Boots calmly walked towards an open window-hatch, a bottle of rum is lowered down onto the sill. Upon the placement, the pirate places his scarred-induced hands on his wailing back and pushes.
“Argh! Me back be free of this wretched ache! Well, guess I learned a lesson: take a break when the Cap’n says so. Welp, time to rest...”
Taking his cue, the sill creaked in annoyance as the pirate’s body self-inquired the best resting position while perched on a sill. With a hairy arm supporting his night-colored beard, he spent his leisure-time mentally capturing the seas itself. There the familiar specs of white dots danced about the blue sky; he gasped before slowly releasing the captured air, he remembered how deep in the seven seas the ship was. With the mind returning to boredom, his eyes scanned under the blue sky.
“Ah poor ship, how these blue, blue, waves harass yah. I can hear yer wails, but I judge not. And even when the harassment be over, the aches only then take over; yet only can I respond with ‘such is life’... Huh, what be a ship in these waters be doing here? Where’s me spotting scope!”
The boots thus began a chaotic dance recital; the arms took the center stage as it flailed around to uncover the hidden telescope. As the telescope may have enjoyed the scene, it soon squeaked loud upon the firm clasp on its metallic skin. The pirate returned to the window-hatch and his arms stretched the telescope wide-wards. Eyeing in on the odd element, his eyes darted around to find any friendly symbol but soon froze.
“Oh me Flyin’ Dutchman! We’ve been tracked! Hey ho! Sound the alarm, pirate hunters come and in full-mast they set sail towards us!”
Whatever wail the ship can ever muster, the cacophonies of a hundred bodies darting around alone had easily drowned out such sorrows. The pirate unsheathed his sword, the sun’s naïve light touched and bounced off the sword. Sheathing his sword, he unholstered his flintlocks and his arms helped his eyes scan such. Cocking and holstering them, his body emerged from his room and joined in the traffic of the workplace as pirate bodies shuffled and kicked around to ready on their position. Albeit the humidity would’ve granted a hasty rest through stroke, the adrenalin surging about the bodies had protected them from unwanted advances of humidity.
Finally getting to the deck, he about-faced and attempted advancing towards the Captain’s spot. However, the Captain echoed:
“Brace!”
And the pirate mass dropped dead and clung hard to any support they could find; as soon the ship screeched thanks the holes formed from the steel cannon-shots who mercilessly ripped through her. With that, the pirate mass resumed its circuitry and soon he met with the Captain; he screamed:
“Madame! I’m here, let me take over the steering and yah the commandin’!”
“Finally yer here, Wither! Please, they be gainin’ too much ground. So steer us towards oure enemy! And when we get close, steer us parallel to their starboard side and avoid portside! Today, I must accept my bounty and let them hath none of it!”
“Cap’n oh Cap’n! Are yah mad?”
“Mad? No! Blimey, avoid their hull Wither!”
The pirate heard the captain but felt restless as he now remember the flag he saw flaming on the hunters’ mast. A crossed flag of the empire. They had approached him the night before setting sail, in a bar, and showed him that same flag. They knew he was on that woman’s crew, and they only wanted the Cap'n and some of their closest mates. But he was new there and they would let him go with his part of the bounty, if he did his part for easing the capture of the old sea turtle, they said. They had paid for his drink and left a shining doubloon on the table, and that little gold coin, carefully sewn to his rags, was now heavier than a blue whale.
The pirate was filled with doubt. Would he sell the Cap’n or stick to her instead? But why would he? Only the old woman and her mateys had their face on them dead-or-alives. If they lost, their bodies would be brought back to land. Wither would just be a bag o' chum left to drift on the sea with the remains of the boat.
He doubted while looking at the Cap’n’s back.
“Aaaugh, damn me belly!”
He shouted while steering the ship where the Cap’n had told him to, but drawing his trusty flintlock, grabbed backwards to smack the old seadog in the nape. As the woman’s body fell to his feet, he turned to the pirate mass that shoved and pushed on the deck.
“Hear ye, scallywags! The Cap’n might want to go out kicking, but me surely wants to live to see land again. Dem hunters only want him and his closest mates, and have promised gold to dems who help on the capture!”
After a moment of silence, a voice raised from the mass.
“Damn yer eyes and yer sticky hands, ya stinkin’ barnacle! They'll do us all!”
Confusion and violence took over. Bullets and men filled the air and the sea, and the deck was now more of a mess. Wither defended the steer while getting the ship to a position where it could be boarded. Luckily for him, those who were on his side overpowered the others and he could easily manage to control the ship.
The hunters quickly boarded and subjugated those who were still fighting. One of them got to the steer and jumped over Wither, pushing him onto the edge, although he was pulling a white flag.
“Wait, wait, ya rat! I’m with ya! ’Twas me who delivered ya the ship, and the prey."
He pointed at the Cap’n.
"Now lemme speak to yer boss!”
The hunter smiled with his sword at Wither’s neck.
“So ya are our little friend, eh? Then let me pay ya for yer kind service, master Sharkbait...”
His hand moved the blade sideways, and blood muted a shout from the pirate who now fell along the hull.
