A/N: Guys I am so sorry for the mistakes in my past chapters! For now on they will be almost non-existent. I had quite a few mistakes before because I never really took the time correcting them. But now, for every chapter I will re-read it and take away all the mistakes...most of them anyway!

~welshcanadian14~

Chapter 4

Boxed in

Danny ran onto the ship's deck, still remembering the scared face of the girl below him. Her expression had been imprinted on the back of his skull, making it hard for him to stop thinking about it.

He was feeling somewhat guilty, leaving Sam behind with that terrible expression of fear on her face. He saw that she was trying to hide it, but the emotion was too strong to hold back. Maybe if she had only looked a bit scared, he would of felt less guilty, but her face showed something exceedingly more than just fear, it was terror.

The thing about terror, contrary from fear, was that it made you stand in one spot, not giving you the option to move and making it really hard to think of something else. Terror wasn't something you felt when you saw a large hairy spider or a twenty foot long snake. Those were just phobias. You feel fear from phobias when you experience it or just see it but when it goes away, you think about for a bit after that, and then go on with your normal life.

Fear grows in the depths of your mind but terror grows like poison, winding itself into your heart.

Terror never makes you forget, until you were a hundred percent sure that it was over, whatever thing that was terrorizing you...or someone. This was what Sam felt quite often, or the remnants of it. Every day, Sam thought about her terror, the one who was her terror, her worst enemy. They say you worst enemy was fear, but Sam wasn't quite sure anymore if that was true anymore.

He imprisoned her, all her life, used her as his property for as long as she could remember. That terror almost made her forget about her parents, that Vlad had brutally murdered. She just remembered fragments of her happy life, the life that was taken away from her too early. At the age of six, she was an orphan and had strait away been turned into a possession. Every day before going to bed, she would tell herself that one day she would avenge the death of her parents and till this day, still did it.

Sam slouched further down the wall, next to the door, until her rear felt the wooden floor, cupping her hands in her face. She was shaking, wanting to go up to see who was following them, but also not wanting to go see at the same time. She was broken and she wished someone could mend her, but no one knew she was in the library already tears pouring out of her eyes, except for Danny, but he was the captain, he couldn't of have stayed with her it was his duty to go take charge on deck. It was understandable. She told herself that she would be ok, she had always been alone before, why was it so different now?

Tears were still streaming down her face, it wouldn't have been surprising if her tear ducts would shut down soon from the lack of water in her. Sam had made a pact with herself not to cry, and she never did break that promise. Until now.

Sam was quite confused of why it was now she finally broke down and cried. She had never cried even when she looked into Vlad's evil eyes or when he gripped her wrist a bit too hard or when she had used her special powers for evil. (What special power you say? Well I can't tell you... yet...but don't worry I will tell you at the right time.)

Deep down she knew the reason why. Because there was more than just her life at risk. She had always been alone, in some sort of way, only needing to think about protecting herself, not needing to worry about anybody else. She wasn't selfish, but it was true, she only had her needs on her mind, but not anymore. Now she had the whole crew of the Phantom to worry about. Including the captain she was growing very fond of every day, especially him.

Sam didn't want to seem untrustworthy but she underestimated Danny and his crew and that just made her worries worse. She thought that if her enemy was on the pirate ship following behind them, they would be all dead. She really did hope she was wrong, oh how she wished that.

Danny was now on deck, trying to find Tucker but then remembered, he was probably cowering in their room. Surprisingly, he was wrong. Tucker was cowering, but right next to him behind a wine barrel.

"At least he stayed on the deck, this is a first. Maybe Tucker is getting more courageous...nah...that's impossible." Danny thought, shaking his head.

"Tucker! Get up and tell me what's happening! Something about a pirate ship?" Danny yelled, knocking the socks off Tucker.

Tucker quickly stood up, a bit surprised for he didn't know Danny was standing close to him.

"AYE AYE DANN...I MEAN CAPTAIN!" Tucker yelled, trying to act like pirates usually do. Answering and obeying their captain's orders.

