Suzysunshine
Suzysunshine is a multi-ocean pirate, spending time on Emerald, Meridian, and on rare occasions, Cerulean. She also sails on Ice as Youngsigrid.
Contributions and achievements
- On the Emerald Ocean
- Officer of the crew Dream Catchers
- On the Meridian Ocean
- Officer of the crew The Alliance-West
Ships
Suzysunshine owns a sloop and a cutter on Emerald, and a sloop on Ice.
Biography
She was born Tsutsisungzhinas on an island just beyond Alkaid Island. Her hair turned white after an encounter with a Voodoo medicine woman during her ascension ceremony her thirteenth year. She came to pirate waters after hard times struck her island, and the villagers started blaming her for their troubles. She ventured to Aimuari island, where her uncle Attu helped her find a job at a tailor stall. While there, she met Aloyicious, who gave her the name Suzysunshine, and eventually the two of them were married. She rescued Al's sister Lillythanne during a pirate raid, when she recognized her from a portrait Al had shown her. When Lillyth started exploring the Ice ocean, Suzy followed along, assuming the name Youngsigrid for her voyages there. She spends most of her time on Emerald, doing the same as Al, jobbing out on sea monster hunts. Like Al, she too has paid the price for tempting fate and now walks around on a peg leg.
Spirits Having Flown
It was the summer of her thirteenth summer solstice, and time had come for her ascension ritual. Four of the warriors from the village placed a hood over her head, and helped her into a canoe. They rowed for several hours, until the sun was very warm, and landed on a sheltered beach on another island.
They helped her out of the canoe, and removed her hood. "Head to the northern shore of this island, there you will find another canoe. Take that and paddle due north, and you will be home." He handed her a knife and said, "Good luck and may the sea be kind to you." The warriors paddled off.
She tucked her knife, a gift from her uncle Attu, into her belt and headed into the forest. She knew from the angle of the sun in the sky that it was well past noon, and that she needed to make it across the island before the sun began to set. The foliage was thicker than her small dirk was meant to handle, so it was already dark before she neared the northern part of the island. Through the underbrush, she could make out the light of a fire. She crept up to the edge of the clearing, and saw a group a figures shambling in a circle around the fire, and chanting in a language she didn't understand. She started to creep slowly around the edge of the clearing, trying to avoid the group, when a wild boar charged at her, knocking her into the clearing. The chanting stopped, and the group turned to look at her. The leader was wearing a large wooden mask, the followers were dressed in rags, they had pale skin, and glowing red eyes. She took off running toward the north beach, almost reaching the canoe, before falling over a piece of driftwood, and dropping her knife. The group circled around her, and the leader said, "You have defiled our ritual, you will surely be punished." They started chanting again, and their eyes glowed like fire. She reached down to pick up her knife, but could not grasp it. She looked at her hands, but they had turned into a pale mist, as had her entire body. "Leave! And never return!" shouted the leader. She tried to run to the beach, but could only float slowly there. When she got to the canoe, she found she could not work the oars, but with effort she could influence the small sail. She aimed the small craft towards the North Star, and shortly before dawn landed on the familiar shore of her home island.
She stood on the beach, wondering how the village would react to her as the sun appeared over the horizon. As the rays of the sun struck her form, her body began to rematerialize, until she was whole again. People looked at her strangely as she walked back to the hut she shared with her parents. Her mother let out a gasp when she walked in. "What's the matter, Mother?"
"Your hair!" She looked into the small mirror her family owned and saw that her hair had turned from black into bright white. Her father came in, saw her hair, and slowly shook his head as he folded his daughter into a hug.
The years passed, and the villagers accepted the strange young woman's appearance, until things started going bad for the village. Barbarian pirates had begun to attack shipments to and from the island, and even worse, sea monsters had encroached on the fishing grounds. Many boats were lost, and many warriors injured trying to drive them out. The mumblings blaming the strange young woman were growing louder, and she decided it was time for her to join her uncle Attu on one of the pirate islands.
She moved into a pirate shack, and found a job at a tailor stall, where she put her skills as a seamstress to good use. One day, a handsome young man wearing a kilt walked into her stall to order some shirts. As she was staring at him, she noticed he was staring back. He walked over to her and said, "Hello, my name is Aloyicious, but you can call me Al."
"My name is Tsutsisungzhinas."
"Suzysunshine?"
"Not quite, but it is close enough - and you may call me Suzy."
"Well Suzy, you seem a wee bit young to have such beautiful white hair."
"I could say the same of you. I had an encounter with a voodoo medicine woman - what happened to you?"
"I had a similar encounter with a Druid priestess. Would you join me for dinner tonight?"
From then on the two were inseparable. He taught her pirating skills, she taught him to work in a tailor stall. They got a cottage where they set up their home, and one night, beneath the full moon, they were wed. Then Suzy's uncle Attu died.
Al remembered the story of how Suzy had lost the knife Attu had given her, and suggested they return to the island and try to find it. "I'm not afraid of voodoo, and I'm sure they've forgotten all about you by now." Suzy reluctantly agreed, and they set sail for the island. They paddled ashore, and Al got out and pulled the boat onto the beach. As soon as Suzy's foot touched the sand, she began fading away. She grabbed at Al, and he began turning to mist as well. The medicine woman came running from her hut shouting, "You were told to never return to this island! Now you are forever cursed to remain a ghost!"
Al stepped in front of Suzy and said, "Don't blame her, it was my idea to come here. If you want to curse someone, curse me, not her!"
The fiery eyes behind the mask began to cool. The large wooden mask was lifted up, and set aside. Suzy gasped when she saw the face framed in long white hair. "I cannot remove the curse from you, my granddaughter, because it was not I that cursed you. The women in our family have been cursed from before my time. But do not fear," - she looked at Al - "as long as you have the love of a strong heart, you will return to normal when the rays of the rising sun strike you. But you must leave this island before then."
"Come with us then," said Suzy.
"I cannot. If I were to leave, I would become a ghost, and I lost my strong heart years ago. I could not go back." They talked for a while, until the morning star appeared. "It is time you returned to your ship. Do not fear, you will return to normal, and you can return to visit me later." Al and Suzy visited the island many times during the next few years, and Suzy learned much from her grandmother during that time. They brought others from their crew to learn the ways of the ghost, and became a feared crew on the ocean.
Then one year, they visited the island and found Suzy's grandmother lying motionless on her cot. "Poor gal, I'm really going to miss her. We should have her buried here on her island somewhere."
"No," said Suzy, "Help me try to carry her." It was difficult to carry her body in ghost form, but the two of them managed to make it to their boat with her. "Put her in, and let's paddle out a ways."
They did not go very far, before the body of Suzy's grandmother began to fade into a mist. She opened her eyes and said, "What happened to me? Where am I?"
"It is time for you to make your final journey Grandmother. Look out towards the moon." As they watched, a fog blew in from the ocean, and coalesced into the form of Suzy's grandfather.
Her grandmother looked at Suzy with a sparkle in her eyes, "Thank you grand daughter, you have helped make my life complete. Should you lose your strong heart, you are more than welcome to return to this island to spend your days. The zombies will protect and provide for you, and you can pass on your knowledge to the young women sent here for their ascension ritual. This is your island now." She went to her waiting husband, "Thank you for giving me life these last years, and I offer a prayer for the happiness of yours. Fare well."
As the two figures faded into the rising sun, Al turned to Suzy and said, "We should have asked her where your uncle Attu's knife was".
The End
This story was submitted as an entry for the Ye Be Cursed competition in 2008
