Well howdy ho! Welcome to Arrgh! Chapter 7! You know what I just realized? Since I changed the rating of this story from K plus to T, I can now swear in this story! I know I updated way too soon, but I couldn't wait! This chap is gonna be so fun to write, and only the heartless will have dry eyes by the end of this chapter! I'm glad to have this opportunity to touch all you readers out there! I hope this chapter makes you really sad! Okay, I didn't mean it that way. What I meant to say was-what I want to-just get on with the story already! This is cappyandpashy4ever signing off.
Arrgh! By cappyandpashy4ever
Chapter 7: A short reunion and Cappy's sorrow
Recap…
It was then that Boss noticed what Cappy was staring at.
"Ham-hams?"
"BOSS!" yelled Sandy, Bijou and Pashmina. The three ran to their friend and gave him immense hugs.
"You followed me?" asked Boss, turning slightly blue from all the squeezes.
"Of course we did you idiot!" Pashmina responded, glaring at him. "How could we let you go by yourself, you're such a noble jerk, leaving us all behind! We're not afraid to get our paws dirty you know!"
Before Boss was able to respond, Pashmina noticed Cappy standing beside him.
"And you!" cried Pashmina, rushing to Cappy and throwing her paws around his neck. "You are never aloud to do something that foolish again! I mean, Boss can handle himself but you are so naïve to go out there on your own! You had us so worried! What you did was reckless and stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid…!"
"Pashmina?" Cappy interrupted her.
"WHAT?"
"You're banging my head against a tree."
"Oh!" exclaimed Pashmina, releasing the now very bruised Cappy and turning slightly red. (Out of embarrassment or blushing, I can't say)
"So," Boss said, seriously. "Are you telling me that you guys all followed me and have been stranded on this island for a whole day because you wanted to make sure I was alright?"
"Y-yes." Hamtaro answered for all the hams. He put his arms over his face, ready for Boss to explode. What happened was a very different reaction. Boss burst out laughing.
"Uh, Boss? You okay, man?" asked Stan.
"Y-yeah!" said Boss, crying with mirth.
"Can you stop laughing in enough time to explain what's going on?" Sandy asked.
"S-sorry." Boss stopped laughing. "Well, where should I start?"
And with that, Boss and Cappy explained all the happenings of the day.
Later that night, all the hams had fallen asleep on the sandy shores of Pirate Island. It was near daybreak when Cappy was awoken by a shrill shriek.
"Hey Cappy, didja invite someone for tea?" Howdy asked, inserting a bit of humor into his otherwise fearful voice.
"Yawn-nope, why?" Cappy responded, rubbing his eyes in a severely annoyed fashion.
"Because we've got guests!" Howdy exclaimed, pointing into the turquoise sea.
Cappy looked across the shining waters, and gasped. A dot. Not just any dot. A small brown dot, growing ever larger, with a billowing black flag. The pirates had followed them.
"Boss!" yelled Cappy, startling Boss so he jumped a foot in the air. (This is pretty big for a hamster.)
"Wha-?" Boss stated, his eyes squinting in the unaccustomed light. In response, Cappy rotated Boss's head so the ship was in direct view. Boss's eyes grew wide. "Ham-hams! Wake UUUPPP!" yelled Boss, causing all the ham-hams to leap out of their sandy slumber.
"What's your problem?" Pashmina asked, sarcastically.
"It's them!" Boss pointed a trembling finger. Many gasps were heard. Only Maxwell remained calm.
"Alright hams!" the tall bookish hamster yelled; the talking ceased. "I've accurately calculated the distance and the location of said ship, plus the arrival time and approximate speed due to wind point and current."
"What in ham-hell does that mean?" asked Howdy, raising an eyebrow.
