"Come on! Where are they?!" Arabella groaned impatiently.
Arabella, Jean, and Tumen had been sitting in the tavern waiting while sipping tankards of cider. Arabella was beginning to feel uncomfortable as the last time she was in a tavern, she was working at her father's tavern where she constantly had to deal with torment from both her father and the patrons.
Most of the patrons around seemed to be a bit more respectable, with still a few pirates here and there. Made sense since the town they were at was not a pirate town like Tortuga. Jack told them to meet him and Fitzwilliam in the tavern at a specific time that evening, however they still have yet to show up.
"He told us they'd be here two hours ago!" Arabella said.
"Well, I hope they turn up soon," Jean replied, petting his cat-turned sister Constance on his lap. "It's been raining like hell."
This was another concern that arose. It had begun to rain pretty hard a while ago, as evident by the pattering outside and the leaky roof above. It had also grown dark out there as they waited.
After another few quiet minutes, Arabella stood up.
"I'm going to find them," she declared.
"Are you sure about that?" Tumen asked.
Before she could respond, the door suddenly flew open, letting in the pouring rain. The flickering flames from the candles and torches around revealed the people outside the door to finally be Jack and Fitzwilliam, disheveled, soaked, muddy, and battered. Both of their clothes were torn in places, and they were also covered in what suspiciously looked to be blood. Jack's left eye was dark purple and red and halfway swollen shut, his cheekbone on the same side was swollen and bruised, and his upper lip was split open and bloodied. He appeared to have been limping, leaning onto Fitzwilliam for support. Fitzwilliam did not seem to look much better. Blood, both fresh and dried, was pooling out of his nose and there was a giant gash off-center of his forehead. His normally neat hair was coated in dirt and blood, as did Jack's.
Jean and Tumen stared at them dumbfounded.
"Mon dieu," Jean murmured.
Arabella did not seem too surprised, or phased—at least not with Jack, as he always seemed to get into some kind of trouble. Her hands flew to her hips as she glared at them. "Well, look what the cat dragged in," she then quickly turned to Constance, "No offense," Constance hissed back.
Jack's one good eye lit up and he smiled as he saw Arabella. "Arabella! Good to see you!" he said as he happily waved at her.
Jack let go of Fitzwilliam and took a few steps towards Arabella, however his legs gave out and he collapsed. Arabella rushed over and caught him in her arms.
Fitzwilliam slammed the door shut and walked past Arabella. "Don't ask," he growled through his teeth as he passed by. He sat in an empty chair by Tumen, and Arabella helped Jack to the other empty chair by her, next to Fitzwilliam.
The crew all sat there quietly, unsure of what to make of it. With how angry Fitzwilliam looked, it appeared to have been all of Jack's fault.
Jack slammed on the table as he looked around the room. "Hey, what's a mate gotta do to get a drink around here?"
"Be patient. They're busy right now," Arabella scolded.
Soon enough, a barmaid came by to take their order. "Ahoy, what'd you like to drink?"
"My mate and I here would like rum to the brim please!" Jack said.
"But, Jack, I don't—" Jack quickly hushed Fitzwilliam.
The barmaid looked at Jack and Fitzwilliam up and down. "Aren't ye a little young for the hard stuff?"
"I'm old enough to get my arse beat by pirates, so I'm old enough for rum, savvy?"
The barmaid shrugged and went off to prepare their drinks.