The Pirate Writer: Part Five

     What would Captain Woodbeak do with a fire paint brush anyway? He would probably paint himself or sell it. Then something occurred to me. Captain Woodbeak would use it to free himself from being a pirate. He would go back to Faerieland again, and he would no longer live a life of rejection. He would get the freedom that I had been wanting for the past year that Captain Woodbeak wouldn't let me have. I could set myself free if I painted myself. I could quit Captain Woodbeak's crew. He would have no other excuse for me to stay. I had to get my paws on that paint brush.

     "Let me out of here!" Loud screaming came from the door I was standing in front of. The door was rattling from pounding that came from the other side. It was screaming all right. I had noticed that Kera had sounded much more adult-like than when she was at Mystery Island. She had matured quite a bit. Back then she was young and carefree. Now she was brave, caring, trustworthy, and an adult.

     "Kera?" I said closely to the door.

     "Firaga?" Kera said back. "Firaga, the paint brush. You have to get it. You have to paint yourself to set you free."

     "How did you get it?" I asked. I didn't know I was going to ask that before I said it. When I asked it, I found how curious I really was to find out how she got such a valuable paint brush and a pretty cool looking one too.

     "It doesn't matter where I got it. You have to paint yourself. That's all that matters now. Go before it's too late."

     "I ain't gonna do that. Kera, you come first. Me paint brush has to wait."

     "But Firaga," I heard Kera say before I walked away from the locked door.

     "You jus' never give up, do ya?" the Grarrl said to me after I walked away from the door. "Ya know ye ain't going to win, so why do you keep on trying?"

     "It's none of your business." I speeded past, heading for Captain Woodbeak's room.

     I barged in without knocking. I saw him locking away the paint brush in a chest.

     "Oh, hey Firaga, me co-captain. What is it?" Woodbeak said kindly.

     I was shocked. I didn't know that I was actually the co-captain. I couldn't be one if I was planning on leaving the crew today. "Wait, I'm the-"

     "Enough of this talk. What is it?"

     "Oh, well…" I paused for a long time. I knew I wanted to let Kera go, but I didn't have any clue how I was going to do that. "I just wanted to know what was going on while I was doing lookout. I was very busy with my job; I didn't even bother to look down."

     "It was nothin' really importin'. So, is that all ya wanted to say?"

     "Uh…" I paused again. This wasn't working out. I had to find another way to handle it. "No."

     "Okay then," Woodbeak said easily. He laid back in his wooden chair with his wings wrapped around him like a blanket. It looked really comfortable really. "What is exactly what you want?"

     I had to think of something quick, really quick. It was extremely hard to figure out something so quickly, but I managed to say something. "You know that door we never use? Well, since I'm now co-captain, I think organization is very important. So, if I could just have the key, I could put some supplies in there. It would make the closet less disgusting."

     Captain Woodbeak gave me a very guilty and worried look. "We pirates don't care about neatness. That is a waste of our time. Firaga, your job is for helping me be in charge of the crew, keepin' them in order."

     "Yes sir," I said disappointedly.

     "Call me Cap'n," Captain Woodbeak said to me. "Now get out of 'ere."

     I rushed myself out the door. I definitely needed another plan. That didn't work at all. I looked up into the sky, thinking hard. What did I have that was an advantage? So I started with my fire sword. That was useful for causing fires. If I caused a fire on a ship, then I could lure people away. Next on the list was my ability to write, and Captain Woodbeak and Kera were the only people who could read it, and third was that I was co-captain of the crew. It looked like I had a lot more things than an average pirate.

     Since I was the co-captain, I had a lot more power than I thought. I didn't even know even know I agreed to be one, but it was good because I could now use it to my advantage. The pirates would listen to me, but they hadn't heard the news.

     "Captain Woodbeak!" I barged into his room again, lightly crossing the squeaky floorboards. He jumped up when I called his name. "I can't do anythin' for ya if nobody knows if I'm captain."

     Captain Woodbeak scratching his chin with one wing moving up and down, "That is a problem. Let's yell them, shall we? You know, I didn't think that you were very enthusiastic about this."

