A/N: don't have much to say but thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, and favorited. For Tom, think Danny Glover.

Disclaimer=happy lawyers, sad author

Chapter 3: On Board

Kyoko followed her new captain, wondering what exactly was wrong with her. Over the past two years, she'd easily maintained the deception of being a boy, but now? Within only a few minutes, she'd almost given herself away. Twice. 'I really need to be on my guard around this man,' she thought as she peered up through her bangs at his retreating figure.

There was something about the darkly handsome captain that made Kyoko forget herself and relax her guarded nature. A feeling of safety and familiarity, which was strange considering not only his reputation but also the fact that she had never laid eyes on him before tonight.

Finally noticing that the captain was lengthening the distance between them as she stood there woolgathering, Kyoko let out a small squeak more appropriate for a mouse than a human and jogged to catch up with the long legged man. Upon reaching his side, she studied Captain Tsuruga's profile.

He was tall, at least a head and a half taller than herself, with broad shoulders and a confident air. He wore simple garb; plain black linen trousers tucked into dark, folded over boots, his waist coat and jacket made of soft brown fustian over a white cotton shirt. He wore no hat, just a simple tie pulling his unruly dark hair back into a small tail. The weapon at his hip was a curved saber and appeared well used.

Kyoko was so absorbed in watching her captain, she almost missed the sentry stationed at the entrance to the dock. "Ahoy there, Captain," came the low growl, startling the poor girl.

"Ahoy yourself, Tom," the captain responded cheerfully. "How goes the night?"

"All's well so far," answered the weathered old pirate who appeared from the shadows. "All of the supplies have been loaded and almost all the men are back from their dalliances."

Captain Tsuruga huffed a laugh at Tom's smiling face. "Well, that's good. I hope they all had a good time. Who are we waiting on?"

"Just you, captain." The older pirate grinned wider, before turning towards Kyoko, having finally spotted her behind the captain. "And who be ye, lad?" He questioned, not unkindly.

Kyoko gasped as the captain turned to face her and placed a hand on her shoulder, pulling her forward. The feeling of him touching her shot straight through her, causing a slight trembling to start in her hands. "This is our new cook, Kyo Mogami," introduced the captain.

"Evening, sir," she managed to greet the grizzled pirate politely, in spite of what the heat of the captain's hand was doing to her nerves. She was surprised, though, when Tom burst out laughing.

"Sir?" He guffawed. "You'll find no 'sir's on a pirate ship, 'cepting the captain here. Best ye call me Tobacco Tom." He grinned at her, revealing at least three missing teeth.

"Tobacco Tom?" She asked, scrunching up her nose in confusion.

"Aye," Tom agreed. "On account of I used to work on a tobacco plantation afore I turned pirate."

"You make it sound like you were there of your own free will, Tom." Captain Tsuruga turned to Kyoko with his arms crossed over his chest. "He was a slave and don't let him tell you any different."

Kyoko was astonished. She had heard of the slave trade before, but so far had been lucky to avoid it. "But why were you a slave? And how did you get free?"

"Well," Tom mused. "I s'pose I was a slave on account of my skin." He held up a dark brown arm. "As for gettin' free, I can thank the captain here."

She glanced at Captain Tsuruga and saw him brushing away the praise from the air. "It was nothing. Nothing no decent human being would've ignored."

The old pirate spat to one side. "That's a lie and ye know it. I saw plenty of 'decent' folk walk right past all my life. You's the only one who ever stopped and looked me in the face." Tom faced Kyoko, obviously getting into his storytelling mode. "The captain staged a rescue for all the slaves on that plantation. And to top it off, he burned the wretched place to the ground. After, he helped all of us find new situations, those that wanted them. As for meself, I stayed aboard wit' the captain." Here Tom nodded sagely. "And that, my lad, is the story of how I changed careers."

