William witnessed the shaking marine pointed the rattling gun at the bound girl, running forward to help. He didn't run because he felt he was a hero, no. He ran because he felt that it was the Marines' fault for causing the entire shipwreck, and even if he saved someone, he was happy to do it if he got to let off a little steam at the Marines.

  As he ran forwards, he notices a rapier laying across the beach, and snatches it up as he passes, quickly sheathing it in his belt. As William quickly approaches, the man who was pointing the gun at the girl notices him and switches the barrel from the girl to him.

  "Y-you! I-I don't know who you are, how did you survive the t-t-ty-typhoon?!" the man visibly quaked and shivered as he held up the gun at William.

  William takes a good look at the man, about 19, very skinny, ginger curly hair and freckles. His uniform didn't look to be a very high rank, likely a Seaman Recruit, or Apprentice at the highest. William notices the third person behind the two in front of him, also a Marine, who seemed to be of a higher rank, but had a large piece of wood sticking out of his leg, fading in and out of consciousness.

  William turns his attention back to the ginger man, slowing to a stop, putting one hand up in the air, and his other on his flintlock he always keeps on him. "Okay there, it's alright, just, right now I think we all need to calm down."

  "I-I am calm! A-are you k-kidding me? I-I'm the c-c-calmest I've ever been!" He was not calm. William looks back at his crew now approaching the situation.

  "Hey, could you just like, sneak a little bit around this guy?" William whispers over to Duros.

  "Yes, I will gladly, sneak." Duros responds, taking a single step, his entire plate armor rattling loudly. The marine takes notice of Duros, his large form and rattling armor, and fires a shot out of fear.

  The bullet hits Duros' armor, pinging off and flying away. At the same time that the Marine's bullet fires, William pulls out his flintlock and fires. The bullet pierces the boy's leg, and he falls to the sand screaming out. As he hits the sand, no other sound escapes his mouth, as he lays there, unconscious.

  William and his crew start to approach, when the Marine behind the now unconscious man pulls out another gun and points it at them. "You son a bitch," he starts, his voice wavering and deep. "I don't know what you did to lil' ol' Jenkins, but you're not going near this girl." The Marine looks like he's barely holding himself conscious, much less the achievement of pushing himself up and pointing a gun. "I have sworn my life to escort this one," he continues.

  "Where'd Verona go?" Ragnar asks. No one pays attention because Ragnar might have just lost Verona in his line of sight.

  "Ragnar over here," a voice calls out to Ragnar. He looks around, not seeing where the voice was coming from.

  "I will shoot, I swear to god," the barely conscious Marines says. Ragnar starts to walk forward, ignoring the Marine, still looking around at the area. "Don't get any-cough cough-don't get any closer," the Marine warns.

  William points his pistol at the Marine. "Just calm down, just don't try it. This isn't going to end well for ya, just lay there, don't move." William says as he tries to calm the Marine down.

  "The fuck are you talking about? If I put my gun down, you would just shoot me like you shot Jenkins," the Marine spits.

  "I'm not going to shoot anyone. Hey, Duros?" William turns to him as Duros looks down at his Captain. "Look, normally I'm perfectly fine with shooting a Marine dog in the face, but he's kinda already bleeding out, I would feel bad, just make sure he's not hurting anyone. Take the gun away from him, ya'know?"

  "Of course, Captain!" Duros charges over to the Marine, where the gun is pointed at the approaching knight. Duros gets close in, raising the blunt side of his sword. The Marine's eyes clear for just a moment, as he fires the gun, and it pierces Duros clean through, getting through the gaps in the armor. Duros grunts and smacks the Marine's head, knocking him fully unconscious.

  "Ragnar, you go take care of Duros to make sure he's not bleeding out," William orders. "Does anybody else have an attitude today?!" he shouts to the surroundings.

  "Duros are you okay?" Ragnar asks.

  Duros grunts slightly. "I've had worse, I've been stabbed many times and left for dead, this is but a flesh wound. It's not a big deal, " he assures.

  The group then notices a hand raising lightly behind some debris. "Um, hold up, hold up. H-hello, my name is-" he is quickly interrupted by William firing his flintlock into the air. "Ah! No, no! I-I'll stay down, just please don't shoot me! I'm going-I don't-I'm going to crawl away now. Please? I'm gonna go, I'm gonna live a life on this abandoned island-"

  "Stay where you are kid, if you move-we're just gonna make everything figured out here." William interrupts him again from his rambling. The scope of a rifle from behind some wood turns over to the boy.

  "Oh no, I swear to god, no no no, listen! I can just make a little wooden hut for myself here and drink coconut juice for the rest of my life just don't kill me please!" The boy pleads. "I was going to say I have a wife, but I'm too young for that; nobody has actually ever loved me-"

  "Shut the hell up!" Verona yells.

  "Should I go over and smack him in the head?" Duros asks.

