Chapter 2

"The cargos are gone?" Ja'far clenched his jaw to the point that it throbs, dark pupils regarding each and every crew member on the deck solemnly. Heavens forbid that he return to his client without the cargo, where he knew he would undoubtedly get an earful and more. "The cargos are gone?" He repeated again just for good measure.

"Aye, with two good men down and several injured as well," the captain lamented.

"And all our emergency supplies are gone too," the second-in-command piped in helpfully but quieted down when he became the receiving end of Ja'far's infamous glare.

"I see...and what do we do about this?" Ja'far could feel his temper rising with the sun. His dignity and pride was on the line here. Didn't anyone know that he was reputed for his impeccable deliveries?

The captain scratched his head in frustration. "We will send men down there to get supplies from the island. Meanwhile, please be patient, Sir Ja'far."

"Fine. I will retire below decks. For now."

And patient it was as Ja'far waited for one hour. Two hours. Passing into three…

The fourth hour was broken by the sounds of gunshots in the air. Several bullets went off, and then all was silent again.

By then everyone had hit the deck, straining their eyes vainly into the thick island vegetation in search of the source of commotion. But they were disappointed when nothing else happened and as night arrived, they became worried when none of their crewmates came back.

The next day the captain sent another party onto the island in search for the missing crewmates.

And again no one came back. This time there wasn't even the sound of gunshots to imply that there was a struggle.

The third morning dawned cold and bleary. No one had a good night's sleep as more than half of their crews were gone. The ship was down to only one-third of its former crews, of which half of them were injured from the fight three nights ago.

Ja'far was starting to get temperamental. "I will go," he volunteered when the captain looked torn between sending any more crew members to the island and keeping them safe on the ship. "I know how to defend myself well enough, thank you," he added when the captain opened his mouth to argue.

With that said, Ja'far made quick preparations. He packed his pistols and bullets in an oil sack so that the equipment wouldn't get soaked while he swam to shore. His coat he discarded along with his hat and gloves because they would only act as heavyweights in water. When all was said and done, he joined the small search party as they lowered themselves into the water and waded to the island.

~oOo~

Sinbad was bored.

At first he was ecstatic when the first party came on land, thinking that he would have a chance to meet the mysterious man again. But there had been no such person and his family quickly disposed of the crewmates. The second wave was greeted with as much enthusiasm, and yet, no white-haired clerk.

"Ah, incoming party!" Pisti shouted from her perch. "Just landed!"

"Do tell me more about it," Sinbad humored the little girl without much thought. At this point he had given up the prospect of having a certain pale-skinned man come after him and was more preoccupied with counting the supplies they have taken.

"Hmm, there's a huge man with two swords, a lean one with strange beard - oh, look at that 'un! There's a tiny man with white hair. He doesn't look like the fighting type though, I wonder what is he doing here?"

Immediately Sinbad was up on the tree and alongside Pisti, grabbing the worn-out telescope from her hands like an eager child. He scanned the beach until his eyes landed on his target and a radiant smile lit his face.

"My good men, we have another party coming!" Sinbad bellowed as he swung down the tree and ran inside to prepare. "Leave the white-hair man to me and do away with the others!"

~oOo~

Ja'far decided that he didn't like sea water at all. It was cold and clammy and it stung his eyes quite a bit when the waves splattered against his face. It was also surprisingly hard to swim in, what with the wave motions moving against his limbs and never had he felt that encumbered in his life before. The knowledge that he was vulnerable to any attacks while in water made his mood foul.

Thank heavens the meager group of five men was able to make it to shore without much hassle.

Their fortune was short-lived, however.

No sooner had they wrung their clothes out and made their way to the edge of the forest before they found bodies crashing through the vegetation. In no time the crews found themselves fighting for their lives as blades flashed at them from underneath the bushes and from the canopies above.

Ja'far shot a few rounds into the underbrush, grunting in disappointment when no yelps or screams greeted him. He hadn't shot his target. Strangely though he felt that none of the attacks were targeted at him. In fact, aside from a few scratches from random branches, he hadn't sustained any injuries. Why weren't they attacking him?

His question was quickly answered when a body barreled right into him, knocking him off his feet. Arms wrapped around his torso and he found himself forcefully dragged away from his group before he even registered what struck him.

"Damn it, let me go!" Ja'far growled and struck his capturer with the butt of his gun. The assailant let go with a yelp, allowing the clerk to roll away.

"You again?" Ja'far narrowed his eyes when it landed on the purple-haired buccaneer from a few nights ago. "What do you want this time?" He trained his gun on the man, prepared to shoot at any moment.

"To meet you," Sinbad grinned as he leaned forward, prepared to dodge in case the petite man before him decided to shoot.

