Whatever Ava had thought having sex with Theo would be like was wrong. She didn't even think there were words to describe how elated she felt both during and after. She was afraid that maybe she had built it up in her head and when the time came it would be lackluster or no better than what she had already experienced. She had been worried that maybe sleeping with three other people at once was the height of pleasure and anything else would be boring but that was far from the case. It was pressure free yet nerve-wracking, exhilarating yet calming, fun but serious. An oxymoron of a time, her emotions and senses were haywire and she never wanted it to end.

Apparently, neither did Theo because they never technically stopped, they were simply interrupted. It had been several hours since they had woken up when there was a knock on the locked door. Theo scrambled to her feet, pulling on clothes as they were both trying to stifle laughter. Ava took the hint and began to get dressed too as Theo called out.

"Be right there!" Theo ran to her wardrobe to pull on a different shirt than the night before.

"Evana needs you in her office," a voice called out, Cooker.

"Got it! Do you know what for?" Theo called back out as she made her way to the door then peeked out. There was no one there so Theo locked the door with confusion on her face.

Theo made her way over to where Ava had ended up, on a chair next to the bed, struggling to pull her pants up. Theo placed her hands on the arms of the chair which forced Ava to stop struggling and look up at Theo.

"I am sorry we couldn't end things properly," Theo lamented and tried to get eyes on Ava to see how she was feeling. Ava appreciated the care and reached up to cup Theo's cheek.

"'Tis the life of a captain," Ava smiled, letting Theo know it was okay and she wasn't going to lose any sleep over it, "Might have to ask for a re-do tonight though. Y'know, just to do things the right way."

Theo smirked and leaned forward to capture Ava in a kiss before pulling away, "See you later, Quartermaster. You will be hearing from me."

Theo began to walk away but Ava stood up, pants halfway on, and grabbed her wrist, "Wait, how do I get out of here."

"Just walk out the front door?"

"Well I mean, obviously that is the way out but shouldn't I go out through the poop deck or something? People will see me," Ava said, she assumed they were keeping this hidden for the time being.

"It's not the first time you've fallen asleep in my room," Theo reminded, "People know better than to ask questions about what goes on in here, you'll be fine."

"I mean, if you insist," Ava shrugged and let Theo go then resumed trying to tug her pants back up,

---------

Theo was walking on clouds all day, she swore her feet were not even touching the ground. She had not expected her morning to go that way but she wasn't complaining. Theo did wish they were not interrupted. She had been waiting for that moment for cycles and it was cut far too short. Granted they had been going at it for hours but still. Theo had a grin on her face all day but no one commented on it. The day went by pretty quickly even though she was counting every second, waiting for the next time she would see Ava. Which was not until the sun had set and the chatter from the mess hall could be heard from the deck.

Theo had not as much as caught a glimpse of her new quartermaster since she had left the room in the morning. She had heard through the grape vine, Xyra informing her, Ava had taken it upon herself to interview the girls and try to find them the best job to suit their skills. Theo thought it was a stroke of brilliance, it would save time and energy for both the women and the heads of the ship's departments.

Theo was halfway through making her rounds talking to the women at dinner when she spotted Ava walk in and sit at their usual table. Theo had to stop herself from making a beeline towards her. Just because she just had sex with her crush did not mean she could ignore the rest of her crew. Theo felt like an adolescent all over again. She managed to succeed in making her crew feel seen and heard and she finally found her way to the table. She slapped several backs and shook several hands on her way to take up residence in her permanent corner, standing next to a sitting Xyra.

Theo leaned against the wall and looked over at Ava who was already looking at her. She couldn't hide the smile that broke out across her face and she ducked her head a little, shifting her weight from foot to foot. She cleared her throat and looked back up and Ava was still staring. Theo laughed to herself, subtly was not Ava's specialty. Theo reached forward and grabbed food off Cooker's plate and engaged in conversation, trying her hardest not to keep looking over at Ava unless the conversation called for it.