“Such is life for unloyal monkeys...”
Welcome to finish the story! With this kind of writing you will flourish. Great energy. You carry the reader along on a river (or should I say ocean) of action. Well done.
I really enjoyed this entry for the Finish the Story contest! I see a bright future ahead of you if you continue your path on the fiction universe. Keep it up! Congrats on your first Curie upvote and greetings from Venezuela ;)
We would love to invite you to our discord, the Bananafish Realms ☺️ Thanks for submitting @amirani's story. Our friend writer is new and plenty of enthusiasm. He deserves to grow.
I think I'll post something more along these roads of fiction : ) Right now I'm working on a story which has been really fun to write.
Greetings back from Venezuela and thanks for reading!
Well, I'll stay tuned for more of your writing haha
¡De verdad escribes genial!
Serves right this galaxy’s ungrateful Wither. Hmm, that name seems have inspired a man of corrupt discipline. Where others have a leather-skinned man or a person who’s dysfunction was believing in another reality as to escape the Terror that is the Réal. But for me, Wither shall always be a withered human that hath [expunged]. Anyways, I be glad the pirate hunters can live up to their standards; albeit they shall hath their heads off’d for taking the Madame Cap’n. And yes, that be a firm lassie not a firm laddie or any other expression. But that be a small quip as the madame Cap’n probably already broke out and set sail to Havana. Upvot’s and resteem’d.
Sorry! I didn't quite catch that "Madame" when I read it! Imma correct it now xP
Ah, no worries my friend, fo’ sho’ the net will go nuts to find the original version if they can. Also congrats on the curie.
Hi amirani,
Visit curiesteem.com or join the Curie Discord community to learn more.
Yah got a curie! @amirani
Divide and conquer, as Sun Tzu would say a long time ago.
Nothing like creating discord within your enemies; While they face each other, you take advantage and surprise the weakened winner.
good short story.
Cheers
Exactly! The real winners here are the hunters, who got their bounty at a low price, thanks to their smart antics... Or did they? Because co-author @theironfelix has a different opinion on it! And I do, too. If you read the marvelous @dirge contribution you will find that those savyy ol' pirates often got more than one trick up their sleeves...
Thanks for reading!
Damn, I didn't expect that, I suppose it's because of things like that that she's the captain and not the now defunct Wither.
Thanks for warning, I would have missed it if it weren't for your comment
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my only issue was the gender pronoun for the captain. in the original the captain is a woman, but in your story it's a man.
beside that, this was a cool ending. the moral dilemma of being a turncloak vs dying with the ship. the price paid was just. good ending.
Yes! It was my mistake. You see, I didn't get that 'Madame' when I was reading and then went with the statistical: a male pirate u_u Will read more carefully next time!
Ah, the price is always just... Life is good at economics, right?
Thanks for reading! : )
Ooo a good mutiny! A new crew member, able to gain the trust of captain and shipmates alike, to pull the dirtiest trick in the book for the sake of his own hide. Had he sailed with them a little longer, maybe he would have learned to trust such a hardened crew, for the only old pirates still kicking, kick hard but alas, he chose what he thought were the better odds, how little he knew. A very nice ending packed full of action and a little comeuppance!
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woow that adventure, everything seemed quiet but you gave an incredible turn to the conflict of history, I would have liked to continue reading more, very clean your work.
The conspiracies are typical in these real stories and I think you surpassed reality.
vengeance, and mistrust, greed, power between mixed to give a good ending
thank you for sharing <3
greetings
I love the pirate language :) It took me longer to read as it was a bit challenging (I'm not native speaker) but I did enjoy it and laughed a lot :) Poor old captain but this unloyal monkey got what he deserved :)
Thank you for sharing! You continued the story very well and you added a nice ending to it. Congratulations on your curie vote!
I had a feeling it would go this way for that unloyal monkey hahaha I think you did a great job with the pirate speak. I also like that the captain of the ship was a woman. It's generally not what you see in a pirate kind of story and I think it's great that you did that.
The cowards always lose! And when you knock out your captain behind her back, you're gonna lose. So I was very happy with the ending of your short story.
Thanks for sharing! I think yours is a great entry into the contest. Cheers!
Most of all, I've been impressed by how shameless Wither is! Coward but impavid at the same time, interesting mix. Bravo @amirani.. I'm very happy for your first big vote and for it to happen under the Bananafish's Jolly Roger! Keep it up!
That do be an exceptional but o'wite'n thar.
Great job with the story flow, it seems like a very natural progression. Congrats on that curie vote as well, those are always nice.
Very cool and another good reason to not trust a criminal who wants to give you your "fair" share of the booty collected. They say honor amongst thieves, but is there really?
I wonder what is going to happen to the captain.
The right end for a traitor! Nice story, very vivid!
Congrats for the curie!
Terrific first entry Amirani! Congrats on receiving a vote from the Curie community for this tale. (Feels good, doesn't it?)
Wonder if the tale of Wither will become a warning told to other pirates of the high penalty one pays for double crossing? 😁
Hello fellow potassiumnite! Finish the Story contest edition n. 37 has arrived.. will you be brave enough and try your pen with us?