Disclaimer:(Read Prologue)
Chapter 10: A Glimpse into the Past
100 miles south of St. Croix, Virgin Islands; 1712
Lightning illuminated the dark skies as wind and waves rocked the Falconer. On board the brig, the crew worked frantically on the sails and riggings while bracing against the storm.
One of these crewmen was Jacob Wess, who was currently securing one of the riggings to the main sail with three other crew men. After the rope was properly knotted, Jacob braced himself against the railings as another large wave crashed against the Falconer. Everyone on board has been enduring the storm for almost an hour with no breaks.
Looking up to the quarter deck, he could see the captain, Henry Wineman, and first mate, Alexander Finn, yelling at one another; whatever was being said between them was drowned out by the roaring of the waves and wind.
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck the waters just off the Falconer's starboard side, the crack of thunder shook everyone to their core for a second. A yell cut through the noise of the storm, bringing Jacob out of his stunned state; looking up, he saw the silhouette of a man hanging freely by a rope snagged on his foot from the main topsail's yard.
Immediately, Jacob went to the nearest shroud attached to the min mast and started climbing as fast as he could. The wind beat against his body as he made his way up, making sure he didn't bump into any other shipmates that were also on the shroud. Once he reached the top of the main foremast, he started making his way towards the rope where the man was hanging from; despite the ship being rocked by the waves, Jacob was able to keep his balance and footing on the yard.
Reacking the rope, Jacob began pulling his crewmate up slowly, making sure that the rope doesn't come loose. Once the crewman was close enough, Jacob grabbed him and pulled him onto the yard. Getting a good look at the person he rescued, Jacob sees that it was one of the cabin boys, David Hearth, the youngest on board the Falconer being 16 years old.
"You alright?!" Jacob asked the boy, yelling over the storm.
"I am now, thank God!" David exclaimed, "Help me secure the rest of the foremains; the mast will break if it catches too much wind!"
"Right away!" Jacob said and got to work. He wasn't sure if the boy was exaggerating about the mast snapping, but he was in no place to test the claim.
"Is everything else secure, Jacob?!" David asked.
"As far as I can tell, David," Jacob replied, tying the last knots to secure the fore main, "It's hard to see or hear anything in this storm!"
"Then let's get back on the deck," the boy said, "I don't want to be strung up again." Jacob agreed and they both made their way to the shroud.
As they descended they started their descent, Jacob heard the shouts of Sean Larock, the ship's lookout. Looking up to the crow's nest, he sees the man pointing to a direction on the ship's port side. Looking out to the direction Sean was pointing at, he saw nothing but darkness and waves; then, a bolt of lightning across the sky revealed the shape of another ship in the distance.
Jacob made his way down to the main deck and rushed towards the captain, keeping his balance as much as possible on the rocking ship. Once on the quarter deck, he approached the captain and first mate, who were still in their argument.
"Captain, ship spotted off the port side!" Jacob informed them, getting their attention.
"What colors?" Captain Wineman asked him.
"Don't know, sir," Jacob replied, "It's too dark in this storm!"
Captain Wineman left his spot at the helm, going to the port side rails and looked out to the sea. Mr. Finn immediately grabbed the ship wheel to keep the Falconer steady.
"Which direction was the ship, sailor!?" Captain Wineman asked Jacob, turning to him.
Jacob went to the captain's side and pointed in the direction where the ship was last seen. The captain took out a spyglass and scanned the general direction for any sign of another vessel. A bolt of lightning lit up the sky once more, and the shape of a ship was seen in the distance for only a second.
"Hard to port, Mr. Finn, 70 degrees!" Captain Wineman ordered.
"Captain?!" Mr. Finn exclaimed.
"I am not going to risk losing our prize, Mr. Finn," the captain stated, "now HARD TO PORT!"
The first mate gave an uncertain nod and turned the wheel. The Falconer turned left sharply, the shift in the ship's direction happened so fast that Jacob, Alexander, and many of the crew worried that they would capsize; fortunately, the Falconer stayed upright.
The storm winds caught on the mainsail, causing the ship to lurch forward and the main mast to creak. The Falconer was now sailing perpendicular to the waves, causing the rocking of the ship to be more intense; anyone who wasn't holding onto something were now being tossed around the deck without mercy. Fortunately, no one was tossed overboard; though the Falconer was in danger of capsizing from the waves.
"This is insane!" Jacob remarked as he held on to the railing for dear life.
"Nothing great in life comes from a sane mind, sailor," Captain Wineman remarked, hearing what Jacob said. He walked back to the helm and took the wheel back from the quartermaster, "Now back to your station; if she is to go down, she's going with her crew in its place!"