"It means," said Maxwell impatiently. "That we have about five seconds to hide Boss and Cappy before the pirates come within sight range." Disaster pursued this last saying. Ham-hams began scurrying around in a desperate attempt to find something to hide Cappy and Boss with. Dexter ran around a tree, several coconuts falling in on him in the process. Penelope squealed with fright at the pirates, flailing her arms as Pashmina tried to calm her down. Boss tried to dig a hole. As he dug, a clump of dirt flew out and landed on Oxnard, who immediately tried to strangle Boss.
"STOP IT!" Maxwell shrieked. The hams froze in their current position; Oxnard's paws still clutched around Boss's throat. Maxwell ran up to Howdy and snatched off his kimono and boots.
"Hey! I'll have you know that's real fake silk!" Howdy cried, angrily. Upon seeing Maxwell's eyes nearly flash red with rage; he shut up and backed down.
"Put these on." Maxwell said calmly, tossing the kimono to Boss and the boots to Cappy. Boss managed to pull the bright orange cloth over his head, hiding his face from sight. Cappy struggled into the boots giving him the impression that he was taller. He removed his hat and hid it behind his back, making him totally unrecognizable.
They seemed to be just in time. Just as Cappy looked up, the brown ship was right on the bay, and Captain Hambone was clambering out of the ship as well as Gleamjaw and Crossbones.
"You fellows seen a big, beefy hamster w' a little green kid go by?" Captain Hambone asked in his low, gruff voice.
"Fraid not, sir." Hamtaro said in a flawless English accent.
"Thank'ee for yur time." said Hambone. "Crew, let's go search the next island, they might be there already." He led his team into the bowels of the ship, and they shoved off.
"Yes!" Cappy cried in happiness. "We pulled it off!"
"Shh!" Maxwell scolded. "They might be able to hear us! It's best that we stay in uniform until they're out of sight."
"Thanks again. Tell us if ya see somethin." The captain called from the ship.
"Will do, sir!" chortled Cappy as the ship sailed almost out of sight. It was then that he made a terrible mistake…
Gleamjaw stood on the deck of the ship, hanging his paws off the edge. He watched the island shrinking as the ship under his feet sailed away. He looked into the faces if the group of hamsters standing awkwardly on the beach. He saw an orange and white hamster, standing next to a girl with whit pigtails. A small yellow female leaped up and down beside a blonde girl with a pink scarf. His eyes fell over a large muscular hamster, entirely shrouded in a flaming scarlet kimono. His gaze was then caught by a tall ham-ham wearing boots, who looked strangely familiar.
"Will do, sir!" bellowed the ham in boots. He began jumping and waving. Gleamjaw thought he saw a gleam of color against the white neck of the hamster wearing boots. But it was soon covered by one of his flailing arms as he waved madly at the pirates. Gleamjaw stood, very confused. Did he just see what he think he saw? He stared at the ham a little more, and he saw it again. This time a little more clearly, despite the ship moving back in the opposite direction. A bright gleam of gold, appearing in a heart shape around the tall hamster's neck. He put two and two together. He ran to the captain.
"Sir!" Gleamjaw called once he reached the captain's quarters.
"Dammit Gleamjaw! This better be important!" shouted Hambone from inside the room. A scuffling a feet was heard and the door opened wide, reveling the large figure of the captain.
"Sir, I just…" Gleamjaw trailed off. He realized what he was doing. He was betraying the only friend he had ever found on that dingy little ship. Did Cappy really deserve it?
"What?" the captain yelled.
"Nothing, sir."
"Y'can't 'ave just come here for no reason! What were ya gonna say?"
"Nothing."
"I'm giving ya one last chance ta tell me 'afore I get angry!"
"I told you, nothing."
"That's it!" shouted Hambone, pulling out a small pistol. "Tell me or I'll shoot!"
Gleamjaw looked from the gun to Hambone's livid face. He remembered Cappy and the locket. And he remembered Boss, the person who he thought dead. Did they all deserve it?
"I'm not saying anything, sir." Said Gleamjaw, bracing himself.
