Max's POV
The sea air rushed past me, tugging at my hair and tunic and filling my nostrils with the salty smell that I had become so accustomed to. The sun had only just begun to rise above the horizon, casting a beautiful golden glow over the surface of the choppy waters. I inhaled deeply, watching as we drew closer to the English coast. My right hand had a firm grip of a rope the hung loosely from the mast, keeping me on board the ship that had been my home for many years now. Captain Chloe had decided to name it the Arcadia, the name of a woman we knew back in the city we grew up in. She was like a mother to us then and still welcomed us with open arms when we came to visit.
Chloe and I had grown up together on the streets, becoming thick as thieves early on. Chloe's parents had died of a disease that she was somehow immune to and my parents had been killed in a raid. Well, my father was killed. My mother had been taken away and I hadn't seen her since. But Chloe had become my family. We had met because some of the richer children had set up a sort of fight club where poor children could fight for money while the rich children watched us tear each other apart. My first fight was against Chloe, which everyone had expected me to lose. Granted, I was much smaller than her and I was nothing more than skin and bone back then. But Chloe, as big as she was, fought out of pure rage. I was far more calculated when I fought, something that caught Chloe off guard at first. My father had trained me in self defence from a young age, having been a mercenary for many years. The fact that I had so much skill already as a child, along with the fact that fighting was practically in my blood, I had a large advantage in most fights because of the way my size made people underestimate me. It made them go easy on me. After the fight, I shared the money I had made with Chloe since she had only one a single fight. We've been best friends ever since.
I heard flapping wings just behind me and turned a little to see the ship's pet falcon land on my shoulder. He nuzzled his feathered head against my temple and I smiled, reaching up to pet him. Chloe had decided that we call him Frank after a man she'd scammed to help us get the money to buy the Arcadia. We hadn't seen the human Frank since we left Ireland, but Frank the falcon was much more pleasant company.
"Super Max," Chloe's voice pulled me from my thoughts, causing me to turn around to face her. Frank flew off my shoulder and over to Chloe, landing on the wrist she held out as a perch to him. She was dressed in black leather trousers that she had insisted on buying in Spain, along with a silky white tunic that fluttered in the wind a little with a pair of black boots and a simple sword strapped to her belt. Her hair, which she had managed to turn blue using some strange dye she bought from a witch in the Cayman Islands, was held back using a leather strip that she always used to keep her hair out of her face. We would actually be heading back to the Cayman Islands after we stopped in England for supplies. Chloe had that smirk on her face that she always had when she got an idea that would put our lives in danger but somehow manage to lead to something way too exciting or almost getting killed. "How would you like to pillage an English nobleman's ship before we leave port?" She asked, making me laugh. We were pulling into port as she spoke.
"And get ourselves hung for attacking nobility?" I asked, stepping toward her. She scoffed, putting her hand over her heart like I had hurt her, but she still had that twinkle in her eye and that smirk on her face.
"Maxine Caulfield, you wound me," she replied in a mock British accent, ruffling my hair. I groaned and went to fix my disheveled, chestnut locks, but Chloe grabbed my wrist, making me look her in the eye. "There's a ship here that's leaving for the Caribbean with some sort of treasure map, Max. If we can get them right as they enter open waters then we can snag the map and whatever gold they have and make a run for before anyone's the wiser. Come on, this is our chance! We could find that treasure and be so rich that no one would dare try to lay a finger on us." She had this fiery look in her eyes that she got when she was really passionate about something and she had a grin on her face that made my skin shudder.
"Fine," I replied, ripping my wrist from her grasp and fixing my hair. "But no dilly dallying. We've already got a few ships from the Spanish on our tale from when you tried to steal what you thought were ancient texts about the Holy Grail."
"They were ancient texts about the Holy Grail," she said angrily and stomping a boot against the deck, causing Frank to fly off of her arm in surprise and perch himself on the rails of the ship. Chloe sighed and ran her fingers through her bright blue bangs. "Fine, it won't take long. We'll just get what we need here and wait until that ship leaves, get the map and leave before anyone knows what happened."
"Do you even know who owns the ship?" I asked as the crew docked the Arcadia and we walked onto the flimsy wooden docks.
"Some family that has a lot of control over art and sod like that," she replied, folding her arms over her chest. "Chase or something." I walked beside her, looking down as I examined the name over in my head. I had heard it before, but wasn't sure where. We were walking through the coastal town, looking for particular shops that sold things like food and liquor in bulk. We walked past a shop with a big window that showed me my reflection, showing me that I hadn't really managed to fix my hair completely from Chloe's mistreatment. I stopped and walked toward the window, fixing my hair in its reflection. When I was finished, I stood up straight and looked myself over. My clothes weren't as fancy as Chloe's were, but that didn't bother me. A simple pair of brown trousers and an off white tunic along with black boots and a small sword on my belt were all better than nothing. Clothes were clothes, after all. Plus, in my line of work, even if I could afford nice clothes, expensive shirts and trousers never lasted long.
