"You can't tell nobody…i's a big secret, but the Navy's after something real important- oh shit, we ain't 'sposed to say we're Navy, but I truss you..." the slurred words could be heard from clear across the busy pub. Hardly anyone paid any heed of course; what faith could be put in a drunkard's words? The only one really interested was John Silver. Anything that had even the hint of stink to do with the Navy was enough to pique his interest and have him straining his cybernetic ear to listen over the dull roar in the close space.
Jim was with the Navy.
And he'd promised the lad's mother while on a visit to the old Benbow Inn that he'd keep an eye out for him when he could.
"What an idiot, spouting all that nonsense in a bar like this," the woman at his side snorted into her cup of ale. He turned his robotic eye on her and it took everything in him to hold back his grin.
"Is tha' so?"
The woman looked at him with an eyebrow raised. She was the picture of loveliness; rich brown skin, bright green eyes, plump lips that curved into a natural smile most of the time, hip-length red hair pulled into a thick braid, and she was visibly strong even under her loose clothing.
"You don't think what he's doing is stupid?"
Silver snorted, "I didn' say tha'."
"With how he's going off on all that Navy stuff, it's almost as if he were put up to it."
"Mmm. Or 'e's jest a talkative drunk," Silver bumped her with his arm.
"Hm."
She watched him with her eyes narrowed and paused before she raised her drink to her lips, mumbling around the lip of the cup, "You're thinking about tailing that ship."
"Why would ye say tha'?" Silver met her gaze and held it. He again had to fight not to smile.
"Are you kidding me?" She laughed. "I know you better than you probably know yourself!"
He shared in her laughter before her expression became serious, "Why?"
"Call it curiosity. I jest can' seem te help meself when it comes te big secrets. C'n ye blame me?"
She sighed deeply, "John…"
"It's jest one ship. An' we ain't gonna attack 'em 'til we know what they're after, if we even attack 'em at all-"
"You're unbelievable," The woman sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Alright, fine! You know how thrilled the crew's going to be that we're tailing a Navy ship, right?
"Ain't their choice."
The woman snorted and lolled her head to one side to give him a withering look, "You're going to make it their choice when they decide you're not a good enough captain and they mutiny."
"Ye know they wouldn' do tha'," Silver tapped a claw on the table and tried to train his ear back on the Navy man, but he had gone quiet. He glanced over in that direction and saw two more conspicuously non-uniformed aliens supporting the man between them as they tried to drag his unconscious form out of the bar. Everything about the three reeked of the Navy; their ill-chosen disguises to make them look like 'regular' spacers, the polished way they walked even in their drunken state, the specific Navy knowledge the drunkest of them had been sharing for more than an hour...
"Tha's our cue," Silver kicked back the rest of his drink and stood to follow. The woman gaped for a moment and then scrambled to finish her own drink and follow him.
"You're being serious about following them?" She hissed as she fell in step next to him. When he didn't answer immediately she groaned, "What is it with you and your obsession with the Navy, huh?"
"I got a friend..."
Her mouth fell open.
Silver paused in his trek and watched the three stumbling men tottering down the street. He happened to glance at the woman and she met his gaze with a stern stare, "When were you planning on telling me that you have a friend in the Navy?"
"I jest did."
"John Silver!"
The cyborg stiffened and met her gaze. There was a hint of anger in her stance by the way she rolled her shoulders back and put her hands on her hips and John softened under her stare, "Safflina…"
She put up one finger, "Don't you 'Safflina' me , John. You having a friend in the Navy is important! Why wasn't I clued into this, hm? How long have we been together? You never thought to tell me in the past seven years?!"
"It weren't that important," John whispered back. He watched her for a moment before he felt the overwhelming urge to look back over his shoulder at the Navy men. They'd disappeared while he and the woman were speaking and she raised her voice in a soft growl now.
"Goddesses, man…" She pinched the bridge of her nose for the second time that evening. "They went to the left in the direction of the far docks. Toward that lone ship with the very obvious non-Navy flag."
He felt his mouth split into a wide smile and she made a semi-strangled noise in her throat, "John..."
Even though he could clearly tell she was upset- or at least attempting to look upset; he knew his 'Safflina' couldn't stay mad at him for long- she continued to follow him as they walked the rest of the way to the lone ship at the end of the docks. This wasn't a particularly hopping port town, but for some reason the captain of this ship wasn't keen on mooring near any of the other ships. Silver stopped dead at the end of a dark alley and watched the three men almost topple over the edge of the gangplank. They somehow managed to get onto the deck of the ship without taking a nasty fall, and their drunken voices eventually faded into silence, and yet Silver felt that he needed to watch for a bit longer. He couldn't quite explain it; the urge was almost instinctual, like he was MEANT to wait and watch.
