The Swashbucklin' Renegade

It was an average day in Skull Island: the birds singing, the sun shining… Avery's Court was full of activity. The Free Trader had gotten more sales than usual. He didn't know if he was authorised to sell guns to young children, but he was getting money! Money! He loved the sight of it.

The golden Life Fountain was granting health to every pirate who had decided to take on the Cutthroat gang in Skull Mountain. They had all failed so far. The sharks' swords had gone almost through their skulls, but the magical fountain had saved them before the rusty swords decided on their deaths. There was no pirate that was willing to take on the aggressive fish, and Captain Avery was running out of options. He really wanted his jade amulet back…

Under all of the bustling excitement that was Skull Island in the early morning, there was a blot in the sun. The mysterious ship was sailing high over the floating island, and it was emanating darkness. For some reason, the townsfolk hadn't realised that there was a large galleon drifting above their little homes. Yellow wood lined the ship, with spots of black in places. Long and ferocious cannons were stuck out of the ship. Their jet black colours added to the sadism that the ship was presenting.

Draconic wing sails; they were also black, being held up by gilded poles that rose high above the ship. They fluttered in the calm wind, pushing the ship forward to its destination. The deck of the ship was not much of a change; it had dull, grey wood instead of lively brown wood.

Instead of a pirate captain standing on the ship commandeering it, there was a soldier, dressed in drab clothing, the same as before. Greys, blacks, whites… The only presentation of colour on the humanoid was a red feather on the top of its black and white captain's hat and gold leaf which was lined on its clothing. A metallic small grey gear was embroidered onto the front of it. The red feather represented life; but this soldier had none of it.

A white mask was on its face, instead of conventional features. The mask had a golden trim on it, which shined as the sun beamed. The heat on its mask was warm; other than that, the lifeless soldier was completely cold. It didn't have a heart. All it had were gears and cogs working inside it. A pirate would call this captain a 'soldier of the Armada', but a normal human would call it a life-sized toy. That would be all, until it would attack the human.

A wooden musket crafted with adept skill was rested on the side of the wheel it was steering. The top was made out of shining iron; the gun was new. The back of the stock was a golden colour. This Armada soldier was fairly important, and the silver medal on its grey trench coat would tell you that.

Three other automatons were also on the ship. They were sat down on the deck, all in the exact same sitting position. A pirate would call them an 'Armada Marine'. Their bulwarks were sat behind them. The sharp blades would normally shine with the excited sun sparkling them with light, but the marines blocked them.

Grey attire was also fitted onto them, with silver plates covering them, acting as armour. The heavy black shields that they carried were on their lap. The soldiers were waiting for a command. They didn't converse or anything, they were just hostile robots, waiting for the captain to order them to do something.

The similar white mask was also shrouding the face, but it was not lined with gold. These marines were just ordinary soldiers, out of the thousands that were in service – and battling pirates now. Their masks would crack as the pirates would send their falchions straight through the metal neck, driving straight through the cogs and out of the other side. The pirates had no mercy; and neither did the clockworks.

The ship had stopped for some reason; even the captain didn't know why. It frantically tried to work out the problem; eventually the townsfolk would look up and see an Armada ship floating right above them. It'd be a frenzy! The pirates would soon be out and the cannons would be firing at the weak bottom of the ship. The prisoner…

He was slowly waking up. Inside the ship was the engines that were secretly powering the ship, but there was also a single jail cell. Beyond the formidable iron bars that would keep the prisoners inside, there was a boy. His emerald eyes attempted to find light to sparkle vigorously, but there was none. The boy found himself awake, and he saw darkness everywhere. His eyes adjusted to the absence of light. His slightly pale skin would show himself well, but his brown hair wouldn't. It draped over his face slightly, decreasing his already poor vision into a black mess. He swiped his hair back, and he finally saw a smidge of light.

He walked around a bit in the cell, trying to make something out of the situation he was in. Last time he remembered, he was in bed in a nice warm dorm. Now he was in a cold black cell… which didn't even have a door. He wondered how he was put in here.

He stepped over something, which almost made him slip onto the ground and kiss the splintered wood with his head. He got himself up on one knee and he inspected the thing.

Upon further examination, the child found out it was a vent, and it was bolted shoddily. He tugged at the bars with power; he was putting all of his strength into the vent. Wherever he was, he was a hostage, and he didn't want to be a hostage anymore. After some more pulling, the bolts finally became loose. He threw the bolts away, the pieces of metal slamming into the wooden wall.

