There are ants in my Lucky Green Boots Circulation: 193,552,674 Issue: 697 | 3rd day of Gathering, Y17
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The Legacy of the Black Pawkeet: Part Five


by teamchao466

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Armin:

      Rosa and I sat at a table in the Golden Doubloon, watching with amusement as Hannah danced around on another table, bragging about how we had just discovered her Uncle Bloodhook’s long-lost treasure. “She does this every time to celebrate.” I told Rosa with a chuckle. The Acara girl looked a bit bewildered.

      “It doesn’t seem like the smartest thing to do considering this is a popular hangout for pirates…” She replied with uncertainty.

      “Most of them are too scared to tangle with her anyway!” I laughed. It was true. After hearing about how she’d buried her Uncle Bloodhook alive in the Pirate Caves three years ago and had teamed up with Garin to find the legendary treasure of Captain Frigget—which had involved going up against Scarblade, the most feared pirate in the Five Seas—nobody wanted to mess with Hannah the Brave.

      “Oh.” Rosa replied before the door to the tavern suddenly burst open. Everyone looked toward the door and most gasped at the sight of Bloodhook himself standing there, his form filling the entire doorframe. Rosa quickly hid behind the table she and I were sitting at and I followed her lead. Hannah might’ve gotten the better of her uncle in the past, but I preferred to avoid getting involved with him if I could help it.

      Speaking of Hannah, instead of hiding or cowering in fear like everyone else in the room, she just crossed her arms and glared defiantly at her uncle.

      “I should’ve figured that ye’d be the one to find me treasure!” Bloodhook bellowed angrily, drawing his cutlass as he approached Hannah. His crew followed him inside, making escape impossible.

      “It’s not yours anymore, Uncle…” Hannah replied, “After all, you were presumed dead when it was buried, so it was fair game for the last three years.” I really don’t know how she could’ve been so defiant right at that moment. She knew better than anyone what a black-hearted scoundrel her Eyrie uncle was, and it wasn’t just him this time. He had his entire crew with him. We were totally outnumbered and this was not the Pirate Caves!

      “Either way, I’ll be taking it back now.” Bloodhook replied, placing his cutlass just beneath Hannah’s chin while she continued to glare at him.

      Suddenly I heard a scream next to me and turned to see one of Bloodhook’s men grabbing Rosa by her hair and pulling her to her feet.

      “Look who I found, Captain!” He jeered.

      “Hey, let her go!” I yelled before biting the pirate in the leg. It was true that I was scared, but Hannah had taught me to never give up without a fight.

      The pirate let out a yelp of pain before letting go of Rosa and she and I ran to the far side of the room. Bloodhook sneered at us before turning back to Hannah.

      “Well, I see ye’ve been hiding something else that belongs to me.” Clearly he hadn’t let go of Rosa escaping him with the help of Garin’s crew. Hannah made no reply, only continuing to glare at him as one of his men tied her hands behind her back. She normally would’ve fought tooth and nail, but that wasn’t really possible with Bloodhook’s sword still right below her chin. The fearsome Eyrie turned his attention toward me, “If ye want her to live, lad, ye’ll lead me to me treasure.”

      “Don’t do it, Armin!” Hannah called. I knew her well enough that she would prefer to avoid giving Bloodhook what he wanted, even at the cost of her own life. That was how much she hated him. But I cared about her and I didn’t want her to die…

      “I-I… I…” I couldn’t take it. I let out frightened squeal and curled into a ball on the floor.

      “Er… what is he doing?” I heard one of Bloodhook’s men ask.

      I heard Hannah sigh. “Something Boris do when they’re stressed out…” She replied.

      “Pry him out of it!” Bloodhook commanded. That frightened me more and I curled up tighter.

      “No! Leave him alone!” Rosa cried as I heard some pirates approach me, “I… I can lead you to the treasure.” She offered.

      “Rosa, don’t!” I heard Hannah cry.

      “I’m sorry, but I’ve seen too much of what he can do.” Rosa said sadly, “I don’t wanna lose anyone else.” It made perfect sense. She hated Bloodhook as much as Hannah, but unlike Hannah, she was actually afraid of him.

      “Lead the way.” Bloodhook said smugly. I could tell just by his voice that he must’ve been smirking.

      I felt one of Bloodhook’s men pick me up and carry me out. I uncurled just enough to look ahead and see that Bloodhook was following Rosa while forcing Hannah to walk in front of him with his sword at her throat to ensure that none of us tried anything.

