Prince and a Pirate

By appaloosa500 / Kay Hau

Fanfiction Author's Note: This story was later rewritten as Card House Secrets: The Prince in the Neopian Times. The new version of this story adds in another main character and cuts out ALL of the backstory, on top of twisting the story so the identity of the prince is not revealed, downplaying the importance of Detective Khargana, and keeping XP's identity as a secret until the very end. I prefer this version myself, if only because I feel it much better explains the characters.

Krawk Island was fantastic! Or so thought Jacque, who'd recently decided to go by his father's pet name of Jackie. After all, he was being groomed to follow in his fathers pawsteps, wasn't he?

The young Brown Wocky, just barely over the age of being labeled kitten, proudly stood up a little taller, knowing he was a handsome little fellow in his black silk suit, ruffled shirt, and plumed hat. His fencing sword, or foil, was sheathed at his side, and in his paw he tightly clenched the single Dubloon his father had given him to buy a treat.

He wandered from stall to stall in the small marketplace of assorted either stolen or honestly crafted goods. All the sellers and peddlers smiled, and some of the pirates bowed slightly to the small Wocky, recognizing him immediately as the son of Capitan Kiote. He was never harassed or bothered, unlike the other youths who hung around.

Eventually he decided on a couple pastries, which the pirate shopkeeper gladly wrapped in a clean handkerchief for him, and collected his change, in Neopoints, into his little moneybag.

Where to now? The ship was docked and undoubtedly they wouldn't be leaving for at least another few hours. Sunset, most likely.

His keen Wocky ears picked up the signs of a one-sided fight. Oh! A chance to practice with his foil! Maybe a pretty girl was in trouble or something! He quickly followed the sounds down a side-street…

It was worse than he'd thought. Three huge, brawny pirates-the buff gray ones that dress in red and white stripes, not the semi-royalty like his papa-were setting at a Kougra who had to be about Jackie's age. A Krawk, a Tuskaninny, and an Elephante, all clearly enjoying their rough game.

Angrily, Jackie yanked out his blade with a swish and raised his voice to be heard clearly over the brawl.

"STOP THAT AT ONCE!"

And, amazingly, it did. The pirates were so stunned they actually stopped beating the Kougra and stared.

"It jus' be some bag's rich brat!" scoffed the Tuskaninny.

In a flash, the small Brown Wocky was on him. On top of him, standing daintily, his sword drawn and the end pressed to the pirate's throat. The Tuskaninny himself wasn't even sure how he'd so quickly ended up on his back.

"I am Jacque con Tristador, son and heir to Capitan Kiote con Tristador, Le Baron de Corsair," said the young Wocky haughtily. He flicked the sword and sliced off the pirate's whiskers before returning it to the throat, the move so quick the pirate barely managed to blink in the space of time.

The pirates' eyes widened in horror.

"Meant no disrespect," mumbled the Krawk.

"Now, by my sword! Let the Kougra alone!"

"The kid be nothin' but a thief, sirrah!" protested the Elephante.

Jackie's eyes flicked over to the young Kougra, who was slowly, painfully, trying to get up to his paws. He was painfully thin, though his bones were broad and large. For clothing he wore a ratty tunic-style shirt far too small for him.

"Some must steal to eat, while the pirate may claim to have higher motives," said Jackie softly, remembering a phrase his mother had told him. A flicker of sympathy swept through his blue eyes, but was quickly replaced with habitual pride and aloofness.

"Get out of here," he said coldly, stepping delicately down from the pirate's chest and replacing his sword. He didn't even bother to glance back at them as they scurried away, terrified at the thought of his father's wrath should they fail to listen.

Jackie stepped up to the Kougra and helped him the rest of the way up. Ridiculously, the Red Kougra had the most silly, immature smile on his face, though he winced every time he moved.

"Whew! Man, I reckon ya jus' gone an' saved my life!" he declared cheerfully, then groaned and put a paw to his stomach.

Jackie heard the growl and, without even thinking about it, opened the small package of pastries and handed it to the young Kougra. The Kougra's eyes bulged in disbelief, but he saw Jackie's nod and set to snarfing the pastries.

"I go by Jackie. Who are you?" asked the young Wocky, curious.

"My mum always called me 10C. Dunno what it stands fer, if anythin'," mumbled the Kougra between bites and gulps.

"Are you an orphan?"

The Kougra shrugged carelessly. "Mayhaps. Me paps died when I was jus' a wee-un. Don' even a'member 'im. Then me mum's inn got raided an' I got taken an' I ain't seen 'er since."

Jackie looked horrified at the tragic story, to 10C's confusion.

"Thought ya said you was a pirate? Or yer paps were, anyhoo. Pirates is always havin' raids."

The Brown Wocky folded his arms, indignant. "Disgraceful! I'll have you know my father only steals from those that deserve it. Evil lords, stupid kings, like that. Never the common folk!"

