The Pirate Writer: Part Three

      "Where'd you find that?" I gasped, reaching toward the handle.

      The Draik swiped at me, not intending to actually strike. "It's none of your business. You're not going to steal it from me."

      "But, I ain't gonna steal it," I defended myself.

      The Draik swiped at my head, but I ducked. "Yeah, so why do you know how I got the sword?"

      I barely listened to the Draik's words. I was paying attention to something else. Something caught the corner of my eyes, and I turned my head to follow it. It was no other than a Shoyru flying away from the land. It moved quickly. Something was printed on the Shoyru's body. Was it stars? Was that Kera? The Shoyru was flying away quickly out into the middle of nowhere. I completely forgot about the fire sword the Draik held in his hand.

      "Who is that? Is it Kera? It has to be Kera," I blabbed uncontrollably. I was stuck, and I didn't know what to do. "Where's she going? I have to stop her," I said more toward the Draik.

      "You must want revenge on Kera," the Draik said quietly to himself.

      In anger I shouted, "That's not it at all! Do you have to judge a Kougra by her color?"

      The Draik silenced. He lowered his sword. Maybe I got something into his puny head. Panicking, I quickly blurted out what I needed to say. "That fire sword ye holdin' is mine. I dropped it when tryin' to fight off my cap'n for my freedom. Also, I am on the crew that tried to steal from Brightvale, but I never volunteered to join. Lastly, that Shoyru is my best friend, and she came here to save me from the pirates even though I may be one." In anger I shouted, "Ye happy!"

      I ran away, leaving my fire sword in the dust. I ran around the land as fast as I could, rounding up the pirates. "Pirates, we 'ave a new job, and it's sailing in that direction." I pointed in a direction after I found all of the pirates including Captain Woodbeak. I had to make up a good reason quick. "I heard there's a mighty big treasure out there. We'd be set for life."

      The pirates sound excited at the fact that they didn't have to search for my fire sword anymore. I shouted again, "News has been getting out fast. We have to move quickly to get what we have been craving for so long."

      The pirates did get the signal and started moving toward the shore where the ship was. I walked a bit slower, tired from running.

      Captain Woodbeak walked at my pace, so I wasn't alone. "What be wit' ya?" he asked as we were walking to the ship.

      "What?" I asked, actually not really knowing what he was talking about. He can be talking about many things, but I didn't exactly know what.

      "That captainin' you be doin', it's amazin'," Captain Woodbeak said sincerely.

      "Well, uh, thanks I guess," I said shyly.

      "It's great. I think ye really be turnin' into a pirate," Captain Woodbeak said. "What ye did at the food store was really like a true pirate."

      I lowered my head in disappointment. I didn't want to be a pirate. I told Captain Woodbeak that a million times, and apparently he's proving now that he has really bad ears.

      "I know, ye don' wan' to be a pirate, but..." Captain Woodbeak trailed off. He didn't know how to finish that sentence. It took awhile for him to say something else, "We be so much alike, ya know?"

      The truth was, I really didn't know. He thought that we were just meant to be in the same crew, but I never believed so. Our pirate stories were similar in ways, but they were very different too.

      "Look, we'll talk later," Captain Woodbeak said sweetly when we reached the pirate ship. "You just relax for a bit." Captain Woodbeak walked up onto the ship and started his usual yelling at the crew.

      Captain Woodbeak probably wanted to have a really long talk with me. If you didn't know, Captain Woodbeak and I shared a connection that the other pirates didn't. You see, the other pirates were painted at a lot younger age than us. We were painted pirates after we were already used to our lives, but when we were painted, other people's opinions about us changed. That's true for the most part. Woodbeak forced me into joining his crew after I was painted. When Woodbeak was painted, he was never treated the same again. The main thing that we shared was that we had more knowledge than the other pirates. We weren't pirates our whole lives so we knew joys other than sailing and stealing.

      I thought about what more Captain Woodbeak would possibly say to me. I was moving slowly toward the ship, when I knew very well that I had to move quickly to catch up with Kera.

      After on the ship, the anchor was taken out of the water and the sails caught the wind. The ship was moving toward the exact direction I had requested, which pleased me. When I was in my moment of success, I heard shouting from down below.

      "Hey, Kougra!" I heard come from the shore. I looked out to find the green Draik flying up to the ship. "You're the one with the fire sword, correct?" the Draik asked, not having a hint of unkindness in his voice.

      The Draik landed on the ship when I said, "Yeah, well, I used to have a fire sword."

      The Draik looked out in the direction where Kera was. "You're not an evil pirate, are you?" the Draik asked. Did I really get my words into his head that well?

      Captain Woodbeak watched me behind the Draik. There was a complete stranger on his ship, and he did nothing about it. It kind of scared me. "I wish I wasn't a pirate at all.This might look suspicious. I know. I can really see why ya think I'm after Kera or somethin' but"-

      "It's okay," the Draik replied. "I don't know if you're telling the truth or not, but I did find this fire sword on the ground." He pulled out the fire sword and looked at its bright glow. "Where exactly did you drop this?"

      It was strange that the Draik was acting as if he trusted me a little bit more. "I don't know where I dropped it exactly. I remember runnin' into a tree on my way back to Meridell when I dropped it, but I don't know exactly where."

      The Draik eyes were glued to the flames of the sword, "I see." Was he going to give it back, or was he going to keep it for himself? This was my last chance to change his mind. I had to say something.

      "That fire sword is very important to me. It's my only weapon, and it helps me feel protected from all evils." I gulped loudly as I said, "I feel like it's my only friend, other than Kera of course." I thought that the Draik would surely think I was weird. "That's crazy, though. Swords ain't friends."

      "Here, just take it." The Draik thrust the handle into my paw. "It sure doesn't belong to me, and I guess I will take my chances to trust a pirate, even though you did try to steal from Brightvale."

      "I don't mean to." I felt untrustworthy. "Honestly," I said to sound a little bit more like I could be trusted.

      The Draik looked back to Meridell. "I should be going back," he said. "King Hagan is probably wondering where I have gone."

      "'kay then," I said, waving goodbye. "I wish you a lot of happiness at home."

      The Draik waved goodbye friendly as well, "Thanks, I wish you lots of...stuff."

      I laughed and the Draik flew back toward his land.

      I looked back at my fire sword. I could have hugged it if I wasn't going to burn myself. "My sword is back," I said quietly to myself.

      "Well Cap'n, I'm gonna do lookout, seeing as I know what we be doin'," I said to Captain Woodbeak as I began climbing up to the crow's nest.

      "Not just yet," Captain Woodbeak said as I started my climb.

      I paused at the sound of Woodbeak's voice. I needed to lookout for Kera, to find her. I didn't have time to talk to Captain Woodbeak right now. Sure, I was curious of what he would possibly have to say to me, but I didn't want to live through his talking.

      "But sir," I whined. "I'm the only one who knows just what we're looking for, and"-

      "Shut it!" Woodbeak roared in a not-so-nasty tone. "We need to talk."

To be continued...