Irukandji's Story

The night in Nassau is as it always was, warm, but now a welcoming warm, it was like standing near a funeral pyre, there was nothing welcoming about it. Pirates came and went, merchants selling their wares, trading with said pirates, bars and taverns ringing with the sounds of breaking glass, music, chattering and cheering, brothels alive with the sounds of moans and screams of pleasure and some times pain.

On this dark kingless island, a woman walked, her dark eyes focusing on nothing, yet seeing nearly everything. A dark skinned beauty, hair flowing down in unbound tresses, her curvy body hugged in a boiled leather corset, long skirts twisting around her long legs as she walked, a pilfered belt with a large golden clasp hung around her waist, with a cutlass in much need of a wet stone in it's sheath on her right and a dagger on her left, a cotton men's shirt, left slightly unbuttoned, teasing the bounty beneath.

This night was not unlike night she earned her name, not known to all, but one day, one day soon would be feared by all, as here, walked the Crimson Lady, Robyn Sheva.

She rounded the corner, entering the tavern/brothel, where men looked at her oddly. Women pirates, while not uncommon, were still quite a sight. A fact she knew, but the fact is, she wasn't a pirate, not yet. No, instead, she was thief, having stolen the belt from a pirate with limited control of his hands. He thought himself a taste of her, and only found the taste of his own blood as it bubbled up his throat, shortly after she plunged her favored dagger into his gut.

She took a seat at the bar, and ordered a tall glass over rum, paying very close to the eyes that were on her. No blood was to be spilled here, not in Madame Aja Rai's establishment, not unless a man wanted to go un-fucked for the evening, which was good for Robyn, it was unlikely that someone would try something foolish.

"Quite the cutlass you have there, Lass." said a pirate well into his cup.

"If you do not want to see it in use, then I suggest you move along." said the woman, as her cup set in front of her. The pirate laughed. "Oh listen to you, such a brave girl," he said, brushing hair from in front of her ear. Robyn smacked his hand away, causing his crew to all stand up. The pirate waved them down.

"Do you know who I am?"

"Wrong question."

"What?"

"That's not the question you should be asking me, you should be asking, if I care enough to know, and the answer to that, is no."
Robyn took a sip of her mug, only to have it knocked from her hand, the contents spilling on to the floor.

"You've got quite the balls for a woman." He said, anger now at Robyn's nonchalance. Robyn turned to him, her face a mask of boredom and amusement.

"I could say the same to you." she said, her voice as calm as ever.

He snarled, slapped her across the face, and grabbed her throat, shoving her against the bar top.

"You want to know how big I am, I'll show you." He said, kicking the bar stool, and straddling her thighs.

"Well then, I certainly hope you fuck harder then you strike." She said, a crooked smile upturned her lips. He began to squeeze and with that, Robyn rose her leg, jarring his manhood upward. He groaned and let go, only to have Robyn slam her knee into his face as he doubled over. He popped up before hitting the ground backwards unconscious.

His crew stood up then, seven men, maybe more and Robyn sighed. She didn't really know how to use the cutlass she stole, so she didn't bother with it now, especially since no blood was allowed to be shed here. "Fucking hell." She said, her hand going to her dagger.

It was nearly freed from it's sheath with a booming voice shouted, ending all the noise in the tavern, even some of the sounds of sex going on in the upper rooms.

"That's enough of that!"

Robyn didn't take her eyes off of her soon to be attackers, but they turned from her.

"Leave the lass alone," said the voice, soon revealing himself to her as he passed through the crowd of men. A tall man with a small monkey on his shoulder walked up, his heavy foot falls echoing in the now silent room, long stringy grey and brown hair, a large hat atop his shoulders, scars lining his weather beaten face, and apple in his hand. He stopped just a few feet from where she stood, biting in to his apple while the monkey screeched. Robyn reached for her dagger.

