Immortal Stare

James looked over the prow of the ship. His first mate stood beside him.

"You know why i'm out here? Why i pillage and plunder?"

"Not for the profit. You keep very little for yourself."

"Exactly. I'm out here because they said it can't be done. You can't evade the crown forever. You can't be a moral pirate."

"So, you became a pirate and a scoundrel to show your morals? The crew of the last ship you broadsided might have different views on your morals,"

"They might, but they served the crown. Haven't you noticed a pattern in whom we pillage?"

"Crown ships carrying great deals of bullion. Bold and greedy."

"Heavily armed crown ships. Not privately owned vessels. Not merchants. The hard targets. The one filled with men serving a purpose other than their own survival."

"How moral are you if we target those serving high purposes?"

"We target the ships not the crews. We use chain shot or round shot. Never grapeshot. We don't prey on the helpless. We harass the strong."

"I've never understood it. It's not a way to run a profitable crew."

"It's not about profit... For me at least. It's doing the arduous. That's why i keep so little plunder for myself. I don't want it, so i share it with those vagrants who solely pursue it."

"Why not serve the crown then?"

"They fear the impossible. They fear the unorthodox."

"Why do you crave impossible so much?"

"Look at me. Have i aged a day since you signed on?"

"A great many men aged slowly at your distinguished age."

"None as slow as i. I'm older than the british crown. I remember when they were feral tribesmen. I pursue the impossible because i'm tired and bored."

"Surely you jest. A vampire?"

"Nothing so unholy. Merely a man who won a gambit with death, or so i thought. Seems he won. Remember, when he meets you that he is a friend. His arrival gives meaning to your life. Without him life is wasted. The flavor of the thing is lost. Don't fear him. He is not malicious. He does not pursue you. He merely waits to embrace you."

"You are grim. Surely life is not so without value."

"You misunderstand. I love life. It's more rich than anyone can experience in one attempt, but that is the best part of it. There is so much to sample. If you are bored it is due to a lack of imagination or effort. Merely open your eyes. The problem was never suited for a millennial stare, yet I stare onward."

"Then close your eyes"

"I wish i could."