Chapter 5 - Pirates pt. 1

"Hey, Girlie." The man at the front greeted, grinning darkly. "Got any rum?"

Lucianna's grip on the mug tightens, yet she put a bright smile on her face, braving against the men that barged into her tavern. "We do! How many barrels, sir?"

The man, who seems to be the leader of the group, walk closer to her and slammed a hand on the bar counter, grinning in amusement when she didn't even flinch (of course, she wouldn't flinch, she's raised a by Dragonian Knight!). "A hundred barrels and a little more."

Luci raised an eyebrow at his response and glanced at his men, who were eyeing her rather disgustingly, then back at the man again. "A little over a hundred barrels seems to be too many for you and your group."

"I don't like that snarky tone of yours, girl." The man nearly snarled, going closer to Lucianna's face, who merely smiled coldly at him.

"And I don't like how you and your troops want to get drunk on Fuoco for all I know you all could be tainted and need the booze to strengthen it."

"You better watched it."

"And you better watch your actions as well, you entered a territory of the Dragons… they don't take kindly to people who decided to mess with one of theirs."

A stare-off between them and the men standing behind their defacto leader started to bet with each other, completely unaware of the growing crowds surrounding the tavern, most of them hiding and clenching something on their hands. They were so focused on the bar maiden and the leader of the group, that they didn't notice two men walk through the gathered crowd.

One seems to be in their mid-20s to late-20s and had blond hair styled with a bob cut mixed with an undercut at the back of his head, lazy silver eyes glancing around the area, smirking slightly in amusement, with a height of 6'8", and wearing royal blue pants that ended near just above his ankle, with a purple sash tied on it and purple long sleeve shirt, lastly a pair of black male crisscross sandal to complete the look.

The other man was a lot taller than the blond and older. This man was nearly reaching 8'2" in height and seemed to be in their 40s, with a mustache on their face, slightly dull and wavy shoulder-length white yellow hair, wearing dirty white pants, a black sash, and a cloak over his shoulders, didn't wear any upper clothes, which reveals scars that he has on his body as well as a white tricorne hat on his head. His red eyes also eyed their surroundings, not bothered if the people standing behind him saw the skull and crossbones on his cloak, and his lips were shaped into a grin of amusement.

Despite the amusement both men are feeling, the smaller blond-hair man slightly felt fear at the sight of Lucianna standing bravely in front of the man in front of her, not even knowing the reason why because he was pretty sure he didn't see her before. He was snapped out of his thought when the man slammed his hand on the counter again and this time he could hear growls coming from the people around him.

Deciding that it was enough, he walk towards them, raised his hand, and immediately gave the man a knife-hand strike on his head, cutting off their stare down. The men that were betting groaned but then paled at the sight of his back, while the crowd that was growing outside stopped growling, and Lucianna blink as the man was rubbing the area he was struck on.

"What was that about?!" The man shouted, turning around to look at the person who strike him, making the bar maiden do the same. The man slowly lost his color when the blond gave him a smirk that smells danger, while Luci blink once more, flushing slightly at the face of the handsome man, her grip on the mug loosening slightly. "V-V-Vice C–Captain!"

Those who didn't know the group blinked in confusion before tensing when the taller man walk in, who garnered all of the people's attention, and while the group who barged into Lucianna's tavern turned blue, she herself merely gape at the sight of a giant demon (a hybrid it seems) walk closer towards her counter.

"Captain!"

"What are you knuckleheads thinking?" The one that was called Vice-Captain asked.

"U-um… try to buy some rum?" The man answered, and this made him sigh, then struck him in the head again.

"Idiot! If you want to buy something, there is no need to boost yourself or act so terrifyingly at the people here!" He said, before turning to look at the bar maiden and smiling gently.

"I'm sorry for what my crew member had done. it wasn't intentional, I assure you." Lucianna blink before glancing at the taller man and then back at the person that was talking to her.

"Are you still going to drink rum?" She asked and this made the Captain laugh.

"Yes, we are, though we won't be causing you any trouble."

"Because you're trouble?" Luci raised an eyebrow and this made the men that were bothering her before gape.

"Cheeky… you're not afraid of pirates?" the Vice-Captain asked, this time holding the ear of the de-facto leader of the group.

"Pirates?" Lucianna muttered, glancing between the men that are surrounding her. "I do believe the Sinisters and Daemons are a lot scarier than you who loves Adventures and the Sea... unless of course those pirates themselves are tainted and merely become one to wreak havoc."

"Ahahaha! Clever." The Giant hybrid slightly bowed his head. "The names Edward, Captain of the Golden Pearl. "

"Golden Pearl?" Luci asked, tilting her head to the side and eyeing the captain. Golden Pearl is the name of the ship of a Pirate Crew called Ashkenair, known for having every type of race as a part of their crew. The Captain is a hybrid of Giant and Human, while the Vice-Captain is known to be human. Despite being Pirates, they are actually good people… if she disregards rumors of them pillaging and abusing women. "And what is the esteem Captain of Ashkenair doing here in this village?"

"We're searching for someone we were told they'll be in this village." The Vice-Captain answered, making her look at him, which made him nod at her, the pirate that tried to intimidate her was no longer in his hand, in fact, he was knocked out behind him. "You can call me Marco, Vice-Captain of Ashkenair."

Lucianna tilts her head to the sides, eyes narrowing. "That's weird, never heard that name before."

"Marco is just a nickname."

"Huh…" Lucianna hummed before turning to look at everyone that was inside her tavern, and then outside. "Everything's okay everyone! You can leave now!"

The pirates blink before turning to look outside and saw people glaring at them while glancing at Lucianna with worry before they all turned and left, hesitantly. The bar maiden nods in satisfaction and looks back at the captain and Vice-Captain.

"Well, I do hope that your reputation precedes you." She stated and then smiled brightly at them. "Welcome to Everlight! Please sit down wherever and I'll be bringing your rum in a bit!"

"Alright!"

"Thank you, Lassie." Edward nodded before he and Marco sat down on the chairs in front of her bar.

"...." Luci merely smiled, not bothering to say her name before turning around and preparing to serve their drink.