Author's Note:

Hey everyone I'm back for a brief interlude. I thank each and everyone one of you for your continued patience and support it is simply beyond compare! So without an extended wait…CHAPTER TEN!

Chapter Ten: Hmmm, Smells like Sea Water

Sly's POV:

I could only remember green smoke and Carmelita holding a dead Caviarnold in her arms. I stirred groggily from my place on the ground and hissed softly when my paw ran against a bump on my head. I blinked blearily and scanned my surroundings. If I knew anything from being a thief it was to always know, or at least have some idea, of where I am. Carmelita was sprawled to my side and groaned as she stirred to life. She sniffed and tiredly smacked her lips her eyelids drooping low on her chocolate eyes. It reminded me of how she looked when we woke up for work and she'd blink at me in exhaustion because she spent all night on a file instead of sleeping like I told her to. I smiled affectionately at the memory. It was probably one of the few good ones I'd have left, considering I royally screwed myself over once again with this relationship. I couldn't be what she wanted me to be, and honestly the acknowledgement by her that she wants me to die sort of sealed that.

"Sly," she murmured "where are we?" She furrowed her eyebrows together. I adored it when she furrowed her eyebrows and you could see the crinkles of thought band across her genuinely flawless face. At least, I thought it was flawless.

"Well, from the looks of it, The Atlantic Ocean." I replied calmly.

"WHAT?! How the hell did we end up here?" Carmelita screeched. Apparently Carmelita was not so calm. She rose from her spot on the ground and frantically cast her eyes across the wooden ground and ran her paws across the grain. The air smelled thickly of sea water and hints of wet wood. I racked my brain desperately trying to think like Bentley.

"Wait Carm, I think I know how!" I snapped my fingers for emphasis and Carmelita rolled her eyes. It was a gesture that meant 'continue before I make you continue'. "Bentley told me and Murray not to play with the Time Machine because putting in random coordinates could cause something he called an anomaly. He explained it was kind of like ripping a hole in the fabric of space and defies all laws of science. I think the Time Tunnel Le Paradox created was a kind of anomaly and by us being sucked into it we've twisted history, specifically yours." Carmelita stared at me with that freaking adorable frown and hummed in acknowledgement.

"So what you're saying is, that whoever wants to mess up my life, has created a crack in time so that I possibly would not exist?"

"Precisely. However if you were never born it would be a massive waste." I smiled comfortingly and her eyes softened in that way that meant another layer of that steel safe that surrounded her heart had been cracked. Who knew how many more layers to go before the elusive center.

"So obviously we're on a ship, but now the question is when?" Carmelita sighed softly.

"I think the better question is why?" A new voice broke through the stillness of the ship. We both spun to see a sharply dressed fox with a large tricorn hat etched with twenty-two tallies. His coat was navy blue with golden buttons and the tails of it ended about 10.16 centimeters [A/N: 4 inches for my fellow Americans] from the bottoms of brown weathered boots. On his hip was an intimidating rapier that was elegantly crafted, my fingers itched just staring at it. His voice was the complete opposite of Sophus. This Fox had a deep commanding voice that drenched authority to the bone, yet it was steady and intimidating in its softness. "Why are you here? I don't tolerate stowaways on my vessel." His rapier flicked impossibly fast and in an instant I felt the cold metal against my jugular vein. I raised my paws in surrender and Carmelita studied the figure before her. There was no doubt in either of our minds that this Fox was one of her ancestors.

"Pardon me, sir…." Carmelita began.

"Commodore" The Fox interrupted "Commodore Ignatius Fox." He cast his aged bronze eyes on her form and appeared to glint appreciatively. I felt the ugly hand of jealousy choke all of my reason. I glared at the Commodore, my fists clenching slowly as he gazed at me as though he were bored. That made me livid. It made me want to carve a new face on his smug muzzle. He smirked when he noticed me become riled up. "Mr. Newcastle, front and center." The Commodore yelled to no one in particular. Nothing happened, but then a sliding scraping sound traveled from above. I noticed the Commodore furrow his eyebrows like Carmelita does but his wasn't in thought. It was in annoyance, and it looked like he did it a lot. The scraping sound ceased; Carmelita and I looked up to discover a ferret looking man with the striping of a skunk badger. He smiled from ear to ear revealing tiny fangs that glinted wickedly in the setting sunlight.

"Aye, Ka'tin?" We heard Commodore Fox sigh in exasperation and grumble.

"It's yes, Commodore. Commodore! I will not tolerate that pirate slang on my ship!" The man I could only assume was Newcastle visibly wilted and his fur flattened making him look even slimmer.

"But…Ka'ti….. Commodore….I've asked ye to call me Becket sir. And ye called me down from t'e mast." His whisper was visibly apparent as his black face turned darker as he blushed and his bushy white eyebrows crossed upwards submissively. Commodore Fox inhaled shakily as if repressing a raging volcano and sheathed his rapier. I felt myself exhale the breath I didn't realize I was holding. Carmelita stepped uncharacteristically cautiously towards Becket and stroked his fur experimentally. Becket recoiled but brightened a little at her gesture. At least it relinquished some of the crushing gloomy feeling and awkward silence. Beckett reached into his baggy sailcloth pants and pulled out a set of unpolished keys and handed them to Commodore Fox. "Got this from my stash for ye Ka'tin" It was almost as if he wasn't seconds from being ripped apart judging by the expression on the Commodore's muzzle.

"Thank you Becket," his teeth ground "I don't know what I'd do without you as…COMMODORE!" Becket recoiled, leaped into the masts rigging, and clawed at the air in his direction.

"I dunno' what serpent possessed ye Ka'tin but I swear to ye I will carve that yeller-bellied beast right out a ye'!" Becket hissed. Commodore Fox looked at me and grinned wickedly. His fangs were amazingly more intimidating than Carmelita's glinting set. My tail tucked between my legs. He snapped his fingers and a large crocodile grabbed Carmelita by her arms and she couldn't escape, even though she thrashed as hard as she could.

"You're a raccoon stowaway. And raccoons are pirates, and pirates are thieves, and by the glory of the crown I serve I am ordered to kill or capture every last worthless pirate that sullies these waters. You look a lot like Henriette…" He mused. My ears perked at the mention of a Cooper. "And she is going to die." He growled. "Becket!" The angry puff on the mast hissed at his name "this is the serpent. Kill it."

Author's Note:

Oh my gosh! I finally got this out of my head! For those who haven't figured it out we are set in pirate times in the English territories of the Atlantic Ocean. Also, this will be the only timeline I bring in a Cooper relative as a character but I will reference others. I feel Henriette "One-Eye" Cooper never got enough love in the Sly Cooper games and I want her in my story. By the way, if you recognize one of these characters (not part of the game) please let me know! He was released on DeviantArt and his creator has granted me special permission to use him. If you want to see more of him check it out under NachtaraThieves. Thank you so much for reading and please review!