Ocean hearts

Chapter 1: Odendall The salty wind kissed my skin as we docked in the city of gold. The streets of Odendall were fibrant with colours, because of their riches that have surged with the highest numbers in history in the last ten years. This kingdom wore a shadow of hell itself and as I walked towards the devils shop early on this sunny morning, I could see the demons of hungry eyes staring back at me, feeling them assessing, calculating and at last lusting after what I could give them.   We stepped into the shop, the taste of salt still fresh on our lips as the story of today began.  Being a Pirate is f*****g ridiculous, but when you’re a woman you feel like the definition of unstoppable in leather boots.  “Red, brown or black Lord Martie?” I shout at my first mate that stands at my side twitching as I realized that that didn’t sound ladylike at all. He shrugs his shoulder uninterested with the clothing that surrounded us and impatiently kicks the wall in frustration. The courtierter at my feet raises a badly shaped grey eyebrow sticking in all directions and adjusted his hat to hide that egg shaped head.  “Aye Miss Valerie we’ve been here since mornin! When will you be done shopping?” Martie finally says after I widen my eyes at him threateningly to say something. He folds his arms casually playing his role as the uninterested “husband” and lord of the ships in Cravenstan.  “Never!” I joke and decide to study my new outfit in the mirror to play my part as a Lord’s “wife” and because I really wanted to admire myself, just a bit. “Why may I ask, would you want an outfit like this Miss Valerie?” The courtierter Kundu asked and I raised my eyebrow like I believed a snob would.  “I want me and my daughters to be comfortable when we sail back, wearing those dresses almost killed us and this would be perfect horse riding attire,” I state matter of factly and then I go back to study myself in the mirror, hoping he would drop it.  My black leather jacket reached my knees, a blood red corset that held my chest firm making my girls look good and perky, black tights that squeezed my legs like a second skin and my hands fashioned with multiple silver rings each bearing a story of my travels. Mentally I decided I looked good enough to eat as I studied my ass making Martie grunt in disapproval. “Lord Hemsworth sorry if I may sound a little frank did I hear correctly that your wife is only 21 and you have taken all these girls in? They are truly most beautiful!” Kundu croons as if he couldn't quite believe it and I was starting to get concerned about all these questions he kept asking.  “Well yes, we couldn’t resist taking all four for their beauty as well as their wit,” Martie says awkwardly as he lifts his noose and stares down at Kundu. My eyes flicker down and see Kundu trying to peak into my satchel.  “Kundu, who made these fine leathers? The detail is impeccable!” Gretha asks from the fitting room and Elke pops out her head grinning wildly.  “It’s just so gorgeous we just have to know!”   Kundu quickly stands up as if hoping to catch a glimpse of the naked girls in his dresser and I quickly pat Martie’s shoulder to calm him. “Girls! We sailed here and suffered two weeks straight on that treacherous ocean and I need rest! We must not waste Sir Kundu’s time with informalities,” Martie says and fixes my hat on top of his head and I c**k my eyebrow at him, impressed how he easily stepped into the role. “Yes Father! We were just curious! Is it truly a crime to want to know how Kundu has made his business such a success on his own!” Gretha says and I could literally imagine her pulling at her blond her, because she had to call Martie her actual lover ‘father’.  Kundu seems flattered by the praise of the success and answers her question without suspicion.  “It’s the benefit of slaves or I might have been a hunchback if I had to do it all by myself, but each pattern and color was handpicked by yours truly,” Kundu gloats and I have to stuffle my growl of hatred for the man behind the human trafficking that acted like he knew anything about fashion.  “Oh yes! I heard there's a slave auction today! Maybe we could bid to get help for the girls, what time is it starting?” Martie says and I know those words tasted bitter in his mouth.   “I believe in ten minutes actually and we organized quite a show to entertain our bidders before the real show starts! A circus of masked dancers from an exotic island!” Kundu beams his golden tooth flashing. His eyes raked down my body and Martie cleared his throat. Kundu kept staring for a moment and I knew what he was doing, he was wondering how much money he would get for us. I fixed my big silver hoops in my ears, my blue eyes flickering in the mirror to the left everytime Kundu moved his eyes roaming over the girls. The courtierter, ignores Gretha and Elke’s continuous bickering in the dressing room as he slowly makes his way towards the twins gossiping in the corner of the shop. It was obvious he hated every moment of serving us, but liked playing people like cards. His small figure and hunched shoulders are dressed in the most beautiful black silk that made it crystal clear how today was going to go. He walked with his nose in the air as his head made a strange move, a signal to someone standing across the road looking through the shop's window. The twins with their crazy wild red hair and sixteen year old bodies danced around in their new blood red boots and stared adoringly at the new black pairs Kundu was suggesting with matching green coats to complement their eyes. The girls stick their tongues out as they see me watching them in the mirror making me laugh. Martie’s one brown and one blue eyes tense as he  watched his biological girls play their parts, being the real father of those coffee skin and freckled covered beasts was everything except easy.    “Do we even have enough coins for you to buy those ridiculous boots?” Martie growls at me trying to get Kundu’s attention away from his daughters. His own dark tattoo covered skin glistening with sweat under his white puffy shirt as he watched the shadows forming outside the shop in the busy streets of the golden city. I jump up and down testing the weight of the knee high black boots with gold sequins on the sides. I do a turn and kick Martie in the shoulder making him stumble and snap out of his concern. The two redhead sisters, Ella and Cell, giggle and pull on their new boots and start debating if they should take both colours or only one pair. Kundu swings around startled by my movement. “Fine! I like those best with your black hair Captain!” Martie mutters running his hand over his clean shaved head. His thick black brows with one cut on the right side making a gap for his piercing lifts as his eyes scan the window of the shop again ready for the trouble I could sense in the air.  “That’s more like it Martie!” I shout as Gretha and Elke from my crew come to stand next to me silently showing off their new corsets and tights that Kundu had suggested for them at the back of the shop.  “I’m sorry did you just call your wife captain?” Kundu whispers, but none of us answer while we have a silent conversation with our eyes.  The blond and brunette’s matching brown gazes flash with warning and I only nod drawing my sword, WATER VIPER, slowly and silently acting like I was studying and admiring their attire. “Captain Valerie?” Kundu whispers his eyes flashing to my rings, the two tall girls standing next to me as if seeing them for what they really were for the first time. I throw the leather satchel at him and he opens it greedily, but his eyes flicker to my sword are filled with unease.  “Forty gold pieces would buy this whole shop!!” He says his eyes flashing with interest, but I spit on the ground at his feet making his eyes widen with alarm.  “Yes well, I tend to take everything in this shop for my crew! Get packing girls and Martie!” I wink at my first mate making him roll his two different color eyes as I take a swing of the strong rum in my waterskin on my hip. “Captain Valerie?” Kundu repeats as if in disbelief of what that name actually meant. I wipe my mouth with the sleeve of my jacket as my five crew members retrieve their weapons and use the six barrels we brought from the ship and start loading it with boots and clothing. Surprise settles on Kundu’s face as he realizes the barrels we brought along have been empty all along and weren’t filled with water for our journey like we said when we came in. ‘Wait Milady! Why?!” He begs with that irritating little voice and takes a step towards me and then warning flashes in my eyes making him cower.  “I tend to take everything you have and I have one name to give you,” the venom laced in my voice settles beneath my skin as memories of my friend screaming motivates it to travel towards my heart.  Kundu stands shaking his eyes flickering to the door. He looked like he was about to pee his pants. “Cindy Glomen!”  “I don’t even know that name Miss, Captain.. I don’t know why you came here?” I burst out laughing and took another sip of my rum, swallowing slowly savoring the taste of the God's liquid that cost me two gold pieces. “You know exactly, maybe we should ask the king or you could ask the gossips about my Captain?” Martie says ripping open his shirt revealing his broad chest covered with the Silver pearls symbol making Kundu gasp.  “Do you know what I absolutely hate?” I whisper loud, threateningly as I start to stalk towards Kundu, his eyes flickering to the door of the shop looking for an escape. Little rat. His face shape made him look like one too.  I quickly grab his shirt pulling the old man close hearing the silk tear in my grip.  “Spilling rum!” Gretha says, making the rest snicker with laughter. I wink at her and lift the man off the ground effortlessly making him gasp.  “That is number one! AND???” I say, eyeing the twins as they stifled their giggles delighted with excitement.  “A little snitch that sells innocent girls and his customers to be slaves!!” Ella and Cell say in union and Kundu whimpers realizing I knew.  “You told them I was here, didn’t you?” I growl all the playfulness leaving my eyes as I throw him on the ground. Two royal guards come rushing in through the front door immediately and my little red head assassin sisters are on them like flies and wrap their legs around their throats squeezing the life out of them. One more comes rushing in and I dive tackling him against the wooden door. I jump to my feet and kick the soldier in the nose and then in the crotch.  “I hope you didn’t want kids!” I mock as Martie picks him up and throws him out the door with his barbaric strength. The soldiers body slammed into the waiting soldiers sipping beer outside on their way to the center of town that had not expected this pick up to start like this at all. The commotion made the stinking rich people scream in the streets of the kingdom of Odendall, because death and fun was in the air of the kingdom that was the slave capital of Exalla. The kingdom of ‘peace’ and quiet was about to get rattled! “We have one minute to get to the roof!” Elke shouts her dark eyes flickering to the hole in the roof Elmien and Sarah just made with their swords. I could hear them running on top of the roof as they got into position. The two soldiers lay unconscious at the twins feet and their gazes were hungry for more and I knew so was mine. Martie threw my signature black hat at me and the twins eyes widened with excitement.  “Get on that roof now you little devils!” I order them and they argue who will go first all the way to Gretha that quickly helps them up.  