After months of restless travel, Gyllen had now exhausted every locale he desired to visit on Occasus, the western continent, although his journey was far from being over, for the prince had still yet to visit Purvaja, the mystifying lands of the exotic east located across the vast Tishtrya Strait that rent the Pavlova Empire between east and west and signified a distinct separation between the two major landmasses. Even with favourable winds, the stretch out on open salt water would last several days, and was not a trip to be taken lightly even by the most veteran of marinerse.
It was on the third night that Gyllen spent his time leaning against the bannisters of the boat's rudder end, dwelling over his voyage thus far and how it was about to enter its second half. The sun had fallen but the air remained humid, and all around him darkness seemed to stretch out forever, a galaxy of stars twinkling in the black veil overhead, their sparks reflecting perfectly off the placid waters below, causing difficulties for the prince in distinguishing where the ocean ended and where the sky began as he looked out towards the imperceptible horizon. It was in that moment Gyllen felt himself aware and very much lost within the infinite, cosmic void that surrounded him for all eternity, the lanterns illuminating the galleon giving the impression of being the only vestige of existence left in the entire universe. A vague sense of terror overcame Gyllen as he stared headlong into the blackness that lay just over the deck railing, finding his gaze involuntarily drawn deeper and deeper into that abyss where he watched a gloomy mirror of his own likeness return the gaze back up at him, asserting of his own insignificant standing amongst the chaos of infinity...
"So here's where ya've been hidin'!" Min could suddenly be heard exclaiming from behind, pulling the prince from out his existential hypnosis, wheeling himself around to face the red-haired goblin. "Whatsamatter, Goldie? Gettin' sea sick again?"
"If I am to put things bluntly, Min...I'm very bored." Gyllen replied. "Even I can only endure so much reading in a single sitting. How on earth do seafaring folk cope with months on end of this?"
"Hey, we're usually runnin' about all over th' place makin' sure everythin's smooth sailin' all for yer benefit, Prince Pussy!" Min replied "'Sides from that, yer options are pretty limited, seein' how ya don' drink or gamble, 'less yer plannin' on startin' t'night."
"I suppose I'll just have to be content with watching the heavens instead then." Gyllen said, turning his head back towards the deep blue roof encapsulating the world.
"Suit yerself. Just mind not t' stare int' the ocean for too long. I've seen plenty of folk in me time not used to th' sight end up gettin' dizzy and toppling right int' th' brine!" Min advised the prince as she began walking away, leaving Gyllen hesitantly looking over his shoulder back into the inky nothingness the water had become before the goblin sounded her voice once again, causing him to flinch from fright and nearly jump into the ocean then and there. "Oh, yeah! Almost forgot why I went lookin' for ya in th' firs' place! Remember th' new gal? Anne, I think her name was. It's her birthday today. We're throwin' a bit a' a get-together down in th' mess. Prob'ly not really yer scene but, hey, th' invite's there all th' same."
"I suppose it would make for a decent change of pace." Gyllen gave his answer after giving the offer some thought. "If you feel I wouldn't bring down the mood that is."
Gyllen was then guided down a nearby companionway below deck by the goblinoid and further lead through a door into a compartment just a short walk forwards and slightly off to the side within an passageway ill-lit with oil lamps dangling from swaying ropes, where the festivities could be distinctly heard having already gone underway through its planked wall. The next thing the prince knew, he had established himself at a table in a non-specific area within the chamber - not close to the centre, yet not quite near any of the far ends or corners either - while Min had seamlessly integrated herself amongst her former crewmates, cracking off-colour jokes left and right when she was not leading the choir in crooning out off-beat shanties to the wheezing of a dusty squeezebox being played somewhere in the back rows, all while taking guzzles of liquor from rotund bottles of darkened glass between verses as the blond internally debated whether the outside gloom was more preferable to the revolting racket currently scratching through the sound waves and offending his eardrums.