Jacob begrudgingly followed his captain's order and made his way back to his station. He held onto the ropes as the Falconer continued to brave through the storms; with the amount of creaking and groaning the ship was making, it seems that even the Falconer herself was unsure of her captain's decision.
As Jacob held fast, something in the distance caught his attention. Another flash of lightning streaked across the sky, and the light from it revealed another ship in the distance. However, his eyes may be playing tricks on him; before the sky went dark again, he saw the ship being dragged into the waves by a number of large tentacles.
Losing what remaining sense he had left, he went to his knees while still holding onto the ropes and began to pray.
As he prayed, he began to reflect on his life. Being the bastard of a French prostitute and an English merchant, according to his mother, he has lived a poor childhood. He was fortunate enough that his mother's madam allowed him to sleep and eat in the brothel in exchange for doing various chores and tasks.
He was also fortunate that his mother loved him enough to care for him. She taught him how to French and English, the madam taught him about etiquette and money, and the streets taught him how to fight and survive. Overall, he lived a better life than most bastards.
His mother died when he was eight, leaving him an orphan. At the age of ten he joined the crew of a French merchant ship as a cabin boy in the hopes of a better life. He worked on the merchant ship for two years, becoming well versed in the ins and outs of sailing and trading. However, the ship he was on was captured by British privateers. The captain of the privateers took everyone prisoner except for him, offering him a place in his crew and better pay on account of being bilingual.
Not wanting to be taken prisoner, he accepted the offer; ever since then, he has been sailing as a privateer fighting against the Spanish and his countrymen.
"The storm's passing!" Jacob heard someone shout out. Coming out of his reflection, he looked around to see that the storm was starting to fade. Sunlight broke through the parting clouds as the waves calmed and the rain stopped.
Many of the crew, Jacob included, let out cheers of relief that the storm was over. Their celebration was short lived.
"All hands to station!" Captain Wineman ordered, "Unfurl all sails and ready the guns; our prize is dead ahead!"
"Sir, the Falconer and her crew just weathered a storm," Mr. Finn said to the captain, "we have no energy to enter a fight."
"And, hopefully, neither do they, Mr. Finn," the captain stated.
Jacob went to his station and began to untie some of the ropes. As he did so, he looked out to the front of the Falconer to where the first ship was spotted. With the sky and sea now basked in sunlight, the ship was now seen clearly in the distance.
Jacob was in his position beside one of the Falconer's cannons holding a linstock as two other crewmen pushed the loaded gun into position. The ship's gunner, Ethan Saw, went around the decks checking each cannon, making sure each of them were aimed properly and in position.
The Falconer closed the distance with the ship they were chasing, which now revealed itself to be a Spanish brig. Whether it was a regular merchant ship or a battleship was yet to be found out.
Jacob looked towards the captain, who was still on the quarterdeck looking through his spyglass.
"Captain," Ethan called out from the bow. "They're in range of the chase guns!"
"Fire warning shot!" Wineman ordered.
The boom of a cannon firing was heard. Jacob and everyone on above the deck looked towards the Spanish ship as a large splash was seen erupting a few yards beside it. A few seconds passed as the crew waited for a response. The sound of a whistle was heard from the Spanish ship as its gunports opened.
"Looks like we're in for a fight, lads," Wineman shouted to his crew as he turned the wheel, "All hands, to battle stations!"
People scrambled to their places as the Falconer turned to have its starboard broadside face their adversary; the enemy ship followed suit by having its port broadside face the Falconer. Before long, the two ships were now within each others' range and line of fire.
"FIRE!" Captain Wineman shouted.
Jacob lit the gunpowder on the cannon's vent and turned away; the deafening booms of the cannons were heard as the air around the Falconer filled with smoke. Not wasting time, the gun crews started loading the cannons as fast as they could. The sound of cannon fire was heard from the Spanish ship, immediately after, a series of large splashes were heard near him and the booming and shaking of the ship meant that some of the enemy fire hit their mark.
Once all the cannons were loaded and in position, Wineman gave the order to fire. The exchange of cannon fire went on for fifteen minutes; now, both ships were heavily battered and the distance between them were now very short.
"Prepare to board!" the captain ordered. Immediately, every crewman of the Falconer began to arm themselves as the ship moved in. Weapons and boarding equipment were brought up from below deck; Jacob armed himself with his usual items, a cutlass, a knife, a double barrel flintlock pistol, and two grenados.
Soon enough, the two ships were right next to each other. Grappling hooks were tossed and both sides fired at one another with muskets and swivel guns. Once both ships were basically side by side, all out chaos ensued. The Falconer crew boarded the Spanish ship, tossing grenados, firing pistols and blunderbusses, and brandishing blades and bludgeons of varying sorts. The Spanish crew defended themselves with the same armaments.
