The sun was stronger than usual on this exciting day. Pelicans watched as an all-female crew loaded a ship with barrels, boxes, and sacks of supplies, preparing for a long journey-- successful one at that. Among them was their captain, Mika Crow, tossing bags up onto the massive wooden vessel. 

If you looked beyond the docks, towards the city, you would notice an overwhelming crowd of onlookers watching them with interest and speculation. They were a sight to see, after all. They were the first of, hopefully, many crews to encourage feminine competency in the Queens fleet. After all, Sirens were a real threat, nowadays. There was at least one new story a month about how a whole crew, pirate or sailor, had been lead to their watery grave by heavenly voices. 

Mika rubbed a coin between her finger and thumb then kissed it and tucked it into her blouse, her golden eyes scanning the deck. “Ladies, I hope you have prepared yourselves. This is our test and we will pass it with the ease of disarming any [i]skilled[/i] swordsman… with a mere smile.” Her lips twisted up, wryly, brightened her expression and putting a glint in her eyes. “Today is the day we pave the way for wayward women to come. We will be a shining beacon to little girls with bravery and curiosity in their hearts--To ladies who seek adventure and freedom on these rough waters.” The women gave a war cry, howling and whistling as their captain walked to the edge of the ship, a bottle of champagne in hand. She tied thin rope around the neck of the bottle and held it up; a few other women did the same, around the ship. “Heave the mooring lines on board! Pull the anchor!” she yelled into the endless blue sky as she tossed the bottle off the side, letting it shatter against the freshly polished wood. The other women did the same then got to work, scattering across the deck, handling the masts and sails. 

They’re destination was a small moving island, which some rumored to be a giant ancient sea turtle, where seafarers gathered to trade stories and goods they've acquired legally or otherwise on their travels. Even to build up or chop down crews. It was a place of loose morals and a tight sense of comradery. If their culprits were anywhere, that would have been a good place to start. What pirate wouldn’t love to brag about offing an entire ship of the queens fleet and getting away with their supplies and merchandise? None could come to Mikas’ mind as she stood at the aft of the boat, staring back at the crowd that waved and called after them. 

“Captain your hair.” A petite blonde woman stood beside her, looking up at the 5 foot 10 woman with bronzed skin. Mika quirked an eyebrow, then realized what she was talking about. Her braid had escaped the pins on the back of her head and unraveled down her back. “Oh-I—“the little woman waved Mika’s hands away and began braiding it again. “So, is this your first time on the ship as well?” she asked as she wove Mikas hair. 

“No, actually, I have plenty of experience underway.” She sighed, knowing that most of her crew had never been out to sea before. She had picked them herself, under the queens command. It took a lot of traveling and waiting to assemble the best crew she could manage. There were plenty of farm girls, bar maids on board, and daughters of smiths and officers.They were hard workers and you could tell by their callused hands and muscled arms and legs. They were not flesh and bone like noble women. “Do you really believe in us, captain?” the woman asked, her voice had dropped to a mumble.

Mika took her hair from the woman and pinned it herself, turning to the reddening face that looked up at her. “There are no doubts of success in my mind.” She grinned. “We will come home much happier, and wealthier, with justice in our hearts.” She placed a hand on Lorains' shoulder and turned her around. “Now go help the other’s. Stop dilly dallying on my watch.” 

It took three weeks of traveling to arrive their, and it had been rough. Several of the women found out they got seasick, and had to stay in their cots until they got a handle on their sea legs. Canon Mary taught some of the girls how to handle the gun powder and canon balls, then how to operate it all. As a requirement by the queen, they had gone through 4 months of training. Some had skills in swordsmanship already, other's knew how to cast minor enchantments, and most were just general hard workers with common sense. 

They pulled into the docks, mooring their ship down. They had taken off all flags and tell tale signs that they were from the queens fleet.Navy Sailors were never really welcomed, and there were some residents that would go out of their way to make that point known. They even changed garb, putting on raggedy clothes and trading in their feathered hats for cloth wraps and jeweled pins. It was just another elementary school game of dress up, to them.

The crew entered the watering hole by the name of 'Davey Jone's Locker', ignoring the whistling and cat calls as they took up a few tables and seats at the bar. Mika sat with her Canon Molly at the bar. They ordered a drink and kept their eyes and ears open for any clues as to who might have sunken the [i]Frederick Harolding[/i] a few weeks back.