(Early Authors Note: Hello, hello, hello everyone! For those of you who may not know me, TaleBearer42Day is the name and telling Tales is my game. I present you all with yet another fanfiction, this one I know will also be going places just like the others. Inspiration for this came from the disappointment of finding few SOT fanfics that were actually interesting or long. Also, it may say Azur Lane and Game X-Overs, but that's only because I couldn't find the Sea of Thieves option on here. Anyways, without further ado... enjoy the Tall Tale of Two Seas.)

The Sea of Thieves.

A Sea where chaos and lawlessness rule.

A Sea, protected (if you would call it that) by a great fog only known as The Shroud. No one now knows or remembers what lies beyond. Those unlucky ships to sail through it never return. Whether or not they have actually made it through has always been uncertain.

After all, you can't really tell your findings to others if you're at the bottom of the Sea, now can you?

Besides, whoever you tell might just kill you and claim your story as theirs.

That aside, a certain crew had at last found what they believed to disperse the Shroud, and gain (possibly) richer plunder from beyond. They were the Crew of The Bloody Scourge. Their black cloth with the curled, red whip around a red skull was feared greatly. But there are always those foolish enough to stand against them. They never get out alive.

The members of this great crew were as follows:

Klaus, the look-out man and sniper.

Liz, Tom, Ben and Lauren, the repairers.

Oswald, Douglas, Flynn, Jane, Ella, Davey, Pete, and Malvo worked at the eight cannons stationed on their galleon.

Then there was Wyatt and William, the twins and (reckless) fighters.

And Jacob, the first mate.

Then finally, Skuli Longshanks, the captain. Who just so happened to be the leading contender for the title of Pirate Lord.

You see, when the old Pirate Lord died, no one dared to claim the title for quite a while. But, it was only a matter of time until some idiot declared himself Pirate Lord. Since then, Pirates have been battling against each other over treasure, missions, and anything else that might give a captain some renown.

But none have gotten as renowned as Skuli.

It was he who found the Chest of a Thousand Grogs, and beat off the other two ships that fought him for it. And now, his crew has an unlimited source of drink.

It was he who fought off the Kraken itself and lived to tell the tale. There was even some treasure to be had from the battle.

It was he who killed The Gold Hoarder, and saw the ghost of the old Pirate Lord himself.

All those accomplishments, while he and crew are still in their teens!

(Around in the 15 to 19 range, anyway.)

And of course, he gained allies along the way. When he found the Chest, the captain of one of the ships was Jason Sea Legs, and after being beaten, he offered loyalty. And he's remained so ever since. Then, once Skuli beat back and escaped the Kraken, he came across Old-Tide Sammy, an old pirate captain who, after seeing Skuli win, offered loyalty as well. Then, there was Esme Dark-Tide. She was always battling against Skuli for fame, but neither could get one over the other.

At least, until Skuli killed The Gold Hoarder.

Since then, Esme would still challenge him, but always come to his aid whenever he's faced with overwhelming odds. She says it's because if anyones going to beat him, it's going to be her. But Skuli is starting to doubt it.

And now, with the Shroudbreaker in hand, Skuli has an idea. Perhaps there's something else out there, other than the Shores of Gold?

"Alright, Captain. You have that 'I'm going to do something that'll probably be more trouble than it's worth' look on your face. What're you planning?" Jacob asked.

When the rest of the crew turned towards him, Skuli just sheepishly shrugged and said "Oh, nothin' much. Just seeing if there are other things out in the Shroud besides the Shores of Gold."

With that, Malvo tried to shut him down.

"Uh-uh. No way Cap'n. Just because the Shores were out there doesn't mean they'll be others like it. If anything, it might be more monsters or something of that sort. Bad idea, all the same."

To that, Skuli just shrugged and said "Alright, if that's what you- TOO LATE!"

And just like that, he pulled out the Shroudbreaker, turned the ship into the (conveniently) nearby Shroud, and sailed through. All before his crew had time to sigh and roll their eyes.

Just like before, the Shroudbreaker protected them (more specifically, their ship) from the Shroud.

But, something felt odd this time.

The crystal eyes of the Shroudbreaker seemed to glow, then flash. It was weird, to say the least. Not that Skuli cared or anything. As far as he was concerned, it was just an ancient relic of power. Of course it would do that.

Right?

A little later, as they were still making their way through the Shroud, they noticed much graver changes. The Shroud seemed to change and distort, the colors fading in and out. The Shroudbreaker glowed more violently. It was as if something was fighting against it.

"Hey, Captain, are you sure this is a good sign?" Liz asked, getting panicky. The other crew members started asking questions as well. They were loyal without question to Skuli, but there were those times where his actions were just too incomprehensible.

"Don't worry! I'm sure everything will be fine. We survived much worse than this, haven't we!?"

His words, though encouraging, still didn't quite banish the feeling of unease within them all. Nonetheless, they pushed on. It was a good thing too, for what happened next changed The Sea of Thieves for the better (in the sense of new lands to plunder, anyway).

The Shroud had formed into a great rift, thunder and roaring waves sounding all around as the Crew of The Bloody Scourge sailed straight into it.

When they emerged into the other side, they saw unfamiliar seas. And not an Outpost in sight.

None of it was good signs.

Oswald, the usually optimistic(ist) of the crew said "O-kay, no Outpost anywhere is sight. Not entirely a problem. After all, the Shores of Gold didn't have one, so things ought to be fine."

To be fair, he was right. Unfamiliar seas and no nearby Outposts were common problems when the Crew first set out on their many adventures.

So now, Skuli gave the command "Alright everyone, let's find some treasure!"

"HURRAH!"

And just like that, everyone's spring was right back in their step. Treasure and glory would be theirs once again.

Truly an exciting time!

After a bit more sailing, the crew came across an island with a strange fortification. But even before that, they heard explosions and gunshots, not to mention strange 'whirring' noises. Whatever battle was going on sounded like it needed a piratical touch.

Once they saw what was going on, however, they quickly changed their minds.

Females (that can float on water, no less) with strange armaments, firing rather powerful bullets and such. The battle appeared to be between females that came from the sea, accompanied by massive black ships with red lining, against females defending this most outlandish of Outposts.

After a few minutes, Skuli knew what he had to do.

"Go back! Go back!"

The crew was immediately scrambling to get their ship outta there. They may have Cursed Cannonballs and other such things, but they aren't risking making two enemies at once. Especially if they both have (what might be) superior firepower.

Unfortunately, they were already spotted.

"Well. These are rather unusual pests."

(Ending Authors Note: And BANG! prologue is out and done. I hope you all enjoyed the start of the Crew of The Bloody Scourge's journey into Azur Lane! Believe me when I say things will escalate in surprising ways. Anyways, don't forget to review, follow, and favorite so this can continue on!)

"Let your mind wander. The Seas are calling." - TaleBearer42Day