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[endlynshortstories]

The Harwell's Secret

  In the town of Ecley, a ship, The Halwell, had been docked for the last 30 years. No matter how hard people tried. The wheel didn't turn, the anchor could not be wound up no matter how many men pulled, and the sails stayed up as if they had been glued in place.

  Most assumed it was cursed because its history was a dark one. It had been owned by a fearful pirate crew. For thirteen years, the crew sailed unopposed until that fateful day. The crew attempted to board an abandoned boat when they found it was simply bait to catch them. They ran as fast as they could but had made a wrong move, and with their backs to a mountain and three Navy ships bearing down on them, they knew they had been cornered.

  At first, they had been captured, left in the brig of their ship as the Navy sailed the ship to the closest port town. They tried to break out a few times, but the ones who did were killed. With only half the crew left, they decided not to die anywhere but on their ship. With one final battle, on the night the ship had been docked in Ecley, they were all killed. All of them refused to give up till either their enemies were dead, or they were.

  Since they couldn't move the ship, The Navy left it docked, offering the town a small amount to take up the dock, which the city happily accepted. It was only supposed to last for a few weeks, but then the original owner appeared.

  He had proof that the pirates had stolen the Halwell from him, and so he took over the dock fees paying to keep it in place for all this time. But not anymore. The owner had run out of money to pay for it, so the town was planning to scrap it tomorrow.

  But Salcaro couldn't let that happen. It was beat up and run down, but he still thought it was beautiful. He had talked to the owner and had raised the money over time, enough to buy the ship for himself. He didn't know what to do with it, but he couldn't let it die.

  There were only a few problems left with the ship; His promise to the old owner, "If you manage to set sail…", he didn't know how to care for her, and he was the only member of his crew. The last two issues would take care of themselves.

~*~*~*~

  Even from Salcaro's untrained eye it was obvious there was a lot of work that needed to be done. He had spent most of his money buying the Halwell but had some leftovers for some supplies. He decided to work on the ship’s deck first. He was only a beginner, so if he made a mistake there it wouldn't cause her problems while sailing.

  He bought what he thought was most important and carried them to the ship himself. Since the Halwell still couldn't sail, Salcaro was lucky the docks let him work there with no problem.

  While he was cutting the wood to replace a hole he saw on the deck, someone walked up to him.

  “Captain... Captain... Captain…" he was too busy sawing to notice her at first, "Shipowner...Shipowner…” After a while, he thought she was trying to get someone else's attention, "Hey You!” she banged on the box between them.

  He looked up suddenly when she did that, putting the saw down before standing up and brushing himself off “sorry, how may I help you?”

  She gave him a bright smile, “could you do me a favor and sell me your ship for half price?”

  His eyes went wide, “no way.“

  She pouted at him for a moment. “I don't have that much money. Do you think you can manage with only 1/4 off?” she looked at him up through her lashes, fluttering them slightly.

  He took a step away from her. “I think you misunderstood. I can't sell this ship. Like at all,” he shook his head rapidly.

  “Come on, big guy. Little old me needs this.”

  He crossed his arms. “I'm sorry I spent all my life savings on this ship." She opened her mouth to say something but he cut her off "It's too beautiful to part with.” when she just stared at him, he felt a bit bad for his tone, "sorry."

  The two just watched each other for a moment before she nodded and sat on the box she had originally hit “that works even better. So what are we going to do with her Captain?”

  He sighed, looking up at the ship. “I haven't thought about it yet... Wait, we?” 

  She smiled at him brightly, “I was just thinking since it's just the two of us, maybe merchants? I'm great at sales.” she gave him a wink.

  He quickly waved his arms out in front of himself. She was going too fast for him, “wait, stop, weren't you just trying to buy it from me?”

  She nodded her head, “that was because I thought you were some rando who bought her for a quick buck. Not that you cared about her too.” she looked up at the ship, “she might be beautiful to you, but she is important to me.”

  “We need to sail away from here,” he said, looking through an eyeglass made of cardboard.

  “And where are we sailing to?” the girl said with a laugh, quickly moving the wheel a little to the left. The two always snuck out at night once a week, imagining they were pirates sailing the sea.

  “They’re catching up to us.” he said, looking at her with a big smile.

  “Then pull down the sails, we need them more open to go faster,” she said, pointing at them. He nodded his head and ran to the deck pulling on the rope, both imagining as if the sails were being unfurled. After that, he ran back up and looked behind her. 

  “We did it.” he laughed before turning around and pulling her into a hug. She sighed and leaned against him.

  “Oh,” His remark seemed to bring her out of whatever daydream she was having.

  She turned to smile at him again, “I have some very important moments on the Halwell with a very important person.”

  He frowned “wait, she's been blocked from the public for years."

  She laughed, “you can't tell me you never snuck on her to imagine you were sailing her.”

  “No!” that made her laugh harder.

  “Well anyway, I’m Chesura. It will be good to work with you.” she held out her hand to him.

  He sighed and accepted her handshake, “I’m Salcaro. Let’s work well together.”

~*~*~

  With Chesura’s money, they hired some carpenters to repair the big damage in the hull. They had the carpenters focus on getting her sailing. It took them two weeks, and while there was still slight damage to it, they were now ready to sail.

  Salcaro had just been walking back home from watching over the carpenters to make sure they didn't mess up when someone stepped his way and pointed at him. "Hey, you!" 

  Salcaro blinked at them. At least this one had been more forward about getting his attention, unlike Chesura. "Yes?" Salcaro might not be the most observant but he couldn’t mistake this one.

  "When you set sail I want to be on that ship." The person said with an upright and proper position. Even though he was facing Salcaro, his eyes were looking at the sea.

  He slammed the door as he walked into the house. The slam brought his parents to the main room, "why are my classes set up like that?" He shouted.

  "It was the best classes we could find."

  "Why did you pick them. I was excited to pick my own."

  His dad crossed his arms "we knew you would pick the wrong ones."

  "You can't choose my life for me."

