CHAPTER 3

Rottenbeard and his crew were already sailing away, heading towards the open sea, completely unaware of the smaller ship that had just started tailing them.

"Good show me hearties." bellowed Rottenbeard to his crew. "It seems we've managed to come out on top yet again!"

The four battered and bruised crewmen laying around on the deck didn't seem to share their captain's enthusiasm.

"Speak for yerself cap'n." muttered Quicksail as he rubbed a bruise on his arm. "That guy knocked us all senseless."

Zigzag and Pinchpenny nodded in agreement.

"Ah yer fine, nothin to it lads." assured Rottenbeard, dismissing their complaints.

Tricks frowned, keeping her own complaints to herself. Her pride had been hurt more than anything else. She had never been beaten so badly before, and she didn't like it one bit. Not only that, but Rottenbeard had completely abandoned them.

"So why'd ya leave in such a hurry cap'n?" Tricks finally decided to ask, in an extremely sarcastic tone.

"Tricks, ya know I woulda stayed lassie, but the treasure map was me top priority. Besides, I knew I could count on me crew to take care of that landlubber." explained Rottenbeard, trying to justify his actions. "That necklace ye nabbed will fetch a fair penny, and if that old blaggard's right, this here map'll lead to a wealth of buried treasure."

Pinchpenny suddenly forgot about his injuries, and a grin crept onto his face. He absolutely loved treasure, and was filled with glee at the mere mention of more of it. Every ounce of treasure on the ship belonged to him as far as he was concerned, and so would any more that they found.

Zigzag sat up from the floor after a bit of difficulty and turned to Rottenbeard.

"Do you think what the old man said is true, will we find more treasure than we know what to do with?"

"Who knows lad, but we be pirates, and pirates don't pass up a chance at boundless riches." Rottenbeard exclaimed, extending his arm and moving it across the horizon. "Now set sail, Zigzag! Adventure waits on every shore!"

"Yo ho!" shouted Pinchpenny and Zigzag as they rushed to their positions.

Tricks decided that she didn't feel like climbing all the way up to the crows nest, and would instead take a well deserved rest. Rottenbeard owed it to her big time for what happened back there at the tavern.

Quicksail silently headed below to his machine, one of the only places he felt completely at ease. He didn't fare well in social settings, and preferred to be alone most of the time. While Rottenbeard and the others did so much pointless gabbing, Quicksail's philosophy was 'only speak when you have something important to say.' It was a wonder they hadn't blown out their vocal cords yet.

Up above, Rottenbeard took a deep breath of sea air. This was the life. He had everything he needed; a reliable crew, the fastest ship in existence, and the wind on his back. Oh and being the scourge of the seven seas was nice too. He watched a seagull sail by, above the ocean waves, and then headed down below decks for some much needed relaxation.

Tricks waited until he had disappeared from sight to do some relaxing of her own. She made her way past Pinchpenny and Zigzag, who were busy trying to follow the directions on the map. After finding a nice spot, she laid flat down on the deck, and brushed her dark hair from her eyes so she could watch the clouds float by.

- - - - - - - - - -

Rottenbeard yawned and stretched as he entered his quarters. He threw One's necklace on a coat hanger and poured himself a drink.

"Yer one bloody good pirate, Rottenbeard." he mumbled, complimenting himself as he headed straight for his luxurious gold plated bed. He laid down with his back up against the frame as he sipped the drink, and began to think about his past.

Rottenbeard had been a pirate for as long as he could remember, and one of his first memories was sneaking on board a pirate ship as a young boy. At first he would just stow away on ships, stealing the food, and watching the pirates do their thing. Then one day he was finally caught. Fortunately the captain liked him and took him under his wing. His name was Captain Blackjack, the closest thing to a father that Rottenbeard had ever had.

"Ah Jack, it was a shame I had to send ye to Davy Jones locker over a measly gold coin, but that's the life of a pirate, mate." spoke Rottenbeard as if directly to his dead captain.

"Here's to ya lad."

Rottenbeard raised his glass, downed all that remained of his drink and drifted off to sleep.

It wasn't long before he was awakened by a knocking on his door.

"What in the blazes is it?" grumbled Rottenbeard, feeling as though he had only been asleep for a very short time.

