"All of ye' fools get on deck!" A familiar, loud, booming voice sounded above deck. Half of the crew was currently in the very bottom of the ship, one floor down from where all the ship supplies and cells were. Hammocks hung from the roof and there were small beds dotted around the room, only enough for half of the crew at a time. As the young kids had come to learn, the ship took turns. One half of the crew would be on the top deck, working the ship and making sure that everything that needed done was done. The other half of the crew would sleep in the lowest part of the ship. Both halves worked different times. One half worked during the day, one half worked during the night.

Currently, the day crew, which included Tawny, Oliver, Edith, and Roulan, were sleeping. Edith and Roulan had managed to get to beds first, leaving the other two to sleep in hammocks, which were luckily next to each other. Tawny and Oliver would talk quietly before they went to sleep, discussing whatever they could to try and make themselves pass out.

But this night was different. It was the middle of the night, in yet the Captain was calling them all up. As all of them stirred, the kids ran up the steps, following some of the other crew members who had immediately gotten up the stairs. As all of them got to the top deck, they saw the day crew all on one side of the ship, all unmoving. As the kids got up to Lewis and Ivo, who were a part of the night crew, they also looked out, but didn't see anything.

"What is I-" Tawny had started but was shushed by Lewis, who leaned down near her ear, as well as the others. "Another ship, over in the fog, " he whispered, motioning towards the mist that hung over the ocean. When she looked, Tawny didn't see anything. But she then saw movement that was different from that of the waves. She could see the general shape of a ship. Whether or not it was a pirate ship, they didn't know. But even if it wasn't they wanted to remain somewhat silent. Getting into a canon fight with another ship during the night was not something Captain Burne was fond of doing.

All of them watched as the other ship seemed to turn in another direction. Unfortunately, the ship was doing in the direction that the Sea Grail currently wanted to go. Their current destination was towards a somewhat large island that was in the middle of the ocean. it was on many maps, but most people avoided it. For many people knew that the island was full of pirates.

The kids didn't know it, but the ship was on its way to a pirate "gathering" of sorts. Not all pirates enjoyed each others' company, that was clear. But pirates usually came to this island to drink their hearts away or celebrate victories without having to worry about any of the governments coming after them, especially those large trading companies. Having destroyed a well-known trading company ship, as well as destroying a town, Captain Burne felt like those were victories worth a good bunch of drinks.

The island they were going to wasn't Shipwreck Cove, where the nine pirate lords gathered. But this place they were going to was similar. In a way, it was like the pirate version of Tortuga, being full of bars and rowdy pirates, some looking for a crew to join and others choosing to live a life of no work and drinking.

He wasn't going to admit it, but his crew, not including the kids, had done a good job at Greymouth. They started fires, got extra supplies, got rid of a company ship, and did what they were told, minus the killing women and children. But one of the main victories he wished to celebrate was the fact that his men had earned them a few new crew members, even if they were kids.

As the other ship disappeared out of sight, Burne began barking out orders, even to the half of the crew that should have been sleeping. "All of you start getting our gold together! We are heading to Gold Bay!" As he made the announcement, the men of the crew began to cheer, instantly getting to work, getting dressed and getting the ship ready to dock at the town. The kids stood confused, looking up at Burne. "Little ones, go down and get some extra clothes from the chests. You don't look like pirates in clothes like those, " he stated, snickering at how the kids were still wearing the clothes they had been first taken from their home in. Their clothes were dirty and torn, but someone would instantly tell that these kids were town-folk if seen. The kids all went downstairs as ordered, going to the lower deck where chests of extra clothes were.

The clothes were stored away once they got to small for the older members of the crew, so now the kids got to choose what they wanted. Each of them grabbed clothes, trying not to be picky, before all going to where the crew slept. The boys used some sheets to block where the boys were and the girls. Even if they were technically pirates now, they still had some decency. Once all of them were changed they removed the sheets and all looked at each other. Their clothes were mostly similar, the boys wore slightly torn shirts with short-sleeved jackets, as well as somewhat baggy pants and old boots. The girls weren't much different. Having girls on a pirate ship wasn't very common, so Edith and Tawny had to wear boys' clothes. They wore long sleeved shirts with leather vests, pants, and boots that were a little to big for their feet.

