A few hours ago, Dimitri was walking through the brightly lit streets of Paris, bent on finding the woman he loved and telling her how he felt. Now he was swaying on an old hammock, surrounded by a dozen snoring pirates, in a moldy old ship led by a captain with a superiority complex and a sassy mouth. How he got from point A to point B was beyond him... He pulled out the dull metal apple from his vest pocket, looking it over. The damn thing had gotten him into this mess, but it was making no effort to pull him out of it. Scowling, he slid the apple back into his vest pocket. Rather than tossing it aside like he really wanted to do, he decided to keep it close in case it did start glowing again. Another wave rocked the ship and he groaned as his stomach protested. Small motions he could handle, but this damn ship was just so easily swayed by the water that he thought he would lose his dinner all over the floor.

He closed his eyes and fought the rising tide of nausea. If all nights were going to be like this, he would get absolutely no sleep. The crazy old coot that slept above him also snored up a storm, and it was a long time before Dimitri actually fell into a fitful rest.

"Up and at it!" Dimitri was suddenly dropped to the hard wood floor as Sinbad spun his hammock upside down to eject him from it. Sunlight spilled through the port holes and the rest of the crew was already gone.

"MOTHER OF GAAAAAH!" One moment he had been slumbering peacefully and the next his back collided with hard wood and he sat bolt upright, eyes now wide and glaring at Sinbad. "What is WRONG with you!"

Sinbad looked over his shoulder as if looking for who he might be talking to, but looked back when he found nobody else in the room. Today he was dressed in baggy tan pants and a black shirt with a blue sash wrapped around his waist. "Well I hope you didn't plan to sleep through the whole day. This isn't exactly a pleasure cruise I'm running."

"Could you give a gentler wakeup call at least?" All sleep had been knocked out of him now and he stood up, stretching his arms. "Uuughh... What time is it?" He rubbed at his face.

"Some time after dawn and before dusk. And you missed breakfast, by the way." Sinbad spun on his heel and whistled a jaunty tune as he jogged up the stairs that lead to the deck.

"Yeah? I'm guessing it's not a complimentary continental breakfast, is it?" He followed at a groggier pace up the stairs. The cool sea wind whipped at his face and killed any remnants of sleepiness that remained.

"Which continent?"

The crew was already hard at work above deck, controlling the brilliantly red sails or talking in small groups. A couple of the larger ones were moving barrels. Dimitri stopped and stared at all of the work already being done everywhere on the ship. While he didn't lie about in bed until noon, he wasn't used to being up at the same time as the sunrise. He watched the hustle and bustle, so effective and habitual, and despite himself, he was impressed at how Sinbad ran a tight ship. The captain himself was already all of the way across the deck and up by the wheel, talking with Kale and Rat, who hung upside down by a rope wrapped around his ankles.

He cautiously weaved his way between the bustle, unsure of what exactly he was supposed to do. His stomach grumbled as he walked; maybe acquiring breakfast would be nice. He sidled next to an Oriental man and cleared his throat. "Ah, pardon me. I'm the new guy. I was wondering if there was still breakfast lying around somewhere?"

The man looked at him and then elbowed his companion, who also looked up. Twins, Dimitri noticed. "Hey Jin, new guy asked for breakfast first thing! Not for list of chores!" The man he had spoken to said to his brother. The other sighed and flicked a gold coin at him.

"How d'you do that, Li? You haven't even talked to him yet."

"He wasn't at breakfast! I know these things!"

"Okay!" Dimitri interrupted, "Guys! Hi? Breakfast? Anything?"

"There's pickles, eggs, and more pickles!" Li ticked off three of his fingers.

"And that's it?"

"Pretty much!" Jin nodded. "Down in the cellar that way."

Well this was off to a promising start. Dimitri turned around and stalked down to find some pickles and eggs. And oh, did he find them. The moment he opened up a few barrel lids the smell assaulted his nostrils. His cheeks swelled as he fought down a gag and threw open the cellar door for some fresh air. "Pirate's life is a wonderful life my foot," he choked. He turned back after holding his breath and picked out a few pickles, a couple of eggs and ate them outside. They were tasty enough; he wasn't one to complain about food.

Further away, Jin and Li sniggered along with a few others. "I can't believe he fell for that," one of them whispered. The bread and cheese was in another storage room of the ship.

Heedless of the laughter, Dimitri finished his breakfast. He was crunching on his last pickle when he eyed the crazy old man from before, expertly tying knots. "So, how long have you been on this ship?" he asked conversationally. The old man just stared at him bug-eyed. He didn't speak. Dimitri blinked. The awkwardness was getting so great he was about to sidle away when all of a sudden, the old man burst out, "GIANT PEARLS ON THE HORIZON!" And ran away flailing. The rest of the crew either laughed or paid no heed, clearly used to his outbursts. But Dimitri just started a bit and watched him run away.

"Hey! I don't pay you to stand around!" Shouted Sinbad from up top. The crew dispersed, all of them breaking up and going about their individual duties. A couple vanished below deck. "And you, new guy! Up here. Now." He gestured at Dimitri, apparently done talking with Kale and Rat.

He tore his gaze away from the ship's resident ranting loony and scowled at Sinbad. He deliberately kept his pace slow and it took him about a minute to get to where he was at. "Gentle wake-up calls and being "new guy"? You're a real charmer."

Sinbad didn't look amused. In fact, he seemed a bit irritated now, the cheerfulness from earlier completely gone. He scowled at Dimitri. "My crew is up at dawn and pulls their own weight. Starting today, so do you." Kale coughed behind his hand and turned so that he could watch the deck instead of the impending explosion.

"I have an idea, why don't we make another deal?" He flicked a piece of lint off his watch. "How about you start calling me by my actual name and I won't call you out on your less-than-stellar accommodations."

Sinbad pretended to consider it. "How about I call you whatever I want and you don't back talk me or I'll give you the night watch?"

"I just don't want to be talked down to by someone who doesn't even know what a steam engine is!" he snapped.

Sinbad looked at him coldly. "I don't care if you want to back talk me to my face, but you will never do it in front of my crew. Now are you going to do your work or not?"

"What do you want me to do, Captain?" he said derisively, throwing his arms up at his sides.

"Well seeing as you're our new cabin boy, you'll be getting very intimate with our cleaning supplies. Mops and buckets are in the storage room off of the men's sleeping quarters." Maybe some manual labor would take the guy down a peg. Kale had his hands on his hips and was keeping an eye on their heading.

"Janitor duty, of course." He turned away and stalked off so he wouldn't have to talk to the jerk anymore.

"Sinbad, what are you up to?" Asked Kale once Dimitri had stalked off.

"Me? Do I look like I'm up to something?" Sinbad looked at his first mate incredulously.

Kale gave him the look that said that he wasn't fooling anybody.

"Fine," Sinbad tossed his hands into the air. "I don't need women on my ship and I need complainers even less. If he gets worked into a stupor, he won't have the energy to complain."

The first mate gave a begrudging nod. "And then we'll let him go in Constantinople?"

"That's the plan!" If Sinbad didn't kill him first.