Walking the Plank

     Set in the middle of the vast ocean, no seagulls cried with the salty breeze. Not a sound seemed to be made in the wide, golden rays of the sun. The only thing that laid gently rocking against the low tides was the Black Pawkeet, a lot more silent than usual.

     Aboard the docks, Jacques sat depressed next to the edge of the ship, hanging his head over the side of the railing. There was a pinch of guilt and low self-esteem in his stomach that couldn't quite fade, and no matter how Jacques glanced at it, everything seemed hopeless. How could they simply go on? Everything was lost, even in this tranquil setting. Finally there weren't any annoying seagulls. Finally there wasn't a high wave in sight. Finally the sun shone through white, gentle clouds. Yet, everything felt like the beginning of a storm without that special someone to guide the crew.

     Jacques perked up his ears to the sound of soft feet walking toward him. Without much moving, he peered slowly out of the corner of his eye to see who was confronting him. Not surprised, Jacques found Talak, the orange Wocky, standing behind him, shifting uneasily with miserable eyes.

     "What is it?" Jacques asked, a slight frown over his face.

     Talak glimpsed up at the First Mate, but almost instantly glanced back down at the floorboards of the Black Pawkeet. He held his hands behind his back and circled his foot nervously across the floor. "I was wondering…" Talak hesitantly began. "I was wondering if you thought we could've saved him. Do you think he's alright?"

     Talak's low tone made everything sound even more depressing, and Jacques made an uncertain, long sigh. There was an eerie moment of silence as Jacques gazed blankly down at the deep, turquoise waters, pondering over the events that occurred yesterday. When Jacques glanced back to Talak, the Wocky looked as if he were about to burst out crying. "Heh, Garin's an unbreakable shield! Don't worry mate, he'll be back in no time," Jacques's voice was persuading, but it didn't hold enough assurance.

     "Okay, Jacques, if you say so," Talak mumbled softly, hunkering off to the crew's cabin.

     With that, Talak was off, and Jacques resisted the urge to chase after him and comfort the poor chum, but he stared restlessly down at the ocean, the drained feeling surged back to him. Without the captain to run the Black Pawkeet, all hope was lost.

     * * *

      Suddenly he could feel a hard, warm surface on his back, and like waking from a nightmare, he had finally started to come to his senses. At first he fought with everything to come out of the blackness, until his eyes started to loosen and gradually open. Slowly the blurriness of his vision started to fade, and he could hear several quiet noises. There was a light crashing noise not too far away that kept vanishing then returning. Waves on a beach, the pet concluded to himself. A familiar smell wafted into his nose as his body turned completely conscious. That scent…the sun baking the earth, he thought.

      Everything became visible. He was happily back to normal, but as Garin wriggled to lie on his elbows, he noticed his surroundings were not quite the same as usual. Why was he lying within a modern-day, white boat on a sandy coastline? Why was there a human sitting a few yards away from him, fiddling with some sort of leafy necklace?

      "Wait…that's my necklace!" Garin cried hastily.

      The human spun her head around to him and peered down at Isca's item, then smiled warmly. Garin just scurried out of the small boat with angered eyes and gritted teeth. He dashed towards the teenager, but before he could get even near her, he staggered in circles and fell flat on his face in gritty sand.

      Must've been unconscious with how awful I'm walking, Garin considered, and he shook his head free from the ground. When he peered up, very angered, he realized the human was laughing in amusement at him. His frustration increased, and he clenched a fist irritably. Who is this woman? he thought. She must be some menace who captured me while my crew was asleep.

      Yet the human didn't appear to be any menace. She was awfully tall and especially slender, which didn't quite go with her lengthy, silk black hair. Her glasses were thin and narrow, settled on her nose but pushed back often to her honey-brown eyes. He hadn't seen pirate clothes in such an earthly long time, so of course Garin easily noticed her straight, fresh khakis and black shirt.

