It was most certainly a bright day. The waves were gently lapping against the hull of the ship as it sailed through the luminous icy waters of the endless abyss. The sun shone, its butter-soft rays grazing his surroundings as far as the eye can see. Captain Silas Melbourne pulled out his spyglass, adjusting the lens. “Oi, looks like there might be a tempest an hour away or so,” he called to most of the crew hanging on the rigging up high. “I see a slight haze out in the distance. Forrest! Get down here!” The quartermaster groaned at the order, but obliged. He slid down from where he hung before, and hopped onto the raggedy boat surface. “How can I help, Cap’n?” he teased, ruffling Silas’s hair easily, as he towered over his Captain. “Quit it, Darren,” Silas murmured, wrenching his second-in-command’s hand off his brown curls. He looked forward, gesturing to the horizon. “Tell the crew to secure the decks and adjust the sails,” he commanded. Darren nodded with a slight smile, but couldn’t help but remark, “Look at you being so authoritative! You’re too mature for only twenty years old. Lucky the king gave you Marity.” “Stop your yapping and go do what I told you to,” Silas hissed. “An hour will pass by like seconds. We need to get to Aulerith as fast as possible.” Darren saluted and ran off, his leather boots clacking softly against the slightly-creaky wood boards. “Goodness, not one person I’ve ever met has been this egotistical,” he muttered under his breath. Silas spun around and shouted orders to the remaining pirates that had jumped off the sails while he walked to the helmsman to assign instructions. The ashy clouds were nearing, and the water had darkened considerably. The salty mist sprayed his face abundantly, and he spat out the briny taste in his mouth. He now felt a slight downpour. “Rukesberry, are you sure there is no other way we can avoid this?” he said. The navigator nodded solemnly in reply. A cold sweat washed over Silas. This was not going to be fun. The waves grew frantic, crashing louder against the ship. He thought he heard a faint thunder clap as they entered the fog of the storm. Almost immediately, rain attacked the ship, splattering against the wood. It felt like rocks pelted at Silas, beating down painfully. ”Alerell, just steer forward!” he called to his steerer, but it was drowned out by the endless roar of the water being slammed onto the surface of the ship. Minutes ticking by felt like hours. “Almost there!” Silas yelled amidst the loud screech of the wind, and the ship rocked back and forth, battling the merciless waters. He clenched his jaw, squinting through the fog and gray clouds to desperately seek sunlight. “Blasted storm—” BOOM. Instead of the warm embrace of the sun, Silas spotted… another ship? This one was almost as large as his, with bronze cannons and silver-rimmed edges. Fresh smoke seeped into the air. They had just fired… a cannonball, Silas realized. At us? The sails were oddly still hung high, and the ship itself marked them as nobles, but the emblem embroidered into the sails was the royal crest; a blue dragon and two swords with golden hilts crossed. Shullmore. One of the princess’s ships. He let out a groan, pinching the bridge of his nose. What was that troublesome adventure-craving rat doing now? Did she fire the cannonball because she thought Silas’s ship was the rival? Where did she go before returning to Aulerith? Silas’s questions and thoughts were wandering around frantically in his mind. He would ask her after he safely landed them both outside the storm, but first, he had to somehow communicate with her. Maybe show Shullmore that they bore the royal crest as well? But the sails would get shredded into ribbons if they hung them up again, and it would waste time and equipment… Silas let out a frustrated grunt. How could he do this before they fire another cannonball? Silas’s head snapped up in realization. He hurried to the helmsman. “Lad, steer a bit closer to the other ship,” he ordered. Alerell gave him a questioning expression but said, “Aye,” nonetheless without looking at him, eyes fixed on the upset sea before them and hands glued to the wheel. He made a sharp motion using the steer with a strained expression, battling the destructive waves surrounding them. Silas heard a slight and irritatingly slow creaking sound and an earsplitting crack in the air, and saw a brief flash of a white vein coming from the clouds. It won’t be long until this tempest destroys the ship entirely, he thought. They had to get to the princess’s ship /now/.
