Chapter 1 How to stop a bird from stealing your dinner (and almost get jumped) The ocean was Jaden’s best friend. Out alone, not much can do better than the autonomous flow of water under a steady-going ship. Jaden stood at the helm, steering the beast. Pulling at the collar of his tunic, J’bird waited to be fed as Jaden carefully watched the edges of the water. “Dinner!” J’bird demanded, hitting Jaden’s hat askew with his large wings. “Shut up JB, I can see the trees over there.” Jaden pointed his left arm out to the island in the distance, J’bird hopping to the end of his wrist as he did. Jaden saw the opportunity and quickly used his right hand to realign his hat. It was a large and obnoxious headpiece, fitting securely around the his head with a large white feather erupting from it. “Nooooww.” J’bird screeched, twisting his head around to his left wing. “JB, I have to prepare to dock. I need you to go feed yourself today. Catch us some fish or something.” Jaden grumbled, grabbing various ropes and adjusting sails to slide into the beach of the island. J’bird let out a low grumbling noise similar to the sound of crashing thunder as he flew off then promptly dove into the water to catch a fish. - After securing the boat to a tree, Jaden took stock of his inventory. In the boat he had a few apples, some loaves of bread, and some fish. He took out a small pocket knife and began to slice fish and bread to formulate some kind of fish sandwich. Setting a small fire, he was able to cook his fish about halfway before J’bird returned with a large salmon in his mouth. “Fwishe,” He cawed through scales. The fish immediately started thrashing around the moment he set it down, stopping as soon as Jaden pierced its heart with his trident. Jaden began to dig into his sandwich expecting J’bird to do the same with his fresh salmon, but J’bird instead tilted his head at Jaden expectantly. “I’m not giving you my sandwich.” J’bird raised his wings and enlarged his crest as he hopped towards Jaden with calls of fury. “Stop that.” Jaden lightly hit J’bird with the handle of his trident, shutting him up. J’bird huffed then went to go gobble up his kill. The sounds of the trees swaying at the setting sun was far too settling. It seemed like such a peaceful image begging to be shattered. Jaden finished his fish sandwich and doused the fire, sending plumes of smoke into the air. “JB, we may be in the middle of nowhere, but we’re definitely not alone.” Jaden explained to the pea-brained bird. “The smoke will give our position but you’d be surprised how scared people are of smoking fires. It’s a sign they’re not alone and usually means they’re with someone who has the guts to-“ The sound of shattering glass alerted Jaden as he flipped his head around, socking J’bird, who was standing on a stick in the ground, in the face with his braid. A flame snapped in the distance and Jaden immediately knew who it was. “Oh Flame.” Jaden said, releasing the tension in his shoulders. Flame was a friend, someone who had found a lost-at-sea Jaden years ago. They’d become friends and Flame had taught Jaden how to read and write. “Hello bro.” Flame said with a smile, stepping into the setting sunlight. He sheathed his sword. “What was the point of throwing those potions?” Jaden inquired, watching the bubbling particles encircle his friend. “Didn’t realize it was you. You normally come to the main island of the archipelago. I was about to beat up whoever was dumb enough to light then extinguish a fire.” Flame elaborated, throwing J’bird a small slice of apple. “Well I guess that’s me, dumb enough to do such a thing.” Jaden looked at Flame with a funny expression on his face. “If you wanna fight though…” Jaden stood up and kicked his trident from the sand, catching it. “Why not? We can do a little training session, how ‘bout.” Flame shortly launched into a lesson, improving Jaden’s stance and adjusting his sword style. “My god you fight like a pirate. It’s like you stole four different styles and blended them together.” Jaden started cackling, finding difficulty breathing through his laughing as J’bird joined in. “Y’all are insane, you know that?” Jaden continued to laugh, and Flame playfully kicked him into the sand. More in n&c :) -
“We /are/ insane, man.” Jaden said, trying to bring back his composure. J’bird made no such attempt, rolling around in the sand and getting grit between his feathers. “Dude J’bird I just- nevermind.” Jaden groaned as J’bird sent flecks of sand at the two. Jaden began packing up his supplies. “Where you off too, huh? You’re really in that much of a hurry that you can’t stay at the archipelago for /one/ night?” Flame mused. “Nah, man. I’ve heard rumors from former mafia folk. Apparently some have flown over an unnaturally large ocean called the Great Sea, and I’m going to find and conquer it.” Jaden started. He went on, going into detail about why he was pursuing this ocean. “Okayokay okay wait wait wait stop.” Flame interrupted. “You really think you’re gonna be the only one tryna find this Great Sea or whatever the heck you’re yapping about?” “What?” Jaden said, throwing ropes into the starboard. “Like come /on/, Jaden, at least let me go with you. You think sitting around the archipelago and scaring random people away is fun? I want something to do man!” “Alright. We leave tomorrow.” —— “Want some seeds little guy?” Jaden held out grass seeds to the illusive bird. “No way you’re feeding that little scum.” “But he’s hungry.” “He’s been swiping our food and ripping our sails- there’s no way this dumb bird is hungry.” “It’s just seeds off the ground.” Jaden rolled his eyes. “Plus, what’s a pirate without a parrot?” “You and your little dreams, Jaden. One day you’ll grow up and realize pirates aren’t a thing.” The old man spat, turning back to the boat and walking inside. - In unstable universe btw!, this isn’t levels smp or anything lol I think this takes place right after the mafia and that’s where this story kinda splits off So it’s an au in a way? I really don’t know I’m not good with fanfics I read wemmbu and eggchan’s loose guidebook on how to visit the beach Genuine tears btw -