Flashback The Sea Farer's Child

[Shakune]

13th Spring, 502AV
The Docks

Her mother had been whoring herself out again. It was not a surprise; the previous day Kinsha had been in a cold sweat, clawing at her forearms like she always did when she needed a hit.

The first time she watched her mother self-harm, Shakune had been terrified. Her arms were streaked with blood, her fingernails filthy with her own skin. When the young Shakune had asked what her mother needed, Kinsha had practically thrown a leather purse full of coins to her daughter and ordered her to meet with a friend. The man had been itchy, his skin marked with numerous pocks and scratches similar to the ones Kinsha inflicted on herself. He'd snatched the purse straight from Shakune and given her a smaller bag, told her petch off.

The girl had been terrified on her walk back home. East Street was far from the classiest place in the city, but she had never before socialised with a person who looked so unstable, so dangerous. The drug dealer had looked at her with hungry eyes that had stared straight through Shakune. By the time she returned to her mother, she was almost crying. But Kinsha had not cared. She had taken the drugs off her daughter, snorted them into her system and eventually fell asleep. Shakune had had to learn how to comfort herself. She was a pro at it now.

Kinsha used to work at the brothel, but last season another woman had visited their home and had a screaming match with Shakune's mother. She accused Kinsha of betraying her, of soiling her business and trying to steal her clients. Shakune remembered one phrase in particular that the other woman had said to her mother: "I will not let a drug-whore fuck her way into an early grave in the name of my business. You are no longer welcome to work for me."

Since then, Kinsha had been even more psychologically unstable. Men started to visit at night, and Shakune would hear as her mother had sex with them in the kitchen or living room. They would grunt and moan together for several chimes, some called her mother a bitch or a whore as they fucked, but eventually the man would cry out, coins would hit the table, and the house gust would leave. A few times the sounds were more violent, as if someone was punching a bag of flour in the kitchen. On three occasions Kinsha had entertained two or more men at once. In those instances, her mother would come and join Shakune in the bedroom to sleep for the rest of the night. Otherwise she would only come into the bedroom just before Shakune rose in the morning.

She felt no pity for her mother now. Kinsha had wasted her life away. Her pregnancy - the one that had resulted in Shakune - may have started her downfall, but Kinsha had turned self-destructive. She cared about nothing other than her drugs, not even her only daughter.

Shakune wished she could leave. But the Orphanage was too busy with other tragic children, and she had no family in the city to stay with. Living with her mother had stolen a lot from Shakune; namely her patience, tolerance and sympathy. It had also taken her childhood, but she was still too young to truly appreciate that fact.

But living with Kinsha did provide some things: a roof over her head, a bed, and the chance to steal a few coins from her mother when Kinsha was passed out from her drugs. Shakune squirreled the money away in a purse stuffed under her mattress. So far, she had collected about fifty gold coins, and a handful of smaller coppers. It wasn't much, but one day that money would pay for Shakune's passage out of Zeltiva, and away from her mother.

She also had a job at the Market gutting fish. It paid relatively well when it could, and more importantly it ensured Shakune ate at least one hot meal a day. She had long stopped sharing the food with Kinsha, who would only throw it up after snorting or injecting herself. She wasn't quite sure how her mother survived, but surprisingly, she did.

[Shakune]

So on those days that Kinsha was clawing at her arms and rocking backwards and forth manically in the corner, Shakune came to the docks. She would prowl up and down the docks, sometimes visiting the pier and entertaining herself people watching. She had become a familiar face to the local sailors, who would throw scraps to her like they would a stray dog. Some were kind to her out of pity, but others simply regarded her as a street urchin.

"Girl! Hey, girl!"

Shakune turned automatically at the call; it was the 'affectionate' title that many of the sailors used for her. But the man speaking now was not a familiar face. Shakune scrabbled up to her feet warily, preparing herself to run away from this potential threat. "Yea?"

The ginger-haired man gestured to something behind him, indicating that Shakune should come closer. She didn't move, and he tutted them stomped towards her, "Look, I ain't gonn' eat ya. D'ya wanna earn a couple of gold coins?" He paused for a tick, then tapped his feet impatiently, "I'm in a bit o'a rush."

She weighed up the options. The docks were as busy as usual, so if this man turned out to be a child murderer or rapist, she could holler out and people would come to her rescue. The people of Zeltiva were generally good and noble, but that didn't stop the odd psychopath from cropping up. A girl had to be careful! "What'd you need doin'?"