Used to more lavish wines himself, and even then only very sparingly, it came as little surprise to Gyllen when his taste buds and gag reflex worked in tandem from preventing him intaking any more of the foul fluid into his system at all costs after only attempting one or two sips of the stuff and instead filled his time observing the imbecilic gala play out before his very eyes. It appeared that the majority of the crew decided to show face in the poky hall, save for the minimum few who appeared to have drawn the short straws to man the ship and maintain the due course, however none of those present seemed particularly phased by the presence of royalty the prince provided, but whether that was by effects of rum diminishing their ability to care, if most of the crew had even been fully informed of his eminent status, he simply went unnoticed or any combination of those three was a ponder the blond occupied his mind for the next short while.
Ironically, for all the pomp being pumped into the party that night, the oddest thing to stand out was the girl who it had been thrown for in the first place appearing completely out of her element amongst the lunacy just as much as Gyllen was, if not slightly more so. From the little knowledge the prince had garnered from his recent weeks spent amongst the toiling crew, he had come to learn the young woman's name was Anne and she seemed to be responsible for most of the ship duties nobody else was willing to tend, from peeling spuds to scrubbing garments, though beyond those facts, he knew little else of her personality. The prince merely observed her as she sat in the centre of the room, surrounded by rowdy drunkards, unsmiling and staring a hole into the table she was trapped against and overall exuding an air of wishing she could just sink into her seat and vanish altogether to save herself from the embarrassment brought about by the obnoxious, unrequested joviality in her name, a situation Gyllen could somewhat relate to with his experiences of courtly functions within the walls of Malmhule Palace.
A short while later, the sole door to the room suddenly burst wide open and, of all people to show face, it was Captain Mary Bonny to saunter her tall self through its frame, a mild stumble to her strut and the bridge of her nose blushing a rich red. Evidentially, the mature skipper had taken to some pre-celebratory drinks, though the prince was more surprised by her attendance itself as he had only ever caught sparse glimpses of the Captain outside her quarters after her boisterous introduction at the beginning of this pilgrimage, and for her to show up down in the hold for this shindig organised by the swabbies was amongst the last places Gyllen was expecting was for her to appear...then again, he supposed such informality was only one of the myriad of deviations between pirates compared to naval sailors. Even still, the singing died down upon the tanned brunette's entrance, an attestation to the respect - or perhaps fear - the freebooters held for their leader.
"Couldnae even wait 'till ah popped in 'fore we gote things started, could ye, boys?" Captain Bonny slurred after letting out a belch and before dropping her entire lofty self down onto the nearest unoccupied stool, almost causing its three legs to collapse in on themselves from the sheer weight put behind the plummet of her thick rear onto the seat. Without looking, she then reached over with one hand and grabbed an unclaimed bottle and a mug carved from wood, pouring the contents of the former into the latter before taking a deep swig of the brown-orange liquid, declaring her quenched thirst with an audible exhale. "Ah, well, 'least ye holdin' aff oan the main event jes' noo~" She chuckled before it was cut short by a hiccup.
With these cryptic words, the bash resumed without further interruption over the duration of the next twenty or so minutes, and the electricity in the air only escalated as that time went on, with Gyllen and Anne being the only ones in the room to remaining stagnant and sober in that interval, with the sole excitement Anne displaying was when a pair of burly shipwrights lifted her chair clean off the ground and paraded her around the room while everybody else either chortled at the spectacle or sang a garbled rendition of 'for she's a jolly good fellow' that drowned out the terrified screams she was making while keeping her fingers clasped and her legs bent inwards to fasten herself to the chair until she was lowered back in place once more, and even then continued doing so a little while after the fact.
Although the antics kept him amused for a short while, Gyllen, generally unsure why he had stayed for so long up till that point, decided it was high time he left the crew to their own devices and returned to his books, however, just as he was about to rise from his seat, the Captain's voice unexpectedly boomed out over the incessant chatter:
"Clean the kelp oot yer ears and lissen up, me hearties!" She blurted, shooting from her stool to her feet to stand tall over the heads of everyone still in their seats. "Yer the saddest load o' excuses fer gentlemen ah've e'er had the misfortune tae cross! Ye all impose yerselves oan the birthday party of a pretty girl and no a one o' ye even huv the common bloody courtesy to gie her a gift? Back in mah day, a boy'd be hung upside-doon frae the riggin' by his
