by Ben White
"Then try to disable her, go for her legs, her arms—"
"Meanwhile she's going for yer heart, yer throat. Sometimes there ain't time for figurin', girl."
Heartless Jon took another gulp of rum, his eye fixed on Miya.
"Why've ye come here?" he asked. "Why now?"
"I ... I need your help," said Miya. "We all do, Mum and Dad and the whole island ... there's a pirate, Badger Pete, he's attacking the Rainbow Archipelago, he enslaved Sola's entire tribe!"
"Mm. To what end?" Jon asked.
"What?"
"Why'd he enslave 'em? Using 'em as crew? Keep the families in cages, show the rest what they're fightin' for?"
"I ... I think so, but—"
"Smart move," said Jon.
"It's not 'smart', it's evil!" said Miya. "It's a horrible thing to do!"
" 'Horrible' don't enter into it."
"What? How can you SAY that? Slavery is ... I can't believe—"
"Settle down there, lass, before ye do yerself an injury. Personally I'm inclined to agree with ye, never liked the idea of slaves meself. Servants, even. A man's got to stand on his own, like." Heartless Jon gazed at Miya a moment, then shook his head. "But pirating's about good moves and bad moves when ye get down to it. Ye ever play chess?"
"No," said Miya. She'd never had the patience.
"Me neither, never had the patience. But some bloke explained it to me once, told me how ye've got yer black side and yer white side, yer good and evil, only they're the same really. All the pieces move however they move and there's a whole book could be writ 'bout all the buggerin' goes on between start and end. But what it all boils down to is good moves and bad moves. Same as piratin'. Ye move yer piece, ye capture yer enemy, ye do what ye must to win. Whether ye be black or whether ye be white, it's about making yer moves with an eye to winning."
"That's not what pirating's about at all!" said Miya, standing. Sola turned from the book he was examining to look at her. "Pirating is about freedom, and adventure, and, and choice!"
"Aye. Choice," said Jon. "Ye got that part right, at least."
"Sola, help me," said Miya. "Tell him how terrible Badger Pete is!"
Sola looked at his grandfather, and his grandfather looked back.
"He knows," said Sola. Heartless Jon chuckled.
"Aye, true enough. Yer lad there's smarter'n he looks. Fact is, lass, I'm seeing more going for this Badger Pete character than you right now."
"What? How can you say that? How can you even THINK that? We're family!"
"Family ain't nothing to me, never much was," said Heartless Jon, his voice quiet.
"Then why did you help me before, in the alleyway?"
"Curiosity. Thought maybe ye'd be better than ye are, thought maybe ye'd be a pirate."
"I AM a pirate!"
"Ye're not," said Heartless Jon. He winced as he stood, drained his glass and tossed it aside. "Ye're just a wee girl playing 'pretend'."
Miya glared up at her grandfather. "I AM a pirate," she said. "I may not have a legend to my name or have captured ships or sacked ports or, or all that stuff, but that's not what being a pirate is about. It's not! Being a pirate is about freedom, about being able to choose, about fighting because something's worth fighting for!"
"Arrr," growled Jon. "Ye sound like yer father."
"Good! GOOD! My father is a GREAT pirate and a GREAT king and a GREAT man and a GREAT dad! And I'm starting to see why he left you behind, quite frankly!"
"Aye, maybe ye do," said Heartless Jon, stalking to a table and grabbing up another bottle. He took a swig as he turned his eye on Miya again. "And maybe he were right to do what he done. But that don't make ye any better'n ye are."
"And what right do you have to stand there and, and JUDGE me?"
"I've every right!" roared Heartless Jon. "I'm the Pirate King of the Necessary Ocean! I sacked the Royal Port of Jonestown, I captured Emperor Shigeru's treasure ship! I've duelled more men than ye've MET in yer LIFE and I've come out of all of that with nothin' lost but me left eye and the scars that mark a life LIVED."
He glared at Miya a moment, then waved her away like she was an annoying fly and turned, taking another gulp of rum.
