Violent candy

It was a bit strange to see her freak out like that. It wasn’t even that terrible, not a full meltdown, but still. Since the first time he met her, he had thought of her as someone who could take care of herself. Fearless. Maybe she just didn’t expect this to happen here. But there were monsters everywhere, not only in Vanaheim. Here the monsters were human though. Maybe that’s what had thrown her off in the first place. But his logic was flawless. His words made her think about the situation and clearly it convinced her in the end. “Ah, pass me a drink, then.” She gave in. With his signature smirk he grabbed the bottle, but his eyes trailed off to the body on the floor again.

”Let’s go outside though”, He suggested. He wandered through the door and looked around on the deck, that was cleaned up again. He instructed one of his crew to remove the body from his cabin as well. After that he walked up to the main mast. He grabbed one of the ropes and quickly tied a loop in it. He put his hand through it and then held on to the rope. ”Hold it like this and don’t let go”, He instructed, his tone amused. It was the fastest way to get up in the crow’s nest, as it would pull her all the way up with ease.

If there was one thing he had learned in his life as a pirate, he knew that violence was just a part of their day. He worshiped a God that encouraged violence, so it was no surprise that he reacted so casual about it. After the short but intense fight, he would just pick up where he had been interrupted earlier. It was no big deal. It happened, they handled it, time to move on. Celebrate that they both were still alive too. It didn’t take long for him to convince her to stay and drink some more, even though she had been reluctant to that idea earlier. Romeo didn’t take a no for an answer easily, and after she had denied him to join her on her little adventure, she wouldn’t get away a second time.

But maybe there was a place on board of this ship where she would be safer than here. The crow’s nest, high in the main mast. “What’s up with the rope?” She asked after following his instructions. ”Trust me, it’s fun”, He grinned, after which he pulled another knot loose so the system would get triggered. The way the ropes were tied to each other, made sure that her body was lifted up far enough so she would stop at the height of the crow’s nest. In the meantime he climbed up via the shrouds. He had climbed it a million times, so he reached the top quickly and safely. He lifted himself over the edge and sat down, his back leaning against the mast. ”What a view huh?” He remarked, pulling the bottle out of his pocket again and taking a sip from it before passing it to her.

When her body was kind of catapulted up, a high pitched scream was audible. It was funny how it almost faded away, sounding much more from a distance the higher she was. The crow’s nest was easily 10 meters up in the mast, which was quite high, but not as high as the mast itself. Hopefully she wasn’t scared of heights. He granted the sound she made to the fact that it had probably taken her by surprise. But he wouldn’t claim that it hadn’t been his intention. The first time it had scared him as well, but he had grown to enjoy it from time to time. But tonight he took the more standard way up, by climbing the net of ropes that connected the crow’s nest to the deck.

Once he got up there, he was greeted by a furious racoon. “Are you fucking crazy?!” She exclaimed. The young captain laughed loudly. ”I thought we had established that”, He chuckled. Satisfied with his actions, he sat down and took out the bottle again. After taking a sip, he passed it on to her. She gladly accepted. “Can you never, ever do something like that again?” She then said. ”I’m not making any promises. It was quite entertaining”, He admitted. One day she’d laugh with this too. Maybe not tomorrow just yet, but one day.

“It looks great,” She reacted to his words, and he failed to catch her lie. After taking another sip from the bottle he passed it on to her again and pointed at the cliffs to their left. ”Remember our great leader, the Duke of Rhoynar? That’s where he lives”, He said, indicating the castle that was built up there. ”What would he know about the life of his people down here in Brightwater Keep if he hides behind those big walls”, Romeo scoffed. He sure didn’t understand. Maybe Commander Raccoon could give him some insight on the matter.

Her comments didn’t change his emotions at all. Where he could kick off over jokes like hers when he was sober or when a stranger would tell them, he now only chuckled amused. Maybe it was the effect of the alcohol. Or maybe it was because he respected her in a certain way. It could be both as well. It could also change in a second, if she pushed it too far. But up until this point, she had never crossed his lines. “You’re an absolute asshole at times, you know that?” She said, and he shrugged lightly. ”I’m not denying that”, He said with his signature smirk around his lips. It was funny how she had made that conclusion while she had never seen his bad side. Not yet, at least not when she was on the other end of the gun. She probably heard stories or knew what his job sometimes required him to do. Not even half an hour ago he had proven how violent his life could be, and how he could handle himself in a fight. It didn’t take much to put together that it happened pretty often. So more often than not he was indeed an absolute asshole.

