Ok ok ok. So.
Sorry that this chapter took FOREVER, but I never found the time to finish it. But, I finally pushed it out in the past 2 hours. Again, please proceed at yor own risk with this chapter. And so, I present to you all:
The Ghastly
1
The sunlight of the early morning just barely broke through the dark gray blanket of clouds that covered the sky overhead. Still, it provided for enough light to get an idea of one's surroundings, and that's all that Delmaria was felt was necessary. He got a chance to better gaze over the little courtyard he had slept in - the half-collapsed building next to him, now recognizable as alike to the old blacksmithery on Padres, the badly burnt walls, and the scatters of driftwood that lied on the hard dirt ground.
Delmaria and John packed lightly before they set out, each bringing with them a small sack of daggers, tonics, and pistol or two, and a trusty sword at their side. "We won't be needing to worry about those red ghosts today - they usually only come out at night."
"Some they can smack the living daylights outta ya, yet their death potion is water and sunlight?" Delmaria commented as he slung the sack over his shoulder, having gathered all his supplies.
"Sounds about right." John smirked as he started to tie up his bag.
They headed out at around noon, rounding out of the small courtyard, and in to the massive clearing before them. Off to his left, Delmaria stared as he gazed over the rest of the town area of the island - what was left of it, at least. A loose, collapsed wall, now only standing a rough meter off the ground, gave foreground to a small urban area, composed of a line of homes that were sheltered behind it. There were holes the size of cannons in ever small corridor of the buildings, some even with well-contained fires that continued to simmer. A nearby tree had fallen in front of the broken archway, missing the majority of it's roof, that had been burned to the point it looked like nothing more than a 10 meter long toothpick. Through the view of the entrance was a straight clearing, leading out in a huge pile of rubble, that blocked any further view. When John noticed Delmaria had slowed in his pace to look over the remains, he stopped to look also, and comment, "Used to be the town square, it was. Truly a beautiful place.... when the place was attacked, cannoballs that had rained down from the bay... past the town, that is - knocked right through the place. Killed at least a few dozen souls, they did.. bastards..."
They walked through a small cave-like tunnel, large, jagged spikes sticking out through the walls and from the ceiling. Darkskull had to manuever his way around the body of a half-rotted Navy soldier that was slewn in to one of them, dried blood even showing through his bright-red shirt where it protruded his body.
They came out in to a narrow beach-like pass, raised off from the foor about 15 meters or so. The rough waves crashed viciously against the cliffs, and, despite the sizable height, were still about to clash over the view. Past a few giant slabs of rock that stuck off out of the shore erradically, misted in a slight fog, shown huge, daunting pillars of stone, thrusting out of the savage seas. They had to have been far past the height of a War Galleon, from the depths of it's hull to the peak of it's highest mast, and then some. The sight of them alone was something that would make a sailor quake with unimaginable fear. How Delmaria knew they were taller than War Galleons, was because of the wreckages among them. The pillars beared two wreckages. One was a War Frigate torn in two, caught in between the fork of an eccentric structure, it's stern laying against the back of the rock, and the bow perched carefully in the fork. The other was a War Galleon, nearly submerged completely by the waves, only a portion of it's deck peering lightly through, and then raised off at it's helm. A single mast - the middle one, it seemed - was still attached, peaking up off the ship, but not nearly as tall as the colossuses that surrounded it.
The pair continued down the gradually down-sloping coast, visualizing their surroundings. They passed by a few old shacks, worn down by rain and miscare. Delmaria swore he saw an old, wrinkled face pop out of him out through one of the windows, but brushed it off as the dust getting to him.
They finally hit a straight stretch of beach right at sea level, directly next to the alpine cliffs next to him. Delmaria was stunned at how tall they actually were - he commented to himself how they must have reached to the 3/4ths mark of that of the Padres Del Fuego volcano. The clouds swirled around them ominously, leaving a spectacle to be gazed at.
As Delmaria danced along an old, rusted metal track, probably used to cart minerals to and from the mines, John pointed out to the seas, where yet another wreckage laid out, with time on the beach itself. Only the center of the ship showed, a mast sticking out, and one hollow end of the hull popping in to vision, with the other hidden below the waves. He spoke, "There they are - those two explorer blokes. Coming to this island with no durection or what to expect is a fool's game, I tell ya!"
