The Sea Horde armada was still at anchor in the northern sea. Blacktail paced his in his cabin on the Pikeshaft, impatient to get moving. At least a hundred ships had arrived over the past three days, and now there were ships almost as far as the eye could see. There came a knock on the door. Blacktail barked. "Enter!"

Solan entered the room. He walked cautiously up to his lord, and Blacktail turned around to him. "Signal the fleet. We move to the Eastern Sea. I will give us two weeks to mass more ships, and then we will begin our invasion."

Solan bowed to the stoat. "Yes, Overlord."

Dawn was breaking over the Western Sea. The sun shone off of the water, turning it gold with its light. Ryon stood at the prow of his ship, footpaws together, paws clasped behind his back, his hat dipped in front of his eyes to hide them from the sunlight. Ryon turned, going into a small, two-bed cabin next to his and Silver's. He opened the door. Lucar and Birchleaf, both sitting on their beds, looked at him. Birchleaf glared. Lucar looked suspicious.

Ryon smiled at them. "I'll have breakfast brought to you. The dawn is beautiful; you can come out and look at it if you like."

Birchleaf narrowed her eyes. "I make a point of avoiding mingling with pirates."

"We prefer the term 'privateers', if it would please you, miss."

Birchleaf harrumphed and turned her head. Lucar watched her for a moment, and then set to polishing his sword.

Ryon turned and walked out, closing the door behind him. He went into the galley to tell the cooks to prepare breakfast for the "guests".

The head cook was skeptical. "You mean the prisoners?"

"No, I mean the guests."

"The prisoners, you mean."

"No, the guests!"

"The prisoners?"

"Call them what you like! Just make food for them!"

The squirrel stormed out, his nerves already being trodden on.

Silver, who was watching the sun rise from the starboard rail, smiled at him. "Cooks are skeptical?"
Ryon leaned back next to him. He turned his head and smiled back. "You have no idea."

Noon seemed to come swiftly. Lucar and Birchleaf, bored of sitting in their cabin, had walked out onto the deck, and were now walking around the ship on a tour, guided by Silver. They were in front of the main mast now, Lucar paying special attention.

"Now, this is the main mast. The mainsail is up there, and most of the rigging leads to it. Lifelines can also be tied to it, thanks to the little pegs down here."

Lucar nodded, while Birchleaf simply looked around. Ryon noticed this, and walked up next to her. "Bored, miss?"

"My name is Birchleaf, Captain."

"There's no need to stand on ceremony, Birchleaf. You're not here to impress anyone. Do you know anything about swords?"

She turned to him, her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What do you have in mind?"

"A little contest. You against me."

"What is the prize?"

"Nothing. Just for fun."

"All right. I'll get my rapier."

She walked off to the cabin, and came out minutes later.

Ryon smiled. He then barked out orders. "Heave to and take in sail! Drop anchor!"

The crew complied, and the ship slowed, then stopped completely.

The crew, seeing Birchleaf walk out with her sword, looked at one another, then crowded at either the bow or the stern.

Ryon drew his saber. Lucar and Silver backed off towards the bow, as it offered much better visibility than the stern, which faced into the sun.

Ryon walked forward, a cocky smile on his face as he stopped a few arm lengths in front of Birchleaf. "Now, you must know that I never go easy on anybeast."

Birchleaf offered a smile that was just as cocky, and took her rapier into an en garde position. Ryon mirrored her. He cocked his head.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

Birchleaf ran her rapier blade across Ryon's blade. "Yes."

She struck. Ryon parried all three blows, and blocked the next flurry expertly. He dodged the last blow, and struck back. Birchleaf parried it. Ryon smiled again.

"You know what you're doing, I'll give you that. Excellent form. But how light are you on your footpaws?"

They began to circle each other. Ryon continued. "Now, if I step here…"

They exchanged a flurry of blows. "Very good. And now I step again."

He lunged at her, and she dodged, her rapier held in a ready position. Ryon turned, and bowed. "Ta." He turned again, and walked towards his cabin. Birchleaf was dumbstruck for a moment, then snatched a crew member's sword from his belt and hurled it with a loud grunt. The sword flew past Ryon's cheek, embedding itself in the lock. Ryon smiled to himself. He turned again. "That is a wonderful trick. Except that now, you have prolonged the duel. And I assure you," he drew his sword again. "You would not want that if you knew me."

