The Fires of Summer (first draft)

Haley runs to the bow of the ship as they draw closer and closer to the docks. She waves to the people and they wave back, and then they realise she's come home, and there's yelling out to her, of her name and 'you're back!' and 'you've come to save us!' and a whole array of things she can't quite make out among the noise. People are already cracking open bottles of various types of alcohol in celebration. She smiles, eager to get onto shore, to be among her people again.

Blackbeard leads them to a spot where they can all dock together. Stede is standing at the front of his ship, staring in awe at the island in front of him. As soon as Haley sets foot on the dock she's swarmed with people. Someone even offers her a drink and she happily takes a swig of it. She can't answer everyone, overwhelmed by all of them trying to talk to her, so she inches her way closer to Blackbeard, who has met a similar fate. He handles it much better and with much more authority, towering above them all and engaging them with tales of his adventures. When Haley bumps into his side, he grabs her and hoists her up onto his shoulder.

"And Captain Undying has accompanied me on my great adventure! Together we took on two Sanguis ships and drove them out of our waters with their tails tucked between their legs. You should've seen her ferocity - she ripped one of them to shreds," Blackbeard's voice is loud over the noise of the crowd. "Now run off you lot, I've got a new captain to welcome."

They listen to him without challenge, scurrying off to talk to each other and share their admiration for the great lion and Captain Undying. She's glad to be free of them, taking a deep breath when she's put down and there's not a swarm pushing against her. "Thank you Uncle Thatch."

"No problem," Blackbeard ruffles her hair, then turns to wave Stede down from where he waits, looking bewildered as per usual.

"Are pirates always this full-on?" he asks as he steps down. Today he wears a ruffle neck shirt and some high-waisted trousers with a surprisingly pirate-y jacket, and while it's a bit fancy, he does look the part.

"Yep," Haley answers.

"You'll get used to it," Blackbeard chuckles, setting a big hand on Stede's back. He looks to Haley with a bright smile. "Anyway, I'm gonna go deal with this fruit loop. You should start on getting to your dads."

"I'm a what now?" Stede looks at him in confusion.

"Alright. I'll see you later, Thatch," Haley smiles back and watches them go before she waves the rest of her crew down onto the dock. As they fill in the space, they take in the appearance of the island up close. "This is my home, Pirate Island. As I'm sure you've noticed, it's full of pirates, and they can be a lot. There's not really any rules on the island, just don't stab or kill anyone or rob anyone, so on so forth. Let them know you're with Captain Undying and everyone should treat you well."

Axel comes to her side, grabbing her hand as he too addresses them. "Do as you wish while you're here. If anyone needs to meet to talk to anyone then we'll be around."

The group nods. Haley's eyes catch onto the ex-Sanguis guards and she frowns. "Most pirates will be kind to you if you're with me, but be careful with who you mention being a guard to. People don't take kindly to Sanguises around here."

There's a unanimous nod among them, then Axel smiles. "You're all free to go."

A number of the crew come to stand with Axel and Haley: Kallisto, Keaberos, Ophelia, Adayre, Maya, Kyle, Adrian, Amalia, and the two other ex-guards. They look expectantly at the two, as if waiting for a command. Haley clears her throat as she looks at each of them. "I'm going to go see my dads, the Pirate Lords. I'm sure they won't mind the company, if you all still want to come."

Nobody moves, so they begin on their way. Axel keeps holding Haley's hand and she doesn't mind the contact, that pull inside of her satisfied for the time being. They move through the streets, Haley occasionally greeting someone she knows - the baker, the butcher, one of the fishermen that used to give her his best catch. There are whole crews gathered around, some finding their place outside of taverns, others inside. It's never too early to start drinking on Pirate Island, so there's no shortage of people within them, men and women who will probably be there all throughout the day.

