Theo had returned from her trip on land with a rush of information. She had been in Takand since the early morning solidifying orders, making sure stores knew where to send the items and doing a bit of shopping of her own. The second she stepped back on the boat Morgana and Cooker were waiting for her to tell her the big news, Ava had decided she was going to be a pirate. Theo's first reaction to the news was a mix of dread and relief. She wanted Ava on her crew; someone smart, quick at learning new things, and apparently knew her way around a dagger. But she kept going over the fact that Ava was a rich girl and she had seen how that story ended a hundred times. Theo would not forgive herself if something awful happened to Ava under her command.

Regardless of her feelings, she was going to give Ava a fair chance and judge her competency without bias. She dismissed Cooker and Morgana and sent them off to go find Ava and tell her Theo was ready to meet. She cleared everyone out of her room once she arrived and settled in her chair, awaiting Ava. Ava walked in with a large grin on her face and she sat down in front of Theo's desk.

"I want to be a pirate," Ava cut to the chase.

"So I've heard," Theo laughed, "I'm not trying to talk you out of it but I am going to go over just a few details and give you time to make a final decision."

"That's fine. I'm sure I won't change my mind."

"Right, well, obviously you're going to have to move out of your room and into the lower decks. You can grab any free hammock. Usually, we would get started on the whole process right away but these next seven suns will be quite busy for all of us here so your training will have to go on pause. If we are successful during our raid then we'll start you off with the process. We'll find you a job on the ship and move you around until you find something that fits. During that, you'll be vetted by Xyra and me just to make sure there is nothing odd going on and then we just hope that you excel at your job and get voted in," Theo said.

"Vetted?" Ava asked, trying to mask her nervousness.

"Aye, just a sit down with me and Xyra. Sort some stuff out with your past. Make sure nothing is going to come back and bite us in the ass," Theo explained.

"Alright," Ava forced a smile, "That seems easy enough."

"That isn't the part I'm worried about. Ava, we are about to go on a mission that we might not come back from. We could get raided, fail at the mission, starve at sea... You have a chance to walk away from all of that uncertainty and settle down," Theo tried reasoning with Ava one last time.

"I lived my entire life caged up because I was afraid of the uncertainty. I am taking risks and it starts with this. I have been on this boat long enough to have confidence that we are not sailing to our deaths," Ava stated.

That makes one of us Theo thought.

She stood up and extended a hand to Ava. Ava stood up and shook it as firmly as she could manage.

"Welcome to the crew, for now, Ava Ableworth," Theo smiled and let go of her hand.

Ava excused herself from the room shortly after and went to her room. She packed what little she had in the bag she had brought with her and went to give up her key. It was easy to find Morgana on the deck, she was shouting at someone in the crow's nest. Ava turned in her key to Morgana and made her way to her new home. The lower decks were less than ideal compared to her cabin. It smelled of people and looked lived in. She saw a few familiar faces among those in their hammocks and she maneuvered around the room finding a space. She found an empty hammock near the wall and she climbed inside. It was more comfortable than she was expecting and the exhaustion she had faced from staying awake the whole night took over her body. She fell asleep, oblivious to the noise and commotion above her as the ship started moving.

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

Xyra walked into the Captain's quarter after they had set sail. She came in and laid across Theo's bed.

"We've picked up anchor and we are on our way to the island," Xyra said, "No thank you is needed."

Theo laughed at Xyra and decided to indeed opt-out of giving her any gratitude, "Did you hear about Ava?"

"Oh yes, she very enthusiastically told me this morning. Barged in here thinking it was you and blurted out to everyone that she was going to be a pirate," Xyra retold the story with an amused tone.

"And you've had nothing to say about it? Two cycles ago you were ready to push her off the fucking plank and now you're laughing," Theo pointed out.

"I'm laughing because it's a funny story," Xyra said and kicked her shoes off and Theo had to keep from laughing.