"Good, now tell me the stats." Danny said, acting like the captain and not Tucker's best friend. Sometimes Danny needed to get his proprieties strait and that also meant that he needed to be the leader. Leading his crew into what ever dangers lie before them and this time it was an unknown pirate ship. That was good news for him and his crew since it had been quite a long time since they had gotten some action and most defiantly... some treasure.

Every time he looted a pirate ship he felt extremely giddy. Like a little kid playing with his toy cars. He never knew what they would find on the ship, it was a surprise. Danny had always loved the mysterious things surprises could give him, like treasure, for instance.

Emeralds, sapphires, rubies, jewelry, food, pottery, wine. Anything could be hidden beneath the decks of pirate ships. Treasure was the thing that kept pirates still roaming the ocean. No treasure means...no more pirates. It was a simple analogy. Simple enough for simpletons to be afraid of sailing the high seas if they had even the least bit of treasure.

Danny was then pulled out of his treasure fantasy. Tucker had been aimlessly explaining everything that was happening, beginning to end, but then he noticed that Danny was in a 'thinking fit'...well, that's what he called it. He was rather proud of that new expression he had created. It fit the situation perfectly.

Tucker huffed, he would have to repeat everything he had just said.

"HELLO? AMITY TO DANNY! ARE YOU THERE?" Tucker yelled into his friend's ears, waving his hand back and forth over Danny's eyes.

"What? Oh sorry Tuck...blanked out for a moment there, getting exited about all the strange and different treasures we could find and loot." Danny responded, with a twinkle in his eye.

"Yeah, yeah I know. You do know that sometimes your curiosity gets the better of you? One of your many flaws." Tucker pointed out.

"Hey! Anyway, I am listening so tell me what's happening." Danny said, thinking he will never get the pleasure of receiving the answer because of all the pointless distractions.

"Ok, I'll explain everything. After you had went on your search for Sam below deck, I was just keeping myself busy, tweaking one of my newest inventions. I call it a PDA, I'll tell you about later...Suddenly I heard screams coming from the crow's nest. It was Chip."

"Who?"

"You know the crew mate who everyone calls 'The Land Ahoyer'..." (Disclaimer: The only reason I called the guy Chip is because the name reminded me of the cookie brand Chips Ahoy! 🍪🍪🍪🍪 ^_^)

"Oh him...I didn't even now that was his name."

Chip was one of the ghosts on the ship, nobody ever knew his real name except Tucker of course, although he had only figured it out only a few days ago. 'The Land Ahoyer' was the nickname given to him since nobody had never seen him get down from the crow's nest and always had the privilege of telling everyone when he spotted land. Chip was a harmless ghost, not having a lot power, not enough to fight with anyway but he was still a important member of the crew. His job was to spot anything out of the ordinary and presumably...land.

"Yeah well, you now. Back to the important stuff. Chip was yelling 'unknown pirate ship' so I looked out towards the sea from the quarter deck and spotted a ship...THE ONE RIGHT NEXT TO US!" Tucker then shouted, too enclosed from the discussion with Danny to notice that the ship was sailing right next to theirs, almost touching.

"EVERYBODY TO BATTLE POSITIONS! READY THE CANONS!" The captain yelled, voice booming. He needed to be ready... for anything that might go against him.

All his crew were all ears and followed his commands perfectly. Danny didn't even need to call out anyone's names, they already knew where to go and what to do. They were cooperative team after all.

Silence swept the main deck, all persons standing quietly, obviously in fighting positions. Danny also stood still listening and observing for even the most minuscule noises and movements echoing for the other ship.

As silence still crept though the floor boards, Danny was reflecting on the bizarre appearance of the ship sailing next to theirs.

It was strange, the materials used for making the ship were not wood or metal. It looked like...cardboard. That was impossible! The laws of science would never allow that. Cardboard would just get wet and eventually dissolve into the sea, disappearing exceedingly fast. Polluting the water around. If Sam were here she would be saying that the pollution would then start killing baby turtles! She was pro-animal.

Nobody in their sane mind would even try to build a cardboard ship, even if they tried, it would backslide.

