Golden Waters and Black Sails: Prologue

[Hector McSkull]

The blue water of the Caribbean sat calmly on this Saturday morning. Off the coast of Hispaniola, a great grouping of greying clouds began to carry across the winds, chasing after two ships. The farthest ship toward the horizon was a merchant galleon, no bigger than 140 ft and in a poor state all together. Her white mainsails were withered and torn, hindering her ability to make any decent time on the wind. She was flying the Union Jack proudly, a salute to the British Crown and Empire. The other ship, on the other hand, who had the merchant vessel dead to rights, was an entirely different beast all together. She was a monster, clad in black from bow to stern. Her massive dark sails caught the favorable wind, letting her bear down upon the fat and slow merchant. A call was heard across the deck of the black ship to "Strike our colors!" Soon, the black ship was proudly flying her own banner; a fearsome looking skull over two crossed swords.

"Sir!" said one of the officers on the merchant ship to a man peering through a spyglass. Dressed in a tan long coat, white laced shirt and tan breeches, this grey bearded gruff was no doubt the captain. "She's still closing!" the officer continued while the captain continued to ignore him, "We simply cannot out run her! We must surrender while we still can!" this the captain took offense to. He glared at the officer then turned to face the deck, straightened his tricorn hat and bellowed,
"Gun crews! At the ready!"
"Gun crews at the ready!" the order was echoed. The men aboard the merchant ship began to quickly fiddle at their stations, priming the port side guns, for the black ship was sure to bear down upon her port side. While the gunners rammed the cannonballs down the muzzles, one burly looking gentleman slunk away from the scene on deck and into the captain's cabin. He quickly dashed over to the captain's books, opened up one of the logs, and tore out a page, pocketing it for safe keeping. He dashed out of the cabin passed a group of his mates holding muskets and cutlasses, and scurried off into a safe room to avoid the fight.

As the black ship sailed in range, the merchant captain ordered all hands to fire. The merchant ship erupted with cannon fire, many of which, missed their marks and splashed in the water near the enemy ship.
"Bare up, dammit!" growled the captain to his gunners, "You're short your mark!" The gunners tried again, only to realize that the enemy ship was out of their range. Suddenly, the black ship fired two cannons that struck at the merchant vessel and caused it to shake violently. Men toppled over where they stood, stunned by the blasts. Before the captain could order all crews to fire at will, the black ship peppered the merchant with cannon fire. Smart men quickly hit the deck while others were swept off their feet by a cannonball and thrown into the ocean or exploded on impact. One shot even cracked the top of the mainmast where t'gallant and royal hung in tatters. When the black ship sailed close enough to "rub shoulders" with the merchant ship, smoke grenades began to scatter across the merchant deck, covering the air with a nasty smoke that made it hard for one to see. "Fall back! Fall back to the store house!" shouted the captain, ordering all of his men to barricade themselves behind closed doors. Many were able to find shelter in the store house, while some unlucky souls were left out in the open on the deck. From inside the store house, the captain could hear the muffled cries and screams of his men as the sound of boots clambered across the deck.

When the shots finally ceased, so to did the gurgling cries of the merchant marines. It was nothing but silent on the whole deck. The captain craned his neck to see for any sign of enemy activity. Unfortunately, he could see nothing but the smoke from the grenades. Waiting on bated breath for any sign, the captain was about to turn to his men to try and muster up the last of their courage when suddenly the boots from before began to stomp, almost to the tune of tribal war drums as men began to chant. The stomping seemed to be getting louder and faster. Faster and faster the boots stomped on the deck as a shrill African war cry echoed into the sky. The chanting soon stopped all together, replaced now by the sound of a hiss. One of the merchant officers looked through a crack in the door to see what the hissing was. Rolling toward the store house door... was a lit gunpowder barrel. Before anyone could say anything, the barrel exploded in a fiery burst, blasting the door clean off its hinges and killing three men in the process. Everyone else in the store house was thrown to their feet by the blast. As the smoke began to clear, the captain looked up to see men... no... barbarians; men dressed in blood soaked rags and sporting grimy beards and hats. These creatures... these pirates, were slaughtering every last man in the merchant captain's crew. The captain saw one man even decapitate one of his officers then proceeded to strike a man down who was cradled in the fetal position and crying. In panic, the captain picked up a pistol and tried to fire it at a bald pirate with multiple scars across his face holding an axe. To the captain's misfortune, it misfired, yet still caught the attention of the scarred man. With a roar, the scarred pirate lifted his axe over his head and was about to strike the captain when a cutlass caught the man's blade and held it in the air.
"It's done!" I growled to the bald man, who stared at me in disbelief. This caused the rest of my men to cease all hostilities. As I disengaged the bald man's axe, I turned to face the merchant captain, removing the piece of cloth from my turban I had around my mouth to keep out the smoke. "Wouldn't you agree, Mr. Pimcoe?" I asked the merchant captain, who nodded his head most graciously as he stared into my cold dark eyes, the eyes of Captain Hector McSkull, the Scourge of the Seven Seas.

