---
11
---
After making sure they had all of their weapons intact, they left the cabin, heading to the ship's exit. Passing all of his belongings which blocked the hall, Erik stopped behind Jack and rummaged through some items.
Jack continued on, not realizing that Erik had stayed behind. When he finally had noticed, Erik was already on his way back and was approaching from behind. He held a sword up so Jack could see, and brandished it in front of him. "Just getting a proper sword," he stated, slipping the sword into its holder. Before it disappeared under Erik's dark cape, Jack noted a strange sculpted skull set along the handle. It was nice, but too fancy for his liking.
They walked along the Parisian village streets. There were few people to be seen, a great difference from earlier when the streets had been so crowded that they had to push people out of their way. Their footsteps echoed as they walked the road's length. People paused in their work to observe the strange men, wondering what they would do.
At once, a small girl ran past Erik, pushing him back a step. The girl tripped on her dress and fell onto her hands and knees, scraping her elbows. Jack stepped forward, placing a hand on her shoulder. She winced in pain, her cuts stinging, as Jack helped her up. He observed tears in her eyes and patted her head. "There, there," he said, trying to sound comforting, but it was hard because he was not usually one to comfort. The girl swallowed back her tears and took off running, on her way again.
Erik watched her disappear into the distance, finding the encounter somehow odd. He opened his mouth, and a soft tune escaped his lips, "Slowly... gently... night unfurls it's splendor. Grasp it... sense it... tremulous and tender..."
"Yo, ho! Yo, ho! a pirate's life for me!" Jack belted out. He grabbed Erik by the wrist and they began running down the road.
"Emerged from the darkness and now roam the streets to help those in catastrophe," Jack sang.
"Aidez-moi! L'homme a volé ma sac a main!" An old lady cried, pointing in the direction of a fleeing man holding a purse. They slowed their pace.
"No problem, ma'am!" Jack said proudly and they followed after the man.
"There when someone's in trouble, when someone's in need," Erik continued. He reached the man and grabbed him by the back of the collar, holding him back.
"I'll be having that, now," Jack stated, grabbing the purse away. Erik let the man go and they ran back to the old lady, delivering her purse.
"Ohh, merci!" She said happily.
"Drink up me 'earties, yo ho!" They sang in unison, nodded to eachother and kept running.
"Together we work, we run wild, we run free, providing aid to the weak," Erik sang. They paused at a large tree where a boy stood, staring up at the branches.
"Mon chat est confiner dans cette arbre!" The boy said sadly, looking back up at the tree.
"Never fear! We are here!" Jack stated. He tapped Erik on the shoulder and he bent down in front of the tree, cupping his hands together. Jack stepped into his hands and Erik boosted him up. Pushing away the branches, Jack lay his eyes upon a fluffy, white cat. He picked it up and tucked it under his arm, then slid down and returned to the ground. He held the cat out to the boy who took it with much contentment.
"Oh, wow! Vous serez les meilleurs personnes dans la monde!" He exclaimed, hugging his cat close. The cat purred in delight.
"Il était notre plaisir," Erik said, bowing, and then they were off running through the streets again.
"When you want us, just call our names. That's all you have to speak," Jack sang.
Together, "Drink up me 'earties, yo ho!"
An old man stumbled from a set of swinging doors, he wobbled and swayed on his feet. Before he could fall over, Erik caught him and set him straight again. "Monsieurs, je suis ivre. Vous pouvez m'aiderai en trouvant ma maison?"
"He's drunk and wants to find his home," Erik whispered to Jack.
Jack nodded. "Very well, sir. Come along with us." They walked, supporting the drunk man so that he shouldn't fall. "Where's your house?"
"C'est où, la maison?"
"Sur ce rue. Le numéro 1274."
"1274," Erik told Jack. They counted the numbers on the houses as they passed. 1242... 1256... they were almost there when a female shriek made them stop in their tracks. Erik looked around to spot a woman running out of her home. The door was left wide open, smoke billowing out.
"Un feu! Un feu! Dans ma maison! Un feu!" She shrieked uncontrollably, running around in circles.
"I'll handle this," Erik said, leaving Jack to find the drunk man's home, and entering the smoky household. He followed the smoke to the kitchen where a fire burned brightly inside a stove with its door wide open. Apparently the lady must've forgotten that her turkey was in there because it was nothing more than a black crisp now, engulfed in flames. The flames raised up in front of Erik's face, attaching themselves to the curtains on the window. Quickly, Erik turned on the sink's faucet and ran to grab the garbage pail in the corner of the room. He returned to the sink, emptied the garbage onto the floor carelessly, and filled the pail with water. He splashed it first over the drapes, the water extinguishing the fire immediately. Then he refilled the pail and drowned the turkey. The fire didn't go out as easily, Erik refilled the pail again and dumped it once more. Finally the fire was put out, the blackened turkey and drapes fuming, water everywhere, garbage scattered all over the floor. He felt bad about making such a mess, but it was necessary.
