Life was hard. Too hard for someone that just wanted a nap.
Anne still couldn't believe in the scene that was in front of her pretty hazel eyes;
Little humanoid rats, so jacked up that looked like they were on something, walked all around the deck. Some had little mops, scrubbing the deck meticulously. Others were attached to ropes, cleaning up the hull with impressive focus. Some were even coming and going from the rooms with buckets as big as them.
But the truly unbelievable part was a giant sturdy rock old man sitting calmly at a desk. A desk bought from somewhere and placed under the forecastle. Crates of different fabrics and clothes were stacked around it. And he, a scary mountain, was stitching peacefully tiny clothes for the Ratkin; brown pants, blue-navy sashes, and white tank tops, all smaller than his hand. And yet he was making it with a smile and with a precision that could find a needle in a haystack.
Anne just stood in front of the doors to her cabin, completely broken by the scene.
"I feel like I'm in a comedy theatre play." She mumbled.
One of the Ratkin squeaked at her, already in his new uniform, flexed his tiny biceps, and saluted, before continuing his task.
"Oy, Cap'n woke up." Nyx looked down from the quarterdeck, leaning on the railing, her long raven hair tied in a braid.
"I still think I am in a nightmare." She sighed, walking up to the tall guy immersed in his sewing job, Nyx following her like a shadow, while Rat jumped to his claimed spot.
"Captain!" Branar smiled, carefully showing a piece of his work to her. "What do you think of their new uniforms? Much better, right?"
Anne's lips twitched, giving a slow nod. This guy was way too much for her. "Are they any good?" She asked, mostly to distract herself.
"Reliable and strong. They learn fast. Can pretty much do anything as long as you teach them."
"Good. I see you bought some things."
"Aye. While you were resting, me and the lads checked the ship and went into town. Sold some goods. With the money, I stocked up on food, gear, and supplies. I also sold my wife's store."
Anne blinked. "You didn't need to sell it."
"It is fine." Branar said with a shrug that made the deck suffer. "My wife wasn't attached to the place, just to the clothes. And I brought everything here, as you can see."
Clothes of all colors and kinds were stacked like tiny mountains behind him.
"If you say so. Anything else?" Anne asked, already fearing the answer.
"Aye. You need proper clothing."
"What?" She blinked again. What was this guy on? Where was her strong quartermaster??
"If you want to be respected, it is better to have a strong pirate attire. So stay still. Let the lads take your measurements. Already got Nyx's, but her wardrobe is ages better than yours. And yours…" He looked at the captain. Anne was dressed in oversized black pants and a loose gray and plain shirt. "You don't even have one."
Anne's eyes darkened. She looked at Nyx, who only shrugged with a smirk.
"My life… where did it go wrong?" Three Ratkin ran up with measuring tapes and serious expressions, going all over her. Anne just accepted her fate.
"Cap'n, what are you planning next?" Nyx asked, trying to distract her.
"We are sailing to Drosven." Anne said, her voice a little stiff as a Ratkin climbed onto her shoulder for better measuring angles.
Drosven was one of the main continents, the land of boulders, filled with giant stone cities.
Continents were different from the small island she had visited until now. Pirates or merchants commonly ruled islands, with loose laws or none at all. While continents had strict laws - that, of course, pirates still found ways around it. But land and maritime militaries were all around it, making causing trouble a lot harder.
She looked at Branar, the old man should know about it. "I'm looking for someone. His last whereabouts were somewhere in Iron Maw."
"The largest port city of Drosven southern coast." Branar added, as a race from that continent, he knew quite a lot. "We will leave the safe waters. It is not far from here, but we still don't have enough crew members."
"Aye. We would be too unlucky to find trouble in the short distance till the port." Anne agreed, finally free from the Ratkins. "Once there, we will look for more crew members, weapons and hunting jobs. We will avoid plundering until we have a solid crew here, understood? Sea monsters are easier to deal with than wicked pirates." She said firmly.
"Oy, talking like that, you almost sound like a captain." Rat giggled, almost being shoved off her shoulder.
Nyx chuckled from behind, amused. "Aye, Aye, Cap'n. But if I remember right, last time you said no trouble, you set fire to a house."
Anne coughed. "That's different!"
Was it?
In this world, there were only three kinds of people that would brave the salt waters; pirates, militaries, and sea merchants.
Pirates; the scum of the seas. Laws? There was no such thing for them. Plundering, assassinations, even forceful take of another body, they did it all. The only thing that stopped them was their Code. Every ship had their own, but there was also a Pirate Code that all agreed upon, to keep them from killing the pirate world. They were the only bunch that braved all the seas. If a land dweller wanted, for some dumb reason, to travel to another continent, it would have to find a pirate ship willing to take it.
Militaries were, as the name said; militaries. Land soldiers. But they never leave their own waters, they know they wouldn't survive. They patrolled their waters just to keep pirates from owning their coasts and to protect their land from sea monsters.
Sea merchants were mostly pirates, their law abiding identities at least. Of course, there were some small crews that were true merchants. They were the ones that carried out sea hunting jobs. Sea monster meat was a delicacy and their parts were also useful in many other things.
For now, Rogue's Embrace would only take on a merchant identity. They were too weak to start the real hunt.
"Let's catch the wind, lads!" Anne's voice echoed through the ship.
The Ratkins cheered loudly, some waving their mops in the air like flags.
It was time to finally start the real adventure.