The door opened a crack, and Pinchpenny peeked his head inside the room.

"Cap'n sir, we're about to reach the island."

- - - - - - - - - -

Outside, the crew was gathered awaiting their orders, when suddenly the door to the lower decks burst open and out came Rottenbeard with shovels in hand.

"Alright ya scurvy dogs, it be time to drop the anchor." he bellowed, throwing the shovels to his crew. "Grab yer gear and lets find us some treasure!"

"Aye Aye!"

Quicksail hurried to drop the anchor, while Tricks and Zigzag set up the gang plank between the ship and the island.

With map in hand, Pinchpenny took the lead, making his way down the plank and stepping onto the beach below.

Rottenbeard was next, and had to enter a slow jog to catch up with his overly eager crewman.

"Slow down lad, or we'll never keep up."

Pinchpenny slowed, but only after realizing he needed them all to carry his treasure for him.

Tricks and Quicksail finally caught up to Rottenbeard and Pinchpenny, with Zigzag still struggling along the beach carrying absolutely all of the gear on his back.

"Can someone gimme a hand here?" he managed to ask through the grunts and groans.

"C'mon laddie we ain't got all day!" urged Rottenbeard, ignoring Zigzag's request.

"So where're we headed Pinchy?" asked Tricks as she tried to take a peek at the map.

Pinchpenny quickly turned away, blocking her view. She frowned and crossed her arms.

"According to this map, the treasure is just over this hill." he explained, pointing to a small grass-covered hill in front of them.

Rottenbeard looked the hill over for a moment, and seemed displeased.

"Blimey, where be the challenge in this?' he roared, as they began to ascend the hill. "Where be the adventure? The danger? This has to be the.."

As the pirates arrived at the top of the hill, a large pile of treasure came into view.

"..easiest bloody booty we've every come across." concluded Rottenbeard.

The crew stood with their mouths gaping. There, just sitting out in the open, sparkling in the afternoon sun was more gold, jewels, and antiques than they had ever seen in one single place before. Pinchpenny couldn't help but shed a tear of joy.

"Looks like we hit the mother-load!" exclaimed Quicksail as he rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

"Who left all this treasure just lying around?" Tricks asked in wonder.

Rottenbeard laughed and slapped Pinchpenny on the back.

"Shiver me timbers mateys, who cares were it came from, it be ours now! Let's get this all loaded on the ship!"

As soon as Zigzag arrived with the gear, he, Tricks and Quicksail rushed down the other side of the hill to the treasure, and began bagging it.

Rottenbeard watched from the hilltop, urging his crew on as they collected the booty.

"Come on ya lazy blaggards, we haven't got all day!"

"Yea, put your backs into it!" ordered Pinchpenny from beside him. "You call yourselves pirates?"

Rottenbeard slowly turned to look down at Pinchpenny, and gave him a glare.

Pinchpenny sighed, and reluctantly headed down to help his crew-mates.

Suddenly out of the corner of his eye, Rottenbeard spotted a fine looking full length mirror amongst the treasure, and began to walk towards it.

"Begad, that be a fine mirror!" remarked Rottenbeard as he admired the craftsmanship, as well as his reflection. "Be careful with this one, me buckos. This is goin' in me personal quarters." he shouted to his crew, who were already on their way back to the ship with the first load of treasure.

- - - - - - - - - -

As the crew trudged back to the ship, bags of treasure over each shoulder, Tricks made her way over to Quicksail.

"Cap'n is one lazy lubber ain't he?" she asked quietly, feeling confident that Quicksail wouldn't breath a word to Rottenbeard.

"Aye, but he's the cap'n, he be allowed." replied Quicksail.

She was glad to see that someone agreed with her.

"Ya know, if I were captain, I'd help me crew out once in a while instead of gettin' em to do all me dirty work."

Her comment brought out a sudden laugh from Quicksail, something that didn't occur all that often.

"Tricks, if you were captain, we'd be shark-bait fer sure!" he joked.

She gave him a shove as they reached the ship and began to walk up the gangplank.

"Ya think ye could do better, Quicksail?"

"Aye, I do as a matter of fact."

Zigzag was the first to set foot on the ship, and what he saw caused him to drop the bags of treasure that he was carrying.

"Uh mateys?" he squeaked in fear. "We be in trouble now."