Right after the words had left his mouth, there was a loud boom that rocked the ship. Barbossa ran to look out the window and cursed.
"Come now, we must move quickly," said Barbossa, pulling me from the cabin and unto the deck. Several motionless bodies lay around us. Only a handful of crewmembers were left standing I clutched Barbossa's arm.
"Wot 'appened?" I asked.
"What does it look like happened?" he replied gruffly. "Blew a damn hole through our hull! Any moment this ship'll be at the bottom of the ocean!" He led me over to the side, where some crewmembers were already climbing down into a longboat. I sat on the front bench and Barbossa sat next to me. We all looked back at the ship and saw that the back was already sinking into the water.
"Where're we goin' now?" I asked.
"Land."
- - -
I moved down to sit on the floor of the boat, hugging my knees to my chest. I could do nothing but stare out at the endless stretch of ocean in front of us. Barbossa was getting to be more irritable by the hour. I often looked up to see him glaring straight ahead. We had watched the Bejeweled Prestige go down and had been drifting along since then. Every now and then, a couple of crewmen would row, but gradually all of them would get tired. Soon evening set in and all we could see were the stars shining over the dark waters. I nodded off a couple of times, but I kept getting jolted awake by the waves. My thoughts often drifted to my uncle and brother and tears stung my eyes. I sobbed quietly, burying my face in my knees.
"What're ye blubberin' about?" came a gruff voice. My head shot up, cracking out of stiffness, and looked over at Barbossa, who had stretched out over the bench and put his hat over his face. "Well?"
"I-I-I'm sorry, sir. I thought everyone was sleepin'," I mumbled.
"Well, ye thought wrong," he said. I let out a little sob. "Aw, grow a backbone or shaddup!"
"…Barbossa?" He threw his hat down to the floor and sat up, glaring. He grabbed a handful of my hair and forced me to look at him.
"What'd ye jest call me, boy?" he snarled. Tears fell from my saucer-like eyes in fear.
"Cap'n Barbossa!" I corrected myself hurriedly. "Cap'n! Tha's wot I meant!" To my relief, he released me and then laid back down. He gave a humorless laugh.
"Didn't yer uncle or brother ever teach ye to act like a man?" he asked.
"Er…no," I said stupidly. It was then that Barbossa actually did laugh.
"No? What're they doin', then, training ye ter be a eunuch?" I frowned, not knowing what he was going on about.
"Wot's a eunuch?" I asked.
"A eunuch…is a bloke wit' no bollocks." I was suddenly glad it was dark, because my face had turned the color of a tomato.
"I…I got bollocks," I said, trying to stay calm.
"How old are you?" he asked.
"Th-thirteen, sir."
"Boy, when I was your age, I had ditched home ter go sailin' an' look where I am now. Cap'n of my own ship." No sooner had the words left his mouth that a very Pintel-like scowl crossed his face. "But I didn't get where I am now wit'out a backbone." We were silent for a moment.
"…Cap'n?" He grunted in response. "What d'ya think's gunna happen to Adriano?" He paused and gave a long sigh before answering.
"Truth be told, most o' the crew've been press-ganged into the Royal Navy. Not a glamorous job to boast. Ye get treated worse there than ye would with the nastiest of pirates. I can't tell ye what fate's got in fer yer folks. Maybe right now they're wishin' they had been killed on the spot." This news was too much for me to bear and I began to sob openly. Barbossa sat up again. "Stop that blubberin' right now or I'll toss ye overboard!" I looked up at him in fear and stuffed my fist in my mouth to stop any sound from coming out. However, Barbossa ignored me, snatching up his hat and replacing it over his eyes. It was silent for the rest of the night.
Feedback is greatly appreciated for improving my writing and the overall quality of this fic.