Newboro Islet was a small island. On that island was an even smaller village. The docks weren’t usually full, besides the usual merchant ship. The ship that arrived at the dock was unremarkable except for unusual black sails with a painted red “x” on the mainsail. Onlookers stared strangely at the marking. Most started to walk away from the dock altogether. That was, except for a single man who stood directly in front of the ship with a sour grimace etched onto his face. With his arms crossed, he waited for the owner or “captain” to step onto the dock.
“You a pirate?”
He squinted at the peculiar woman with a large smile on her face. Her brown hair barely reached her shoulders and was topped with a red bandana. She also had no dress, as one would expect for a woman pirate; instead, dressed in trousers and a loose shirt without an overcoat. Isaac felt something nostalgic as he gazed at her attire.
“Ha! Ha! What’s with that sour look on your face!?” She cackled as she pointed at Isaac.
“Answer me.”
Despite Isaac’s rude tone, the woman’s smile remained. Her dark eyes and wide smile reminded Isaac of a baby monkey.
“Don’t you see the sail? I painted it myself,” she spoke proudly.
Isaac proceeded to unsheath his blade from his hip and pointed at the woman’s face. Only then did her smile break.
“Put that down, it’s dangerous,” she said calmly.
“Stop messing around. Why would you announce yourself as a pirate? Are you an idiot?”
“What, you wanna be a pirate too?”
“I’m already a pirate.”
“I see. So you wanna join my crew?”
He furrowed his brow. What good would it be for him to join such an obviously stupid women's crew? Her ship was unimpressive and didn’t seem to have a single man aboard, nor a single coin to her name. Her only weapon was a pistol that hung from her belt. Even the “x” painted on the sail looked like shit.
“With one brig ship and no men? Do you take me for a fool, woman?”
Her head tilted before she turned away. Her body fidgeted for a moment, then abruptly stopped. Though Isaac couldn’t see her face, he figured her wide smile must have spread across her face.
“Then how about a little duel. If I win, I’ll let you be the first man to join my crew.”
Isaac nearly laughed, “You don’t have a sword.”
“No, but I have this,” she laid her hand over her pistol.
“You really are a moron aren’t you? I would clearly be at a severe advantage. Do you even know what a duel is?”
“Hmm, then I’ll give it to you and in return, give me the sword.”
Your bluffing… Isaac thought until she held out her gun. Why would she go so far? She didn’t know a thing about him, yet she wanted him on her crew enough to risk her life to such a degree? No, that couldn’t have been it. Perhaps she knew something he didn’t… Could she be more than just an idiot?
“Fine, but I’ll laugh when you die,” he tossed her his sword.
Without a word, she slid him her gun and picked up Isaac’s saber. She stared at it for a moment, then pointed it at him. Issac followed.
“Do you honestly think you have a chance?” He said.
“You ready? On the count of three.”
“1…”
“2…”
“3…”
Isaac immediately shot the pistol, aimed directly at the woman. However, she wasn’t fazed at all. It didn’t even appear that the bullet hit her.
“I win,” she said.
Isaac looked down at the blade between his eyes. What the hell happened? That was until he noticed a strange hole in the wooden dock. The hole was just a foot away, yet it appeared to be a bullet hole.
“It curves.”
Isaac’s eyes widened, “Is this-”
“Yes, a charm.”