Cordelia O'Connor's Story

The waves lapped against the side of the boat. The constant, repetitive motion was soothing as Cordelia took a deep breath of the salt water. The sun shone against her face as she reveled in it as she turned her face up towards it.

It was time. Time to leave the over bearing shelter of her parents. All she had to do was time everything perfectly. She was accustomed to going into the towns they docked at for supplies. This would be no different. Except that she was going to find a boat, a different ship, and escape her parents’ grasp. She needed her own freedom and space.

“The Misses hasn’t left yet?” One of the servants asked somewhere behind of the young woman.

“No. Not yet. Soon though.” She replied as she turned around to face the person she came to despise more than her parents. It wasn’t the servants fault. They just did as they were told, and had strict orders on what the ‘Misses’ was allowed to do on her own. For heaven’s sake she wasn’t even allowed to make her own food. She hated this life, the life her parents believed to be superior to all others. Core just wanted to do things for her, to experience life to the fullest.

“Please let me know when you want to leave.”

Cordelia nodded her head as she turned back around and rested her arms on the railing watching the town below as life went on. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself away from the normal people’s millings and headed towards her cabin.

Once safely inside of the door, she locked it and went straight for the wooden truck at the end of her bed. Inside was a small bag. It wouldn’t hold much, but then again she hadn’t planned on bringing much with her to begin with.

Packing a second pair of clothes like the ones she was wearing, some small food rations, extra ammo for the pistol she carried, she made sure she had everything. Turning towards the dresser where she kept all her little trinkets, as her mother called them, she formed a small smile.

“Mother always did despise you. She never did understand the beauty of self made objects.” Picking up a wooden, hand craved mermaid she slipped it inside of the bag as well in the middle of her clothes to protect it. If she had to leave the others, this one alone had to make the journey with her.

Settling the bag on her shoulders, she then grabbed her cloak and pulled it as well over her shoulders to hide the bag beneath it. Weaving her hand through the fabric of her skirt, she made sure her pistol was still secured as well as the money inside of the pouch she carried beside of the gun. Nodding her head, she smiled lightly before unlocking the door. This was going to be the tricky part. Getting off the ship without anyone seeing her.

Checking the hallway, she made sure the coast was clear before leaving the safety of her room and heading back towards the deck. So far so good. Before she stepped out onto the deck, she made sure that no one was around where she could see. Taking a deep breath, Cordelia stepped out into the light of the deck and started walking as quickly as she could.

By the time she had made it to solid ground, the woman was quite sure that it had been too easy. She stole a glance back towards the ship that had been her home her entire life. She shook her head as she turned back around pulling the hood of her cloak over her head and heading into town.

It wasn’t like she hadn’t been into towns before, but this time she was on her own and she felt a freedom she had never felt before. This feeling is amazing. To think I waited this long to experience it. She managed a weak smile knowing where she wanted to go to first.

Heading straight to where she could smell food coming from, she entered the restaurant. She wasn’t sure of the company she would be in, but did it really matter anymore? She was on her own. She had to do this beginning step so that she could find herself a ship to get passage on.

Core walked over to the bar area and took a seat in one of the further seats so that she could see who entered through the door. She didn’t want one of the servants to come in and see her, so she kept the hood up, shielding the side of her face that was turned towards the doorway.

Seeing a man on the other side, she figured he was the one she needed to ask about getting something to eat. While the food was good on the ship, she wanted something other than what she’d always had. The man had unkept brown hair that she had to keep from tisking at. Her brush had gone into the bag first, before the change of clothes. Her hair was her pride because her mother had told her very few people left had blonde hair, another reason she kept the hood up. It would be much too noticeable.

“Sir,” she started to get his attention. “If you please something warm to eat.” She didn’t know just how much her speech was different from others, but she knew she did speak differently from most of the islands that she had been to before. She just hoped it didn’t stand out too much or the fact that she didn’t slouch as she sat in the chair. Food though, was food. She wasn’t overly picky, she just wanted something warm to eat to quell her stomach and something like fresh water for her throat.

The whole reason for going to the tavern laid in the fact that it was the best place to pick up stories on where she should try her hand for getting passage on a ship. The rumors about the letter being found had found its way to her ears long before their ship had arrived here and she wondered if it was why so many ships were docked in the harbor. Maybe I will get lucky and can get passage onto a ship that is going in search… Oh the adventure. To finally get to live.

