This was, it turned out, incorrect. European women were rare in Hong Kong and as she walked down the street she had the uncomfortable knowledge that everyone was staring at her. It turned out that one of the people who was staring at her was her captain. She only realized it though when he grabbed her arm. She knew she was in trouble immediately, his face said it all.
The captain had the decency not to tell the crew what had happened with Neriena, which was some relief for her because these things got around sailing communities faster then most people imagined. Instead he told the crew that Neriena had jumped ship and such things happened often enough that it was no cause for comment. The ship sailed with Neriena hiding, in disgrace, stranded in a strange land where she didn't speak the language.
Neriena was above all other things a survivor. Trapped in a land where she had no friends she took to doing what she could. Sometimes she dressed as a man, sometimes as a woman, depending on both her mood and circumstances. She took on honest jobs when she could find them, and stole when she couldn't. The fact that she could fight came in handy more then once, as did the grace and balance she had gained as a sailor. She quickly started to become famous in the area, first as European female, then as a European female who would do horrible things to anyone who tried to mess with her, and finally as an incredible housebreaker that they never pinned anything on.
As she became more famous people began to seek her out to do jobs for them. The underground community of Hong Kong respected her, and she became a leader of their world. It caused her problems and it didn't lead to a restful life for her but she made lots of money and lived well. That was all fine and well but she realized that she was missing something. She had fallen in love with the sea and though Hong Kong was a port it wasn't the same with her on land. Since money was no problem she decided finally to just dress as a man once again and buy herself a ship. That way this time she wouldn't have the problem of following under someone else. She would also have more privacy as the captain then she would be able to dream of as a hand before the mast.
She bought a fine little ship, a hermaphrodite schooner, as versatile a ship as could be found. It was the best ship she could think of, a cargo ship, but one that could be armed to a fair extent, and could sail in any waters. It wasn't a new ship but it had been well cared for and she was confident that so long as she took good care of it it would serve her well. The crew that she was able to assemble was a rabble of the docks, locals who were more used to sailing rivers then ocean, and sailors of all nations who had jumped European ships.
Neriena showed up on board the ship as the captain, and everyone excepted it, it helped that she was dressed as a man. The sailors had never seen her before, she had hired them all through an agent, but sailors were a fairly resigned group when it came to their leaders. There were good captains and bad captains and while sailors tried not to work under bad captains they had accepted a long time ago that it was bound to happen every once in a while. They did know that she was knew as a captain though, which meant that she was under much scrutiny. Not only did they want to know if she was someone who knew what she was doing, they also wanted to know if she was going to be strict or a loose captain.
They loaded the schooner with goods that Neriena had heard were selling well in Europe and set sail. She hadn't considered her fame in Hong Kong and the fact that she might have at least someone sailing with her who knew her for who she was. She has dressed as a woman often enough that her gender had become fairly accepted in the city and her disguise as a man was not enough to hide her features. The person who had realized who she was, was her first mate. He was more intelligent then she had expected any of her men to be, which was her miscalculation. He was smart enough to bid his time for one thing. He waited until they were half way through the voyage before he broke his peace.
To be continued...
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