[Episode] ENTER: Neo

NEO, THE AVID REPORTER

■ 566 WORDS ■ "I'm still getting paid, right?" ■

"Just don't get me killed!" Those were decent last words. Irony waiting to happen. With his luck he was going to die on this ship, or they all were. Pirates were scum, all of them. It isn't to say he didn't meet a few decent sailors back in the day, but exceptions weren't the rule. He was stuck to them not because he needed them. Truthfully, they were his audience. They read his stories, his reports, his findings. To them, he was a celebrity. You can't really ever have the perfect person to consume your content, and the fact they weren't total pieces of shit made it a bit more manageable. Everyone was an enemy to someone else. It was nice to be some sort of hero for a while at least. He was sure somewhere regarded him as a boogeyman, probably... maybe.

The haze and headache seemed to burden his brain as he got up. He blinked a few times hoping it would cure his hangover. "Yeah, as if." he thought to himself. A deal was a deal. Truthfully, it was his birthday, WAS, at least. He was already pretty tipsy when he made it to the bar. A drinking challenge was not his best idea, but it wasn't like he was a mastermind under the influence.

Right, all of this was because of his choices. He chose to get drunk. He chose to challenge a pirate to her game. There wasn't luck to blame, just himself. All of this, was because he was barely good enough at his job. He walked over to the railing to stare at the water as the ship continued to sail. The crew went about their business and all they did was check on him every so often. That was how it would go for the first few hours. Some would begin to become more bold in front of him, but even they knew he was starting to get bored.

"Ya want a sketchbook?" a voice creeped on him and he would finally turn around to face it. A taller gentleman he couldn't remember seeing at the bar held out the book between them. He could see the scars over his exposed arms, his attire nothing more than a black tank top and loose pants in a matching color. He seemed far more simply dressed than the others. "Keeps the mind sane, bet'r then starin' at the waves." He nodded before Neo would take the book from him.

"You ain't new to ships are ya?" he asked strangely. Neo begun to get a sense that he really didn't know who he was. Not that he knew anyone on the ship either.

"I've sailed before, or rather been on ships. I just never felt so close to the water before." He tried to explain but the words seemed to trip over each other as they raced to get out of his mouth. "Used to larger ships I suppose." he shrugged the words off, and that seemed to satisfy the man enough making him go back under deck for whatever his real job was.

"God. Jones if you could see what I'm trying to do for you, would you be happy for me or disappointed?" he spoke to the sky as he tilted his head back. It was going to be a long trip, he could feel it in his bones.

NEO, THE AVID REPORTER

■ X WORDS ■ "I want off this ride" ■

It wasn't a sign of weakness to rely on your friends. Friends didn't make you weak, they allowed you to be stronger. A friend, an ally was there to cover your weak spots. It allowed you to shine as bright as you could, leaning into all that you're good at. A good team was okay, it worked. A great team was unstoppable. He wished it was a simple as it was just a few years back. Before all of it happened. He balled his hands into fists and slammed on the railing. The sea breeze still tossing his hair with every creep over the tides. He looked over at the others. His eyes traced their body shapes, their mannerisms, how they interacted with each other. They were just side characters in his tale, they wouldn't be fit for a cover piece.

Capitan Miriam Ramirez. A loud woman who dressed in louder colors. By the standard of bounties, a nobody, but still a pirate. Largest crime to record is stealing a boat, the one they used now, and fixing it up enough to make it sea worthy. Her hair a bright red, and her clothes wild pastels and neon colors.

Toffee Stevenson, swordsman, always at his captains side. Dressed in a fine suit, he was the most presentable of any of them, and talked little if at all. His brother on the otherhand,  Nougat was loud, dressed in a suit as well but stained from either meals, drinks or fights. He had an infatuation with knives claiming he liked to get up close and personal.

Roger Rogers was nothing more than a sort of navigator, or at least was one better than the others. But his real claim to fame seemed to be the fact he was the one who had repaired the ship to its current glory.  He wasn't wanted for violent crimes, but the theft of lumber. Might have been the one worth the most out of the crew, but still wasn't worth the effort it would take to separate him from the others.

The final member, the taller man from before he didn't catch the name of. It seemed as if everyone kept out of his way, and he out of theirs. Neo couldn't find any habits that made him useful to the crew, or even if he was a part of it. Something about him was comforting, but also just felt off.

He tried to shake it off and took a seat on the steps of the ship watching over the crew.