Maps and Charts

Demeter. A master in the navy aboard the ship Endeavor. The sea shows mercy to no man.

[theodore-king]

    “Pirat––” he started but quickly stopped if she was unawares it’d be best it stayed like that. Even when she yanked him within distance of her blade his smirk didn’t lessen, his taste for trouble was never ending. “Entirely sure sweetheart if I was a pig I’d have a tail and a love for mud. I assure you neither are true,” well his tail didn’t resemble a pig’s so it wasn’t truly a lie. “I’m flattered that you think so highly of me but I’d prefer if we kept this at arms length,” even Theodore wouldn’t think of raising his dagger to a woman. He had morals somewhere.

[swift-demeter-blog]

“Really?” She tossed him to the ground, “you look pretty comfortable in the mud to me.” With a huff she walked over to the dead man, taking his wrists in her hands. “Where do you burry your dead? Is there a place I can take him? No man should rot in the street.” Before he could reply she bit back, “you better answer me, or I’ll assume you like the smell of rotting flesh. Guess that makes you less of a pig but still a lesser man.”

[matthias-salvatore-blog]

We Stand Together, or Together We Fall - Matthias and Demeter

[matthias-salvatore-blog]

He nodded slowly at her words, swallowing hard. Easy. Perhaps not that, but they could find a way. He wasn’t a cynical lad, but he was a realist and knew that for every action they attempted, there would be an equally vicious counteraction, but too much information was missing. He didn’t know what to expect.

A soft exhale of air escaped him as she lifted up his head again, his eyes red-rimmed and miserable. “H-home,” he said softly, and it was barely a word. “W-where?” His jaw tensed, briefly, and there was a tick in the muscle at his temple. “No,” the young man murmured. “You…you can g-go…g-go b-be a h-hero, b-but I w-won’t. I can’t.” His smile was soft, heartbreakingly sad. “I’m not the t-type. If I’m remembered, h-half the p-people w-won’t h-have nice t-things to s-say about me. I’m not f-fighting f-for t-that. I’m not f-fighting to g-go h-home. I h-have no w-where to g-go.”

He met her eyes. “I’m f-fighting b-because it’s right. B-because I’ll p-probably die doing it, b-but it’s b-better t-than j-just…j-just s-sitting t-there. B-but I don’t…I don’t h-have anything to lose. A h-hero f-fights f-for s-something b-behind h-him.” There’s nothing behind me. He remembered the anger that had washed through him the night he found his mother’s killers, remembered the silhouette in his dreams, antlers, blood in the snow, and he shuddered. “I’m w-won’t b-be a h-hero. I’m j-just me.”

“B-but j-just me…cares about you. If it does g-get b-bad, Demeter, don’t s-stay. You run. You run as f-fast and f-far as you can. W-won’t do much g-good to lose you t-too.”

His mother had said something similar. Humans cried. The way things were shifting, he was uncertain to claim even that, but he leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.

[swift-demeter-blog]

Demeter furrowed her brows, “if you have nowhere to go you can come with me,” she said, as if Matthias had insulted her by saying he had no home. “The family I stay with- they’re like my second family, proud of me, and brag about me like I was one of their own,” she explained. Her hand rose up to his shoulder and gave it a quick squeeze. “And if you didn’t come with me you’d still be a hero. I know that, this crew knows that, the king and all his navy know that.”

Another hand grasped his shoulder. “Stop that. Right now, stop it. You, Matthias Salvator are a hero. At least in my eyes. And I’ll be damned if you call me a liar.” Her shoulders were arched now, and her neck craned up to stare him in the eye. “A hero fights because he knows it’s right. A hero fights for the protection of those who can’t protect themselves.” She gestured across the sea to the island. “That’s what makes pirates the worst cowards. They fight for themselves- for greed. I don’t think you have a greedy bone in your body, Matthias.”

She stopped when he offered himself to her. Told her to use him as a shield if need be, made it sound as if his life was worth less than her’s. She looked at him, wanting to slap him but instead whispering her words as if trying to calm a child. “If... that is what you want I will. But I don’t think I could forgive myself if I left you to die. Like Achilles when he lost Patroclus- I think I’d go mad. I want you to make it home. I want you to find a home, and be treated as the hero you are.”

