Hale’s pov…

I hope you’re not looking for a fairy tale ending because this isn’t one of them. I’ll give you time to turn back now before I bore you with my tale…still here? Alright, ladies and gents, but don’t say I didn’t warn you ahead of time about what you’re about to hear. I guess before we start I should introduce myself, I’m Hale. No last name. No family. Nothing. Can’t even tell you who named me. All I know is my “mom” got pregnant with me and disappeared shortly after she had me and don’t even think about asking about my “dad” because I don’t know who he even is…other than a dead beat, but that’s not what this tale is about. This tale is about treasure, ships, mermaids, and possibly love. Yes, you heard me right; love, but that’s something I’ll get around to later. Now this story starts like any other day…

I was on my way to the market to pick up supplies for my Captain, like I always do before we ship out. I stopped by our regular shop and gave my list to the shop owner, Sal.

“Morning, Sal!” I hollered as I walked in the door and up to the counter.

“Morning, Hale. Supply run again?” Sal asked as he took the paper from me.

“Yep. Like clockwork every week” I said leaning against the counter looking around his shop like I always do.

“Don’t be getting any ideas, boy” I heard him say from his back room.

“I’m just looking, Sal. I would never steal from you” I said laughing as I heard the door open.

“Be right with you!” Sal yelled from the back.

“No rush, Sal” I heard a female voice say as I turned around to see a girl standing by the doorway wearing what looked like a gypsies outfit: long skirt and sash around her waist with a white halter style top and a bandana wrapped around her braided hair.

“Ah, it’s only you Piper. Running errands for your grandma, again?” Sal asked her as he brought me my things and I paid him.

“Yes, sir” she said walking up to the counter “staring is rude you know.” she said as she looked at me.

“Sorry. I haven’t seen a gypsy before is all” I said, grabbing my things starting to leave when I heard her mutter under her breath “what did you say?” I asked turning around to look at her again.

“Nothing that concerns you” was all she said, not looking at me.

“See you next time, Sal!” I said, leaving the store and talked back to the ship and shook my head to clear it before boarding. It shouldn’t bother me that that girl, Piper, brushed me off like I was a barnacle, but it did.

“Hey, Hale!” my best friend Weston called down from his post on the main mast where he was making sure everything was secure before we sailed off.

“Hey, Weston. Everything good to go?!” I called back up to him as I set the supplies on the deck and waited for him to climb down.

“Good as always. You get everything we need?” he asked as he helped me take it below deck.

“Always. You know how good Sal is to us.” I said as we got everything sorted and walked back up to the deck.

“Ready, boys?!” we heard Captain Devlin call from the Helm.

“Aye!” we all hollered in response as we began racing around the deck getting everything ready. After we were underway I was standing on the bow looking at the town when I spotted a familiar head of purple and gold. I looked at her until she was nothing more than a dot in the distance.

“What you looking at, Hale?” I heard Weston ask me, but I shook free from the daze I was in.

“Nothing.” I said turning away, but couldn’t get her face out of my head. Her beautiful sea green eyes and the way they looked like she was scared of me, but I wasn’t going to see her again anyway so I didn’t think too much about it…boy was I wrong.

Piper’s pov…

My story isn’t much better than Hale’s. I lost both of my parents to pirates when I was really young and I was sent to live with my grandma. I was only about 8 years old when my parents were killed by bloody pirates. I was outside playing when I first heard the cannon fire and I got scared and ran back inside to my parents panicking and rushing around the house when they saw me. They put me in my closet in my room when our house was broken into. It was hard to keep my mouth closed and to not cry out when my dad was cut down in front of my mom, but when they started to drag my mom away I busted out of my hiding place and ran, but not before that filthy pirate threw a knife at me and gave me a permanent scar on my shoulder blade and ever since then I’ve been scared of pirates and steer clear of them. Until that fateful day my grandma just had to run out of stuff for her potions and needed me to run to the market for her and I met one.

It was a normal day for me and my grandma. We are the town’s local gypsies, but no one really messes with us so I guess it’s a good thing.

“Piper, dear?” I heard my grandma ask as I was reading my book.

“Yes, grandma?” I asked closing my book and turned to look at her.

“I need a couple things from the market. Could you go and grab them for me?” she asked, handing me her list and some money.

“Sure, grandma” I said, smiling at her as I grabbed my back and left for Sal’s Antiquites and Such. Sal is the only person in town who sells what my grandma needs for her business. As I opened the door I saw a young man standing there when I heard Sal’s voice from the back.

“Be right with you!” I heard Sal yell 

“No rush, Sal” I said at the sound of my voice. The boy at the counter turned and I felt my breath catch in my throat, but I didn’t show it. He was a pirate. I could tell by his clothing and I could tell he had never seen a gypsy before by the way he was eyeing me.

“Ah, it’s only you Piper. Running errands for your grandma, again?” Sal asked me as the boy paid him and grabbed his things.

“Yes, sir” I said walking up to the counter “staring is rude you know.” I said as I  looked at him.

“Sorry. I haven’t seen a gypsy before is all.” he said as he started to leave.