There's people trying to sell them things on the street: clothes, candles, potions, hats. Their colourful shops do a good job at catching one's eye, but Haley doesn't allow herself to be swayed off course by them. Seven years ago she might have entertained them and taken a look around, sometimes even buying something for the fun of it. Supporting the shop owners of Pirate Island is something she always tries to make a point of.

She remembers fondly travelling these streets with her former crew. Ellamia wasn't as much of a shopper as her, but the aquatic elf couldn't resist the food. She'd end up a little bit too full by the end of it, but she never had any regrets. 'Never a problem with feeding yourself well,' she would insist, and Haley finds no flaws in that logic.

Above them, in buildings stacked like blocks atop the shops, are people hanging out their clothes in the warm weather to dry, or people on balconies drinking and talking and bonding. Haley has always wondered what it'd be like to move into one of these houses. She remembers how Gray's apartment had looked all those years ago, dimly-lit but comfortable, with furniture all made on the island. It'd been quite small, but all places are on the island, needing as much space as possible to house the population. She can't quite remember where it is, but she doesn't know if he still lives there anyway. Anything could have changed in all these years.

As they get closer to the Pirate Lords' home, the places start to get a little nicer. It's not that it's more expensive, people just enjoy looking especially good and trying to attract the most powerful men on the island to their stores. The Pirate Lords live in the biggest building on the island. It looks like a bunch of houses built into each other, each in a different style, like a collection of peoples' different opinions on what home should look like. It's held up by many support beams and looks just as run-down as the rest of the island despite its important inhabitants.

When they arrive at the door, Haley stares at it for a while, hesitating. She wants to see her dads more than anything, it's just so strange to finally be here. When she finally knocks, there's a commotion inside and a yell from a cocky voice. Footsteps approach the door and the lock is opened, then the knob turns, and it opens to reveal a man. There's an immediate gasp and a noise of joy as he scoops up Haley and holds her up in his strong arms.

"Haley!" the man cheers, turning back to the interior. "Our kid has returned!"

"Gambi," she breathes, a bright smile working its way onto her face.

Gambi is a demonkin. His hair is deep red and short, with two long tendrils that run in front of his ears to his jaw, pulled back at the top. A beard sits upon his chin and joins with the hair atop his ears. His horns, blood red, curl around the top of his head, the tips leaning inwards. He only has one eye, sclera red and iris a pupilless yellow, the other covered by an eyepatch that doesn't hide the vicious scars that rip across the right side of his face. His skin is a deeply tanned and his build is wide. When he looks at Haley, all of his intimidation is faded away, his pierced brows tilted upwards and his carved cheekbones high. Haley opens her arms for a hug and he pulls her in right away, a strong hand patting her back.

"It's been so long," tears prickle at the corners of Haley's eyes.

"Seven years," Gambi puts her down, his hand coming to wipe her tears. "You haven't aged a day."

"Neither have you," she laughs, punching his arm lightly, "you grew out your beard."

"Ah yes, I finally let it grow. Adds to my look," Gambi rubs it between his fingers, twisting the sharp tip at the bottom. It's true - he's always been the most physically intimidating of the Pirate Lords. He usually wears a great brown cloak that makes him look giant (which is impressive considering his stance of six-foot-three, taller than most) but in the heat he's just in a tunic and trousers.

From behind Gambi, a short raven elf, five-foot-five, squeezes through and pulls Haley into a big hug. A raven perches on the shoulder of his open-necked black shirt. He has short black hair with two white strands on his cheeks and two white horns poking out from his head. His skin, so scarred that there's barely an inch of clear skin, is pale and his eyelids are painted black on both the top and the bottom. He squeezes Haley with a ferocity, holding her like he's going to lose her. Most people know him as Calico Jack, but to her he's just Jack Rackham. His lips are drawn into a grin. "Where the hell have you been?"

"In the sea," Haley answers, squeezing him back. Touch is important to Jack. His eyes are completely white and blind, a desperate attempt of his father to stop him from running away, though it wasn't very successful. "How is Pig?"