He hoisted the vent up, tossing it backwards. There was a clang and the boy was gone, sliding into the cramped vent. It was just big enough for his tall and slim posture. It was a bit of a squeeze, but he fit in there. He pulled himself forward like a turtle. He eventually got out of the grey metal vent, finding another cover. It was open for some reason, and he pushed it off the vent, curling out of the vent.

There were three ways: back to the jail cell, backwards to the engines, and forward up some stairs. Curiously, he went back to the jail cell. As he walked, the tired wood creaked with anguish. A floorboard almost snapped as he went over it. His green eyes shifted on something: a board with some text on it. His name… Jak Calico Dagger… that was right…

How'd they know my name? Lots of thoughts exploded in his mind, making his brain almost implode. He almost could feel the pieces of shrapnel of his brain bounce inside his skull. Jak read on more, each word making him more curious.

Reason for capture… that was empty. So the teenager-thieves didn't even know why they captured me! His fists clenched slightly. He wanted to sort this out with the people that had decided for some inexplicable reason to take him hostage. As soon as his neck turned, he saw a block of wood and iron. He curiously picked it up and he set it on its side, expecting it to do something. He bashed it on the ground. Shock waves ricocheted through the stock and up to the barrel. Jak discovered it was a musket, a type of gun. He had heard about these in the Spiral before. This particular one fired out blue sparks of electricity.

Jak threw it into his hands and he ran upwards, almost tripping on a loose nail in the floorboards. He stumbled into the wall, which made him drop the gun. The stock bounced onto the wood, making the gun spin a bit. Jak instantly picked it up again with certain clumsiness. Unbeknownst to him, the curved piece of metal that he accidentally pressed was the trigger, and it instantly released an aggressive spark of purple-blue energy.

Jak was met with extreme fright as the electricity flew at a blinding speed into the yellow chrome engines that were chugging along, releasing tainted gasses that filled the room. As soon as the pulsating bullet hit one of the engines, it invaded the metal, bursting the engine. Instead of releasing light grey smoke, black smoke was being exhaled by the damaged engine. The disease soon spread to the other engines, making the whole lower deck begin to smoke up with terrible poisons.

Jak widened his eyes as another engine burst. He made a quick escape, dashing away from the dark grey ghost trying to engulf him in noxious gasses. He ran up the steps, but he was halted by three humanoids. One of them bashed him with its shield, making him fall onto the ground. His back was immediately shaken, and pain was circulating in the spine. He got up grudgingly and inspected the soldier that was running at him. It didn't seem to care about the smoke filling the whole room.

Instead of an enraged voice that would offend even a giant, a monotone voice was emitted from the soldier. "The prisoner has escaped!"

It took a few seconds for Jak to address the fact that these automatons were trying to destroy him and they had voices that sounded like a terrible actor on their first performance. Jak's idle stance allowed him to be grabbed by the soldier. The soldier closed his arms round the boy, but he managed to bash the clockwork in the face with the stock of the gun. The soldier granted him to leave the soldier's grip as it slowly fell down to the ground.

Jak decided not to question why they had masks. He covered his mouth and nose with his tattered shirt as he pulled the trigger, kicking the stock back into his shoulder forcefully as it released a shot. He staggered backwards as the electricity was blocked by the shield that the marine had. The shield absorbed the blue force rather well, but the soldier staggered a bit and fell. Jak looked in astonishment; the robot had been shocked by the electricity!

Jak ran up the stairs hastily, blocking the marine's advance with the bulwark. Fatigue crept up his legs as he ran faster. His breathing was getting dramatically more intensive. He was blinded as the sun met his gaze with a ray of light. He blinked as he got to the top of the deck, his eyes wiggling about frantically for an escape route. He was only met with the captain of the ship, who looked upon him as if he was Death himself.

Jak glanced at his gun, instantly raising it up to fire. If Jak knew that he was fighting a master, then he would've been frozen with fear. The officer had a dull, grey coat, lined with gold. That didn't change the fact that the captain had a gun, and that it was firing at Jak.

The wisps of blue energy collided with Jak's leg, making him roll back. His leg felt like it was on fire, but that didn't stop him. He feebly got up on his leg, sprinting over to the captain.

