Corsair. The word burned in Kali’s mind, making her shake with rage. She was nearing adulthood now, and the opportunity for females to prove themselves to the Commodore had not yet come. And since being forced into the rank of Corsair, Kali had been ridiculed, objectified, and teased for the sole purpose of being a female. Not to mention she had gotten in trouble more than once for clawing the ears off of the sorry scum that got too close to her. Just the other day, Kali had been warned that one more step out of line, and she would be facing serious consequences. The adolescent snorted at that. What could they possibly do to her that would make her feel worse than she already did? Demote her to huntress? Kali was already fulfilling some of those duties, seeing as most males now knew better than to approach her. She couldn’t see why they hadn’t just made it official, dooming her to a life of chasing prey and bringing it back for the males to eat.
It sickened her. It really did. She was a better fighter than a good majority of the young males that had just been accepted into crews. But they weren’t looking at skill and ability. No, they were looking for gender. What made a male so much better than a female? Nothing did. Kali was stronger than all of the cheetahs currently on crew. She was faster than all of the leopards. Though she couldn’t match some of the male lions in strength, her speed and technique could best even them in fights. And did that make her a valuable crew member? No. It made her an overly annoying and insubordinate Corsair.
Once, Kali had yearned for the day to go out and find her own turtle shell. She imagined bringing it back and being asked to serve with the Commodore himself for her adept abilities. But now the female thought differently. Even if Kali did manage to make it onto a crew, who was to say the taunts and nasty words would stop? It would be simple enough to lash out at her crewmates and prove herself further, but what would Kali do if those insults came from her captain? To strike at her captain would be mutiny. And mutiny resulted in death. There was no way for her to win.
She had been spending much more time away from the pride these days, wading through the ocean of her thought. “Hunting,” she called it. None of the females questioned it. Kali often wondered if they too had struggled with the same things she was dealing with now. She wondered what happened to them to make them resign to the life they lived. But Kali would never be able to resign herself to the whims of males. She was a fighter, a warrior at heart. No one was going to push her around unless they had earned her respect. So far, no one in the pride, with their pig-headed ideals and misogynistic traditions, had managed to do that so far.
The female didn’t have very many options. She could petition the Commodore, she supposed, for a chance to prove herself. But a lowly female speaking out against the top male was sure to end rather poorly on her part. She could wait for the Commodore to announce that females were able to attempt missioner quests, but she had already been waiting for so long. Who was to say when that would happen? It could be a few days from now. It could be a few weeks. It could be a few months. Kali shuddered at the thought of having to put up with this for more than another week or two. She was at the end of her rope.
However, there was one other option. It was considered to be the ultimate act of mutiny. She would be killed if anyone found out. But then again, anything, even death, was more favourable than her current situation. Kali had spent full days away from the pride before. Once she had been gone for two days straight. How easy it would be to simply…not go back.
Yes, she was considering abandoning the pirates. Kali could leave and find a new pride, one that gave males and females equal opportunities. She knew there had to be prides like that out there in the roguelands. She had overheard stories of them from some of the other pirates. But she would have to go far away from the ocean. If she went to any of the prides situated along the coast, there would be a chance that Kali would be discovered. No, she had travel into the savannah. She would go north, past the Stormborn. It was unlikely that there were any pirates lurking around Viking territory. From there, she would head inland, and begin her search for a new home.
Her heart raced inside of her chest. She was really going to do this. She was going to leave everything she had ever known behind. If this was the path that she was going to choose, then she had to really leave everything behind, including herself. She was no longer Kali, Corsair of the Maestros del Mar. She would take a new name, a Pirate name, and become the strong and fearsome lioness that she had once dreamed of being. She would honour her family’s memory, at the same time giving credit for her flight from these parts: Firefly. Kali was now dead, a ghost of a girl who once held foolish dreams. Now born from the ashes was a lioness that knew the dangers and cruelty of the world. Firefly would look for a place to prove herself, a place where gender held no bias, a place where equal opportunity to all as long as they had the right abilities and skill.
The sun was starting to set. Firefly sat down on the cliff she had been pacing on, watching the sun paint colours on the ocean’s surface. This would be the last time Firefly would ever see the sun like this. But it was time to go. She had to as far away as she could as quickly as possible, to make sure no one would be able to follow her and drag her back. Getting up to her paws, Firefly cast one last glance at the ocean before turning away, ready to seek out friendlier skies.
Final Word Count: 1081
