Once on board the Revenge, moored to the harbor, the four Musketeers quickly took stock of their surroundings. What became immediately obvious was the stock of cannons and cannonballs of every type- bar and chain, bundle, grape and cannister… while the Musketeers were unfamiliar with the vernacular, they were impressed by the vast array of weaponry they were seeing. They also had to assume that below deck, various pistols, grenades, muskets, and daggers were present, as reports of these pirates terrorizing citizens on land sometimes mentioned such weaponry being used, sometimes to merely threaten, but also sometimes actually used to maim or kill.
"Captain!" One of the pirates called over.
They were being introduced to the famous Jacob Collaart.
"Who have we here?" Collaart asked. He was fully decked out with the thickest leather belt that any of the other pirates were wearing, calico shirt and jacket, jewelry that adorned both his fingers and around his neck, baldrick to hold his pistols, and hat.
"These four- they said they wanted to join us," Jussac, one of the Captain's closest right-hand men, said.
"Is that so? And why is that?"
"They said-"
Aramis interrupted. "We can speak for ourselves.
"You seem a little short of men. We wish to demonstrate that we are worthy of joining your crew. We are of fine stock and are, we promise, guaranteed to raise the level of expertise and, from the looks of things, intelligence amongst your ranks."
Some of the pirates advanced towards Aramis at that. But Collaart waved them back.
Research on Treville's part uncovered the fact that Jacob Collaart was a former Admiral in the army, well decorated and highly educated and intelligent. What turned him into the sadistic, ruthless pirate Captain he was today was beyond Treville or anyone's knowledge, but Treville had impressed upon his men that using smarts and intelligence (along with their fighting prowess) might go a long way towards differentiating them from the rest of Collaart's men.
Athos used the pause caused by Aramis' words to continue. "We will defer to any test of our alacrity with our muskets and swords as you deem suitable."
Good, big words, Athos, Porthos grinned to himself.
And so it was that the four Musketeers were each selected by Collaart to match up with one of his men at a time.
He could never have guessed that selecting Athos to demonstrate his skills with a sword was perfectly advantageous. 'First blood' as the gauge for victory barely lasted thirty seconds, with Athos the winner, of course.
"This one shot an apple to pieces after that one shot it in the air," Petr, another pirate, mentioned to Collaart helpfully.
As a result, Petr drew several harsh glances from the other pirates. No one wished to tip Collaart's hand to Aramis' skill, especially in light of his remark about their intelligence.
"Really. Alright, then, our bowsprit has been useless of late-" Collaart pointed to the slanted spar, or pole, at the bow, or front of the ship- "hit that from here and we will talk."
Aramis quickly confirmed which pole that Collaart referred to. Then he said, "Too easy."
As Aramis walked towards the stern of the ship, further and further away from the mark, Athos walked closely beside him. Out of earshot from the rest he whispered, "Is this really a time to show off, or should we simply do as asked and shoot the damned thing?"
"Athos. Please. It is to insult me to shoot something so closely. Do you wish for me to impress, or wow them with an awe-inspiring display?"
"To impress. Simply to impress," Athos replied.
"HOW ABOUT FROM HERE?" Aramis shouted to Collaart, ignoring his brother.
Collaart raised his arm in approval.
Aramis took the shot. The bowsprit cracked in half, the sound of the impact startling one of the unaware pirates that was close-by, making him jump. Despite themselves, all of the pirates laughed.
As Aramis and Athos rejoined the group, Collaart said, "Impressive."
Quickly trying to tip things more in their favor, Athos quickly said, pointing to Porthos, "And John here can wrestle anyone here and best them without even breaking a sweat."
"I suppose some expertise when it comes to hand-to-hand combat could be useful, even in light of the fact that most of these men in town are cowards," Collaart quipped.
The embarrassment of the pirates continued, as Porthos/John dispatched one of the pirates senseless in less time than it took Athos to best his opponent with his sword.
Collaart turned to Athos, who he began to see as their informal leader. He pointed to D'Artagnan and asked, "And what is this one good for? To simply look pretty and service the three of you on his knees?"
D'Artagnan blanched at that, but held his ground.
"True, he is young, and not yet up to our talents, but he is enthusiastic and possesses the flair for both sword and musket that few his age has," Athos said.
Collaart waved at Athos. "I have seen enough. Jussac, give these three back their weapons and show them to their quarters. They are with us now."
"And this one?" Jussac pointed to D'Artagnan.
"Make him a dogsbody- he can clean and serve. No weapons."
As Collaart made his way to his Captain's quarters at the stern of the ship, Jussac led Porthos, Aramis, D'Artagnan, and Athos to the stern, and the crew's quarters.
D'Artagnan whispered to Athos. "I didn't get a chance to prove myself!"
Athos just shot him his oh, shut up glare.