Thank you mates!
Sorry this took a while mates, but between Real Life, and the overall length of this chapter, it was quite the ordeal. But, I finally managed to get myself to finish it! And so, without further adue, I present to you all:
Liberation and Captivation
Delmaria, John, and Lawrence returned to their makeshift home quietly and undisturbed, the rest of the fortress still sleeping, unaware of what had transpired the evening before. They were met, however, quite warmly, as the rest of the crew was left restless after Lawrence and John went to the aid of their captain. The rest of the crew had prepared a hearty breakfast of pork, eggs, and rum, all of which had been stolen beneath the grubby hands of the towns citizens the day before. The crew was eager to head off the island, but Darkskull persisted they were to stay for just a few more hours. "I have a plan.", he told them.
The next morning, the sky was once again clear and crystal, shining like a mirror of the glorious ocean that gleamed at itself. The port was filled with a great bustle, for what was to be occurring. All through the night, the Navy was occupied with making the public hangings of all the Libertist pirates they were able to capture.. before they killed themselves, at least. They had set up gallows in the side-fort over by the market place, right past the marching grounds, picking off the pirates six at a time on the hour. As the sun rose, the crowds around the area grew, and the bodies rose. Yet the Navy saved the best for last, so that all the dignitaries and people of the island may observe the last and most anticipated hanging, at noon - that of Libertist Admiral Edward Low.
Masses of people had flooded the floor of the fort, with Navy Officers and British Officials looking down like vultures to their prey. Among them was Lord Ambrose Royals - and he himself was a spectacle. His right eye was swollen black, and bruises danced around his face and body. Ever so often, the people around him would turn to take a glance at the shipwreck of a man, to which he turned them away with a snarl.
At the far side of the fort, across the entrance, was a small, wooden door, which led in to a jail-like area - a wall of cells lined the right side, and on the other, was a wall of separated openings that looked out over the grand ocean and all its glory. It's here where out vigilant crew worked hurriedly, using their cutlasses to hastening cut open the locks of the cells, hurrying the ragged jail dogs out. Delmaria, in his great black outfit, brimmed hat and all, stormed in to his crew. "Are all the wires set?"
Andrew, who was digging his blade in to the last cell, yelled "Aye captain! All factors are as go!"
"Excellent! Ok, Andrew, Dead, ferry these scurvy knaves down to the docks. The rest of you, assume your positions. I'll be in here to set the fuse."
On his word, the crew automatically flipped up the hoods of their long robe-like coats, draping their head and down in to their vision, and scurried quickly out in to the crowd that waited out in the fort. Once they left, Delmaria walked over to the openings in the wall, and leaned over one of them, taking a breath of the soft ocean air that swirled around him. For just a moment, the roar outside calmed - it was only him and the ocean, thinking and moving back and forth subconsciously as one, the pirate and it's only master. He was at his nirvana.
And then, the great forthcoming.
The crew, who had scattered themselves throughout the crowd, turned their attention with the rest of the jammed fort to the entrance, where a path was formed, along with two Navy soldiers, side-by-side, dragging in what seemed to be a person. As they passed, the crowd erupted in jeers and calls, throwing both words and objects at the prisoner, who was purposely exposed by the Navy for humiliation before execution. His clothing was tattered and soaked and blood, with a dingy potato sack over his head.
They dragged the poor soul up across a flight of wooden stairs that led to the platform of the gallows, where now they had a clear view of everything that transpired before them. The stocky man was decorated in a nearly destroyed, mangled outfit, that was both regal and rebellious, golden studs running over the shoulders, vest, and arms of the dark black jacket. The two soldiers tugged his coat off, handing it to another soldier who waited off at the side. They then proceeded to pull off the bag over his head, revealing to the crowd the bloodied face of the Admiral.
Delpadros stood up from chair that watched directly down towards the gallows, and flicked his hand to hush the crowd. When they all were silenced, he began to speak. "Mr. Low, any final words before you return to where you belong?"
At that call, the crew spread out and took a quiet standing behind a few of the Navy soldiers that stood at attention in the fort. John rushed back to the jail, where his captain stood, staring blankly in to space. When their eyes met, Darkskull instantly nodded, and drew his sword, cutting it along the floor to ignite the string, the flame creeping along it, out the door, and in to the fort.