Demeter let out a giggle as Matthias kissed her forehead. She’d gotten used to his affections. It was like a brother kissing his sister. Others may not see it that way, but when he held her hand or kissed her head she could only feel the joy she imagined she would have felt towards her younger siblings had she had any. 

[maxwellthoughts]

[john-martell-blog]

For such a gregarious man, the pirate was being quite quiet, leaning lightly against the bar, his lips quirking up in a faint smile. “That’ll be a job and a half love, but if anyone could, you’ve a shot. Not much of a fan of those pretty uniforms you lot tend to wear, have to say this look suits you better.” He didn’t know for certain that she was Navy, but he guessed it, something in the precision of her speech, her stance. Mostly, he shot out the light words to see if he could get a reaction. Either way, she was…once she stopped the advertisements…interesting.

The blond crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back further, nonchalant, his eyes on her face, scarred brow quirked. A small smile touched his lips, and he uncrossed his arms enough to gesture lightly for her to continue, his voice surprisingly warm, even if it was rough around the edges. His eyes, when they met hers, were lively and kind.

“Tell me. Y’know, I could do with a story.”

[swift-demeter-blog]

“I don’t know what you mean,” she said, brushing off the navy comment. It was best to not react than to react at all. Animals hiss when their backed into a corner, humans were no different. “Perhaps you should drink less,” she added before taking a sip of her own drink. “You said it’s difficult to gain your trust yet you’ve just told me something intimate about yourself. Unless your lying.” She shook her head, “that’s no way to start off a relationship, John.”

Demeter chuckled, “there aren’t many stories of my home. Nothing that you would find interesting a least- what with the long life you’ve lived. But...” she set her cup down. “I used to beg my grandfather to take me out on his boat. He told me I was too small, that the waves would swallow me up and I’d sink like a rock. I don’t know if it was my begging or if I finally grew, but one day he let me on his boat. I was used to seeing the water a clear blue, like the sky on a sunny day.

“But my grandfather took me to a place where the water was dark as ink, and I grew scared. My grandfather must have known because he laughed and told me there was no going back now. He gave me his knife and told me to kill any fish that fell into the boat. ‘Just like you do on land chiquita,’ he told me.”

[matthias-salvatore-blog]

We Stand Together, or Together We Fall - Matthias and Demeter

[matthias-salvatore-blog]

For a moment, the King’s Lion, the merciless, skilled soldier, the heir to a dynasty, disappeared, and he was just a boy. Vulnerable, frightened, all large eyes in a too white face and dark hair tousled because no matter what he did he couldn’t get it to keep in any semblance of order. For a moment, he looked at her, and although his mannerisms, his careful nature often made him seem older, it was easy to see how young he was, barely a step from adolescence. Still in some ways learning what it was to be a man with so much pressure upon those narrow shoulders.

And then he fought it, his eyes dropping because they were burning unpleasantly, teeth dragging against his own lower lip, trying to remain impassive and brave. The attempt made him seem perhaps even younger than he was before, trying to hide fear and uncertainty behind a mask of bravery. He jumped, minutely, as she took his face into her hands, but didn’t fight it, keeping his eyes averted still.

We have trust.

His big eyes flicked up to her at those words, and then remained reluctantly. They were shimmering with something that almost looked like tears. He didn’t want to die here, to see the only people he had any closeness to die here. He didn’t want to deal with pirates, or legends, or sirens, or hints about a man he never met. He just wanted to go home, but his home had died with his mother, and there was nothing for him now. His only home was the Endeavour.  His life was sold to the sea.

But he looked at her, as if she was a beloved big sister that might impart some wisdom, and for an instant, the usual protector asked wordlessly for her protection, and for her comfort. He knew that trust wouldn’t matter if they had numbers, but maybe, just maybe, they could—“S-sow discord,” he whispered. “Make t-them t-turn against each other? Might b-be w-worth a s-shot.” He laughed softly, miserably, as she ruffled his hair, blinking back tears. “Oh, I know,” he told her softly. “I know.” Matthias wiped some of the tears that had escaped on his sleeve. 

“S-shit. I’m not s-supposed to cry.”

