A grizzled loner.

Johanna didn’t hear him approach, but after hanging upside-down for gods-know-how-long, she suddenly found herself face to face with her captor. The man who had returned to check the trap was wearing only a tattered pair of pants, giving her full view of his athletic, toned body. He carried himself in a way that made it seem like he was ready to pounce, and perhaps he was. His sharp green eyes peered out from behind loose strands of hair, and his stubbled jaw was clenched tightly. He was clearly dangerous, and had probably been surviving on his own in this island jungle for months, if not years.

After a few moments of tensely staring each other down, the stranger finally spoke, his voice surprisingly clear and confident, “It would probably save me a lot of trouble to just take your gear and slit your throat. I don’t suppose you have a compelling reason for me to do otherwise?”

Johanna gave a surprised cough, “Wh-what? You want to kill me?”

The man narrowed his eyes at her. “What I want is for you to convince me that you’re worth more to me alive than dead.”

Johanna wiggled around in her bonds a bit. “Look, I don’t have much to bargain with here, I just washed ashore, but, uh, if you let me down I think we can help each other out, right? I’m a naval captain, not some helpless damsel.”

The man rolled his eyes. “What’s your name?”

Johanna did her best to look confident and composed as she answered, “I am Captain Johanna Stern, and I-”

The man waved his hand to cut her off, “Johanna, then. You may call me King. I captured you, and in exchange for your sparing your life, you now work for me. Am I clear?”

Johanna winced at the man’s brash words and tone, but she knew she didn’t have much room to negotiate, so she offered an upside-down hand to the man. “Fine. But I can’t do much work for you hanging here, so will you please cut me down now?”

King shook her hand, then crouched down, produced one end of a rope, and slowly lowered Johanna to the ground. Once back on solid earth, she was able to quickly untie her legs and tried too quickly to rise to her feet, stumbling forward into King. In the space of a moment, he caught her, altered her momentum, and sent her sailing back towards the ground, where she landed painfully.

“I realize now that you didn’t mean that as an attack, Johanna, but let this still serve as a warning. If you try to cross me or betray the terms of any of our agreements, I will destroy you.” His words were delivered without hesitation or a hint of apology, and Johanna was too stunned to formulate a reply. Still, he did approach her and pull the woman back to her feet, keeping his hands on her shoulders until she found her footing again. “Now, Johanna, let’s lay down some ground rules…”