A crude smile spread across Kirk's face as he slit the throat of the last remaining sailor in the bar. The lifeless body slumped to the floor, and the pirates cheered in victory. Even Elena, who had stood behind the bar during the entirety of the fight, nonchalantly cleaning glasses like any other day at work, smirked at their victory.

"You better clean that mess up, Captain Ruben Kirk." She raised a brow at him.

"Don't go dampening my victory now..."

Slam!

Both Kirk and Elena jumped back from the sudden appearance of a small chest landing between them with a loud crash.

"It's all yours!" Jessica dropped the chained key, and it clattered onto the surface of the bar next to the chest. "I don't want a single ounce of it," she spat.

"I don't want it if it's worthless," Kirk complained.

"It's worth over 400 million joules, maybe more."

"Eh?!" Kirk's jaw flew open.

Why was it now worth twenty times more than its original price? Not that he was complaining.

"Then why don't you want to split it with me fifty-fifty?"

However, Jessica had already disappeared, having taken the stairs to her spot on the roof. Kirk frowned, wondering why she was upset. Shouldn't she be happy after such a victory?

Kirk grumbled under his breath and called Cain over to open the small chest infused with sea crystals, a teal-coloured gem found at the bottom of the oceans and every cursed soul's weakness. Therefore, Kirk couldn't touch the chest without it hurting him.

Cain flipped the lid open, and hues of gold, yellow, and honey blinded him.

"Honey gold," Cain whistled. "I thought it was just a myth."

The two pirates gawped down at the small chest, still not quite believing what they were seeing. They would be celebrating tonight.

Elena chuckled at their reactions and started to explain to them the significance of honey gold.

"It's a very rare ore. Nobody knew it existed until seven years ago when the government of the United Islands came across it. It's rarer than your average gold and is found only on Hive Island," Elena explained.

"Cain, place it in our safe on the ship," Kirk ordered. "Keep the key on you at all times."

Cain nodded and slammed the chest shut, locking it and placing the key around his neck. He tucked the chest under his arm and left the premises of the tavern.

The captain shouted at his crew to clean the bar and to get rid of the dead bodies. "Once finished, you can celebrate however you like."

They cheered.

Kirk shot his eyes in the direction of the stairs, annoyed with the girl. He didn't understand one thing: the gold in the chest had the same shade of honey hues as Jessica's bracelet, so why had this gold made her upset when she wore it herself?

The rest of the day the pirates celebrated in their victory and their newfound wealth. However, Jessica didn't show her face, not even once.

From the thatched roof she sat on with her knees hugged to her chest, Jessica sighed as she reminisced about her past. It was a mixture of happiness and joyful memories, but that all changed when she turned ten years old, and everything became dark and complicated. She wiped away the tears and looked up to the sky, trying to forget about her past and instead looked to her future.

It was a beautiful evening; the crescent moon shone brightly and reflected off the surface of the ocean. Kirk's pirate ship bobbed up and down to the waves; the naval vessel was now on fire.

Out of all the islands she could have found herself shipwrecked on, she was glad it was this one. Everyone had been welcoming from the day she stepped foot here, especially Dom and Elena, and not once had she felt outcasted by any of them, except maybe her landlord.

She smiled knowingly to herself; it would be the harvest festival in a month's time. It was her favourite time of year. The two port towns of the north and the south would come together to celebrate at the temple of the harvest god in thanks for yet another year of bountiful crops. She didn't believe in their god, but she still liked to join in and help where needed in preparation.

Apple picking along Apple Road had always been Jessica's favourite activity during the run-up to the festivities. It gave her a chance to go over and see Northport. Considering there were now no more sailors at Southport, she would have to walk over to Northport to get her weekly fix of entertainment: watching the Navy fight with the pirates.

It felt like ages since she'd last done that. With Kirk around, she had been with him the majority of the time he had been here. It had been fun, and she liked being with the Kirk and his crew. However, they would be leaving soon, and that made her heart ache. Would they remember her or forget about her? After all, she was just another person they'd met during their travels. She hoped not; she had taken a keen liking to Kirk. He was like an older brother. She loved to tease and make him lose his temper, just like an annoying little sister.

She sighed; she would miss him.

Jessica jumped from the sudden appearance of Kirk as he sat down next to her. She eyed him suspiciously with a deep frown. He held a steaming mug in his left hand and a bottle of rum in his right.

"Elena told me to give you this," he grunted, passing her the mug. "She said it cheers you up whenever you're sad."

Jessica took the mug in thanks and let the warmth of the hot drink heat her cold body. She breathed in the honey-scented tea, and a smile slowly started to form on her lips as she thought of home.