There was nothing going on that night, they had just partied hard the night before. Things were relatively laid back on the ship and most women retired from the mess hall fairly early. Most of the people at their table had left and Theo managed to snag a seat. It was just Tuni, Morgana, Theo and Ava at the table the other having said their goodbyes.

"How are you liking your new room?" Morgana asked, "If you ask me, it's the best room on the ship."

"My new room?" Ava tilted her head.

"Your quartermaster room," Tuni elaborated, "have you not moved in?"

"I wasn't aware I had a special room," Ava laughed and looked at Theo, "I have a special room?"

"No one told you?" Theo asked.

"I'm pretty sure I would have remembered," Ava confirmed.

"Someone fucked up," Morgana commented and then clicked her tongue, "right, I fucked up. That was my job to tell you."

Tuni sighed and rolled her eyes playfully, "Will she ever learn to listen and follow directions?"

"That, my dear Fortune, will never happen. I am her Captain and I can't get her to fucking listen," Theo said and stood up, "I can help you move into your room, Red."

"You can't take back that offer," Ava said quickly and stood up too, "I have a lot of things."

Theo said nothing and began to walk out and Ava followed behind, Theo swore she heard Tuni and Morgana whispering to each other about them but she ignored it. The trek to Ava's hammock was quick and easy and they managed to collect some of Ava's things. They made their first trip, stopping in front of the correct door. Ava set down the basket of stuff she had long enough to unlock the door with the Quartermaster's keyring. Theo watched as Ava pushed the door open then gasped in shock and turned to face Theo.

"This is mine?" Ava asked as she picked up the basket and walked into the room.

"Are you the Quartermaster?" Theo chuckled.

The room was spacious, about triple the size of a regular crew cabin, and had one window that opened to overlook the ocean and another that overlooked the deck. The bed was large, not quite as big as Theo's but definitely an improvement from the smaller beds in the regular cabins. The desk was also large, made of fine wood. The previous quartermaster had bought it with her own money and had no use for it when she left so it stayed behind. The walls were lined with shelves where books used to be housed and there was even a set of comfortable chairs with a small table in between them. Morgana wasn't lying, it was a nice room, but Ava came from a rich family and Theo hadn't expected such a big reaction.

Ava walked around the room and took it all in as Theo walked in and set down the load of things she had. She let Ava know that she was heading back down to continue the move. Ava stayed back for that trip but joined her for the last two. Theo was carrying a trunk full of clothes and she set it down with a loud grunt.

"You do have a lot of things," Theo confirmed Ava's statement from before.

"Shouldn't have given me 300 gold to spend in Niveal then," Ava laughed and set down the books in her arms.

"I don't know how you managed to not get anything stolen in the lower decks."

"I command respect where I go," Ava boasted and Theo snorted at the confidence.

"Now that this is over, what say you, shall we go train?" Theo asked and Ava shook her head and slinked forward.

"I could name a few other things I would prefer to do," Ava said suggestively.

Theo raised an eyebrow and reached back to shut the door, "Please, enlighten me. What would you prefer to do?"

Ava walked forward, gripped Theo's shirt, and pressed their lips together.

----------

Ava's head was on Theo's bare chest, the moonlight was shining in from the open windows and Theo was playing with Ava's hands. Ava had her arm held slightly upwards as Theo traced her palm and then went back up to bending and playing with Ava's fingers. Ava let out a soft laugh and Theo could feel the breath on her chest. Ava pulled her hand away, tucking her arm over Theo's side and turning her head to look up at Theo.

They silently stared at each other for a bit, laying on rumpled sheets. The bedding was bunched up in odd places as it was too big of a fit on Ava's bed. They had been in the process of taking off their clothes when they both realized the bed was barren. Theo quickly pulled her clothes back down and rushed to her room and grabbed some fine silk sheets from her wardrobe and a few pillows from her bed. As they laid there, they were both sleepy. Theo could tell from Ava's droopy eyelids, but neither of them wanted to fall asleep. Ava's brow was set in a focused gaze like she was thinking about something.