"Peace, Lass, I'm not gonna hurt ya," He said, waving her down with both hands as the juice from the freshly bitten apple ran down his face, and on to his beard. " See I'm unarmed." he said, turning his hands so that she could see there was nothing but the apple. Robyn's eyes merely narrowed.

"I'm Captain Jack Jayne of the Harbinger, who might you be, Lass?" He asked her.

"A memory." She said and moved to the door, only to find herself blocked.

"A Memory... hmm, I think I would remember you..." He said with a gap-tooth smile.

Robyn turned up her nose. "Look, I like you, Lass, so why don't I but you a drink? As...payment for this sorry sap's actions?" He said gesturing to the unconscious man on the floor.

"What's your angle?"

The old pirate laughed, his monkey jumped up and down, howling as if it too were laughing. "Well, I suppose a romp the sack upstairs is out of the question."

Robyn titled her head, incredulously. He laughed again. "No angle, I just like a woman who can hold her own, come, join us, drinks on me." He said and Robyn took a deep breath. She didn't know what she was getting into but she was starving, all she could afford was a drink, when actually she needed a meal.

"Throw in a meal, and we'll talk." She said, and the old pirate laughed as the tavern resumed it's noise.

"What's yer name, lass?"

"Robyn, Robyn Sheva," She said, and let her dagger slid in to it's sheath, making sure it was loud enough that he knew it was there, she walked up to him and then passed him, looking for a seat. She found the one he'd been sitting in and she eyed the one beside it.

"Robin...like the bird?" he asked, standing next to her, and offered the seat, much to the confusion of his crew.

"No, not like the bird."
Robyn smirked, patted his chest, before she walked by him and taking the seat offered.
"Robyn as in, 'Robyn you blind.'" She
She crossed her legs, and twirled two gold coins between her fingers. The crew gasped, while Captain Jayne looked impressed, he laughed.
"Oh I like you."

Meanwhile, in the more or less shady part of the docks, a pale figure was squatting over at the pier, maintaining a silent vigil with his harpoon aimed at the murky water. He saw the reflection of his macabre face dancing in the water, a face he'd come to recognize as his own in time. He couldn't rightly recall what his faced once might've looked like. He took guesses, but hadn't seen many southeast-asian folk around here, especially not people with the same affliction as him. He still saw relatively abnormal people here and there. A gypsy with a hidden third eye here, a limp person resembling a clownfish more than a person there. He'd think his condition was more common.

So it was, that Irukandji, as he had started calling himself, was in an alternate life-state. Some old sea dogs tell tales of these so-called "Drowns", people who had drowned and continued living. The drown-curse lifts them back up, transformed into pale and slender husks of themselves. They spend their entire lives longing for the sea, but never quite reaching it. They stare at the waters hours at a time, only obsessively thinking about the depths they once drowned in. The Drowns know secrets kept hidden from the surface, but struggle to understand them, only seeing a glimpse of the big picture, forever wondering what is down there.

Irukandji snapped out of his thoughts, and struck his harpoon at his reflection. He pulled it up, and snatched the small fish lodged in the tip. He examined the scales and the eyes of the fish, whipped out his ice-pick and carved the eyes right off. He ate the eyes and put the fish into one of his pouches. He figured it was high time to get back to the Tavern with this week's shipment. He stood up and walked towards the Tavern.

The atmosphere inside was as chaotic as usual. The sight of this pale figure invoked the usual dread in a few select sailors, confusion and awe in a few others. Upon seeing him enter, the bartender stepped away from the counter for a while and met him in the dark corner siding the counter. Business as usual. He pressed himself against the bartender and hugged him, while slipping a murky green vial to his pocket with discretion.

"The usual, yes?", he said.

"Er, yes, take a seat and wait, will ya? I'll have the payment brought in a moment."

"Very well, fetch me a rum while you're at it.", he remarked as he sat down beside the west end of the counter. The bartender quickly passed him the rum and got back to his usual routines. The population in the Tavern was hardly sporting. There's the usual barfights, whores and manwhores alike mingling with one another, salty sea dogs getting their last bit of snatch before their voyage . . .

