Chapter Three
In which Zangulus finds out about the pirates, Amelia and Nahga sneak on
board L-Sama, Zel gets extremely aggravated, Gourry helps Xelloss out in
the kitchen, Zel spots land and there is a fight on board Zangulus' ship.
"Well, Zel, we're all ready to go. Every thing's ship shape, the cannons are cleaned, we're all stocked up with every thing we could need and Xelloss has everything a Chef from France could want. Hoist anchor?" Lina asked her captain as he surveyed the waters around them from the crow's nest.
"Hoist Anchor."
"Aye Aye, Sir!! Alright, Scumbags!! Hoist Anchor! Get ready to cast off! And...Get the ropes!!! Sorry Zel, it's becoming a tradition to keelhaul the captain every time we leave port."
"I know. Let's get this done with, shall we?" He replied, grinning.
"Alright! Hey all you pirates of L-Sama!! Who we gonna Keelhaul??"
"CAPTAIN ZELGADISS!!!!"
"When we gonna Keelhaul him?"
"AS SOON AS WE CAN GET HIM DOWN FROM THE CROW'S NEST!!!"
"WELL??? What are you scumbags waiting for?? Go up there and get him!!"
"AYE, AYE!!"
Amelia watched the entire ruckus from her hiding place on the poop-deck with her sister, Nahga. They really were going to keelhaul him. But why? It could kill him!! He was their captain for goodness sakes. "Nahga why do you think they're going to do that to him?" "I don't know I heard that Lina fellow say something about tradition, but you never know with pirates." The two young ladies watched in fascination as the pirates dumped their captain into the water with a rope attached to the prow. Ten minutes later the young man climbed up the back of the ship. 'Oh dear,' Amelia thought to herself. 'Suddenly this doesn't seem to be the best hiding spot...' "OI!! What the?? What are two little rich girls doing on board Zel's Ship?? You two are coming with me!!" A young Man with black hair said as he noticed them. "Uhm....you don't know who we are??" "Listen, Little girl, I wouldn't care if you were the queen of England. I cut my ties, as did all of us, from royalty a lo-o-ong time ago." "Actually, you weren't far off. I am The Great Nahga, and this is my sister, The Fist of Justice, Amelia. We are the daughters of Prince Phil of England" Nahga said. The man shrugged. "And I'm Raven of Australia. Whoop-dee-doo. You're still coming with me." And with that he dragged them off to where the Captain was toweling off his hair. "Cap'n Zelgadiss, I caught these two sneaks on the poop-deck." The young man pulled the towel away from his hair, and Amelia finally saw exactly what color it was. "You-Your hair is white!"
Zelgadiss looked over at them. "And? Your hair his black, milady. And didn't I tell you two misses that a pirate ship was no place for young ladies. It seems you have snuck passage on my ship. You do know what the punishment for that is?" When the two girls shook their heads, the white- haired pirate called out. "Lina!!" "Yessir?" "These two have snuck passage on my ship, and they don't know what the punishment is. Could you enlighten them?" "Of course, sir!!" Lina nodded and then whispered to Raven: "What does enlighten mean?" "Uhm...I'm not sure...." "Enlighten – to. Verb. To enlighten: to make something known to some one." "What did you do, Zel, swallow a dictionary?" "No, just read one." Lina sighed and turned towards the two captives. "When I snuck board on Zel's ship, oh...what was it, seven years ago, Zel?" "Something like." "Anyways. When I snuck on board, Zel stuck me in the brig for oh, a month I think. And then he asked me what I wanted on his ship, and when I told him I wanted to be a pirate, he made me take a test. Basically I had to climb up the lay-ties, down the lay ties, stay in the crows nest for two days straight, though he did bring up food and water, and then work a proper duty. Once that was done, he got me to swim around the ship three times. If you can't swim, you're no good on a ship. Can either of you two swim?" When the two young ladies shook their heads, Zelgadiss sighed. "We'll drop them off at the next port and send a message to Prince Phillionel." He turned away and was about to go back up to the main mast where the rest of the crew was waiting to congratulate him on staying under even longer, when the younger one – Amelia, he reminded himself – burst out with a question: "Sir, how old are you?" Lina blinked. "Listen Miss, Zel won't even tell us how old he is let alone a complete stranger." Zelgadiss turned around and looked at the two young women. "Like Lina said, I don't even tell my crew. Gourry doesn't even know. And he's been traveling with me for the past ...14 years." "Well, you must be pretty old then, if you've been traveling for 14 years." "Longer." "But you just said..." "That's how long I've been traveling with