As the first light of morning painted the sky in pink and gold, Captain Rex admired his newly acquired ship. Flap perched on his shoulder and asked, “Now what, Captain?”

Rex scratched his chin. “Now, we find a crew.”

A fine ship was worthless without hands to sail her. They needed a crew: strong, cunning, and, most importantly, loyal. But hiring one was out of the question. Word would spread quickly in Tortuga that a ship had vanished in the night, and Rex had no desire to hang from the gallows. He needed men who wouldn’t ask too many questions.

Flap flapped his wings. “Where to?”

Rex steered toward Blackbone Cay, a lawless islet where outcasts and rogues gathered. If there was a place to find desperate men willing to follow a captain with no questions asked, it was there.

By midday, the ship drifted into the cove, the shoreline lined with ramshackle taverns and abandoned wrecks. Rex secured the ship and made his way to The Leaky Cutlass, a den of thieves and forgotten souls.

Inside, the air was thick with the scent of sweat and spilled rum. Eyes flickered toward Rex as he entered, measuring him up. He walked to the centre of the room and slammed a dagger into the wooden table.

“I’m looking for a crew,” he declared, his voice steady. “A dangerous voyage, great rewards. Only the bold need apply.”

A silence fell over the room. Then, a grizzled man with a scar running down his cheek leaned forward. “And what ship do ye command?”

Rex grinned. “One I acquired recently.”

The scarred man laughed. “A stolen ship, eh? You’ll be hunted soon enough.”

“That’s why I need men who aren’t afraid of a little trouble,” Rex countered. “Or would you rather rot in this tavern, drinking yourself into an early grave?”

A few chuckles rose from the crowd. Then a massive brute of a man with a shaved head cracked his knuckles. “I’m in.”

One by one, others followed: men with nothing to lose and everything to gain. A motley crew, but the best he could hope for.

By nightfall, Rex had his crew. They set sail before the authorities in Tortuga could catch wind of their presence. As the wind filled their sails and the ship cut through the waves, Rex turned to Flap.

“We have a crew,” he said, the fire of adventure burning in his eyes.

Flap cawed. “And trouble ahead!”

Little did they know how right the parrot was.