A storm blows in from the south and batters the Island of Venterra. The barmaid, Aastha Bree, works the tables cleaning up messes while collecting empty bottles and mugs. Very few patrons remain in the pub as it will soon close.
A small group of drunken sailors leave their tab on the table before staggering out the door and into the dreadful storm outside. In spite of the pub's low buzz, the torrents of wind and rain pierce the silence of the establishment.
The floorboards creak as the strong winds tests the building's foundation. Low hanging gusts of wind manage to escape through the cracks of the wooden doors, spraying rain across the entrance as well as the nearest tables and chairs. Aastha sighs, "Great. I have to mop that up again..."
She finishes with her last table for the night before she takes the mop to the entrance of the pub, soaking up whatever water she can before closing the pub for good.
The pub owner currently sleeps in his study. He's an older fella and usually greets the sleep angel around 9 o'clock.
The pub doors burst open and Aastha glares at whoever walks in, clearly irritated by the huge puddle of water they're tracking into the building. "Can't you see we're clos-!" Her expression of anger disappears as quickly as it had struck her face. Now there is only a look of fear and terror.
She gulps as she stares into the face of the individual standing before her. Then she slowly turns her head to the wall on the opposite side of her, the place where a bulletin board full of bounty posters hang. Among the bounties she spots the one for Sinbad. A bounty of over 400,000,000 Azell."I-it can't be," she stutters as fear takes over her eyes and body. The mop slightly vibrates in her hands as she shivers, and he slowly makes his way over to her. She gets a closer look at his face and, sure enough, it's him.
Pirate Lord Sinbad, one of nine to the Pirate King. He stands tall, surely peaking above six feet. Next to her short 5'1" frame, he could appear as a giant. He's muscular in stature, muscles that could probably crush a watermelon between them. If he wasn't such an infamous man, Aastha might have felt butterflies flutter through her chest. Rather, she thinks of the many ways he could kill both her and the pub owner before stealing whatever earnings they have stored in the back.
He wears a cloak that's even bigger than her and tattered clothing underneath, soaked with rainwater. When he steps into the light, she gets a better view of his torso. It's bleeding. Ugly wounds that resemble giant claw marks are etched deep into his skin. He utters a single phrase before collapsing to the ground: "Help...me...please." The burly man falls unconscious and Aastha hurries to go alert the pub owner.
With the help of Herb Talis, the two of them drag the burly man to the bar counter where they lay him out and open up his clothing. Aastha runs to her room to grabs her first aid kit. She quickly works to patch up the dangerous man. Although she's a barmaid, she's also an apprentice to a famous surgeon in the region, one of the few women surgeons in the world.
By the time Sinbad comes to, he's no longer wearing the drenched clothing he first arrived in. Now he wears a clean pair of dry clothes, a little smaller fit but good enough. He's also laid back in a cozy chair next to a fireplace. He's currently in the lounge portion of the pub on the second story. The third and fourth final stories act as inn rooms.Aastha brings a steaming mug full of tea, "Here, this should help with the pain."
He downs the hot drink in a few gulps before sighing in relief and setting the mug down beside him on a nearby table. "I appreciate your kindness, young lady. Most people would have immediately alerted a soldier of my presence."
"Well, lucky for you, most of our bar patrons are pirates. Though we've never had the pleasure of serving one with such a high profile as yourself..."
The older man gives a huge bolstering laugh before wincing and holding his stomach, "No, I suppose not."
"May I ask...what happened to you?"
"I'm on the run from the navy."
"The navy did that?" she asks out of curiosity while pointing at his chest wound.
He chuckles, "Of course not. Me and my crew recently departed from the Sky Domain."
Her face lights up a bit when he mentions that legendary region, "Really what was it like? What creature up there could possibly deliver such a horrible wound?"
The man leans in closer and replies in a lower tone, "Dragons, miss. This was caused by a relatively small one."
"Oh, don't go filling her head with such nonsense!" Herb appears from a backroom handing over a newspaper.
Sinbad takes it and reads the headlines: SINBAD THE PIRATE FOUND IN THE CENTRAL ISLES, WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE. The image on the paper is of Sinbad from about 5 years ago. "You have to leave as soon as possible.""No."
"Why not?" Aastha asks in protest.
Herb nods his head answering for the pirate, "Because the navy is already surrounding every isle in the area. There's no possible way for him to escape. Even if we helped him, we would be executed for treason, for harboring one of the most dangerous pirates in the world."
Aastha takes a long hard look at Sinbad. She expected him to force them to help him escape, raid them, harass them, do something malicious to them, anything to justify the bounty on his head. But Sinbad doesn't give them any of this.
"You're wondering whether I'm the criminal the navy paint me as," the old pirate states as if reading her mind. "It's true, I have done many terrible things under the command of the current pirate king: raiding villages, bringing down small kingdoms, stealing the world's rarest of treasures, and blasting hundreds of men down along the way. There's no doubt that I face execution, to serve the justice for all of my wrongdoings."
"But?"
"I became a pirate seeking the adventure, seeking the danger, seeking the title many wish they could hold, being in possession of powerful artifacts and treasures you only read about in story books. I never wanted to be a murderer, or a conqueror, just a name leaving an imprint in the history books."
Herb smiles and replies, "Very few of us are lucky enough to leave the pirate life behind before we're caught. It's been a pleasure serving you, Sinbad the Pirate." A single tear escapes from Aastha's eye and she quickly wipes it away.
"Don't cry over me, lass. I had one hell-of an adventure."
Just then, the pub doors burst open a second time tonight. An army of footsteps quickly sweep through the building until the navy surround Sinbad with muskets aimed, ready to fire at even the slightest unauthorized movement. The commander approaches Sinbad, clapping him in iron and states, "First Pirate Lord Sinbad, commander under the current Pirate King, captain of The Blue Spirit. You are under arrest for piracy, the murder of Elias Mason, and a plethora of other crimes. You shall face execution by guillotine under the orders of King Armon IX. What say you to these charges?""It's a pirate's life for me, mate."
They hustle the burly man along, parading him through the streets as the citizens watch through the blurred glass of their windows. A long line of navy personal stand on either side of the escort, making sure nothing goes awry.
Herb looks at Aastha who watches the entire ordeal from a window, a sad look written all over her face. "That tear wasn't meant for Sinbad, was it?" Herb asks. She doesn't reply, but in her head she only thinks of one man wondering what he's currently up to right now.
The storm quiets down, only blowing a consistent rain over the island for the rest of the night. The navy ships which surrounded the Central Isles disappear again by morning time. Pirate Lord Sinbad has officially been captured.