"What?" Theo prompted and squeezed Ava a bit.

"How many people have you killed?" Ava asked.

Theo threw her head back and let out a hearty laugh, "I know you are new to this, Red, but typically this isn't the kind of post-coital conversation that is commonplace."

"Wasn't aware there were rules, wise one. What are the acceptable topics?" Ava smiled a bit.

"How great the sex was, how great I was at having sex with you, maybe some light gossip, some more comments about how great the sex was would also be appreciated," Theo said with a cheeky grin.

"Gossip? Hm..." Ava pretended not to see Theo rolling her eyes, "Is Iona with anyone?"

"Aye, Sabre from the vanguard."

"That makes so much sense," Ava said, they weren't exactly subtle about spending time together.

Not another word was spoken between them for a while. Theo could still see that Ava was thinking about something. Given her first question, it was probably related to that. Theo didn't enjoy people prying into her life in that way but Ava was more than people. There was a back and forth raging within her as her head battled her heart. Should she talk about herself even though it made her skin want to crawl? Maybe Ava would open up too and be less vague about her past.

"What?" Theo asked again and gave Ava the same squeeze.

"Nothing, it's a forbidden topic."

"Just say it."

"Did you really kill people when you were younger?" Ava asked.

"Are you referring to the death squad I was in? If so, then yes. I did kill people when I was younger," Theo supplied, it seemed like Ava had finally managed to crack open the books about Theo. It was only a matter of time but she had hoped that Ava reading about it would spare her the questions. Wishful thinking as much of the books about her were incomplete.

"You were nine..." Ava said.

"Eight," Theo corrected, most books got it wrong.

Theo saw Ava's face fall and pity flashed across Ava's face, "That must have been awful."

"Not really," Theo partly lied.

At times it had been but she got used to it. It was the way of life and how she survived. It got her to where she was now so it wasn't all bad. She hated pity, empathy, or sorrow at her expense and she found herself instinctually moving away from Ava. It was enough for Ava to notice and firmly plant her arms around Theo so she couldn't move away.

"How did you meet Xyra?" Ava asked.

"No, it's my turn," Theo insisted and Ava shrugged giving in easily, "How close to the top were you? Was your father the leader of your house?"

Ava stayed quiet. She looked like she was calculating her answer. Was she afraid of judgment?

"Aye," Ava said quietly, "My father is the leader of my house."

She looked uncomfortable and Theo wanted to take the attention off of her, "I met Xyra almost immediately after leaving home. I had been given passage to Nefriti and found Xyra sleeping on the docks once we got there. I ran off from the group I was with to go with her and that was that."

"And Cooker?" Ava asked.

"You're out of questions for the night, unfortunately," Theo chuckled and then tapped Ava's arm to let her go, "I should probably head to bed."

Ava tightened her grip around Theo's torso, "Or you could just stay."

Theo laughed and looked down to see Ava staring up at her with purposefully wide eyes and her bottom lip jutting outwards.

"Or, I could just stay."

--------

The ten sun journey passed by in a blink. Ava's time blended together and each sun was like the last. But it wasn't mundane or boring, she looked forward to waking up every morning knowing she had an important role on the ship and she was needed. Her job placement interviews were met with extraordinary success, so much so that Theo gave her a mention during the last ship meeting. Out of 26 new girls, 20 found their jobs within their first three-sun trial. Another four found a job on their second try. Two girls were still looking but Ava would take those numbers any day.

Theo and Ava also resumed training. Theo was making incredible strides with the amount she could read and she had practically learned every five letter word in common. Ava suspected that Theo was working on reading outside of the hours of their training and Ava began to do the same. Anytime she had some alone or free time she was in her new room practicing with her cutlass. She had gotten as good as she could in combat but her smaller frame and lack of strength compared to the other girls always put her at a disadvantage. Theo instructed her to avoid engaging in hand to hand if she could and started to focus on Ava's sword-wielding ability. So Ava worked on it by herself to get ahead.

