1
It was a bright spring day outside the shores of Osberath. The sun shone
brightly, but didn't give off to much heat. The good vessel Emprone sailed off
into the blue of the ocean, its galley and larders stocked with food which had
been picked up at Osberath. The sails with their blue , green and black emblem
were filled with the northerly wind. The air was just the smallest bit chilly,
not cold but with that sense of fresh newness. The Emprone was a trading vessel
by nature, but many of the sailors on it were trained in the art of war. It was
not on it's usual run between Osberath and the continent, but it was heading
south into untracked water to look for new trade routes and lands, it might even
find a new continent with new people.
Cyfe walked out onto the clean, but used deck chewing happily on a freshly baked
and purchased loaf of Sourdough bread. In his head were thoughts of happiness
and comfort. Little did he realize the danger he would be in, in the next few
months. The boards creaked slightly under Cyfe's sailing boots as he paced up
and down looking at the bright blue sea and the bright blue sky. Cyfe walked
right up to the bowsprit, where Globespree, the first mate was standing
whittling on a piece of oak.
"Har Har, well if it isn't master Cyfe, pleasant day for sailing, wouldn't you
say?" he said in his odd, pirate sounding voice.
"Yes it is, I was just thinking that myself." Cyfe replied looking out at the
bright blue sea. "Perfect to start a trip, especially with a nice piece of
sourdough bread."
"I don't know how you can stand the stuff, It always makes me feel sick."
Globespree made a face, scrunching up his eyebrows and sticking out his tongue.
"I believe I'll go get another piece." Cyfe climbed down the ladder to the main
deck, and entered the galley, which was in the front of the ship so that the
smoke wouldn't blow over the rest of the ship.
Inside was the cook, Warben, who was an otter-like meature. His dark fur shone
brightly in the oven light. He spun around when he heard the door creak open,
and promptly began to yell at Cyfe. "Get out of here Cyfe, there will be no more
bread for you. That's your third piece since we left Osberath. I need to save
the rest for lunch. Unless you want your apple salad with that crumbly split
wheat bread.
"All right, for the sake of a decent lunch I shall refrain from taking another
piece of bread." Cyfe sat down at the small wooden table. "We really should have
picked up some more. Almost everyone likes it, except for Globespree."
"I'll remember that." Warben said, his rudder like tail sliding across the
wooden floor as he turned back to the pot that was simmering on the stove. "Why
don't you go up into the crow's nest with Rukoe. He always gets lonely up there
and you have nothing else to do."
Cyfe was good friends with the meature Rukoe. They were about the same age.
Rukoe was a little bigger, as meatures usually were, than Cyfe.
Cyfe climbed up to the crow's nest, and Rukoe looked happy to see him. "I was
hoping you would come up. I don't know why we even have a crow's nest. Nothing
interesting ever happens. I just sit up here all lonely while you're having fun
down bellow. The only thing there is to do is watch for whales, and practice
tying knots. I would rather be a cook. It's not so cold in the galley, and you
always get to taste wonderful food and-"
"And you have to scrub pots and pans and sweep the floor and pick up spilt
things." Cyfe interrupted him. "It's not very much fun down below. All you can
do is walk around and get in people's way and get yelled at. I don't think it
would be that bad up here. Nobody can really yell at you for doing a bad job. I
think the best position would be captain. When I'm old enough I'll get a ship
and sail off into the ocean. I'll have you as my first mate, Rukoe. Or even my
cook if you like. Mabey you could combine the jobs."
"No, I don't really think I'd make a good first mate. I'll just be cook. And I
won't cook any of that horrid garlic soup like Warben does. I always end up over
the side of the ship if I have to swallow any of that stuff."
"Well just as long as you make sourdough bread I don't care what else you cook."
Cyfe said as Warben rang the lunch bell.
"Finally, my shift is over." Rukoe let out a long sigh. They both climbed down
out of the crow's nest, and got in line with the other sailors. They ate
together with their backs against the mast since the table in the galley was to
small to fit all of the sailors at once. Warben wandered around with a pot under
one arm and a ladle in his other hands, handing out seconds and smacking the
heads that made negative comments about his dinner.
Cyfe had a large glass of root tea, while Rukoe had a flagon of drepper, which
was a favorite among the meatures. After supper Rukoe climbed back up to the
crow's nest. Meatures were famous for their swimming and climbing skills, both
of which were helped by their tails. Rukoe had to stay up in the crow's nest all
day, since he had the best day eyes. Cyfe helped Warben clean up lunch and then
went into the captain's room to see his brother.
"Hallo Cyfe," the captain said "How's my favorite little brother?"
"Fine, bored, but fine. I'm not sick or anything." Cyfe said sitting down in his
favorite chair.
"I haven't seen you since we left Osberath, where have you been?" Koldo asked.
"Oh, I was just up in the crow's nest with Rukoe. He really gets quite bored up
there. Mabey you should give him some other duties."
"Sorry, can't do that." Koldo replied, drawing on a map which was held to his
desk with four red pins. "He's got the best eyes I have ever seen in a meature,
or in any other creature for that matter."
"Well, still I don't think it is fair for him to sit up there alone all day
while everyone else is down here talking. Nothing ever happens anyway."
