The Voyage

== The Voyage Begins ==
It was a wonderful day for sailing. The winds blew fairly, the sun was shining, the water was calm, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. So Captain James Villiers was ready for a little looting of ships with his pirate crew. They were all excellent sailors after all. Surely they would come back with plenty of gold. Especially on a day like this.
"Raise anchor and tie down anything loose!" commanded Captain James. While his men did the work, James decided to have a look around town. He visited the local gunsmith and brought some extra gunpowder just in case. He gave the barrel of powder to one of his men but when he turned around, he saw a face he didn't want to see.
"Hello James," sneered Roger Beck, an old enemy.
"Listen Roger, I payed that debt already so leave me alone!" James yelled back.
"You were probably so grog-filled that you thought you payed me. I only got half the gold!"
"I don't have time for bilge rats like you!" said James pushing Roger out of his way. James eventually escaped Roger and continued looking around. He stumbled across a tavern called "Rusty Anchor."
James went to go play poker and won big. He had two aces drawn to him. Roger called. His opponent called. Roger then raised by 5. His opponent just matched it. The dealer flipped out three more cards: another ace and two kings.
"Full house!" thought Roger in his head. After more betting and two more card being drawn, James ended up winning the hand. More people started to play against him and James won every time. Not by cheating, but by luck. Not everyone thought it was luck though.
James beat a man named Charles. Charles had three pairs of threes and James had four pairs of fives. Charles got furious and punched James in the face. James punched him in the chest, then kneeded him in the nuts. James then tackled him down. One of Charles' friends pulled James off Charles and tried to shoot him. James wrestled for his gun, then used it to kill Charles' friend. Then he killed Charles. James then ran off with all of his winnings.
He was at the docks when he heard Roger's voice. "I hear you're a good gambler! Lets see you gamble with your life, unless you give me your winnings."
"Never!" replied James.
"Then die!" Roger's men came and began to attack. James fired his pistol at them but only managed to kill three of them before they got into attack range. James ran for it and got on his ship just in time. One of Roger's men got on the ship but was easily overpowered by the crew. The dockboard was pulled up and they took off.
"You'll remember this as the day you almost captured Captain James!" James yelled at Roger. He went into his personel quaters and counted up his winnings. In all he had 500 gold pieces. Suddently there was a knock on the door. It was James' first mate Tomas.
"Where do we start our plundering sir?" asked Tomas.
"We'll start at the Blackheart Straight Sea" replied James. "I'll come meet you shortly."
Tomas gave the driver the sea name. In the meantime, the crew loaded the cannons and prepared for battle. It would be a 30 minuite sail to get to the Blackheart Straight without anyone trying to cause them trouble. But it still seemed like a while when you knew treasure was close by. But they got to the Blackheart Straight and saw some British Navy ships patroling the seas.
James went out of his quaters to go help fight. They ran into a regular class Galleon ship owned by the Navy. They were a good range away from it so they wouldn't have to fire that high. The broasides were lined up and the battle began.
"Fire broadsides!" ordered James. Boom went the broadsides as they shot out cannon balls. Each broadside hit the enemy ship ripping right through the wood. Some of there broadside cannons were wiped out. After a few minutes of exchanging fire, James ordered grappling hooks to be fired so they could tow the ship in then board it. The grappling hooks were all fired and hit the ship.
Once it was close enough, everyone grabbed a rope and swung onto the ship. Navy men scrambled around and tried to defend the ship but, the pirates outnumbered them. Everyone was hacking and slashing at each other and the pirates won the battle with only one injured. They collected some of the treasure and threw it onto their ship. It was a good looting of the ship.
More Navy vessels were sunk with the help of Captain James who was enjoying his loot. It was all divided among the crew and they sailed off ready to return to home port. James decided to rest in his quaters, and he went to sleep with a grin on his face.
== Lost ==
While James was asleep, he had a dream. He saw his ship sailing past Navy ships. No fire was even exchanged but the Navy ships were grabbed by the water and the ships sadly sunk into the depths of the water. Suddently, the sea spit gold out and it all landed on James' ship. The crew all cheered from their victories but James didn't move. He wanted to cheer but he knew something was wrong.
Storm clouds gathered around and it started raining with high winds. Then all the Navy ships came from the ocean and started firing. All the ships cannons disappeared so now, James had no firepower. James' first mate Tomas came from behind him and whispered "It's not the end. We're still alive."
That's when James woke up, breathing heavily. He felt his hot, sweaty forehead as he leaned foward out of his bed.
"It's not the end." thought James. "We're still alive."
He decided to go out onto the main deck to check the weather. It was a fair wind with calm waters which was the same conditions he left in. Then James remembered that the home port was where Roger was. He almost forgotten that from all the plundering and his dream.
"Dan!" yelled James.
"Yes captain?" replied Dan, the driver.
"Alter our course a few clicks to the west. We're heading to Emerald Isle."
"Why not home Port?"
"Because Roger is their"
"Roger? I thought the debt was paid."
"It was but Roger keeps coming back for more."
"OK. Emerald Isle it is!"
The ship turned to the west and began pushing foward. James was still worried though. The longer they were at sea, the bigger the chance of attack. James went up to the bow and looked out into the horizon. The sun was nice and still. James calmed down and realized that it was just a dream.
As the ship sailed for a while, a Navy ship came and ambushed them. James ordered their ship to open fire and the battle began. Of course, James and his crew won. But then a lot more ships came and readied their cannons. James had only two options: Fight and die or run and almost die. Of course he had to chose to run.
The ship fled quickly but took some damage. Looks like the wind was in their favor that day. But once they got away, the wind started pushing too hard. The clouds filled the sky and it started raining. The wind was pushing the ship off course.
"I knew this would happen!" yelled James unaware that everyone else didn't know about his dream.