As the spark moved quickly, Dead and Buck moved along either side of it, pushing people that were unknowing as to what was going on off its path. The string had one flight path in mind - the gallows.
Up on the gallows, Low stood, his head lowered and his eyes half closed. He seemed to be thinking - but instead, he was waiting. He waited until he began to hear the faint noise of a sizzling off in the background. At that, he turned his head up, as the flame along the wire neared its final destination. He looked Delpadros square in the eyes, and said, with a smile, "You lose, mate."
The instant the spark made contact with the crates of gunpowder, they instantly ignited, exploding in a great boom that took out the two back legs of the gallows. Dozens of people were lifted off their feet, thrown in the air by the great fireball, as Dead and Buck ran to the now collapsed structure, where the Admiral had rolled to on the ground before him. As they ran to recover their comrade, the crew made a swift cut with their blades across the throats of the soldiers they were standing near, ripping off their cloaks and hurrying to meet up with the others so they could rush to the bay.
Delmaria rounded out of the jail to observe over the scene - the great, beautiful chaos. Masses of people were thrown rampant, running in every direction possible to move, somewhere. As Darkskull stepped out of the shadows, he turned his attention the sky, pulling out his pistol. He watched up on the ledge as his son protested what was going on, banging his fist in terror on the stone slab as he shouted over and over in to the fort. His red, horrific face finally turned in the general direction of Delmaria, all the way yonder. The pirate readied his pistol and aimed it, leaving a wash of unexpected terror on the dignitary's face. "Politics are politics.", he whispered under his breath, shooting the bullet through the air. It took only a second for the projectile to take his son in a twist down to the floor, out of vision.
As the captain ran off to catch up to his crew, John chased after him. "By God Captain, what was that!?"
"Relax," the pirate assured as he briskly made his way down the stone ramp, "any pirate with good vision could tell all I did was pierce him in the shoulder. Fortunately for us, I hit him over his good arm."
1
The Victory Shark waked quietly in the warm ocean waters below, rocking side to side as the great gusts of wind came and knocked waves on to the deck. The night was dark, with only being able to see maybe thirty feet off the side of the ship. The rest was a void, hidden in the droplets of water that swirled through the air. The ship was alone, the outside quiet. But the inside of the ship was just the contrary.
The two crews, Darkskull's and Low's alike, mingled with each other below the deck, in the crews quarters. They chatted, rambled, and laughed, as they tried to out-do the other crew in terms of strength and stories. The wind roared outside, but the bustle within the quarters was overpowering it with ease.
Up in Captain's Quarters, Delmaria and Low were alone, both wielding long, narrow sabres. They had been practicing their technique throughout the night, trying to get to the other round after round, game after game. Both had begun to break a sweat, but the competitiveness between the two comrades was enough to keep them both occupied well in to the night. They would take a few seconds in between each round to laughingly exchange either insults or compliments, then throwing immediately back in to the duel. It must have been at least three hours, a little after midnight, before Low was able to cut his blade and knock Delmaria's saber out of his hand, flying it across the room. Darkskull turned to the captain and said "Touché, Admiral."
"Ah, you're not so bad yourself, mate." Edward set as he let down his blade. "Gah, I'm getting too old for all this pirating business."
"What do you mean, Admiral?" Delmaria stopped in his tracks as he was stunned by what he heard.
Edward continued to run his cleaning rag along the blade. "You know too well what I mean. I'm well past my prime, mate. My bones creak and my legs ache. After the little switch-a-roo I pulled in Martinique at the gallows, I suspected the world lost sight of Captain Edward Low. Unfortunately, I was mistaken, hmm? Needless to say, my involvement as a pirate has begun to bring more terror than prosperity. After I can get back to the nearest port, I'll be sailing off, alone, to a quaint little village up in forests of eastern Mexico. Safe and away from prosecution, where I can hopefully live a peaceful elder life."
"Oh, like I haven't tried that, mate." Darkskull said as he went behind his desk to sit down. "I've made plenty of attempts to seek refuge from civilization."
"Ah, but Delmaria, your failure to do so isn't that you couldn't do it, it's that you didn't want to do it. As much as you try to convince yourself you never wanted this life, that rush that tingles in you veins... you taste it once and only want more, eh?"
