Serene Sky - Dead man's Wish

The governor’s wedding filled the alleys with soldiers, ending any chance at attacking them on their way to the wedding ship.

Word has spread that Laura Emery, the governor’s fiancée, was with child and that the wedding was his attempt of hiding the truth.

I was six years old when the governor caught me sneaking into his ship in hopes of finding my way out of that ludicrous land.

 As punishment, Governor Bernardo left me on a lone island with his fiancée and several boxes full of survival supplies enough for decades, if utilized smartly.

 Scared to my damn soul, Laura was the only person in the world I could go to for comfort, but seeing as she was betrayed by the father of her child I tried to make myself useful.

Laura fixed us a living area under big coconut trees and I was responsible for getting us foods that weren’t a pity present from the governor’s guards.

 As time passed faster, I was ought to learn the way I am meant to assist Laura when the baby comes.

The miracle of life was not all that pretty from my perspective, but I knew I could never survive on my own, and I didn’t want to be left on that island alone.

 She gave birth to a baby girl that thankfully seemed to be healthy enough.

The older the girl got, the easier our stay on the island became.

Serena Emery grew up to be a clever, curious, and noble little girl.

One of the days I taught her how to fish by hand, she looked me deep in the eyes and smiled.

 “You have eyes like the sky”, she said, and from that day on she never called me “Peter” again.

As Serena’s tenth birthday approached us I noticed the boxes of supplies running lower than desired if we wanted to have a chance at survival.

 I spoke with Laura about my decision to try and leave the island, search for help from passing ships or other lands if I were lucky to make it out alive.

The ocean is a scary place, but starving to death next to a ten-year-old and her mother seemed like a poor strategy.

 Better be taken by the creatures of the sea than by the hand of a scoundrel.

I was preparing for my departure when Serena approached me, holding Laura’s golden necklace and handing it to me in case help will come with a price.

 “I will be back for you both, Serena”, I left a gentle kiss on her forehead.

 “I don’t want to die here, Sky”, she sounded desperate for a safe place to be free at.

Not knowing what to say to my ten-year-old best friend, all I managed to do was look her in the eyes and say: “You deserve everything you want”.

 She smiled at me as I walked away into the ocean, a smile I was scared to never see again.

Not sure for how long I was drifting in the sea, the sun-scorched my head and no land was in sight.

 Floating on a piece of wood from the governor’s supply boxes I managed to make it far enough to survive, but I thought the end was near as a storm started to interrupt the sound of the waves.

"Man overboard”, rusty voice intruded the chaos around me

 Soon, a rope was tossed in my direction and I was rescued by a large pirate ship.

 “And who ye might be, boy?”, An impressive old man addressed me as I managed to stand.

 “My name”, I hesitated, unsure if I should give away my true name.

 “Sky, Sir”, I answered.

 If I was there on a quest to rescue Laura and Serena, might as well have a constant reminder as to why I was there.

"Sky", he examined me as he tasted my name on his tongue, circling me with the sound of his leather boots on the wooden floor.

 He sent all the other men back to work, leading me to his headquarters.

Fresh clothes”, he threw a sack at me.

 “I recently lost me deck-boy”, he sat on his chair, “congratulation! You got the job, mate”.

 I tried to explain to the Captain that I needed help rescuing two women from the lone island I escaped from, in hopes that he might turn back the ship, but he refused to change the ship’s course.

My chances were better waiting for land and buying a boat big enough to fulfill my promise to Serena than getting the Captain’s help.

Even though I couldn’t do anything until we reached land, he seemed to take a liking to me.

 He taught me everything I know of the sea and the world, how to handle myself in a battle, and with the women.

 Before I knew it, it has been a year since I left the island and I was still part of Captain Black Face’s crew.

Every time I tried to leave and find myself a boat, I couldn’t bring myself to selling the only valuable of Serena’s.

 The Captain kept promising me that after our next raid he will step down from his position and appoint me as the ship’s captain, but there was always another raid to be made.

Two years have gone by and I was ready to finally leave the ship.

 But before we made it to land, the flu took over the ship.

 Everyone got sick, including the captain and me.

A few weeks into the sickness, I managed to recover and was Black Face’s second in command.

 I had to anchor and evict the dead, clean the deck and get food for the men that survived.

 We couldn’t keep surviving on rum alone.

Black Face summoned me to his room.

 He gave me his blessing to take over the ship as soon as he passes away, noting I was the son he never knew he wanted.

 We grew closer over the time we spent together, which made leaving him behind harder every day.

