CHAPTER 2
Prepare for Attack
Pirate Adventure
It had been almost three weeks since Gold had begun his nightly conversations with Elliott. They spoke of all things on the sea. The life of a pirate was becoming clear in his mind through the words of his new friend. No one could teach him more than Elliott. He was the smartest pirate in the world as far as Gold Roger was concerned. He told his stories, shared his wisdom, expressed his opinion, and extended his advice to Gold every night. It made life on the ship bearable. Elliott would discuss Gold's dreams, and gave him encouragement. He would help cheer him up after a long day, or share some taffy and joke around when Gold had just met the rope whip. He was excited about the conversation he would have that night too, as he cleaned the railing around the forecastle for the fifth time. What could he ask tonight?
'I want to know about the treasure he has found.' Gold mused to himself.
"Ship to starboard!" Gold heard the crow's nest call out.
"All hands to stations!" The First Mate responded. "Prepare for attack!" Suddenly, the ship became a beehive of activity. Every man was running here and there, loading canons and lashing down equipment. Everyone had their job. Even the newest member of the crew, young Gold Roger had his place. He ran hard to the galley doors, grabbing both and throwing them shut. Then, he grabbed a large chain and lock from the railing and chained the doors closed. As he understood it, this would keep the enemies from entering the galley and cargo holds should they board the ship. Afterward, he turned and drew his pistol and saber.
'Here we go.' He thought nervously. 'I'm ready for this.' It was, after all, his first pirate raid. Then just as he swallowed his first butterfly, there was a loud noise from below deck. It sounded like a great rumbling, and suddenly became a loud roar as a human sized object came bursting rapidly out of the ship's berth deck. It flew straight up, trailing quite a bit of black smoke as it went. At the peak of its ascent, it flipped once and landed on top of the main mast, right above the Jolly Roger. Gold realized it was a man, but couldn't make out what he looked like. He could see the Jolly Roger though. As grand as it was, he had never really looked at it before. A skull emitting bright blue flames from all sides seemed a fitting flag for this crew.
"Captain Raze!" The First Mate bellowed as the crew began to cheer. Gold had never seen the Captain before. He had learned that the Captain had locked himself in his quarters for some time, and had his meals brought to him. Now, he was out, and had somehow flown to the top of the largest mast on the ship.
"Hard to starboard men!" The Captain yelled as he pointed to the ship in the distance. "Let's raid us a ship!" The crew went mad with shouts and hollers at this order, and the helmsman immediately cut the whipstaff.