about every weapon, their advantages, disadvantages, how they were used, their best way to attack and defend. There were dozens of kinds of weapons littered around the store though and there was no way they could even get through a fraction of them.
"What do you recommend then?" Ava asked.
Theo's eyes glinted excitedly like she had been waiting for Ava to ask. She walked up to the wall and grabbed one of the swords.
"Are you allowed to do that?" Ava asked and Theo laughed.
"You still haven't learned, have you? I am Captain Theo," Theo put it plainly with a cheeky smile, "This one is the Greatsword. Give it a try."
Ava took the blade and practically dropped it on the spot. She managed to get a good grip on it but her wrist threatened to break clean off her hand. She handed it back without even trying it out. Theo laughed and put it back.
"That one was a joke," Theo was so proud of herself for her prank. She grabbed another sword off the wall and walked it over. This one was straight on one edge with a slight upturn toward the point. The second side was curved, almost like it had a belly, "Try this one. It's a falchion."
Ava grabbed it, the sword was much lighter and easier to hold. She felt badass with it in her hand. She had a desperate urge to slash and swing the sword about but refrained, given that they were indoors. She did hold it up though, to test the weight. It was nice, it looked nice too.
"It's interesting," Ava said, "Why is it curved?"
"It's a slashing sword," Theo answered, "all the other curved ones up there are too."
"Doesn't that put you at a disadvantage with armored combatants though?" Ava asked, surprising even herself with the question. She had just remembered a conversation her father had with another councilman when she was younger. They were arguing over what to equip a new Baethean unit with. She did not remember the swords they were arguing over but she remembers her father arguing against the slashing sword for those reasons.
"Aye," Theo was impressed, "but we don't typically fight armored combatants so most of us use curved swords."
"I see," Ava said. The curved swords did stand out to her more than the straight ones did. She handed the sword back and pointed to another one, "Which one is that?"
"Scimitar, like the falchion but not as good in my opinion," Theo said, "the one next to it is the sabre, then the dao, and after that one is the cutlass."
"What do people on the vanguard usually fight with?" Ava asked.
"Whatever their weapon of choice is," Theo explained.
"What would be best for me if I wanted to join it?" Ava asked, hoping that it would let Theo know that she was interested in joining.
Theo crossed her arms and lifted one brow at Ava, "I'm going to nip this vanguard talk in the bud. Let's get you instated as a pirate, trained in a position on the ship, have you get settled in, take the oath, and then we can begin to talk about a future in which you can begin training for the vanguard."
Ava was frustrated at Theo's answer. Morgana, the very leader of the vanguard, had been dropping hints of encouragement for Ava to start thinking about it. How could she think about it when the captain of the ship was dismissive every time it was brought up? Ava had figured it wouldn't have been easy to get on the vanguard but she hadn't imagined that she would be rejected outright. Theo didn't even guarantee or confirm she could train when she got voted in as a pirate, she simply said it was a conversation they would have.
"Which one would be best for me right now then?" Ava gave up her push for the vanguard.
"For your first sword, the cutlass," Theo said and grabbed it, "Your typical pirate and merchant weapon. Easy to use and easy to be trained in. A good way to step into the bigger ones that are harder to handle."
Ava took it from Theo. It was lighter as she held it in her hand and holding it made her feel like a pirate. She imagined herself in a nighttime raid, darkness, and chaos all around her, her weapon coming down on a fighter. She carefully moved it through the air in a slow downward slash. Theo chuckled and took a step back.
"I like the type of sword," Ava said, "but this one seems a bit..."
"Plain?" Theo finished for her, "Lacking embellishments?"
"Aye," Ava confirmed, "just feel like it's Niveal and this is my first sword so why not go a little fancier."
"You don't have to convince me. I'm always ready to spend money on unnecessary upgrades," Theo hopped on the wagon, "Anything on the wall catch your eye?"
Ava took her time looking through all of the options until she found the one she liked. The one she had was a simple silver all around, handle and handguard too. The handle was wrapped with plain brown leather, it was nice but she wanted the perfect first sword. It was a milestone purchase and she was going to make it worthwhile. The last one in the row of cutlasses was the one she liked most. It was a silver blade with a solid black handle and handguard, the handle had a thin layer of black leather wrapped around it. The way the creator worked the blade left it with several black streaks crackling up the side. It looked like lightning had struck the handle and it was spreading up the blade. Ava didn't see any other blade like it throughout the entire display. Ava walked up to it and grabbed it.
Theo whistled, "That's going to cost a small fortune."
Ava smiled, "Good thing I have one then."
"It's not you that is going to be buying it," Theo said matter-of-factly.
"What do you mean?" Ava asked, confused at what Theo was getting at.
"Scorned Woman pirates never buy their first weapons," Theo said, "We wrote it into the rules of the ship."
"This isn't my first weapon. I have a dagger and that was also gifted to me," Ava argued. It wasn't that she didn't want Theo to buy it for her, it was that she felt guilty for taking something she didn't deserve.
"You were not in the ship's service when you were given that dagger. This is your first weapon as a pirate," Theo countered, "Let me get you this and you can use the money you saved to buy a nice belt to hold it."
