Next chapter up. Let me know what you think. Okay not sure how I did it but I put chapter 4 up twice so here's the real chapter 5. Enjoy.
"I don't get why everyone's so on edge?" Garfield said looking round at the other crew members who were quietly sat around the large table in the mess hall. They had been out on sea for close to two weeks now and closing onto thier destinations. "How bad can a place with the name Paradise Island be?"
"No one knows," Conner said, more picking at his food than eating it. "Anyone who's ever sailed there hasn't been heard from again."
"What?" Garfield asked now looking a little worried himself.
"It's true," Wally shrugged. "Any ship thats sailed thier just disappears."
"Not a trace of the ship or crew," Isaiah added. "It's as if they just dissappear."
"What do you think happens? " Garfield asked looking nervous.
"Who knows," Wally shrugged. "could be anything."
"Maybe the Kraken?" Garfield almost whispered.
"Maybe," Wally said.
"Stop scaring the lad,' Garth said shaking his head. "We'll be fine."
"How can you be so sure?" Conner asked pushing his half full plate to the side.
"Cause we've got Captain Hunt," he said simply. "She's never led us wrong yet."
"She's only human though," Nightwing added. "I mean, it's hard to face dangers when you don't know what they are."
"She wil do her best," Raven said as everyone turned to face her. For most of the crew, it was the first time they heard her speak.
"I think she will too," Victor agreed.
Since Hunt had put him in charge of sorting out the ships weapons, he had been travaling back and forth from stores and met Raven serval times. She had even offered to help him by using her powers to move the heavy cannons. They had talked a bit and he found her to be quite pleasant once you got past her wall.
The door to the mess hall swung ope revealing Roy. "Compliments of the Captain," Roy called as he entered the mess hall carrying a large wooden crate with two more men behind him carrying two more.
"What is it?" Victor asked as he put the crate on the table.
"The finest liquor money can buy," Roy said pulling two bottles out.
"Nice," Conner said as he stood up to get a bottle.
"Oh and Raven," Roy said turning to the women. "Captain wants to see you."
Raven didn't speak but instead just fazed out through the floor and was gone. "Still not use to that," Wally said as he picked up a bottle.
She fazed herself through till she reached the Captain's cabin where she appeared in the seat across from Hunt. Raven couldn't help the small smile at the impressed look on Hunt's face.
"Your powers keep on surprising me," Hunt said putting down the quill.
On the desk laid a large map that covered the entire area and even laid over the edge somewhat. A compass and other different tools were sprawled out on top. It seemed that Hunt was marking potential roots. Raven lowered her hood down as she looked up at the Captain.
"You wanted to see me?" She asked returning once again to her cool, calm look.
"By tomorrow morning, we'll be hitting Paradise Island," she said looking at a location on the map. It was a newer drawing from the rest of the old map prooving it had only been added much more recently.
"Okay," Raven said looking at the map.
"The problem I have is, I don't know what to expect when we arrive," she said tapping the small island on the map.
"The men are worrying about the same thing," Raven said as Hunt looked up at her.
"They are?" She asked sounding worried. "I sent Roy down with drinking hoping to ease thier nerves," she said as Raven gave a nod as the two fell silent and looked down at the map. "I was wounder, how fare have you gotten with your powers?"
"Depends what your asking of me," Raven said looking up and watching the Captain carefully.
"In all honesty, I'm not sure," Hunt admitted leaning back in her chair. "I havn't got a clue whats in store for us once we hit the Island. There's a reason no ones made it back from there and I don't know what it is. I was just hoping that when that reason presents itself, that maybe you can help us with you powers."
"I'm getting stronger," Raven said thinking. "But I'm not sure how fare I can push them. All I can say is I'll try."
"That's all I'm asking," Hunt said with a small smile.
"Do you think Slade knows?" Raven asked after a short pause. "The reason no one returns from Paradise Island?"
"I'm not sure," she said thinking. "But Slade never really cared about taking risks and loosing men. I do."
"For a hard core pirate Captain, your quite the softy," Raven said as Hunt gave a chuckle.
"Best not to let the men know, hey?" she smiled as Raven gave a small smile back untill she spotted the pendant that was round Hunt's neck.
"It's glowing?" Raven said as Hunt raised a eyebrow before lifting the pendant up to look at it.