      Still, as Garin gazed down at Isca's neckband, he jolted a hand forward to snatch the thing. Somehow the strange girl was quicker, and she pulled the item away from him. "So you've awoken, Garin. This is Isca's necklace, isn't it?" the woman asked curiously.

      Garin held his narrowed eyes but unclenched his fist and relaxed his gritted teeth. He knew he had to stay calm in order to get the Maraquan necklace back. This human was just toying with him, as it appeared. "You want an autograph, huh?" Garin questioned uneasily.

      The woman frowned with confusion, but understood moments later what the infamous pet had meant. "I found you a few miles from here, drifting in the ocean. I wondered how you got there, but you were unconscious, and I didn't want the Jetsams to get you. So I brought you here," she explained in an emotionless tone.

      "Who are you…?" Garin stopped himself. A memory suddenly tugged at his mind with this human's words. Drifting in the ocean? How in the world did he get there from yesterday?

      Now everything made sense. Yesterday the Black Pawkeet was sailing off west during twilight, but he had heard an extremely raucous clamor nearby to find that another ship of ruthless pirates, the Sea Talon, was steering full power toward Garin and his crew. The ship was colossal, a bit larger than Captain Scarblade's vessel, accessorized with cylinders of wood bent viciously down along the hull to represent claws, and painted navy blue across the railings. Garin could feel the ship almost block the wind as it neared the Black Pawkeet, cannons lowered for an attack.

      From the deck Garin ordered several pets in his crew to grab weapons and ready the cannons. Jacques swiftly came to Garin's side and handed him the Maractite weapon without saying further word.

      Taking the weapon made Garin have a sudden sting inside him that told him about Isca. He knew that when he swam to the surface to command the Black Pawkeet once again she had been rather irritated, and even after he saw what pirates like Captain Scarblade could do; Garin still wanted a life of piracy. Ending his train of memories, he decided he would visit her later, possibly after reaching Scurvy Island once again.

      The captain of the Sea Talon, a rather scruff-looking pirate Uni, cried aloud to his crew something about taking this ship's treasure and using this filthy vessel as scraps to add on as accessories for his own. But when the pirate Uni found out which illustrious fighter was on board, the captain chose a different plan. His crew outnumbered Garin's, and battling as much as possible, the Sea Talon took Garin and sailed out, leaving the Black Pawkeet to rot in the middle of sea.

      "So who are you?" Garin asked the woman as she rose to her feet.

      Another bright, toothless smile. "I'm Emerald_Faerie213, but please, call me Emerald," she replied humbly, shoving her glasses up from her nose in a soft manner. She brushed the sand vigorously around her legs and off her shoulders with one hand, while holding Isca's necklace delicately in the other.

      Garin stared intensely down at the magical Maraqua item with overwhelming sadness and yearned to have it back. That was the only way he could ever see Isca, ever apologize and persuade her to let him be a pirate. Once again, the object erupted a harsh pain in his stomach, leaving him guilty and regretful. Why did he just leave the Maraqua Aisha like that? But, of course, he could never abandon being pirate. How could he just desert the life of seeking treasure, thieving riches, and exploring the unknown?

      Either Emerald noticed his gaze at his object or felt the need to rightfully give it back to him, for the human neatly handed it to Garin, breaking him away from his thoughts. Garin felt much better with the necklace in his pocket, but there was still that never-ending pain inside him. The images of Maraqua and Isca flashed in his mind.

      "I know how much that means to you," Emerald commented in explanation for giving it back. Her tone was soothing, comforting Garin remarkably.

      "Yeah…" Garin sighed in agreement, lowering his ears and staring down at the ground. He hadn't much else to say.

      This Emerald proved to be rather courteous, however, when she dropped the subject and offered kindly, "Well, I'm convinced your crew might not find you for a while. Please, you may stay at my neohome for now and do as you wish. So let's go inside and give you a hearty meal."