"M'captain needs to sell somthin' somewhere in t'city, but 'e don't wanna leave the ship on it's own. He said he'd pay ya to make sure nowt get's nicked." The fellow watched Shakune carefully, but one of his eyes - the left - appeared to be looking in a different direction. Shakune could not stop staring at it. "Well?"

"Oh. Oh, yes. Fine. What ship?"

"The Lady Luck."

Shakune frowned. It was not a ship that she recognised from the name alone. She knew the majority of the residential ships, but each day saw new arrivals to Zeltiva's docks. The girl tried to ignore the growing sense of unease in the pit of her belly as she followed the stranger down further into the docks. He came to a stop at a well-maintained ship. A silver-haired gentleman stood on the docks, positioned at the bow-end of the ship. He counted aloud as several younger men disembarked the ship, each carrying a box or package. Only when all nine men stood in a line on the port did the older male finally turn towards Shakune and her ginger companion.

As soon as she looked upon his face, Shakune felt comfortable. He was kindly, generous, and selfless. She knew all of these facts just by looking at the man. His skin was well browned from the sun, and very weathered, so he clearly lived on the boat. "Ah, Percy. Good timing." He clapped the ginger man on the back with a beaming smile, and then turned his attention to the black-eyes girl. "Thank you for helping me. May I ask your name?"

"Shakune."

It completely went against her better judgement to share her name so willingly, but whereas Shakune was usually wary of strangers, this man was no stranger. Or rather -- he did not carry the discomfort and sense of risk that strangers usually did. Shakune felt that she could trust this man with her life already.

"Shakune. A Chaktawen name, I presume?" Shakune nodded. Her heritage was something undeniable, given her black eyes. "Have you lived here your entire life? In Zeltiva, I mean?" Again she nodded silently, somewhat transfixed by his easy, patient smile. "I see. Well, Zeltiva is a wonderful city. You live here with your parents?" This time the girl hesitated minutely before nodding. The silver haired gentleman narrowed his eyes immediately, "Just with your mother?" Another nod. It took the man a while to speak again, and Shakune began to panic that she had been deemed untrustworthy, that she had somehow already disappointed him. Finally, thankfully, he smiled again and extended his hand to her. "I see. Well, call me Salt. Captain Salt when we're on the boat, just Salt when we're off it."

Shakune shook his hand, suddenly feeling like a businesswoman about to embark on a highly important contract. She wanted to impress this man, to make him see that she was strong and independent despite her shitty living situation. He gestured to the ship, "you go ahead and climb on board. Rachael will meet you."

[Shakune]

She had no idea who Rachael was, or what was waiting for her on board. Whilst every cell in her body screamed to Shakune to run away, she found herself clambering onto the ship, clumsily and desperately pulling herself up and onto the starboard. As the old man had promised, a woman was there, apparently waiting for the girl.

"Ah, you must be the girl Captain saw." The woman was short and incredibly rotund. She appeared to Shakune as the embodiment of a baker's wife, and the girl could imagine her kneading bread and baking pies all day long. "I'm Rachael, nice t'meet you."

Shakune threw the woman a smile, but she was confused. "That fella said I was wanted to watch the ship." She muttered, glancing down back to the docks to indicate the ginger-haired man who she had spoken to. What had the captain said his name was? "Percy, or somethin'." But apparently Shakune was not needed, unless this woman was also leaving the ship sometime soon.

The girl's wariness had returned, doubled in strength.

"Ah. Yes. Well, I can understand your confusion." Rachael swiped a loose strand of her greying frizzy hair out of her face, "I think our kindly captain wanted to offer you somethin' to eat, but didn't want you to get the wrong idea." The large woman sighed in a frustrated manner, like someone who always ended up being right in the end but was ignored regardless, "I told 'em I should have gone to talk to you. A strange man approachin' a young girl? Doesn't seem right, does it?"

Shakune recognised the rhetorical question. Kinsha was fond of them: Are you stupid? Do you hate me? What is wrong with you? If Shakune ever answered them, her mother would either shout and cry, or throw something at her.

Rachael was still huffing and grumbling to herself as she turned away from Shakune, went to the other side of the starboard and returned. She came armed with bread and cheese. Stiffly the woman passed some to Shakune. "Made it m'self, so you better eat it." She stated, before ripping into her own small loaf.

Shakune picked at the bread cautiously, expecting it to be laced with sleeping tablets, or something equally as terrifying. But her stomach growled loudly at the smell of the bread, and her lips began leak saliva. Rachael chuckled and encouraged her once again to tuck in, so eventually the half-breed did. The bread was delicious, if not a little too salty. She polished the whole loaf off in ten chimes, as well as the cheese Rachael had also given her. If that was poisoned, it was worth it. Her stomach felt the fullest it had been in over a year.

