Lark the Model Pirate

The next few days progressed much more smoothly. Túta wasn't as strict, or perhaps I'd just grown accustomed to her training. Either way, it felt much more manageable.

“How does it look?”

She didn’t say anything. A sad look was on her face. Was there an infection? Did something go wrong?

“Túta?”

“Sorry, it looks like it has sufficiently healed. You should be alright now.”

“That’s good news, isn’t it? I can start my pirate journey.”

“Sure, it's wonderful news. Go enjoy your pirate lifestyle.” She turned her back.

I don’t know why she was so annoyed. Maybe she enjoyed having a patient.

“Don’t worry. No matter where I go, you’ll always be like a younger sister to me.”

“Younger sister!” She shouted, looking at me.

“I know you may be a little older than me, but I still see you in that way.”

She mumbled something, still looking very annoyed. It was moments like this that I couldn’t help but view her as a younger sister. It was as if she were going through a rebellious phase.

“Just go on then. You are free now.” She didn’t make eye contact. I know parting ways must hurt, but she didn’t have to treat me so coldly. I thought we were closer than that by now.

“Alright then. I guess I’ll go let your parents know that I got the all clear.”

I left Túta’s room. She didn’t once look back at me as I went. As I entered the main forge, I heard a familiar excited squeak.

“Pwii!”

“Ah, my boy Lark, how did your checkup go?” Unnr slowly approached.

“Very good news, it seems I’m all healed up and good to go.”

“Oh really? That’s good news, although I must admit I will be sad to see you leave.”

“Your family has already done so much for me.”

“I think you mean your family.”

I didn’t know how to respond. I was not used to such kindness.

“At least I finished this just in time. Here is the jacket I said I would fix for you.”

She presented a jacket in a regal shade of red. My previous jacket had been dark blue. I wasn’t even sure it was my old jacket, to be honest. That being said, it looked far fancier than my old one.

The door opened behind me, and a sad-looking Túta emerged. She looked up at Unnr and her gloomy look suddenly vanished.

“Oh Mama, did you finish the jacket?”

“That’s right.”

“Lark, you’ve got to try it on!” Túta exclaimed, forgetting she was seemingly sad moments ago.

“Pwii!” Pippa nodded in agreement

I felt I would be crushed under the pressure of Pippa, Unnr and Tuta’s gaze. I turned to Bjørn, who was in the corner of the room, for an escape. He made eye contact, but there was a deadness to it.

“My lad, do not fight them. I promise, you won’t win against them when they are like this. Take it from someone who has experienced this before. Just go with it. It will be far less painful.”

There was a defeated look on his face. The eyes of a man who had experienced some traumatic things. A man who, in my entire time of knowing him, had never once looked defeated. A man who was now resigned, crushed under the sheer pressure of his wife and daughter.

Without any escape, I accepted my fate and became their dress-up plaything.

I slipped on the white shirt, which was customised so that it was easier to get on and off with one hand. I slid the jacket over the top.

Finally, I buckled up the boots Unnr specially created. I must admit, they were the comfiest boots I have ever worn. In fact, everything they made was perfect. It made me wonder why I'd never worn clothes this comfortable in my old world. Could a custom tailor truly make such a difference?

I looked in the mirror, and not only did everything feel comfortable, it looked amazing.

“Hurry up and show us!” Túta called.

I sighed, but at the same time, I couldn’t mask the smile that had formed. I stepped back out into the forge. Unnr glanced over at me and covered her mouth, her eyes lighting up.

“Oh my, it looks perfect.”

“Pwii Pwii” Pippa nodded in agreement.

Túta's face was flushed red, the forge still hot.

I wondered if she was overheated. I guess even a healer could forget to stay hydrated.

“You look good,” she muttered.

“Lark, I knew you had a handsome face, but to think you look that dashing. If I had met you a few decades ago, I would be all over you.”

She then presented me with several other gifts, including a pirate cap and an eyepatch that had been co-designed by Túta. I modelled all the outfits, as exhausting as it was, it was the least I could do.

“I do have one other surprise for you.”

“Pwii!” Pippa emerged from behind Unnr wearing a little matching eyepatch and pirate hat.

“Pippa?! Why do you have an eye patch and pirate hat too?”

“When I was making the outfit, she looked like she wanted one as well. She also helped with the design.”

“She did?”

Pippa looked proud of herself and was striking poses in her new outfit.

“Well, you are very cute, Pippa.”

“Pwii,” she squeaked before doing a full circle.

“Lad, I also have some gifts for you, but I can’t say it’ll be as fancy as what my wife made,” Bjørn wandered over.

“As I promised, I reinforced your rusty knife. Now it shouldn’t break anytime soon. That being said, I would suggest doing some maintenance on it frequently to keep it from breaking.”

“Thank you Bjørn.”

“It was no issue, lad, but don’t think I stopped there. I also made you the new blade.” He passed a wonderful cutlass. It looked much more menacing than the Tetanus blade. I can now see why he wanted to toss the blade.

“Wow, it feels like it's Christmas time,” I awkwardly laughed.

“Christmas, what’s that lad?”

How could I describe Christmas to them?

“I guess it's like a day where you give gifts to one another and spend time with family and loved ones.”

“Well then, it's Christmas,” Unnr added with a smile.

“It’s a little bit more complicated, but sure.”

“Oh, lad, I have one extra thing for you.”

He scurried off to the other side of the forge and started rummaging through the cupboards. After several minutes, he pulled out a wooden box.

“I made this for you the other day after seeing you take the poker like a man. It’s not as good as an actual hand. But it is better than nothing.”

He handed me the box. I slowly opened it, and inside was a small prosthetic hook. It looked to be forged of a similar metal to the cutlass. Additionally, it had leather belts to lock it in place.

“Thank you. I’m truly honoured.

“It’s the least I can do for my future son-in-law.”

“Pwii!” Pippa angrily flapped at him.

“Now then, hold still.”

He attached the prosthetic, and I was amazed at how well it fit.

“I really can’t thank you all enough for what you have done.”

“No, we owe you. You believed in our daughter. Not many people would come to see a healer who couldn’t use healing magic. Yet you did.”

“Her medicine is wonderful, I’m sure once people learn of Túta’s skills, they’ll come.”

Bjørn and Unnr shook their heads.

“If you want to pay us back, then please take our daughter with you,” said Unnr.

“Mama!”

“She could learn a lot more, see the world. And besides…” Bjørn looked me up and down. “With no skills, you are bound to get badly injured again.”

“Papa!”

I couldn’t fault him on that.

“Fine, but only if she agrees.”

Everyone turned their gaze to Túta. She looked down and shuffled slightly.

“If you’ll have me on your crew, I’ll come along,” she mumbled, not making eye contact.

“Of course,” I placed a hand on her head. “I’d love to have you.”

Pippa flapped her wings frantically and pouted. Perhaps she was jealous I was patting Túta instead of her. I had barely seen her the last few days. I would have to make it up to her later.

“Oh, and if you would like to marry…” Bjørn began before Unnr shot him a dirty look. He lowered his posture before continuing. “As I was saying, if you would like to marry our daughter, you’ll have to propose to her and get our permission first.”

▪──── X ────▪

End of chapter 12