…ask your questions first.

As the pirate’s remaining urination came to its natural conclusion he starts to speak. “So, what you out ere for anyway?” The feeling of wrongness lingers like a buzzing fly in your mind. You try to mentally swat it away and add another twist to the stiletto at his back.

“Never you mind. When are Captain Roland and Captain Washkin meeting tonight? For how long and what will they speak of?”

“All right, ok, no problem mam, I’ll tell ya. Captains already up there. Ee wants a bigger cut see, so they’re, er... negotiating.” You still cannot see his face but you can almost hear the smile in his voice.

Pressing the dagger harder against his back you ask again, “And how long will this last.”

Smile instantly gone from his voice he responds flatly, “well since Wendigo’s been known to put er own self on the table, probably all night.”

Damn! You definitely don’t want to tangle with two pirate captains in the heart of their stronghold, but it looks like you’ll have ****. Still, most people are **** when… otherwise engaged. You could make an advantage out of this.

You ready your next question, “How is the manor defen-“ when suddenly you make the connection; his moving from side to side, his need to finish urinating, the gaining confidence in his voice and eagerness to keep talking. You look down, past the crack of his bare behind and see that he has removed his feet from the tangle of his shorts! Only the knife at his back is stopping him.

There’s a change in him as you suddenly stop talking. A coiled spring effect. You thrust the dagger forward as he turns to the side, the sharp point of the dagger lancing across his back, tearing a horizontal line through jacket and skin alike. His turn supports the wide arc of a vicious backhand that catches you across the face and throws you down to the rock and sand.

You turn onto your back as he leaps down, straight onto your right hand, still holding the blood tipped dagger, pinning it to the ground. You start punching his side with your left, feeling the stiletto being ripped out of the right. Sensing a losing battle for the stiletto you throw it out of reach as best you can, only a short distance, but denying its use for both of you. It clatters as it rolls further. The pirate immediately climbs off you and darts for the knife while you get back on your feet, and as he desperately searches for the dark wayward blade in the night, he splits his focus, yelling towards the docks, screaming your location.

Back on your feet you see another weapon in the moonlight; less useful, but all you have. You pick up his shorts and wrap each leg fast around your hands before throwing the makeshift garrotte around his neck, leaping onto his back and pulling, silencing his shouts into strained gurgling. He falls on to his back, and by extension onto you, the air flying from your lungs, but you manage to keep the strength in your grip, forcing his **** departure from this world. He thrashes and his elbow catches your side, hard, further worsening your situation, but you hold on. If you can do so a little longer…

Pop, pop, pop.

The worst sound you have ever heard; the poor stitching of the already raggedy shorts beings to give, and the more you pull, the more stitches give-up the fight, popping out of existence. After several strained seconds the old shorts rip clean in two and he explodes into a fit of **** and coughing, dragging big thick gulps of air down. Still under his back, you kick up, throwing his tall form to your side and letting you stand up once again.

The moment stretches before you, held in place by the buzzing quicksand of your mind. You feel the mask over your mouth being pulled back and forth with your own ragged breaths, and you look everywhere you need too in one all-encompassing glance. Your dagger; nowhere in sight. Shouts and voices from the silhouettes running down the beach towards you; you’ve been found. The subsiding chokes of the pirate; he won’t be down for long. Your mind begins to provide you options.

While its savage centre wants to looks for a rock to finish your opponent, it’s the higher functions that win for the moment. Can you escape? Yes, but only into the woods or into the sea. The woods would hide you and allow you to try and complete your mission, but you doubt the pirates down the beach would simply forget you and with the alarm razed you will almost certainly be found eventually. The sea is more exposed and more traitorous, but you may be able to catch up to your guide and escape. The mission would be a failure but you’re a reasonably good swimmer and it’s a calm night, so the odds of surviving are probably better.