Treasure Planet & the Prisoner
Chapter 2: Pre-dinner Brawls and Views
Captain Amelia gazed at her guest, unsure of whether to believe him. She opened her mouth to say something but the sounds of a fight were echoing down. Christopher said quietly, "Excuse me." Before turning and racing towards the deck. To her complete surprise, he seemed to be changing as he walked, growing taller and taller as his legs merged into one long sinuous tail, while fins sprouted from all over his body. Out of the depths of her mind, her rational voice was saying, 'Nothing very unusual, reminds me of those creatures from an game from the planet Earth. Naga, I believe they were called…' She ignored it and followed him out.
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"Maybe your earssss don't work sssso well."
Jim was being held by the collar of his shirt by a very disgruntled spidery crew member.
This crew member possessed the abdomen of a spider, but the upper torso of a man, clothed in only a blue heavily worn vest and cloth belt. His head was narrow and long strands of stringy hair hung limply out from underneath the cap on his head, ending in a mouth full of sharp, yellowing teeth.
"Yeah, too bad my nose works just fine," Jim gasped, his legs dangling a good two feet off the ground.
"Why you impudent little..."Suddenly he threw Jim against the main mast, the crew jeering and cat calling.
"Any last words, Cabin boy?"
His response was a large, scaled hand clamping down on his scraggly neck, while a certain cyborg's hand also gripping on to his arm, squeezing hard. "My good ssssir," said the owner of the first hand, in a dangerous, sinisterly silky voice, before Silver said, finishing the sentence, despite chewing on a purp held in his other hand: "Have you ever seen what happens to a fresh purp…when you squeeze…real hard!"
With a whimper of pain, Scroop dropped Jim unceremoniously onto the deck. Jim was panting hard from his fall, while Scroop was slowly turning blue, trying and failing to wail in pain at the pressure on his arm and neck. Christopher drew himself to his full height, and lifted his suffocating victim out of Silver's grasp so that they were face to face, his fiery eyes, gazing into Scroop's poisonous yellow, blood-shot eyes, Scroop's feet dangling several inches from the floor.
"Attempt anything again," he growled," And I swear, with or without the captain's consent, I will have your head!"
He fairly hurled Scroop into the gang of unruly sailors. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the captain clamping a white, gloved hand over her first mate's mouth. Christopher towered above the rest of the crew who cowered where they stood.
"There will be no brawling on this ship. Any offenders will find themselves confined, if not chained, to the brig for the remainder of the journey." He paused, gazing slowly at them all, his eyes like pools of bloody fire, before directing his gaze specifically at the spider, "Am I clear, sir?"
Scroop's eyes were filled with the deepest hatred for him and he looked like he was going to wind up for a punch before glancing to his left, to Silver, and saying resentfully, his anger suddenly deflating, "Transparently."
"Back to work with you." The crew looked at each other, and then began to split up, each giving him an evil eye before leaving.
Christopher paused before helping the lad up. The first words out of the boy's mouth were, "Whoa… What are you?"
He smiled in spite of himself, "Not telling. Would you care to guess?"
The boy shook his head and returned to his mop. Silver walked towards Jim and said mockingly behind his back, "Well done, Sir! You know what they say: a tight ship's a happy ship...sir,"
In reply, Christopher turned slowly around and pushed his face towards the cyborg, both of his fearsome, blood-red eyes glaring at Silver who faltered. "You maybe tolerated by the crew and the captain," He hissed menacingly, "but I'm far less patient and far more dangerous, sir, and don't you dare forget it. Nonetheless, I think it should be fair to say that you've earn my approval. Somewhat."
Jim chuckled, only to be reprimanded by an angry-looking Silver. Christopher slithered slowly away up the stairway and back to the captain and said very quietly and highly apologetic, "Very sorry about this ma'am. If I may, I'll answer everything you ask of me in your cabin.
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I was now sitting in a chair in front of the captain's desk in her stateroom, still in my naga form, and staring at my captain, who was glaring at me with those emerald green eyes of hers. I sighed, closing my eyes for the inevitable reprimand or worse, naturally. "Fine handling of the situation, Mr. Lucifer."
I opened my eyes wide. This was the last thing I was expecting from her. "Thank you, Captain."
She looked out of the large window and said, softly, "Before I offer you something of great value to me, what are you?"
