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Chapter 14: The Meeting
Ivan and Stealthy started walking with each other on top of the ship’s deck, with two guards following them from behind. A man walked up to Stealthy and soon began matching his pace. “You sure you know what to do?” He asked. Stealthy nodded and continued his way through the crowded deck. “Alright, but when the boss asks about how I’ve been doing, just remember to get a good word in for me ok?”
Stealthy shook his head up and down as he smiled. “I haven’t been working on my vocabulary recently, but I’ll scan my mind for a nice word to use.” He said, dismissing his friend. “That was Thomas. I believe you met him a couple days ago.” He said, prompting Ivan’s memories of meeting him in the tavern. It was strange how back then he seemed to be in control of things, but it seemed that Stealthy had a bit more power than he had.
Stealthy led Ivan to a small dinghy on the side of the ship. After a long period without initiative, they finally figured out it was time to get onboard and lower themselves down. Stealthy got in first with Ivan following directly behind. Once they were in, the other two guards whose job was to get them to shore climbed in, shaking the entire boat on the moment of their entry.
In the air, the dingy was very shaky and unstable, but once it touched the sea, it became more and more trustworthy. Stealthy and three other pirates were situated in the boat, the other two, oars in hand, began rowing towards the small beach on the back side of the island. The waters were dark and misty, not as much as some islands, but it certainly didn’t scream “Hello, come to this fun inviting island!” Ivan was surprised they didn’t need to tie him up or anything, but he figured whoever it was guarding him would most likely be able to take him out if they needed to.
Stealthy grabbed a bottle sitting at the bottom of the boat. “Always keep one handy.” He said, smiling as he popped the cork off. “And remember to plan for it beforehand.” He added, taking a large sip from the bottle. It wasn’t long before the nearly full bottle was drained completely, much to Ivan’s surprise. He let the bottle leave his mouth as he showed it to Ivan. “I’m guessing you didn’t bring any with you?” He asked. “Shame really.”
Ivan rolled his eyes and diverted the focus back to the task at hand. “Tell me where you’re taking me, and what you’re going to do with Jack.” He asked, folding his arms.
Stealthy looked back upon him with a disappointed look in his eye. It seemed to be that he didn’t like to be on the receiving end of questions. “First,” he said, closing the bottle and placing it below the large seat. “We’ll be taking you to meet Reynard.” He said, letting his hands reach farther apart from each other. “That is what you want, aye?”
Ivan leaned back further until he was nearly falling overboard. Why were they taking him directly to Reynard? What did they want? Whatever it was, he’d soon figure out, and if there was anything in short supply, it was answers. “Yes, that is what I’ve wanted.” Ivan answered, feeling like a black hole just appeared inside his stomach. “But… why?”
Stealthy grinned and turned around to view the dark waters below. “I believe I’ve already told you why.” He said, letting his hand touch the moonlit waters. “It’s because he needs someone like you.” Stealthy rested his chin upon his hand as he gazed back towards Ivan. “To answer your second question,” he said, turning back towards the main ship. “You’re friends welfare depends on how you handle yourself with Reynard. If it doesn’t turn out as expected, well…”
“Ok, enough about that.” Ivan said, ending the subject matter. He shifted his head towards the two people rowing them to shore. “How much longer will it be?” He asked, fearing that postponing his time until the meeting would only give him more time to think about it.
One of the giant pirates rowing on the opposite side of the boat stared off into the distance, trying to get a good estimate on the arrival period. “I’d say we have a good two minutes before shore.” He said, still rowing with the intensity he had when they began only a few minutes ago.
Ivan sighed as he waited for the short journey to be over. When he met Reynard, he had nearly no idea how he was going to direct himself. His mission was to eliminate him, but some strange feeling in his gut (and no, it had nothing to do with the black hole) told him otherwise. It was almost like it was actually a good idea following through and joining him. All these thoughts eventually brought untold amounts of frustration into Ivan’s mind, as he tried to get rid of them.
’It’ll be over soon…’ He thought to himself, ready for what was about to come.
~~~~~~~~~~
Jack struggled while in the grasp of two men who both had more strength than he’d ever known. It was flat out horrifying to be under the custody of pirates, especially these ones. “Where are you taking me?” He asked them as they led him towards a dingy on the side of the ship.
“We’ll be taking you to the beach you navy scum!” One of the guards yelled, kicking Jack in the stomach. The blow was obviously intended to wreak pain upon the bearer, and it was felt as such. Jack stayed silent as he thought it would be best not to talk. His hands were tied up and even if he were able to somehow escape from their grasp, it would still be an impossibility to escape from them altogether. But now, in his pitiful state, the only thing he could do was wait for something to happen. They moved closer to the dingy as one of them climbed down the rope towards the boat. “Now how are we going to get you down there?” One of them asked, sending a horrible thought through Jack’s mind.