"What are you talking about?" asked a confu
sed tomas.
"While I was asleep, I dreamed of Navy ships ambushing us and storm clouds. You said in my dream that it wasn't the end and that we're alive."
"Well we are alive and I suggest we stay that way."
"OK. Tie down anything loose! Do anything you can to get us back on course! If we need more speed, then throw off anything that's useless!"
The storm got worser and worser. It rained harder, the wind blew more, lightning went out from the sky, and a...
"Maelstrom!" yelled Dan.
The crew scatered around to find things to throw overboard. Several crates were thrown overboard but it wasn't enough yet. James took some bags of his loot ready to throw them overboard.
"Goodbye fotune." he said grimly as he threw his gold overboard. As he turned around a crate was being thrown off to lighten the boat. It accidentally hit James and it all went black.
"James are ye alright?" asked Tomas.
"Yeah. How long was I out?" replied James.
"For the rest of the storm and into today."
"Status report."
"The good news is that no ships are persuing us and that we escaped the storm. Most of us are still alive except for a few of us. The bad news is that we're lost."
== Undead Island ==
"Lost?" asked a confused James.
"Yes we're lost. The storm blew us way off course and in order to survive we had to travel a new direction while you were out. Once we knew we were at calmer waters, we decided to check the maps for our location and realized that we were lost." replied Tomas.
"OK now I want to know what was thrown off."
"Well we threw off some crates that were empty. You threw off some of your fortune and then got knocked out. I decided to throw off some rum and then that seemed to free us."
"YOU THREW OFF THE RUM!!!!!"
"Yes but if we didn't we would have to throw off some bodies. You could have been one of them!"
"Well I suppose you're right. Now that I'm awake, I should check the charts for the nearest port." James walked over to the charts and found their location. There was no chance of getting to Emerald Isle all right. But at least no Navy or any of Roger Becks men could find them. But then, James noticed a spot on the map.
The spot was a foggy island but it showed no name. It was the closest island they could get to plus, they could restock on rum. But due the the picture, and the fact that it was unamed, they should be very careful.
"Dan! Move the ship southward. I found an island we can port at." commanded James. With no question, Dan turned the ship south and they started heading to new land. But James should have known better than to pick this island.
As they got closer, they started seeing ghost ships. James took out his sextant and saw undead skeletons on the ships. The sky got darker and the seas got a little bumpy. When they were in seeing range of the island, it had fog. James soon realized this was the notorious Undead Island!
He still wanted the rum so he continued to the dock. When he went off the ship he took Tomas, Jack (a crew member), and William (a crew member/ excellent sword duelist).
"This place dosen't look right to me." said Tomas a little frightfully.
"But we still need to get the rum!" replied an eager James. As they continued, some of the citizens gave them dirty looks, considering that James and his men were the only people with flesh.
"This is Undead Island!" whispered William to James. "We should turn before we run into someone we don't want to meet."
"We'll leave after we get the rum. Besides, we're all up for a good fight!" replied James.
"Well that is true" agreed Jack. The crew continued until they reached a tavern called "Drunkin' Dogs hell house." When James went inside, he was nearly hit by a dagger that missed him by 13 inches. The rest of his crew walked in and began shooting the drunken skeletons.
BAM! went their pistols. Slash! went their swords. During all the confusion, James grabbed a barrel of Rum and used it to knock over skeletons. The other three grabbed a barrel and ran out of there luckly to be living.
"That was close James!" commented Tomas. "But it was worth it." The four of them rolled barrles to the ship when suddenly, they saw a group of mercenaries in front of them, daggers at their side.
"You're first mistake was ever coming here, and now you choose to steal from us? Prepare to die!" The mercenaries advances on them and started slashing their daggers. William did a foward roll toward one of them and then stuck out his sword stabbing him. Jack took out a pistol and shot one of them. Tomas took out his own dagger and began slashing. After several slahes, the mercenaries guard was broken and Tomas killed him. James threw his dagger at one of them and stabbed it's head. Eventually, all the mercenaries were killed and the crew members got the rum to the ship.
"We got the rum and we still have our skin. But we be never returning to this hell of a land again!" said James.
"Destination Captain?" asked Dan. James thought a little and then found his answer.
"Gentlemen, we be heading to Isla Lusso!" replied James.
"Aye aye cap'n!" said Dan.
== Attack of The Undead ==
James' crew made their way to Isla Lusso on their ship. The wind was on their side and at this rate, they would be going to the island of luxery soon enough. James decided to take a look at the map. His eyes widened as big as gold dabloons after what he saw.
"Mer--mermaids!" he whispered to himself. Luckily no one heard what he whispered or saw his facial expession. They would be heading into mermaid waters in about 1 hour. Mermaids are very pretty and sing beautifully yes, but they're very vicious. Once you're caught under their spell, they take you and pull you under. They can easily take apart a longboat or dinghy and they are capable of taking apart bigger ships too. once you try to run from just one of them, then you have a whole heard of them chasing you.
James tried to think of the good things. He could find Greek fire ammo for his ship. Greek fire is very hot and can easily burn anything. If you get enough, you can blow something up easily. Plus, mermaids are only attracted by light, singing, or being disturbed from resting or other things.
"Men!" started James "We are heading into Mermaid waters!"
The crew started the gasp and whisper rumors to each other about the mermaids.
"Everybody calm down! We are all great pirates and can take some Mermaids. We also can prevent them from coming out. Douse all light, don't sing any trinkets or sea shanties, and be very quiet. Plus we can steal some Greek fire! Understood?"
"Yes cap'n!" replied to crew. James was confident he would win but just then, a ship came behind him. He took out his sextant and looked at it. The sails were somehwhat torn, it rotted a bit, and he couldn't fully tell but the crew looked very hungry since he could see their bones a little.