"Yes, but it might. You never know on these seas. Pirates may not have been seen
lately but that doesn't mean that they aren't around. They just don't want to be
seen. You don't see whales very often but we know they are there. Besides a
lookout doesn't only help watch out for pirates, he also watches the weather and
tells us if we are coming into a storm. Without him we would just bob around
waiting to be tossed around by the waves." Koldo said sounding a little like a
reprimanding father.
"But couldn't someone else take a turn once in a while. I would like to have him
down here so I wouldn't get so bored."
"So you're bored hmm?" Koldo raised his eyebrows. "Well we can fix that. From
now on you will have regular ships duties half of the day. The rest of the day
you'll switch off with Rukoe up in the crow's nest and he can take your jobs
down here. Does that seem fare to you?"
"Yes it does." Cyfe said taking up the challenge. "In fact it sounds great. When
do I start?"
"Right now." Was the answer.
* * *
Cyfe was assigned various jobs around the ship, and Rukoe was very happy to
hear that he wouldn't have to sit up in the crow's nest all day. Cyfe's worked
with two sailors in particular, Gykojo, a meature, and Tigoye who was a human.
He enjoyed their company immensely. They were both warriors who were on the ship
to protect it more than to sail. Gykojo carried a huge double bit axe across his
back and was a sure shot with a bow. Tigoye was never far from his two-handed
sword, and he was a sling-man. Although most of the rest of the crew could fend
for themselves, Gykojo and Tigoye were the only ones thought of as warriors.
Cyfe would listen to them talk about battles, tactics and weapons. They were
both masters of warfare and they often argued.
"I remember when I was trapped in the underground dungeon of Condign castle.
There were guards at the door and all along the stairs to keep me from
escaping." Gykojo said "The only weapons I had were me fists and a piece of rope
which had been used to tie me up. I threw myself at the door with all of my
weight, it cracked, right down the middle and flattened the two guards against
the wall."
"Now how could it crack right down the middle and still smash the guards against
the wall? That doesn't make any sense." Tigoye interrupted.
"Then I saw fifteen guards running at me with their spears all pointed right at
me heart."
"Wouldn't they get in the way of each other if they were all pointing their
spears at your heart?" Tigoye interrupted again.
"But I leapt right over their heads right before they hit me. Before they could
turn around I hit them from the back with me rope and me fists. They fought like
crazy, out of fear, to get past me but I couldn't have them running upstairs and
yelling that I had escaped," Gykojo continued, "so I finished them all off right
there on the steps. Leaping and jumping and twirling, no one could get at me. I
was like a firestorm. I only received one scratch and that was from ramming the
door."
"Facing fifteen soldiers, all with spears and you only with a bit of rope. Ha."
Tigoye snorted.
"It's the truth." Gykojo said indignantly.
Cyfe listened to all of the stories, no matter how wild with rapt attention,
soaking up all of the strategies, and what can be used as a makeshift weapon. He
asked many questions and Tigoye and Gykojo answered them all and more.
Cyfe was up on the deck the second day since he had been drafted into working on
the ship. He found himself talking to Globespree again. Globespree was showing
him many useful sailing knots and some others which were equally useful.
"You take this piece of the rope and wind it around the rock one more time,
through the center hole and finish it off like this." He said. "And then you
have a makeshift club for all occasions." Globespree showed Cyfe with a piece of
wood, a rock and a stone. He was using the oak stick on which he had been
whittling before, and binding a good sized rock to the top with some rope and
the help of some well placed holes on the stick. "Here now you try." He handed
Cyfe an identical stick and the rope.
"Cyfe. Come down here. I have something for you to do" Koldo's voice wafted up
to where Cyfe was standing with Globespree.
"Thank you for showing me." Cyfe said to Globespree as he handed back the stick
and rope. "I really enjoyed it."
Globespree said "Keep the stick and practice that club and the other knots." And
Cyfe tied the stick by his side, to his belt.
Over the next few days Cyfe and Rukoe were both kept hard at work. They rarely
saw each other, except at meals, at which they would tell each other what they
had learned over the day or just talk. Cyfe relayed all of the information about
wars, weapons and strategies he heard from Gykojo and Tigoye which Rukoe really
enjoyed. They both admired Gykojo and Tigoye greatly. In their spare time they
worked together to fashion weapons from anything at hand. Cyfe carried around
his glod, as he referred to the weapon which Globespree had shown him to make,
and Rukoe was especially fond of a short sword which he had made out of a very
large and old knife that Warben was going to throw out.
* * *
The Emprone arrived at a beautiful green island with a huge mountain sticking up
out of the forest, a week after leaving Osberath. It had been discovered some
years ago but never inhabited. They threw out the anchor and Koldo, Cyfe, Rukoe,
Globespree and some others went ashore for fresh water.
Once into the forest Cyfe asked if he and Rukoe could go exploring.
"I don't know," Koldo said, "you never can tell if there is a pirate ship holed
up here where we can't see it. I suppose you will be alright if you take your
weapons and Globespree with you."
Cyfe was half expecting Globespree to go against the idea but he seemed all for
it. "We can pretend that were enemy pirates trying to kill each other, mates."
