Becoming the Phoenix
( Under the cut: How Sooty earned his title, the Phoenix of the South Seas! Mentioned within: Slavery, violence, ... lmk if i should mention anything else that happens )
It had finally happened. Someone had managed to capture Gerlix. Sure, it was due to deception and betrayal, but still someone had captured him. Turned him in for one of the many bounties on his head, a supposed friend and confidant had. So much for that, he seethes. Trusting someone else was always a risk.
And, gambler that he is, Gerlix has now found himself in chains in some backwater port town run by rival pirates. Slavers, he reminds himself. The reason they were on his ass is because he constantly raided their own ships to free what they so inhumanely considered to be cargo.
Don’t deal in lives, Gerlix. A voice in his head echoes as he’s brought before the kingpin of these pirates. That’s not a path you can ever fully escape from.
“So, yer th’little pain-in-me-arse Captain Sootbeard, are ya?” Comes the husky voice of a rather round human man, sat on a chair that looked about ready to give up at the sheer mass that it was attempting to support. It was clear the kingpin rarely did any of his own work, and Gerlix thought that shameful. “Well? Speak up!”
“Aye, tha’s me.” He snarls, feigning struggle against the chains to feel the weight of them. He’s thinking. Gerlix has to escape somehow; these slavers weren’t going to keep him in chains for long. “Yer in over yer ‘ead, big man, capturin’ me. I let yer goons bring me ‘ere.”
An uproarious laugh shatters the choked silence that follows Gerlix’s brazen words. The kingpin gives the Gnome a wicked smile. “That so? It’ll be even more of a riot breakin’ yer spirit fer ‘ow ya’v fucked wit’ us, Sootbeard. Can’t wait ta erase that self-righteous attitude’v yers. Take ‘im back outside. Oh, an’ get the ‘orses, boys.”
Horses? Uh oh. Immediately, he begins to think about how he can get out of these bonds. His attention is turned to his amulet, stuffed away in a pocket that they hadn’t thought to search. Was it time? Sooty hadn’t tried this trick before, but anything was better than what the kingpin had in store for him. He feigns struggle as he’s dragged out into the center of the terrified pirate-run town. Defiantly he glares up at the kingpin as the man waddles his way out to stand looming over the Gnome.
“Got any last words ‘fore I draw’n quarter ya?” The kingpin sneers, leaning down to grab Sooty’s face in his hand and talk far, far too close. Ugh.
Sooty betrays not his true feelings. He’s afraid, but all the kingpin is met with is a dogged sort of bravado. The little pirate can feel the power of the amulet close by, close enough to draw upon. It bolsters his courage, and he spits, “Ya might wanna back up a tad, ‘s ‘boutta get a bit hot ‘round ‘ere.”
“Bah! Y’can’t do a damn thin’. Hook ‘im up, boys.” The kingpin takes a couple steps back regardless.
A pity. Sooty thinks to himself as he feels the power of the amulet flow to its peak. He throws his head to the sky as he feels his heartbeat sync with the amulet’s. A connection has been made, one he hasn’t felt in a little while. From his back spark and sprout flaming wings, brilliantly bright and colorful. The pirate’s metal bonds turn white-hot and begin to melt as flames lick up his arms. It’s not long before the Gnome looks fare more like a bird-shaped bonfire, the bonds and his form having apparently been completely replaced by a blazing Phoenix.
Feeling the surge of power overwhelm his senses, Sooty lets loose with a cackle. The stunned slavers can only stare at him, open-mouthed, as the Phoenix takes flight and torches their boats before darting away over the horizon. He’s gone, and left a legend in his place.
