“Ah, there she is! The beautiful Burich Islands!” Erick shouted as Westley rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

“Why is everything female?” Westley asked as Erick paused and shrugged.

“No idea, guess gals are just better at naming stuff?” Erick said as he quickly ran to the helm.

Westley slowly walked over to the railing of the deck and took in the sight before him. The Burich islands were more than one bleak Island surrounded by a bunch of barren rocks that the locals called islands. It was a nice place to visit if you liked dreary old drunken seaport towns, which sadly Captain Ashrock did. He glanced up at his captain at the helm, his wavy black hair was fluffed and stuffed haphazardly under his hat. His silver-grey eyes locked on the islands, ignoring Westley as he inspected his strong muscles and facial hair. He had that rugged swashbuckler look going for him, like the ones you’d look at and think “he’s so hot and mysterious!” however when Westley looked at him his thought was “he's so wasted and full of himself.” yes he did have to admit Captain Ashrock had his good traits but after spending three years stuck on the sea with him you saw more flaws than good.

“Watch out on the port!” Erick shouted as Westley snapped out of his thoughts and realized they were heading straight towards the port.

“Captain! I really think you should let me dock the ship!” Westley said as he ran up to the helm and tried to take the wheel.

“Nonsense Wes! We just need the fine people on the dock to get out of the way.” Erick said as he threw the wheel too hard to the left.

“CAPTAIN! I don’t think this is a good idea!” Westley cried out and he quickly adjusted the wheel.

“Oh, hush Wes it’s fine!” Erick shouted as he tugged on the wheel again. 

CRUNCH echoed through the port as their ship shook. Westley quickly ran over to the bow to see what had happened.

“Are you crazy! You almost killed me!” a very angry old man shouted from the water. Westley gulped, their ship had run over and crushed his small fishing boat.

“Sorry friend didn’t see you there!” Erick said merrily as he joined Westley on the bow.

“I’ll gut you like a fish, you rotten no-good bastard pirate!” The fisherman shouted with rage as Erick just smiled and walked back to the deck.

“What charming locals! Always so welcoming!” Erick said as he sent a plant down the side of the ship and somehow gracefully walked down it.

“I’m really sorry about your boat!” Westley called out as he quickly went to follow Erick.

“Just another adventure, Westley, just another adventure,” Westley whispered to himself as he followed his Captain through the dirty and full streets of Burich.

Everything here was dirty and covered in grime. The people, the food, the livestock, the housing, all of it was just dirty and bleak. He felt terrible for the people who lived here, well the ones who didn’t live there by choice. The people who chose to live there by choice chose their poison when they got here.

“Ah, here! The Sirens Heart Tavern, home of the best rum in the world.” Erick said as he opened the door.

“Oh look! Captain handsome back!” one barmaid swooned as they walked into the Tavern. Westley scoffed this is why he hated coming to this place, all the women were all over Erick and he was always too drunk to refuse them so he had to fight them back like the vultures they were.

“He may be handsome but we all know what a terrible pirate he is, managed to lose his entire crew in two months, except for his little cabin boy he dragged along with him.” another pirate scoffed as Westley felt a rage bubble inside him.

“For your information, I'm not a cabin boy, I'm his first mate you brute,” Westley said as the man rolled his eyes.

“Only because there's no other crew. Of course your first mate, he has no other option.” the man laughed as Westley quickly looked at the floor.

Of course, he was only in this position because the rest of the crew left, he wasn't even supposed to be on that ship in the first place that day. He was exploring the ships and planning to stow away and finally explore new places and see new sights. Instead the fumbling 18 year old got himself caught. Erick had been so intimidating back then, at only twenty years old, and was fearsome yet handsome. Westley had broken down and begged him not to flog him or throw him overboard when he had caught him. Erick agreed to let him stay if he became his first mate, which basically meant being his errand boy. He had eagerly agreed, there were days he wished he hadn’t. After two years at sea Erick changed, became an alcoholic, and extremely reckless, the only thing standing between Erick and a spot in Davy Jones locker was him.  Erick had taken pity on him then and now all Westley did was take pity on his captain. What was keeping him there anyway, the crew was gone and Erick was always too drunk to stop him, yet something made him stay.