He said in a low whisper. "Well at least Cyfe and me can. Who ever heard of a
meature pirate?" Rukoe looked disappointed. "Rukoe, you can be the captain of a
ship that crashed here leaving only you alive. We'll try to get each other.
How's that sound?" The meature immediately brightened up.
All three of them set off into the woods yelling war calls and scrambling over
fallen trees. Rukoe went in one direction and Cyfe set off in another with
Globespree in the center. As soon as he was out of sight of Globespree, Cyfe
dropped low to the ground, his dark green tunic, black; vest pantaloons and
boots blending in well with the forest.
Using everything he had heard from Gykojo and Tigoye, Cyfe circled around where
he thought Rukoe would be and started to make his way forward, looking for signs
of a trail. He traveled for about ten minutes until he came to a pool and
waterfall. He saw a set of meature paw prints in the wet sand near the pool.
Rukoe had obviously gone down into the water. Meatures were excellent swimmers.
The bright sun shone off the water and the falls causing a rainbow.
Cyfe looked around the edge of the pool for any signs of where Rukoe had come
back out. He didn't see any. Then he noticed the river flowing out of the pool.
"Rukoe could have easily swam down the river and gotten out somewhere else so I
wouldn't see his trail." He thought "But why would he come to the water in the
first place where I could see his footprints in the sand?" He just then happened
to look into the water and he saw something dropping straight towards his head.
He jumped to one side as a large black and green thing splashed into the water.
"Hahahahohohehe." Cyfe recognized Rukoe's laugh. "You should have seen the look
on your face. Hohohe. You were so hoho scared. Hmhmha." Rukoe couldn't stop
laughing, and he sat in the waste deep water. "I was watching you for five min-
hahahaho nim hmhm MINUTES. I thought you would come this way." Rukoe gasped for
air. "So I made it look like I was in the water and then ju-HAHAHA, jumped at
you. Ohahaha. Do that face again!"
Cyfe couldn't help but laugh at the meature. "Hahahhohohehehe. Oh, my. Let's go
find Globespree. We'd better get back to the shore or they'll take off without
us."
Rukoe at once became serious. "You don't think they really would do you?"
"Well I wouldn't be surprised if they went around the bend just to scare us. But
no, they wouldn't leave us here." Cyfe reassured Rukoe. "But let's hurry and
find Globespree anyway so they don't get mad."
Cyfe and Rukoe set off trough the woods, away from the direction of the ship.
The foliage became thinner as they neared the large rocky mountain rearing out
of the ground. They also had to climb slightly. The ground became more and more
rocky.
Suddenly Cyfe and Rukoe both stopped dead still, their eyes locked on something
swinging from one of the trees. It was a skeleton.
2
The Emprone bobbed up and down about fifty feet from the shore. It's triangular
sails which were perpendicular to the main square sails were pushed by the wind
until they were billowed out like a chef's hat.
Koldo and Gykojo stood shoulder to shoulder squinting into the forest, the sun
high in the sky and slightly in front.
"They should have been back by now." Koldo said worriedly to Gykojo. "I suppose
we should go in and look for them."
Gykojo slid his huge double battle-ax out of it's sheath on his back. The old
ashen handle shone a dull brown in the same light that glinted off of the blue-
steel blades. It was immensely sharp and Gykojo showed this by pulling a hair
from his chest and split it on one of the blades. "We'd better bring weapons if
we're going in there." His plank-like tail smacked the sand in happiness,
spraying sand all over Tigoye, who stood behind gathering round stones and
putting them in his stone pouch..
Tigoye picked up a hand full of sand and threw it at Gykojo muttering "What a
pain it must be to have a tail. Always getting in the way and banging around
behind you. Probably would get stepped on a lot to."
"Actually it is quite a big help. It makes you sturdier, helps in swimming, and
is great in battle. So there." Gykojo said back to Tigoye, raising his eyebrows
and smiling. "I would much rather be a meature than a human any day. In addition
to a tail you also have a warm insulating coat of fur-"
"You mean insulting don't you?" Tigoye interrupted Gykojo.
"Anyway as I was saying," Koldo cut in "We should probably go looking now. I've
got my javelin. That should be adequate. Do you think we should go off on our
own, or signal back to the ship for the rest to come to?"
"I think we should be adequate to deal with any scurvy pirates. There shouldn't
be to many, if any at all." Tigoye said. "I'll signal to the ship to let them
know where we are going though. They need to finish loading those supplies, and
they need to be there incase of a pirate attack by water."
"All right." Koldo said walking towards the forest. "Let's get going."
They walked deep into the forest past rocks, trees, and bushes towards the large
mountain in the center. Soon they came out on it's lower slopes where the trees
had thinned off and all that was left was small, thick bushes and mossy grass
which grew in abundance where the rocky ground permitted.
"Why don't we walk a bit higher, so we can see over these trees. Then we can all
shout together and perhaps they will be able to hear us." Koldo suggested
"Seems funny to me that Globespree didn't have the sense to come back sooner."
Tigoye muttered to himself. "Oh well lets give it a good holler."
"What'll we shout?" Gykojo asked sensibly. "If we just yell they might think we
are some kind of wild animal."
"You are a wild animal, harry." Tigoye said under his breath.