Delmaria leaned back in his chair to think. Was he really the civil, quiet person he thought he was, condemned to his waters, or did he really subconsciously force himself to not give up on the life of pillaging and plundering? He didn't want to go in-depth, as he was tired. But a quick snap in his mind led him to change the subject. He immediately tugged out a folded piece of paper he had in his pocket, and unfolded it.
"Admiral, I now remember why I came to see you. I found this map here on the person of the now deceased Don Victorio, bless his soul, cradled in his cold, dead hands aboard his death voyage. Needless to say, it must be something if he gave his life for it. I tried to decipher it, but it's... different." Darkskull took the ancient piece of parchment and handed it to Low.
The map was less than ordinary - it was not a map of the actual Caribbean, but just random areas thrown unorganized all over the place, out of order and coordination. It was surrounded by words in all sorts of languages, unnoticeable and unreadable. The sight of it nearly gave the Admiral a headache, but he certainly recognized it. "I remember seeing this somewhere... just, not sure where. All I can tell you is that that little island right there seems to be.. well... it looks like..."
Delmaria instantly raised his hand to silent the pirate. They looked around, to the faint noise of creaking. Delmaria slowly walked over to the window of his ship, and, through the fog that covered them, say something moving, from the back of the ship to the side. It was more of a flutter than a solid shadow, but nevertheless, terrifying. Darkskull watched it move along the side of the - followed by a fierce flash, like the crack of lightning followed by thunder.
The entire ship jolted back and forth, as if they were being attacked from all angles. Delmaria fell to the ground with a thud, bringing his hat off his face to frantically look about the earth quaking cabin. The Admiral was using the desk as a support, swiping Darkskull's cutlass of the table, and tossing it to him. Darkskull staggered to his feet, caught the handle, and busted down the little hallway, through the door, in to the night.
The wind whirled and the water flew as the waves slammed over the deck, creating a great, dramatic effect that swirled around him. Delmaria yelled across the ship to bring all crewmen to attention, as they spilled out from the hull, running to any cannon in sight. They were caught of guard, straggling, but the two combined crews moved with swiftness and anger that strived them to create chaos amongst the enemies as was done to them. Suddenly, a large, firm hand clamped down on his shoulder, and the captain faced Low, who pointed his attention to the sea, on both sides. "Look!"
Delmaria turned to see the running about of sets of triangular sails, a vibrant green with golden crescents that hung down in its shape almost down to the slender, sleek hull. There was not one, however, but three attack ships, moving around the Shark fiercely in a circle. "Corsairs!? What in God's name is... BAH!"
"Shall we send them to the locker, captain?" Lawrence shouted as he ran from the main deck, up the stairs, to his captain.
"No, no. They're too quick to hit. Look-" Delmaria pointed to a noticeably bigger ship between the three. "That one. We'll need to board it."
"Aye aye! ALL PIRATES, LOAD YOUR HOOKS AND AIM FOR THEIR ARMS!" Lawrence shouted as he ran off to the side. As he reached the side, the middle mast of the massive War Frigate toppled over to the right side. The great creaking and splintering as it fell magnified as it swooped through the air, almost flying in the wind to land off in to sea with an amazing splash. The cannon fire raged through the enormous distraction, hurling from both sides as a few cannoneers tried to grapple the grand Xebec. Their shots just fell practically short due to the wind, until a lucky shot latched down on to it. The Xebec was in no comparable weight to the War Ship, so a single hook slowed it enough to allow the others to bring down a few more. They then attacked the ropes to the gigantic pulley system, pushing with their might in a circle of labor to turn the ship in to them. This went on as the two other ships fired down, and the free crew of the ship fought them off with anything from heavy round shot to simple knives and spoons that they shoved in to the cannon.
As the side of the two ships met, the sight became clear - a crew of about eighty aboard the War Frigate against close to two hundred running above and below. Darkskull instantly pulled up a rogue plank, torn from the ship, and laid it down between the two, instructing to his crew "Let's show these Barbary bastards who boss, aye aye?!"
As he yelled, a Corsair jumped on the board he had laid down and came at him. Delmaria instantly flew his cutlass and cut down across the chest of the pirate, sending him bleeding in to the rough waters below. "Move pirates, move!" The captain yelled, followed by a flood of Shark's crew pouring over the little planks laid in between the two ships, and on to the deck of the Xebec. Delmaria was one of the last to come over, and by that time, the battle was already in full swing. Each pirate was left to himself to fend off two Corsairs, but they were doing a good enough a job as was. As he feet slammed to the wet, lightly colored deck, the pirate ran straight in to the mix, taking his first jab through the Corsair's stomach. Almost as if it were instinct, three other Corsairs came down upon the Captain, but they their light sabres were easily deflected by the thick, heavy cutlass.