"Alright! I warned ya!" said the captain. His finger slipped to the trigger. He inched the trigger towards him. Gleamjaw gulped, and he knew ho couldn't go through with it.
"Wait!"
"I knew you'd be too chicken to take it." Said the captain with a satisfied smirk.
These words stung Gleamjaw. He knew it was true, and the stinging pain of it was almost too much to bear.
"Let's hear what you've got ta say." Hambone ordered.
"It's Cappy sir. The green hat one, I mean."
"Aye, you saw him?"
"Yes, he was the ham in the boots. I expect Bo- Silvershovel was in the kimono."
"You've served me well, Gleamjaw." Said the captain with cold, emotionless eyes. "Crossbones!" he called.
"Yes, sir?" Crossbones responded.
"We've spotted the runaways. It's too obvious to turn back to the island, we need to ambush em. Set a course for the opposite end of Pirate Island. It's not a large island so we'll be there by sunset."
"On it, captain!" Crossbones agreed, shifting the controls slightly.
"I'm sorry." Whispered Gleamjaw so only he could hear himself.
It was close to sunset. The sun seemed to be preparing itself for color change; its deep orange melting into vivid red at the end. The hams were just enjoying a moment of sweet relaxation, thinking that they were all safe and had avoided trouble. How very wrong they were. The ham-hams lay on the beach basking in the sun and tanning their fur when they were rudely awoken from their peaceful thoughts to the sound of Maxwell's panicked screams.
"Oh no! Oh no!" cried Maxwell, running up and down the beach.
"Like, what's wrong Max?" Sandy sighed, embracing him around the shoulders.
"It's today!" Maxwell cried in a frenzied cry.
"What's today?" asked several hams.
"The day of Agate!" Maxwell replied. "And it's almost eight!"
The hams suddenly remembered the note.
"How are we gonna figure out this riddle?" Hamtaro and most of the others asked.
"I don't know!" Maxwell cried. "I can't do everything! It could be as complicated as a puzzle that could take years to solve, or it could be as simple as taking the first and last letter from each line and unscrambling it to spell a word on the…the…"
A blank expression stretched across Maxwell's face. He took the note and the map and sat down in the sand, scribbling profusely in the sand with a large stick.
"I've got it!" Maxwell cried after a long time. By now, the sun almost all disappeared behind the horizon. Only a small dab of sun remained.
"What did you figure?" asked Dexter, straightening his bowtie in front of Pashmina.
"I took the first and last letter of each line and scrambled the letters, creating the name of a place! The word is Tostegot. According to my book, Armado Tostegot was the first pirate to fly the Jolly Rodger, or the traditional pirate flag."
"So you're saying…?" asked Hamtaro, cluelessly.
"That this name corresponds to a place on the map." Replied Maxwell in triumph. "Tostegot Bridge to be specific. It's my guess that there is where we will meet this "mystery writer" if you will."
"Like, way to go Maxwell!" Sandy cheered with much support from the ham-hams.
"It's a quarter to eight so we better follow the map and find this place!" said Boss. He led the ham-hams towards the small hole in the rock that Howdy had found; the one that lead towards town and, hopefully, a friend.
The pirates arrived at the opposite end of Pirate Island around evening. They were tired and hungry, so they all agreed to find shelter and go on the runaway search tomorrow.
As it was evening on the day of Agate, the most highly celebrated day for pirates, it was not easy for Hambone's crew to find a hotel to stay at. After much searching, they found a large in with a few vacant rooms. The crew checked in and went up to their rooms.
Gleamjaw sat on his bed, staring at his watch. It was almost time. If the others just left him alone for a few minutes…
"Alright, men." Hambone announced. "Let's go down to the kitchens and steal us some grub."
The captain lead his crew out of the room, but Gleamjaw tailed behind.
"Coming, Gleamjaw?" asked Crossbones.
"I'll, I'll come down in a minute." He said, looking at his watch. It was time.
"Suit yerself." Crossbones responded with a gleam in his eye.