"It is but that is beside the point. What's your opinion on it?" Theo asked. She was going to get an answer somehow. Xyra was her first mate who had a lot to say just a short while ago.

"The girls seem to like her, for some reason and she looks to be self-sufficient," Xyra shrugged, "If you're trying to get me to be the bad guy in this I won't be. I think she actually would make a good addition to the crew. Maybe. We'll see."

"I just don't know, Xyra. She's got a rich family. She's connected, what if that comes back to haunt us. Who knows how much power her family has," Theo asked.

"She's an Ableworth. Rich family, harmless in the political game. No connections beyond business, certainly no underground connections," Xyra said.

Xyra was from an Eloxian lesser house in the south. Her father had recently boosted the family name and ascended to a lesser house from being no namers. He was well connected in the political world and seemed to have all the right contact, something Xyra seemed to have inherited from him. She spent a lot of her time researching current families on different continents and how they were connected. She knew everyone's business and if she came across someone she didn't, within a cycle she would. Between Xyra's political knowledge and Cooker's historical knowledge, Theo was confident she had the best group of advisors of any pirates on the Baethean seas.

"Right, and do you know of her? Anything you didn't tell me before," Theo pressed on. She wanted to squash any doubts she had in her head.

"Nothing. The Ableworths are huge; she probably belongs to some second cousin to the head of the house or something. Plus, it's a joke in Elox that Ableworth girls run away. They marry off all the girls by the time they are 16, so a lot of girls bolt before the big ceremony. Get's the Ableworth's more business connections. The rich get richer," Xyra said bitterly.

Theo had reached the end of the rope. She could find no reason not to bring Ava on. She didn't seem that hopeless in terms of her abilities. She could wield a knife better than any rich high born she had seen since she was Captain of the boat. Her connections didn't seem like they would lead to any trouble.

"Listen, Cap, if you're worried about her getting hurt then stop. It's her choice, she understands the consequences. You need to stop feeling responsible for every person on this crew. You are not forcing them to be here so their deaths are not on you. Neither would Ava's if she did die," Xyra put bluntly.

Xyra had a way of getting to the root of Theo's issues before Theo even knew what the root was. It was scary how she did it and every time she did, it left Theo winded. She relaxed in her chair and let out a sigh, Xyra was right. She could not protect everyone. Trying to by rejecting someone defeated the whole purpose of her mission with the Scorned Woman. Ava had a choice and she made one.

"Fine. You're right," Theo said getting up from her desk, "I will stop overthinking it."

She walked over to her bed and climbed in next to Xyra. They laid in bed for a while, Xyra staring at the ceiling and Theo staring at Xyra.

"Your bed was crafted by the Gods I think. I don't know why I even have my own room when I could just sleep in this bed forever," Xyra said.

Theo tried to contain a smile. She had been itching to bring something up every time she had seen Xyra since the night before but couldn't find an organic way to bring it up. The topic Theo wanted to confront Xyra about was sensitive to her and Theo had to proceed with caution. Without knowing it, Xyra had given Theo the perfect trap.

"Just out of curiosity. Why didn't you come over last night once we were done with the meeting? I couldn't sleep." Theo asked, trying to act as much as a victim as she could.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I fell asleep early and just spent the night in my cabin," Xyra said and rubbed Theo's arm as an apology.

Theo pushed herself up and straddled Xyra so she could look at her in the eyes. She intended to catch Xyra in a lie and she had.

"So when I went and knocked on your door last night you ignored me," Theo asked and crossed her arms.

Xyra tried to wiggle out from under Theo, "I'm a heavy sleeper. I must've not heard you."

"Xyra."

"Theo."

"Where were you?" Theo kept the pressure on. She did not budge from her seat on top of Xyra.

"You know the answer to that. Get off me," Xyra said and pushed and Theo's legs.

"I want to hear you say it. I want you to hear yourself say how stupid you are being," Theo insisted.

"I was with Navi last night!" Xyra caved, "You happy?"

