It was early in the morning when Reins left his cabin and walked out onto the deck of his galleon. He looked at the large blue sails gently swaying in the wind as the ship moved swiftly through the large ocean before letting his eyes fall onto the deck, now empty and lifeless. With a slight stretch he turned to his right and moved over to the rails, placing his arms over and leaning on them as he stared at the dark blue ocean before him and the light blue sky above. His green eyes sparkled from the light bouncing off the waves as he tied his long, dirty black hair into a small ponytail. He wore his standard white undershirt with a blue vest over it paired with black pants and boots with his sword, decorated with black leather and gold highlights, attached to his hip.
"Goo' Mornin' Cap'n!" Said one of his crewmates as they waddled up the stairs towards him, "Lov'ly day ain't it."
Reins looked at him before jerking his head away and quickly waving the air in front of his nose. "If by lovely you mean blue… and smelly… then I suppose it is a lovely day." Reins added after giving him a side eye stare, "How's the cargo doing?"
His crewmate leaned in. "Dunno, Commodore al'ays tells us to ne'er check," He said, "Bu' last night, I 'eard some murmurin' comin' from there."
"I'd argue that deserves some checking, never know, a giant rat could've snuck on board… or a giant child, never was able to tell which was worse…" Reins said before walking towards the stairs.
"But sir, if Commodore finds 'ou 'e'll 'ave yo head," The crewmate quickly followed, "He migh' even brand you a pirate."
"Nonsense, why would he do that?" Reins fired back, "I'm the captain of his trading company."
"But 'e's done it before." The crewmate reasoned as he nervously followed.
Reins ignored him and made his way down to his crew's quarters. The wooden room was filled with hammocks made of rope, slung from the roof, boxes tied together and barrels of rum lined against the walls, all which had exhausted sailors around them. After sighting the staircase going down on the far end of the room, Reins started pushing and stomping his way through the tired sailors, gathering some attention while most were too deep in sleep to notice.
"Stock's right," Reins' vice captain said from one of the hammocks, "Just cause Harring favors you… and lets you do what you want, doesn't mean he won't get rid of you."
Reins stopped mid step and turned to face his vice captain, his hand instinctively falling onto the ball-like, gold pommel of his sword. "Let?" He raised his head with the word before lowering it in a displeased stare.
With loud steps, Reins moved towards him. "I choose to be free," Reins said as he drew his sword, gently placing the tip of it against his vice captain's boot, "understand, Sir Carlson?"
Carlson stared at the blade before scoffing. "None of us are free… not under him." Carlson grumbled before closing his eyes and turning onto his side.
"Be careful Reins, your self-proclaimed free will might lead to your end one of these days." Carlson advised, keeping his head turned away.
Slowly, Reins sheathed his blade as he stared at Carlson for a moment longer before turning away and moving back towards the staircase in the back. As he stood over it, he saw two large wooden doors covering it.
"Stock." Reins motioned for him to come.
With a reluctant nod Stock made his way down the stairs and through the room before joining Reins. The pair grabbed a door handle each and with powerful heave, they lifted the doors. As Reins pulled, the door handle slipped, slamming back down onto the staircase and sending a loud boom throughout the room. Wide-eyed, Reins stood up straight, clenching his fists and bringing them close to his chest. The crew grumbled in unison as a few looked up at them.
"It was him." Reins pointed discreetly at Stock.
The crew grunted in disapproval before resuming their sleep.
Once again Reins tried, this time lifting it all the way up and gently placing it on the other side. Now before them was a small staircase that descended into darkness. Reins leaned to his left. "We're going to need a lantern." He said to Stock.
With a nod Stock scurried away, finding a lantern, lighting it and handing it off to Reins. Together the pair made their way down, into the silent and eerie room. As the reached the final step, the smell of damp wood penetrated their nose and the humidity started piercing through their clothes.
With careful steps, Reins moved the lantern around, seeing nothing but barrels and crates.
"Looks like i' was jus' a' gian' rat Cap'n." Stock murmured as he approached one closeby.
Something didn't feel right to Reins, the quiet, the murmuring from last night and the fact that it was closed by a heavy wooden door. It all didn't add up. Furrowing his brow, Reins kept moving forwards, towards the end of the room. The closer he got to it, the more a large box-like object became visible, hidden behind all the barrels and crates near the staircase. When he finally got near it a searing fire started in his chest, his brow lowered and his grip on the lantern tightened.
"STOCK!" He shouted angrily.
With a slight jump, Stock quickly made his way through the crates and barrels to join his captain. "Ye-" He stopped mid word when he saw what lay before him.
In a large cage were several humans, all men, of different heights, shapes and sizes, chained together and covered in brown rags and dirt.
"What is this?" Reins asked.