      Garin's ears jolted upward and his sapphire eyes grew large. "Food? Are you kidding me? I haven't had anything in decades!"

     * * *

      "Careful!"

      The Black Pawkeet slowly started toward the bay cautiously, careful not to knock into any protruding sea cliffs as they swerved into the shallows, fitting just barely through the jutting rock.

      Just for the time being, Jacques took the role as the captain of the Black Pawkeet until Garin would return; at least, that was what he hoped. Being captain was not exactly his best idea of pirating. He had to choose thoughtfully where to head and had to scavenge information for a good thieving. Not only that, but Jacques didn't have much of any idea of what Garin's future plans consisted of, resulting in Jacques not exactly matching up to the old captain.

      Still, the Kyrii tried his utter best at being a good captain. Hence, he directed the crew into a small bay on Scurvy Island, a grand spot to hide the ship in case the Sea Talon and its crew decided to stop by. The crowding, piercing walls of slate could tear anybody like scissors cutting through tissue paper. Even though getting out of the cove would be rather difficult, the Black Pawkeet was much tinier than many ships lately and could squirm its way through.

      Jacques left most of the crew on board the vessel and went trudging on to the pirate's diner, along with Talak, a purple Kougra named Dominick, and a pirate Shoyru named Tessa. When they arrived inside the dark eatery, Jacques set about gathering as much information about Garin and the Sea Talon as possible.

     * * *

      The neohome Emerald lived in was certainly immense and roomy, placed a few yards up shore on the beach. The house was more wide than tall, painted a calm blue-green to represent the ocean and two baby palm trees growing in the front. When Garin entered through the front door, there was a massive kitchen with a marble counter off to the side, a comfortable living room, and beautiful spiraling stairs to the back. Garin was too impressed to seat himself at the counter.

      Emerald strode in towards the stairs and hollered loudly to the walls, "Jenna, come down! I think you might like our guest!"

      There was a second of quiet, and then a muffled, sweet voice sounded. "Okay!" it answered, and a rapid, loud thumping was heard across the stairs. Someone was rushing down to greet Garin.

      Garin observed as a figure appeared and revealed herself from down the stairs, holding something flinching tight in her arms. When the pet leaped down the last two or three steps, she stopped directly in front of Garin, showing herself to be a white Aisha, her ears hung back past her jagged purple hair and her body covered in a black robe. Her indigo eyes were merry and kind, petrifying Garin in his place. Within her arms she held an Anubis puppy, squirming deep into her for warmth.

      "Jenna, you should know that this is Garin," Emerald introduced happily, stepping back a bit to give Garin and Jenna meeting room. "Garin, this is Jenna, my only pet. She has kept me company for quite a few years now."

      Jenna fixed the Usul a heart-hammering smile and Garin couldn't budge at all. "I can't even quite believe this. Am I truly meeting this honorable savior of Maraqua?" she asked delightedly. Garin could see every bit of her face light up with joy.

      Crossing his arms in a tight manner, Garin smirked and answered smugly, "I'm just a swashbuckling pirate who happened to meet Isca, that's all." His voice held a proud atmosphere.

      But Garin suddenly felt astonished at what flowed from his mouth, and yet, the sentence seemed perfectly normal. Just mentioning Isca made him feel as if saying the name to Jenna wasn't right. In a way, Jenna was fairly similar to Isca in that they both were friendly, kind, and Aisha; nonetheless, they had different face structures, different hair, and especially different opinions about him. Garin was entirely convinced that Isca was down in her underwater room right now, disgusted with the pirate hero.

      They all had a hefty seafood lunch, to Garin's delight, although eventually Jenna grew rather…annoying with her politeness. Garin wasn't exactly sure how this came to be, but her behavior turned out to be tiring. Still, Emerald afterwards offered Garin a boat ride.

      "Sure, I'll be glad to take up on your proposal," Garin accepted, setting down his fork noisily and wiping the corners of his mouth with an awkwardness. Since the Usul had been a pirate for quite some years, table manners were rather difficult, though Garin still tried his best.

