CHAPTER 1
...AWAKENING...
… Nomad awoke with a start. He had endured another unsettling dream. He could not remember its contents, only the fact that it was the dream that awoke him.
“You remember the dream this time?” asked a nearby stallion
Nomad turned to a tan, sleek and tall unicorn, with messy medium-length brown mane and a short practically cut tail. Night Walker was his name, and to Nomad he was the closest thing on the Signora Fortuna he had to a friend.
Nomad dropped down from his bunk with an unceremonious THUMP! “you're up late.” he stated grogilly . He wondered if Night ever slept before dismissing the thought as ridiculous. (Everypony slept... Right?)
“You didn’t answer the question.” Night held fast to his first question, not one to be distracted.
“No! just like every other night you ask me!” Nomad snapped. He had awoke to the same dream every night since boarding the Signora Fortuna.
“Hey hey, don’t get your saddle in a knot!” Night said in feign-surprise. “Come on, lets check on the cabin boy, he drew watch and I wanna make sure he ain't asleep.”
Following his friend up to the deck, Nomad let out a sigh. “I'm sorry its just frustrating to wake up every night without even knowing why.”
“That, and the fact its like three A.M. In the mornin. Besides 'who needs sleep when we have your luck?'” Night snorted. They shared a laugh at their inside joke.
Nomad found himself thinking back to his child hood...
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5 years ago...
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Having woken up at the age of 8 suffering from memory loss, Nomad had needed to adapt quickly; he had joined a gang and had quickly picked up on some 'slight-of-hand', he was actually quite good at it. He scammed ponies out of their bits, and picked the pockets of the less attentive pony. He had done what he had to to survive the next four years.
And now, he was as exited as could be! So far as he could tell, this would be his 12th birthday! That meant he could finally find a job aboard an Airship as a cabin boy! And that meant no more living on streets, no more scams, and best of all... TRUE ADVENTURE! He had always played airship captain with the members of his gang, they had dreamed of pirates, monsters, swashbuckling heroes, and buried treasure!
But, reality had settled in rather quickly. Pirates no longer brought adventure but Fear, Monsters were avoided like the plague, Heroes were non existent, and pirates didn’t leave maps around that led to their buried treasure.
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Present day
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He and Night had met their first day aboard the Signora Fortuna, they had been given adjacent bunks, and had hit it off rather quickly. Nomad had spent the last 5 years jumping from ship to ship, finally finding a more permanent job among the Signora Fortuna 6 months ago.
He had always been one to take chances and miraculously, had always come out unscathed. Often, his and Night Walker's adventures ended with them pulling through victorious. For him that was usually through dumb luck, while Night Walker usually made through with a bit of skill.
The event in which the joke had started had been the first time they were boarded by pirates one night when the watchpony had fallen asleep...
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2 months ago
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There Nomad was standing above his first kill; a Pegasus stallion who had had the misfortune of running into the door Nomad had just opened. The impact having stunned the Pegasus, Nomad didn't think, He panicked, and flailed his sword in the Pegasus’s general direction. He was a bit disappointed in himself really, for being so pathetic, but he was determined to make up for it.
Just then Night Walker walked in, noting the dead body. “Well, looks like you killed the infiltrator... its a stalemate up top. We knew 1 guy got past us but, well, he's obviously not a problem anymore... Come on, lets go see if we can help up top.”
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Present day
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“Nomad...No-omad...Nomad!”
“Huh, wha?” Nomad realized that he had actually stopped, and Night Walker was poking him in the shoulder.
“I said 'look!', The First Mate is talking with the cabin boy. Lets find out what they're talkin bout.” Night suggested in a hushed voice. Advancing slowly and silently, Nomad found a spot behind some crates while Night found a quiet perch atop the Boom. How he always got up there, Nomad didn't know.
Nomad found a crack between 2 crates and listened intently, Mister Zebric didn’t talk much, so when he did, people tended to listen...
“...And that’s why you don’t try to directly block with the blade, angling it to deflect the blow away rather than stop it.” The Zebra seemed to be looking at nothing off in the distance.
“Thank you Mister Zebric!” The cabin boy -Nimbus Chaser- beamed.
“I told you its John, and think nothing of it...” The Zebra paused a moment “...And the 2 of you can come out now.” What?! How did he know we were listening?!
I stood up from behind the boxes as Night landed effortlessly from his perch atop the Boom.
As if reading his mind, Night voiced the question. “What gave us away?”
The large Zebra ignored his question, instead asking one of his own. “What brings you 2 up here?” His tone suggested a good story was expected.
Nomad began to answer but was cut off by the First Mate. “No...” He turned to Night Walker. “You answer.”
Night let out a sigh, He didn’t talk much, so it was usually up to Nomad to talk the way out of these things. “We Awoke to voices and decided to investigate, seeing as how it was just the cabin boy on watch.”
John seemed unimpressed. But seeing as how he always looked like that, Nomad was at a loss. He was usually good at reading people, it helped when running a scam. The Zebra standing a whole head taller than anyone on deck in front of him was unreadable, this had Nomad quite worried as they sat in silence.
The silence was broken when Nimbus Chaser, noticing the awkward pause. spoke up. “John?”
The Zebra let out a chuckle, then announced “since you 2 were so worried about the watch, you may take over.” this produced a groan from the 2 eaves droppers as they took the cabin boy's place patrolling the deck...