Meant to go along with Loxare's pirate tale, this is my side of the story. Bear with me, I'm not as good as Loxare and it takes me twice as long to finish, but I really enjoy writing like a pirate, so I thought I might as well share it with you all. Spoiler: Chapter One: Anxieties Long nights, bloodshot eyes, the sound of a clock ticking... That is, until she had shot it with her blaster last Tuesday. Now, whenever she couldn’t sleep, the room was completely silent. With a sigh, Cap’n Marushi rolled over on her bed, one of the only real beds on the ship. Most of the crew had to make do with hammocks, but there were a few perks to being Cap’n. Gazing out the window, Marushi saw stars, so many stars, shining brightly on the horizon. The veiw was one of the only things she liked about insomnia, if she had been on a planet, surrounded by atmosphere, the stars would have been clouded over. Of course, she liked clouds too, but still. She lay and looked, for quite a while, thinking over everything that would take place the next day. Of course, the mission was important. They were going to Betelgeuse 17, a small mining planet about to explode, for a raid. It would be dangerous, but no more than usual. A quote from one of her all-time favorite movies came to mind. We’re Vikings. It’s an occupational hazard. Of course, Marushi and her crew weren’t vikings. They were pirates, plain and simple. She remembered the days before she was a pirate. Alone, she had drifted to the planet Vidia, sold her sorry excuse for a shuttlecraft to a junk dealer, and made her way to the Kingdom of Thera. It was there that she found it. The Saber, I mean. A glorious old honest-to-goodness pirate ship, modernized to travel through the skies as well as the seas. Well, instead of. With all the high quality titanium polymer, as well as the neccesary technology, the ship was too heavy to sail on the ocean. But right when she saw it, she knew. This was her ship, she needed this ship. Fortunately, it was fairly cheap, being such an old model. No respectable sailor would be seen flying such an old piece of junk. But she, Marushi, was no respectable sailor. She paid every cent she owned for that ship, she just had to. Then she put up a notice. "I’ve decided to start a gang of Intergalactic Ninja Vampire Space Pirates," it read. "WHO WILL JOIN ME?" She got quite a following. So many amazing people signed up. Of course, some of them never showed up for the voyage, but that was alright. She had enough crewmates to pilot the Saber. And so began the voyage for adventure, action, and treasure. Treasure, she could do without, she only kept enough to pay the bills. Everything else went to the crew. What she voyaged for was the adventure. The freedom of the skies, the thrill before a raid, the amazingly foreign concept of being accepted, and even respected, by a crew of people she considered friends, all of it. She still had no idea how to respond when one of her crew saluted her, but she wouldn’t trade that salute for anything in the universe. Well, almost anything. Now her thoughts turned toward the other thing she would be doing that day. The announcement. After the raid, when all was done and the planet exploded in a beautiful array of fireworks and debris, she would announce to the crew her decision to leave the Saber. This was what had kept her awake all night, and indeed, for the past several days. She was going to leave the crew and the ship, in search of that same thing that had brought her to them in the first place. ~<>~INVSP~<>~ She had met him the last time they had been to Thera to resupply. While the loading of the Saber was in the capable hands of her trusted First Mate Loxare, Marushi had been off, gathering information of the nearby star systems, and hearing the tales of treasures. Seeing an old bar by the name of Gallow’s Inn, she opened the door and stepped in. "They say that it still exists, guarded by the Spirit of the Stars." An old man was finishing his story as Marushi let the door fall closed behind her, and every eye turned to her. Skinny and rather short, nobody ever would have thought at first glance that she was even out of school, let alone a Cap’n of a crew of pirates. "Sorry, lass," the bartender said, chuckling. "But I’m afraid yer in the wrong place. Ye best be gettin’ out o’ here, before yer mother wonders where y’are." "Me mother’s been wonderin’ for two years, she can wonder for five minutes more," Marushi said. It was only a half-truth, her mother knew that she was out on a starship, but had to wonder as to exactly where she was. But the bartender had no way of knowin’ that, so it worked. She walked straight to the bar and smiled. "I know it’s not what ye gents are accustomed to serving, but I be in need of a Dr. Pepper, if ye don’t mind." She