The bottom floor of the Sea Grail was quiet. Unusually quiet. Despite most of the crew being in beds and hammocks, everything was silent. Many drunk and hung-over crew members laid either on the floor or halfway off the beds, or across each others' stomachs. There were also three beds taken by multiple smaller members of the crew. In one old bed were the two only girls of the crew, Tawny and Edith. They both laid next to each other, back to back, covered in an over-used blanket and both with a bandage or two on their arms and face. In another bed next to them was Ivo, Roulan, and Oliver. Ivo laid in the middle of the bed, a cold cloth with a small bag of ice inside laid on his eye that had been punched during their incident on the island. Directly next to him was Roulan, sitting on the bed and making sure that the ice bag stayed in place, also checking him for further wounds. At the foot of the bed was Oliver, staring over at Tawny and Edith, an openly concerned and slightly protective look on his face. He had been the first to charge forward when Tawny had been thrown backwards, but that also meant he was the one who technically had some of the worst wounds. He had multiple cuts on his arms from where the man he lunged for had nicked him with his knife. He also had many bruises across his stomach and arms, as well as one right on his eyebrow.
As for the last bed, Lewis and Rigger both sat cross-legged on the edge, looking at the younger kids with not much expression. Most would think that Lewis would feel bad for not rushing out to help them immediately, but strangely, he felt nothing. Despite what Rigger had told him before they got back on the ship, he didn't regret going over to see those other teens. No one knew what they had said to him, but he didn't bother to tell either. He and Rigger had already had their own little conversation, even though it was one-sided since Lewis didn't say anything during it all.
"You can't let any of the pirates on that island fool you. It doesn't matter what they look like, they are all rotten and only want treasure and gold for themselves. I can guarantee that whatever those other kids told you, it was a lie. No one there is truthful, " Rigger had told him. Whether or not Lewis listened was debatable, but it was still worth attempting to let him know. If Lewis didn't listen, it would be his own problem and his own mistake when something happened to him.
Rigger, in a way, felt responsible for these kids. He wasn't their father and didn't have any relation to them, as far as he knew, but he still felt guilty. He had told the Captain that he would personally train those kids the rules and the how-tos of the ship. Anything they did was directed right back to him. So the scene that was caused at Gold Bay was not a very pleasant surprise. He wasn't punished for letting the kids do what they did, but he was given a firm smack to the back of the head for letting any of the kids out of his sight. Being one of the few in the crew who hadn't drank, he should have kept a closer eye, but he didn't. Where his attention was came as a mystery, even to himself.
Rigger watched as Edith began to twitch and her eyes closed tighter than they already were. He stood from his spot on the bed and walked over to where the two girls slept, putting his hand on Edith's head and giving her what seemed like a pet. Even though it wasn't much of a caring notion, it seemed to calm her down, no matter how slightly. His eyes then went to Tawny. A small flashback of the events that had played out went through his head.
Edith was grabbed, Ivo was knocked out, Tawny was thrown backwards, and Oliver and Lewis had nearly full-on attacked the men who did it. It was almost as if these kids were siblings, the way that they protected and stood up for each other. Though it was also clear that they didn't understand how pirates worked or the way that they needed to act in situations like the one they got in. Yes, it would be a pirate's instinct to fight back, but these kids weren't pirates, no matter how much Captain wanted them to be. They were just kids. Yeah, they would most likely be taught the ways of a pirate and would develop the same instincts that the rest of the crew had, but not all of them seemed cut out for the job.
Edith and Tawny were both girls. It was rare to see multiple kids working on a pirate ship, but it was even more rare to think that two of them would be girls. There weren't very many girl pirates out there, but the ones that were all ended up being adults. Sometimes it could be seen as a joke if a pirate ship stooped so low as to recruit children into their ranks. It was true that the Sea Grail's attack on Greymouth had given them a bit of attention. But if any other pirates realized that instead of keeping the kids as just prisoners they also added them to the crew, that attention could diminish into shame or pity.
Captain Burne understood getting acknowledged as a ruthless pirate. He knew what being a pirate meant. But sometimes Rigger wondered if Burne had ever thought about the consequences of being a pirate and what came with it before he became one.
Rigger looked over to the three boys who were awake, getting three looks back. "Listen you three. I know that I am like your guardian through this new adventure of your's, but I can't always be the one who saves you and act mature. All three of you need to pay more attention and think before you act. Running forward and attacking pirates that you don't know the strengths or weaknesses of isn't a very good option if you don't want to come out battered and scarred, " he stated, looking directly at Oliver during the last sentence. Oliver merely looked away, glaring his eyes and not bothering to hide his irritation. Roulan and Lewis didn't really seem to care, but they both listened. "You three have three other younger kids to look after. All of us know how much of a cluts Ivo is. And you have the girls. These kids depend on you three, especially you Lewis. You need to protect them without getting them and yourselves into more trouble."
All three boys looked at one another, not saying a word. The three of them knew that they were the more mature of the six. Lewis, being the oldest, was the one expected to take control, but so far it didn't seem like his focus. It was actually Oliver who seemed more keen to take the role as guardian, even though he was younger than both Lewis and Roulan.
Footsteps were heard from the staircase that led to the middle deck, a pair of heavy boots hitting each piece of wood with a creak. The sound caused both Edith and Tawny to stir slightly, peeking from where they laid. Captain came around the corner from the steps, looking directly at Oliver and Lewis. He motioned with his hand for the two to follow before going back up the steps. The two boys stood and followed the Captain in silence.
Captain Burne now sat in his chair in the Captain's quarters, the exact chair he sat in when he interviewed and personally met the kids the first day. Across from him sat Lewis and Oliver, both staring that their Captain in both confusion and calm. They knew that being scared wasn't going to get them anywhere. If Burne wanted, he would reach across and slash both of them, just as he had done to Snap. But they needed to try to think better of their Captain.
"I thought I told ya kids not to start any trouble at Gold Bay. That means I expected y'all to be peaceful and not leave that bar, but you chose not to follow my orders." Both of the boys listened, but chose not to speak. Anything they said could easily earn them more of a lecture than they were going to get. "Good job in protectin' the girls." Both boys' eyes widened. They were being praised? For what? Attacking three men on an island full of nasty pirates? Was this considered worth praising to people like them? "But I want both of you mopping the deck. No talkin' to the other kids neither, " he stated, flicking his hand for the two of them to go away.
Both Lewis and Oliver stood and walked out onto the main deck, looking at each other. "Lewis, I have a question. When we were in that bar, what were you and those other kids talking about?"
Lewis looked down for a moment. He didn't want to say it. He didn't know whether to believe it or not. If he told Oliver, there was a chance that all of them would know. He looked back over at Oliver and sighed.
"They were telling me about a chest that is buried somewhere on Gold Bay. They said that if we find that treasure, they will get us kids off this ship. We wouldn't have to try acting like pirates anymore."
Finally got another chapter out. I am gonna start prewriting chapters from now on, since this story has a bit more going on at once than my other story.
So, what do you guys think?
Is Lewis gonna become the "leader" of the kids or Oliver, or one of the others? Were those other teens telling the truth? Do you think Lewis and Oliver will believe them and go looking for treasure?
