Pirates Vs. Corsairs

1: The Dawkins' Story

They closed their eyes and suddenly everything changed.

Anya Dawkins was three years old when her brother Jack was born. After that, their mother abandoned them and they were left alone with their father.

Life for kids without a mother was never easy, especially not in those times when the city of Ostlyn was unsafe due to Pirates constantly showing up on the shore, ready to steal from everyone and rid them of their goods.

The battle against the pirates became several times harder when the Corsairs of Elfmoor started making their appearances too. Although they were similar to pirates in many ways, they had some radical differences. The first one was that they did not steal from innocent people, instead, they stole things from pirates and they got whatever they could legally. Apart from that, they wouldn't terrorize people. A Corsair would rarely be held responsible for an attack, and when one was, justice would be performed immediately by the Corsair leader himself.

Pirates, on the other hand, were different. They took joy in stealing pretty much anything from innocents. They took food, clothing, gold, and money, anything they would please. They would use their guns and their swords to intimidate anyone who crossed their way. They were also in constant conflict with Corsairs, one could say that the "war" was between them only.

At the time of Anya and Jack's childhood, the pirates would do most of their plans at land, which made it harder for the Corsairs to reach them, for in land you can move faster, and the Corsairs would be farther out at sea.

But let's get back to the siblings. As mentioned before, Anya was three years old when Jack came into the world. After that happened, their mother abandoned them for reasons unknown and they never heard of her again. The two children were left with only their father to take care of them, and it was rare when he actually did. Mr. Dawkins fell into a deep depression. He quit his job and he became a robber on his own. He would only steal, on average, a small amount of food and a larger amount of alcohol. He would get drunk very often and he would mistreat his children, going from insults to punches.

Because of this, aggressiveness and stealing soon became "normal" to Anya and Jack, although something told them that they could do better. And as the years went by, they became angrier with their father and kept as much distance as they could. Jack would go shell hunting at the shore and he would later sell what he found, while Anya would make different dishes out of natural plants and flours. With the money they got, they were able to maintain themselves for a rather long time. For an eight year old and a five year old, they did it pretty well, and the fact that they were kids made everyone else sympathize with them a lot more. Any money they would make, they would keep for themselves.

As much as they would have people buy their things and put themselves in their shoes, they had no more human contact than the one they had with each other. The only thing those two siblings had in the world was each other. One could say that they cried themselves to sleep, that they missed their mom even though she had left them, that they were angry at their father, that they needed something else.

Then, that day arrived; the day that would change their lives forever.

"Shells!" Jack yelled in his little boy voice. "Shells for 4 coins!"

"Lemon cakes for 10 coins each!" Anya yelled. "Special spinach and egg cakes, 2 for 15 coins!"

This had become their daily life. 

Unfortunately, their father found out and didn't like it. He walked up behind them and grabbed the siblings from the back of their shirts.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" He yelled aggressively. "Is this where you've bloody been every bloody day?!"

"Let me go!" Anya yelled.

"Is this why I risk my damn freedom every day?" He yelled, tightening his grip. "I go out day and night to take things to try to keep the two of you alive and you bloody take things into your filthy hands?"

"Keep us alive?!" Anya yelled. "All you take is stupid alcohol to get drunk! We've had one whole loaf of bread since you started stealing and you've had at least ten bottles of every type of drink-"

Mr. Dawkins threw little Anya to her table with the cakes and they all fell on the floor.

"HELP!" Jack yelled desperately.

As it was predictable, the people watched, but no one did anything.

"SOMEBODY, PLEASE!" Little Jack yelled in fear when he saw his sister wouldn't get up.

Then, Anya grabbed a wooden stick and started striking at her father, but she had no success due to her small size and lack of physical strength (she was, after all, only eight years old).

Mr. Dawkins started to walk away, still holding on to Jack. Suddenly, people started screaming. From the shore, Pirates were making their way into the city. Mr. Dawkins started to run, but Jack bit his hand and his father was forced to let him go. Jack and Anya ran the opposite way until their father lost sight of them.

They realized they were also under attack by Pirates, so they hid under a barrel and waited for the whole thing to go by.

Some time later, they didn't know if it had been minutes or hours, the sound died out a bit. They got out of their hiding place and made their way through the streets. They held hands and wouldn't let each other go. They got to the shore and saw a tall man standing there giving directions to other men.

"Hey!" A woman's voice said.

The children turned around, scared. She was tall and slim, with a lovely face and long, wavy brown hair. Her skin was brown, and her eyes really dark. The woman's face softened when she saw the kids. She sighed and stepped closer to them.

"What are you two doing out here?" She asked.

"I'm not supposed to talk to strangers," Jack said.

"Then I suppose your sister will answer," The woman said.

Anya sighed. "We're hiding."

"From what?"

"From anyone."

"Where are your parents?" the woman said.

"We don't have parents," Anya's voice was filled with anger and sadness. Jack didn't say anything, as he agreed completely with her.

"Marie!" A harsh man's voice filled the space. Jack and Anya realized that it was the man who was giving the other men directions. He dressed elegantly and he had a sword in his hand. He was really tall, he had reddish hair and a carefully formed beard, with a scar over his left cheek, and a very powerful gaze. "We leave now."

"Harvey," Marie said. "I want to take these kids."

The man Harvey examined them. "Why?"

"They could be of use," she replied.

"How many times have I told you-"

"This is different," Marie interrupted. 

Harvey examined the kids one more time and sighed. "Fine."

Marie held out her hand. "Come with us."

The kids followed them and they got into a boat, the boat later led them to a bigger ship, named the Goldbarrow. They had no trouble in going with them; everything they had back at home was now ruined.

And the man who agreed to take in the kids was Harvey Bones, the most feared pirate in land and sea.