Blinking in disbelief, Kyoko wondered how a man could have lived such a life and still maintain a sense of humor. It was truly a wonder of the human condition. Not just Tom's attitude, but the captain's as well. The stories she had heard had not done Captain Tsuruga justice. Here was an oxymoron of the highest degree: an honorable and honest pirate.

"Alright, my friend," the captain interjected. "That's enough of that. Time to get our new cook on board."

"Aye, sir, that it is," replied Tom as he reached down to untie the longboat. "Let's be off."

Captain Tsuruga lowered himself into the boat with the grace of long practice. "Here, Mr. Mogami, pass me your effects." Kyoko tossed her sack into his waiting arms, while opting to keep her weapons belt. When she made to climb down to the boat, she immediately regretted her decision. Climbing a rickety ladder into a bobbing vessel was made that much more difficult with the additioin of two pieces of steel trying to trip up her legs.

Kyoko barely avoided falling into the ocean. She was only saved by the captain's quick reflexes. He grabbed her by her waist just as she tripped on the final rung. Once again, his touch caused a jolt to course through her body. Tom chortled above their heads at her clumsiness, "Easy, lad. There'll be time a plenty to play in the water later."

Glaring at the pirate as he swarmed down the ladder to join them, Kyoko settled herself in the aft of the longboat. The two men each manned an oar and began to make their way to the ship. As they cut through the waters, the disguised girl felt a lifting of her heart in hope and she smiled into the night.

O.o.O

Ren kept one eye one the boy at the stern of the longboat. He didn't want his newest crew member to take a tumble into Davey Jones' locker the very first night. It would set a bad precedent for the voyage ahead.

'God, I hate rowing,' he thought as one of his shoulders seized up during a particularly hard pull. Normally, he wouldn't be one of the rowers, but since Mogami looked as if he could hardly lift a sack of potatoes, much less pull an oar, Ren had opted to take over the duty.

The boy was a bit of a mystery. He didn't seem like pirate material, but his desperation to join Ren's crew had been palpable. He wondered what kind of life the boy had led to bring him to this juncture. Well, no better way to find out than to ask. "Have you ever been on a ship before, Mr. Mogami?"

The lad turned to face the captain, his black hair drifting across his eyes. "Aye, captain," he answered, swiping his bangs to the side. "I served on one of the Royal Navy's frigates for about two years."

Ren frowned at the answer. "I thought you said you couldn't sail."

"I can't."

The captain stared at the boy. Mogami seemed to realize that his response had been lacking and ducked his head in embarrassment. "What I mean, captain, is I was a galley servant. I spent most of my time cooking and cleaning." He raised his head and met Ren's gaze. "I know the basics of sailing, but..."

Here the boy paused, unsure how to continue. Tom piped in with his own unique brand of commentary. "But you couldn't sail yer way out of a guney sack with a map and a compass, eh lad?"

Mogami quirked one side of his mouth in a self deprecating smile. "Right in one, Mr. Tom."

Tom cackled. The old pirate had really seemed to have taken a shine to the lad. Ren was glad. One more set of eyes to keep him out of trouble.

It didn't take long to reach the Dark Moon. The ship was anchored in the harbor, just past the busiest part of the port. Ren had chosen this spot in order to avoid any possible collisions with other ships. He took great pride in maintaining the pristine condition of the one thing that was truly his. Not his father's, not Lory's. His.

The Dark Moon was a Chinese junk, all dark wood and brass trim. She was large for her class with four masts, the fan-like sails a deep crimson. Fancy scrollwork depicting phoenixes and dragons lined the hull and every doorway. Ren was always astounded by how beautiful she was. Everytime he saw her graceful curves and distinctive sails, he felt like he was home. His crew liked to tease him that he didn't need a woman as long as he had his ship. In a way it was true.

He had won her last year in a sea battle with some Chinese pirates. He had been sailing with Lory and one night, they had been attacked. Ren still wondered at the audacity of those pirates, thinking they could take on the Pirate King and win. After a furious battle, Lory's crew had emerged victorious. The Pirate King had gifted him the Chinese ship, saying that since Ren had been the one to best the opposing captain, it was his rightful 'spoils of war'. Rechristening her as Dark Moon in honor of that night, Captain Ren Tsuruga came alive.

