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Reviews:

erosgirl – for telling me straight out you like it, thanks. I'm always happy to hear that!

Kelsey Estel – Thank you! I'm glad you are still reading this. I'm also very glad you liked the fight. It took a while, but I think I definitely am getting the hang of it.

I am not really happy with the first part of this chapter, but I needed it and it seemed good enough. OK, I'm holding my breath for you guys….

CHAPTER FOUR

Roberts looked around, and asked Westley, "We ready to sail?"

"Yes. We can set off tomorrow at high tide."

Roberts and his close advisor Westley retired to the captain's cabin, winding their way from their position near the bow, through the trundle of the retiring crew. The thick door was well-oiled and soundproofed, for keeping secrets in, and prying eyes and ears out. Inside, no sound could be heard but the muffled groan of the ship and the voices of the current occupants.

"Well, the crew seems alright, and the ship is in great repair considering we just came across the Atlantic. What do you think, Roberts?"

"Hah! I'm having much too much fun for this to be allowed."

"It's not, you know. Even by the Pirate's Code. You're impersonating a well-admired marauder and that can have consequences. Granted, you have me to vouch for you if we run into trouble with some hotshot captain, but I'm in the same fix."

Both men stood for a time in thought, watching dim flames sway back and forth, perched on tall candles held in golden candlesticks placed on rich mahogany chests, all stolen from dead crews and loaded in style to the heart of the Revenge.

"It's a hard life, being a pirate. But it's almost worth it. There's the money and the jewels, but that isn't why the best pirates, the best men do it."

Inigo watched. He knew from his short experience that Westley was a great man, and despite the number of men he had killed, worth listening to.

"It's the sea. You have a ship, maybe you built it yourself, or maybe, like this one, it's got a legacy of its own, and you're just part of it. You get to be important, because you're one of those few people that can forget themselves, that they even exist, and feel the ocean.

"And then you come home again, you pull yourself back to land and have your booze and your women, if you are like most. But a good pirate wouldn't care, really, for that. He lives because he has the sea; he has a real lover to return to. I used to feel like that, Inigo. Almost. I never forgot what I… I had to go back someday. Now I have Buttercup, and no man who ever lived could love another more. I love her. True love. It's the best thing in the world. Even better than a good MLT… Where'd that come from?"

"Where'd you hear that, Westley?"

"I don't know. I don't."

"That's what Miracle Max said when we asked him to bring you back to life."

"But wasn't I dead?" Westley asked, confused.

"He said you were mostly dead. And you did say you needed to come back for true love."

"I don't think I could say anything. Could I?"

Inigo sighed. "It's hard to explain. I thought you were dead too, but Max pumped you up with air and you said, 'Trooo Luuv.' I don't really know."

"Ah ha."

"Westley?"

"Yes?"

"That boy Will Turner… Is very good. Very good. He could make a wizard someday, I think."

"I think you're right, Inigo. We'll have to get to know him."


The next day, Will arrived bright and early to see the Dread Pirate himself climbing nimbly through the rigging. After pulling himself into the crow's nest, Roberts made a show of peering around through a golden spyglass, and called down to the deck, "I don't see anyone yet… No… It's… Turner! And behind him… An R.O.U.S., Westley! And another… and another… Ooh, Westley, we're in trouble, HUMPERDINK IS HERE!"

"Don't joke about that here. Hello, Turner. I hope you had a good night."

Roberts dropped from a rope and strode over to the pirates. "Oh, we're a-going sailing, sailing to the ocean's end, to fight and plunder till we die, die, die. I love all these songs they have here, Will, do you know any?"

"No." He was lying. Jack had taught it to him on the Dauntless, on the trek back to Port Royal.

"YO HO! Yes Will, ye got it. And don't forget, I hate it when I teach people stuff an' they forget. And especially when I won't be around to tell 'em again. Savvy?"

Jack had managed to sneak a few bottles of rum he found in the Isle de Muerta on board. But that was Jack.

"Roberts, you're drunk aren't you?"

Roberts looked around for a second, then said, "Oh! Me? No! I'm not drunk. I'll just go 'nd get some more brandy."

Will raised an eyebrow and watched him sway over to the ship's kitchen. "Does he always do this before a voyage?"

Westley turned his gaze to Will. "Not always. He just has a strange way of doing some things."

Buttercup lurched up the stairs from the galley, desperately attempting to hold on to a large cauldron of soup, along with bread, and a pitcher of milk. She gripped a ladle and bread knife between her teeth, and several pewter bowels dangled from the belt of her breeches. Westley leapt to her assistance, and soon the two of them had brought breakfast to the center of the deck. Westley turned back to the galley, calling out, "I'm going to get that table we have for cooking. Will you two be alright?" and left, leaving Will and Buttercup behind.

END OF CHAPTER FOUR