As Jacob boarded, he fired off two shots from his double barrel flintlock, hitting two Spanish men. He entered the chaos sword in hand, making his way through the crowded deck, cutting down any oncoming enemies and aiding any fellow crewmen he came by.
Making his way to the main mast, Jacob found the rope holding the ship's flag up. With a single chop, he cut the rope; soon enough, the Spanish flag was seen by all falling into the sea.
The fighting continued; Jacob spotted an open hatch that led to the deck below and tossed a lit grenado in it. He continued to parry and slash many enemies as the attack went on; after more time had passed, he realized that neither side was gaining the upper hand in the battle. Thinking quickly, Jacob made his way to the quarterdeck.
Reaching his destination, Jacob sees a well dressed and armored man cutting down three men of the Falconer crew. This was the Spanish captain, and if he is defeated, then the rest of the Spanish will surrender.
Picking up a fallen, unfired pistol, he aimed it at the Spanish captain and pulled the trigger. The hammer struck the steel and ignited the powder, but the shot failed to fire. The enemy captain took notice of Jacob's presence and made his way towards him; seeing this, Jacob lifted his cutlass into a forward guard and engaged the captain in combat.
The clashing of british and spanish steel rang throughout their engagement. The Spaniard was well trained in the art of sword combat, but Jacob's first hand experience in fighting kept him on equal footing with the officer. Slashes, faints, stabs, and parries were done in fast combos, both men were fully alert of one another's movement.
Finding himself starting to get too fatigued, Jacob went in with the hopes to end the engagement. Locking both their swords together, he closed the distance between them; drawing his knife in his left hand; Jacob stabbed the captain under his jaw. Pulling his knife out, Jacob broke the sword lock and created a distance between the two of them.
The Spaniard tried to stop the bleeding with his hand, but it was ineffective. After a few seconds, the Spanish captain collapsed into a small pool of blood, dead.
Wasting no time, Jacob grabbed the Spaniard's ornate saber and dragged the body to the quarterdeck's front railing. He then positioned the body on the railing for all on the deck below to see; he then lifted the ornate blade to the air and shouted over the chaos.
"THE SPANISH CAPTAIN IS DEAD!" He announced for all to hear.
Seeing Jacob's display, the Spanish started losing morale; soon enough, they surrendered.
The Falconer has taken her prize.
Jacob chugged down half a bottle of grog after finishing loading a decent amount of cargo into the Falconer's hold. The spanish ship was well worth braving a storm in his opinion; with enough food and supplies to make their voyage more comfortable, a lot of gold and silver, and a good amount of prisoners that either joined their crew or will be given to the nearest British fort for a decently sized bounty.
"Mister Wess," Captain Wineman called out from the quarterdeck, "front and center."
"Aye, sir." Jacob said and made his way to the captain.
"You've shown yourself to be quite a capable man, Mr. Wess." Wineman stated, looking towards the horizon. "if you were any ordinary sailor, this fight would have dragged on for too long with the expense of many lives."
"Thank you, sir." Jacob said.
The captain then unsheathed the sword with him, it was the sword of the Spanish captain he had killed.
"Take it," Wineman said, sheathing it and presenting it to him, "consider it an extra pay for going above your station."
Jacob looked at the gift in surprise for a moment before taking it, "Thank you, sir; I hope that my service aboard the Falconer will continue to reward you."
"As do I, Mr. Wess," Wineman stated, "if not, I will be taking that sword back. Understood?"
"Yes, Captain." Jacob said, saluting.
"Good, now back to your station." the captain ordered.
Jacob saluted his captain again before heading back to the main deck. As he did so, he heard the captain shout new orders.
"Full canvas, men! Helmsman, with the wind! We are setting course for Kingston!"
The crew let out a cheer as the Falconer's sails unfurled. Following behind, the Spanish ship followed, piloted by Alexander Finn and twenty men from the Falconer. It was a bountiful day for the entire crew.
"Alright you all had your fun."
"Aw, already? But I want to see more!"
"Then do it on your own time that doesn't involve mine."
"While this is all very interesting to witness, you still have to go home."
"But how do we wake up Midoriya?"
"Well, the manual says that young Midoriya has to exit the device himself; though it did say that there's a manual 'memory eject' button somewhere on the device."
"FOUND IT!"
"HATSUME, WAI-!"
Everything around Jacob began to lose its texture and colors. Soon the environment dematerialized into pixels and fade to black as a familiar loss of sensation swept through him.