CHAPTER 6

THE LAND OF NIN

After a week, Cole was known to be an excellent Englishman, but not the greatest pirate. Sure his sword fighting skills increased and he knew every pirate word in the book, but acting and looking like a pirate was something he couldn't do. Mostly it was just relaxing and working like an normal man. That's pretty much what he could do. Without Blue Jay knowing, he let Carol stay inside his room for the entire week and let her sleep in the hammock. Most nights, she would toss and turn in her sleep, mumbling about somebody chasing after her. He tried to talk to her about it yesterday, but she wouldn't tell him anything. It wouldn't matter at that moment. The next morning, something magnificent happened.

Carol was sleeping soundly in her hammock while Cole got up at his usual time, shining off his boots. He heard footsteps running by his door and went to see what was going on. The pirates were acting crazy, running up above deck just to look at something. He stopped one pirate before he could run up there.

"Whoa, there," Cole said, "What's going on?"

"We be sailing into Nin in about an hour," the pirate said, "Better get prepared." The man went around Cole as fast as his legs could take him, even though he tripped making the flight upstairs.

Cole ran inside his room and shook Carol awake. "Carol, the moment has finally come."

"What is it?" Carol asked, "Did we find a deserted island?"

"Even better. We made it to Nin. Give me your dress. I'm packing the bags."

"Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Why are you packing? It's not like we're leaving or anything."

"Oh, yes, we are. This might be the only chance I have to get off the seven seas. I want you to come with me. This might be our chance to finally live normal lives."

"What are you talking about? I thought it was a tradition in your family to become a pirate. Besides, I can't come with you. I have to hitch a ride back to Spain."

"Carol, do you wanna go back to your homeland and be force to do things, or do you wanna be free? I'd rather take the second option. What about you?"

"I don't know." Carol sighed. "If I stay here, I'll be free. If I go back, I'll be an outcast and force to marry a man I don't like. You're right, Cole. I wanna take the second option."

"Let's get packing."

A knock came at the door, revealing Blue Jay`s voice. "First mate, I want you outside in ten minutes. All crew members must be ready to exit the ship when we arrive at Nin. Start husseling it up in there."

Cole didn't have to say anything. He finished packing quickly and brought Carol up above deck. Once they looked at the sights of Nin, they knew freedom was coming their way. The ship stopped at the shoreline, which brought out a bunch of Ninjians and English people to look at the beauties of the ship. A woman with snow white hair ran up to the front of the crowd, desperation showing in her eyes. Cole realized that it was Lord Zane`s wife, Lady Zeah.

Blue Jay was the first to exit the ship with Zane following behind. Zane ran into the crowd and immediately grabbed his wife in his arms, hugging her and kissing her like there was no tomorrow. Lady Zeah giggled when her husband tickled her with his soft hands. Cole and Carol removed themselves from the ship and looked around. The people seemed friendly and the sights were nice to look at. All that was interrupted by Blue Jay.

"Listen up, crew," Blue Jay announced, "We're only staying here for the night. We leave first thing tomorrow morning. If your not back on the ship by then, you'll be left behind. Hope you have plans to stay here if that does happen. First mate, I need to see you right away. The rest of you find something to entertain yourselves with. Go gamble or something."

Everyone else left, but Carol stayed next to the ship. She wasn't about to leave Cole hanging to dry. Cole walked up to Blue Jay. "You wanted to see me, Captain?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I did," Blue Jay said, "It seems I have good news and bad news. The good news is that your training is complete. The bad news is that you only passed on being an Englishman. You never did get the concept on being a swashbuckling pirate. I taught you all that you needed to know, but your just not cut out for this job. I tried, and I failed, but don't worry about it. I've failed at plenty of things, but it's a good thing I did this time. Here's the thing. The first time you fail, the second time, you get it right. It works for me, but it may not for you. I'm sorry I had to tell you that."

"Don't be sorry, Captain. You did your best. I'm just not cut out for this." Cole sighed, looking back at the ship. "I think I'd rather stay here than go back with you."

"I guess I can respect that. If that's what you wanna do, go for it."

"Yeah, there's a few things that I need to tell you, Captain. You see that pirate over there. Well, their not really a pirate. That's actually a girl. I helped her blend in by giving her my clothes and letting her stay in my room. That's the biggest mistake I've ever made, but I did what I could to help her. She was a middle class citizen from Spain, she hitched a ride on the other ship because she became their prisoner and she snuck aboard our ship and-"

Blue Jay cut off Cole in midsentence. "You really didn't think I knew that the whole time? I knew she was a girl the moment I laid eyes on her. I just pretended like she was just an ordinary pirate so the others wouldn't get distracted by her. I know you two were playing pranks on those three crazy guys. I was wondering why they were stealing fruit from the kitchen."