Stock didn't answer.
"WHAT IS THIS?!" Reins shouted.
"C-Cargo… to be deliv'ed… at Por' Gall'way…" Stock murmured quietly.
"Do you have the keys?" Reins asked as some of the men turned their heads to face him.
"No." Stock answered swiftly.
"How many boats do we have then?" Reins asked.
"Two…" Stock murmured, "Cap'n… you can't…"
Without answering, Reins studied the door to the cage, noting the hinges on the side. With a slight smile he turned around, looking for something flat. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a stack of planks behind the cage and quickly moved over to them, grabbing the thickest one and placing it between the bars near the floor and shoving down on it.
"Get the boats ready." Reins ordered.
Stock stood horrified at what Reins was doing.
"Stock, that's an order." Reins commanded.
Stock took a step backwards. "I'm so'y cap'n, I can't." He said before turning around and running back up the stairs
Reins cursed under his breath before turning his attention back to the plank, shoving harder this time. With a creak the door shifted a slight bit before returning back to it's normal position.
"One more time!" Reins said to himself as he moved back and ran at the plank, leaping onto it.
With a body-shivering creak, the door lifted upwards before slamming onto the wooden flooring with a loud boom. As the dust settled Reins looked at the men who stared at him in anger.
"I will help you escape, given that you bring no harm to my men nor me." Reins said to them.
They didn't reply.
"Sounds like we have a deal, albeit a shady one, follow me." He said as he spun around and ran through the bottom floor, behind him he could hear clanking and stomping as the men followed.
As they stamped up the stairs and to the deck, the crew jerked awake, shouting in confusion as they saw Reins followed by the men in chains. Keeping his pace, Reins made his way towards the front of the ship and looked down, seeing two small rowboats on either side before turning around.
"Well, we only have two boats, so form an organized line-" He was interrupted by the men running past him and jumping onto the boats.
With a loud thud and clank the boats filled up and rocked side to side. "I guess that settles that." Reins murmured as he started untying them.
"REINS DRAKE!!!" Shouted Carlson from the staircase, "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?!?!?!"
Reins turned his head around, seeing Stock hiding behind him as Carlson approached him with his sword drawn. "I'm untying the row boats, thought we were carrying too much weight, we should've reached Port Calloway by now."
With a splash the first boat dropped into the ocean. Swiftly Reins moved onto the other.
With a deep sigh Carlson angrily walked towards him. Another loud splash sounded in the empty ocean as Reins watched the first row boat already disappearing into the horizon. "Must have some strong arms." He commented before turning around, only to be met with a black pommel in between his eyes, making his vision dark and the world spin.
"I warned you, didn't I?" He heard Carlson's voice fade.
"Sir Reins Drake." He heard distantly when he came to. As his eyes regained their focus, he saw Commodore Harring murmuring as he stared outside the window of his office.
With a loud clank two rugged sailors dropped Reins onto the floor of Harring's office. "Thank you Stock… Carlson." Harring said emotionlessly, showing them the back of his hand as he continued staring out the window.
As he regained his senses Reins looked down to see his hands and feet bound together with thick chains, his trusty sword now sat on Harring's desk and his clothes were a mess. He looked up to his left at Stock then to his right Carlson, both staring emptily at Harring, avoiding any eye contact with him.
With no more choice he looked forward. "Commodore Harring, if you could…" He clinked together the chains.
"I'm afraid that's not possible…" Harring turned around, revealing a cold, uninterested face as he stared at Reins.
"You see Reins… we wouldn't have to be here if you had just delivered the cargo as promised." He turned to his left, moving towards his desk and flicking a few sheets away.
"People aren't cargo Harring…" Reins said coldly, noting a small fireplace near the window Harring was standing next to, and a metal rod poking out from it.
"That's a matter of perspective, Reins, just business." Commodore Harring motioned as if he was helpless in the matter.
"Humans aren't business, they're freer than that. Reins growled as he attempted to move in the chains, only to be kicked by Carlson and stopped.
Harring chuckled as he moved towards the fireplace. "Like who? You?" He continued to chuckle.
Reins stared silently at him.
"All this time you were only able to do as you pleased because I ALLOWED YOU TO!" He emphasized the last few words, "And the only reason I allowed you to… was well… because you followed orders."
As he spoke, Reins felt all energy in his body leaving. His eyes slowly fell to the ground, unable to meet Harring's strong stare. His body relaxed as the chains grew heavier and Harring seemed taller. Around him, the world changed into a shade of gray. All he wanted to do now was curl up in a dark room and fade away.
"Finally facing the truth, Reins?" Harring asked with a smirk, bending low, and grabbing the metal rod.