He couldn't remember the last time he had one, usually he picked the specific ones really into weird stuff. Not that there was anything weird about his manhood, it's as potent as ever. It's just that mixing and delivering shipments takes so much time these days. . .

He continued to spectate the tavern folk as he took swigs of his rum bottle and scratched the small yet itchy barnacle cluster on his back.

Aja stood on the balcony that over looked the tarven, the brothel portion of the building. She was dressed in a tight corset, her bare bust peeking over the top, a long skirt, showing off her brown legs. She watched as the woman, calling herself Robyn was given a plate by the Cook, Fae.

Aja had taken a special liking to the cook, she wasn't Fae like Aja, but her name was, not only that she was a spectacular cook. She was very particular about the people she had working in her building.

Aja looked back at the dark skinned woman, while she ate with the Captain. Captain rarely took woman in, he had not a single one on his crew yet she saw in a vision sometime ago that he would and it would be this girl. Aja always found it fun to watch her visions -the good ones- come to pass. This woman would one day but the most fearsome Pirate Captian's the world would ever see, but right now, she looked like every other woman in this place. Malnourished, ansty, and weak.

Aja wanted to watch this all play out.

For now, she had work to do, or she would, shortly. She moved down the staircase, and made her way to where an olive skinned boy with long dark dreadlocks was ready and raring to take down a pirate after yet another fight was about to break out. This would end differently from the last one.

She walked up to him, though it would appear to him and anyone looking that she just appeared.

"Oh no, Mon'chere, You are much to lovely to frown like this..." she cooed, touching the boy's arm softly. She waved the pirate off, the simple wave was enough to keep the pirate captain at bay, at least while he was in her establishment. Everyone knew not to anger the lovely Aja Rai.

"Why don't you get something to eat, on me." she said, but the way she spoke, it could have been taken two different ways.

Despite the fact that the city was the one constant in Xerxes' life since his exile, the prince never felt at home in this place. As a boy, the culture-shock had all but silenced him as Sir Pheles helped him pick up the remaining pieces of his life. After all these years, the feeling of being a stranger in a foreign land never quite went away. It lay beneath the surface, a small prickle reminding him that he did not belong, no matter how much he pretended to.

He entered a tavern, ignoring the laughter of drunken pirates and purchased whores. He surveyed the scene, keenly aware of the the small piece of parchment in his pocket.

"This map is a decade's work, Prince Xerxes. If you leverage it right, you will be one step closer to regaining your birthright."

"What about you?"

"I will be along, but for now, my face is too well-known. Too many eyes would be drawn towards us if it was me searching for a crew. I will be along once you have your own boat."

Xerxes frowned slightly. There were too many unknowns. He had a general idea of the more well-known captains, but how would he be able to secure his rightful share of the treasure? At last, his eyes rested on a lovely dark woman he knew only by reputation and he smiled somewhat. If he had the gold and was interesting enough, according to Sir Pheles, Madame Aja Rai could provide him with answers. He stepped towards the stairway leading to her balcony, only to pause as a commotion at the bar caught his eye.

"I'll fucking kill you Dáire!"

He did not like the look in one of the combatants. It was one mixed with hatred and lust. He had seen such looks before on pirate crews he preferred not to remember. He reached for his pistol's holster and within as second, held it at the back of the pirate's head.

"Now, there is no need for violence. I was just on my way to see someone and I would hate for a...disturbance," Xerxes noted politely. Silence greeted his words. He already had a reasonable amount of respect as the protoge of "Sir" Pheles, the Knight of the Sea. It was a gamble whether his threat and reputation would dispel this unpleasant situation. Xerxes inwardly sighed. He had to start minding his own business.