“Bloody pirate,” I muttered.

 “What did you say?” he asked, turning back around to look at me again.

“Nothing that concerns you” was all I said, nothing looking at him.

“See you next time, Sal!” he said, before leaving. When he was gone I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

“You okay, Piper? You seemed a little tense there for a moment.” Sal asked, looking at me concerned.

“Yes, I’m fine. Thanks, Sal” I said, paying him and walking back to my grandma’s and I couldn’t help, but feel a pair of eyes on me. When I looked across the sea I saw a pair of  hazel eyes watching me until the person and ship they belonged to were nothing more than a dot on the sea. I finished walking home, but couldn’t forget his eyes.

“Piper, are you okay, dear? You’ve been awfully quiet since you got back from Sal’s.” my grandma asked later that night at dinner.

“I’m fine, grandma. Nothing to worry about.” I said, smiling at her. Later that night I tossed and turned in bed. I kept dreaming about the hazel eyed boy I met earlier today, but then it would flash to the night I lost my parents. The nightmare about my parents has been a recurring dream since I lost them and that was almost nine years ago now and it was always the same thing: me running into the house, my parents shoving me in the closet, watching my dad die right in front of me, and my mom next before I ran away and got the scar on my shoulder blade. That’s about the time that I gasp awake and sit up just pouring sweat and I have to run cold water over my face. I look at myself in the mirror and let out a sigh.

“You’re not going to see him again, Piper.” I told myself as I dried my face off and looked at the jagged scar on my shoulder before I finally shook the memories away and I fell back asleep once again dreaming about the hazel eyed boy.

Hale’s pov…

After we had been sailing for a good two hours and the sun had set we gathered at the hull of the ship to eat dinner. After dinner that night I was laying in my hammock trying to fall asleep when Weston looked down at me from the hammock above me.

“You sure you’re okay, man? You’ve been distracted since you got back on the ship” he asked, looking at me concerned

“I told you I’m fine” I said, rolling over as best as I could and closed my eyes, but the only problem is I kept seeing the sea green eyed girl no matter how hard I tried to erase her from my mind I just couldn’t.

The next morning it was business as usual. Weston and I were manning the sails like usual when I finally asked the question that’s been on my mind for months now.

“What kind of treasure are we looking for this time?” I asked looking at Weston

“The same kind that all pirates look for: Gold, my friend” he said, hitting my arm a little bit and laughed.

“Not what I meant smart ass” I said laughing with him.

“Honestly, Hale, I wish I knew. It’s something Captain hasn’t shared with anyone not even Quill.” he said looking at me concerned, more concerned than I’ve ever seen him and that had me worried. Later in the day I was hanging around on the bowsprit like I do when I want to clear my head at times when I heard Quill calling my name.

“Hale! Captain wants to see you!” he yelled at me.

“Okay!” I yelled back as I started to climb down and headed for the Captain’s quarters where I knew he would be this time of day. I knocked on his door and waited.

“Enter” came a gruff voice from the other side of the door.

“You wanted to see me, Sir?” I asked, entering as I closed the door behind me.

“Ah, yes, Hale I did.” Captain Devlin said as he looked up from the map on his desk.

“Is something wrong, Sir?” I gingerly asked, standing my ground incase of an answer I didn’t like.

“No, Hale. Nothing is wrong. It has just come to my attention that you’ve been distracted since we left port.” he said looking straight in my eyes, but I’ve learned to hide my emotions from him very easily. “Why is that? Did you meet a girl?” he asked, looking at me stony eyed and I had to keep from stiffening up.

“No, sir. It’s the same ones every time we stop, sir.” I said looking at him stone faced right back and that’s when I felt the slice along my cheek and felt the blood dripping down. I had to keep myself from wiping it away in front of him.

“Don’t test me, boy. You don’t know what you’re messing with” he said glaring at me and I glared right back holding back a sneer.

“You’re right, Captain, I don’t know what I’m messing with because you don’t tell us anything.” I said keeping my voice even as I stared at him.

“There are some things that are better left unspoken,” he said walking towards me and before I could blink he was behind me with a knife to my throat. “I’d be careful with that mouth of yours, boy” he whispered in my ear before walking back to his desk and dismissing me. I left his quarters and went back to my hammock and wiped the blood off my cheek.

“Another scar?” I heard a voice ask from behind me.

“What’s one more, Weston?” I asked, taking off my shirt to reveal the other scars that covered my back from years of abuse by the Captain’s hand.

“When are you going to learn you idiot? Why can’t you keep your mouth shut?” he asked me as I put on a different shirt after using my other one to stop the bleeding.

“Why do you?! Why am I the only one who’s not afraid of speaking my mind?” I yelled at him.

“You don’t know what he’s capable of doing,” he said, walking towards me.

“And you do?! Do any of us know?” I countered back shaking my head and began to walk to the top deck.

“You’re going to get yourself killed” he said, grabbing my arm and whispering to me.

“Then so be it. I don’t have anyone anyway” I said, yanking my arm away from him.