Colt's first thought when the girl faced him was that she was incredible. Even with a small fish laying in her hair and fish slime all over her face, she looked beautiful. Colt didn't see many girls, especially as a pirate on the seas, and the ones he did see weren't too... lady-like, for lack of a better term. And while this girl was obviously not one to be messed with, hence the fierce look in her eyes, she also hadn't been beaten by the life around her. Colt wanted to get to know her, but he was a little preoccupied with trying not to get killed by her at the moment.
"Look, I'm sorry," Colt repeated. "I admit it, that was my fault. But the thing is, I don't have any money. So I'm afraid there's nothing I can do for you."
Colt turned to scatter, but in an instant the girl was off the ground and had a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back. He tried to pull away, but then she squeezed down near his neck and he felt his knees buckle beneath him. She'd found a pressure point.
"Okay okay, relax!" Colt said, trying to get away from her.
She held her finger down for a second longer and then eased up, shoving him back against the wall of a nearby shop.
"Chill out, girl, I'm not going anywhere," he said, taking a deep breath as he recovered. She continued to stare at him readily, as if he were about to bolt off again at any second. Colt couldn't blame her, really. He might've, if he didn't think she would catch him. "What do you want from me? It's like I said, I don't have any money."
The girl hesitated before speaking, like she was making sure that he really wasn't going to run.
"The necklace you broke was expensive, and these fish must be worth something." She picked the small one out of her hair and flung it aside. Then she noticed his pendant. "Or I could take this. This would cover it nicely."
The girl reached for the pendant but before she could touch it Colt ducked under her arm and slipped out from where he was trapped by the wall. The girl spun around, looking like she was going to pounce.
Colt put his hands up. "Not going anywhere, remember? But you're not getting my pendant. And the fish are scattered everywhere. I wish I could just give you the money from the fish, but I can't do that either. I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do for you."
The girl processed this. Colt considered running again, but doubted he'd get much further than he had last time. His best bet was to convince this girl that there was nothing he had that she could want, then get out of her sight as soon as possible.
"Why can't you just sell the fish and pay me back?"
Colt sighed as he gestured around to the fish, which were now scattered all over the street.
"I'm taking them all the way to the Authority base," he explained.
Not to mention that the money he got for selling the fish wasn't actually his, it was the fisherman's.
"The base?" asked the girl. "Not the outpost?"
Colt nodded.
"But nobody goes up there, only..." the girl paused as her eye caught on something. Colt thought she was admiring his pants, but then she said, "You're in the Authority, aren't you?"
Colt looked down and saw that she had fixated on his cutlass, which was still hanging from his the loop of his pants. He kicked himself mentally for not hiding it. What was he doing strolling through town with his sword fully visible?
"Well, actually..." Colt stuttered as he tried to explain things properly.
"You're an Authority officer," the girl insisted. "That would explain why you're going to the base."
Colt was a couple seconds away from correcting the girl when he realized that she'd just given him the perfect cover story. Being an Authority officer would explain the sword, where he was going, and why he couldn't stop to pay her for the necklace. Perfect.
"A petty officer, actually," Colt said, plastering on a smile, "but yeah."
"Oh, petty officer. That explains the wonky-looking sword, and the lack of a uniform."
"It does, doesn't it?" Colt agreed, before starting to slowly pass by her. "It does come handy in a battle, though. Many of which I've been in. As part of the Authority. We do those things." Colt cleared his throat. "Anyway, I have business to attend to. You understand. I'm very busy, as the authoritarian officer... that I am."
"Hang on a second," the girl said, rotating herself so she continue to face him. "You still owe me for the necklace, officer."
Colt let out a silent groan. This girl was relentless. "Yes, well, there's no way I can really pay you, so... I'll just collect my fish and be off."
The girl sighed before reaching down and grabbing the fish she had slung aside. She tossed it idly in the barrel before leaning toward another. "Then let's get to it."
Colt narrowed his eyes. "You're going to help me? Why?"
"I want to get my money as soon as possible," the girl said, picking up another couple of fish.