Ava wanted to protest but Theo was already taking the sword from her hand and walking to Lanvin with it. Ava sighed and walked over to where she saw some accessories she liked. She wasn't mad or annoyed at Theo, it felt kind of nice. When she first began to hang around Theo, she just figured that she was treated the same as every other member of the ship. In certain terms, she was. Theo was genuine, funny, and sweet with her whole crew. She made herself available to everyone as well, always making it a point to make time for her girls. However, no one else but Theo's close friends had so much uninterrupted free time with the captain. Where she once would have convinced herself that Theo was friendly and close to her whole crew, she now let herself relish in the fact that she had formed a bond with the captain. Further than that, she had started to form her own little network of friends, something she had always lacked.
She was so lost in her train of thought she almost missed her name being called. She looked around the shop and saw Xyra to her left.
"You've been staring at that belt for a few minutes now. It's not even 3 copper, have you run out of money?" Xyra asked.
"What? No," Ava laughed, "I was distracted."
Ava noticed the three weapons she was carrying in her hands, one of her large hands wrapped around two long sticks, each one with a different blade attached to the end. Her other hand held the Greatsword Ava could not pick up. Xyra seemed to hold the items with ease.
"Have you stuck to the rules?" Ava asked, three seemed like a lot.
"No," Xyra confessed, "technically, yes. Realistically, no."
"That was very honest of you," Ava pointed out.
Xyra laughed, "If you tell Theo I've broken the rules, I'll just deny it."
"My mouth is shut," Ava said.
"Very well. I reward people who aren't rats. I'll buy you that belt," Xyra chuckled. Ava took the belt and draped it around Xyra's shoulder.
While Xyra was paying for her items, Yera began to close the shop. There were no patrons besides them left so there was no one to kick out. Yera pulled the curtains closed and locked the door. Ava could only imagine what rare one of a kind weapon Theo had been excited to get her hands on. Lanvin pulled out a large wooden case, polished and with a gold latch holding it closed. He popped it open and revealed what was inside.
A large curved sword was sitting inside. Oddly enough, it had a hole carved into it near the tip. It looked menacing and way too much for Ava to handle. The hilt of the handle had a jewel set into the gold there, a blood-red jewel. The rest of the handle was black and the two metal protrusions that acted as a handguard were dipped in gold with red jewels lining it. Theo's mouth went slack and she took in a deep breath.
"When you wrote me and told me you had gotten it I wasn't sure I believed you," Theo said, amazed. It was the first time Ava had seen her act this way during their time shopping, impressed, and in awe. She made no move to grab the weapon like she would have normally done with any other item.
"We couldn't believe we had it for a while," Yera said, coming up behind the counter.
"As soon as we got word, it's all she talked about for so long. It never stopped. I promised if she made it to Niveal without another word about it I would take sailing duties for 10 suns," Xyra groaned, "I never thought it would happen."
"I never back down from a challenge," Theo said and then bent down further to examine it up close, "How the fuck did you find it?"
"Before we go on," Ava interrupted and then flushed red when everyone quieted and turned to her. She hadn't been expecting that, "What is it?"
They all stared at Ava. They had confused looks on their faces as if they were surprised she didn't know what the sword was on sight.
"This is the Bloodletter," Xyra filled Ava in, searching for an ounce of recognition, "belonged to Ironhand."
Ava shook her head.
"The greatest captain of all time," Theo tried, "Commanded the first successful pirate crew. Established Corinspe 200 lengths ago?"
Ava shrugged her shoulder and put her hands up as an apology for not knowing.
"Really? Nothing?" Xyra asked.
"Nothing," Ava confessed.
"Where did you find her?" Lanvin laughed a little.
"She had recently emerged from a cave when we picked her up," Theo nudged Ava to let her know she was kidding.
"This sword has been the object of your captain's obsession for close to half of a classification," Yera finally provided the context of their current situation.
Ava understood now. The large sword with gems on it was a huge deal to everyone but her. Once again, Ava was not only out of the loop but so far from it that the journey into the loop would have taken two lengths on foot. She would either have to act like she was in on it or come up with a good reason as to why she is in the dark about so much.
"How much is it worth?" Ava asked.
"Priceless," Theo said and for the first time, picked up the sword. She gripped it firmly in her hand.
"We trust you'll keep it safe," Yera said, seriousness taking over her tone.
"Aye," Theo said, "we will try to get it to Corinspe as fast as possible. Don't have this delivered. I will send some of my best women to come to pick it up.
"Can you trust them to bring it back?" Lanvin questioned.
"You know the type of ship I run, friend," Theo put plainly, "I regularly trust them with my life."
Theo carefully put the sword back in the case and let Lanvin put it behind the counter again. After confirming that they had everything they needed, they walked out. It was their last shop of the day and the sky was darkening with the beginnings of dusk. Ava wondered what they would do next. All the pirates seemed to have their own traditions in Niveal and she was never informed beforehand about what they would be doing. She just went with whatever the group was doing. They walked back the way they had come and trekked back to the city center. The market had been packed up and the square was empty but as they turned back down Stumbler's Row to head back to the ship, the crowds were prominent. They dodged and weaved through the crowd until coming to the base of the ramp to the ship.
"Just going to go change and then we can go out," Theo said to Xyra and then turned to Ava, "you wanna come out with us? Cooker is coming too."
"You're going out?" Ava asked after the long sun they had and the long night they had before had wiped her out.
"Aye, we have to make ourselves scarce while the deliveries come in," Theo explained, "There are a lot of things coming in and it's best to get out of the way."
"I'll go out. Do I have to change?" Ava asked and looked down at her outfit.
"No, just wait right here while I do," Theo smiled and then walked away.