John and the Search for the Treasure of Billy the One Eyed doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, does it? Oh well, here we begin the search for the lost wealth of the equally lost raider... assuming John's magic can secure safe passage for the Red Witch.
*
John blinked his eyes open and stared at the underside of the deck boards above him. He lay still a moment, surprised at his near instant transition from sleep to wakefulness. He'd had a late night too, and now there was enough light below decks to tell him the sun was up.
He shifted in his hammock and swung his feet out before sitting up. Everything seemed like it should, but he couldn't help but feel there was something... What had he been doing last night after he talked to Zynga on the deck?
Mistress! He'd spoken to her again.. or had that been a dream? No, it was real. The more he thought the more he remembered. Every word she'd spoken, in fact. And she'd ended it by letting him taste her finger. Smoky and spicy and utterly amazing. Just the memory of it had his blood rushing all over again.
John gasped. He'd remembered that too! She'd made him... well... he imagined his robe must be quite a mess! He glanced around and then tugged it up so he could see what he had to—
"Nothing?" he asked.
John pulled his robe up further and shifted to see better in what little light filtered down from above. Still, there was no sign of a mess. No dried skin or crusted flakes. His hair wasn't clumped together and his robe was stained.
He shook his head and rose. He hadn't dreamed it. He'd communed with Mistress and she'd been pleased with him. She'd blessed him with a release that was unlike any he'd had with any normal woman... Perhaps this was another example of how she was different from mortal women?
"Hey!"
John jerked his head up and dropped his robe.
"What are you doing there?" Little Red asked as she walked toward him from the stairs. "Need a little something to get you up this morning?"
John blushed and shook his head. "Ah, no, just... strange dreams."
"Mmm," she hummed as she moved to stand in front of him. She took his hands in hers and pulled him to his feet. "My dreams are of you and there's nothing strange about them."
"Well, now that you mention it..."
"No time," Little Red said and gave him a quick peck on the lips before she realized what she'd done. She glanced about to make sure none of the sailors that were off duty were watching. "Captain says you're to join her on the fo'c'sle."
"Are we there?"
"Aye, and they're as pretty and wild as you can imagine."
John chuckled. "I don't know, I've seen some pretty and wild things before."
Little's Red's eyes gleamed while her cheeks flushed. "Stop you, or we'll be late and Red will have both our hides!"
John chuckled and let her lead him up to the main deck and then onto the Fo'c'sle. Steff was there with Red. Off the starboard bow was a large island with a bay nearly as wide as the one Widows' Edge rested in. There were no cliffs on the island though, just some hills that rose into the distance beyond the long grasses of each peninsula.
Off the port and straight ahead were more islands. They were smaller then the first and less diverse, with little more than a few hills covered in grass and a few palm trees. The bow ward island was barely above the water and seemed a mix of sand and grasses.
"Pretty," John said after taking in the sights. "No place to build a camp or hide a ship though."
"Horseshoe Island here has hosted a few camps," Red said while pointing at the island on the starboard side. "Nobody lasts long though, not enough cover when storms come through and they've got no fresh water."
John's eyebrows went up as he turned to look at her.
"What?" she snapped.
"Told you she's been reading into One Eyed Billy for years and years," Little Red teased.
"Shut your mouth," Red snapped at her.
"There's more islands then?" John asked.
"Yes, many more. Another nine," Red said. "There might be a cove between the two islands off our port side though, I've always wondered."
John peered across the water. "There's two islands there? I thought it was just one with an inlet."
"There's a channel between them," she confirmed. "Narrow and probably full of rocks."
"Nine more islands?" John asked.
She nodded.
"He raided and then protected the villages and cities along the coast?"
"Aye, what's your thoughts?"
"There's no fog," John said.
"Water had a mist to it earlier, but you slept through it."
He winced. "Right, well, it's gone now so that's hardly enough to drive away a determined treasure hunter."
She sniffed and scanned the horizon again. She nodded at the hazy outline of islands further away. "Sale on then?" she asked. "There's a few more near ahead, smaller bumps of land above high tide and then some islands large enough to get lost on."
"That's it then," he said. "But let's keep an eye out in any case. No telling what we might miss."
Red eyed him. "This your way of not working the rigging or sails?"
John chuckled. "Would that it were so simple."
She sniffed again and nodded to Steff. "Let Sasha know. We sail between the Isles. Northeasterly, with the wind to aid us."
"Aye, Captain," Steff said and turned to hurry across the deck. She yelled out to the crew as she passed telling them be ready at their posts.
"I've never been this close before," Little Red whispered as the sails were raised and wind filled them. "It's exciting!"
"Everyone sails around them, mostly," Red explained when John gave them a confused look. "Some will risk a close pass or even landing at the outer islands. Few risk the inner islands though. Some never come back and there's rumors a plenty of sunken ships or those run aground."
John frowned. "If there's sunken ships, how are we supposed to know which is Billy's?"
"That's where you earn your share," she said.
"I thought I earned my share working the ship?"
"Aye, but then you fucked my sister and my second mate on my time, not theirs," Red said. "That put you in the hole again."
"Put him in a few holes," Little Red quipped.
Red shook her head and turned on her little sister. "Another peep out of you and I'll have you working the bilge."
John stifled his chuckle and took care to keep his eyes on the sea. They fell silent as the ship picked up speed and began to push between the islands. John looked around at first until he realized that as fast as the
Red Witch
