The next morning I awoke to the bright blazing sun already high in the sky. I picked up what was left of my clothes and tried to sneak off to my bunk to retrieve something more to wear. But I was spotted by several krewe members, thought they said nothing I could see in their eyes that they were even more terrified of me and Zane now that we had each other. After I got some more clothing on I went on deck to see Zane, and he greeted me with a smile and a passionate kiss in front of the whole krewe. I had a feeling this meant more than I knew but didn't ask him what, but the rest of the Krewe seem to understand something new about my position, some new level I had reached. We were in port and Zane was dropping anchor out in the bay so that I could go ashore. We needed food and I need new weaponry. According to Zane I had outgrown my other weapons and needed something bigger and better. I was told to go ashore alone because of the cargo we were carrying needed as much protection so with a kiss he put me on the row boat with a pouch full of gold and a list of things that were needed. I rowed into port, paid the dock worker for the day and went to get everything that my krewe needed. Food was easy and I grabbed a little bit of beer for the boys too. I went to the Smith's shoppe and began to haggle prices for a new saber, 2 stilettos and 2 daggers, then I heard it. The sound that would break my heart. The sounds of canon fire, close canon fire and not my canons. I ran up the hill to look down onto the bay to see if the Howling Moon was the target of the attack and all I could see was my ship ablaze. I ran down the streets toward my row boat but there was no use, the fire sank into the bay and when I rowed out there was nothing left, no bodies, no paper the only thing left unburned was the Howling Moon's colors. I scooped them up out of the water and went back to port. I was homeless again, an orphan again. The wife of the inn keeper, having seen my ship blow up and me lose everything tooke pity on me and gave me a place to stay for a few nights while I tried to get myself together. That first night all I could do was let the grief have me. The pain washed over me like the waves over the bodies of my Krewe and I cried all night, it would be one of the last 2 times I ever cry. The next morning I woke before the inn keeper could get breakfast on the table, I paid him, went to the Smith Shoppe, paid him what was left of my gold and left town with a 2 new Stilettos and 2 new daggers. I went off in search of some new home. And I found it. With Zane's former employer in England. A blackhearted and souless bastard named John who was ruthless and needed a killer like me. I had found another home, but I was never happy. I killed and I hunted and I fought, men, women it didn't matter. Each kill was gold, each death earned me another day alive. I lived wtih the constant threat of death if I didn't perform, death if I didn't follow orders. He kept a silver collar around my neck that constantly burned so that I would remember that my life belonged to him. I marked the passage of years not in days or week or hours but in lives. Exactly 55 lives later I was given a partner, a troll of a man named Viktor. His wicked smiles na d callous eyes always chilled me to the bone, killing was the only thing that made him happy, killing was the only thing he loved. And so that is what Viktor and I did, we killed. I hated the man almost as much as I began to hate my reflection in the mirror, all I could see was a monster. But I was good at what I did and was paid well for the lives I'd taken. For another 200 lives this is was the way I lived. By then I had more money than I could possibly ever know what to do with and needed a life outside off all this death. I wanted to strike out on my own and so I did. I took up where Zane left off. I bought a ship from the shipyard and spent my days making it run again. It was just a little ship but it was my new home. Viktor, unfortunately tagged along and I needed the extra help, so I didn't resist. I could kill him when he became useless to me. After months of hard, back breaking work my ship was ready to sail. It would sail under the name The Howling Moon II and it flew the batter old colors of my former home. I searched in bars and back alleys for my Krewe. Quickly I found Kraven, a kind little fox of a woman and her mate Wulf. They brought Greggory the Grim with them and his mate Missy, that gave me enough bodies to start to sail. We picked up contracts for this or that, little things to test our skills. We made good on every contract, early usually. Soon we were getting comissions from the King himself to run gold and food to his many settlements in the islands. We ate well every night and worked hard everyday. There were few fights and lots of music thanks in great part to Kraven's beautiful voice and occassionally my fiddle playing. My new home felt better to me than ever. Life was great but I knew that my good streak was bound to end. The blackhearted Bastard John needed one last favor from me, one more and I would be done forever. A family. A family who owed him a great deal of gold and had not paid. I took my last job knowing that it very well may kill the last bit of me that was human, to kill a child, that would do me in. But if it meant my freedom from death, I'd paid the price. So I sailed my krewe to the backside of the island where this Lord and his family lived. It was too bright outside to conduct our business so we went to the tavern instead, to wait out the sunset. Inside, the snarky bar keep had to mouth off the Viktor and in his wounded pride killed the barkeep, the wenches that served and every patron left inside. I waited outside for him to finish. He emerged some time later, after the sun had set. He was covered in blood and grinning from ear to ear. I hurried him away from that place, knowing we needed to finish our job and leave before the authorities could find the bloody scene he'd no doubt created in there. In my haste I ran into a handsome fellow who was with another lady. Their course was fixed on the Tavern. For some unknown reason I tried to warn him. "Don't want to get there Lad, it's dead inside. No joy to be found inside the Tavern." He nodded to me, but continued on. I sped away, Viktor in tow, spouting off obscenities as we fled toward the Lord's house. We snuck into the house and finished the Lord and Lady off in seconds, but the child was no where to be seen. Then I heard a noise, a slamming door. Out the window I saw I child running for the Tavern. Viktor took off after him, but the only thing he caught was the sharp end of my dagger. I don't know what possessed me to kill him and not this child, but I let him run to the Tavern. I chased after him, only to find the place filled with bodies and officer's of the King's Guard. The gentleman I tried to warn was standing there, ghost white, being blamed for the deaths inside. My concious over took me and as silent as the grave I killed all the king's men. I was wounded in the process by the female that accompanied the gentleman, she stabbed me right in the arm. I shouted for her to stop and that I wasn't going to kill them, but we could hear the sounds of the child raising the alarm. We had to make haste out of the bar. I grabbed them and ran back to my ship. They ran aboard and I made sure that the Krewe pushed off as fast as we could muster. I passed out as soon as I knew we were far away from port.