"And why?"

Sinbad shrugged, not quite sure of the reason himself, but hey, he had been known to make very good choices based off impulses. "I would watch out if I were you."

Ja'far cocked his barrel. "What-" A sudden, jolting pain collided with the back of his head and his pistol flew out of his hand. Before he knew what was happening, his vision swam and the last thing he registered was Sinbad talking with someone before he blacked out.

~oOo~

The return to the conscious world was as unpleasant as Ja'far remembered it - there was a nonstop pounding inside his head, each bang reminding him painfully of the injury behind his skull and the heaviness of the limbs that accompanied one after long hours of not moving.

By and by his senses grew stronger as he further crossed the line into wakefulness. The original buzzing in the background took the form of people talking. There were footsteps as well, along with a lot of other sounds that signify human activity.

Where was he?

Last he remembered, he was rendered unconscious from the behind. Had he been kidnapped by the pirates? But if that was the case, it was odd that he couldn't feel any sort of ropes or chains fettering his limbs. Was he perhaps in a prison then?

Ja'far chanced an eye open, carefully surveying his surroundings. To his surprise, there were no prison walls around him. On the contrary, he was lying on a rather comfortable cot in a small corner, unseen by the general shuffling of people.

And what a group this was! There were all sorts of people: tall ones, short ones, ones with a limb missing, others with scars decorating them, and then there were even decent looking ones that had nice coats and relatively well-kempt hairs. The group reminded him of the bazaars that he had visited during his delivery trips (though he often steer clear of such areas because of his dislike for crowds), and where the populace was as diverse as the colors of jellybeans in a jar.

But this was no time for pondering. He deduced that he was in enemy territory and they had probably kept him for ransom of some sorts. Maybe they thought he was wealthy, what with his fair-skinned looks (he didn't asked to be born that way!), but they would be severely disappointed if they think that Ja'far would lie all nice and quiet. It was in his nature to fight for his own way and Ja'far was determined to escape from this area, or at least die trying to.

The white-haired clerk slowly reached down to his waist, grunting in disappointment when he found his precious weapons confiscated. Then again, that was to be expected. He casted his eyes about, searching for other potential weapons. There was a knife a few feet away on a table and if he was careful enough, perhaps he could slip up to the furniture and grab it.

A light laughter shocked Ja'far out of his thoughts when he saw a young girl flit near the table, trying to steal pieces of food without the adults noticing. She was barely twelve based off her small stature and for-lack-of-better-words, rather straight chest.

A sudden idea popped into Ja'far's head. Without further ado, he raised himself from the ground, making sure that no one noticed his movements and dashed straight towards the table. Before anyone could register what happened, he wrapped one arm around the girl's shoulder and with the other, directed the knife tip towards her neck. There were shouts of alarm and he learned from those shouts that the girl was called 'Pisti'.

"Listen Pisti," Ja'far huffed, still slightly breathless from his dash, "I don't like to do this but you will slowly lead me to the outside and once we are a safe distance away, I will release you. Do you hear me?"

To his surprise, Pisti didn't look impressed at all, much less frightened. "You know, you can't escape. When Sinbad wants somethin', he's pretty persistent." Her statement was met with sniggers from the other pirates, all looking amused at Ja'far's resistance. They parted ways respectfully, however, when their leader came through.

"And what have we here?" Sinbad raised one eyebrow at the scene before him.

"He's threatening Pisti," A red-haired man answered. He was, Ja'far noted, the only one who hadn't laugh at the whole scene.

"Is he now?" Sinbad turned his attention back to the clerk. "And what do you want in exchange for this...hostage?"

He definitely didn't like the way Sinbad frame things. They weren't taking this seriously at all! "Just let me out of here and I'll return the girl to you." Somewhere he thought he heard someone snort at his demand.

Sinbad shrugged casually. "Fine with me. Clear the way guys and let our guest go!"

It was Ja'far's turn to raise his eyebrow questioningly. This was going too smoothly - he expected more negotiations and even fighting, not this...this free ticket to freedom. He eyed the pirates around him warily as he slowly backed out the cleared passage with Pisti in tow, just in case one of those pirates decided that they could ambush him while he was on his way out.

Once they have put some distance between themselves and the pirate den, and Ja'far made sure that no one else was tailing him, he let go of Pisti. "You can go now," he added before sprinting into the forest around him.

Pisti watched the clerk as he disappeared amongst the bushes. "Does he even know where he is goin'?"

A/N: Thank you Lazy Gaga, Rainbow and everyone else for reviewing and following, I really appreciate it! :) I hope I won't disappoint you guys as I work more on the story!