reached into her pocket and took out a small golden bracelet, encrusted with gems, and dropped it on the counter. By all accounts, it was worth much, much more than a Dr. Pepper, but she had learned long ago that only something obviously stolen and worth much, practically thrown away carelessly, would get people of this sort to serve her. "I see," said the bartender, greedily snatching the bracelet and examining it carefully before pocketing the trinket and pouring her a glass of Dr. Pepper. "I see. And what be yer business in this area, miss...?" "Marushi," she said. "Cap’n Marushi. Me ship is docked for resupply and I be thirstin’ for a new starcourse. Ye get bored, raidin’ the same systems o’er and o’er agin." A few of the older men chuckled and most turned back to their drinks, conversations, and tale-tellin’. "Well, I hope ye enjoy yer stay here in Thera," said the bartender, all pleasentries now that the prospect of a rich new customer was here. "I hope ye find what yer lookin’ fer here in the Gallow’s Inn." "Thank ye, I hope so too." She took the glass and turned, listening to all the sailor’s stories. She had always had the gift of being able to tell just how much truth a person said, and how much of their stories were supplied from their own imaginations, and as she listened, she could tell that most of the sea dogs in the Gallow’s Inn were a far cry from real adventurers, and only had a knack for spinning an impressive tale. But one man in particular caught her eye. He was sitting in the corner, and he had no drink, and no companion, something which was uncommon in a sailor’s place like this. But more uncommon was his face. He was completely scarred, it looked like someone had taken a knife and carved every inch of his face, even his eyes, which remained fixed open. He was blind. He must have a great story, she thought. No man is that scarred without something to show for it. She casually made her way over to the table, hand on the hilt of her blaster in case any sailor got too friendly. When she reached him, she set her glass down and pulled up a chair. "I see you don’t got a drink," she said. "and I be needin’ a tall tale to help me finish mine. Sound like a fair trade?" The man smiled, showing that even the inside of his mouth was horribly scarred. "Aye, lass," he said raspily. "But just water, if ye don’t mind. Anything else stings like ye wouldn’t imagine." She smiled. "Alright, then." She motioned to the bartender, and called out "Just a water, if ye please." Hearing laughter, she turned towards the rest of the bar and saw several people glancing at her as they laughed. "And what be the joke, that ye all scoff at two sailors, havin’ a drink t’gether?" She demanded. "It be nothin, Cap’n," Said the bertender, hurrying over with the water. "They don’t mean no trouble, it just be that no sailor that comes here ever bothered to talk with ol’ Red here, on account of he’s no sailor ‘imself, just a begger, livin’ off other men’s pity." He eyed the scarred man angrily. "In fact, I had told ‘im to git, ‘bout half an hour ago, but he must’ve snuck back in once’t my back was turned. If he be botherin’ ye, I’ll send ‘im off now." "No, he’s no bother," Marushi said. Somehow, she felt that this man was more than a mere begger, and she wanted to hear his story. "Suit yerself, Cap’n." Said the bartender, trying to avoid trouble. "Aye, that I will." Marushi said, reaching into her pocket for "payment" for the dirty water. No need to make him a wealthy man, but still aiming to impress, Marushi gave him a tarnished silver ring, worth only about three cases of rum. As he hurried back to the bar, obviously dissapointed at the difference between the ring and the bracelet, Marushi took another sip of her Dr. Pepper and leaned in a little closer so as not to be overheard. "So then, good sir, you promised me a tale of adventure?" "Aye," the man smiled, sipping his own water slowly. "And a tale I shall give you, and when it be over, if ye don’t be obsessed with it yerself, it be through no fault of mine." And with that, he began. "There was a rumor what reached me planet back when I was a young lad," he said quietly. "A rumor of a man, a pirate like yerself, coming back from a long voyage. They said he was gone insane on his trip, they said that he claimed to have found a treasure too grand to exist, in a place that was even more unbelievable. They said that he claimed to have seen the end o’ the universe. Well, of course, none was there that believed him. The end o’ the universe indeed!" The man stopped and chuckled with the memory, and took a sip of his water before continuing. "The end o’ the universe... Well, t’wasn’t long ‘fore he was kicked out o’ every bar on Betelgeuse, juss cause he said he saw the end o’ the universe, and no