He admired the ship in the meantime. It was a lovely dual-masted sloop, crafted from light wood similarly to the Legacy and just as narrow hulled. Four wing shaped rudder thrusters hung in the customary hover mode required of moored vessels. That many thrusters meant speed, and with how narrow and light the hull was built meant it was an agile little thing. Silver almost wanted to get into a scrap with them to see her dance. His eyes moved up toward the masts to see if he could tell the shape of her sails by the rigging. He could not, so he cast his eyes back down to her stern and regarded the name: Eclipse. Whomever had commissioned her was quite proud of the design indeed, and felt the urge to make her name visible to all, which was exactly what a Naval captain would do with his ship.
"What are we doing?" The woman leaned close and whispered.
"Waitin'..."
"For what?"
John cocked his head and listened. The hum of engines rapidly approaching from above reached his ears and the woman turned to search for the source of the noise, "A shuttle at this hour? It's nearly one in the morning..."
The ship itself became visible after a moment, descending at a rate which was potentially a little too fast, and it came to rest at the mooring post in the space beside the lone ship. It was only a few moments later that the door opened and the gangplank lowered and a very exhausted looking human man walked down to the dock with a bag dragging behind him and a pink blob floating excitedly over his shoulder.
Jim!
Silver stared for a moment and admired how the lad had grown since the last time he'd seen him. It wasn't as if they hadn't crossed paths several times since parting after Treasure Planet, but it always struck Silver that he wasn't a child anymore.
I'm getting old...how long's it been since then? A decade? Longer?
Jim ran a hand through his hair, glanced around for a moment before his eyes landed on the ship literally right next to him, and then slung the pack over his shoulder. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small device to look at it before thrusting it back into where he'd got it and he trudged up the gangplank of the ship. Even with his cybernetic ear turned and tuned to pick up any conversation on the near-silent dock Silver barely caught the mumbled, "Here goes nothing..."
Even better reason to tail this ship.
It was always a pleasure to see how Jim could make a ship move. He had more skill in his small frame than most men with twice his years of experience spacing; and he had no problem showing off with every ship he was allowed to steer. Though it was the helmsman's job to steer, Silver had seen Jim kick- often times ACTUALLY performing the action of kicking- many a helmsman out of his way to take over to get the ship out of harm's way. Which more often than not ended him in trouble and had him transferred to a new ship. The Navy couldn't afford to lose him, otherwise Silver was certain they would have discharged him years ago; he was the best navigator they had.
John waited a while before approaching the vessel. The woman made a noise in her throat and started to follow him, but he raised a hand and she stayed in the darkened alley. It wasn't a difficult thing to place a tracker on the ship. If anyone other than Jim went to perform any maintenance on the thrusters or electrical at the stern of the ship they would be hard-pressed to see it wedged neatly into the lip under a semi-raised panel. He didn't worry that Jim would see it; the human was a brilliant navigator, and the captain would be a fool to stick him in an engine room no matter how skilled he was with mechanical devices. The ship's mechanical parts would work the best they ever would under his care, but the rest of his talent would be wasted.
That should do it. I'll be following, Jimbo, so don't you do anything stupid.
He skirted carefully around the edge of the dock, making sure to keep an eye out for either of the two shadowy figures in the illuminated stateroom in case they decided to look out of the windows and down towards him. But neither did and he joined his companion again in the alleyway. She had her arms over her chest and one hip cocked out as he tapped her toes on the cobbled steps, "So. This friend of yours. Were you- or are you- romantically involved?"
Silver balked at the question. His many, MANY years of practice hiding any and all emotion were gone in an instant and he answered her with disgust in his voice, "No! Heavens no!" A shiver went up his spine at the mere suggestion that he would have ever even considered touching Jim in a romantic manner, and then he turned a wounded expression towards her, "Ye think I'd be unfaithful te ye?!"
"I would certainly hope not!" She offered him a grin despite her annoyed stance. "I don't see how you would have the time, but you're a man of many talents."
He could tell she hadn't been serious about the question now and he softened again and slipped an arm around her waist, "Oh, Safflina, I'll tell ye all 'bout me friend. Let's jest git te th' ship first, eh?"
"Looks like that idiot's big mouth back at the bar dragged in all the bottom-dwellers."
Silver stiffened.
I know that voice.
He and the woman turned to stare down the alley at a figure that had not been there when they first tailed the drunken spacers.
The figure let out a haughty laugh and turned as if to leave, "Don't even bother following them, they're my mark."
