4

It's been 2 months now since I was brought aboard The Moon's Eye and I have gained a great deal of trust from the crew and the captain. Melissa and I have become very close friends and the captain has given me some authority over the crew.

I am his "right hand" Mockingbird tells me and yet she won't tell me what she means by it. "You find out soon enough" she always tells me when I ask her... So annoying...

We have now left the shores of dear England and France and we are now traveling towards Italy. The captain has told me that we shall travel the world and he shall teach me as much as he knows which I am immensely looking forward too. We have been out at sea for a few days now and everyone is setting into the usual routine.

I walked out on deck one evening as usual to check on the crew and relieve a few men of their posts and I was met by shouts and screaming that became deafening as I ran towards the top deck.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!?!" I shouted as a few of the crew men were arguing back and forth.

"A boat Miss Phantess... A boat off in the distance... I was discussing with Mr. Wayton here of what Country it be from..." replied Mr. Kristian, a man of about thirty-five whose hair is as black as the night and eyes as blue as the afternoon sky.

"And Mr. Kristian, Miss Phantess, believes that it be of England colors." stated Mr. Wayton, putting his hands on his chest in a boatful manner. He had short brown hair and mahogany colored eyes. He was about twenty-nine years of age.

"Well, I do... Can't ye see the red, blue, and white on its flag?" bellowed Mr. Kristina as he pointed to a ship out near the horizon.

"No I don't... That's why I believe it is a French ship!" replied Mr. Wayton.

And soon they were arguing once more...

"Oh heavens... Men... Truly the weaker of the two sexes..." I whispered to Melissa, who began to die out laughing.

"Stand aside you two and let me see!" bellowed Melissa as she pushed aside the two fools like they were nothing but wisps of air.

She dashed to the edge of the deck, hanging off the side of the ship while holding onto a piece of rigging.

"Phantess! Come and have look!" She yelled to me.

I pushed aside the men once more for their arguing had now continued since Mockingbird had walked between them and dashed up to stand beside Melissa.

"What do you make of it?" She whispered as she stared of into the distance.

"I'm not sure but it is in trouble... Look... Do you see the fire?" I spoke, pointing to a small flame that was now devouring the starboard side of the ship.

"Oh god." Melissa breathed and then dashed off to the captain's room.

After only a brief moment he came dashing out of his room bellowing, "EVERYONE!! LOWER THE SAILS!!! TIME IS OF THE ESCENCE!!! PHANTESS!!"

I raced towards him when I heard my name.

"Yes Captain?" I inquired as I stood next to him, startling him.

"My God... I'll never get used to your stealth. Now, make sure the lifeboats are in order... That ship is in grave danger... What did you make of it?" he inquired as he walked me over to the lifeboats.

"It is a merchant ship sir... Gun powder probably caught... Probably an English ship..." I replied as I began to ready the lifeboats.

"I KNEW IT!" cried out Mr. Kristian, as he helped me set the oars in the boats.

I could not help but smile at this as our sails lowered and our ship began to slice its way across the ebony sea.

The moonlight shone on the water as the Moon's Eye swiftly crept towards the flaming ship. Sparks shot up from the ships core sending the sails into a fiery dance. Smoke poured from the hull of the ship as cries of agonizing death became louder.

"DROP ANCHOR HERE!" the captain called to me...

"DROP THE ANCHOR!!!" I cried to the crew who immediately began to raise the sails and lower the anchor.

"Be careful Phantess..." The captain said as he lowered the life boat that I was in.

"Don't worry captain... I'll make sure she stays a good distance away from the fireball." Mockingbird chirped as she climbed in the boat with me.

"The fireball... is not what I am worried about." The captain replied as our boat hit the water.

"Take an oar Melissa... And keep an eye out for any survivors!" I ordered as our life boat slowly sailed towards the flaming ship.

As we neared the ship the cries of the dying men and women faded and nothing but the creaking of the ship and the crackling on the burning wood was heard.

"Oh god... No..." Melissa breathed...

"What?" I inquired as she froze in her seated position, her eyes locked on the water.

That is when I saw it. As my oars touched the water, a body floated towards the surface. I gasped as my right oar knocked it about and spun it around. My thoughts were diverted from it as I heard a solemn cry coming from the ship.

"HURRY!!" I cried as Melissa began to frantically paddle the lifeboat closer to the ship.

As we neared the ship, I instinctively dove into the water. I heard Melissa's shouts but did not answer them as I swam harder and faster towards the flaming ship. My arms cut through the cool water like a knife in hot butter and soon I found a place on the ship that wasn't overtaken by the blaze.

I climbed up the side of the hull like a cat, grabbing onto a rope that was hanging from the side to pull me up onto the deck. As I slowly crept across the deck, evading the pieces of flaming sail of wood as it fell from the sky in a torrent.

Seeing no survivors and hearing no replies to my shouts, I began to leave the flaming ship. As I began to walk towards where I climbed up the ship, I heard a soft cry, barely audible, coming from behind a door of the ship.

I raced towards the door and kicked it open to find something that made my blood freeze and my heart stop.

No... It can't be...