  "It's for the best," his mother said with a sigh, "we want to set you for life."

  "Set me for life! With how rich you two are, I could take my money and leave with no financial problems."

  "And what would you do?"

  That made him falter, "well...I…"

  "Oh are you thinking of following that stupid dream of yours" his mother shook her head "no one makes money from writing. You'll be better off if you listen to what we say."

  "But-"

  "But nothing." His father interrupted. "You're too young to know what you truly want. Once you finish your classes, you can give that writing" the last word coming out as a sound of disgust "and see how worthless it is. But we don't want you wasting this precious time to set up your life."

  He couldn't fight against his parents no matter how much he wanted to. "You promise."

  His father blinked at him, "what?"

  "You promise once I finish my classes, I can go off and try being a writer, and you two won't complain."

  His parents chuckled "fine. At least then you'll have a proper job when that dream fails."

  "Fine" Salcaro's words made the man flinch. He looked back at Salcaro, his posture easing a little. Salcaro needed more crew than just him and Chesura anyways. "So, what ship work can you do?"

  "You expect me to work?" he crossed his arms and managed to stand even a little bit straighter.

  Salcaro frowned, "of course. We have so few people on the ship we would need it."

  "Not happening. I'm much too important to work. You're lucky I'm willing to pay my way onto the ship."

  Salcaro’s frown grew. They did need that money as Chesura’s was running low with all the work the ship needed. The two weren't sure they could buy the rest of the supplies. "If that is the case, why don't you just pay to go on a passenger ship?"

  He waved Salcaro's suggestion away "I've been on those before. They have planned routes they must take. It doesn't allow you to see the world."

  Salcaro sighed, "I can't make this decision on my own. Meet me tomorrow in front of the ship to talk to Chesura."

  The man nodded and walked off without saying another word.

  The morning came faster than Salcaro wanted, but he got up bright and early to spend another day watching the ship get repaired. He was the first one there like always, but he didn't mind, he liked the silence.

  Eventually, Chesura ran up to him, and he explained the situation to her. "So he wants freedom?"

  Salcaro nods "that seems to be his reason for choosing us rather than passenger ships."

  Chesura frowned "he would be a pain to watch over, but we kind of need that money."

  "That's what I thought." He said, looking back at the town to see if anyone was coming yet. He was eager to have the Halwell fixed as soon as possible.

  "Would you be okay with him joining us?"

  Salcaro thought about it for a moment, "we were planning to make a short trip to test her after the repairs. We could bring him along for that and then just leave him behind if we can't stand him."

  Chesura laughed "Oh, that's a good idea. Alright, when he gets here, let me do the talking. Need to get as much money as possible out of him."

  Salcaro sighed but nodded. Slightly worried about what person he had accepted as his first mate.

  It wasn't until midday when the man eventually arrived, introducing himself as Bolirin. Salcaro introduced him to Chesura, who was more than happy to have a long conversation with him. Salcaro could see all her flirting from where he sat. And with the amount Bolirin agreed on, he knew it had worked.

~*~*~*~

  With the money from Bolirin, they were able to get a bunch of supplies to sell at their destination as well as enough food for all three of them for their planned short trip. It wasn't going to be long, only a few days since they wanted to make sure it could sail before planning anything longer.

  They were walking up to her as they talked, "we bought everything, but we don't even know if it can sail." Salcaro muttered.

  "The carpenters told us it would," Chesura said.

  "No, I mean. When she was first docked here after…" she nodded, he didn't really need to say it. "Nothing moved. Not the wheel, the sails, or the anchor."

  Chesura frowned, "well, some things changed."

  "Why do you say that?"

  "The wheel moved when I used to play on the ship. We never went further than turning it, but if that moves, maybe everything else will?"

  Salcaro sighed "I guess." As the two walked by the ship's bow Chesura noticed someone replacing a few pieces of wood close to the top of the hull. They had fashioned a seat out of another piece of wood and seemed to be humming to themselves.

  Chesura watched them for a moment longer before commenting, "did one of the carpenters come back to do more work?"

  “no?”

  “Then who is that?” she pointed to the person they just passed and Salcaro frowned before walking back over.

  Salcaro had to shout to get heard over the sound of the hammering “who are you!”

  The person jumped and almost hit their finger before turning to see the two and smiling. “Oh hey, cap." They waved at the pair. "Sorry it's so early I was just so excited.” They smiled brightly.

  “What? Who are you?” he crossed his arms, having to glare up at them.

  “Oh, sorry, I'm Danoy”

  “And what do you think you're doing?”

  “fixing the ship, I know the others did most of the work, but you can't just leave these holes.” both just watched them swing for a moment “look, Captain, I can't let you work on this masterpiece. You might wreck it.”

  They heard the door slam as their father entered the house. They watched from their room as their dad sat at the kitchen table and put his head in his hands. 

  "Daddy?" They shouted as they jumped off their bed and ran over to him.

  Their dad gave them a tired smile as he held his arms out for Danoy to run into. "How was today?"

  "It was good. I had a lot of fun. How about yours? Was yours a lot of fun?"

  Their father sighed and hugged them tighter, "it's much better now that I got this great hug."

  Danoy giggled before pulling away "what happened?"

  Their father stood up and moved to the kitchen window. From it, you could see the dock, he pointed to the Halwell. "You see that ship."

  "Yep"

  "It's slowly getting destroyed, and no one seems to care. I've been asking the dock owners to let me care for it but just keep getting turned away."

  "You'll fix it," Danoy said, bouncing in his arms.

  Their father smiled, "if I won't maybe, you will someday."

  Danoy's smile only grew, "we'll work on it together."

  “and you're a master?” Salcaro's shout seemed to bring Danoy back to reality.

  They looked at their hammer that was old and worn, “well no…" the grip on their hammer tightened, "but I have more knowledge than you.”

  “But I can't pay you,” Salcaro muttered.

  “A little bit of a bummer but that's fine, just take me with you. I can't let this be destroyed.” they patted the Halwell lightly, avoiding the hole they had been fixing.

