The Ninja and the Pirate King

     Heart pounding, he struggles to free himself from the cocoon of blankets. It takes him an unreasonably long time, all things considered, but he’s uncharacteristically groggy, too. Yesterday certainly took a toll on him both physically and mentally.

     As soon as he manages to escape the armchair, he looks around the room anxiously. Sunlight pours through the single porthole, hindering his sight until his eyes can adjust, but it takes him only moments to confirm what he already knew; the pirate is gone.

     He can’t have gone far.

     To his dull surprise, the cabin door is unlocked. The pirate must have picked it open, for there are no signs of force having been used. Akihiko hurries out, dashing down the corridor and up the stairs to the main deck.

     “And once I had him on the ropes, I told him, ‘Your valuables or your life, blueblood.’ Of course, I’m not in the business of life-taking, but the poor fool didn’t know that! Oh, how he quivered as he handed over all his gold and precious gems!”

     Akihiko recognizes the annoyingly self-satisfied voice at once. Bounding over the foredeck, he finds the pirate at the helm, leaning back on the starboard gunwale as he regales the captain and a White Zafara Akihiko recognizes as the helmsman with his story.

     Captain Bohai laughs heartily, clapping the pirate on the shoulder. “Laurence, my boy, you sure do know how to spin a yarn!” he chortles, and the pirate smiles.

     “I have a good many yarns all wrapped up about me, my dear captain, should you wish to hear them,” he says. Then, apparently sensing Akihiko’s presence, he turns. “Oh, it’s my ninja friend—though I fear ‘friend’ may be too strong a term for him to stomach.”

     “You,” Akihiko mutters, stomping up to the Cybunny and grabbing him by the upper arm. “What do you think you’re doing?”

     “Did you rest well?” the pirate asks, and Akihiko swears he catches a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. “You were sleeping so soundly when I woke that I didn’t wish to disturb your slumber.”

     Akihiko tightens his hold. “Is that why you restrained me?”

     “Restrained you?” The pirate blinks, looking rather taken aback. “Oh!” He laughs. “Really, your thought process is so overly honed in on the negative! It was chilly this morning when I left, and so I covered you with the blankets! It was the least I could do when I monopolized your bed all night.”

     Akihiko can’t tell if the pirate is serious in his earnestness or if he’s messing with him. After scrutinizing him for a moment longer, he determines that the pirate really is just a simple-minded fool with little sense.

     “How did you get out of the cabin?” he asks.

     The pirate gestures vaguely with his manacled hands. “It wasn’t a lack of any real complexity. I simply picked it with a pin hidden within my hat. It was a lucky thing, too, for most of my usual tools were confiscated before I was cast into the dungeons.”

     Akihiko grits his teeth. “Then this time, I’ll be sure to tie you hand and foot so that you don’t have the opportunity.” He squeezes the pirate’s arm and pulls him. “Come.”

     The pirate stumbles after him on his hobbled foot, but Bohai intercepts them. “Come now, Akihiko! The boy’s done no harm! I found him wandering the galley this morning, and he was eager to help the chef with breakfast preparations! He makes a mighty omelette, I’ll have you know!”

     Akihiko falters, glancing back at the pirate, who’s nodding eagerly. “Captain… I can’t have him wandering the ship, getting in the way of you and your men’s work. He might sabotage the ship in an attempt to escape.”

     But Bohai shakes his head. “Look around you, my boy! We’re thousands of meters over the sea! If he sabotages the ship, he should know very well that he will go down with it! And with that contraption about his ankle, he’ll plummet the fastest!”

     “That’s right!” the pirate agrees. “I do not have a death wish, my dear—Aki, was it?”

     “Akihiko,” the Xweetok says stiffly.

     “Right, right! Listen—I shall suspend all escape attempts until we are safely back on solid ground! You have my word—pirate’s honour!”

     Akihiko scoffs at the notion, but reluctantly, he releases his hold. “Pirate… You understand what will happen should you cause trouble on this ship, yes?”

     The pirate grins. “But of course! And please, call me Laurence!”

     “I don’t think I will.”