[swift-demeter-blog]

Sometimes Demeter forgot that Matthias was younger than him. It wasn’t just because of his rank, he always stood so tall, always seemed to say the right thing even if it came out disjointed and slow. He was far from a boy-- in fact he was more a man than most of the pirates on the island. Cowards the lot of them.

Yet now he was venerable. He reminded her of an injured kitten she had seen once on the side of the road, licking at it’s paw and mewing softly. It was not a side of him he could ever show the crew, but Demeter realized they were more than crew mates. They were friends. In this moment they felt like blood. 

Demeter nodded, “yes, turing them against each other. It would be easy. When the riots broke out they already turned on each other. Just another push and everything may crumble.” She lifted up his head so she could see his red eyes. “Then we can go home, as heroes.” She whipped away a tear before his arm came up to wipe them away himself. 

She laughed, rubbing off the tears that had fallen to his chin. “Crying is humanity, Matthias. My mother used to tell me crying meant you cared, you hurt because you care. I’d rather you cry then do nothing at all.”

[john-martell-blog]

John chuckled, a genuine sound, his eyes still warmed as he looked at her. “Aye? You sure? Most people want to hear the exciting stories.” He shrugged, his expression subtly curious. “I’m from Portsmouth, me. But don’t tell any of this lot that. They all believe I was born on a little island somewhere in the middle of a hurricane. But no, bloody Portsmouth. Smelled of fish. Boring. Wasn’t so much a—fleeing, as a miscalculation.  Could’ve ended up worse.” Could’ve ended up dead.

“You?”

[swift-demeter-blog]

“I figured I would have to gain your trust before you tell me anything interesting. Besides, it must be dull, having to tell those stories every day.” She knew of Portsmouth, though she’d never been. Not many navy ships were docked there. It was a fishing town, nothing more. “I was born in a place similar to you,” she explained. “Ships came and went faster than the winds. My grandfather had a little fishing boat where he would catch dinner for my mother and I. It was a beautiful place... I miss it sometimes.”

[matthias-salvatore-blog]

We Stand Together, or Together We Fall - Matthias and Demeter

[matthias-salvatore-blog]

Matthias smiled faintly at her despite the burning pain in his arm, instinctively keeping the wounded limb close to his chest. It wasn’t a bad wound, he thought, just a bit dramatic-looking. Although he certainly wasn’t fond of someone hacking into his arm, it was a marked improvement from where she had been before, even if she was still a bit uncontrolled. It was a lesson for him as well, he had underestimated her. With a soft sigh, he sat, his head slightly bowed, letting her wrap her bandages. “W-we w-were always equal,” the boy said softly, and when he looked up, his eyes were soft. 

When she tossed him his shirt, he slid it on gratefully, as the wind had begun to howl that much more fiercely, rising with a new chill off the sea. With all activity ceased, he no longer felt warm, and in fact shivered briefly, his shoulders turning in. “If the p-pirates attack, w-we’ll p-probably die,” he said softly, and there was a hint of fear in his voice that he tried to hide. It made him sound younger than he was, and his large dark eyes betrayed a hint of his unease. Still, he was calm. He was her superior officer, before he was her friend. They had established that, as often silly as it was. He couldn’t be afraid. 

“B-but if w-we die, w-we die t-taking as many as w-we can w-with us.” He raked his hand through wind-blown hair. “I do w-worry. W-we’re s-staying t-too long. G-giving t-them too much t-time to p-plan. Even t-though I might not w-want—” To go, he almost said, and cut off immediately. “W-we risk our lives every day w-we s-stay. I t-trust N—-the Captain, and the Commodore, b-but yes. I am w-worried.”

[swift-demeter-blog]

“Perhaps in different ways,” she argued lightly. “You’ll always be the  lieutenant I go to when there’s a fight, and I’m the navigator you’ll always go to when you’re lost.” She smiled at him, “equal but different.” Demeter patted the wound before standing up. His words surprised her. “Matthias--” she started though he cut her off.”

He was scared. Perhaps rightfully so. She thought back to her conversation with Calico, practically king of the pirates and keeper of peace on the island (though his was shit at it). If something were to happen... could he be her trump card? No. No she wouldn’t do that to her crew, to Matthias. If they died she sunk with them. They were her family. Calico was just a man. Demeter approached him, taking his face in her hands.