Gleamjaw tried to shake the look of suspicion in Crossbones' eyes as he jumped out of the window of his room. He stepped onto a nearby tree branch and scooted himself down the tree. He soon found himself on the ground.
"I hope I'm not late!" Gleamjaw cried, scurrying into the forest. His cries were lost in the bustle of the busy streets.
"Well, this is the place!" said Maxwell, looking at the map. It was a small, mossy bridge stretching across a small stream in the middle of a clump of trees. The ham-hams were the only ones there.
"Where is that writer guy?" asked Hamtaro.
"I expect he's just running a bit late, that's all." Said Pashmina, reassuringly.
"Unless this isn't the right place!" Dexter called, eyes glaring at Maxwell.
"Yeah! How're we supposed to tell if this place is even the right stop?" Howdy asked angrily. A large crowd of hamsters gathered around Maxwell, yelling and arguing and fighting.
"I don't understand!" cried Maxwell, looking rapidly at the map and back to the bridge in front of him. "All my estimations were accurate and my locating was the definition of perfection! Unless…oh no! I must've calculated the area coding wrongly! I better redo everything!"
"Don't do that. I reckon you've found that right place." Said a voice that Cappy recognized. A thin, gray male hamster emerged from the trees.
"Are you zee one that sent zee riddle?" asked Bijou.
"Yes." Said the new ham.
"It's you!" cried Boss, fury etched in his features. "You're the one who tried to kill me!" Boss mad a mad dash for the boy and sprung on top of him, his arm clenching around his neck.
"Going to kill me, Boss?" said the hamster with watery eyes.
"Boss! No!" called Cappy, pulling Boss off of him. "He's good. He's the one who gave me this locket." Cappy heal up the tiny gold heart.
"Where'd you get that?" asked Boss in an accusing tone. "That was my father's locket! You're a pirate! You stole it from my father didn't you!"
"I knew your father very well; he would've wanted me to have it." Said the grey hamster calmly.
"WHO ARE YOU!" Boss yelled.
"They know me as Gleamjaw," he said. "But you may call me Glen."
"G-Glen?" Boss stuttered.
"What's the matter Boss?" Glen teased. "Don't you recognize your own brother?"
"Oh Glen!" cried Boss, happy tears welling in his eyes. "You've grown so much! You're a real man now. Dad would've been proud. And I bet Mom is too. How is she?"
"Dead." Said Glen, mercilessly. "The pirates killed her."
"Then why," said Boss. "Did you join the bloody pirates?"
"They forced me, Boss." Said Glen. "I can't stand up to those pirates."
"Ah, you were always a hopeless fighter, Glen." Boss sighed, hugging him.
"Why did you need to meet us?" asked Hamtaro.
"Well, it wasn't easy getting here. I had to sneak out. But I called you here because you guys need to hide from the pirates."
"But why?" asked Stan.
"Because," said Boss. "I refused to serve the pirate Captain. Now he wants my head."
"Let me help you hide." Glen suggested. "The pirates will be searching for you in the morning so you need a good place. If you guys will give me some fur, I can make it look like you got eaten by a cat."
"It all make sense now." Said Maxwell. "But there's still one thing I don't understand. Why did you send that message in riddle instead of just text?"
"For one thing," Glen responded. "That message wasn't meant for just anyone. Only hams that could figure it out. Cappy told me stories about a smart hamster who was his friend."
"Thanks Cappy." Maxwell whispered.
"Also," continued Glen. "Writing messages to outsiders ins only allowed in riddle. I know it seems silly but the pirates did give me food and shelter for a long time. I thought that you and Mom and Dad were all gone, and that I was alone. I owe my life to them, the least I could do was abide by their rules."
"You can write riddles but you can't even sneak out of hotels without being caught?" said a voice from the trees. Two pirates stepped out from the foliage. They were the ones that Glen knew as Redfeather and Sparrowtail.
"We've heard all about your touching stories." Said Redfeather.