"You've made an enemy of the Armada!" the captain spoke out. Its voice was still void of life

It fired again. Jak ducked low and the shot went over his head, slicing through a sail. The sail didn't like it, and so it decided to catch on fire. The heat that was fired over Jak's head only made him more determined to destroy this beast. The musket released a shot on the move, swimming into the captain's torso. It pulsated with blue electricity. The clockwork soldier didn't feel pain. It didn't feel anything as Jak smashed the musket stock into its chest, making it fly backwards and into the sky. The red feather that was on the hat fluttered about, disconnected from the hat.

Jak's leg was slowly turning into a balefire of electrical pains. He staggered around a bit, messing with his gun. His hands and the gun parted contact when he saw the two Armada marines sprint out of the bottom deck. The gun was already on the floor, and his hands were shaking. The soldiers were moving at a fast speed; they would already be near Jak before he could fire off a shot. He did the only thing he could do, and that is walk back – into nothing.

Jak felt his tired feet walk on air; he had accidentally walked off the back of the deck, and he was dropping at a high speed down to Skull Island. He felt his hair almost fly off his head as his eyelashes were almost plucked off his face by sheer force. All he could do is scream and watch the ship slowly go down…

Jak's eyes slowly opened, his emerald eyes now dulled by frantic moments. The bright tints of his eyes were diminished. He looked around the room in blunt curiosity, seeing many sights of rare items. Below the chair he was sitting on was a very nice rug, woven with all sorts of colours in mind. He glanced to the right of himself, seeing many antiques. He finally decided to look forward, but when he did, he wished he hadn't.

Jak saw an image of an old, tall pirate and an owl pecking at his shoulder. The pirate wore a vast dark green coat which draped over his knees, almost up to his ankles. A black shirt with gold buttons and gold lining was shrouded slightly by the coat. A huge brown leather belt with a gold buckle secured the remainder of the shirt, which acted as a sort of a loin cloth.

The parrot's talons were sunk into the old pirate's brown gloves. The body of the parrot was cream, with a gold medallion with a bone outline on it. The old pirate had a white moustache, curled perfectly. Under that, there was a long beard that complimented the white sash on the neck of the attire. Most of the old pirate's locks were covered by the broad black hat that was lined with a golden trim. A tan feather was rustling around.

Jak examined the pirate, seeing his piratic shoes with gold buckles. Is everything gold on this guy? he thought. Images of famous pirates were clouding up his brain; not anything like what this man looked like.

Jak didn't feel any pain for some reason. He thought he would be dead. He shouldn't be milling around on this red padded chair, he should be a blood splat on the floor. Jak shook that eerie thought away, out of his brain. He visualised the dark thought drifting away… he must be going mad.

The pirate's blue eyes met Jak's emerald eyes. Jak's eyes were full of fatigue.

The parrot's feathers swung about as its head tilted to hear the man speak. "Greetings, pirate!" he began. "I am Captain Avery, owner of Avery's Court here in Skull Island!"

Jak decided to stay silent. He was trying to comprehend all of this information.

"Ah… I see you're still recovering. That fall you did must've shaken you a bit." Avery sounded sympathetic.

"Well… yes, I almost died… I don't know how I didn't."

"You were quite lucky indeed… You fell into the Life Fountain, which prevented you from getting killed."

Jak's mouth stayed shut. He didn't know what a Life Fountain was, nor did he care. He just wanted to get away from this place.

"I don't know why the Armada are after you, but it must be for a reason. I can hide you, but I do run a pirate haven, not a charity. I'll need an incentive."

Jak shook his head. "No…"

Avery's eyebrow rose, giving a puzzled expression off. "Well, the Armada is definitely persistent. If they want you, they'll take you."

"No… no…" Jak began to explode. "One minute I'm in a nice dorm and stuff, now I'm apparently a pirate? I'm having weird robot things trying to chop my face off with huge axes…"

"Well, you must be a pirate now." Avery paused, trying to think of a persuasive point. "A ship! Doesn't every pirate want a ship? If you help me, I'll get you a ship."

"No… I'm not a pirate. I'm a wi—"

"Doesn't every little child want to be a pirate?" Avery grinned rather sheepishly.

Jak felt his face getting warm. It was a result of the fiery rage building up inside him as a result of being called a 'little child'.