"Ye filthy rat, Raith, I've a'ready tagged 'em," Silver snarled. Normally he wouldn't have any issue with another pirate going after a mark. Even if he'd tagged them as one he was after, he knew that likely they out-manned and out-gunned him and there were plenty of other ships to scuttle and strip of their goods. And he'd never fight over who got to blow a Navy ship out of the water. That just wasn't his style. He would tail them and swoop in to snag whatever it was they were after before they could get to it. But fighting them meant adding even more digits to the bounty on his head.
But this time…Jim was on this ship. And he'd be DAMNED if he let Raith near Jim.
"Fight me for it, old man."
He and the woman had come up to Raith and they broke out into the open courtyard near the rest of the docks, far away from the lone Navy ship. Raith turned to smirk at him.
She was a rare and impressive looking creature. Standing at nearly seven feet tall with broad shoulders and thick muscles under her ill-fitting garments. Raith fully leaned into her more 'primitive' species' appearance with the way she presented herself. She was covered in a layer of snowy white fur and wore clothes that were loose and clearly showed the thick black rings of coloration going down her back. Earrings glinted from each of her four rounded ears except the bottom most one on the right, which was missing more than half of the ear from some scrap she'd gotten into. While her species was related to Felinids, Feliformids were far more animalesque than their distant cousins. And far more aggressive.
She bared her teeth in a wide-mouthed smile, "Scared, old man?"
"Did ye ferget how th' last game o' ours ended?
Raith's smile dropped and she instinctively went to touch the damaged ear with a finger, but she quickly composed herself and turned her eyes on the woman at his side, "Your new whore?"
Silver knew his cybernetic eye glowed red, "Don' test me, Raith."
"Or you'll what? Put me in my place? Hah!" She spun on her toe and started walking again, heading toward a ship tucked in the backmost corner of the docks so it was mostly hidden from view.
"Th' hell ye want te do with a Navy ship, eh?" Silver called after her. He knew Raith. He knew how she just loved to boast.
"You didn't hear that spacer in the bar? Gotta get that hardware checked out; what use is a run-down half-man, hm?" Raith paused. Her tail flicked in her pleasure as she was allowed a chance to hear herself talking. "Whatever the Navy's after, I want in. It's one ship poorly camouflage to look non-Navy, on a big secret expedition that they're trying to keep under everyone's radar by casting off from a port most no one's ever heard of."
She smiled back at him, flashing those teeth again, "It just stinks of something important they'd hate to lose."
"Don' step on me toes, Raith. I set me sights on 'em first."
Raith hummed in her throat before sauntering in a lazy circle and facing him again, "See, if I cared what you thought, I might respect that…but I don't care. Besides-" the yellow-green animalistic glow of her eyes in the dim light flashed briefly, "I saw that human- Jim Hawkins, isn't it- getting on that ship. Everywhere the Navy's sent him has been wonderfully interesting, and I'm not missing out on another opportunity to chase whatever he's been sent after this time."
Silver very nearly drew his pistol and shot her dead right there. But he could see that her crew was watching from her ship, and he could also see that his own crew was not nearly as prepared for a fight. The watchmen were out, and likely the rest were long in bed and would not be ready for a big fight if one were to break out. Silver didn't know whether he could handle all of them on his own either. In his prime it wouldn't have been an issue, but now…he was being forced by his body to slow down.
"Ye said ye'd fight me earlier. I accept. I win, ye fuck off an' let me 'ave me mark. Ye win, same conditions. I'll let ye 'ave it. No arguments."
He knew Raith. She would never back down from a chance to throw hands. Especially not with him.
Just as he expected, her eyes widened and she fought to keep a smile off her face, but she couldn't seem to keep the excited twitch out of her tail and the end flicked back and forth rapidly, "You keep that arm under control, no funny stuff."
John raised his robotic arm and waggled his fingers, "I'll keep it on me hand, on me honor."
"On your honor , huh?" Raith raised a slender eyebrow and scoffed. "There is no honor in a pirate's word. Swear it on her life."
She pointed a clawed finger at the woman standing on Silver's right side. A snarl rose in Silver's throat and he stepped forward threateningly, "You leave her outta this-"
"Do you want that mark or not?"
Damn you Raith-
"I'll swear it on me own life."
Silver's companion made a noise of alarm and looked at him quickly, "John-" but he waved his hand to stop her.
Raith's eyes widened even more. Silver knew she wouldn't be able to resist such a temptation. Her tail twitching became more erratic and she took a step closer to him, "You'll willingly let me kill you if you switch your arm to anything from the hand attachment?"
"D'ye accept th' fight 'r not?"
She raised her hands in front of herself to beckon for John to step closer and extended her claws as she did, a starved expression on her face, "I accept."
