• Sunset:

    My life is officially in danger, or so everyone says. Our trip to "The Shoreman's Cove" brought back a stranded young man who calls himself Zero. For reasons he wouldn't explain, he had been betrayed by his companions and left tied up in the hidden cave. He would've drowned when the tide came in if we hadn't found him. Specifically me.
    Whatever artifact Grim was searching for there had been taken, probably by Zero's "friends." He refuses to talk or explain himself, despite our best efforts. Heart spent an hour alone with him after Grim decided for a more "physical" interrogation. She came out afterward flushed red with anger and marched off to her cabin without a word. Zero didn't look too good, but I was still amazed he could withstand Heart's wrath for a whole hour. He had my respect, if no one else's.
    Then came the shocking revelation. Grim decided to have Zero's clothes and equipment washed and cleaned. Despite our rough exterior, especially with Heart, we didn't mean Zero any harm and we planned from the beginning to let him go. Grim just wanted his artifact back and had hoped Zero would help him find it. Failing at that, we decided we would drop him off at the next port and hope we wouldn't have a full navy on us in less than a day. Unfortunately, when we removed Zero's overcoat, we discovered a royal insignia. He was a member of the Royal Navy and a special messenger of the Crown! Who would betray such a man?
    Zero still refused to talk and I was beginning to worry about his mental state. Until a few nights ago, when he escaped. Well, actually I let him go. I could've stopped him when I saw him, at late midnight under the full moon, overpowering his guards with ease, but I didn't. For a few reasons.
    One was that I was in awe. Zero had managed to get his hands on a rapier from the hold's armory, and he used it with god-like skill. I couldn't keep up with his movements. He was nothing, but a silver flash in the moonlight as he disarmed the guards and knocked them unconscious, but not dead. The second reason was trust. After he had finished with the guards, he noticed me standing there, staring at him, but not moving. As our eyes met, it was as if a mental bond had been forged in an instant. A bond of understanding and trust. I knew, somehow, that he wouldn't come hunting for us later, and he knew also, that I was not his enemy.
    After his escape, I got a cold lecture from Grim and a thorough beating from Heart, who still had apparent "unfinished business" with Zero. Everyone is now warning me that Zero would come back and take his revenge on his captors, me being one of them. Still, I believe that what I did was right. I also had the strange feeling that I would be seeing "SilverFlash" Zero again soon. I just hope it isn't under negative circumstances.