"Ye don't know what ye're about, girl," he muttered. "Ye're young and stupid and got all the brightness of the world still stuck in yer head, ye're blinded by it."
"I'd rather be blind than see like you do," said Miya, her eyes shining with tears. Heartless Jon didn't respond, just took another swig from the bottle he was holding.
"You WERE a legend once," said Miya, walking forward, toward her grandfather. "Now you're just a coward, hiding on an island, paying people to say they've never heard of you. That's what you're doing, right? That's why everyone I talked to today swore they'd never heard of you, you're making sure no one finds you here!"
"Aye, and it were working just fine before YE showed up!" Jon growled, turning and glaring down at Miya. "But I had to go and start thinking, didn't I, thinking here's a likely looking lass, fits the description me fool son gave of his daughter, black hair, dark eyes, got a touch of the swagger about her, be about the right age too, could it be this here's me own granddaughter, looking all proper with her pirate clothes and daddy's sword—oh, aye, I recognise that fine old blade, all right, and wouldn't ye blush to know its history—and I let meself think that maybe, just maybe, here's someone to carry on the proud Black name after all, after the disappointment me son turned out to be—"
The bottle Jon had been holding dropped to the floor, rum pouring out over the floorboards. He raised a hand to his cheek, as Miya lowered her hand from where she'd slapped him.
"How DARE you," she said, glowering at her grandfather. "How DARE you. You know something? We don't NEED your help. We don't WANT it."
Miya turned to look at Sola, jerked her head toward the door and started towards it. Jon remained still, holding his face where Miya had slapped him. His cheek was already red.
"There is one thing you can do for me," said Miya, halfway to the door, not looking back. "My grandmother. Where is she?"
"Ye'll get less from her than ye have from me, believe that, girl," said Jon, his voice low.
"I don't care. Tell me where she is."
Jon was silent a moment, then he lowered his hand from his cheek, bent to pick up the fallen bottle of rum.
"That's alcohol abuse, that is," he said, with a rueful smile.
"Tell me where my grandmother is." Miya's voiced was clipped.
"All right, all right. Ye're like a bleedin' terrier or somethin'. Truth is I don't know, exactly. We stay out of each other's way. Makes for less bloodshed. But we meet once a year, real civil. Catch up, compare booty, show each other any good new scars."
"And that meeting's soon?"
"Nah. Had this year's meeting already, few weeks back, over on Vista Island. There's a chart on the wall there, take it if ye have a mind."
"Sola."
Sola carefully took down the chart Heartless Jon had nodded towards.
"She sailed off east after the meeting, I'd say she was headin' Turtle Island way. Couldn't tell ye if she's there or not now, but it'd be a good spot to start searching anyways, it's a decent base. Could be a mite bit pirate-y for ye, mind."
"Come on, Sola."
Miya started towards the door, but Sola hesitated.
"Why ..." he began, before shaking his head and following Miya.
"Why am I helping now, after yer sister there talked to me that way?" said Heartless Jon. Both Sola and Miya stopped, Sola looking back at him, Miya scowling straight ahead. Jon laughed. "Curiosity. I'll get a decent laugh out of hearing about yer meeting with that old hag."
Miya almost turned, but then her expression hardened and she stomped out the front door, Sola following after a last glance back at his grandfather.
Heartless Jon stood, alone in his house, nearly empty bottle of rum in his hand, looking at the door his grandchildren had just left through. After a few minute
s he put the bottle down and raised his hand to his cheek again, rubbing it slowly.
*
Miya stomped down the street, Sola close behind.
"Perhaps we should go back," he said, "try to convince him—"
"No."
"He seemed—"
"No."
"Then we should rest, the past days have been—"
"No time."
"Miya."
Sola put his hand on his sister's shoulder and tried to stop her, turn her around to face him. To his great surprise she wrenched her shoulder free of his grip apparently without effort, then turned to face him of her own will, scowling.
"What?"
"Don't you think—"
"I'm a pirate captain, I don't think, I order. And my order is that we set sail immediately."
Sola looked down at his sister a moment, and she glared back up at him. For a moment he was quite grateful not to be Badger Pete, or in fact anyone that might get in Miya's way.