It wasn't her intention to get Xyra this worked up but in hindsight, the conversation would've gone that way no matter what. Theo felt guilty but only for a moment. Xyra knew better than that. It was no news that Navi slept around, she was currently doing it with a good number of the crew on board, Theo included. But with Xyra it was different, she had been pining over Navi for lengths. It was a long and complicated history between them but they were together for about half a length. Things didn't end on the easiest of terms for them and Xyra had never really gotten over Navi.

The time they shared was intense and filled with all kinds of emotions. Navi seemingly got over it pretty easily; she took a sabbatical from the Scorned Woman and she had someone waiting for her on land. Xyra, however, never really moved on. Before Navi, there had been no one and after Navi, there had been no one either. Xyra's romantic life started and ended with Navi. Still, to that moment, Xyra struggled with keeping herself away from her past lover. It was a constant cycle of Xyra distancing herself from Navi, then getting closer, spending time with her, falling for her, sleeping together, then starting all over again. Navi was oblivious to the fact that Xyra still had feelings for her. Xyra denied it and if it would come up, she would tell Navi that it's okay and she had no feelings left, lies.

"No, I'm not happy. This hurts you, Xyra. Why can't you see that?" Theo asked.

"You need to back off, Theo," Xyra warned and finally managed to get out from under her.

"I won't. You're my closest friend and I need you to hear this. You corner me with the truth all the time and it's time someone did it to you."

"I'm not hurting anyone. Whoever the fuck is waiting for her onshore is okay with her doing whatever she wants while she's away. So what's the big deal if I'm with her."

"That isn't how it works Xyra. This situation is a spider's web and you keep getting more and more tangled. You need to walk away for good," Theo reasoned.

Xyra scoffed, "So you can sleep with her but I can't"

Theo opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. It wasn't that she was keeping secret the fact that she and Navi had shared a night, but it wasn't something she expected Xyra to find out. Theo didn't know how to respond to that because there was nothing to say. Theo was free to do what she wanted but sleeping with the person her best friend had a history with wasn't the brightest idea.

"Xyra... I'm sorry about that," Theo apologized, her stomach was in knots, "I should have never gone down that road."

"No need to apologize," Xyra shrugged, getting up from the bed, "You and Navi are both free consenting adults the same way Navi and I are. I can't get mad at you the same way you can't say shit to me."

Theo sleeping with Navi was unfair to Xyra and she knew that it did actually hurt Xyra. Theo also knew that this was not the best time to continue the conversation. Xyra was defensive and hurting and Theo was just rubbing salt in a wound. She should have approached Xyra with a little less cornering and more level-headedness. She would give Xyra space before bringing it up again in a nicer way.

"I'm on duty and I was just coming in here to check up on you," Xyra said in a flat tone, "I should be going now."

Without another word, she walked out of the room and Theo buried her face in the pillows. How had she managed to ruin the best mood Xyra had been in ages? She knew the answer to her question.

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

Ava awoke to her hammock being shaken. Opening her eyes she found four faces staring at her.

"She's not dead," Morgana said.

Oceane, who was next to her, slapped her on the arm, "I told you she wasn't. Stop joking around like that."

Cooker laughed at the interaction and waved at a confused Ava, "It's nighttime. We were worried."

Ava sat up as best she could in the hammock and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, "It's dark out?"

"Aye, you missed dinner. We've not wanted to wake you but people were starting to think you were dead," Iona piped in, next to Cooker.

Ava looked around the lower deck and saw no light peeking through any cracks. She had slept through the whole sun and dinner. She was starving and she let out an audible sigh when Iona said she had missed dinner.

"We've brought you your ration of bread and cheese but everything else was gone by the time we went to fetch some for you," Oceane admitted and handed her a handkerchief with food inside.

"Not saying I wish you dead, Red but I wouldn't have minded eating your ration of bread if you were," Morgana interjected.