  Figuring he couldn't really argue, Salcaro nodded his head. Danoy smiled before turning back to their work, going back to humming almost right away.

  “That is the third person to love the ship. I wonder if they're more,” Chesura said as they headed to the ramp onto the ship. Today they had to load their supplies on since it was delivered early in the morning.

  “Obviously, you aren't the only ones to grow up with that ship sitting pretty at the dock.” They both turned to see a man walking out between the boxes with a clipboard in hand.

  “Who are you?” Salcaro muttered, not even surprised another person was there.

  “Maromu. I assume Danoy asked to come along with you?” both nodded. “I thought so. I have arranged for extra food to arrive later today. Paid for by me, looking over what you bought previously, it should be enough for whatever journey you are planning."

  “and who are you?”

  "The name is Maromu. I already said that.”

  "...and do you also love that ship?” Chesura asked, looking him over quickly.

  “ No matter where Danoy goes, so do I.”

  When Maromu left the building with his certificate, Danoy was waiting for him with a smile. "You did it." Immediately Danoy pulled him into a hug.

  Maromu sighed and sank into it, making sure not to crush the certificate. "Wouldn't have without your support."

  Danoy laughed, "what are you talking about? It's all thanks to that big brain." They kissed him on the top of the head, and Maromu laughed.

  After enjoying the hug for a bit, the two broke apart before heading to a spot Danoy had prepared for a celebration picnic.

  The two were eating and enjoying the sunset when Danoy spoke up again. "So where are you planning to go?"

  Maromu looked at them, "what are you talking about?"

  Danoy sighed and leaned back, "well, your skills would be wasted if you stay here."

  "So that means I need to leave town?"

  Danoy turned to smile at Maromu, "the world needs you."

  "Don't you love me anymore?"

  Danoy's eyes went wide, "of course, I still love you. Why would you ask that?"

  Maromu nodded, "so then I won't be going anywhere."

  Danoy's eyes went wide, "what!"

  "I'm going to stay with you."

  "Why?" Danoy looked down at the dock where the Halwell was, "I can't even leave because of my promise to my father. Why tie yourself down to me."

  Maromu leaned over and grabbed Danoy's hand, "because I love you." He gave them a smile.

  Salcaro frowned, "you'll leave town because Danoy decided to sail with us?" Maromu loosened his grip on his clipboard where he had been looking.

  Maromu looked at him carefully, "I loved them enough to stay. Leaving isn't any harder. I don't want to be away from them." He had a small smile as they looked off to where Danoy was working before looking back at Salcaro.

  Salcaro looked over at Chesura who was frowning "alright. We'll go plan out where stuff is going to go okay?"

  Maromu nodded and went back to his clipboard while Salcaro led Chesura into the ship. "You okay?"

  Chesura sighed, "I'll be fine. He left a few years ago now. And hey, I might see him while we travel." She gave a smile, but he could tell it didn't reach her eyes.

  "Why did he leave?"

  Chesura leaned against the wall, "His talents would be wasted here. Just...he didn't take me."

  "I'm sorry," Salcaro muttered, touching her shoulder lightly.

  Chesura gave him a small smile, but it was better than the one before. "What are you sorry about? You didn't do anything." Her smile grew even bigger. "If we do meet him, I just have to make him beg for forgiveness for leaving me." Salcaro sighed. For the guys' sake, he hoped they wouldn't meet up.

~*~*~

  It was finally the day before they would take their first voyage. The last thing they needed to do was clean the rooms of the old crew. No one was looking forward to it, having avoided them as much as possible with the repairs. They had demanded the carpenters leave those walls alone, as well as not to enter those rooms.

  Salcaro was there first, like always. He sat on a box looking at the Halwell, waiting for the others to arrive. They had agreed to do this together.

  “I see you got your crew together.” Salcaro looked over his shoulder to see Alraslo standing there, leaning on his cane. 

  “Yeah,” Salcaro said slowly, standing up from the box and turning fully towards him. He knew what was coming but didn’t want to hear it.

  “And you're going out on your first voyage tomorrow?”

  “Yeah,” Salcaro shook his head. Maybe he could convey his feelings without saying them.

  “And you remember your promise when I let you buy the ship?”

  That made him pause, he didn’t really want to answer that one, “yeah.”

  Alrasio glared at him, “What was it?” 

  “When we set sail, you want to come along but…” Salcaro tried, but Alraslo interrupted him with a laugh.

  “Don't want the old guy to spoil the fun? Don't worry, you'll barely notice me.”

  “No that isn't it-”

  “If you're going back on your deal-” Alraslo took a step forward, the clack of his cane sounding extra loud.

  He took a step back, almost falling off the dock, “it's too dangerous.”

  “I've been on the seas before, lad, unlike your crew. If anyone knows the dangers, it's me” he said with a frown.

  “I know, but if you died because of me-”

  “Do any of you know how to navigate?” 

  Salcaro frowned, "I learn some-"

  "Enough for a small voyage for sure, but what about once you take longer ones? Once you're fully out on the ocean, you can't just follow coastlines."

  "Well...I can learn."

  "From who?" Alraslo watched him carefully. When Salcaro said nothing he nodded. “I thought so. I have sailed with a few tough Crews. You need me if you don't want to die.”

  Salcaro sighed. Alraslo had him there. He only had one chance left, "only if the crew agrees."

  "What?"

  "I can't accept you if the crew doesn't agree."

  Alraslo took a step forward "you going back on your word?"

  Salcaro wanted to step back, but doing so would send him into the water. "I made that deal thinking it would just be me and some hired people. Now that I have people that chose to be on the crew they get to choose who they sail with." Salcaro bit his lip. Alraslo might be old, but that didn't mean he was weak. The two stared at each other for a while before Alraslo sighed. 

  "Fine, if your crew doesn't agree, I'll figure out a way to change our deal." Alraslo muttered. Salcaro sighed and went back to pacing in front of the ramp to the ship, trying to figure out how he would explain it to the crew.

