I Like the Quiet

Wiping his mouth with the back of his arm, Xander stared at the small group that was offering to help him get back home. For a moment he wondered if this was some sort of scam before shaking that thought off, they literally had him over a barrel and had simply returned his weapons to him.

Fiddling with the cutlass for a few minutes, Xander considered his options. First, he could go it alone. An option less than optimal as the sea drake would attest. He had trouble with the fricken' fish man and the thought of battling some of the bigger, badder and nastier creatures that were about made him shudder. Xander filed that option under "Hell No!" and moved on.

The second option revolved around mostly sitting on his fat ass while hoping the gang managed to find him. This one was complicated by the fact that he had moved from where he started, first in falling into and then drifting in the ocean.

In all, the odds of that being a successful option were less than encouraging

The third and final option was to simply go with these "people". They had explained a bit about the "adventures" in this world and it sounded like his odds of finding some method of getting himself home went up exponentially the more he dug into the older civilizations that had grown up and fallen in the centuries since the more recent recorded history began.

And that was something else entirely. It seemed like this world had an almost endless supply of fallen civilizations dating back anywhere from hundreds to millions of years and probably even further.

Making a decision, Xander nodded. "Alright I'm in, what do you say to twenty percent of the cut on anything we pull out and first dibs on any travel magics that might get me home?"

After some whispering among themselves Wakueena finally came back with a counter offer, "Fair split on all goods and gold, but first choice of rejection to all travel magics."

Considering his options Xander finally nodded, "Deal," he announced before reaching across the fire pit and shaking the Halfling's hand. For a moment he felt a bit odd making a deal with what seemed like a six-year-old before shaking the thought off. "All right, so we're a team. What are we supposed to do now?" Xander asked and looked at the three confused expressions he received at that comment. "Well how do you usually find your work? We used to have it come to us and we just had to figure out how to kill it, but I figure that isn't going to work here."

Laughing at that, the small group shook their heads at the newest member before Wakueena decided to explain. "Mostly we listen to the travelers and merchants and find out what is happening around us then we head to the problem spots. After a bit of adventuring, the locals start to come to us with their problem issues and we get more information that way." The self appointed spokesperson said happily as she explained their procedures to the newest member of their party. "When the problems become too small for us to deal with, we move on and a new party settles into our place."

Nodding at that, Xander decided not to argue about the effectiveness of the system. In all, it seemed to work at least as effectively as the Scoobies' own system back in Sunnydale. "Alright then, what's the plan."

"Well, we had reports of a possible warlord holding the local village hostage," Wakueena said with a smile. At Xander's embarrassed look, she continued, "But I figure from your story earlier that particular issue has been settled." She laughed. "So the next situation would be the rumors of possible pirate activity a few islands over."

Nodding, Xander wondered at the weirdness of his life that he was hunting pirates with a couple of Halflings. That he was a dimensionally misplaced vampire hunter from the west coast never really hit him as all that odd. "All right then, how do we get over there?"

Scene Break

Holding on to the back of the bear, Xander shuddered as the massive animal finally crawled up on land and dumped him off with a powerful shake that sent water, gear, seaweed, Halflings and himself flying every which way. The shouts and clatter of plate mail from the other beast indicated that Isaaq and Mican had met much the same fate as himself and Wakueena had.

Sitting up in the sand, Xander glared at the bear as it rolled about in the grass bordering the sand dunes and made a mental note to do something horrible to the animals. "Next time, we travel in a boat," Xander growled before receiving a blessing from Isaaq. From what he'd heard, the paladin had been fighting to get a real means of transportation for a while, but had been shot down by the two Halflings up to this point.

Checking his rather sparse gear, Xander waited as the others did the same. In between mouthfuls of seawater, Isaaq had explained that a small ship, most like a Pinnace, had been raiding boats and small settlements in the area. The merchants that had spoken about it had worried about a possible Pirate band in the making.

The reports had been of fifteen or so 'thugs' being led by an orc or half-orc. While none of the raids had been especially successful due to the limited size of the crew, it had been troublesome and they had been getting better at striking fast and disappearing as soon as they had filled their sacks with whatever loot they could lay hands on.

In the most recent attack, the ship had faded away into a mist that covered all pursuit, a troublesome development to be sure.

Laying on the beach, Xander ran the plan through his mind once more. The small party was tasked with searching this island for the pirates' base and then to use a small stone they had been gifted by Isaaq's sect to summon several more 'holy warriors' to cleanse the ship and base of all pirates. With Xander and his party focusing on the ship itself, the church the paladin served had offered either the ship or all gold and loot in the base as payment. The items dropped by their opponents were to automatically be theirs no matter where the item came from.

Having just endured the bear express, Xander was leaning towards taking the ship personally. While the thought of him killing several people in the near future turned his stomach, Xander dropped back to his soldier memories and let his mind settle down. They were opponents. They were enemies. They would kill him if given half a chance.

And it was up to him to make sure they never got that chance.

