A/N: I just wanted to say that we have some good ideas for this story but me and Saph happen to be co-presidents of the procastination club...whoops. Enjoy this chapter
Chapter 2: Into the Culler
PORT OF CARNE-VALE, 01:45. May 5
You are woken up by your brother's call and immediately smell smoke. Groaning, you get up from your bed and leave your room. You then run up to Dave, seeing cannons and fire almost everywhere. The two of you quickly make an agreement-he'll check out the Crusader while you go after the Culler.
After sprinting towards the said massive ship docked on the coast of your hometown, you notice a guy with glasses and a purple streak in his hair standing nearby. Eridan Ampora, first mate aboard the Culler. You've heard about him and some of the others on local news and such. They were supposed to be ruthless killers, hence the name of the ship, but you weren't afraid of them at all really.
He spots you and walks over, stopping and inspecting you from your feet all the way up to your anime shades, while you kept your famous poker face.
"Fef, I think you might want to check this guy out!" He called. A few minutes later a girl appears by the two of you. She was wearing a black suit streaked with fuchsia and a pirate hat. Must be Feferi Peixes, the Culler's well-known captain. Related to the Condesce.
"What's your name?" Peixes asks, walking over to stand directly in front of you, next to Eridan.
"Dirk. Dirk Strider."
"Hmm." She thinks for a moment, then reaches out her hand for you to shake. "Pleased to meet you! Welcome to the crew, Strider."
You casually shake her hand, doing your best to keep on an expressionless face. Eridan was scowling next to the grinning form of Feferi, but you decide to ignore him for now. In the end, her decision was final, not his.
She leads you into the Culler with Ampora behind her and you follow, staring at the ship that would now be your new home. Carne-Vale, your hometown, was pretty much gone now, but you were leaving your old, boring life behind to become a pirate. From now on things would never be the same.
You just hoped you'd see Dave again sometime
DOCKED AT CARNE-VALE, 01:56. May 5
As you hand Strider off to Aradia, you make your way up a flight of stairs towards your quarters. You tried to keep it as visually appealing as possible, but the reek of fish always seems to come through anyway. It was fishy, if you do say so yourself.
You begin to ask yourself why you actually you'd let this Dirk kid join your crew. He'd just seemed... you don't know how to put it. Desperate? No, that wasn't a good word. How about... willing. Yeah, that seemed good enough.
He seemed like he was willing and ready to take orders from someone. A good quality, especially in a member of the Culler's crew. You'd have a lot of explaining to do when you find the Empress's Revenge. Specifically of why you'd broken a pact not to take on any new crew members. There'd been a document signing and everything.
Overall, you were pretty sure Serket, Mindfang, and your mum were gonna be shella pissed. Whoops. Well, you can't just kick the Strider boy off of the Culler altogether. He'd spread rumors if you let him off alive , but you weren't really in a culling mood after bombarding an entire city.
The Crusader had left port a while ago; before you realized that you needed to talk to Vriska, and fast. The last thing you'd want your forgetfulness to lead to is an all out war of dragons and horrorterrors. That would be a pain in the glubbing ass.
You ran a hand along the much eroded wall, grinning at the gooey wetness that remained on your fingers afterwards. You practically leap out of your quarters, facing the crew. "LOWER THE SAILS! WE'RE GOING UNDER! YOU LANDWELLERS BETTA HEAD INSIDE!"
After a minute or so, everyone but you was safely below deck. You grin, pushing the steering wheel downwards, sending the Culler straight towards the ocean floor.
OFF THE COAST OF CARNE-VALE, 04:37. May 5
You emerge into the deck some time after the ship's arrival to the surface following it's long plunge into the ocean. Megido had said that apparently the captain could breathe underwater due to some crazy condition relating to her family and had this gigantic sea monster she tended to underwater.
Because of the misfortune of you (and the rest of the crew) simply having lungs, the two hours it had taken her to do whatever shit she was doing with that strange-named creature and get the Culler back up to where it was now was mostly spent either loitering or working inside.
You didn't want to admit it but you were slightly disappointed when she called out the order to go in. From all those pirate/adventure movies that were made it seemed like all the action happened on deck and outside. The little experience you had gained in piracy by now told you otherwise.