"Men lets go hail that ship!" commanded captain James. He gave them the hailing signal and it suddently started sailing toward them. James ordered some men to the cannons as a precaution. The ship went closly to their ship snd then started boarding them. It wasn't a crippled ship, it was a ghost ship full of skeletons!
It looked crippled due to the rotting and the torn sails, but it was in good condtion for a ghost ship. James and some others took out their pistols and shot some of the boarders before they landed on the ship. Gunners fired at the ghost ship but it soon went out of range.
James came face ot face with a skeleton and was ready to kill him. He drew his sword and began slashing at the skeleton. But this skeleton was a good fencer and James couldn't find any open spots to aim for so he kept parrying the blows as best as he could. James was eventually backedup to the edge and was at the skeletons mercy. Luckily James was able to strike it's sword arm and then with a quick turn of his wrist, he knocked the skeletons sword out of his hand and then stabbed it's heart.
As James advanced across the ship he confronted two big skeletons. He took out his pistol and aimed it at one of them. But at that instant he saw in the corner of his eye Tomas fighting a desperate duel. If James didn't shoot Tomas's attacker, then he may loose his first mate. On the other hand if James wasted his bullet he could get killed easier and this ship would have no captain. James decided to kill one of his attackers who fell to the ground like a mighty oak tree. The other one was easy to finish off. When James turned around he saw that Tomas also won his duel.
The skeletons were all cut down and defeated. James was smart enough to know that the ship would be back so he ordered men to the guns and took the wheel.
"James" said Tomas. "Didn't you reconize the ship?"
"Well it looked like the other ghost ships to me." replied James.
"Not just any ghost ship. It was the Cursed Blood Alive. The ship with torn black sails and the crew of the damned captained by William Blades! I suggest we order all the men to put out oars so we can get away faster."
"No. If we run then he'll eventually find us. He can smell the blood of his bretheren. We already killed them here and the bodies are on the ship. If we throw them overboard, then we need to clean up all the blood too. By then, we would have already been found."
"You're right! If we launch explosives ammo at them, then we can easily sink or slow them down."
"Good suggestion. The men are on the guns already so I'll order the rest to get their pistols ready to fire at the crew on the ship."
James ordered the men to aim their pistols at where the ship would be. James felt death whispering in his ear. Join us. Be free from this world forever. Come into the heavens. Join us.
James shook it off and took out his sextant to look onto the hoizon. He saw the Cursed Blood Alive in the distance.
"Ready on the guns! She's upon us!" yelled James as he sailed his ship in position. The two ships met and immeadiately opened fire. James' exlosive ammo worked and they took out one of Captain Blades' mastswhich wold slow it down. Due to that, James turned his ship and the broadside raked the enemies stern causing more damage.
James ordered his men to save the rest of the explosive ammo and switch to regular cannon balls. The explosive ammo caused major damage and put some fire on the ship but the ship was cursed so it would take more than that to sink it. With some well-aime cannon fire, another mast was taken off. But the battle enetually came down to boarding action.
The pistol men that James set up managed to kll some of the skeleton cannon gunners and the boarders were taken out as well. Some of the boarders used planks instead of swinging over on a rope. But James kicked the planks off the ship stopping more skeletons.
James then boarded the ship intending to kill the captain. He met an undead skeleton and dueled him. the skeleton slashed at James' had but he parried it and kneed the skeletons rib. With it's guard down, James stiked it's head and sliced it in half.
James met the infamous Wlliam Blades; the ships captain.
"So it's you James. I'm still cursed as a boney skeleton. Why is that?" asked William.
"It's not my fault. You lost the card game against Beck and bet your soul. You lost." replied James.
"He cheated! His death would turn me to normal. So tell me why you didn't kill him!"
"I neverhave seen him for a longg time." bluffed James.
"I see it in your eyes that you're a lying bilge rat Villiers!"
"But if I kill you I can set you free."
"My freedom has already been taken from me after that card game." said William. He then let out a ferosious scream and charged toward James. James quickly blocked the blow delivered by Blades and sent out blows himself. William was a very good duelist. He lauched blows that were quick, but powerful at the same time. James was good at blocking but William was giving him plenty of trouble.
Evntually they went into a sword lock. They each pressed against each other but they were at equal strenth. James slid his sword down toward Williams hand so William took action and turned his sword so that his hand wouldn't be cut off. But they went into another lock but this time James used all his might and broke off Williams defense. With that, he cut Wiliiams sword arm and then hit the sword out of his hand.
James went to go deliver the final blow but William grabbed James' sword and pulled it out of James' hand. Then William grabbed his hand and James' hand and arm started to decay revealing his bones. With that he threw James to the ground and picked up and fallen skeletons sword.
"If you're lucky, you can join my crew when you're dead!" said William about to plunge a blade into James' heart.
"NOOO!!!!" yelled a nearby pirate who jumped in front of James at the last moment. The man felt a cold blade stab into his heart. William took the sword out of the man and threw him on the side like a ragdoll. William turned and looked at the man cringing in pain. He would be dead within minutes.
"You stupid pitiful fool!" yelled William. "You will now die for you actions and so will your captain!" Just then, William felt aggrieving pain as he saw a blade go through his chest. James was behind him and stabbed him with a sword that he picked up from a fallen pirate.
"If you're lucky, you can get into the heavens when you're dead!" whispered James as William died. James looked over sadly at his fallen first mate who's body quickly decayed into bones. Tomas got up but he was a skeleton so James left him behind.
James boarded his ship again and ordred everyone to make any last fires onto the ship. With that, the ship sunk finally. The crew cheered now that they would be legands for sinking that ship and for all the loot they collected from boarding it.
"Where's Tomas?" asked Dan as he took the wheel.
"He sacrificed himself for me." replied James.
