Chapter 2 – The Captain's Reply

Nyamar walked out of the galley with bowls of hot soup made from crabs and coconut milk, saying to me. "I heard you mention something 'bout a king. Of England?" He asked, his red hair blowing in the soft sea breeze and his Indian necklace swishing around on a black leather cord.

"No. Of the Brethren Court." Immediately, there were yells of excitement and happiness from around the crew.

"We've gotten noticed at long last!" A blonde-haired pirate named Nicholas exclaimed. "Maybe Maria here's been chosen to be a Pirate Lord!" Another one said.

"SHUSH UP!" Jed yelled at the top of his lungs, his face turning red and his short brown hair standing on end. "Let the captain speak."

I gave him a nod and continued. "It's not like that. Although the idea of myself being a Pirate Lord would be pretty impressive." I said, giving a small grin and adjusting the purple and gold bandana I wore on my head. "But I suppose you guys should know what was written. It mentions the entire crew. We have the honor of being called upon by Elizabeth Swann, the Pirate King and Pirate Lord of the South China Sea, to serve under her command for the time being. Whatever reason she may have for calling us, I don't know."

Taking a huge slurp of soup, which was like lava sliding down my throat, I continued. "This is only if I choose to accept her invitation. So… do I have any objections from a crew member about this?" No one raised their voices to protest. "Alright then. From the fact that no one's answering me, I take it that everyone agrees with the fact that we are to serve under the Pirate King as of now?" One last time, the crew let out a cheer which was followed by a contest to see who could chug down the most of that evening's meal.

Leaving the noise of the deck behind, I and Ini-Herit retired to my quarters for the time being, to write the reply toSri Sumbhajee. Him and I were fairly good friends, and got along pretty well for two pirates who had completely different views on things, that is.

The bird flew off of my shoulder to his perch, which had so many random shiny objects wrapped around it that sometimes I would joke it looks like Jack Sparrow's hair, braided with all kinds of items.

Taking out a piece of perfectly flat paper and a quill dipped in black ink, I began to pen the words back:

Dear Sri Sumbhajee, Pirate Lord of the Indian Ocean,

I am writing to you in response to the letter you sent to me earlier that just came.

Elizabeth Swann should be pleased to hear that I and my crew have agreed to serve her for the time being. All I need now is where to meet her and when, so I and the crew can set sail for our destination as soon as possible.

I know this letter is quite short, but I do not know all the fine details to this. Hopefully, in the next letter, I may get the details I need.

Sincerely,

Captain Maria Ruthford, captain of The Sea Wolf's Howl

Seeing as this was sufficient enough for now, I rolled up the letter and sealed it with a wax seal, with the initials M.R. on it, and tied it tightly onto the bird's leg. Opening the window in my room, the bird soared off to wherever Sumbhajee was. Strange how that bird seemed to now the exact place where the person he was meant to deliver a message to and never get lost.

There was a knock at the door. "Enter." I said, fiddling with the silver griffin ring I wore on my middle finger on my left hand. The door opened and my first mate, Rodual, black hair hanging from his head like strands of seaweed, pulled up a chair and sat down before me.

"You really need to stop drinking, man." I said, throwing him an apple I had on my desk. "Take to eating fruit or something that won't get you to reveal that we're pirates. Would do you and the entire crew wonders."

He took a large bite out of the red piece of fruit. "Yeah, I know. It's like a bad habit, I'm telling you. Once you start, you just can't stop."

"Yeah well, kick the habit somehow. But why'd you come down here? Certainly it's not to talk about your horrid drinking problem."

"Far from it." He replied, brown eyes sparking like polished stone, as he pulled out a map of some kind from his back pocket. "Know what this is, by any chance?"

Snatching it from my first mate, I unrolled it as quick as possible. What greeted my eyes was a complex design, appearing to be of Asian origin with Chinese letters on the left side. Some creature, which resembled a black and white crane surrounded by a circle of blue fire. Bald monks stared with non-moving eyes at the creature.

"Well, do you?" He said, taking another bite of apple. "I think it's a clue to what we've been looking for."

"You mean Shangri La?" I questioned him. He gave me a small nod. "Rodual, can you read any Asian language, by any chance?"

" I can't, sadly. Maybe Nyamar can: he's been all over the world to cook in different styles."

"I think I'll ask him then. Hopefully he doesn't have to cook more of tonight's meal for the crew. You know how crazy the crew gets when he makes coconut milk and crab soup." First mate following me, I walked on out to the deck, where the crew was now playing a game where you imitate someone you dislike and the others have to guess who you're imitating.

Nyasar was standing by himself, playing a tune on his harmonica called "The Sailor's One Love": I recognized it immediately as my dad used to play it for me all the time when I couldn't get to sleep.

"Hey." I called to him. "Come over here for a minute, will you?"

He stopped playing that tune suddenly and walked over to us quickly, saying. "Yeah, Maria? What do you want?"

Holding up the scroll, I replied. "You know different languages and how to read other kinds of writing, correct?" He gave a small nod. "I want you to tell me what the writing on this means."

Leading the two boys to my room, they took their seats across from me. Nyasar began to look at the scroll carefully before saying. "It's Japanese kanji, but the images on this are Chinese. The bird there's the Chinese version of the phoenix being surrounded by Buddist monks."

"Does the writing," I questioned the chef. "say anything about Shangri – La?"

"Not anything I can make out that says anything about this paradise we're looking for except this." He said. "All it reads is "Where the phoenix rises is where the land prospers." Vague clues, don't you think?"

"Hey. Even vague clues can help in the long run" I said, dismissing my two crew mates and keeping the scroll with me.

I pondered over the words on it. " 'Where the phoenix rises is where the land prospers'. That could be anywhere in the world. Well, maybe not the icy tops of mountains."

Turning towards the open window Ini-Herit flew out of, I stared at the never-ending sea before me and wondered Where will these sudden events take us to?

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Hope you liked this chapter! Stay tuned to find out more where Capt. Maria and her crew will journey to next!

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