I am not a Historian. So, some things may not be Historically correct. But, this is ficiton.. is it not?

CH 5: James POV

I couldn't believe it. We were really heading for the Gulf of Guinea where hopefully my father was heading like any other pirate.

I'll admit, I hadn't thought working for this "pirate crew" would involve so much work. But I was used to hard labor.

Their captain and the victim of my harassment, Bella, was always watching me on the ship, waiting for me to make a mistake.

"James, this knot is wrong. Do it again."

"James, this fish is too raw. Cook it again."

"James."

"James."

"James!"

Days passed by with the same abuse and at night I often found myself collapsing against the wood work beneath my feet. I found the motion of the waves a comfort and it was at those times that I thought of my mother, alone on the island.

One morning, when the sun was beating down upon our faces, Bella walked out from the captain's quarters and wearing a hat decorated with bright red feathers, she announced that we were almost to our destination.

"Bella lets play 'The scoundrel and the buccaneer'!" Teddy shouted in excitement. The other boys hollered in agreement.

"What's 'The scoundrel and the buccaneer'?" I questioned, glancing from the small boy to Bella.

Bella came toward me then, strolling down the cherry colored steps and smirked.

"It's just a silly little game we came up with. One person is the outlaw and the other is the one trying to enforce the law. It's a simple role-playing game, really." she explained in an oddly sinister voice.

"Sounds… fun?" I said weakly.

"Well, consider yourself volunteered to be the buccaneer!" Cricket sung and laughed insanely.

"Grab a sword, you'll need it." A boy named Thunder instructed in a monotone voice as he pointed toward an assortment of weapons that were being held out to me by the crew.

I chose a simple sword, offered to me by Mouse and watched as Bella removed her long elaborate coat and played with a sword in her hands, embroidered with golden crests.

"Aim for her left side, she is weaker there." Thunder whispered, smiling.

I gave him a questioning look, before I realized that this was going to be a real duel.

"Alright then," Bella said in a booming voice, causing the crew to back away from her, forming a circle, "Let's play".

Suddenly, she came at me, her sword barely missing my flesh. I tightened my grip on my own defensive weapon and blocked her blade as she charged me again. The metals clashed, shinning from the sunlight as we fought.

"You'll never take me alive you damned buccaneer." Bella said with a scowl. Playing along I spoke, "Your crime days are over you scoundrel."

Again, our swords sparked. The song they created was seductive, drawing both of us in as we continued our duel. Together we moved to the center of the ship as a wave rocked past us, tilting the ship. I lost my balance slightly and Bella's sword came forward, passing right above my shoulder.

"Almost got ya," she said in a low voice as she immerged from her character. She continued to say, "Let that be your first training lesson. Keep on your feet. Don't saw weakness and don't ever give me an open opportunity."

I regained my stance and our swords began their dance once again. However, as the ship swayed once more, I was able to quickly glance to see Mute grip the helm tightly and with a single trust, move the wooden wheel completely around. So, he'd been causing the ship to move violently the whole time. Was there some sort of secret plot against me?

I don't know if I could blame him if there was.

The ship was rocking back and forth and even Bella couldn't keep her feet study. I saw her eyes widen as the ship's left side flew up over another wave, throwing Bella's back against the railing on the right side.

Watching as she struggled to keep herself from falling into the ocean depths, I found myself leaving behind my sword and sliding down the side of the slanted deck.

The ship rocked once again, sending Bella off of the railing and surely into the ocean if I hadn't come sooner.

I was able to grab hold of her arm as the rest of her body dangled just a few feet from the surface of the water.

"I got you," I told her, trying to ease the worry I saw on her face. However, the moment after I'd spoken, it wasn't reassurance that masked her sea salted face but a devilish smirk. Her foot hooked onto the railing and, swinging her body up onto the deck, she was able to plunge the tip of her pointed boot deep into my gut.

In a sudden rush of pain, I fell to my knees as the ship slowly began to regain a study balance over the sea. Bella, on the other hand, gracefully stood up and smiled down at my disgruntled appearance.

"You showed your weakness." She said simply and her crew flew toward her in response, cheering in her triumph.

"That was amazing Bella!" Teddy shouted, jumping up and down beside her.

