joacorva@y*******m

Why blacksmithing?

I woke up to the sound of voices again. I realized Isyla was not in the room with me so i meandered my way out of the spare bedroom our aunt was letting us use and to the balcony. "I know your intentions Killian, just know that my sister has been through a lot and I will not lose her again. Either of them." I heard Shaw say. There was a grunt of agreement as I rubbed my eyes. "Aye, I know how much they mean to the lot of ya, but our fathers did promise us to each other back when we were babes. She may not know me yet, but I have nothing other than the intentions of getting to know her more, that and listen to her sass me more. Who is the bloody bastard that broke our poor girl anyways?" Shaw looked down at the floor and sighed. "Rorick Shanks. He was one of the sons that led the boarding party on our ship when Isyla and Cal got taken from us. His face was the last one we all saw before they had ripped both of our girls away. Somehow in the last five years, the girls grew to forgive the boys and in turn grew to love them as siblings and Rorick i guess even more than a brother. Shanks is a terrible man, bloody good pirate, but a terrible man. His sons have been on my list of people to kill since that day. Somehow we've never run into them until now." I was taken back by the news Killian dropped. Shaw knew about it too. "Shaw i want that wretch of a boy to die, but you and I cannot be the one to do it. He's broken her heart so badly I fear I may not be able to help fix it. I want to help her more than anything." Shaw nodded in agreement. "I know. Calypso has to be the one to do it, just give her time Killian. She will come around. Especially after the way we all watched you flirt with so much malice the damn air was hard to breathe in." Killian chuckled. Shaw put a hand on his shoulder and then walked past him to the kitchen to start breakfast. I sighed and started walking down the stairs to stand behind him. He glanced up and smiled. "Someone looks like she woke up on the wrong side of the sea this morning." I smirked and said "I am not a morning person. I like my sleep and when it gets disturbed i get cranky." He laughed. He motioned to the seat next to him and said "Breakfast will be ready soon. You ready for today? My men are in place and ready to go." I nodded as I sat down. I grabbed an apple from the bowl on the table while Killian grabbed one of the mugs on the table and poured some water for me. "I just want this over with so we can do some damage to Shanks and his boys, and then get the hell out of Tortuga. I'm so ready for this adventure to turn into a new one." Killian smiled at me. "Atta girl." I looked at Killian as I took a sip of water. "So Killian. Is it true we have been betrothed since we were babes?" Killian sputtered for a moment and then looked at me. "You overheard our conversation." I nodded. He sighed and then said "Yes. My father wanted to ensure a bloodline of superiority and because of who your mother and father are, it was the perfect choice, your father and mine have been friends from way back in the day so it also ensured an everlasting friendship between our families. Are you upset with the idea of being betrothed to me?" I shook my head. "No but it is a lot to take in the same day we are to explode Shanks ship. I just don't know what our fathers had in mind when they decided to match us. Don't you have other brothers too? Shaw is firstborn, shouldn't she be the one betrothed to one of you?" He nodded "Like I said, it's based on who your mother is. You don't have the same mother as your siblings. You know that right?" I nodded. "I had suspected for a long time. I'm not exactly the same as all of my siblings. My eyes are completely different than theirs. Shaw and I may have the same build which most likely comes from our father, but I've always been a bit more off kiltered than the rest of them." He nodded. I sighed. "Do you know who my mother is?" His face darkened. "I have a theory, but no, not for certain." I glanced at the map on the table. "Do you know who your mother is?" He nodded, "Her name is Cyrillia, and yes before you ask, she is THAT Cyrillia." I stared open mouthed at him. "Your mother is the Pirate Witch of the South? I thought she was a tale." He shook his head and started fidgeting with the mug in his hands. "No she is definitely real. I grew up with both of my parents for the first twelve years of my life. When my youngest sister was born just before I turned thirteen years, they went into hiding and my father and his sons started looking for an item of myth. I don't know why he wants this item all I know is that he said it will help our families." I pondered this for a moment. "So, what's the item? I mean it has to be of some high caliber to need it right?" "It's a book. A journal if you will. It has two gems embedded in the leather on the front. One green and one blue. The inscription reads "börn stjarnanna" or in our language, Children of the Stars. I don't know much beyond that. My father had contacts that he thought would lead him to it. Two years ago he finally thought he had a solid lead and went in search of the star journal. Nobody has seen him since. My younger brother Kieran had sought a sea witch's help to locate him but all she gave him was a riddle. The northern skies ablaze, with a southern lover the same, will become one beneath a haunting mirror, the court of royals with their king and queen of blades will dance with devils, for the world is theirs to save." I quirked an eyebrow. "That's an odd riddle. A sky with a lover? What does that even me-" I was cut off as a man slammed open the door gasping for breath. Killian and I both stood so abruptly from our stools that they toppled over. "Captain! There's a group of Shanks' men tearing through the districts. They're searching for the girls!" Killian grabbed a mug filled with water and brought it to the man. He handed over the mug and told the man to take a seat. "Cal, go get your siblings and I'll fetch Eliza. You and Isyla need to stay inside until they blow through." I nodded. I ran