Post by The Puppeteers on Aug 10, 2016 18:27:07 GMT -5
The canons were still hot from the desolation of another enemy ship on the Atlantic. Once filled with holes and already sinking, Levi had encircled the ship with his body and pulled it down swifter. He then slowly picked off the survivors.
Red flags flew overhead, a warning to all who opposed her that she took no prisoners. She showed no mercy, and she would spare no lives. “Don’t fuck with me,” was the message written on her face each time she was challenged. She could smile. Oh, she could smile. Like the ship she captained, she was born of the softness of wood and modified with the strength of steel. A smile was just as deadly as a cutlass and pistol when it belonged to the Pirate Queen of the African Puppeteers. The courtesy she paid her enemies was the same courtesy she gave her crewmates, one of whom had done the one thing he should never, ever do.
He had fucked with her.
“Caught him stealing, boss,” Zolten declared after brutally throwing the man down on the deck. There had been a snap, the shipmate cradling his arm and howling seconds after regaining his breath. Zolten took his place in the crow’s nest, the thunderbird spreading his wings the length of the ship from the captain’s quarters to the tip of the bowsprit. His keen ears had heard the shipmate moving while everyone else had been asleep and his keener eyes had witnessed him trying to hide the fact he was in the wrong.
The whole crew was awake now and they were most certainly not pleased.
Ashanti’s intense glare tunneled on the man with the broken arm. As Zolten watched overhead, it seemed everyone was already unanimously angry at the one they’d gathered to scorn. Evidence of his betrayal lay strewn across the deck. Food, gold, items meant to be shared by the crew and not hoarded by one greedy, selfish, incompetent bastard. Yes, Ashanti knew this particular shipmate. He’d come aboard thinking he was going to find fortune, had seemed put off when told he had to work for it just like everyone else. He was not a Puppeteer. She did still have non Puppeteers on her ship when it suited her, and those who were Puppeteers were her most loyal members. This one . . . .
Oh he had to go.
“Alright men?” she addressed her crew loudly. They perked up. “We’ve all lied, stolen, and killed before.” There was a hushed response throughout the crew, a quiet agreement that this was true. “Some of us even like it.” The response was louder, again in agreement. “We get what we want, right?”
“Yeah,” they responded, some in unison while other voices trailed after.
“We all worked hard to get what we wanted, right?”
“Yeah!” they cried simultaneously.
“And we didn’t cheat each other to do it, did we?”
“No!” They were getting louder, more riled up.
“We’re all cheaters, but we don’t cheat each other, do we?”
“NO!”
It was then that the grin that speared through enemy ships appeared on her face. The traitor finally looked up, and on his face was a terror she had seen many, many times over. “And what do we call those who cheat us?”
“TRAITOR!”
The grin spread. Those scared eyes widened. “And what do we do with traitors?!”
“THROW THEM OVER!”
“WE DO WHAT?!”
“THROW THEM OVER!”
“I DON’T THINK I HEARD YOU!”
“THROW HIM OVER!” The man scrambled, tears in his eyes and arm dangling limp. “THROW HIM OVER!” She stomped towards him, her own gaze crazed and savage as she struck out with one palm and grasped his shirt collar. “THROW HIM OVER!” She lifted him effortlessly, his feet dangling as she started towards the rail. “THROW HIM OVER!” His back hit the side of the ship hard and he cried out.
At least he was smart enough not to beg.
Either that or he just couldn’t speak.
“Well,” Ashanti quirked an eyebrow and bellowed over the still chanting crew, “you heard them!”
With that, she shoved the traitor overboard. Watching him fall, she waited until he hit the water and Levi started to circle before sending the crew back to get their much needed rest.
Red flags flew overhead, a warning to all who opposed her that she took no prisoners. She showed no mercy, and she would spare no lives. “Don’t fuck with me,” was the message written on her face each time she was challenged. She could smile. Oh, she could smile. Like the ship she captained, she was born of the softness of wood and modified with the strength of steel. A smile was just as deadly as a cutlass and pistol when it belonged to the Pirate Queen of the African Puppeteers. The courtesy she paid her enemies was the same courtesy she gave her crewmates, one of whom had done the one thing he should never, ever do.
He had fucked with her.
“Caught him stealing, boss,” Zolten declared after brutally throwing the man down on the deck. There had been a snap, the shipmate cradling his arm and howling seconds after regaining his breath. Zolten took his place in the crow’s nest, the thunderbird spreading his wings the length of the ship from the captain’s quarters to the tip of the bowsprit. His keen ears had heard the shipmate moving while everyone else had been asleep and his keener eyes had witnessed him trying to hide the fact he was in the wrong.
The whole crew was awake now and they were most certainly not pleased.
Ashanti’s intense glare tunneled on the man with the broken arm. As Zolten watched overhead, it seemed everyone was already unanimously angry at the one they’d gathered to scorn. Evidence of his betrayal lay strewn across the deck. Food, gold, items meant to be shared by the crew and not hoarded by one greedy, selfish, incompetent bastard. Yes, Ashanti knew this particular shipmate. He’d come aboard thinking he was going to find fortune, had seemed put off when told he had to work for it just like everyone else. He was not a Puppeteer. She did still have non Puppeteers on her ship when it suited her, and those who were Puppeteers were her most loyal members. This one . . . .
Oh he had to go.
“Alright men?” she addressed her crew loudly. They perked up. “We’ve all lied, stolen, and killed before.” There was a hushed response throughout the crew, a quiet agreement that this was true. “Some of us even like it.” The response was louder, again in agreement. “We get what we want, right?”
“Yeah,” they responded, some in unison while other voices trailed after.
“We all worked hard to get what we wanted, right?”
“Yeah!” they cried simultaneously.
“And we didn’t cheat each other to do it, did we?”
“No!” They were getting louder, more riled up.
“We’re all cheaters, but we don’t cheat each other, do we?”
“NO!”
It was then that the grin that speared through enemy ships appeared on her face. The traitor finally looked up, and on his face was a terror she had seen many, many times over. “And what do we call those who cheat us?”
“TRAITOR!”
The grin spread. Those scared eyes widened. “And what do we do with traitors?!”
“THROW THEM OVER!”
“WE DO WHAT?!”
“THROW THEM OVER!”
“I DON’T THINK I HEARD YOU!”
“THROW HIM OVER!” The man scrambled, tears in his eyes and arm dangling limp. “THROW HIM OVER!” She stomped towards him, her own gaze crazed and savage as she struck out with one palm and grasped his shirt collar. “THROW HIM OVER!” She lifted him effortlessly, his feet dangling as she started towards the rail. “THROW HIM OVER!” His back hit the side of the ship hard and he cried out.
At least he was smart enough not to beg.
Either that or he just couldn’t speak.
“Well,” Ashanti quirked an eyebrow and bellowed over the still chanting crew, “you heard them!”
With that, she shoved the traitor overboard. Watching him fall, she waited until he hit the water and Levi started to circle before sending the crew back to get their much needed rest.