     The pirate—Laurence, Akihiko begrudgingly acknowledges in his head—lets out a bellowing laugh. “I feel we’re already on friendlier terms, don’t you, Aki?”

     “Akihiko. Don’t presume to speak for me—you will be wrong every time.”

     Bohai chuckles. “No fighting aboard my ship, y’hear me? Akihiko, why don’t you remove the poor boy’s wrist-chains? They look terribly uncomfortable, and he won’t be much help with ‘em on.”

     Akihiko hesitates but retrieves the small silver key from his belt anyway. “To attempt sabotage aboard this ship would be folly,” he reminds Laurence, taking the Cybunny’s hands into his and unlocking the manacles.

     “Quite so,” Laurence agrees, wincing as he rubs his newly freed wrists. Akihiko glances down at them and resists the urge to wince himself; bright red marks blaze through the Cybunny’s white fur. He hadn’t realized that the chains had been so tightly applied and hadn’t believed Laurence when he’d told him as much.

     “Go,” he says, turning from the Cybunny, “and make yourself useful.”

     And to his great surprise, Laurence does. He limps around the ship on his hobbled foot, assisting with whatever task needs doing—trimming the sails, swabbing the deck, conveying the skipper’s orders, even advising the navigator when requested. Akihiko makes sure to keep an eye on him while attending to his own duties, but Laurence shows no signs of mutiny. In fact, to Akihiko’s confusion and dismay, the crew seems to have warmed up to him considerably by dinnertime.

     They sit beside each other at the dining table, but Akihiko may as well be a shadow. Laurence has the crew’s rapt attention as he delves into yet another tale of his roguish exploits.

     “I’ve always said that the Krawk Island authorities have no interest in pursuing low-level thieves, and I believe the severity of my punishment proves it!” he declares. “It’s all well and good to rob the poor and powerless, but once you target the bluebloods, then they put a hefty bounty on your head.”

     “Wow,” sighs the cabin boy, a young Striped Kacheek. “You must be real rich if you’re stealin’ from the nobles, Mr. Laurence!”

     Laurence smiles a little. “I must admit that I keep the odd bauble and a handful of gold for myself, for I am a man who appreciates beautiful things!” He plucks at his gaudy hat with a laugh. “But I have no need for excessive riches like these aristocrats love to hoard! So after I fence my ill-gotten gains, I distribute the wealth amongst the least fortunate.”

     Akihiko pauses with his chopsticks partway to his mouth. “You only pilfer from the rich?” he asks without thinking.

     Laurence turns to him, frowning somewhat. “But of course. And what now? Am I not the villain you imagined me to be?”

     Akihiko returns to his rice and fish without comment.

     “Just like Robin Lupe!” the cabin boy says, and that gets a good laugh out of the assembled crew.

     After dinner is finished and all nightly tasks have been attended to, Akihiko finds Laurence at the helm again, this time chatting with the skipper and helmsman. He doesn’t resist as Akihiko grabs his arm and urges him back to their cabin. This time, Akihiko is sure to conduct a thorough search of his person, confiscating his lock-picking pin from him but finding nothing else of particular concern.

     “Why even lock the door?” Laurence asks, settling on the bed again. “Where have I to go?”

     Akihiko pauses on the threshold. “I don’t trust you,” he says, not for the first time. But he supposes the pirate has a point; there’s no sense in locking the door if Laurence has full reign of the ship already.

     “As you say,” the Cybunny sighs, and then, changing the subject: “I still would rather like to know who your master is and what he wants with me. A ‘Lord Eiji’, I believe the captain said?”

     Akihiko returns to his armchair without locking the door. “Yes.”

     “Well, again I tell you that I’ve never known any man by that name. Might you describe him to me?”

     “You’ll find out soon enough.”

     Laurence cocks his head. “Prickly as always. Very well. I suppose I shall.” He yawns, turning over onto his side and pulling the blankets over him. “Good night, then.”

     Akihiko stares at his still form for a few moments longer. Then he settles under his quilt and blows out the candle. “If you say so.”

     To be continued…