They finally reached the mine elevator, at the far end of the long, black beach. A small, wooden ramp led on to a small lift, that was supported by a large, solid box, connected at the side by a regular, generic wooden shack. The two proceeded in to the cramped elevator, where the both of them had just enough room to move their arms off their bodies. John closed off the door, and plopped his bag on the floor. He sighed heavily as he turned his attention up, to the low wooden ceiling above them. "As far as I know, the pulley no longer works here - so we're gonna have ta pull ourselves up." John pulled at a piece of knotted rope that sat tightly framed to the roof, slightly jolting them as he pulled it downward. Delmaria asked no questions - he was too eager to save his crew to stop. He grabbed at the rope, and began pulling downward to raise them upward.
They slowly ascended themselves up towards the top, their bodies working under serious strain as they forced themselves to continue. With each tug, a drip of sweat flung off their brow. Delmaria, who was facing outward of the island, got a chance to take singular glimpses at the bay before them, to check their progress. He was stunned at how high they had gotten in 5 minutes, doubled with the knowledge they were far from there. He was able to see the last of the gigantic pillars sticking out far from the island, like it stared at him with the taunting horror of the island.
As they finally neared the top, Delmaria was more than glad to realize he was moments away from giving his arms a rest. As they hit the top bar, which was used to prevent a function shaft from flying up, over, and out, John instructed Delmaria to pull down on the rope, as he tied to knot, to ensure that elevator would stay in it's position as they got off. He pulled the final end through, making it as close to the roof of the elevator as possible, and the two exhausted pirates grabbed their things, and stepped off on to the wooden platform.
The two proceeded down a small slope, that was surrounded at it sides by massively tall rock cliffs, jutting out sharp boulders at it's base to challenge the pirates as they carried on. Delmaria cautiously held behind John, who strutted out in front of him. The narrow passage was partially covered by a curved roof of rocks, dropping small crumbs of stone that patted against their hats as the fell to them. A stiff wind blew through that kicked up a little dry dust in their face, pausing them as they stepped out in to a small circular opening, where the ground met it's final descent, and then began to incline. The sun began to reach it's peak, as it had managed to creep over the highest edge of the walls above them.
"C'mon... we might as well get the worst part over with." John motioned Delmaria as the boy jogged lightly in the same direction, rounding a corner that was created by a shift in the path of the rocks, and disappearing behind them. Darkskull ran foward to see where he went, heading up the small hill and around the bank, to be met with a blinding blaze of sunlight. He slowed down while he tried to block the light out of his face with his hand, but felt a stern arm whip out and hit against his chest. He afixed his eyes to what was before him, only to jump backwards drastically, clutching his hand to a piece of rock that stuck out next to him.
John and Delmaria stood at the beginnings of an extremely long, slender rope bridge, spanning across the entire width of the bay of the island. The unwelcoming cliff on the other side was accompanied by a large mountain that broke high up in to the sky, looking as though it were taller than the Padres Del Fuego volcano itself. Rocky pillars stuck up over the horizon, surrounding the mountain and the areas at it's heightened base as if it were protecting something.
John gripped Delmaria by the sleeve of his coat and slowly ushered him foward, Delmaria in fear at how high up they really were. The
Shark sat off to the right of the bridge, but even it's tallest mast was not enough to come close to the meniscus of the concave bridge, that tauntingly swayed carefully in the wind. "Oh no, no no no," Darkskull shook as he attempted to step back. "I've braved many things in my short life, but if there's one thing I'm not willing to do, is trust myself against gravity."
John sighed, and let go of the pirate. He turned away from him, and continued forward on to the bridge, out to the midpoint. He turned back to face Delmaria from the far out distance, and jumped up and down, to test the stability of it. "SEE!?" he shouted out, "IT'S FINE!"
Easily, Darkskull stepped out, planting his foot firmly on the first board of the bridge. He pushed it, to make sure it would not collapse out from under him, and put his other foot on the board after that. He reached his hands out to hold his balance, and tried desperately to focus on the other cliff, as he walked a step at a time. He controlled his breath, wrapping his fingers tightly on the one thing that stood between him, and toppling over in to the dark waters far below. He felt as though he was being played with, the cliff such a time away. He watched as John continued away from him, up to the other cliff, where he leaned against a badly charred tree that tilted over the edge of the island. His pace gradually picked up, wanting even more to get this torture over with. Finally, as he neared the final reach of the bridge, he broke out in to a sprint, flying up and over the end of the bridge, on to the cliff, and landing to his knees, kissing the dirt ground before him. John chuckled as he joined the pirate at his side, humored by the sight of the fearsome man thanking that he was able to brave a bridge. Delmaria growled as he stood up.