He exited the home, pushing smoke out of his face, and returning outside. The lady who had been shrieking ran up to him. "Avez-vous éteindre le feu?" She asked hysterically.
"Oui, madame," Erik said, simply.
"Oh, merci! Merci! Merci!" She cried, embracing him tightly. Erik recoiled in shock, gasping as he was crushed by the arms of the happy woman. She let go of him after a moment and returned to her home.
Erik wondered if she would still want to hug him after she saw what he had done to her kitchen... he hurried down the road to catch up with Jack. When he found him, he was helping the old drunk man into his home.
"Goodbye," Jack said, waving to the man as he closed the door and turned to Erik. They continued their running.
Jack: "We will be there, we'll give you a hand, we'll solve your problems care-free."
Erik: "Just look in the distance and you will see the two buccaneers who wish to serve you in your hour of need."
The road began sloping downward and they ran down the rise. A little girl cried as she lost her grip on her wagon and it began to roll down the hill. Jack and Erik stopped in its path, waiting for it to come to them. Erik bent and put out his hands, anticipating the small wagon. In seconds, it stopped securely in his outreached grip. Jack towed it back up to the girl and delivered it to her. "Here you go," He said, placing the handle in her hand.
"Merci, Monsieur!" She squealed in delight.
Jack ran down the hill and caught up with Erik, then they ran again.
"Yo, ho! Yo, ho! a pirate's life for me!" They sang.
They passed through a park and saw a young woman sitting on a bench, looking to be in distress. They approached her as she cried out frantically, looking for some help.
"Ma bébé!" She cried, holding a baby that looked to be only several weeks old in her arms. "Ma bébé! Il ne respirer pas!" She held the baby out to Erik and he took it up in his arms. It's face was a deep shade of purple and it was not breathing, just as its mother had said. He pondered on the situation, knowing that he did not have much time. There appeared to be nothing he could see that was wrong with the infant. Suddenly an idea popped into his head. He carefully placed his fingers on the baby's mouth and opened it as wide as he could so that he could see inside.
Just as he had suspected! He reached into the baby's mouth slowly, placing his fingers upon a small fragment on plastic that was lodged near the throat, and pulling it out. He let it fall from his hand and onto the ground. Jack took the infant from him and observed its color, seeing that its normal tint was returning. He handed the lady her baby.
She stroked the child's few hairs on its head and smiled as it gasped for air and began howling piercing cries, a sign that it could breath once again. "Vous avez sauvé ma bébé!" She cried herself, tears streaming from her eyes.
"All in a day's work, ma'am," Jack replied, and then they were off running again, through the park.
"And really bad eggs!" Jack bellowed.
He found another bench at the opposite end of the park and sat down. "Well, this has certainly been one excitement-filled day, wouldn't you agree?" Jack asked.
Erik sighed and sat down next to Jack. "Yes. A little too exciting even. I'm exhausted."
"As am I. But we've really done some magic for these people. And it feels good, you know?"
Erik nodded. "Yeah, I feel great."
"That was some theme song we had there! Truly the work of geniuses!"
"Mmhmm..."
Jack looked at Erik for a moment. "You don't seem all that excited about our partnership."
"I am, it's just that it's so pressuring. Stolen purses and falling wagons is one thing, but when it's a choking baby? That's just a little too much on the extreme, Jack. I felt like I was going to mess up and if I did then it would all be over for the little one."
"Don't sweat it, man. You did a great job. And I'm sure you'll do plenty more. Come on, let's go," Jack said, raising to his feet. Erik followed suit and they left the park.
As they walked down the streets they performed their 'theme song' once again, this time without all of the interruption of people in need of their help. People watched them as they passed, listening to the tune they sang.
One old woman sitting at a picnic table asked another old woman who sat across from her as Jack and Erik passed by singing, "C'est qui, ces déprédateurs melodiques?"
The lady shrugged, looking back at the two men who sang. She found their performance quite entertaining, charming even.
They finished their song for the second time. Jack, having heard the woman ask her friend about them, asked Erik, "What did that woman say?"
"She asked her friend 'Who are those melodical marauders?"
Jack slowed his pace, rubbing his braided beard while thinking. "Melodical marauders, eh?" He asked slyly. "I like the sound of that."
"Oh, no."
"The Melodical Marauders!" Jack exclaimed, stopping in the road. More people began staring at them. "It's perfect!"
"Nooooo..."
"We will be called The Melodical Marauders! We can't go wrong with that one! Erik and Jack: Melodical Marauders!"
Erik planted his face into his hands, all too aware of all the eyes upon them because of Jack's outbursts. "Shut up!" He whispered.
"LA LA LA LA LAAAAA! MELODICAL MARAUDERS, YES WE ARE! MELODICAL MARAUDERS, WE'LL GO FAR! TO HELP WHOEVER NEEDS OUR AIDE! MELODICAL MARAUDERS, JUST CALL OUR NAME!" Jack bellowed into the street.
"I hate you."