Just Another Day

So passed the winters for the Meriweather crew. With the coming of spring, the crew would return to the ship once more. The hull would be filled with goods from L'aernth to be sold or traded abroad. Then it was time to sail, as in years past.

With slightly less trouble from the sirens these days, of course. The sirens were often mischievous merfolk trying to distract the crew of various ships from their journey. Shanku would have none of it. She would find whatever rock the siren was perched on, fly out, and land right on top of them.

"Listen 'ere, ya two-bit hussy, this is my crew, understand!?" she would hiss, snarl, and threaten each one she could catch.

Sometimes the sirens were in fact a kind of winged women known as harpies, but unlike Shanku, the harpies were more bird than woman. Harpy sirens were a greater danger to the crew as they were prone to carry some men away from other ships. For what purposes none knew, but they did know they were never returned. For this, Captain Morgan began to feel having Shanku aboard was not such a bad idea after all. She was proving to be a hard worker and dedicated part of the crew just as much as the others he had carefully chosen and allowed aboard his ship.

Sometimes a pirate ship would give chase. It was Shanku and O'Hare's primary job to keep an eye out for them. On most occasions, the Meriweather was able to outrun them and get away. When they weren't, the crew would gather their weapons and wait. Shanku learned that her diving technique for catching fish worked just as well for attacking pirates. Many times she had dove from the sky and quickly slashed the throats of archers who threatened her crew. It was dangerous, but she often moved too quickly for a surviving archer to shoot her down.

One pirate crew had been particularly determined to board the Meriweather. By the end of it, a few of the Meriweather had been injured, and all but a few of the pirates were dead. After a meeting with the pirate captain, it was determined that the ship had been captured. The surviving pirates were lead to the brig, and Captain Morgan sent half his crew to man the pirate ship and bring it in to port. They were all rewarded handsomely for their feat. The crew managed to do this a few more times.

Times were good for the Meriweather.

But nothing lasts forever.