"I'll miss my breath, there's no more left.
I'll miss the sound of the wind at my back.
The depths have a number, they call you by name.
Fall asleep, Davy Jones calls you.
So fall asleep, fall asleep and dream."
In Shallow Seas We Sail
Chapter One: Attracting Unwanted Attention
The weather in Bilgewater was as gloomy as it had ever been. Even months after the attack from the mysterious Black Mist from the Shadow Isles left the sky a deep grey. Seagulls were absent from the skies and fish became hard to come by. The sounds of hammers nailing shattered wood back together filled the air. Not surprisingly, the local tavern was the first thing to be repaired. Even in the harshest of times, this part of Bilgewater was the busiest.
Talon looked out to the restless waves through a dirty glass window, the constant churning of the salt water made him feel uneasy. Also, all the musky pirates in the tavern made him feel a bit nauseous. They smelled worse than the Noxian sewers he once lived in. The chatter in the tavern ranged from the absurdly high prices on the drinks to the mysterious disappearance of Captain Gangplank, the ruthless pirate that controlled Bilgewater with an iron fist. Rumors went around that he was killed by the Black Mist and others speculated that he used the attack on Bilgewater to flee from people after his head.
Without Gangplank here, pirates and thugs fought constantly. It became more dangerous than ever to walk around alone. Talon would have never chosen to come to Bilgewater on his own free will but he had to see to Katarina's safety. A recent raid on Katarina's ship left the redheaded woman with almost all of her goods stolen and nearly half of her crew dead. Katarina had no other option but to have her brother as a bodyguard. He was the only person she trusted— and she also paid in advance for his service.
Talon glanced from the dirt-spotted window to the seat beside him with a hard, unmoving glare as he looked at his sister. She stared blankly into her rum as she swirled it in her glass. Katarina would subconsciously put her hand in her pocket every so often and sigh. As she moved her hand away from her pocket, Talon could see the outline of the item— a small key. What it was for, Talon had no clue. He only had a few guesses: one, her jewelry box. When they were much younger, their sister Cassiopeia, would always borrow Katarina's jewelry without asking. The redhead started locking it when it was almost empty. Two, she was holding someone hostage somewhere far away. The Du Couteau women were known to keep awful grudges.
"You never told me what that key belonged to." Talon said as he looked up from the key to Katarina. The redhead's eyes blinked as she snapped out of her thoughts and she turned to her brother. Seeing his eyes point down to her pocket, Katarina quickly covered the outline with her palm.
"It's nothing," she growled while turning to take a gulp of her rum. Katarina looked over to Talon's half-full glass, "I didn't buy that for you to waste it."
"Rum is too sweet for my liking. Besides how am I supposed to keep my big sister safe if I'm buzzed?" Talon teased Katarina while pinching her cheek. The irritated redhead swatted his hand away as she groaned.
"Get used to the taste. We are shipping barrels of it to a Noxian port in Ionia. Speaking of which, we should be leaving soon." Katarina mumbled and chugging down the rest of her sweet rum.
"I don't understand, why you are doing all of these peculiar deliveries? Wasn't your last shipment rice?" Talon asked as he looked down at the golden-brown drink in his mug. Katarina slammed the thick glass and the countertop and sighed contently. She chuckled as she wiped the corners of her mouth with her sleeve.
"Ah, that hit the spot. Maybe I should grab another?" The redhead asked herself while looking down the bar for the man serving drinks to other patrons.
"Katarina!" Talon growled.
"What?" She swung back around with a hard glare.
"Nevermind. Go ahead and order another drink." The assassin waved his hand to dismiss his thought. "Besides you talk more when you're drunk." Talon snickered under his breath.
"We don't have the time." Katarina said as she pushed herself up from the bar stool. She paused when she heard whispering behind her and she turned to the front entrance. The bell above the door rang when a trio of pirates walked into the tavern. The redhead quickly sat down and grabbed Talon's unfinished drink. Both of her hands stayed clawed to the bar's counter. The assassin looked at his sister and back up to the trio, who sat down on the farthest corner of the bar. The bartender hurried over to them and started to grab mugs. His shaky body language indicated that these three particular people were either very important or very feared. Talon assumed the the second.
"What can I get for you and your crew, Captain Fortune?" He asked while grabbing the rag on his belt to clean the rim of the cup. Talon watched as the woman who the bartender addressed poke up her large hat with her finger. Her full red lips curved into a flirtatious grin. She folded her arms casually on the bar counter while giggling.
