Yay! It's chapter two! Okay, just like my other stories, I will now answer some reviews!
FrittzyCrazy- I'm glad you're enjoying this so far. Thank you.
NightSkyWolves- Well, thank you very much. I hope you'll be a common reviewer for this story now that more chapters will be coming out.
spannerette- Adelita is human-sized and most of the animals are super-sized to an extent. Usually you would need to either look at pictures on the internet to get a good idea or actually play the game.
Anyway, I don't own Pirate101 or its characters (I wish I did), they belong to KingsIsle Entertainment. I own only Adelita, Hilario, and other friends. Enjoy!
BANG! Adelita shot up, only to fall to the wooden surface of the floor as pain crashed her skull. She silently cursed as she grasped her head, unable to bear the brunt of the devastation. To her body and her emotions.
She looked around and saw she was in some sort of cell. The door was solid metal and looked nearly impossible to break through. Outside was one identical to hers, only she saw a curled up lump lying in the corner. Another boom shot through her hearing, literally shaking the room she was in.
"Come on, monkey! She's got to be here somewhere!" A voice with a sailor's accent boomed as she heard footsteps tumbling towards her cell.
"I'm on it, I'm on it!" A voice, sounding thick with a Polarian accent, yelled back as the stomping became louder.
Two sudden blurs rushed past her cell. One was large and red, the other was smaller and blue.
No more than a few seconds passed before the one dressed in blue came back to the front of her cell. The blur was a monkey dressed in a blue officer's uniform with metals, obviously indicating he was an expert in his field, whatever it was.
"I think I found her, Captain Boochbeard," he said, he having the Polarian accent. Adelita blinked at him and took her hands off of her head.
The heavier set of footsteps came trampling back and in front of Adelita's cell. He was the large red blur that had passed by. He was a white-bearded man dressed in a red coat and brown trousers with brass-buckled shoes.
"So it seems, Gandry. Good work!" He said, he being the one with the sailor's accent as he took out a ring of keys, his only good green eye searching for what looked like the key to her cell.
Adelita stared at them strangely, but her eyes widened as she saw that the both of them carried cutlasses and each had a pistol in a holster on their belts. She also couldn't help but take in the metal on the pirate captain's hand that was curved to a fine, sharp point.
"Who are you? Why are you helping me?" she asked just as the pirate found the right key and unlocked her cell.
"You are Adelita de la Vega, no?" the monkey, Gandry, asked, taking the ring of keys and ravaging through the trunk that lay to the side of the cell.
"Y-yes," Adelita arched an eyebrow in curiosity, slowly getting to her feet.
"And you're from Cool Ranch. Santo Pollo, if I'm not mistaken," the pirate, Boochbeard, said as he slid her cell door open.
"What? From Cool Ranch? Where am I?!" Adelita asked, now panicking as she looked around for a window.
Another blast racked the ship they were on, making them stumble as it was literally shaken to its very core.
"No time for explanations," Gandry said, opening the trunk which held Adelita's two rapiers and her bag. He tossed them both to her and said, "We must hurry and leave!"
"Wait! Take me with you!" a feminine voice yelled out.
Adelita's attention snapped to the cell across from hers as she slung the bag over her shoulders. The dark lump unfurled and got to her feet. Stepping from the dark shadow of the cell revealed a swan. A Mooshu swan, by the sound of her accent.
She was dressed in a silky cerulean kimono and wore wooden sandals under her black, webbed feet. Her neck was long, and her black hair was messily covering one of her jade green eyes.
"Please," she begged, her white wings grasping the bars as tears threatened to shed from her eyes. "Take me away from this awful place."
Adelita nodded and snatched the keys from Gandry and went to unlock the door.
"We have no time for this! We must leave immediately!" Gandry exasperated, looking back and forth between the stairway up and back at Adelita.
"I will not abandon her! She needs help!" Adelita shot, not looking away as she hastened herself to find the right key. Finally, the lock clicked as she inserted a silver key and twisted it.
"Thank you. Thank you so much!" the feathered maiden let a wide smile spread across her beak as the door to her cell slid open. She got to her feet and rushed out of the cell, wrapping her wings around Adelita in gratitude.
"Are you alright? I am Adelita, as you may have already heard," the Santo Pollish aristocrat smiled, patting the back of the Mooshu swan.
The swan backed away, bowing her head in greeting, "I am fine. I am named Kotori Swannasaki. I am truly in your debt, my friend."
"Okay, okay! We really need to get going now!" Gandry pushed at Adelita's legs, seeming to snap her out of her stupor and nod in confirmation.
"Right. Let's go!" Adelita wielded her rapiers, following Boochbeard and Gandry down the hallway and up the stairs onto the main deck.
