Finches

Chapter 34 - The Fisherman

It didn't take long for everyone to find out that the captain of the Bloody Manta was dead. This was likely because Red-Head Rave laying on the ground un-moving was something his crew didn't see every day. One of Rave's pirates wandered close to Colt, and looked like he was about to attack when he noticed that the body next to him belonged to his captain. The pirate immediately backed away from Colt and ran off, probably to share the news. Colt doubted the man was familiar with the proper protocol to follow when your captain dies.

And soon enough the pirates started to retreat. Some of them walked over, likely to check the legitimacy of the rumors, but none got very close to Colt. They all stayed their distance and peered at their captain, looking like they wanted to prod him with a stick or something. But it didn't take long before Rave's entire crew was hightailing it back to the comfort of their ship. Colt watched them run, still breathing heavily as he recovered from the fight. He didn't seem to be able to move, or maybe he just didn't want to. He stood in place and witnessed the pirates figuring out that the impossible had just happened.

Meanwhile, the Authority began to celebrate. The officers still standing cheered and jeered at the defeated pirates, waving around their swords and guns. Colt saw Lieutenant Cotton, who seemed to have made it out of the fight okay, walk over with his arms outstretched toward his sister. As an exhausted but relieved-looking Shelly hugged her brother, her eyes found Colt's across the battlefield. They exchanged a wordless yet meaningful glance, and Shelly nodded her head at him ever so slightly. Colt just smiled a little, backing up further out of the way so he wouldn't be seen by her brother as the hug ended.

Then he looked around and found Jagger, who was standing by himself, his flintlock in hand. His shirt was torn and bloody, and you could definitely tell that he was fresh out of a big fight. But he seemed to be doing fine enough, and the corners of his mouth turned up as he met Colt's eyes. Colt realized that this was the only time he'd ever seen Jagger smile. To be fair, it wasn't like he knew the guy super well, and there wasn't an overload of things to really smile about when you were serving aboard the Bloody Manta. But it was an emotion he'd never seen from the guy nonetheless.

Colt motioned away from the battlefield and toward the town as he eyed the Authority officers. All of the officers had started to group up to congratulate each other, and Colt figured it wouldn't be long before they decided to come over and check out the captain's body. He had fought with the Authority, but he still didn't exactly trust them. Especially since their common enemy had been killed, even if it was he who killed him. Who knew whether or not they'd turn on him. He was a pirate after all, and the Infinite Authority wasn't famous for their leniency.

Jagger nodded his agreement and started walking toward the town. Colt did the same, taking a different path in order to get away unseen. He was grateful when he finally got past the scathed land of the battlefield and onto one of the nice paths that led into town. He noticed when he got into town that though it was completely deserted and there was no one anywhere in sight, there didn't seem to be any damage to any of the buildings. Nothing had been destroyed or ransacked and you wouldn't have even known a battle took place, as long as you didn't look over your shoulder at the smoke rising from where the outpost used to be.

Colt passed by alleys of shops and made it to the center of the town. He saw Jagger standing by the giant lake waiting for him.

"You did it," said Jagger, spreading his arms. "You actually did it."

Colt walked over and joined him by the lake. "So did you," he said. He gestured down at the gun Jagger was still holding. "You're good with that thing."

"I'm still figuring it out. I missed a lot of shots."

"Yeah, but at least you took them," Colt said.

Jagger nodded. He stared at the flintlock for a few seconds more, then slipped it in the holster that was strapped along his waist. "Thank you," he said.