It was a surprisingly quiet day for Honnou Island. The slums had a far-reaching reputation as a wretched hive of scum and villainy, but there was little of that to be seen at the moment. But then again, it wasn't even 9am yet. Something was sure to happen sooner or later.

The wheels of fate began to spin faster as a small, inconspicuous rowboat approached the island. On board was somebody feared among civilians and pirates alike, though nobody had heard from her in a while, and where she was going, her name wasn't likely to be known. For much of her life, she'd been jumping from crew to crew, but at the moment there was something she needed to take care of alone.

Upon arrival, she purposefully opened the door to the nearest inn, ensuring that all eyes turned towards her when she did. Though sheathed, her unusually large cutlass quickly established her as someone intimidating. Satisfied that it had gotten everyone's attention, she began to speak.

"Have any of you seen this sword before?" She said. "Maybe you've seen something like it."

The inn's patrons looked at one another, and the girl let out a frustrated sigh. She walked inside and picked a lemon from one of the shelves, taking a large bite out of it. She'd been known to eat them like this among the people aware of her reputation, and it was rumored that she did so because she was deathly afraid of scurvy. But the truth was that she just really liked lemons.

As she continued to enjoy the lemon, she felt a familiar rustling in one of her pockets: The telltale sign of someone stupid enough to try and steal from her. Upon reaching inside, she realized that the small sack of doubloons she'd brought was now gone, and she actually found herself feeling rather impressed. This pickpocket had been more successful than most, but that success wasn't going to last much longer.

Looking around, she found some of the people looking amused at what had just happened: too many for all of them to be involved. But the nervous ones were the ones she was looking for. They were murmuring things along the lines of 'he's gone too far this time', and that was what she wanted to hear.

"Who's 'he'?" She said as she approached them, startling them in the process.

"Th-the innkeeper's son," one of them said. "He's just a boy, though… please don't harm him."

"I'll consider it," she said, just for the sake of sounding threatening. "Where can I find him, then?"

"In… in the back room," another said. "...with the rest of his family."

The girl nodded gratefully and made her way there, throwing the door open as if she owned the place. Once she was inside, she immediately identified the one she was looking for, but it didn't look like getting her money back from him would be a problem.

"Who did you take this from? Who?"

The person saying this while pinning the boy to the ground appeared to be his older sister. She was someone the visitor would have thought twice before messing with, even if she didn't exactly look like pirate material.

"He took it from me," she said hesitantly. "I came here to get it back."

"Oh!" While sitting on his back, the elder sister pressed his head against the ground and looked towards the newcomer. "Well, here you go!" She tossed the bag over, which was quickly caught. Once she was sure her brother wouldn't try anything funny, she stood up and extended her hand. "My name's Mako, by the way. What's yours?"

"Ryuko Matoi," she answered. "I came here to ask about this sword I have with me."

Mako knelt down and inspected it closely, making Ryuko rather uncomfortable. "Hmmm… It looks like half of a giant pair of scissors."

"I know that much," Ryuko said. "Maybe you know someone who could tell me more than that?"

Mako began pondering again. "...oh! There might be someone! Follow me." She led Ryuko outside the inn, bringing her to a poster on one of the walls.

"Re-elect Governor Kiryuin," Ryuko read aloud uncertainly. "When there's only one candidate, there's only one choice."

"That's the one," Mako said. "She lives in a mansion pretty far from here, but not too far to walk. I could take you, if you want!"

"Well…" Ryuko said. "...okay. But, before I forget…" She retrieved the bag of doubloons out of her pocket. "How much were those lemons?"

"Oh," Mako said. "That'll be two pieces of eight." She giggled "That's what you pirates call them, right?"

Ryuko laughed nervously as she handed two coins. "...right. I… guess we'd better get going."

"Yeah!" Mako enthusiastically placed an arm around her shoulders and pointed straight ahead. "Right this way!"

