Across the Galaxy: A Pirate's Path to Glory

Penalty

We weren’t met with too good news… The head captain was furious, saying the loot on that ship was worth millions. But I didn’t quite believe him. On my first mission, the cargo was worth millions since it was rare metal from Eviri. But we barely got anything from that. So he’s probably lying to make us feel bad like we actually deserved the penalty.  

Because of that, we got much less than promised and only got to loot much smaller ships for two months. Like food and cheap material. Tristen was not happy. But Sylas was the one who showed his rage the most. I was locked up in my room during that time, as I heard Sylas smashing and throwing who knows what, as Tristen was trying to calm down. It didn’t seem like it would end any time soon… 

A small and gentle knock was heard amongst the chaos. I went and opened it, seeing Zayn’s gentle smile. A vase was thrown just behind him which made me tense up. But Zayn didn’t flinch. 

“Want to come to my room? It’s further away from this… chaos. Valerie and I have few games we can play as well.” A microwave was thrown across the room this time. This time I was more confused than afraid. Where did he get that? But I’ll probably have to fix that too…

“Y-yeah. Sure. Just take me away from here.” I quickly got out of my room as Zayn walked behind me, almost like he was a shield from all of the items that could be thrown. Soon we arrived inside Zayn’s and Valerie’s room. It was much larger than my room, it even had a window and everything. When the door closed, the yells from Sylas were barely heard anymore. Looking around their room they had bunk beds, a couch and a large screen in front of the couch. 

 I felt myself slowly relaxing as I sat down on the couch while Valerie was setting up the game to the screen. I noticed how Zayn’s scythe was just casually leaning on the wall in a corner and they had clothes and candy bags here and there on the floor. 

Valerie soon plopped down into the couch as well then handed out the controllers before we started playing. It was some sort of a racing game where you could choose your own car and driver. I picked a pink car and a tuner as a driver. Zayn picked out a female Ketsin with four eyes and a blue car while Valerie picked a black car with a gaedian driver. I came last a few times but after few rounds, I was able to pass Zayn and came in second place instead. But Valerie was a clear winner. 

“Want me to teach you some tips?” She asked and I nodded. She moved closer to me and began explaining more advanced how to use what. Like when to drift or when to speed up. I remember how much I used to play with my brother and he kept winning, always. He never told me why or how. He just did because he was older. But it felt better playing with Valerie and Zayn. Like I actually had a shot of winning. 

“I think I got it. Let’s try again!” We started another round and this time winning didn’t seem impossible. As I was coming closer and closer to the finishing line I could hear how Valerie was spamming buttons and began to scream. 

“No, no, no!” Then her car rolled over and she got out of the race while my car drove through the line and the finishing cut scene began to play. 

“Yes!” I pumped my fist into the air. 

“Good job!” Zayn patted me on the back. 

“Finally a worthy opponent.” Valerie comment to which Zayn pinched her arm. Then we switched onto another game that was similar to a board game with mini-games. That’s when the door slowly opened with an exhausted Tristen coming inside the room. His hair was incredibly messy and he walked inside and sat down on the bottom of the bunk beds. He sighed. Then he sighed again.  

“He finally calmed down. But he’s still sensitive so don’t bring up the head captain or anything about it… Well. Work I guess.” All of us nodded and we focused on the game without really saying anything more. But after a while, it got really warm inside the room and I excused myself, going to the bathroom to cool off. I was about to return to the room and heard loud laughter from everyone. I paused, thoughts going off like a waterfall. I know it was irrational thoughts but I couldn’t stop. I felt left out and jealous. I could just open the door and join in the fun… But when my hand reached towards the handle, it stopped and I froze. What if as soon as I enter they stop laughing? What if when I open this door… I kill all the fun? 

Instead of letting the thoughts control me I backed away and sighed. 

“Just calm down…” I whispered to myself before turning towards the kitchen to grab a glass of water. When I entered the kitchen I saw Sylas sitting at the table alone, with an empty glass in front of him. He was resting his head in his hands and sighed. He looked up when he noticed me and gave me an insecure smile. But he soon looked away in shame. Which was understandable after the huge explosion. I cleared my throat as I walked closer to him. 

“Want me to refill your glass?” 

“Just water will be great.” Picking up his glass I filled it with cold water then grabbed a soft drink to myself before setting down his glass in front of him then I sat down in front of him. He seemed surprised when I sat down but he didn’t seem to question it. 

“You know. You almost gave me a heart attack back there at the ship.” He gave a small laugh before he sipped on his water. 

“Oh yeah… I almost gave myself a heart attack too. I was extremely lucky to have survived honestly.” 

“Yeah… Just sucks we have bounty hunters after us now…” He sighed deeply and ran his hands through his hair. 

“You could have just… Left me with them. Then you wouldn’t-” 

“Don’t even think that.” His tone was firm as he looked into my eyes. I felt myself tense up, fearing he might explode again. But then he just took a deep breath and his eyes softened. 

“As Tristen said back there, we leave no one behind. You’re one of us now.” Hearing him say that warmed my heart, I couldn’t help but smile. 

“Means a lot.” He smiled back then looked nervously to the side and sighed once again. 

“I should probably get back to the-” 

“I’m not afraid of you after what happened. You don’t have to leave.” He froze, his eyes soon locked onto his glass. He laughed a bit nervously as he ran his fingers over the glass, up and down.

“It’s just that… I wish I could control my anger better. I don’t want to break things constantly, make the rest of the crew go into hiding into their rooms while Tristen just ‘handles’ me. I feel bad every time. And lonely, more than ever,” He looked down, feeling defeated and I carefully moved closer to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. I didn’t know what to say. All I felt I could do was to… Be there. Maybe it was enough. But I wished I could do more… Knowing the feeling of loneliness all too well. 

Tristen soon came back and he seemed much more energized already as well. He patted Sylas on the back and I could see the happiness in Sylas eyes. I took my drink with me and some snacks before returning to my room, putting on a random series. I received a message from Zayn asking if I were coming back. I told him I just needed to relax a bit alone. Then he sent all the videos he had shown Tristen which made them laugh extremely hard. It felt much better that he had sent the videos. I was stupid to think they would leave me left out...

A few hours later we ate together and I also got to work trying to fix the microwave together but that was almost impossible. So we decided to make a stop to go shopping for some necessary supplies for the ship with the small amount of money we got. Tristen, Sylas and I went to go and buy the microwave and other technical stuff while Valerie and Zayn went to buy cleaning supplies mostly. 

We were casually chatting, discussing what kind of model we wanted then what kind of model we could afford. Tristen was silent until he seemed to recognize someone. At first, he was shocked. Then he laughed though it seemed nervous. 

“Krish! I haven’t seen you for like… Five years!” The guy he called out to froze in his tracks. He slowly turned around and made sure to observe everyone closely with all of his four eyes. I could feel how he was silently judging all of us. 

“Sylas, Dahlia. That’s my little brother. Krish. How come you’re here? I thought you were still helping out at the farm, with mom.” His brother scoffed and rolled his eyes. 

“Take all of YOUR responsibilities? No thanks. But I have other more important things to attend to. I hope I won’t be needing to see your face again.” He turned his heels and walked off. Tristen just laughed it off but it was kinda visible he was a little hurt by it. 

“You two look nothing alike,” Sylas commented, which got out a chuckle from Tristen. 

“He got it from dad. One gets either four arms or four eyes. Never both. For some reason. Would have been very effective as a farmer.” 

We met up later and got onto the ship. As I was installing the microwave, Tristen was telling the others about his brother. How strange it was, how he was supposed to be back home. Unless… The farm was gone. Or his brother also left to become something else…