On his dying breath, he asked of me two things before I go back to the lone island.

 First, go to Tortuga and bury him there.

 His second wish was for me to get my revenge on the man that left me for dead on that island, so when I go back there it will be as a truly free man.

 A pirate.

“Aye, Captain”, I answered, knowing the chance that Laura and Serena are still alive is incredibly low, remembering the state of the supplies when I left.

I navigated Black Face's ship to Tortuga.

 He died halfway there and before realizing it I was the new Captain of the ship, trying to honor the death of the man that saved my life when he could leave me to drift off in the mighty sea while plotting revenge on the man that got me there.

"Tortuga", I whispered, seeing a foreign land to me on the horizon.

 I and the men buried Black Face near his favorite tavern and left a bottle of fine rum on top of his grave, knowing a drunk will stumble upon it soon enough and grab it, but he wouldn't want it to be any other way.

I decided to recruit several new men for the ship to make sure I won’t have to keep Serena waiting for too long, at least that was the plan, but apparently over the last three years there has been a mutiny that leads for Governor Bernardo to be removed from office.

 Not surprised that it happened, but I realized finding the bastard might take longer than I had anticipated.

The men helped me search for him all over, and after a week of him not revealing himself to me, I decided I couldn't keep my promise to dear old Black Face.

 Serena was waiting for me, probably believing the sea has taken me or its creatures, and who knows how long can they survive on fish and berries alone.

 but before I made it back to the ship, a boy ran to me.

"I know where to find the man you are looking for, sir", he held onto my leather jacket.

 "Aye?", I knew better than to dismiss a little boy with knowledge.

 "This way", I looked back at the sea, holding onto Serena's necklace I wore on my neck, turned back to the boy, and smiled at him as I followed him.

He lead me to a fancy-looking house, nearly a palace, where he claimed Bernardo lived.

 The place was heavily guarded, and even though he was hated by most of the people he managed to keep his pompous lifestyle, which made me resent the bastard even more for betraying Laura and punishing me to such a cruel fate.

I thanked the boy and tossed him a few coins for his troubles.

 The devil knows what will come for him if Bernardo ever finds out of his deeds.

Sneaking into his well-guarded palace was not the easiest, I'll admit, but leaving on a pirate ship for three years has prepared me for worse.

 soon enough I was walking around the house in search of the hidden coward.

 I thought a lot of what his fate shall be, the more I thought of it the more violent it got, but as I finally stood in front of him in the hallway with my raised gun facing him all of those thoughts seemed to vanish.

 All I truly wanted was to have Laura here to claim her revenge.

I tried to shoot at him but four guards managed to stop me before I could load the gun.

 They threw me inside what appeared to be a dungeon of sorts, smelling of burned flesh and ruts.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?", a heavy guard held my neck while pushing me towards the cell-wall.

 "Captain Sky", I struggled to breathe.

 He laughed at the sound of my title, "A dirty pirate", he spat on the floor next to where I stood.

I was thrown into the cell and the guard left, leaving nothing but darkness around.

 behind a curtain of nearly complete darkness, I spoke with other men that made it there, some spent a decade locked up in that reeky prison, a few got there some weeks before I have and none knew if death was ever going to take them from Bernardo's maliciousness.

"Mate", the prisoner in the cell across from me called.

 "Aye?", I hesitated.

 "Ruts", he said, holding one of such in his hands, "they are your best friends down here, boy", he laughed.

 I would've ended my life down there if it weren't for crazy old Jack, the rut lover, but after numerous attempts at escaping failed I lost all the fighting spirit I had in me.

It has been years that I was locked up down there, with no sunlight, barely any decent food, and deep regret of ever listening to Black Face's dying wish that risked my mission.

"Ahoy, mate", Old Jack called to me from his cell across from mine.

 I approached the bars to see him easier.

 "I know how to get ye out of here, boy", I felt a slight discomfort at his nickname for me, as I still felt like a little boy deep down, still at Bernardo's mercy.

 "Jack", I sighed, "We've tried everything by now, my crew left years ago and the woman I failed at rescuing might as well be long gone".

 "Shhh", and whispered, "The walls have ears".

Before I could say anything else, suddenly he took a rut out of his coat and tied something to him, pushing it towards me.

 I used my leftovers to get the rut to run towards my cell, believing old Jack had finally gone completely mad while realizing he is the only one that actually listened to me during our imprisonment.

I grabbed that rut as it stared nibbling at a piece of crusty bread.

