Note: More reviews! My head is spinning. Thank you very much for reviewing the second chapter, Inconspicuous Acuity and arabellaesque. I'm surprised that this chapter got written so quickly… oh well, lucky me, I don't think the next chapter will be as easy…

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He was scruffy, unshaven, dressed in clothes that hadn't weathered their stint in prison very well. Not to mention that, judging from the way the two guys who'd hauled me over to him were shying away, he hadn't bathed since some time long before his arrest.

I didn't give a flying donkey bottom about any of that. What bothered me was that the man (who Falon and his friend referred to as "the Captain") would not… stop… STARING AT ME!

"This is the last one?" He asked, his brown eyes boring into mine.

"No, there are plenty of other half-elves around," I answered before I could stop myself. Falon gave me a sharp kick in the shin before replying.

"Yeah, nobody else in there but the rats." He failed to mention that, if left to his own devices, I would fall under the classification of "rat," or perhaps (if I'd made him angry enough) into the exalted category of "dead rat."

"What's your name, and why should we bring you with us?" The Captain asked me.

"I've temporarily forgotten my name, and you really shouldn't bring me with you." I used the politest tones possible. I had the feeling that if I was too confrontational, I'd end up back in that cell. Or he'd have Falon chop off my head so he could hollow it out and use it as a purse. Or…

"You hate the thought of getting out of here and making some money that much?"

It's surprising that I didn't have to pick my eyes up off the floor after they bugged out at that little statement. "Money? No, money's great. I love money. Money is so much fun it should be illegal! Not that I'd trouble myself much if I broke the law for it."

"Good." He drew out the word like he was trying to break the record for the longest syllable in Amn. "Now, what's your name?"

"Ryan Irithsen." Damn, I should have given him a fake name.

He raised an eyebrow. "So you're her son?"

Double damn. People hear that my mother was a Bhaalspawn, they either back away like I'm going to blow off their head with my astonishing (but nonexistent) divine power or they get a certain gleam in their eyes like they could use me to blow off their enemy's head. This man looked like the perfect example of the latter category.

"You do know that I barely even know what the Slayer looks like, let alone how to change into it or any of that other crap?"

"Of course, I'm not stupid. But that doesn't really matter anyway. What I'm more interested in is your father."

Triple d… oh, forget it, I need to start using a different swear word. "Are you a pirate like him?" I inquired, feeling a bit stupid for not realizing it before.

"Yes, how did you guess?"

Um… the fact that these people call you "the Captain," the fact that you're acquainted with my father… "The hat," I responded resolutely.

"There is that," he admitted, oblivious to my sarcasm. "Well, are you interested or not? Mind you, we're not press-ganging anyone here, I just figured that as long as I was here I might as well recruit from a population that wouldn't get prissy at the offer."

"If you'd prefer not to," Falon added, "you could go join the guards in there instead."

The threat wasn't necessary. It sounded like a fair offer, and what did I have to lose anyway? "I'm in."