I meant to get like two chapters out yesterday lol, that's on me y'all
It can be a pain to get these longer chapters cranked out, but I think they fit the flow of the story much better. Lemme know what you beautiful souls think :)
I'll also probably update the playlist with the next upload. I've been rewatching samurai champloo though and was listening to the song above when writing this (it's the ending theme song). I'm just not sure it fits the rest of the pirate playlist vibe to add it there too...
Anyways for now, enjoy lovelies!
xoxo

Caspian

I had seen very many things over the relatively short time this world has tortured me by forcing my existence in, however the ways in which Alistair's men managed to gather themselves for work on the ship, only to then gain more energy after a hearty meal...

Well, I was quite impressed with their regeneration. This lot fascinated me.

Alistair ordered me to remain at his side as the men enjoyed the meal well into the day, then eventually past sun down. This unfortunately meant that I was subjected to the brain rottening conversation of the pirates that surrounded us, which mostly consisted of sex and loot. It also meant that any time I would have with Gaia alone, was nonexistent. This Captain seemed to intentionally make it that way all through the day, which troubled me.

What troubled me further was what Alistair had done today... more specifically, once we had reached the brothel. He had seemingly managed to speak to his men, but he spoke to them through the stone foundations of the building. I could feel the rumblings of his voice carry through the sandals I wore, below the soles of my feet. It made me wonder what privacy I really had in his presence, with powers like those, or even when he was nearby. I

t was something I had never seen anyone do before. Something I'd never read about during my time in Azultia.

With each day progressing, I was learning more about his unique gifts. Learning things that put me on a higher alert than finding the sword of King Daedron in his hands already had.

If I were to ask Gaia what he was, I wondered if she'd tell me.

Then I thought about it... why hadn't I asked Alistair myself?

The man was the farthest from conservative with his powers... but even if he told me, there wasn't a bone in his body that could convince him to tell me the whole truth. That, I was sure of. At least with Gaia, she was a bit more honest-

I paused a moment, fixing my rash thoughts. No, I heard that inner voice speak for me. It didn't matter what Alistair was, because I didn't plan to stay on this ship long. And regardless of what abilities he possessed, he was still a man. He was escapable, I was sure of it. I had fled from things more complicated than him.

Some of the men managed to sober up just enough to start drinking again, once the light began to fade from the sky. I could see the somewhat cognitive mind the men worked hard to regain while working on the ship, slowly slip with each drink they accepted. Alistair was the only one who kept that devils piss away from him.

Apparently the lessons he learned today were enough. Instead he was enjoying a bowl of freshly picked cranberries.

Gaia had brought me a drink closer to the end of the evening, to which she made sure to assure me that this wouldn't affect my blood. She couldn't say this aloud considering Alistair was still seated right besides me, indulging in a conversation with Cael, but they way she held my gaze as she set the drink down allowed me to understand.

Alistair's own gaze shifted from his men to the cup as soon as it was set down. Once Gaia left and I started to reach for the ceramic myself, Alistair beat me to it. "I thought you said-" he started, wrapping his fingers around the dirt tinted clay, before his grip relaxed and he released it. "Oh," I heard him murmur. "Just tea."

That then called my own attention to the drink, and as soon as my fingers madr contact with the cup, I felt the heat seeping through. Alistair was right, it seemed to be some sort of hot brew.

I wanted to ask Gaia what it was, but she had busied herself most of the evening, using any and all free moments to curse all of her husbands out thoroughly. Apparently I had helped this morning with work they were supposed to do, and Gaia didn't take well to that. All I could hear from the otherwise deafening room, was words sprouting from her fiery mouth with accusations of them overdrinking.

I was fairly sure it was the sleep deprivation that resulted in their late start to the day, but this wasn't a situation I cared to involve myself in.

After a few sips of the drink Gaia offered, I noticed my body start to relax. My muscled rested comfortably into this hard wooden chair I was in which made me first notice the affects of whatever she gave me, because finding comfort in seating like this was practically impossible to obtain. The words Alistair offered as he turned to me, forced my at ease mind to concentrate on.

"Let's step outside." He spoke in more of a demand, and less of a request. Regardless, I followed helplessly as Alistair pushed himself away from the empty dishes filled table to stand. Cael paid it no mind when I followed this larger man out of the dining hall, then eventually outside, finding surprise as my lungs inhaled fresh air for the first time in what felt like ages. It was incredible, the perfect weather, the fresh, crisp, cool air.

I almost felt grateful to Alistair for whisking us away from the filled dining hall. I wasn't sure how much rot my brain fell victim to at the hands of his crews chosen topics to discuss, but maybe some parts of it was still salvageable. I truly didn't care to hear how well a lay the men had the night before, and with whom.

Alistair had seemingly also grown tired with the conversation.

He took lead, positioning me to follow his larger stature through the town with long strides as we neared the edge of the forest. He didn't say a word while we walked, which prompted me to keep my own mouth shut. There was a hilly field further west of the Inn, right at the edge of the forest, that was covered in rich green grass. Alistair must've decided it to be our final resting place for this walk, I watched as he unexpectedly shrunk to the grassy ground below both our feet... and I hesitantly did the same.

After the work I had done on the ship, it wasn't like these clothes could get any more filthy anyway.

With us being further from the town, the light here was minimal. Darkness had swallowed the night whole, but I could still see Alistair's sharp features through the corner of my eye as we laid next to each other, still keeping comfortable room in between us. He was staring up at the wonders above, and so I did the same.

The stars were as visible as I had ever seen them, tonight. The air itself felt peacefully clear, the same clarity as on Alistair's ship, but without the salty breeze of the sea.