Jack pulls away, opening his sightless eyes and reaching to his shoulder to pet the bird. Pig is his familiar. Wherever Jack is, Pig is never far away. "Good and spoiled, as always."

"I'm glad," she pets Pig, then looks past his shoulder, where her three other dads are standing, waiting for their chance to greet their daughter. "Can we come in?"

"Oh yes, of course," Gambi says, pushing Jack gently in the direction of the door before following him in. Haley and her crew go after him.

The first room of the Pirate Lords' home is the most chaotic. There's no strict theme and it's clear there were many disagreements in the decor. Each one of them has a chair, then there's a fancy lounge chair (probably a faint chair for his posh dad) and some other spots to sit that are completely different in style. The most consistent pieces of furniture are the shelves and the tables - you can't go too wrong with wood. She doesn't even try to make sense of the various trinkets all over them. Her other dads, Dixie, Henry, and Vane stand in the middle of the room.

"Come on then," she opens her arms, and with the invitation they come forward all at once, not caring for their bumped arms and crammed space so long as they get to hold her in their arms.

Dixie Bull is a deerfolk with light brown fur and light brown eyes. He's the tallest of all the men at six-foot-seven without his antlers, towering over her. He's got a skinny build but there's an intimidating air about him, perhaps given by the real animal skin he wears as a small cape. Nobody would think someone of his race to be such an avid hunter, but Dixie is the best of them all, his name spread much further than just among pirates.

Henry Jennings is the best dressed of all the pirates and the best put together too. He's a human with pale skin and a red crooked nose. He has long black hair that he pulls back into a bun at the top, the rest flowing down behind his shoulders apart from two black strands that run in front of his ears to his chest. His black eyes are tired and he wears gold glasses with small, circular lenses. His right brow is pierced with a gold ring and his ears too. As for his clothes, he wears a brown coat over a fancy white shirt, topped off with high-waisted trousers and a ruffle collar.

Charles Vane matches his elegance but has an aura of dishevelment that sets him below Henry in style. His burgundy wavy hair is pulled back into a ponytail with half of a fringe falling over the right side of his face. His skin is sickly pale and his brows make him always look bored, thin and raised. His eyes, frosty blue, are painted an ocean blue on top and lined black on the bottom, ending at the corner with three spikes. His long ears are pierced at the bottom and top in gold and his jewellery has a chain that dangles between the two spots. Vane wears a white and black pirate coat with a tall folded collar and gold trim, and beneath that a blood red ruffled shirt with a cross necklace.

Jack sidles up to Vane when he retracts from the hug. The two have a long and complicated history with each other and by all means should be enemies, but they often find themselves on the far opposite of the spectrum.

They're a weird bunch, but they're her weird bunch. She wants to hug them all over again and never let go, to never face the world ever again.

"Do you want anything to drink? Rum to calm you from your travels?" Henry asks, evening out the ends of his ruffled sleeves.

"We'll be okay, thank you. I just want to catch up, sober," Haley smiles. Axel reaches out to clutch her hand and she squeezes it, though it's not without anyone noticing.

Gambi is swift to draw his cutlass, pressing the tip beneath Axel's Adam's apple. Axel's eye narrows, the light leaving his expression. She's sure that he would have drawn his dagger if not for holding her hand. Gambi looks similarly done and his voice is low when he speaks, "What business do you have holding Haley's hand like that?"

"She's my girlfriend," Axel replies simply, his tone flat.

"He's good, dad," Haley insists, moving closer to Axel. "You don't have to threaten him. It's not gonna be like last time."

Gambi frowns. "If you so much as lay a finger on her in a way that ain't kind..."

"I wouldn't do that to someone I love," Axel says.

"Now please stop threatening him," Haley hadn't been expecting this from their reunion. "He used to be on my crew all those years ago."

Slowly Gambi lowers the blade and sheathes it, stepping back. His eyes remain trained on Axel with a deep suspicion. Henry places a hand gently on the demonkin's arm, "I'm sure he's not so bad, Gambi. I want to hear more about your travels, Haley, and how you met this new crew."

