Welcome to Gaia! ::

Blue-green sea water gently pushed a large, beautiful pirate ship through the water, aided only by a gently sea breeze and the occasional push of the oars. Behind the wheel stood a fairly tall blueish haired, violet eyed man, the top three buttons of his shirt undone to capture more of the breeze. The ship was sailing in familiar waters. The same waters that the young captain had grown used to as a novice pirate, yet also the same waters that he wished to avoid as much as possible. Only a week ago, the crew of this notorious pirate ship had been plentiful, their numbers high and unlikely to fall. But, then the ran into some trouble with one of the king's dog's ships. For once in quite some time, they'd proved to be quite a fight, but had fallen, as did every other ship. Now, their destination was the tavern most popular with pirates, and men seeking new adventures.

Only a little while later, the young captain and a few others were in dinghies, rowing towards the shore. Next to the captain sat a man noticeably older than the captain himself, though only barely. This man was identified as Louie, first mate. He looked up to the captain, his mouth a straight line as he spoke, "Captain, are you sure about this?" The captain, Nathaniel Vane, son of the notorious James Vane, looked at his first mate, his expression similar to that of his first mate's as he said, "Yes. We don't have enough men to stand another attack. We need more men."

The captain of The Screaming Mermaid stared off towards the shore of his old home. "It's good to see you again..." he murmured to himself, a glint of hatred quite obvious behind his eyes. All of the crewmen understood; this was the same reason for his hatred of the king, queen, and the rest of the royals. Murdering an innocent woman, and willing to murder a child, all for information. Disgusting.

Within the hour, Nathan and a few of his crew were on the docks, heading towards the taverns. He'd given the two men remaining in the dinghy an order to stay hidden, and if they heard any word of him and the others being captured to just leave; he'd find a way out of it. He did before.

"Louie, you take James and see if you can find any men in the smaller taverns closest to the docks. I'll take Christopher and check these few taverns over here," Nathan said, watching for a moment as his first mate headed off. Then, he turned on his heel, motioning for his crewman to follow as he headed off to one of the larger taverns nearby.

When they got inside, Nathan was a bit surprised at the sight of a brawl happening. This early? he thought, an eyebrow raised. He walked over to the left side of the building where there was a flight of stairs. It was pretty early for any serious brawls, so he wanted to take a look. When the two men got up the stairs, Nathan stared down at the circle of people, focusing on the men in the middle. This brawl was just like the usual brawl. But, wait... Was that a boy in the middle? I short, scrawny boy holding his own? Nathan leaned forward, his attention focused on the boy, watching as he managed to dodge any serious punches. "He'd make a nice crewman..." he murmured to himself.

Nathan watched as the brawl continued, though only for a moment. A dissatisfied frown settled on his lips as the bartender broke everything up. With a sigh, the captain stood up straight, adjusting his shirt a bit, his eyes still on the scrawny boy that was in the middle of the brawl.

When he noticed that the boy was leaving, Nathan quickly glanced at Christopher and said, "You look for men that're looking to join a crew. I'll meet you back here in a little while." With that, he walked down the stairs to the first floor where the brawl had initially taken place, then started to follow where the boy had gone. A few minutes later, he was standing a few feet away from a table, watching as the boy sat alone. Ah, what the hell, might as well take a chance.

"You're pretty small to be taking on a guy like that, don't you think?" Nathan said as he walked up to the table, taking a seat across from the boy, a slightly cocky smirk on his lips. "I'm Nathaniel Vane. Captain of The Screaming Mermaid," he said, introducing himself casually. "What's a kid like you doing here in a place like this?"

Nathan nodded, an eyebrow rising. "I see..." he murmured, looking the boy up and down, from what he could see at least. "You don't look like much, but you're pretty tough, from what I saw back there. You think you could make it aboard a ship?" Nathan knew he was an inspiration to several young boys, and even some girls, that came from poor families, or families that had a pirate or two in their family line. He simply figured that that's what this kid was eager about.

Nathan leaned forward, arms folded across each other on the table. "If you think you can make it aboard a ship like mine, then you're welcome aboard. But, if I even have a doubt as to your intentions on my ship, I will not hesitate to throw you off of my ship into the sea," he said, his line a straight line as he finished speaking, and a serious look in his eyes. He'd had a few incidents where some of the kings men acted as pirates, joined his crew, then tried to 'take care' of him. It didn't end too well for them. They all suffered pretty painful deaths.

Nathan chuckled, leaning back in his seat. "Oh, you'd be surprised..." he said, his smug and cocky smirk back. When the boy said his father was a baker and that his mother died in childbirth, he shook his head. "What a pity. Your mother was probably an amazing woman..."

Since he'd been a young boy, before his mother had been murdered by the king and his men, Nathan had received quite an excellent education. Even his father had agreed with it, the few times that he'd seen him. It made it less obvious that he was a pirate's son. And now, now that he was a pirate and captain of one of the most notorious pirate ships, he thought he might as well be known for something other than his pirating skills.

Continuing on with their conversation, Nathan said, "I've had men disguised as several things, just trying to get aboard my ship and capture me, or at least kill me. Black smith's after a mid-life crisis, Mama's boys sick of their mother's constant nagging, maybe even a baker's son..." He sighed, shaking his head again. "Truth is, kid, you can't trust many people out here..."

"Possibly. You look like you can handle yourself, especially for being a baker's kid," Nathan said, eying him. He smiled devilishly when the boy pulled his cap down, seeming anxious. "I don't believe that's the right question, though. Do you feel like I should trust you?" Nathan knew what the answer would probably be, a yes. Of course, that's what they'd want him to do if they were a spy. If.