"What's your definition of a "wild animal" Tigoye?" Gykojo answered with
confidence.
"Oh you know, hairy, with a tail, funny shaped heads, non-civilized, if-"
"Actually it is a proven point that our heads are not funny shaped. They are
perfect for streamlined swimming. Tails and fur are useful to, as I have already
said. And as for being uncivilized meatures were civilized way before humans. We
still are more civilized. Notice how you will never see a meature attack another
meature. We only fight for a good cause, but never against ourselves. All of
these show that it is actually humans who are wild animals."
"Would you two stop arguing?" Koldo was getting nervous for his brother, Rukoe
and Globespree.
"I wasn't arguing, I was discussing." Tigoye and Gykojo said simultaneously.
"Whatever. Now as for a call, I think we should yell 'Emprone'. They all know
that name so they wouldn't think it was some enemy or a wild animal." Said
Koldo. "Right, now everyone on three. Ready? One, two three."
"EEEMMMPRRRRROOOOOOOOONNNNNE" The call rang out above the trees, echoing all
around the Island.
Then three things happened at once: The crew of the Emprone called back the name
loudly, and began to scramble over the side of the ship, into the longboat
because they thought the captain and the warriors were in trouble. Rukoe and
Cyfe both looked in the direction of the call, and pivoted around. Four dark
little bodies sprang out of the trees landing feet first on Cyfe and Rukoe.
The fight that followed was short; Rukoe and Cyfe were quickly knocked
unconscious and tied with strong vines. They did manage to give one loud yell to
signal their position before they were hit over their heads. Their weapons
slipped out of their non-feeling hands and onto the ground, where the four dark
creatures failed to notice them.
Koldo, Gykojo and Tigoye had heard the call and took off as fast as possible in
that direction. Unfortunately it was the call of their crew that they heard and
so they went back towards the beach, thinking that Cyfe, Rukoe, and Globespree
were in that direction. As they neared the edge of the woods they met their own
sailors, who were running inland.
Koldo sat on a rock. "Oh no, we heard you calling and thought it was the others.
Why did you call out and then come running?"
"We thought you were in trouble," Warben, who was carrying a long pole with a
knife on one end, said. "So we came to help. You haven't found Globespree and
the boys yet?"
"No, we called out to get them to call to us, so we could find them." Tigoye
said, breathless. "We'd better go back into the forest and look for them. You
lot can head back to the ship."
As they all turned to face the Emprone they saw smoke. "That's funny," Warben
said. "I was sure I put out the fire in the galley." They all rushed out of the
trees and saw it. It was a pirate ship. All at once they scrambled to their
longboat to get into the ocean and save their ship. Fortunately it wasn't the
Emprone that was on fire, it was the pirates ship.
Koldo lead them up the rope ladder on the side of the Emprone to take up battle
stations, but there wasn't anyone to fight. The pirate ship slid right past them
and nosed into a sandbar near the shore, there was no sound coming from it
except for the crackle of burning timber.
"Let's get over there and see if there are any survivors." Koldo said out of
compassion.
"You never know, It might be a pirate trick, said Gykojo. "I wouldn't put it
past them to light their own boat on fire in the hope that we would go over
there and then they could kill us, and steal our better boat."
"But still, if there are any survivors we can't just let them burn up on their
ship." Koldo argued.
"That's better than they would give any of us if they had the chance." Tigoye
argued back. "I've dealt with plenty of pirates. They don't deserve our help."
"Well fine, stay here if you want, but I am going over there. Pirates are still
living creatures, no matter how bad they are." Koldo said resolutely.
In the end all of the sailors decided that if Captain Koldo was going over, that
they had better go to. If it was a trap, he wouldn't be able to fight off all of
the pirates.
When they climbed up the side of the boat they discovered that they didn't need
to worry. There was no surprise attack, and there were no survivors. The deck
was a bloody mess. Fresh corpses of pirates lay all over, some draped over
rails, others laying on the deck.
"What a mess this is." Gykojo said. "Who d' you think did this?"
Koldo blinked his eyes against the smoke that was swirling about, from the fire
that had been extinguished by the lapping waves. "Other pirates, most likely.
Fighting over treasure or whatever. Here, what's this?" Koldo was looking at one
of the dead pirates. He had obviously been the captain, or the first mate,
judging by his finer clothing. Stuck in his back was a knife, holding a scrap of
fabric which bore a morning star symbol on it.
Tigoye peered at the symbol. "Oh, that is the insignia of the Joule-Scuttlers.
It's a group of pirates that banded together and have grown quite powerful
around here. Some say that there are about fifteen ships under the Joule-
Scuttlers. I've heard that their leader came from far across the ocean. Don't
know how much truth there is in that though."
"Look at these fine weapons." A sailor said. "Mabey the Joule-Scuttlers weren't
after plunder, if they left all of this stuff around."
"I bet that the Joule-Scuttlers were trying to make these pirates join them.
When they didn't the Joule-Scuttlers killed 'em." Tigoye said looking at a
perfectly made spear. "Cyfe and Rukoe would have a hay-day if they got their
hands on this lot."
"Oh no! We've forgotten all about them!" Koldo rushed for the side of the boat
to climb into the long boat moored there. Quickly the rest of the sailors
followed him over the side.