The place they entered depressioned down at their right further, meeting up with a large hole in the wall, and then twisting right around, and heading in the opposite direction across from them, still heading downward. Of course, the biggest feature which could not be ignored, was the colossal crater that sat in front of them. Created by the sides of the cliff, and a thin wall of stone that connected the two ends of it, the gap reached down in to a dark abyss, leaving no possible way to exist what went on down there. John picked up a small pebble, and threw it down in to the hole. When they didn't here a thud for over a few seconds, they stepped back in awe. Darkskull quickly tried to shake it off, and headed in the direction of the opening to the cavern.
2
The black abyss of the cavern was dank, and still. There was no wind, and it felt as though there was no air - only a blank existence. Droplets of water fell silently in the distance, as the growling heart of the Earth moaned a faint, sorrowful song from the depths of the planet. There was no light, no hope in this dark place - only but a chamber of what seemed to be the outer ring of Hell, dark and terrifying.
Through a small, cramped crack in a rock wall of the massive maze, a sizable coven hid silently in the void, away from the terrible presence of the rest of the mine. It came up from the sides in to a dome at the top, creating a very grand sense even in it's hardly extraordinary stature. Jags of a grey, emotionless rock stuck out like spears to threaten the limited contents of the room that sat on the floor, which was only but a few rambled rocks and hard, thick dust. That, and our crew.
They huddled themselves separately against the wall, except for Wisdom, who stood roughly at the edge of the center of the room, and Firesteel, who leaned against the wall parallel to the crack. The rest of the crew was silently sitting, staring out in to space, while Grace, in a shadowy corner of the room, tended to the wounds of an ailing Buck. The wounds on his arm were amazingly gruesome - at the place where the ghost gripped his arm, the muscle was dented inward, the skin scratched away to reveal his dark red muscle, and a light peek to the piece of bone that stuck out of place. He sighed heavily as she rubbed the last of her vial to it. "I'm out. We're going to have to get out of here soon if we want to save his arm, and I don't think that ghost is willing to compensate for him if it does..."
"You'll have to do better than that. We aren't leaving this place as long as those... things run around here." Wisdom shivered as he stepped forward in the center of the room, closer to the gypsy pirate.
"You don't understand... he might die from this, Wisdom. We have to.."
"No!" Wisdom growled as he stepped forward tauntingly. Grace nearly toppled over on to Buck, but put her hand on the ground to balance herself. "We aren't taking another chance! You saw what they did to Andrea..." his voice dragged off.
"Andrea..." Buck repeats quietly, half in the world of dream, half drowsily awake.
"Wisdom, Grace is right. It has to be daytime by now, so maybe we'll serve a better chance." Andrew concerns as he pushes himself to a standing position.
Wisdom turns to Andrew and struts right up to about a meter away, pointing his finger out at him. "Listen to me Andrew, Del isn't around anymore, and that means
your not in charge of us anymore. Got that?"
On the other side of the room, Firesteel whispers to himself "He is coming for us.. he has to be..."
Wisdom turns on his heels to face Jack, but as soon as his back is to Andrew, the pirate gives a stern push to him, causing the pirate to stumble in the direction he was facing. His foot scraps along the ground, but he manages to stop himself before falling over, balancing out and spinning around back to face Andrew. He instantly unsheathed his cutlass and moved towards him. Before Andrew had a chance to back off, the pirate lunged at him, moving the blade right in between his arm and his chest, yet his blade still managed to scrap uncomfortably along the side of his body. He clenched his teeth and bursted out a long, tough cry, gripping his hand to the side as his body twisted, falling backwards to the short amount of hard ground behind him. Wisdom stood over him fearsomely, raisingly his blade to strike the final blow as the crew watched in horror - but he stopped.
Wisdom's body began to shake uncontrollably. His hand untightened, dropping his cutlass from his hand. He turned off to his side, where there stood Grace. She was now standing there, legs spread and fists clutched at her side. Her face was lowered, but her gaze violently transfixed at Wisdom. Her face crunched as her head twitched, focusing more and more on the pirate.
Wisdom's body twisted off in the direction of her, and he then fell to his knees, scrapping his hands on the ground. His spine cracked upwright, and he let a painful shriek. Grace stares right in to his eyes, and recites "I... warned... you...." She swoops up her hand past her body, and Wisdom twists a final time, landing lifelessly on the ground.
Another pirate, dead.
Grace loosens herself, taking a heavy sigh as she slunks lightly to the ground, in front of Buck. She sits there quietly, thinking over heavily of what she just did. She cups her hands around her nose and mouth, as she closes her eyes, letting out a light squeek of remorse.
