This is SPIRIT! Goal: become a world renowned author! Disclaimer: I do not own the Inheritance cycle. Christopher Paolini does. I own OC characters, the plot, you know. Anything I don't own will be added in a renewed version of the disclaimer. Either way:
This is the Real Deal presents:
Piercing Heavens!
Chapter 1: Remember this day!
"Furl the sails! Lower the anchors! Get yourselves armed and prepare for battle!" the terse shout of the captain rang out through the air. An army of stamping boots hammered the deck as the crew scurried around on various assignments. Whether it was fixing the ship and lowering the anchor, or grabbing weapons off the main mast and out of the armoury. Two thin measly looking men with faces twisted into snarls pulled out daggers and guns from their belts and leaped over the side of the ship onto dry land. The rest of the crew soon poured out after them, all waving weapons of all kinds in the air. A teenage boy with dark skin leapt over the side of the ship, holding a flintlock pistol and having a dagger strapped to his waist.
He was dressed in a blue and white stripped shirt with frayed edges and rips all over it. He had a pair of blue shorts that were barely holding together. A golden belt with a dragon head buckle held his dagger and an old flintlock pistol that was hardly user friendly. His short hair was obscured by a blue rain soaked bandana.
He charged in with the rest of the pirates, charging blindly into the burning town they had just attacked. It was way too hard just trying to get in. Teirm was known for being raided by pirates, and the defences were extra intense this time. This was something the Captain had been planning for a while now. They'd heard rumours that a dragon rider had visited recently and left a huge treasure there as a gift. The Captain wanted that treasure. He'd gone through the trouble of building a whole Pirate fleet to attack the town and after way too many bar brawls, he'd done it. With a fleet of ten ships strong, they'd bombarded Teirm. They, and one other ship, were the only ones that made it to land. Now they just had to raid the city and find the treasure.
The dark skinned boy joined up with the rest of the group, waving his jewel encrusted dagger wildly everywhere as the frenzy of the hunt overtook him. Lines of soldiers barred their way, pulling out swords to prepare for the attack. Archers lined the rooftops, all of them equipped with crossbows. The boy swore under his breath.
More crossbows... What happened to good old bow and arrows?
Pirates fell left, right and centre under the hail of bolts, but were just replaced by more pirates who hacked away at the guards. An archer toppled over forward off of the slanted roof, clutching his chest in pain as his clothes became soaked in blood. Rows of them were blasted off by the guns barraging them. The boy looked to his left to see the Captain in his full red admiral's cloak, giving out orders to the crew as if he was a military commander. They were no ordinary pirates. But maybe it was because they had no ordinary captain. They were organised in proper rank, firing all projectiles in volleys clearing space for the melee troops to charge in. They flooded into the burning streets, shoving their way past all the shattered debris that was caused by their cannons. The dark skinned boy slunk around all the main fighting, creeping to right behind a soldier. Before the guard had any time to react, he brought his knife up to his throat, slitting it instantly without remorse. Blood gushed out of the wound as the soldier collapsed, clutching his neck. The boy slunk away from the dead soldier before he could get caught and ran deeper into the city. His orders were simple: run. He wasn't much of a fighter so he couldn't battle by the Captain's side. He could never battle with the captain. In fact, this was only the third time he was allowed to fight on land. He was just a swabbie. Nothing more. The boy thought back to how he'd ended up on a Pirate ship anyway.
"Focus boy! Quit your daydreaming and fight!"
The boy wheeled around, brining his dagger up to cover his face. Not fast enough, he received a haymaker punch, knocking him to the ground. Rubbing his swollen cheek and spitting out a glob of blood, he looked up to see a muscled pirate, tapping his foot in impatience. "How'll ya find any treasure when you aren't even focused? Hop to it ya landlubber before I have to use my cutlass on ya!"
The boy nodded his head, glaring at the person who was meant to be his teammate.
"Alright, alright! I'm going, just leave me alone! It's not like I did anything..."
"That's exactly why I gave ya a thick ear!'Cause you never do anything! We're all fighting with all our 'earts and 'ere ya are running around like some kinda thief!"
"Aren't we thieves..."
"NO! A pirate is a brave warrior of the sea, who just so happens to make a livin' stealin' from those who deserve it. You are a thief! Just hidin' in the back alleys where none can find ya. Now begone with ya! Don't make me come after ya!"
The boy scrambled up and ran off deeper into the streets, leaving the sounds of fighting far behind him.
Once he was a safe distance away, he slowed down to a casual walk. All of the doors around him were shut, likely with quivering terrified individuals and families. He was certain he heard a child whimper in an alleyway, just to be hushed by his or her mother. Ignoring it, he kept walking, looking around at what little there was to look at.
Man, always such a pain that guy... It's like he just wants me to get killed, isn't it? Whatever. I'll just do my own thing as usual. Loot a house or two. Maybe I can find some rich guy's place and jack what I need from him!