Haley takes a seat on the old chair her parents had gotten her as a teen. It's black with a wing design on the arms, and surprisingly comfortable as she slips back into it again. Her dads each take a seat too, except Vane who drapes himself across Jack's, lighting a cigarette. He blows the smoke in Jack's face. The rest of the crew sit where they can, but some are left to stand. Haley recounts her story from the very beginning, when she woke up on the fishing boat. When the crew are introduced, they chip in with little details and parts she'd forgotten or didn't get quite right, constructing the full picture perfectly. When she sits back she's almost exhausted from her retelling, sitting back in her chair and sighing. Axel, who opts to stand next to her, squeezes her hand in reassurance.

"Blackbeard seems to have taken to that new pirate," Henry says with a thoughtful hum. "That's rare for him."

"Is our Thatch finally going soft?" Vane takes a long drag of his cigarette.

"Is he not allowed to make a friend?" Haley raises a brow with a smile.

"As long as he doesn't make Stede his new right hand man he'll be fine," Vane rolls his eyes.

Jack's grin widens. "Still salty about the mutiny?"

This is news to Haley. Most people would never even dream of staging a mutiny against any of the Pirate Lords, so the men must have been quite bold to do so against Vane of all people. He's a brutal man with a ferocious skill in combat, and a vampire to top it all off.

"Fuck off Jack," Vane hisses, though he doesn't make any move to get off him.

Jack doesn't hesitate, "You weren't saying that when I was fucking your pussy last-"

Vane doesn't let him finish, jumping to his feet and grabbing Jack by the ear, dragging him into another room. There's a thud, probably of Jack being thrown against a wall, and they all listen awkwardly as the two start arguing.

"They do not need to know about your habits or my anatomy, or the mutiny for that matter," Vane scolds him. He doesn't sound particularly enraged, perhaps just annoyed and embarrassed. Haley's very rarely heard his dads properly raise their voices, especially at one another. Jack loves to push his luck.

"Geez Vane, it's not my fault they voted you out," Jack verbally prods at him.

"It is entirely your fault. Then they realised, 'oh, Jack isn't even that good of a captain, I miss Charles Vane!' and now you have no clue what to do," Vane rants.

"Well you can just come take them back," Jack says.

"I'm getting a new crew! You can deal with your own mess alone," Vane argues. Deciding that he's said his piece, he opens the door and drags Jack out with him. Quickly, everyone rushes to act as thought they hadn't just been listening to everything, breaking into small conversations among themselves. Haley looks to Axel, amused. She's used to these sorts of arguments between Jack and Vane, and there's little harm that's ever been done by them.

"So what happened with this mutiny?" Axel asks, like he can't help but stoke the fire again.

Vane and Jack return to their former positions, but neither speaks, glaring at each other. Dixie is the one that answers. His voice is low and flat. "You know Jack used to be Vane's second mate. Well, there was some unrest among the crew, and Jack decided to hold a vote of all things in which they voted Vane out and they dropped him off back at the island and left. Jack isn't doing very well as a captain."

"Hey!" Jack huffs. "I'm a fine captain."

The others look among themselves skeptically.

"Anyway," Haley is quick to change the subject, "we've come with important news."

"What kind of news? Have the raven fish finally come back? We've had a shortage for forever now," Jack groans. Raven fish are popular among raven elves, a small fish that tastes like a combination of bird and fish, said to be a gift from the Raven Queen herself to all of her followers.

"I didn't know about the raven fish, but no," Haley shakes her head. "It's about Corvus and Pirate Island."

"Oh great," Vane sighs. "What now?"

"He held an open court meeting the night before a ball, and we were there," Haley begins. She can't help the frown that begins to form on her lips. "He went on about the 'pirate scourge' and then talked about how I'm alive and how he's going to 'neutralise the threat'. They're killing outlaws on sight, pirates and others, and offering no pardons. He's moving more guards into Riloris and sending out tougher ships."