There was plenty going on when pirates weren't fighting each other. Of course there was cleaning done mostly by the lower ranking members but there was also managing food and other cargo, fixing up rooms and furniture as well as adding decor, and contemplating battle strategies and plans for what to do next. Though the latter, which also happened to be the most appealing, was done mostly by Ampora.
Said first mate of the ship was on the deck as well, looking around and making sure everyone was on task. Which you clearly weren't. "Wwhat are you doing, Strider?"
"Nothing." you reply casually. His aura of aristocratic-ness seemed to make a few of the crew members flinch whenever he passed by, you noticed. But that was not true for you; in fact you couldn't care less if he watching you or not.
"There are plenty of things you could be doing so wwhy don't you freakin get to it. Fef didn't let you join this creww for nothing." He stopped talking and glanced at the large amount of seaweed and other things from the ocean scattered around the deck. "You should probably go clean that up wwith Tavvros." He pointed to a guy with dark brown hair that was shaved on the sides who was trying to tidy up the mess with a broom.
"Sure thing." After getting your cleaning materials from inside the ship, you return to the deck to start your task. Ampora informed you that it should be spotless by the time they got to Derse (which would be at the end of the day) so it would look intimidating to the members of the Crusader that would most likely be there.
Wait, the Crusader? You know that's where Dave went, maybe you'll see him! This cleaning shit you'll be doing for the next five hours will actually be worth it. Even with this douchebag known as the 'ruthless', 'fierce', and 'courageous' first mate yelling away at you and poor Tavros (who had already been doing it for about half an hour) with his stupid wavy accent.
It'll be a miracle if you even complete the full cleaning shift without pissing off high and mighty Ampora, though. Or at least get this huge deck 'spotless' with only one other person to help you and supplies that aren't even that good.
That, and the fact that this mess was caused by the captain herself.
You and your bro had better get a good—no—fantastic reunion.
DOCKED AT LION CITY, 07:26. May 5
The sea smelled like it always did: salt and water. Every day. Salt and water. Literally no other smells. That was, except for the seaweed or dead animal that dropped in every so often. You much preferred the smell of a rotting fish carcass over the stupid salt. That was one of the few downsides of being a pirate, you suppose.
The Culler was nearing Lion City, which, personally, you think is one of your favorite places of all time.
The newly rebuilt Lion City, now complete with canals and tiny boats to get around everywhere, was a quite exciting place to visit. It posed a challenge when attempting to snatch an item of two from the shops, but that was all a part of the fun.
The constant hum of instruments was a nice touch as well, and the complex melodies left no corner of the entire town silent.
Lion City was close enough to Derse, and the Crusader, that Feferi had decided that it'd make a nice pit stop. And, by pit stop, she'd made it clear that you were to steal anything valuable you caught sight of. Fortunately, the first shiny thing you see is the blade of a sword in the window of a nice looking armoury. You keep your hair tied back and a bandana around your mouth and nose, in case anyone were to try and recognise you.
You stroll casually into the store, picking up the sword by its handle. You hear the storekeeper yelling at you in some language you can't understand, so you chuck a dagger at him, making sure that the blade kept the old guy attached to the wall by his shirt. Wouldn't want to kill him. Yet.
A brief spark of recognition flickered across the man's face before you whack him in the back of the head with the dull end of the sword you'd decided to claim. He practically crumpled to the floor, mumbling your name before going out. You're out of the store within the minute, but not before snatching the good sized bag that laid on the guy's desk.
You shake it, grinning as you heard the familiar clang of coins. Peixes'd be proud.
A ruckus erupts from down the way, sending you paddling as hard as you could back to the Culler to drop off your findings. You tug on a rope, launching yourself onto the ship's deck, where some poor, sorry weirdos were scrubbing away, being barked at by none other than the douchemaster overlord. "Hey, Megido! Wwhere'vve you been? This deck's in desperate need of a cleanin'."
You roll your eyes, dropping the sack of gold coins into his hand. That sure shuts him up.
Now, what to do with the sword. You suppose the new recruit could use a blade of his own. "Ampora, where's the new guy? I've got something to give to him."