Taking orders everywhere was a pain, but someone had to do it, and there was no one but Tarrent. His mother's tavern was well-known indeed, but despite that fact, they never seemed to be gaining any money at all. It all went to getting more ingredients for cooking, more firewood and the essentials to keep the business running. They don't even have enough money to hire people to work for them. And with so many customers, they had to work as fast as they could.

"Here's your liquor. " Tarrent placed a wooden mug in front of a big,gruff looking man and took the money that was place on the table, all while keeping a large serving tray with loads of different dishes and drinks on it balanced on his other hand. He worked as quickly as he could, running around the tavern like it was a marathon. A good thing too, it kept him in shape while he wasn't surfing.

"Here's the cheesed, cream meat. And this is your roasted chicken. " he called out orders, placing both dishes in front of their respective customers. Taking more orders, he went back to the kitchen and took a look at his mother, sweating it out in the flames, making the food for everyone out there, sitting happily in chairs, warm feelings in their bellies as they drank their liquor or malt. He sighed.

"Mummy..." he never got rid of the habit of calling her that, and sometimes, even he was embarrassed with himself. His mother looked up, saw him and smiled.

"Yes?"

"...there's more orders..."

"Place them on the table dear, I'll set to work on them once I'm done with the other orders."

Tarrent sighed again, placing the order on the table with the other piles of orders before walking back out to the bar area, taking out bottles and pouring them into fancy looking glasses and placing them in front of their respective customers. A new customer entered and he nearly swore out loud. His mother would never get to rest at this rate. The new customer had a hood covering her face and was carrying a bag. Must be a traveler then. A lady to boot. She sat down further down the bar table, which he raised his eyebrows at with curiosity, but said no more, taking another order from the beer-bellied man sitting across from him. He walked further upwards, towards the beer barrels as well as the woman. As he poured the beer into a large glass mug, she herself made an order... in the more peculiar way.

“Sir,” she started to get his attention. “If you please something warm to eat.”

He nearly choked on his saliva in surprise when he was in the middle of swallowing. Did she just call him sir? No one has ever done that. No one. Ever. She was ordering for food...but nothing specific. Perfect, his mother wouldn't have to be troubled by this particular customer then. He nodded at her, setting the beer barrel back in it's place.

"Something warm. Got it. "

With well practiced movements honed from years of doing it, he slid the glass of beer towards the man who ordered it, who was sitting quite far away. The glass slid with grace, not spilling even one drop, towards the man and to his hand. The man winked at Tarrent before chugging. Tarrent raised his hand in acknowledgement to the wink before walking back into the kitchen.

"More orders dear?" his mother asked.

"No mummy, new customer just wants something warm to eat. She can have the porridge. " he replied, opening a large pot that was stewing away in the corner. Almost instantly, the air was filled with aromatic smells. It was a porridge Tarrent himself made, or better yet, created. It was unlike any other porridge anyone could ever make, and everyone loved it. It was one of the ways he tried to help relieve the workload on his mother, but then again, nobody cooked better than his mother. What she made tasted better than his porridge, so well... the plan failed. But the porridge was still popular with those who wanted a quick, hot or warm meal.

"Oh, a girl? Honey, is she your age? Is she beautiful? "

"Mummy...she's a woman. " he said in exasperation, adding a few scoops of the porridge to a large bowl and returned back to the bar, taking a spoon on the way out. He placed it in front of the woman.

"Here you go. It's warm, so eat up quick. " he gestured at the bowl. Inside was porridge, but it looked murky and instead of looking white like usual porridge, it looked a bit brownish. It didn't look appetizing, even Tarrent admitted that, but the taste was by far comparable to his mother's cooking, which was the cream of the crop.

When Izumi awoke, it wasn't from a disturbance. Rather, it was from a lack of disturbance. Her hammock gently rocked to the lull of gentle water, but it was nothing like it was at sea. There, even on calm days, the choppy waves disturbed even the heaviest sleeper, until you were used to the way the hammocks would swing about in time to the churning see.
Now, below deck was still, except for a few other stragglers of the crew that, like her, were so used to the boat they could actually sleep in.
Izumi rubbed her eyes, pawing her fingers through her boyish hair as she swung out of the hammock. It was unbelievably lucky she'd slept through docking. Seemed they hadn't needed any extra hands thankfully, so she'd gotten a good sleep. She swung on her button of shirt and vest, having slept in her undershirt like usual. It could get hot in the crews quarters at night.
After taking a moment to slide on her boots and tuck in her trousers, which was rare in itself as boots were optional on deck, she grabbed her coin bag and secured it inside her vest- right next to one of her several knives.
Of course, Izumi hooked on her cutlass and put her pistol in her hip holster as well as her fifteen knives and daggers hidden about her body. The two earlier weapons were fun to make a show of.
Obviously they were on land after all, and as she and her brother didn't have much to do after checking over the rigging and sails, it meant she could parade on land.