respectable sailor would be seen with a fool nor a liar like that man. But then, he ran into me." "Now, I’ve already told ye I was a young boy, me head filled with dreams o’ the open skies and the glitter o’ gold. I was curious I was, and I wanted to hear for meself what all the fuss was about, so I sought ‘im out. He told me everything. He told me about the end of the universe, where no stars shine. Where all you can see, no matter where you look or how far, is nothing. Not just darkness, not just black. Nothing." Marushi took a sip of her Dr. Pepper. The man had been right, she was loving the story. "Nothing?" she asked. "Aye," said the man, smiling. "But that’s just the beginning. He told me that nothing be what you see, while you’re still on the edge of the universe, lookin’ out. But what you get when you’ve crossed the end, well, that’s the real adventure. Once you leave the universe, anything is possible, anything could happen, but there’s a great risk. After you’ve left the confines of space and time, who’s to say what you’ll find? Out there, where nothing and everything exist, there’s no tellin’ what ye’ll run into. He told me of what he found, out there beyond reality. He told me such tall tales that ‘twould be impossible to believe in, but one such tale rang of truth. He told me of a light he found, a light that was so shinin’ an’ bright that it almost didn’t exist, but was soft enough to look at. He said that lookin’ into the light forever changed him, and I could tell juss by lookin’ into his eyes that he had seen somethin’, somethin’ terrible to behold. His eyes were bright with it, and whatever it was he saw, it drove him mad. But the reward, now, the reward be worth the risk." He paused, obviously waiting for the question. "What’s the reward?" Marushi asked. "Now, that’s what he couldn’t tell me." Said the old man. "Y’see, he never found what he was looking fer. That was the problem. That was why he was back on me homeplanet, ruined. That’s part o’ the risk, see. Ye stick yer life on the line, forsake all ye know and love, and even if ye do find the end o’ the universe, there’s no garuntee ye’ll get yer reward. And if’n ye get yer reward, there’s no garuntee ye’ll find yer way back to the universe. And if’n ye get back to the universe, there’s no garuntee ye’ll be any better off then ye were when ye left. No man knows what lies outside, no man could tell ye what ye’d find. The traveler, he went searchin’ fer fame, fer glory. He came back half crazed, a laughin’ stock, too poor to pay fer ‘is own brandy. By the time he found me, all he had left to show fer his voyage was this." The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of parchement, yellowed with age. He held it out to Marushi, and she took it slowly, careful not to let it rip. It was folded and she opened it slowly as the old man talked. "At the end of Infinity," he said. "Where shine no stars, is that which the heart craves above all else." Marushi looked at the parchement and realized the man was reciting what was written down. "He who travels beyond forever shall find a treasure untold of. Never again shall he be in need." Marushi fingered the parchement, it was definitely ageless, it felt like it belonged in a different time, a different place. The ink was black, a pure black, darker than seemed possible. It was a good, old fashioned pirate message, an idea that needed to be believed without proof, a sort of hope in the impossible, the exact sort of thing that the respectable scienctific minds of the day would scoff at. She loved it. The old man, now done reciting, continued with his story. "I couldn’t ignore a promise like that," he said. "The traveler was in it for the glory, I was in it for the treasure. Endless riches, mountains of gold, silver, and jewels, all glittered across my mind and completely consumed me. Every time I had to pay for anything, every time I ran out o’ money, it was like a slap across me face. That I, a man who knew of this untold treasure, should have to work like a common sailor, well, that didn’t sit well with me. So I set off." Marushi looked back up at the man. "And... did you find it?" She asked. The man smiled. "The end o’ the universe? Aye, that I did, and words cannot describe what I had to go through to get there. It was amazing, waiting there on the edge, the very last bit o’ the universe, and lookin’ out over emptiness. T’was a bit eery, knowin’ that in a few moments, me ship would cross over the boundaries o’ life, as it were, and I almost turned back. But once again, the love of wealth drove me on, and I was out." The man stopped talking then, and sat there. Marushi waited for a few moments before she asked. "What was it like?" she whispered. "I only wish I could remember," he whispered back, tears filling his