---

Dáire felt so ready to pummel this guy, this scum. He wondered why he hadn't done so when he had the chance, why he didn't just slit his throat while he slept. Well, Dáire wasn't that kind of guy, he didn't like the though of killing another, not unless times got desperate. No he usually went to his book of spells and other information such as myths, legends, hidden places, curses, and more wonders. It was quite thick, and heavy but Dáire had been carrying it around most of his life since he sold everything he owned and became a Gypsy. Some pages are filled with ancient text that he cannot decipher, a language he is unfamiliar with that he is dying to understand. The book was wrapped in cheap leather; looked quite rugged and a bit damaged but it was strong, this was bound with strong, thin rope which he had managed to fiddle with so that it was attached to one of his belts and hung off the side of his thigh. Dáire would usually look through this book when he had a troublesome enemy like the Captain, and would pick a curse he though was best for them and simply lay it upon them. That way he didn't need to kill them and they could live a miserable life. It may sound selfish or cruel but it was how Dáire had lived this long.

"Why you-" Just as the pirate got up and was about to lash out at Dáire, a woman that all knew, stopped the fight instantly. It took her no fists or weapons or even a threat. Just soothing, calm words and the wave of her hand and perhaps the unfamiliar male he held a pistol to the Captain's head had a little something to do with it too. Who wouldn't back off? None the less the asshole of a pirate looked as if he was hypnotised or something, it was so odd, even he himself suddenly felt calm just from her touch, and usually Dáire hated it when people touched him without asking. This time was different.

He had heard of her and seen her a few times, knew her name, it wasn't rare to find someone at least bring her name up once in a conversation, but he had never conversed with her. All he knew was that she was in charge. He felt relaxed as his gaze moved to her, but at the same time he had a confused look on his face. She mentioned food and his stomach instantly growled impatiently. Dáire placed his left hand on hi stomach and felt a tad embarrassed about his loud stomach. "Food... Yes that would be nice." He finally replied as he rubbed the back of his head; the corner of his mouth raised ever so slightly to form a faint smile. He wasn't much of a people person when he wasn't being fake and trying to swindle money off people. When he was being himself he was a bit awkward.

The Gypsy's eyes shifted to the man who wielded the pistol, a very attractive man in his opinion. "Thanks." Even if the guy didn't do it to be nice and did it for other reasons, it certainly helped Dáire's situation, that was reason enough to thank someone in his opinion. Dáire felt a tad curious as to who he was on his way to speak with, but it was none of his business and he didn't much feel like being nosy

Dáire had been so caught up in the moment, he had completed missed the new faces that had entered the establishment. When the hell did they get here? He didn't realise how much he really blacked out and blocked out everyone when he was furious. There was even some guy at the bar counter ordering food casually, right near Dáire, and he hadn't even noticed him; oh wait make that two men, gosh he was terrible tonight, way off, not as cautious as usual. Or better yet the strange looking guy doing business with the bartender. Now that was odd, he wish he knew what in the world they were exchanging. An employee was also close by he hadn't seen when he first walked in was cleaning the tables, seeming to be keeping a close eye on them. At first Dáire wasn't sure why, almost forgetting about the little spat that broke out earlier before realising.

Okay, his mind had caught up with all the new faces, none of them were enemies as far as he could remember, so he now he can relax just a little. He followed Madame Aja to a table and seated himself. He couldn't remember the last time he had something actually good to eat as the plates of food were brought around to them by the beautiful, redhead, cook. The food presented before them looked breathtakingly delicious in Dáire's opinion. His face lit up just at the sight of the food "Thank y-" But the cook was really busy and just as he was about to thank her, she was gone after a kiss from Aja, "you." He finished his sentence feeling a little daft and felt like shrinking down to the size of a mouse for a moment then. "Calm down Dáire just be yourself. Wait no don't do that, shit." He thought to himself, attempting to make himself feel more comfortable which failed. His eyes trailed off for a moment as he noticed another unfamiliar face speak to the female cook, he had no idea what they were talking about, couldn't hear over the mash up of loud voices that filled the Tavern.

"When you asked me to eat did you mean literally eat food that was on you or- because I don't think I could afford this food if that were the case." Of course the images in his mind were far more dirtier than how casually he made the sentence out to be. A small grin formed on his face as he looked Madame Aja in the eye and began eating the food with much delight.