“No, wait… what going on AHH!” Jack was tossed down from the side of the ship and onto the waiting hands of the guard below. “Wow… that was actually a pretty decent catc- HEY!” He yelled once they instead dropped him onto the floor of the boat, much to his dismay. “You didn’t have to do it that hard.” He said, this time being answered with a quick elbow to the gut.
Now would be the best time to keep quiet. Instead of looking for a comeback, he instead kept his mouth shut as the two guards both pulled out oars, and started putting them to good use. All he could do now was be absolutely quiet, as he waited for whatever would meet him on shore.
~Five minutes later~
Jack’s face (thankfully) fell onto the cool sandy beach, the guards obviously not caring about the manner in which way they tossed him. He struggled to his knees as the guards circled around the boat, trying to get control of the situation. “Now what?” He asked, looking all around for any sign of Ivan. All there was to be found was an empty dingy not too far from where they were, presumably where Ivan and Stealthy had landed. Jack knelt down and waited for them to tell him something… anything.
One of the intimidating pirates walked in front of Jack, causing him to initiate the “prepare for boot to the face” look. “Now, we wait for your friends to return.” One of them said, motioning for the other one to come closer.
Jack reflected briefly upon the sad, sad situation. Now his only hope was to wait it out, fearing trying to escape would only make things worse. His body slowly sunk into the wet sand, forming a mold where he was kneeling. The sand was as strange as it sounded, his only threshold of sanity. Everywhere else now was either certainly or most likely to be the death of him. In his weak state, unable to move, his eyes darted all around for something to grab his attention. But everywhere he looked, he saw a wide expanse of waves, crashing into the massive rocks at the side of the beach. Other than the constant pain coursing through his body from his recent bruises, he could now rest, everything was peaceful at last.
“Aye, did you hear that noise?” One of the pirates asked, prying Jack’s eyes open.
“I didn’t hear a thing.” The other one replied, searching all around the dark beach.
The first pirate scratched his head as he too started to look around for the source of the noise. Any small change in the environment was now visible to them. Jack knew something was amiss, so instead of trying to figure something out on his own, he instead stayed still as if nothing was going on. “I know I heard something.” One of the guards said, turning back towards the boat. “Maybe it’s an empty bottle rolling around in there.” He said, boosting himself up to get a good look. “No use, I’ll have to ge- Umph!” A swift and hard blow slammed into the pirates face, knocking him out cold as he fell onto the wooden boat below.
“What was that?” The other man asked, only to feel a knife sticking it’s way into his leg. “ARGHH!” He screamed out in pain, pulling the knife out and readying himself for another strike. The next one however wasn’t frontal, but instead focused on catching him off guard. Jack glanced over to see what was going on, only to see a dark figure wrestling with the injured pirate. Now since the pirates were unavailable to guard him, Jack sprung to his feet and began racing towards the struggling pirate to help finish him off. He ran towards the two fighters who were now struggling to get each other onto the ground, raising his head in time to see one of the massive pirates throwing the other person off his back, as the man landed perfectly onto the sand below. Jack sprinted towards the man to get a good understanding of what was going on. The man was in a dark coat, and an equally dark hat and boots.
Now that he was next to the man, Jack decided to lean down and speak some strategy. “You try running him from behind, we’ll surround him and he’ll have nowhere to turn.” He said, watching his unknown ally nod as they both readied themselves for the charging pirate. The pirate took out a cutlass that shined in the moonlight and showed off its sharp edge. Now that the pirate was armed he was much more dangerous than before. Jack backed away as the other man tried to get a good angle on him. Wherever they were however, the pirate allowed both of them to be one his side, so that no one could get behind him.
The pirates smiled as he charged for Jack. Jack knew he wouldn’t be able to outrun him, so instead he waited for him to get close so he could make his move. The sword was held in his right hand, this meant he’d most likely swing it across his left side. Jack, still clasped in irons, took advantage of this knowledge, and when he was close enough, sidestepped to the left, and away from his attacker. The attacker countered with another strong swing, this one managing to barely hit Jack, but enough to keep him from trying anthing. Fortunately, the attacker’s swing was so forceful that it took time for him to recover, enough time for the mysterious man to try tackling him onto the ground.
The pirate brushed the man off as if he was made of paper, sending the man flying back once more onto the cool sand. Before the man could get back onto his feet, the pirate took a pistol from his coat pocket, set the flint back, and aimed it at Jack. Jack closed his eyes as he wondered if this could be it, if his whole life had led to this moment where he was to be defeated by a mere pirate thug. His eyes stayed shut as he endured the longest seconds of his life. Everything in his life was not to be wasted by the pulling of a simple trigger. Jack had seen it happen before to other people, but now, it was about to happen to him.
He heard a loud bang, but oddly didn’t feel the sudden pain that would most likely accompany the shot that would drag him into death. He wondered if this may be because he wasn’t mortally wounded, but upon further examination, he discovered he wasn’t wounded at all! He looked back towards the large pirate as he slowly fell to the ground. A surprising look showed on his face as he realized what instead happened. The shot didn’t come from him, but it came from his mysterious ally. Relieved, he got back to his feet and walked over to the dead pirate, taking a key from one of his many pockets. He flipped the key over and started unlocking his own irons, glancing over to make sure his rescuer hadn’t already left.
