[Tiberius Fireskull]

Chapter 11: The Crew


After Davy and Sam left the docks, they headed into the town. They went into a tavern, and grabbed something to eat, and of course drank a bottle of rum each. Davy wasn’t really thinking about how good his rum was for once, but was wondering how the crewing was going with Billy and Matt. Not that he didn’t have faith in them, he just was eager to know what kind of a crew he would get.

Davy and Sam finished their meal, and then headed back to their shack. Matt and Billy were already there. Billy was sitting down on a pile of flour sacks in the back, drinking a bottle of rum. Matt was sitting at the table, reading what seemed to be a list of something. He had a quill pen and a bottle of ink next to him and was making markings on the sheet. Davy sat down next to him.

“What have ye there mate?” Davy asked Matt.

“Well, while you and Sam went looking for a ship, me and Billy set up a little booth in the King’s Arm tavern, recruitin’ for our crew. Looks like there are a lot of pirates lookin’ for a crew, because we got a lot of signups. We wrote down their names and what job they were looking for, lookout, cannons, chef, and so on. I’m going to go through the list tonight and choose the people, then announce it tomorrow. Hopefully we can leave in about five days.”

“Good work Matt and Billy. Now, let me tell you of our search for a ship,” Davy said. He went on to describe the Shadow King, and how they got it.

Billy belched, then said, “Looks like ye got yourselves a -hic- decent ship there. Sorry, been drinkin’ too much -hic- rum today.” He belched again, then went back to drinking.

“Need any help Matthew?” Sam asked.

“Nay, I’ll do fine,” Matt said, nodding his head toward Sam. “Ye did well, getting a ship as good as the Shadow King for a deal like that. Go help yourselves to some rum, and go get some shuteye. I’ll handle the crew. You can look it over in the morning if you want though.”

Davy yawned, “Sounds good. Now, I’m going to go help myself to some of that fine lookin’ rum over there. If you’ll excuse me…”

~~~~~~~~~~


Davy awoke the next morning after sleeping soundly. He looked out the window. It wasn’t even dawn yet, and the others weren’t awake yet. He decided he would go take a look at the Shadow King before the others awoke. He could probably take a quick look if he was quick.

He put on some clothes, and strapped on his favorite black boots. He started towards the door, and then heard mumbling behind him. He quickly turned, and saw Billy on his bed, sucking on the end of a rum bottle, mumbling something along the lines of, “…no no no…. don’t, don’t take my precious rum… not for you, you smelly little plank of wood…”

Davy couldn’t help but chuckle. He glanced over at Sam and Matt. They were both asleep, and then he looked at Smelly. He was awake, looking at Davy with eyes filled with curiosity. Davy smiled at the dog, and winked before heading out the door.

The cold morning air was crisp and refreshing, and instantly woke Davy up. He took a deep breath and began heading to the docks. He finally arrived at them as the sun began to rise. He followed the dock down the harbor until he found his ship.

The Shadow King looked so majestic in the faint light of dawn. Its black hull stood out against the bright blue of the sea and the green of the jungle on the other side of the harbor. Davy smiled, and started up the boards that attached to the ship. When he got onto the deck, he looked around. The Shadow King was the tallest ship in the harbor by far; both its masts and the hull itself dwarfed all the other ships.

Davy walked over to the helm of the ship, and put his hands on the steering will of the ship, his ship. He thought about how much this ship would go through, what battles it would fight, what other ships it would join up with, and who would walk onto this ship when it was time to cast off. Then all of the sudden, Davy realized something.

I have the ship, and the crew is finished being chosen. Once we cast off, where do we start? Davy wondered. Jolly Roger could be anywhere in the seas right now, and we have no leads. What do I do? Arg, I guess that the best thing to do is to just search the most likely places, and see if we can run into him.

Davy decided it was time to head back to the shack, the others would be waking up soon, and he didn’t want them to be worried. He got off the Shadow King, and gave her one last look before heading back.

