Chapter Text
It took a few days for the reality of Koby's situation to sink in. He'd managed to convince Alvida not to immediately throw him overboard, promising that he would be useful to the crew. And he certainly had been, cleaning twice as much as anyone else and practically taking over from the ship's (astonishingly bad) navigator. They really needed all the help they could get.
But that was the problem, wasn't it? He didn't want to be helping them. He wanted to join the Marines! He needed to do whatever he could to thwart these evil pirates!
Of course, 'whatever he could do' wasn't very much, but anything was better than nothing, wasn't it? A little bit of mop water left on the deck here, so someone might slip. A tangled rope there, to slow them down next time they tried to board a captured ship. Making tiny mistakes on the inventory, so they'd run out of rum or sugar before their next stop.
The first time he tried it, he'd spent the entire night wide awake and trembling, convinced that he'd be caught and killed for his treachery. But no one had said anything to him the next day, or the next, and gradually he relaxed. And each time, he got a little bit bolder.
So one evening, when the perfect opportunity fell into his lap, he finally felt brave enough to take it.
He'd been pulled into Alvida's cabin, where he found her leaning over a large map.
"Koby, you're from around here. What's the best route to reach Saltbarrel Village?"
She pointed to a dense group of islands, split by a winding channel. A small town was marked on the northern edge of the archipelago, near the mouth of the channel.
The obvious route from their current location would be through the channel, sheltered by the tall rocky islands and well away from the Marine base on the easternmost island. But Koby knew that one of the cliffs had collapsed last year, rendering the narrow waterway impassable to all but the smallest of boats. It hadn't been in the newspaper, but Koby had heard about it from the fishermen in town, who used to cast their nets in the calm, shallow waters between the islands.
But if Alvida was asking him that meant she didn't know. And taking the wrong route would set them back for days...
Koby took a deep breath, and pointed to the channel on the map.
"T-This route should be the most direct. And you'd be able to avoid the Marine base at Gull Point..."
Alvida nodded, considering. Then Koby's vision went white as her mace slammed into his ribs. He dropped to the ground, clutching his chest and gasping desperately for air.
"Did you think we hadn't noticed your little games?" Alvida growled, standing over him with her mace raised.
Koby whimpered, curling up to cover his head. This was it, he was going to die here...
"The next time you so much as think about defying me, I will crush you and use your guts as fish bait. Do you understand?"
He nodded vigorously, still too scared to look up. Her foot connected with his ribs, and he would have screamed if there was enough air in his lungs.
"You can do better than that," she said.
"Yes, Lady Alvida," he managed to wheeze out.
"Good. Now get out."
He stumbled to his feet and out of the cabin as quickly as he could manage.
Back in the cramped storeroom, tucked away behind barrels and boxes in a dark corner that had been serving as his bed, Koby sobbed. Even though each shuddering breath sent pain lancing through his chest, he couldn't stop. He had been so stupid, thinking that someone as weak and insignificant as him could stand a chance against a notorious pirate with a five million beri bounty. He'd be lucky if he lived long enough to escape her crew, never mind joining the Marines.
But try as he might, he couldn't quite let go of that dream. He wasn't strong enough or brave enough to fight back, but maybe, if he tried hard enough, he could survive. And then, maybe, someday, things would change.