"But I'm afraid we can't let you lot get away." Said Sparrowtail. "The captain will be very pleased to hear that we killed the runaways."
"We were going to let you lot live, but since you've helped these fugitives, I'm afraid you're going to have to die as well." Redfeather spoke.
"And you, Gleamjaw." Sparrowtail smirked. "I've been restraining myself from ringing your little neck for years. You're going to be fun to torture."
"I told you my name's GLEN!" he yelled. "Run!" he told the ham-hams. They all ran down a small spiraling rock bridge on the side of a cliff. Before the pirates could follow them, Boss slammed his shovel against the rock and it shattered as easily as glass.
"And that's why they call me Silvershovel." Said Boss proudly.
"Damn it all!" yelled Redfeather. Sparrowtail pointed at something and whispered into his ear. A wide grin stretched Redfeather's face.
"Well, if we can't kill all of you," said Sparrowtail.
"At least we can get rid of the green one!" finished Redfeather. Together, the two pirates pushed a large rock over the ledge of the cliff. The pirates scampered off into the night, laughing manically. The rock fell fast and swift, and it was falling in the direction of…
"CAPPY!" Yelled Pashmina, but she knew she wasn't fast enough.
"Oh no! I'm not losing you!" Yelled Boss, running to Cappy and pushing him out of the way. The rock crashed down and Boss stood holding the rock above his head with difficulty.
"Boss!" said Cappy. "Just throw the rock off of you!"
"I…can't!" strained Boss. "I'm not that strong! And I might hit one of you! One death is better than two."
Cappy realized what Boss was going to do.
"No!" he yelled. "We'll help you!"
"No… Cappy. I won't…endanger you all…like this. This is my battle, and I've lost."
"No Boss!" Cappy yelled desperately. "You can still do it! You just have to try!"
"No I…can't!" Boss called back, his arms bending a little under the enormous pressure.
"Yes you can!"
"No…I…CAN'T!" Boss screamed. His arms went a little limp and he seemed to stop struggling. Boss saw the stunned look on Cappy's face. "It's okay." He spoke. "With me out of the way, the pirates will…have no reason to come after you. And besides," a sad smile stretched Boss's face. "I'll get to see my mom, and dad, again."
With that, the last bit of strength in Boss's muscle was drained from him, and the rock crashed down.
"Cappy." Spoke a voice. Cappy looked up to see Hamtaro, his eyes red and blotchy. Cappy did not respond. "Cappy." Hamtaro spoke again. Cappy ignored him.
"Cappy." Spoke a soft, feminine voice. Not Hamtaro, Pashmina. "Cappy, there's nothing we can do. He's, he's…" her voice trailed off. A tear escaped her eyes.
"Ah, Pashmina." Cappy thought. "She truly is a fine girl. But so oblivious to the truth. Boss is not gone. We simply have to wait here and he'll come climbing up from under that rock. They'll see. We just have to wait."
And so they did wait. For ten minutes, or perhaps a few hours, or maybe several sorrowful days.
"Cappy." trembled Pashmina. "He's not coming back."
Cappy's knees buckled. He kneeled down in the dirt and cried. Cried his eyes out until they were dry. Then Cappy looked up at the rock where he knew Boss's body lay under, however mangled. It was then that something hit Cappy, hard. It was as if a rock equally sized to the one he just laid eyes upon, had fallen on Cappy's heart, smashing it to pieces.
It was then that he realized something. Boss, the hams who had always had some final trick up his sleeve, who had always been there for Cappy when he needed him most, couldn't do everything. Boss could build a flawless clubhouse, dig a whole the size of a crater, and rescue Bijou from rushing river rapids.
But when it came to this, Boss could save Cappy, he could save the ham-hams, but he couldn't save himself.
Okay, that was really horrible for a death scene. But it was the best I could do. I hope I left some of you teary eyed. The next scene won't be cheery either, but I do hope you all read on! –cp4ever