Gourry. I'd been traveling for much longer before I met up with him." "How long?" "Why should I say? I don't know either of you. There could be a bounty on my head or there could be a reward or something of the like for information. Besides, you wouldn't believe me if I told you. And my family's all dead, so don't even bother looking for other Greywiers." Zelgadiss turned his back on them and went to go talk to the rest of the crew, calling over his shoulder: "Lina you're in charge of them. If they go against you're orders, give them over to Raven. He'll know what to do." "Wow." Lina and Raven said at about the same time. "What?" Amelia asked. "That's the most Zel's ever said about himself since I've been with him." Lina stated. "That's the most Zel's ever said period since I've been with this crew." Raven said. "Really?" "Yea. Some how you guys made him feel obliged to talk....Oh man, he's gonna be in a bad mood." Raven sighed. "Shoot, your right. Aw man...I pity the poor fools who get stuck on duty with him tonight." "But isn't he the captain?" "Meaning?" "Well, if he's the captain, why is he going, um, on duty?" "Well, it wouldn't be fair if he didn't." "But you're Pirates!" "And?" "Pirates are supposed to be cold blooded murderers who attack defenseless merchant ships and loot and plunder and pillage..." "Old Wives Tales. Sure there are some Pirates that do that sort of thing, but Zel's insisted that we don't become like them. He's really a nice guy." "Lina's right. Zelgadiss Greywiers would never hurt a soul who didn't have it coming. And if you've got it coming, here's a word to the wise: stay clear of Astral Vine." "Astral Vine? What's that?" "That sword he caries around when we're in port." "Where's he from any ways? He's not British." "Ireland." "Oh."
-----
Months later, Zel's crew still hadn't found a port to dock at. Every day, Zelgadiss would check their course and his maps, shake his head and head down to the kitchen to get some food which he then brought down to the two captives in the brig, each day giving the excuse, that they would be there soon, never specifying where there was.
He didn't know himself.
One month after having taken the two princesses aboard, Mur, who had been in the crow's nest, had come to tell him that they were being pursued. When this information had been relayed to all the ship-mates, they had changed direction, and, somehow, lost their pursuers. Lina claimed that their boat was blessed, Gourry that Mur had been mistaken, Mur that Zel had worked some arcane magic (no one knew if Mur was really sane); Kiyone that there were no pursuers, and Xelloss and Zelgadiss just said that their Pursuers had given up. Raven had given no opinion just sat by and watched with a knowing smirk on his features.
No one knew what to think.
Then out of the middle of a clear blue sky, a storm sprang up. Wind pulling at the sails, Zel and his crew tried to pull them down. Finally they managed to drop anchor and there they sat in the middle of uncharted ocean. When, a week later, the storm quieted down, Zel went up into the crow's nest and looked out across the ocean. Nothing. As far as the eye could see – wait. Zelgadiss squinted at the smudge in the distance. Suddenly his eyes went wide and a happy grin appeared on his face. He scrambled down the ropes, jumped from 20 feet above the deck, and ran towards where Lina and Raven were discussing his whereabouts.
"Hoist Anchor!! I saw some Land To the west!! Get Moving!!" He yelled happily as he neared them.
Lina and Raven jumped into action and started yelling to the others as Zel ran back up into the crow's nest (which had been nick named Zel's Nest) and watched the growing splotch on the horizon.
"Do you hear something Amelia?" Nahga asked her sister, as they sat in the brig.
"Yeah, I heard something about something in the distance and food."
"The food thing was probably just that Xelloss fellow."
Just as Amelia was about to respond, a very happy Xelloss - (but then, when is he not happy?)- came running into the brig.
"Get up on your feet! You're coming to get some free air!!"
The two jut followed him mutely as he hummed and led them up to the deck where everyone was running about excitedly. Zelgadiss was up in the crow's nest yelling something about "a little to the north, now, Kiyone!!" and string at something so intently that he almost fell out of the nest. The two sisters felt very out of place while every one rushed around them and ignoring them completely.
"You two, get up to Zel's Nest and help him out up there!" Lina shouted at them when she saw them.
"But... we don't know how to get up there."
"GAH! Useless! This is why we kept you in the brig."
-----
Jai and Umoh sat in Jai's living room boredly staring at the TV.