"This island is special." I found myself whispering aloud. I almost didn't notice I had, but Alistair did.

"Not you too." He grumbled irritatingly. I turned my head to look at him, allowing my body to adjust to the firm ground and soft grass beneath it as I did.

"I just- I meant the air is clear here." I tried to explain. The firmness on Alistair's face didn't ease. I had most definitely offended him.

"It's different." He replied, refusing to meet my gaze, so I cast it back to the stars above.

Then silence fell between he and I for some time. I could hear my own steady breathing fall in line with that of the consistent breeze. My hands went from where they rested on my stomach, to my sides. My fingers could feel each individual blade of graze below them, the blades still holding heat from the burning of the sun that came with high noon.

I wasn't sure how to put it into words.

I wasn't sure whether words existed to describe this feeling...

But when I touched the ground, it was like I touched something burning. Not like a fire, not something hot to touch... it was like I touched something with enormous power that had been tightly bound. Something with roots that went deeper than any of the trees that grew so high on this island, they seemed to touch the sky.

No, when I touched this land's soil, it was like I touched a core of something. And it felt familiar.

"It is clear, I'll reason with you on that." Alistair spoke again, and this time when I turned my head to his, his gaze was already on me. His long black hair was worn down this evening, and it covered a portion of his face, making his features all the more alluring. I found my gaze quickly shifting back to the night sky again.

"I've never seen the stars this clear." I wasn't expecting that response from Alistair, and these were the only words that came to mind. "This island just feels different." I was almost to say 'much like your ship' but I stopped myself just in time. The larger pirate clearly didn't fancy these comparisons.

I heard Alistair chuckle roughly. "The clarity of the stars follow Cael wherever he goes." His deep, rigid voice paused a moment, "but you're correct. This island makes his talents as a Navigator stronger."

I turned my head only slightly to catch Alistair's gaze, but his was back on the night's abyss again.

I tried to find the patterns my father spoke of in the stars. The shapes that he told me at a young age could lead a man anywhere. I didn't understand then, but at the time, my family had our own astronomer. I made the foolish adolescent decision of leaving all that potential knowledge I could have learned, to him. A decision I made so frequently back then, that I had spent the last eleven years doing absolutely nothing but paying for.

And paying with my life itself. I was now a slave to my own previously held ignorance.

"Even the warrior is present." Alistair added, which prompted me to study those stars again. Those burning stones bearing only small glimmers of light to the darkness surrounding it.

"Where?" I whispered quietly, turning back to Alistair again on my left. I couldn't see what he did.

His good eye found mine as both our heads turned to each other, the other still hidden behind his dark leather patch.

I wondered if that was why it was so difficult to see past this man's hardened features. To read his expressions as seamlessly as I could others. My mother always told me how special a person's set of eyes were. More specifically, how important mine were. She would tell me how they are doors to your soul, or whatever sits in its place.

I wondered if that was why I was finding it so difficult. Because I could only see half of him.

Alistair didn't say anything to me. Instead, he shifted his body closer to mine. My almost immediate reaction was to shy away, but I forced myself to remain still. Alistair's proximity was something I'd probably never grow used to.. not that I planned to stay around him long enough to.

I felt him force through the comfortable space between us until his shoulder was almost touching mine. My gaze never left his, regardless of my confusion on whether I should've been looking to him, or the stars.

"Look." He spoke besides me. His voice was much lower now, it forced my hearing to isolate it. To fully digest it. The sounds of the wildlife rustling around us. The sounds of the leaves rustling against the wind... it had all started to fade itself out, and I wasn't sure whether that was his doing... or my own.

I watched as he lifted his finger to the sky, beckoning me to shift my gaze from his to the dark opening directly above us. I  could smell the tinge of sweetness from the cranberries he had been grazing on this evening, as he spoke, which I dedicated my sudden distractions to. Regardless, I still tried to follow his finger, tracing the patterns he drew into the sky with my eyes.

"Do you see?" He whispered. The roughness in those words called my attention to him, instead to the tip of his finger. I still couldn't see what he did.

"Close one eye." He instructed, which made all my discombobulated thoughts pause a moment. Nevertheless, I did as I was told, lifting my right arm and using my hand to cover my right eye. The eye I kept visible was the one closest to him.

"I-" I started, unsure of what I had meant to say next. My voice stopped when I saw his arm fall, but this time it grabbed my left hand that was still rested comfortably within the blades of grass. I flinched at that feeling. The roughness of his skin, but the surprised gentleness on the hold he had as he stretched my arm out with his. This time, it forced all my focus on our hands. I straightened my second finger out for him, allowing him to guide it as he slowly traced patterns into the darkness.

He connected the burning stars I didn't. Couldn't.

I saw the shape of man now through my left eye. The bow he was holding in his hand was pointed forward leading back to the town. The edges of my lips curled up into a slight unexpected smile when I finally understood the picture as a whole.

I always assumed that Alistair must've had a partial view of the world with that patch covering half his vision... but maybe I was wrong, I thought.

Maybe seeing everything with both eyes possibly held the inevitability of missing something you could've otherwise found with the scope of one eye. Like a telescope. Maybe the world was meant to be viewed through the lens of a one-eyed pirate.

"You see it now?" He whispered next to me, his hand still holding mine above us as it warmed my cold fingers. His voice still so close, I could feel it the against skin that wasn't even exposed to him. My head hesitantly turned to the larger man on my left, my one uncovered eye finally meeting his... Then I found myself slowly nodding.

I did.

••