back to the room and started to dress. I was slipping on my last boot and grabbing my cutlass when the door slammed open again. Isyla came bounding up the wooden stairs while the rest of my siblings and aunt Eliza came in from the back door. Aunt Eliza was shouting directions and our brothers were staring to move some crates and barrels in the corner. Killian came up the stairs to get Isyla and myself. "Your brothers are moving the crates. There is a trapdoor underneath that the three of us are going to take. It leads to a tunnel system that leads out at the port where my ship is docked. Shanks is leading the search for you himself so now is the time to slip onto his ship and get this adventure started." We nodded and followed him down the stairs to the corner. Shaw came up and hugged us both followed by our brothers. "You girls do your part and we will make sure our men are there to help stop his ship from leaving. We already have the horse carts waiting nearby to take all your supplies off his ship. Get in and get out. Got it?" "Got it." Isyla said. "Remember, worst case scenario, if you don't think you can get your supplies off safely, we blow it up and you run. Just give the signal." Soren looked at us with mixed emotions. "It was so good to see you again. We will meet up after you get on Killian's ship and head to the Den of shadows. Killian knows the way. Now go." Killian grabbed my hand and I grabbed Isyla's. We went down the trapdoor stairs and Mako handed us a lantern. He smiled good bye as they closed the door and started putting back the barrels and crates. We started sprinting. The tunnels were dark and sand filled floors led us through a winding system of halls until Killian stopped us before an intersecting group of tunnels. "This is where we lose the light. we turn up ahead and follow the tunnel all the way down. At the end will be a grate in the side of the island. Once through we will be at the port my ship is docked at. Three ports down is Shanks. Once I give the word to my second, the distraction will start and we will sneak on board his ship. You'll have to show me where the crates of explosives are. Cal, can you handle your swords with just one other person ?" "Yes, I only have a hundred swords left. as long as i can toss them over the side and they can catch, we won't take long. Each bundle is holding ten cutlasses, each individually wrapped in cloth so they don't scratch each other. Isyla is the one who is going to need a lot of help moving those barrels and crates." Killian nodded and looked at Izzy. "You'll have myself and two men helping move the crates. The barrels we will have to roll down the planks to the carts. the distraction should keep the guards busy for a while. Get as much as you can, if they come back, leave the rest, we will light the explosives from a powder trail that my man Seamus will start." With a quick agreement, we grabbed hands again and took off down the straight and dark pathway. When sunlight finally flooded in from the grated door, we knew we were getting ready to do this. Killian took a look outside and whistled a three note tune. When another three note tune whistled back Killian slid open the grate and we bolted out to the cover of his ship. We thudded on board and made straight for the captain's quarters. Once inside there were five figures waiting for us. Killian started giving orders and two of the men rushed out to start getting ready for the distraction. "Scar, you're my fastest, you'll be with Cal on the ship, grab her swords and throw them over the edge to Riley. You load up that cart as fast as possible, as soon as Cal says that's all of them you and Cal will run to Isyla and myself and help us with the last of her explosives." A red headed woman near our age nodded her head and came to stand by me. She gave me a mischievous smile. "Seamus you're coming with Isyla and me. As soon as we find her explosives, you're going to take some gunpowder and leave a trail to the explosives that leads to our meeting place. If and only if I give the signal, will you light it. Do not touch it otherwise. Go tell Finnegan and Charles that they're with me helping unload onto the carts. Mack, go get the carts ready to go. Everybody got it?" We all nodded. "Good. Let's go blow up a ship." He smiled and we got ready for our mission. We were exiting the cabin when Killian stopped me short. "Cal, I gotta know, why blacksmithing?" I smiled and said "Don't you want to trust the blade in your hand? After all, a blade is just an extension of yourself. If you can't trust yourself, who can you trust? That's why I chose blacksmithing. I know everything about my blade. Down to the type of ores i use, down the the artistic aspect, the weight, and not the least of all the tricks i hide in each of them. Give me your cutlass." He slid out the cutlass he had bought from me earlier. I took it and held in on one finger. "Perfectly balanced, blade made of Damascus metals and for the pommel," I touched the button on the tip, the spring loaded poison chamber opened and started coating the blade with a dark green nearly black substance. Because of the magnetized metal I had at the tip and in certain positions of the blade, the metal in the poison wouldn't just drip down the blade. "A refillable chamber that coats the blade with magnetized poison for those dirty fighters that never spar fair. As for your blade, it has another trick to it." I held the button on the top length of the pommel and held the blade away from me. A smaller, thinner blade swooped downwards from the pommel revealing a secret blade that could detach in case of emergencies. "I made mine in a similar way. It's gotten me out of some tough spots as well as the knives in my boots." I smiled and placed his blades back together and flipped the knife into the pommel again. I handed it back to him and reached into my pouch and handed him a vial. "Here, to refill the poison. It's made from a certain toad species. Deadly." Killian looked at me in what I could only imagine was awe. He smiled and nodded approvingly. "Let's go." I smiled and we left the cabin.