Catherine was a normal looking woman; her soft facial features gave off the impression of innocence and a good willed person. But she wasn't innocent at all, good willed well sort of, as best as she could be. Her long, dark brown, beautiful thick hair was wavy, quite dry, and a bit messy. But her eyes was what got peoples attention the most. She had bright, big blue eyes, that always seemed rather eerie to stare into; felt as though those eyes of hers could look straight through you, past that mask and into your soul. Her sweet smiles and positive attitude were quite misleading as she wasn't always happy or positive, but felt it was the easiest way to approach people and start a conversation.

Because of this rather innocent vibe Catherine projected, many underestimated her, thought they could take advantage of her and treated her sometimes like a kid, baby talking her. Which she found annoying but played along, feeding their mind false accusations before finally stunning them with what she truly was. She found it amazing how comfortable people usually felt around her, even though most of her smiles and happy attitude wasn't an act at all, for all they knew she could be pretending to only later kill them and take their dosh. An amusing thought, but she wasn't that kind of person. She believed in fairly gaining money, most of the time. Catherine was a bit of a hypocrite sometimes.

Catherine looked younger than what her age actually was. Which was why it amazed a lot of men especially, when she would out smart them in a game of cards and leave with all their money. Which didn't always go down as simple as that, a frail looking woman, could easily take your money back off her right? Wrong. She was nimble, agile, quick to avoid and defend herself. She could easily get out of a sticky situation after much experience in her life time.

Aside all that, Catherine was just a simple explorer, adventurer, Doctor and Navigator. Mainly personal though, she is very afraid of growing too fond or attached to someone and then being betrayed or thrown aside for what she really is. What is she you might ask? Well, many would call her a monster but she liked to go with unique.

Catherine always found that wearing men's clothing was far more convenient, comfortable and simply better in general for moving around so much. She couldn't recall the last time she wore a dress or a skirt, she found it simply attracted annoying and unwanted attention. Her brown pants were a bit baggy, held up by a thick, black belt and he baggy, long sleeved, white shirt was kept messily tucked into her pants. The bottom of her pants were also tucked into her knee high, faded black boots. She dressed casually and comfortably, a bit lazily really but she made it look good. Good enough.

It was night now, Catherine's usual normal form was no longer seen by the public. No at night her skin changed to that of a reptiles, thick, difficult to penetrate, rough looking but still strangely smooth, like a snake. The whites of her eyes were a yellow colour and her irises were now completely black. Her nails, long, thick, hard, could easily penetrate and remove a lot of skin and possibly limbs. Yes in this form she was no longer frail but instead, what most would call, a freak. However on this island where many freaks would roam, she felt comfortable enough to wander around in the open, sure some would stare and point, but most were used to it. She felt confident like this.

The female was closing in on the popular Tavern and Brothel now, she could her loud, rowdy noises, some of pleasure and others of pain. Rather odd mixture of sounds she thought but it was the most fun to be at. You always found strange people there that she loved to drown in questions. The reptilian woman nonchalantly entered the Tavern with a cheeky smile on her face that would make you think she knows something about you you don't want her to know. As soon as she entered, she noticed the brawl that had took place, a little pack of Pirates who acted like dogs were out numbering a poor man who seemed to be doing quite well despite the unfairness of the situation, but was still getting quite pummelled. Until another man stepped in to help and also began punching one of the Pirates in the face. Her face lit up with excitement as she clapped her hands together in awe, she looked quite thrilled to be watching such an event. "Yeah you get those dogs!" She cheered from the entry as another entered, nudging her as they pushed past from her being in the way. "You could have said excuse me ya block head. Jeez! People can be so rude huh?" Catherine said this with a familiar tone as she moved herself from the entrance and directed her question at a random person who was nearby. A very pale and skinny, tall man. She liked the look of him, he certainly stood out with those glassy white eye with dark slits along with other features. She was glad that by random she had turned to this strange man, who was obviously inhuman. "Whoa you look pretty cool!" Catherine's black eyes widened as a big smile formed on her face. She leaned forward, tilting her head to the side as she studied him closer. "What's your name? I'm Catherine, are you a local here? I don't think I've ever seen you before, I'd definitely remember you. How did you become like this? Did you accidentally drink a magic potion you thought would make you stronger? Because I know this one guy who did that once and his WHOLE head turned into the head of a fish! It was so funny, hard to take him seriously." Catherine finally took a breath, it was a bit hard to talk loudly over all the loud people in the Tavern and talk a lot as well. She turned for a moment, leaning against the counter she studied all the people as a thick, claw tapped on her chin inquisitively, there were many she wished to speak with but first, she'd chat with his guy. Turning back to look at him she spoke again. "There are some odd people here tonight huh?"