She navigated easily through the rows of hammocks, grabbing her brothers boots on her way past his bunk area before hopping lightly up the ladder to deck. It would have looked busy to anyone not familiar with the ship, but Izumi knew that the small hustle of loading and unloading supplies and booty, along with checking of the ship was nothing compared to the flurry of sailing activity.
She spotted Tamaki easily, jumping down from the mast without using any roping, as was his style. He consulted the boatswain, an older man, who wrote something down on a ragged sheet of parchment. Tamaki noticed her and hopped over as soon as he was done consulting the boatswain. His eyes continued consulting how well the sails had been stowed, and the one that was being brought down to be patched up, along with any other activity regarding their station, even while he greeted her.

"Mornin'"
He was barefoot, like always, and his button shirt stood flopping open, like always. It was a nice day, but honestly, Izumi thought he only left his shirt open because he enjoyed bragging. Despite the fact he wasn't as large and buff as some of the other men on board, he had a toned frame and could often get any girl he wanted, balancing on the line of muscled, but not intimidating.

"Mornin'. Did I miss anythin'?" That of course, was in reference to the sails and rigging. She wanted to make sure everything was still smooth, which meant they did their job well.
"Everythin's fine, just snares by that new boy we've been tryin' to teach," Tamaki scowled. "He's useless. We're kickin' him off, might need a replacement soon."

Izumi nodded, feeling a bit bad for the boy but no more than necessary. If he couldn't pull her weight, she knew why he had to be let go.
"Where are we anyway?"
Tamaki smiled slightly as he pulled his boots from her hand, slipping them over his feet and pounding the heel so his foot would slide in.
"Remember the letter on the drowned city we heard bout awhile back?"

Izumi squealed in excitement. "Oh, we're here! Please tell me you finished our work and we can go on land now...?"
Tamaki dangled a small coin purse of his own.
"Of course. Supply run."

Izumi was off then.
She ran to the side of the ship, ignoring the plank that had been lain out for those carrying boxes or supplies, jumping over the edge without hesitating and landing on the docks with a thud. She waited for Tamaki to catch up as he threaded through their crew coming and going off the ramp.

It didn't take long for them to get their land legs, and then they were off into town.
It was very early, but stores were still open. They stopped at supply shops first, arranging to have the necessary new stores delivered at the dock, avoiding paying hard coin by a few 'gentle' threats. Then they proceeded into various stores of the small town, enjoying the young girls who fumbled about their wares and tried to flirt. The twins flirted back, finding it fun, and though Izumi was into males, flirting was a fun pass time, because she knew all the right things to say.

Eventually they stopped at a tavern, which looked the be the popular choice, judging by the amount of passerby's stopping in.
Izumi tugged her brother inside as they joked about some of the outrages outfits of the woman. The door flung open as they laughed, a rather showy entrance for Tamaki's tastes, but Izumi just whistled loudly as she headed over to the bar, pulling Tamaki behind her.

"Bit crowded for the mornin', aye?"
She asked him, voice a bit louder then she expected as quite a few citizens had stopped in surprise to look at the loud entrance.
They weren't disrespectful looking, though both were clad in general sea wear, so she supposed it was the weapons that drew more attention. Izumi didn't really mind anyway. she was excited to be getting a good meal. With what they ate on the ship, though not gross, a tavern cooked meal sounded fit for a king.
She headed towards the side of the bar closest to the ale kegs, plopping down next to a form in a cloak, and Tamaki sat down next to her, examining the tavern in that peculiar way of his that had him knowing everything that was going on. A boy was behind the counter, who had just delivered the hooded forms food, so she propped her elbows on the table in a particularly boyish fashion.
"Oy! We'll take two o' anythin' you got made that isn't an inconvenience." She ordered, not knowing the menu. She thought for a moment, tapping her fingers together and slinging a sideways glance towards the beer kegs. "An' two mugs a ale, savvy?"