As quickly as it had appeared the smirk disappeared into a scowl as Commodore Harring took slow, careful steps towards Reins, brandishing the burning white metal rod.
From the top of his eyes Reins saw the burning rod approaching him and quickly masked his emotions. "I understand… truly… business is business!" Reins said, swallowing hard while eyeing the rod.
"Then you also understand that if a loss happens due to an employee, the employee must compensate for it." Harring moved behind Reins.
Reins swallowed hard. "Well thats a stupid rule." He murmured, looking down to his left and seeing the toe of Harring's shoe.
"BUT I CAN MAKE IT UP TO YOU." Reins shook himself and said in a panic.
"You will Reins… you will." Harring positioned the metal rod like a spear aimed towards his back, the tip of which had a large 'P' instead of a point. With a vindictive push, Harring pressed the mark onto Reins' back, branding him.
Reins grit his teeth, keeping himself from making any noise as the burning evolved into a sharp stinging, as if a thousand needles were penetrating his back. Fatigue started settling in as Reins' stomach turned and before he knew it he was unconscious again.
"Lock him up." Commodore Harring tossed the metal rod aside and watched Stocks and Carlson effortfully drag away the former captain of his trading company.
When Reins had regained his senses he was in an old metal cell, rusted and full of moss from lack of cleaning. He looked around, noticing that in his cell were only two people, himself and another, while the other cells had upwards of five.
"Reins, that you!" Shouted a voice from a nearby cell.
"The selfish Reins Drake?" Another questioned, "What's he doing here, I thought he was the captain of Harring's company?"
"HEY! Self-Proclaimed freest man! How's it feel to be locked up! HAHA!" The first prisoner shouted.
The laughing spread like a disease as more of the prisoners joined in. Then the name calling started, each one worse than the previous as he became the focus of the prison. As they jeered him, Reins curled into a smaller and smaller ball, the feelings from before now returning as he hid his face. He wanted to leave, disappear from this place, all places, regretting any action or anything words he might have spoken.
"You're Reins Drake?" A deep voice growled from the bench in the corner of Reins' cell.
From the shadows a mountain formed, shifting and getting larger as its loud thumping steps grew closer. When it stepped into the light, the mountain revealed itself to be a tattooed man with shaggy blonde hair and a beard that fell down to his large stomach.
Reins looked up defenselessly before looking back down and preparing himself to let the mountain of a man end his life. Then, a deep thump reverberated throughout the prison, silencing the others and startling Reins, forcing his eyes close. After a few moments of nothing Reins slowly opened one eye then another, seeing that the large man before him was prostrating as one would while praying.
"I, Njord, thank you for saving my crew from that vessel." Njord said.
"Mmm." Reins grumbled, hiding his face once again.
"Why do you hide your face?" Njord rose to sit with his legs crossed, "Are you not proud of what you did?"
"Mmm." Reins grumbled as his eyelids grew heavier and his heart felt uneasy as he buried his face further into his chest.
"You are upset by what they say? No?" Njord asked.
Reins squeezed his eyes close, not wanting to speak about it, not wanting to hear about it. He wanted to be left alone.
"The freest man gets upset by such things?" Njord asked.
A burning heat swelled in Reins' heart as he furiously uncurled and grabbed Njord by his beard, pulling his left arm back in a tight fist.
"So upset… you cry." Njord said as he watched heavy tears drip down Reins' face.
"Ungh!" Reins grunted, letting go of Njord's beard and collapsing on his legs, hiding his face.
As softly as he could, Njord raised his hand and placed it on Reins' head. "You are not alone, Captain Reins." Njord said, "I'm with you…"
"It's all gone Njord…" Reins finally said through sobs, "Everything was a lie… I was a lie…"
"No Captain Reins… you are not a lie… back where I'm from we judge a man by his actions on the battlefield… not by what he spews in the comfort of his home…" Njord advised.
"You freed my crew, no man under control would do that." He said as he rose to his feet.
Reins wiped away the tears, finally opening his eyes.
"We live freely, Captain Reins," Njord extended his arm, "Under no one."
Swallowing hard, Reins took a hiccupy breath, wiping the last of his tears away and easing up. He grabbed Njords arm, allowing himself to be pulled to his feet and meeting Njord's eyes for the first time and nodding.
"And now… we escape, together!" Njord said.
Reins smiled softly, "I don't know if you can tell," Reins sniffed, "But there's no one here that likes us."
"No… not in here…" Njord agreed before pointing at the wall. "But there are out there."
As if on cue a part of the wall to the cell next to them exploded, shaking the entire room and covering the prisoners in the cell next to theirs in rocks and shrapnel. Then another cell exploded, and another. Through the shifted bricks on their wall, Reins looked outside to see a brown ship, its sails were a dirty white and its crew shouting as they loaded the cannons.
