Dawn's Dusk on the High Seas

The next morning, Colton peeled his eyes open to the sunlight glaring through the windows. Sitting up, he smiled to see that Laura was still sleeping. Slipping out of bed and garbing himself in his normal armor, Colton raised a large, triangular hat with each side either black and white to his head before strutting through the doors to the deck. Looking out to the crew, he watched as they worked tirelessly, and as Jack impatiently would continue to either stalk around the deck and inspect the rigging or stare out over the horizon for any glimpse of The Jackal.

“Dusk! You’ll go mad if you don’t take your mind off them for a little while. C’mon. Let’s have a little sparring to keep our skills sharp. Beating people in a fight always raises your spirits. I bet you could beat everyone on this ship. Are you going to pass up that challenge?” Colton taunted from the rail.

Jack whirled from where he stood at the bow of the ship and smirked from beneath his mask, a chilled ocean breeze tugging at his hood. Striding to the center Jack shrugged his shoulders before raising his hands.

“Who’s first?!” he laughed.

A rather stockily built and muscled man with coffee colored skin approached with a smile dancing on his dark face. He cracked his knuckles before getting into a fighting stance. Jack made a formal but mocking bow before returning to his stance. The man swung several times, but Jack kept dodging around and behind him with his hands behind his back. The rest of the crew was cheering and rooting while placing bets. Laura trudged out rubbing the sleep from her eyes before looking down at the spectacle below.

“What’s going on?” she murmured, looking intrigued.

“Dusk needs some cheering up, so we’re seeing who can beat him. I doubt any of us can,” Colton chuckled before pecking her cheek.

Laura beamed before letting her restraint of being a “lady” go and cheering for Jack and raising her fist while leaning over the railing.

Sensing that it was time for the next volunteer, Jack blocked the man’s punch and twisted his arm behind his back and pinning him in a single smooth motion. There were cheers, groans, and the clinking of coins being passed before another, skinnier man with sun burnt skin entered. Battle singing behind his eyes. One after another they lost, and one after another, Colton won more and more bets. Until, eventually, a barrelman shouted of black sails with a single red sail on the horizon.

“Poseidon be praised!” Jack yelled, rushing to the bow to see the sails himself.

His heart leapt to the heavens seeing that The Jackal was undamaged and only a few hours away. If his barrelman was on his job, he would’ve alerted his crew and family.

“Daybreak! Signal them to lay anchor so that we may catch up!” he added.

“Aye Dusk!” Colton laughed, before using his abilities to flash a message to The Jackal.

As five hours dragged by, Jack was even more on edge than before. Laura had moved up to the stern of the ship with Colton in the shade while the sun bathed everyone on the main deck in its rays. Jack would be seen up in the highest crow’s nest, watching The Jackal’s sails. Until finally, they reached Jack’s ship. Before some boards were even lain for crossing, Jack had grabbed hold of a rope and swung onto the deck. Alice and his children were nowhere on deck before he immediately demanded to know where they were. They were in his quarters.

Easing the door open, Jack peeked in to Vivian and Christopher looking sullenly out the windows and Alice curled up on his bed. Her cheeks were still damp from tears. So were his childrens’. Letting the door creak, his kids looked in sorrow to the door, but their faces became alight in joy as they saw their father.

“Mama! Mama! Papa’s here!” Vivian squealed as she rushed over with her brother and embraced their father as he knelt to their height.

Alice looked in surprise before weeping hysterically as he hugged her and she held him close.

“We thought you were dead. We thought you were dead,” she sobbed before her children joined her on the bed and wrapped their arms around Jack.

Vivian and Christopher nestled against his chest while Alice on his shoulder before he rested the side of his head on hers. Colton and Laura stood silently in the doorway, his arm around her shoulders, while she wiped a tear away. Jack listened to what was going on out on his ship, but only the crashing of waves could be heard. His crew was silent in joy for his return and in respect of this reunion.

“I see that I was missed,” he cooed.

His family remained silent as they took in the fact that he was with them.

“Don’t worry. It would’ve taken a lot more than that to kill me. I’d find a way. Just like I found a way to get back to you,” Jack added.

His family’s tears slowed before a crewmate was shouting.

“Man overboard! Man overboard!”

Several of The Jackal’s crew began rushing about as they tossed a net over the side before hauling up a white man in a typical soldier’s outfit, but the sleeves were ripped from the shoulders. The first mate ran up to the Captain’s Cabin and waited at the threshold. Jack stood and approached him.

“Found this on the body, Captain. He also had a pendant with a strange symbol on it,” he reported, producing a waterlogged leather book and a pendant with a gold chain and a ornate gold frame around a stone with several symbols carved into it.

“Check the body for anything else of interest. Check if it’s alive too. If it’s not, toss it overboard after. Otherwise, move it to the brig,” Jack whispered.

The first mate dashed away to loot the rest of the body before a large splash sounded a number of minutes later.

