Chapter Three: The First Mate

Hayate

I was running. To the limits of my ability, I was running towards him. His kind eyes and innocent smile seemed so far away, but I ran nonetheless. My lungs burning, I kept racing past the gore he had left in his wake in order to reach him. He turned towards me and his smile twisted, the maniacal gleam in his eyes rising to the surface. I understood what the world had done to him and drew my sword. A beautiful woman lay dead at his feet, her night-black hair hiding her face.

She rose to her feet and smiled at me, blood streaming from her neck. I stopped as she transformed into a faceless form. A body without identity. I felt my body go on fire and my chest tighten as I swung my sword. Her head fell to the ground while her body remained like a specter before me. His kind eyes were nowhere to be found…

I cursed as I awoke, blaming my nightmare to the alcohol I had and my lack of sleep last night. Clutching at my throbbing headache, I struggled to regain consciousness. I didn't remember when I had come back to my quarters, or in what state I had been when I did. The night had drained me, and I struggled now to become useful once more.

Sighing, I walked over to the washbasin and struck my face with icy cold water. The shock startled me fully awake. I pulled out my daily log to record the details that I had discussed with Captain Sasame. According to the daily routes that Kei had obtained through the capture of the Awayuki, a large passenger ship would be making its way through the Caribbean, carrying the governor's family and several of his friends. The loot would be at least ten-fold what the Awayuki had provided us, and for Sasame, it would be a capture worthy of his reputation.

My log complete, I rose and felt myself buckle to my knees. I trembled; breathing heavily, I brought myself back to my feet. It was then that I remembered the cabin boy—or should I say cabin girl. After leaving her in Go's care, I returned to my daily routine, overseeing the loot that had been taken from the Awayuki, making sure that it was split properly. The entire time, however, I had been distracted. That—girl—seemed familiar, somehow. I had noticed it when I first saw her on her tiny pinnacle. The glare she had given me—her eyes in particular—had triggered something inside of me.

It was no more than my imagination, most likely. That bit of my imagination had left me with additional baggage that I did not want right now. Regardless, she was now my responsibility—in more ways than one. I turned to gaze at her sleeping form in the hammock I had put up for her. I grimaced as I remembered the previous evening…

I had returned to find Go positioning her hold on a cutlass. I watched in horror as he ran his hands over her hands, arms, legs and finally to her upper body—her chest—fixing her stance as he went. That stupid girl, I thought, my temper flaring.

"That will be enough," I commanded. Go turned to face me, glaring at me with pure hatred. He had never forgiven me, after all. Nor did I expect him to—I was the one who had killed his entire family, after all. And the one who had imprisoned him on his ship.

The girl turned to me, sword in hand.

"What?" she demanded, tightening her grip on the cutlass.

"I've come to take you to your quarters," I said.

"I'll sleep where Go sleeps," she responded. I groaned inwardly. What kind of headache had I picked up?

Go was watched our exchange carefully. Damn that girl, I thought, does she have any common sense? Go slept with the rest of the crew excluding the officers—in a bunk in one large room. She had wanted privacy earlier? She would definitely find no privacy there. I narrowed my eyes.

"When I give you an order, you follow it. Do you understand?" I said in a cold voice, drawing my saber and pointing it at her throat. I saw her flinch slightly and was relieved to know that she understood authority at the very least. I lowered my saber as she returned the cutlass to Go.

I left the room, the girl following me as Go's eyes bore into my back.

"So, where are you taking me?" she asked after following me in silence for a while.

"My quarters," I responded. She stopped in her tracks.

"What?" she said, her eyes wide. I turned in irritation. Did I need to draw my saber on her in order to get her to follow orders for everything?

"You have three options. Stay with Go and sleep in the common quarters with ninety other men. Stay with the captain or stay in my quarters. What suits you best, princess?" I hissed.

She frowned and then nodded, entering my quarters. After looking around, she turned back to face me.

"So, where do I sleep?" she asked.

"The bed, obviously," I said, removing my boots and waistcoat.

"Then where are you sleeping?" she asked. I frowned. Did she even know the meaning of silence? Surprisingly, however, her constant pestering was keeping my usual headache at bay.

"Of course I'm sleeping in my own bed," I replied.

"That means that…there's no way I'm sleeping in the same bed as you!" she exclaimed.

"Fine. Then sleep on the floor for all I care," I responded. I threw a pillow to the floor and headed over to my bed, ignoring the incredulous look the girl was giving me. I wanted to rest. It had been a busy day and I wanted to sleep. I had a suspicion I would be called by the captain for a report soon, and wanted to get some sleep before then.

"You're going to make a woman sleep on the floor! Ah, you pirates have no manners whatsoever," she said, scoffing.

I grimaced and then sat back up. Would she ever shut up? I proceeded to head over to the shelf and pulled out a spare bed sheet and some rope. Clearing the books in the corner, I tied the bed sheet and rope into a makeshift hammock. Hopefully this would be good enough for her.

"There. Happy?" I asked, crawling into bed before she could answer. Pulling the covers over me, I snuck a glace in her direction. She was settling nicely into the hammock, and I saw the ghost of a smile on her face. Thank god, I thought, she's finally not complaining…

As I watched her sleeping form in the morning, I was surprised to discover how young she looked. She was probably no more than fifteen or sixteen at most. She was far from pretty—her short cut hair did make her look more like a boy than a girl. As I watched her, I saw her lip quiver.

Those lips—my mind wandered to another pair of lips. Delicate and gentle, always smiling…except for the one time they had quivered. Sweet lips had uttered such beautiful words and could part to release a melody sweeter than I had ever heard before. Red lips the color of the sunset…

Shaking away my thoughts, I turned away and proceeded to prepare for the morning. As I put on a new pair of breeches and waistcoat, I felt myself sway once more. Dammit, I thought, reaching for a glass. I poured myself some brandy and gratefully felt the liquor stimulate my body as it burned down my throat and into my stomach.

I heard a knock, and realized that my morning meal had been delivered. Opening the door only wide enough to pick up the food, I glanced at the meal with little appetite. Thought I rarely ate in the mornings, food was delivered to me regardless. Usually, I ate my breakfast at a later point in the day, but today—I figured the girl would be hungry when she woke and left the food on my desk.

On second thought, I took out a piece of paper and wrote Breakfast for you. Not poisoned. Stay in cabin until I return. Content that my preparations were complete, I left my quarters for the early watch.

The moment I was away from her side, the thoughts again bubbled to the surface of my consciousness. The kind eyes and the faceless woman haunted me once again. This time, he was much younger. He was crying, his clothes soiled and crumpled. I felt his body tremble in pain and anger. The pure white hair dirtied brown. The delicate jewel shattered. The more I tried to pick up the shards, the more cuts my fingers received. It was a fruitless effort, but I continued nonetheless for the sake of the kind eyes and innocent smile…