In the time that she wasn't helping the women or training, Xyra was helping her to learn the procedures for a raid. The last time another ship had raided them, she was just a passenger and she rode it out with others that couldn't fight. Her role was much different this time around, she was expected to be Xyra's right hand. Theo and Cooker were on the front lines of the vanguard which left Xyra and Ava to hold it down on the ship. There were three different procedures: if they were boarding others peacefully, if they were boarding others non peacefully and if they were boarded.

They didn't focus much on the procedure if they were boarded, it basically entailed fighting to the death and cutting the enemy's ties to the ship. However, they did focus on what they expected to be the brunt of work they were expecting in their upcoming raiding trip: boarding others. In the case of fighting, Xyra was to man the main deck, keeping an eye out over the other ship and Ava was to man the upper decks. They had long poles meant to hook onto the ropes used to board the other ship and keep them away from the enemy ship, avoiding other sailors from boarding them. In the case of peaceful boarding, Ava had a set of things around the other ship she needed to check for: hidden women, working conditions, and any item worth money that was not listed on the manifest.

For nonpeaceful boarding, Xyra taught her the basic commands, the expected execution of her job, and the way to protect the vanguard from the deck. Most of their job was screaming commands to their own sailors, yelling at the vanguard for any incoming threats that could be seen from the Scorned Woman's decks, and going over to the other ship once the coast was clear to take inventory and help secure the sailors from revolt. Ava was nervous, to say the least, but she felt confident in her ability to at least not get herself killed on their first raid.

Ava found herself doing so much that it was difficult to find time to read but she managed. Even though she found time to read, it was for a third of the time than she used to be able to. Between the constant need to be on the job and training for the vanguard, learning the ropes for quartermaster, it slipped in the list of priorities. She figured she would have time soon and a part of her nagged her to find it because as quartermaster she had the responsibility to educate herself.

It didn't help matters that every night Ava found herself lying naked next to Theo. It was crazy to Ava just how easy they had slipped into a routine with each other. It was unspoken but every time they said goodbye in public they knew they would be seeing each other that night. While Ava was having a lot of fun on the physical side of things, it wasn't always just that. Most nights they stayed up talking until the early hours of the morning. In all honesty, Ava was exhausted but she wouldn't trade it for a good night's rest.

Their talks were kept light. After that first night together neither of them had any intention of going too far deep into conversation, unsure of where the line was. They did have insightful talks, at times even deep ones, where they analyzed current society. It was fun and Ava found herself understanding the inner workings of Theo's mind more and more. Theo was strong, resolute, and confident but terrified of failure. It wasn't something that was said out loud it was just something Ava had deduced. But if Ava was a 17-year-old pirate captain with the lives of dozens of women and the ship's reputation on her hands, she would be too.

Ava found herself sitting on Theo's bed next to Morgana the night before arriving at Gossem. Theo, Cooker, and Xyra were huddled over the desk discussing some matters of grave importance, where they were going to eat when they arrived at Gossem.

"I am just saying if you fucking wanted fish then you should have had some before. This is not the place for fish," Theo was getting increasingly more heated during the argument.

"And what would you suggest then?" Xyra snapped.

"Meat! Obviously. We've been at sea for ten suns and you want fish?" Theo yelled.

"Meat is too chewy!" Xyra complained.

"That was one time," Cooker chimed in, "One time and you never want to eat meat in Gossem again? Bullshit! We are feasting at O'Nives."

Xyra was outnumbered and Ava felt bad for her but didn't dare step in. Honestly, meat did sound better as fish was a staple on the ship.

"Can we get to the reason you called a meeting?" Morgana asked from her bed.

"No," Ava whined, "it was just about to get good."

"Shit, you're right. We waited for this long. I might as well have let it go on so we could see a fight," Morgana tutted her tongue.

"Fight, fight, fight," Ava encouraged and Morgana joined in.

"Hush and get your asses over here, we have to go over the plan for the ugali delivery," Theo laughed and finally sat down in her chair.

