"Welcome to the Pervy Freedom."<br/><br/>Ganelon stared at the open doorway in disbelief as though it were a gateway to heaven itself. With nothing but his words, he had bought his way out of a cell and into the Pirate Queen's crew, and he still had more to offer. True, it was only a technical freedom with no guarantee of his continued survival, but more room to act meant more room to push his agendas forwards. He'd have his knives back in no time at all, and then he'd have Rotter's throat clenched tight between his waiting hands. The only thing in his way was a raised step leading out of the room and a day or two of calm sailing to the worst port-town he had ever known.<br/><br/>With his enthusiasm restored to what little extent it could be, the Crow pushed himself into a standing position with both hands and promptly fell sideways into the water as his numb legs failed to fully support their own weight. Undeterred, he lifted his chest up again, shifted into a clumsy sort of crouch, and carefully rose to his feet with his arms outstretched to help balance himself. His knees shook, but he remained standing, and after a few seconds of hesitation he was able to take a step forwards. Slowly, he inched over to the doorway and pulled himself through it to look down the end of the hall. The lack of natural lighting and overall silence suggested that he was somewhere relatively far below deck, but he couldn't be sure with the state he had arrived in. If he couldn't find a decent place outside, he'd likely return just to sleep near the cells.<br/><br/>While the Crow sat there in the hall pondering how he would find his way about the ship, a pair of large, hairy arms took him by the shoulders and turned him around. Looming a full head above him stood a giant of a man with a red, bearded face and a bare chest covered in old scars. Without speaking, the pirate held up a pair of manacles and pushed them into his prisoner's chest.<br/><br/>"Right." Ganelon said, grabbing the restraints disdainfully and attaching them to his own wrists. "'course ye can't have a dangerous<span style="font-style: italic">lookout</span>like me roamin' the ship with 'is arms free. Anythin' else, mate?"<br/><br/>The man stared down at him with two beady little eyes, but offered no response.<br/><br/>"Not one for conversation, huh?" the Crow prodded, unintimidated by his jailor's appearance. A day ago, he would have been afraid to stand up to someone with enough raw strength to snap him in half, but now he was beyond caring about what the brutes thought of him. If anyone still wanted him dead, they could hurry up and get it over with while he had nothing left to lose. He was almost disappointed when the man simply grunted and walked away without so much as raising a finger, but he ultimately decided to hold his tongue and do the same. There was at least one thing left for him to accomplish before he could let himself go around<span style="font-style: italic">looking</span>for ways to die, and he still found that idea unpleasant even in his current state of mind.<br/><br/>After a few minutes of wandering about the underbelly of the Pervy Freedom, the Crow finally managed to find a ladder which led outside, and after several minutes longer of struggling to climb it while injured and wearing shackles, he was standing on the deck at last. It was a familiar environment, with pirates sauntering back and forth in pursuit of a seemingly endless list of errands and the same gentle but persistent breeze that came with any moving vessel, but the thing which stood out the most was something that the Flying Rotsman had always lacked. Sitting there in the middle of the ship and soaked from the waist down, Ganelon could actually smell the sea and feel the balance of the ship changing beneath his feet. It was something so<span style="font-style: italic">normal</span>that he had never really noticed it missing until it had come back.<br/><br/>He set himself down in a corner created by the helm's raised platform and the stairs leading up to it, closed his eyes tight, and tried to remember the last time he had heard the sound of waves. It wasn't long before exhaustion and numbness overcame him and he drifted into a state of unconsciousness.