  Chesura was the first to arrive that morning. She practically skipped up to Salcaro, "here first as always." She said with a smile before noticing Alraslo, "who are you?"

  Before Salcaro could say anything Alraslo spoke up "I'm the ship’s navigator" he said with his head held high.

  "If the crew agrees," Salcaro said quickly. He didn't want Chesura to think she didn't have a choice. Chesura shrugged before moving to sit on the end of the dock, eager for the others to arrive. Salcaro went back to his pacing.

  Danoy and Maromu arrived together walking up to the three holding hands. However, Danoy was pulling Maromu, who had a small smile. That smile fell when he noticed Alraslo, "who's that?" He waved at Alraslo with his free hand.

  "The ship's navigator," Alraslo and Chesura said together, Chesura not even bothering to turn towards them.

  "Only if the crew is okay with him." Salcaro muttered. Maromu looked at him, then to Danoy, who was staring at the ship.

  Maromu rolled his eyes and pulled Danoy out of the way as they waited for their last crew member. Whispering to them to fill them in on what they probably didn’t hear.

  When Bolirin arrived, he looked among the crew members he had already met, having met Maromu and Danoy when he came to check when they were leaving, when his eyes landed on the only one he didn't know. "Who-"

  "The ship's navigator" everyone but Salcaro and Alraslo interrupted him. Alraslo smirked at Salcaro. who didn't even bother repeating himself. Everyone had decided it seemed.

  With the crew all assembled, they made their way onto the boat and to the section that held the rooms. The boat had obviously been specially made as there wasn't a captain's quarters. Instead, there were a bunch of rooms all the same size. Each door had a different letter carved into it. 

  Before anyone could move, Alraslo walked over the door with an N on it, entering without another word and closing the door. "Why does he get to pick first?" Bolirin muttered.

  "Because he used to own this ship. If he didn't sell it to Salcaro, none of us would be here." Chesura said, looking at the doors. "Looks like the pirates labeled them. Want to follow that?"

  "I doubt there is an accountant," Maromu muttered.

  "And it might be too far from mine," Danoy said, squeezing Maromu's hand tighter.

  "I don't have a job," Bolirin said, looking along the rooms.

  Chesura sighed. She pushed Salcaro to the door marked with a C which was the first room on the left, and to the right of the room Alraslo entered. She then stood in front of the door with an F which was the first one on the right side. "We'll take these two. You three pick wherever you feel fits best."

  Bolirin went off to pick the one next to Chesura, this door marked with an M, but Danoy raised his free hand, "what if one room isn't big enough? Could I take a wall down between the two of them?" 

  Chesura looked over to Salcaro, who shrugged, "as long as it doesn't affect the ship, it should be fine." Danoy nodded and moved to pick the room to the left of the one Alraslo entered, marked with an Ca, with Maromu picking the one next to it, marked with a Ch. However, they all knew the two wouldn't have separate rooms for long.

  Salcaro entered his new room and looked around. The room was musty and covered in dust, but there were still things left by the previous captain. He looked around the room and found a small chest hidden in one of the corners. He wiped it off carefully before opening it to see it was half empty. With the same amount of care, he took everything that belonged to the past Captain and placed it into the chest. Once he was done, he closed it again and put it back where he found it, placing a cloth over it.

  Once that was done, he was more willing to go through and throw out everything else. While the furniture like the bed frame and desk could stay, everything else was gone. They had enough leftover from Bolirin's money to pay for a new mattress for everyone, and that would be done later today.

  With the rooms now picked and set up, their plans to set sail on their small voyage were all ready. They met again the next morning and started sailing.

  It wasn't easy with all of them new to their new jobs, but they slowly were figuring it out. Since Maromu had nothing to do while sailing, he agreed to be the crew chef and spent the first day cleaning the kitchen area. They also found a job for Bolirin when Danoy was sitting on some boxes on the deck holding a cloth to a cut in their arm.

  Bolirin walked up to them with a frown, "what did you do?" He had spent a lot of time looking around the full ship their first day, and this was the first time most of them had seen him above deck that day.

  Danoy smiled at him. "Oh, I just cut myself while removing wood from our room. Don't worry about it, it will be fine…" he removed the cloth to see the wound was still bleeding and replaced it "...soon."

  Bolirin's frown only deepened "wait here."

  "I wasn't planni-" but before Danoy could even finish, Bolirin was walking away, heading to the room area. He was only gone for a little while, but when he came back, he had a bag. "What is-"

  "Let me see it." Danoy nodded and held out their arm for Bolirin to look at the wound. Bolirin pulled out supplies from his bag and started to clean it. Once he was done, he wrapped it before packing his bag away. 

  Chesura came over to watch Bolirin while he worked. Once he was done, she pointed to the bag "why do you have that?"

  Bolirin frowned, "my parents forced me to learn medicine." He looked at the bag "despite wanting to, it seems I brought it with me."

  Chesura smiled brightly, "that's it. You can be the ship's medic."

  Bolirin crossed his arms "why would I need to work? I paid to be on this ship."

  Chesura nodded "yes, that was for a one-way trip to our destination." 

  "One way? The amount I spent could have paid for ten people on a passenger ship."

  Chesura frowned, "well, of course ours was more expensive. We have to protect you, and this is a historical ship." She rubbed the railing for a moment before turning with a smile, "but if you become the ship's medic, you don't have to pay anymore." Bolirin was silent and she fluttered her eyelashes at him "please?" Bolirin blushed but nodded slowly. Chesura cheered, Danoy joining in even though they didn't know fully what was going on.

  The first trip was slow going but went smoothly. The crew was small, but then so was the ship, and when it got really hard for them to handle, Chesura could convince Bolirin to help out.

  The few holes that needed to be fixed were found by Bolirin's wandering Danoy taking care of them right away. When they weren't fixing the ship, they spent their time in the kitchen bothering Maromu to try and get little tastes before they all ate. To make up for it, Maromu made them do part of the cleaning.