"Such skillful technique, Captain," Doc added in. Bella smiled kindly down at the boys and playfully messed with Teddy's scruffy blonde hair.

"He's not very good is he?" Twig spoke loud enough so I could hear him.

"Hey! You try sword fighting on a ship rocking back and forth and then you can get back to me on that!" I said in my own defense.

"But that's how the game is played, James," Mouse said as if he were so shocked that I hadn't known that to begin with.

"You think someone would have bothered to tell me that…" I said in anguish, glaring over at the prideful bell.

"You never asked." She said nonchalantly.

"But I did…" I began but was soon cut off by shouting coming from up above us. "Bella! There are ships out there. Tons of them! Just beyond the horizon. We have to be really close!" A boy named Robin was my interrupter, standing on top of the bird's nest. I hadn't realized he'd even been up there.

How in Calypso's name had he managed to stay up there while the ship rocked back and forth?

"Perfect!" Bella shouted back with a wide grin, "Competition".

The whole crew flew to the right side of the ship, leaning their bodies half way off the railing and almost causing the vessel to tilt. I joined them and saw the boats or rather the faint dots that lined the edge of the horizon in front of us.

"Maybe your father is one of them," Bella spoke without facing me, standing by my side. I didn't answer her; I just stared out at the glistening scope, hypnotized.

"Mute, come check this out. I will take the Helm." Bella said as a gust of wind swept past us.

Mute stepped down the wooden steps and gripping the wooden wheel, Bella smiled brightly over at us.

"This is it," she began, "We are going to be with the big leagues this time, no more of the pirates-in-training we have dealt with before. These guys are the real thing."

The sails caught the wind in their grasp and moving faster over the waves, we neared the awaiting ships. Soon, we were right next to them, all lined up in a row, ships everywhere, crowding the coast line.

As we moved along with the others, we were able to see it, the trading port we'd been waiting for, the Island of Sáo Tomé. It was at that time that I realized that this port, the place where I might find my father, had made me forget my aggression toward Bella. She had taken me here and as much as we fought, I was utterly grateful for what she had done for me.

The dock was packed full of passenger vessels and trading ships, unloading their contents onto the land. We were able to stir our own ship by the side of the docks, where rocks underneath us served as our own little loading port.

I am sure Bella made the decision not to dock in the port to avoid the docking fee and to remain at least a little discrete. Besides, compared to the towering ships that were flooding into the port, it was unlikely that anyone would notice our small ship.

Cricket and I lowered the anchor and before we knew it, we were treading through the shallow water around us. Just as we were half way to shore, Bella turned around and ordered four of the boys to stay behind and keep watch of the ship while we were gone. She must have forgotten to do so early, I assume.

As we made it up to shore, Bella lead us round to the entrance of the dock where soldiers and pirates alike were walking up to the trading markets. They all looked rather strange. I spotted one man who had a mustache that curled up to the corners of his eyes. Another man had a long braid that went down to his feet. As we walked on, I saw a man being waited on by servants, who offered him jewels and gold finery. These were the world's pirates or at least, the last few of them that remained.

"Over there, that's the trading market. The map should be in there, somewhere." Bella said in a faint whisper.

"We need to look out for shady characters, someone who looks like they are hiding something." Doc added in.

"This place is too big for all of us to cover together. We need to split up." With her words, I saw Teddy's eyes widen.

"Mute, Twig and Teddy, head south. Robin, Doc and Mouse, go east. Spike and Red you'll go west and James, Thunder and I… we'll go north," Bella instructed, "Got that?"

"But Bella, I want to go with you. These people are scary." Teddy cried, clinging to Bella's arm.

"It's alright Teddy," She spoke tenderly to the boy, "Listen, you are our secret agent because you are so young that no one will suspect you were a pirate. You should feel honored." With that, she held his hand tightly and the, as if they were reading each others minds, Mute and Bella nodded to one another in some sort of agreement.

"Stay with Mute and Twig. They'll make sure you're safe. Now, come on, let's go. Meet back at the ship when the sky is red with Dusk."

So, we were off, designated to our own investigative groups. Thunder and I stirred though the labyrinth of small carts and open stands being lead by our Captain Bella. As we continued on into the unknown land, one thing was very clear, if the map were there, I'd make sure we found it.