Captain
Chapter Five: Not Dead Yet
Hey all you happy people out there! The least bit happy I am today. I'm back on the ship, sucks to be me. Not only do I have a broken nose, not to mention seven broken ribs on either side, but none of my injuries can I allow anyone to doctor. And me not a healer! Damn Ms. Hibs, I shoulda listened to her and at least taken some notes when doctors would rarely spend a day at the Tavern. Maybe I could have at least learnt by now not to pick fights with people I know I can't win against. Damn everyone that calls him or her to never be wrong!
"Mr. Trent?" Damn, damn, damn! Really, right now I hate the first mate Mr. Smee. Before I wouldn't have thought myself capable of hating, but at this moment, when I'm feeling worse then shit, I can't help it.
"What?" I grumble through the cabin door. I've asked the captain a favor I'll have to pay back later. No wages for me for quite awhile. Just like Captain to go and find a loophole in the deal. The bright side is the rain has stopped. Sort of sad really, the sound of rain calms me, even when I'm in as grumpy and seasick a mood as today. God really hates me today doesn't he? Or maybe he just needed a scalp-goat to let out all his frustrations on. Or maybe it's because I'm one hell of a liar and I tend to cuss every other sentence. Hell if I know!
"Cap'n is on 'is way e're. Suggest you ready yourself for a nasty visit. Not a good mood Cap'n is in today." Ha! If I showed my true colors to this crew no one would be having a good day! They'd all be in as sour a mood as I'm in. But thinking like that I'd consider mutiny, and so no more.
"Aright, I'm ready." I lie and slip back into my baggy shirt to cover my messily done bandages, not to mention ribbon tying down my breasts to my chest. God this is painful! The second I have time I'm jumping into the ocean and floating for a tidbit. I may look like a boy, a bruised one at that, but damned be it if I smell exactly like one! Minus the scent of blood I'm sure is radiating off of me. Whoops, here's Captain!
"How'd it happen boy? Lie to me and I'll cut out yer tongue." Damn right Captain isn't in a good mood. But why should he care? Why should he care whether or not I'm lying, and if he already knows then why's he asking?
"I told ye already. Them Asians took swings at me and five against one isn't exactly the best odds I've had to work with. Mullins came in the-" Damn he's too smart for his own good.
"Lying through yer teeth you are lad. Mullins wouldn't save anyone except Nat's ass and you know it!" Take back what I said about hating Smee. At this moment I hate the captain, I hate his read coat, and damn it I even hate his curly black hair! Chop it off I will if he continues accusing me of being a liar! Wait a minute that didn't come out right. I already know I'm a liar, but damn it if he doesn't fall for my tricks! I'm getting so frustrated I could scream!
"He would save me if he didn't know he was actually saving me! Hell I don't think he even knew I was in the room until them men were dead! Which reminds me-" First I'm exasperated, and now I'm remembering the gold in the bag in my pocket. "Here." I call as I toss the small pouch to the tall hated red-coated man. He looks to the pouch, which jingles as it settles in his large hands, then looks to me with a confused and angered glare. "Forgot I had it was all. I was collecting that while Mullins was killing off them men I've been telling ye about. The fat old bat didn't even know I was in the room since I'd disappeared after the Asians got distracted and went after him." I shrugged and went to lie on my cot; trying to hold back the terrible shudder as pain rushed to greet my sudden movements. Needless to say I failed miserably in stifling the shudder, so captain got a good watch as I shiver all the way to my pathetic cot. I felt the pity in his eyes on my back and replacing the pain came anger.
"You should be resting." Concern filled his voice.
"I know that, why do you think I asked for these quarters to myself for an hour?" I snapped angrily without taking the time to think. Captain's now red eyes showed my immediate mistake.
"Don't forget boy, these are my quarters and you're lucky you get to even have the privilege of sharing them with me!" he growls back in retort. Without the strength to uphold me anger my head falls back and I'm unconscious before me head hits the pillow.
~*~*~ CORNY DREAM SEQUENCE ~*~*~
Daddy! Wait, that's not him. Looks like him, got the build I daresay, but the hairs different, longer then I remember and as a matter o fact I think the colors a bit darker too. Hm, maybe he's a new captain of some new ship? Or maybe some captain I've already met and long since forgotten about. Oh yeah, you probably have no idea what I'm talking about. Okay, to make a long story short, there's this guy standing about the mist. I don't remember telling yah guys about my dad, so I'll give yah a quick description of what he used to look like, or at least how I remember him, then I'll tell yah what this guy looks like.