"I'm impressed!" Rachal exclaimed, still holding over a quarter of her share of the bread. She offered it to Shakune, who obligingly accepted. The two females fell into silence once again, but when the girl glanced up to Rachael, she noticed something odd.

"You look sad."

The woman blinked and looked surprised, as if she had forgotten Shakune's presence despite having been staring at her. "Oh. No, no I'm not." She wiped something at her eyes and gave a big grin.

Shakune raised an eyebrow, not at all convinced by the woman's poor attempt to conceal her true emotion. "Why are you sad? Do you want this last piece of bread?"

"Gods, no!" Rachael flapped her hands dismissively, then wiped at her eyes yet again, "No, no. You eat it. You look like you need it."

The girl had heard that before. Whenever the sailors threw her scraps, they usually said something like that. Some pitying comment that made her feel like an emaciated, half-dead animal. She detested that phrase with every inch of her being. "I ain't starvin', y'know. I'm no orphan." Her voice was spiteful, full of defence. Instantly she regretted it: Rachael made a weepy little noise. "Sorry, I didn't mean it."

[Shakune]

Rachael waved her hands about to dismiss the girl's apology. But when she spoke again, her voice was thick with control. She was trying not to cry. "Oh, don't apologise," she sputtered out, "I meant no harm by it. You want more bread?"

Shakune didn't fancy eating more bread, but she said 'yes' all the same. She couldn't handle looking at Rachael's sad face any more. The woman took longer to return to Shakune this time, but when she did all traces of her tears were gone. "So, did I hear you say you live in Zeltiva?"

"Yeah, with m'mum. Her name's Kinsha." What did other children say when they spoke about their mothers? Probably something loving, like her cakes are the best! or she gives the greatest hugs! But neither of those were true in regards to Kinsha. Desperately, Shakune tried to think of something nice to say about her mother, to maintain an illusion of normality. "She has nice long hair."

When isn't greasy from whoring herself around all night.

Rachael sniffed, but thankfully maintained her composure. "That's nice. Is she Chaktawen?"

"Mm-hm." The girl nodded, hoping their conversation would die before it matured further. Her mother was not Shakune's favourite topic to discuss, partly because she never knew what exactly to say. She needed to make sure nobody knew what happened within their home, how the two lived. If the authorities found out, Shakune feared she would be taken away from Kinsha and thrown into another family, or the orphanage. She didn't want that happen, but not because she loved her mother. If Shakune were taken away, she would lose the small collection coinage she had been gathering. It was more immoral to steal from an orphanage or a foster family, and so she wouldn't be able to gather enough money to leave Zeltiva. How much did it cost to get passage to the closest city? Fifty mizas must be close!

Thankfully, it did. Rachael began to ask other questions: what Shakune did for fun, where she lived to go, what she'd like to be when she grew up. The lattermost question was the easiest for her to answer: "A sailor, or pirate. I like the sea. I like ships. M'dad was a Svefra." Where had that last slice of information come from? Shakune had decided not to share any more information about her family; she hadn't meant to say that.

Rachael opened her mouth to speak, but she was interrupted. The captain and his workers had returned. Captain Salt climbed aboard the ship and gave Rachael an affectionate half-hug, his arm around her waist. "Thank you for keeping our guest company, Rachael." To Shakune, he asked, "how're you? Has Rachael fed you?"

The girl nodded dumbly, struck silent once again. The effect this man had on her was incredible; she immediately felt safe, even loved. "The bread was nice." She offered slowly, wanting to please him and make him proud.

He laughed, patted Rachael on the arm fondly. "I always think so. Rachael, how about you start another batch of bread? I reckon the men'll be hungry."

[Shakune]

The woman dipped her head to her captain, smiled at Shakune, and took her leave. This left Shakune alone with the captain; it appeared the rest of his crew had not returned from his business meeting yet.

She gazed out to Zeltiva, the busy docks and the buildings behind them. Shakune liked the city really, but life with her mother was worse than dreadful. She resented Kinsha for stealing her childhood and her innocence. A girl her age shouldn't know some of the things Shakune did, and yet her mother hadn't bothered protecting her from them. Her mind was tainted with mistrust and abuse. Neglect was a thing she had come to accept, like other children had to accept having to eat their vegetables in order to have dessert. She knew her life was different to that of other children, but Shakune hadn't yet realised how tragic this was. She assumed that adults felt pity towards all children, that it was just how life was. She assumed she was not spectacular in any way.

