Ed froze as the Republic of Pirates came into view. The shells of burnt-out ships littered the waters. He hadn't been gone that long; it couldn't have been longer than a few days; how had all this happened in his absence?

"Stede?" He whispered. Stede couldn't be gone. This couldn't be the end. Ed spun around trying to spot the Revenge, but it was hard to pick out any distinguishing details from the charred remains that surrounded him.

"Excuse me, Sir," Ed turned to see a small rowboat approaching him containing two men, who appeared to be British officers, judging by the way they were dressed, "These are British waters, you can't fish here."

Ed stared at them for a second,

"Did you not hear us?" the other solider sneered, "You can't fish here, understand?"

Ed narrowed his eyes at the men and stood up. He grabbed hold of his oars and leapt over to their boat. He delivered a swift kick to the first man's chest, sending him tumbling over the side of the boat and into the sea. He then swung his oar around and used it to trap the second man between the oar and himself. He used the oar to apply pressure to the man's throat. The man's hand came up to scrabble against Ed's, trying to push him away, but Ed didn't relent. The man's efforts became weaker as his air supply ran out until he finally went limp in Ed's arms. Ed pushed the man overboard to join the other solider in the water.

Ed sat down in the boat and took the oars back up. So, the British were responsible for the chaos that surrounded him. He wouldn't have thought them capable.

Ed started rowing across the bay. He was going to find out what happened to Stede, and if he was going to do that, he needed to be a pirate not a fisherman. He had an outfit to find.

Ed rowed over to his best estimation of his leathers' location, allowing for how far they'd have drifted in the last few days, then dived overboard. He let himself plumet straight to the seabed then spun around on the spot, looking for a familiar package. His eyes landed upon a dark bundle, just a few feet away from him. Ed swam over and scooped up his clothes then kicked off back to the surface. He hauled himself back on to the rowboat then started to get changed. Once he was dressed, Ed made his way onto the shore with his sword drawn, ready for a fight, but the place was deserted.

"Where the fuck is everyone?" He cried; he'd never seen the Republic of Pirates so empty.

Ed sheathed his sword and made his way in land. Thankfully, the town wasn't as empty as the beach had been and there were a handful of British soldiers mulling around. Ed crept down the streets, keeping to the shadows, until he was situated behind a lone solider. He waited a second before jumping forward and reaching out to grab hold of the man's jacket. He yanked the man backwards and slammed him onto the wall of a nearby building. In one quick move Ed brought a knife up to the man's throat and the man raised his hands in surrender. One look at Ed had his eyes shining with terror,

"What happened here?" Ed hissed,

"We raided the port," the man stammered,

"This isn't a raid," Ed said, pressing down slightly with his knife,

"I don't know," the man squeaked, "I just know that we had orders to attack when the fleet exploded,"

Ed thought back to the burnt-out shells in the port, "Exploded? They weren't attacked?"

The man rolled his eyes, "Does that look like not attacked to you?"

Ed pressed against his knife again, drawing blood this time, just as a warning to the guy not to get too comfortable, "There wasn't a fight, they weren't fired on," he elaborated,

"I don't know," the man said again, "All I know is the explosions were our signal. The ships went up in smoke and we attacked. The pirates on land were fairly easy to round up after that: either drunk or in shock,"

"You rounded them up?" Ed asked. A spark of hope flickered through his mind: Stede might be still alive,

"We're not pirates," the man said, "We don't slaughter people,"

"So, what did you do to them? Where are they now?"

"They were all sent to Barbados to await trial and execution."

Ed's eyes widened in panic: execution‽ Stede couldn't be executed! Not after he'd just gotten him back, "When?" he asked, a note of franticness in his voice,

"They left here three days ago."

Ed took a step back from the man. He removed the knife from his throat and slipped it back into his belt. He grabbed the man by his shoulders and slammed the man's head into the wall behind them, knocking him out.

Ed turned on his heals and hurried back down to the beach. He needed a way to get to Barbados and quickly. Maybe one of the burnt-out ships was still usable, although if they had exploded probably not. Maybe he could row out of the port and flag a ship down, somebody must be willing to give him a lift; he really didn't fancy having to row all the way there.

Ed rounded a corner and stopped dead in his tracks. There in the sea, just clear of the burnt-out fleet was The Revenge, just as whole as it had been when he's left it. He glanced down at the cove The Revenge was docked in; there was only two men stationed there, guarding the ship.

Ed ducked down through the trees towards the cove. He drew his sword as he approached the soldiers,

"Oi!" One of the soldiers yelled, as he spotted Ed.

Ed didn't say anything, it just swung his sword at the guy. The solider brought his sword up to meet Ed's and block him. The second solider took a swing at Ed but Ed expertly ducked out of the way. He swept his leg out and kicked the second solider, sending him tumbling down to the ground. Ed took another swipe at the first solider. He was once again blocked but the solider hadn't been in the right place and he was off balance. He kicked the first solider, sending him to the ground, then swung his sword around to lodge it in the shoulder of the second solider in once swift movement. The solider screamed.

"Stay down," Ed hissed as he pulled his sword free. He turned back to the first solider, who was sprawled out on the floor.

Ed brought his sword to the man's neck, pressing down slightly with the tip, "Do you yield, or do you want a matching wound?" he growled.

The solider let out a whimper and raised his hands in surrender.

"Good choice." Ed slipped his sword back into his belt and marched off down the beach.

There was a rowboat on the sand, just out of the way of the sea. Ed pushed it into the water and jumped onboard. He picked up the oars that lay at the bottom of the boat and set off with great determination towards the Revenge.

It didn't take long for Ed to reach the Revenge. He hauled himself on board and strode towards the rigging. It wouldn't be easy to get the ship moving on his own, but that didn't mean he wouldn't be able to. He made quick work of the rigging, doing his best not to focus on the stifling silence. Even during his darkest days, The Revenge had never been silent; there were always other people around. The emptiness of the Revenge felt wrong.

Once Ed had finished with the sails, he raised the anchor and hurried over to the wheel. It was going to be a tiring journey to Barbados.