"I was part of the ancient and now extinct race that sprung from the shape-shifting morphs. We were prosperous and peace loving but due to a cataclysmic battle with Flint's fleet against our helpless race, we were slaughtered. I am the last of my kind. I survived thanks to one of Flint's mates, Billy Bones. He managed to save me by saying I had valuable information on the shipping routes of the merchant ships." I smiled grimly remembering what happened afterwards."Interrogation was nothing more than an excuse for Flint to run his torture devices. He must have run me through every single one of them before each day was out. He'd locked me up afterwards when he went to hide his treasures."
After a while, she smiled, soberly, at me, "There is a post left unfilled on this ship and I find that this crewmember is often a very useful man to have aboard the Legacy: the Lieutenant."
I continued to gaze at her, the subtle beginnings of an idea beginning to form in the deepest recesses of my mind.
She looked at me, meeting my gaze as she continued on, "Whenever I go on a voyage of any sort, I tend to find the Lieutenant is amongst the most important member of the crew."
"Pardon me for asking, but if that is the case, why have you not already placed someone in that post indefinitely instead of having the financiers of the Voyage's employ a different person each time, Captain?"
"The roll of Lieutenant is a..." she paused, looking thoughtfully at me as she slowly walked around her oaken desk, trying to think of the appropriate word, "somewhat delicate business. I've always worried that if I have the same Lieutenant for too long a time; I might, possibly, get quite…fond of him,"
I raised a scaly eyebrow at her last statement, gazing at her with a poker face. Before I could inquire further into the matter, however, she continued on, now about halfway around her desk.
"The roll of the Lieutenant is that of a cabin boy and an assistant to me, as well as a second officer, directly beneath me and Mr. Arrow. Most of your duties will be relatively…regular. The Lieutenant is to bring me my coffee in the mornings and evenings everyday, assist me in my reports during most of the rest of the day, as well as do the occasional watch on the bridge while Mr. Arrow and I are dining. In the most extreme cases, say if both Mr. Arrow and I were unconscious or otherwise incapacitated, the lieutenant is to assume temporary command of the Legacy."
"Now that I've explained it all to you, Mr. Lucifer," she had, by now, come all the way around the table so that she was now barely a half-foot away, "do you feel yourself capable of the challenge?"
My eyes looked at her as though she had just fulfilled one of my wildest dreams. In a slightly affected voice I said: "Aye, aye Captain."
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Using what was available, I managed to whip up a three bowls of chilled tomato soup, using the small ice box the galley had, three portions of grilled space fish cutlets garnished in several herbs and a small basket of assorted fruits. Grinning broadly, after drilling Silver about what the order of the foods were to be brought in, I headed towards the captain's stateroom.
I knocked and heard her melodious voice call, "Enter" Opening the door, I thought, 'Melodious? Where had that come from?' Captain Amelia and Mr. Arrow were sitting at a small, square table. On it were three sets of dinner places, one for the captain, one for Mr. Arrow and one for me. A few minutes after I had sat myself down, There was a knock on the door. Silver came in holding the three bowls, placed them in front of us and, bowing comically, departed. The captain looked at the soup, confused at the excellent quality of the soup, "I would have thought that Silver's culinary skills would have permitted him to cook nothing more than his Stew." Shrugging, she said, "Dig in, gentlemen."
After several spoonfuls, I said quietly, "He didn't cook it, ma'am"
The captain looked up at me quickly, "Who did then?"
I met her gaze and said just as softly, "I did."
After we had finished our soups, Silver came into take our plates away and to bring in the next course. "I take it neither of you have had a decent meal recently, ma'am." Both seemed to have been startled to actually have such a sumptuous first course. The cutlets were soon devoured and the basket of fruits was brought in. I handed her a knife and she took it. Suddenly, our eyes locked. Her eyes were beautiful. It was then I noticed how her eyes were not merely one single colour, but made up of greens of all shades, from the shining green of a many-faceted emerald, to the fresh, luscious green of the trees, to the deep mysterious green of the depths of a forest.
Mr. Arrow discreetly left the room.
After several moments, I blushed and turned my head so that she would not see the blush on my cheeks. What I heard, however, was the sound of giggling. She was looking away as well. I walked up to her and said, "Captain, would you like to enjoy the view with me?"
Her response was to sit cross-legged in front of the large window. I sat next to her and gazed out of it as well. After a while, she began to get drowsy and rested her head on my shoulder. I gently stroked her once behind her ear. She soon fell asleep.
Gently, I lifted her in my arms and, taking her coat, boots and gloves off, I rested her in her bed in the next room and cover her in a blanket. As I closed the door, I whispered very quietly, my eyes fixed upon her sleeping form, "Sweet dreams, Captain."
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Second chapter is up! Wahoo! Read, review and enjoy, people:)