“We have something much stronger than all the pirates combined-- and it’s exactly what you said. We have trust. The pirates, they don’t trust each other, they don’t care for each other. Every man could die on the island save for one and that man wouldn’t shed a tear.” She looked down at his cut, “you’ve already shed blood for your crew-- that’s more than even the oldest pirate can claim.” She smiled, ruffling his hair, “you worry too much.”

[theodore-king]

    “Might have, might not have,” he uttered plainly still not quite in the mood for all of this. At the mention of fellow men Theodore laughed, a little too loudly, “if I was lying in the mud drunk I’d hope they’d leave me alone”. Dead. That was another matter and not one he desired to dwell on. “Don’t plan on dying today, tomorrow or the day after so not my problem,” he shrugged it off with a cocky smirk as if it was within his power to decide.

[swift-demeter-blog]

She scoffed, “you’re all the same. Don’t care about others- barely care about yourself. Tell me, is it a pirate thing? Or does this island sap all the empathy people have?” At his smirk she took out her knife and pulled him forward by his collar. “You know what you remind me of? Pigs.” She pressed her knife against the tip of his nose, “you share the same nose as them. Sure you’re a man and not a pig?”

[john-martell-blog]

A small smirk touched his lips, and he leaned against the bar, watching her with amused and questing eyes, although he did his best to appear nonchalant, was mostly successful. “You really need to ask me, love?” His brow quirked, the one with the striking scar running through it from a healed laceration. “Because you ask all the right questions. Most people never look at things twice. But most people are bloody idiots.” He toasted her, and his gaze had warmed. “Sorry there. Not the sharing and caring type on my own, but I might answer a question or two if you throw them my way. Your choice if you believe the answers.”

[swift-demeter-blog]

He acted so sly. Little did he know Demeter lived in a web of lies. She couldn’t trust him and really he shouldn’t trust her. But men were naive, especially around women. She found it true in England yet here it seemed more so. Perhaps it was because she seemed so meek compared to the pirate queens, a trait she didn’t mind taking so long as it got her into the right places. “Where are you from? Before your pirate days. I’ve always wondered what kind of place a person must live in to flee home for the sea.”

[matthias-salvatore-blog]

We Stand Together, or Together We Fall - Matthias and Demeter

[matthias-salvatore-blog]

There was a hard flash in his eyes, the expression on his face striking and cold, beautifully austere and almost savage in the moonlight. The words galvanized something in him, as though he was purging that part of his soul that thought for a second that his blood had been tainted.

That same blood showed on the edge of her sword, black in the faint light. A hot trail of pain followed it, and he ignored it, a harsh kind of pride showing in his eyes, as well as an amusement that she thought that he would attack instantly, rise to the bait. He had underestimated her and he didn’t intend to do that again.

“No. I’m cleverer t-than a p-pirate,” he murmured, his dark eyes bright with humor and intensity, and—-slowly lowered his blade. “B-but t-that’s enough f-for now, I t-think. I need t-this arm.”

[swift-demeter-blog]

Demeter followed his example and lowered her blade as well. She chuckled, “that you are. Here- let me clean you up,” she insisted before rushing off to grab the bandages she had set aside on deck before practice. They were meant for her, in case Matthias really got the upper hand on her, yet despite all odds it was Matthias who needed a clean cloth. 

She urged him to sit before wrapping the bandage around his arm. “I’m sorry if I hurt you much,” she told him. There wasn’t much sympathy in her voice. They both knew she had no intentions of hurting him and when swords are drawn someone is expected to get hurt. “Though really we’re equal now. I think I’ll be bruised up for the next month,” she joked, tightening the bandage with a swift tug.

She looked up at him, smiling. “All better? Not to tight now is it?” She fetched his shirt and tossed it to him, seeing no reason for him to go shirtless. The wind started to kick up. Stray curls whipped at her cheeks. Demeter looked across the deck towards the island. “Do you ever worry now? Now that the pirates know we’re here? Even if we have a whole ship of good fighters most of them are asleep now. Pirates could attack now and it would just be the pair of us fighting them off.”