  They got to the new town and sold their stuff right away. Chesura had a strong handle on sales, and with Maromu keeping track of their numbers, they were able to make a little extra when supplies were low. They planned out their next trip and bought the supplies. The profit was split between the entire crew. Bolirin hadn't been expecting to get money as well but was happily surprised to receive some.

~*~*~*~

  Salcaro laid down for the night. The long voyage had been going well so far. Everyone was getting along and slowly learning how to do their jobs. And the ship was still going strong, all the repairs holding out even as they got into the deep ocean.

  They had been sailing for a week so far and had no other ships or land in sight. They had anchored the ship, and most of them were sleeping besides Alraslo, who had announced he would keep watch. No amount of arguing from the crew could dissuade him.

  It seemed like only a moment of closing his eyes before Salcaro felt a cold hand wrap around his arm and fling him from the bed. He crashed into the wall with a cry of pain, when he opened his eyes he saw a ghost standing over his bed. 

  The ghost was strong-looking but had tattered clothes. The thing that stood out most to Salcaro was that it wore a big hat. In all of his research, the only one allowed to wear one on the ship was the captain.

  The captain floated towards him with a glare. "What?" Was all Salcaro could get out before the captain grabbed the back of his shirt and started to drag him from the room.

  Once they made it onto the deck, he was thrown into a pile of the others as ghosts surrounded them on all sides. "Salcaro!" Chesura shouted as he tried to orientate himself.

  Thanks to the full moon, it was very bright. All the ghosts seemed to shine because of it. He looked to see most of his crew now behind him. He noticed a girl he didn't recognize in the group but was more relieved to see Alraslo wasn't there. Salcaro was slightly glad that whatever was going to happen to them, Alraslo would be safe from it.

  "Why are you on my ship?" The Captain asked, floating a little above the ring of ghosts looking down at the group with a glare.

  The fear Salcaro felt surrounded as his crew was, made him forget for a moment why they were even there, "I...I bought this ship. So it's mine."

  The captain's glare seemed to get even sharper, "you didn't buy it from me." The captain started to float towards the wheel of the ship "now what to do with you all?" 

  Salcaro heard the sound of the anchor being raised and watched as the captain turned the wheel sharply left. Salcaro’s eyes went wide "wait!" He said, reaching out with his hand. It passed through the ghost standing in front of him, and he was surprised by the sudden cold.

  Captain turned to him "you dare to-"

  But Salcaro cut him off "if you go that way the ship will crash."

  "What?"

  "There are some rocks that are just under the water. We avoided them today. You probably hate us, but I can't let you kill this ship. It's too beautiful."

  The captain was silent but Salcaro breathed a sigh of relief when he turned the wheel all the way to the right. There hadn't been any hidden rocks that way. Though he gasped when the captain spoke again, "you may live. The others die."

  "No!" Before Salcaro could do anything, the ghost in front of him grabbed his stretched-out arm and threw him towards the rooms. He turned to face the group but could do nothing as he watched his crew separated. 

  Chesura had now taken the position he was in, placing herself in front of the crew with her arms outstretched. It didn't do much good for her when two ghosts just grabbed both her arms, practically lifting her off her feet with how tall they were compared to her, to pull her towards the side of the deck. 

  The unknown girl stood to the left of the group. When the ghost was heading towards her, she curled into herself, covering her head with her hands. One ghost grabbed both her arms to drag her to the side, she planted her feet, but the ghost just pulled her harder. 

  Danoy and Maromu we're to the right, holding onto each other tightly, two ghosts walking towards them. A ghost grabbed each of them and tried to pull them apart. Slowly they were pulled from each other but kept hold of each other's hand. The ghost eventually gave up and just pushed Maromu into Danoy, sending them both into the railing. Danoy hugged Maromu close once again, putting his head into their chest. The two ghosts stepped closer to them.

  As each person was pulled from the group, Bolirin moved back, allowing a wall of three ghosts to separate him from the others. He kept walking backward until his back hit the mass. He looked up at it as if surprised it was there before quickly grabbing one of the ropes tied to it. The three ghosts that had walked up to him reached out for him.

  Somehow in all of the confusion, the clacking of Alraslo's cane was louder than anything for Salcaro. Salcaro's attention was pulled from the crew when he realized the clacking was getting louder and from behind him. He turned to tell him to get out of here, but it died on his lips when he saw Alraslo. 

  He was slowly walking down the hall, his jaw set, the feeling of bloodlust rolling off of him. Salcaro didn't know what would happen when he reached the deck but didn't want to be around for it. He scooted back, but once he felt cold he stopped knowing a ghost was behind him.

  As soon as he stepped onto the deck though, everything seemed to go quiet. The ghosts all turned to look at Alraslo and seemed to freeze. He looked around the deck, slowly giving each ghost a once over with a glare. He noticed the ship was sailing and turned to the wheel, his mouth open to say something. When he saw the captain was the one steering, another word seemed to ripe out of him. "Kanibon?"

  In all of his research about the pirates that owned this ship 30 years ago, Salcaro never found a single name, descriptions of what they looked like and habits they had were easy. There had been a few journals printed a few years after their death. But even in those, every single name had been scratched out. Salcaro had assumed it was to erase them from history. But with how Kanibon flinched, it was obvious that was his own.

  Kanibon let go of the wheel and floated down in front of Alraslo, looking him over. Alraslo seemed to stand a bit straighter under the watchful eye. "Alraslo? You survived."

  Alraslo nodded quickly, “thanks to your sacrifice.” he quickly glared at Kanibon, “not that I wanted to be pushed off the boat when you all were captured,” he muttered.

  Kanibon shook his head then frowned at him, “you should have lived a happy and long life then.” 

  Alraslo sighed and moved to the edge of the deck. Where he went, ghosts parted, “I did. I spent years watching over her,” he said as he rubbed the railing. “as I worked on the dock helping soldiers and sailors alike.” 

  “Then why are you here?” Kanibon muttered.

