Hey, what's up y'all! I truly do appreciate your efforts to keep this topped despite my own inactivity. Things have gotten pretty crazy here but I can promise you that I will finish Pirates, and soon. After that, I'll re-top this thread whenever I have a new, edited story to share with all of you. Trying to write/finish a story while also posting twice a week and juggling all the work from my junior year really is too much for me at the moment, especially since my classes are all online. But I do want to continue providing y'all with content and stories! I'll reply to your old comments when I post the next section of Pirates like usual. I already have most of the next part written out, but I'd like to finish the story completely before I post it to avoid another long wait. I'm wishing you and your families the best in these difficult times, and happy holidays! :)

~Starseeker 

Don't worry, desperate topper, I'm not done with this yet! Throughout the last few months, I've been writing out the final scenes of Pirates. I just need a few sentences to top off this final scene, then an epilogue, and I'm done! I'll post an update schedule once it's completely written. I am not abandoning this! :)

~Starseeker 

Good morning, everyone! Sorry I’ve been gone for a bit. Life seriously got in the way of posting and writing. Since it’s been forever, this week’s update is going to just be a review of everything that’s happened so far. You can totally re-read the entire story if you’d like, but this summary should give you everything you need to know. I really appreciate you all being so patient with me! <3

-The story opens with Zoey, a mercreature in human form, being brought on the deck of a ship called the Aerie. It’s captained by a woman named Sterling. The main members of her crew (the Eagles) are her first mate, Jasak; her medical officer, Maylene; her boatswain, Tyrian; her quartermaster, Feroc; her navigator, Melise; her master gunner, Icantre; and Jasak’s half-sister, Blaiyre.

-It’s revealed that the Eagles are searching for Sterling’s lost sister, aka the youngest princess of the Griffon royal family, who was taken by mercreatures about 10 years ago. Sterling wants her back not only because she’s her sister, but also because there is an imposter king currently on the throne, and she wants to replace him with her sister.

-Sterling finds out that Zoey knows where the mercreature capital, Lydianzaa, is, and strong-arms her into leading the Eagles there and through the protective tests surrounding it.

-The Eagles navigate the first two “tests” of Lydianzaa; a minefield of illusionary rocks and a mirror labyrinth, complete with mirror monsters called lanbai. They are about to navigate the third test, a massive whirlpool. 

~~~

Some housekeeping stuff! 

-I intend to return to a Tuesday/Friday update schedule, with a Q&A at the end of the story. There are 2 sections and an epilogue to post. The epilogue is ridiculously short, so I’ll take the opportunity to post some bonus bits then. I also have an announcement for when this is all posted, but I’ll save that for a few weeks from now when it’s finished.

-Just to be clear— the next section of this story will be posted on Tuesday, February 16! And it actually will be posted for sure. I have that section— well, all of the sections, actually— already written.

-I apologize in advance if any of the story seems disjointed or like it jumps around! I’ve been writing this in small snatches since November, so there’s probably a bit of a lack of continuity. I thought it would be better to post this slightly rough version than to linger over editing it for another 4 months, haha. Let me know if there’s anything in particular that stands out to you as being weird or all-of-a-sudden and I’ll get that fixed!

I think that’s everything? Ah, I’m so excited to be posting again! Sorry again about the wait but I hope you enjoy the ending! :D

~Starseeker

Good morning good morning good morning everyone! It is... no longer morning where I live, but I'm still going to say it. Welcome back to Pirates! I'm sorry again that it's taken so long but it'll just be another week or two now. We're finally coming up on the scene that I originally imagined that ended up inspiring this whole story! As always, feel free to comment any questions or critiques you may have. :D

~~~ 

The wind whips viciously at my hair, throwing it into my face and nearly blinding me. The ship churns and creaks, thrashing on the waves. I feel like I’m going to be sick.

“Sterling!” I shout. “This doesn’t seem fine!”

“This is fine, we’ve got this under control!” She yells back from the end of her rope. She’s standing near the stairs, holding onto her tether tightly as the ship threatens to go under the power of the churning waters.

“We’ve nearly capsized eight times!” I yell to her. 

“But we haven’t!” She shouts. “I need to concentrate!” She yells something down the stairs to the crew, but I can’t hear what it is through the sound of the whirlpool. Evidently it works, however, because the ship stabilizes and continues its course through the third trial. 

“Sterling!” I shout again as the ship tips.

“I told you, we’re doing fine! Just close your eyes if you’re that worried. I trust my crew, we’ve got this under control!”

I do as she says and shut my eyes against the sight of the world rolling around us. It’s almost more nauseating this way, with the ground tipping beneath my feet but me unable to see anything. With one of my senses taken away, the others are heightened: I can hear the rushing waters in clear detail, feel the blustering winds on my skin, taste the salt spray on my lips. It’s both exhilarating and terrifying to put myself so surely into someone else’s hands. The other trials I could have gotten out of if something went wrong— I could have transformed and swum away. But not even my powerful tail can fight past the whirlpool’s churning waves. I just hope that the Eagles are as good as they say they are, and that the Aerie is a strong enough ship.

With my senses heightened as they are, I can feel the moment we break free of the whirlpool’s current; our motions are a little less jerky, a little more smooth. It no longer feels like the ship is losing ground with every stroke of the oars; rather, the crew is winning the fight against the waves. A few more forward motions and the waters calm enough that a few of the crew members come above decks to give their reports to Sterling. I set about untying myself from the mast, figuring that it’s no longer needed now that the ship isn’t being tossed about on he waves. I follow the tether over to Sterling and untie her, too, as she talks to the crew members. Finally the ship is moving no more than it would be on open waters, and the rest of the crew comes above decks to resume their normal duties. Jasak, Feroc, Tyrian, Icantre, and Melise join Sterling and I right by the railing of the deck, overlooking the water.