It was a bright spring day outside the shores of Osberath. The sun shone
brightly, but didn't give off to much heat. The good vessel Emprone sailed off
into the blue of the ocean, its galley and larders stocked with food which had
been picked up at Osberath. The sails with their blue , green and black emblem
were filled with the northerly wind. The air was just the smallest bit chilly,
not cold but with that sense of fresh newness. The Emprone was a trading vessel
by nature, but many of the sailors on it were trained in the art of war. It was
not on it's usual run between Osberath and the continent, but it was heading
south into untracked water to look for new trade routes and lands, it might even
find a new continent with new people.
Cyfe walked out onto the clean, but used deck chewing happily on a freshly baked
and purchased loaf of Sourdough bread. In his head were thoughts of happiness
and comfort. Little did he realize the danger he would be in, in the next few
months. The boards creaked slightly under Cyfe's sailing boots as he paced up
and down looking at the bright blue sea and the bright blue sky. Cyfe walked
right up to the bowsprit, where Globespree, the first mate was standing
whittling on a piece of oak.
"Har Har, well if it isn't master Cyfe, pleasant day for sailing, wouldn't you
say?" he said in his odd, pirate sounding voice.
"Yes it is, I was just thinking that myself." Cyfe replied looking out at the
bright blue sea. "Perfect to start a trip, especially with a nice piece of
sourdough bread."
"I don't know how you can stand the stuff, It always makes me feel sick."
Globespree made a face, scrunching up his eyebrows and sticking out his tongue.
"I believe I'll go get another piece." Cyfe climbed down the ladder to the main
deck, and entered the galley, which was in the front of the ship so that the
smoke wouldn't blow over the rest of the ship.
Inside was the cook, Warben, who was an otter-like meature. His dark fur shone
brightly in the oven light. He spun around when he heard the door creak open,
and promptly began to yell at Cyfe. "Get out of here Cyfe, there will be no more
bread for you. That's your third piece since we left Osberath. I need to save
the rest for lunch. Unless you want your apple salad with that crumbly split
wheat bread.
"All right, for the sake of a decent lunch I shall refrain from taking another
piece of bread." Cyfe sat down at the small wooden table. "We really should have
picked up some more. Almost everyone likes it, except for Globespree."
"I'll remember that." Warben said, his rudder like tail sliding across the
wooden floor as he turned back to the pot that was simmering on the stove. "Why
don't you go up into the crow's nest with Rukoe. He always gets lonely up there
and you have nothing else to do."
Cyfe was good friends with the meature Rukoe. They were about the same age.
Rukoe was a little bigger, as meatures usually were, than Cyfe.
Cyfe climbed up to the crow's nest, and Rukoe looked happy to see him. "I was
hoping you would come up. I don't know why we even have a crow's nest. Nothing
interesting ever happens. I just sit up here all lonely while you're having fun
down bellow. The only thing there is to do is watch for whales, and practice
tying knots. I would rather be a cook. It's not so cold in the galley, and you
always get to taste wonderful food and-"
"And you have to scrub pots and pans and sweep the floor and pick up spilt
things." Cyfe interrupted him. "It's not very much fun down below. All you can
do is walk around and get in people's way and get yelled at. I don't think it
would be that bad up here. Nobody can really yell at you for doing a bad job. I
think the best position would be captain. When I'm old enough I'll get a ship
and sail off into the ocean. I'll have you as my first mate, Rukoe. Or even my
cook if you like. Mabey you could combine the jobs."
"No, I don't really think I'd make a good first mate. I'll just be cook. And I
won't cook any of that horrid garlic soup like Warben does. I always end up over
the side of the ship if I have to swallow any of that stuff."
"Well just as long as you make sourdough bread I don't care what else you cook."
Cyfe said as Warben rang the lunch bell.
"Finally, my shift is over." Rukoe let out a long sigh. They both climbed down
out of the crow's nest, and got in line with the other sailors. They ate
together with their backs against the mast since the table in the galley was to
small to fit all of the sailors at once. Warben wandered around with a pot under
one arm and a ladle in his other hands, handing out seconds and smacking the
heads that made negative comments about his dinner.
Cyfe had a large glass of root tea, while Rukoe had a flagon of drepper, which
was a favorite among the meatures. After supper Rukoe climbed back up to the
crow's nest. Meatures were famous for their swimming and climbing skills, both
of which were helped by their tails. Rukoe had to stay up in the crow's nest all
day, since he had the best day eyes. Cyfe helped Warben clean up lunch and then
went into the captain's room to see his brother.
"Hallo Cyfe," the captain said "How's my favorite little brother?"
"Fine, bored, but fine. I'm not sick or anything." Cyfe said sitting down in his
favorite chair.
"I haven't seen you since we left Osberath, where have you been?" Koldo asked.
"Oh, I was just up in the crow's nest with Rukoe. He really gets quite bored up
there. Mabey you should give him some other duties."
"Sorry, can't do that." Koldo replied, drawing on a map which was held to his
desk with four red pins. "He's got the best eyes I have ever seen in a meature,
or in any other creature for that matter."
"Well, still I don't think it is fair for him to sit up there alone all day
while everyone else is down here talking. Nothing ever happens anyway."