"Nothing we can't take care of. Sanguis guards don't stand a chance against us," Dixie turns a knife around in his hand, crossing his long legs and leaning back in his authentic leather chair.

Haley looks down, humming. "Well, it gets worse. He's launching an attack on Pirate Island, and soon."

Gambi leans forwards. While he uses a sword like most pirates, he also has a huge axe that's leaning against the side of his chair. His hand idly rests on the hilt and his brows are furrowed. "That's surprisingly bold of him."

"He said he's going to capture you all, then interrogate and execute you before offering a final pardon to the remaining pirates before killing them too. What makes him think he can win that battle?" Haley sighs.

"Did he mention how big his fleet is going to be?" Gambi asks.

"No, but there seem to be a lot of Sanguis ships out on the sea, and they seem to be coming in twos," Haley answers, wishing she'd tried to get more information out of Corvus when they danced together.

"Can the island withstand an attack?" Gambi looks across the others. There's a quietness to his voice that makes Haley feel very unwell.

"It's the Sanguises, they'll probably come underprepared," Vane shrugs, not returning his gaze.

"Yeah, they're probably nothing to worry about. Besides, Corvus is too prissy to come off his ship and step on dirty pirate soil to do the job himself," Jack is equally optimistic, but admittedly Haley doesn't feel right. The ships that had been flanking Stede looked like they were armoured, and she recalls it taking a few rounds to do real damage. Even then, they'd ended up fleeing rather than being stranded, even after taking a considerable amount of cannonballs. Blackbeard's ship has always been much more powerful, hence his ability to tear through them, but it's no less concerning.

"I don't know, I don't want you guys to get hurt," Haley frowns, training her eyes on the fur rug on the floor, one of Dixie's many catches. If she remembers correctly, it's the fur of a manticore, and its tail is stored in Dixie's trophy room.

"We'll be okay, Haley," Henry says with a smile that only reassures her a little. "There's nothing that can take down Pirate Island."

"Yeah," she agrees quietly, looking to the floor and messing with the sleeve of her overcoat.

"On a nicer note," Dixie says, sliding his knife back into its leather sheath, "I think you should come stay here while you're at Pirate Island, Haley. We can sort out accommodation for your crew and all, it'd just be nice to have you home."

"Can Axel stay with me?" Haley asks, grasping his hand.

"I don't see why not," Dixie says, giving Gambi a pointed look.

"Thank you," she smiles, turning to the rest of the crew. "My dads will get you a good place to stay. You might have to share rooms, though - Pirate Island doesn't have much space."

There's a nod among them and people look at each other, deciding who they want to room with. Dixie stands, brushing the fur that poofs out of his shirt down until it looks neat. "I'd best make the arrangements now, before some other crew comes and steals the place I'm thinking of. If you'd come with me."

He beckons to the crew and they follow him out, leaving Haley alone with her other four dads and Axel. Henry smiles to her, "We've kept your room tidy since you left. Come have a look."

Haley stands with Henry and follows him through the familiar home. She recalls every piece of furniture, barely anything having changed since her last visit, every nick in the wood where someone's thrown a knife. Her room is one of the uppermost, a later addition to the building, so they walk up a few stairs to get there, until finally they arrive at her door, painted black with a raven on the front. Haley smiles at her old art and twists the handle.

Her old room is almost all black apart from the dark brown wood. Everything is perfectly clean and barely any dust sits on her furniture. Her bed is neat and tidy. There's a picture frame sitting on her bedside table with a painting of her, Gray, and Vimmie together. On her desk is something she hasn't seen in a long time.

"My sketchbook," Haley beams, rushing over to the desk. She goes to pick it up, but first notices something big and grey on the chair. She stares, confused, and Henry notices, coming over to observe.

When he sees the grey blob he smiles, reaching down to pick it up. It unravels to reveal its true form: a cat.