All of them went up the steps to the deck. Most of the kids noticed something was different, but only Lewis knew why. Having been the only kid who had messed with the sails, he noticed that they had been changed, they looked bigger. Someone made them fan out to make the ship go faster. Wherever it was they were going, they were in a hurry to get there. After maybe half an hour, lights started appearing in the distance. There were hoots and cheers as an island began to come into view. Bright green eyes glanced up at the elevated portion of the deck where Burne was standing. Both their eyes met and for a moment, he stared at her with a blank expression. Before they could exchange any other looks or signals, she felt someone nudge her side. When she looked over, Lewis had lightly elbowed her, motioning for her to follow him. The two of them walked down the steps to the bottom portion of the ship, walking back to the chest where clothes were kept.

Tawny merely watched as he dug through the chest until he pulled out something from the bottom of the chest. When he turned, he held a hat in his hands. He walked over to her and began grabbing the back of her hair, not pulling it, and bundling it up towards the top of her head. "W-What are you-" but she didn't get to finish her sentence before Lewis interrupted her. "Covering your hair. If what I heard is right, we are going to an island where there are a lot of pirates. Any of them seeing your hair or that you're a girl might cause some issues, " he said as he put the hat over her hair. When he had the hat in place, he moved his fingers along the side of her head, pushing the extra strands up into the hat. He moved back and checked. Considering that Tawny was still a young girl and hadn't hit puberty, she didn't have to worry about hiding a chest or hips in any way, but her face did look like that of a girl. Having large eyes, smooth skin, and slightly smaller features was currently working against her, despite the fact that most people would think of those traits as attractive.

"It might be a little gross, but we might have to make both you and Edith more look like boys so that nobody gets suspicious. When we get there, don't talk to anybody ok. Stay with the rest of us and try not to draw attention, ok?" She wasn't fully aware of why she would need to do these things, but Tawny agreed anyway. The two of them walked back up to the top deck to find that most of the pirates were already prepared to dock the ship and head off to drink. Both of them had noted that some of the boys had already made Edith look more boyish, giving her a hat as well and smearing dirt and mud on her face. Her eyes would still give her away, but she seemed like a decent boy. Before she could even protest, Oliver and Ivo ran over, rubbing their hands on Tawny's face and getting mud on her. She attempted to struggle, but Lewis was holding her shoulders, keeping her from moving to much.

By the time they were done, she looked like a dirty little kid. Like Edith, it was just her eyes that would give her away. At the time, the ship was getting much closer to the island. Buildings were now visible and lights were shining bright. Even over the sound of the waves hitting the side of the ship they could hear hollers and screams coming from the island. Before long, the Sea Grail was pulling up to one of the many docks, one of the crew calling down to some men on the dock. The men went over and grabbed a ramp from right on the shore, waiting for the ship to come to a full stop before the top of the ramp hit against the side of the ship. It didn't take long for a little more than half of the crew to walk down the ramp and charge towards the town that was playing loud music and was full of people. After they charged off, some of the rest of the crew began to go down the ramp, including the kids, followed by Burne. Burne stopped to speak a few words with the men on the dock before catching up with the group.

"Little ones, know your place. Don't start any trouble and don' let no one know two of ya' are girls, got it?" he said to the kids specifically. All of them understood right away. The group walked between two buildings before the path fanned out in an open plaza full of bars and buildings, There were kegs next to almost every building, there were bottles all over the ground, there were some drunk pirates hanging from the balconies, and there were multiple ladies who wore worn out dresses and showed off a little more than the kids could handle. They were all too young to drink, so the most they could do was follow the rest of the crew and try to blend in.

They followed the crew to a bar whose sign was scratched out, but a glass of overflowing beer was the general outline. As they walked in, tables, both flipped and standing, were all over the place, full of people holding glasses of all sizes. There was a bar at the back of the room where two people, the most calm in the whole building, were serving up drinks. The kids also noticed that most of the crew was standing in front of the bar, ordering as many beers as they could handle. Burne followed them in, the bar almost seemed to go quiet for a minute. When he finally reached the bar, he slammed his fist on the counter and shouted for the barman to get him a giant glass of beer. The whole bar seemed to cheer and hold their beers up. Clearly many of these pirates knew Burne as a Captain. They probably knew him for what he had done to Greymouth, to. The kids could only look down at the ground in silence as the whole bar around them cheered at Burne's destruction victory of their home and families.


Got this updated again! Not a whole lot happened, not much in the way of action. But you now get to basically see Tortuga's twin that doesn't actually exist.

Questions for the chapter!

Do you think anyone will recognize Edith and Tawny as girls? Will the crew cause any drama at the bar? What will happen to the kids while their crew is off drinking til they can't drink no more?

All characters belong to me! The idea behind Gold Bay was inspired from Tortuga, not completely my idea.