I Hate Pirates
Maelstrom and I left at the break of dawn. We should arrive at the Wolf House in about an hour, right?
I thought so too. But that was before, I got kidnapped. How was I supposed to know that they would be on dry land?
/*/
Chief, what's that? Maelstrom said, pointing one hoof towards something that vaguely resembled a pile of ice chests. There were no vehicles around so they couldn't have been placed there by mortals.
I frowned. Those looked a tad bit too suspicious.
"Maelstrom, let's not-"
Donuts! Maelstrom dived down towards a plate of the said food that suddenly came into view. It was placed on the ground. Who leaves donuts lying around?
I uselessly tugged at my pegasus' mane. I'm going to have to manipulate the Mist. That wasn't exactly my favorite thing to do.
As we descended, I snapped my fingers and concentrated. Hopefully the mortals would only see a girl descending with a parachute on her back. I hopped off Maelstrom's back as soon as we landed. My pegasus trotted over to the plate of donuts while I looked around. There were no mortals in sight. That added to my growing suspicion.
Wary, I walked over to the chests then opened the first one I peeked inside and lo! It was full of gold denarii mixed with mortal cash. I opened a second and it was full of rum.
"What the Fortuna?" I said. I turned around as Maelstrom finished the donuts and he turned to trot back to me. He failed to notice the figure that loomed up behind him. My eyes widened in fear.
How could I have been so stupid?! Why did I let the pegasus dive down for donuts?!
"Maelstrom!" I shouted. Too late, the figure threw a golden net over my pegasus. I raced forward trying to get to my steed. Something moved at the edge of my vision and I turned as a round shield hit my face. I fell on my back, dazed.
The last thing I saw before I blacked out completely was a dark-haired man with a wild unkempt beard peering down at me.
/*/
I woke up on a hammock and with a throbbing headache. I rolled off the hammock and my legs immediately felt like jelly. My stomach felt like its insides were being rocked from side-to-side. I recognized this feeling. I tried to make sense of my surroundings but the need to hurl overpowered my other senses. The only source of light was a small round window with iron grates over it. I was able to make out a rail just below the window running around the whole room. The floor was covered with filthy, oily grime. That along with my sea sickness made me feel really queasy.
I walked toward the window and saw the waves rolling.
"Oh my," I said then grabbed the nearest bucket and let everything go.
"I didn't think a child of Poseidon would be sea sick," a voice came. I looked up and saw the man who peered down at me. Now that I wasn't on the verge of fainting, I saw him more clearly. He looked of Mediterranean descent. His skin was darkly tanned. He had a slash on his face from his left cheekbone to the right over his nose bridge.
"I'm Roman so it's Neptune, actually," I said. The man gave me an amused laugh.
"Figures," he said. "Cheirmarrhus."
"What?" I said. I knew that was his name, I read about him before but I acted dumb to keep him unsuspecting.
"It's my name. Don't you read your history?" he asked.
I shrugged and gripped the rail feeling the urge to empty my insides again. I couldn't afford to look weak in front of this scoundrel.
"Don't care about it," I said. That was a lie. I loved history. I liked reading about the heroes of old. Perhaps it was because, I was looking for someone, anyone, who had abilities such as mine. The closest I found was Khione, Goddess of Snow but after meeting her, well, let's just say we didn't get along.
"Eh, well, they don't mention me much anyway. All because of that blasted son of Poseidon-"
"Is that what this is?" I asked. Cheirmarrhus looked at me with a confused expression. "Those donuts. Were those to lure my pegasus and therefore, me? Do you want revenge against Poseidon/Neptune/whatever's children?" The pirate laughed.
"Oh I wasn't trying to capture you. Sure you're on my 'To Capture' list since someone's offering a good amount of money but the donuts were for the pegasus and the pegasus alone. I found out that the pegasi now-a-days liked eating those round pastries. Your pegasus is part of my revenge plan against a certain son of Poseidon," he said. I tilted my head in confusion. Why in the world would they want to capture my pegasus? And who put the bounty on my head?
Before I could ask any of my questions, the ship lurched and I tasted bile in my mouth. I bit the inside of my cheek in an effort to stop myself from barfing.
Cheirmarrhus looked on, amused. "You must be wondering put such a large price on your head." He turned around and began walking out of the room. He stopped just before opening the door. "It's Gaea," he said and he left.
I grabbed the bucket again and puked to my stomach's content.
I moved back to the hammock to lie down. Despite the circumstances, I couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. Great-grandmother Earth must be so desperate to get me on her side, huh? I closed my eyes and tried to ignore my sea sickness.
/*/
"Oi! Your dinner's here!" I heard a voice call out. I looked and saw another man, not Cheirmarrhus, bring in a tray then he left just as soon as he arrived. It had a lone piece of bread and a glass of water.
I wobbled over to the tray. It was dinner already? Wow. I was that sick.
I picked up the piece of bread and nibbled it. My face contorted in disgust. The bread was stale and nearly unpalatable. I stared suspiciously at the water. Sure I was thirsty but there was no way I was going to drink that junk. I opened my palm and focused, creating a ball of ice then promptly popping it in my mouth. Soon enough I finished the bread. I moved toward the door to see if there was anything that could indicate an escape route. The door had no knob. I pushed it, but it still wouldn't budge. A little dot of light streamed in from a peephole. Wait a peephole. I banged my head on the door. I'm an idiot. Then again, my senses were being overwhelmed by my sea sickness.
