Finches

Chapter 3 - Mutiny

"I think I'll pass."

Colt's face fell at Jagger's response. He hadn't had much hope that his fellow cabin boy would follow him off the theoretical cliff, but he'd at least expected him to consider it.

Colt sat down in a hard and small wooden chair. "Come on, at least think about it some. We take out Rave together, then assume control as co-captains of the ship. We can do whatever we want, eat whatever we want, go wherever we want. Complete freedom and no more work. Doesn't that sound good to you?"

Jagger hadn't moved a muscle the whole time they'd been talking. He stood towering against the doorway, legs crossed idly. He didn't look scared at the prospect of taking on the captain, or even impressed at Colt's boldness. He just looked sorry for him.

"It seems like I've thought about it more than you have," he said eventually. "Taking out Captain Rave is no small feat. Not to mention the whole crew he has behind him. Have you considered them?"

"Of course I have," Colt said as he considered the rest of the crew for the first time. "They should follow me, if I best Rave in a fight. There are some, like Morgan, who will pose a problem, but the rest will stick to the Code."

Pirates were an untamed type of people, notorious for breaking all types of laws. But there was one law they didn't break, and that was their own. Pirates, no matter their origin, generally tended to stick to the Pirate Code. It was one of the only things that kept them from being totally driven to extinction by marines.

"Okay, so say your crazy plan works. You become Captain of the Bloody Manta. What then? Do you really think the captain of a ship is a job without any work required?"

Colt shrugged. "Sure it is. Rave doesn't do any work, he just has his crew do everything. I think it's time for Rave to be kicked off his throne, and I'm going to be the one to do it, with or without your help."

"Sorry, but it's going to be 'without' then. Even if it wasn't so crazy, I just don't see any benefit in it for myself. I have no interest in being captain of a ship. I just want my basic needs provided for, and I have a better chance of getting that now than I would if I overthrew the social order on the ship."

"That's all you want?" Colt questioned. "Just food, water, and shelter? You don't have any other goals in life?"

"Sure I do," Jagger gestured to the empty holster around his waist. "I want to become a good marksman. I want to get a gun at some point, and become good at using it. That's why I'm working so hard at getting promoted. I'll go from cleaning this ship to fighting for it."

Colt sighed. He realized that Jagger wasn't going to change his mind. He'd written the guy off as a mindless servant who did whatever anyone told him too, all while waiting for some good fortune to befall him. But it seemed he was in the process of making his own good fortune. Not unlike what Colt was trying to do.

"Okay," Colt relented. "It seems like you do have it all thought out."

Jagger nodded. "Like I said, I am sorry. And it's not that I'm against you. I won't try and stop you or even report your plans to the captain. I would suggest you think it through a little better, however. You have no weapon, no combat skills, and only a fraction of a plan. Sounds like a recipe for disaster to me."

"Maybe I don't have much of a plan, and maybe I can't fight. But I do have a weapon," Colt stood up, his wooden cutlass in hand, "and I'm going to use it."

Colt stepped forward and came face to face with Jagger at the doorway. Colt stared upward, into Jagger's eyes, in an attempt to show him how determined he was. Jagger stared back for a second, then smirked a little. He shrugged and moved to the side, unblocking the exit.