---

As soon as another fistfight started, the bartender slid from the back with a small pouch. He came up to Irukandji and swept the pouch to his hands. He weighed the pouch a bit and ran his fingers across the surface, getting a feel for the items inside.

"Yes, this'll do." , he said as he let out a menacing grin.

The bartender let out a nervous smile and said with a low tone: "Next shipment next week, yes?"

"As always, yes.", he said as he swept the pouch in the pocket of his pants. He then shifted his gaze back towards the bar and laid his elbows on the counter behind him, but something was off. He heard a subtle murmur somewhere, it wasn't there before. It was growing louder than the noise in the rest of the tavern. In fact, it was growing rather irritating. It was actually growing really really irritating. One by one his sharp teeth were revealed as his eye twitched and his frown grew wider. He finally jerked his head left, and saw a girl right out of a fancy french ball. Then he realized this girl had been talking to his ear this entire time, initiating a thought process: Was she a whore? Pretty good looking for one, save for the skin condition. But what about the fact that she isn't soliciting me? No, she isn't a whore. . . maybe an escort? This whole situation is awkward. I can't deal with this right now . . .

What the fuck do you want?, he hissed.

"Wow that was rude. But it's okay, I'll forgive you, just this once!" Catherine's facial expressions were quite enthusiastic as well as her speech. She wasn't fazed by the angry look he was giving her or the sharp teeth, he wasn't the first unusual looking character she had spoken with. And there were occasions when someone would try to physically harm her from simply talking to them. People were too touchy sometimes in her opinion.

The reptilian woman tilted her head to the side slightly once more and studied his face more carefully. "You have pretty sharp teeth. How sharp are they exactly though? I mean can they bite through my arm? Oh we should see if they can pierce my skin!" With much excitement Catherine clapped her hands together, she was quite curious to see if those sharp teeth could pierce her thick reptilian skin. And well, if they did then he could fix herself. "Oh and what I wanted was to know your name." Catherine leaned forward slightly as she spoke "I'm Catherine, I don't think you heard me earlier!" She made sure to speak loudly and clearly, sort of slowly on purpose as if he didn't understand what language she was speaking, then stood up straight again. "God I wish these noisy brutes would keep it down a bit, I can't hear myself think! It gets annoying raising your voice continuously as you talk you know?" She wasn't sure whether or not this guy would possibly try and harm her or not yet; some people just lash out at others because of trust issues, which she can't blame then for feeling that way in this place but still, shouldn't stop you from having fun. Nonetheless, if he did harm her, depending on if he landed the attack or not, then she might leave him alone, she wasn't the fighting type and preferred to stay out of any kind of brawl. Didn't want to waste medical equipment on a silly fight.

Catherine turned to look at the other people in the Tavern once again, watching the brawl happen before them. She began to remember the strange looking man had made some kind deal with the bartender as they had exchanged something she didn't quite catch the look of. She was a bit curious but assumed it was goods for the Tavern and in return, money. Rubbing the back of her head, messing up her already messy, dry, thick hair, she turned back to the man before her and smiled. "What will you do after this? I mean, after hanging around here?"