Ava got up and sat in front of the desk.

"First thing is first, we are going into this as if they are hostile," Theo said, "we have no relationship to this contact and we cannot trust anyone who distributes ugali so we are bringing the vanguard for this."

"I'll alert the girls," Morgana said.

"In addition to you, Iona, and Oceane we need three others to come inside their place with us," Theo instructed, "the rest will have to wait outside."

"Where is the meeting point?" Morgan asked.

Xyra handed her a map, "Their manor. On the outskirts of Gossem, in the middle of a forest."

"Not suspicious at all," Cooker commented.

"The instructions said that on the day the delivery is due, we are to meet them at their manor to finish the deal," Xyra provided.

"Navi said we will be landing in the morning which means we are a whole sun early for the drop. Morgana, you stay preparing the vanguard and the rest of us will drop in on some contacts and try to get information on these people. Pick up on any red flags before the drop happens," Theo kicked her feet up onto the table, "Questions?"

"Am I going on this?" Ava asked.

Xyra fixed Ava with an unimpressed glare, "Tell me you aren't serious."

Ava wasn't sure how to take that. It got her no answers either, "I- uh. No?"

"Aye, Red, you're coming with us," Cooker laughed at Ava.

And thus the worrying began.

------------------------

"Raise The Company's flag!" Theo commanded as she dropped the spyglass from her eye.

Theo could see the Gossem shoreline in the distance, they needed to start making preparations to dock. They lowered the Scorned Woman's flag and hoisted a white flag with an embellished C on it. It belonged to The Company, a Nefritian merchant's guild. Nefriti, under no circumstance, was accepting of pirates in its ports and they needed a proper ruse to enter. The first time Theo visited Nefiriti while in command of her own ship she secured them passage into Nefriti for ten lengths. All Theo needed to do was to give about 50 gold to a local guild master and the merchant contract was made and ready.

They had the flag and the paperwork and even though the law in Gossem knew who Theo was and the type of ship she ran, there was nothing they could do. There was nothing more invigorating than pulling up to the docks in her black and red galleon, infamous throughout the Baethan seas, and being able to just walk on into the city. It wasn't like the people of Gossem minded much, just the ones with last names- pompous assholes. Everyone else welcomed them at best and paid them no mind at worst.

Theo returned the spyglass to Navi and descended the ladder onto the main deck. She walked to Xyra's cabin, then Cooker's, then Ava's, and knocked on their doors alerting them they were only a short distance from the coast of Gossem. She then made her way to her room to change before arriving, she had a reputation to uphold, and showing up in the clothes she slept in was not the look she was going for. Theo was in the middle of pulling on her undershirt when Ava walked in.

"A very nice sight so early in the morning," Ava said sleepily and Theo almost jumped from the scare.

She pulled the rest of the undershirt on and then slipped on a white silk shirt. The sleeves were long and the shirt wrapped around her neck. It was getting colder and she needed to cover up. Theo then retrieved a coat, fine green fabric with gold buttons lining it. She pulled it on and almost sighed in pleasure as the warmth from the inside of the coat began to provide relief from the biting morning cold.

"I like your new style," Theo pointed at Ava's head and Ava brought up a hand to touch her bandana.

"Thanks. Figured I would try something new," Ava smiled at the compliment, "I feel a bit underdressed."

"You are just fine. The others won't be as fancy, it's just the Captain Theo standard I am responsible for upholding," Theo said with a mock air of arrogance.

Ava walked forward towards Theo, "It must be so exhausting."

"If I didn't enjoy the finer things in life it would be," Theo said honestly. She did have a propensity to dress up

"You are so materialistic," Ava said and reached forward and fixed Theo's coat and collar.

"We can't all be perfect," Theo said quietly and let Ava help her.

It was something Theo had seen her parents do when she was little. Ava placed a hand on Theo's chest when she was done and it was strangely intimate; Theo's breath was caught in her throat. The door opened and Ava expertly maneuvered herself a few steps away from Theo.