Even now, sitting here in the crow’s nest, he couldn’t contain himself. He had to insult the Duke, since his castle wasn’t really hard to miss from up here. He listened to her words, scoffing and rolling his eyes at them. ”This whole shit show is ran by cowards”, He huffed. He took a gulp out of the bottle and put it back in between them. ”That’s what I like about you. At least you know your people. Even outsiders. I mean, I wouldn’t sit here with the Duke. And besides, I wouldn’t want to either”, He said, shaking his head. He went quiet for a moment, before continuing. ”So you’ve met the Queen?” He asked, curious about her experience.

For some reason their conversation had taken a very political turn. He was not shy to share his, out loud. It had caused him some trouble in the past, but with Commander Raccoon here he didn’t fear she would have him locked away. Maybe if he insulted her in her rank, she would push him out of the crow’s nest, with a dagger between his ribs. But he didn’t plan on doing that. He also had no reason to. The Captain didn’t know much about the high ranks of Vanaheim, but she seemed like a good leader. One that was actually interested in the well-being of her people, and not caught up in a game for power.

”I don’t have patience to meet with leaders. They all speak in tongues and try to deceive you. That’s why I like being a pirate. If I want something, I take it. No need for boring conversations”, He shrugged. He doubted that he would be a good leader. A Captain, yes. But that was enough responsibility for him. He would probably do the exact same thing if he had been in the same situation as her, with the Queen. He laughed amused. ”How did she take the disrespect?” He asked. Hopefully it wouldn’t cause the war they were trying to avoid in the first place.

”I sometimes make exceptions”, He grinned back. She wasn’t even the only exception. His loyalty to Maverick hadn’t changed either since the other had taken over the position of Governor on the island of Sunfall. But he wasn’t the most typical leader either. A pirate turned smuggler turned governor. His career was interesting, to say the least. But his personality was still the same, and so was their bond. He would make sure to warn him in advance when he was starting to have a stick up his ass.

It was pretty clear Raccoon didn’t like meeting them either, but she had no other choice. So she had to deal with the Queen, even though she sounded like she would never respect her even a little bit. ”You better outlive me though. Or else I’ll come to your grave to rub in I’m a better survivor”, He said with a teasing tone in his voice, though his amber eyes expressed a certain sadness. It was hard for him to get attached to anyone, but he would sure feel the impact of her death, when the moment would come.

The Captain cocked his head slightly to the side and pulled up his brows when she spoke. An amused smile appeared around his lips. ”Careful now. It’s a long way down from here”, He replied. Not that he would actually push her out of the crow’s nest. It would make such a horrible mess on the deck, for starters. Also, he would have the entire population of Vanaheim chasing him to take revenge, as she had mentioned. They were apparently pretty fond of their Commander. Even though they didn’t live long. Twenty-five. If he wasn’t mistaking, he recently turned exactly that age. He couldn’t imagine himself dying. He still had so much things to do.

But no one chose when to die. The subject suddenly got a whole lot heavier as well. Did he fear death? No. He was just scared to die too soon. Without doing anything useful at all throughout his life. ”At least you have a purpose”, He commented. Couldn’t say the same about himself. It was a shabby attempt to cheer her up though. ”What’s that?” He asked when she mentioned the Conclave. He couldn’t say if he had ever heard of it before, but it didn’t sound completely strange either.

“Have you ever heard how a new Commander is chosen?” Nope. But he had a feeling he was about to hear it. So he kept quiet, pulled up his legs and leaned forward on them. His head was resting on his armes, turned towards her face while she was talking. For a moment, he thought about the things she had just shared. ”The one that survives”, He echoed softly. His eyes locked with hers. ”How do the others die?” He asked. He had a slight suspicion, but for some reason he wanted her to explain it to him.

It was her culture after all. It also meant she had participated in that same event when she had been a child too. It didn’t take much effort to figure that out. Whatever they had thrown her way, she had fought, and survived. Now he had even more respect for her and her rank. Romeo took the bottle again and took a few gulps from it. He needed some more liquor to process all this, of course.