  "Okay, okay. Actually, you know what? Sorry guys, I'm actually dead. Pretend-this was a dream." The boy quickly slams himself on the beach and pretends to be dead.

  "Oh shit, he died!" Ragnar cries as the boys leaves Ragnar's vision.

  "As long as he shuts his CORN HOLE I'm fine with this," William announces loudly so the boy could hear.

  He sighs. "Guys cover my back so no one shoots me while I'm busy," William orders as he walks over to the still struggling girl.

  "Gotcha, Captain," Verona calls.

  "Thank you," William says, almost exasperated.

  Ragnar walks over to the boy who was still pretending to be dead, and rips his shirt. "Here, Duros. Use this to heal yourself," he offers.

  "I don't think that's how it works, but thanks for-" Duros starts.

  "Oh shit he's not dead!" Ragnar cries.

  William ignores the interaction Ragnar and Duros are having and focuses on the conscious bound girl.

  He kneels down to her. "Please tell me you're not part of this group."

  "The fuck does it look like?" she snaps. "Please, if you're going to do anything, just untie me already."

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  William shrugs, pulls a knife from his boot, and starts cutting the ropes.

  Once the ropes were cut enough to free her, she immediately jumps up and dusts herself off. William notes her leather armor and metal right spaulder, her cloak covering most of her head, with pink fuzz sticking out in different places, along with striking pink eyes.

  William puts his knife back and clears his throat. "So, interesting day, is it not been?"

  "Yeah, I mean yeah, definitely...How can I tell you guys aren't going to just kill me right here right now?" she asks.

  "Well, I'll give you a really quick test on that. Are you going to talk my ear off like OTHER PIECES OF SHIT TODAY?" William directs his attention over to the boy who is trying to make himself as small as possible while playing dead.

  "I'm so sorry!" he cries.

  "Yeah, I'm sure you are," William says before turning back to the girl. "As long as you don't do that, we should be on good terms."

  The girl puts her hands up in front of her, which are covered in large gloves that seem to be bulging. "Listen, I've had a really rough week, I've been through so much, and this is the one good thing that's happened so far. I don't want you guys to come and fuck this up."

  "Well I don't know how good it would be, our ship is destroyed, and there's death like, everywhere. Do you see Jimmy over there? He was our cabin boy!"

  "I personally very liked Jimmy," Duros says sadly.

  "I'm glad you're alive I guess." William says. "You know what? We should probably go check and see how much food and stuff we can salvage from this if we're going to be on a deserted island," he says to his crew.

  "I don't got any ale," Ragnar comments.

  "Yeah, Ragnar, Verona, go check the hold and make sure what we can salvage from this," William directs. "Duros, you alright buddy? You need any help?"

  "I'm doing just fine, I'm just bleeding a little. Don't worry about that," he says.

  "Aye aye Captain," Verona says.

  William sends Verona and Ragnar off. "Yeah, go check for medical supplies, first aid, whatever we had."

  Duros turns around, and quickly scans the beach. He walks forward, and overturns a piece of debris. Underneath lay several sacks of preserved meat, where some had spilled out, but there was still a large amount that was good. Duros turns again, overturning a life boat, underneath a med-kit, luckily in perfect condition. Only problem, it was being held by a dead medic, protecting it with his life.

  "What a nice man," Duros comments as he pulls it from the grasp of death.

  William gathers his crew once they were done, thankfully shortened thanks to Duros finding everything so quickly. "Okay, we got the first aid kit; I know none of us are doctors, but who would be probably best suited to use this to fix up Duros here?" William asks.

  "I can take a crack at it if you want me to, but I'm not the best." He says after no one speaks for a moment.

  "What is this medicine you speak of?" Ragnar asks. "Never heard of it."

  "Okay, so you're a no. Hard pass on you, Ragnar." William says. "This doesn't involve a nail and a hammer so..."

  "I'm gonna start chopping some firewood over here," Ragnar says as he cuts down another tree with a single swing, and starts chopping.

  "Good idea," William comments.

  Duros hands the kit over to William, and he starts pulling bandages and wrapping them underneath Duros' armor while donned, which is a quite impressive feat.

  William got Duros' bleeding to stop, and patched up quite nicely.

  "Alright, crew meeting over by Ragnar," William announces. He then addresses the girl. "Hey, sit tight, hand back, I need to discuss some things with my crew. Please don't run away or anything. We're not discussing anything involving you it's actually involving-"

  "Alright, firstly," the girl interrupts. "You don't fucking tell me what to do. I mean I'm grateful that you saved my life, but can you tell me what the fuck is going on? Suddenly there was a typhoon, ships wrecked, and Marines got up-"

  "Yes, weather is a thing," William quips.

  "A Marine got up, pointed-I thought I was safe on this island, I'll tell you. I thought nobody would find me here." she huffs.

  "Wait, wait, wait, I thought you were brought here by them." William says. "You were on the island to begin with?"

