Pirate Ship

I heard about the pirate ship three days ago from a fisherman with one eye and very strong opinions about tides.

"Ran aground off the coast," he said. "Few miles east of the fork. Been there about a week. No one's touched it yet."

A stranded pirate ship. I've seen pirate ships before — at dock, in harbors, once under full sail off the coast of Stranglethorn. But I've never seen one run aground. Never walked through a dead ship's bones.

Could be interesting.

When the road split this morning, I barely slowed down. Southshore was south, but the coast was east. Both were good directions. Only one had a pirate ship.

Loaf was already ambling down the eastern path. He's got a nose for interesting things. Or maybe he just likes the way the sea air smells. Hard to tell with Loaf.

"The road is this way," she called from behind me.

I stopped. Turned. Elira was standing at the fork, pointing south. Her expression was somewhere between confused and exasperated. I've seen that expression a lot this week.

"Pirate ship," I said, pointing east.

"I thought you were going to Southshore."

"Eventually."

She stared at me. I could see her trying to work it out. The math didn't add up for her. A destination was a destination. You didn't just... change it because you heard about something interesting.

But that's exactly what you do. How else do you find things?

"Then why are you leaving the road?" she asked.

"Heard a pirate ship ran aground. Few miles that way."

"Is there someone you're meeting?"

"No."

"Then why?"

The question hung in the air. Not accusatory. Not frustrated. Just... curious. Like she genuinely wanted to understand.

I scratched my beard. Looked toward the coast. Thought about how to explain it.

"Never seen a stranded pirate ship," I said. "Could be interesting."

Not a good answer. I know it's not a good answer. It's the same answer I give everyone, and most people shake their heads and walk away.

She didn't walk away. She stood there looking at me for a long moment, and I could see something shifting behind her eyes. Not understanding, exactly. More like... acceptance. Like she'd stopped trying to solve the puzzle of me and decided to just let the pieces lie where they were.

Then she called out.

"You're impossible."

Her voice was different this time. Not annoyed. Not impatient. Almost... warm. The way you'd say something to an old friend who's been doing the same ridiculous thing for years.

I grinned.

"That's what everyone keeps tellin' me!"

Then Loaf snorted somewhere ahead in the trees, and I turned east, and she turned south, and just like that, we weren't walking together anymore.

Loaf looked up at me as we walked. He had a leaf stuck to one tusk and his expression was deeply unconcerned, which is his usual expression.

"Aye," I said. "She'll be fine."

I meant it.

---

The pirate ship was magnificent.

Half-sunken into the sand, tilted at an angle that made walking through it feel like climbing a hill. The hull was splintered along one side and the mast had snapped clean in two. Seabirds had made nests in the captain's quarters. A torn flag still fluttered from what remained of the stern — black and red, too faded to make out the symbol.

I spent two days there. Searched every cabin. Found a chest full of nautical charts I couldn't read and a compass that still pointed north. Sat on the deck in the evening and watched the sun go down over the water while Loaf dozed beside me.

On the way back to the road, I saw a flower.

Yellow petals. Folded into little cups. Growing crooked toward a gap in the trees where the morning light broke through.

The same kind I'd stopped for four days ago, when she'd sighed and said we're losing daylight.

I smiled.

Didn't pick it. It was growing well where it was.

But I stood there for a minute, looking at it, and I hoped she'd started stopping for flowers too.

Loaf grunted impatiently. He'd found something interesting further up the road. There's always something interesting further up the road.

"Alright, alright," I said. "I'm coming."

We continued south. Eventually.