"You have got to be joking," Adelita growled, narrowing her eyes as she held out her rapiers in defense. Kotori gasped and ducked behind Adelita, her long neck having to crane down to hide herself.
Just in front of the group of four was a group of clockwork soldiers, marines raising their shields to block any escape for the pirates and prisoners and the marksmen aiming their spark-throwing rifles at them. Up on the higher deck was Deacon. His gaze locked down at them, more specifically on Adelita.
"Seize them. Do not allow the girl to escape," he ordered, his voice loud enough to hear but still monotonous.
"Is he talking about me or you?" Adelita whispered to the Mooshu swan.
With a trembling quiver to her voice, Kotori replied quietly, "Does it really matter?"
"Oh boy," Boochbeard scratched the back of his neck. "Looks like we'll have to fight our way through."
"This is not going to be easy," Gandry brought out his pistol, ready to fire.
"B-but…I do not know how to fight," Kotori sadly admitted, lowering her emerald eyes in shame.
"Luckily, I do!" Adelita hissed, charging forward and cross-slicing two clockwork marines before stabbing her swords right through them both. That statement was only half a lie; she had never fought with the rapiers in her life, but she could somehow picture herself fighting with them and succeeding with it. So far, it was working.
"Yar! Good on ya, girl!" Boochbeard boomed, now taking out his cutlass and slashing the rifle of a marksman before kicking it over the edge of the strange ship.
"Not bad, for a beginner, no?" Gandry grunted, slapping on his pistol as it shot a large bundle of electrical blasts, incinerating four clockwork soldiers altogether.
Kotori was the only one not fighting, and the whole time she was trembling, not knowing how to help in anyway. Her sandals shuffled slightly, her long neck craning and her black hair swishing in the wind as she kept on guard anyway. She could not help but feel completely useless. The swan had no fighting skills or street smarts and she knew it perfectly well. In fact, she had gone most of her life without any violence whatsoever.
"You fools. Capture them," Deacon ordered.
The doors below him as six more clockwork marines marched out onto the deck from below. Adelita and the two pirates backed into each other, each of them right in front of a shaking, frightened Kotori as they were trapped in the circle.
"This. Is not good," Boochbeard stated, his cutlass now starting to look as if it is tired of fighting as his hand began to shake.
A flash of yellow suddenly burst through the first clockwork marine and flew right over Gandry's head, the feather on his hat nearly flying off because of it.
"What is that?!" Gandry nearly yelped, his paws clenching the edges of his hat as the little speed demon of a ball ricocheted and thrashed two more of the robotic marines.
Everyone's eyes were on the ball as it viciously attacked the last three soldiers of Deacon's onslaught. The little ball fell to the ground after that, motionless at first, but the rolled across the deck and stopped at Adelita's feet. The ball unfurled and squeaked in happiness.
"Hilario!" Adelita cried out happily, the Armadillo Verde leaping into her waiting arms. Hilario squealed in joy and snuggled into her chest.
"Such power and adorableness from one so small," Kotori craned her neck over Adelita's shoulder and down at the little yellow and green bundle.
Gandry took a quick second to observe the ring of dismembered clockwork soldiers around them and nodded in agreement, a bit bewildered, but amazed all the same, "Incredible. Just…incredible."
"Impressive," Deacon commented, grabbing their attention once again. They tensed dramatically and revealed their weapons, showing that they were ready to finish the fight, even with Hilario jumping to the ground and scratching at the wooden deck while growling. Except for Kotori, of course, who shied away behind Adelita.
"Much more skilled than I anticipated. Enjoy your freedom….for now," the lead clockwork finished. Before any of the only living beings on the mechanical ship could blink, Deacon brought out his pistol and fired at them.
"Hit the deck!" Boochbeard shouted as he and Gandry dove to the floorboards. Adelita and Kotori ducked down as the cloud of electricity fired right over their heads.
BOOOM!
Adelita gave out a painful cry as the explosives behind the small group combusted, throwing all of them across the ship, she having the front of her abdomen slam against the railing. She breathed heavily as her hair hung over the edge of the ship where she could only see the clouds beneath. She breathed, also, in relief, for if she was thrown even higher or with no railing to hit, she would have gone overboard.
Lifting her head, her turquoise eyes widened in complete alarm. All around her, she saw no tall, steep cliffs that would have surrounded her home. Instead, she saw green on all of the land that was possible to see. It was safe to say that she was definitely not in Santo Pollo, or even Cool Ranch for that matter, anymore.
Hilario squealed out in panic, biting at his owner's ripped dress to grab her attention. It wouldn't budge her, she couldn't even think straight anymore. She was really away from her world, away from her friends, away from Rosella and Diego, and away from her father. She had said those horrible things, not even to his face, and now she would probably never be able to tell them she takes it all back.
