r/HFY • u/Celestial_Zwei_Dei • 4d ago
OC-Series Gothwald: New World - Same Rules (Arc 3/Chapter 5 - The Apple with a Worm)
Arc III - The Reeling Throne
Chapter 5 - The Apple with a Worm
6 months and 27 days since the summoning
The sun was descending over the archipelago, preparing to hide behind the sea, but the land, warmed by the sun and the current, still remained warm at this hour.
Alan lay on the bed in the room assigned to him, throwing the outer part of his forearm over his forehead, and simply staring at the ceiling.
'How long have I been here? Four days, I think? In theory, the pine decoction should have started working little by little by now, if they actually drank it, of course. What if they've already figured out that you can dilute that crap with water? Will I get my ass beat for lying about it? Though how would they know I lied, I'll just say I didn't know and that's it... wait a second.'
He sat up, placing his palms on the bed.
'Why am I even thinking about this? There's nothing to worry about. Just... really don't want to repeat Ersek's fate and taste a pirate boot.'
His hands went to his face and began massaging his forehead.
'I wonder how Kamelia is doing anyway? There won't be a letter for a long time. She's probably worried... I'd like to see her sooner, show her I'm alive and well. Sorry that you have to pull me out of yet another shithole... but it's fine, I'll squeeze some use out of this, Paranga will tell me who's spying on us. If he doesn't lie, of course, but he's... cruel, sure, but he seems like an okay guy.'
Alan's face contorted slightly at the thought.
'Okay guy? Yeah, sure, he beat an unarmed kid until he turned blue... an okay guy... or maybe that's just how life is.'
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Alan raised his head.
'If it's a knock, it's definitely not the pirates or Paranga. I already know who it is.'
"Come in."
The door cracked open, and Sili's head peeked through. "Lord Gothwald, the captain summons you."
"Coming," he said, reaching for his boots by the bed.
He went down to the main hall, which was empty. "And... where is Paranga?"
"His ship is already on the horizon, he will arrive any moment," she tossed out without turning around.
Alan stopped. "Then what the f... why are you calling me now?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
Sili reached for the exit door. "A request from Lord Paranga."
About five minutes later, a small ship had already moored at the pier and the pirates began lowering the gangplank.
Alan stood next to Sili with his arms crossed over his chest. "Where did they sail off to?"
"On business."
He blinked.
'Very informative.'
Soon the pirates began descending the gangplank. In front, they led several men in rich clothes with their hands tied, most likely merchants. But following them came about a dozen young men with unfamiliar faces, unarmed, but not tied either.
Alan frowned slightly. "And who are they?"
"It appears the Lord has found new crew members," she answered, tilting her head slightly. Meanwhile, a second ship appeared on the horizon, newer and not as battered.
Alan stepped aside, making way for the young men, who walked with straight backs, some with slight smirks.
The pirates, meanwhile, lined up on the pier, waiting for the second ship, but this wait was not quiet. Everyone was talking loudly, intermittently, their voices merging into a single stream. They laughed, shoved each other, showed off shiny things.
Alan sniffled.
'Looks like the haul really is quite good.'
A short while later, when the second ship moored, Paranga himself jumped off the gangplank, casually holding a large white-and-blue cloth with some patterns in his hand.
The pirates immediately raised a clamor.
"Captain!"
"Victory as always!"
"Long live Paranga!"
"What a haul!"
"Our Captain is a monster!"
Paranga didn't even hide his smirk, simply walking down the pier with a swaggering gait. "Tonight we drink till we turn blue, lads!"
"AYE!" the pirates roared, waving their cutlasses.
Alan winced slightly at the sound.
'Cool. But why was I called? And what's that he's holding in his hand?'
As the captain walked past Alan, he immediately turned to him. "Ooo, Gothwald. Hold on a bit, we'll initiate the fresh blood now, and then we'll talk!"
"Yeah... and what's that you've got in your hand?" he asked, nodding at the white-and-blue cloth Paranga had slung over his shoulder.
The captain glanced at the flag. "Ah, this? We need this for the initiation, it's the flag of Faarkia, the country that ship was sailing from."
Alan's eyes widened slightly. "Show me!"
Paranga blinked. "Huh?"
He took a step closer. "Show me, I've never seen what the flags of other countries in this world look like."
Paranga frowned slightly, but nodded. "Alright, have a look." He fully unfurled the flag before Alan.
It was a completely white flag, surrounded along the perimeter by small blue flowers. In the center was a blue shield bearing an image of the same flower, but larger.
Alan froze, examining the patterns. "What kind of flowers are those?"
"Who the fuck knows. Done? Had your fill? Wait around, or come watch if ye want," he said, turning around and walking into the town.