"Jai, when are you going to finish that fic?"
"When I've got Inspiration."
I'm stopping here for now. I can't think of Anything More.
"Well, Zel, we're all ready to go. Every thing's ship shape, the cannons are cleaned, we're all stocked up with every thing we could need and Xelloss has everything a Chef from France could want. Hoist anchor?" Lina asked her captain as he surveyed the waters around them from the crow's nest.
"Hoist Anchor."
"Aye Aye, Sir!! Alright, Scumbags!! Hoist Anchor! Get ready to cast off! And...Get the ropes!!! Sorry Zel, it's becoming a tradition to keelhaul the captain every time we leave port."
"I know. Let's get this done with, shall we?" He replied, grinning.
"Alright! Hey all you pirates of L-Sama!! Who we gonna Keelhaul??"
"CAPTAIN ZELGADISS!!!!"
"When we gonna Keelhaul him?"
"AS SOON AS WE CAN GET HIM DOWN FROM THE CROW'S NEST!!!"
"WELL??? What are you scumbags waiting for?? Go up there and get him!!"
"AYE, AYE!!"
Amelia watched the entire ruckus from her hiding place on the poop-deck with her sister, Nahga. They really were going to keelhaul him. But why? It could kill him!! He was their captain for goodness sakes. "Nahga why do you think they're going to do that to him?" "I don't know I heard that Lina fellow say something about tradition, but you never know with pirates." The two young ladies watched in fascination as the pirates dumped their captain into the water with a rope attached to the prow. Ten minutes later the young man climbed up the back of the ship. 'Oh dear,' Amelia thought to herself. 'Suddenly this doesn't seem to be the best hiding spot...' "OI!! What the?? What are two little rich girls doing on board Zel's Ship?? You two are coming with me!!" A young Man with black hair said as he noticed them. "Uhm....you don't know who we are??" "Listen, Little girl, I wouldn't care if you were the queen of England. I cut my ties, as did all of us, from royalty a lo-o-ong time ago." "Actually, you weren't far off. I am The Great Nahga, and this is my sister, The Fist of Justice, Amelia. We are the daughters of Prince Phil of England" Nahga said. The man shrugged. "And I'm Raven of Australia. Whoop-dee-doo. You're still coming with me." And with that he dragged them off to where the Captain was toweling off his hair. "Cap'n Zelgadiss, I caught these two sneaks on the poop-deck." The young man pulled the towel away from his hair, and Amelia finally saw exactly what color it was. "You-Your hair is white!"
Zelgadiss looked over at them. "And? Your hair his black, milady. And didn't I tell you two misses that a pirate ship was no place for young ladies. It seems you have snuck passage on my ship. You do know what the punishment for that is?" When the two girls shook their heads, the white- haired pirate called out. "Lina!!" "Yessir?" "These two have snuck passage on my ship, and they don't know what the punishment is. Could you enlighten them?" "Of course, sir!!" Lina nodded and then whispered to Raven: "What does enlighten mean?" "Uhm...I'm not sure...." "Enlighten – to. Verb. To enlighten: to make something known to some one." "What did you do, Zel, swallow a dictionary?" "No, just read one." Lina sighed and turned towards the two captives. "When I snuck board on Zel's ship, oh...what was it, seven years ago, Zel?" "Something like." "Anyways. When I snuck on board, Zel stuck me in the brig for oh, a month I think. And then he asked me what I wanted on his ship, and when I told him I wanted to be a pirate, he made me take a test. Basically I had to climb up the lay-ties, down the lay ties, stay in the crows nest for two days straight, though he did bring up food and water, and then work a proper duty. Once that was done, he got me to swim around the ship three times. If you can't swim, you're no good on a ship. Can either of you two swim?" When the two young ladies shook their heads, Zelgadiss sighed. "We'll drop them off at the next port and send a message to Prince Phillionel." He turned away and was about to go back up to the main mast where the rest of the crew was waiting to congratulate him on staying under even longer, when the younger one – Amelia, he reminded himself – burst out with a question: "Sir, how old are you?" Lina blinked. "Listen Miss, Zel won't even tell us how old he is let alone a complete stranger." Zelgadiss turned around and looked at the two young women. "Like Lina said, I don't even tell my crew. Gourry doesn't even know. And he's been traveling with me for the past ...14 years." "Well, you must be pretty old then, if you've been traveling for 14 years." "Longer." "But you just said..." "That's how long I've been traveling with Gourry. I'd been traveling for much longer before I met up with him." "How long?" "Why should I say? I don't know