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Melinda-

She could never get tired of the color blue. The way the sea blended into the sky was simply beautiful. Sunlight shone through the port hole of her cabin as she dressed for the day. Melinda chose a simple light cotton shirt of a magnificent dark blue and a dark brown pair of pants. After pulling on a pair of leather boots she headed for the door, yet she hesitated. She hummed lightly as she turned to retrieve the nearly forgotten ribbon. When it was safely tucked away she made her way to the deck and out into the sun. Kaleon was walking about the deck doing different things here and there, occasionally stroking the ruby in his ear. His pale green eyes met her grey, she smiled and turned toward the captain. The captain had warned her not to wear red around him, but she didn't really have any red so that was an easy enough rule. Other than that she had free reign of the Seeker. She wasn't a huge ship, but she carried her cargo and got them from port to port without too much trouble. The captain was standing by the wheel. He gave her a nod of recognition, she smiled and nodded back.
"Will we be putting into port soon, Captain?" Melinda called, her voice bouncing as she climbed the steps. "The supplies are beginning to make themselves scarce. Then again, I wouldn't want to be eaten by Kaleon either. Have you seen the way he devours his food?" She leaned against the side rail casually, an easy smile on her lips. The captain smirked and made a sound that could be mistaken for a scoff.
"Depends on if you know the Thiryn's tongue." The captain rumbled, stroking the dark stubble on his cheeks. Were they really that far west? The days seemed to run together when they were out on the sea. Run together into one long, warm, blue blur.
"I'll have to refresh myself, but I think I can manage. How soon do I have to be ready?" Melinda stared into the horizon. She thought that there couldn't possibly be anything prettier in the world than the spot where the ocean melts into the sky. She sighed lightly and ran a hand through her black layered hair.
"We have a few days before we get there, make sure you can make sense of whatever the ******** they're saying. I want this to run as smoothly as possible."
"Aye captain! I shall go at once." She smiled as she returned to her cabin. Her thoughts drifted to the first owner of the scarlet ribbon and the wonderful feeling she got when he gave it to her. It wasn’t anything expensive or extraordinary, but you never forget your first love.

Melinda-

She stood there, eyes glued to the captains headless body and the slowly expanding red puddle. She took a deep breath, said a quick prayer to Galia and gingerly stepped out of her room around the captains body. The cargo was loaded and the supplies were restocked, Kaleon said they were leaving port that night. If they were leaving port then they could throw the captain overboard. Then she could scrub the stain out of her floor and act like it never happened. Yes, that was exactly what she'd do. Except that the man who killed the captain, was now the new captain. Should she trust him not to do the same to her? Perhaps if he knew how valuable she was he would keep her aboard. He also said that he was in need of a first mate, probably hinting that he wanted her to be his first mate. At any rate she needed to calm down and figure out what she was going to do. Was she going to stay, or was she going to risk running to the guards? If she had Kaleon arrested that would leave Melinda with the Seeker. A whole ship and no one to crew it. Hiring new crew members would be costly and she didn't think she had the coin or the authority to keep the men she hired from mutiny. The only reasonable option Melinda could see was to let Kaleon stay the captain and pray to Galia that he doesn't try to gut her, or worse. A thought struck her, she still had the captain's blood on her clothes and Kaleon liked the color red. Melinda was too far from her room to change her clothes and she didn't think she was ready to face the ex-captain again. She needed to see the open sky and the sea. It was always so calm and beautiful, it would help soothe her nerves. Melinda made her way to the deck, running her hands through her dark hair. Melinda was sure the new captain heard her go by as he tended to his injury. She tried not to pay attention to him and she tried not to let him notice her. Melinda doubted it was working, but she wouldn't think about that right now. She was on her way to see her favorite thing and it would make all of the bad feelings go away for a little bit. Just until she could figure out what to do about them. After so many good years she'd forgotten how harsh life could be, and this was a quick remedy.
There it was, the largest source of comforting blue she could possibly find. Almost immediately Melinda's muscles relaxed and all of her anxieties melted into it's cerulean splendor. She walked to the center of the deck, turned around and fell straight on her back with her arms spread out to either side. It hurt, but there was too much magnificent sky for her to really care. A wide smile crept over her full lips and her eyelids slid halfway over her grey eyes. When she was a child in the orphanage some of the caretakers would let her go outside and she would do the very thing she was doing now, lying on her back and staring up at the sky. She would often see different shapes in the clouds, like special pictures from Galia just for her. She wasn't sure how long she'd been lying there before Kaleon came up or why he'd come back up, but she did remember him asking her what she was doing. Her reply was a softly mumbled "That one looks like a bunny" and a finger pointed up at the clouds. She chuckled when her hand crashed into her stomach. Kaleon gave her a strange look, yet left her to her cloud gazing. Another long period of time passed and Melinda finally picked herself up off of the deck. Her muscles were sore from being in one position for so long, but she felt better on the inside and that was the only thing that really mattered. Kaleon wasn't on the main deck anymore. Melinda went below to find him and ask them of their heading.