"Yeah, it's been getting brighter the closer we get," she said looking at the bright green light. "There's no exact coordinates for this Island so for the most of it, I've been using this."
"Do you think it was a good idea coming here?" Raven asked still looking at the pendant. "We could just destroy the map."
"I don't think it would stop Slade," she said looking down at the map. "He knows the location is Paradise Island. He will search every inch looking for the entrance."
"He's that insistent?"Raven asked as Hunt nodded.
"If Slade ever wanted something, nothing could stop him," she said as she thought back to her days aboard the Four Swords. "He didn't care who he went through to get it."
"Why did you stay loyal to such a man?" Raven asked wanting to know.
"I didn't in truth," Hunt said as she stood up to get a cup of water. "I was a stowaway aboard the Four Swords when I was 15 and he could have killed me when he first found me but he didn't. I guess I was so thankful that I just served him, no questions asked. Once I started to see what he really was, my only reasons for staying was Ji... was the crew," she quickly corrected herself. "Look, I wont keep you much longer. Go enjoy yourself tonight."
"Your not coming?" Raven asked standing up.
"No," Hunt said sitting back in her seat. "I've got a lot more to work out here."
"Okay," Raven said pulling her hood back up before being surrounded in her black aura and fading out through the floor.
As Raven reached the mess hall once again, she noticed that the crew had already started drinking. Some of them were laughing and cheering as others were just talking amongst themselves. Instead of joining in, Raven prefered a clear head for when they hit Paradise Island so called it a night. Over at the table, Isaiah was trying to get Garfield to drink.
"Come on, its just a little drink," he said passing a small cup of liquid to Garfield. "Time to be a man."
"I don't know," Garfield daid lookimg into the cup. Memories of his farther floated around in his head.
"It's a time to celebrate," Wally said with a smile.
Garfield picked up the drink and slowly brought it to his lips. Thier really wasn't much in the cup. Maybe two mouthfuls at most. He took a deep breath before tilting the cup up and drinking it's contents. He slammed the cup down before the taste filled his mouth and his face twisted up.
"Oh man... that... that's so... oh," he tried, shaking his head to get the sick feeling to go. For such a small drink, it was very strong. "How do people drink this stuff?"
"You kind of get use to it," Isaiah said as the crew laughed from the look on Garfield's face.
"I don't think I want to get use to it," he said as he stood up and left for the door heading past Victor and Nightwing.
"Okay big guy," Conner said sitting next to Victor. "Let's arm wrestle."
"What?" Victor chuckled looking at the man. Conner was we'll built but nothing compared to Victor.
"Come on," Conner said holding out his arm.
"You don't stand a chance," Nightwing said looking at him. "Victor's huge."
"Then what's he worried about?" Conner mocked as Victor looked at him.
"Okay then, he said resting his elbow on the table. "You don't stand a chance."
"We'll see," he grinned as the locked hands.
"Guess I'll be ref," Nightwing said as he stood between the two. "On the count of three... two... whoa!"
The ship suddenly jolted chucking the crew off thier seats, drink spilling everywhere. The men looked round in shock till a second jolt hit. Chairs and crates slide across the room taking some of the men with them and pinning them up against the wall.
"Whats going on?" Victor yelled as he pulled a crate off one of the crew.
"I'm not sure," Roy yelled over the sudden defening sound of rain outside. "Sounds like we've hit a storm."
"Get everyone out of here and on deck!" Garth yelled as he headed for the stairs. "I'll go find the Captain."
Garth finally managed to get on deck but the rain made it almost impossible to see more than a few feet. He started to make his way to her cabin when he spotted Captatain Hunt at the wheel trying to keep the ship on corse from the savage storm. He headed to her, having to use the railing to stay stood up as the ship shook and jerked from incoming waves.
"What's going on?!" He called once he reached her.
"I don't know, the storm came from no where," she shouted back as a huge wave hit the ship.
"ROCKS!" A faint call was heard from the crows nest as Hunt and Garth exchanged looks before the ship hit one of the rocks.
The sound of wood cracking was all too clear as the ship scrapped over the rock. Hunt tried to keep the ship strait as it began to tip as it lifted over the rock before falling back into the sea with a clash. Garth quickly headed back down to check the damage grabbing any nearby hands he could. As he got down a couple of layers, he found water pouring in.