      Emerald raised an eyebrow at his gawky gestures, but caught her stare and went quickly back to the conversation. "I'll be happy to take you all the way to new Maraqua, if you wish." She politely smiled.

      The words were like a poison to Garin. His eyes suddenly went somewhat large, and as he was chewing down another potato fry, he suddenly started to cough considerably. Very considerably. He had no idea why his body decided to make him near to choking, if it was his body, but quickly the coughing grew extremely horrible until at last Jenna made a terrified face and smacked him across the back for assistance.

      Why did it seem like just mentioning Emerald taking him to Maraqua was painful? He wasn't even the least bit ready to apologize to Isca. He hadn't had any time to come up with a brilliant speech.

      Emerald acted like she didn't have any idea of why he had swallowed his food wrong, though Garin could tell, after puffing for air, that the owner knew the exact situation. Yet the pirate couldn't tell if Emerald disliked it or understood completely. Garin just snatched up his wrinkled napkin and stroked his lips again, trying to be at least civilized after the incident.

      "Is it too much to take you to King Kelpbeard's land?" Emerald asked with an edgy tone. Garin glanced to Jenna for a moment, and the Aisha appeared mystified, uncertain, and a bit disgruntled with her owner all at the same time. For a second she gave Emerald the most irritated, angry glare. Her eyes lit up for a few seconds, and she budged her head a little left toward the hero to hint to be polite.

      Garin cleared his throat raucously and turned abruptly back to Emerald. "Oh no, I'll be much looking forward to traveling there," Garin lied, giving an anxious, fake smile as he twirled the straw in his glass of Neocola. In the silence the stirring was loud and unnatural.

      "Alright then, better get the boat ready," Emerald replied, hopping gently off the stool and walking toward the front door. She disappeared out of the house with Garin and Jenna following.

     * * *

      The sea was still fairly calm, though the sun now blazed through the wide-open sky, leaving Garin scorching on the boat. He lay limp across the back of the boat, his fur damp from sweat and the rays burning down on him. The only problem with being a pirate was that when there really came a heat wave, you couldn't exactly escape the ship.

      He knew just lounging in the back, too exhausted and blistering hot to help Emerald out with any work, was awfully discourteous, but he couldn't stand it. Jenna even appeared slightly boiling, but she didn't have thick fur like Garin did. She didn't even have near as much insulation.

      Suddenly, just when Garin thought he'd explode, the boat stopped floating forward. Garin weakly pulled his head up and glanced about, dragging himself to his feet while moaning. "What is it?" he asked hoarsely, leaning on the mass for support.

      Emerald smiled warmly and answered, "We're here. Right above Maraqua. I suppose you haven't lost your necklace?"

      Garin stiffened. "Yes, I do have it," he assured her, searching the pocket of his shirt. In a matter of seconds he pulled out a dried seaweed neckband and draped it hesitantly over his head. But as he was jerking out the item, a flask poked out from the same pouch.

      "Is that…the potion? The potion from the Drenched that Jacques stole?" Jenna inquired, absolutely astonished. She gasped, her eyes enlarging in awe, and unintentionally drew out a shaky hand to reach for the glass.

      Garin flung her hand away, however, to avoid the stretch, and drew out the liquid. He gave Jenna a bewildered glare as he rolled the bottle slowly in his paws, the sun's rays glistening across its surface. Jenna dropped her hand instantly and regretted her subconscious actions with a sour face.

      "Please, Garin, let us come with you, if it isn't too much trouble. You will need company," Jenna argued calmly, her voice soft and coaxing. She wrapped her indigo cloak more tightly around her.

      Garin sighed but twisted out the cork with a hollow pop and handed the flask calmly to Jenna. Hesitating, Jenna cupped a hand widely and gently drizzled a pool of the liquid, then, as quickly as possible, flung the amount in her mouth. Garin could tell that Jenna disliked the taste, but still she tried her best to ignore it as she handed the potion to Emerald. The human did the same thing.

