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"Hoist anchor! Open the sails and set sail!" barked the
massive Pirate Eyrie, Captain Ranx. His huge feet stomped across the creaky wooden
deck, and his talons cut into the deck wherever he stepped. He carried a shinny
silver rapier at his side and always concealed a small dagger in his sleeve. His
wings were sharp and anything that touched them would get several cuts along its
body. For this reason he excelled at aerial combat. Not far behind him trailed
a fast little Pirate Galleon, named Vator he had acquired during the plunder of
a castle, not too far from Meridell. "Alright you lazy bums let's get moving,
the wind is in our favor."
"Captain! We're being trailed by three ships,
and one of them has got at least thirty chests on it," yelled down a tiny Meerca
sitting in the crows nest, with a rusty telescope in his hand. "Odd thing is
Captain, there isn't anyone on them. So all we gotta do is slow down and steal
the gold right off the ship!"
Ranx walked back and forth across the deck.
He was thinking. Vator sat in the middle of the deck and watched the captain
think. Suddenly, Ranx stopped. "I've got it! Every pirate gather 'round."
The Meerca dropped from his lookout place as
others popped up from below deck. Others slid down from the sails or swung down
on ropes. Every pirate had now surrounded the captain and all noise ceased.
The only pirate that had not moved was a tall Pirate Krawk, named Clawfoot who
was at the wheel humming a pirate tune. Next to him was a lazy Mazzew sleeping
at Clawfoot's heels. The wheel creaked as Clawfoot turned the boat around to
face the empty ships, waking the Mazzew. The Mazzew climbed up Clawfoot, and
punched him on the nose.
"Ouch! Hey it wasn't my fault, Razz." Apart
from steering the ship, Clawfoot was also the Captain's first mate. And being
first mate meant he was the only one the captain trusted. "Razz, go make yourself
useful and drop the anchor."
Razz leaped off Clawfoot's shoulder and on to
the deck without making a sound. He sped over to the anchor and pulled the rusty
lever. It wouldn't budge, so Razz called over Vator and using all their strength
they managed to drop the anchor into the sea with a mighty splash, getting water
all over the deck and the crew. Clawfoot joined the group with the captain,
and Razz and Vator dashed to the top of the crows nest.
"Okay first, never let those scallywags drop
anchor again. Secondly, about my plan." The crew leaned in closer as the captain
spoke. "Now that gold appears easy enough to get, but it's just too easy. No
one in their right mind would leave all that gold unguarded. So we have to be
careful, because it's probably a trap. Do you know what I'm talking about?"
Every head nodded in unison signaling the captain to go on. "So I'm taking half
the crew with me to the ship. The rest of you will sail close by and sink the
other two ships. Be prepared to back us up in case anything goes wrong on the
ship. Take anything on the ships as prisoner and any gold that's with them.
Now line up!"
The crew lined up as Ranx chose who would stay
and who would go. Among the ones going there was Ranx, Clawfoot, the Meerca
in the crows nest, a Shadow Lupe, and three identical Shoyrus that all wore
an eye patch on their right eye. "Alright men, into the jolly boats!" the captain
barked. "As for the rest of you, arm the cannons and lift anchor."
The crew scrambled for the cannons, and loaded
them with spiked cannon balls. The captain flew towards the jolly boats. But,
he noticed something tugging his tail. He turned to see Vator. "No Vator, you
stay here with Razz and the rest of the crew." The Galleon flew off whimpering.
"He'll get over it," he said to himself. Ranx blasted through the air and landed
in the jolly boat, with a small thud scratching the Meerca with his sharp wings.
"Let's go paddle pets, paddle. What are you waiting for, an invitation?"
The jolly boat moved across the sea towards
the empty ship, the waves occasionally tilting the tiny vessel to the side.
The captain barked orders while the others paddled for what seemed like hours.
But the ship always seemed to be the same distance away.
"Captain, maybe if we flew it wouldn't take
so long," complained the scrawny Meerca. "And you know, umm... maybe you could
fly us…."
Ranx was about to punch the Meerca, but then
he heard Clawfoot say, "He's right, flying would get us to the ship a lot faster."
"Well, FINE," the captain yelled, "but they're
flying us," the captain said pointing to the Shoyrus.
The Shoyrus pulled at the sides of the boat,
lifting it above the water. And flew it over to the seemingly empty ship. The
crew leaped out of the jolly boat, and onto the deck.
"Well, I see why we weren't moving," Ranx said,
annoyed. "We were stuck between two rocks."
"That was a waste of time," the Shadow Lupe
said, between clenched teeth.
Ranx fired his weapon upwards to signal the
ship to destroy the other two ships. "Alright now about those chests, the Shoyrus
and I will fly them back to the main ship and Clawfoot will search the ship
for anyone on board."
"What do I do?" asked the Lupe.
"Stay here and don't get killed," laughed the
captain as he grabbed a treasure chest and flew off to the ship.
"You can come with me below deck," offered Clawfoot.
"By the way what is your name?"
"Vile," the Lupe smiled. "I'm kind of an antisocial
so most of the crew doesn't know me. Hey what happened to that Meerca?"
"I don't know? Maybe he went below deck," Clawfoot
thought. "Let's check it out."
Clawfoot kicked down the door that lead to below
deck. Vile followed him with his sword at the ready. As they crept through the
hallway, Clawfoot gripped his sword tighter, sweat dripping down his face even
though the passage was quite cool. A faint white light illuminated through the
room. Even though they wanted to turn back they couldn't. Some mysterious power
was drawing them closer to the light. Creakkkkkkk creakkkkkkk! Vile turned
and opened his mouth to scream but no noise escaped his mouth. His face went
white and he fell with thud. Clawfoot turned to see a Ghost Meerca staring him
in the face with a white saber in his hands. Clawfoot kicked Vile in the side
with so much force he flew through the ghost Meerca and landed on the other
side of the room.
Vile stood up and pulled out his sword. "I think
we found that old Meerca, but a little too late." Swinging his sword he slashed
the ghost in half. "Run! Run for your life!"
Clawfoot broke into a mad dash, running through
the hallway. Vile followed not too far behind. The white light grew brighter
as they ran closer, illuminating the hallway so that Clawfoot and Vile couldn't
see anything. Tripping and hitting the wall as they ran they were led into a
huge room with walls of fire surrounding them. The source of the white light
was a white stone that was surrounded by ghosts determined to protect it. Fire
blocked off their exit and the spirits of the ship prepared to attack.
CRASH! The ghost ship had crashed into
their ship sending to the bottom of the sea. Water flooded in through the huge
hole in the side of the ship. The spirits disappeared and the white gem lost
its shine. Clawfoot and Vile were submerged.
In between breaths Clawfoot managed to speak.
"Don't worry. It's shallow water. We can stand at the bottom."
But Clawfoot was wrong. The sea floor opened
up and swallowed the ghost ship and the pirate ship. Ranx tried to fly away
but his wings would not lift him. The ships sank into a bottomless ocean as
the sea floor closed above them. In his last breath Clawfoot grabbed the white
gem and broke it. The ghost ship disappeared, and as Clawfoot ran out of breath
he smiled. Strange though, if you had seen it yourself, you would have sworn
the ship sank in shallow water.
The End
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