"I S'POSE THE tale begins a few months ago, when alla us lived on our own island. 'Twas a big ole island, nearly a continent I'd say. And it was so beautyful. We 'ad trees o' alla sorts: coconuts, oranges, apples, even some pears like ye gots 'ere. The beaches gave us fish and the sand felt good under a creature's paws. The sun would move all lazy like.. ah, I miss that ole island, and that be a fact." Patch's face was streaked with delight in the light of the fire. He dropped the tone of happiness when he went on to describe the fateful afternoon.
It had been a fine, mid-summer day. Kapp'n and a crew of six animals were fresh from an expedition of the seas and a feast was taking place in the central island long hut. The fish and fruit and tree sap syrups and milks were expertly cooked by the women of the island to become pies, soups, cakes and teas.
Kapp'n had every in a gripping tale of the crews' capture on an island of savage raccoons (which explained why five members of the crew had not returned) when a scream summoned the party's attention. Creatures ran to the door of the hut and saw that one of their own had barely been slain.
The young squirrel Valerence had been out gathering some more fruit for the feast, and now lay dead at the hands of pirates. Their ship, Cabin Snatcher, had followed the Wet Scoundrel stealthily and came on to the island while the feast was under way. The grinning faces of seacats, hippos, ducks, and a number of other nasty-looking animals grinned behind waving cutlasses.
"Haharr, I daclare this island terr'tory o' the great pirate queen, the human Mai." the corsair captain of the pirates, a bearded cat called Cap'n Bentwhiskers, said. The yellow and brown striped beast stepped to the head of the group, showing off a set of teeth in colours that matched his thick fur. "An', as the Cap'n o' the Cabin Snatcher, it be me job ter send alla yer yeller bellies into the current. Aye, does anyone stand agains' me?"
It was the leader of the group of islanders, and elderly rhino called Skip, who took up the challenge. "Aye, I'll do it. My people are peaceful, but we refuse to let our home be taken from us. Fight me, ye rotten corsair!"
Here Patch's voice broke in the story-telling. The entire crew of the Wet Scoundrel, twenty-odd animals of varying species, bowed their heads. Vesta saw tears from the kappa captain's eyes. "They did fight." Patch said solemnly, "The pirates gave Old Skip a heavy, golden blade from their plunder to battle with." he paused to wipe a tear from his remaining eye. "Our pore leader was slain before he could even lift it from the ground. 'Ee fell back with Bentwhisker's cutlass in his chest."
All animals present bowed their snouts and gave a moment of respectful silence. Even Martin, who was too little to properly understand what was happening, gave his remorse.
"I will always cry fer me old pal Skip," Patch scratched his eye-patch with a paw, as though wiping tears from it, and heaved a sob before continuing, "but it was thanks to his sacrifice that the rest o' us got away alive."
Proud with having picked off their leader so easily, Captain Bentwhiskers decided to have fun with the rest of the islanders. Chaining all of the women together and locking them inside the long hut, the seacat corsair sent them away on a "quest".
"Ye pathetic animals need ter do something with yer lives." Bentwhiskers had declared. "So I am sendin' yer away. Take yer ship an' set out. If ye don't all die in the first week, gather yerselves sum help among places not yet touched by Mai. When ye fell that ye have an army, cum back 'ere and challenge us fer yer home back."
Laughs from the pirates followed. None thought the island animals would ever return. A month's worth of fruits and sapmilk was packed aboard the Wet Scoundrel, and they had set sail by nightfall.
The cabin series furniture that filled the dormitories and crew quarters were folded up and placed as their bitten leaf forms into the storage compartments. Hammocks were brought out in their stead, lining the walls and crammed into every extra space. The single level of dorms was built to house only around fifteen animals, not nearly forty.
Space wasn't a problem after their first week. A deadly disease passed among the animals, killing over half of them. "I think he planned that one," Patch said, recalling the details. "'Ee said we'd probably all die in the first week, and most of us did. It was only an immunity among us that saved the Wet Scoundrel from the fate of being an eternal ghost ship."