"Ain't gonna lie waking up this morning was a bitch," Morgana said as she walked in and took a swig of a mug Theo had on the desk, leftover ale from the night before. Morgana finished it and shrugged off the taste.

"No one said you had to wake up early," Cooker reminded.

"I need to protect Miss Yurwa and Rose while they go down and order supplies for the ship," Morgana inflated her chest.

"They don't need your protection, you just want them to buy you things," Theo walked behind her desk to retrieve something.

Morgana placed her hands under her chin and batted her eyelashes, "I'm a darling and they love me. Don't be jealous."

"Shut up and take this down to Miss Yurwa now that you are awake," Theo handed Morgana a small sack of gold, "That is for my portion of what is on the list."

Theo wouldn't be able to go shopping before the long raiding journey so she had given Miss Yurwa a list of things she needed and money to get them. Clothes, special food, and spices for her own meals and some liquor. Gossem was known to have the best dried meats and dark liquor. Morgana took the gold and followed the instructions Theo had given.

"Cooker have you seen Xyra? We should be ready to get off the second we dock," Theo walked over to a chest and began to strap a dagger to either thigh and slipped one into her boot. She also belted her sheath around her waist where her falchion was housed.

"She's out on the deck with the paperwork ready to speak to the dockmaster," Cooker informed and Theo nodded and walked out, expecting the others to follow.

Gossem was quickly approaching and Theo could hear the clamor from the docks already. Xyra was waiting by where the gangplank would be lowered and Theo walked over and silently waited next to her. Theo heard Navi shouting commands and the sailors began to prepare to dock. Before Theo knew it, the dockmaster was on board and was looking over the paperwork Xyra had handed him. They had been given the all-clear and no sooner were they told, Theo left the dockmaster in the dust. She rushed off the ship without waiting to confirm the others had gotten the hint and followed along.

Theo expertly guided them through the city until they reached their destination, Wakaby's Tavern. Walking in, the place was devoid of patrons but that wasn't surprising as it was so early in the morning. Behind the bar the usual barkeep sat, with their head on the bar and eyes closed. When Theo walked in they perked their head up and then nodded a greeting. Theo nodded back and then wordlessly made her way to the back of the tavern, through a narrow hallway, and to the door of a room.

The room was locked and Theo pulled a key from her pocket and unlocked the door. She walked in, looking behind her to see Ava hesitate slightly before stepping in. Theo always forgot that the way Theo went about things was not the norm for Ava. Not everyone just had secret keys to secret rooms and Ava's initial hesitation before entering spaces was proof she was smart and careful, something that sometimes lacked on their crew.

Theo made a beeline to the right of the room and traced her fingers along the bookshelves that were there. She pulled out three books from the shelf and reached her free hand between the books and towards the back of the shelves. Her hand searched around for what she was looking for until her hand collided with the lever she needed. Theo let out a small curse word, hand having whacked into cold hard metal with her hand, and then pulled it down. A sound of stone scraping against stone was heard as a portion of the floor began to give way and revealed a set of stairs.

Theo heard Cooker snicker at the verbal shock Ava let out but paid it no mind as she began to descend into the hole on the floor. There were two flights of stairs that led down and the only light that illuminated the stairwell was the hole in the room above. Once Theo turned to the second set of stairs and began to trek down the light cut out as the hole resealed itself. Theo guided the group down, keeping one hand on the stone wall to catch herself in case of a fall.

They finally reached the end of the stairs and Theo gave a heavy knock on the door they encountered there. It opened up to reveal a short, pale woman with unkempt messy brown hair and large, thick round glasses.

"Captain Theo?" she asked in a scraggly voice.

"Aye, it's good to see you, Hilda," Theo said and Hilda walked into the room, beckoning them to follow.

"Come in, sit, sit," Hilda said and sat behind her desk.

"I take it you received my letter?" Theo asked, referring to the piece of writing she had Xyra send asking for various different pieces of information shortly after leaving Alenroux.