      Rosa led the pirates to our house and stopped just outside, turning to look at Bloodhook. “Wait here. I’ll go get it.” She told him.

      Bloodhook nodded at her, “Ye have five minutes.” He warned. Rosa nodded and went inside and I couldn’t help but feel worried. I knew she knew where we’d hidden the treasure, but was she strong enough to carry all of it out by herself? All that gold was pretty heavy…

      As we waited for Rosa to return, Hannah looked up at her uncle with an icy glare. “You’re a snake.” She spat angrily.

      Bloodhook just smiled, “Thank you, my dear.”

      A few minutes later, Rosa came out of the house with four sacks laden with treasure, “This is all of it.” And it was. We’d placed all the money in one of those sacks and the other three held our individual shares.

      Bloodhook sneered as he looked at Rosa, “The necklace and ring too.” He told her.

      Rosa’s eyes widened and her hands flew up to the necklace she was wearing, “Please… these were my mother’s.” She begged.

      Bloodhook didn’t care. He held his sword closer to Hannah’s throat to let her know that he was serious, “Now.”

      Rosa didn’t stall any longer. She removed her precious heirlooms and put them in the sack that held her share of the treasure.

      I saw Bloodhook smirk triumphantly at her. “Now, if ye know what’s good for ye, ye’ll come along quietly.” He told her. Rosa nodded submissively. I didn’t blame her, she wasn’t really an adventurer, not yet, and after everything Bloodhook had done to her, she had good reason to be terrified of him.

      Bloodhook sheathed his sword and he and his men began to take the three of us back to their ship. Hannah kicked for all it was worth and even tried to bite Bloodhook in an attempt to get free. I followed her lead, uncurling from my ball and attempting to use my long claws to slice up the pirates holding me. My attempts were in vain, however, and they managed to tie me up as well.

      “Take me niece and the boy to the brig.” Bloodhook told them. His men swiftly obeyed and dragged Hannah and I below deck. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rosa trembling with fright as I struggled to get free.

      Hannah and I both yelped as the pirates threw us into a cell, still tied up, and slammed the door shut. I managed to sit up and looked over at the group of pirates, grinning sickly at us.

      “Don’t expect any food. I doubt the captain will give ye any.” One of them told us. “Water neither.” They laughed and made their way out.

      I looked at Hannah with worry, “What now?” I asked. Surely she had some plan to get us out of this.

      Hannah sighed, “I don’t know yet. But I’ll think of something.” I nodded, doing my best not to freak out again. Cause the truth was, I didn’t see how we could get out of this one.

      Suddenly, from up above, we heard a pain-filled scream that sounded female.

      “Was that Rosa?!” I cried, just before another scream split the air. “What are they doing to her?!”

      “I don’t know and I’m not sure I want to know.” Hannah replied, “He’s a monster for hurting that poor girl more than he already has though.”

      “No offense Hannah,” I began, “But where did your grandfather go wrong with him?” I asked.

      “I don’t know.” Hannah said with a sigh.

      Hannah’s grandfather was Bloodhook’s father, but this was definitely not a case of “like father like son.” Whereas Hannah’s grandfather was a famous treasure hunter in his own right, Bloodhook was, as you know, a vicious pirate. He’d even gone so far as to kill his own father to get ahold of a legendary gem called the Mermaid’s Tear.

      The thing I really didn’t get was, Hannah’s grandfather had raised her as well, but somehow she turned out nice. Of course, when Bloodhook killed him, it left her all alone, so naturally she hated him for killing the person most dear to her. I suppose that taking back the Mermaid’s Tear just before Garin stole the Black Pawkeet from him was her way of getting revenge.

      Thank goodness Bloodhook hadn’t demanded that be “returned” to him as well. Not even I know where Hannah keeps the Mermaid’s Tear. It’s so precious to her that she doesn’t hide it with the rest of our treasure.

      I looked up at the ceiling as the screaming stopped. “Do you think she’s all right?” I asked nervously.

      “We can only hope.” Hannah sighed.

      To be continued…

 
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Other Episodes


» The Legacy of the Black Pawkeet: Part One
» The Legacy of the Black Pawkeet: Part Two
» The Legacy of the Black Pawkeet: Part Three
» The Legacy of the Black Pawkeet: Part Four



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