He lunged at her again, and instead of dodging, she met him head on. They moved around the deck, the rapid clashing of their blades ringing out over the ocean. Birchleaf tried to cut him in the side, but Ryon stepped back nimbly and swung the saber downward, making good use of slicing using a sword more suited to stabbing. Birchleaf parried it, and the duel continued. It seemed to drag on for hours. Ryon's style was elegant. Birchleaf, although skillful in the use a rapier, was still clumsy and awkward. The duel went on. The real surprise came when Ryon, seemingly hard pressed to stave Birchleaf off, backed against the ship's rail. He grabbed onto a rope, still parrying Birchleaf's blows. He then sliced sideways, sending the rope shooting upward. The squirrel captain flew upward, landing on the crosspiece of the mast. He looked down. Silver was grinning, and Birchleaf was looking stunned, her eyes wide and her mouth open. She then shook herself and began to climb quickly up the rigging. Ryon was ready for her. The duel then continued, both squirrels balancing perfectly on the narrow beam. Birchleaf stabbed at Ryon. The captain ducked, and the blade impaled his hat. Ryon looked up, narrowed his eyes in annoyance, took the hat off of the blade, and placed it back on his head. They continued, Ryon driving Birchleaf back across the beam. Birchleaf reached the end soon, now desperately trying to fend off Ryon while he struck and parried. The squirrel captain then grinned, and shimmied down the rigging. Birchleaf stared down at him for a moment, and went after him. Ryon whirled, his saber ready. The clashing began once more, both blades striking each other again and again. Once, Ryon struck a hard blow on the blade. It was not even notched.

He stared in awe. "Who made that thing?"

Birchleaf smirked. "My uncle!"

Slice, slice, parry.

"And I practice with it,"

Slice, thrust, parry, thrust,

"Two hours a day!"

Ryon sent her spinning with another hard blow. "You need to find yourself a hobby, miss."

As Birchleaf came back at him, he parried the blade, holding it there as he spoke again. "Or, perhaps the reason you practice two hours a day is because you've already found one, but are not all that interested in it. You're not lazy, are you?"

Birchleaf hissed her answer through her teeth. "I practice two hours a day so that whenever I meet a searat or an annoying ship captain, I can kill him!"

Ryon smiled. "Ah."

Birchleaf broke free, and increased the strength of her blows. Ryon, his sword never stilling, dipped his paw into a small, open barrel, then took something out. He sent Birchleaf spinning again with a strong blow, then, as she charged at him, flung the substance in her face and twirled to the side. Birchleaf almost ran into the barrels, but she stopped and whirled, rubbing the stuff out of her eyes. When she cleared them, she found Ryon's saber pointed at her face.

She stared accusingly at him. "You cheated."

Ryon gestured to himself. "Pirate!" he said matter-of-factly.

The crew began laughing.

Birchleaf sheathed her sword as the crew went back to their duties. Birchleaf approached him, sweat staining her tunic, the substance still scattered around her face. "I thought you said you were a privateer."

"Note, miss, a privateer is basically an affiliated pirate. You don't suppose I attack vermin ships for fun? I do it to protect my island. We don't need permission to fight searats."

Birchleaf brushed her face off. "What was the stuff you threw in my face?"

"Salt. I only took a small amount."

She stared at him.

Ryon sheathed his own blade, patting the squirrelmaid on the shoulder. "You are skilled with a sword, but your style is heavy and awkward. A rapier is more suited to fencing, and if you need help, I could teach you to fight like I do."

Lucar walked up to the two, and faced Ryon. "How did you know you would win?"

Ryon gave the young mouse a lopsided grin. "The saber is shorter than the rapier. That makes it less likely to be caught in the rigging of a ship during battle. That is why most seabeasts use cutlasses or other shorter swords instead of rapiers or some other weapon that is too long to be of much use in battle." Ryon gestured to Silver with a paw, and then turned back to the younger creatures. "There are some washtubs down on the bottom deck. I'll have some clothing that fits you donated for you to wear. A habit and a garment such as what you're wearing, Birchleaf, aren't going to be very practical while on the sea."

Lucar raised his eyebrows slightly, but Birchleaf nodded. A habit such as Lucar's could cause the young mouse to trip over his own footpaws, and even a traveling smock such as Birchleaf's was not very well suited to sailing. The sun was lower in the sky as the two went down to the deck above the bilges, and Ryon turned his head to look out west. Evening was approaching. Ryon turned to Silver. "When they're clean, tell them that I invited them to dinner in my cabin."

Silver nodded, and walked down to the doorway that Birchleaf and Lucar had just entered.

The duel is based off of Jack and Will's from the first POTC movie. And you can tell that Ryon cares just as much about his hat as Jack does. R and R!