Chapter 6 Meeting Some Generic Pirates While Still on the Ship

These weren't just any pirates. They were the dreaded undead-by-moonlight-for-stealing-gold-and-unable-to-rest-until-they-harnassed-enough-souls-or-rather-until-they-retrieved-all-the-cursed-gold-and-returned-it-where-it-was-from kind of pirates. Hmm. Doesn't that seem familiar? Well, it's a good thing that I got a little carried away. They were, in fact, for the most part, anyway, very much alive. The captain…well, he was of another sort.

It was the captain who was, at the very moment, steering the ship and laughing insanely. Cackling manically. Snickering utmost madly.

Well, you'd better get the picture. No one was able to calm him down or bring him back to this world until one pirate came over with news.

"The captive wants a word with you," a sneering pirate said.

"He always wants a word," the captain replied when he had enough air from being rudely halted mid-guffaw. Somewhat hoarsely, he added, "But I'll take his words if he wants to give them to me!" Then he flashed a rather missing-tooth smile and threw his head back to send his cackling to the sky. It was a good thing he did, as his breath reeked of something long dead.

In fact, everything about the captain was reminiscent of death. Well, that would obviously be because he was dead. His stringy gray hair was mainly in various chunks, and he had a patch over one eye because of the fact that the eye was missing. The other one, through some freak of the anti-nature, still existed and had enough moisture to function. But his hoarse breath and rotting death emitted from cheeks long sunken from decay. It was a good thing the rest of his pasty pale body was clothed in remnants of rough burlap.

Dredged out from the pit where he was commonly held, even though there was no light and his skin was so white it was almost translucent, this young man had always had a pale complexion. But now, he just looked sickly. That probably had something to do with the boat and with the captain's erratic steering. He seemed to love to make the ship do extra turns when a straight line would be best.

Clutching the unstable railing, the prisoner dragged his exceedingly heavy, long chains over to the madman who was the captain. Surprisingly, they had a similar appearance. It was almost like the captain was a long-dead ancestor of this prisoner.

"Yeees?" the dead thing hissed. "What's bothering you this time?"

"You…" the prisoner took a gasping breath before spitting out, "know very well what's bothering me!" Again, he paused. "I want off this ship! So, when we attack that one nearby, I want permission to leave."

Mainly because of the missing teeth, the captain's exhale whistled angrily. "You know what that means. I'm bound to you; cursed to follow my kin to protect them to the ends of the earth in reparation for my sins. And, being the last of my kin, you're not being very polite to give me many options of what I can be doing. Don't you ever take into consideration my own wants? Pillage, gold, money, wealth, power, glory!"

"Why would I care about you? You're dead."

It was, indeed, a statement of truth. And, try as he might, the captain could not come up with an argument against that. Despite his endless plots to take over the world, his own mortality was never part of the thoughts and therefore never given the opportunity to be defended.

"That's just mean, Barleyo."

The pale figure shrugged; chains clinked.

Giving a gusto sigh that seemed able to make him collapse into a collection of body parts, the captain turned away.

"Do what you want—what you're able. Then, if you get free, I'll have no choice but to follow you." He nodded with a creak at the pirate sailor, and the man grabbed Barelyo to return him back to the hold. There was no point in testing the young man's eagerness to escape.

&&

After many diplomatic relations (endless threats and curses), Sama-san-dono was finally standing in the middle of Virtually Unstoppable. All about him, men were scurrying to turn the ship and prepare it for the inevitable battle.

"What's on board that needs a sword?"

Tanner, translating—he had had countless studies of the art of poetry and could rattle off a paraphrase in a matter of seconds— asked, "Why are we getting attacked by pirates?"

Yesah, still watching the foreign ship, had his eyes narrowed. "Because this is my ship."

"Oh, I see." Turning back to tell the troubadour, a confused look crossed his face. "No, I don't."

Ignoring him, Yesah shouted to the sky, "Do you see, father? I will make you proud and no one will steal my cargo!"

Predictably, everyone's eyes went to the sky also, but there was no convenient aircraft there to give sense to the sea green-haired young man. Maybe the sky was empty because no air crafts had been invented yet.

"Our father's dead," Muggy explained to the others. "Has been for a few years."

Sama-san-dono chuckled. "Let me guess; he was an overbearing tyrant that was using his sons to make a worldwide corporation of weaponry and eventually was outsmarted by one of his sons and committed suicide by leaping from a turret."

Put'oh scoffed. "Where'd you get that idiotic idea? He was a woodsman and was eaten by a wolf."

Exchanging looks, the group had no reply. However, Blaydelot was whispering the predicament of why they were being attacked by pirates to any who were listening (which was, as you should remember, because Yesah was always carrying special cargo apt to be stolen. Remember, stealing is a right!). Axel rattled his sword in its sheath, finally succeeding in drawing the growing-rust poking stick.

As the white-sailed ship drew up alongside, ropes and anchors were flung across the sea to latch themselves onto the Virtually Unstoppable. Finally, Yesah went into action, calling all his sailors to aid him in unhooking the lines.

"Don't even think about it," Put'oh said, resisting the urge to place a worthless restraint on his young brother's shoulder.

"Come on, Put'oh, you never let me do anything! Unless you've thought of a way to win this little skirmish, you have no reason to stop me."

"Of course I've thought of a way to defeat them. I call it Checkers." He turned toward the group waiting the ambush. "Don't just stand there! Follow me! Even you can be of use, The Sir Axel!"

"The Sir Prince Axel!" he corrected, jogging after the Gruff.

"Now you can just stand here." Put'oh adjusted where he was in one direction and then smugly watched a pirate who had grabbed a rope to swing over smack into the ex-knight. Body jarring, the pirate fell into the sea.

Moving the others and ordering them to always be watching for a pirate trying to get on board, the elder Gruff proudly looked around. All along the way, body checks were taking place. His "checkers" were just what was needed.

That meant that young Muggy was unable to help—his brother had thought of a way to win the skirmish. Disappointed, he watched all the action from the side of the ship not near the pirate boat.

While Axel was mightily excited to be physically attacking others, the one getting the most joy was Sir Blaydelot. He was vibrantly flaying down any pirate who came within fifteen feet of himself (tennis it would be called, but that hadn't been invented yet, either), sometimes nearly falling into the water. But, he never actually toppled from the side.

Axel did, of course. Getting himself wet once more, his place was unprotected. And, the nearest comrade to help suddenly backed away in fear of the water.

"Cover the area!" Blaydelot screamed.

Somewhat quietly, the Earl de Vlin replied, "I can't swim. Already I see my eyes grow dim…"

Tanner scoffed. "I think your hair is greasy enough to repel enough water around your head that you would be able to breathe even if at the bottom of the sea."

Sama-san-dono countered, still just standing in the middle of the ship, "I don't think his very bad at all. You should have seen mine…"

All stopped their movements to stare at him and his glistening bald egg.

"Oh, yes, I had a lot of hair at one time. I used to make spikes out of it all. Quite a girl-getter!"

By then, multiple pirates had managed to get across ships, and The Sir Prince Axel had managed to swim and climb aboard the wrong ship.

Yesah was gripped by the top of his sea-green head, and he sighed angrily that he had never grown as tall as Put'oh. All the other pirates had their swords drawn and pointed at those closest to them. Out of extreme agitation for his brother's safety, Put'oh was unable to think at all. There was no new plan being formulated except by Blaydelot.

A creaking, noxious movement paced across the planks. With his black hat firmly keeping his hair attached, the pirate captain smirked with rotted lips.

"Ah, Yesah Gruff. Or, I should say Yesah Black Sheep. I've come for my treasure."