"I guess I am common, eh? But I got away from them pirates that took me from me mum, an' managed ta scrape up a livin' 'round 'ere. Heh, yer paps must be somethin' special."

Jackie smiled proudly, then suddenly his ears pricked up excitedly.

"I know! How about you come along with us? Maybe we could find your mother, see if she's alright!" He smiled. "And, besides, a pirate ship can get rather boring with no-one else my own age around."

10C had finished the last pastry and gave Jackie a half-disbelieving, half-shocked look.

"I-I dunno. I'm jus' a street urchin, tryin' ta keep alive out 'ere!"

Jackie took his paw and began pulling him towards the dock. "You won't have to try so hard aboard My Lady's Dream! Come on!"

Trying not to give in to the flood of hope, the large Kougra lad followed his new friend.

As they ran through the pirate marketplace, 10C found himself completely stunned at his Wocky friend's confidence. He acted like the idea of anyone jumping them wasn't even a possibility-and it was beginning to dawn on the Kougra that his new friend had no reason to worry. Not one pirate so much as looked either of them in the eye, and several hurried out of their way, whispering. What had Jackie's father done to earn such respect?

They quickly reached the merchant-style pirate ship, My Lady's Dream. On the gangway stood Capitan Kiote himself, speaking with a Pirate Yurble, and his lovely Blue Acara wife.

10C froze at sight of the magnificent figure of a pirate. Even the non-official title of "Le Baron de Corsair" barely did him justice. A handsome, well-build Shadow Wocky with dazzling blue eyes, resplendent in a blue captain's outfit with white trim-including a short cape, a plumed hat, a thick coat, slacks, boots, a belt, rings, and, of course, weapons. A cutlass hung on his right, a foil on his left, and who knew what he had stashed in his belt, hidden by his cape? He reeked of confidence, authority, respect…

The young Red Kougra was terrified.

"Papa!" called Jackie brightly, speaking up to be heard over the loud conversations.

Kiote noticed him, smiled, and motioned him to wait a moment while he finished his conversation with the Yurble-Rodger, his first mate. Lady Belle, the beautiful Acara, patted her dashing husband's shoulder and went over to Jacque and his new friend.

"It's my mother!" Jackie said happily to his new friend. "She'll like you. Don't worry."

Belle, every inch a lovely, aristocratic lady, came over and kissed Jackie's forehead, to his embarrassment.

"Mama!" he complained.

The Acara giggled and turned to the scrawny but wide-framed street urchin her Jacque had brought home with him.

"And who are you, child?" she asked the young Kougra.

"10C, ma'am."

Jackie flinched and glanced over towards his father quickly. "My lady!" he whispered urgently. "Not ma'am, my lady!"

10C paled, realizing this was a serious offense somehow. "M-my lady, I mean," he corrected himself.

Belle laughed, a sweet, tinkling sound-like in the stories of faeries 10C's mother had told him. "Only around el capitan, 10C," she said gently.

"Can 10C come with us?" asked Jackie eagerly.

Capitan Kiote finished his discussion and came over, just catching Jackie's question.

"Why should I let him, son?" the dashing Shadow Wocky asked pleasantly, smiling.

Jackie frowned-this was another of his father's strange tests, he just knew it. First he'd try honesty.

"Compassion. He was brought here against his will and wishes to go home."

Kiote smirked mockingly. Wrong answer. Jackie shifted gears.

"It is critical at my stage of social development to associate with peers of my own age group, of which there are currently none aboard our ship."

The Shadow Wocky was almost laughing, his smile now flashing in his eyes. One more chance.

How to convince his father? 10C's mom couldn't reward him-she'd been raided by pirates. And Kiote was well aware that Jackie would be fine all alone aboard the ship. He didn't actually need a friend, much as he wanted one. What was his father looking for…?

Jackie knew. He stood up straighter and held his chin up proudly. "Honor. You told me the crew of My Lady's Dream supports and aids the poor and needy. It is our duty. Also, it was said to be pirates that raided 10C's mother's inn and captured him-so it is thus also our obligation to clear the reproach on ourselves for filthy work we had no paw in. Lastly, I gave my word that I would help my new friend find his way home. Only a coward abandons a vow."

Kiote nodded proudly. "Well said, Jackie. Your friend may join us and we'll look for his mother's inn." He patted Jackie's arm and the little Wocky drew himself up, basking in his father's praise.

The pirate captain turned and went back to talking to his crew. Jackie looked around to see his mother's reaction to him getting the right answer-but she was gone.

His face fell, realizing his mother was again upset about something. Why couldn't she be proud of him? His father constantly praised him! But… it was his mother who passed hours with him just talking, who kissed him goodnight… He knew she loved him. So, if she loved him, why wasn't she happy for him?