 To his body was tied an iron thread of sorts, that I assumed Jack trained the rut to fetch.

 at last, his liking to the dungeon's ruts came in handy.

At once I started to feel my heartbeat inside my chest as I haven't felt in a long time.

 I wasted three years on Black Face's ship only to be imprisoned for an attempt at murder for six more, but all that didn't matter as I held the iron thread in my hand, smiling at old Jack, sensing freedom approaching us at last.

It took me several attempts to break through the lock, but as soon as I succeeded I started unlocking all the other cells.

 Granting them their freedom, they all vowed to return the favor by becoming my crewmen and finding a ship to make it to the lone island I once left to bring freedom and safety to the women Bernardo betrayed nineteen years ago.

As we attempted to escape quietly, we had to get rid of some guards that were in our way.

 Before managing to reach the back door I heard Bernardo's voice approaching the dark kitchen.

 It was nighttime, there were no people around the kitchen, which helped with our escape, and the years of imprisonment were enough to learn the guards' routine, but Bernardo showing us was not part of our plan.

"Go", I whispered to the men, "Find a ship and supplies as fast as you can", I said while grabbing all the silverware and handing them to the men.

 "Captain", Jack whispered, "What if they capture ye again? It's not worth it", he nearly begged.

 "This is beyond a promise to a dying man", I explained, "This is revenge I owe Laura and Serena, whether they are alive or dead".

 The men ran from the back door and I waited behind the kitchen's door for the bastard to walk in.

He grabbed a glass of wine and searched for something else as I came closer to him, holding a meat knife in my hand.

 I wanted it to be fast and effortless, but I couldn't let him die before making sure he knew why, and who is going to introduce him to hell.

"Nineteen years ago you left a woman with a child on a lone island", I started while holding the knife to his throat, "and me, a six-year-old boy that only wanted to get out of this devilish place".

 He started to breathe heavily and tried to wrestle his way out of my grasp, spilling the wine in the process,

 "Laura", he whispered with a shaky voice.

 "You have a beautiful baby-girl, by the way", I said, "not that you'll ever have the pleasure to meet her, you bastard".

The blood spilled quickly all over the counter and reaching the floor.

 I hoped the men managed to at least find us a boat because a man running in the dark covered in blood was not the best idea if I wanted to make it back to Serena any time soon.

 I have failed her enough.

At the port I found old Jack standing near a small boat, big enough to carry barely ten people.

 It was better than nothing, but that meant I couldn't bring all the men with me if I wanted to bring the women back with us.

"Captain", one of the men handed me a sack of clothing and a hat.

 "Ye should change yer clothes, Captain", Jack laughed with pleasure at the sight of blood covering me.

 "Aye", I laughed with ease.

 "I guess yer duty is done", he said as I got out of the bloody clothes, tossing them into the ocean.

 "Indeed, mate", I got dressed and approached the little boat.

 "Captain?", Jack called again with confusion, "Where are ye going? Yer ship is there", he pointed towards a beautiful, enormous black pirate ship docking at the port.

I looked around, confused yet excited by the sight of the black ship.

 "How did you manage to get that?", I looked at all the men in surprise.

 "Let's just say, A lot of stupid men owed us for much more than a ship", he handed me the compass and soon enough we were sailing towards that cursed lone island.

The men worked hard to get us there as fast as possible while I got used easily to the Captain's duties.

 As soon as we set sail I shaved my prison beard, enjoying the fresh air and the smell of the sea.

It took us a few months to trace the Island, but finally, ten years after I left I found my way back just in time to rescue Serena after I witnessed her jumping off a cliff.

"She's waking up, Captain", Jack called.

 Serena was laying on the wooden surface, coughing seawater and gasping for air.

 "Serena", I whispered to her while caressing her face unhurriedly.

 “Can you hear me?”, I came closer to her and looked into her eyes, noticing how lovely she got.

 “Sky?”, She was hesitant.

 “I came back, Love”, I smiled at her.

She told me that she tried to end her life when she jumped off the cliff, and about Laura dying from an illness a few years back as I helped her out of her soaked dress in my room.

 “You look good”, she whispered.

 “Thanks, love”, I wore a bittersweet smile.

I returned her necklace and confessed to killing her father, and still, she saw in me the "Sky" she had always cared for.

Weeks later I confessed to never being with a woman, as I noticed her moves towards me became more obvious.

 Years later, together we have discovered every piece of land available to us.

 The pirate and the girl he left behind, exploring the world, the sea, and the love they have always shared.