Thaddeus stood stoically atop the largest mass of his ship his hand secured on the crows nest beside him. The open sea before them flowed quickly as the a hard wind pushed them forward with an almost purpose vigor. The wind always seemed to strengthen when they were returning to Lorenstad, it was almost as if the very elements wanted to speed their journey so they may again see their families. The voyage had been long this time, The Mesmer had been out at sea almost eight months now, their journey taking them as far as the Grandline Isles, a mysterious set of islands the held some of the most exoctic spices in the great sea. His men and even he himself were ready to set foot on dry land, they had been caught in many a storms the past week and all of them were weary with exaughstion. Thomas specifically had been homesick for many days now, his usual optimism taking a hit, this was his first journey away from home that had been so long on the open sea. The passing week had been the hardest on him, he had longed for his friends in Lorenstead and now as they grew close, each day his excitement had started to rise, excited to tell them of his new adventures.
It was no big secret that Thomas was quite popular among the children of the villiage, most had never been beyond the villiage limits none the less on the sea. So it was not surprising at all that they would eat up all the stories he told and held on to every word. The Mesmer would smile to himself, it gave him such pride to think of Thomas being so happy. When he had found the poor boy he was half dead in a floating barrel, starving and cold. The boy had been on a small vessel that had been traveling through the Foghaven, a particulary nasty portion of sea that was hazardous on the best of days due to a high dence fog in the area and many large rock formations in which to strike your ship on. Even more so it was almost frequented by pirates that used the fog to hide until it was too late to run. Most chose to sail around Foghaven but someone would try to brave its dangers as it was one of the quickest sea routes to Hallenbrook Island. He never knew what sunk the boys vessel, the rocks or a band of pirates but all he knew for sure was that he was the only survivor.
~The boy will most likely not survive Thaddeus, his body is weakened from hunger and he has developed a nasty fevor due to the hypothermia." Thaddeus looked down at the young shivering boy as he crossed his arms. He couldn't have been more than five years old. It had only been a short time since they found him shipped wrecked ina barrel. From the get go his condition was dire and now they had a hard choice to make. The boy had a fever, and the chances were it was going to kill him and painfully at that. He was too young and too weak to fight it off and none of them wanted to see the boy suffer. The notion had been brought up to put him to sleep so he would pass peacefully but Thaddeus was hesitant. The boy had made it this far, there was no telling how long he had been out there but his emaciated body said days. He sighed as he placed his hand on the boys forehead, ever so slowly he would open his eyes and look at Thaddeus.~
Thaddeus remembered looking into that boys eyes and that was all he needed to make his decision, he could see the will, the desire to live in thise young eyes, the boy wasnt giving up so he wouldn't give up either and in the end he mustered through sickness and hypothermia to make it to where he was now. Jack he called himself after a famous Privateer that had many adventures and visited every island there was to visit. The boy dreamed of sailing the world and seeing everything there was to see and Thaddeus couldn't be more proud of his determination. He almost found himself a bit sad knowing that one day Thomas would probably forge his own path on the open seas, at the same time though he looked forward to the that day too.
"Captain! Land Ho!" Thaddeus was broken from his thoughts as he looked up over the horizon. In the distance he could just barely see the small port in all its glory. Without even a warning there was a loud cheer and a bunch of heart laughs. Thomas was suddenly on the deck and grabbing at the main mast, climbing up it like a nimble animal and into the crows nest.
He put the scope to his eye to look at the approach dock.
We finally made it Dad! I can't wait to tell everyone where we went!" Thaddeus smiled as he placed a firm hand on the boys shoulders as he too was aching to get to land and grab some well earned drinks.
"Well than, what are you doing up here than!? We have work to do!" Move your arse to the deck and make sure its shining by time we reach port!" Thomas through his hand to his forehead in a salute with a huge smile
"Yes Captain!, Thomas quickly climbed back down the mast as several of the crew members were now moving around preparing for port. Thaddeus clutched the rope beside him and without even a hesitant eye jumped off the mast and slid down to the deck. As soon as his feet hit wood he was barking orders, his demeanor completely changed.
"Prepare the Anchor Mr. Barbosa than get to the wheel and plot our course to the docks! Batten those ropes Mr. Helgin! Lets go! You two create a detail and get ur arses to the cargo hold and start prearing the cargo for unload! We got a lot of work to do before landfall!"Watch it damn it! That cargos fragile! If you break it than you just bought it and you get to explain why were not making our delivery to Mrs.Ester! Mr. Barbosa, supervise the offloading of those exotic fruits, the last time someone got hungry! Mr.Alzgard, check on our shipment of meats, I don't want any bad cuts to make it to Lorenstad! Mr. Helgin, check on the spices, make sure they are packaged tightly!" Thaddeus was barking various orders as he stood on the dock beside The Mesmer, his men were all hustling and bustling as crates and barrels were being offloaded. Thaddeus would look at his ledger and squint as it would blur slightly.
"Damn.." Swearing lightly to himself he reached in his pocket and removed a pair of glasses, turning away from the crew he placed the glass over the ledger so he could see it. Nodding his head to himself, things seemed to be in order. For once everything was going smoothly, they might actually get outta of here sooner than usual.
As if one cue there was a loud crash, turning quickly he would spot one of the cargo crates on the dock, it was busted open and package of spice was plinking off the dock and into the water.
"Damnit, get your arse in that water and grab that package before its damaged! Get those spices picked up and repacked somewhere safely! Move it!" Thaddeus put his hand to his head, it really was too good to be true, he should have never let the thought cross his mind that they might get done on time. Secretly he would smile to himself, it was, afterall, part of being a ships Captain, dealing with the mess. When you lived for almost three hundred years one tended to look at things a lot differently. In his actual youth he was a firebrand, what one would call a hot head, the various tattooing on his body was probably and indication of who he used to be. Most people who didn't know him feared him, especially because of the HATE written across his throat.
Life as a child wasn't easy on him, it was enough that his mother had died giving birth to him and his father had abandoned him when he was seven, but he had barely understood what he was none the less had the ability to control it at the same time. The earliest memories he possessed were of him craving blood, that was the worst thing back than, everytime he looked at someone he could see their veins moving, pushing blood through their body, warm, salty, delicious... there was a reason Mesmer demons would called Mesmers, mostly because their eyes could mesmorize almost anyone so that you could sate your blood lust. More often than not, he tried not to think of his childhood, he had done things that he was not very proud of, his tattoos were meant to be a reminder so that he never went back down that dark road again.
"You clumsy oafs! Captain told you to be careful with that crate, Ill killhaul the lots of ya!" Thaddeus looked up as Barbosa was bellowing at some of their crew. He shook his head as he chuckled, he wouldnt trade this life for anything, even if it was full of stress sometimes.
"Oh get off it ya old man!"
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME! Ill show you an old man!" There was a chorus of laughs as the crewmates quickly vacated as Barbosa started bounding after them. Thomas was laying on top of a box laughing at the spectacle, yep, he wouldn't give this life up for anything in the world!
"All right you sea rats! Get your arses working, we gotta long day of travel ahead of us! Barbosa! Let Hallen go and get back to supervising you buzzard!" The road would be long but it would feel good to get home.
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