Yo- Ho- Ho-
and a
Large Skinny Latte

Sparks flew. Black smoke rose in the air from underneath the deck.
The metallic sound of blades hitting off each other was everywhere. Curses of damnation and the screaming of the wounded filled the air.
Horatio battled one opponent to the ground just in time to turn around and fight off another one that was about to jump on his back to cut his throat.
Not today, scallywag!' he laughed as he grabbed the rope, pushed himself hard off the rails on the upper deck, swung around and punched the sailor right in the stomach, feet forward. This did not only send his enemy groaning to the deck it also gave him enough thrust to finish his acrobatic display by landing on the rail, standing up straight with his hands on his hips, laughing a daring hero's laugh.

Horatio!!' That was Captain Greybeard's voice. He must be in trouble. Horatio was not able to spot the brawny Lupe through the smoke, but there he was calling again for him, his trusty 1st mate. Always by his side through thick and thin.
Where are you Horatio?
The Quiggle didn't hesitate any longer, grabbed the rope again and swung down onto the main deck towards the source of the voice.
The smoke parted and Horatio Hornblower, who's name was feared and known even in the far corners of the Neopian Oceans landed on the deck with a thud, sword in his hand and ready for the battle, about to save his Captains life even if it would cost him his own.

And this time it looked like it would be a close shave. The Captain was forced back towards a corner, three enemy sailors that were approaching the Lupe now spun around facing Horatio, while a forth one grabbed the Captain from behind to keep him from helping his 1st mate.
Horatio,' the Captain called. 'Have you swabbed the floor yet?

The floor?
The sword in Horatio's hand sank to the ground and looked more like a mop than the trusty blade it had been just a second ago. The ship, the fighting, the smoke, everything disappeared making room for a backyard full of trashcans, cardboard boxes and old crates.
The voice that was calling him was not the one of his Captain daring him to new adventures, but the one of an angry Grundo standing in the backdoor.
The reality hit him hard.
The Grundo was no one other then his Boss Oggetto, the backyard was the one of the Café Pille on Mystery Island and he was just Horatio, the daydreaming, good for nothing cleaner of this Café.
Only Captain Greybeard was still a pirate captain, sailing the ocean and had never heard of any electric blue Quiggle called Horatio Hornblower.
Well, er, the floor …, I was just about to, but, ehm …, I had to get the trash out first and then …' Horatio tried to explain, trying to make his way hastily into the coffee bar when he somehow manage to stumble over his own feet, falling flat on the ground.
Oggetto sighed. It was nothing new to him. Horatio was just clumsy and unreliable. But the Grundo had a too big a heart to fire him, even though the Quiggle always needed to be reminded of his tasks and was better supervised most of the day.
This was no problem inside the café, where Oggetto and Cremosso, the second Grundo employed here were always around making sure that Horatio wouldn't drift off to far into his fantasies. But every time they asked him to take out the trash or get something from the storage chances were good that Horatio would forget all about it and just disappear for minutes, sometimes even hours if nobody would check on him.
What are we going to do with you Horatio?' Oggetto made his way back inside, shaking his head.
Horatio followed him with hanging shoulders, feeling guilty that he forgot his duties again, dragging his mop behind him.

He so would have loved to become a pirate and lead a daring life full of adventures by the side of his biggest hero he read so much about. He just couldn't stop thinking about it. It was all he ever wanted all he ever dreamed about.
But who would have ever heard of a clumsy little Quiggle becoming a fierce and mighty Pirate?

~*~