“So… that’s it,” Feroc says. “We’re here?”

“Welcome to Lydianzaa,” I say grandly, spreading my arms out wide. “Home of the mercreatures and apparently one very lost princess.”

In the silence that follows, the only sounds are the creaking of the ship and the quiet chatter of the crew.

“…There’s nothing here,” Icantre says flatly. “We went through all of that, for nothing?”

Now it’s my turn to look disbelieving. “You’re serious.”

Sterling glowers. “What, so this was all some elaborate plot? Trick my crew into coming here? Where’s your ship, are they waiting to ambush us?”

“No! What the heck? How would I have even set you up? You fished me out of the water, remember? I had no control over it! I never wanted to be here in the first place!” I retort. “Don’t blame me if it’s less than what you’re looking for. You asked for Lydianzaa, and I delivered. I’m sorry if it’s not up to your standards!”

“Hold on, everyone calm down for a second,” Jasak says placatingly, holding up his hands. Sterling folds her arms and scowls, while I grit my jaw. 

“Zoey, you said you’d take us to Lydianzaa,” Jasak says calmly, and I fire back, “Yes! I did! And I have so I don’t see what your problem is!”

“There’s nothing but open water here. Is there something we’re missing?” He continues, ignoring my outburst.

Their confusion finally makes sense in my mind and I drop my face into my hands. “Oh my claws. You guys never considered the fact that the capital of the mercreatures, who live in the ocean, would be underwater?”

Dead silence. I start to laugh.

“Amazing. Incredible. You guys made it all the way here and you made zero preparations to get to the capital itself.”

Sterling looks incredibly frustrated, somewhere between angry and terribly sad. Jasak looks stunned. Feroc, Icantre, Melise, and Ty all have faces of dawning comprehension.

“Claws,” Sterling breathes out. “I didn’t— how could I—“ She runs her hands up and down her forearms in frustration, her nails leaving red marks in the wake. Jasak grabs ahold of her hands and stops her from doing more damage to herself. He forces her to look at him, tipping her chin up.

“Hey,” he says quietly. “It’s gonna be okay. We’re gonna fix this. We’re gonna get her back, Ster.”

“But I can’t— I didn’t—“ 

“We’re going to get her back,” Jasak says more firmly, holding eye contact. “Okay?”

“Okay. Okay,” Sterling says slowly. “Okay. We’ll— figure this out somehow. We’ll figure out which members of the crew can swim, assemble a dive team—“

“It’s too deep,” I interrupt her. “No one can hold their breath that long.”

Sterling frowns. “Then we’ll— wait for a mercreature to come along, force them to help us—“

“And what’s stopping them from just bewitching you all and leaving?” I fold my arms. “Plus, the mercreatures travel under the waves. If you go there trying to capture one, you’ll be in their territory, where they have the advantage.”

Sterling throws her hands up into the air. “Then if all my ideas are so bad, what do you recommend? Huh? What’s your bright idea?”

“Once every few months, a ship called the Phoenix comes into port to trade with the mercreatures,” I say slowly. “They dock on a tiny island a few leagues from here, and send some sort of signal to the mercreature capital that they’re ready to trade. An envoy of the mercreatures meets them in the shallows near the shore, and…” I shrug. “That can be our way in. If you promise to negotiate with them, peacefully, then I’ll help you send the signal.”

Sterling grits her teeth, considering. “Fine.”

I clap my hands together. “Excellent! Turn the ship that-a-way, then, and let’s get going.” I turn and gesture grandly in the direction of the small, rocky island that the Phoenix docks at. In my haste, though, I catch my hand on a buckle of Jasak’s coat. The buckle rips at my index finger and leaves a small cut. I frown down at it. “Ow.”

“Oh shoot, sorry about that!” Jasak says worriedly. “You okay? I’ve been meaning to file that edge down.”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I reply, shaking the beaded blood off my hand. Some of it drips into the ocean and a bit lands on the rail. Tyrian swipes it off absentmindedly.

“Well, let’s be off then,” Sterling says once it’s clear that I really am fine. “Sounds like we’ve got an island to get to.”

“Captain,” one of the crew members calls over to us, “there’s something in the water.”

We move over to the other side of the deck, where the crew member is pointing. The water is frothing and foaming in a line headed straight for us.

“What—“ Sterling starts, but then chaos erupts.

A mercreature lunges shrieking up out of the water, fangs extended and claws reaching right for the crew member leaning over the rail. He jerks back, and the mercreature misses by a hair, just the tip of their claw scratching across the crew member’s nose. The crew member staggers back holding his nose, and another mercreature jumps out of the water, and another. The deck becomes a cacophony as mercreatures try to leap on board from all angles, shrieking and screeching. 

“What’s happening? What have you done?” Sterling shouts at me amid the din. I raise my hands. 

“I didn’t do anything! I—“

I catch sight of the cut on my finger, and remember the blood that dropped into the water. My heart drops. “Oh no.”

I look up at a shout. One of the mercreatures has successfully snagged Blaiyre and is dragging her towards the water, over the rail. Jasak lunges forward and pulls her back on deck, but loses his balance in the process. The mercreature takes this opportunity and takes him instead, seizing him and pulling him over the rail and down… down… down…

I don’t even think. I turn to Sterling, and I can feel the change already happening. I know my eyes are darkening, my teeth are lengthening, and by the look on her face she knows it too.

“Get your crew to the middle of the ship,” I snarl at her. “As far away from the water as possible. And stay there.”

Then I dive overboard, the dark water closing over my head.

~~~ 

See you Friday!

~Starseeker