Matthew had certainly taken Feliciano's advice and rested up well. He sat by the window and watched as the sky darkened and the sea became calmer. He smiled; the sunset was always so pretty.

There was a knock on the door and a certain Italian poked his head inside the cabin, "Ve~ Are you ready to speak to the captain?"

Matthew turned his gaze to Feliciano and nodded, "Yes, I guess so."

Feliciano beamed and opened the door a little more, "Follow me!" he skipped away and Matthew had no choice but to catch up. He heaved himself up from his place by the window and followed the Italian down the hall.

They walked for a few minutes, Feliciano telling Matthew about his friend Ludwig, who also worked on the ship too. So far, Matthew hadn't seen anyone. Feliciano was the only one to check on him.

"And Ludwig is so cool~ he's so strong and nice and kind and he looks after me and he's…" Feliciano continued and Matthew had kind of blanked him out by now. He just nodded and answered whenever he needed to but other than that, he didn't really pay attention.

Finally they stopped outside a large oak door and Feliciano placed a few sharp knocks upon it. A voice sounded from within and Feliciano opened the door, "Ve~ I brought Matthew to see you."

"The kid we picked up?" the voice asked and Feliciano nodded.

"Alright, let him in," Feliciano stood aside and Matthew walked in. The door was shut behind him and the Canadian looked ahead at the man before him. The first thing he noticed about him were his ruby red eyes. They stood out against his pale skin and snow-white hair. He wore typical pirate attire and was sitting with his feet up against the desk, and in one hand was a beer bottle.

Matthew also noticed that this man didn't carry the stereotype of a pirate with a parrot. No, nestled on this man's shoulder sat a small yellow bird that seemed to be giving him curious looks (if a bird would give curious looks, that is).

"So," the man said with a smirk, "You're the castaway."

"Um, I suppose you could call me that," Matthew said with a tiny smile. His gaze was still on the little yellow bird. The albino pirate seemed to notice this and he smiled, "He's cute isn't he? His name's Gilbird."

At the sound of his name, Gilbird flapped his wings with a small 'peep'. Matthew nodded and his smile widened slightly, "Very cute, sir."

The man watched him for a second longer then removed his feet from the desk. He kicked a chair towards Matthew and said, "Sit, you're making the room unawesome."

Wondering if unawesome was even a word, Matthew sat down obediently, not wanting to get on this man's bad side, since he was the one who rescued him. Scarlet eyes locked onto his own for a little while longer before the man spoke again, "The name's Captain Gilbert Beilschmidt. You will address me as Captain Awesome."

"Will just 'Captain' do?"

"Nein. Captain Awesome."

Matthew sighed, "Alright fine," he replied looking weary. He wasn't going to call him 'Captain Awesome'… there was just no way in Hell…

Gilbert didn't seem to notice that Matthew's mind was elsewhere for the time being as he decided to finish the rest of his beer. Tossing the empty bottle aside, he reached over to the desk and opened another. He grinned at Matthew again, "So… care to tell me what happened?"

Matthew had a feeling he already knew, "Well… you see, our ship was attacked by pirates—"

"Hold up… 'our' ship?"

Matthew blushed, "Um, well… my brother's ship."

"So you're not pirates then?"

Matthew shook his head.

"Then what are you?"

Matthew got that feeling of knowing again, "W-we're merchant sailors, sir."

"Merchants of what?"

"W-weaponry."

"Against pirates?" Gilbert was still smirking. Matthew had been right all along. He didn't know what to do. If Gilbert was a pirate (and by judging by his attire, he was), wouldn't he want him dead too? Afterall, wasn't he the enemy now?

Gilbert took Matthew's silence as a yes and his grin widened, "I knew as much. Feli told me."

Matthew remembered he told Feliciano everything, so there was no doubt that he told Gilbert. It made sense now.

Gilbert stood up and walked around the room, swigging his beer as he did so, "So, you're a castaway, you're brother's been kidnapped by… who?"

"I don't know, I didn't see the captain," Matthew replied. But you already know that, don't you?

Gilbert nodded, "Ah you see. There is a reason as to why I'm awesome!" he walked to Matthew and leaned in close, "You don't know, but I do."

Matthew's eyes widened, "Who? Oh please you have to tell me!"

"What's it worth?"

He froze, "I… I have nothing to offer."

"But of course you do!" Gilbert pulled him to his feet and made Matthew stand at his full height. He circled him, inspecting every aspect of the Canadian, which made him feel like he was being x-rayed.

"You seem fit enough," Gilbert remarked. He stopped infront of him and patted his shoulder; "You will work for me for a week. If I find your services to be satisfactory, then I shall tell you who holds your brother captive and may or may not decide to help you. I like you, kid. You have potential. You're awesome, but not as awesome as me, right Gilbird?"

Gilbird peeped in agreement and flapped his wings again. Matthew thought the bird was too cute to be the companion of a pirate.

Gilbert nodded at his sidekick, "Right." He looked back at Matthew; "I'll have Ludwig show you what to do and whatever."

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door. Gilbert smirked and said, "Ja?"

The door opened and a broad blond man walked inside the cabin. His blue eyes inspected Matthew for a moment before looking at the albino, "Is it time?"

Gilbert was about to answer but then his red eyes widened, "Oh shit kid, I didn't catch your name!"

Matthew sighed; Feliciano mentioned it earlier. But he answered nontheless, "It's Matthew."

"Ja. Right Matthew, this is my little bruder Ludwig," Matthew's eyebrows raised slightly. Was this the same Ludwig Feliciano was talking about earlier? "He'll take care of you. Now shoo, you're obstructing my awesome!" Gilbert ushered them out the room and closed the door behind them.

Matthew sighed and looked at Ludwig, who looked just as weary as himself, "Is he always like this?"

"Ja… I apologize. It's a pleasure to meet you," Ludwig held his hand out and Matthew shook it, "Nice to meet you too."

"Shall we go?" Ludwig asked and the Canadian nodded. The blond German led the way down the hall with Matthew in his wake.

He wondered what was in store for him.

A/N: Hey guys, here's another update. Yeah I know, no Alfred and Arthur (again) but I have to keep track of our favourite Canadian too, don't I? He's important to the plot x3

I dunno when the next installment shall be but I'll try and get the next chapter up before Christmas.

Thanks for all the reviews so far x3 They make me happy.

Let me know what you think of this chapter please, it's important and it helps with confidence :3

Thanks!

~Iggy :)