  Alraslo was silent for a moment looking out over the ocean, “after floating for a while I washed up in a small town. While healing up from almost drowning, I heard about what happened to all of you and the ship. Right then, I decided if she sailed again, I would be on her. I got to town and forged papers to claim you stole her from me. Got a job so I could keep her docked safely.”

  “But you sold her?” Kanibon said.

  Alraslo nodded, “I was being fired and heard them talking about scraping her to pay off my debts.” he chuckled before turning to look Salcaro in the eyes. “You have the same look as Kanibon did when you looked at the Halwell," He looked at the railing again. "Until you came along, I didn't know what to do. I couldn't let her be scrapped, but I couldn't care for her myself either."

  Kanibon nodded his head "yes, that one I approved of."

  Alraslo chuckled before looking at the rest of the group still held by the ghosts. No one had moved since the two started talking. When his eyes landed on the unknown girl, he smiled. As he walked over to her, the ghosts parted once again. When he was in front of her, he looked at the ghost holding her and she was let go. Alraslo patted her head, her shaking subsided a little.

  He turned back to everyone. When he did she hid behind him grabbing onto his shirt tightly. He looked Kanibon in the eyes.  "Could you approve them for me? They may not be up to your level, but they're good kids and are willing to learn."

  Kanibon watched him for a moment before nodding, he looked among the ghost and crew. “If Alraslo gives his approval, then we can't argue." With that, all the crew were let go, Chesura stumbling when she landed. "Since our work is done we'll leave."

   "Wait!" everyone turned to look at Salcaro. He shifted for a moment before taking a breath, "can you come out often?"

  Kanibon pointed to the moon overhead. "We have more power when the moon is full. Which is why we attacked you tonight. We can't touch people besides when the full moon is out but can touch objects and interact with them every night but the new moon." Kanibon looked around to see his ghost crew moving to their favorite spots and the Salcaro’s crew watching them carefully "why?"

  "I was hoping you all could teach us. We're all new at this, as Alraslo said."

  "What!" If anyone hadn't been watching, Chesura's shout would have drawn their attention. "They tried to kill us and you want them to teach us."

  Salcaro patted her shoulder lightly, "They know more than us. Any help wouldn't be a bad thing."

  Before Chesura could reply, Kanibon spoke up " and why haven't you let Alraslo teach you?" 

  "They won't let me, Captain. They think I should relax while we're on the ship, and I hate it. How am I supposed to relax when I see them making beginner mistakes?"

  Salcaro turned towards him, "I just don't want you to overwork yourself."

  Alraslo shook his head "teaching a bunch of newbies ain't going to overwork me," he waved to the girl who was still hiding behind him, "I've been teaching this one just fine."

  Salcaro frowned "I've been wondering who that was."

  Alraslo smiled "yeah, I found her in my room the day we cleaned the rooms out."

  "what!" This time Chesura shout was directed at Alraslo.

  Alraslo sighed as he stepped onto the ship, the familiar sway under his feet was something he could never forget. Once the group got to the rooms, he moved quickly, he wouldn't let someone else take the room given to him by Kanibon. He heard them talking behind him but ignored it as he closed the door.

  Once he was inside, he sighed once again. His eyes swept the room only to find a girl standing in the darker part of the room. He frowned. "Who are you?"

  "I-i'm sorry." She muttered.

  When she didn't say anymore, Alraslo took a step closer to her. She took one back. "What are you doing here?"

  "I...I thought this room would be safe to hide in. I hadn't heard they had a navigator, so I didn't think anyone would pick this room."

  "The rest of the crew didn't know about me till this morning." He wanted to move closer to her but knew she would only move more into the corner. He instead decided to sit on the bed. "We aren't leaving until tomorrow."

  She nodded her head quickly, "I know. But I didn't know when tomorrow. So I felt sneaking on today would be my safest bet." She fidgeted for a moment "i-i can sneak off tonight. The rest of the crew won't even know I was here." She looked down at her feet.

  Alraslo frowned "why did you sneak on anyways?" When she didn't say anything, he got up and moved closer to her. She tried to move back but bumped into the wall and started to shake. Once he was in striking distance, his grip on his cane tightened. He could see the bruise that was forming on her cheek as well as the black eye that had been hidden by the darkness of the corner. He didn't know who had done that to her but assumed there was more.

  She closed her eyes tight when he stood right in front of her and flinched when he placed his hand on her head. When all he did was rub it, she looked up at him carefully. "I don't know who you're running from, but I'll help you get away."

  "Really?" She whispered.

  He nodded, "it will be easier for you to hide on the ship with us working together anyways." She watched him for a moment before tears streamed down her cheeks, and she pulled him into a tight hug. He rubbed her back as she let out all the tears she had.

  Kanibon nodded his head, "ah, a stowaway like you."

  Alraslo chuckled, "that's why I convinced her to stay after the short trip. If I just wanted to get her away from whatever, I would have set her up in the town we were just at." He looked back at her to see she wasn't shaking anymore "you should come out and introduce yourself."

  She moved from behind him but kept a hold on his arm. "I'm Saycalin. I've been learning how to navigate and deal with the sails." She looked at Alraslo quickly, then back at the group "I'm sorry I stowed away on your ship."

   Maromu frowned "but we haven't been low on food even though we've been feeding an extra mouth," since he was making the food, he knew exactly how much they used.

  Alraslo shook his head "I've just been giving her half my food. That's why I have been eating in my room."

  "then you should have just told me about her instead of going hungry!" Maromu shouted. Danoy pulled him into a hug, and Maromu sighed, "do we even have enough food for her on this trip?" He muttered.

  Alraslo nodded "oh yeah, I bought double of what you suggested. I was trying to figure out some way to tell you all, but I was waiting till we were fully on the sea since you all didn't seem like you were the type to kill stowaways."

  Everyone frowned at the notion, and Saycalin shifted, "sorry for the trouble." She brought her hand up to bite at her thumb.

  Salcaro shook his head, "we needed more hands to help sail anyways."