She glanced at Tamaki, shoving his coin purse back towards his vest, which was courtesy of the boatswain for supplies. In stead she pulled out her own purse, tugging out a handful of coins and dropping it on the bar. She didn't really hold a concern for money, as they often had things to pawn off from prize ships, and, if they did their job, the crew looked out for them.

She picked up a rather shiny coin, with a strange symbol, wondering what independent island it was from. Some printed and made their own money, which was an annoyance when it came to spending it on other lands.

She glanced at the figure beside her, which, when Izumi leaned forward slightly, she was able to see it was a girl.
"Nice cloak," Izumi said sincerely, not flirting, just stating, though she was full aware she looked and sounded like a boy. "Brings out yer hair."

She then proceeded to ignore the lady, and the serving boy as he came back, choosing instead to whine slightly to Tamaki, who was simply sitting quietly waiting for his food. He was used to her enthusiasm on land, even though a day come pass she'd be itching to get to sea again.

"Does the old swain have anymore on the list? I wanna find a new adventure for us, about the drowned city, not run errands all day."

Tamaki shrugged. "We could ask around I suppose, though I doubt we'll get anythin' about it. Nobody ain't gonna share a loot like that."

Izumi sighed. Of course. So close to adventure and they'd probably find no leads. Then the cap would never let them go on a wild goose chase. How disappointing.

Two new customers entered, one pretty rowdy. And Tarrent wasn't really sure if she was a he or he was a she, or... something around those lines. But she was rowdy.

"Oy! We'll take two o' anythin' you got made that isn't an inconvenience." She ordered, not knowing the menu. She thought for a moment, tapping her fingers together and slinging a sideways glance towards the beer kegs. "An' two mugs a ale, savvy?"

He raised an eyebrow at the speech pattern, but took out two mugs from under the table, twisted open the tap for the ale barrel, watched as the brown liquid pour out. Eventually he closed the tap and took the mugs, placed them on the table. Without wasting time, he walked back into the kitchen, scooped more of the porridge into 2 different bowls and returned.

'Seems like today I get to put my porridge to good use.' he thought to himself.

"Here you go. That's 12 silver pieces and 3 copper for the both of you. " Tarrent placed the bowls in front of the two blonde newcomers before turning to the lady in the cloak. "As for you, the porridge itself is 1 silver and 40 copper."

He tapped the bar table a little too impatiently. There was no blaming him, he was itching to feel the salty waves upon his skin, he had been busy since sun up, giving him no time to spend a little time on the waves for a few good hours in the early morning.

It didn't take long to get service and for that Cordelia was thankful. As the food was set in front of her, she glanced down at it. It sure didn't look as appetizing as some of the other food in the place, but so long as it was warm, she wasn't going to complain. Unlike how her parents would respond. They wouldn't have even considered eating the food before her, but she wasn't them. She had made a vow to never be them. Dipping into the food, she tested the warmth before actually putting it into her mouth. She smiled lightly at the taste. It was definitely better than it appeared to be.

"Oh, and may I have water." She drank before. Her parents preferred wine to anything else. But she didn't much like the taste of any alcohol. She knew the request would probably stand out, and she hoped that it wouldn't draw too much attention to herself. She had avoided looking to the two new arrivals and their entrance. But when they sat down near her, there was nothing she could do. She had hoped that by being where she was that people would have avoided the place. It didn't look like her luck was holding.

Then one of them was speaking to her. Core's heart started pounding as the words registered. The last thing she needed was to draw attention to her hair color. She knew blonde, at least like hers, wasn't the most common color. She pulled the hood down further over her head hoping to hide any trace of her hair left. It was after she was being ignored again that the words caught her attention. Drowned city? So the rumors from before are true... Does that mean the letter is here on this island? Oh, if I can only get passage on the ship that gets to go in search of the city. What a grand adventure it would be. Finally true living.

When the young boy returned to ask for payment, she pulled her hand under the cloak and snaked it through the folds of her skirt where the inside lining was. The best part of having her clothes tailor made for her meant she got to design them. There was the place where she could get to her gun tied under the folds from both side and of course a safe place to put her money where no one would find it. She had made sure with the design that the entrances to the inside couldn't be seen. It meant her gun was hidden, she was protected and hopefully less likely to get robbed if it didn't appear that she had anything on her worth stealing.