either of you. There could be a bounty on my head or there could be a reward or something of the like for information. Besides, you wouldn't believe me if I told you. And my family's all dead, so don't even bother looking for other Greywiers." Zelgadiss turned his back on them and went to go talk to the rest of the crew, calling over his shoulder: "Lina you're in charge of them. If they go against you're orders, give them over to Raven. He'll know what to do." "Wow." Lina and Raven said at about the same time. "What?" Amelia asked. "That's the most Zel's ever said about himself since I've been with him." Lina stated. "That's the most Zel's ever said period since I've been with this crew." Raven said. "Really?" "Yea. Some how you guys made him feel obliged to talk....Oh man, he's gonna be in a bad mood." Raven sighed. "Shoot, your right. Aw man...I pity the poor fools who get stuck on duty with him tonight." "But isn't he the captain?" "Meaning?" "Well, if he's the captain, why is he going, um, on duty?" "Well, it wouldn't be fair if he didn't." "But you're Pirates!" "And?" "Pirates are supposed to be cold blooded murderers who attack defenseless merchant ships and loot and plunder and pillage..." "Old Wives Tales. Sure there are some Pirates that do that sort of thing, but Zel's insisted that we don't become like them. He's really a nice guy." "Lina's right. Zelgadiss Greywiers would never hurt a soul who didn't have it coming. And if you've got it coming, here's a word to the wise: stay clear of Astral Vine." "Astral Vine? What's that?" "That sword he caries around when we're in port." "Where's he from any ways? He's not British." "Ireland." "Oh."
-----
Months later, Zel's crew still hadn't found a port to dock at. Every day, Zelgadiss would check their course and his maps, shake his head and head down to the kitchen to get some food which he then brought down to the two captives in the brig, each day giving the excuse, that they would be there soon, never specifying where there was.
He didn't know himself.
One month after having taken the two princesses aboard, Mur, who had been in the crow's nest, had come to tell him that they were being pursued. When this information had been relayed to all the ship-mates, they had changed direction, and, somehow, lost their pursuers. Lina claimed that their boat was blessed, Gourry that Mur had been mistaken, Mur that Zel had worked some arcane magic (no one knew if Mur was really sane); Kiyone that there were no pursuers, and Xelloss and Zelgadiss just said that their Pursuers had given up. Raven had given no opinion just sat by and watched with a knowing smirk on his features.
No one knew what to think.
Then out of the middle of a clear blue sky, a storm sprang up. Wind pulling at the sails, Zel and his crew tried to pull them down. Finally they managed to drop anchor and there they sat in the middle of uncharted ocean. When, a week later, the storm quieted down, Zel went up into the crow's nest and looked out across the ocean. Nothing. As far as the eye could see – wait. Zelgadiss squinted at the smudge in the distance. Suddenly his eyes went wide and a happy grin appeared on his face. He scrambled down the ropes, jumped from 20 feet above the deck, and ran towards where Lina and Raven were discussing his whereabouts.
"Hoist Anchor!! I saw some Land To the west!! Get Moving!!" He yelled happily as he neared them.
Lina and Raven jumped into action and started yelling to the others as Zel ran back up into the crow's nest (which had been nick named Zel's Nest) and watched the growing splotch on the horizon.
"Do you hear something Amelia?" Nahga asked her sister, as they sat in the brig.
"Yeah, I heard something about something in the distance and food."
"The food thing was probably just that Xelloss fellow."
Just as Amelia was about to respond, a very happy Xelloss - (but then, when is he not happy?)- came running into the brig.
"Get up on your feet! You're coming to get some free air!!"
The two jut followed him mutely as he hummed and led them up to the deck where everyone was running about excitedly. Zelgadiss was up in the crow's nest yelling something about "a little to the north, now, Kiyone!!" and string at something so intently that he almost fell out of the nest. The two sisters felt very out of place while every one rushed around them and ignoring them completely.
"You two, get up to Zel's Nest and help him out up there!" Lina shouted at them when she saw them.
"But... we don't know how to get up there."
"GAH! Useless! This is why we kept you in the brig."
-----
Jai and Umoh sat in Jai's living room boredly staring at the TV.
"Jai, when are you going to finish that fic?"
"When I've got Inspiration."
I'm stopping here for now. I can't think of Anything More.