"Tis a shame that we couldn't save him."
"Ok so lets go to the mermaid waters. After this I think we're not afraid of some swimming ladies are we?"
"No we aren't!" yelled the crew in unison.
"Then that be our destination!" replied James.
==Mermaid Waters==
James took a brave look out into the horizon as he saw the island they were nearing. Mermaids were very beautiful and had nice voices, but they were extreamly deadly. They lured sailors into their trap and then pulled them under water and killed them. They also had nets to catch you in case you got too far away.
"We be in the mermaid waters men!" said James informing his crew. "We will just grab the Greek fire ammo and then leave."
The crew got the longboat ready, went to the cannons, and awaited further orders. James looked through his sextant and saw another ship under attack from the mermaids. They were doing a good job defending themselves though.
"The mermaids are being destracted. Lets take this as an advantage!" said James. He went into the longboat with some of the crew and rowed toward the nearby island.
"Steady as she goes." said James.
"What if the mermaids catch us?" asked Clayton, a crew member.
"By the looks of how many are being killed by that ship, I'd say they can't get us at all." replied James.
They reached the small island and started looking for Greek fire ammo. James stumbled upon an old lighthouse and decided to explore it a little. It had rust, seaweed, and even barnicles stuck to it. When James just touched a weak area, the lighthouse tipped and made a bang sound.
He saw a very disturbing sight when he reached the top. In the corner, he saw an old coot with a long gray beard who looked half starved. He had no shirt and his pants were torn a bit. He smelled like dirty socks dipped in dirty water and walked on by rats. Jars of Greek fire ammo were in the room. If James could just sneak by and grab some of the jars.....
"Who are you!?" asked the old man in a deranged voice. "Are you a spirit? Are you going to end my suffering?"
"I'm captain James Villiers. I'm no spirit. If it dosen't bother you, I'll be taking the Greek fire now." replied James.
"I came here when I was only 30. Now I'm 80. The devils in the water trapped me here. I lost me captain, me crew, me ship, and I forgot my name."
"Here." James tossed him a piece of bread he had in his pocket. "It will hold you for now." The man scarfed down the bread like an animal. "So I'll be taking the Greek fire now." continued James.
"NO!!!!!!" scremed the crazed man. He picked up a nearby sword and went into a fighting stance.
"You can talk to me and feed me, but I will never let you have the Greek Fire! I used it to kill the mermaids by lighting them on fire. I don't have to waste time cooking them if I burn them."
"You eat mermaids?"
"How do you think I've survived all these years."
"Well mate, I'm afraid the Greek fire must be mine!" The old man held a good defensive stance. It was very difficult for James to break through his defences. The old man struck James on his sword arm and nearly hit it out of his hand. This man may be half starved, old, and deranged but he knew how to fight.
James knew a good sword fighting trick he could use against him. James made it seem like he was going to strike the old mans head and the old man set up a block near his head. At the last moment, James turned his sword and cut off the mans sword hand. He cried out in pain clutching his bony wrist.
"You lice-covered, merceless, blackguard! You're no human! Ye be the devil!" said the old man. James felt guilty of what he was about to do but he did it anyway. He stabbed the old man in the head and twisted his sword inside the mans head to make sure the job was finished. When he took the sword out, the top part of the blade was covered in red blood.
James collected some Greek Fire jars and then told his men to get the rest. They all went into the longboat and they started rowing. He looked through his sextant and saw the ship fighting a desperate and somewhat endless duel.
"Steady as she goes he told his men." Then suddenly, James saw the ship finally go down. It would only be moments until the mermaids found them.
"FAST AS SHE GOES! THE MERMAIDS BE COMIN'!" he warned his men. They started frequently rowing but it was too late. A mermaid stopped it longboat with her hand and looked at the sailors.
"Who are you sir?" she asked Clayton.
"I be Clayton Bryce. And you?" said Clayton.
"I'm Jessica." The men tried to tell him to stop but he insisted that she was friendly so they let him continue. Some of the men, including James, still insisted that he should shoot her now.
"Jessica is a nice name." continued Clayton.
"Clayton is even better."
"I think I'm in love."
"Lets see." Jessica pulled Clayton closer and they kissed. James quickly noticed that she raised a hand ready to claw his neck. James took out his pistol and shot Jessica's hand. She pushed Clayton back on the longboat and hissed at them. Clayton, now out of her spell, drew his sword and stabbed her heart.
They rowed quickly back to the ship but by then, a whole pack of mermaids started attacking. James was lucky that he already set people up on the cannons and they quickly drew the mermaids back. but the mermaids came up with a new strategy. They jumped over the ship and tried to grab people as they jumped.
James saved the first victim by firing his pistol at one of the mermaids. All the pirates drew their pistols and shot the mermaids. James threw off a powdered keg barrel and that killed 20 of the mermaids.
Eventually, all the mermaids retreated and James fired at the nearest retreaters killing them. Now James and his crew had Greek fire ammo and defeated the mermaids, something that most people can't acomplish. Now they needed to head to Isla Lusso to rest a little, then they can go home.
==Mutiny==
The crew was put through so much stress on this trip. They lost some friends (especially Tomas), they were attacked by the Navy and the undead, they went into mermaid waters, and they had to go to sleep hungry sometimes in order to save food. The crew would be very grateful if they reached Isla Lusso. They could restock on food and water and other supplies.
Sadly though, James had messed up with the charts. They didn't even have to cross the mermaid waters at all. Some of the crew got very angry at there captain who led them the wrong way. it would be 5 more days until they reached their destination. James needed to select a new first mate now.
It was a hard choice. All his men were very loyal, intelligent, and good fighters. Some had good skills at tying knots. Some were good at gambling. But only one of them had other skills that no one else (except James) had.