     "Oh, you know me," I said in reply, even though I thought he really didn't know me at all.

     Without saying another word, the captain walked out of his room, into the fresh air. "I have wonderful news, me hearties. Firaga 'ere is our co-captain for now on, so I expect you to treat her with respect, and listen to her orders, but my orders still remain that we must head to Neopia Central as fast as we can. Are ye clear with me?"

     "Yes Cap'n," the pirates said dully.

     "Good," and with that he left.

     After Woodbeak had left, I had a weird feeling inside. It was kind of a giggly feeling. I felt like everything was going to be okay, like I had already won. I felt happy. The pirates were under my control and I could use them however I wanted to, as long as I didn't tell them to turn the ship around.

     All of the pirates had weird looks. It was as if they were saying, "He put Firaga in charge? Did he fall on his head or something?" Their looks really said that in those exact words. I could tell. So with those words clearly written on their face, I said, "No, the captain ain't sick, so let's get movin'."

     "What do you want us to do?" a Pirate Bori said. I would describe his personality, but all of the pirates seemed the same to me.

     I thought for a bit before answering. I was forming my plan to set Firaga free, but everything I thought of seemed too risky. I picked the idea that would most likely work. I almost forgot to answer the Bori's question. "First I would like to tell ya that I don't think I'm the best at being a cap'n, so I want ya to be aware of that. If something goes wrong, please don't yell at me, jus' report to Cap'n Woodbeak. Is that clear?"

     "Yes ma'am," the pirates said.

     "For now I just want you to continue your normal business, okay?" I pulled out my fire sword. "If you don't behave jus' because I'm not the captain, you're going to really get it." With the words, "get it" I threw my fire paint brush to the ground, causing a fire to start. The pirates saw the hole burning in the ship, and did exactly as they were told.

     "Captain! Captain!" I could hear many pirates shouting. It wasn't long before Captain Woodbeak ran out in more panic than the pirates. Just as I thought he was, he was too busy to see me go into his room.

     "Now where is the key?" I said to myself, searching through every part of his room. It wasn't there. I looked back outside to see the keys reflecting in my eyes. Captain Woodbeak was holding them on his talon. The key ring held two keys. I had to get it. Panicking, I had to find a way to get to them. I went through my advantages again. The third one was the ability to write. With that thought in mind, I ran to my own room and ripped a page out of my journal.

     A note was going to save me. I didn't know how it was going to save me, but I trusted my writing skills. Write Firaga, write something. That's all you have to do. What will convince Captain Woodbeak into giving up the keys or opening the door? I thought these exact words at the moment. With those thoughts in my mind, I started writing, trying to make my handwriting look like somebody else's.

     I scribbled down the first letter, faking Kera's handwriting.

     Dear Firaga,

     I care for you very much, or perhaps I did. Firaga, I tried my hardest, but I think it's just time for me to give up. I have tried so much to save you. I put you ahead of me, but after being trapped in this room, I discover it's all not worth it. Though I have given up on you, I didn't give up on trying to get out of the room. It was easy though. Lock picking skills really come in handy sometimes. I'm free from the life with you in it. I am much happier without you anyway. Firaga, I know you wouldn't get that fire paint brush if I tried to get it to you, so I just took it with me. Yes, that fire paint brush is mine now. Maybe I could give it to some poor newbie. It was fun being your friend while it lasted, but I think this should come to an end. Thanks for the fun times. Now I should be flying away to Krawk Island, where I would give a needy Neopet a paint brush.

     Your former friend,

     Kera

     The letter was painful to write, being all about being left behind. It was almost like Kera was actually saying that, even though she would never do such a thing, but her voice echoed in my head as I wrote the words. It was painful to write, but it was all about the plan. It was supposed to make it not look like a trap.

     I ripped another piece of paper from my diary, and wrote a serious letter to Kera next. Then I ran outside and placed one note at the door and slipped the other note under the door. So, all I had to do was sit and watch. I walked away from the note so it was out of my view, and so I wouldn't find it.

     The excitement was about to begin, but I guess it had already started, because water was leaking into the ship.

To be continued...