------------REVIEWERS------------
KoumiLoccness: Hey, I'm glad you're still around! Thanks!
aiSlove: It was pretty scary. I was stunned I wrote it—it just kind of penned itself. You know, hardcore, rough, fierce, honorable pirate defending his sister…lol
------------STUFFS------------
Avenger - most feared ship that ever set sail with the most gruesome pirates ever to sail the seven seas. Arg. Yamato's father left it to him when he was a young lad.
Joel - 62 years old, Sora's "Papa", Avenger's Cook for as long as it's been in business—6 years.
Sora - 21 years old, Newest Slave Girl on the Avenger.
Mimi - 20 years old, Avenger's slave girl for 5 years.
Yolei - 19 years old, Avenger's slave girl for 4 years.
Kari - Tai's little sister, 18 years old, passenger on the Avenger for 5.5 years.
Yamato - 21 years old, Captain of the Avenger.
Taichi - 21 years old, First Mate of the Avenger, Yamato's best friend, been on the Avenger as long as the captain.
Izzy - 20 years old, most skilled Navigator, Navigator of the Avenger for 4 years.
Joe - 22 years old, most skilled doctor, Doctor of the Avenger for 3.5 years.
T.K. - 18 years old, Yamato's younger brother, cabin boy been on the Avenger as long as the captain has.
Davis - 18 years old, cabin boy, been with the Avenger as long as the captain.
Ken - 18 years old, cabin boy, been with the Avenger as long as the captain.
Cody - 16 years old, cabin boy, Junior Navigator, been with the Avenger as long as Izzy.
------------RECAP------------
"I'm going to keep slicing you until you can't stand the pain and decide to die to save yourself," whispered Tai.
As he raised his sword, Kari shouted, "Tai! Please just kill him. I can't stand to watch this!"
Tai seemed to snap out of a reverie. He raised his sword and pierced Roberto through the heart. Roberto stopped crying and collapsed to the deck. Never would anyone threaten or harm Kari again.
------------STORY------------
"We must find more oarsmen. I fear there is no time to find nine crewmen. Davis and Ken, be quick about it. Find good strong men. If only two fit that description, we'll get four more elsewhere. It's April 5th. We won't reach the next port until May 12th. What are you waiting for?"
Ken and Davis left the cabin's quarters. Yamato sighed.
"Joe, I want you to attend T.K. and Kari to the best of your ability. Ken can join you for further training when he gets back. When we find Izzy, we may need you too."
"Aye-aye Captain," nodded Joe as he left the cabin.
"Cody, take some of the crew and search the ship. We need to find our navigator."
"Yes sir," Cody said with one foot already out the door.
Yamato sighed. He was avoiding looking at his First Mate as long as he could.
"Matt, I-"
Yamato held up his hand for silence. He sighed again and started rubbing his temples. After a few minutes in silence Yamato prompted, "You can sit down if you'd like."
Tai remained standing.
"Tai, I understand what it's like to worry about your younger sibling. I saw T.K. hanging there and felt helpless for a moment. Me, helpless. I understand your frustration and anger."
"Matt-"
"I didn't interrupt you, so I'd appreciate the same courtesy."
Tai looked embarrassed, but remained silent.
"I only let you continue for one reason. My ship and its crew have a reputation to uphold. Your actions today further that reputation. Also, with where we are headed, I need the men to be as obedient as possible. This is the most dangerous excursion we have made to date and, for their own safety, they must listen. You instilled a fear in everyone today. I can use this later. You may say that it sounds selfish on my part, but you got the revenge you wanted on the man who terrorized your sister. I don't want to hear anything about what I let you do."
"I am not ashamed of my actions."
"I do not expect you to be. Go and attend your sister. She has had a trying day."
Tai smiled and turned to leave.
"Tai, make sure you have more control of yourself in the future."
"Yes, sir." Tai closed the door behind him.
Yamato sighed and put his head in his hands. 'Today was a close call on way too many fronts. I'm proud of my crew. I only lost 6 in battle with dizzying odds. Those three men left onboard should not have been murdered by cowards.' He sighed again and kept with his reverie. 'More importantly, can Tai control his emotions if his sister is put in any more danger? What if this mission places her in danger? It'll place all of us in grave danger, but will Tai blame me? And where the HELL did Sora learn sword fighting?'
Yamato sighed again, then got up and went to the deck to help search for Izzy.
------------Hell Hole------------
"What happened up there?"
