A Pirate's Life For Me

New Prisoners

Several people stopped to watch as the impressive ship pulled into the harbor. It was a dark blue color, with a painted blue and gold ribbon painted to wrap around it.

Listening closely, they could hear a woman bellowing commands to the others on the ship. A few teens could be seen in the rigging, working hard to move all the pearl colored sails and make sure they were secured properly. After that, the two of them disappeared onto the deck.

Two figures appeared at the bow, speaking animatedly as they dropped down the ropes to anchor the ship to the wharf.

The girl laughed at something the boy said, then jokingly pushed him over the edge of the ship. He snatched a rope and swung down, his tanned, bare feet hitting the wooden slats of the pier with a solid 'thump' despite the fact that he was the definition of scrawny.

"Piper!"

"Leo!" The girl imitated, shooting him a goofy grin.

"Alright, lovebirds, cut the crap and get moving. We have things to do." Another woman appeared at the rail.

"Yes, Reyna!" The two shouted in unison. Leo ran off into the markets and Piper disembarked the ship, jogging towards the tavern. A black haired boy with an eyepatch followed her, sprinting to catch up, then falling in step with her.

"They're definitely shaping up." Reyna turned back to the Captain, who was leaning against the main-mast.

"Well you do provide wonderful incentive."

"That was one time, and he was asking for it." Reyna insisted.

Percy chuckled. "Rey, you threatened to spear him with the bowsprit and hang him over Charybdis."

"Yes I did. Punk needs some shaping up. Speaking of, he out of the infirmary yet?"

Percy shrugged. "I don't know. He got in a pretty bad fight. Frank says he might have had his skull cracked open."

Just as he finished speaking, said son of Ares ambled on deck. He had proven himself to be a pretty good healer, and the whole crew could tell he was working his hardest to re-earn the Captain's trust.

"Sherman's awake, Cap." Frank announced, looking towards the town with a slightly wistful eye.

"Go on, take a break. Find yourself a good drink and some hot food." Percy said.

"Really?" Frank and Reyna asked at the same time.

"Absolutely. Frank, you may have done some stupid things, but you're a good guy at heart and I can see that. You're no longer a prisoner, you're part of the crew. Now get going or I'll punt you off this ship and into the nearest tavern."

The son of Ares opened his mouth, then closed it, surprise written across his features.

"T-thank you, Captain."

"Go on." Percy shooed him away.

Frank felt a grin spread across his face as he jogged to the rail, then he stopped and turned back to Percy. "I'll be back in an hour to check on Sherman." With that, he transformed into a small hawk and rose into the air.

"What was that?" Reyna asked in surprise. 

"Not sure, but I knew he could do it. That would be how he got out of the brig all those times. Probably chose a rat, they aren't uncommon on a ship." Percy said, watching the small bird spiral off.

"Ah."

"Captain, can I go ashore too?" They turned to see Gwen. She looked much better than she had a week ago. Once she had been well fed and taken care of for a little bit it became apparent that she was young. Maybe a year younger than Hazel, she had the bouncy attitude to match. Adding that to her daughter of Iris tendencies, which explained her extremely bright and random outfit, she was quite a handful at times, but the girl was a brilliant swordswoman.

"I guess, just don't get hurt and be back in an hour or so." Percy said.

Gwen nodded eagerly and left, humming under her breath.

"Well, that leaves you, me, Mitchell and Sherman." Reyna said.

"Wonderful. See you later, I have some work to do." Percy winked at her and went belowdecks.

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Piper watched from the shadows as Ethan did his routine. The son of Nemesis was an extraordinary pickpocket, and he always seemed to know who needed to be knocked down a bit. Occasionally he would put in a word about the infamous Green-Eyes to distract someone.

"He do this every time?" She jumped. 

"Frank! When did you get in here? And why are you off the ship?"

The son of Ares clunked a mug of something that Piper thought smelled rather foul down at the table and sat. "Captain said I could join the crew officially, then told me to take some time off."

"Alright."

"Git yer hands offa me!" She turned to see Ethan yanking his arm away from a familiar brown haired teen.

"Gimme back me money!" The boy insisted.

"Ain't got yer money!"

"I saw ye take it!" The second teen exclaimed.

Ethan flashed Piper a look, then shoved between the two and ran out of the pub.

"Oh, here we go!" Piper grinned and pulled her dagger, watching the identical boys run after her crewmate.

"What are you doing?" Frank asked.

"Well, Ethan's gonna need help with those two. Plus, dropping two of Light's crew in the brig might be fun." She ran out of the tavern.

The son of Ares looked at his drink, then the door.

"Ah, Hades." He ran out too.

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Reyna slashed at her attacker's neck. Her blade met solid resistance with his as he brought his sword up to easily parry.

She immediately had to backpedal to avoid the retaliation.

"Maybe you should spar for real more often. Training the others has made you soft." Percy teased as he weaved back and forth in front of the daughter of Enyo.

"Shut up you insolent guppy!" She leapt forward and engaged him again.

"CAPTAIN!" Piper's voice echoed from the dock.

Reyna turned to see what was going on and felt a sharp sword at her throat.

"Dead." Percy said with finality, smirking.

"I'll get you back for that." His first mate promised.

"I'm sure you will. Let's go see what all the ruckus is about."

As it turned out, they didn't have to. A huge eagle soared over the rail, carrying two unconscious teens in it's talons and two slightly scared ones on it's back. Gwen, who had gotten back a few minutes earlier, squeaked in surprise.

"What is this?" He asked as Frank set down the boys and turned back into a human.

"Caught some of Light's lackeys. Sons of Hermes and Ethan decided to try and pickpocket them."

"I took i' as a challenge." Ethan explained serenely, holding up a handful of coins. "Worth i'."

"Well I guess we'll just have to keep them." Percy turned away. "Take them to the brig."

[A/N yay a longer chapter!]