[walkingintherift]

[john-martell-blog]

“Maybe I’ll bore you,” he agreed with another smile, and although the smile was indeed, irritatingly confident, there was something in his eyes, some complexity that didn’t belong with the smirking mask he erected. “But I doubt you’re a simple island girl. Things are rarely simple, I’ve found.” Another flicker of that complexity touched his eyes, a softening. “Call me John.”

[swift-demeter-blog]

Demeter nodded. “Well, John,” she started, looking up at him with peering eyes. “I’d prefer to not be bored. This tavern already reeks of death. I’d hate for the company to be sour as well.” He shoulders relaxed, her hands resting on her knees. “So what do you think then? What about me makes me more than an island girl? Unless you wish to open up about yourself. So few people here do.”

[matthias-salvatore-blog]

We Stand Together, or Together We Fall - Matthias and Demeter

[matthias-salvatore-blog]

A small, almost invisible smile touched his lips as she adjusted. It’d be easier for her to fight without that stiffness that she was holding. Relaxed, she could alter, change course, anticipate. She was standing correctly now, upright, but knees bent enough to allow quick movement. Correct stance would help.

The words were what he wanted, what he expected, but they still stung like a lash whipped over him, and he almost flinched. Gracefully, he stepped away from her, taking up sword and facing her again. There was a slight furrow of his brow, his nose, something almost similar to a snarl, his dark eyes focused, steady. He waited for her, patient.

“Correct.”

She charged, and it was better, quick, strong. Matthias blocked the blows swiftly, snapping to full attention, moving with her.

“G-good. T-tell me, Demeter,” he said, egging her on, encouraging. There was something else behind it too, a complexity he wouldn’t vocalize. “T-tell me w-what w-we do to p-pirates.”

[swift-demeter-blog]

“We take care of them,” she replied in a strong voice, as if her words could be as cutting as her sword. Lunging forward she slashed across Matthias’ chest. A blow he easily blocked. Keeping her feet light she moved to the side where he was less protected. She managed to cut across his shoulder, red now dotting his upper arm. 

She jumped back, holding her sword up defensively in case Matthias decided to strike. While here eyes still showed focus and fire there was a little smile on her face. Some indulgence for her success, though she knew it was far from over.  

She didn’t charge, this time waiting for Matthias to make the first move. “Strike me,” she taunted. “Pirates are rarely so slow to act.” He smile turned into a full out grin, her teeth shining in the moonlight. It was difficult for her to be so relaxed. In the back of her mind she worried about the wound she’d given Matthias. Even if he’d given her plenty of bruises during their training the thought of intentional hurting her friend was... unsettling. 

Yet he told her to strike at him like he was the enemy, and she’d be damned if she softened up now 

[swift-demeter-blog]

Blood and Ale// Demeter & Calico

[captainbrimms-blog]

“Ah, I see now.” He stood to his feet, dismissing her other words with a slight narrowing of his eyes. What man would not fear the future? The past had already occurred, but the future loomed before them, greedy with a lust for blood. It was the very reason he set sail for Polaris near twenty years ago and the very reason he stayed on Tortuga. The world could swallow those he cared about, but it was the future that caused him to flinch. For all the puzzles it held, there was one it no longer firmly grasped – the origins of the girl. “I think I’m beginning to understand.”

“You aren’t Navy. You’re far too questioning, too snoopy, and too interested in pirates for that. No, you aren’t Navy.” He placed the flats of the palms of his hands against the table. The chatter had once again died down, and Calico dropped his voice low so that only she could hear. Whether he was protecting her or protecting the island, he couldn’t be certain. “But you are from the Navy ship, aren’t you? I’d recommend keeping that bit of information to yourself. Those who come searching for us never last long – and I do mean that as a threat. Whatever you’re searching for isn’t worth the life of you or your little friends; take that from someone who knows where this path leads.”

[swift-demeter-blog]

Demeter didn’t move an inch as Calico moved towards her. She stared back at him as she had before, icy like waves in the winter. “I don’t know what you’re talking about Captain,” she replied in a calm voice. “I’m just an island girl. I’ve only seen the navy from the distance on the docks, let alone stepped foot on a naval ship.” Her eyes left his, darting around the room. About a hundred pair of eyes were on them. Both of them. They weren’t just looking at Calico, waiting for some signal to jump her or kick her out of the bar. She took it he didn’t often have conversations like this.

