"LL!" I heard someone whispering. I looked around in the dark, recognizing
my nickname. "LL!" They called again. "It's me, Everestik! We have a plan to
get out of here! Just hold still and this won't hurt a bit!"
Fire came out of the darkness, illuminating the area briefly and melting my
chains, as well as those of the girl next to me, the blonde.
"Thanks," I said, standing up.
"No, no, sit back down!" came another voice.
"...Harmoy?" The girl next to me asked.
"Yeah, it's me," said the voice. "Sit back down and act like nothing happened."
My eyes were adjusting, and I saw Harmoy approach and clip something onto the
melted metal.
"Okay, tomorrow, when you hear someone above deck saying that all the rowing
the oar slaves have been doing is making them really strong, stand up and pull
on your chains. They should break. Then come up and rush the pirates..." Everestik
proceeded to outline the plan. It was pure genius, as far as I was concerned.
Whether it would work was another question altogether...
***
"Say, I was visiting the oar slaves yesterday, and it seems that all the rowing
they've been doing is making them so strong, I'll bet they could break free
of those chains if ever they wanted to!" That was our cue. The girl next to
me (I had learned that her name was metrochan) and I broke free, and so did
all the other oar slaves. Good old Everestik must have let everyone in on the
plan.
We surged up to the main deck, rushing the pirates as we'd been instructed.
I found that swinging the chain pieces was particularly useful.
The deck was in an uproar. Pirates and escapees alike fought like never before,
rolling barrels at each other, clobbering adversaries with planks of wood ripped
from the deck--one of the escapees had even managed to get their oar free and
was knocking foes senseless left and right.
Soon it seemed everyone had joined the melee, and with all the noise, the Pirate
King was sure to notice. He came out, and as he did, an ex-pirate Elephante
just happened throwing a heavy plank of wood at a Mynci beside the door. The
plank missed its target, but it did strike the Pirate King, laying him flat
on the deck.
Then I heard Everestik howling. I sprinted over towards the sound, knowing
that that was the signal. Sure enough, a group of ex-pirates, including all
of my pets and Harmoy, were waiting for us in the lifeboat. I jumped off the
side of the ship...
...And landed safely. Metrochan and a few other escapees followed, and by then
the lifeboat was full. We started rowing away from the pirate ship, hoping to
be far away before the king awoke.
We soon reached the ship the pirates were going to attack. We boarded and told
them our story, and the captain decided to take another route, dropping us off
at Neopia Central on the way.
***
"Some adventure, huh?" Everestik asked, reading The Neopian Times.
"I'll say," Ivy replied.
"I'm not going on another cruise ship! Ever!" Dervetta exclaimed.
"Oh, that's too bad. I just signed us up for another cruise to Mystery Island!"
I said. My pets looked terrified. "...PSYCH!"
The End | 