"Adelita! Snap out of it! We need to go!" Kotori wrapped her feathered hands around Adelita's arms and pulled her away from the edge of the ship. The Santo Pollish girl limply followed along, being led by the guiding wings of the Mooshu swan.
"This ship is done for and won't stay skyborne much longer," Boochbeard coughed, he having inhaling some of the ash that had been produced from the explosion. The two former captives had trudged over to the two pirates as Gandry wheezed out, "Come, we must get to the ship!"
It was at the time that Adelita had snapped out of her stupor and regained her senses and reflexes. She grabbed onto Boochbeard's arm and helped him up to his feet. Kotori grabbed onto the large pirate's other arm and acted as a support to help the captain across the planks from the mechanical ship to a wooden galleon.
Boochbeard's jolly roger was truly one of a kind. It was of his head, an impressive cutlass clenched between his teeth. The galleon they stood upon was old, no doubt about it, but was good for travel and battle through and through.
"Now what?" Adelita called out over the loud explosions and everything. Hilario bounced off of the planks and rolled to the center mast, where he thought it would be safest. Boochbeard gave out a harsh cough and pointed to the helm of the ship, "There. Yer gonna have ta steer us out of here!"
"What?!" Gandry exclaimed. "You would let an inexperienced teenager drive your own ship-"
"Okay!" Adelita, not even hesitating, let go of Boochbeard's arm and rushed up the stairs to the wheel of the ship.
She grabbed onto the wheel, her left hand on the ten o' clock position and her right on the two o' clock position. She spun the wheel to the right as strongly and swiftly as she possibly could. The galleon responded beautifully as it pulled away from the quickly deteriorating clockwork ship. Just as the planks were pulled away, the Armada ship gave out another great boom before an explosion racked the entire vessel, the craft now sinking down beneath the clouds.
"You are an exceptional sailor, young captain," Gandry complimented as he reached the top of the stairs. "Where in the Spiral did you learn how to do it?"
Adelita smiled, "It is fortunate that Juan had let me steer his ship more than a few times when I was little."
"Yer good at steerin' a ship, I'll give ya that," Boochbeard held tightly onto the railing as he was still weak from the impact of the electrical blast, Kotori following behind him. "It'll come in handy when ye get a ship of yer own."
"What?" Adelita looked to him, clearly confused. "Can't I go home? Surely you can take me there."
Gandry shrunk down and nervously rubbed the back of his furry neck, "Um…about that. We would if we could, but sadly…we can't."
"What? Why not?" Adelita at both of them disbelievingly. Even Kotori looked at them in complete shock.
"Well, we would need a Blue Windstone to get from here in Skull Island to Cool Ranch, which we don't have," Boochbeard answered, now finding a bit more of strength.
"So…what do I do now?" she asked them.
"I'm afraid there is only one thing to do. We must travel to Skull Island and you will need to find work until a Blue Windstone can be found," Gandry explained.
"You mean I must become a pirate? Like you two? I'm not sure if I can."
"Sure, you can! You already know how te fight, how te steer a ship, and you've got a pet. He's no parrot, but he 's a good fighter," Boochbeard gestured down to the Armadillo Verde on the center deck.
"And what of me? I cannot fight and I know nothing of nautical experience," Kotori asked, looking at both of them desperately.
Boochbeard and Gandry both looked at each other, then back at the Mooshu swan. Gandry tried to reassure, "Well, you know what the term 'nautical' means. That's a start!"
"Besides," Boochbeard interrupted, "there are plenty of trainers on Skull Island. I'm sure one of them can show you the ropes to it all."
"Um…so, where am I steering this ship, exactly?" Adelita asked, not exactly knowing where to go.
"Just steer towards the island with a mountain shaped like a skull," Boochbeard waved a hand in dismissal.
Adelita's turquoise eyes scanned the skyway for the very island. She saw many strange creatures along with a few ships which she assumed them to be pirate ships. Then she spotted an island that looked to be a town and a beach mixed together. Behind it seemed to be all jungle with a round, white mountain with a face. She had to assume that that island was Skull Island.
"Alright, then. Fasten the sails, then! We're now bound for Skull Island!"
"I cannot believe that you kids would do something so stupid, irresponsible, and so dang dangerous! Not only that, but Adelita's gone!" The three adolescents cringed dramatically at Sheriff Cogburn's gloved wing slamming down on his desk.
It wasn't to say that he was the only adult that was outraged. Each of the teenager's parents were gathered in the rooster's office including Bill Peacock and Jane Canary. Of course, only the parents of the present children were there. Bailey, who was still clutching Adelita's basket to his chest, sat in the middle of Carter and Claudia right in front of the desk.