Colt stared at her. "You're not coming with me."
"Oh, it's no trouble at all," she said, as if she thought Colt's only concern was for her personal comfort. "I have business up there anyway, I've just never been able to go. But now I have a highly trained military person to lead me!"
"Even if you could come, or wanted to for some reason, that's just not possible. My...ah...supervisor strictly forbade my bringing anyone along."
"Huh."
The girl stopped picking up fish and straightened up. Then she looked around for a few seconds, as if trying to locate someone.
"Funny," she said. "I don't see any supervisors."
Then she went back to collecting his fish.
Colt groaned again, this time not bothering to keep it inside his head. "You're not coming," he said again. "I am sorry about your necklace. But I've got places to be."
The girl looked over at him. "Here's the thing. You owe me. Now, I could make a big fit of you running into me and breaking my necklace, which is a highly believable story considering we both are still covered in fish slime."
Colt looked down and realized for the first time that some of the slime had gotten on him too. Not as much as was on the girl, of course, but enough to be noticeable.
"Or..." she continued, "you could take me along with you. You get to arrive to the Authority base on time and without any detours, and I call it even. It's a win-win. So how about it?"
Colt looked around at the rest of the town, as if there would be a better solution somewhere out there. Then he looked back at the girl, and as much as it pained him to do it, he admitted to himself that she might be right. It was easier to just take her along.
"Fine."
The girl nodded smugly in response. "You see, it's perfect. I get to where I want to go, and I can help you navigate with the barrel so you don't just slam into some innocent person again."
Colt joined in the gathering of fish. "Right, some innocent person," he muttered. "So that's what you are."
He saw the girl smile for the first time. "My name's Shelly. What's yours?"
"Colt."
"How do you do, Colt?"
Colt grabbed a fish and threw it into the barrel. He then noticed that in the process of picking up the fish, he was getting just as much fish slime on his face as the girl had. "I'm a little slimy at the moment, but other than that I'm just perfect."
The girl, Shelly, stood up once she'd picked up the final fish and frowned. "Me too. I know somewhere where we can clean off, but you'd better not try anything." She gave him a menacing look, as if to warn him that no funny business would be permitted.
Colt just shrugged his shoulders. "Not like I'd be able to get away with it if I did try. Lead the way, then."
They navigated through the streets of the town, weaving in and out of different shops. Colt was still astonished at the beauty of the town and all the buildings within it. He didn't have much of a chance to stop and admire it all, however, since Shelly would look back at him every couple of seconds to make sure he was still there. He always was. The time for running was over. Besides, that strategy hadn't worked out too well anyway. And that was when he wasn't carrying the giant fish-filled barrel.
They reached their destination, several minutes later, in the very center of the town. They broke out into a clearing. Before them was a giant lake filled with clear water. The lake seemed to be the center of everything, with the rest of the town lined around it. It was pretty obvious that the lake had been there before anything else. Then Colt thought back to what the fisherman had told him about the island.
"Hey," he said. Shelly stopped walking and turned toward him. "I heard from someone that all the gold digging that happened here years ago left a giant crater in the center of the island."
Shelly nodded. She even looked slightly impressed, as if she hadn't expected him to know something like that. She could probably figure that he wasn't from around here. "Yes, the water in the lake fills what used to be an empty crater here in the middle of town."
"Huh." Colt stared out at the lake. "I bet it looks much better like this."
Shelly followed his gaze to the giant lake. "It sure does."
They admired the lake for a couple seconds, then Shelly shook her head and snapped out of it. "Alright, enough wasting time. Let's go and wash off this fish residue."
They walked over to the edge of the lake and sat down. Colt looked down into the water and began to wonder what was in it.
"This is clean water, right? No giant sea creatures living here?"
Shelly raised her eyebrows at him. "Scared?"
"If you're asking whether or not I want to get kraken dung on myself, it's a no, thank you."
"You aren't funny," Shelly said, rolling her eyes in exasperation, but Colt wasn't so sure.
