I never thought that a life on the high seas was for me. Nor did I imagine that my father left for me in his will when he died a pirate ship. But he did, complete with seventeen or so cannons, gunpowder, rifles and other such stuff. Not to mention he already had a crew for this ship. A crew made of mostly young men between the ages of fifteen and twenty three, eager for a life of adventure, away from their homes, exchanging true family for one of no blood relation to them at all.
And this all came into my life when I was only thirteen years old.
To top this, he also left in his will for me to become the captain of these adventure seekers. Mind you, the idea of becoming a pirate captain scared me beyond all belief. Mother told me all sorts of tales about them: thieves who stole treasure and young women for whatever reason they wished, people who raided Spanish ships loaded with valuables, along with the stories of the Asian pirate Sao Fang and the notoriously famous pirate of the Caribbean, Captain Jack Sparrow.
But as the years went on, that one idea began to take over my mind. Mother had died from an unknown sickness, my brother and sister, Maria and Jonathan, had set out to find their own callings in life. I was left alone, by myself, without any known family still alive.
All the while when all of this happened, piracy seemed to be the one thing that seemed to be my path of choice. It was now my fifteenth birthday, on September 13. If my mother was still alive, she would have prepared a cake, frosted in chocolate with slices of any fruit we could find on top of it. Those days seemed distant from the life I now lived: just a teenage girl in torn-up pants and a shirt, living on the streets of Tortuga.
Then, something unexpected happened. It was a rainy day, humid beyond all belief despite the tiny drops of water falling from the sky that you thought would make the day a bit cooler. A man with pale skin, wearing no shirt and only a pair of loose black pants, came up to me, long black hair blowing in the sea breeze.
He kneeled down at my side, saying "Are you okay?" I shook my head in response. He didn't know how much I've suffered when my life turned upside down: mother and father dying, the sudden way of life as a homeless girl that I was forced into as all of the horrible events of my life unfolded….
There was a thud! And I found the largest coconut I've ever seen in front of me. The stranger took out a knife and cut the fruit in half, handing one to me. I drank away at the liquid inside of it so quickly that one would believe I'd been deprived of something drinkable. Which was the truth actually, along with not being able to find a single piece of food for the longest time.
He looked at me for the longest time as I drank away. Mostly at the necklace I wore: a single piece of emerald placed in the middle of a small shell.
"That necklace…" he said in a hushed voice. "… You're the captain, aren't you?"
I nearly chocked on my drink. "Captain? What do you mean…" My voice trailed off as I remembered my father's will: the ship, the crew, a life on the sea.
"I suppose you can consider me one, for a ship that was left for me by a dead man."
He sighed. "Well, might I suggest you get ready to leave? Me and the rest of your crew wish to set out from this island as soon as possible."
That was the beginning of new life on the high seas: as the captain of the Sea-Wolf's Howl.