Dawn- An Age Of Darkness

Seagulls were chirping around. I slowly opened my eyes. The light was intense. The fresh smell of saltwater refreshed my memory.

What happened?

I tried to move my head. It hurt. I couldn't move my body.

Where am I?

All I could see was the blue sky ridiculed with white clouds and birds. The sound of water was calming my soul and the refreshing air pressed against my numb body. I tilted my head a little after some effort. I was on the deck of a ship, an unknown ship. The mast was different; the sails were white instead of black, and without skulls. The boat wasn't swaying much, so the weather was nice and even a novice like me could tell.

"Row, row, row!" A flood of sound flowed in. There were people rowing the boat. It was a busy ship if nothing else.

But if I was on another ship then what happened to the pirates?

"Sir Denkaborkarere, he's awake." A strong masculine voice declared from a distance.

Wasn't that the name of the old man? How the hell did he pronounce it?

I'd heard the old man's name come out of his own mouth. But this was the first time I heard someone else pronounce it. Frankly, I wasn't a fan of the name.

"Ah… you're up already? I thought you'd be dead this time for sure." An old and familiar voice said from afar. It was the old man. He was laughing. I couldn't move but my passion to punch him had arisen from deep within.

"Ol-old man…"

"Don't move boy. Your wounds aren't even snitched up properly. The herbs and potions are barely enough to keep you alive let alone heal ya. " For a guy who delivered bad news, he sure sounded jolly.

"Wh-what happened?" I couldn't speak. Moving my jaws never seemed so taxing. So it kind of sounded like, "Whab hawend?"

"Rest up, I'll explain everything soon," he said.

I could barely keep my eyes open. Although I had just regained consciousness, I couldn't stay awake for long.

As I fell asleep again, I heard the old man. "Don't worry these are good people."

In the course of the next few days, I came and went several times. But the people who took care of me made sure to feed me water to keep me alive. Or maybe it was potions. I didn't have any sense of taste, so couldn't tell.

Wood's creaking sound woke me up: it swayed a little but not enough to make me feel uncomfortable. For some reason I felt a little better and could actually for once, move my head, without passing out.

I was placed on a bed of some sort and there was a wooden ceiling on top of my head.

So I'm in some sort of cabin?

There wasn't much in the room apart from someone sleeping next to me in a chair.

I've met her before. But where?

I couldn't remember. I had all sorts of bandages on my body. My shirt was unbuttoned. At least this time I wasn't naked.

Suddenly a small furry object appeared on the girl's lap. It was the love of my life, Bitey.

"Wo-wow you survived, little fella!" I said. Half of my speech was unrecognizable even to me, but that didn't stop me from talking anyway.

With a yawn, the girl woke up and caught the little rascal in her hands. "You wouldn't believe Daarc, this guy ate all my lunch!" She was half asleep and her voice was kind of cute in a way.

"I'm sorry. Who are you again?" I couldn't speak properly but my speech was much better than before. At least I hoped so.

She yawned again and spoke nonchalantly. "Did you hit your head too badly? I'm Brend! How could you forget?"

Oh, that's right.

"Sorry, couldn't remember." I had purposefully erased that memory from my mind anyway.

"I'm glad I can actually talk with you. You won't believe how worried we were," she said.

She was smiling and the little rabbit was making cute sounds. If I wasn't beaten up like this, I'd have surely cuddled with it. But something about that smile felt a little artificial.

"What happened, Brend? Where am I?" I had loads of questions.

"We're in Habcomarcia, a trade ship headed for port in Jelosce."

There was someone else here as well. He was a little far from the door, so I couldn't see him.

As I stared out, Brend noticed him too. "Jowy, is that you?" Brend asked.

Jowy came inside the room. The door wasn't locked or anything. Everything was made of wood, so locking wouldn't have done much good anyway.

"Hey, your accent…" I couldn't finish. It took some time for me to notice but Brend wasn't talking in her usual way.

"Shhh! We're not pirates here!" Brend came close and whispered in a rather forced way.

Wait, what?

I could vaguely understand what she meant, but just vaguely.

"I'll explain. You see, after you weakened the monster significantly, I killed it with the old man's help and then we made it out before sunset," Jowy said. He was talking nonchalantly. There was no sense of pride from him.

Wait you killed it? And you're not even boasting? Just who are you?

Then again he didn't do it alone so it wasn't that much of a big deal. Of course, we'd have ended up being undead food if he didn't. But oh well. I had better things to worry about than be suspicious now.

"Then…" I didn't finish. I could guess what happened next.

"Nine of us died instantly. The captain, Gack and Merr died two days after that." Brend continued.

It was shocking news but not that surprising. However, their deaths were saddening, as I knew them, ate with them, and even voyaged with them. I let out a sigh.

Was it my fault?

Considering how many pirates were in there, at least some had survived. And that was a small relief.

"And…?" I couldn't help but ask. It would probably leave a scar in my heart, but I had to know.

Jowy continued. "The crew of captain Dickeans disassembled and the remaining crew either left the ship or formed a new crew. The new crew is commandeered by Haikin, the helmsman if you're wondering."

So his name was Dickeans? He never even introduced himself to me!

The fat dwarf -or not so fat since calling him fat would mean doom- became the new captain. "I actually wasn't. Never thought he'd run for president," I said.

"What?" Brend asked.

I groaned. My head was aching pretty badly. "Never mind."

"Ah, looks like everyone's already here." The old man said from outside. He came in; two men came along with him. Just this once his timing was perfect.

"Old man…"

"Don't force yourself boy. This is the captain of this ship, captain Gorassa. And this gentleman is his son, Cleisne Hook."

What sort of name is that?