I Don't Want to Be a Pirate: Part Six

     The pirate Skeith and the Aisha who had given the captain so much grief the night before at dinner met with the first wave of soldiers. Blades swung and metal sounded throughout the dankness of the ocean. Other pirates, upon realizing the battle had begun, joined the fray. Soon, pockets of fights had sprung nearly everywhere surrounding the pirate ship turned submarine.

     The only one avoiding conflict so far was Gerald, who had hidden himself behind a stalk of kelp. It wouldn’t last long, though. Kelp was rather thin, and the Maraquan soldiers’ eyes were probably more adjusted to the darkness of the ocean floor than any of the pirates’.

     The Skeith yelled as a soldier knocked the gold crown from his hands. It flew through the water, landing near a group of Maraquans. The Skeith seemed even more upset that his prize had been pulled from him. He fought with a new tenacity that rivaled that of Captain Bloodscar, who was facing two Maraquans at once.

     Though he was incredibly frightened of the battle at the bottom of the sea, Gerald knew that he had to help somehow. He ran from behind his kelp stalk and moved as fast as he could through the sand to find the piece of treasure they had traveled down here for. If it truly was worth ten million NP, the trip might not be entirely worthless.

     He dug through the sand, knowing the crown was in the immediate vicinity. Suddenly, a blade pierced the sand in front of him, and he jumped back so as not to get cut. The Maraquans had finally noticed him.

     A Maraquan Chomby fiercely swung the blade at Gerald again. Gerald was able to clumsily block the swing, though it wasn’t easy. The Maraquan weapons traveled much faster through the water than those Pella had been able to give the pirates. It could only all of their skill that had kept them from being injured thus far. But Gerald did not have this skill they possessed.

     He found himself moving backwards away from the swings more than actually trying to block them. The Chomby gritted his teeth as he continually swung the blade, no doubt tiring his arm considerably. Finally, the Chomby connected with a hit on Gerald’s helmet. Luckily, it was made of bronze, and the hit merely reflected off the metal. However, it was a forceful enough impact to knock Gerald on his back.

     The Chomby smiled, aware that he had beaten his foe. With a casual wink, the Chomby lifted his blade, ready to stab Gerald through the heart.

     Thinking quickly, Gerald grabbed a handful of sand and flung it up into the water in front of the Chomby. Then, he quickly rolled out of the way as the Chomby pierced the sand where Gerald had once been. Unable to see through the cloud of sand, the Chomby roared and swung his weapon towards the ground, trying to stab Gerald, but the Shoyru had already moved far enough to grab a rock and hurl it at the Chomby’s head.

     Much to his dismay, Gerald noticed at the last second that he was not throwing a rock but rather the crown!

     The piece of treasure bounced off the Maraquan’s head, and the Chomby fell to the ground knocked out cold. Gerald grabbed the crown and ran as fast as he could through the sand back towards the ship. He suddenly had an idea.

     He was able to enter the ship, still dodging spears, and made his way towards the green button which had opened the airlock. Hopefully, this contraption worked as he thought it would. With a quick motion, he jabbed his finger on the button.

     A booming sound like that of a foghorn blew through the waters being churned by the battle. All of the pirates were by now used to the sound, but the Maraquans were apparently not accustomed to such loud noises. They dropped their weapons in order to hold their ears and block the deafening sound.

     The foghorn sound didn’t last but more than a second, but this was more than enough time for the pirates to scoop up the fallen Maraquan battle weapons and turn them on their original owners. Every pirate was now armed with special weapons for underwater fighting, and Captain Bloodscar was armed with two.

     King Kelpbeard, who had been standing on the side of the battle and not at all engaging in the fight, let out a scream of hatred and then pulled his troops back away from the ship.

     The Maraquans fled from battle, and immediately the pirates rejoiced. They quickly gathered themselves, and they all jammed themselves back into the waterlock which closed behind them. The water drained quickly, and they were able to remove their wetsuits.

     Away from the hustle and bustle of an underwater battle, many of the pirates patted Gerald on the back for his quick thinking. However, the Captain was not one to celebrate until they were out of dangerous waters.

     “Pella, return to the control room. We must depart quickly before they bring reinforcements.” Pella nodded and tugged at Gerald’s sleeve, silently informing him to follow her. He did. He walked past pirates who were still congratulating him while brandishing their new weapons and followed Pella to the front of the ship where the control room awaited.

     “Good thinking, Gerry,” she said when they had entered the control room and she sat in front of the control panel. She pushed a series of buttons and the pirate ship began to surface.

     “Yeah, well, if it hadn’t been for you pushing that button before, I never would have known that sound was even there.” Pella rolled her eyes and pressed another random series of buttons on the control panel.

     The door to the control room opened, and Captain Bloodscar entered. “Are we heading back to the surface, Pella?”

     “Aye aye, captain.”

     “Good. I hate that we lost the treasure. It was a waste to come here.”

     Gerald had already forgotten. “Not quite, sir,” he said as he pulled the crown from behind him and showed it to the captain. It was the first time Bloodscar had really looked positive in regard to Gerald. The captain ran across the room and grabbed the crown, holding it up to the light in the room and marveling at its beauty.

     “Well, cook, you did well. Still, this ten million NP crown is only a snippet of what was once out there. And to think what we could have had.” The captain removed the bottle from his belt loop and opened it carefully. The ethereal light faerie vaporized into the control room. She was even more brilliant and sparkly than she had been underwater.

     “Oh, Captain of the Silver Spectre. I was not able to finish my answers for you.”

     Bloodscar knelt down and put his eyes to the floor. “We beseech you, Oracle. Please tell us where the Ancient Treasure of Kamanila lay.”

     The light faerie smiled and shimmered more deeply. “The treasure you seek has been taken by the Former Leader of the Grundo Population. Find him, and the treasure shall be yours.” The faerie dematerialized back into the bottle, which glowed brightly as she had.

     “Former leader of the Grundos?” Pella asked. “What does that mean.”

     Captain Bloodscar nodded. “The former leader of the Grundo population is Dr. Frank Sloth. A ruthless individual bent on Neopian domination.”

     “Well, that’s easy enough. Where can we find him?”

     The captain sulked and shook his head. “He’s in space. Doesn’t live in Neopia right now.”

     The trio stood very quiet within the control room. The only noises were the occasional beeps from the control panel. But suddenly, Gerald had a fantastic idea.

     “Captain, how much would it be to transform the ship again?”

     Bloodscar continued to look at the floor, but once the words sank in, he smiled widely and looked up at Gerald. “Now that’s the kind of thinking we need around here, cook. I may make a pirate out of you yet. Pella, full speed ahead to Krawk Island. We have equipment to upgrade.”

     Pella’s smile was just as wide as Bloodscar’s. “Aye aye, captain!” After Bloodscar left the control room, she turned to Gerald. “But I thought you didn’t want to be a pirate, Gerry,” she said in a rather sarcastic tone.

     Gerald smiled and looked at the piloting Acara. “Well, it looks like I’m going to have to be one whether I like it or not. Now, if you’ll excuse me... I have to prepare dinner.”

The End