"I don't know, Yolei. All I know is that I might cut Tai a little more slack."
As Sora mentioned Tai, Mimi gave a great sob. She had been crying ever since they were brought back to the Hell Hole. She was sitting with her head on Sora's chest, shaking uncontrollably.
"Mimi, it's okay. Tai just-"
But Mimi just started crying harder. Yolei looked at Sora, tears in her eyes. Sora, however, pushed Mimi gently off her and looked her in the eyes.
"Mimi, stop this nonsense."
Mimi continued crying.
"Mimi, I'm warning you."
When nothing happened, she looked at Yolei then raised her hand and slapped Mimi across the face. Mimi stopped crying immediately, stunned.
"I'm sorry Meems, but I warned you. Think of what Tai did today! He saved his sister from a demon that has haunted her for years. He also ensured that no man aboard this ship or anywhere in the world would ever touch another woman on this ship! You shouldn't be crying! You should be happy!"
"I'm so scared of him now! That temper!"
"I can't help you there."
"Ken was so brave," Yolei stated.
Sora rolled her eyes, but smiled. Mimi smiled too.
------------On the deck------------
"Izzy!"
"Izzy!"
"Izumi!"
Yamato, Cody, and a dozen other men were searching the deck for the navigator. The rest of the crew were either searching below or checking supplies and slaves. So far, after an hour, there was no luck. The sun was starting to set as Ken and Davis came back with three strong men. Ken and Davis led the new slaves down to the slave deck to introduce them to the others and get them started on their new jobs. Yamato was sitting on the railing, watching the crew search for his navigator. The sun was setting behind the hill where bodies were being cleared. He looked up at the sky, and saw a hand hanging over the crow's nest. He climbed the net and reached the crow's nest in no time at all. When he got there, he saw the limp form of his navigator lying in a pool of blood. There was another man on the other side, looking just as pale as Izzy.
"JOE!" Yamato bellowed.
Everyone on deck looked up as Joe came bursting out of the hallway. Yamato lifted Izzy onto his shoulder, grabbed a loose rope from the nest, and slide down to the deck. He landed next to Joe and placed Izzy gently on the deck.
"The nest was filled with blood."
"Was it just Izzy?"
"No, there was one of Roberto's men up there. Both looked just as pale."
Joe was checking the neck and wrist of Izzy. He sighed and told Yamato, "He's alive, but I don't know how much longer."
Yamato turned to the crew on deck, "You two! Take Izzy to the infirmary. You four, go with Joe and get him whatever he needs. You, get that scum off of my ship. You, go get Ken from the slave deck. NOW!"
The two men assigned to carry Izzy picked him up gingerly and took him down the hall Joe burst through earlier. Joe was in the lead and the four men were following behind them. Yamato looked at Cody, who was white and shaking.
"Come on Cody, let's go see how Izzy's doing."
Yamato and Izzy followed the caravan. Tai stuck his head out of Kari's room to see what was going on.
"Cody, go on. I'll be there in a few."
Cody turned down the hall after the others.
"I found Izzy in the crow's nest. One of Roberto's men was up there. There was so much blood. It seems Roberto's man bled out. Izzy's still alive, but only just. How's Kari?"
"She's okay. The blade just barely cut into her. She and T.K. are both doing alright. They'll both have marks for a long time on their necks, but they're okay."
Yamato walked past Tai and saw T.K. perched on a chair and Kari sitting up in bed. They were both chatting happily. Yamato walked up to T.K. and shoved his head into the bed.
"Hey Matt! What's the big idea?"
"Hold still," Yamato said as he examined the back of his brother's neck. There was bruising forming and red, dry spots where the rope was, but no deep damage.
"How did he get you?"
"I was below when I heard gun shots. I came running up and got hit in the head with something. Next thing I knew, I had a rope around my neck and Roberto was slapping me awake. Once I was fully awake, they hoisted me up. You came a minute or two later, though it felt like forever. If Ken hadn't been there, I don't know what would've happened."
Yamato let T.K.'s head off the bed and saw a bruise just above his right eye. It looked like a cut was in the middle of the bruise, but Joe had stopped the bleeding. He turned his attention to Kari, who had a bandage around her neck.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Ken was really great today. He saved T.K.'s life and took out most of Roberto's men."
"He has done well. He always does. I'm glad I appointed him as Joe's apprentice."
"What?!" all three cried.
"Yeah. Joe told Ken after I told Joe. He'll need the help. Anyway, get some rest you two. Tai, I'll need you to return to your duties soon. Davis and Ken have returned with three oarsmen."
