An Ordinary Scrub

== Author's Note ==
"An Ordinary Scrub" is my first attempt to make a story of any type. I plan on making this the first installment in a saga that will have multiple more installments. I also plan to introduce a couple more characters, all of which will be as vividly described and unique as can be. Without further ado, meet this chapter's characters, and sit back and enjoy the story!
== Characters ==
Zoomer : A young pirate who sometimes struggles with motivation. Washed up on the shores of Driftwood as a complete noob in the Summer of 1740, and since then has been living with best friends Bronze John and John Smith on Driftwood.
Bronze John : A hermit who had been living alone on Driftwood until the fateful day on which both Zoomer and John Smith ended up stranded on the island. A real fatherly figure and a master of Throwing Knives.
John Smith : An adventurous fellow who was stranded on Driftwood after his ship, The Gretchen, took severe damage from a Navy Panther. Has been living with Zoomer and Bronze John ever since.
== Seeking Riches ==
I've been hearing rumors lately that there's a priceless treasure to be found in or around Driftwood Isle, so after buying the supplies I deemed necessary at the nearby Cuba, I sailed back to Driftwood to begin exploring the island. I began looking for suspicious objects and rock formations, digging up holes in the ground, and even asking my sensitive crab friends, Nothing. Second after second, minute after minute, I was beginning to think I was putting all this effort into this search only due to blind curiosity. I was beginning to think that... maybe there was nothing at all.
"ARRRRGH! What are you thinking, Zoomer? Did you honestly think you would find it so easily? If this treasure is this hard to find, it just means that I'm looking for something EXTREMELY valuable!" I yelled at myself. There WAS something hidden here, something awesome, worth tons of gold coins!
Still, nothing. After lifting every boulder, asking every crab, asking all (2) of the people on the island, and digging up huge holes of dirt, nothing. I fell backwards onto the sand on the shore, looking up at the bright autumn sky.
"Sup, Zoomerito?" Asked a familiar, rough voice from behind me.
"Bronze John... why does life have to be so unfair?"
"Your unmotivated self is just not looking hard enough. You haven't looked EVERYWHERE on the island, you addle-minded fool!"
Yep, that's Bronze John for you. A man in his late 30s, he was a tough, driven fellow. He loved to give me nicknames, and it was his daily job to light the fireworks of motivation in me. Despite his steel-like exterior, he was a bit dreamy at times. Real fatherly figure, too, though he never had any children. I guess that's why he wanted me to be a successful pirate. He supported me in this quest of mine. He'd always supported me since the day I washed up on the shores of Driftwood after I jumped off the plank of Bo Beck's ship... i'll never forgive the ocean gods for not taking me to Port Royal. Grrrr....
"You're a canvas short of a full-sail yourself, Bronzey!" I playfully replied.
"Hehe. Anyways, I see you haven't searched in our house yet, Zoomer."
"And I see you've been inhaling the smoke from John Smith's campfires-"
"NO, I'm seriously speaking! What if we've had the secret in front of our faces all this time?"
He was dreamy, sure, but I had nowhere else to go. So I believed him. We headed to our house, and a small fire of excitement was lit within me.
== The Candle and The Crate ==
That afternoon, we began ransacking our humble abode. We flipped tables, crates, shelves, looked in the stove, among other extreme things, and we found nothing.
"Say, Zoomer... I just realized we've never moved that crate over there."
"What crate?" I asked, tired and drained of any motivation.
"The one we put our candle on when we go to sleep!"
"Oh.... OH!!!" I yelled, snapping out of my daze.
"That reminds me, I forgot to put it out after I woke up" I followed, and walked over to the crate as he went to get some rum from our shelf. He loved the stuff. Helps him get pumped up and ready for the worst. He never drank too much of it, though. Great role model for us younger pirates.
"There we- AHHHH!" I screamed as an excruciatingly painful vibration shot throught my body, and I dropped the candle flame-first on the crate...
The crate burst into blue-ish flames, and within moments of it being turned into ash, we saw a hole under it!
"Eureka!" Screamed Bronze John.
"How didn't we find this before? That candle never did that before..." I wondered. Either way, I had no doubts that we had found what we were looking for. I guess good-ol Bronze John was right.
We descended into the dark hole, which was shockingly pretty small. After Bronze John lit a torch on our stove, we were able to see the small cave, and there were several signs on the wall with writing scribbled on them.
"danke" I read out loud.
"Are you possessed?" Bronze John playfully asked.
"No, I'm wondering what sort of demonic language whoever wrote that must have spoken" I replied.
There was something even more noticeable in that cave. A Loot Chest, unlocked and all. We pried the lid open, and inside the chest was...
1996 gold coins, and a proper treasure map that clearly indicated that there was something on Driftwood!
