Sarpedon

The great pirate era. (Sanquin/Sarpedon)

something bad-luck-y that ceres can fix and have it show that she's not bad luck

The great pirate era. (Sanquin/Sarpedon)

giant shark, whirlpool of doom, waterspout, fire tornado, hurricane, kraken, leviathan, sirens, mermaids, dragon, pirates, marines, kittens, puppies... dunno, one of those? I can probably come up with more if you want

The great pirate era. (Sanquin/Sarpedon)

giant shark, whirlpool of doom, waterspout, fire tornado, hurricane, kraken, leviathan, sirens, mermaids, dragon, pirates, marines, kittens, puppies... dunno, one of those? I can probably come up with more if you want

The great pirate era. (Sanquin/Sarpedon)

well, they wouldn't all die. if she was bad luck, they would all die.

The great pirate era. (Sanquin/Sarpedon)

Octavius sighed quietly to himself once he was sure they were not going to be caught by anyone. The marines just weren't quick enough, since they lacked magical powers. There was some cheering and some moving on, but the pirate lord didn't participate in either. He was still mostly stuck on the fact that he was here, actually working for someone else. It was an awful feeling. He wanted his freedom back. And then, of course, Ceres showed up, trying to get him in her debt again. He didn't care how much treasure she had in the hold, he was not about to make any deals. And he didn't need her charity looming over his head either. "It's your ship and your cargo, do with it as you please. I'm not asking you for anything." he said, managing to sound polite, but also like someone who'd just given away a good deal more than they realized. Even so, the last thing he needed was the threat of him owing this woman something. She was terrible enough as it was, he didn't need her giving him things. If she started expecting things in return down the line, he could see himself ruined. Having been ruined enough for several lifetimes over the past year or so, the pirate was not about to start accepting "free" offerings. If Ceres was any kind of a real pirate, she understood that the captain of the ship divided up the spoils. There was no deal-making before hand. This sort of thing had rules. Most of them couldn't really apply now, considering the way the looting had been done, but that didn't mean she could just start messing with the gold of other men. She had a crew to pay, whether they were hers or not, and just forking over whatever valuable nonsense she found in the hold wasn't going to do.

He supposed she might try to pull some "mine and yours" bullshit, about how the ship was hers, but the crew wasn't and all sorts of drivel like that. And technically she would be right. But that wasn't a very good kind of right. Indeed, he would be more than happy to dispute her little technicality until the ship was sunk and all hands drowned. Of course, he didn't mention any of that, or let it show. They hadn't even gotten that far yet. He was just antsy to be ruling the seas once more. On his ship, with his crew, sailing the various seas and striking his own personal brand of terror into anyone he came across. So the last thing he needed was someone financing such a thing. If he accepted this even split, and then Ceres tried to stake some sort of claim on his empire, well, things would get horribly ugly. It was just easier to refuse. He could get another ship, fairly or otherwise. One that wouldn't cost him a debt to anyone. One that wouldn't have any women on it...

((cue near disaster that proves Ceres isn't bad luck?))

The great pirate era. (Sanquin/Sarpedon)

Of course Ceres had some words to say about how she hadn't been informed of the marines showing up. Octavius had no time for her silliness though. Yes, it was her ship, but if she wanted to know about enemies showing up, she ought to stay in earshot. It was very clear that she wasn't too worried about all that, though, since he didn't have time to answer before she was going off on everyone else, upset about the progress they had made.. The pirate lord just stood quietly by his cannon, waiting for someone else to show up and need shooting. That didn't last long, of course. He sighed as he was ordered to the helm. "Good job, skipper. You're a helmsman now. Good fucking work." he grumbled to himself, careful not to let anyone else here. Outwardly, he looked relatively calm, leaving his gun and heading over to the tiller. He fiddled with it a bit while the ship got moving. They just about ripped their moorings out of the docks while the crew took their time getting the hawsers reeled in. They hadn't even started until they were told what to do. He wasn't sure whose fault that was, though. Regardless, he already had the tiller cranked properly when magic started happening. It seemed that the captain was not about to wait for the crew to get themselves together, and instead she had her magical water powers get them started. That had them going places a lot quicker than he expected, and the Shotgun Preacher wound up using his left leg to anchor himself to the deck, letting it transform and bite into the nearest stable support. Knowing that he wasn't going anywhere made it easy enough for him to get the ship pointed in the right direction, since all he really needed to do was hang on.

Despite the urgency and the insanity of the whole ordeal, he still managed to look almost bored. "Let's go, cap'n, I've got it." he suggested, doing his best to hang onto his tone. He had seen Ceres glancing at the helm, obviously concerned about something or other. Given the amount of concentration her work had to take, she was obviously worrying about far too much. Probably wondering if someone capable was actually working. But of course, she was looking at a notorious pirate lord, of course he was capable. More than capable, even. And if she didn't believe in him, he supposed she could always get someone else to steer. Indeed, she would have to once he got his own ship. He looked forward to that, wondering if she would just have to sail the whole ship herself. He was pretty sure she didn't trust any of the sailors he had rounded up, based on the way she treated them. He wasn't saying he trusted them any more, but she didn't have the sort of faith that he did. That was the real problem. He chuckled, wondering how long it would take her to be satisfied with a crew, and how long it would take her to replace them, when they inevitably died or split. All these thoughts were happy distractions from the menial task he had been given. Used to steering his own ship, this was no effort for Octavius, who was more than capable of getting the tiny ship out of the harbour without any trouble, even considering the break-neck pace that they had started out on. The only real problem, was that this was not the way things were supposed to go. He wasn't supposed to be working for someone else. Just the thought of it sapped his motivation. Why should he care at all? Thankfully, he wouldn't have to care for long. They would get to some pirate haven or another quickly enough, and then he could just fuck off and find his own crew, and his own ship, and reforge his legend once more...

The great pirate era. (Sanquin/Sarpedon)

insane people see their affliction everywhere

The great pirate era. (Sanquin/Sarpedon)

try that on for size, oh patient one

The great pirate era. (Sanquin/Sarpedon)

all righty, fair enough. I'll go whip up some new stuff, and have a conversation with Octo about how to behave around psycho waterladies

The great pirate era. (Sanquin/Sarpedon)

so yes?
if I told you he's working through some issues right now, would that help? think about it, he's been locked in prison for a good solid year or more, chained to a wall, and basically waiting to rot to death. and then when opportunity knocks, he winds up promising essentially his soul just to get out of prison. and now the person who rescued him is asking someone who is used to being one of the greatest pirates he knows about, to work for them like your average charter captain, or a common mercenary. if you were the baddest motherfucker you knew existed, would you take kindly to someone asking you to run their operation instead of yours, when you wouldn't actually get anything out of it?

I am planning an attitude adjustment when they show up at the nearest pirate haven and no one has barely a clue who the fuck he is. then he and ceres build a mutual respect, and go fuck shit up. but I suppose I can change it now if you're really unhappy about it.