“What happened Papa?” Christopher asked after tugging on Jack’s sleeve.

“Nothing you need to worry about,” Jack quickly replied.

“But I want to know Papa. What happened?” Christopher whined.

“My crew found a man that deserted his ship and drowned. We found a book and strange necklace on him, and I’m going to study them. Now don’t go pressing for more answers, because I don’t know what’s in the book. It has to dry out first,” Jack responded, smiling slightly down at his son.

“Bu-” Christopher began.

“No. Now I need to go set a course, so I’ll be back in a little bit,” Jack cut off.

Christopher sighed through his nose before Jack strode out through the doors to the wheel to find Colton already waiting for him.

“Nice to be back with them? Mine were butchered by the king’s men after I decided to become a pirate and sacked a frigate. You know the story, don’t you?” he started.

“You took command of it, lost it in a battle against one of the royal navy’s warships and I had to save your life. It’s how we met. You had luckily put up the black flag, so I knew that you were a pirate. It was by chance that we happen to be the way we are. I joined because of how the king’s taxes ran me out of business, so I became an assassin. Luckily, the first one didn’t work out. I learned my skills from a guild. Except, when I was sent to kill Alice for a client, we fell in love and I killed the client to save her life. The guild… wasn’t too happy, but I thankfully looted the client so that the debt could be paid off. With the guild satisfied, they agreed to host a secret and small wedding service for Alice and I. She was betrothed to someone else, but I steered him to a brothel and he forgot all about her. I resigned from the guild and became a pirate. Both paid well, but it was much more… liberating to be on the sea. Plus, I’ve still got a few friends that owe me favors,” Jack ended, chuckling.

“Didn’t I pay you to secure the Mortis and Vitae for me?” Colton asked.

“Somewhat. You paid me and I just stole the ships in the night. Easiest pay in my life. And I used to be a doctor as well as a baker.” Jack replied.

“You said that you assassinated the owner and stole the contracts!” Colton exclaimed.

“Lesson one to being an assassin. Lie when it would be appropriate,” Jack returned.

Colton broke out in laughter before shouting, “Set course for the Bahamas!”

Jack descended back down to his quarters and opened the journal that had been taken from the corpse on his desk before sending Christopher to get him a bucket. Once he had, he ordered for the doors to be closed. Christopher shut them quickly.

“Now that I have what I need, would you like to see some of my powers?” he questioned.

Vivian and Christopher cheered before they raced over to the side of the desk and watched in curiosity. Alice shivered in remembrance when her husband had caressed her skin with shadows on the night that she first started as a mother. The pleasure and caress of the shadows were always with her. It felt like fabric made of wind as it glided over her body and caused her to moan. She’d seen plenty. Or, at least thought she had. Jack outstretched a hand over the book and caused the surrounding shadows to slither onto the book and within it. Raising his hand up, sea water that still remained in the book was lifted out of the pages before being funneled into the bucket that sat on the side of the table. His children gasped and watched in wonder as the darkness rose from the book with water above it.

“How do you do it Papa?” Vivian chirped, clapping her hands.

“I don’t know how I do it. I just, can,” Jack laughed.

“Can I go meet the crew?” Christopher began.

“Maybe. Why not. I’ll introduce you to Captain Daybreak as well. Vivian, Alice, if you’d like, you could come see the crew as well,” Jack offered.

Striding out the doors, Christopher and Vivian excitedly were on his heels while Alice slowly rose from the bed and followed after. Resting his hands on the rail, Christopher and Vivian peered through the gaps at the crew below. Alice stood to Jack’s right.

“I have a total of forty three crew mates. Their names are:..,” Jack started, listing off each and every crewmate and their job while pointing to them.

The children looked with enthusiasm around as their father pointed out each person, but Alice didn’t pay attention. Now that she was free and with her family again, she simply took in the fact that she was free.

“Is… Benjamin Hamil… dead?” she whispered to Jack.

“I made sure of it. In ways the little ones shouldn’t hear. I doubt that it’ll be possible for you to ever see him unless he’s in a casket,” he soothed.

Alice sighed before resting her arm on the rail while also placing her chin in her hand and gazing out over the blue waters. Jack had his children move back into the cabin before approaching Alice from behind and nuzzling her neck. Her shoulders loosened before she leaned back into him.

“We’ll be in Nassau late tonight. We could get you and the kids some new clothing, and I could introduce you to a man that’s saved me about half as much as I’ve saved him. Colton was the one that helped me escape from Santa Ana. And, we should get you back inside before you burn,” Jack murmured.

“Sounds lovely,” Alice mumbled before turning and walking with Jack back into the Captain’s Cabin.

Once inside, Jack sat down at his desk while Vivian and Alice began to inspect all the trinkets and trophies that he’d placed around the room. Alice pulled a book that interested her from the shelf and sat against the wall on his bed. Deciding that he’d be able to begin, Jack began to intently analyze the pages of the journal.