Aye Aye, Cap’n!! // Tempranillo #1

The third stop on Kaida’s trip: the harbour. His favourite space, where his ship was docked for most of the days it wasn’t at sea. Today, he was there with Aaditya and Ata, a young boy who had insisted that his mother would be down here looking for him. Kaida wasn’t so sure that the woman wouldn’t take one look at the pirate and the cowboy and simply turn her nose up at them, but Aadi was too kind for this town, and so he would have to get used to the idea of the possibility of prison bars. He knows they didn’t kidnap the kid, but they didn’t exactly return him as soon as they found him. 

As they walked down the streets and closer to the pier, there were groups of people muttering and mumbling, gesturing down to the water and whispering about something causing a ruckus. Kaida recognised one of the residents, and he let go of Ata’s hand and wandered over.

‘Hey, Rook. What’s happened down here? Sounds like something big,’ He asked, voice tinged with innocence. Rook was a surprisingly good man for getting information off of, but if you don’t ask nicely, it can come at a price - normally one Kaida isn’t too willing to pay. 

‘Oh, yeah, mate; one of them little buggers from up on the hills keeps tryna get up on Ol’ John’s ship. Crew’s furious, and wettin’ themself, me thinks. John’s down in The Canoe with Captain Keto o’ the Orca, so ain’t no-one goin’ to tell ‘im about the tiny beast. Can’t say I blame ‘em, he’s real bad when he’s angry, but if they embarrassed ‘I’m like that in fron’o’ Raequir? I’d luv to see ‘is face.’ Rook spoke, laughing and nudging his mug of beer into Kaida with a grin.

‘Did- did you say Keto’s here?’ Spluttering, Kaida’s expression went vaguely unreadable, a mix between shock and horror painted over his face. Aadi and Ata stood beside him, the pair heavily confused. Aadi was about to ask who Keto was, but Rook was faster.

‘Aye, you ‘aven’t seen ‘is ship down ‘ere? It’s awfully ‘ard to miss, lad; better open yer eyes a wee bit more.’ Rook narrowed his eyes for a minute. ‘Eh, weren’t you two up to somethin’ a couple years back? Some sorta deal?’

‘No, no, no, absolutely not. Nah. Never wi’ him.’ The young man shook his head decisively, as though a child had just asked the most ridiculous of questions. ‘Thanks for that, though, Rook. I’d betta go find the creature.’

‘I said it’d be you to sort it out, and they didn’t believe me. Go have fun wi’ it, kiddo.’ 

They walked down the roads for another five minutes before they finally could see the harbour and each of the ships within its reach. Lo and behold, The Orca’s Eyes was docked there, standing tall amongst the others. The sky was getting greyer, and the crew of the Orca was sat around on the deck, pointing at a little red roan pony that was stubbornly trying to shuffle around some man in front of Old John’s ship.

‘…. Who’s Keto?’ Ata asked naively, skipping alongside Kaida with a grin. He didn’t seem fussed about meeting up with his mother again in the slightest; this little boy was just here for the adventure. Thoroughly, thoroughly enjoying himself.

‘Not a man you should concern ya’self with. Nor one anyone would wish to come across,’ Kaida grumbled, kicking a rock in front of him as they walked. He ruffled Ata’s blonde hair softly, at which the kid giggled. 

‘So how do you know him?’ 

‘We had a bit of a… altercation out at sea one time. Bested him, of course, which he wasn’t happy about. His father was away and it was ‘is first time in charge. Made me make a deal with ‘im, which was kinda stupid on my behalf. Said he wouldn’t tell his father about me winnin’ if I’d promise him something.’ 

‘What did you promise him?’

‘You know what? I don’t remember.’

‘Not sure yet. Well- that looks to be the pony we need to herd back to his family, and coincidentally, it’s one I quite wanted to try and adopt. So let’s get this done and dusted, aye?’ Kaida patted Ata on the back and glanced at Aadi with a subtle smile.

‘Aye aye, cap’n!’ Ata grinned, running off down the road to go and pet the red roan gelding. 

‘Ah-ah, come back a second, Ata.’ Kaida called, and the little boy sulkily wandered back, leaving the pirate to study the pony.

He was a soft-looking Cob with a silky soft coat, mane slightly knotted by the salted sea-breeze, and jingling with a couple of bells tied to ribbons in his mane, no doubt where children wanted to take him home with them. He had soft brown eyes and a little white marking up his nose, and remarkably, two white feet - one on the front and one on the back, both on the right side of him. The other two feet were brown, his hooves black. On his neck and belly he had subtle dapples, where his roan merged with the natural coat colour beneath. 

‘Game plan. You go on the right, I’ll go on the left, I’ll tie a ribbon, then we’ll turn him around, and we’ll send him on his way with Ata chasing from behind. Sound good?’

Ata gave him a thumbs up and beamed with smiles towards the pony. Aaditya nodded subtly, doing up his cardigan and preparing to walk over.