"There could be some shiny gold going into it as well. You could be a captain and have your own crew! All you need to do for me is—"

"No! I don't need your ship or gold!" Jak retorted with bubbling anger, like a chemical reaction. "All I want is…uh…to be back at home…"

"I'm afraid you don't have much choice. Wherever you came from, the Armada made a lot of effort getting to that place." Avery took a deep breath. "What's your name?"

After a few seconds, Jak finally answered. "Jak." He spat the word.

"Jak… well Jak, one of my… more wilful crewmen stole a very valuable jade amulet from me."

"Okay, whatever…" Jak wasn't really listening.

Avery spread his arms in delight and proudness. "Look around this room. It is full of all of the items that I have collected over the years!" Avery's eyes were brilliant.

"Uh-huh…" Jak looked bored.

"I have guns, goblets, amulets… anything you can say, I'll have it."

Jak's eyes suddenly brightened up. "Do you have any Storm spell cards? Or wands?"

"…Sorry?"

"Never mind…" Jak slumped back into his seat, his eyes dead again. His brown hair once again swooped over his eyes. "Fine, I'll do your thing. And then you'll give me a ship, right?"

"Yes… I promise." Avery cleared his throat. "I'll tell you about the jade amulet thief. His name is Fin Dorsal, and he's a Cutthroat with a bad attitude. He wears a grey vest, and he holds two blades. His tattoos are… very interesting to say the least."

"Sorry, but what's a cutthroat?" Jak expected the worst. There were talking robot toys with giant bulwarks, but what would be next? It had been nothing like at home.

"Cutthroats? They are the meanest sharks around. They're cunning and vicious. They're also traitors. They're quite proficient with blades."

"Okay… will I have anyone to help me on this extremely safe quest…?" he asked sarcastically.

"Well, I can give you a weapon, like a sword or a gun. What would you prefer?"

"A wand." Jak answered, with a glint of excitement in his eyes. That would die down when Avery told him that he has no wands.

"I could get a crew for you…" Avery tapped into his brain, trying to think of something. "Ah! I have the perfect pirate for you! He's been looking for work under a Captain's accord, but nobody has allowed him into their crew. I'm sure he'll be perfect for you!"

"O-kay… where do I find this… pirate?"

Avery's response was halted as the doors of the building blasted open. Jak twisted his neck round to see a blue humanoid frog with red spots painted all over it.

Jak blinked and saw a ripped stained loin cloth cover its lower body. The frog was holding a bottle with some purple liquid in it.

"Ey… err… Avery… got any work for me yettt?" The frog burped, and the purple bottle almost hugged the ground as the frog loosened its grip on the drink.

"Well, isn't that just a coincidence? This Pirate here can accept you into his crew, and you can go help him get my Jade Amulet back!" Avery gleamed, much to Jak's discontent.

Jak got up out of the padded red chair, pushing it aside. The amphibian staggered over to him.

"What… are you?" Jak sceptically asked. His hopes weren't high.

"Oh, Captain! I'm a Troggy, amphibian warrior of the skiesss… My other clan members went all rogue on you pirates and so, I turned to a life of drinking to relieve my stresssss…" the Troggy replied. He uttered every word with intoxicated difficulty.

"Okay… fine…" Jak sighed with contempt. He turned to Avery. "Where do we have to go?"

"Fin Dorsal is in Skull Mountain. Go along the bridge to where the cannons are being fired, and past the gate and bridge. Find Bonnie Anne. Be careful however, because the Troggies have decided anarchy is the best option for frog supremacy."

Jak decided not to make sense out of that speech. He began to walk with the Troggy outside of the building. Jak pushed the door open, the light shining on his face once again. His emerald eyes finally met the sun again. His irises shone.

He looked behind him, seeing the Troggy bump into a statue rather clumsily. Jak went ahead. He knew that it would take the frog a few hours to get to Skull Mountain. As he walked to the bridge, he appreciated the wonderful view of the court. He'd have to come back and visit it later, and then go home.

The Troggy finally got to the bridge, the red spots on the Troggy gleaming luminously. The bottle had gone, and even the Troggy didn't know where it went.

"Okay… let's go…uh…what's your name?" Jak asked.

The Troggy drunkenly replied, hiccups supplying the evidence of his drunkenness. "My name? My name is Zingggg…"

Jak barely made out his reply, but he persevered. "Okay Zing… let's do this, I guess…"

They went into Skull Mountain.