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At one point in time I decided that I wanted to make a character that could perhaps be found in Stephanie's Oh Captain comic setting... and then I thought it was dumb.

Then I got re-inspired to develop the vague character idea more after remembering that pirates were fun by venting the idea out over the phone with Liz... which sparked her to write a story about our characters.

That was neat. And I think that I want to give that a try as so far the only thing that I've done with the character I came up with is a simple doodle sketch of her and her cannon.
^_^;

Port.

Molly hated port.

It was a port that started this mess that she had gotten herself into and it always seemed that it was a port that would rain down misery on her truthfully simple lifestyle.

Her parents had a house that was not to far away from a tiny port by the name of Mortimer, where she used to chase blue crabs as a child. Her disdain for the sea-side communities had not even been a hint of an idea at that time and as she thought about it now, she wished that she could return to that.

All of her childhood pleasantries came to and end one night when her father came home hooting and hollering about "it". Whatever "it" was Molly did not know for her mother swept into the room and celebrated right along with him, neglecting the fact that dinner was still cooking on the stove.

It was likely that was what started the fire, but she would never know for sure since there was an equal likelihood that it was the soldiers that kicked their door in only hours later.

Molly shuddered as she relived the scene of her father crammed a hot branding iron into her hand, scarring it forever. Not even seconds after that he told her to run as far away as she could as he pushed her out of her bedroom window.

She was a good girl then and without hesitation she listened to his advice by running to the port, where there were many places to hide. Now, Molly couldn't imagine what she would have done if she had known that leaving would mean that she would never see them alive again.

They had, however, left their legacy with her.

"Tie er up!" She shouted as she docked the ship along side what could only be considered a floating porch. They would have to take the dingy to shore from there.

The merchant captain knew that she really didn't have anything to worry about anyone doing anything to her ship. In addition to it being considered puny, it had it's own protection... the last gift from her father.

"I wot love to go with ye ma'am, but I... don't like these waters." Gweneth, a deckhand and regular away member, said as she tried to hide casually behind the rail that wrapped around the entirety of the ship. "No ma'am, aint going."

Molly couldn't blame the woman for that. Much like her own experiences, Gweneth had problems with ports. The big difference now being that this was the port that started it all for the deckhand.

"That's fine Gwen. I'll take Spazz and the new girl. Arabella. She could use the opportunity to see matters of trade from our side."

With a nod of the head Gweneth was off, and soon so where they. If all goes well, this would be a good day to be merchants as for once, they had a lot to offer.

Port Bluth was actually much prettier than they had expected when they arrived in their tiny dirty boat and it wasn't long before even molly felt that they were out-classed by the society here.

High society always gave her "the willies" and in the exact opposite way that most would be inspired by such a sight, the ships captain felt a twinge of dread implant itself firmly in her chest.

Later she would discover that she was right to think that way.

They each had their assignments. Arabella was to go with Spazz to the market where they would trade sea salt (their main export) and fine trinkets (their "under the table" export) for both food and money. Molly would go to Anzovin, their ships parent company, to pay the necessary taxes to make sure that they would be able to sail the seas without to much hassle.

They were merchants after all and it was a fact that Molly had to remind herself of time and time again. Taking what you need is so easy, but if you're caught doing such by anyone in this world of somewhat-underhanded trade, you were apt to get shot when you least expected it.

She couldn't afford that. She had to protect Fig, her one and only treasure from whoever it was that sent the soldiers that night.

"Meet back here well before sunset. Gwen won't want to wait for us, and that's not a pleasant thought."

Spazz nodded and Arabella looked lost, as it was her right to be. None of them were very good at explaining this type of lifestyle. All they could do was try to ease their newcomer into it.

The Anzovin offices were unusually petite for such a grand port, but that really didn't matter much to a place that really only had to sign papers. The only problem that she had with the small venues was that they always had the largest lines.

A half an hour easily went by while she checked her papers again and again to make sure that none of them grew sentient and freed themselves from their leather prison of a portfolio. She was considering checking them again when a voice rose up from the crowd somewhere.

"That's the bitch! That's the one that sank my ship!"

Uh-oh Molly thought as she looked up and saw sun-dried individual pointed directly at her. The fact that she didn't know which ship he may have been on causing her even more concern.

She wasn't the only one that reacted the way she did at the old man, but she was the only female of whom that term could apply and soon because of it many eyes were on her.

Time to lie... and perhaps run, she started thinking when another, younger individual walked up top correct the old meat bag. "No Father, that was an accident and she had two arms."

With the situation dissuaded all eyes should have gone off of Molly then, but now they were all staring at her missing appendage.

She could feel the questions in their heads just as well as she could feel their eyes on her dearly departed arm. She could send them coming to a boil and soon enough she would be hit with a wave of their curiosity and even more now she hated the necessary queue that she was in.

"How did that happen?" the first question.

"Did it happen recently?" the second question.

"can I see..."

"ENOUGH!" She shouted at the people and turned towards the front of the line just to see that she was it. The recent inquisitor actually being the official that she meant to see.

"Oh jee... sorry about that." she said as she handed over her leather paper prison. "It's been a rough day."

The tax collector nodded in the skiddish way that only those in the business of taking other people's money could and returned the papers along with a receipt for the payment made.