"For me first mate I pick William!" said James. The crew all questioned his answer. Jack was just a regular pirate on the ship.
"Why not me? I'm the best sailor!" asked Dan.
"Why not everyone?" said James in response. "I chose William because he's a great duelist, a good gunner, a good knot tyer, a good healer, a good gambler, a good sailor, he can drink a lot of rum before blacking out, and he has a lot of guts."
Everyone started thinking twice about questioning his answer. They all agreed very quickly except for Dan.
"Bah!" he said in disgust. "You'll soon learn that I deserved this!"
The next day, James realized they were going the wrong direction. In fact Dan was looking at the map and using a compass. James knew something was up.
"Dan. Why have ye changed our course?" asked James.
"Oh sorry captain. I guess we'll be delayed for another ten years!" replied Dan agresivly.
"I made my decision with my first mate! Drop the attitude and put us back on course!" Just then, a pack of sharks began to surround the ship. The crew didn't even need orders to know what to do. They loaded in their new Greek fire ammo and began firing.
The flames easily burned the sharks to death. They didn't even use that much Greek fire. Dan reluctantly put the ship back on course. Everything was going good until William pointed something out to James.
"Captain! The sharks didn't come at random. Something taunted them to come." reported William. Indeed he was right. Some of the bait buckets were empty and one was still spilling out making a trail. Any shark could easily smell the trail and follow the ship.
"Thank you for reporting that. The buckets could have been purposly knocked over or it could have been an accident. Tell the other officers to keep an eye out for anything suspicious." commanded James.
During the day and evening, none of the officers saw anything. But late at night James snuck out to investigate while another officer was on watch. He saw Dan kick bait buckets into the water.
"Whoops!" mumbled Dan.
"Whoops indeed." said James.
"Oh uh... captain sir! I was j-just getting bait ready for fishing."
"First you put the ship off course and now you put everyone, including yourself, at risk of being murdered by sharks! You will come tomorrow onto the deck for 20 lashes!"
"But we had the Greek fire. I knew we wouldn't all die."
"Obviously you wanted someone to die. You still are getting 20 lashed tomorrow!"
The next day, everyone was called to the main deck to witness the whipping. Two of the men stripped his shirt off and James got his whip. He beat Dan as hard as he could leaving 20 painful scars on him. Dans eyes burned red with raw hatred. James took the wheel from there as Dan put his shirt back on.
That night after dinner, James saw a group of sailors talking to each other. When they saw him, they all dispersed. Something was obviously going on. Especially with Dan in the group as well. James decided to pull one of the sailors aside.
"Andrew may I have a word with you?" asked James.
"Okay captain. What's the problem?" said Andrew.
"What was that gathering about?"
"Si I don't think you want to know."
"I swear I'll tell no one"
"Swear all ye like but I will never tell you sir"
"Tell me now or the lashes will be the least you will have to worry about!"
"I have some important duties to attend to. If you want this ship to keep floating, then I suggest you let me do them!"
"You're released Andrew"
"Thank ye sir."
James still wouldn't let the whole thing go. He got all the officers together and had a meeting. He told them all to keep an eye out for Dan and anyone he tries to have a group discussion with. Now all the officers are on watch even more constantly than ever.
Days and nights past with no problems at all. They had only one more day to go until they reached Isla de Lujo. Everyone, even Dan, was happy. But Dan seeme more happy than everyone else. James didn't think that it was just because they were near land.
That night, James heard a bang at his door and immeadiatly woke up and grabbed his sword. The door was banged down with Dan at the lead and two other pirates flanking him.
"Now so powerful now are ye?" said Dan. "Surrender!"
"Never!!" yelled James. He attack so ferousiously that Dan stumbled over and fell to the floor. James killed the other two pirates with ease. He went out of his cabin to find two other officers under attack.
One of them was farther away and was being shoved off the edge of the boat. Another was closer by and was being attacked. William was too busy with other muitineers to do anything. James just remembered that he had a pistol in his pocket so he took it out and fired at one of the officers attackers. Once the attacker was down the officer knocked the other one off the boat.
James then helped the other officer by plunging his blade in the first attackers heart. The officer killed the other one and then started ringing the bell to alarm everyone. Now everyone was awake. James rallied the loyalists and he had a lot of them. But Dan chose his men well. Dans men were good duelists but smaller in number.
James went to go support William when Dan got in his way. They both drew their swords and began fighting. James was a much better duelist than Dan could ever hope to be. After some strong blows Dans guard was majorly weakened. James did a quick flick of his wrist and Dans sword went right out of his hand. James was ready to make a final blow when one of the mutineers attacked. It was Clayton.
"How dare you!" said James. "I helped to save you from the mermaids and this is how you treat me?"
"I wouldn't of even had to meet mermaids if you didn't mess up on the charts!" replied Clayton agressively. Clayton was a good duelist and was able to hold off James for a while. Just long enough for Dan to recover his sword. William defeated most of his attackers but was still being held off to do anything.
James was able to kill Clayton but that left his back exposed. He turned around just in time to parry Dans blow. But it happened so quickly that James stumbled backwards after the impact of steel on steel. He tripped over a barrel and Dan went to kill him.
James parried his blows on the ground and even hit Dans leg. But Dan got annoyed and he took out his pistol ready to kill James. But William came and sliced Dans feet off. But then William fell to the floor, not dead though. In order to save his captain, he left his back exposed and one of his attackers made a bloody X on his back.
James got up and killed Williams last attacker. But then he heard the crack f a pistol. He thought he was dead but it turns out that Dan fell instead. William was just getting up from falling so he couldn't of done it. But then out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dan dead with a hole in his chest and a pistol in his hand.
"Men we've lost!" cried Andrew. He and the remaining mutineers dropped their weapons. The next day, they were hung and died for their evil crime.