[Guest]

“This is without a doubt the dumbest idea you’ve ever had,” Joshua hisses.

“Well I didn’t see you trying to stop me,” I say through gritted teeth. The pain throughout my body has been worsening and has become how I keep track of time. It’s only by my increasing pain that I know we’ve been locked up in this room for almost two days, our hands bound behind our back by rope that I could normally break, if I was up to full strength. But I was already weak when we were captured – blast, that was the entire reason we were captured – so there’s no way I’ll be able to break the rope now.

I hit the back of my head against the wooden wall, “Mum’s going to kill us.”

“Sally’s going to kill you,” Joshua adds with a smirk. But when I glance at him, not amused in the slightest because I know he’s right, I see fear and worry in his eyes.

“It’s not my fault,” I say, trying to distract him, as I work on making my natural body temperature increase. I figured out a few years ago that giving myself a fever can melt my blood at least a little bit. At least enough to buy us some more time. “Those were definitely not really merchants.”

“Nobody’s really what they say they are once you boast your Clan,” Joshua points out.

“Well if they were really no more than merchants, they wouldn’t have even known my Clan, now would they?” I challenge. “If they were no more than merchants, than boasting that I was a Row would have caused this, not that I’m a Liddell.”

“Well whoever they are, you might have at least waited until Quinn and Roland showed up before you did anything. Then we wouldn’t be in this me--.”

His words are cut off when the entire ship shakes and explosions go off. “What the hell was that?” he demands. I just shake my head though, knowing exactly what it is but not knowing exactly who it is. Then more explosions go off and one of the walls in the room we’re locked in is blown apart. Then we hear the shouting, the fighting, all of it, going on outside, and through the new opening in the side of the ship, we can see another ship. We can’t see the flag, but it doesn’t matter. We look at each other and grin. “Pirates.”

“It might be someone from the island,” Joshua says. “We have to get out of here.”

“If it’s someone from the island, don’t you think they’ll search for us?”

“Of course they would.” Joshua looks at me, smirking, “But I also think that no matter who it is, you’re not going to want to just sit here and wait to be found.”

“What choice do we have at this point?” I wonder. “I can’t break these ropes.”

“Not with strength. But you’re already using fire to keep your blood from completely solidifying, so use it to burn the ropes.”

I can’t help but grin. This is why Joshua is always with me, this is why he is my brother. He is my smart side, the side of me that thinks. The side of me that thinks so that I don’t end up dead. Or tied up in a storage room of a merchant ship. I focus all the heat in my body to my hands now, easily setting the ropes on fire. The moment the ropes are gone, I release the heat to the rest of my body and quickly untie the ropes binding Joshua’s hands, then we both untie the ropes around our ankles.

“Now how do we get out of here?” I ask as I stand up.

“The door?” Joshua says as if it’s simple. Which, even I have to admit, it is. So we go to the door and try to open it. “Locked. Of course. We could climb out and over the side, make our way to the deck.”

I look at the part of the wall ruined by the cannon blast not long ago. The sounds of fighting and shouts and still be heard from above. “If I fall, or get pushed or shot…if I go into the water, I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep my temperature up,” I shake my head. Joshua’s right, it was foolish of me to come this far from the island. We should have waited for Kidd to take us, should have waited for the Loreley. Now I can feel my blood hardening again, and for possibly the first time in my life, I’m scared and don’t know if I’ll be able to make it.

“I’m right behind you,” Joshua says, knowing what’s on my mind like he always does.

I take a deep breath, then nod. “Then let’s go home.” I start to step forward, but Joshua’s hand on my arm stops me.

“Wait, what if they’re not from the island? There are other pirates out there that don’t frequent the island, that don’t even know that the island exists. These could be people who don’t know who we are, don’t know who you are. They could capture us just as easily as the merchants caught us.”