His reputation grew by leaps and bounds over the following year. Even though he did his best to avoid killing, somehow he became known as a coldblooded gentleman pirate whose smile could freeze an enemy cold. Ren smirked to himself. His pirate captain persona that he showed his enemies was vastly different from what he showed his crew. Every man of his crew was somehow indebted to him either by life like Yashiro or by freedom like Tobacco Tom.

Not that Ren insisted on their repaying of that debt. All of his men were free to leave whenever they chose. They just hadn't chosen to as of yet.

"Captain? You planning on staying in the longboat all night?" Tom's toothless grin beamed down at him from the deck of the ship. Ren sent his crewman a glare before grabbing onto the ladder and clambering up on deck.

When he had righted himself, he punched Tom in the shoulder and told him to get back to work. The old pirate just chuckled and began the chore of hoisting up and storing the longboat. Ren sighed and turned his attention to Mogami.

The boy was glancing around, wide eyed, at all of the activity on board. A ship was hardly ever quiet, whether someone was shouting orders, whistling a tune, or playing a dice game. Tonight was no different.

Several of his crew were playing a game of chance on the deck, betting their recent loot. Some others were working up in the rigging, replacing ropes and patching the sails. However, there was one crew member he had yet to see.

"Mr. Hikaru!" Ren called over to his boatswain.

"Aye, captain?" The brown haired young man crossed to the captain. He and his two brothers had joined up after Ren had rescued them from being press ganged into one of the more ruthless pirate crews.

"Have you seen Mr. Yashiro?"

"I believe he's in your cabin, sir."

"Ah," Ren replied. He turned to Mogami. The boy was standing shyly by the railing, head ducked and shoulders rounded. "This is Kyo Mogami. He'll be our new cook." He grasped the lad's shoulder and pulled him forward, ignoring the soft gasp Mogami uttered. Ren pushed him towards Hikaru. "Could you please show him to the galley and sleeping quarters?"

Hikaru beamed at the his new charge. "Aye, sir. Kotonami will be glad to hear of it."

Ren grimaced. "Is that who's in the galley today?" Even for one such as he, who had a high tolerance for bad cooking, Kotonami's was horrific. The boatswain nodded. "Oh, god. Get the lad down there quickly. Please."

The captain faced the boy as Hikaru laughed. "Go with Mr. Hikaru. He'll get you situated. I look forward to seeing what you can do." Thinking on who was currently in the galley, he shuddered. 'Can't be any worse than Kotonami, and possibly quite a bit better.'

Mogami was a few feet away before he turned sharply and bowed. "Thank you for this opportunity, captain. I won't disappoint you."

"I know you won't," Ren said, already heading to his quarters, therefore missing the look of surprised wonder on the boy's face.

Upon entering his cabin, Ren found Yashiro pouring over some charts covering his desk. "And just what do you think you're doing?" He demanded in mock anger.

Yashiro didn't even blink. He merely raised his head to look at his captain and pushed his spectacles up on his nose. "I'm trying to figure our next course. Are we raiding towns or merchant vessels this time?"

"Neither," Ren said as he slipped Lory's scroll out of his waistcoat. He slapped the parchment down in front of his first mate. "The King has given us a quest."

Yashiro picked up the scroll and unrolled it partially "A quest? For what?" He asked, bemusedly studying the parchment.

"The Heart of Gold," Ren threw out as he crossed his cabin, removing his coat and sword belt. It was late and they had an early start in the morning. He was toeing off his boots when he realized that Yashiro hadn't responded yet. Turning towards his first mate, he saw that the man was gaping at him, eyes and mouth wide open, the scroll dangling from his fingertips.

Concerned, he asked, "Yukihito? What's wrong?"