"Yes, but it might. You never know on these seas. Pirates may not have been seen
lately but that doesn't mean that they aren't around. They just don't want to be
seen. You don't see whales very often but we know they are there. Besides a
lookout doesn't only help watch out for pirates, he also watches the weather and
tells us if we are coming into a storm. Without him we would just bob around
waiting to be tossed around by the waves." Koldo said sounding a little like a
reprimanding father.
"But couldn't someone else take a turn once in a while. I would like to have him
down here so I wouldn't get so bored."
"So you're bored hmm?" Koldo raised his eyebrows. "Well we can fix that. From
now on you will have regular ships duties half of the day. The rest of the day
you'll switch off with Rukoe up in the crow's nest and he can take your jobs
down here. Does that seem fare to you?"
"Yes it does." Cyfe said taking up the challenge. "In fact it sounds great. When
do I start?"
"Right now." Was the answer.
* * *
Cyfe was assigned various jobs around the ship, and Rukoe was very happy to
hear that he wouldn't have to sit up in the crow's nest all day. Cyfe's worked
with two sailors in particular, Gykojo, a meature, and Tigoye who was a human.
He enjoyed their company immensely. They were both warriors who were on the ship
to protect it more than to sail. Gykojo carried a huge double bit axe across his
back and was a sure shot with a bow. Tigoye was never far from his two-handed
sword, and he was a sling-man. Although most of the rest of the crew could fend
for themselves, Gykojo and Tigoye were the only ones thought of as warriors.
Cyfe would listen to them talk about battles, tactics and weapons. They were
both masters of warfare and they often argued.
"I remember when I was trapped in the underground dungeon of Condign castle.
There were guards at the door and all along the stairs to keep me from
escaping." Gykojo said "The only weapons I had were me fists and a piece of rope
which had been used to tie me up. I threw myself at the door with all of my
weight, it cracked, right down the middle and flattened the two guards against
the wall."
"Now how could it crack right down the middle and still smash the guards against
the wall? That doesn't make any sense." Tigoye interrupted.
"Then I saw fifteen guards running at me with their spears all pointed right at
me heart."
"Wouldn't they get in the way of each other if they were all pointing their
spears at your heart?" Tigoye interrupted again.
"But I leapt right over their heads right before they hit me. Before they could
turn around I hit them from the back with me rope and me fists. They fought like
crazy, out of fear, to get past me but I couldn't have them running upstairs and
yelling that I had escaped," Gykojo continued, "so I finished them all off right
there on the steps. Leaping and jumping and twirling, no one could get at me. I
was like a firestorm. I only received one scratch and that was from ramming the
door."
"Facing fifteen soldiers, all with spears and you only with a bit of rope. Ha."
Tigoye snorted.
"It's the truth." Gykojo said indignantly.
Cyfe listened to all of the stories, no matter how wild with rapt attention,
soaking up all of the strategies, and what can be used as a makeshift weapon. He
asked many questions and Tigoye and Gykojo answered them all and more.
Cyfe was up on the deck the second day since he had been drafted into working on
the ship. He found himself talking to Globespree again. Globespree was showing
him many useful sailing knots and some others which were equally useful.
"You take this piece of the rope and wind it around the rock one more time,
through the center hole and finish it off like this." He said. "And then you
have a makeshift club for all occasions." Globespree showed Cyfe with a piece of
wood, a rock and a stone. He was using the oak stick on which he had been
whittling before, and binding a good sized rock to the top with some rope and
the help of some well placed holes on the stick. "Here now you try." He handed
Cyfe an identical stick and the rope.
"Cyfe. Come down here. I have something for you to do" Koldo's voice wafted up
to where Cyfe was standing with Globespree.
"Thank you for showing me." Cyfe said to Globespree as he handed back the stick
and rope. "I really enjoyed it."
Globespree said "Keep the stick and practice that club and the other knots." And
Cyfe tied the stick by his side, to his belt.
Over the next few days Cyfe and Rukoe were both kept hard at work. They rarely
saw each other, except at meals, at which they would tell each other what they
had learned over the day or just talk. Cyfe relayed all of the information about
wars, weapons and strategies he heard from Gykojo and Tigoye which Rukoe really
enjoyed. They both admired Gykojo and Tigoye greatly. In their spare time they
worked together to fashion weapons from anything at hand. Cyfe carried around
his glod, as he referred to the weapon which Globespree had shown him to make,
and Rukoe was especially fond of a short sword which he had made out of a very
large and old knife that Warben was going to throw out.
* * *
The Emprone arrived at a beautiful green island with a huge mountain sticking up
out of the forest, a week after leaving Osberath. It had been discovered some
years ago but never inhabited. They threw out the anchor and Koldo, Cyfe, Rukoe,
Globespree and some others went ashore for fresh water.
Once into the forest Cyfe asked if he and Rukoe could go exploring.
"I don't know," Koldo said, "you never can tell if there is a pirate ship holed
up here where we can't see it. I suppose you will be alright if you take your
weapons and Globespree with you."
Cyfe was half expecting Globespree to go against the idea but he seemed all for
it. "We can pretend that were enemy pirates trying to kill each other, mates."