Sure enough, a seemingly wealthy man's building was standing tall, guarded by two other stores with expensive looking jewellery. He looked left and right to make sure the coast was clear, and then snuck through the town square to the front door. Pulling out a thin wire lock pick, he began poking it through the keyhole, hoping to gain some kind of advantage over the lock. He felt some slight resistance with his pick.
"Yes!" he whispered under his breath. A little too forcefully, he twisted the pick. He heard a sharp snapping noise as he pulled the pick out of the lock. He swore under his breath again as he saw the pick was snapped. Not even bothering with a second try with a new pick, he took out his dagger and put it in the slit between the door and the wall. He cut straight down with it repeatedly until he heard the lock crack. Thinking he was clear, he opened the door. He looked around inside the hallway to make sure nobody had spotted him. Clear. The boy had to admit, the owner of this house had some serious taste.
The hallway alone was lavished with attention. There wasn't a single crease in the gold and red carpet. Just that carpet was probably worth more than their whole ship, with jewels encrusted every ten centimetres. There were beautifully painted works of art lining the whole wall, with one picture bearing a portrait of an indescribably beautiful lady. Her eyes seemed to follow the boy wherever he walked. A long shelf lined the whole side of the wall in front of the teenager, with silver vases and golden crockery. Candles made of a deep blue wax lined the walls, but they appeared to be rarely used. The boy guessed the owners were rarely at home.
He crept along the hallway into the dining room which was equally as decorated. Pulling a rucksack off of his shoulder, he began stuffing everything in sight into his bag. A silver chalice was briefly admired, and then planted back down on the table as he figured the golden one looked better. He moved on to the living room, doing the same there. Then he visited the kitchen. Then the washroom. Then a bedroom, which probably had the most valuable items such as golden rings and a stringed instrument like a lute or mandolin. He strapped the instrument around his shoulder as it wouldn't fit in his already bulging bag. Gently closing the door to the bedroom, he made his way out of the house, whistling as he walked through the cleaned out hallway. Whistling a merry tune, he glanced back at the door of the bedroom, admiring his handiwork. Something glittered in the corner of his eye. His brow creased as he turned to the direction of the glint. Poking out of the carpet in front of the bedroom door was a semicircular golden hoop. Curious, he walked over to the carpet and lifted it. A gleam lit his eyes as he realised he had just hit the jackpot. He yanked the carpet off to reveal a trapdoor with a big brass handle. Thinking it was just his luck, he opened it, coughing and spluttering as the dust sprayed into his face. He peered into the dark basement, hungry for treasure. He could almost taste the cold metallic gold. Without even waiting if it was safe, he climbed down the stairs.
Looking around, all he could see was a damp, cold abandoned wine cellar with no future. Kegs of wine were lined up in rows along the room, covered with cobwebs. Spiders crawled over them, glaring with venom at the intruder. How the spiders even survived under the ground, he couldn't tell. The deeper inside he went, the more he began to lose hope. Looking around, he glimpsed a solitary black treasure chest at the far corner of the room. With all of his hope evaporated, he opened it just for the sake of opening it. With the low light he had to squint to get a good look at it. A polished rock was lying at the bottom, wrapped in blankets. Shrugging his shoulders, he picked it up. Surprisingly, it felt lighter than he thought it would be.
"This is some weird rock," he said to himself as he took out his dagger. He lightly tapped it to check why it was so light. As he thought, a clear note rang out, vibrating and echoing through the cellar. Holding it up to the light from the still open basement door, he examined it carefully. It looked like it was an emerald green with paler veins running through it. There was some kind of pattern on it but he couldn't quite make it out. Shrugging his shoulders, he stuffed the egg into his backpack and walked off. He wasn't even sure if he would bother visit the jewellery store. He already got loads of pearl necklaces from the bedroom. As he exited the house, he examined the green flowing patterns in the sunlight. The pale green veins flowed through the rock like a river, winding all around it. The pattern he could see etched on it looked suspiciously like a dragon's head. Taking a wild guess, he assumed that it was some elf artefact. Probably something the dragon rider left behind. He was reassured of this when he felt some kind of pulsing underneath his fingers. It didn't seem strange to him. Pirates see the oddest things all the time. He pocketed the stone again and trudged off to rejoin the Captain. By now they had probably raided the whole city. They would be returning to the ship soon.
A low whistling sound pierced the air. Before could react, a thin line streamed through the air right past his cheek, barely avoiding his head. The feathers of the arrow cut against his face, leaving a thin line of blood where it had passed. The arrow clattered harmlessly on the ground. The boy cursed under his breath as he wheeled around to see an archer with a bow on the roof.
Darn it! If that guy was any better, he could've killed me with that!
