101st Trial of Ashan, 705
Isodol never really knew her real father. He had left her and her mother when she was quite young, much younger than she was now. What little she knew of him came from stories told by her mother, Hannu. She always spoke of him negatively, making him out to be a “senseless, no good whore” as she put it. He had walked out on her, her mother had said, for a younger, more eccentric woman. Where he was now, she didn’t know and if he was still with the woman he left her for? She didn’t care.
The information given to Isodol from her mother was contradictory to how Isodol’s aunt described him. According to her, he was loving and kind and cared so much for Isodol but had one day found himself mixed up in an addiction. He spent money like it was an imaginary substance with no real consequences attached; he gambled for it and often lost; or he lost it out of reckless behaviour or because of terrible memory. Isodol and her mother were not privy of this behaviour, regardless of the many disagreements that were caused because of financial distress.
Her parents eventually had a falling out which had been inevitable but still extremely unexpected to her mother who held too much faith in her husband.
One morning, a morning similar to any other, Isodol woke to the house’s uncanny quietude; it had been almost too quiet, in fact. It wasn’t until later she learned that the silence was due to the lack of raised and arguing voices that normally wafted throughout the house. Her father had up and left with no goodbyes and no farewells. She had found her mother sitting at the dining table with her head held in her hands, silent tears streaming through the crevasses between her fingers.
Hannu had been with a few other men since her husband's betrayal. From the memories, not stories Isodol had been told, none of the men seemed up to par with the decent impression her father had left upon her. They had been slimy, provocative and were great acquaintances with peer pressure. Combine those traits with a grief-stricken woman with self-esteem issues and a desire to be someone she wasn’t and the result was a cataclysmic relationship.
This man, the one whom Isodol called her step-father, her mother’s latest boyfriend, had shown himself to be much more tame compared to those her mother held interest in in the past. He wanted to play a game with his step-daughter after all, didn't he?
Outside the house, the two now traipsed through the night until being met with the blinding lights of a small tavern. She could barely make out what the sign had said. 'Buck...elle... and... can'? Isodol could hear the ruckus inside even with all the entry points closed.
Several people were loitering outside the establishment, drinks held in hands, mouths slurring words to their comrades in drunken stupors.
“This game,” her step-father began. “Involves a sneaky pirate.”
Isodol’s previous confusion as to what the hell they were doing out at a tavern in the middle of the night was quickly replaced with excitement at the prospect of pretend. She loved pretending and often her most favourite persona to play was a pirate. How had her step-father known?
“And you know what pirates do?”
“They steal treasure!” Isodol practically shouted. Her father wasted no time shushing her, his jubilant demeanor turning sour at the blink of an eye. Only a moment's notice later and he was back to his playful self, continuing his story.
“Well, that glass in that man’s hand-“ he motioned towards a burly gent with a thick beard. His eyes were glazed over none to differently than her step-father’s. “-That glass is wondrous booty!”
The grin spread across the young girl’s face.
“I need ye to get it for me, matey.”
She went rigid. While the game allured her, she was not ignorant of the fact that the man she was about to take from could very well become aggressive and potentially hurt her.
“But-“ she started, but her father held up his palm.
“Sometimes a pirate needs to be sneaky to get what they want.” There was a sinister twinkle in his eye then, but it remained unnoticed as Isodol nodded her head in agreement.
“How-“
“Pirates are smart, you know. They find things to hide behind in order to get close to the thing they want. See how he isn’t looking this way? He’s busy talking to his good friend there. See how he’s sat his glass down beside him? He won’t notice you coming if you take it from behind.”
This was all good information for her, but Isodol was still a little unsure. It wasn’t until her step-father gave her a nudge that was slightly more assertive than necessary that she found the courage to do the deed.
She watched attentively at the man, his drink still unoccupied by his side. He was deep into conversation with a middle aged woman to his left, the opposite direction of where his glass sat. She tried to act casual, walking slowly but with intent towards her target. She held her breath as she got near. She reached out her small hand and grasped her fingers around the rim... just as the man was reaching over to grab it himself.
“What the hell? What do you think you’re doing you little twat?”
Isodol let out the breath she had been holding, but not in relief.
“I- um-“ she knew lying was wrong. Her mother had told her that countless times, more so when she was younger than now, but the fact remained. It wasn’t until this current predicament than she scavenged her mind for a tiny half-truth.
“I thought you were done with it so I was going to clean it for you.”
The man stared at her like that was the stupidest thing he had ever heard. Isodol looked over at her shoulder for her step-father, but he had vacated the area.
“Clean it, huh? Yea, whatever.” He looked like a bear. His scruffy bear, large angry eyes and husky frame were all attributes a bear had; and it was either her imagination or actuality that steam puffed out of his nostrils.
“I’ll show you what happens to people who mess with my ale-“
A hand was suddenly thrust in Isodol’s face then, but it wasn’t the bear’s. It was her father’s.
“Whoa there, mate,” he said to the bear, feigning ignorance as to the situation that had just unfolded. “She’s just a kid. Let’s just let her off with a warning, shall we?”
Her step-father must have had special powers because suddenly the bear’s temper decreased, reverting him back into the burly man he had been before.
“Come here, kid.” Why was he pretending he didn’t know who she was? Was this still apart of the game they were playing?
Her step-father led her away from the man until they were out of ear-shot.
“I guess you aren’t as good of a pirate as I thought you were,” he said, slowly sobering up.
“Let’s go home.”
