It was the height of Libertalia’s splendour, where all of the buildings were recently finished. The energy of freedom and joy was throughout the entire marketplace, but no place was more full of energy than the local tavern. Given that most pirates enjoyed their share of grog and mead, it was always a place of excitement and the ocassional pirate brawl.
The blacksmith shop was also in good business, the distant clanging of hammers on steel and the telltale smell of the chimney from that corner of the square. To anyone that wasn’t used to the place, it would seem like a cacophony of sound, but it was one that was all too familiar to James Kidd. Years in Nassau have served him well in not being all too uncomfortable with such situations.
There was someone talking loudly at the bar, and a brief glance over made him give an amused smile. His fellow Founder, Thomas Tew, was engaging a crowd with tails of his exploits. Bonny was here too, in another part of the tavern, dancing to the music from the ragtag band that had formed here a few months after they all got here. Sailors, and by extension pirates, were a musical group of people and it only made sense that they would get together and share in this collective paradise.
Jim had finished his recent cup of ale, moving towards the counter and putting it down. That’s when he noticed a new man - around his height, scowling faintly as he leaned against the counter, and wearing clothes that didn’t exactly point to being a sailor. They were too dark, too fitting. He however heard what the man said, and gave him a coy grin. “Wake up on the wrong side of the bed, lad? This is Libertalia.”
After being entirely ignored by the barkeep, Rafe annoyance was becoming clearer. It was obvious the man had heard him and made a deliberate choice to disregard his question and continued to serve drinks to the others. These fucking phony pirates. Before he said anything else, he heard somebody addressing his question. He looked over at the person; it was a man with dark hair and brown eyes, also wearing old fashioned pirate costumes, with a red bandana on his head.
Rafe straightened himself up from the counter and crossed his arms in front of his chest, the small golden relic still in his hand. He didn’t reply, instead he started looking around again. Of course this was Libertalia, but how the fuck did all these people just appeared here? And how it’s suddenly all fixed up? Upon darting his eyes on the crowd, he realized a couple of the faces seemed familiar, like the ones he saw on paintings and illustrations in history books about pirates. Is that Thomas Tew? For fucks sake, all of this is nonsense, I must be having a really fucking vivid dream right now.
Looking back at the man who had just spoke to him, he decided that going along with whatever hallucination he was having was the best option, maybe he’d wake up. “Libertalia? Wow. This place is impressive.” He uncrossed his arms, casually putting the relic on his pocket. “Is it normal for the barkeep to ignore costumers? Or is it just because I’m a newcomer?” Rafe said in a jokingly tone, putting up his fake business smile, in an attempt to not show how this whole situation had his mind racing, desperately searching for an explanation.
But he couldn’t find any, at least not logical ones. With a headache building up, he brushed any fantastical unrealistic theories away from his mind, trying to focus back on the conversation. “Oh, where are my manners?” Rafe extended his hand for a handshake. “I’m Rafe Adler.”
Kidd could sense the tension in this other man, and waved at the bartender, holding up a couple fingers to signal he wanted a drink for him and his friend. The bartender’s response of ‘of course, Founder Kidd’ but it was drowned out in the din of the crowded pub. At first he didn’t catch the expressions shifting on the man next to him, but he recognized the shock and disbelief that settled in. Something gave him the impression that it was a foreign look.
“Lots of people want a drink, to celebrate what we’ve accomplished here.” Kidd smiles and turns around to bask once again in the joy of his fellow sea-farers. It took him back to those early days in Nassau, before it fell apart and the pressure from the British Navy.
Jim looked at the outstretched hand and smiled, moving forward to take it and leaned in with an impish look in his eyes. “James Kidd. Good meeting you, Adler.”
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