(A.N: I had a crazy few weeks and this got pushed out way later than I planned. Enjoy!)
"I don't deal with pirates," the man said gruffly. "Even ones well-dressed like you."
"Come on, you seem like the type of guy who could really use a big ship."
"I don't want your stolen property. I'm a man of the law," he said.
"Stealing from the British hardly counts as stealing, now, does it?" I shot back. He finally looks at me upon hearing that.
"Now, if you had mentioned that in the first place, I would have been much more flexible. I might be a man of conviction, but I despise the British with a passion." He takes on an air of rebellion now, true to his words. "If it's a British ship you took, I'd be more than happy to take it off your hands." I gave him the details, including the armaments, crew space, cargo space, and the fact he would need to supply his own crew. "I can deal with that," the man says. "What's your price?"
"I want 10,000 reales for it."
"For a frigate without crew? No matter what condition it's in, that's outrageous! I'll give you 6,000," he countered.
"I'm sure there's another buyer who would buy it, but a man like yourself with such a burning hatred for the British must need this ship. 8,000."
He considers his options for a moment. "7,500. No less." I really wanted that ship gone today... it would do.
"Deal," I said. We shook hands to make our pact 'official'. "I suppose I should let you see it yourself." I got John, and had him follow us to where the ships were docked. "There she is. Shall we row out to her?" Getting in the rowboat, we rowed to the two ships. "Take a look for yourself the interior condition. I'm sure you'll find it's just as I described it." After a few minutes of inspection, the man returned. He handed over the price we agreed on, and I boarded my own ship to disengage the tow hooks. The man rows back to shore on the boat stored on the frigate, returning not long after with a small crew of men. The whole transaction finished, they raise anchor and set sail out of the harbor. Now I had some money in my pocket, and that damned pain of a ship was gone. I left John on the ship as I rowed back to shore. I wanted to have a look around, just me.
I took another trip to the tavern. They were playing on of my favorites, "Here's a Health to the Company". Ordering a drink, I downed it quickly, paid, and left the tavern. Then, I noticed there was some kind of commotion by the fort. Seemed a group of British soldiers were harassing some guy. I thought about whether I wanted to intervene or not. While I don't think it's right for them to be bothering this guy about what was most likely nothing, it's never a good idea to tangle with British soldiers. They were better trained than most pirates, and when there's more than one of them it can be a hassle. Against my better judgement, I decided to speak out.
"Hey! What'd he do to you?!" I shouted at them, advancing to where they were.
"Don't get involved in this," one of the soldiers warned me.
"I'm not going to tolerate a free man of Nassau being harassed by soldiers with no right to be here." I drew the two pistols hanging off of my belt. "Fight me instead. You can't ignore a direct threat, can you?"
The soldiers threw the man they were harassing to the ground, drawing their rifles as they turned toward me. That's when I realised that I only had two bullets that were useable, and there were three of them. I'd have to get creative. I fired my pistols at two of them, catching one in the head and incapacitating the other as i caught them in the chest. The third one was still ready to fire. As he fired, I managed to narrowly miss it, the bullet whizzing past my ear. The soldier threw his musket to the ground, picking up one of the other soldier's since it was already loaded, and he managed to fire that one off too. I was prepared for this one, and dodged the bullet easily. As he attempted to pick up the third musket, I threw one of my pistols at him, catching him off guard as it impacted with his head. Seizing my opportunity, I grabbed a discarded musket, kicking him to the ground and plunging the bayonet through his heart. A gruesome way to die, but sometimes a little death is necessary. I repeated the same action with the soldier I caught in the chest, ending the slow death he was feeling as he bled out. Going over to the man I had saved, I crouched down to where he was on the ground. Looking him in the eye, I said, "I was never here. And neither were you. Get out of here now, because they'll be sending more guards because of the gunshots." And with that, I hurried off towards the docks.