We Could Play Pirates.

Aresenn's gaze drifted over the familiar yet foreign surroundings of the ship, his memories intertwining with the present moment. "More or less," he confirmed, while the details of his own upbring wasn’t a particularly interesting topic to himself, he didn’t mind answering Absinths questions about it. "Sparrow, the pirate king, lived on the ship itself." Aresenn answered with some sembalance of amusement as he identified the previous leader with a title that no longer mattered. “However, she conducted pack affairs here as well- meetings and the like.” He couldn’t help indulge in the memories as they flickered back to his days as a member of the group of ragtag theives. Though, he had personally lived on the black sand beach not far from here, a place that held its own memories and stories. "I was raised in a different part of the territory.” He echoed the thoughts as they entered his mind. “But it seems to still be inhabited by the pack that Pirates Plunder became," he added, his tone betraying a hint of detachment.

As Absinth mused about simpler times, Aresenn couldn't help but feel a the slightest pang of longing for the innocence of his youth, for a time when life had seemed less complicated. Just endless ocean and blue sky, and a world of seemingly endless possibilities. "I miss the innocence of it, I suppose" he admitted, his voice low. "Not that any of it was ever innocent to begin with. But as you said, it was far more simple." He paused, his gaze drifting out over the deck of the ship, lost in memories of a time long past. "But truthfully, there isn't much about it I value enough to miss." Aresenn's words hung in the air, heavy with the weight of his past, his gaze distant yet focused. “Not that it’s good or bad. It just is.” He was certain that others enjoyed the lifestyle that Pirates brought. It wasn’t that he despised it. To him it just felt empty. Had he gotten the direction that he craved as a pup, maybe his life would look very different than it did right now. And honestly, he was fairly content with the way things were.

Blinking away the thoughts that clouded his mind, he refocused his attention on the Absinth. A onesided grin tugged at his lips with the recognition of her. What she represented to him in the moment. The decisions he had made, the paths that he had followed. It all culminated into this moment. “But in the end, it seems that it was all for the best.” For how could it possibly get better than this?  

"Aresenn Praetor"