"Look captain!" yelled William. "Land hoe!" They finally reached Isla Lusso.
==Black Pirates==
They landed on Isla Lusso and unpacked their treasure. They were all extreamly glad to go on land again. The sun was shining brightly and the wind blew gently. Isla Lusso looked very nice indeed.
"Whoa Whoa Whoa!" yelled a man. "You can't just haul your ship up here!"
"But why sir? All the islands are free for sailors to sail on." said a confused James.
'Yes but..... oh my apologizes! My names is Soar. But anyway you need to add you name to the security manager. The guards probably thought you were a merchant ship and didn't sink you."
"I don't want citizenship. My men have been tired at sea for such a long time. Some even commited mutiny. There has to be someway that we can just land here to rest and then go back to sea."
"Well I do feel bad for you so there is one other way to get in. Deal with the black pirates and we can let you in."
"What are black pirates?"
"They are the most evil pirates ever. They have black sails on their ship and never go for parley. they follow no pirate code rules at all. Sink some of their ships and then we'll talk."
"But we need some repairs first. i can pay for it."
"Ok whatever you need." The shipwrights repaired the vessel and then James and his crew were off to the seas again. Some of the men had moaned and grumbled a bit. James couldn't blame them. They had to fight undead, mermaids, and mutineers. But everyone managed to move along.
"Unfurl sails! Tie down anything loose! To the guns! Make haste to the Black Pirate ships!" commanded James. His crew loyaly followed all the orders. James was confident in his ability to take care of some code breaking pirates. The pirate code keeps all pirates from self destructing on each other. That's why breaking the code is dangerous to everyone. So now these pirates must be taken care of.
They sailed around the island for a while. James asked the lookout 4 times if he saw anything and he didn't. So they sailed farther out to sea in case the black pirates were somewhere else. After 30 minutes, there were still no black pirates. Some of the crew was getting anoyed.
"Captain there may be a chance that Soar might of just been trying to get rid of us." suggested William.
"He repaired our ship of course he's not trying to get rid of us." replied James. Although James still wasn't sure about his words. The lookout was annoyed with constantly being asked if he saw anything. Some of the men were annoyed because they were at sea for too long. James was annoyed because everyone else was. Maybe the island was for the Navy only. Maybe Soar just wanted them to sink regular pirate ships to weaken the pirates.
"Captain! I see ships!" said the lookout. They were not black pirate ships but they were merchant ships. But then to the right, the lookout spotted black pirate ships.
"Full sail! Make haste! Gunners get ready!" commanded James. He would rather sink the merchant ships but he wanted to land somewhere so he went to go sink the black pirate ships. They were just sloops so a war class firgate like James' could easily win against them.
His crew loaded the shots and sank the black pirate ships by surprise. The merchant ships peacfully continued there voyage. But then more of the black pirates came. This time, they had galleon ships. Galleons were bigger and more stronger than sloops so they would have to fire from a distance.
The distance fireing worked. James' ship got damaged a little but was overall ok. The merchant ships were getting closer to their destination safe and sound. James felt a little annoyed with this. It seemed like the merchant ships didn't even care at all.
the black pirates wouldn't give up so easily on such fine loot. They sent frigates out to battle. Frigates could easily kill James. Even with his war class frigate, he couldn't directly engage a group of frigates. But just then, William reminded him about the Greek fire. The men loaded Greek fire and charged toward the enemy.
The first ship was immediatly racked with a broadside of fire. The second one was left with no sails. The third was burned down, of ocurse. The rest tried to retreat but Greek fire also had long range fire. That seemed like the last of them. The merchant ships reached Isla de Lujo and added more supplies to the island.
"Great job James!" said Soar shaking James' hand. "The black pirates have been a major disturbance to me and others. My island is almos fully safe."
"What do you mean almost?" asked James.
"There is an island where they are hiding. We're not sure where it is but we'll let you know by tomorrow. My spies will locate it."
"You just said I had to sink them and I could stay."
"I said we could talk after you finished. I'll give you 5 days and nights here. If you want to have permanant acess, then you must raid the island. I'll make any repairs, let your men rest, and then your off the go destroy the hideout."
"Fine Mr. Soar." James and his crew rested on the island. The rest was the best James had ever gotten. But he knew the next morning, he would have to go and destroy the black pirates on the island. James was both excited and nervous.
The next day, Soars spies found the island and James got a map to it. It took a few hours but he soon reached the island. James was a great sailor and easily eluded the guard ships. He hid his ship in the rocks and launched out the long boats where his men would invade the island. James kept a steady hand on the oar as sweat trickled donw his face. Maybe because of the heat, or maybe because of the pressure.
"Keep you pistols cocked! We must get them by surprise." whispered James as loud as he dared. They reached the island and tiptoed out of the longboat. They made their way to a building with a black flag at the top. The men packed some grenades with them to destroy the building. They lit the grenades and bombarded the building setting it on fire as well. The few black pirates that escaped were all killed.
They confronted a group of black pirates. Some had tatoos of skulls. Some had long beards. One thing they all had was a scar under their eye shaped like a lightning bolt. WHen they looked at James and his crew, they all grunted at them and drew their swords. They did a few taunts at them as well. These pirates had no repect at all for each other either. Two of them got in a fight after trying to show off their sword moves.
But when the battle engaged, they definately knew how to fight. The black pirates fought very agressively and followed no honorable rules. Such as the fact that one of them punched James in the mouth and then tried to strike him. But James recovered just in time to block the blow and then finish the black pirate off.
James ordered his men to back out and go for plan B. They threw the remaining grenades at the black pirates murdering them all. James and his men cleared off the rest of the island and then stole a black pirate ship. They used the ship to take the other by surprise and then went back to their own ship.
"Excellent job James!" said Soar after they returned to the island. I'll pay you and give you permenant acess to the island.