"That was Carol`s idea. That's her name, by the way. Sorry about that."

"You do realize that I can't have her on the ship? She'll just be a distraction, you know. I can't have that on the ship."

"I understand, Captain. That's why she's coming with me. I kind of convinced her that she had to stay here. Basically, she only escaped from her homeland to get away from her father. He was forcing her to get married. There's just something more about her, though. It's just on the tip of my tongue, but I'm not sure how to explain it. Or describe it, if you know what I mean."

"You like her, don't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Just look at yourself. Sweaty palms, blushing cheeks and always talking in a way like you have butterflies in your stomach. You like her. You can't stand to be away from her. That's just the matter. I can get another reason why you don't want to be what your suppose to be anymore."

"I really don't know what your talking about. I don't have a crush on Carol. I'm only sixteen years old. I don't think I'm old enough to get married."

"In these parks, you can get married at fifteen if you wanted to. Although, I'd rather wait until your eighteen. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an old friend that I need to see."

"Wait, Blue Jay, I need to ask you for a favor. Do you think it's possible if we don't tell my father about this? I mean, I'm spending three years with you, and he's gonna be suspicious after a year of what I'm doing. I know good and well that he will be. I'm just trying to hold off as much as I can for a while."

"I hate to say this, but I'm afraid I can't do that for you. It'll be six months until we reach land again, so you'll be safe, but I'm bound to see your father again. He'll be wondering where you are and ask me where you are. I'll have to tell him. He gave you to me for free and he's not about to let that go. The next time I see him and he finds that your not with me, it's all up to you after that. There's nothing else I can do."

"Isn't there any way that you can hold him off? I'm sure he's raiding another boat by now. That's all he ever does."

"I can't do that. I just said that there's no way to stop him. Once you make a deal with someone, you gotta keep it, but I'm doing you a favor. This is what I plan to do and I'm not turning back to come and get you. Listen, why don't we make this our moment to say farewell. We won't be seeing each other again after this, and I have a friend that I need to see. You were a fine first mate while it lasted. Looks like I'll be searching for a new one. Farewell, Cole. Good luck in life. You'll need it."

"Thanks, Blue Jay. I appreciate everything you've done for me. I hope we meet again one day."

"Hoping for the same thing. Farewell."

Cole ran back over to Carol, a smile covering his face. "Looks like we're leaving this ship. Let's head out and find us a place to stay. I'm sure there's a nice village close by."

"Did he know that I was a girl?" Carol asked.

"He did. He knew the whole time. He told me that he didn't wanna say anything because you would be a distraction to the other pirates."

"Looks to me like he was doing a favor for me. I guess he won't let me back on the ship, huh?"

"Nope. He said you'll be too much of a distraction. There's no way your getting back in there. Looks like your coming with me."

"I guess I am, but where will we go?"

"Well figure all that out once we get there. Let me go get my bags."

"Don't forget about my dress. I plan to change once we get into the woods and I really don't want people to notice me in a pirates outfit."

"Can do."

With that being said, Cole grabbed the bags and ran off the ship, not looking back. Once they got inside the woods, Cole handed Carol her dress from the carrying bag and waited for her to change. Once she finished, they continued on their way. After going through a jungle surrounded by spiders and snakes, a village was found behind a large group of tree. Cole realized that this was the place he and Carol were looking for. Now all they had to do was find a place to stay at. If this village was friendly, it will be easy to make fast friends.


LOOKS LIKE THE SHIP MADE IT TO NIN. OKAY, IF YOUR WONDERING WHY I'M CALLING IT NIN IS BECAUSE THE NAME DOESN'T CHANGE UNTIL THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. PLUS, THIS IS MY THEORY OF WHAT NINJAGO LEGENDS AND TALES ARE. PLUS, I'M PLANNING ON MAKING STORIES ABOUT NINJAGO HISTORY. DOESN'T THA SOUND COOL?

ANYWAY, COLE NO LONGER HAS TO BE A PIRATE. BLUE JAY EVEN KNEW ABOUT CAROL THE WHOLE TIME. THEY'VE FOUND A LITTLE VILLAGE TO STAY AT, BUT THEY NEED A PLACE TO STAY. I HOPE THEY CAN MAKE A FRIEND SOON.

THIS IS AN AWESOME STORY IN MY BOOK. WHAT DO YOU THINK?

PLEASE REVIEW.