Eddie dove behind a fallen table as bullets flew past him. The lively tavern had quickly become a war zone in the matter of seconds. After Eddie pulled out his sword many of the other pirates had egged the fight on enjoying the unexpected entertainment. The poor tavern owner had shouted at them desperately to take their dispute outside, but a fight for honor stopped for no one. But of course all thoughts of honor went out the window the second a shot was fired. The pirates who had been enjoying the fight quickly dove for cover and tried making their escape. 

Eddie could have also ran away from the scene, but his crew was still fighting. Ian slid behind the table right after him with a livid look on his face. Eddie ignored him and peeked over the table. He only had a few shots left, so his gun remained in his hand idly. The door was only a few steps away, but if he made a move he would get shot. A non-fatal gunshot wound wasn't a big deal, but the recovery time would set his plans back. 

"Captain," Ian said sternly.

Eddie sat back behind the table and faced his first mate.

"What?" He said unassumingly.

"Captain I warned you but, somehow, here we are."

"Did you warn me?"

"I told you to not anger them or else they'd become hostile."

"I didn't anger them. They're just sore losers."

"Calling them 'the biggest failures in all of Pirate Town history' really put them in the best mood didn't it?"

"They started it," he said before peeking over the table again. "It'll be fine. Besides Cameron is having fun!"

As if on cue Cameron also flew behind the table bullets flying through the tavern wall missing him by a hair. Excitement filled his eyes despite the fact that he was fighting for his life.

"That guy cheated. Pulling a gun out in the middle of a sword fight is dishonorable."

"The both of you are crazy," Ian snapped. "I suggest we get out of here while we still have the map."

"We can fight them off!" Cameron said enthusiastically.

"Captain," Ian said ignoring Cameron's eagerness. "What is your plan?"

"Plan? We just have to make it out the door."

His words were dismissive, but Eddie was already racking his brain for a solution. If he lost the map after winning that impossible Idle Dragons game he would light Pirate Town on fire. That bastard Captain Haven had cheated and it took every ounce of his brain power to win the game. Perhaps that's why he thoughtlessly insulted Haven.

"Atlas! Come out here and fight like a real man!"

Atlas was the striking moniker that the residents of Pirate Town had given Eddie. When he first became a pirate captain he created quite the ruckus in the Unconquered Lands, but nobody actually knew his name. He had surprised everyone with his outstanding wit by being able to find many lost treasures, thus the name Atlas. He hadn't been a pirate captain for too long before he had many achievements under his belt. Eddie didn't really care about the other pirate captains when he became one, and when he was finally bothered to introduce himself he was surpirsed to find he had been renamed Atlas.

"A real man wouldn't pull a gun during a sword fight!" He shouted back at him.

"Atlas I'll skin you alive!"

Eddie rolled his eyes. Haven could talk all he wanted, but that washed up old pirate wasn't able to hurt anyone. He tried to keep his power in Pirate Town by mercilessly bullying younger pirate captains who didn't know what they were doing. Despite his best efforts to avoid him, Eddie quickly realized Haven was like a stubborn stain that wouldn't disappear.

"Let's just fight him," Cameron said.

"The map is more important,"

"We won't be able to get out of here without fighting."

"We'll lose the map if we fight!"

Eddie listened to his two crewmates bicker with one another. They were both right, but who was more right in this situation? He had been looking for this map for ages. But on the other hand he really wanted to kick Haven's arse.

Haven's heavy footsteps clomping towards them made Eddie's brain kick into high gear. No more time for stalling. They had to move.

"On the count of three we're going to push the table towards the door. It'll serve as cover when they start shooting at us. Ian's right we need this map. We can fight Haven another day."

Cameron and Ian both nodded at him. His crew might've been very opinionated, and Lux knew they would let him know it, but once Eddie gave an order the crew became one unit working together to reach their goal.

"1...2...3!"

