Snippet #2662693

"What sea-goer has never been hungry on a long voyage? The sea provides a little, but never enough. When the hard tack is dwindling near the end of the journey, who can say they have not wished for food? Only those who cannot call themselves proper sailors have never been hungry. But rest assured, on my ship, I suffer the same as you. If you are hungry, so am I. On the Acheron, we owe nothing to the clerks in London, to the dogs in the Admiralty, to those who would steal our hard won bread from our mouths and call it just. On the Acheron, what you win is yours, and yours alone."

The words resonated inside of Ren's head, bringing with them the memories of Captains eating while the laymen on deck did without. She had been both, and suffering as she did now made her ashamed that she never thought twice about the injustice at the time. Back then she'd only viewed the hunger as motivation to earn her gold buttons, to prove herself worthy, and the way Sellars spoke made it clear that the uniform he wore was not stolen. He was on the run too, just like her, except he decided to stop and punch back.

The connection gave Ren a moment of pause as she thought back on the past three years. Hunted like a dog, starving half to death and reviled by the country she had served, and for what? For daring to risk her life for the crown without the God given blessing of a dick? Was the blood she shed invalid? The sweat any less meaningful than anyone else's on any of the ships on which she served? Was it she that brought shame to her uniform by surviving, or had any sense of dignity been long stolen by the dogs that hounded her? What else did she owe to the goddamn King?

A fire was lit anew in Ren's chest, flame fresh in her eyes as she listened to the rest of the pirate captain's speech, tuning most of it out as she thought now of what to expect of life on a pirate ship. She would have to start passing again, that was a given. She had no desire to fight half the crew day in or day out to preserve her modesty, and she imagined the Captain was smart enough to have had this thought as well. The doctor might be so kind as to lend her bandages, especially if he wasn't looking, but after nearly a decade of surviving the scrutiny of the Royal Navy, she was confident so long as she wasn't caught squatting to piss that she'd be fine.

As the captain wrapped up his speech and made his way back to the door to begin the official recruiting, The silence that filled the tavern was quickly filled with murmuring. Some mulling over the idea of turning pirate themselves, while others were debating how best to contact the Navy. Three men, drunk off of their asses, stood and the leader among them began to shout, "OI NATE YA FUCKIN FRENCH POODLE! THE HELL KIND'VE TRAITOROUS CURS YOU TAKE US FOR?" He bellowed, the two men behind him shouting in agreement.

"You think one fucking speech is enough to make us forget his majesty? You trying to take us for simpletons?"

Drunk as he was, the voices talking about getting the Navy began to grow louder.

"I say we show this shit bag what we think of bloody pirates. What say you all?" another man spoke up, several rising from their tables in agreement, but none seemed armed or particularly eager to rush the very armed and very dangerous Captain.

"And what do you think of bloody pirates? Have any of you met one before today or do you all just swallow the bile King George spews to hide the fact a ship-full of rogues can and has bested his Navy? You hate and are indignant because that is what is expected of you, but there's not one thought or opinion you can shout that you haven't been spoon-fed by someone else. No pirate has ever took coin from your pocket, but the Crown has! No pirate has commandeered your food for their men, but the Navy has! Has any Navy Captain ever come to you and offered you work? A chance at the open sea, to prove yourself a man of worth? No, but a pirate has!" Ren shouted back, her voice harsh as she spoke.

"I served the bloody fucking Navy for six years and have nothing to show for it but an empty belly and scars from men I had called ally. I've fought pirates and I will tell you honest, no pirate has cut me deeper than another man wearing the same colors I wear now! What cause do you have for loyalty, you bunch of drunks? So either sit down or draw your swords, but either way no one is taking a step closer and taking my chance at the sea away from me!"

Ren glared hard at the man who had first started shouting, who scowled back but struggled to find any words to counter her own. Several who were considering joining the crew of the Acheron stood now as well, and unlike the upstanding citizens who were loyal to the King, many of the ill mannered who might be pirate were armed with either sabre of flintlock, which brought a decisive end to the debate. Riding her high from shouting down the drunks, Ren marched over to the log book, stopping only to steal the mug off of another man's table and take a long swig, before slamming it back down and taking the pen Black Nate's pirate clerk had generously provided.

"I would sign if you would have me, Captain Sellars," Ren said calmly, ready to jot down her name and move aside should the captain give his approval. Were he to not, well, a stow away might be hard to find with all the new faces suddenly clamoring aboard the ship, now wouldn't it?