Danny was confused, if it wasn't that papery material, what could it be made out of? On the higher mast was a flag, it was confirmed that it was indeed a pirate ship. On the flag was a drawing of a box? What kind of pirate flag was that? It embarrassed and disgraced the whole pirate name. Despicable it was just despicable.

Out of nowhere a deafening voice proclaiming something sounded in the ears of the captain and all that was in a four mile radius.

"I AM THE BOX GHOST! BEWARE! ME AND MY CREW 'THE CARDBOARD BOXES' WILL DESTROY YOU! FEAR ME AND GIVE UP AND MAYBE WE WILL JUST STEAL ALL YOUR BOXES! Not the rectangular ones though... boxes are meant to be square...I MEAN...BEWARE! MUAHAHAHAHAHA *cough*cough*" The unknown voice choked.

"Great...another annoying weak ghost. I wanted some action! But I guess this will have to do." Danny thought, somewhat annoyed.

This fight was going to be...easy, positively easy. But let's not get too ahead of ourselves, people can shock you sometimes.

Meanwhile...Back below deck...

Sam was a nervous wreck and at the same time, trying to hear the movements going on about her. She heard Danny scream a certain command but she couldn't figure out what precisely. His voice was muffled. Moments later, everywhere on the ship was reticent. She could only hear the waves crashing among the sturdy wood. She was hearing too little, that meant something was happening. The Halfling prayed that it was nothing serious...like everyone unconscious on the ground.

The girl dressed in black felt irked, not understanding why she still had so much faith left in her heart. She had so much hope towards this alarming situation because she was consoling herself. To be more precise, her subconscious was whispering sweet nothings to her.

"Everything will be fine, you will be fine. Nobody's going to get hurt , it's probably not even the person you think it is...It's not what you think, you are thinking too much. This is why I'm talking to you. Right?" The soft voice said, sounding a lot like Sam.

"Great! I'm getting a pep talk from my subconscious. I'm becoming crazy! And now I'm talking to myself!" Sam grumbled, pushing strands of black hair out of her face.

"Everybody are never completely sane...just think of me as your last resort. The thing that cheers you up during your most hopeless moments. Call me your 'Hope Giver'."

"It's official...I'M INSANE!"

"Say whatever you want but what you haven't realized is that talking with me is making you less stressed and making you forget, for a moment anyways, about the situation you are in."

Sam agreed with...well...to put it bluntly, herself. This one to one discussion with herself helped. Lifting up her spirit even if it was only by a little bit. This bizarre and crazy conversation did veritably make her stop weeping and gave her the strength to stand, although her legs were shaking and hands slightly trembling.

The Goth needed to ponder about what to do next, but her thoughts were cut when a loud clear voice sounded through the walls of the quaint room. The voice was unknown to her. From the moment she heard the ghost's voice, she felt somewhat annoyed. And found the Box Ghost extremely stupid.

"I AM THE BOX GHOST! BEWARE! ME AND MY CREW 'THE CARDBOARD BOXES' WILL DESTROY YOU! FEAR ME AND GIVE UP AND MAYBE WE WILL JUST STEAL ALL YOUR BOXES! Not the rectangular one though... boxes are meant to be square...I MEAN...BEWARE! MUAHAHAHAHAHA *cough*cough*"

"What a strange name for a captain and his crew. It was positively not original, that's for sure." Sam thought, making fun of what the cocky ghost had said.

After that speech, Sam felt a huge weight lifting off from her shoulders, it felt like she was able to breath fully again. All the butterflies were leaving her stomach, they were now completely extinguished. Keeping her hope and confidence for a little while longer had worked. Strangely,the advice she got from herself was true. It was not Him. Everything was going to turn out hunky dory...this time.

Sam opened the library door, turning the gold painted doorknob fast, wanting to step foot on deck as fast as her body can take her. Which was quite rapid.

The black beauty knew she wouldn't be able to help fight against these... pirates? She didn't know if she should even call them pirates. Stealing boxes? Pirates steal gold and jewels, never boxes. So fighting wasn't an option. Going Ghost would reveal to Danny...she mean't the crew, some of her inner secrets. Even if they were not the darkest ones. The teenager just wanted to keep everyone on this ship safe. That was the only excuse she had, but it was enough to keep her from revealing too much.