“They’re not merchants,” I say automatically, standing by my theory. Joshua just looks at me for a minute.

“Our lives are in danger, and the only thing you care about is your theory that these aren’t really merchants?” I just look at him and nod. He sighs, “You’re exhausting.” But we’re both smiling as we make our way to the opening in the wall. I look out, trying to hide my nervousness, as I look down at the sea. I can already feel my blood hardening again, my heat not enough to keep it fully liquid. “I’m right behind you, brother.” I nod, those words always giving me more confidence – probably usually more than I should have. But I climb out of the room and start scaling the side of the ship, making my way to its deck. My body temperature continues to climb slowly as I do, testing itself, seeing how much heat I can handle. I already feel like I’m burning from the inside out, like everything inside me has burst into flames. And it hurts, but it doesn’t hurt as much as having solid blood, and at least this I can work through, I can move through.

By the time we reach the deck, my vision’s blackened and the sounds around me are barely more than just a constant roar in my ear. I feel the wood of the deck against my back, and I feel Joshua’s hand on my shoulder. I think I can hear his voice, but I can’t make out anything that he’s saying, anything that’s going on.

[Hector McSkull]

As the battle came to a close, the merchant marines were kept in chains on deck, watched by the vangaurd. Captain Pimcoe, the merchant captain, now bloodied and beaten, was tied to the mast by the same bald pirate who tried to kill him; my First Mate Johnny Cutlass. Once done, Johnny went down to the hold to see the pirates clearing out the cargo hold for any sort of rare linens, tobaccos and spices, or anything else that might turn a profit.

Inside the Captain's Cabin of the merchant ship, I sat on a table, staring off through the back window while the Black Pearl's accountant, a man by the name of Mr. Birch, tallied up this haul's score.
"Well," said Birch in a mousy little aristocratic voice, "if we're able to sell the tobacco crates, that'll bring us to... 500 pieces. Ragetti's arm is broken and Marty's leg has been shot... After medical expenses, we should net roughly... eight dollars per man!"
"Eight dollars?!" came Cutlass' voice from the doorway. Mr. Birch looked up alarmed, but I didn't even bother turning around. "That certainly won't sit well with the men..." Cutlass mulled over.
"When do they ever sit well with anything?" I snorted with a shrug. Cutlass cleared his throat and approached.
"They were content way back when when we had plenty of loot in the lair. But now, with the Isla de Muerta going all pear-shaped and claimed by the sea, the men have been itching to find something a bit more shiny and valuable over eight dolla--" he suddenly silenced himself as I placed down the captain's log that I had been skimming through before he entered the room.
"See for yourself, Johnny." I said, patting him on the back as he began to look through the log. "It's all there; Vasquez's tale, Port Royal..." Cutlass looked up at me as I flashed him a grin. "Told you this was the ship."
"But Captain..." he said, now flipping to a part in the log that seemed to be missing a page, "Where's the schedule?"
"Minor set back..." I growled annoyed. Both Johnny and I knew that this log was useless without the schedule of departure and arrival of the prize we were hunting. "But we're on the right track." with that, I nodded and strode out of the cabin and onto the deck to find two little teenage boys standing on the deck, dazed and confused. "What the devil is this?" I snorted, resting one hand on my cutlass and another on my pistol.

[Guest]

JOSHUA POV

Seeing that we’re far from alone right now, I grab Shay’s burning arm and pull him to his feet quickly, standing close beside him to make sure he doesn’t collapse. I don’t think he will – he never has before – but right now, when we’re not sure where we are and even less sure who’s around us, I’m not taking any chances.

Then the captain of the pirates comes out, and I notice immediately he’s ready to shoot if he needs. I glance at Shay, hoping he’s too weak and out of it to be a fool. He’s not.

“What the devil is this?” Shay starts, his voice surprisingly strong and not at all surprisingly entertained. “I am Shay Li—“

I slam my hand over his mouth, moving closer to hiss in his ear, “We just got captured after you told the merchants your bloody name. We are not trying that again, I don’t care who this might be.” Shay rolls his eyes, but doesn’t look at me, and I realize he’s blacked out. He’s all but unconscious right now. Or at least, he’s as unconscious as he can get for being a Liddell. I also notice that his body temperature is still increasing, almost burning my hand, and turning his skin red enough to look like he’s been burned by the sun. None of this is a good sign.

