Chapter Text
The sea was quiet.
Not calm, never calm, but quiet enough that Captain Karkat Vantas could hear the familiar sounds of his ship, the Crimson Crab, settling into the evening. The creak of rigging and groan of timber, slap of the tides against the sides.
The ship cut through the dark water beneath a blanket of stars, her crimson sails billowing gently in the night wind. The ship had become a legend across the ocean, a pirate vessel feared by slavers, hated by nobles, and beloved by every red-blooded troll fortunate enough to find refuge aboard her decks.
At her bow stood Captain Karkat Vantas, he stood alone, arms folded against the cold night wind. The feared Captain with a million dollars bounty on his head, he was recognizable long before anyone hears him shouting orders.
A jagged scar stretches across his chest, disappearing beneath his shirt and coat, the story behind it changes depending on who's telling it. Some say he survived a naval cannon blast, others claim a sea monster nearly tore him in half. The truth is known only to a handful of people, and Karkat refuses to discuss it.
Whenever someone asks, they're usually met with a stream of profanity and a threat to scrub the deck. The scar has become part of his legend, proof that even death tried and failed to stop him.
The clamp and click of his faithful and loyal pure pet, Hook. a large and fierce black lobster, with piercing red eyes, and large hook shapeed claws, he happily pearched on his shoulder, nuzzling his master.
Nobody knows exactly where Hook came from, and Karkat refuses to give a straight answer.
Some crew members claim he found the black lobster as a tiny hatchling trapped in a fishing net during a storm. Others insist Karkat rescued him from a market where exotic sea creatures were being sold.
Whatever the truth, Hook has been at Karkat's side for years.
The lobster's glossy black shell and glowing red eyes make him look far more intimidating than a normal lobster, and his hook-shaped claws have earned more than a few painful lessons for careless sailors.
Despite his gruff complaints, Karkat is fiercely protective of Hook, often carrying him on his shoulder or keeping him in his cabin, much to the amusement of the crew…
Hook wiggles his antennas and clicks toward the sky, Karkat tilts his head also skyward…
Above him, stars scattered across a black sky. Below, endless water stretched toward horizons no map could fully capture. The wind tugged at his coat as he stared toward the horizon.
Somewhere out there was the answer. A homeland, a safe harbor and place where trolls like his crew could finally stop running.
For years he had chased rumors of forgotten islands and abandoned shores. Every map he stole, every treasure he seized, every noble vessel he raided was part of that search.
Yet tonight the horizon remained empty. Behind him, however, was something real…
The crew, his people, the reason he kept fighting. Laughter drifted across the deck, lanterns glowed warmly against the darkness.
For a brief moment, the Crimson Crab felt less like a pirate ship and more like a village floating atop the sea, a home away from home.
Karkat's gaze swept over familiar faces…
Vriska Serket, his combative first mate and commander of boarding operations. The only none red blooded troll, but instead blueblood. After a battle in their younger years, and losing to him, he gained her respect and thus works alone side him. And was currently arguing over cards, probably because she was cheating…
If Karkat is the ship's heart, Vriska is its sharpened teeth, she was reckless, arrogant, and incredibly effective. Many naval officers fear her even more than Karkat. The two argue constantly, often loudly enough for neighboring ships to hear.
The crew has learned that this usually means they're planning something dangerous.
Kankri Vantas, Karkat's own older brother. Their past was a mystery, but they two were stuck like glue, Kanny was currently delivering an endless lecture nobody had asked for…
He serves as the ship's senior first mate. As Karkat leads through passion and instinct, Kankri handles diplomacy, logistics, and negotiations.
He's the rare few people capable of calming his brother during particularly explosive arguments.
….Most of the time.
Long before the Crimson Crab sailed the seas, Karkat and Kankri Vantas were just two candy red brothers trapped in a miserable orphanage that treated lowblood children as burdens rather than people.
Kankri tried to protect the younger children with words and patience, while Karkat relied on his fists, bellowing voice and stubborn determination. When several children were taken away to uncertain fates, the brothers decided enough was enough.
They escaped together under cover of darkness, stole passage to the coast, and eventually found work aboard ships. The sea offered them something they had never known on land: freedom.
Years later, they would turn that freedom into a mission, building the ship into a refuge for every lost, abandoned, or hunted lowblood they could save.
Karkat was brought back to reality, gazing about the others, nothing but sailors mending nets and repairing rigging. Someone was singing badly, elsewhere someone was threatening to throw them overboard.…all was perfectly well and quiet…wait?
Its quiet…too quiet…
A sudden shout a speedy little tornado of a troll weaved through them, all like an unstoppable force of nature,.. ah there he is
Dyce.
The cabin boy raced across the deck carrying far more energy than any child should possess. A red blooded just like the rest of them, the plucky youngster appeared in Karkat's life three years ago.
Alone, terrified and starving. Hiding among cargo crates in a slave port.. Now he practically owned the ship, the crew adored him, Karkat tolerated him…
At least, that was what Karkat insisted whenever anyone suggested otherwise. Nobody believed him, least of all Dyce.
The boy darted around a sailor carrying supplies, narrowly avoided running into a mast, and continued onward completely unaware of how many heart attacks he caused daily.
Karkat sighed, the kid was going to be the death of him. The captain had become something suspiciously close to a father to the boy, the thought horrified him..