"When did you get a cat?" Haley blinks, reaching out to pet the cat on its head. Immediately it starts purring, slowly blinking its orange eyes at her.

"She wandered in one day and we just kept her. We call her Pretzel," Henry holds the cat in his arms like a baby. "She likes your room a lot."

Axel stares at the creature with a longing, but doesn't go to pet her. Haley remembers what he said about him and animals. "Well I'm glad someone's been making use of it. Although, I don't see why you called her Pretzel."

"It was Jack's idea," Henry says, and immediately everything makes sense. He puts the cat back on her chair and she immediately curls into an unrecognisable blob and goes back to sleep. Haley takes her sketchbook, mindful not to disturb Pretzel, and opens it to the first page.

She's always had a tendency to draw realism, and looking at this art she can tell she's improved quite a lot since. Her anatomy isn't the best and neither is her perspective, but it's not unbearably bad. She cringes at the multiple pages of drawings of Gray, but the drawings of Vimmie and her dads bring a smile to her face. She remembers drawing them all and thinks to redraw them sometime soon now she's gotten better at it - it'd be interesting to compare them side-by-side. She wishes she still had the sketchbooks that were on the Bloody Undead. They were no doubt lost in the fire, but it was her most recent work, and her most impressive. There were numerous drawings of Ellamia, perhaps even one or two of Axel and other crewmates.

"We still have the art you made for us hung around the place," Henry says. "We knew you'd come back, considering the uh..."

Henry eyes Axel. She smiles. "He knows."

"You know what I mean, then," he continues, "but they were... a huge source of comfort, admittedly, while we were without you."

"That's sweet, Henry," Haley closes her notebook and sets it in one of her drawers, petting the cat before approaching one of her windows. She has a view over the chaos of Pirate Island from here. It's not the most appealing, but it's home. "I'm sorry I was away for so long."

"It's not your fault, Haley," Henry reassures her. "I'm just glad you're home now. We all are."

"Me too," she nods, enjoying the light breeze on her skin. "Thank you for keeping it all clean. It means more to me than you know."

"It's no problem, we couldn't stand to see it end up dirty," Henry says, his voice warm with affection. "I'll leave you alone for a bit. We'll just be downstairs. You should stay and make dinner with us."

"Sure, that sounds nice. Axel's a really good cook," she smiles to the changeling who returns it brightly.

"He's more than welcome," Henry places a hand on Axel's shoulder, giving him a nod of approval before leaving the room.

Axel finally breathes, his shoulders sagging. "Your dads are... something."

"I'm sorry," Haley sighs, approaching Axel and taking his hands in hers. "They're really protective of me, probably even more so after these seven years."

"I get it. I'd be the same for my kids," he says, and Haley feels suddenly very self-conscious. She looks down at herself, considering coming clean and telling Axel, but she doesn't want to get his hopes up. The thing will probably be dead soon anyway - nothing can survive inside of her.

"I hope your kids like me," she distracts herself, wondering what they'll look like. She vaguely remembers Aurora, a blood red-skinned demonkin with black hair similar to Haley's, just wavy and usually tied into a bun at the top. It even had a white streak in it like hers. Aurora's eyes were her namesake, an array of bright colours like the lights that appear over Pirate Island in the winter.

"I'm sure they will. They're good kids," Axel's whole face softens when he talks about them, and slowly he leans in, pressing his forehead to hers. "I hope me having kids doesn't put you off."

"Not at all," she lifts a hand to his cheek, the other squeezing his hand. "I think your love for your kids is a really beautiful part of you."

"Haley..." he runs a hand so gently through her hair, then he tilts his head just right, pressing their lips together. Haley thinks she could kiss him forever if it's this slow and sweet. In his grasp she feels so truly adored, like he's her most beloved worshipper, always seeking her, always loving her. And she's the one that will always return to him, no matter what. His angel, her devotee.

She wouldn't have it any other way.