scarred eyes. "One second, I was flying into nothing, and then, I felt pain... searing pain, I was on fire... and then, I was on a planet again, looking up at the last star between me and the end, with me ship beside me. I had nothin’, no treasure, no memory of the outside, but I was bleeding. Aye, these scars came to me while I was out there, and I don’t know how I got them or why. But I held somethin’ in me hand, and as I looked at it, I realised I must’ve picked it up while I was gone." "What did you have?" Marushi asked. "A dagger," said the old man. "A dagger sharper and stronger than any substance known to man, but as light as a feather, and pure white. So pure that it almost couldn’t be called white, just... colorless. Well, I kept it with me, my only souvenier from a place I couldn’t remember, and I got on me ship and sailed back for home, ready to settle down now that I’d had my adventure." A piece of his story came back to Marushi’s memory and she turned to the old man. "But I thought ye said ye were from the Betelgeuse system? Why are ye here on Vidia, then? Ye seem to have been here a long time, everyone here knows ye." "Oh, but yer forgettin’, I left time, I left space." He said. "When I left the universe, I was a young man, 21, and the year was 4,532, by Betelgeuse’s count. When I got back, I was still 21, but nobody on Betelgeuse 17 remembered me. On Betelgeuse 17, the year was 7,979, and everything was different. Oh, it was so different. The land had changed, the sky had changed, the people had changed. Three thousand years of progress, my planet was so changed that it might have been an entirely new planet." "Did you know, Betelgeuse 17 used to be a beautiful place, greenery as far as the eye could see, rolling hills, lakes, rivers, beautiful nights enchanted with the glorious stars of the nearby systems, oh yes, it was a beautiful place. Now, it’s been practically deserted, a brown, desolate planet, utterly devoid of beauty, and the only worth it has now is that it serves as a mining planet, harvesting Grellian Sludge and, when it’s found, gold. I couldn’t live on a planet like that, not while knowing what it had once been. So I buried the dagger on the planet, as far away from the accursed mining camps and trading ports as possible, and then I left, finally stopping here when my eyes gave out. I’ve lived here ever since, and it’s like the bartender said, I’m no adventurer anymore, I live off of other men’s pity. I don’t care so much anymore, though it used to be rough. It all is worth it when I remember, I’ve been to the end of the universe, and I left it, too." So that had been it. Regardless of the risk, regardless of the chance that she would return outside of her time, or never return at all, Marushi had to go to the end of the universe. Maybe she wouldn’t leave, but she at least had to see it, see the expanse of emptiness for herself. The first man might have been looking for glory, the second for treasure, but she had anther reason. Marushi simply had to experience that which everyone of sound mind told her was impossible. It was almost a rebellion, if you told her "You can’t do that," she would not give up until she had done it. It was almost as if she just needed a bit of hope, a bit of reassurance that there was something bigger out there, something more than just a day-to-day life, filled with nothings and non-importances. Dull and boring, breathe in, breathe out, walk here, drive there, say the right thing to make the right friends to obtain the right position in life. She hated the thought of being another clone, and she refused to become so. She needed to be different, to see what had to be seen, experience what most said was impossible. That was the life of a pirate. Complete, absolute freedom from the rules and stipulations of a narrow-minded society. ~<>~INVSP~<>~ That was why they were en route to Betelgeuse 17, even though the crew thought they were there simply for a raid. The planet was due to explode, and Marushi had to dig up the dagger first. Daydreamer though she might be, there was no way she would go on a mad adventure without some sort of proof of the destination. She sighed, turning away from the window and getting up off the bed. There was no way she would be able to sleep, she had been awake the whole night, there was no reason to stay in bed any longer. She pulled on her boots and her hat and stood, turning to face the window again as she fastened her sword and laser pistol to the belt around her waist. She stood there for some time afterwards, watching as the sky, alight with stars, slowly faded from night to day as the artificial sun began to rise over the ship. She sighed again, turned to the door, and took a deep breath before heading out onto the ship. Well, whatcha all think?
