CHAPTER 8: GHOST … OR PRANK?
"Where are we?" asked Robin.
"I'm not sure if I've brought you to the right place but I think you're on Death Skulls' ship." Cyborg replied.
After researching and some fixing to the machine, they were about to go when Starfire suggested they stay in touch. Everyone agreed and Cyborg built some kind of communicator that would work even if they went back or forward in time. Despite the transmission being a little unstable and the faces of whoever they were talking to a tad bit pixilated, Robin thought it worked quite well.
Starfire looked up and spotted the flag. It was in the middle of the night and therefore hard to see but she could just make out an ominous white skull with a silver spear through the brain. She shivered, "I think we are standing in the place."
"Over and out." Robin said to Cyborg before closing the communicator shut. Then, he and Starfire examined the ship.
It looked just like any other ship in a pirate movie. Battle-hardy and old with lots of scars. The sails looked black but when Robin shined a light on them, they were in fact, deep blood red.
"Perhaps, we should start the searching of our friends, Raven and Beast boy?"
"I agree, Star. I hope they're still … OK." Robin swallowed at the thought of Raven and Beast boy dead with a spear in their skull in whatever prison cell they were in.
Erasing that disturbing image from his mind, he and Starfire explored the ship silently, lest they wake the sleeping pirates. Still, they couldn't find anything that looked like it was used to hold captured prisoners.
At last, after looking about in the kitchen, they swung a door to … an empty room.
This doesn't make any sense, Robin thought. This was the only place they haven't seen yet but there's no one there.
Then, Robin spotted a worn staircase leading down in a corner. No, he corrected himself, that's the only place we've not seen.
As the two were about to descend however, the door behind them swung open. Starfire gasped and Robin knew it couldn't be the wind for there were no windows. Gulping, he turned around and came face to face …
With a pirate.
Robin and Starfire held their breath. Hopefully, it was too dark for the pirate to see clearly. But Robin was sure he had spotted them already, seeing as they were standing in a patch of bright moonlight when the door had swung open and the fact that the pirate was directly in front of them.
"Eh? This ain't th' head?" murmured a slurred voice. The pirate was obviously not entirely awake.
Robin clamped a hand around Starfire's mouth before she could ask. "He means the bathroom." he whispered softly in her ear. Then, he pulled her and himself back into the dark patches of the room to avoid being seen clearly.
"Do … uh, ye know if there's a … dungeon?" Robin asked uncertainly, trying his best to sound pirate-like.
"Right down thar. Jus' climb down th' stairs. Thar are some guards thar though." murmured the sleepy pirate.
"Thanks." Robin nodded and turned to go.
"Eh, just one more thing. Why do you ask? Every pirate here knows every corner of the ship." the pirate seemed to be coming awake.
"We're new." Robin said.
The pirate could not seem to process his thoughts clearly. Must be the rum he had just now. He was a very heavy drinker. The pirate, even though a bit drunk and still not fully awake yet, knew something was wrong. Shaking his head, he finally managed to process the thought that no pirates are allowed in the dungeons without permission! And those who were found not to have a valid reason, were killed!
"Wait!" he cried.
But the strange boy had already disappeared down the flight of stairs.
~Meanwhile~
Robin and Starfire descended quickly yet softly down. Their plan? Attack when there's trouble. It's as simple as that. Robin was pretty sure that the guards would definitely be more alert than the sleepy pirate. If they attacked, well, the only thing they can do is fight back.
Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, immediately, two guards there blocked their waving, both wielding threatening-looking machetes.
"No pirate's allowed t' pass unless they've got a reason!" one of the guards growled.
Starfire began, "We just wanted to visit some of the prisoners."
The guards looked at one another, "Thar's no lass on board this ship!" the other guard exclaimed.
"We're newly uh, recruited servants. We came to bring food." Robin crossed his fingers.
"In th' middle o' th' night?" the first guard asked suspiciously.
"Prisoners … get a bit a fresh water for drinking at night. This is by the Captain's orders."