The archer shouted for backup behind him. Not even waiting to see who would come, the boy shot of like an arrow being fired as far away from the archer as he could. Before he could run ten steps, more troops with swords all streamed out from alleyways, trying to stab and hack at him. Barely avoiding multiple stabs at his head and gut, he weaved between them and kept running to the ship. After an eternity of desperate running and near death encounters, he finally arrived at the harbour with the boat just hundred metres ahead of him. A soldier with a broadsword stepped in front of him.
"I don't have the time for this!" he screamed as he parried the swinging sword with his dagger. Before the soldier could counterattack, he plunged the point of the blade deep in his chest. While yanking the blade out, he twirled around pulling his gun out of his belt, blasting the chasing troops with a spread of buckshot bullets. The recoil from the gun felt like it would rip his whole shoulder off but by now he was used to the shock of the gun. All the soldiers fell back with blood spraying from their chests. He shuddered as he thought of how close he had come to ending up like that on multiple occasions. As he heard more people shouting he ran ahead to the ship. Not even thinking of the consequences, he leaped across the two metre gap separating the pier from the ship. He launched across, barely grabbing onto the side of the ship. He pulled himself over the boat and collapsed on the deck, huffing and puffing. Barely given five seconds to rest, a hail of arrows bombarded him, one landing just a bit too close to his crotch. He picked himself back up to see an army of troops all aiming crossbows at the ship. A whole line of cannons were all lined up to face the ship with troops lined behind them.
"Come on, where's the rest of the crew!" he said eager to leave before all the cannons could fire. He scanned the burning town for his crew. He saw signs of movement over to his right. About three quarters of the crew where returning to the ship with massive sacks of gold and treasure chests. Most of them where still fighting, throwing bottles of brandy and lighting them to burn the rest of the town. They wouldn't normally be able to return safely without destroying the whole navy fleet nearby. Small pockets of pirates were at the harbour sinking ships and setting them on fire. He glanced back at the canons nervously. This wasn't going according to plan. They should have blown up all of the cannons already. There were no cannons in that part of the city on the map or from any of the Intel they had gathered from the bars. If the Captain didn't hurry, the whole ship would be blown to pieces! And if that happened…
"Yo Captain! Captain!"
The Captain looked to the ship as he heard the voice of his swabbie. The boy pointed towards the cannons that looked nearly completed. The Captain stared at the cannons, swore, and charged towards the ship ordering his men to abort the operation.
"Unfurl the sails swabbie! Lower the gangplank! And whatever you do, don't pull up the anchor until we're all inside!"
Carrying out the chores given, he kept glancing at the cannons. The neighbour ship they had was just about to set off. Suddenly, all the cannons fired, sounding like a drum roll of thunder shattering the air. All the cannonballs flew through the air, curving over their own ship to the neighbours. His heart dropped as he saw every single cannonball strike true, instantly splitting the whole ship in half. If those were to hit the ship, he would be finished. There was no way that he was going to wait a second longer. He leaned over the edge of the ship to see the crew still at least three hundred metres away.
"Hurry up Captain! I'm raising the anchor!"
The Captain turned up to face him soon as he finished ordering his troops to shut down the cannons.
"You're not doing anything! Don't you dare to leave us behind!"
The kid ran over to the anchor and tried pulling it up. No results. Looking towards the main mast, he saw a cutlass strapped to the main mast and grabbed it running back to the anchor, he raised his sword to cut the rope. Looking up again at the Captain he desperately called out one more time.
"Hurry up Captain!"
"Don't cut it!"
He hesitated to cut.
Think about this. This is the man who I have respected as our leader for years! I couldn't abandon him! But more importantly, this is the same man who stole the last four years of my life in that fateful incident. The only reason I can respect him is because of everything we've been through. I was still taken from my home forcefully, and forced to work almost as a slave! But the most important reason of all to leave him, if I wait any longer, I will die!
Resolved, he slashed the anchor rope, dropping the anchor into the sea. No more bending to anyone's will, no more listening to the Captain. Now he was his own man. Whether the Captain would escape, was another matter.
"Stop you thieving little wretch! Get back here with my ship you son of a…"
Whatever else was said was lost in the wind. He caught something rather odd but ignored it. The sails completely unfurled, catching the wind like gigantic white wings, gliding across the sea like a swan. The cannons were being reloaded still and probably wouldn't be able to shoot for a while with how outdated they were. It would have been enough time if he had waited but like this, he was safe. Feeling the call of the sea and the blood boiling through his veins, he set tied the wheel to the sides of the boat with what was left of the anchor rope so it wouldn't move too much. He turned to face the coast again.
"Remember my name as my career as a pirate begins today! Remember this as the day you nearly caught Captain Dante of the crashing waves!
I hope you enjoyed it! This looks like it will be one of my most fun fics to write! Don't worry about me suddenly dropping this, this is guaranteed to be continued! Please Review as it motivates people, I won't stop on Chapter one or anything.