Onward to Treasure
'Captured'

In the gloom of the dungeon, it was hard to make out how many men were kept prisoner, but there were easily a dozen. They were huddled amongst each other, muttering furiously. None of them dared to speak louder for the fear of what lurched above, but each seemed afraid and escape was the top priority on their minds. In hushed tones, they discussed plans of escape.

Talking slowly trailed off as hours passed. They were aware of the storm brewing outside. If they strained their ears, they could hear the howling of the wind and the clashing of thunder and lightening. Being sailors, they could easily read the signs. The ship lurched with the sea and many began to feel the seasickness at the pit of their stomachs. Survival seemed highly unlikely.

It seemed like eternity, but the ship stopped its frantic motions as the weather calmed. The sailors exhaled a breath of relief. They were safe for now. But that was short-lived as they heard the creak of the door. They straightened and tensed as footsteps echoed off the walls. Were they about to get killed?

A cloaked figured entered their line of sight just as they breathed in the heavenly aroma of food. Mouths watering, they all dashed towards the locked bars. All accept one. He remained sitting in the corner, his eyes never leaving the cloaked man. As the others ate and talked, he remained silent and allowed the shadows to engulf him.

"What are you going to do with them?"

A tall, dark haired man turned around. "Do with who?"

His companion sighed. "The prisoners you captured. You can't keep them down there forever."

"Oh. Them. I guess I'll have to feed them to the sharks."

"Touya, don't you think that practice is over-rated?"

It was the man named Touya's turn to sigh. "But we're pirates! That's what we do. It must be some kind of pirate's code."

"How about we do something different for a change? Just to be unique," his companion inquired.

"Such as?"

"We give them a choice."

It seemed that just as they fell asleep, they were rudely shaken awake. The sailors all yawned, puzzled at what was going on, until the last day's events flooded back into their minds. Their ship was raided and now they were at the mercy of a band of pirates.

As they hastily stood, the pirate crew stood imposingly over them. None of the sailors bothered in retaliation for they knew they'd be beaten and killed. They stood silently as their hands were tied with coarse rope. Then, they were pushed roughly and shoved to walk.

As they climbed up the steps of stairs, blessed sunlight hit their faces. It seemed like ages since the last time they saw light when it had only been a couples of days. Most of them squinted and blocked the rays with their hands as they waited for their eyes to adjust. They stood side by side, with pirates behind and in front of them to prevent any attempts at escape.

One pirate strode forward and it was clear that he was the captain. He was younger than they had all imagined. He could have been no older than 25. He was tall with broad shoulders and stood with confidence. His hair was pitch black and skin tanned brown from the sun. He did not sport an eye-patch as they had imagined, but he was imposing nonetheless. He walked up and down the line, regarding each of them in turn before returning to the center.

Then, he spoke in a clear, calm voice. "I had first thought of feeding you to the sharks," a few of the sailors winced, "but thanks to my second-in-command, you will not be met with that fate. Instead, you will be given a choice." Some of the pirates began whispering amongst themselves, but they were silenced with a single glare from the captain. The sailors were just as puzzled, but dared not voice their confusion out loud. "You could either jump off this ship and swim to that deserted island," he points left and they turned to see a spec of land, "or you could join my crew. The choice is yours."

Whispering began again, but they were not silenced this time. The captain half-smiled as he watched the indecision spread upon the sailors face. Finally, one walked forward. He squared his shoulders and pronounced, "I refuse to degrade myself to becoming a pirate." That was met with howls, but before anyone could lunge at him, he ran off the boat and dived into the waters.

The captain stood impassively, as one by one, the sailors jumped off the boat. He turned around to give a pointed look to his second-in-command. "See Yuki, I told you none of them would stay. They would rather commit suicide."

"Not quite, one seemed to have remained."

The captained turned back around, not bothering on hiding his disbelief. Standing in front of him was a young boy. Touya just stared at him for a few moments, before he spoke. "What are you still doing here?"

"I would like to join your crew." The boy's voice was calm and unwavering.

The captain processed that information. "You are aware that we're pirates, right?"

The boy nodded.

Again, Touya paused. "What's your name?"

"Syaoran Li."

That earned another pause as they stared at each other. "Well, gaki, I don't like you, so you might as well jump off."

"To-ya!" The other man walked forward. "You gave him a choice. It would be unfair to just kick him off!"

"Once again, I'm a pirate!" Touya said, exasperated. "Honestly Yuki, how many times do I have to tell you? Pirates don't keep their words!"

Yukito rolled his eyes as he addressed the boy. "Just ignore him. He's not very accepting to strangers, but you seem like a healthy addition to our crew."

"Yuki, we don't know anything about him! Besides, he's too young," Touya protested.

"We can get to know him. If he causes trouble, he will be stopped."

"He's still too young. He'll jeopardise the whole ship!"

"Touya, you were around his age when you become a pirate and that didn't stop you."

The two men continued to argue as everyone stood around awkwardly and watched. The boy, Syaoran, let his gaze wander around the ship. He stored everything he saw into his memory. Then he glanced up at the cabin houses. He squinted and thought he made out a figure in a window, but the curtains were immediately drawn. 'Interesting…'

"Gaki, what are you looking at?"

Syaoran turned around. "The ship."

Touya narrowed his eyes. "I still don't like you, but Yuki convinced me to give you a chance. However, if you so much as step a toe out of line, you'll be shark bait. Got it?"

Syaoran nodded his understanding.

Yukito smiled as he shook hands with Syaoran. "Welcome to the Nadeshiko."

To be continued…

I hope you liked to first chapter of my latest project, Onward to Treasure. I admit that not much happens now, but action will pick up soon. I have some great ideas for this. Please stay tuned and review if you have the time.