"Aye aye," he said, his voice low.
"By the way," said Miya, turning to stomp down the street towards the port. "What was the book you bought?"
" 'An Examination of the Techniques and Procedures Necessary in Construction and Maintenance of Dwellings for Persons and Animals'."
"Sola, I say this with all the love in the world, that's the most boring-sounding book I've ever heard of. What on earth is it about?"
"Building," he said. "Or perhaps rebuilding."
Miya's pace slowed for a moment, then she quickened her step.
"Come on," she said. "I want to leave before Grace catches up to us."
"Really?"
"No, not really. What I actually want is for her to attack me again so I can teach that stuck-up wench a lesson. But that would take time ... and," said Miya, gritting her teeth even as she admitted it, "could end up with me getting hurt."
"Do you think Badger Pete has attacked Clover Island yet?"
"I have the feeling he'd wait for Grace, what with the personal interest she's shown in it. On the other hand he might try to conquer Clover Island before she gets back, because she wants it as a 'present'."
Miya paused for a moment, then turned and punched a wall hard.
"Sorry," she said. "I'm trying to keep calm but talking about Grace makes it difficult."
"You're doing well," said Sola.
"I know it would be better in so many ways if I never saw her again, but I hope I do. I really hope I do. In any case, I'm sure Pete's intentions are to attack Clover Island, and soon."
"Then do you want to search for your grandmother? Or sail for Clover Island immediately?"
Miya stopped. They were at the docks, now, right beside the harbourmaster's office. Sola looked at his sister, at her face, which was tense and tired and somehow older than she'd ever seemed before.
"I don't know," she said.
13
Perhaps The Future
Miya stood at the bow of her ship, wind and rain stinging her eyes as she looked forward. It wasn't storming, but the rain was hard enough to make navigation difficult and was accompanied by thick mist—visibility was poor, and standing out on the open deck uncomfortable. Miya barely noticed it. She leaned forward, squinting.
"I see it!" she called, turning her head towards Sola at the wheel. "Sola! I see it!"
"How close?" came his reply.
"Close! Steer to port, not too hard!"
Miya felt her ship turn, blinked rain out of her eyes as she continued staring straight ahead.
"Good!" she called. "Hold that heading, steady as she goes!"
As they rounded the point, Miya looked up at the rock they were passing.
"It really does look like a turtle!" she called. "Can you see it?"
"Yes," came Sola's reply. Miya grinned into the rain.
"The mist seems clearer up ahead and I think the rain's stopping, we should be okay now!"
Miya's prediction turned out to be correct, and as they sailed towards the Turtle Island docks the rain lightened, before clearing up completely as they neared the wharf. Miya was just about to leap off the ship and go recklessly charging into whatever lay ahead when Sola stopped her.
"What?" she asked, feeling Sola's hand on her shoulder. She turned and looked at him. "What's up?"
"Perhaps you should think about your plan first."
"I have thought about it. Go find a pub, ask about my grandmother, repeat until I find her."
"That was your last plan," said Sola.
"And look how well it worked! I found Heartless Jon in less than half a day! I mean ... okay, it was more like he found me, and he wasn't exactly what I expected, but the basic 'searching' part of the plan worked great!"
"At the cost of alerting the entire island as to who you were, and who you were searching for. Including Grace Morgon and her crew. Perhaps a more subtle approach would work better."
"What? Pirates don't do 'subtle'! Who cares if people know who I am, in fact it's GREAT if people know who I am! Pirates WANT people to know who they are, pirates WANT people to talk about them!"
"And pirates that are talked about too much can come to unpleasant ends," said Sola. "Many of the 'Necessary Tales' ended in that way. Perhaps our grandfather realised this, and—"
"Heartless Jon is a coward," said Miya, coldly. "Hiding away and living for nothing. My grandmother will be better than that. At least she's still pirating properly."
"How do you know that she is?"
"I just do," Miya said, firmly.
"Even so, I wonder if this was the right choice," said Sola.