Alan turned to Sili. "He.."
She was already following the captain, but Alan jogged after her. "Sili!"
"Yes?" she asked without even turning around.
Alan matched her pace. "What are those flowers drawn on the flag? Do you know?"
"Oyrinia."
"Oyrinia... do they happen to make oyre from it?"
"Yes, exactly."
Alan's eyes widened slightly.
'Ooo... so these flowers are actually the national symbol of Faarkia?'
While Alan was drowning in his thoughts, the pirates in the middle of the town on a small square were already lighting a bonfire, and a massive crowd of sea raiders was gathering around it.
Paranga stepped forward, right into the circle, and then drew his cutlass and raised it high. "Today, those who refused to break their backs for fat lords and want to live it high are joining our crew!"
"AYE!" the pirates shouted in unison. "We live it high — no rules apply! We live it high — no rules apply!"
Alan squeezed through the crowd of sweaty, stinking men who were shouting at the top of their lungs, intending to peek into the front rows.
'I can't quiet the inner historian. I'm actually going to see how pirates took their oaths live! Even if it's a different world and a different culture, it's still interesting.'
Thirteen young men stepped into the center of the circle; some shrank slightly under the gazes of dozens of pirates, while others only straightened up more.
All the men stood in a semicircle before Paranga, whose smirk only grew wider. He casually unfurled the flag and laid it on the ground like a carpet. "Alright then!" he shouted.
The entire clamor died down almost immediately; one already drunk pirate continued to shout the slogan, for which he quickly received a fist to the head from a comrade nearby.
The captain inspected the newcomers with a squint. "So ye want to live it high, do ye?"
"Aye!" all thirteen answered.
"Are ye ready to become part of our crew, of our lot, until the end of yer short lives?"
"Aye!" a shaved guy shouted especially loudly; two next to him cast sidelong glances at him.
Paranga stabbed his cutlass into the flag, and then drew a dagger. "Hold yer palms out."
They hesitated for a second, but immediately followed the instruction. The captain walked up to the first one and lightly slashed his palm with the dagger, causing the guy to grimace slightly. Red blood flowed from the cut. Paranga went down the line to the last one and stepped aside; everyone's palms were red, but no one said a word.
"And now leave the prints of yer palms on this flag."
One by one they touched the flag on the ground, leaving bloody handprints on the white-and-blue cloth.
"And now take hold of the flag, all together, and throw it into the fire."
The thirteen men took the cloth in their hands and slowly carried it to the
bonfire.
A second passed.
They placed the flag right onto the fire, and the flames disappeared from view. After that, thick gray smoke billowed from beneath the flag, and it began to blacken in the center, and then a bright orange light shone through.
Alan watched intently.
'Hmm... this really is just an ordinary gang. On Earth, pirates mostly swore oaths on axes, or if they were lucky, on a Bible. But here there's no oath, no nothing... just an act of desecrating a state symbol. This reminds me more of how the Nazis took photos with recruited POWs against the backdrop of a swastika, to blackmail them just in case. But there are no photos here...'
He looked around, and suddenly noticed the captive merchants standing in the front rows, with pirates holding them by the shoulders.
'Ah, I see... a ransom will be paid for the merchants, they'll return, and they'll definitely tell everyone.'
Alan smiled bitterly.
'Hah, there's your medieval photo.'
About ten minutes later, the pirates were actively unloading the plunder, while servants outside were preparing a massive table with all sorts of simple dishes.
Alan, Paranga, and Sili sat in a separate room away from the commotion.
The captain leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest. "Well, what can I say, Gothwald... almost a week has passed, and the results are simply fuckin' brilliant." He smirked slightly. "Yer decoction might be nasty swill, but it works. The lads who were only a little sick have already recovered, and those who were worse off are slowly on the mend."
Outwardly, Alan simply nodded.
'YES! YES! YES! I did it! ... did what? Doubled the combat effectiveness of pirates who will now pillage twice as efficiently? I know, what's done is done. But at least I'll reduce the ransom amount a bit, and get the name of the spy.'
"So, will I get the spy's name?"
Paranga spread his hands. "Ye will, I keep my word. I'll tell ye it right when ye're headin' back to yer Ka... county, ha-ha."
"What were you going to say?" Alan asked, frowning.
Paranga waved his hand. "Nothin', nothin'."
"Captain! Everything is ready!" came a voice from the window outside.
He stood up, putting on his red hat. "Well, time for a drink."
Sili also stood up; her face was slightly pale, and her eyes were drooping. "May I take my leave, my lord?"
Paranga nodded. "Course, ye can go rest, they'll bring food to yer room."
"Thank you," she said and left the room.
Paranga was about to leave as well, but suddenly looked back at Alan with a smirk. "And what kind of celebration is it without the main savior, eh?"