10C saw the confusion and hurt in his new friend's bright blue eyes as he looked around for Lady Belle. He decided not to say anything about how she had reacted to Jackie's careful recitation of pirate values, to how quickly she'd heard her son dismiss compassion and friendship. The lady's eyes had swelled with tears, her paws had turned to fists, then she'd glared at Kiote before running aboard the ship and out of sight.

For the first time since he'd laid eyes on the richly clad, elegantly mannered young Wocky, he didn't envy him one bit.

"Black Jack!" yelled a loud voice. "By Illusen's staff, it's nearly 3 pm!"

A fully grown and remarkably handsome Brown Wocky jolted awake from where he'd been napping in his huge, luxurious executive's chair. He blinked his amazing blue eyes a few times at the figure in front of him, then glanced towards a silver clock on a corner of his desk.

"For Fyora's sake, Khargana," he grumbled wearily, rubbing his unusual eyes. "I was up past 9 am last night-sorry, this morning. And if I remember correctly, you, my dear detective, were there as well."

He yawned widely, being sure to cover his mouth, as the Green Wocky, dressed in a heavy black leather jacket and a fancy kauboy hat complete with silver band, tapped a rear paw impatiently.

"Well?" he asked curiously, getting up from his chair and straightening his immaculate and perfectly tailored black designer suit. "What can this young club owner do for you, my friend?" he asked, smiling at the impatient look on Detective Khargana's face.

"I'm on a case and the name of one of the Card Housers came up. The lovely Jasimine, who we know as the Queen of Hearts."

"There is a limit even to how much I'll tell you, Khargana," said the handsome Brown Wocky, grinning dashingly.

She rolled her eyes in exasperation. "I just want to know if there's a chance she had anything to do with the disappearance of that thief from his jail cell."

Certainly, thought Black Jack's brain. "Perhaps," he said aloud, straightening some paperwork on his desk.

The detective frowned impatiently, in no mood for the club owner's dodgy answers. "Where was she last night, around 1 pm NST?"

Black Jack smiled and tilted his head thoughtfully as he looked over his friend.

"Well?"

"Not here."

Khargana's eyes brightened in excitement.

"But don't go jumping to conclusions." He checked the clock again. "The stupid boy should be home by now. You'd do better to just look him up there. East 53217 Bracknell Road."

Khargana glared at him. "Why don't you waste more of my time, B.J.?" she asked sarcastically, then shrugged. "I'd best be going then. Oh, and some wacko Lenny's waiting for the front door to open. Wouldn't even listen when I told him it'd be a couple hours."

In a few minutes Black Jack swung open the front door to his precious club, The Card House. It was located in downtown NC, across from a handful of old warehouses and shoulder to shoulder with several abandoned or plain ugly buildings.

The Card House itself was an old wood and brick two-storey of unusual shape and few windows. There was no tacky sign or anything up, and there really needn't be. Just ask any Neopia Central local for directions. Or, better yet, wait until you were invited.

Sure enough, just as Khargana had said, a scholarly looking Brown Lenny in a bright blue vest was waiting patiently. The Lenny visibly perked up when he spotted the handsome Brown Wocky in his perfectly-tailored black suit.

"Ah, just the Neopet I wanted to see! Mr. Black Jack, I believe? Not that that's your real name, of course. As a matter of fact, I've heard barely anyone who visits this club uses their real names. Unusual, no? Certainly worthy of further study."

"Dear sir, would you please introduce yourself first?" asked the owner of The Card House casually. "It is considered common courtesy in general circles."

"Niles Westchance, a pleasure to meet you! Now, as regards my thesis-"

"Excuse me?"

"My research, of course! I'm earning my doctorate in Brightvalian history and following a lead I picked up in-"

The Brown Wocky's face clouded over. "I'm afraid you're in the wrong place, Mr. Westchance. This is Neopia Central, if you'll recall." He grinned almost darkly and the Lenny took a nervous step backward. "Not the nice part either," he added.

The Lenny drew himself up. "Of course I know where I am, sir!" he exclaimed, though the club owner obviously intimidated him. "And I assure you my leads are very direct. One of your Card Housers is related to the old Brightvalian royal line! I intend to find out who!"

"You're in the wrong place, as I said," said Black Jack dismissively. "Now do me a favor and go away. If I find you've been harassing any of my Card Housers…" he grinned, though the smile didn't reach his eyes. Only showed many, many, pointy feline teeth.

The Lenny scurried backwards, but still put on a brave face. "Are you hiding something?"

Black Jack nearly laughed. "What do you think? I'm the owner of perhaps the most equally famous and infamous club in Neopia Central. If you mean am I hiding anything specifically from you, the answer is no."

The Lenny narrowed his eyes. "You're lying," he said, in a decidedly un-scholarly tone of voice.

"Think what you will," said Black Jack, shrugging. He bowed slightly in farewell and, without another glance, turned and re-entered The Card House, shutting the door firmly behind him.

End Part One