"Sure thing, Matt."
"I'm going to go check on Izzy. You two remain here."
Yamato turned and left the room. When he got to the infirmary, he found total chaos. Joe was shouting orders to the four men, who were medically challenged. They were, however, doing their best to help Joe, though it looked as if Joe would've saved time by doing it all himself. Just then, Ken came running into the room.
"You four, go help the others clean the blood of my ship. Thanks for the help here."
The four men looked grateful for the excuse to leave and ran out the door as quickly as four brawny men could. Yamato saw Cody sitting next to Izzy still white as a ghost.
FLASHBACK
"Hey Tai, we need some more slaves. See what you can do."
"Sure thing, Matt."
Tai and Davis went off in the direction of the auction house. Ken looked up at Matt.
"What do you want me to do?"
"I need your eye, Ken. We need some more crew members."
They headed off one of the more notorious bars in the town. When they got there, a full blown, drunken brawl was underway. Yamato and Ken stepped over men knocked out on the ground and through the bar door.
"Stay close, Ken."
The 17-year-old Captain and his 14-year-old cabin boy walked to the bar. As they approached the bar, the barman sidled over and asked, "Wha' can I do fer ya?"
"Who's your biggest trouble makers here?"
"Dem dere. Names o' Avery, Mack, and Jobe."
"Thanks."
Yamato walked over to the largest crowd in the bar. There were over a hundred men crowded around a group fighting. The three guys in the middle were pummeling anyone who entered the circle, and each person knocked cold was dragged out of the circle. A pile of unconscious men lay unceremoniously in the corner, hung out the window, or tossed out the bar.
"I count 65 bodies total knocked out cold. If it was just from these three, that's pretty impressive."
"Good job, Ken. Try to get them sword fighting."
Ken walked away through the crowd to find some men drunk enough to challenge these brigands. Yamato turned to the man next to him and asked, "'ow long dey been at dis?"
"Yar, 'bout twen'y minutes. Laid dem men yeh see out cold like it were nuh'in'!"
"Seen 'em wit' a blade?" Yamato asked.
"Nar, fis's only."
Suddenly, a man jumped out with a saber pointed at the three men. He was shouting horrible obscenities at them and brandishing his weapon. The three men drew their swords and smirked at the challenger.
"Wha' do yous want?" One of the three snarled.
"So yeh can fight with fis's! Can yeh fight with the sword? I'm da bes' dere is and I challenge yeh!"
"Avery, wha' do yeh t'ink?"
"Jobe, do yeh wan' him? He ain't wort' my time!"
"Mack can take 'im. He show'd interes' first."
Mack walked past Jobe and Every to look at the challenger. He turned back and said, "Nah, he's too drunk. It ain't wort' it!"
However, in this moment, the challenger lunged at Mack's back. Jobe grabbed Mack's left arm, while Avery grabbed Mack's right. They pulled him through them and sliced at the challenger. A fire was lit in Avery's eyes.
"Yeh NEVER attack when a man's back is turned," hissed Avery.
The man who attacked them lay bleeding on the floor. Jobe and Avery turned to leave, but Mach turned back to him.
"You shouldn' be lef' in such pain. I's cruel," Mack said and he ran him through.
Yamato smirked and signaled to Ken to leave the bar.
"Har har har, tha' was great!" The man called Jobe slapped the other two on the back.
"Don' ge' too happy, Jobe," Avery chided.
The three of them stopped in their tracks. A young man with long hair stood blocking their path.
"'ere now, move on! Yer in our way!"
"You fought admirably. How are your sea legs?"
"Wha' do yeh t'ink we are? Pirates?!"
"Are you not?"
"Course nah! We ain't so disrespectable as to be labeled 'Pirate'!"
"Oh of course, common criminal is such a high title. Much more refined than piracy."
"Why yeh ungrateful little-"
"You really should watch your language when talking to your superiors."
"Superiors?! Who da hell are yeh to talk to us jus' like dat?
"Ah Avery, stop toying wit' da boy! Jus' run 'im t'rough!"
Ken and Avery looked at each other, Ken with mild interest and Avery with fury. Suddenly, Jobe lunged at Ken, who parried his attack effortlessly. Mack and Avery attacked Ken at once. Again, Ken fought effortlessly and all three men were thrown to the ground.
"You fought well in there, but if you'd like to learn real combat skills, you'll come with me," Ken stated.