His attention shifted toward a quieter corner of the deck, a lone figure sat beside a lantern repairing a torn sail…
Imposter...
No one aboard knew if that was truly his name, nobody had ever learned another. His long black hair fell to his shoulders, partially hiding his face as he worked.
Iron shackles encircled both wrists, not chains, only shackles. Heavy, weathered iron cuffs that had long since lost their keys.
When he first joined the crew, several sailors had offered to remove them, a blacksmith among the crew had even volunteered to cut them apart.
Imposter refused politely yer firmly…
The topic never came up again, and the shackles remained. A permanent fixture of his appearance, a mystery nobody could solve.
Karkat remembered the first time he'd seen him. A prisoner transport, one of many. The sort of vessel Karkat made a habit of attacking, when the battle ended and the prisoners were freed, chaos erupted. Some cried, others laughed, the rest collapsed from relief. Imposter had simply stepped onto the deck of the Crimson Crab.
The shackles were already on his wrists. He looked exhausted, not injured or frightened just incredibly tired.. As though he'd spent years carrying something heavy.
When asked where he wanted to go, he'd answered with a simple shrug.
"Anywhere else but here.."
So Karkat had let him stay..Years later, he was still there…And strangely, nobody cared anymore.. not because they weren't curious. But because Imposter had become family, whatever he had been before, he was one of them now.
The crew judged people by who they were aboard the Crimson Crab, not by the ghosts following behind them.
Dyce suddenly appeared beside Imposter, seemingly materializing from thin air. The boy launched into a rapid stream of conversation. Imposter listened patiently, as always. A small smile touched his face, one of the rare genuine smiles Karkat ever saw from him. He reached up and gently ruffled Dyce's hair, the iron shackles clinked softly, the boy beamed brightly and laughed.
For a moment, Karkat watched them.
The mysterious sailor, an adopted cabin boy. Two lost red-bloods who had somehow found a place aboard his ship…he sight tightened something in his chest.
This was why he searched., not for treasure, but didnt stop them from pillaging and stealing, it was never for glory, the end goal was always for them.
For every runaway, prisoner, slave, mutant, and unwanted soul sleeping safely below deck.
For Dyce.
For Imposter.
For Kankri
For all of them.
Somewhere beyond the horizon was a place where they would never have to run again.
And until he found it, the Crimson Crab would remain what it had always been.
A home for those who had none.
One would assume all was easy and perfect in the Captains life, just stealing, sailing and jamming with his crew. But it was further from the truth, sure he had his rivals, other pirates, the queen armada who came into his turf..
But none compared to the determination and true rivalry between Karkat Vantas and Feferi Peixes had become the stuff of maritime legend.
For nearly a decade, Feferi had pursued the Crimson Crab across countless seas, determined to capture the infamous pirate captain.
Unfortunately for her, Karkat had an infuriating habit of escaping every trap she laid. He slipped through blockades, vanished into storms, hid among island chains, and occasionally escaped through sheer audacity. More than once, Feferi had cornered him only to discover he had anticipated her plan days in advance.
Their encounters became less like battles and more like an endless game of strategy, with each trying to outthink the other. She knew he wasnt a heartless monster like the stories and rumors. And to Karkat, he understood Feferi to be one of few of kindness highbloods, rare breeds. Respected her crew, and those around her, giving her quite the a reputation as being kind but also deadly with her mightly trident.
The situation drove Eridan Ampora absolutely insane. Every time Karkat escaped, Eridan had to endure Feferi's disappointed sigh and another report explaining how the Empire's most wanted pirate had somehow slipped away again.
"Wwe had him!"
"No, Eridan, we almost )(ad )(im."
"That's wwhat I said!"
The worst part was that Karkat never seemed particularly worried. Sometimes he'd even leave gifts behind. Once, after escaping a naval blockade, Feferi discovered a basket of fresh fish on her desk with a note reading:
THANKS FOR THE CHASE. YOUR COMMANDER STILL SUCKS.
- CAPTAIN KARKAT
Eridan complained about that note for months.
The sailors of the Royal Fleet secretly enjoyed the rivalry. They knew Feferi genuinely wanted to catch Karkat, but they also suspected she respected him more than she'd ever admit.
Likewise, Karkat never seemed to hold the same hatred for Feferi that he reserved for other highblood officials. Their clashes were fierce, but there was an odd familiarity to them, like two opponents who had spent so many years chasing each other that neither could imagine the sea without the other. She was obviously no match for him, perhaps no one was…
Eridan, meanwhile, remained convinced that next time would be different.
It never was….And forever never will be different.
Perhaps when alone in the pitch blackness of his cabin, he pondered if he could ever find a island they could call home. Where he can finally hang his captains hat up, and be a regular troll.. perhaps settle down with someone…
HA! That's a laugh…!!
He wasnt one to dwell on romance…it was the furthest thing from his mind, he didnt have time or energy to think on that…
Besides there was no one alive that had the patience, or raw appeal to keep up with him…
Not far from the Crimson Crab, a dozen miles away was a traveling royal vessage, where aboard were two high standing nobles were in their way to visit a friend across the sea…
one male bored out his mind, wanting adventure … his sister …she had a feeling in her bones that something exciting was bout to happen..