The older man shook his head to clear it. "I'm sorry, captain. I could have sworn you said we were going after the Heart of Gold."

Ren crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "I did. Why the surprise?"

Removing his glasses, Yashiro rubbed at his eyes tiredly. He replaced the spectacles before staring intently at his captain. "You've heard the legend, right?"

"Just what Lory told me tonight," Ren replied, crossing to his desk and sitting in the chair opposite his friend. "Some silly superstitions about gods and curses." He started when Yashiro grabbed his wrist.

"No, captain. They aren't just superstitions. I've seen it myself."

He stared at his first mate. He understood Lory, who thrived on melodrama, exagerrating the stories about this treasure. But here was Yashiro, a highly intelligent and logical man, someone Ren respected for his levelheadedness, telling him to believe in fairy tales. It was absurd.

And yet, he had to pause and reflect. If a man such as Yashiro, who believed in numbers and organization and having everything just so, could find something to fear in such an odd legend, who was he to disprove it? He opted for the middle ground.

There was no way he couldn't not go, but he could take every precaution available to him. "Alright, Mr. Yashiro," he temporized. "We'll do this the smart way. What have you seen?"

Yashiro released his captain and slumped back in his chair. "It was about a year before we met. I was clerking on a sugar and rum venture when our ship came across a wreck. A privateer crew out of Jamaica. It was...horrible." The first mate paused, a haunted look coming into his eyes. Ren stood and fetched his friend a measure of rum. Yashiro, who hardly ever indulged, slammed the alcohol back. He coughed as the drink burned down his throat. With a nod of thanks to his captain, he continued.

"We found one survivor, a young man. Must've been the cabin boy. He told us how his captain had become obsessed with finding the mythical Heart of Gold. How they had somehow managed to find its island. And how the horrible storm had smashed into their ship without warning. As if the gods themselves were angry at their presumptions."

Considering the circumstances, this seemed like a typical shipwreck to Ren. But his first mate was still shaking. "What made you think this was the curse rather than a normal storm?" He inquired.

"The fact that that the Sign of Calypso had been charred onto the boy's chest."

Ren blinked. "The Sign of Calypso?" He hadn't heard of such a thing before.

"Yes," Yashiro confirmed, dragging a spare bit of parchment towards himself. He dipped a pen into an inkwell and hastily sketched a small stylized crab. He passed the drawing to Ren.

The captain studied the image, thinking. He had seen this before, in fact just tonight. It had been emblazoned on Lory's scroll, right above a rendition of the treasure. Ren dropped the drawing and snatched up the scroll. Unfurling it fully, he found what he was looking for.

He spread the scroll out on the desk in front of Yashiro. "This?" He clarified, directing his friend's attention to the bottom of the scroll.

There was the stylized crab, crowning a beautifull inked etching of the Heart of Gold. It showed the treasure as an enormous ruby, slightly misshapened and surrounded by golden rays. The jewel appeared as if it would be about the size of Ren's palm. Surely, such a large gem would be able to fulfill any man's dreams with no magic involved.

"Yes, that's it." Yashiro trembled, surprising Ren. He hadn't ever seen his friend so visually frightened since their first meeting. "Captain, we're not going after this, are we?"

"Well," Ren huffed. "It's going to take awhile to decipher the rest of the scroll." He pointed to the long paragraph that covered the upper portion of the parchment. "I don't know about you, but my Latin's a bit rusty."

Yashiro shook his head. "Sorry, captain. I studied French and Spanish, not Latin."

Ren shrugged. "Until I can translate this," he tapped the scroll, "we'll just have to keep to business as usual. We'll decide on our course at that point."

His first mate heaved a sigh. "Alright. Just promise me you'll keep an open mind about the legend."

He nodded. "I will."

Realizing this was the best compromise he would receive from the headstrong captain, Yashiro nodded back. "Then I'll bid you good night, captain.

"Good night, Mr. Yashiro." And with that the first mate left Ren to his thoughts.