She looked back at him, “you do know me, Calico Brimms,” she told him once more. “I am your past,” she stood up from the table. “Perhaps I will be your future too.” She pulled two coins from her purse, “thank you Captain but I insist,” her voice was booming, practically echoing through the bar. Her cold look was gone, replaced with a soft smile. “Thank you for your generosity,” she bowed her head before walking towards the door. The idle chatter started up again.

[theodore-king]

    His smirk slipped but only to exhibit a frown, the slight sting from her insults didn’t show Theodore had long mastered that. “Read plenty of books,” or rather the ones he’d been forced to back home and that hadn’t been more than a handful. “He’s probably had too much to drink. Why do you care so much for a strange man? Could be one of the men involved in that mob.”

[swift-demeter-blog]

Demeter turned swiftly to look at him, “I was involved in that mob,” she said sternly. “Trying to protect some of the women and children from getting hurt, he might have been doing the same. Why do you not care for your fellow men? If you were lying here drunk or dead wouldn’t you want someone to take care of you?”

[john-martell-blog]

He rose a brow, and sat back to watch the show.

And what a show it was. 

Navy?

To John’s credit, he found himself an engaged and attentive audience. Nary a rotten tomato was thrown. His lips quirked up, barely, and he took another draught of his drink before setting down the tankard and clapping slowly.

“Very impressive, but word to the wise, always good to leave a man with a greater sense of mystery.” He smiled, flashing white teeth, but there was a kindness buried beneath the instinctively sardonic return. “What if I wanted to figure out those bits for myself?”

The blond snorted at her statement, and settled his gaze on her again. He was curious, damnably or not. Not often enough he was challenged. “Not keen on pointing swords at people, love, seems a problem waiting to happen. Could put out an eye.” 

He stretched gracefully, settling back in his chair. “As for why I’m interesting…why don’t you stay a bit and find out? I’m not going to play you the Greatest Hits of my life. I believe in a touch of mystery. But if you want to know if you’re wasting your time…ask a few of these chaps about Captain John Martell. If there’s nothing to say, well—“

Amused blue eyes returned to hers. “But if there is, we’ve somewhere to start.”

[swift-demeter-blog]

“If that was everything to my life I wouldn’t be very interesting would I?” she pointed out. “I haven’t told you anything,” the first truth she’d said t him all night, “and I doubt I’ll ever tell you everything. But feel free to guess, figure it out or whatever keeps you entertained.” Even in their short talk Demeter had caught on to his cocky nature. He wasn’t quite so rude like other pirates, which was a breath of fresh air, yet she found it grating.

Perhaps his cockiness was what made him more interesting than the other pirates. Everyone else had a shroud of melancholy to them, as if while sitting on the island drinking and yelling their regrets flooded back. Perhaps the man would show his regrets later, but now he reminded her of the boys at the academy who thought their wealth would make them sailors. 

“Why don’t I stay?” she repeated before shrugging her shoulders. “Perhaps I spot a friend or I recall a nicer tavern down the street. Or maybe you’ll bore me.” She pursed her lips when he spoke his name. It was familiar yes, but something about it bugged her. Though names had never been her strong point. She didn’t care who the person was or what ship they commanded, a pirate was just a pirate at the end of the day. She shrugged again, “I’m just an island girl captain. You name or any man’s name means little to me.” 

[theodore-king]

    “I’m gonna say that he isn’t up for talking right now,” Theodore gave the woman a half-hearted smile. He would have said more but the woman looked miserable and he wasn’t entirely in the mood to bicker. Instead he gave the man a perhaps too enthusiastic slap and when that didn’t wake him Theodore exhaled slowly standing up straight. “I’m gonna say he wants to stay asleep.”

[swift-demeter-blog]

She glanced at the boy. He didn’t seem as ill intended as she first thought, though she made no moves to leave him and the unconscious man alone. The slap surprised her and she fell back on her hands. “Good Lord!” she exclaimed before staring daggers at the boy, “are you uneducated? Are you dumb?” She moved forward again, pressing two fingers on the man’s neck. The blood drained from her cheeks, making her look seasick. “He’s going to sleep whether he want’s to or not,” he replied in a shaky voice.