But I manage to keep my fear for him out of my voice as I turn to the stranger, making sure to keep my hand over Shay’s mouth so he doesn’t get us in any more trouble with his bad habit of speaking before he thinks. “I’m Joshua. This is my brother, Shay. We were captured by the merchants and held prisoner. Until you showed up, that is.”

[Hector McSkull]

Some of the vanguard broke off from watching the prisoners to come over and inspect the two little whelps who managed to avoid detection until now.
"I see..." I said, pondering how and why these two boys were captured by merchant marines. At least the boy had manners, I thought. "Allow me to introduce myself then," though I'm sure you already know who I am, I thought again, "Captain Hector McSkull." Before the boy Joshua could react, I turned to my men. "Search them." I said plainly. Instantly, the pirates pounced on the two boys, pilfering through their pockets.

[Guest]

JOSHUA POV

Blast, he’s a McSkull! We really are doomed now… I suppress a sigh as I push Shay away from me a few inches. I don’t let go of his arm though, despite that it’s starting to burn my hand. I suspect my hold on him is the only thing keeping him upright. “Don’t move, don’t say anything,” I tell Shay, half convinced he’ll completely ignore me. But he doesn’t. He listens to me. He doesn’t move, he doesn’t say anything. For a moment I forget about the McSkull, I forget about his crew, I forget I’m even being searched. For a moment all I can think is I should have stopped him…

Finally, I tear my gaze away from Shay and look back at the captain. “We need your help, please. We need to get back to the island, to Promise Island.” I don’t even know if he knows about the island, but right now he’s the only option. At this point, I don’t even care if he keeps us as prisoners out of suspicious. As long as we get back to the island. “Please,” I repeat, almost in a whisper, and knowing that my fear is seeping into my voice finally, because is the worse I’ve seen Shay in four years. And four years ago, this problem was a lot easier fixed.

[Hector McSkull]

That bloody island... of course... I should have suspected that these two were... different...
"They're clean, sir. Nothing on them save a few knick-kacks and momentos." said a large African man by the name of Long Tom, the Black Pearl's chief gunnery officer.
"Damn..." I cursed under my breath. The schedule couldn't have possibly gotten that far though. It must still be on the ship. As I look back at the two boys Shay and Joshua, then turn back to face the rest of my crew. "Hitch this hunk of junk to the Black Pearl! We'll tow her back to Pirate Port and add her to the fleet. As for the men," I said, looking to the merchant prisoners and the tied up captain Pimcoe, "press every willing able bodied seamen into our services! The rest who oppose..." this time I turned to face Shay and Joshua and said coolly, "Kill them."

Once back on board the Black Pearl, the men went about tying yardarms to the broken merchant vessel in order to haul it back to port. As one of my men, a bald and bearded fat man named Pintel, was helping Joshua bring Shay over to the Pearl, I looked to Shay and Joshua.
"Tie these two to the mainmast! Keep 'em bound until we reach the island."
"Cap'n?" asked Pintel in confusion. I flashed him a sly grin.
"They might be worth a ransoming to the right person back on land, Master Pintel."

[Guest]

SHAY POV

I can feel myself being moved. I can feel Joshua’s hand on my arm and through everything, through trying to increase my body temperature and trying to melt my own blood, I focus on that. My body temperature must be well over 100 by now, I can’t imagine how he’s still touching me. I want to tell him to stop, I want to pull out of his grip. He’ll end up with burns on his hands if he doesn’t stop touching me. But I can’t move. I have no control over myself anymore. I can’t see anymore, my vision’s black. There’s nothing but a constant hum in my ears anymore. I can’t ear Joshua, I can’t hear the ocean.

I feel myself being tied up again, and can’t even be annoyed that we’re being held prisoner again. At this point, I don’t care. I don’t care if we’re prisoners, I don’t care if we have fifty guns trained on us. I just want to go home. I just want this pain to stop.

“Shay,” a voice whispers in my ear, cutting through the constant hum. It’s her voice. “You’re going to be alright, Shay. They’re going to take you home. So stay with them.” Then her voice drops to the quietest of whispers as she adds, “You will find me.”

[Hector McSkull]

"Trim those sails, gentlemen!" I barked as I bounded up to the helm, "Catch the wind! Release the t'gallants and royals! We've a favorable wind and should be able to reach land by mid morning tomorrow!" Instantly, the crew sprang into action and the Pearl was then underway. As she tugged the battered merchant vessel along, the Pearl was hindered at least three knots, which was why we'd reach the island later than anticipated.

(Now moving to Golden Waters and Black Sails in the Pirate Docks Form)

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