"The usual for me, darling. You know I have a ship to steer. Whatever they order is on me." Captain Fortune's slim hand gestured to her two crew members that sat on either side of her. Talon couldn't take his eyes off of the large shark-like creature that surveyed the bottles behind the bartender. He picked his jagged teeth with his claws while he thought.
"A glass of your strongest whiskey for me." The shark man said. The bartender nodded and turned his attention to the smaller blonde woman on the left of Captain Fortune who was hidden behind a bar menu.
"Nothing for me, thanks, but do you have any fish for Valor?" The woman asked as she quickly dropped the bar menu and pointed up to the large parrot on her shoulder. Talon noticed that both she and the bird both had similar eye patches. He also noticed that the woman's body was overshadowed by her curvaceous captain beside her. However, he couldn't deny she was just as beautiful. The girl's blonde hair had streaks of orange and was held together with a studded band. Her jacket was thick and odd-looking to Talon. Was that… shark skin? A golden quiver was strapped to her back— the assassin assumed she was a marksman of some sort. But her face… he couldn't look away.
"Uh, we have some chum we sell to fishermen somewhere in the back. Will that do?" The bartender asked nervously with a small shrug.
"Val?" The blonde woman asked the parrot. The bird simply chirped and the woman scratched him under his chin, "Yes, that will do just fine."
"Oh, I change my mind. Bring me some chum as well!" The shark man said eagerly as he slammed his scaly fist on the bar.
"Sounds great. Please give me a moment to fetch your orders." The bartender bowed slightly and made his way to the swinging doors that lead to the back. Talon watched as the trio chatted amongst themselves before his shoulder was yanked down by Katarina.
"Stop staring, you idiot! You'll attract unwanted attention!" She whispered before shoving his shoulder away. Talon noticed Fortune's eyes shoot over at them, her lashes batted at the sight of Katarina. However, she turned her attention back to the blonde when she addressed her.
"Who are they?" He asked as he rubbed his shoulder where Katarina's long nails dug into it.
"Infamous bounty hunter Captain Sarah Fortune and three of her four deadliest crew members. Sarah is the slickest woman on the sea— other than me of course. They say weak men drop dead at her feet. Aatrox is the shark-like creature, just his presence is known to cause shipwrecks." Katarina whispered swirled the last if the gold rum in the glass.
Talon glanced up from his fidgety sister to the young blonde and her parrot. He watched as the girl pulled a cracker from her sharkskin coat pocket to the large bird and she giggled when he snapped it up. He noticed how she covered her lips as she laughed.
"And the young girl?" Asked the assassin as he turned back to face the hundreds of shelved bottles of liquor in front of him, pretending to survey them when he was actually still watching the girl. He was intrigued on how she talked to the bird and it seemed to talk back. Katarina's emerald eyes flickered over to duo before resting them back on the bar counter.
"That's Quinn and her parrot, Valor. She is fairly new to Sarah's band of misfits so I have never heard anything about her." Katarina replied. She jumped slightly at the sound of Captain Fortune's booming laughter on the other side of the bar. Sarah slapped Aatrox on the forearm as she bit her full lip to stop laughing.
"Let's just say more than my guns were blazin'!" Captain Fortune snorted. Talon noticed that most of the men in the bar were practically drooling over the red headed captain— some stopping mid-drink as she clutched her chest to settle herself down.
"I think it's time we head out." Katarina quickly stood up and had to walk behind the trio to get to the door. Sarah's laugh ceased as she heard Katarina's boots behind her. Her blue eyes followed the sound all the way to the door.
"What were you saying about the sea slug of a pirate that tried to loot your coat?" Aatrox asked.
"Huh? Oh, one look at this face and the poor dog dropped dead before he could take his hand out of my pocket," Sarah chuckled. Talon slowly got to his feet and made his way to the front entrance.
"That'll teach these clownfish to try and steal anything from the beautiful Captain Sarah Fortune!" Quinn grinned. Talon noticed the Captain lean over and whispered something in the blonde's ear. The girl's blue eye darted to the assassin walking beside her.
The girl and Talon's sights connected. Talon stared long enough to notice the pirate's scar under her eye patch and the soft freckles on the bridge of her nose. Her thick lips parted while she gazed at the Noxian, she was clearly mesmerized. Sarah cleared her throat and the girl's attention went back to her Captain. Although, the assassin heard Valor squawk angrily at him as he opened the door behind the bounty hunters.
Talon followed his sister to the cold docks of Bilgewater...
Notes: This was sitting in my drafts for YEARS. When did Corsair Quinn come out? That's when I started writing this. I hope you all enjoy this trip on the grimy deeps.
See you next chapter!