((This chapter is in progress, I'm typing the full version on my computer. Enjoy what's there at the moment o.o))
Chapter 2: Our Freedom
Four Years Later…
"Artex! Betwix! Get your sorry carcasses out of bed!" Captain Ridth bellowed from outside their door with impatience clearly notable in his deep voice.
Betwix bolted upright in bed; she is a light sleeper so she was always ready when an order comes up. She looked down at Artex, who was still sound asleep in bed, her face buried comfortably into the pillow. Artex looks so different from when she did four years ago and so did she. They were twelve years old now, and had experienced pain that one shouldn't experience at this young of an age. Betwix let out a heavy sigh, 'Four years ago we were happy…' She thought sadly.
"Okay you lazy bum, it's time to wake up." Betwix scolded as she pulled the blankets off of Artex and prodded her awake, "Captain's calling…"
"Ugh what does he want so early in the morning?!" Artex scoffed, pulling the pillow over her head and holding it tightly in place.
"Do I sound like I'm jokin'? Get out here now!" Captain Ridth screamed with a demanding tone. He stomped his foot impatiently and pounded his fist on the door.
"Coming! Jeez…" Artex groaned, pulling her clothes on as the already dressed Betwix waited for her.
The two opened the door to find Captain Ridth tapping his foot as if he had been waiting there for too long. They quickly stood at attention, fearing if they angered Ridth anymore, he'd use the cat-o-nine-tails (That's a whip in case you didn't know) on them.
"Yes Sir?" They asked in unison.
Ridth paced in silence, his arms folded behind him with his fists held in the small of his back. He stared out at the blue sea, the waves rolling gently and the sun shining brightly. A wonderful day to sail in any sailor's opinion. Pulling out an eyeglass, he pressed the cool metal again his eye and extended it too full length.
"Ah… there it is." Ridth smiled to himself and tucked the eyeglass into his pocket.
"What exactly umm… is it?" Betwix asked curiously.
Ridth pointed out towards where he had just been focusing his eyeglass on, and on the horizon a large vessel could be seen.
"There is a logpose to an island I want. There is supposedly treasure there… And you two are going to sneak onto that ship and steal it for me." Ridth nodded to the two and pointed to a rowboat hanging on pulleys that is attached to the ship. "I have put some provisions in there, and you should be fine. Just make sure not to get caught."
He didn't say another word, merely returned to his cabin with a sluggish walk; probably to go take a long nap. Artex smiled mischievously, and ran for the rowboat as soon as the Captain was out of sight. She grabbed the rim and jumped, throwing her feet inside with a thud. She turned her upper half to Betwix and motioned for her to hurry up.
"Come on! Come on!"
"Why the rush?" Betwix asked with a raised brow, climbing into the rowboat carefully. She grabbed the rope and together the girls started lowering it into the sea.
"Because Sis… Don't you see?! This is our chance to escape!" Artex whispered incase a crewman was nearby to hear her rebellious statement.
Betwix, not really bothering to lower her voice, clearly protested, "Ugh, this is like the what…. Twentieth time you've come up with some bizarre escape plan? I would usually say try, try again! But seriously Sis, I've given up by now, maybe you should do the same." She stared sadly at Artex, whose smile had now disappeared. Artex made no move to reply, so the row across the sea to the ship was silent.
Now closer, Betwix was facing the ship and could see it clearly. A pirate flag was hoisted in the air, flapping majestically in the slight breeze. Uh oh, she thought quickly, "Artex, do you know whose crew that is?" She asked breaking the silence, pointing at the ship which seemed enormous up close. They were only about 30 or 40 feet away, and hoping they hadn't been spotted yet.
Artex turned and held a hand over her eyes to block the suns rays, and after a moment's glance turned back around, shrugging slightly. "I'm not sure; we aren't up to date on the world if you hadn't noticed…" She turned back at the massive ship, and they were close enough now, that she had to raise her head up to see the deck's railing.
"Now what?" Artex wondered to herself out loud.
"We sneak on board is what." Betwix whispered, and they rowed their small lifeboat near the pirate ship's rudder, "I'm going up."
"Be careful Sis." Artex whispered, handing her sister the grapple claw.
"You know I will." Betwix smirked deviously and hurled the grapple claw onto the railing, catching it perfectly. "I'll pull you up." She grunted and pulled herself hand by hand up the rope and up to the deck.
She quietly tossed a leg over the railing, and took a glance around to make sure no one was there.
The ship was quiet, too quiet. There weren't any sounds of inhabitants, and it made this seem all too suspicious. All her instincts told Betwix to run, get to safety and stay alive. But to her regrets, she could not turn back from an order. As long as it mean she and her sister would have a place to stay.
Betwix frowned, and shook her head; she didn't have time to worry. She looked over the railing, and down into the life raft below. Artex was waiting, with an impatient look stretched onto her face as always in time of patience.
She made the signal to Artex, telling her it was safe to come aboard the ship. Artex nodded in return, and swiftly made her way up the rope.
Once over the railing, the two hid in the shadows against the stern-side wall, kneeling closely to make themselves small.
"What's the plan?" Artex murmured softly.
"Well, if they have a logpose that leads to treasure, I can make a safe bet… That it's on the captain at all times." Betwix said with a nod to herself, "Thing is, we don't know how strong the captain is, or if there is anyone on this ship at all."
"Yeah, Yeah, I bet the Captain of this ship is really weak." Artex said smiling proudly, dismissing the negative factors of the mission with a wave of her hand. Without waiting for a reply, Artex moved forward, pressing towards the Captain's Quarters.