Captain Salt boke her trail of thought. "Do you like Zeltiva?"

Can he read my mind?

"Yes." She spoke tightly, trying to stop all the words that were building up in her mind from leaking out from her lip.

"Shakune," The girl noticed the change in his voice immediately; it had taken on a serious and stern tone. She turned to face him, terrified that she had insulted him with her short answer and was going to be asked to leave. "If I ask you something, will you promise me to be honest in your answer?"

Slowly, she nodded. Now she was curious, suspicious even. What could he ask her that demanded such honesty?

"When I was in the city, I heard something. It made me worried." Salt licked his lips, preparing himself for his subsequent question. "Are you happy? Living with your mother, in the city?"

It wasn't the question she had been expecting. Nobody had ever asked her if she was happy, not as far she could remember. Her mother didn't care enough to ask, and the other adults she knew just assumed her answer, or were scared of what she'd say. Guilt was easily avoided by not asking the right questions.

She tried to muster an answer, but suddenly her throat tightened and her jaw clenched. Her black eyes became wet, and when Shakune opened her mouth a frightened little wail escaped instead of a proper word. Captain Salt's face creased with concern, but the man didn't move. He didn't want to intrude if his comfort wasn't welcome. So Shakune looked away from him, and then back to his face. He was worried for her. Kinsha only worried about her drugs or her money, or the latest client who might not pay the full amount after sleeping her. This knowledge that someone was worried for her was new, and it overwhelmed the young girl. She found herself completely unable to cope with this new feeling.

The next thing Shakune knew, her head was buried into the man's chest, inhaling the salty smell from his clothes and uncontrollably sobbing. She never cried usually! Sure, she might blink away a few angry tears after her mother had been particularly mean, but she never usually sobbed quite like this. She couldn't stop, the tears just kept flowing. Her breathing was erratic, her heart pumped desperately in her chest, as Shakune wept away years of neglect and abuse at the hand of her mother.

"I hate her, I hate her." The words tumbled out amongst the tears, barely audible, "she hates me, too. She tells me she hates me. I hate her so much." Shakune wanted to punch something, to smash her mother's head and to set fire to her drugs, "she just loves her drugs, nothing else."

The rest of her words evaporated away into great lungfulls of gasps and cries. Shakune found herself unable to continue. Her body leaked sadness and heartbreak, it overwhelmed her and dragged her down.

And yet...

And yet slowly, the tears stopped, and Shakune felt lighter. She had broken her own unspeakable vow, and in doing so she had shared the great burden that was her life. Captain Salt regarded her with the same concerned expression, but he remained silent. He was waiting.

Only when she had been silent for several chimes did he speak. And when he did, Shakune almost sobbed all over again but for a completely different reason. "Shakune, would you like to live with me and crew on the ship? We're leaving tomorrow, and we can take you away from your mother. We'll protect you."

The relief almost knocked her out for the count. Shakune had been given a lifeline, and she needed to grab hold of it and never let go. "Yes. I do." Her answer was immediate, "Please. I don't want to live with her anymore."

Captain Salt drew the child in again, holding her safely and looking out to the open ocean. In his gut, an angry flame ignited. The tentative questions he had asked around the city about the Chaktawen pair had uncovered the disturbing truth that was Shakune's tragic life. Her mother invited unknown men to their house to swap sex with money. There were thousands of children with prostitutes for mothers. But those women worked as hard as they could to provide for their children, to put food on the table for their families. But Kinsha apparently shared none of her income with her daughter, spending most of it on drugs and the rest on left over food to keep herself alive. This was not the life a child deserved. "I promise."

[Sayana]

Shakune Skills: Skill EXP Observation +5 Land Navigation +2 Larceny +1 Planning +1 Philosophy +1 Tactics +1 Negotiation +1 Socialization +4 Interrogation +1 Planning +1 Lores: Larceny: Stealing from someone who is passed out Surviving with a drug-addicted prostitute of a mother Captain Salt: Captain of Lady Luck Planning: Childhood goal to leave Zeltiva Sharing the secret of her home life Captain Salt and Rachael: Kind souls willing to give her a new life Comments : Lovely thread. Nice to see such a rich story of Shakune’s past and her childhood. Note: I noticed that you now have a slave. Even though that thread isn’t graded yet (where she acquires the slave), I think seasonal expenses would still start taking into effect to support the slave. Don't forget to edit/delete your grade request in the grade request thread. If you have any questions or concerns about your grade please feel free to send me a message (like really, I’m all ears if you feel like I missed something). Enjoy.