Reaching the pocket where her money was stored, she grabbed a few coins and pulled them out. She kept her hand on her lap as she looked down at the amount she had. Nodding to herself, she pulled the money up and placed it on the bar between her and the server boy. She smiled lightly at him. "Keep what is left." She knew there was some extra money. It should cover the added cost of her water as well as give the boy some extra money. She had plenty of the stuff, not like anyone needed to know it, but she was content not to keep it all to herself. Then she started going back to her meal. She still kept a careful watch on the tavern door. The last thing she needed was for one of the servants to come through and recognize her. She had made it this far. She was not going back onto her parents' ship.

While Izumi grinned happily as their ale was set down, eagerly taking a large chug of the liquid, Tamaki allowed his to rest on the bar untouched for the moment, nodding in appreciation to the serving boy as he disappeared into the kitchen. His eyes swept around the bar. He liked having a vague idea of what everyone around him was doing, especially in a strange place. Here, he didn't know how kindly one would take to one with the occupation of a pirate, and he didn't wish to find out. Though, knowing Izumi, she would announce it in one way or another. After taking in possible escape routes and having a layout in his mind of every single person present in the tavern, Tamaki finally turned his attention back to his sister, taking a ginger sip of the liquor. Unlike his younger sister, he wasn't much of a hard drinker. He could hold his ale as well as anyone else, he just wasn't sure his feelings on the taste. This particular serving was rather good- he liked it. This was obviously a popular and well off tavern.
So, when the bowl of what looked like off colored porridge was set in front of him, Tamaki dug in without a second thought. though it didn't look particularly appetizing, it was actually rather good. He glanced up as the boy stated payment, glancing to his sister to cover it.

She had previously scooped a handful of assorted coins onto the counter, and was sorting through them to find the type of money that would be acceptable.
"12 silver pieces and 3 copper," He reminded her simply, and she rolled her eyes.
"I heard."

Her lithe fingers pulled the correctly colored coins into a separate pile. There was a decent pile of coppers, and one silver, but by Tamaki's reasoning, they were short, even with the overload of copper translating into silvers.
He told his twin as much, and Izumi threw a hand up in exasperation, using the other to shove the small pile of copper, silver, and plain gold coins towards the boy. She quickly pocketed what was left. Though she had no regard for money, that didn't mean she was going to be generous, like the girl next to them, and pay more then worth.
Tamaki, however, knew that on this island, and probably many others, that small bit of gold would be worth far times more then the meal. He didn't tell Izumi that though. She was a nice girl, but a bit of kindness in the money department couldn't hurt.

"You take gold?"

Tamaki rolled his eyes and continued eating in silence, taking in the appearance of some of the people around him. His finally made his way back around to the cloaked girl next to Izumi. She'd pulled her hood up and kept making glances at the tavern door.
Hiding for someone? Or waiting perhaps?
He remembered his sister infatuation with the letter of the drowned city. Perhaps this girl knew something that could be of use, or could point them in the right direction.
By then he was finished with his porridge. He snaked an arm over Izumi's shoulders to tap the cloaked girl lightly. Directing his gaze towards her, but also flickering his eyes towards the serving boy, who looked rather impatient, hoping to include him in the discussion before he ran off to do his other duties.

"Do the words 'Drowned City' mean anythin' to you either?" He questioned, painfully aware of his bad speech compared to what he'd heard of them speak. It wasn't his choice, though he was sure he could correct his mistakes if he tried. It was simply how he and Izumi had come to speak like.

"An' does a map involvin' these cities ring any bells?"
At this he focused more directly on the tavern boy. Those who worked at taverns or bars more then often knew the general gossip of the town.

"Aye!" Izumi declared happily,in rememberance, drowning the last of her ale. "We'd really like to know anythin' you do, our ship could use the fun an booty, aye Maki?"

Tamaki rolled his eyes once more. There she went, announcing their intentions. If the two had been unlikely to share information before, they were now inclined to flat out refuse, unless they were pirate welcoming folk. After all, their strange speak, cutlasses and dress, combined with talk of 'booty' and their ship- why, Tamaki would say it was painfully obvious their area of employment. Ah well. At least he knew the entrances, in case they were to be run out.

