Pirate Stuff

Captain Alex Marx was the most ruthless pirate out there. She led her crew to board other ships, loot their treasure, steal their men and women, and make those who defied her walk the plank. It was rare to find a pirate captain that wasn’t a man, but Captain Alex Marx was one of the most infamous and feared. She wasn’t all looting and plundering; those that were close to her knew she was loyal and very protective of those she cared about.

Earning her trust wasn’t easy, and who could blame her for never letting her guard down? With bounties out for her capture in many territories and a lot of powerful enemies, letting her guard down is a mistake she never wants to make again.

She learned from her mistake, she learned that everyone had a hidden agenda, even if it didn’t seem like it. Even if it was your brother, mother, or your lover. Everyone wanted something out of you, and you must sleep with one eye open if you didn’t want it creeping up on you.

“Captain! We be ready wit' th' boats t' go get that gold,” Alex’s Quartermaster walked up to her with an excited smile spread across his face. The tigress pirate captain was leading her crew to some loot she had learned about after she seduced Jacob Smith, another pirate captain that was extremely wealthy. Legend has it that he looted a ship so full of riches that he had to bury them on islands across the seas.

“Jolly, let's 'ope Smith wasn't bullshittin' about this here loot,” the tigress chuckled as she manned the helm of the ship. Her fingers curled around the handles of the wheel loosely as she looked out to the sea in front of them. There had been nothing on the horizon for days, so the sight of sand was alone something to celebrate. Maybe one day Alex could have an island of her own, build a city, a kingdom. Maybe with the riches, she might find on this very island. Her mind wandered for a moment before she shook her head and whistled loudly.

“Get ready, we be comin' up on th' island now,” Alex shouted for her crew to hear and nudged the rat with her shoulder. The rat then started running down the short flight of stairs from the helm to the main deck,

“Anchor 'er down!” he shouted. The crew members did not hesitate, some climbing up to keep the sails, and a few tossing the anchor to the ship down into the blue depths below.

A few minutes later, the ship was at a standstill just a few miles off the shore of the island. They were taking two boats off the ship with a handful of her crew to search for the treasure, while the rest stayed aboard the ship and made sure no one came up on them or near it. Hopping over the side of the ship and into the boat, Alex’s boots landed on the wooden flooring with a loud thud, her quartermaster did the same, and then the rest of her crew followed. With the boat filled up, it was lowered off the side of the ship and they rowed off to the sand. When they beached, the quartermaster hopped out first and offered a hand to Alex to help her out of the boat, Alex took his hand and climbed out. Once her boots were in the sand, she adjusted her hat and grinned wide.

“Here we be,” she cooed and nodded to herself. She then turned to the rat and smiled happily, one hand still in the rat’s, and just stood there silently for a moment. The sound of one of her crew members clearing their throat cut through the sound of waves crashing on the shore and seagulls and caused Alex to blink and quickly let go of the rat’s hand.

“What ye waitin' fer? Go find me that treasure!” Alex turned to her crew who were just standing there awkwardly around her and scowled. In response to her words, her crew quickly bolted from the shores and headed inland to look for what they came here for. The tigress watched as all her men ran around the island in search of anything that could resemble treasure. The rat quartermaster was just about to take a step forward and join the rest of the men but was stopped by Alex’s hand reaching and grabbing him again. The rat looked a bit confused and raised a brow at his captain.

“I 'aven't even told them where to look,” she chuckled and started walking forward, heading inland. Her hand slipped free from his as he was still a bit confused.

After a bit, the rodent chuckled and shook his head. “That be why ye be the Cap'n, Alex,” he followed behind her, his boots sinking in the sand with each step.

Inland, the island was covered in thick forest, the ground covered in a mixture of both dirt and sand. Alex had called her men and told them to follow her instead of just running around aimlessly in small groups on the island. She hadn’t told anyone the exact point where the treasure was said to be, despite trusting her crew, she couldn’t risk that type of information in the hands of the kind of men who would take on a job such as being part of a pirate crew, she knew better than that.

Cutting through vines with her blade, Alex led her crew deeper into the forest, stopping when she found what looked like an abandoned settlement. She grinned and led on.

And there it was. The marker, exactly how it looked in the rough sketch in Smith’s book. A big emblem marked into one of the large trees. Alex walked up to it and ran her fingers over the marking on the bark and grinned. “'ere! Start diggin' 'ere lads,” Alex commanded her men, who pulled out their shovels and began to dig into the sandy soil under the tree.

The men began singing as they dug, Alex helped here and there, and her quartermaster did too. He stopped her after he saw her sweating a lot. She then supervised the rest of the digging. After a while of the sound of shoveling and dirt being thrown around filling the air and Alex’s ears, her ears flickered when she suddenly heard a loud metallic clunk coming from one of the men digging.

“Avast! Stop shoveling!” Alex stomped her way over to the hole that had been dug and made her way to the crewman who made that sound with his shovel. “Give me that,” Alex gestured her hand for the shovel to be handed over. With the shovel in hand, she used it to poke and prod at the ground.

‘Thunk,’

‘Thunk’

‘Clank’

‘Clank’

Alex grinned wide and shoveled the dirt away from the sides of the chest. With the dirt out of the way, she could make out the buried chest in the ground. She put one foot on the top of the chest and tossed the shovel back to the crew member she took it from. She then pulled out her sword and held it up in front of her. Her grin widened and she put her other hand at her hip.

“We did it, lads, we be gettin' paid today.”

Her crew cheered, shovels up in the air.

**

Then there were sounds of something knocking on wood.

‘Knock, knock, knock’

“Alex?” a voice called out to Alex, which made her ears flicker. Leg up on a box, her sword prop in her hand and pointed out in front of her, and her hand on her hip. She blinked a few times before she lowered her sword down and looked around. She was in her bedroom, dressed in a pirate costume, holding a fake sword and stepping on the box her costume came in.

“Are you ready yet? We’re going to be late!” the voice from behind the door exclaimed.

“Y-Yeah! I’ll be out in a sec!” Alex replied. Her foot still up on the box, a grin still spread across her face. From the box, a parrot peeked out with a bottle of rum and glanced up at Alex. Alex looked down and spotted it and chuckled. She leaned down and grabbed the bottle of rum from the bird and gave him a gentle pat on his head before she left the bedroom and headed out for the party.

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Art by Reaper3D