"Thank you sir. Thank you." replied James.
==The Return of Roger Beck==
Isla Lusso was a great place to be at indead. It was well guarded, had no Navy scum, and was now freed from black pirate threat. Merchant ships came to deliver supplies to the island as well. But James was starting to forget his place as a pirate and knew that he would eventually have to leave. But James still stayed so that he and his crew could rest. This island made him experience something he had never experienced for a long time: peace.
Sometimes James was hired to defend the merchant ships. The black pirates turned out to be scaterred but not entirely defeated. So sometimes they went to raid merchant ships but James stopped them all. But he was running out of Greek Fire ammo so it would be harder to defeat them now.
Whenever he captured or sunk and black pirate ship, he received prize money from Soar. But the money reminded him of Roger Beck. If you remember him from the beggining of the story then you know that him and James hate each other to the bone. Their tale together goes way back.
Roger was one of the greatest pirates ever. He had a great ship, a great crew, and a great deal of money. The Navy always wanted to capture him but always failed. Many new pirates looked up to Roger as their hero. Sometimes they asked him for help on doing certain missions. Roger would help them if they paids him in gold or did a mission for him. That's how he earned some of his money.
One day James needed to Roger to help him with a fort heist. James paid him half the gold and then said he needed to do a mission for Roger to pay the rest of the gold. Roger needed him to collect sword from Navy officers. Instead, James robbed Rogers men in the night and gave the sword to Roger. By the time Roger found out what happened, James was long gone.
James now thought of Rogers voice whenever he earned money. The money he could have used to pay Roger. In fact, he had more then enough money to pay Roger at the time. He may be in threat of being killed by Roger but, he earned a bigger reputation for being the first to rob Roger of anything. Roger was still known but was less popular.
One night, James was ready to go to sleep but then he heard cannon fire. He grabbed his sword and immeadiatly went to Soars house and knocked on the door. There was no answer so James busted the door down to see Soar holding off two black pirates. James came from behind and stabbed one of them and Soar killed the other one with ease.
"What's going on!" demamded James.
"Black pirates are attacking us! Their leader Roger Beck is here!" replied Soar.
"Roger! That son of a gun! I'll wake my crew to push them off the surface. Ring the alram bell to wake security up!" Soar was already moving so James left to wake his crew. When he got outside they were already awake and killing of plenty of black pirates. So James joined them and pushed the black pirates away from the town and onto the shoreline.
Security was all woken up and ran everywhere. They were disorganized at first but regrouped quickly and fought the black pirates out of the town and to the shoreline. James knew that the security ships would soon be overwhelmed and sunk and then the land would be under complete seige. So James let out a lound scream and agressively fought his way to the docks to help ship captains and sailors out.
His agressive assault made the black pirates surprised and therefore easier to killl. Once the docks were freed, the sailors and captains got to their ships and helped hold off the enemy ships. The shoreline was also secure as well. Soar ordered his men to start making makeshift barricades out of barrles, wheels, and carts. The barricades were somewhat flimsy but they would hold back the black pirates for a time, as well as the men defending the barricades.
James and his crew left the island to go attack Rogers ship and make the fleet retreat. Rogers ship was as big as James ship so the guns and speed would be about even. But the skill of the men would turn the tides. James men were very loyal and good fighters. They would obey his commands and do them fast.
James saw Rogers ship with its colours hanging high up making it easy to spot. James' plan was to make it look like his ship was damaged too much to escape and then Roger would try to close in. James made it look like the riggings had been shot through and made his men look injured. Roger was always up for a good gamble and closed in on James ship. At that moment James turned his ship and Rogers broadside didn't even get a single hit. So James raked the enemies stern while Rogers broadisde just finished off one of his own ships.
The battle was going good but James had not won yet. Roger was trying to close the ships together to begin a boarding action. James knew he could still win so he ordered his men to aim their pistols at the boarders. When Rogers men started boarding, the first wave was rather shot or fell in the water and drowned. James and some of his men boarded while William took control as temporary captain.
James encountered Roger and charged on him. Roger was caught unprepared and James scored a cut on the right side of Rogers chest. Roger clutched it and reached for his sword as James resumed guard position. Roger may have been injured but he still fought bravely. Roger also fought dirty by using his arms and legs to hit James but that led to his downfall.
Roger used his elbow to get James in the throat but James cut his elbow. With that, James cut his sword arm and then with a turn of his wrist he knocked the sword out of Rogers hand and sent it skitting across the deck. James then ran Roger through with his blade. James knew that now with Roger dead, his ship would go down and the black pirate fleet would retreat.
Indeed that's what happened. The black pirate ships that retreated were rather extreamly damaged or captainless. Every other black pirate ship was sent to Davy Jones locker. Most of Soars ships survived but some were sunk. It was a bloody battle but now the world will never have to fear the black pirates ever again.
"The ships have retreated and scaterred" said Soar. "but there are only about 6 of the ships left. My spies will locate them and the I'll take care of them."
"Thank you for having us but we must return to home port after our ship is repiared." replied James.
"This repair is on me my friend. You have not only saved me and my island but you have saved many others. This island was the perect one Roger could have used to recruit new men and then invade more islands. But with that show of force, and Rogers death, they'll be in hiding forever."
James went to bed and fell asleep with a grin on his face. He dreamed about how far the tale of his adventure on the sea would go. Of how much treasure he would have at the end of this. Most importently, he dreamed of how he would return to home port and be able to see his pirate friends, go gambling again, and be able to drink rum for ever with his gold he earned.
==The Prison Fortress==
James said his last goodbye as he left the island. He liked the island yes but he knew he needed to return to his regular home port or he may forget his place as a pirate. So he took off and set a course for home port. But he felt like he needed to plunder at least one time before reaching home port.