The guards knew that straightaway something was amiss. The Captain of their ship was ruthless and definitely, not kind to prisoners. Why would he want them to have fresh water at night? Also, there were no prisoners on board.
"Thar's no captives on this ship." the second guard said coldly. They raised their weapons higher.
Robin and Starfire began to back away slowly. Suddenly, Starfire cried, "Oh! I saw something!"
"Eh?" the confused guards looked around frantically.
"No, not in here. I saw two people hiding behind some wooden barrels a while ago! I thought that someone might have discovered the two people and captured them! That is why we came down here, to bring them some water as they have not drunk for three days!"
"Where'd ye hear this from?" the first guard question, his weapon still raised.
"The Captain! He ordered us to give them some water so they may continue to live until next morning … when he will question them!" Starfire explained unsurely. She hoped they would buy the story.
The guards hesitated.
"But seeing as there are no prisoners, they must have escaped! I suggest you find them now or we'll tell the Captain!" Robin said smugly.
"Wait, lad! This ain't our fault! Nobody brought anybody down here!" the other guard cried frantically.
"Well, maybe they've managed to attack and escape from whoever's bringing them down here. I'm sure they're still on this ship. Why don't you start searching before the Captain hears the bad news." Robin tried not to grin too hard as he imagined their anxious expressions.
"Aye!" the guards answered and sprinted up the staircase.
As soon as they were out, Starfire lew up, closed, and locked the door to the empty, windowless room. Then, Robin came up to join her. He opened his communicator, pressed a button, and after some crackling and a few seconds of waiting, Cyborg came on.
"They aren't here." Robin said.
Suddenly, there was some voices outside, a bit of question, a bit of confusion, then angry muttering and finally exclamations.
"Robin, I think they must have discovered that we are not their newly recruited servants." Starfire stated in a small voice.
Huge thumping on the door followed.
"Quick! We need to get out!" Robin whispered urgently to Cyborg.
Cyborg proceeded to turn the knob, "I've switched the location to Black Swords' ship. The time is still the same. But the power's almost out."
"But will it be enough?" Starfire inquired.
"It will cause another blackout …" Cyborg hesitated.
A sword managed to pierced through the door and the sound of thumping became louder.
"Do it, now!" Robin ordered.
"Alright then …" Cyborg sighed. He's going to owe another apology to the mayor and Jump City.
After a few more seconds, the door started shaking and looked as if it were about to collapse. Robin hoped that Cyborg would hurry up. They could be captured any minute now!
Finally, there was a bright light and a glowing, oval pool floated in front of them. Without thought, Robin blindly grabbed Starfire's hand. That was when the door crashed down and dozens of angry pirates rushed in, all wielding various menacing weapons in their hands.
"AARRGHH!" They growled and started charging.
"Jump!" Robin tightened his hold and jumped in, pulling Starfire in too.
But then, they were stuck. Robin, though fully inside, could not pull Starfire. In fact, it felt like she was tugging him out!
"Someone is holding on, on one of my legs!" exclaimed Starfire, frightened.
"Shake them off!" Robin yelled, they were coming closer and closer back to the ship. The oval was also starting to dim.
Starfire began shaking her leg as hard as she can while Robin did everything he could to hold on.
Finally, after one mighty pull, they were free! One of Starfire's boots came of and the two came tumbling through, just in the nick of time! As soon as Starfire's legs disappeared through the oval, the portal closed.
Then, after a second, Starfire and Robin fell onto a wooden floor. They rolled and tumbled for a bit before coming to a stop. As they sat up though, they found themselves surrounded by many curious faces, all peering down at them.
Starfire and Robin feared for the worst. What are they going to do now?
Raven climbed into the bed. She was tired, and though she didn't want to admit it, a tad bit shaken from Beast boy's suggestions …
"Fer us pirates, th' nightingale be a symbol o' love in it's truest, purest form."
Raven shivered despite there being no breeze about. A good night's sleep is just what she needs to set things in perspective again …
But as soon as she climbed in, Beast boy did the same. Instantly, she felt her privacy being intruded into and she did not like it one bit.