Suddenly, the pounding of footsteps rounds the corner of the crevace in the wall. They crew turns and looks to their captain, with a stranger in tow, sighing in great relief when he notices the crew. But at the sight of their solemn faces, he turns his attention to the ground, and notices his fallen crewmate. He steps forward quietly, the only sense of motion in the room. He shakes his head, too overcome in emotion to say anything. "John, help Grace over there with Buck - Firesteel, grab Andrew. Let's get outta of..."
The pirates calmness was broken, as a great, tremendous moan roars from the extents of the mine.
3
"RUN, RUN RUN!" Darkskull shouts as the pirates scatter out of the mouth of the cavern. The caravan of wounded pirates leads the pack, escorted by the rest of the crew as they push in a high sprint up the light incline to the wooden bridge. Delmaria stays in the back, jogging backwards as he shoots out his eccentricly beautiful single-shotter at their persuers. A bullet nails one of the horrendous creatures in the eye socket, pushing it back in to the mine. The now strong sunlight overhead shows the true identity of the monsters.
They were but ghastly, orange blobs of what outlined in to shape of people, forsakenly dissheveled and rotted, like zombies with flesh and clothing just barely in take. They roared ungodly howls after the pirates, running after the group in a furious rage. Their eyes were blank, yet their lack of the soul burned a scarring mark in to the mind of any being. It was as though a hot brand were being pressed against your mind as you stared at them, taking only the strongest willed to fight the urge to stand and ponder.
Delmaria hurried his crew forward as they reached the rope bridge, mushing them over one by one. He turned back to take a few more pot shots at the ghostly followers, and then turned, almost taking a mindless step on to the structure. He gasped in fear, but looked back over at his chasers - and decided to take a chance. He faced back and all out ran across the bridge, flailing his arms wrecklessly as the rest of his crew watched, astonished, at the other end. He feet pounded plank after plank, his progress being marked as the areas behind him began to shake violently. A few strides from the end of the bridges, he dived in to the arms of his mates, screaming wildly. His weight pounded in to them, but they stressed themselves to catch him, his feet only a centimeter or two off the ground. They pushed him back to a standing position, as he took a strong breath, and faced them. "Well? Don't just stand there! RUN!"
The crew ran hurriedly down the hill, the mountainuous rock climbing around them as they headed downward. One of those disgusting, fiery bats came out from their hiding spot, but Delmaria rushed in front, flipped over his pistol to use the barrel as the handle, and swung the gun like a small baseball bat, sending the bugger across their way, and then exploding as it made contact with the wall. Nonchalantly, he continued forward, the rest of the crew just a little concerned about when he gained the ability to "make things blow up."
They finally reached the mine elevator, until they inevitably realized that the small carrier could only hold two people. Delmaria quickly took action, taking Buck on to his own shoulder, and sitting him down on the floor of it. "Jack, put Andrew next to Buck. John, Grace, get on to the roof and lower yourselves down." John nodded obediently, picking the pistol out of Delmaria's hand, while Grace stood their starstruck.
"The ROOF? Are you crazy?" Grace protested, throwing up her arms as she was pushed up to the shaft. John, who was on the top already, grunted as he reached his hand down and helped to pull Grace up. He reached his arm under the roof, and, with one hand, untied the knot and pulled it up to his hand, jolting it down a little. Grace gripped on to the roof that hung down from the structure that held up the rope for her life, when the rest of the crew turned in response to another loud scream. Off in the distance, the ghosts had made themselves down the little hill, to the area where the bats were. They made eye contact, and began to rush forward.
"MOVE!" Darkskull pushed off and ran in the opposite path of the fork in the wall, leading off to an unknown way. He ran a short distance, until he stopped himself dramatically at the height of a cliff as tall as the main mast of the
Shark, off in the distance. "Oh, no no no! I'll run across a bridge, but NOT on air!" Delmaria threw back his hands to stop the rest of the crew like a diva. Deadpool, in the back of the group, rolled his eyes and moved to the front, giving his captain a light tap on the back. Delmaria slowly toppled over, swinging his arms in a circle crazily. He shouted a few obscenities as he dipped over the drop, swooshing violently through the air. He could barely catch his vision as he rashly spun in the air, until he finally smacked the water with his back.
He floated himself upward, until he pertruded the surface of the water. He pushed up his drenched hair with a huff, and scooped up his hat as he paddled towards his ship.
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Nothing against you Dog - but don't worry, you'll be back in the story soon
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