"Oh, and may I have water." asked the lady with the hood. Tarrent rolled his eyes. What kind of person would ask for water in a tavern? But he grabbed a glass from beneath the counter, reached over his head and placed the glass perfectly on top of the shelf above him. He twisted the tap with ease, listening to the sound of water pouring out from it. As soon as it was almost full to brim, he could tell from the noise of the water, he closed the tap and brought the glass down and set it in front of the lady...all while looking at her.

When it was time to pay him, he could tell that the lady added more money that needed and he frowned a little. Keep what was left? What was she? Rich? He didn't dawdle and went on to collect the other pieces from the two other people. Silver, copper...GOLD! What-The-Friggin'...! He picked up the pieces and slowly, as if afraid the gold piece would disappear, he picked it up and peered at it for a while, before setting it back into the pile in his hand.

"We take gold, but I'm afraid you're paid more than required. So here. " he placed a couple of gold, leaving two behind, and a small amount of silver. He going to quickly run to his mum, drop the coins into her purse and then run off the the ocean when one of the two asked something rather interesting.

"Do the words 'Drowned City' mean anythin' to you either?" asked the male. At this, Tarrent raised his eyebrows. He shrugged.

"Heard plenty. Nothing real though, just a bunch of people up to no-good, trying to gain fame from bluffin'. " he replied.

"An' does a map involvin' these cities ring any bells?" he could see that the man was looking at him, but boy... Tarrent knew nothing.

"Aye!" said the other one. "We'd really like to know anythin' you do, our ship could use the fun an booty, aye Maki?"

"Map...haven't heard of one. I've heard many people talking about...Agranna, but none talked about a map to find it. " he answered. He then went back to his main goal: Find his mother and go for the ocean. He entered the kitchen and with a chink of coins, he dropped everything in his hand into his busy mother's purse. At this, his mother looked at him, occasionally glancing back at the dish she was making.

"What's this dear?" she asked.

"There's gold in there mum. Some customer gave gold. There's also some extra silver and copper in there as well, another customer was willing to pay more. " he explained, walking quickly out of the kitchen.

"Oh? Now where are you going?"

"Surfing mummy. Like I always do. " he grinned and ran up the stairs despite the customers staring.

"STAY OUT OF TROUBLE DEAR!" his mother tried to yell before he took off. She shook her head but smiled before going back to her cooking. "So full of energy. I guess it is about time for him to go indulge himself after today's work..." she grimaced a little. "As long as he stays away from the Navy's training zone again. "

Upstairs, Tarrent ran into his room and grabbed his wooden make-shift surfboard and a satchel with a change of clothes, before you knew it, he was bolting for the door. A couple of the customers, who must be regulars, chuckled as they watched him leave in a hurry.

"Always in a hurry for the waves eh? " they talked amongst one another, "He sure knows when to pick the right time for a wave though. "



Tarrent was standing on a small cliff overlooking a part of the ocean, which was quite far off the coast. He breathed in the smell of the sea breeze and stretched.

"Boy, it's great!" he smiled widely, then, "OH! Big one, big one!"

He laid his satchel on the spot but grabbed his wooden surfboard and watched as the large wave slowly started coming close and closer. As soon as the wave was perpendicular to the cliff, Tarrent launched himself down the cliff. As soon he was airborne, he quickly placed the board underneath his feet and he poised himself in a crouched position as he closed in, dropping quickly towards the inside of the wave. He caught it, the wave. With a light change of his lower body, he placed the board perfectly onto the wave and was riding it with great ease. He whooped, before bringing his board into a snapback and then skimmed the water with his fingers as he moved into the opposite direction, into a tube ride within the wave barrel. As he reached the very edge of the wave barrel, he saw the rocks of the cliff right in front of him, but he smiled and continued towards it. At the exact same moment he was going to crash into it, the wave barrel crashed into the rocks and produced a small outward wave that Tarrent used and rode away from the rocks.

"Wooooooo~! " he screamed out as he had fun. He was drenched with sea water and soon, he placed himself horizontally on the board and began to paddle towards danger zone. The Navy's practice area. He quickly stood erect on his board as soon as he saw the next wave coming. He caught it and rode it straight towards the Navies, who were doing their cannon firing practices. When he was in range, he skimmed around the wave, side to side, snapping back of the top every once in a while, waiting for a cannonball.