Kaleon-

Mediocre breakfast to his tongue. Perfect meal to his gut. But besides the bland taste in his mouth, there were other issues.
The Thyrin. A single vessel, a tad bigger then the seeker followed close. Kaleon noticed them this morning.
" I think there getting closer! " Melinda yelled.
" At least I can't say they aren't persistent! " Kaleon replied.
" Just let me negotiate! I'll tell them it was all a misunderstanding!"
" Don't you get it Melinda? we're pirates now! " Kaleon started this session of laughter. Was it the chase? or the look on Melinda's face. She came up beside him at the wheel.
" I hope you know that I'm letting them kill you if you refuse to cooperate."
" They can try."
" Yes, keep running! Galia's grace I don't even know why I'm still here."
Melinda stormed off below deck. Kaleon knew she was right, the Thryin ship was designed to catch theives. But this ship was special, Kaleon knew it the day he joined the crew. Those pearls would be useful, there was no way he'd give them up. Kaleon remembered a strategy one of the warrior monks used when bandits raided and the others had gone away on some ritual. It was just Kaleon and Yollreith. In the end Yollreith died protecting Kaleon, luckily the other monks arrived just in time. The point being Yollreith's actions saved him a few moments...lets hope it works here. Kaleon folded the sails with just the touch of a leaver on one of the masts. That should get them here faster. He then went below deck. Melinda was in her room packing.
"Get in the cargo room. " Kaleon ordered.
" You murder the captain, you threaten to kill me, you harm my life by running off with expensive pearls, and you want me to obey you?! I've put up with some harsh things in my life. But you are too unprepared and too unpredictable to handle this! "
"Melinda! get in the cargo room! I've got this! "
Melinda stared for a while, Kaleon could feel her distrust. The strange part was that he could also feel a sense of curiosity.
"I've got a plan Melinda, trust me."
"Why? If I didn't have the skills I have you'd have raped and killed me already."
She was right. Her talents where valuable, and it seemed she added one more on top of it all.....cooperation.
"Fine! Fine! I just you to promise they wont start blowing the ship up while I'm down there."
Kaleon watched her slip down to the third deck. He pulled out his sword from his back and stood bare chested by Melinda's door. The hallway from her room further back to the second room and the hatch leading down to the cargo room was rather cramped. This would decrease their numbers.
Silence. Then....
Shouts came from the top deck. Kaleon tightened his grip. they where coming. About five. Perhaps more above deck.
"You there! put down your weapon and tell us where the pearls are or these soliders will attack!" a voice called out. he wasn't Thyrin, perhaps the customer.
They held spears. Spears wont help them in these spaces.
"Oh those things? you mean the pearls I stole? yeah there behind me. The only problem here is if you come any closer I'll have to gut you like a fish."
"Your pathetic, I have no time for this." he then spoke something in Thyrin.
They attacked.
Kaleon swiped a spear to the right and it dug into the wall, with a thrust of his sword he did as promised and gutted the Thyrin. As the blade came out it tore more flesh, the blood had taken him in mere seconds. But there where more.
Blood...red....
Another spear and another reflection, this time he had a second spear fly at his midsection. In a flash Kaleon brought his blade back down with such force the spear shattered. He yanked the broken spear and its hold forward and drove his blade down the Thyrin's neck. Only two left. Hands grabbed him and the fourth spear came lunging towards his face. Kaleon ducked and the spear struck the grappling Thyrin. The final kill. Kaleon was loving it. His blade had spilled so much blood. His heart was beating so fast he hardly felt it. The last thyrin fell on his a**. The next thing Kaleon knew he was snapping the neck of the man he had unintentionally stolen pearls from. More men up deck.
And more men dead at Kaleon's hands. He began to lick the blood. The other ship was secured to the Seeker. Kaleon found himself on the other ship. Slaughtering the crew. So much red.
"Kaleon! wake up damn it!" Melinda's voice was almost soothing
"It's you..."
"What happened? I hear screams then I take a look and its a bloody massacre! I was even forced to stab a man!"
"Ha, your good at that." Kaleon gazed his surroundings. He was back on the Seeker, the Thyrin ship was gone.
"What happened to the ship?" Kaleon asked
"You don't know? I was about to ask you the same thing. When I came up-deck the Thyrin ship was floating away, and out of the blue it exploded!"
Kaleon smiled, at least he was alive. And no injuries felt...yet.

Kaleon began dumping the bodies over bored. Melinda was leaning at the side rail and looking out at the ocean. Kaleon drug a mutilated man into the ocean.
" What you said earlier, about me being unprepared...."
Melinda kept her eyes to the water.
Kaleon continued. "Correct me if I'm wrong but you sound like you know how I could."
" It's true...I've read many books on piracy. Not how to become one. But the stories of legendary men of the sea who pillaged and plundered."
"And...." Kaleon wasn't interested in how she found out just that she told him.
Melinda looked at him, Kaleon saw that she really looked. Not just a gaze with eyes, but a connection of the soul. She was curious and it was taking over her. what she saw of him...Kaleon was unsure.
Silence. Save for the waves splashing against the Seeker.
" First you need a crew. respectable very skilled crew members. And not just fool hardy men, but wise and intelligent people. Eleazar didn't blockade the entire gulf of Madara with brute force alone."
"You mistake me Melinda, I care not for the past. I only move forward.Now where can I find such people?"
Melinda smiled. "You mean smart and valuable individuals that would be stupid enough to join you? I have no idea."
"So I have to find other such as yourself."
"Ye-...no, I have my skills an- wait...that was an insult."
"You are smart after all."
Melinda shook her head. "I'm sure we could ask around and trade for information about these people in the port you plan on venturing to."
"It looks like we don't think that differently after all." Kaleon turned to continue his body dumping.
"Your a cold blooded killer Kaleon, you and I are nothing alike!" Melinda shouted.
That's where she was wrong, and Kaleon could sense she knew it to.