This time it was Cooker that slapped her arm, "Listen, we didn't come here just to harass you. Are you ready for your first pirate adventure?"

Ava was suddenly very awake and very ready, "What is it?"

"Secret Mission. Now, you need to be quiet and follow us. No noises," Morgana whispered and began to walk away.

The others trailed behind her slowly and Ava scrambled to get up from the hammock quietly. Once both of her feet were on the floor she clutched her food tightly and grabbed a dagger from her bag and prayed that the mission did not require shoes. She crept through the thin hallways of the ship and realized where they were going, the storage room. Ava had a creeping suspicion that they were up to mischief rather than official pirate business. She blamed her confused sleepy state for not seeing it sooner.

Cooker snuck into the room while Morgana ordered the rest of them to a halt. Ava watched in silence as Cooker began to jimmy up one of the floorboards. She reached under it and pulled out a bottle of dark liquid, Ava assumed it was liquor. She snuck the bottle into her coat and then motioned for all of them to start moving. They turned around and snuck back out of the storage room. Morgana eventually led them to the library where she locked the door.

"Mission accomplished," Morgana said once they were all settled down inside the library.

"Not quite, we don't have cups," Iona pointed out.

Cooker scoffed, "I don't see how that is a problem. I am not above drinking straight from the bottle."

"Aye, the pirate's way," Morgana agreed and took the bottle from Cooker.

Morgana opened it and took a big swig. Ava was sitting in her usual chair feeling a little uneasy. It was her first night of being a pirate and she was stealing from the storeroom.

"Why do you look so down, Red?" Morgana asked.

Ava considered lying but the words just flowed out, "Why are we locked away drinking the crew's alcohol. I thought to never steal from the ship was one of your rules or something?"

All of them laughed at her before Morgana handed her the bottle.

"It's mine. I hide it around the ship just in case someone tried to come into my room to take it. We are locked away in here because if anyone else sees us then the whole crew will want some. We are on rations of alcohol and no one is too happy about that so they'd expect a share," Cooker explained.

"Which means less for us, stop being uptight. You're a pirate now," Morgana said.

Morgana was right. Pirates broke rules, they hid away to drink secret liquor, they got sloppy. She put the bottle to her mouth and took a large sip. It was disgusting and the liquid burned her throat. She quickly passed it to Iona and willed herself to hold it down.

"Oi, rich girl, you're probably going to want to eat that food before you drink anymore," Oceane said.

"Let's lay off her with the rich girl thing? She's on her way to be a pirate now, she's left that behind," Cooker stood up for Ava.

Ava's stomach was filled with butterflies at those words. She had left that world behind now. She was going to become a pirate. It somehow was all just catching up to her right now and she sat back in her chair in silence. It hadn't even been 100 suns since she had left her home but she had come so far. She would have never imagined ending up where she was at that moment, drinking nasty liquor on a pirate ship with her soon to be crewmates. She opened her handkerchief and began to eat the small amount of food they had saved for her.

By the time the bottle had come back around to her, she had finished eating. She grabbed the bottle and took not one but two sips at that time. She was going to dive into pirate culture headfirst, getting drunk with the crew. She had had drinks on the ship before but by the time the third round had passed she was drunker than she ever had been. She had in truth not been listening to anything they had been. She tuned in and picked up that the conversation was about weapons. She had no idea about anything they were referencing but she tried to keep up. She preferred to sit out of the conversation, either way, enjoying just experiencing what the others were like.

"Did you hear about what they're cooking up down in the south of the Island?" Iona asked after she had taken a sip of the bottle.

"The fucking little tiny cannon things?" Morgana excitedly asked.

"The what?" Oceane raised an eyebrow.

"Right so those little geniuses down in Dove Island have been trying to create somewhat of a cannon but for a handheld weapon. Powder, little metal ball, and you pull a trigger to release it," Iona explained making hand gestures to help explain what she meant.