His gaze landed on a beige rope hanging from the mast. He smirked. That should do. He practically pounced on where the rope began, and braced to climb. His muscles strained slightly, but he shoved the soreness aside. He ceased his ascend and hooked his ankles together, holding his left hand on the rope for balance. Their two ships are close enough for him to shout now, so that’s exactly what he did. “Princess! Cease fire!” He yelled with all his might so the princess’s crew could hear them, and couldn’t resist a slight roll of his eyes at the thought of the princess again. After a minute or so, the chaos emerging from Shullmore stopped, finally. The fog was starting to lighten, too, but the waves were still as maddening as a plague. Silas then realized that Shullmore was a very minor ship that not many people knew the princess owned. Why had she used that one? Did the king know she was away at all? Knowing the princess, probably not. She most likely snuck off to quench her thirst for insignificant escapades. The waves and wind receded back into their depths and eventually stopped attacking both ships as they sailed onward. “Thank the Lord Marity is intact,” Silas blew out a breath of relief. “Everyone in one piece?” he added louder. A chorus of “Yes, sir!” came from his crowd with some nods. Silas nodded back solemnly,ook his head with a disbelieving smile. “What is the princess up to now?” “Sila– I mean, sir!” Darren rushed to Silas, pressing his spyglass into his captain’s hands. “I think I see land,” he said. Silas looked into the lens, and saw the tiniest sliver of lush green. He grinned. “Indeed. It’s been, what? Six months?” “Six and a half, actually, but close enough,” Darren nodded with a grin, and then called, “Oi, Rukesberry! Think you can beat me in a game of cards?” he challenged. Rukesberry scoffed with a teasing grin. “I’ve beaten you so many times, I’d say you were trying to get your [butt] whooped!” “Oh yeah?” “[He11] yeah.” “You’re on,” Darren growled, rummaging through his pockets to find an old-looking deck of cards with brownish-yellow smudges on the edges. Silas stifled a laugh, putting a hand to his mouth and masking it as a cough. It was now the slightest bit cloudy, but the sun’s rays battled the gray and supposedly won, so there were countless arrays of blinding beams seeping through the palls. Silas stretched out the ache in his toned arms, making a satisfied noise at the fulfilling feeling. It had all become so peaceful he almost completely forgot about Shullmore. He startled from the sound of faint but excited screeching coming from the relatively small ship, and grumbled something foul under his breath, recognizing the small and girly voice. “Captain Silas! Captain Silaaaaaas!” the princess of Aulerith screamed, waving her arms like a madwoman. Silas gave her a half-hearted wave back in response. He shoved his hand into his pant pockets boyishly. She shouldn’t be a princess, he thought. The king should let her adventure, though it would do her no good. He chuckled, a corner of his mouth perking upward infinitesimally. Darren stalked up behind him with a smirk. “What is my oh-so-solemn-and-serious captain giggling about?” he cooed. “Gah!” Silas jumped, and smacked Darren on the head scoldingly. “I’m not giggling about anything, Forrest. Go back to playing cards,” he snarled. Darren shrugged. “I won for the first time five minutes ago. Not testing my luck again, though, don’t want to jinx it,” he sang. “It hasn’t even been two mi—” “Anyway, go back to fantasizing about whatever you were fantasizing about,” Darren said thoughtfully, before throwing Silas a wink. “I wasn’t fantasizing about anything or anyone,” Silas couldn’t help countering stubbornly. He slumped onto the balcony, head resting on his closed fist and his eyes half-closed. He took a deep breath. They should surely be on land soon, and then he could deal with that rogue of a princess. . . . The ride there didn’t take long; only a bit less than half a day. When Marity and Shullmore docked, Silas breathed in the fresh air of Aulerith. When his feet touched the musty cobblestone road, he felt a warm, tingly feeling inside. Truly at home. He heard cheers from the citizens as they crowded the docks, and he laughed a little at their excitement. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ i was bored and i needed writing practice lol also i saw this thing on insta like pirate world building and i screamed so here we are :D thumbnail thingy - the first picture of water i found :grin: there's a part 2 so check it out: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/934177766/
