Welcome to a story/contest/raffle all about two pirates, the cutest shark who ever lived, and... yourself!

Over the past week or so I've been sending anon gifts to a whole bunch of people setting up a story for this adventure.

If you did NOT receive one of these don't worry! You can still participate. If I had time to send out story updates to everyone on Subeta I would have! But sadly that's not feasible.

If you'd like to catch up on what's been happening, you can read all the updates here:

The Story Thus Far...

The cliff notes version?

You were visited by an adorable shark with a bowl of water on his head named Baron Bitey. Two pirates seem to be claiming ownership of him. The traditional Captain Lucy, and the trendy Captain Dorian. You've been looking for the Baron on Delphi beach and despite finding evidence that he was there, you have not found him yet. You then fall asleep on the beach...

SO WHAT'S THIS THREAD FOR?

I was getting tired of spending two hours sending out story updates.

I also want to give you guys the chance to interact with the story!

ALSO I want to give away some CWs. Specifically one of the three September Pirate releases I have here!

CWs? HOW DO I WIN THOSE?

With each 'story update' I'll give a prompt of such for you to complete! This could be a prompt for you to write something, create a HA to fit a theme, or something else entirely! Each update I'll pick one winner from those who participated. This winner will get to choose one of the three pirate queen items as a prize!

HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO ENTER? Each update I'll set the time when entries for that will be due! Typically I'm thinking you will have 3-4 days each time. This is dependent on my schedule. New updates also might not pop up on the same day as a deadline. Again this is dependent on my schedule but I'll try to keep things moving along!

HOW WILL I KNOW ABOUT NEW UPDATES? To make sure you stay current on all updates to this story, make sure you joing my Story/Event group, Murder and Tea. Every time I post an update, I'll be pinging that group.

WHAT IF I DON'T WANT TO PARTICIPATE? CAN I STILL GET CWs?

Absolutely! All three items,

Will be available in my shop until the end of September. After that they'll be retired until next year.

LINK TO MY SHOP

Table of Contents:

Parts 1-4 (originally sent out as anon gifts) Part 5

You slowly begin to wake up. Your whole body feels stiff, immobile. At first you think you back is just screaming at you because you fell asleep on some rocks. However soon it becomes clear that your arms are tied behind your back.

The rough bite of rope against your wrists causes you to startle awake. You sit up and blink the grogginess from your eyes and you look around. You seem to be in a cell of some sort and from the way everything seems to be moving and rocking you'd guess you're in a ship.

"Oh hey, finally awake?"

Across from you in another cell is a young man with pale blonde hair. You recognize him from the picture he posted on his tumblr. That's Diamond Dorian! Looks like the reason he stopped updating his blog was due to getting kidnapped.

"So," he begins, leaning against the bars of his cell, "What did you do to tick Lucy off?"

Lucy... seems like she must have scooped you up when you were passed out having weird vision-dreams on the beach...

First prompt! Respond to Dorian. It doesn't have to be long or involved. Just keep in mind that you and he are the ONLY two in the ship's brig right now. Assume that everyone in this thread is having their own separate adventure!

I may respond to a few in between updates but I can not guarantee this!

You have until Monday September 14th at 8pm Subeta time to respond to this prompt!

(forgot to ping my groups! Only pinging my CW group ONCE for this since this thread does in involve a new release! All future updates will be the murdertea ping only)

I sit up slightly dazed, "I guess looking for your pet is what ended me in this here brig." I pull at the ropes but they are tied around my wrists tighter than I would like at least to get free that is. "Is Bitey really your pet or her's if we both ended up in this place?" Who really owns Bitey could I have been wrong all along?

Illuminata starts quietly working at the ropes around her wrists, eyes narrow, ears flattened. When Dorian speaks to her, though, she takes a long look at him. "I was looking for a shark. Who, no matter what either of you thinks, appears to be very much his own person."

After a moment she lifts her wrists to her mouth. The ropes are disgusting--they're plant matter, and they're not as clean as they could be--but a feline is never completely unarmed. Even the taste of blood doesn't make gnawing the rope more bearable, because Lumi is damn well aware it's her own, from fighting the ropes even while unconscious. There is nothing a cat hates more than being restrained.

"I was looking for Baron, who seems to be running from both of you. I think their previous captor -- exactly, Lucy or you -- might've injured them and that's why they're scared."

I sigh heavily at the question from Dorian before shaking my head.

"I honestly didn't do anything, but if I had to wager a guess, I'd say it's because she maybe thinks I kidnapped her shark. But, I mean...it couldn't have been me, I didn't even know about any of you until the shark had already come and gone." I take a deep breath and try to fix my face into a puzzled expression, remembering the voice message Lucy had left for me and her thoughts on who had taken both Baron and her hat.

Maybe if I can get Dorian to admit to taking the hat, she'll let me out at least - I don't think I want to be stuck in the middle of these two. Especially not after that weird dream I had. I know I've been quiet too long so I try to peer around like I'm curious about where we are, pitching my voice low before I speak to Dorian again.

"Hey, why do you think she took you? I mean, I don't think either of us took Baron, not after how you were looking for him too and how it seems pretty clear he doesn't have any trouble moving about on his own. So what does she think you've done?" I tilt my head and widen my eyes, trying desperately to project innocence as I wait for Dorian's answer.