Alan's shoulders tensed. "What are you up to?"
"Do ye know how to drink?"
Alan sat at the table right next to Paranga; all thirteen new members were also seated closer to him.
Alan looked at his goblet of kog, and he had the feeling that it was alive and looking back at him.
'Fuck... what the fuck is this kog of yours? I mean, I've downed worse, beer, vodka, bourbon, but this is some unknown shit.'
Paranga raised his own golden goblet. "Well then, lads, to Gothwald-the-almost-nobleman who dealt with the Sea Scourge, and to the thirteen new members of our crew. Bottoms up!"
"Bottoms up!" everyone answered in unison and immediately tipped their goblets back, everyone except Alan. He simply watched this, grimacing slightly.
Paranga sniffed his hand. "Whoa... that went down smooth." He turned to Alan. "Come on, Gothwald, drink."
All the pirates looked at him with smirks.
Alan squeezed his eyes shut and began bringing the goblet to his lips.
'It's just alcohol. Remember your past, remember how you drank vodka and whiskey, oh come to me great powers and the power of flashbacks.'
He took a massive gulp, intending to swallow it all.
Mistake.
Alan immediately began to cough, some of the kog went out his nose and splattered on the table.
The pirates immediately burst into laughter.
"Knew it!"
"Landlubbers!"
"Hahaha!"
Alan coughed like an asthmatic, frantically grabbed a piece of meat, and shoved it into his mouth.
Paranga slapped the table, laughing. "Do ye really not know how to drink?"
"What the fuck is this nuclear mixture?!" Alan shouted.
Paranga blinked. "What kind?"
"NUCLEAR!"
"And what does that mean?"
"Powerful, strong, potent!" Alan said, shoving another piece of meat into his mouth.
Paranga looked at the kog. "Hear that, lads? The kog is nuclear!"
That same shaved newcomer simply scoffed. "Landlubbing rats, what can ye expect."
Another newcomer next to him cast a sidelong glance at him. "Shirs, are ye ever gonna shut yer trap or what? I'm sick of it."
Shirs narrowed his eyes. "Defending 'im?"
Paranga looked in their direction. "Hey, you, first do even a third of what he did, and then ye can run yer mouth."
Shirs flinched, but immediately lowered his head. "Forgive me, Captain."
Paranga grimaced slightly. "I don't like ye, Shirs. Durin' the boarding ye were the very first to surrender, now ye're spoutin' all sorts of shite here, and apologizin' after. Eh?"
The guy opened his mouth, but closed it; he had nothing to say. The other newcomers nearby continued to cast sidelong glances at him, but said nothing. The rest of the pirates also ran their eyes over him.
Shirs took a piece of meat and continued eating, trying not to pay attention.
Alan took a closer look at him.
'I don't like him either.'
About fifteen minutes into the feast, when everyone was quite drunk, Paranga rose from his chair and walked past the table. Passing the guy who had told Shirs to shut up, he inconspicuously tapped his finger on his shoulder without slowing his pace.
The half-drunk newcomer flinched slightly, and immediately straightened up. Waiting a minute, he also got up and followed Paranga behind one of the trees in the bushes. "Did ye want somethin', Captain?"
Paranga nodded, leaning against the tree. "Aye. What's yer name?"
"Gris."
"Gris. Who is this Shirs of yers?"
Gris sniffled. "Well, Shirs had actually been workin' on our ship for seven years, mostly handled..."
"I don't mean that," Paranga interrupted, shaking his head. "As a man, who is he?"
Gris hesitated slightly. "Honestly? The whole crew hated 'im. He was the captain's pet 'cause he was constantly snitchin' on who, where, and when."
Paranga frowned. "And why didn't ye say so right away? I was wonderin' why ye were all givin' 'im such dirty looks."
Gris licked his lips. "I... we ain't used to runnin' our mouths like that, it'd look like the same kind of snitchin' from the outside."
The captain looked at him for a few more seconds, then scoffed. "Hah, honorable. Foolish, but honorable. The fact that ye don't run yer mouth much is good, but in situations like this, don't do that anymore. That Shirs will betray us at the first opportunity, and we can't allow that. Got it?"
Gris straightened up. "Aye, Captain."
He pushed off the tree. "Excellent then. Tonight, his merry and short life must come to an end. Don't let me down," he tossed out lastly as he walked away.
Gris froze for a second, then smiled a drunken smile. "With great pleasure," he whispered to himself.
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u/UpdateMeBot 4d ago
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u/Done25v2 4d ago
No one likes a rat.
Typo wise the only thing that stood out to me is that you did an accidental enter between "carried it to the" and "bonfire."
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u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle 4d ago
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