under my
control- and you are under my control as well.”
“ No, Captain. I’m not. I’m
myself. I make my own decisions. You can try to manipulate and
trick me all you like, but you’ll never have me do something I
didn’t intend to. I’m not a crook like you.”
The Captain laughs. “My
dearest Ketiere, manipulating people isn’t necessarily wrong.
Rulers, leaders, employers, even captains are manipulators of other
humans. The difference in skill is whether or not the people being
manipulated notice or mind that they are being controlled.”
“ Then you must be pretty
shitty at manipulating people, Salt, ‘cuz I mind a lot.”
“ The minding and noticing
parts are interchangeable, but enough of that- you’ll learn it all
in time. I’m actually quite confident that you’ll do the right
thing, simply because I’m confident in my ability to train
upstanding humans like yourself. I think it’s time for you to try
and take the reins of the Nocturna from me.”
Colette’s quiet and slowly places her
hand upon her revolver inside her coat. “What do you
mean?”
The Captain nods. “Just as I said.
Miss Ketiere. You seem ready to kill me,” The Captain says, taking
up his rifle, and then placing it on the ground. “If you kill me,
you get my ship, my gun, and of course, my beloved hat. An exciting
proposition, no?”
She squints at her
commander. “You’re joking, right? I don’t actually want to kill you. You might be a
major saltass, but I’m not just going to kill someone who’s
unarmed.”
The Captain laughs, a very unnerving
sound for Colette. “Yes, I imagined such, which is why I prepared a
countermeasure.” Colette squints in uncertainty, and The Captain
takes that as cue to continue. “Just two meters below us, is an
unconscious Miss Vereyrty. And I’m going to try to kill you,” he
says, placing the cheese and crackers aside on a rock.
Colette smirks with a gaze that oozes
sarcasm. “Yeah, cool. Don’t lie to me, Captain.”
“ And after I kill you, I’m
going to force myself upon your best friend- and she’ll be helpless
to resist,” The Captain says in a completely serious
way.
A distant memory flashes in the back
of Colette’s mind, before she joined The Captain’s crew, before she
knew how to fight, of that one time Grancis and herself were
cornered in an alleyway by a group of drunk men, right when The
Captain appeared. There’s a part of her that knows he’s lying, but
the rest of her is crying out for action. “That’s not even remotely
funny, Captain,” she says, hair raising to their ends as she
tightly grips the handle of her gun as if it were
Grancis.
He leans his head forward
in the most thug-like way Colette’s seen him. “Who the hell’s
joking, ship hand ?”
“ You’re… You’re nuts. You
can’t even physically do
that . You’re just a bunch of stupid damn sand !”
The Captain draws out a
knife, and runs it across his bandaged face. “You think I was
talking about sex? Oh no- I just like slicing people up.”
Her entirety’s shaking now
as she draws her gun. “You… you wouldn’t !”
“ Why else would I take up
two useless girls on my ship like you two?”
“ T-… to make us better! To
teach us!”
The Captain laughs. “You
idiot. I adore seeing people crushed. I saw the sparks in your eyes, the
innocence. I just knew I had to save you both and then take it
away. To nurture it for a time, and once I saw the childhood in
your eyes being revealed to me, the trust, I’d crush it completely.
I’m going to kill you like one captain to another, but little
Grancis, I’m going to take my time with
her . I heard her cry out in pain once in
the kitchen when a pot fell on her foot, I could hardly keep myself
from bursting in there and vivisecting her while telling her that
everything was going to be okay. I wouldn’t have told you, and I
was going to cook her up and serve her to you, only to have you
connect the dots later that
control- and you are under my control as well.”
“ No, Captain. I’m not. I’m
myself. I make my own decisions. You can try to manipulate and
trick me all you like, but you’ll never have me do something I
didn’t intend to. I’m not a crook like you.”
The Captain laughs. “My
dearest Ketiere, manipulating people isn’t necessarily wrong.
Rulers, leaders, employers, even captains are manipulators of other
humans. The difference in skill is whether or not the people being
manipulated notice or mind that they are being controlled.”
“ Then you must be pretty
shitty at manipulating people, Salt, ‘cuz I mind a lot.”
“ The minding and noticing
parts are interchangeable, but enough of that- you’ll learn it all
in time. I’m actually quite confident that you’ll do the right
thing, simply because I’m confident in my ability to train
upstanding humans like yourself. I think it’s time for you to try
and take the reins of the Nocturna from me.”
Colette’s quiet and slowly places her
hand upon her revolver inside her coat. “What do you
mean?”
The Captain nods. “Just as I said.
Miss Ketiere. You seem ready to kill me,” The Captain says, taking
up his rifle, and then placing it on the ground. “If you kill me,
you get my ship, my gun, and of course, my beloved hat. An exciting
proposition, no?”
She squints at her
commander. “You’re joking, right? I don’t actually want to kill you. You might be a
major saltass, but I’m not just going to kill someone who’s
unarmed.”
The Captain laughs, a very unnerving
sound for Colette. “Yes, I imagined such, which is why I prepared a
countermeasure.” Colette squints in uncertainty, and The Captain
takes that as cue to continue. “Just two meters below us, is an
unconscious Miss Vereyrty. And I’m going to try to kill you,” he
says, placing the cheese and crackers aside on a rock.
Colette smirks with a gaze that oozes
sarcasm. “Yeah, cool. Don’t lie to me, Captain.”
“ And after I kill you, I’m
going to force myself upon your best friend- and she’ll be helpless
to resist,” The Captain says in a completely serious
way.
A distant memory flashes in the back
of Colette’s mind, before she joined The Captain’s crew, before she
knew how to fight, of that one time Grancis and herself were
cornered in an alleyway by a group of drunk men, right when The
Captain appeared. There’s a part of her that knows he’s lying, but
the rest of her is crying out for action. “That’s not even remotely
funny, Captain,” she says, hair raising to their ends as she
tightly grips the handle of her gun as if it were
Grancis.
He leans his head forward
in the most thug-like way Colette’s seen him. “Who the hell’s
joking, ship hand ?”
“ You’re… You’re nuts. You
can’t even physically do
that . You’re just a bunch of stupid damn sand !”
The Captain draws out a
knife, and runs it across his bandaged face. “You think I was
talking about sex? Oh no- I just like slicing people up.”
Her entirety’s shaking now
as she draws her gun. “You… you wouldn’t !”
“ Why else would I take up
two useless girls on my ship like you two?”
“ T-… to make us better! To
teach us!”
The Captain laughs. “You
idiot. I adore seeing people crushed. I saw the sparks in your eyes, the
innocence. I just knew I had to save you both and then take it
away. To nurture it for a time, and once I saw the childhood in
your eyes being revealed to me, the trust, I’d crush it completely.
I’m going to kill you like one captain to another, but little
Grancis, I’m going to take my time with
her . I heard her cry out in pain once in
the kitchen when a pot fell on her foot, I could hardly keep myself
from bursting in there and vivisecting her while telling her that
everything was going to be okay. I wouldn’t have told you, and I
was going to cook her up and serve her to you, only to have you
connect the dots later that
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