Jobe looked furiously up at Ken, whereas Mack and Avery looked stunned.
"Wha' ship you come from anyhow?" Mack asked.
"Mine."
Avery, Jobe, and Mack whipped around to see a handsome, well-dressed, young blonde smirking at them.
"Yours? Yeh old enough to run a ship?"
"Considering my 14-year-old cabin boy just bested the three of you, I'd say age doesn't really matter. Wouldn't you?"
The three men looked dumbfounded.
"Your hand-to-hand combat skills are quite admirable, but your blade skills leave something to be desired. Join my crew and I will teach you. Oh, if there are any other men like you, I'd like to meet them too."
"Wha's in it fer us?"
"Adventure, combat, treasure, and whatever you make of it."
The three men huddled together and held a whispered conversation. Yamato looked at Ken across from the huddle and noticed he was smiling. After a few minutes, the three broke apart and looked at Yamato.
"Tell us de name o' yer ship."
"The Avenger."
Their eyes widened and suddenly Avery said, "We're in."
"Excellent, let's go."
Yamato and Ken walked towards the docks with Avery, Jobe, and Mack in tow. On the way, they ran into Davis.
"Yamato! The auctioneer is not cooperating!"
"Davis, go with Ken and these men to the ship. I'll be there in fifteen minutes."
The five crewmen headed towards the Avenger as Yamato turned down the alley. As he walked into the auction house, he was momentarily deafened by the noise. Tai was struggling with the auctioneer over something.
"What's the problem, Tai?"
"Ah well, I found a couple of good ones, yet this barbarian won't take a reasonable price for them."
"Sir, if you try to rob my men, you try to rob me. That is not something I can stand for. Now, my First Mate is not unreasonable. I suggest you take his price before we do something dishonorable."
The auctioneer looked stunned then asked, "Coul' I interes' yeh in a cartographer?"
"He any decent?"
"Come see fer yerself. Just came in off a slave ship."
Yamato looked at Tai, who shrugged, then followed the auctioneer. When they got to the slave station, they found a boy with red hair covering a small boy with brown hair. Both of them were being beaten ruthlessly.
"Back! All o' yeh!" shouted the auctioneer, but nobody ceased their beating. Some men were laughing mirthlessly, and some men were egging the crueler men on.
Yamato stepped beside the stage where the men were beating the boys and started slapping men with the flat of his blade. Once he separated the men from the two boys, he stood in front of them with his sword raised.
"Any'un dare touches 'em, I'll run 'em t'rough!" Yamato shouted.
Most of the men looked skeptically at the young man standing between them and their sport, but five were foolish enough to not listen. In five flashes of the blade, Yamato and Tai had laid them flat.
The auctioneer said, "Sold to the blonde Captain!"
Tai went over to finalize the deals as Yamato turned to face his new charges. He saw the smaller boy trembling as the older boy tried comforting him.
"Come with me."
The two boys followed Yamato out the auction house. Tai and twelve new oarsmen followed in his wake. Once onboard the Avenger, Tai took the new crew to their quarters while Izzy and Cody followed Yamato to his cabin. The younger boy had tears in his eyes, but he didn't let them fall. He looked fiercely at the Captain, while his older counterpart merely looked curious.
"So, if you're such a fine Navigator, why were you on a slave block?"
"They were trying to sell Cody," said the red head.
"Is he your brother?"
"No, but his parents were murdered when he was 3 and my family took him in. Our town was raided about 5 years ago and we were put on a ship."
"How did you get to be Navigator?"
"My parents were cartographers—mapmakers—and I just had a natural talent for it. My parents were training me to take over their business. I was teaching Cody on the side."
"What is your name?"
"Izumi, but my friends call me Izzy."
"How old are you both?"
"I'm 16 and Cody's 12."
"I'm very pleased to meet both of you. On my ship, neither of you will be slaves. You seem intelligent and every ship needs a Navigator."
"Thank you, sir. This is generosity in its largest form."
"If you'll follow me, I'll take you to your rooms. Unless, of course, you would like to share."
END FLASHBACK
Yamato put his hand on Cody's shoulder. Ken was mixing a concoction to put on Izzy's wound. He had been shot three times in the side and lost a lot of blood. After what seemed like hours, Joe wiped sweat from his brow, handed the three bullets to Ken, sighed, and looked at Cody
"He'll be fine. He's stable. He just needs plenty of rest. Can you watch him for me?"
Cody nodded, looking sick.