      "Then I guess we are diving under?" Jenna asked.

      "Yes, we should be. Don't worry about our clothes, Jenna. I will buy you new ones if I have to," Emerald replied hastily while putting her hair up in a long ponytail.

      After a minute or two, the three leaped over the edge of the boat under the ocean and swam calmly toward the bottom. The cool waters were refreshing against Garin's skin, and he paddled downward with the necklace over him, his strength renewed.

      Just as Garin's arms and legs were getting heavy and tired, a smooth, copper brown tunnel appeared to the right. Emerald and Jenna followed Garin swiftly to the tunnel and swam straight through it.

      When Garin reached the end of the path, the rock opened up once again to the salty underwater sea. As he walked onto the cliff placed in front of him, he gazed in awe at the Maraquan city before him: glowing in the rays that seeped through the surface. Towers of bright colors stood around many bright corals and sea grass. Garin nearly gasped. How long had it been since he had seen new Maraqua?

      But just as Emerald and Jenna came up behind him, he suddenly caught the crystal blue figure with white hair and long ears. She sat over the edge of the very top of the cliff, her oily tail hanging over the side and her head bent low. Instantly Garin knew whom it was: Isca, but why was she so sad?

      Garin could feel himself start to approach her. His steps were shaky and nervous. How in Neopia am I going to apologize to her?

      "Hey, Isca," he spit out tiredly. The words were so stupid that Garin almost blurt out saying, "No wait, don't do anything! Let me start over!" Instead, he bit his bottom lip to shut himself up and stared at the back of Isca, waiting anxiously for any reactions or remarks. There were a few moments of silence, as if Isca believed this was all a dream.

      "Did you give up pirating?"

      Garin's ears lowered and his eyes turned to disappointed, guilty slits. "Isca…" he began softly, but the words couldn't come from his mouth. How could he say anything to counter that?

      "Then why did you come here? To apologize, or to get help from my home?"

      Garin's heart shattered and he jolted open his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. At last he stuttered out innocently, "I came to apologize, Isca. I…I know you wanted me to stay in Maraqua, but I'm from the surface. I'm a pirate. I cannot just leave Jacques and my mates while I live here. Please understand."

      Isca finally spun her head around, and her angry, reminding face made Garin stop. He did not expect her to be so furious. "But you left me here! You left me for piracy! How can you be…how can you be…such a child?" She fumed, rising from the cliff. She pointed a finger behind him at Emerald and Jenna. "And them? If you could make friends with them, how come you didn't stay with me?"

      "Isca…I…" Garin paused, his tears invisible against the ocean waters. "Another ship took me, and they abandoned me at sea. They saved me…"

      Isca spun about so her back was facing Garin. "Just go," she demanded with a sour face. "Just leave here."

     * * *

      And as if things couldn't get worse, as Garin broke from the surface and climbed onto the boat, as did Emerald and Jenna, there, positioned right next to him, was the Black Pawkeet.

      Jacques stood leaning over the railing of the ship, a rope stretched down from his hands to the water. "Garin! We've found you! Come on, mate!" he hollered, oblivious to Emerald or Jenna.

      Emerald gazed up at Garin with pleading eyes. "Garin, I know this is sudden, but please…will you be my pet? Will you abandon pirating, please, to live with Jenna and I?" she asked hastily.

      Garin felt like he was walking the plank.

      How could this have happened? How could he have got himself stuck in situations like this? First Isca, and now he was about to abandon Emerald and Jenna? He glanced from his ship to his two friends. Why did it all happen so very fast?

      "I…"

      "Can't…"

      "Stay…"

      "With you."

      Emerald's jaw dropped, but Garin scurried out of her boat swiftly. He dove into the water, swimming with all his strength toward the Black Pawkeet. That was twice. Twice he abandoned friends.

The End