She was determined to get back to the dingy and wait for the rest of her crew as fast as she could when another loud voice that recognized her stopped her at the doorway of Anzovin.

"Well, lookie here! If it isn't Ms. Moonshine. Center of attention like the good little circus freak that she is."

"Not today Butch. I got a new gi... "

"This the one that you were talkin about? Oh.. I guess so. she's missin sumthing."

It appeared that her old tormentor got a new crew member as well, and they were a comedy match that could only have been made in the outer region. The new guy was scrawny and had a nose that, from the right angles, almost might have been able to block sight of the land whale that called himself butch.

"I guess we have something in common then, our smaller arms are completely useless."

"Wha...!" Molly didn't even give the new guy a chance to dwell upon it before she promptly planted her boot in the tender regions between his legs and he topped down in a manner that only defunct silos could relate to.

She stared it though because if less than the time required to think about backing away she dodged a blow from butch and an all out war erupted around them.

Apparently you don't need a bar in order to get into a drunken brawl.

Butch took another swing at her and missed, which could be expected for any number of reasons, but largely because he was inebriated. What he did do that she didn't expect was to take that miss and throw his weight into it.

Before she knew it he was on top of her and she remembered why he had that nickname. For all intents and purposes she was pinned under his girth and he thought that it was funny.

Until she tried to bite his ear off.

The land-whale almost tore it off himself as he jumped back away from her, giving her just enough room to roll backwards and use the momentum to get back into a standing position. His unknown friend had chosen that opportunity to get over his injuries and attack her from behind... where she repeated her previous blow completely on accident in the process of trying to get out of the way.

The skirmish continued on like this for perhaps only a minute more when a gunshot fired loudly over the crowd.

"CUT IT OUT!" bellowed an incredibly authoritative voice that took Molly a moment to realize female. She looked over to where the gunshot had taken place and saw Spazz standing with her still unknown type of big gun pointed at her now attentive audience. Next to her was the last person the merchant captain expected to be the owner of such a powerful voice, Arabella.

"Well, I'll be damned..." she whispered under her breath as she got up and made her way over to her crew, beaming with pride at them for being so surprisingly amazing.

"I didn't know you had it in you." She smiled down at her ships confiscated boson.

The happy reunion was cut short by the land-whales angry voice that had started to lose it's sound of alcohol. "Need to hide behind yer bitches like the coward you are! This is a man's world get out of it!"

"She's more man that you'll ever be!" Spazz shouted with a confidence provided by her prized rifle.

"I don't need a gun toting sissy to tell me that. If she's got the guts to prove it herself then she'll do it!"

Molly heard the small click of a hammer cocking backwards and she put her hand in front of Spazz's barrel before lowering it's aim to the ground. "Let's just see what he wants then we'll get outta here. The suns is lowering in the sky and Gwen will be long gone by the time we'd break this stand-off any other way."

Her shipmate's stood ready for anything, but had changed their posture enough to respect their captains decision.

"And what would I have to do to prove that I could run with you boys Butch?" the frustration in her voice was more than obvious.

"You hear that men! The lady of the Gal.. Ger.. Gall... the one with the hole in it! Is accep'tin our challenge!" He pumped his fist in the air and there were numerous chuckled from the crowd, who were now showing themselves to be the majority of his crew. This did not bode well for their current party of three.

"What eeeever shall we have her do!" Butch egged them on.

The man with the now useless "small arm" had managed to get into a sitting position and made a suggestion that seemed as though he intended on breathing life back into the appendage. Molly made a mental note to castrate him the next time she got the chance.

"Well butch, lookin at all the men here without their shirts on, I think she ought to do the same."

Molly could hear Arabella and Spazz both gasp in disgust and was touched, but honestly this challenge was nothing on what she was expecting to be put through.

"Fine. You want me to take my shirt off then is it?"

Butch was grinning from ear to ear in a drunken stupor and nodded. He obviously didn't get to port quite enough.

"Okay... here" She handed Spazz the portfolio she had still managed to hang onto throughout the fight. Her first mate tried to talk her down, but she didn't care she had to get this over with.

Although it looked like it took some effort due to her one hand, she was able to unlace the back of her corset with an expert manipulation of the strings. From there it was easy to pull the torn poets shirt she had on under it over hear head, which she threw at Butch for effect.

The gasp that escaped the lips from the crowd was not one that indicated enjoyment. Molly knew that they were all taken back by the giant scar that travels up from below the ribs on her right side, across and up her torso, to her mutilate left breast, and ending at where the rest of her arm used to be.

"Happy now?"

The severity of her injury was easy to overlook when it was covered, but now it seemed that it was starting to sink in.

"Aye, cully... is that real?" He asked, not fully realizing the insult in the statement.

Captain Moonshine's stormy blue eyes were on fire and her tongue was hot in her mouth. "You think I would fake this?"

The inflection in her voice carried through to butch as hard as her fist would have about five minutes ago, and he flinched. "No.. Ma'am... I..."

"Can we go now?"

The land-whales crew all nodded along with their captain, and the away crew of the Golgafrinchan took that as their cue to leave. Molly stormed her way back to the dingy, leaving Spazz and Arabella to gather the clothing she left behind.

Gwen was right. This port was a horrible cesspool covered in gold, and soon they would be joining her again to leave it behind them forever.