Dad was a muscular fellow, usually I saw him always wearing green. Green shorts that end just above the ankles, green long-sleeve collar shirt rolled up to the elbows, course you could never tell that as he usually wore this big old darker green trench coat type jacket that dragged across the ground when he walked. He had two hats I just barely remember. One was a matching bright green, like the color of the outfit he wore, minus the trench coat. Strange thing about the little hat was the bright red feather sticking out the side of it. As I remember he gave me that hat, and I'm sure it's still sitting somewhere lost at the Baggins' Tavern wherever I left it. The other was a tri-corner hat, not unlike the captains, except made especially for the first-mate. As the captain's hats usually have a gold lining around the rims of the tri-corners, dads didn't, and was just plain old black. Used to clash miserably with his all green outfits. Dad was tall too, his auburn hair, at least that's what color I suspect it is, grew to about three inches out from his skull, just enough to pull into a mid-skull short tail. His eyes I think match mine.
Now as for this guy in the mist, as I said before he's got the same build as me dad, but his hair looks to be darker, and it's grown a little out past his shoulders, about two inches longer then my own. Let's see, if you'd call my hair color auburn, then I'd call this guy's hair sandy-brown. His outfit is nothing like my dad's, or at least what I can see of it. He wears a tri-cornered captain's hat, complete with gold lining around the rim, and a long dull brown dirty trench coat. It's too long to see what kind of shoes he's wearing, but for some reason I suspect they're the brown buckle type with mid-calf dull white socks.
"Sir?" Whoops, maybe I wasn't supposed to talk. He's walking away now, deeper into the mist, and I can feel a change in de air. "Wait, who are yah?" Nope, definitely didn't want me talking this one here.
~*~*~* END CORNY DREAM SEQUENCE *~*~*~
"Cabin boy." Now why does that voice sound so familiar, and how come it's unwelcome? Well good news is I'm back to consciousness, though only just. And I'll tell yah I'm just bout ready to slit this man's throat. "Get up yah scallywag!" Damn it, even his growls are deafening.
"I'm up, what the hell do yah want?" This time I've got a right to growl back at him.
"You lied." Ha! If only this bastard knew…
"So what? Nothing new." Why can't I open my eyes? Oh, could be the ugly git sitting in front of me, at least I can smell 'im.
"You lied on my behalf."
"Ugly bat, thought you said you could see right through me, aye Mullins?" His growl is my only answer. "Should know by now then, you should. Have you ever seen me kill a man?" I can hear him snort at this. "What was that?" His growl tells me he already knows I know exactly what he snorted. God didn't give me excellent hearing for nothing.
"Said, yah always been too cowardly for the sort." He grumbles.
"I may be a liar, a good-for-nothing orphan, and a weakling cause I'm a coward, but one thing I'll never be, is a cold-hearted murderer like you." Damn even with my eyes closed Mullins is scary as hell! Hm, maybe that's why I'm scared near shitless. Nat did say Mullins would kill a man in his sleep given the chance. Fuck, where's that stupid dagger when yah need it? And why the hell can't I open my eyes still? "How'd you get in e're anyways? I gave up a months worth of wages to get the cabin all to myself for a bit." Damn curiosity, times like these I don't have to wonder how the curiosity could have possibly killed a cat. I'm pretty sure that curiosity led the cat straight to Mullins.
"Why did yah lie for me?" Again, like history, Mullins repeats himself. Great dumbass fucker this one is.
"Damn it, yer ugly and stupid!" Whoops, really that just slipped out. God damned my thoughts and slip of the tongue! He's gunna kill me for sure, but wait a sec, he can't kill me in the cabin without getting blamed. And I were standing right there when the captain told Mullins if any harm were to come to me by Mullins' hand, Mullins would be hanged for it. So maybe Mullins isn't as stupid as first thought, no who am I kidding? If by a slim-to-none chance he did remember that, he's only not harming me cause he knows there's a spot off chance he could get hurt by captain at some point. "What I meant to say is, I didn't tattle on yah, because Captain stated right front of me that any harm to come to me inflicted by yer hand, you'd be hanged." I don't need to see his face to know Mullins is giving me one hell of an ugly puzzled stare. "Remember when I said I wouldn't kill a man? Well I meant it! I won't be the cause of their murder one-way or the other. If I'd told on you I'd prove to be just as bad and ugly as you." Damn me for a foe, really shouldn't have added the 'bad and ugly as you' part. Well I don't feel any air rushing towards me, which usually comes right before a punch.