I looked through the peephole and an empty hall greeted me. There were no other doors besides mine. A single oil lamp hanging from the ceiling provided the only source of light. I stepped back and the light glinted off my ring. My ring. Once again I felt like a bloody moron. Cheirmarrhus didn't know that my ring is the dormant form of my weapons. I felt my neck. The moon necklace was still there.
I twisted the gear on my ring and Avalanche sprang out. I drove the sword through the door which split with a loud crack. I winced as splinters flew towards my face. I kicked the door down. The sound of the door cracking echoed through the hallway. I probably should have tried to escape more quietly.
I retracted my weapons. I heard the sound of laughter and glasses clinking coming from somewhere above me. It was like the pirates were having a party. Their sounds of merriment drowned the noise my escape created.
Where would they place my pegasus? There obviously wouldn't be any stables in this ship. Did Maelstrom manage to get out? If he did, I'm practically doomed. I couldn't tell where I was. Put me in a river, I can easily tell what direction I'm supposed to head towards (then again, there are only two). But I'm so lost at sea. Haha. Lost at sea. Get it? No?
I heard the sound of a horse neighing in irritation. I felt the blood drain from my face. Could Maelstrom be…
I was answered by the sound of hooves clopping somewhere above my head. I walked down the hall not letting my guard down. My pegasus was up on the deck. No doubt he was the pirates' source of entertainment.
I heard a squeaking sound somewhere to my left. I cautiously looked in that direction then breathed a sigh of relief. It was only a rat.
I turned my attention back to the hall and I found myself facing, well, not the hall. There was a black-clad barrel chest in front of me. The smell of really bad body odor wafted up my nose causing my eyes to water. I slowly raised my eyes to look at his face. I gulped. This guy was scarier than Cheirmarrhus (not that I found him scary.) His hair was wild and untamed. His face looked brutish and had slash marks all around it. His beard, I didn't even want to think about it.
"Hi." A safe start. He reared back and looked as if he was going to roar and charge at me at the same time. Without thinking, I slipped one of my shoes off (they were loose anyway) kicked it up, and grabbed it with my right hand. The next part was just weird. I jumped, grabbing the man's shoulders for leverage, shoved my shoe into his mouth, then flipped so I was standing behind him. He wobbled, surprised to find a shoe in his mouth. I summoned my weapons again then whacked the back of his head with my shield. He crumpled onto the floor. I nudged him with my foot and he started snoring.
I let out a breath. He was still alive. I hoped nobody heard that little commotion. I shoved my shoe back on and continued on my way. At the end of the hall, there was a ladder leading up to a wooden hatch. I climbed the ladder as quietly as I could. When I reached the top, I put my hand on the hatch, hesitating for a moment. I had no actual plan. That was a first I closed my eyes and felt the vibrations on the hatch.
I mapped out the scene going on the upper deck. The pirates were everywhere. Maelstrom was approximately seven feet away. There was a more or less clear path from the hatch to my pegasus. By clear, I mean, had one or two pirates in every feet.
So plan, right. I'll burst out of the hatch, make an ice road while going to Maelstrom and slide along waving my sword so the pirates would (hopefully) get out of the way. Then I'll cut whatever it is that's holding Maelstrom down and we can fly off.
I felt cold energy building up in my arms. I counted to three then burst out of the hatch. What I did not anticipate, however, was a white pegasus and its rider.
As soon as I made my grand entrance, I heard the whump-whump of huge wings.
Duck. I heard a voice say.
"What?" I said, turning around. My eyes widened as a wall of white crashed into my face. I dropped my sword somewhere. I tumbled backwards. The pegasus that crashed into me whinnied in anger.
"Woah! Steady Pegasus!" Came another voice. It sounded younger than the first one, a little older than me, perhaps. I scrambled up. I looked around. My sword skittered and landed right next to a lanky pirate who had pasta all over his face. I began frantically shaking my shield arm. My sword responded to the motion. A few seconds later it flew towards my shield, right into the built-in sheath. I turned around to run towards Maelstrom. The other pegasus rider made his pegasus gallop around the whole place, causing even more panic. I reached Maelstrom and cut off the strings that held him down before promptly leaping onto his back.
Chief what took you so long? He asked, berating me.
"I was locked up and dizzy. I'm sea sick! Give me a break!" I said. Maelstrom crouched, ready to leap into the air. He jumped then yelped. I was nearly thrown off.
"Pluto's loins!" I shouted. I looked back and saw Cheirmarrhus holding onto Maelstrom's tail. He was looking at the other pegasus rider.
"Bellerophon you meddler!" he yelled, pulling harder on Maelstrom's tail. Maelstrom whinnied in displeasure and promptly kicked Cheirmarrhus on the chest. The pirate flew backwards and collided with a group of pirates trying to aim a canon at the white pegasus. Maelstrom flew upwards and the other pegasus followed. Arrows started flying towards us, but the mounts just evaded. I was free.
A/N: Replies to guest reviews can be found in the tumblr blog I keep mentioning.