"Which one o' ye maggots pilfered the salted fish I was bout t' cook for ye breakfast!?" The ship-cook, Gordon, shouted, smoke could practically be seen rising from his ears cause of how angry he was.
He had stormed into the Fo'c'sle, the quarters crew, which was mostly empty except for Mikey, Ray, Flynn, and Neo who were playing cards. Now stunned by the sudden anger of the cook. Getting the cook mad effectively spelled starving for whoever did it. Or at least eating really badly.
The fo'c'sle was located right next to the galley, the ships kitchen, so it was naturally the assailant couldn't be too far away as just a moment ago the fish was on the table ready to be cut.
"Gordon, we're innocent we promise. We've been playin' cards here and can vouch for each other. Right mates?"
Said Mikey panicked, as he stood up. Mikey was a newcomer and had made the mistake of sneaking a bit of snacks from the galley in his early days on the Nine Lives.
It was easy to say he had regretted that decision after being caught and not being given proper food for an entire month! So, he had vowed to never steal from Gordon again.
"Yeah, we've been here, nobody goin' into the galley"
Echoed Ray to confirm Mikey's claim. Ray was also quite the new member of the crew. He was a pretty handsome man in his thirties. Slightly disheveled brown hair, which was still clearly taken care of properly, most likely the best on the entire ship.
Gordon narrowed his eyes a bit as he stared at Mikey then at Ray and turned to Flynn and Neo, clearly not fully trusting these two youngsters.
Flynn and Neo just bowed and Gordon sighed. If nothing else Gordon new he could trust Neo. He was quite a kind, but a good guy, nonetheless. Never broke any rules and was fully loyal to the crew. In short, he'd snitch, but only for the crew even if it was on the crew.
Flynn was a dependent fellow and older man in his fifties who had been in the crew for a long time. Tho he might sometimes bail out the youngster from trouble if he was in the mood. So, Gordon couldn't always trust him fully.
"Fine, I believe ye, but better tell me if ye hear o' the thief... We 'ave a limited supply o' grub, 'n I can't 'ave our grub bein' eaten like in those blasphemous buffets."
Said Gordon as he sighed and tried to relax a bit. He turned and headed out of the fo'c'sle towards the stairs that led onto the deck.
The deck was fairly quiet. After all the Nine Lives wasn't a huge ship busting with crew. There were in total barely 20 men onboard the ship. Even more so it was morning and the crew had better stuff to do than walk around the deck in circles.
Since the weather was nice and they were in a very safe area of the open sea. All they had to do was make sure they stayed on course and that the sails were even somewhat aligned with the wind.
Gordon walked towards the stern of the ship where the great cabin was located and walked in without any care for courtesy. Afterall he was the ship-cook, he was practically above the captain, outside of combat at least.
The captain, Jack was sitting at his desk, a quill in his hand clearly writing something in his journal or whatnot before Gordon had barged in. Jack closed his journal as he looked at Gordan, smiling pleasantly.
"Gordon, wha' 're ye doin' up here? Shouldn't ye be makin' breakfast at this time o' the day?"
Jack greeted Gordon warmly. Then put his quill down as well and waited for Gordon to state his business.
"Dat's the problem cap'n some rogue plundered one o' the fish I was about t' cook fer grub! Ye understand how serious o' a problem we're dealin' wit', right cap'n!?"
Gordon said, fuming and almost shouting as he slammed his hands down on his side of the desk that Jack was sitting behind.
"Really? Did you ask Mikey about it?"
The captain asked calmly, unfaced by Gordon's annoyance. Mikey had stolen once, so why not again?
"I did, he said he's been playin' cards in the fo'c'sle all mornin' 'n Neo vouched fer 'im, so I do believe it. Same fer Ray 'n Flynn. Cyrus has been on the helm since he woke up at that ungodly hour he always does 'n the theft happened jus' now, so it couldn't be 'im, same fer ye."
"Oh? So, we got a truly puzzlin' case on our hands? Prolly wasn't Isla either, she isn't the type t' pilfer grub. Flora has been tendin' dat wee ole garden o' hers by the bow all mornin' so not her either."
Isla was one of the founding members of the crew, he's been by the captain's side since they started all those years ago. A mighty strong woman, unmatched in battle as far as anyone was aware. She was also the first of the crew to get a title, Fury.
Flora on the other hand was propably the oldest member of the crew… and well… the captain's mother.
Unbeknownst to Gordon and Jack low below the deck in a dark corner. A black cat was adoring fish with no idea of how big of a drama she had started.