"YES! Now we finally have a lead!" I shouted in Joy.
"Yep! Now, let's go back to the surface and see just what exactly this big red "X" will lead us to!" Said Bronze John.
== The Cave of Wonders ==
I took our shovel, which we kept behind our flour sacks, and set off to the great outdoors to find this elusive, yet promising, treasure. Bronzey also bought his throwing knives, in case we were attacked. We both agreed that there would be something guarding this treasure if it was so great. He was a master with throwing knives, and I trusted him to keep us safe while we explored.
I began to dig where the big "X" indicated I should, which was in the middle of a small forest, and after digging up a good amount of dirt...
"Whoah!" We both said at the same time, astonished
A bright light was shining from the hole I had just dug, and we were both excited to find out what awaited us.
"Let's go!" Bronzey said, and we both jumped into the hole.
"THIS. IS. AMAZING!!!" I said, just seconds away from having an excitement-induced stroke.
"Well, whaddaya know? There's a gold palace under Driftwood"
We both followed the hallway, until we reached a big, impenetrable iron door.
We heard a bone-chilling cracking noise behind us. Crack... snap... silence. Crack-snap... silence. CRACK-SNAP-CRACK-CRACK... it was clear that whatever was behind us was running up to us with... bad intentions. We both turned around, and to our surprise..
It was an platoon of Undead Gravediggers! I was going to brace myself for battle, but that was soon unnecessary, because..
Bronze John jumped in the air, reached into his dagger bag, and when he placed himself right in front of the Gravediggers, he made it rain daggers on each and every one of them! It was an amazing show, and looking at him for the first time, you wouldn't believe that he could do it, but he did. He made a dagger hit each and every poor undead right in the forehead, and before I knew it, we were just looking at a huge pile of bones.
"Easy." Bronze said, not fazed by the events.
I let out a sigh of relief as Bronze returned to my side, and the big iron door opened, leading to a chamber where we saw a strange orb emitting a bright blue glow.
We stepped forward, and when we each put one hand on it, we felt the most intense feeling of victory ever. We did it. Together, we had found a legend. A "souvenir" from people of the past... maybe even the ocean gods left this for us. That's one thing i'd thank them for. Now all they must do is get rid of that Jolly Roger and I might thank them. Probably.
"Well, kid, I'd say you've become a real treasure hunter! To think that earlier this morning you were just an ordinary scrub is unbelievable! I really am proud!" Bronze said.
"Well, it's unbelievable to me too! However, you do know that the only reason I made it this far was because you encourage me to do so, right? I mean, even if I had come hear alone, those Gravediggers-"
"No. You did this because you wanted to." Bronze cut me off.
"You could have just given up and not listened to any of my advice. You are the treasure hunter here, my dear Zoomerolo. No one can say otherwise."
I felt.. content. No words could really describe the joy I felt at my one and only mentor being proud of me. I guess. I'm not an ordinary scrub anymore. I'm glad.
"I think it's time to head home. What do you think John Smith will say?" Bronze asked.
"I can just picture the look on his face! Say, we should let him take some of the profit from our finding. It should be worth skull chests full of gold!" I said, excited.
"Yep. We'll take our Light Sloop to Tia Dalma tomorrow morning. She seems to know everything that happens in the Caribbean." Bronze said.
"...Before that, though, we have to get out of this cave." I pointed out.
We left the cave through the same hole we came in through, and covered it up again with dirt. Our friend, John Smith, came to us, frantic.
"What were you guys doing! You had a fellow pirate scared he'd lose his only two friends!"
"It's all good, John. We're not THAT defenseless. Anyways, we found something good, great, AWESOME, down there. Mind if we borrow your Light Sloop to go to Cuba and show it to Tia Dalma? She'll tell us what to do with it. It's bound to be valuable, and we can loan you some of the money so you can go back home to your family in Tortuga and rejoin Jack's crew!" I said, unable to contain my excitement.
"It's all good! You can borrow my Light Sloop any day, as long as you don't sink her. I don't need any money, though. You two found it. You're the real treasure hunters. I'll leave it to some other pirate to help me with the repairs on the Gretchen." John said slyly.
"In that case, thanks and good night. We're both awful hungry, tired, and we need some food and a rest." Bronze said.
== Sea Dreams - The Epilogue ==
We headed back home, ate a hearty crab meal, and went to sleep. I was awful tired but awful excited too. When I finally managed to go to sleep, all I could do was dream; dream of what exciting adventures all three of us would go on in the near future.
I am no longer just some riff-raff. Neither is the humble and fatherly Bronze John, or the adventurous, sly John Smith. All of us will be something. We are no longer nothing. I am no longer an ordinary scrub.
TO BE CONTINUED!!!
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