He said in a low whisper. "Well at least Cyfe and me can. Who ever heard of a
meature pirate?" Rukoe looked disappointed. "Rukoe, you can be the captain of a
ship that crashed here leaving only you alive. We'll try to get each other.
How's that sound?" The meature immediately brightened up.
All three of them set off into the woods yelling war calls and scrambling over
fallen trees. Rukoe went in one direction and Cyfe set off in another with
Globespree in the center. As soon as he was out of sight of Globespree, Cyfe
dropped low to the ground, his dark green tunic, black; vest pantaloons and
boots blending in well with the forest.
Using everything he had heard from Gykojo and Tigoye, Cyfe circled around where
he thought Rukoe would be and started to make his way forward, looking for signs
of a trail. He traveled for about ten minutes until he came to a pool and
waterfall. He saw a set of meature paw prints in the wet sand near the pool.
Rukoe had obviously gone down into the water. Meatures were excellent swimmers.
The bright sun shone off the water and the falls causing a rainbow.
Cyfe looked around the edge of the pool for any signs of where Rukoe had come
back out. He didn't see any. Then he noticed the river flowing out of the pool.
"Rukoe could have easily swam down the river and gotten out somewhere else so I
wouldn't see his trail." He thought "But why would he come to the water in the
first place where I could see his footprints in the sand?" He just then happened
to look into the water and he saw something dropping straight towards his head.
He jumped to one side as a large black and green thing splashed into the water.
"Hahahahohohehe." Cyfe recognized Rukoe's laugh. "You should have seen the look
on your face. Hohohe. You were so hoho scared. Hmhmha." Rukoe couldn't stop
laughing, and he sat in the waste deep water. "I was watching you for five min-
hahahaho nim hmhm MINUTES. I thought you would come this way." Rukoe gasped for
air. "So I made it look like I was in the water and then ju-HAHAHA, jumped at
you. Ohahaha. Do that face again!"
Cyfe couldn't help but laugh at the meature. "Hahahhohohehehe. Oh, my. Let's go
find Globespree. We'd better get back to the shore or they'll take off without
us."
Rukoe at once became serious. "You don't think they really would do you?"
"Well I wouldn't be surprised if they went around the bend just to scare us. But
no, they wouldn't leave us here." Cyfe reassured Rukoe. "But let's hurry and
find Globespree anyway so they don't get mad."
Cyfe and Rukoe set off trough the woods, away from the direction of the ship.
The foliage became thinner as they neared the large rocky mountain rearing out
of the ground. They also had to climb slightly. The ground became more and more
rocky.
Suddenly Cyfe and Rukoe both stopped dead still, their eyes locked on something
swinging from one of the trees. It was a skeleton.
2
The Emprone bobbed up and down about fifty feet from the shore. It's triangular
sails which were perpendicular to the main square sails were pushed by the wind
until they were billowed out like a chef's hat.
Koldo and Gykojo stood shoulder to shoulder squinting into the forest, the sun
high in the sky and slightly in front.
"They should have been back by now." Koldo said worriedly to Gykojo. "I suppose
we should go in and look for them."
Gykojo slid his huge double battle-ax out of it's sheath on his back. The old
ashen handle shone a dull brown in the same light that glinted off of the blue-
steel blades. It was immensely sharp and Gykojo showed this by pulling a hair
from his chest and split it on one of the blades. "We'd better bring weapons if
we're going in there." His plank-like tail smacked the sand in happiness,
spraying sand all over Tigoye, who stood behind gathering round stones and
putting them in his stone pouch..
Tigoye picked up a hand full of sand and threw it at Gykojo muttering "What a
pain it must be to have a tail. Always getting in the way and banging around
behind you. Probably would get stepped on a lot to."
"Actually it is quite a big help. It makes you sturdier, helps in swimming, and
is great in battle. So there." Gykojo said back to Tigoye, raising his eyebrows
and smiling. "I would much rather be a meature than a human any day. In addition
to a tail you also have a warm insulating coat of fur-"
"You mean insulting don't you?" Tigoye interrupted Gykojo.
"Anyway as I was saying," Koldo cut in "We should probably go looking now. I've
got my javelin. That should be adequate. Do you think we should go off on our
own, or signal back to the ship for the rest to come to?"
"I think we should be adequate to deal with any scurvy pirates. There shouldn't
be to many, if any at all." Tigoye said. "I'll signal to the ship to let them
know where we are going though. They need to finish loading those supplies, and
they need to be there incase of a pirate attack by water."
"All right." Koldo said walking towards the forest. "Let's get going."
They walked deep into the forest past rocks, trees, and bushes towards the large
mountain in the center. Soon they came out on it's lower slopes where the trees
had thinned off and all that was left was small, thick bushes and mossy grass
which grew in abundance where the rocky ground permitted.
"Why don't we walk a bit higher, so we can see over these trees. Then we can all
shout together and perhaps they will be able to hear us." Koldo suggested
"Seems funny to me that Globespree didn't have the sense to come back sooner."
Tigoye muttered to himself. "Oh well lets give it a good holler."
"What'll we shout?" Gykojo asked sensibly. "If we just yell they might think we
are some kind of wild animal."
"You are a wild animal, harry." Tigoye said under his breath.
