Finding the katana was easy. Getting it out of the glass case without the alarm going off wasn't. Normally Inwë would use her insane powers as authoress to magic it out. However, thanks to her muse she didn't have that option. Finally, Norrington solved their problem by tripping over a wooden chair, crashing into the case, and sending it flying. It landed with a tremendous crash! on its side. The glass went everywhere. The authoress, her hands already bleeding from her reckless grabbing of Beckett's letter, got a nasty cut along the side of her face, but there was no permanent injury to anyone. After Raven established that the slice wound didn't need stitches, the six friends turned and picked up the ancient samurai weapon. Aki cradled it lovingly in her hands and scowled when Sirius put his paw on it.
"Don't scratch the metal!" she snarled. The dog whined and gave Norrington a desperate look, as if to say, "They're ALL crazy!"
"All right, mates, everyone touching the shiny weapon? Good. On three," Shaedan began.
"One!"
"WAIT!" Aki screamed. She dived around the corner and returned, clutching her backpack.
"I almost left the Furuba! And my notebook!" Shaedan and Inwë both shuddered as if disaster had been narrowly avoided. The ranger took in a long breath and began on the countdown.
"One! Two!"
"HOLD IT!" Inwë shrieked this time. She vanished around the corner and returned a while later with the costumes packs of her, Shaedan, and Aki.
"Now THAT would have meant trouble. Leaving without our costumes, honestly." She settled back into place and grinned at Shaedan to keep going.
"One! Two! THREE! Cockatrice!" There was a flash of light, a yell of surprise from Norrington (who had never traveled by magic, unlike the others), and a roaring sound. Then, suddenly, it was over. The six friends were standing on the deck of a ship, each of them still clutching the katana. The sails were unfurled and there was a brisk sea breeze. Norrington let go of the knife and looked around in awe.
"This…this is wonderful!" he exclaimed, grinning ear to ear, "Truly splendid!" Raven glared around at the bright sunshine, the turquoise waves, and the brilliant white sails.
"Next time can we go to Romania?" she asked. Inwë, Aki, and Shaedan were all laughing too joyfully to hear.
"WE'VE DONE IT! WE'VE GOT OUR OWN SHIP!" they crowed in unison. Sirius rolled his eyes and went to sit by Raven, who was looking even more grumpy than usual.
"Welcome to the Caribbean, love!" Inwë laughed, dancing a jig with a friend on each arm. They collapsed into a pile on the deck, still giggling madly. The authoress suddenly sat bolt upright.
"Mates! What's our ship called?" she wondered aloud. The others sat up too, looking curious.
"C'mon! Let's find out!" They all raced to the side of the ship and leaned over. In faded gold letters, the name Sparrowhawk was painted on the wooden boards. Aki grinned wildly.
"Just like we talked about naming our ship!" she cried happily. Inwë was frowning slightly.
"Very odd," she mused quietly.
"That's what you call ironic," Aki agreed. They spent the next fifteen minutes dashing around the ship, exploring and setting up their hammocks in the crew's rooms. Since there were only two men, the guys would be sleeping in the captain's cabin. Speaking of whom…
"We need to pick a captain!" Shaedan declared as they all gathered on deck. Everyone murmured agreement.
"I nominate Norrington, since he's the only one who knows how to drive this thing," Inwë said half-heartedly. She took off her hat and put it on his head. He glowered at her.
"Only if I'm not required to wear this," he snapped, handing it back to her. She smiled triumphantly and stuck it back on her own head.
"Ok, Norrington, you'll be captain. And helmsman. And basically in charge of ordering us around. I nominate Raven for navigator and foreign relations officer," Aki added. The half-demon gave her a look.
"And my job will be…?"
"Read the maps, figure out where we are, and talk to people who speak odd languages. We'll handle the Spanish, you take care of the German and Romanian," Inwë informed her. She shrugged.
"Inwë can negotiate for the cessation of hostilities against Port Royal," Shaedan put in slyly. The Elf gave her a look.
"Thanks."
"What? It's a compliment! If we run into trouble you can talk our way out of it!"
"I'll hold you to that if we get kidnapped by real pirates."
"Ehem," Raven interrupted, "I say Aki and Inwë can co-write the ship's log." There was a general muttering of "Aye."
"Ok, we'll do that whenever we're on guard duty. Anything else?" They turned expectantly to Norrington, who shook his head.
"It's been a long day, men…er, and women…so whoever can cook had better get to it." The three rangers immediately volunteered and scurried down to the galley. Shaedan set to work boiling water while Aki inventoried their stocks. Inwë made herself busy by rationing out grog for the group. She knew the water in the beverage made the alcohol's effects last longer, so she was careful not to hand out too much. Once that was done, she rejoined her pals and helped peel potatoes for stew.
"Mates, this is the life. When we get back, we have to kidnap each other and become ship's cooks for pirates," Inwë sighed contentedly. Aki pouted.
"What about running away to New Zealand and living like rangers?" she asked.
"Or running off to Romania to become gypsies?" Shaedan added. The authoress nodded sadly.
"Aye…we'll do those things too…how about after we rescue Jack we go to the Caribbean, eh?"
"Speaking of rescuing Jack, can we do that while we're here?" Aki wondered aloud. Inwë shook her head, this time truly miserable.
"I'm afraid not. Even my powers as authoress only go so far. If we went and changed the plot then we'd have to answer to a higher power."
"Who, God?" Shaedan inquired.
"No. Jerry Bruckheimer, Gore Verbinski, and the Killer Mouse."
"Sucks to be us."
"Tell me about it." Just then, Norrington poked his head in.
"Is that soup almost ready?" he demanded. Inwë gave him a look.
"No, Commodore, not just yet. There's grog, if you're thirsty." He wrinkled his nose.
"I'm trying to cut back on rum. That stint in Tortuga did me anything but good." Inwë cocked her head to one side.
"Oh, I dunno about that…taught you humility, for one thing, and you got to see how things are on our side of the world. Plus, you would've been arrested and hanged if you hadn't joined Captain Sparrow's crew." Norrington grumbled some sort of vague reply and left.