While the path to the mansion was rather complex, the place itself would have been impossible to miss. Ryuko guessed that the balcony at the front was so that this governor could look down on all the people inhabiting her island.

"This is as far as I'm going," Mako said apologetically. "Some of the people in there are scary."

"I think I can handle that." Ryuko walked over to the front door and knocked. After waiting a couple of minutes, she began to hear voices from inside.

"Lady Satsuki, this is so far beneath you. I insist that I answer the door on your behalf."

"I appreciate the gesture, Fukuroda," Satsuki said, "but whoever is at this door needs to be taught some manners, and I feel that I am best suited for such a task."

"Yes, Lady Satsuki."

Finally, the door opened, and Ryuko was greeted by the same disdainful face she saw on the poster.

"Hello…" Although Ryuko was speaking politely, she was clearly being sarcastic in order to spite this person who apparently found manners to be so important. "I was told you might know something about this sword."

"I do," Satsuki said. "But I also happen to know something about you. You're a notorious pirate, like your father before you."

"It's nice to get some recognition around here," Ryuko said. "Speaking of my father… this sword was found next to his dead body. Do you know why that is?"

"As it just so happens," Satsuki said, "I do, but I see no reason to tell you."

And with that, Ryuko decided she didn't need to hear any more. Throwing caution to the wind, she drew the sword and lunged towards Satsuki with it, but before she knew it someone else was standing in her way, speaking with the other voice she heard earlier.

"Please, allow me," he said. "It's clear she's never been here before, and I'd like to give her a taste of what she can expect from the people of this island."

"Very well," Satsuki said. "I trust you have everything you need?"

He produced what looked to Ryuko like a can of spinach, but the contents inside seemed to have a faint red glow. With a simple squeeze, some of the can's contents came flying out and landed in his mouth, where he chewed them intently. As soon as he'd swallowed, Ryuko noticed his arms bulging unnaturally, but she still refused to retreat. With a furious cry, she brought her sword down upon him, but he quickly blocked with his bare fists.

"What's…" She stared at his arms in disbelief. "What's in that spinach?"

"I'm no expert on the exact ingredients," he said with a smirk. "But I'm told there's a lot more fiber in it than usual!"

Before she could respond, he was spinning his fist like a windmill, until finally he let it fly forward and hit her in the jaw, sending her flying all the way back to shore.

"And that's the last we'll hear of her," he said smugly.

"Perhaps," Satsuki said. "But I have my doubts."

As dusk approach, Ryuko found herself sailing yet again to where she found the sword, in the ruins of her father's ship. It crashed into a cliffside shortly after she saw his last breath, where a beach happened to be a short paddle away. After swimming into a gaping hole left by the impact, she climbed to where it was still dry and knelt mournfully.

"I couldn't do it," she muttered. "The first chance I get to do something that means anything, and I fail. Now wha-"

She interrupted herself with a quick shriek as the wood beneath her collapsed, and she was soon under the surface again. Despite her attempts to get back up, something around her leg appeared to be pulling her down, and as much as she struggled, it soon overpowered her with a forceful tug, and she got a brief glimpse of it.

The most distinctive feature on it appeared to be a glowing yellow eye, with a crossed eyepatch over the other. The rest of its design brought to mind the classic Jolly Roger image seen on too many flags to count, and it was at this point that Ryuko concluded that this was a hallucination she was facing in her final moments. Moments later, she heard a voice she decided was a solid confirmation of her theory.

"Wear me, and feed me blood!"

If anyone was on the nearby beach at that time, they would have seen the shipwreck rattle and shake for a couple of seconds before suddenly breaking in half, with a strangely clad figure leaping several feet into the air from between the two halves.

Moments later, Ryuko Matoi landed on that beach, and she now felt ready to return to Satsuki's mansion.

A/N: If you've been reading She Blinded Me With Science, don't let this worry you: I'm still working on that as well. In other news, ARRRR!