"When you're done being a priss, we have food to buy for a hungry crew," Chloe snapped playfully, making me jump as I was pulled from my thoughts.
"Well, excuse me for wanting to look somewhat presentable," I replied, catching up with my blue haired friend. She chuckled and put her hands behind her head as she looked around us. Men and women alike were all staring at us as we walked by, probably not accustomed to seeing pirates in their quaint little seaside town.
"If you wanted to look presentable then you should've worn better clothes," she retorted, winking at a group of young women who were standing just outside of a hat shop. They all giggled and looked away, some of them blushing as they whispered to each other. A lot of people reacted that way when they saw Chloe. She was an odd person who had the shortest fuse I'd ever come across, but she had charm oozing out of her with every smirk and confidently spoken word. I'd seen more than a few women, as well as quite a few men, fall under her spell. I had fought romantic feelings for her since we were teenagers, but it never surprised me when she made men drool and women question their sexuality. I just knew that a relationship between us might go bad, which would lead to one of us losing our home and livelihood as well as our best friend. So I never said a word about it to her.
"Can we just get the supplies we need and get out of here so we can get that map and find some actual treasure?" I asked, feeling slightly impatient. I had always hated being the center of attention, especially when I was on the run and everything. But Chloe loved being stared at and talked about. That was probably part of the reason why the authorities who were after us had such an easy time of finding us at the worst times. Chloe had a habit of making a scene wherever she went and always told stories about our daring escapes from the people who so desperately wanted to catch us and throw us in prison.
"Come on, Max," she said with a chuckle. "Relax, enjoy the view." She motioned around us with a broad stroke of her arm. "Look at all the women staring at you." I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest.
"I just want to get this over with," I replied, keeping my eyes low as not to make eye contact with anyone. "Plus, I don't want anyone contacting the Spanish while we're here."
"Oh, like you don't totally love this," she said with a laugh and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "I know you, Caulfield. I know just how much you love when beautiful women stare at you with lust in their eyes. There's not one woman here who wouldn't love to bed you right here and now." I blushed a little, not even bothering to shrug her off as I fought a smile. We both knew that I had never even talked to another person in a romantic way before, let alone slept with anyone.
"They're not looking at me, they're all staring at you," I replied, feeling a tiny ache in my chest. They were always staring at Chloe.
"Not that one," Chloe said, nodding at someone. I looked up from her to the person she was staring at and my heart skipped a beat, my entire body going tense. I almost stopped walking as I met her eyes. She was about average height, long blond hair braided down her back and brilliant green eyes that seemed to be staring into my soul. When I met her gaze, she quickly looked away, grabbing the arm of a girl who was also looking toward Chloe and I, but her eyes were locked on Chloe, not me. I blinked for a moment, looking to see that Chloe had stopped in her tracks to watch the girl that had been dragged away.
"Chloe?" I asked, taking a step toward her. I looked where she was looking and had to stop myself from staring as the green eyed girl walked into a clothing store along with a tall man with dirty blond hair and the girl with hazel eyes right on her heels.
"Did you see that girl?" Chloe asked, her eyes still locked on the store they'd walked into.
"Yeah, did you see that other girl though?" I asked, letting the words come out as breathes more than anything else. I had never really had romantic feelings for anyone besides Chloe before, especially not for strangers in expensive looking dresses.
"We have to talk to them," Chloe said, starting to walk toward the store. I grabbed onto her arm and pulled her back, making her yelp in surprise and slap my hand away. "What the hell, Caulfield?"
"Look, I get it, ok? Pretty girl who smiled at you makes you wanna go chase after her and bed her before she's gone, but we've got shit to do." I tried to make myself sound more confident than I felt. I knew that Chloe wanted to go after these girls, for her and for me, but I also knew that if we didn't hurry up then we would miss our chance at that map and might get thrown in jail if anyone realized who we were. "There are other pretty girls out there, so can we go?" Chloe's jaw was tight as she looked from me to the store then back to me.
"Come on, it'll just take a second," she whined, giving me a wide eyed stare and a pouty frown, her big blue eyes pleading with me. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair.
"Fine, you go ahead and flirt with strangers, but I'm going to buy supplies," I said, turning to walk toward a shop I'd seen that might have what we were looking for. But I didn't miss Chloe's excited smile as I turned away.
"Thanks, Max! I'll meet you back at the ship!" She called after me. I rolled my eyes and flipped her off over my shoulder and heard her laugh before she ran into the store. I sighed and went to go buy the supplies we needed, hoping that Chloe wasn't making a huge mess of our plans.