"Yes, yes of course. Hilda always gets your letters," she muttered then looked through her papers, "ah, right here. You said you are dealing with the Tuskeri traders?"

"Aye," Theo nodded, "first time doing a job with them. Want to know what to expect walking in there."

"Well, you know what they say, never trust a trader," Hilda adjusted her glasses and looked down at her paperwork, "From what I have gathered on them, they usually make due on their promises. They've been accused of finding non-existing issues within the shipment in order to reduce the price of delivery but besides that, there isn't much on them."

It made Theo feel a bit better about going into their deal blind. Traders, those who made it a profession to transport and sell large shipments of drugs, were rarely ever honorable or trustworthy. They lacked a moral code within their daily dealings and definitely didn't have one amongst traders as a whole. Theo could handle a bit of bargaining though and Xyra loved to go head to head with anyone when it came to numbers, so they would have no luck playing their games with the Scorned Woman.

"How did they get to where they are? I haven't heard of them before," Xyra said, the know-it-all didn't know something. That was a first.

"Took over the routes and the business of the Wedfries. Wedfries got upset and tried to retaliate with violence. Didn't go so well for the Wedfries. Tuskeris killed the leader, absorbed whoever was willing to lay down their arms, and then took all their riches," Hilda explained.

"That's why the Wedfries have been so quiet," Xyra commented.

Theo was not interested in their rise to power. Trader politics were too difficult to keep up with and she had stopped trying lengths before. The conversation needed to move along, they had too much to speak about and not a lot of time.

"What about the missing pirates? Have you heard any chatter in the underground about that?" Cooker asked, beating Theo to it.

"I have searched and searched for you, my dears, but I have not found any information of the sort. I have, however, heard of these missing pirates. The disappearances are growing, it is the talk of the coast," Hilda said without looking up as she began to look through her mess of papers again.

"And you've heard nothing about what may have caused it or if anyone is after pirates," Theo pressed.

"Nothing," Hilda confirmed but pulled out a sealed envelope and handed it over to Theo, "but this arrived for you."

Theo reached forward and took the letter into her hands. Her name was written in Aelizan on the front. Flipping it over she saw the seal, a wave with an eye in the middle, the symbol of Corinspe. Nothing good could come from a personally addressed letter from Corinspe. Theo fumbled to open it and when she did she unfolded the letter and began to scan it. It was in Aelizan, of course, as all her correspondence from Corinspe was, so she was able to easily read it.

Her eyes frantically took in the words in front of her and she brought a hand up to rub her face, "Fuck."

It was a letter officially calling the disappearances a hunt for pirates, it could no longer be considered coincidences. The letter stated that there had been 11 pirate crews declared missing or destroyed due to mysterious events and all pirates were to be on high alert. It also called for the mandatory meeting of all pirate captains registered in Corinspe. Failure to appear or send correspondence excusing an absence would consider them missing.

Theo passed the letter back toward Xyra who grabbed it and was trying to read it but Cooker kept invading her space to try and read it too. They fought behind her for a second before sharing the letter between the both of them.

"Holy shit," Xyra said.

"These are some big names," Cooker said after reading the list of the pirate crews presumed dead.

"Aye," Theo said, worry forming in her gut. Theo glanced over to Ava who looked lost but didn't ask any questions. She would have to debrief the quartermaster later. Theo stood up from her chair and dropped a sack of coins onto Hilda's desk, "Thank you. I'll write if I need anything else."

Theo walked out of the room, snatching the letter out of Xyra's hands on her way to the door. She tucked it into her coat and made her way back up the stairs. It was still dark and the ascent was slow as to not trip anyone up behind her. She arrived at a cold wall at the top of the stairs and reached around in the dark to find another lever. Once she found it, the opening unsealed and light poured in. Theo climbed out and helped the rest of them before walking out of the room and locking it behind them.

"O'Nives?" Cooker suggested and Theo nodded tightly.

"Aye, there is much to talk about," Theo said.