(Lavashipping) Tend to the Flame: The Lost Pendant

IV| Kissing the Wooden Lady

Kiss the wooden lady - to be tied up w/ arm around the mast
Swab the deck - wash the boat
Trim sails - adjust the sails
Cracking the bottle - open a bottle of wine/rum
Charts - map
French leave - sneak off/abandon shipmates cowardly

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     The sun rose not long ago. The morning breeze has come to comfort the earth, and the birds have awoken to sing their melodies — you know the drill. Every morning usually starts with overused metaphors and personifications, maybe duller if you live in the northern hemisphere. But we’re not exactly in the northern hemisphere.

     Gentle sunlight streamed down from the cracks of the trees. Insects are also buzzing in, greeting a certain pirate good mornings and biting the shit out of him just for the fun of it (that's what Cole assumed the insects thought) but hey, at least they’re not poisonous or anything, hopefully.

     Well they better not be poisonous because Rocky Dangerbuff is out here whistling a tune for free all the while carrying a big heavy bag slung over his shoulder like an illegal Santa Claus.

     Cole continues to whistle as he hikes through the woods, momentarily stopping time to time for when he needs to hydrate himself with water or wipe the sweat out of his forehead.

     He’d say he’s quite a musician himself. He knows how to sing, oh, and he learned how to play the guitar back when he was way younger. He’d only perform so seldomly when he’s far away from everyone. He would never perform in front of his mates.

     Cole giggles. It’s quite funny, how none of the crew is aware of him possessing such a talent, but then again, it’s quite sad if you think about it.

     He reaches the end of the woods, and so the whistling fades out. His face lights up as he’s greeted with the sight of the sea, the sound of the gushing waves colliding against the rocks, the smell of fresh air, and the tingling sensation of excitement.

     By a boulder there lies Zane waving at him, though his eyes are settled on a crab menacingly crawling to him. Sitting on top of the same boulder is a woman, Cole has never seen her for a long time.

     Farther away are two ships; the Destiny’s Bounties. The crew is going back and forth, loading each ship with barrels of rum, gunpowder, and whatever else that hopefully wouldn’t burden the vessel.

     The noiret plods to the two, practically throwing the bag to the ground when he reaches the boulder.

     Zane nods at the bag. “Need help?”

     Cole lets himself breathe for a while. “I’ve carried heavier things before,” he panted as he fixed his gaze on the lass. “Where the hell have ye been?”

     Pixal Borg, a pirate with (strangely) natural silver hair swings her foot as she answers. “Enhancing my witchcraft.”

     “That ain't a place.”

     “Ye know I cannot tell ye, Rocky.” Pixal wiggles her brows as to tease.

     “She won’t even tell me, her boyfriend,” Zane sassed, giving Cole a hurt look as he kicked off a crab pinching the tip of his boot.

     “Oh, don’t take it personal, love.” Pixal gently caresses her lover’s hair. “My hideout is a feast for a man with an attraction for ancient relics and crystals. Ye'd take a handful if you could.”