Scene Break

It was dark by the time they found the pirate camp. To call it a base was overstating things considerably. The Pinnace and a smaller boat were nearby, most likely used by the pirates to sell their ill-gotten goods or to scout out potential targets.

On the land, half a dozen tents were staked out with a fire spluttering away happily as the crew moved about finishing up their daily chores before sleep. While not the rambunctious lot he had half expected due to Disney, the men below were definitely moving in a professional manner.

Shifting back to a safer distance, Xander and the party huddled up to discuss the plans. Mican wanted to take the entire group on by themselves, believing the small party more than capable of dealing with the pirates and saving the church support for an emergency, thus reaping the rewards of the whole thing themselves.

Isaaq wanted to summon the help immediately, fearing that pirates may escape if given a chance and live to harm others again later. Wakueena didn't offer her opinion and so after a tense moment of glaring at each other, the two males turned their attention to Xander. Looking between the two, he cursed silently before making a decision, "Call in the church Isaaq."

Xander turned to the frowning Halfling, "I know you want the loot, but you can't spend it if you're dead. Never turn down help if you don't have to," Xander explained diplomatically.

Soon enough, a half dozen, well-armed and armored men stood with them as they went over the mission. Isaaq and his party would sneak in and take the boat. As soon as the fighting started they were to take the crew and hold the boat from the fleeing pirates. After giving them time to reach the ship, the Tormites would attack the main camp and press them back towards the ocean. If possible, the party was to use the ship's weapons to support this attack, but the paladins and warriors were not overly concerned about it if they were not be able to.

Should the fight go badly for the land party, the crew was to secure the ship and move to support them, catching the pirates in a pincer. Should the fight go badly for the shipboard party, they were to scuttle the ship with fire and acid before escaping over the side and uniting with the Tormites on the shore. Should the fight go badly for both sides then Torm would guide them to the light.

In all it was a simple plan that left plenty of room for flexibility when for when Murphy decided to join and it was competent enough to work.

Taking a last minute to pocket several offered acid flasks, Xander made sure they were well packed to avoid breakage before the party moved out. Sneaking down the shoreline in the darkness, Xander's heart raced as at every step he expected to be discovered and a shout to bring the entire camp down on their heads.

Thankfully, after a short eternity, they made it to the ship where it sat with its gangplank down. The fact there was a rock shelf allowing it to be right up on the shoreline in both high and low tides without resorting to rowboats, so sneaking under the watch's bored gaze, the party made it to the ship.

There was a small, lizard/dog person standing guard at the foot of the plank. Drawing his cutlass, Xander snuck up on the hapless opponent. Striking fast, Xander lifted the being's scaled chin up before taking its head off with a quick strike of the blade.

Catching the twitching corpse before it fell completely, Xander lowered it silently to the ground before motioning for the rest of the party and heading up and onto the ship. Ignoring the groan of wood behind him as the two bears made their way up the gangplank, Xander snuck aboard. Reaching the deck, he scanned the area before making his way aft and the watch there, that being the last person in sight who could raise the alarm.

Just as he reached his target, Xander flinched at a hiss past his ear that heralded the arrival of an arrow in the back of the watch he'd been sneaking up on. With a strangled grunt, the human reached for the shaft protruding from his back before Xander's sword cut him down. Turning as the first sound of fighting from the camp finally pulled his attention away, Xander glared at the small ranger that had nearly hit him. Making a mental to deal with that issue later, he looked around.

Isaaq, standing near the gangplank, would hold off any attempt to take the ship from the shore. Mican was already moving towards the ballista to support the other party. Wakueena, for her part, was currently opening the hatch and giggling as the two bears made their way to the sleeping crew below deck. After chugging a small potion, the Halfling shifted into a brown bear before following the other two down below.

As the roars and cries filtered up, Xander felt a vibration beneath his feet before the cabin door was kicked open and a massive humanoid stomped out, a blade in each hand.

Blinking at the roaring person that had just made an appearance, Xander growled as he remembered the Captain. Specifically, the Captain that everyone thought was in the big tent back in the camp. On shore. The Captain that he had been expecting the paladins and warriors to deal with.

Yeah, that Captain.

Looking around, Xander realized that Mican was caught completely off guard by the sudden appearance and Isaaq was struggling with a trio of pirates trying desperately to get aboard.

Taking a deep breath, Xander leaped off the upper deck, landing behind the massive half human and attacking for all he was worth. Slashing with the cutlass, Xander was pleased as the blade opened up a nasty gash in the big man's back. He was less pleased when the captain turned and batted him aside, almost effortlessly.

Groaning as he held his ribs, Xander looked up at the much larger man. The guy hit about as hard as a vampire and seemed to be twice as ugly. Standing, Xander blocked the big man's attack with his sword before shuddering as the orc's blade shattered his leaving him with a much shorter section of blade. Ignoring his other weapons, Xander opted to tackle the big man to the deck, grappling with him for a moment before plunging the section of blade into the big man's heart. Without his experience in Sunnydale slayage there was little doubt that the half-orc would have killed him.