"We need to plug up the holes!" He shouted as Victor and Conner quickly grabbed wood and what ever they could.
Back on deck, Hunt was still trying to stear the ship the best she could. The rain made it close to impossible to see, even for the scout in the crows nest. He was practically seeing the rocks when they were almost too late to avoid. A couple more hits though, and the ship was going down. A black aura formed infront of Hunt as Raven faded up through the floor.
"Raven?" Hunt asked sounding both surprised and happy to see the women.
"We're taking water!" She called looking at the Captain.
"We're going to be taking a lot more soon if we get hit much more," Hunt warned before another large wave ceashed over the deck.
Raven looked from the Captain to the ships deck. The ship wasn't the biggest but it was still big. She looked at her hands for a moment before her eyes turned white. She allowed the black aura to engulf her entier body before it slowly started to leak onto the deck.
"What are you doing?" Hunt asked watching the aura spread over the wooden boards and start to run up the mass.
"Trying to save us," she said focusing all her energy onto her power.
"ROCK AHEAD!" The man in the crows nest called down but It was too late for Hunt to turn.
The crew that heard the call, braced for impact. They grabbed what ever they coukd. Hunt held tightly to the wheel. Suddenly, the rain stopped the storm turned silent. Hunt looked around to find the Black aura had formed into a large spear round the entire ship. The storm still raged on the outside but on the in, everything was safe.
"Raven?" She asked looking sonewhat unsure.
"Get us to safety... Quickly!" she growled through gritted teeth. She'd never used her powers on sonthing so big before and wasn't sure how long she could keep it up for...
..."Oh man," Eric said grabbing hold of a man sitting next to him and shaking him. "This is so exciting!"
"Have you been giving him sugar?" The old man asked as John shrugged and Phil shook his head.
"This story is great," Eric said letting go of the scared looking man. "Raven actually saved the entire crew from a storm! With powers... She's like a super hero or somthing."
"Or somthing," the old man said looking a bit weary of the lad. "Well, Hunt tried to get the ship out of the storm as quickly as she could, fear that Raven's powers wouldn't hold up for much longer..."
"But they did cause she's so cool," Eric said excitedly.
"It seemed like land was no where to be seen till the ship was suddenly halted," the old man said. "The sudden stop took Raven off ballance. The shield protecting the ship fell just as quickly showing the crew blue skies and sun..."
...The crew looked up in shock. The sky had gone from a black and grey storm to a sunny blue with hardly a clouds in the sky. Even the trail they had took didn't show an ounce of the storm. As for what they had hit, it was land. The ship had ran ground on the beach of a large jungle type island. The crew looked over the side at the sandy shore, confused and unsure.
"Where are we?" Garth asked as Victor and Conner followed him to deck.
"Paradise Island," Hunt said looking at the pendant that was shinning so bright it was almost blinding. "Are you okay?" She asked as she kneeled down to Raven who was still laid on the floor.
"Yeah," she nodded sounding exhorted. "Just need to rest."
"Well, guess we now know why no ship's ever made it off the Island," Garth said looking thurther down the shore where several other ships laid in pieces either on the shore or poking out of the water, half sunk. "They never safely made it."
"Slade's heading here with Kori," Nightwing said sounding alarmed. "If they hit that storm... we got to warn them."
"We can't," Roy said looking over at the damage of the ship. "She can't sail. Not in this state."
"How long will it take to fix?" Hunt asked helping Raven up and onto a nearby crate to sit on.
"Until we have a proper look, I don't know," Victor said trying to look at the damage best he could. "Could be a few days to a week. But we can use parts from those other ships."
"Slade will be here within four days max," Hunt said thinking. "I want the men split in three teams," she said facing Garth. "One to set to work on repairing the ship, one to help all injured from the storm off the ship and the third to come with me to scout out the island. I want every man armed."
"Why? What do you think is out there?" Garth asked looking unsure.
"All these ships and yet we're the only survives?" She said looking at the wrecked ships. "If any of these ships crews are still alive, they might not be friendly. I don't want anyone taking a risk. Stay in numbers and stay armed."
"Yes Captain," Garth nodded as he set to work sorting out the men.
"Come on," Hunt said helping Raven back to her feet. "You can rest in my cabin till I get back."
"I can help," Raven said although she still ached from pushing her powers so hard.
