Twilight Seal

"Captain! Captain!" A panicked young woman with vibrant auburn hair called. She entered a small cabin and rested for a slight moment, desperately trying to reclaim her breath. She then immediately stood erect, her freckled face still rather flushed. The woman saluted respectfully.

"Please forgive my sudden intrusion and unruly manner, Captain," she apologized sincerely. "But we have just spotted three enemy ships heading our way. It looks like they're allying and they're heavily armed."

Slowly, the captain, who had been facing away from the woman, turned around to face her and began walking out of the room. The captain was wearing an eccentric seaweed-green, floral-patterned admiral's coat and a leathery charcoal hat with a cardinal-red fox tail attached to the brim. A black, silky cape hovered behind the coat. "Tell the crew to get Sparky IV out and arm themselves with exactly one sword and a firearm of their choosing. Nothing else."

Obviously the auburn-headed woman was troubled but she made no attempt to argue. Instead, she saluted once more and dashed out of the cabin, yelling orders as she did so. The captain calmly strutted up to the deck and held up a white flag, waving it vigorously around in the air as the crew gaped in shock.

All the faces seemed to scream, "what in the world are you doing?" However, nobody spoke up; they all just stared in the most dignified manner. The enemy ships that had been pacing towards them came to a sudden halt and began slowly turning back, indicating that they acknowledge and accepted the truce. Leisurely, the captain let the white flag sag down and walked over to a colossal, golden cannon.

"On my order, light Sparky IV," the captain murmured to a nearby passenger. The passenger grinned, revealing a full row of silver and gold teeth. A brief second past and the captain exclaimed, "now!" There was a deafening boom that was followed by a fury of smoke and debris. Time seemed to cease to exist for a moment. When the thick, musty, gray smoke cleared out to the best of its ability, the captain and the passengers squinted closer to see what had become of the enemy ships.

In the midst of all this confusion and anxiousness, a triumphant voice cried out, "we've won!" A thundering cacophony filled the air as the passengers danced around in joy. They could see now a misshapen figure of the three enemy ships, sinking slowly and miserably into the depths of the raging sea beneath them.

They all celebrated until the vermilion veins of the sun dispersed. The fading sunlit sky seemed to breathe a sigh of relief after watching over the ship for the entire day. It made way for a starry blanket of darkness. Even after that the crew still danced the night away. A glorious feast was even held! A toast dedicated to their quick-witted captain had them all eager and excited.

Authoritatively, the captain jumped onto the long wooden table and stomped on it in an attempt to grab the crew's attention. Before the captain could say anything else cheers erupted and echoed throughout the entire ship. "Captain, you did marvelously!" praised one person. "Aye, nobody could've done better!"

The captain smiled humbly, showing no sign of pride or avarice. "Thank you, thank you." The captain's humble smile converted into a disgruntled sneer. "But no man will ever set foot on my ship. Not unless they're prisoners." With these words, the captain dramatically took off the cape she was wearing, exposing her true form. The captain was a woman! She thrust her sword in the air.

"Twilight Seal is the best pirate ship to have ever existed!" More cries of jubilation erupted. "Long live Captain Vixen!" The captain, Captain Jamie-Marie Vixen, bowed down and expeditiously jumped off the table again. She was a stunning young woman with pure-diamond hair and a fair complexion. Her hazel-colored eyes twinkled with an odd look of content every time she smiled.

Now, the Twilight Seal was a different kind of pirate ship. Of course, every single pirate on board was just as cutthroat and treasure-hungry as any other pirate. However, there was one unambiguous thing that made them quite well-known. Every single passenger on the Twilight Seal was a woman. On this cryptic ship, there were pirates with names and pasts that would frighten the soul out of little children and there were others who would make the most uptight person in the world laugh to their heart's content.

You had 'Rum' Rosemarie, the captain's first mate and a pirate with a concerning rum-addiction, Abigail 'Fang' was a pirate with abnormally sharp teeth, Eirene 'Dainty Hands' Smith, a pirate who believed proper etiquette could get you just about anywhere.

There was Anne 'Jagged Face,' a pirate who's left face was deformed from falling off a waterfall and brushing her cheek against sharp rocks in the process. 'Silent Scarlet' was a mute pirate. She communicated with sign language and facial expressions. You almost never saw her happy. The pirate who had lit Sparky IV was known as 'Treasure Jaw.' She had a funny accent; it sounded like a British accent mixed with an incoherent French accent.

Other honorable mentions were 'Poker Face' Isabel, a pirate who earned her name by the reoccurring look of boredom on her face. Marian Triartus had an unsightly outgrown bone that made it look like she had three arms. Winnie Cecco, a pirate with no special abilities or attributes who named herself after the infamous pirate Cecco, and a pirate whom everybody called, 'Nameless.' Nobody remembered 'Nameless's' true given name.

Back to the scene, the pirates were all still blissfully celebrating, and at first glance, it seemed like everything was perfect and jubilant. However, if one was to look deeper into the celebration, they could tell that there was one particular mind that was conspicuously upset. Captain Vixen walked towards the edge of the boat and stared off into the distance. The waves beneath her gently swayed the boat back and forth.

A soft, soothing breeze swept over them as if the radiant moon was whispering gossip to the mischievous little stars. The breeze carried an ataractic scent, a scent that highly resembled a mixture of soft rain and a minty forest. Midnight's starry blanket had thoroughly covered the sky but Vixen knew that daybreak's bright reminder of another day was soon to arrive.

Meanwhile, 'Rum' Rosemarie had finally sobered up to the best of her ability from drinking so much. (However, she was still very intoxicated.) She joined the captain's intense gaze at the distance.

"What's on your mind?" Rosemarie questioned. Too captivated by staring off into the distance, Vixen didn't reply at first. 'Rum' Rosemarie gave her a swift shove with her shoulder and Vixen, startled by the impact, widened her heavy eyelids, revealing a curious twinkle in the reflection of her eyes.

When 'Rum' Rosemarie repeated her question, Captain Vixen went back to staring off into the distance. "Do you believe in the legends?" was the reply. Rosemarie shrugged. Her glossy brunette hair bobbed up and down when she did.

"Which ones?" The captain didn't remove her firm gaze on the distance. "Have you ever heard of The Abyss of Fortune?"

"Of course. It's a fantasy city that's full of riches and treasures of all kinds, right?" 'Rum' Rosemarie got out another bottle of rum to chug. Vixen snatched it out of her hand and threw it into the ocean, creating a flurry of ripples. Rosemarie's eyes narrowed in a medley of acrimony. "Stop drinking that ridiculous thing! This is serious," she scolded.

"What if I told you The Abyss of Fortune was," Vixen paused suspensefully and grinned, "real?" For a moment, Rosemarie stared at her captain with a blank expression. Then, she blinked, as if to check whether she was really awake.

"Captain, have you been drinking any rum? You know very well you can't handle it," Vixen's first mate studied her, making sure the captain wasn't drunk. "Oh, quit it! I haven't been drinking and I'm serious, Rosemarie." Captain Vixen's grin widened and her eyes seemed to twinkle more than ever. Her face cried out for an adventure.

"And I mean to find it." With these words, the Captain of Twilight Seal raced back to her cabin, leaving 'Rum' Rosemarie in a state of utter perplexion.