Probably, if she didn't have an excuse that important, she would tell Danny,go tap him on the shoulder and in front of his eyes, turn into the hidden half of herself. The ghostly half. If he knew, they would have so much to talk about. They would be able to train together, get stronger, unravel numerous secrets of being a Halfling. But that was just a buried wish that would never be able to poke it's head out of the dirt.

Sam still imagined what it would feel like if that would come true, but she was convinced that God would never answer it since of all the evil she had done in the past. She was forced to do all those things, but it was still accomplished by her own hands.

"It would be nice...telling him...NO remember Sam... TWO WORDS! HIS SAFETY!" Sam screamed inwardly, running up the ship's rickety wooden stairs.

Once on deck, Sam spotted her captain, standing with his crew scattered everywhere, looking very amused and too tranquil. She was perplexed. Why weren't they doing everything? The enemy was right next to them. They should attack. Shouldn't they? Sam shuddered remembering that when she was on Vlad's pirate ship, his villainous crew attacked weak lowly ships immediately, with no second thought and no remorse. She knew though that she couldn't compare those evil people to the ones in front of her. But she still wanted to know what they doing. What could she say? Curiosity had a strong part in her life when needed.

The combat section for Sam was off limits, but she could talk some sense into her captain. Yes..that was what she was going to do.

Sam walked towards the Ghost Boy, taking long strides on the wooden floor, ready to get to the point when in front of her... friend? Indeed, her friend.

Danny looked startled when he saw Sam approaching him. He wasn't expecting to see her until after this predicament was solved. But she was now in front of him, staring right into his ice blue eyes, and started questioning him about his conduct.

"Why are you standing around, not doing anything? The 'Box Ghost' or whatever he is, sounds really dumb. Why don't we just clobber them and get it over with? Just shoot some canon balls at the ship and...wait...is that made out of cardboard?" Sam's eyes widened when she had finally observed thoroughly the ship next to her, pointing her finger at it.

"Uhhh...yeah, I noticed that too." Danny said not knowing what to say.

Danny was astonished none of the rest of his crew had never questioned his authority. It wasn't a bad thing. He was slightly offended at the beginning but then liked how Sam had acted. Maybe it was because he received a woman's point of view or simply because it was Sam. Either way was fine with him.

Sam was afraid that she had said too much, that Danny had been offended. Telling him what to do was not right. He was the captain, not her. To explain and make things better she started to babble, in a way, she was trying to apologise for her behavior.

"Not that I mean that you have to do what I just said. I was just pointing out...in a nice way these things. Gosh! I'm not making any sense! Sorry don't be mad. You can be mad if you want, but please don't be. I'm just not used to the way you do things around here."

"Sam it's fine I'm not mad."

"You sure?"

"Of course. Anyway, the reason I haven't attacked or anything is because me and my crew always look for the enemy ship's weakness. The perfect place to shoot our canons we can damage the ship but not enough to sink it, because if we sink it, no treasure for us and it's too mean to leave people to drown in the ocean. They are our enemies but we're not evil. We look for structural flaws in the design of the ship. It's logical, well, that's what Tucker sais and he is right."

"Oh, that's a really good idea." Sam replied feeling somewhat happy that Danny wasn't angry, if she had talked like that to Vlad, she would have been without food for three days. She was also quite embarrassed, he had perfectly good reason for not attacking strait away and she dissed him, thinking she knew what to do better than the captain.

"Thanks, now...why don't we act like pirates...and steal some treasure. YOU WITH ME!" Danny cried, now conversing with all his crew.

"AYE CAPTAIN!" The whole main deck roared.

This is going to be fun. It's their adversary who should be beware of them...

Thanks for reading. This is my longest chapter so far. Sorry it took a week to write. I have an explanation. Just two words...

SCHOOL EXAMS. (Pure agony!)

~welshcanadian14~

PS: Please review, I have feeling you know!. ;)