Elena did know her well.

She finished the drink off in no time at all and felt like her old self once again. Her smile turned into a grin.

Kirk cleared his throat. "Want to tell me what happened?"

Her smile fell, and Kirk frowned, cursing to himself for making her upset again.

"Forget it!" He waved her off. "As intrigued as I am to know what happened, at the same time, I really don't care."

Jessica chuckled, her smile returning.

"Maybe one day, if we ever meet again out at sea, I will tell you."

Kirk frowned. Why was she talking like it's goodbye?

He watched on, intrigued as Jessica grabbed the rapier sword that sat next to her and grabbed a small black pouch attached to the scabbard. She unravelled the white drawstrings and took out the Mr Compass. It was made of bronze with a gold dial and encased in brown leather with the distinctive Mr Compass logo stamped onto the back of it.

It had been there the entire time. Kirk shook his head. Hidden in plain sight.

"Here, have it." She passed it to him. "Free of charge as long as you give me your compass in return so I can sucker the next crew of pirates into believing it's a Mr Compass."

Kirk chuckled and took the Mr Compass from her. However, Jessica didn't laugh with him; her blue aura had returned.

"I'll miss you."

"Come with us." Kirk smiled. He had thought this over long and hard and had even talked about it with his crew.

They all loved Jessica; she was playful, fun, a good fighter, entertaining, stubborn at times, but they all were, and she could handle her booze.

"Join my crew?"

Jessica looked at him, shocked by his request. Her heart steadily beat faster; he wanted her to join his crew?

Nobody had ever asked her such a thing before, and she didn't know what to think of it. She looked Kirk over. When she'd first met him on the deck of his ship, he had been violent and cruel, his strong hands choking her to death, but when she looked at him now, his usually fierce-looking amber eyes were soft and out of character.

That's when she realised that she would be a burden to him; he had a reputation to hold. He needed to be the ruthless captain that had gained him that reputation as an infamous pirate. She would only make him look weak. Then there was the fact that they had different ambitions. Kirk wanted to surpass his brother, and she wanted to find the man that saved her life. They had different paths to take, and she would only get in the way of his end goal.

"No," she said bluntly and looked away.

Kirk's heart dropped, and he frowned. All of sudden he felt angry with her. Did their time together mean nothing to her?

"Why not?" he growled.

Jessica heaved a sigh as she looked out over the ocean. She'd expected such a reaction from such a hotheaded captain. His face was already boiling red as she looked back at him, like she had offended him with her answer.

"We both have different paths that we want to take; you want to surpass your brother, whereas I hope to find someone I've lost. I would be nothing more than a burden for you. You're a rookie pirate, Kirk, and, maybe one day a lord. You'll always be getting into dangerous fights, and I'm not as strong as you take me to be.

"A couple of navy sailors from today is nothing compared to what's out there on the high seas of Aqua. You'll be so distracted trying to keep an eye on me that you're going to end up getting hurt, or worse, killed." She breathed out, rubbing her face. "I don't want to keep you from achieving your goal."

For once in his life, Kirk was speechless. He had no comeback. Never had anyone acted so selflessly towards him before, especially when it came to dreams. His entire time travelling as a pirate throughout the seas, he had been mocked and laughed at him for believing he could become a Pirate Lord. For that reason alone, he couldn't help but agree with her. Although she was sneaky and fast and had a sharp eye for stopping bullets with her sword, she wasn't yet strong enough to hold herself up in a battle, which was why she hadn't been inside the tavern during the ambush, but instead out finding the treasure where he knew she would be out of danger.

"You're right, but it doesn't mean I'm going to leave straight away. I'm going to wait until the craftsman returns to the island and fixes my compass." He gave back her Mr Compass. "So the rest of the crew and I can spend as much time as we can with our Little Red. Whether you're with us or not, you're already a part of the Kirk Pirates, and when you feel you're strong enough to join my crew, find me..." He flashed a menacing grin towards her, "...and we can wreak havoc together."

Jessica smiled. For once in her life, she felt a part of something, a family, and unexpectedly, she threw herself at him, hugging her new captain. His bottle of rum sloshed about and almost spilt all over her.

An awkward look fell across Kirk's face, not exactly knowing what to do in this type of situation except to lightly pat her on the back.

"To prove that I won't back out on you, we'll toast to it." He grabbed her empty mug and poured some of his rum into it and passed it back to her. "They say you can become bonded siblings for life by exchanging a cup of rum."

The two clinked their cups together and downed the rum, forever declaring themselves brother and sister. With a promise that they would one day meet again.

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