Jesus Berata, a loyal spanish guard of twenty two years, sobbed. As he had been for entire shift on the guard tower. He tried to contain it and actually do his job, but the pain was too much. And so, he sobbed.
In his crying, he hadn't even heard the soft grunts of climbing, nor seen the man draped in white jump into the tower. He was only alerted to the stranger's presence when the man spoke.
"What's wrong, mate?" Jesus jumped at the sound. Turning quickly, trying to pull out his musket. Then he stopped, and sighed.
"You're that pirate-assassin, aren't you?" The man grinned.
"I see my reputation precedes me." His sword was drawn, pointed dangerously at Jesus' chest. Jesus looked downward.
"Just do it. I have nothing more to live for anyway." The hooded man tilted his head.
"Never had a man ask me to kill him. First time for everything, I 'spose." Jesus shook his head.
"Well? Are you gonna get on with it?" The man chuckled.
"Nah, mate. Now I'm intrigued. What would cause a man to descend this low in life?" Jesus sighed. Not like he had anything better to do.
"My wife-" He started. Immediately, the stranger cut him off.
"A woman! Yeah, that seems about right. Continue."
"She has been cheating on me since the day we got married. Six years! And it all meant nothing to her." The grin still hadn't faded from the mystery man's face.
"Well what's the problem?" Jesus tilted his head at the question, and the man tried to rephrase it. "She cheated on you, yeah, but what's so bad about that?" Jesus scoffed and turned back around to look out at the gorgeous city of Havana.
"Of course. What would a pirate know of marriage?"
"Hey! I'll have you know I was married once." Jesus looked back, trying to see if the man was genuine. He couldn't tell.
"And what happened to her?" The stranger was saddened, putting his sword down slightly.
"I tried to give her the world, but she didn't want it. Now she's dead of disease, and I wasn't even there for it." The man let out a nostalgic sigh, then looked back at Jesus. "But that's why you're lucky. You don't have the ball and chain anymore. You can go do what you want without any guilt at all!"
"Like what?"
"Buy a hooker. You'll see what I mean." Jesus was affronted.
"I couldn't possibly! I'm a spanish soldier and-"
"Well then stop being a spanish soldier." The man offered. Jesus was thrown for a loop.
"What else could I be?" The man's big grin returned.
"You could be a pirate. I'm in need of a few more crew members." Jesus wasn't convinced. The stranger sighed and took out a bag of coins, giving it to Jesus. "Look, go have yourself a good time tonight. Then, if you decide you want to, in the morning go down to the docks and ak for a man named Adewale, tell him Edward sent you." Jesus thought about it.
"How do I know this isn't a trap?" The stranger, apparently named Edward, chuckled once more.
"You don't. But what do you have to live for anyway?" Edward raised his sword and cut the rope out of the alarm bell. "Do what you wish, regardless. I was never one for people telling me how to live my life. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some business to attend to." And with that, the pirate-assassin launched himself out of the tower. Jesus didn't bother to look down, knowing already that the man was fine.
He looked at the coin pouch in his hands.
"Being a pirate…"
What did he have to lose?
Yet another one-shot idea that popped into my head while I was taking a shower. This one's really short, but I think it's nice. Nothing major. Just sort of a 'slice of life' kind of thing, but with pirates and assassins.
Helpful criticism welcome. Until next time,
-AGR