Martie’s eyes follow them and then he smiles at me as we turn towards the door he closed on the soldier's faces.  “Will you do the honors?” He says holding his own sword, Windbreaker, in his hand as if the long thick curving blade was weightless.  “Wait for it!” I order and turn to the commotion behind me. “PLEASE! SPARE ME, I AM INNOCENT!” Kundu screams as Elke keeps her foot on his crotch making him whimper in pain as Gretha holds him still. “Our Captain never forgets a face! You piece of s**t trafficker!” She bellowed and even I raised an black eyebrow at my usually soft hearted friend.  “Throw him off the roof after you cut off those tiny genitals!!” I order before she uses her two daggers to slit his throat, irritation flickering behind that curtain of brown hair of Elke’s. Gretha and Elke rush to the hole and take Kundu with them dragging him up like a doll. His screaming fills our ears like a delicious lullaby.  The four girls on the roof start shooting at the soldiers and Martie and I stand back to back as the soldiers slowly surround us.  “I was a young gurlllll!” I start to sing and my crew joins me and then all hell breaks loose. I whip my sword slitting the throat of the first man in my view.  “WHO DRANK TO MUCH!” I sang the loudest as I gutted another soldier. “NEVER f****d ENOUGH!” Sarah and Gretha sang this part the loudest and the soldiers' heads shot up but regretted it as bullets pummeled into them. “BUT DANCED ALL NIGHT LONGGGGG!” I hooked my arm in Marties our backs braced against each other as he turned while I kicked the men surrounding us, breaking their noses with my new stunning boots.  “I WAS A YOUNG GURLLLLL!!!” MARTIE SANG AS HE set me down and we swinged our swords left and right. I grabbed my pistol, firing it at the giant that stormed towards me from the left.  “WHO DRANK TO MUCH!”  “NEVER f****d ENOUGH!”  “BUT DANCED ALL NIGHT LONGGGG!”  We sang as we fought and before the next wave could enter the shop we ran towards the hole and was quickly pulled up.  Sarah’s midnight black skin was shining with excitement as she helped me up blood in her shoulder from a bullet wound, but she couldn’t look happier. I frowned when I realized why as she threw the bomb into the hole just as ten shoulders came rushing in again shouting orders. “OH f**k!” Martie shouted, grabbing all seven of us and running off the roof, the barrels following us down. We screamed, but then landed on hay on top of a wagon just as the shop exploded.  “YOU ARE CRAZY!” Elke shouted at Sarah as the farmer of the wagon sitting on a fine white horse turned around his eyes looking like they were about to pop at the sight of eight pirates on his hay wagon. “Sorry kind sir, but we really need this wagon,” I say and quickly kick him off the horse, but throw him with the satchel filled with gold that was supposed to be Kundu’s as I drive my heels into the horse's side as I see the six barrels safely in my crews arms. I could see he was poor and honestly I couldn’t steal his horse, well I could well... “ARE WE IMPROVISING?” The twins shouted in union terrified that the plan was not going like we said it would. “PIRATES ALWAYS IMPROVISE!” Their father shouts at them and I could hear the motherless daughters smiles. The soldiers' shouts filled our ears and I glanced over my shoulder seeing the older girls and Martie laughing drinking out of my waterskin filled with rum.  “YOU THIEF! GIVE THAT BACK!” I growl and then my best friend throws it at me, because Martie knew if he didn’t I would stop this horse wasting time. Time we didn’t have.  We darted down the street and then I spotted the two bottles of fine wine in the satchel of the man we just stole this wagon from. I lift it in the air so my crew could see and they cheered loudly making every head turn in the street, f*****g alcoholics! “YES! THROW IT HERE CAPTAIN!” Elmien shouts and I throw it over my shoulder knowing they would catch it. I laughed at the people who screamed as we came rushing down the street.  “Remember it’s only eight in the morning my darlings!” I shout cakeling.  I drank a bit of the second bottle of wine and held my pistol in my other hand as we made our way down the main road of the city. I knew I looked crazy, but who the hell cares! There was a crowd formed at the center of town watching a beautiful show of masked dancers of the circus visiting town. Masks of foxes and hounds on the stage turned towards us and then all five of them lifted their mask revealing the rest of my crew. Devastatingly beautiful and dangerous, yet pirates by blood.  “I WAS A YOUNG GURLLL!” My second mate, Sasha, sang in the middle of the crowd where she was stationed to steal the money of the rich bastards of this traitorous city watching the show. We ran past the stage, the barrels being thrown to get it to our ship.  “WHO DRANK TO MUCH!” I sang as I stood on the horse’s back, bending my knees for balance and jumped towards the stage.  “NEVER f****d ENOUGH!”  I landed swiftly breaking my bottle of wine over the two soldiers' heads that tried to grab my crew on the stage realising who the women actually were. I turned towards the crowd as my crew sang along to our song.  “BUT DANCED ALL NIGHT LONGGG!”  I lifted my hands and some of the people stopped and watched realising who I was. I saw the slaves in the crowd smile up at me as if I was the sun, the hope they were praying for was finally here.  “THIS is A MESSAGE TO YOU KING!” I bellowed as my crew stood behind me undressing to reveal the crew that ruled the waters of the four oceans.  “THE SILVER PEARL CREW IS JUSTICE AND WE ARE OUT FOR BLOOD!” I smiled as my crew started slaughtering the slave traffickers. We ran to our mother, our ship, our home slaughtering as we went freeing slaves and nobody could stop us. Goddess I loved the smell of victory in the morning!