  "No, they were hunting me. I saw their Navy ship thinking, 'Please don't come to this island,' fuckin typhoon happened, I was like 'My prayers have been answered,' and then all of a sudden, some of those fucker survived!" she explains.

  "Okay. So, I can tell you've been through a lot today. You can join us if you want then, we're going to discuss the Marines right now." he offers.

  "We also got meat," Verona adds.

  "We have meat," William agrees.

  "I never liked the Marines," Duros says.

  William join the crew to talk. "Alright, here's the deal guys." He takes out his gun and sets it down. "Looks like we're probably going to be on this island for a little while; Ragnar, what do you think about our ship? You think you could fix it up a little bit?"

  "What do you think it would take to fix up our ship? Parts from the Marine vessel or...?"

  "Looking at the interior, I don't think it's possible," he responds, turning his head. Everyone also looks over. Where the crew's previous ship rest, it was completely shattered to where there wasn't even a ship anymore.

  "Captain, I don't think you are making very good decisions; asking me to sneak, trying to fix a dead boat," Duros comments. "Very strange."

  "That was a very logical decision, I distracted him, as you'll notice. Not everything I do is well known to anyone, even myself. I can get where I need to be." William defends.

  "Sorry to interrupt, I hear you guys don't have a vessel," the girl states.

  "That is true, we do not." William confirms.

  "Well, I GUESS I have to repay you guys for saving me and all that." she turns away, not making eye contact.

  "I mean, I had to come here somehow, I have a small rowing boat that you can use. A-as long as I'm there to oversee. We can get to an island where I know that they make ships." She quickly looks away flustered.

  "It's only because you did that thing for me one time. It's not because I want to do anything for you guys. Y-you guys are dirty pirates." She adds.

  "Okay, not the first time I've been called that, but you know, um, screw you. We saved your life but okay." William shrugs.

  "I would've been able to get out of those ropes myself. Eventually. I just didn't want to at the time." the girl says.

  "I don't know. That guy was kinda panicky with the gun," William counters. "Tell you what, can you just hang back for a bit? I'll address this with my crew here, lot of weird stuff going on right now."

  William turns to his crew. "This girl seems a little bit crazy here, William. Although, I feel like she's kinda powerless. Might as well just take her boat." Ragnar says.

  "She was running from the Navy, and I don't like the Navy too much." Duros says.

  "Yeah, I don't either, and honestly, did you see her keep looking off? She's clearly lying. It's pretty obvious." William responds.

  "There's something going on with her; I've met lots of rag tail people in the past and I feel like she is obviously hiding something." Duros says.

  "We have nothing to lose from this puny woman. Might as well use her ship," Ragnar comments.

  "Honestly I'll tell you what guys. Right now I'm a little bit more concerned about the Marines." William says. "Let's say there is a rowboat, and let's say it can hold all of us, and let's say that there's another island with ROWING distance of this island, all of these very likely series of events. I don't want to stay the night on this island with some Marines that are still alive if you know what I mean."

  "That makes sense," Verona agrees. "We also got to bury Rick before we go anywhere."

  "So, we want to follow the girl, or the other option I would say just make camp here somewhere on the island, then just weigh out our options." William asks his crew.

  "It's best not to stay on this island I feel, and plus, protecting the innocent is what we should do and what I vowed to do, so I will protect this lady and see what is going on with her." Duros proclaims.

  "I would say trying to get off this island as quick as possible would be a good idea, so...Let's go check-"

  "Just so you guys know, I could hear everything you were saying. You didn't move that far away from me." the girl says. Five feet away from the group.

  "I'll excuse your rude comments, but I'll have you know it's not just a simple rowboat, it does have a sail." she says.

  "You said it was a rowboat," William says slowly.

  "You can row it. It has a sail as well," she explains.

  "How big is this boat? You can see that Ragnar is a pretty large man," William returns.

  "It will fit." She says. "One of us will have to sit on another's lap." She adds.

  "Oh, no worries about that. I chopped up about a hundred pounds worth of firewood here, I can make some extensions, we'll all fit," Ragnar says.

  "I believe I could navigate us there Captain, if I get the opportunity," Verona assures.

  "And if one of you sits on my lap I will most welcome you!" Duros declares.

  "I may possibly take you up on that offer there, Duros!" William exclaims.

  "I'd rather drown." Ragnar deadpans.

  "Let's not forget to bring the meat!" Ragnar declares.

  "Alright then, mAdaMe," William says.

  "My name is Pearl." she states.

  "Pearl. Okay. William," he says.

  "Pearl is a nice name, lovely like the gem you are, shining in the sparkling twilight!" Duros says.

  Pearl quickly pulls her hood over her face. "For your-Stupid fuckin pirate!" she says before stomping off, clearly flustered.

  William leans over to Verona. "Just make sure to keep an eye out. I don't know what she's going to be leading us into."

  Verona nods as they set off.