Silver shucked off his coat and his companion hugged it to herself. She looked like she wanted to speak, but she held her tongue and watched him with a hard expression. He turned away and faced Raith again. The feline-esque woman approached him, each step lowering herself into a more aggressive stance with her back arched and her claws out. The light from the streetlamps cast her shadow in grotesque and demonesque forms.
"Make a move old man," she hissed through bared teeth.
I ain't stupid enough to move first, cat.
"Why don' ye make a move, missy. Or are ye 'fraid I'll take most o' another ear?"
Raith snarled and all four of her ears laid back against her skull. Silver didn't let up, "Maybe I'll take part o' yer tail this time, hm? Don' need me sword te take off chunks o' ye-"
She whirled to face him head-on and pounced. Raith had an incredible jump, easily launching several feet vertically and bridging the distance between them with one powerful kick of her legs. She reached for him and opened her mouth and Silver raised his left arm to block her from getting to his body. Her teeth sank into his forearm and she raked her taloned hands toward his face and neck. When she realized that his arm was longer than either of hers and she wouldn't be able to reach him, she swung up her back legs and tried to plant them against Silver's gut so she could kick violently and slash with those claws.
But John caught one foot with his robotic hand and squeezed as hard as he could. There was a grinding and then a crunch and Raith howled in agony. She made the mistake of releasing her bite and Silver used all his might to spin her and slam her down onto the ground.
Before she even had a chance to figure out what had happened, Silver bore down and pinned her to the ground with his foot on her throat, "I win. Now g't out o' here an' leave me mark alone."
Raith hissed and spat and writhed for a minute before relenting and nodding her head to agree to his terms.
"Fuck you, John Silver," she yowled as she dragged herselt to her feet and limped toward her awaiting ship and crew.
"Ye ain't me type, Raith."
The Feliformid let out a furious roar and disappeared into the shadows. There were agonized shrieks from some poor soul in her crew when they got too close to her and her ship rose into the air and disappeared into the darkness.
"What's so special about that Navy ship, John?"
Silver sighed and reached for his coat, but the woman held it back so he couldn't grab it. Her eyes widened a little, "Is it…your friend is on that ship."
It wasn't a question. And John didn't need to answer it for him to know that she'd figured it out. She crossed her arms over her chest, "Alright. Spill. Who was that just now, and who in Hylia's name is your friend?"
"I'll tell ye when we g't back te the ship."
"I'll call for Demitria-"
"Don't bother, Timetra, this ain't nothin'."
Timetra raised an eyebrow and put her hands on her hips, "'This ain't nothin', huh? No, you're going to let me tend to those and then you're going to drink a health elixir, you understand?"
John smiled despite himself and rolled up his sleeve so the Gerudo could have access to his arm from where he sat. She gripped his wrist and pulled his arm across the desk so she could see the extent of his wounds and started to clean it, probably a little rougher than she should have.
"Te answer yer first question, Raith were me first mate a'fore ye. She tried te convince th' crew te mutiny, there weren't no takers, so she challenged me fer spot as cap'n. I won an' took part o' her ear in that fight. Took close to a year a'fore I healed fully from that fight…" John looked down at his organic leg and rubbed his knee with his free hand. He'd torn a ligament, not fully, but pretty close and sometimes it still hurt close to eight years later. Their surgeon, Demitria had tried everything she could and ended up chalking it up to phantom pains.
"An, 'bout me friend…"
Timetra glanced at him and then looked back down at John's arm as she dabbed the wound with an alcohol-soaked rag.
"'E's me boy."
She turned to him with a shocked cry and stared at him wide-eyed. Silver stared back, his eyebrows raised and face slack with surprise at her sudden and animated reaction.
"You have a son?! And you never told me?!"
"Jim ain't-"
"Jim? That Hawkins guy Raith was going on about?" Timetra interrupted and Silver nodded.
"Aye."
"Your son is Jim Hawkins?! How? He's human-"
Silver reached across the table and caught her chin between his fingers to stop her from going on and talking over him again, "Lemme finish, Safflina! Jim ain't blood related. 'E an' I got real close when we were on the Legacy goin' after Treasure Planet an' I've been keepin' tabs on 'im e'er since. I ain't never called 'im me son te 'is face, so don' ye go callin' 'im tha' now! I don' know if 'e'd be a'right with tha'; 'e didn' 'ave th' greatest pap in the universe an' it were a real sore spot for 'im when 'e were a kid."
"And your 'keeping tabs on him' includes keeping his existence a secret from the crew- and me - for who knows how many years and tailing his ships?" She blinked her beautiful green eyes and asked dryly. Silver paused.
"Tha's 'bout right."
"You're incredible."
John knew she was saying it sarcastically, but he smiled and leaned further over the table to kiss her sweetly, "Why, thank ye, love."