The remains of the crew set their dead brethren and friends to rest by lining them in the single lifeboat of the ship and lowering it to the water. As the current carried it off, the crew prayed that the bodies would return to their island. "Now only be it the propa' thing ter do fer our mates, we want those pirates ter see we are not yet defeated. If they know some o' us were still alive ter send the rest back, they might begin ter fear our return." Patch added passionately.
During the sailing, the crew saw many islands and hundreds of other towns along the coast. They wished to land and restock their food supplies, but all of the islands were marked with a flag: the black background flag with the Hiragana characters for Mai written on it with a blood red colour. Before their departure from home, the corsair captain had warned them that the Wet Scoundrel was known through all of Mai's territory and any pirate who saw it would board and take over immediately.
"We were close enough to the land to see the creatures without them being able to identify us. Innocent animals of all sorts were bein' forced ter become slaves when Mai's pirates took over. Kapp'n made 'is vow at the first port we passed. He said 'e'd get an army as big as could fit onboard and save alla those pore slaves."
"Aye," Kapp'n agreed, nodding his head in a way that made that made the water in his cupped head slosh. "We're gonna defeat the corsairs what did this and save the pore ole slaves. We'll take over ships and create our own fleet. When we return ter our home, that ole Cap'n Bentwhiskers'll never know what hit 'im."
The rest of the story was easy in the telling. Basically, they all believed they were going to die from lack of fresh food and water when a welcome sight met their eyes. It was the town of Mati, unmarked by Mai and completely free of the dark human's power.
When Patch was finished, Mayor Tortimer leaned forward, wrinkled green face alive in the orange glow of the flames. "So, you came to Mati asking for help. My friends, I should much like to give it to you. I am much too old fore such a thing, but I can name more than one whipper-snapper around here who'd chop off two hands to go with you."
Martin jumped up eagerly. Hooking his forefingers in imitation of hooks and stepping forward on two knees, he spoke to Kapp'n in what he thought to be the perfect pirate voice. "Yaharr, me Kapp'n. Oi'll chop off alla four o' me paws ta join ye crew. Avast, me shipmates, Oi'll be a-sailin' with ye soon 'nough!"
Sniggar grabbed the neck of his shirt and pulled him back. "You will not be joining these islanders, Martin. You will stay at home where you're safe. Also, you will not be walking on your knees anymore. You've scuffed that polar fleece I made for you."
"Let the boy play, haharr!" Kapp'n said, smiling and laughing at the child. "Matey, ye shouldn' chop of yer paws. Ye'll need 'em when we get out ter sea."
The great eagerly sitting beside him laughed. Then, becoming serious again, Artry took charge. "All of us except the mayor, Sniggar and me should go with Kapp'n. This includes Martin, they're going to need every single able-bodied creature that can lend their paws."
The blue bear opened her mouth to complain, but Vesta drowned her voice out. Fidgeting with the static scarf around her neck again, she spoke so loudly that it surprised her. "No, I shouldn't go. I wouldn't be any help. Poor, little, timid Vesta, ha ha. No, Artry should go in my place."
"Nonsense!" Artry said. "An eagle is no use over the ocean. I can't fly very well, and my years are finally beginning to catch up to me."
Tortimer took up his role of mayor before Vesta could defend her side. "Everyone should go home and get to sleep before it's too late. You all want to get an early start tomorrow, right?" he said loudly to make sure no one else would interrupt him, "As for the crew of the Wet Scoundrel, you are very welcome to stay in the four welcome to stay in the four we have by the train station tonight. Artry, Sniggar, come with me. We shall have to talk to Tom about some decent food supplies for the crew. Perhaps we can even talk him into donating some new furniture."
So the group dispersed, all animals holding in yawns as they prepared for the bed unable to hold in their excitement. Martin the bear cub changed from his polar fleece (which was still as good as new) into the houndstooth he wore to bed every night wishing he could leave that very second. As he slept in his ranch bed awaiting his mother's return from Tom Nook's shop, he dreamt of being the hero of the animals: able to take out a ship of pirates with a single swipe of his paw.