"Humph." With that last sound of annoyance and anger I can hear footfalls leading to the door of the cabin. Phew! That was one hell of a close call! Thank god, praise the lord! I'm still alive? Hell yes I'm still alive! And I've just earned a favor from Mullins, whether he's realized it or not. Wahoo! My bad day has just turned into an okay day! Could it get any-?
"Trent?" Is this fair? I swear to god if he's got any lecturing to do I'll stab him. Swear I will!
"Damn it Nat, you too aye?" Okay good sign, Nat's chuckling, so he's not angry with me. Right? Well guess I'll find out soon enough. "Didn't I pay captain? And I even gave him the gold I looted! Real gold." Seriously, I gave up wages for a month just to get the cabin to myself, just to let me rest a couple of hours. Is he getting me back for skimping on duties today?
"Relax, I've only come to change yer bandages." I wonder if he heard me gulp real loud just now.
"Er no, it's aright. I've taken care of d'em." Has he noticed me freezing up? God I hope not.
"Captain's orders I take a look at em. We're nearing land, Starsky spotted it around an hour ago, and you were still out cold. Captain says we're going to dock for a week in china, try and sell some of the goods we looted off that Imperial ship. We can't have yah bleeding all over the place for d'em Asians to go asking questions about. What if yah let it slip about the looting-?"
"Have I ever let something that important slip? You damn well know I don't drink any alcohol, so I'm prolly the last to try anything like that!" Damn Mullins, if he hadn't made me angry I probably wouldn't be loosing my temper with Nat right now. This probably won't be good, Nat and me has got the same sort of temper. It's rare we get angry, but when we do it's hell trying to calm us down.
"Relax, yer going to make yerself bleed worse." Oh now he's concerned. Hey, I can see! Yay for me, I've finally opened my eyes, but damned be it everything's too blurry to make out, and now I've got a worse then splitting headache. Damn it, how hard did Mullins hit me in the face? I've already second-guessed the broken nose; I think it's only fractured quite a bit. Me bones are usually pretty tough; so it's surprising Mullins was able to crack seven ribs! Hm, I wonder if that really blurry figure is Nat, or if someone else has been in the room this entire time. Damn it, I should have just kept me eyes closed. It's easier to concentrate on me hearing when I don't have to use all that concentration trying to make out who's who. Well, whomever that blurry figure is it's coming closer. "Now yah need to take yer shirt off." Is that voice coming from that blurry figure? Okay, I'm closing my eyes again. This is too hard trying to figure these things out with a splitting headache.
"I'm fine, just leave me be. I'm none of yer concern." To me I sound way grumpy, specially in my boyish voice, which is taken enough of my strength up.
"But captain ordered me t-"
"Fuck it Nat! Just go tell Captain yer done already. I've stopped bleeding, and the bandages don't need changing." Thank god Nat's so dumb. Takes after his adopted father he does. Otherwise he probably would have figured out why I can't have him be looking under me shirt. Er he would have figured that out long ago, as I don't even take off my shirt when I jump overboard to go fishing for Mr. Cook.
"Fine, but if this earns me any lashings I'll pay ye back fer each one." Good boy Nat! Have a treat.
"Take this fer yer trouble." I say this as I throw him a gold coin I'd been hoping to use in China to get me some real medical treatment. Oh well, there's got to be at least some one who'll take pity on me. I've already got a lie ready to be told to explain me injuries.
"You were holding out on Hook?" Nat's tone sounds horrified.
"Don't be daft, o course I wouldn't. That's a coin from my wages from last month. If I wanted to steal from Captain I would have already done it and docked at the last island we were at. Mind you I ain't a traitor, and though I be a thief, I don't steal from me own captain and shipmates." That's true too. I wouldn't be here today if I wasn't true to my word with those said there.
"Whatever." Nat mumbles and I can hear the cabin door shutting behind him. So how far away from land are we? Wish he would have told me something other then just 'lands in sight, don't want you bleeding, so I'm here to waste yer time'. Maybe some more sleep will help me clear these angered thoughts.
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AN: Yeah I know it's shorter then usual, but I couldn't think of anything real exciting, so I thought I might just throw in that Mullins owes Tristen his life. The next chapter is from Tristen's dad's point of view and it's pretty slow but has some information on Tristen and his relationship somewhere in there. And a little preview – he's back on the ship he's first-mate on-. The seventh chapter will be sort of slow, but Tristen will be on land, and someone's going to discover her secret, but shhh, don't tell! On with the disclaimer…
Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to Peter Pan. I do own rights to my original characters Tristen and Nat however.