"So a machine that allows you to instantly kill an enemy from a far distance? That sounds incredibly safe and ethical to put into the hands of the army and just anyone who can afford it," Cooker chimed in.

"It's not like it would be around anytime soon. But if they could ever do something like that, I'd want one," Morgana said.

"You can't shoot an arrow, what makes you think you could shoot and aim with that?" Oceane asked with a smirk on her face. If there was one thing Oceane could do better than Morgana was shoot.

"It's not like the ability to shoot has anything to do with being on the vanguard," Morgana challenged.

"Oh fuck you," Oceane said and raised her middle finger.

"Listen, in all honesty, I'm sorry Theo took you off. I'm not sure what the reason is," Morgana admitted, feeling guilty at poking fun at a sore subject.

"Aye, I've got no clue what that was about. A lot on the table and she pulls Oceane off of the vanguard?" Cooker added.

"I know what it's about," Iona said and everyone turned to look at her, "They're testing you, Oceane."

"What? Testing me?"

"Aye, think about it. For the past length, we've been talking about recruiting and expanding and being one of the crews that have a whole fleet. You need people to run your fleet and Theo's got an inner circle fit for the expansion," Iona tried making her case.

"There are plenty of people she can pick from. It feels like a punishment but I don't feel like I did anything wrong," Oceane confessed.

"Because you haven't. Listen, each ship that gets added to the fleet will need someone to navigate it, someone to run it, and someone to lead it. Cooker, Mor, Navi, Xyra they've all proved themselves through time. They've been with her longer than anyone here," Iona said.

"Aye, that's true," Morgana interrupted.

"You, me and Pearl are new compared to the others. We've been here for lengths but we've never been tested like this. It was only a matter of time. You're great on the vanguard but you've got strategic skill. Pearl can navigate so it would make no sense to choose her for this job and I'm no good at strategy." Iona finished.

"That would make sense," Cooker argued, "Xyra's guaranteed to lead on whatever the next ship is. That means both of them are going to need a second in command. There's no way in hell Morgana would give up leading the vanguard and Tuni is our healer. That leaves Pearl and you two. If there isn't anything to be punished for then I guess this is a good thing."

Oceane's demeanor shifted a bit and she seemed to be in a lighter mood than earlier. The words had gotten to her and she was feeling proud that she was picked. It was all speculation but a test made more sense than being punished. Ava was happy for Oceane. She hadn't understood much about the conversation but she had gathered that Oceane was given another duty and taken off the vanguard for the raid.

"Can I have the bottle?" Ava outstretched her hand.

Cooker handed it to her, "What did Theo tell you about the whole pirate thing?"

"Nothing much. She said I couldn't start training until after the raid and that I had to move to the lower deck," Ava answered before drinking from the bottle. She was starting to feel very intoxicated and her thoughts were clouded.

"So you're in? Well done, rich girl," Oceane teased, "I knew I sensed pirate in you the second you picked up a dagger."

"It's only a matter of time before you're in the inner circle too by the looks of it," Iona wiggled her eyebrows.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ava asked.

"Just saying. Theo's gotten mighty close to you these past few cycles," Oceane tagged along, "Cap doesn't just sit and talk for hours with anyone. Last person she did that with was Pearl about two lengths ago and look at her now, studying under Navi and attending meetings."

Ava hadn't realized that. She felt her cheeks go red with colors although she wasn't sure why. She figured Theo was being nice or using her for company. Ava had assumed that when she became a pirate she would be rejected by the friends she had made. She thought it was some unspoken social rule that she would be kicked to the bottom of the pack but it didn't seem to be that way. They had woken her up, invited her to drink and were having what seemed to be very serious conversations with her present.

"Is that a bad thing? Like, are the others going to resent me for that?" Ava asked. She was worried if being a new pirate didn't make her to social outcast than being the captain's pet would.

"For me, if Theo likes you then I like you," Iona explained, "and everyone on the ship feels that way. If anyone here wanted Theo's attention they could just ask her for it. Someone else getting it doesn't make anyone feel bad."