Rooster Cogburn shook his head, "Why did you three do it in the first place?"
Bailey, Claudia, and Carter looked between each other guiltily. Finally, it was the crow who spoke up, "W-we saw strangers headin' into Addie's skyway. They looked like trouble so…so we thought we'd investigate."
"Kids," Bill said to them, causing them to look in the direction of peacock saloon owner. "Listen up and listen good. When all of you got a badge and warrant to flash, you can go and invade all the fellas you think are no good as much as your little hearts desire. But until then, you don' go look for trouble if you get so much as a whiff of it. You turn tail, and you come tell one of us. Understand?"
"Yes, Mr. Peacock," they all muttered.
"Boy, I can't believe you would think to do something so stupid!" growled a white rooster with brown patches at Carter. His father, Marcus, shook his head in complete frustration.
"Pa, I was doin' what a ranger does. We take chances so we can do the right thing," Carter tried to reason in a low voice.
"Yes we take chances!" Marcus snapped at him. "But there's a huge difference between takin' a chance and riskin' a life, which is exactly what you three did! And now…well, now your friend is payin' the price."
Claudia's brownish tan ears flattened on her head, which lowered in shame. Bailey whimpered just a little and hugged the neatly woven basket closer to his chest.
Jane sighed, "Why did you even bring Adelita into this? Better yet, how did you bring her into this? Of all four of you, I expected her to have to most common sense."
Claudia looked up, her violet eyes saddened as she explained, "It wasn't so much that she wanted to come in the first place. We had convinced her that her home would be in danger so that she would help. Now I see that it had only aided that fiendish Frogerale in his malicious plans."
Her adopted father, a Bison Shaman named Wind Whisperer, blew out a breath through his snout, his hoofed-hand clenching around his staff as he nodded, "Yes. I had heard the Totem Spirits whisper of a terrible force invading our world. They have come. They wanted the Hornless One you call Adelita and now they have her. What they think to gain, I do not know."
"They want El Toro, sir," Bailey spoke up, causing the others to turn to him, especially his mother. "That's why they wanted her. They want her daddy to send El Toro to find her but it's all a trap! She made sure we'd get away so it wouldn't happen!"
"Aw, come on, Bailey!" Marcus scoffed at the long, skinny legged crow. "Don't tell me you believe all that talk about that ol' fairytale. That's all that he is, boy. A legend. He don't really exist."
"I don't care! If he exists or don't exists, I don't know and I don't care! All I know is that he's important ta everyone in Santo Pollo and especially to Addie! And if he's important ta her, he's important ta me, so shut it!" Bailey snapped at the ranger.
His mother, Margaret McKrane, gasped, "Bailey Theodore McKrane!"
"I'm sorry, Ma, but it's true," he shrugged, now looking down broken hearted at the basket of his best friend, who he wished he knew if she were all right.
Marcus sighed, "Well, I guess the real question now is what do we do?"
Rooster nodded, "Gonna have to round up a search party. Gather up the few free rangers and deputies that we got and have'em search around Skull Island."
"Why Skull Island?" Margaret asked, her black wings clamping down on her son's shoulders.
"It's the only Stormgate here in Cool Ranch. If we hurry, we can get'em before they go to a world we won't be able to reach."
"We'll come and help, too," Carter said, standing up out of his chair.
"You will do no such thing. You've done enough already," Marcus glared at his boy.
"Actually, there is one thing these three can do," Rooster said, a smile now creeping across his beak.
"Huh?" All of them turned to him, including the children.
"Well, you say that Adelita got herself kidnapped so that Santa Rana could lure and capture El Toro, right?" he asked the teenagers.
"Uh huh," Bailey nodded.
"And he hopes that her father will call El Toro, who doesn't even know about this," Rooster continued, only one of them catching onto the horrifying truth of the sheriff's logic.
"Oh no," Carter shook his head, his blue eyes widening in terror. "You can't be serious. It's suicide, especially for me!"
"Oh yes," Rooster nodded at the three of them, now a frown creasing from his beak. "You three are going on a ship to Santo Pollo, you're gonna march up to the De la Vega home, and you're gonna explain to Don Rodrigo himself what happened. And don't even try to leave out any details because I will ask him so on my first report on his daughter's whereabouts."
Carter, Bailey, and Claudia looked to each other in worry and in fear. It wouldn't be easy to tell possibly the richest man in all of Cool Ranch of the abduction of his only child. His adopted child, but his child nonetheless. Not only that, but the man was a Santo Pollish bull and, well, they knew good and well what happens when you mess with a bull.