~~~~~~~~~~


“Here they are Davy,” Matt said, gesturing towards a group of roughly three dozen people. They were mostly men, but there were six or so women as well. Originally, Davy had been taught that it was bad luck to have a woman on a ship, but he had grown up knowing several girls, and he could never imagine why there would be such a silly rumor. Also, he had seen a few women sneak onboard ships, and they were just as good as the men.

When Davy had got back, the others had been awake. He had told them he had just gone for a little walk in the morning air. They weren’t suspicious of anything, not that they would really care if they had known the truth. Matt had finished making the list in the night, after Davy had went to sleep. Before Davy left the house, he had changed into a more captain-like appearance. He was now wearing a long, silvery vest, with a black, sleeveless tank underneath. Over it, he wore a grey woolen coat. He was wearing his usual black boots, and black pants. Atop his head was a black tri-tipped hat, with a skull and cross swords on the front, and a white feather sticking out the back.

Matt had brought Davy, Sam, and Billy today to show them the soon to be crew of the Shadow King. All of the people who signed up were told to be outside the King’s Arm tavern early in the morning so Matt could tell everyone who is part of the crew. The people who weren’t going to be in the crew went into the tavern to get some rum, while the new crew stayed outside. They all looked at Davy, some looking as if they were awaiting their first order, others wondering why in the world their captain was so young.

Davy looked over toward Billy nervously, who was scratching Smelly’s head. He looked at Davy and gave him a little nod. Davy took another look at his crew. They all looked like able bodied, strong, daring, pirates that could be hard workers one minute, and then slitting the throats of enemies the next. Davy took a deep breath, then cleared his throat.

“A good morning to all you fine pirates,” Davy said, with his head held high. “First of all, let me congratulate you all on making it into my crew. All of the people who signed up were qualified, but well, you my friends are likely the most ferocious!”

The crowd gave out a hearty cheer, and then Davy continued on, “I am your Captain, Davy Fireskull. I used to serve aboard a ship known as the Black Swan, perhaps you have heard of her? Anyway, she was sunken not too long ago, but Jolly Roger! Jolly killed the captain of the ship, James Hawk, and all of her crew. The crew that I had spent ten years of my life with. Us pirates may be bloodthirsty mongrels, but we must still know compassion towards our crew, and our ship. Ten years before that, Jolly Roger’s ship sunk my father’s ship, The Eagle, while I was onboard it. My father perished, and me and Billy here were separated. It was by a miracle that we were reunited.

“Sorry to keep yammering on, you pirates probably have short attention spans, but my main two points are these: The first one is that the people around you are going to be your family for a long time, and you will all become close. You will get to know each other, and you will get to know me. Look out for each other, for you are all family to each other. My second point I would like to make is this. Part of the reason we are going after Jolly Roger is because of all the wrongs he has done to us. I told you what he did to me, and I vowed revenge. Perhaps if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here talking to you, but now it is done, and I swear on my fathers grave that he will be brought down! If he is not stopped, we will all perish, as will freedom, and happiness! So I want you, to be determined, courageous, and strong as we embark on our journey to find and defeat him!!!”

The crew gave out a mighty roar, so loud that the ground seemed to shake beneath them. A few heads even poked out of nearby windows, looking to see what all the commotion was about.

Davy couldn’t help but smile. Matt put an arm on his shoulder, and gave him a wink. Davy looked at his new crew, the people who he would be spending the next chapter of his life with, the people that would (hopefully) take care of him through good times and bad, and who he would take care of as well. Davy looked to his side, looking at his brother Billy, who he had lost so long ago, and who he had finally been reunited with. Then he looked back at the crew, and held up his hand in signal for silence. The crew slowly quieted down.

“Be at the docks at dawn three days from now,” Davy said. “Then, we will leave the island of Tortuga, and embark on our adventure to find Jolly Roger, and whatever may come at us in between.”

And with that, the crew started to walk back to their homes, or to a tavern to get something to drink. Davy and his mates headed back to their shack, to prepare for their departure.


There is chapter 11. By the way, if you want me to include you in my story go ahead and post it here and I'll try to incorporate you into it, whether you are part of my crew or a captain of another ship.