Ava might have been drunk but what Iona was saying didn't make sense. Jealousy and plots to get ahead were the norms where she was from. No one could have anything without being judged. Here, on a pirate ship of all places, the attitude was live and let live. Everyone did their own thing and could interact with anyone. She knew that already but she had assumed things would change when she chose to stay. Like she was waiting for the shoe to drop.

"Look, Red," Morgana said, taking the bottle from her hands, "As far as we are concerned, you're one of us now. No one cares what you do as long as it doesn't fuck the crew. Those are the simple rules of being a pirate, protect your sisters and your captain. This next round is a toast to you. Congrats!"

The bottle got passed around and each of the girls raised it when it was their turn and made a toast. Oceane talked about how she hoped to train with Ava more. Morgana toasted to what was gearing up to be a great friendship. Cooker toasted Ava being able to learn more with Cooker by her side and Iona toasted to a new crew member and someone new to talk about rumors with.

Ava heard Iona's toast and perked up. If Iona was the most updated on the rumor mill then maybe Ava could ask her what had been on her mind forever. For the entire voyage, she couldn't help but notice how close Xyra and Theo were. It seemed to Ava that they were sleeping in the same room every night. Most suns at dinner, Xyra and Theo would sit close to each other and steal small touches at times. It could have all been innocent, Xyra was Theo's first mate and they were close. But Ava couldn't help but wonder. If she hadn't been drunk maybe the words would have never been spoken but Ava wanted to know.

"Iona, are Theo and Xyra together? Not like friends together but like as nox," Ava asked, a hiccup escaping her mouth, "Oops."

All of the girls stared at her without answering. They looked between each other and for what felt like the millionth time that night began laughing at her question. Ava took that as a no.

"Everyone who comes on board eventually always asks the same thing, Red. Don't get embarrassed," Morgana said after she had calmed down.

"They're always together, they sleep together, they're always touching," Ava listed.

"No, they aren't together. They haven't ever been either if you were wondering that too," Cooker offered, proving once again to be the only helpful one. "They've been together since they were kids. Before any of us, it was Xyra and Theo. That's just the way they are."

"Why, are you interested?" Morgana teased and wiggled her eyebrows.

Ava laughed and shook her head, "'Course not. I'm not a nox."

"How do you know, have you ever tried?" Oceane asked and Ava shook her head.

"Do you like being with men?" Iona piggybacked off Oceane.

"Wouldn't know," Ava answered honestly. Sober Ava would have not answered these questions. Scratch that, sober Ava would not have put herself in this position.

"Wait, you've never been with anyone before?" Morgana asked her expression one of shock.

Ava looked around the room. She got the feeling that she was the only one in here without any experience. She had already told the truth and there was no going back on it, she hadn't been with anyone.

"Never," Ava admitted.

"How old are you?" Oceane asked.

"16"

"And you've never?" Cooker asked again. The answer was no and she knew that but it was so shocking to her.

"It's just never come up I guess," Ava shrugged her shoulders.

The girls in the room exchanged a look and Ava could not figure out what it meant. For some reason, they stopped talking about Ava and her lack of experience. Not that Ava was complaining, she was starting to get uncomfortable with all of the attention on her. She couldn't explain why she had never been with a man before but she just hadn't. She had a penchant for sneaking out so by the time she would have been old enough to sneak out and look for that there were extreme measures in place to keep her in. She did not want to risk finding someone she liked just to be married off to someone else. Plus, she had no desire to go searching for a man to be with. It wasn't something she wanted to explain to the group so she was happy when they moved on.

For a few more hours they sat and drank. Ava was far too drunk to walk back alone and she was glad she didn't have to. Iona and Oceane, who slept on the lower decks, escorted her back to her hammock and made sure she got in okay. They exchanged their goodnights and she slipped into alcohol-fueled dreams of being a pirate and fighting over a treasure.