Colt slipped his sandals off and dipped his feet into the lake. The water was cool, and it felt pure enough. So he cupped some in his hands and splashed in on himself to wash away the slime from the fish. He got some on his arms, legs, and face, and then splashed some slime off his torso. Meanwhile, Shelly did the same from beside him.
"There," Colt said after a while. "I think I'm all good."
Shelly glanced over her arms and legs once more, then turned to face Colt. "What about me? Any residue left over?"
He started to shake his head, then got a better idea. "Actually, you missed a spot."
"Really, where?"
"Right..." Colt cupped some more water in his hands and flung it over at Shelly in one quick motion. "...there!"
The water splashed right in her face and she sat there coughing it out for a moment. When she opened her eyes again, she had a look on her face that Colt was beginning to find familiar.
"Oh, no you didn't!" she shouted. She reached out, placing both hands on Colt's side, and then shoving as hard as she could. Before Colt could steady himself he gave way to the force and fell straight into the lake.
He submerged in the murky water and stayed under for a couple seconds before coming back up to the surface. He broke back above the water and immediately went for Shelly's legs. She tried to pull them up away from him but this time he was too quick for her. He tugged her legs back down and she collapsed into the lake alongside him.
Colt began coughing and laughing at the same time as Shelly immediately came back above the surface of the water. He saw her blink and reorient herself for a moment. Their eyes met for a second, and Colt was reminded of how pretty the girl was, even when soaked with water. Then the second passed, and she lunged toward him furiously. He started swimming away from her as fast as he could, laughing hysterically at the look on her face as he went.
Colt's shirt lifted up once while he was swimming and he felt some stinging from his wound as the bandages got wet and started to pull off. But other than that he felt completely fine. So he ignored it and continued to swim.
As she swam after him across the lake, the girl's expression began to change. The rage left her eyes and amusement took its place, and then she was laughing along with him while she continued to chase him. She started to gain on him and had almost caught him when a voice interrupted them.
"Hey, you kids! Out of the lake! Get over here, now!"
Colt looked around and spotted a man, probably one of the nearby shop owners, yelling at them. He turned back to Shelly and saw that her face had gone completely red and she had given up on chasing him.
They swam back to the edge of the lake and got out of the water. They were both fully soaked and were dripping everywhere. As soon as they emerged, the shopkeeper started toward them angrily. Colt saw that Shelly had her head hung, as if she were awaiting punishment. But Colt had no intention of sitting down and surrendering just yet.
"Come on," he told her. "Quickly!"
He grabbed the barrel and started to run in the opposite direction of the shopkeeper. To his surprise, when he looked over his shoulder he found that Shelly was following him with the rest of the baskets.
"Get back here!" yelled the shopkeeper, who had begun to chase them.
"Sorry, matey, no can do!" Colt yelled back. "We don't have time to talk right now, we've got to sell these fish!"
He heard Shelly laughing as she caught up to him and they ran together through the streets. At one point another shopkeeper stepped out right in front of Colt and he had to dodge around her. One of the fish escaped the barrel, though, and hit her right in the face. Shelly must have found this extremely amusing, because she broke out into even more laughter as they ran by.
"Sorry about that!" Colt called back to the lady. "Some lake water will do the trick!"
They ran for another minute or two, then slowed down, confident they had lost the shopkeeper. When they finally stopped, Colt leaned against a shop wall to catch his breath. Shelly just watched him, shaking her head.
"I get the feeling that I'm going to have a lot more than a broken necklace if I keep hanging around you," she said. "We've already gotten into more trouble than that old necklace was worth."
Colt just shook his head. "Nonsense, we're making so much progress. All that's left now is to find our way out of the town."
"Do you know where we are, or where we're going?"
Colt still had his map somewhere, but he hadn't looked at it recently. He realized he was entirely lost. Maybe it was a good thing that Shelly was here.
"Nope, not a clue," Colt replied, shaking his head.
"Wow, you're hopeless," she said with a roll of her eyes. "Follow me, then, I think I know how to get where we want to go."