Finally, he got one. He saw it coming and he made a quick snapback away from it's projectile path. The splash increased his speed in the wave and he rode it to the far end of the side, before the wave subsided. Using the last push of the dying wave, Tarrent stood erect on his board and maneuvered around deep into the training zone. And cannonballs galore. Tarrent evaded the cannonballs with swift flicks of his board, using the large splash made by the cannonballs to propel himself and his board forward. With each splash, he got faster. It didn't take him long before he was already making his way in between ships, his speed slwoly dying out without anymore propulsion.

"Thanks for the ride!" he called out happily to a ship. A few sailors poked their heads out and swore at him, some making rude gestures.

"One of these days you're gonna bite it kid!" one yelled at him. Tarrent smiled at the challenge.

"Challenge accepted, I'm going to swim all the way back into the projectiles of your cannons. Try-to-get-me." he answered back cheekily. He could feel the sailors bristling with anger. He paddled back out and waiting. As soon as he heard the sound of a cannon being fired, Tarrent quickly got up from laying position and stood, casually flicking the tail of his board away before impact. He was unharmed and the splash gave him the much needed propulsion. Even more cannons were fired and Tarrent weaved his way around, using each cannonball splash as propulsion. Then he spotted something.

"Hmm? What's that?" he said to himself as he saw something glint in the distance. He made his way towards it and just at the exact moment a cannonball made impact in front of him, he reached out, used the splash to board jump and he grabbed hold of the object before he made a 180 degree landing. Before anymore cannons could be fired at him, a small rocking wave got his attention and he quickly paddled off and away from the area. Not long later, he was padding off towards the cliff he jumped off from.

"I'm beat. That was fun. " he mumbled, then took a clear look at the object. It was a bottle and inside... a very, very worn piece of paper that looked almost faded out. He removed the cork and after much difficulty, he removed the paper gently from the bottle, afraid of it crumbling beneath his fingers... and he froze as he finished reading it. The word's of today's customers echoed in his head.

"Do the words 'Drowned City' mean anythin' to you either?"

"An' does a map involvin' these cities ring any bells?"

"We'd really like to know anythin' you do, our ship could use the fun an booty, aye Maki?"

This was a letter... a letter declaring that Agranna, the Drowned Kingdom, was indeed real! The stories his father told him about Agranna, swirled around in his mind. The letter was really cryptic, but it was written by Maltin Ballad in the year one hundred and seventy-nine After Rain. And even a tavern boy like him knew who that man was. Famous explorer from almost 2 centuries ago. This must be quite a find for someone like him. The land of Agranna...WAS REAL!

Tarrent folded the paper gently and slipped it into his dry pant's pocket, slinging the satchel over his shoulder, wet from the wet clothes that were packed inside. He made his way back to his house...the tavern.

She had been content to stay where she was without interruption or bringing attention to herself. It seemed though that the two rowdy characters near her had other plans. At the tap on her shoulder, she felt herself jump and her right hand went straight for the folds in her skirt to the gun she had by her money bag. When she realized she wasn’t being threatened or been found out, she forced herself to relax and turn to the two people.

Of course the words meant something to her. She didn’t know who didn’t know anything about the Drowned City. It was a child tale she imaged every child was told. Under normal circumstances she wouldn’t have heard the story, but lucky the servants were kind enough not to let her childhood go to waste.

Cordelia shook her head and turned back to finishing off her food, but she continued to listen to them. The louder one of the two said something that caught her attention, but she forced it back down. She really didn’t need to cause a scene. They are pirates? They do not seem the type… However, though maybe this would be my chance. If I could get passage on their ship when they go off in search of the city… Yes, that just might be my ticket off of this island and away from my parents. I am not going back to them. I will not be forced into something I do not want. They cannot make me do something against my will any longer.

Glancing up from her thoughts she caught sight of the tavern boy looking at her as he filled her water. She resisted the urge to look away figuring that would be considered rude, but her mother’s voice was also nagging at her. Good women did not look a man in the eye with any sort of intensity. Which is what she imaged she was doing now, but she was grateful for the water once it was given to her. She reached a hand out and took the glass before sipping some of it down.

She had finally finished with her meal; water included and sat in her seat content. But she really did need to start looking for a captain to get passage on their ship off the island. Looking back behind the bar, she remembered the young boy had disappeared, which meant there really wasn’t anyone to take orders and he would have been her greatest ally in finding someone likely to take a woman onto his ship. She sighed lightly. She would have to wait for him to come back and the longer she stayed in one place the more likely she was to get caught. Just great. Please come back soon. I am in need of dire assistance.