Looking down at his blood covered hands, Xander felt his stomach react again before he dove for the edge and emptied his guts into the sea below. Having purged himself, Xander looked around again to see the battle was over.

Scene Break

It was several days later and Xander was struggling with a line as the 'Sea Bear' put into port, his hands were blistered and raw and he smelled of fish. In the last several days, he had learned more about sailing than he had ever wanted to know. If he should ever make it back home there were about a million authors and producers that would receive a stern smack for even attempting to glamorize the job.

It was a good thing that the two paladins that had decided to join them aboard the Bear until it made port were both sailor born and had shown him the ropes, a turn of phrase that Xander was now all too familiar with and it was all too hard. Thankfully they were making port and the promise of good food, clean clothes and a shower was enough to raise his spirits. Tossing the final bow line to the shore, Xander slowly messaged his hands as he kept watch on how close the ship was. He was glad the shore crew was far more experienced and more than made up for his own amateurish state.

As the ship finally touched and all lines were secured, Xander heaved a sigh of relief. The pinnace was made to fit twenty and while five was just barely enough to crew her, it wasn't enough to do it well. If all went well, they would be able to pick up some crew here as well as some extra training for him so that he wasn't a burden to the ship.

Somehow he had gotten appointed as the interim Captain type, a place he shared with Isaaq as the Rattlefoots had little interest in leading and the paladin had absolutely none in running a ship. Still, he had stuck the paladin with the First Mate position just to keep him from smirking too much and had gotten Wakueena to back him in shifting the recruitment job off on him.

Xander, for his part had been ordered by the small druid to, "Get yourself some equipment before you are killed." A task he had no clue how to go about doing.

Stepping off the boat, Xander ignored the heave and flow of traffic as it came and went aboard the ship. Mican and Wakueena had volunteered to stay aboard and keep an eye on things. It seemed city life wasn't exactly their speed and most towns frowned on their pets walking down the street with them.

As Isaaq disappeared to find a crew, Xander began wandering through the area. After a bit of subtle people watching, he managed to spot a shop where the clientele wasn't likely to get ripped off, but also not seedy enough to get robbed outright upon entering and dumped into a back alley or the ocean for quick disposal.

Stepping into the shop, Xander was surprised at the assortment of stuff that it carried; from ropes and tackle to clothes and weapons, all well-made and most definitely designed for a sea voyage.

"Well lad, it looks like you found the Wave Front General Store. What can I do for ya today," a loud, gruff voice said from the back as a massive eight foot tall minotaur walked towards the front. To say he cut an odd figure was an understatement. The bulging muscles and massive horned head were offset by light grey clothes, a pale blue waist coat vest and pants. He had a pipe in the massive mouth which he gently smoked and a gold pocket watch chain hung from a vest pocket.

In all, the 'respectable monster' look was something new to him altogether.

So, staring for a moment, Xander finally shook his head. "Sorry, I am in need of some clothes, weapons and… well…" taking a deep breath, he sighed. "Look, I just got pressed into service as a Captain, of all things and I don't know anything about any of it. How to dress, how to talk, what to order…"

Taking the pipe from his mouth, the big Minotaur stared at him for a moment before smiling, "Now that sounds like a story and a half. Let me guess, nobody else wanted the job and you got 'volunteered' for the position right?" He rumbled good naturedly in what could pass for a chuckle before taking another puff on his pipe, "Not all that odd, truth be told. Most adventurers would rather eat their blades before taking responsibility for anything," he explained before he chuckled again. "But to be a Captain you're going to have to look the part. Lightweight clothes to keep you nimble, but with a style to them, that is what people remember most when speaking to a Captain. You have to have a style. Be brash, outright mean, cold, or a drunkard. Whatever it be, you must have a style to fit as Captain,"

In short order Xander found himself dressed to the nines in silk and cotton; pants, shirts, coats and hats were bought with an explanation on how to wear them and in what combinations. His cutlass had been replaced by a much better version of the blade and several assorted odds and ends tucked into his pack to assist him on the seas. The oddest and most expensive of these was a spoon and bottle combo that the minotaur had insisted he buy before setting out. For a moment he had considered refusing, but the honest look in the massive face had won him over and Xander had spent the remainder of his money on the item.

Lost in thought on his way back to the ship, Xander never noticed the subtle shift in the crowd's response to him. Whereas the first time through it he had been jostled and shoved, the crowd now took an unconscious step away from him as he walked down the street.

This was a port town after all, and everyone knew a Captain when they saw one.

Scene Break

(A/N) I really really REALLY Hate being appointed Captain, but the others absolutely refused the position, so Xander now has some Profession (Sailor) and weapons finesse and the party agreed on the leadership feat to go along with his new level… yay… before you know it he will be buckling swashes and whatnot…

You also get to see the first two magic items of the game, an everful spoon and a Decanter of Endless Water, both of which are invaluable to a ship at sea.