~*~

  With the ghost pirates now teaching the merchant crew, they learned how to run the Halwell faster than ever. It was weird for the crew at first. They would be tying a rope down when suddenly a whispered “not like that.” would come from nowhere. The whispered voice would then inform them how to tie it right. 

  Most of the crew couldn't always tell which ghost they were talking to but knew where specific ghosts spent their time. Like Kanibon who stayed near the wheel, and Cholaven, the pirates' lookout. She never left the crow's nest, not even on the night they had first attacked.

  The exceptions to this were Alraslo, who had known them long enough to recognize their voice even as a whisper. The other was Bolirin. After they met the ghosts, he took whatever chance he could to talk to them since he didn't work unless people were hurt, which gave him a lot of chances.

  He spent the days talking to them and writing down their stories or information they wanted him to. His room had a slowly growing pile of filled books. When he wasn't talking to them he found any secrets the pirates told him about and showed them to the crew.

  Saycalin was slowly getting used to the crew too. The first few days, she spend any time not around Alraslo in the crow's nest. Which is how the crew found out about Cholaven. The two seemed to hit it off thanks to similar situations. Saycalin informed the crew that after Bolirin wrote down Cholaven's story, she had demanded only Saycalin was allowed up there. The crew, seeing the after-effects of whatever she had left behind, agreed.

  After a few weeks, she stopped cowering every time they yelled or flinching when they raised their hand. She was still doing it every once in a while, but it got less and less with time. The crew assumed it was the time away from them and in the company of Cholaven that helped the most.

  After the one attack, most of the trip was uneventful. They even made more money than they were expecting. Some bought supplies, like Bolirin bought more empty books, or Saycalin who bought a wide-brimmed hat to keep herself from getting burned.

  The rest of the crew saved their money having most of what they needed though they all pooled their money together to get better food to cook. Maromu complained at first, but when Chesura offered to help, he agreed.

  They spent a week in town slowly selling off their stock and trying to figure out what to buy to sell at their next destination. Salcaro and Chesura entered a jewelry store to see if there was anything worth it when they heard a gasp. They turned to the man standing at the counter, and Chesura frowned.

  "Chesura, is that you? What are you doing out of Ecley?"

  Salcaro looked him over. He didn't look that impressive. Chesura looked up to the roof as if counting something. Since she wasn't going to say anything Salcaro spoke up instead. "Do you know her?"

  "Do I know her? Of course I do. I'm Lugarow."

  That name meant nothing to Salcaro. Chesura didn't talk much about her past. She turned to look at Lugarow with a big smile. "I'm sorry it's been so long I forgot who you were till you said your name."

  He frowned, "how could you forget? We were childhood friends." That made it click for Salcaro who this was. He took a step back not wanting to get in her way.

  "Yes, but it's been so long." She leaned on the counter he was standing behind. "Actually mentioning our childhood, I'm sailing on the Halwell you know?"

  "Yeah right."

  "No, it's the truth. Isn't it captain?"

  Salcaro blinked, being suddenly brought into the conversation. "Yep, I bought it from the old owner."

  Lugarow seemed to straighten at that. "Prove it."

  Chesura frowned and looked over at Salcaro, "can I bring him on the ship? Once he sees it, he'll know it's the real thing."

  Salcaro shrugged, "I don't see why not."

  "Great," she turned to look back at Lugarow, "come by tonight, okay? We're busy till then." He nodded and the two left the building.

  "What are you planning?"

  Chesura gave him a smile but it didn't reassure him, "what do you mean?"

  "No one but us is going to be on the ship tonight." They took shifts to keep the ship safe, the rest slept at an inn.

  "Don't worry about it. Also don't come back to the ship right after dinner okay?"

  Salcaro sighed as he nodded his head watching as Chesura ran off with a wave heading in the direction of the docks.

~*~*~

  Lugarow stood in front of the ramp leading up to the Halwell. He couldn't believe it was really here, that it was really sailing. "Chesura?" He called out.

  "In here," a soft voice said from the ship. He could tell it was a women's voice but nothing else.

  "Chesura? Is that you?" He started to walk up the ramp and onto the Halwell. Since he had been allowed by the captain he wasn't worried about getting into trouble. When his feet reached the deck, he was only met by silence.

  He looked around, and old memories of playing with Chesura came back to him. He gave a small smile as he looked down the hall or rooms, remembering hide and seek they used to play, even if there were only two of them.

  He started to walk towards them when the wheel creaking drew his attention. Instead, he walked over to it and looked out at the boat in front of him, a little lost in his memories.

  He grabbed the wheel lightly and was about to turn it when a voice spoke up, "what are you doing on my ship." He looked to his right to say something but the words never came as he saw Kanibon floating there glaring at him.

  "I….I….I have permission." He said but let go of the wheel, taking a step away from Kanibon. 

  Kanibon followed, "and when did I give permission?"

  "The captain….the captain gave me permission." He said quickly, doing his best to slowly move back down to the deck. But with every step he took, Kanibon floated closer.

  "I'm the captain." He growled. Once he hit the deck Lugarow moved a bit quicker to try and get off the ship. He took a moment to look in front of him only to find another imposing ghost blocking the ramp.

  "I must have got the wrong ship." He said, backing away from the new ghost. He moved closer to the rooms knowing there were places he might be able to hide. "If you want I can leave now if you would ju-"

  Kanibon interrupts him with a laugh, "no one leaves once they step aboard." Now two ghosts were heading towards him. He took a step back when suddenly a bunch of hands grabbed him from behind. He gasped and tried to pull away, but they held tight.

  Suddenly he heard someone running up the ramp. Once she stepped on deck, he could breathe a sigh of relief as Chesura stood there breathing hard. "Chesura, save me." He shouted, drawing her attention to him and the ghosts' attention to her. 

  She glared at him, "why did you walk on the ship without me."

  He frowned, was this really the time "you said you would prove it."

  "I would have, but we need to ask before letting anyone on." She waved at the ghosts between them.

  Kanibon stood between them, "so you were the one that broke the rule." It was a statement, not a question.