He grinned, knowing that whoever it was that found him just saved his life. “Thank you kindly,” he said, walking over to greet the man. “I was wondering how I was going to get out of that one.”
The man walked closer and gave Jack a better view of him. His face was rugged yet had a smooth texture to it, his height matched Jack’s, at a solid 6”, and oddly enough, he looked somewhat like Ivan in appearance. They shook each other’s hand, and before long the other man started walking towards the dingy. He pulled the unconscious body of the man out of the boat, and started to check his pulse. “We’ve got an hour at most.” He said, letting go of the man’s hand. “In the meantime we should find the quickest way away from any more pirates.” He said, turning his attention back to Jack. “Now why were they keeping you hostage?” He asked.
Jack literally made sure the coast was clear, as they began walking up the ledge towards the rest of Del Fuego. “Most likely because they know who I am. And I’d be none other than Commander Jack Henson.” He said, taking pride in remembering that he was a Commander.
The other man opened his eyes widely as that seemed to clarify why they were holding him. “Well,” he said, nearing the top of the beach. “We’d better get you to Fort Dundee in that case.”
Jack shook his head. “No, I’m afraid I can’t report back until I’m finished with the mission at hand.”
“And what would that be?”
“Finding and eliminating Marcus Reynard.”
The other man seemed surprised at what he just heard. “Interesting, that task seems to be pretty popular these days.” He said, stopping in his tracks. “It just so happens that I’m tasked with doing that as well.” He said, scratching his head as he looked all around the seemingly abandoned part of Del Fuego. “Would you have any idea where he may be?” he asked, being replied only to the sound of a closing door off in the distance.
“I’d start there Mr…” Jack said, freezing mid-sentence.
“Howard, just call me Howard.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Stealthy led Ivan to a clearing in the middle of nowhere. To their right was a large tent like structure, and in front of them was a large building, only recently abandoned. Walking closer to the building, they could see a small light coming from the inside through a window. Stealthy opened the door and laid his hand out towards the inside of the building. “After you.” He said.
Ivan sighed as he too reached for the door, stepping inside to feel the warm air and see the moderate lighting inside the building. Inside the stuffy house was an entire group of pirates sitting around, either talking about whatever it is that decided to cross them recently, drink rum, or the more popular option which was lie around and do absolutely nothing. In an instant, everyone in the room started focusing their eyes on Ivan, as if he was the last bottle of rum on the entire earth.
“Keep walking…” Stealthy said, noticing the other pirate’s hostile nature towards the newcomer. “Don’t make eye contact, don’t look at them, and don’t even think about them.” He said, stopping in front of a door at the edge of the building. “Well of course you must think of them since I just mentioned them, and not thinking about something someone just told you about is nearly impossible if you’re not listening, and I hope you’re listening so…”
“I believe we have a job to do?” Ivan said impatiently.
Stealthy smiled and opened the door and closed it behind him. Moving both his arms in a certain direction, he announced loudly: “Behold,” he said, laying his hands out towards a figure slowly moving closer. “I give you…” He finally looked towards the figure who was obviously not whom he thought he was. “Wait who are you?”
The man gave Stealthy a confused look. “I’m certainly not Reynard if that’s what you’re asking.” He said, pointing behind his back towards the other door leading to a much darker room. “If you want to go in there, just remember he’s not in the best of moods.”
“Yeah, I’ll remember that.” Stealthy said, gritting his teeth. “Now then Ivan, are you ready?” He asked, approaching the final door.
Ivan cleared his throat and took a deep breath. Now was the moment he’d been waiting for. His job was to make sure Reynard never did anything ever again, but right now, it would be nearly impossible for him to get away with such a thing. Luckily, the enemy led him straight to him, only for the wrong reason. Ivan fixed his coat as he and Stealthy walked quietly into the room. In the middle was a table, lit by two candles sitting at the edge. The candles gave off a surprisingly bright glow, as it was the only light needed in the whole room. Behind the table was a chair, presumably holding Reynard. Facing away from them, it didn’t give the most welcoming look, but Ivan didn’t want to complain. Stealthy moved over towards Ivan’s right, and took off his tri-corne hat.
“Sir, I’ve retrieved the Hood.” He said, bowing towards the man even though he was looking away from him. “When shall I expect my next payment?”
Reynard rested his head upon his fist, and turned his head towards the side. “You shall expect payment the next time you keep from getting compromised.” He said in a deep voice. “But, until you’re able to avoid the enemy spotting you, I’m afraid your payment will have to be on hold.” He said, getting up from his chair and turning to face them both. “Now then, let’s discuss this further.” Reynard took off his hat, and placed it on the table.
Ivan suddenly came to the horrifying realization of whom his eyes were staring at.
“Nathaniel?”
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Comments? Had to get this one off before I went off into the Appalachian Mountains!
Anyways, hope you enjoyed!