First Encounter
"VYLE! SHIP SIGHTED OF THE STARBOARD BOW!" Souris roared from the crows nest. Vyle dropped the glass of wine he had been sipping and ran out of his quarters, only to be hit by the gale force winds and heavy rain that the sea all too commonly brought. He picked himself up off the now drenched deck and ran over to the starboard bow.
"Smash, hand me a scope!" Vyle yelled. Smash came dashing over and handed his captain a telescope. Vyle put the brass telescope to his eye and looked out at the vessel. He gazed at the armaments that the vessel was armed with. Cannons. Big ones. His gaze shifted to the sail. Its bold crimson tint stood out against the grey back-drop that was the storm. "Come on, come on…" Vyle whispered to himself as he prayed he could see the emblem that he knew would be on the mast, waiting to catch his gaze. When it did, Vyle gasped and dropped his telescope. The clear skull and crossbones printed on the mast was enough to scare even Lucan. The mast belonged to the most gruesome pirates that ever traversed the open sea. It was none other then The Shir Po!
Smash stood silently behind Vyle, waiting to know what had caused Vyle such a shock. "It's them…" Vyle said, gulping.
"Who?"
"The Shir Po." Smash winced at the name and a shiver ran down his immense spine.
"Impossible!"
"Don't try to deny it." Vyle said. He signaled Souris to come down and pulled Smash in close. "They haven't seen us yet, so we have the upper hand." He paused and brought Souris into the huddle. "What we need to do is get one good shot at them. If it hits, they die. If we miss, we die. Understand?" Both Souris and Smash nodded. "Souris, go tell the Victor to get the ship…"
But Vyle was cut short as an immense screech filled the air, following suit was the quaking of the deck.
"Son of a…" Vyle cut himself off and composed himself. He ran up to Victor who was trying to steady the ship. "Victor, what's the damage report?"
"Yaar, they just missed us by a hair!"
"Victor, get us out of here! If we stay they might launch a harpoon and try to board…" Yet again Vyle was cut short as a harpoon flew into the starboard bow.
"Yaar, ya' just had ta' say sumthin, didin' ya'?" Vyle sighed and ran over to the harpoon. He examined the slack chain that was trailing behind it. He began to examine it as it was pulled taut. The Heart of Venom was slowly moving closer to the enemy ship. Vyle tilted his head back and roared.
"Prepare to fight! Where going to be boarded!"
Author Note: "The Shir Po" is an anagram of what name?