The middle Corsair came in with a thrust, but the captain was easily able to curve around it and return with a deep cut that ran from the Corsair's right shoulder down to his pelvis, then running off and chopping the Corsair next to him in the leg. As the two fell in pain, the third came rushing in with a flurry of spins and jabs. His accuracy was incredible, but his blade went only so far as meeting with the golden sword. Finally, in his drunken rage, the Corsair slipped on a pool of blood and fell, and Delmaria took that advantage by jabbing him in the foot.
Delmaria then called on a few of the double-teaming crew mates off on the bow to begin to make a push towards the cabin of the ship, to which they did. The crew pushed back the remaining Corsairs with quick jolts and stabs that blockaded them backward, across the deck and the longboats, behind the masts, all the way up to the wall of the cabin. There were about twenty Corsairs left, as opposed to fifty of the Darkskull/Low crew remaining. Low walked to the front of the oppression line and yelled "Drop your weapons, or he'll make sure you do!" he then turned his attention to the man who looked like the first mate of the ship, richly draped in soft silk and linen. "You! Instruct the other two Xebecs to cease their fire, lest they want to be killed too!"
The Corsair's unwillingly raised their hands and dropped their blades to the ground, as the first mate ran to the masts, and, with the help of a few crew men, lowered the beautiful green and gold pennon, and raised the doused white flag. The crew erupted in victory as the Corsair's surrender waved in the sky. Meanwhile, Darkskull had other things on his mind.
2
"What is the meaning of this!?" the old, weathered Algerian man protested as Delmaria, Low, and a few other crewmen walked in to the lavish quarters. There was a long table dressed in eccentrically designed cloth, that was covered in gold and silver bowls, plates, and other dining tools, drown about. The old Algerian stood surrounded by a few other, younger advisors, who were dressed in to the same extravagant style as he - the flowing silk, the crowning jewels, the dangling trinkets. The all stood their defensively, cautious.
"I should ask the same thing, Your Excellency. Is it just a coincidence that a group of the mighty Dey's corsairs come to ambush me, thousands of miles from the homeland?" Delmaria asked as he reached the far end of the table.
"You have no business in knowing our trials or ordeals in these waters! We are on official business, a-"
"So you decide it proper to risk the structure and stability of your own country to come and fight a simple, resting pirate ship? Hmpf. Guess my assumptions of your inability to fill ben Hassan's shoes were corre-"
"BEN HASSAN WAS NOTHING MORE THAN A FOOL!" the Dey cried. "I will not stand here and let my title be tarnished! Do you are to with us, if you must!"
"Rest assured, Your Excellency, nothing will be done to harm you any further, if you're willing to answer a question or two." Delmaria slyly negotiated.
"Fair enough." Pasha nodded.
"Firstly, why are you here in the Caribbean?"
Abdy sighed as he paced along his side of the cabin. "A few months ago, I received a message from one Lord Ambrose Royal's, from Port Royal. He told me we had business to discuss in terms of our current trade agreement, but felt that it would be appropriate for me to come instead of a dignitary. We met with him just a few days ago on Kingshead, but just a day ago, he ordered a change of plans. He ordered us that if we were to keep any trading ties with the New World, we were to capture and kill a one Captain Delmaria Darkskull. Too much of an offer to refuse."
"An honest start. Now, next question," Delmaria tugged the old piece of parchment, and shoved it in to the arms of the Dey. "Any idea what that is?"
The Dey unfolded the map and read over it for a good five minutes, before he puzzled and handed the map back. "It was definitely Arabic... but the wording was very strange. One could say that would date back to the time of Muhammad himself, but even I doubt that. The only imitative you might be able to follow is the one port that was mentioned on there - Havana."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm actually very proud of myself I was able to incorporate actual people in to the story
My apologies to Dog for not being able to hit him in here, but I think it might be possible in the next one.
Well, what did you all think? Please, if you read my story, don't feel shy to comment and review. I know there are alot of pirates out there that read, but don't comment. So, please be sure to review, it'll only make me writing better!
Thanks mates!