"You've helped more than enough already," Hunt smiled. "You've saved me and my crew. Have a sleep and if you feel better, you can give Victor a hand with the ship."
"Okay," Raven agreed without argument.
Hunt got to the cabin door when she spotted Garfield sat next to it looking very green. He looked up at her for a moment before suddenly vomiting forwards and onto her boots. Hunt looked at him for a moment with an readable expression.
"I... I don't feel very good," he said meekly.
"Can you just open the door for me... please," she asked through gritted teeth. As annoyed as she was, she just wanted to get Raven inside.
"Sorry Captain," Garfield said as he pushed the door open for her and she entered.
Hunt headed in and helped Raven into tbe hammock. The room was trashed fron the storm. Papers and books littering the floor. Hunt headed to a hanger where she retrieved her twin swords and a pistol. Lastly she picked up a knife that she hid in her boot before leaving the cabin and heading back on deck where several men were already at work collecting the injured and dead and bringing them off the ship where a small camp had started to be built just near the edge of the jungle. Victor was stood on the beach with a large amount of the men looking at where the ship needed fixing. The last group was a group of ten men stood with Garth waiting for Hunt.
"Here's your men," Garth said as Hunt looked at them.
"Thanks, Garth," she said looking towards the jungle.
"I checked the stores and one of the rocks had smashed through," he warned as Hunt gave a sigh.
"Of course," she huffed rubbing the bridge of her nose. "What's the damage?"
"The water and food is destroyed by the salt water," he said looking not so happy himself. "All of it."
"Right," she said looking at the men where she spotted Roy. "Take the men. We need a freash water supply as close to camp as we can and what ever food you can manage. I'll take Roy to do some tracking and hunt for bigger game and set some traps out."
"What about getting ready for Slade?" Garth asked more quietly, making sure the men can't hear.
"Situation has changed," she pointed out. "We're stranded without a sea worthy ship on a island that we have no knowledge off. We have no idea, thanks to that storm, which directiin Slade will hit the island from and if they will even make it. Priority is to make sure the men are safe and fed and the ship is repaired. We can worry about Slade later," she said. "It'll be dark in a few hours so make sure your back at camp before then."
"Captain," Garth nodded as he headed to the men and led them all but Roy.
"Lets go get dinner," Hunt said heading to Roy as he gave a nod and followed.
Roy was the ships tracker. When Hunt first found him, he use to hunt with his dad to sell wild game at market. Slade had killed his farther who tried to stop one of Slade's raids. He was all too willing to join Hunt and her crew and soon Hunt made him her first mate aboard.
"You found a trail?" Hunt asked watching Roy as he was examining the ground.
"Yeah, a boar," he said looking. They had been serching for around an hours and the jungle was thick and humid. "Headed that way."
"Okay," she nodded as they followed the path.
"How do you think the rest of them are getting along?" He asked, keeping a eye on the tracks.
"I'm hoping they've found the water," she admitted as they took a turn. "It's getting dark soon and it's too hot not to have some water available."
"These tracks are really fresh," he said. "At least we should find the boar before it gets too dark... bingo," he said lowering himself so he was hidden behind a large rock.
Before them was a small clearing with three boars scratching up the soil. Hunt and Roy both silently watched the pigs. Roy passed Hunt his crossbow as he pulled his own long bow from round his torso. They both loaded and aimed choosing the boar carfully but before they had chance to fire, all three boars looked up and darting thurther into the jungle and out of sight.
"Why were they spooked?" Hunt asked looking over the rock. "Did they see us?"
"No," Roy said looking behind him. "Someone else is here."
"What?" Hunt said following Roy's sights. "We need to get..." she started before something hit her in the neck. She moved her hand to grab the item only to find a small dart with light blue feather.
"Shit," Roy cursed, aiming his bow in the direction Hunt was shot from.
"Run," Hunt said trying to stand but felt her legs giving way.
Roy didn't have time to react as he was also shot. He grabbed his neck as held onto the rock, trying to steady himself. His knees gave in though and he hit the floor. Hunt tried to look round as her eyelids became heavy. The last thing she remembered was seeing a pair of legs approach them...
..."Who was it?" Phil asked.
"Ah.." the old man started.
"Don't tell me," John interrupted. "A story for another night."
"You're getting the hang of this," he said standing up and collecting his cane. "Untill tomorrow gentlemen," he waved as he left.