"What do you think you are doing?" she asked in her usual monotone voice, but with a glare to Beast boy.
"I want to sleep." he answered nervously.
"Not here."
"Then where?"
"The floor." Raven then promptly shoved him out of bed, "There is no way I am sharing a bed with you."
"Why?" Beast boy asked, hurt.
Raven took a deep breath in to calm herself, many reasons of why she cannot share a bed with him ran through her head. She would just have to pick a few.
"You are smelly, you snore, you drool, and you're a boy." Raven said acidly before covering herself with the soft red duvet, her back to Beast boy.
Fine! Be that way! Beast boy thought angrily to himself. Why is she always so prejudiced against him anyway? Sighing loudly, he lay on the huge carpet in the center of the room. It wasn't so bad actually, sleeping on the ground. He just wished he had a blanket or something to cover him for added warmth. The night wasn't cold but sleeping with a blanket was just something he's done from young.
"Blow out the lantern." Raven said from the bed.
Beast boy stubbornly continued to lie on the ground. She can put out the lantern herself.
"Beast boy?" Raven called, but there was no reply.
Beast boy closed his eyes and daydreamed that he was in a land far, far away from Raven and all other distractions. What a peaceful place …
Raven turned just a bit and saw Beast boy with his eyes closed on the ground. He's probably just faking sleep, Raven rolled her eyes. With a sweep of her hand, her magic shadowed the room in darkness and the flames eventually went out.
Finally, Raven could rest. She relaxed against the pillow and breathed in deeply. Soon, she was fast asleep until …
"YYYEEEAAARRGGH!"
Raven yelped as something dark came hurling at her out of nowhere. She struggled to throw whatever that had her in its grips.
"Get OFF!" Raven yelled and with the "OFF!" she managed to summon a mighty kick that shook it off.
"Raven, no!" Beast boy's voice came, anxious, breathless and afraid.
Raven had enough with him now. Her patience was coming to an end and oh, how she wished she could knock him out forever now. Then, there will only be peace, and silence.
Thump! Thump!
Wait … that wasn't silence …
"Oh, Raven, did you hear that?" Beast boy flew to her side and clutched her arm tightly.
"Shhhh …!" Raven hushed.
She listened intently. And sure enough, more thumps followed, and they all came from the floor below them. Was someone trapped there? No, it could not be, there isn't a single staircase in this ship that goes down lower than the cabins. So why were there more sounds?
"Remember the cabin being haunted?" Beast boy whispered, his voice all quivery and high.
"Nonsense!" Raven whispered back in a steady voice, in contrast to his.
She had thought the little ghost story George told was interesting enough, but she hadn't believed a word. Well, he didn't have any evidence after all! Raven thought he was just wanting to scare them a little, have a little fun. Of course, naïve Beast boy would have bought it all.
But she hadn't. And this was probably one of the pirates' or George's little tricks for their guests. Then, Raven realised she had said the last bit of the sentence out loud.
"I don't think this is a trick." Beast boy whispered, his voice still shaking.
THUMP! THUMP!
The sound came louder now and it really did sounded as if it was from perhaps, a room below. If there was even another room below. But Raven didn't think that was possible.
"Go back to sleep. It'll be over in the morning." Raven said monotonously and tried to push him off. But his grip on her arm only tightened.
"No, please!" he begged.
Raven hesitated, it was obvious he was really frightened by all this, though it was not real. Should she …?
Suddenly, the thumping stopped altogether.
"See? It's nothing. The pirates got tired of playing tricks. Now, sleep." said Raven slowly, as if she were trying to calm a five-year old child.
But then, in the silence, a new sound rang out clearly …
"Hugh … HUGH …"
A/N: Thank you all for waiting! OK, I know this isn't much and is probably my most boring chapter yet, but I promise I'll make it up soon. I've planned for the next few chapters already and they're going to be really exciting! Also, I need more time to update now since I'm literally buried in homework, but I think I can at least do two to three chapters a week!
Don't worry folks, I have every intention to finish this fanfic!