“Let's go, Wes no need to bother the locals,” Erick called as he made his way to a table.

“Yes, because I'm the one bothering them,” Westley muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes as he followed Erick to a table in the corner.

“Don’t listen to them Wes, I picked you to be my first mate out of the rest because I saw your potential, besides you've also stuck around. Which makes you way better than the whole lot of them.” Erick said, smiling as one of the barmaids walked up to them.

“What'll it be, Captain handsome?” The barmaid asked, her voice dripping with lust and greed. Westley scowled at her.

“you know my usual darling, a good stiff bottle of rum,” Erick said as he draped his arms across the back of the booth they were sitting at.

“What is it with pirates and rum?” Westley asked as the barmaid walked away shaking her hips to get Erick to notice her. It was almost comical how hard they all tried when he didn’t even notice them. To Erick, all the women were just another small speck of dust on dirt, completely unnoticeable.

“Well it’s a bloody good drink and it's easy to store on the ships, besides people will pay a good price for rum,” Erick said as he tossed a coin on the table as the barmaid brought them both a bottle of rum.

“People will also pay a good price for an amazing night.” The barmaid winked as she tried to discreetly flash her cleavage at Erick.

Westley quickly took a swig of rum to avoid vomiting on the table. He had nothing against women but honestly, the thought of them hitting on Erick made him want to throw up. Erick was the player type however the most he had ever done was kiss women. He may be a whore but he was respectful to them, kissing was as far as he went. He didn’t want them to get attached and then be heartbroken when he left them behind the next day.

“Indeed, if you know the name of a decent Inn around here please do share. my first mate and I would pay full price for a good night's sleep.” Erick said calmly as the Barmaids' dreams disappeared.

“Why do that when you and I can have a fun night together?” The barmaid cooed as she fluttered her eyelashes.

"why would I go do stuff with you when I can have a good night's sleep and a bottle of rum? If it's an adventure you want and you're implying you wish to travel with us I don't think it would work. You look as if you have the worst sea legs in the world, you don't have the proper build to be crew. your scrawny arms and soft hands would be destroyed by the coarse thick rope we have on the ship. maybe you'd make a good cabin girl if you do wish to come along with us." Erick said as the barmaid scoffed and walked off in a huff.

"you know very well that's not what she meant," Westley said his voice full of laughter. Erick smiled and shook his head.

"I know what she wanted," Erick said as he cringed and Westley laughed.

"she's not going to get it. besides, why let her ride my ship when I can spend the night drinking with you." Erick chuckled as Westley quickly took another drink.

His face was hot for some reason. the fact that his captain wanted to spend time with him and not a sleazy barmaid for some reason made his chest warm. why was he acting this way? His captain was legit just stating that he would be doing what he planned to do this entire time. he was being foolish.

"I'll be back in a moment Wes, I'm going to go order our restock of rum," Erick said as he got up from the table and made his way to the bar where the bartender was whipping down the wooden counter.

Westley felt his heart flutter as he watched Erick walk over to the bar. he must be getting sick, He would pick up some more proper food when they made a pit stop at Montport. He groaned as he thought of the last time they got food from Montport. If Burich had the best rum around then Montport had the best food. the place was just brimming from end to end with vendors selling all sorts of food. His favorite place to stop at was this stand that sold the most amazing meat pies. The crust was perfectly crisp but soft, and the gravy and meat were always cooked to perfection. His mouth was already watering at the thought, he was convincing Erick to stop so they could get some food.

"THERE YOU ARE! YOU DIRTY PIRATE BASTARD. YOU'LL BE SLEEPING WITH THE FISHES WHEN IM DONE WITH YOU!" a very familiar voice screamed from across the tavern drawing Westley's thoughts away from food.

He quickly looked in the direction of the voice to find his captain in the clutches of one of the worst pirates on the seven seas Pirate Captain Clayland Vossler. The old man from earlier was seething and still dripping standing next to them. Clayland was at least two sizes bigger than Erick, His mud-brown hair stuck to his face and hat as he stared into Erick's cool silver eyes with his murky amber ones. Westley sighed as he got up from the table and approached them.

"I hate the Burich islands"