The Weaving Pirates

  “Let me come with you.” The Novakid stood in front of Sar, arms crossed. Her glow was low and muted against the dark.

  Orim knew that she had to go with these two strange beings. They were strong… The boy had just set fire to a whole pack of savage beasts! Surely that took a lot of energy. He hadn’t even flinched when they had gotten close.

  Sar tapped the Fire wand in his hand, “Do I now?” He glanced back to Panda, who was busy putting out the rest of the fires and picking up as much hide, meat, and bone as she could. “Hey, Panda, should we bring her along?”

  The Hylotl paused in her task, dropping everything she was holding and went right up to the Novakid. Who was much taller then her. She gave her a look up and down, “I’ma say yeah on this one.”

  She pokes the Novakid in the stomach, and the Novakid steps back.

  “Gotta’ tell us your name though. So who are you?”

  The Novakid seemed to become distrustful, then remembering she was asking to travel with them anyway, “M’name is Orim.”

  Sar stuck his hand out, “Well, welcome to the crew, Orim. I’m the captain of this outfit. Name’s Sar Tela. This here is my first mate, Panda.” Panda waved when her name was mentioned. “You’re going to have to deal with a lot of morally ambiguous shit, you ok with that?” 

  Orim took Sar’s hand and shook it. “As long as it’s exciting.”

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  What followed later was a long discussion between Sar and the townspeople. They seemed upset that he wanted to take one of their own with him. The people were easily swayed when he mentioned that he’d drop the rest of the deal if he could take Orim with him.

  “Think of it like… I’m teaching her a trade or something. She’ll learn new and useful skills. That she can and will benefit from.”

  They agreed, mostly for the sake of their pocket books, but also for Orim’s sake. They all knew she was miserable here, so might as well let her go.

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  “Your ship is crap.” Orim was not nearly as impressed anymore.

  Sar’s hand fluttered over his chest, as if he was shocked and insulted. But his tone was mockingly light, “How dare you! My ship is wonderful and a freakin’ work in progress.”

  Orim was given a room that didn’t have anything remarkable in it yet. But she was glad to have a space of her own away from the beanbags and tapestries.