The winds were a little sharp but James managed. He was a great sailor after all. The waters were calm and gracefully made waves to help push the ship. James was happy about that but after two hours, he became very bored.
"Captain!" yelled William sudently.
"What is it?' asked James.
"We're passing a fortress. English flags." A prison fortress held many pirates captive. Rather waiting for a court session, to be hung, or to be imprisoned there forever. Through his sextant, James saw metal cages held by chains. Ravens ate the dead skin of pirates.
England was the most powerful country and had a lot of defenses.. But freeing pirates would help kill the English navy. Plus they would be able to loot the fort for treasure. Not to mention James' reputation would spread. But taking on a fort isn't like taking on a ship. James made a plan and tols his crew.
"We wait until nightfall and then we fire on the fortress destroying the walls. Then me and some others will invade the fort killing dutch, freeing pirates, and collecting loot. Maintain strict silence until I give the signal to fire." James' men understood completely. This would require expert sailing skill, excellent combat abilities, and complete cooperation.
James' men were eager to do this. It would be difficult but with great rewards. They stayed a good distance away from the fort during the day and watched guard ships patrol the fort. the guard ships were the only problem but James had a plan to elude that. He told his men to go to sleep at 7 bells. but he woke them up at almost 3 bells to begin the raid.
There were no guard ships at that time. It was also the darkest time of the day. Barley any moonlight and no sun. This would make James' plan even easier. James slowly and quietly sailed the ship into position. Then he loudly whispered to his crew "Open fire!"
The cannons roared loudly breaking the quiet of the night. The guards were caught completely unprepared and some even were shot off the edge of the walls. The barely loaded the cannons when James shot another boradside at the forts walls. The English were normally good fighters but they were tired and not expecting any attacks. They finally fired their first few shots when another broadside ripped through the wall of the fort. Only one of the Englishe Navies shots were accurate. It was too dark for the ship to be seen.
James got on a longboat with several of his men and rowed toward the fort. They reached the docks and stormed into the fortress. The big wooden door was hard to get passed but they managed to cut their swords through it a made a hole to enter it through. They screamed loudly and surprised the soldiers even more. They got a few easy kills before the Navy realized pirates were attacking the prison fortress.
James had 20 men with him and decided tthey should split up. He divided them into 5 groups of 4 men. Everyone went and freed as many prisoners as they could. James was lucky enough to find the room where the Navy stached all the loot. So James and his men took as much as they could carry and put it in the longboats. Then they went back in the fortress to see that the prisoners were already stealing thw Navy's weapons and rioting around the fortress.
James soon encountered the warden who brought some reinforments. James clashed sword with him and they engaged in a duel. the warden was a good fencer indeed and James was completely focused on parrying his blows. But James managed to do a counter attack and stab the wardens sword arm. He then stabbed him in the heart and his guard was down. The Navy men surrendured but were shown no mercy. The prisoners hung them by a noose rope and killed them.
The prisoners and James' men then burned the fortress down with all of the torches hanging around. The prisoners escaped on the Navy ships and James rowed back to his ship and returned with more treasure. James and his men were all very happy to have done such a daring mission and suceed. They were more happy about the treasure of course. They rested on the ship until morning and then continued to sail to the home port.
==A Surprising Welcome and Finish==
After many days and nights James and his crew were finally back. They all cheered loudly and threw their hats in the air. They also broke out the rum and started gulping it down fast. James knew something was wrong though. Normally ships don't guard the island if it's owned by pirates. James carfully sailed the ship toward the back of the island to land.
James was the first to go out of his ship and he saw some strange things. There were people, but they were not pirates. They were just regular citizens. There were also red coats on the island. He was confirmed of what happened when he saw the british colours. The english had taken over the island. That would explain how they set up a good ambush near the beggining of his voyage.
"Hey you!" said a Navy guard about to rush James. James drew his sword and stabbed him in the heart as the guard closed in. He then forced his sword out and returned to his ship. He told his men what happened and they immeadiately charged onto the island killing any red coat in their way. The british men were prepared for battle and imeadiatly engaged James and his men screaming loudly.
James managed to cut a lot of them down and advanced to kill the govenor. From his experience fighting them, he learned that each island controled by the british had a govenor to rule it. Once the govenor was killed, the english would fight less spirited. But he should have realized how hard it would be to do it alone. Once he fought his way to the mansion, guards came rushing out from all over. James was better then them all in dueling but there was only one of him and hundreds of them. He cut down a good 20 and shot a good 5 but was now out of ammo. He was grabbed and hit with a pistol knocking him out cold.
He was lucky to wake up but he ended up in a prison cell. He saw some other pirates but they were not in his crew. He could still hear the screaming and clashing of swords outside. His head healed a little but still hurt from the hit. The lazy guard was sleeping so James decided to use and old trick to get out. He kicked the door as hard as he could but it didn't work so he went for plan B. He broke of the wooden part of the bench he could sit on and put it in the bottom hole of his cell. He pushed it down and broke the lock and got out easily.
He stole the guards keys and sword and freed the others. Then he stabbed the guard. The pirates grabbed other swords lying in the center and bursted outr yelling. When James got out he realized William was now leading the charge toward the govenors mansion. Perhaps James should have stayed with his men and he wouldn't of been dragged to the jail. But James did notice that his men were a little disorganized though.
James came in and killed some english soldiers and then rallied his men making them more organized. They then infiltrated the govenors mansion and killed any soldier in their way. James broke down the mansions doors and killed the govenor in his office. Then he killed his son who was also in the office. James' men then burned down the mansion and forced all the citizens to leave or be killed, even children.
James now ruled the island and the prisoners he freed joined his crew. He named the island Villier in honor of his last name. His legend now grew bigger with every pirate deed he did. Here, his great story ends.
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