They sprung into action using their strength to move the table towards the door. Haven and his crew started shooting at them, but they were already out the door. Other pirates called it cowardice, Eddie called it smarts.

"ATLAS YOU FILTHY SQUID'S SON. GET BACK HERE!"

Eddie laughed at Haven's anger. That was a new one! He'd have to add it to the list.

******

 Eddie stepped on the deck and immediately caught the attention of another one of his crewmates.

"CAPTAIN'S BACK!" he shouted enthusiastically.

Eddie scratched the back of his neck at Owen's brashness. He didn't have to announce that he had returned as if he was some pompous royal snob. Owen idolized Eddie a lot, which was to be expected, he saved Owen's life after all. But Owen's enthusiasm made his skin itch a bit. He wasn't at all as great as Owen thought he was. Better to leave Owen to his excitement though. Better to let this kid have his fun while he was still a kid.

The rest of his crew spilled onto the deck of the Golden Anchor from below. Eddie could've sworn he told them to clean up while he was gone though. He could see a speck of dirt on the deck. Where was Gale? He was the oldest here and yet he was completely run by the younger ones. They probably made a pact to slack off together. He'd scold them later. For now, he'd just accept their warm welcomes.

"Captain! You were gone longer than expected did everything go alright?"

"Ah yes yes yes." He said dismissively. "You guys don't think I can win a game of Idle Dragons easily?"

"We just had to fight for our lives is all," Ian said.

A bubbly brunette girl hopped over to Eddie excitedly. "Captain! You have the map right!"

He waved the map at Kendall confirming her question.

"Great! So when will we get going?" She asked.

"I think we'll be able to leave in three days. We need to chart a course and collect supplies…" He said. "We still have work to do so don't get too excited."

His crew chattered excitedly ready for a new mission. After all of his daring adventures and fantastic feats, most would assume that Eddie's crew was great in size. On the contrary, his crew was a humble size of twelve. They were all just really good at what they did. He didn't add people to his crew simply because he needed more crewmates. He needed to add people he could trust and that wasn't easy to come by. For a while, it was just Ian, Cameron, and himself on the crew.

He really only picked up people who were in dire need. Most of his crew were young, including himself, and they had no other place to go and no place would accept them. It didn't feel right for Eddie to just leave them when they needed help. When he was in that kind of need, his former captain helped him and changed his life.

"Alright, you all! If you want to raid this dungeon get to your duties!" he said to them.

His crew cheered and chattered lively. They moved on to do their duties.

They continued about their chores while Eddie, Ian, and Cameron made their way up to the navigation room. 

"The winds have been on our sides these days. I doubt it will be a hard journey." Ian said.

"I can't believe Haven was just sitting on this map the whole time." Cameron laughed. "That old hag probably can't leave Pirate Town without his bones creaking."

"He always thinks he can control everything in Pirate Town, but he's got another thing coming if he thinks he can control us," Eddie said.

Pirate Town. A place filled to the brim with criminals, fugitives, and of course pirates. Pirate Town wasn't really a town. It started off as a town and then it grew to consume almost all of the unconquered lands. You couldn't get into the Unconquered Lands without hitting Pirate Town unless you sailed around it. It was a giant marketplace and a giant hole for the worst of the worst. There was no actual government or leader in Pirate Town, but many like Haven tried to take control.

"But he doesn't matter anymore. We got this precious map that will lead us to precious treasure."

The map he obtained was a map of a vault that was created by fairies. It was rumored to hold all sorts of treasures. Even if the treasure wasn't actual gold or diamonds, Eddie was sure that whatever treasure was inside had to be worth a lot of it. It was practically a pirate's dream come true, which is why Haven held it over everyone's heads for so long. Eddie had to smile at his own wits. He wouldn't have gotten this map without it. 

He opened the map and took a look at it. There were a few markings, but the location of the vault and the date on it would be enough to know that it wasn't far away. Eddie smirked. This was going to be easier than he thought.

"Ian set a course for Wimborne. Let's get this treasure!"