"There you go 'wondering' again, that'll get you nowhere—you know what Dad always says? 'All the what-ifs in the world couldn't shift a grain of sand'. Just thinking won't get you anywhere, you have to DO stuff! And if you make the wrong decision then who cares, at least you tried, at least you did SOMETHING! And why aren't you more excited about this? We could be close to meeting OUR grandmother! She's just as much yours as she is mine, did you even think of that? You could be about to meet your grandmother, Sola!"
Sola was silent for a long moment.
"I have a grandmother," he said, his voice low. "Badger Pete has her locked up somewhere along with the rest of my people. Even now I can picture her—sitting there, chewing on a piece of bobaboco and cursing at the guards."
Miya's expression softened a little.
"Okay, so maybe it's not the same to you," she said. "You have a grandmother, and all your aunts and uncles, and cousins, all your village. But for me ... I've just got Mum and Dad, that's all I've ever had. And, y'know, Uncle Lars and Penny and the people on Clover Island and they're great, they're so great, and they're like family but ... what I'm saying is real family, grandparents, I've ... I've never really had that."
Sola surprised Miya by embracing her, putting his great arms around her and holding her close a moment before releasing her.
"Let's go," he said. "And find our grandmother."
Miya looked up at him, blinking away sudden tears.
"Y-yeah," she said, her voice thick. "I mean, yeah! Let's go!"
"But I have a request," said Sola.
"Hm? What?" asked Miya, who had already jumped off the ship and onto the docks.
"This time, could I do the talking?"
*
Miya stood on the docks, arms crossed, staring out at the grey waters of the Turtle Island harbour. Sola had asked her to let him conduct his 'investigation' alone, reasoning that Miya's 'force of personality', as he put it, might cause her to interfere with his questions, regardless of her resolve. What he meant was that she wouldn't be able to resist butting in and talking over the top of him. Miya had to admit (just to herself, of course) that he had a good point, but still, it was slightly insulting. She coughed as she looked out to sea. At least the mist was clearing.
"Miya."
She turned to see Sola walking towards her.
"Our grandmother's ship is docked here, and she's in town," he s
aid. "Also, it seems she's going by the name 'Jean Scarlet' rather than 'Jean Black'."
Miya stared at him, more than a little shocked.
"You're kidding," she said. "How in the world did you find all that out without going into a single pub?"
"I began by thinking about the means of entering or departing the port. There is one group—"
"All right, all right, I get it. You asked dock workers. I admit it, that was pretty smart. They see all the ships come and go and must know more than a little about who's on board and whatnot. And everyone knows how much they love gossip and news."
Miya pouted a bit, then shrugged with a sigh.
"Anyway, we got the info. That's the important thing. So she's in town, right here? So all we have to do is go find her?"
"No."
"What?"
"Her ship is docked here. Its name is 'The Endless Adventure'."
"The Endless Adventure," Miya repeated, dreamily.
"All that we have to do is find her ship and wait nearby until she returns. It is better to wait for pigs at their watering hole than to chase them wildly through the jungle."
"Yeah, but I bet chasing them's more fun," said Miya. She looked around. "Is her ship near here?"
Sola nodded.
"So what are we waiting for? Let's go check it out!"
*
"Now THIS is a PIRATE ship!"
The Endless Adventure was a large but sleek frigate, with railings painted a deep, luxuriant red. Sola nodded as he looked up at the ship, while Miya danced up and down the pier, trying to take it in from every angle.
"It's impressive," said Sola.
"I'll say! Oh my goodness I can't wait to meet her, she'll help us! She's got to! And she's got such an amazing ship, Badger Pete'll probably turn tail and run as soon as he sees it! Come on, let's go find her right now!"
"I thought we were waiting."
"Waiting! Waiting's boring, Sola! Pirates don't 'wait', pirates 'do'!"
Sola sighed as his sister walked briskly past him, up the pier. As he went to follow her she stopped suddenly and half-turned her head.
"And the first place we're looking for her is in a pub," she said.
*
Miya pushed open the door of the pub and stomped out huffily, Sola close behind.