Ahhh thank you so much for turning it into an interactive event, and for all the awesome surprises leading up to it ❤️

hey y'all, Knight is doing a fun user run event in here (they're the Pirate anon!) and I thought I'd poke at ya to see if you wanted to join/follow along. Read the first post ❤️

I roll my shoulders and try to bring some feeling back into my muscles before answering. "Well, my guess would be that she thinks I took something of hers," I explain. I think back to my first meeting with Baron Bitey, the tag to return to Lucy, the photo of 'enemy ', and now the sad shark in my recent dream. "To be honest, though, I'm not entirely sure that it does belong to her, or to anyone, for that matter."

I just had to dress up for the event! by Lypsyl

"I have no idea! I haven't done anything. Maybe she thinks I'm in league with you because I asked a question on your blog?"

"I was looking for Baron Bitey, not that it should matter to you." She scoffed, irritated at having ended up in the situation in the first place. She tried to do a good deed and look at what happened. She still didn't know who Baron Bitey belonged to, either Lucy or Dorian (or maybe, neither. He could belong to himself, she mused). "I don't know how, but I know I wouldn't be in this mess if it wasn't for you."

You take your time replying. It's been a long day and you're not sure how much you trust this guy. From what you can remember from your dream thing earlier you believe he might be involved in this whole mess somehow. Poor Baron Bitey.... You decide to reply with the truth. Well, part of the truth at least.

You shrug as best as you can, being tied up and all. "I was just out for a stroll along the beach. Maybe I stepped on her favorite shell or something. Who knows..."

Thank you for the fun event! It's been great finding surprises and following along with the story!

Oh my GOD DORIAN THIS IS WHERE YOU'VE BEEN!! I WAS WORRIED!! No idea what I could of done maybe she was just having a bad day n she needed to vent somehow

after sitting up, I look at Dorian - "Huh? Lucy? Oh, she thinks I am in league with you. I was looking for the Baron and kinda hit a dead end. I thought I felt someone watching me today - it must have been her."

Ouch.. You're flickering in and out of consciousness, and in and out of pain. Pain.. in your wrists? Where am I..? You can't move your arms. You try opening your eyes, but can't really tell if you are or not. The swaying beneath you.. and pain in your.. bottom. You intend to laugh but can't tell if you actually make any sound. Oh.. the shark tooth. Vague memories of a dream you had start returning to you. The argument between the pirates. The Baron. The ship on the horizon. It sets in that as ridiculous as it is.. I think I have been poisoned using a shark tooth and kidnapped by pirates.

You laugh again and this time it works: the sound echoes around you. You were not expecting that! "WOH-" Your eyes jerk open and take in your surroundings with the expected speed of someone who'd just been passed out for an unknown amount of time. Iron bars.. wooden walls.. dingy floors.. You try moving your arms again and can tell now that they're bound by.. probably rope, judging by how itchy it is. Huh.. yup. Kidnapped by pirates.

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From across the hall, in an adjacent cell, you hear someone call out: "Oh hey, finally awake?"

Squinting in the darkness, you can barely make out the glint of a diamond-encrusted eyepatch. The phony pirate. Guess he wasn't in on it. But does that make it any better? He clearly knows something he's not letting on either way.

You realize he's started talking again and snap back to reality. "--t did you do to tick Lucy off?"

"Dorian.." You don't even know where to start. You shake your head slowly, and with great disappointment tell him how you feel: "Some people should not have pets."

"Ahn?"

Her head was throbbing in a way that made it hard to concentrate. Jack lifted her eyes slowly and squinted up at the opposite cell.

"Lucy?"

She didn't recall ticking off a 'Lucy'. She didn't recall anything past finding a shark tooth on the beach. The man behind the bars looked familiar though.

"Dorian?"

She stared a little more until her thoughts reorganised themselves. The beach. The shark tooth. Being so tired that she literally fell asleep on the rocks. Full clarity washed over her with a bright shock of adrenaline.

"Oh, this is bad." Jack levered herself up onto her knees and into a more upright position. Her neck and shoulders twinged a complaint and she winced as a few things clicked in her back. "Ow, that hurts." Sleeping on the floor with her arms pinioned behind her made everything remarkably uncomfortable. She twisted as best as she could and eventually made it to her feet with the help of the closest wall.

"For the record, I was only looking for the shark." Jack stumbled over to the bars of her cell. "Why are you here? Don't tell me you were sleeping on the beach too."

I sit on the floor, raise my shoulders and say:

• "I tend to upset a lot of people, dear. I cannot worry for every sensitive pirate on the world, buuuut" - and I tap slowly the bars of the cell with my foot - "... seeing the situation we are in, we better start looking for a proper apology if we want to see the sun again".

YAY, I love this! Thanks for hosting such a fun event. <3

I was wondering who was sending those. Ty for the thought ;)! And the adorable gifts! Love the idea!

I'm in no shape or form to write anything I can barely keep up with anything atm. ;_; busy af

I may pop in if you prompt for HA making I may try on those if remember

Super cute releases :*

Trying to move her fingers slowly to get some circulation into them, Litha blinked and tried to funnel her concentration on the present situation, still a little bit dizzy.

The picture of the sad looking shark floating around was deeply impressed in her mind. How could she help?

Baron Bitey had observed the fight between Dorian and Lucy - did he remember better days? Dorian and Lucy ... which history did they share? Perhaps, they were even lovers at some point?

Litha smiled and tried to blow a wisp of hair away which covered her eyes. "Ah, Lucy, you know her, she has a fiery temper! Always hell-bent on getting her own way! There was this very day when we met the one-eyed pirate with the burnt peg-leg, what was his name again? However, let's drop it.... What about you? How did you happen to be in the clutches of our lashing Lady Lucy?" Litha asked, looking encouragingly at Dorian.

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