"What's your definition of a "wild animal" Tigoye?" Gykojo answered with
confidence.
"Oh you know, hairy, with a tail, funny shaped heads, non-civilized, if-"
"Actually it is a proven point that our heads are not funny shaped. They are
perfect for streamlined swimming. Tails and fur are useful to, as I have already
said. And as for being uncivilized meatures were civilized way before humans. We
still are more civilized. Notice how you will never see a meature attack another
meature. We only fight for a good cause, but never against ourselves. All of
these show that it is actually humans who are wild animals."
"Would you two stop arguing?" Koldo was getting nervous for his brother, Rukoe
and Globespree.
"I wasn't arguing, I was discussing." Tigoye and Gykojo said simultaneously.
"Whatever. Now as for a call, I think we should yell 'Emprone'. They all know
that name so they wouldn't think it was some enemy or a wild animal." Said
Koldo. "Right, now everyone on three. Ready? One, two three."
"EEEMMMPRRRRROOOOOOOOONNNNNE" The call rang out above the trees, echoing all
around the Island.
Then three things happened at once: The crew of the Emprone called back the name
loudly, and began to scramble over the side of the ship, into the longboat
because they thought the captain and the warriors were in trouble. Rukoe and
Cyfe both looked in the direction of the call, and pivoted around. Four dark
little bodies sprang out of the trees landing feet first on Cyfe and Rukoe.
The fight that followed was short; Rukoe and Cyfe were quickly knocked
unconscious and tied with strong vines. They did manage to give one loud yell to
signal their position before they were hit over their heads. Their weapons
slipped out of their non-feeling hands and onto the ground, where the four dark
creatures failed to notice them.
Koldo, Gykojo and Tigoye had heard the call and took off as fast as possible in
that direction. Unfortunately it was the call of their crew that they heard and
so they went back towards the beach, thinking that Cyfe, Rukoe, and Globespree
were in that direction. As they neared the edge of the woods they met their own
sailors, who were running inland.
Koldo sat on a rock. "Oh no, we heard you calling and thought it was the others.
Why did you call out and then come running?"
"We thought you were in trouble," Warben, who was carrying a long pole with a
knife on one end, said. "So we came to help. You haven't found Globespree and
the boys yet?"
"No, we called out to get them to call to us, so we could find them." Tigoye
said, breathless. "We'd better go back into the forest and look for them. You
lot can head back to the ship."
As they all turned to face the Emprone they saw smoke. "That's funny," Warben
said. "I was sure I put out the fire in the galley." They all rushed out of the
trees and saw it. It was a pirate ship. All at once they scrambled to their
longboat to get into the ocean and save their ship. Fortunately it wasn't the
Emprone that was on fire, it was the pirates ship.
Koldo lead them up the rope ladder on the side of the Emprone to take up battle
stations, but there wasn't anyone to fight. The pirate ship slid right past them
and nosed into a sandbar near the shore, there was no sound coming from it
except for the crackle of burning timber.
"Let's get over there and see if there are any survivors." Koldo said out of
compassion.
"You never know, It might be a pirate trick, said Gykojo. "I wouldn't put it
past them to light their own boat on fire in the hope that we would go over
there and then they could kill us, and steal our better boat."
"But still, if there are any survivors we can't just let them burn up on their
ship." Koldo argued.
"That's better than they would give any of us if they had the chance." Tigoye
argued back. "I've dealt with plenty of pirates. They don't deserve our help."
"Well fine, stay here if you want, but I am going over there. Pirates are still
living creatures, no matter how bad they are." Koldo said resolutely.
In the end all of the sailors decided that if Captain Koldo was going over, that
they had better go to. If it was a trap, he wouldn't be able to fight off all of
the pirates.
When they climbed up the side of the boat they discovered that they didn't need
to worry. There was no surprise attack, and there were no survivors. The deck
was a bloody mess. Fresh corpses of pirates lay all over, some draped over
rails, others laying on the deck.
"What a mess this is." Gykojo said. "Who d' you think did this?"
Koldo blinked his eyes against the smoke that was swirling about, from the fire
that had been extinguished by the lapping waves. "Other pirates, most likely.
Fighting over treasure or whatever. Here, what's this?" Koldo was looking at one
of the dead pirates. He had obviously been the captain, or the first mate,
judging by his finer clothing. Stuck in his back was a knife, holding a scrap of
fabric which bore a morning star symbol on it.
Tigoye peered at the symbol. "Oh, that is the insignia of the Joule-Scuttlers.
It's a group of pirates that banded together and have grown quite powerful
around here. Some say that there are about fifteen ships under the Joule-
Scuttlers. I've heard that their leader came from far across the ocean. Don't
know how much truth there is in that though."
"Look at these fine weapons." A sailor said. "Mabey the Joule-Scuttlers weren't
after plunder, if they left all of this stuff around."
"I bet that the Joule-Scuttlers were trying to make these pirates join them.
When they didn't the Joule-Scuttlers killed 'em." Tigoye said looking at a
perfectly made spear. "Cyfe and Rukoe would have a hay-day if they got their
hands on this lot."
"Oh no! We've forgotten all about them!" Koldo rushed for the side of the boat
to climb into the long boat moored there. Quickly the rest of the sailors
followed him over the side.