The first day en route to Caligula cluster, Sora, Donald, Goofy and Ariel were up bright and early for their duties. Goofy and Ariel started out with heavy/laser cannon 101. They learnt velocity and trajectory, long range and short range, fire rate and overheating. Tullius assigned them each an auto cannon which shoots out rapid fire. During his show-and-lecture, he would sporadically quiz his new students on things they have just learnt. (He is all for quick response but gave Ariel time to jot down her answer) If the answer is correct, he commends them but for every mistake they make, hard labour is their reward. The two paid extra attention but still made some mistakes, out of the 20 or so questions, they made 3.
"Not bad, kids. Just 3 things to do before you're done for the day. First, you will clean all auto cannons spotless. Second, you will help Lurch in the galley peeling potatoes. He's making stew tonight! And finally, you will check munitions inventory. I will be checking on you two regularly but I trust you both to do your duty. Dismissed!" Goofy and Ariel sighed in relief when the old salty left.
"We can do this Ariel. I'm glad you're with me so I don't have to do this alone." It was going to be a long day indeed.
They finally finished at 1600 hours. They didn't join the others during lunch but instead ate quickly to finish their chores. When the old salty came to inspect their work, he was more than pleased and reminded them to get educated for more quizzes to come. They went out to the quarterdeck for a breather where Sora and Donald greeted them.
"Guys! Where were you? We didn't see you during lunch."
"Gawrsh guys, salty punished us with chores when we couldn't answer his quizzes correctly. We ate quickly to continue work but now were done and all I wanna do is collapse. What about you guys?"
"Well, you don't wanna be a Bilge rat. Don't ask. But if anyone asks you if you wanna try Bilge rat duty, don't." Donald told his friends, his feathers somewhat stained with grease and soot.
"I'm tired too. Let's head back inside for a rest." Sora said. Ariel decided not to follow her friends, she wanted to view the surroundings that passed by, watching the stars so close never ceased to amaze her. Sitting on the edge of the ship, hands holding on to the ropes , feeling tranquil she let out a relaxed sigh. Moving her gaze from space to the environment on the ship, she saw Jim on the opposite side. She went over to him to say hi.
"Hey there Ariel. You alright? Hope old salty didn't wear you out." She shook her head and took out her pen and notebook to reply.
"Don't worry about it. He's a good teacher, we learnt a lot today. How was your day? Sora gave you any trouble?"
"That's good. My day was pretty normal. Sora and trouble always seem to mix don't they? But this time, I think I gave him a migrane with strategies and battle plans. It's a good thing we've already known each other for a while now or I don't think he can stand me any longer." Jim said chuckling.
"How did you guys meet? I asked Sora but he told me to ask you because you're the better story teller. He said you got the trait from Silver." Ariel asked suddenly.
"Really now? Well I met them during my last days as a cadet. My crew and I were sent to investigate Ironclad activity and these are no ordinary ships, they are heavily armoured built by Procyons basically to power their way through our vessels. Deep in the Frontier, we found Sora's Gummi ship being attacked by these guys. We helped them out of that mess and they decided to help us with our mess. You see, there was a plot by the Procyons to take Parliament and murder our Queen. It was also discovered later, thanks to Sora and company; these Procyons were working with Heartless making them the fiercest opponent the Navy ever encountered. We were engaged in battle above the Empire itself against the Procyons and their highly advanced ships. Silver and his men helped out too. And I don't think we could've won without them." Ariel listened closely, motioning for him to continue.
"Admiral Amelia, the Navy and Silver, fought off wave after wave of enemy attack but after weakening the Admirals' defense, they split up to destroy Parliament. I went after them, full speed ahead! We brought down the Procyon ships but my galleon couldn't hold out any longer. Although we outnumbered them, they outgunned us. We lost all our weapons, the enemy Dreadnought had its sights on us – they were going to ram us. We were going to be crushed!" Ariel's hands flew to her mouth.
"At the last moment, Silver's badly damaged ship arrives and he rams his ship towards the Dreadnought. The explosion was so loud the civilians on land could hear it. Against all odds, we obliterated the enemy ships but their leader was never caught. Silver survived the blast, the lucky devil. Thanks to their efforts, Silver and his men were pardoned by the Empire. Sora, Donald and Goofy got awarded Knights of the Empire for their cooperation. And I became Captain, with the same crew that fought with me a month ago."
Ariel never got tired listening to his adventures, this one reminded her of stories told by veteran soldiers in Atlantica. She just couldn't believe it happened so recently and to hear it from someone so young.
"You never fail to amaze me and here you are, going after the bad guys. Were you scared?"
"At being crushed to death? I was hoping I would go down fighting so at that, I wasn't scared…But I was scared when I saw Silver ram that ship to save me and the crew. Was I glad to see him alive!"
And Ariel is glad to have met Captain Jim Hawkins. Noble, loyal and so good natured to the people around him, no wonder he could befriend a pirate. She touched his arm in a comforting manner and gave him a brilliant smile. For a moment, she forgot how to breathe because the way he looked at her, it was so intense just like the time they embarked for Silver's island but this time there was something more. She felt his hand on her waist and the other slide up her arm. She got lost staring in his eyes; time seemed to slow down as they moved closer to each other. And then they heard a sigh. Morph had been there the whole time watching the event unfold. With a dreamy look on his face, he motioned for them to continue. Blushing, they stepped away from each other and a cry could be heard from one of the nearby ships.
"Morph you gelatinous little nitwit, you ruined it!" Silver hollered from his ship.
"Silver!? You were spying on us?" Jim shouted back incredulously.
"Sorry lad but the upper deck is hardly private!"
Dropping his face in his hands, he turned away from Silver. Ariel, despite the embarrassing situation, tried to hide a smile. Catching her smiling, Jim smiled too and took her below deck for dinner.
"Come on, you owe me 20!" Drake nudged Sora who looked more than a little disappointed.
"Morph totally ruined the moment! They would've kissed if he just stayed put!" There goes his 20 gil. While this world doesn't recognize gil as currency, it's still valuable since it's pure gold.
"Hah! Silver owes me some money!" Tullius yelled in excitement.
"Shut yer yappers' gents. They're heading this way." Lurch warned the men in the dining hall all of whom had bet on tonight's event. The two were still caught up in each other to notice anything amiss.