Finches

Chapter 30 - Next Voyage

Colt didn't watch for craters as he made his way toward the pirate captain. Nor did he pay any attention to any of the other threats around him. Pirates were clashing with Authority officers all around him, and all around him cannonballs formed brand new scorching craters in the ground. So he must have gotten lucky, because none of the pirates stopped to target him and none of the cannonballs sent him into the ground. He was somehow still intact by the time he made it within range of Captain Rave.

"Hey!" he said, before he could talk himself out of it. His knuckles were turning white from gripping his sword so tightly, and his heartbeat was currently drowning out all other sounds, so he had no idea how loud he'd spoken.

But it was loud enough. Captain Rave stopped in his tracks and turned to face him. Colt took a deep breath and remembered the last time he'd faced the captain. He had thought things were about to change for him. He'd actually thought that Rave would take a suggestion for their next destination. That the man actually knew where the lost captain was. And then, when all else had failed, Colt had actually thought that he could beat Captain Rave in a fight. He had been wrong before, but he couldn't afford to be wrong now. He had to beat Rave. There was nothing else that could truly save him.

Red-Head Rave's face contorted as he recognized that it was a former cabin boy standing in front of him, rather than an authoritarian officer. He went from confusion to surprise to outrage in a matter of seconds, each of these emotions hidden by his overgrown facial hair, of course.

Captain Rave growled lowly. "What are you doing here, boy?"

Colt vaguely recalled the man saying something similar, all the way back when he had first gone to speak with him. It made him wonder how much had really changed over the course of his journey. Was a mere week or two of experience really enough to make the difference?

He took and breath and set his jaw, making sure to keep his eyes on Rave. The man looked more angry at him than threatened, but that didn't matter. It didn't matter what Rave thought or how little time had passed. It simply mattered what Colt himself could do. And he was about to find out.

"I'm here to request your next voyage," Colt stated, trying very hard to keep his voice steady and void of emotion.

Rave arched a bushy eyebrow. His face didn't turn any less red. "When are you going to get it through your skull, boy? You don't request voyages. You have no say! All you do is clean up after and serve me, and it's obvious that you're incapable of doing something as simple as that!"

Captain Rave raised his sword. He was towering over Colt, his wide chest puffed out. His face was still scrunched up and red under his mop of hair that was quickly beginning to turn gray. His patience was clearly long gone (it was Colt's theory that it had run out years ago and he'd never gotten it back) and it was a wonder he hadn't struck yet. But Colt stayed ready, because he knew it was coming.

"I may have misspoke," Colt offered. "See, I'm not requesting a thing. I'm setting your next voyage. Do you know where it's going to be?"

"Enlighten me," Rave spat, looking down at Colt as if he were a bug that hadn't flattened properly upon being stomped. The look of pure distaste made Colt's blood boil.

"I'm sending you to the deep, dark bottom of the sea," Colt snapped.

"Funny," Rave said, though he didn't look the least bit amused, "that's what I tried to do to you, and here you are. But I won't make that mistake twice. This time I won't leave anything up to chance. There won't be anything left to hit the bottom of the sea when I'm done with you."

Colt spread his arms. "So what is it you're waiting for?"

"You. One free shot, same as last time. Then you die."