"If the logpose isn't on the Capt'n, then it must be in his room, right?" She asked herself out loud. Behind her, Betwix was urging her to come back, and let them both take the mission slowly, but Artex's thoughts of adventure blotted out her sister's wise words.
Within seconds, Artex had disappeared around the corner, out of Betwix's sight. Betwix sat there, frustrated. She hated how Artex always acted without thinking. If she got hurt, Betwix would blame it on herself. Artex was a klutz, what if she did get hurt? What if she got caught?
"What if there is no logpose?" Betwix asked herself out loud, her head resting against the cabin wall.
"I have it."
"What's taking her so long?" Betwix said, thinking she was still talking by herself.
"What the heck sis, I'm right here. And I have the logpose." Artex whispered, shaking the logpose in her sister's face.
Betwix jumped slightly, before glaring at Artex, "Don't do that! You scared me." She punched Artex's arm playfully.
"But I have the logpose, mission accomplished!" Artex said in a sing song voice, doing a slight twirl on her toes. She was smiling until Betwix grabbed her arm and started pulling her to the raft.
"Good so we can leave. That was way too easy and I have a bad feeling about it. So we shouldn't dilly dally any longer." Betwix whispered as she threw a foot over the railing, and began to shimmy down the rope.
"That's not fair." Artex whined.
"I didn't hear you, it's not what?" Betwix asked as she reached the raft, and held the rope steady for her sister to climb down.
No reply.
"Sis…?" Betwix asked worriedly. She looked up, and let out a gasp.
On the deck, Artex was being held under a man's arm. He was large, and wore a green and white striped shirt, a large grin on his face. He smiled even wider, and let out a mighty laugh.
Another man appeared; he was a tall slender man, with sleek black hair kept in a ponytail. He walked over to the railing, and leaned against it casually, "What do we have here Lucky Roux?" He raised a brow, and puffed out a small plume of smoke from his cigarette.
"A pair of thieves!" He bellowed out, laughter making his body shake vigorously. The other man nodded, and only motioned for Betwix to climb back up the rope.
"We won't hurt you two, just get up here and we'll let our captain deal with you how he sees fit." He said nothing else and just walked away silently, before the large man called Lucky Roux turned and followed, Artex still dangling from his arm.
Having no other choice, Betwix scampered back up the rope, and pulled herself delicately over the side.
She quietly trailed behind the two pirates as they descended a flight of stairs. Artex struggled under Lucky Roux's arm, putting up a fierce fight the entire way.
"Put me down!" Artex yelled, kicking and screaming, while beating her tiny fists against Lucky Roux's back.
Sadly, her efforts were put to shame; the only reaction she managed to get was a burst of thunderous laughter from Lucky Roux, and a silent stare from the other pirate.
"Don't make me use my powers on you! You big oaf!" Artex stopped struggling and smiled deviously after yelling this statement. The slender pirate and Betwix watched as a layer of rock skin crawled up Artex's arm from her finger tips.
"No Sis!" Betwix scolded, staring at her sister with authorative eyes.
"But he won't put me down!"
"Too Bad." She said with a harsh stern-ness in her voice.
Artex grumbled to herself, and sighed; frowning as the cool layer of stone slowly disappeared.
During this little episode, Lucky Roux and the slender pirate had remained silent; studying the two girls with interest. And once they had quieted down, the slender pirate motioned to Lucky Roux, and he put Artex down gently on her feet.
They led the girls to a room with a large brass handle; Lucky Roux walked up to it and grasped it tightly, opening it wide for the other three.
Once herded into the room, the sisters took a look around. The room was fairly large, about the size of a mess hall. Pirates were all sitting around on chairs, crates, anything that could manage to sustain their weight. It was only when they looked in the center of this group, did they see a red haired man; sitting on a large cushioned chair.
His hair was about the length of his jaw, and it was a deep red, and looked as if it needed a good brushing. He had three diagonal scars going down his left eye, with facial hair around his upper lip and chin. He sat with a cup of beer in his hand, his long black cape rested around him in folds. But one thing that made him stick out so much was the fierce look in his eyes, and the fact that he had no left arm.
The red haired man raised his hand, and all the noise in the room stopped at an instant. He raised an inquiring brow and nodded to the slender pirate, "Roux, Ben, take a seat, I'll handle this." His voice was deep, yet had some strange calming effect on the two girls.
Lucky Roux and Ben nodded back in reply, and took their seat amongst the other members of their crew. Roux picked up a large barrel of beer and started taking great gulps of it, while Ben sat down and started chatting with a man, who had the words Yasopp written across the band he wore on his head.
The red haired man stood slowly, and walked on dark sandals up to the two girls, his shadow towering over them like a mountain.
"Such cute kids shouldn't be stealing; it's dangerous 'ya know?" The red haired man said to the girls nicely, squatting so he could be eye level with them.
Betwix stared at him with distrust, clenching her fists angrily; she refused to let her guard down near these men.
"Yo!" Artex smiled, holding up her hand to wave. Betwix glared at her, and she silenced herself; staring down at her feet.
"Ahh...Where are my manners?" The red haired man chuckled, he smiled widely, "I'm Shanks, pleased to meet you."
"Just go ahead and kill us." Betwix said coldly, staring at Shanks with furious eyes. She looked over at Artex and frowned, "It's bad enough that you're acting like we're visiting old friends…"