"Agh, those triggerhappy maniacs, they can hit everything except what they need to!" Njord scratched his head as he watched the cannonballs flying over the town towards the prison cell.
"Allow me to return the favor, Captain Reins, by freeing you!" The man smiled..
As the words sank into him, Reins a heavy ball formed in his stomach. His hand started shaking as he thought about the company, his time as the captain, all the lies he had once spewed when he had been out there on the seas.
Suddenly, Njord clasped his hand and looked into his eyes. "Free men don't think… they do what their heart tells them to."
A strange giddiness filled Reins' chest as a small smile grew on his face. He looked past Njord at the shouting crew and found himself being pulled by their cheers. Unable to explain it he shook his head of all thoughts. "Let's get out then!" He shook Njord's hand before spinning around to study the door to the cell, noticing the hinges on the side.
With another sharp spin, Reins sprinted towards the bench in the back of the room, forgetting that his feet were chained and falling flat on his face. Njord chuckled as Reins sheepishly stood back up and dragged the bench over.
"Shove it under the door then push down!" Reins directed him frantically.
The larger man looked puzzled. "The cannons should break the wall soon!" He protested.
"Exactly, I don't know about you but I prefer not to become a pile of bricks." Reins said candidly, motioning to the other prisoners who had disappeared in the mess.
With a slight nod Njord did as he was told. A slight push down on the bench was all it took for the cell door to lift up and, with a loud clang, fall over flat. "Easy." Reins said as he stepped out and waddled towards the warden's desk, methodically opening every drawer to look for the key.
With an amusing grin Njord followed, slamming his fist onto the desk and turning it into a pile of firewood.
"How are we supposed to find the key now!" Reins shouted both with his words and arms.
With a growl the large man bent over and picked up a large metal ring with several keys on it from the mess.
"Ah, there it is!" Reins smiled.
Together the pair unlocked the chains and made their way out. Shoving and battling any guards that got in their way, though most of them had been distracted by the large ship. Once out, Reins spun around and sprinted towards Commodore Harring's office.
"Where are you going?" Njord asked as he thumped behind.
"I forgot something in there!" Reins shouted over his shoulder.
Once the pair were close enough Reins slowed down to match Njord's pace. "Wait outside and listen for glass breaking, then break the door down." He instructed.
Njord nodded as Reins sprinted inside and Njord waited. Once in, Reins looked around finding his beloved sword sitting sheathed on Harring's desk. With a smile he walked over and tied it against his waist before turning around.
"Wonder where he's gone" Reins remarked before watching the door slam shut.
"Nowhere Reins… did you really think I would've left your beloved sword unguarded?" Harring asked as he stepped in front of the door.
"A small part of me had hoped… just a small part…" Reins quipped.
"I guess this should be great news for you." Harring added.
Reins furrowed his eyebrow as he drifted his way towards the small fireplace.
"The prisoners you let escape have returned and seeing as you're now free, you can repay your loss by capturing them and taking them to Calloway." Harring tempted.
Reins scoffed. "No my friend… I you see… am a free man…" Reins started, "And a free man… follows no orders." He stepped on the handle of the rod that branded him, watching it spin as it flew through the window with a loud crash.
"I had hoped to re-employee you, but I'll settle for your head!" Harring said as he unsheathed his sword and took a step forwards, only to be stopped by the large door crashing onto him and squashing him.
On the other side was Njord, with a metal rod in his hands. "Shove it under, then push… a great technique." He smiled at Reins who returned it.
After leaving the office, they made their way towards the beach where they found a small boat and rowed out to the larger ship. Upon their arrival they were met with a large cheer.
"Not a bad ship." Reins murmured to himself as he made his way towards the helm.
"Captain!" The crew said in unison, making Reins jump. When he turned around he found all of them, Njord included, prostrating.
"This isn't a normal thing is it?" Reins asked, unsure of what to make of it.
Slowly, Njord rose to one knee. "As it stands, this crew is captainless and seeing as you were the one to rescue us, we all owe our lives to you," Njord explained, "Would you serve as our captain, Sir Reins?" He held a black tricorne in his hand that he moved forwards
Reins thought for a moment. The idea of becoming a pirate was repulsive to him. Suddenly the brand on his back felt hot as he thought. "Free…" The word escaped his mouth as his eyes moved around the smiling crew, the large wooden ship with its dancing sails then towards the large office of Commodore Harring, now looking more and more box-like and restrictive.
"Captain Reins the freest man alive…" Reins said as he grabbed the tricorne, "I quite like that…" With a swift movement he placed it atop his head. The heat from the brand started settling before vanishing.
"Well then what are you waiting for!" He suddenly shouted, "SET SAIL!!!"