A Pirates Life For Me

There once was a drunken sailor

Clunk clunk clunk. The voices inside the old wooden building were laughing. Clunk clunk clunk. Then they were silent. As she walked into the bar everyone stared. "aye lass, what are you doing wearing a pirates outfit? I wasn't aware it's april fools day". The men around him laughed.

She didn't move. She just looked at the short, dirty, and plump man who insulted her. "Well if it's April fools, it must be your birthday. Drinks on me" she sat at the bar and slammed a few coins down. Enough to pay for two towns worth of drinks. " Ale, add some honey to it".

The woman behind the bar wasted no time delivering to the pirate. Another man approached her. He was less ugly than the man who insulted her moments ago. His white shirt was slightly dirty, and his hat was barely on his head. His dark wavy hair almost matched hers. He sat beside her and attempted a conversation.

"Y'know girls who run their tongues against men like him usually get it cut out". She didn't look his way. "But it's always nice to be reminded some people have the guts to do it regardless." He took a sip from his glass and swirled it.

The pirate from before approached next. He rested his body against his right arm. Too close to her. "You sure know how to use your tongue. It would be a shame if anything were to happen to it." She didn't blink, she didn't breathe. She didn't have to. Before any time passed she had stuck a knife in his hand. He yelled but was kicked towards the bar door.

"You've all heard there once was a drunken sailor I'm sure. I know it as There once was a drunken sailor, until there wasn't." She kicked the man again and he went tumbling down the steps. He couldn't catch himself. She sat back in her place at the bar as everyone else kept quiet this time.

The less ugly pirate didn't know what else to say to her. He just blinked rapidly thinking of anything. The pirate finished her honey ale and stood up to leave, clearly not finding time to ask about what she was looking for. "Will you at least tell me your name?" The man tried a conversation again.

She finally looked at him. She slightly turned and quietly said "Alora, Alora Kjartan " And she left.

~

Alora didn't expect to get into a fight so soon after arriving in Addersmell. Clearly not everyone was as civil as anyone else she met so far, which was only two people. The man who approached her and insulted her kept clouding her mind. Was everyone going to be like that? She shook the thought as she then thought about the boy who asked her name. He wasn't horrible to her.

Alora walked alone in the dark, still clueless of what she was looking for. She was grateful she at least got her honey ale. She was now almost broke after slamming all her coins on the table and leaving, but she needed to make her point. And she wasn't going to take it back.

The moon was shadowed by clouds and the wind from the ocean started to pick up. The silence of the usually lively town was unsettling. She was looking for an inn to spend the night in but it was just shop after shop. The only residency being actual houses, and Alora wasn't going to beg for a place in one. She walked and walked until she reached an odd looking graveyard.

Green lights glowed around each stone, and Alora swore she saw shadows dancing around them. She creeped closer, taking in the strange writings on the sign. She couldn't read it, and assumed it was the official Addersmell language. She could at least read the name of it; 'The Hollowblack Graveyard'.

Alora looked further into the cemetery, lightly dragging her fingers on the stones. She knew it would probably look strange to other people, but she had never seen this before. Thorny vines grew around each one, the place clearly forgotten. Odd markings made of stone were placed in the dirt.

Alora bent down to touch the rocks and tried to think of their meaning. The wind picked up more and Alora heard whistling. She looked around and only saw darkness. When she looked back down at the markings, they were gone. When she stood up to leave she felt a pressure on her shoulder.

'ghosts aren't real' was her only thought as she turned around. Alora froze as she came face to face with a black mass. Her instincts made her take a knife out and slice at it. The mass didn't even break apart a little bit. She backed up until her back hit the fence. She briefly looked to her right enough to see it, and looked back.

The mass was gone, but only for a moment. A hand reached through the fence, grabbing Alora's shoulder once more. She flinched away and walked backwards. She wasted no time breaking into a sprint and running towards the road. Her thoughts raced faster than she did.

Alora had a thousand questions, maybe more, racing through her mind. She couldn't think of a single answer for any of them. As she walked up the road, in the safety of street lights, she tried to process what happened. She was staring at the ground as she walked, so inevitably she ran into something else.

"Woooah, what could possibly be so interesting about the ground you can't look up for even a moment to see where you're going?" She knew that voice, and she was thankful for it. "I-i, sorry." She stuttered, she never stutters. Not even when she's almost black out drunk. "are you okay? You look like you've just seen a ghost... Or ten."

'Ghost. Ghosts aren't real' is all Alora could think. "You watched me chug a glass of alcohol and you're surprised I'm aimlessly wandering into nothingness?" The boy laughed at Alora. She wasn't joking and contorted her face into confusion. The boy noticed and immediately spoke to stop laughing.

"I guess not but i mean, your cloak wasn't ripped two hours ago." Two hours ago? Alora had left the pub only twentyish minutes ago. Hadn't she? "Perhaps it happened when i kicked that bastard down the stairs." "You ripped your cape by kicking someone?" "Maybe i stepped on my cloak." Alora was getting exhausted talking to an idiot. She just wanted to sleep.

"Well you're going the wrong direction. Your five star hotel is that way." Alora looked to her right. She was certain her face paled when she looked at the path. "Past the cemetery?" "Yes, I'm going there now, you can follow me." Relief washed over her instantly. The boy started to walk, and Alora followed.

"You asked my name, but didn't give me yours." "You didn't ask for it, which personally i thought was rude after the care i put into asking yours." "you're an insufferable bastard you know that?" The boy smiled and nodded. And Alora felt her lips twitch up as well.

"Leonidas is my name but, everyone calls me leon." He stuck his hand out for her to take. Alora cautiously shook his hand and quickly pulled hers back. "see that's all you had to say when i asked." "There's no fun in getting straight to the point." Alora rolled her eyes and looked straight ahead. But she knew the boy was smiling at her suffering.

Alora and Leon reached the inn on top of a hill. When they entered it definitely did not look, or smell, like five stars. "Not you again." The lady at the counter disappointingly stated. Alora raised an eyebrow at Leon and he just shrugged, trying not to laugh.

"Oh come on you still haven't forgiven me?" "You caused the inn to shut down for three days!" "Okay buuut business has doubled since i caused the outage and...flooded the...Kitchen." Leon smiled until his eyes could hardly open. Alora rubbed her eyebrows, feeling a headache coming on.

"Yeah, whatever. You're getting stuck in the closet tonight." "Please no, not again the room is so small!" "Then you better be prepared to pay double, I'm still recovering from damage costs you know." Leon put his head on the counter in defeat.

"And for you young lady?" "Just one room. Whatever you have, besides the closet." Leon shot her a threatening look, and Alora mimicked his cheeky smile from moments before. He put his head back on the counter, for once having nothing to say.

The lady handed Alora a key and told her the price. Alora used what was left of her coins and started to walk up the stairs. "Come on don't you wanna be roomies!?" Leon called from below and she stopped. "Have fun in your closet." Alora kept walking up the stairs, and down a hall until she was out of sight. Leon stomped off to his small room in defeat. It was a long day.