  "No. He di-"

  Kanibon interrupted her, "you know the rules. Either you let us have him or give yourself up for him."

  "What but-"

  "Chesura, please." She looked at him for a moment, then back to Kanibon who took a step closer. 

  With a quick shake of her head and a quiet, "I'm sorry." She ran down the ramp again, leaving him to the cold hands that gripped him.

  He watched her retreating back with mouth open before he was suddenly pulled back farther and farther down the hall, farther and farther from the light. He fought against the cold hands that grabbed him when suddenly he was free. He ran down the hall and almost fully crashed into the mass, thinking it would take longer than ever to reach it. He looked to his right to see the city and his freedom and ran, not even bothering to look around as he moved. His feet hit the solid ground, and he only ran faster, trying to get away from that haunted ship as fast as he could.

  Chesura burst out laughing as she watched Lugarow run from the dock. With how he was acting, she doubted he even knew she was standing right there with Salcaro.

  Salcaro frowned up at the ship, "how did you convince them to do that?"

  "These guys love scaring people. Plus, they get a new story to tell Alraslo." She said between her laughter. She was laughing so hard her stomach was starting to hurt.

  He looked down at her as they started to die down, "Feel better?" 

  She sighed as she wiped a tear from her eye. "I felt better a while ago. This was just a bonus."

  "Oh?"

  She nodded as they walked up the ramp, "I realized that it wasn't him that made those moments so wonderful. But the offer of freedom the Halwell had. He just got that freedom before me." She said with a shrug.

  Salcaro nodded, "but now you have even more freedom than him."

  She chuckled, "yeah I win in the end" she pumped her fists into the air and Salcaro laughed. The two walked up the ramp to the cheers of the pirates.

~*~*~

  They left that town behind with rumors that their ship was haunted. Since it didn't affect sales and was true, they didn't bother correcting it. Though Chesura did her best to avoid Lugarow the rest of the time they were in town. But with him avoiding the docks, it was easy enough.

  They had set sail easily with all that they had learned. They had sailed for a few days when they were met with trouble.

  Saycalin was the first one to alert them that a ship was coming towards them. Salcaro ordered the Halwell to be stopped since it still looked like a pirate ship, and he didn't want to cause a problem. 

  The ship came closer and closer until the people were able to come aboard, having both ships side by side. The people that came across were not fellow merchants, sailors, or officers but pirates.

  The crew were surrounded pretty quickly; the only one escaping capture was Salcaro, who was still hidden in the crow's nest. "Not a bad catch today. A bunch of newbies we can take their ship and supplies from." Salcaro wanted to speak up, but with the swords pointed at his crew he couldn't bring himself to.

  "Now, you'll be getting off my ship." The pirate growled as he moved the sword closer to Salcaro who stood his ground. He couldn't just let the ship be taken.

  "This is my ship, not yours." Kanibon's voice floated around them. 

  The head pirate looked around "who's there?" Before anyone could say anything, the cannons on the Halwell went off, blasting holes into the pirate ship. Head pirate looked at his crew "I thought you collected all of them "

  "They did." The head pirate looked up to see Kanibon floating above him. Kanibon was more see-through than at night but still visible thanks to tonight being a full moon.

  "What!" The head pirate brought his sword up to stab into Kanibon who just looked at it. 

  "You can't affect me, but I can still affect you." Kanibon said as he swung at the pirate's arm. 

  The pirate cried out as he dropped the sword. "What did you do to me!" He glared at Kanibon as he clutched his arm.

  Kanibon shrugged, "I've only numbed it. But you don't want me to hit the other one, or you won't be able to swim back to shore." The head pirate took a step back. "Crew?" Suddenly the deck was filled with ghost pirates. "Throw the intruders off our ship." Salcaro’s crew braced themselves, besides Alraslo, and we're surprised when the ghosts didn't even touch them, going after only the pirates. They might have been becoming friends with them slowly but we're still worried the pirates would change their minds at any moment. Even Bolirin who had been talking to them a lot.

  Salcaro blinked at Kanibon "oh I thought you were going to throw us off too." 

  Kanibon frowned, "why would we do that?" 

  "We don't know if you would change your mind. And take back the ship as yours." He muttered. They had talked about it once or twice on the night of the new moon when they knew the pirates couldn't hear.

  "you're part of the crew," Kanibon said, crossing his arms. "The part that moves the ship anyways"

  Alraslo laughed "aw Kanibon I didn't think you'd come to like them that fast."

  Kanibon didn't say anything while the crew looked at Alraslo "he does?"

  Alraslo nodded, "he only lets people join the crew if he likes you. Otherwise, you're just helping hands." 

  Kanibon turned to Salcaro to change the subject. "You shouldn't have stopped the boat." Now that the pirates had been thrown off, the other ghosts were disappearing again. The crew went back to work, though they could still hear the Halwell's cannons going off.

  Salcaro frowned, "what?"

  "When you see another boat you should just keep moving."

  "But the ship still looks like a pirate ship. I didn't want them to think we were pirates."

  "That would be helpful to you. Other merchant crews would avoid you, and the navy would ask you to stop. Pirates are the only ones to attack other pirates."

  "Oh."  Kanibon nodded knowing his point was made. He looked out over the deck as the Halwell started to sail again with a small smile before disappearing. Salcaro stepped up to the wheel and knew he probably had the same look.

[endlynshortstories]

The Haunting of Annebell and her Crew

A young girl was on the beach. She was curled up into a ball far away from the water so it wouldn't touch her, but close enough, the waves washed out the sound of her crying. Her ponytail kept getting whipped around by the wind.

There was a small village off in the distance. And from it, a boy was walking towards her but she didn't seem to notice. He was only a few years older than her but so much more mature. His parents were fishers and he had to watch over himself. Most of the other kids ignored him or teased him but he didn’t mind, he had her.

The two were close, usually spending every day together. Jimbob decided what they did most of the time since he was older, but they enjoyed their time together. He sat down next to her kneeling body, "Why are you out here?" 

The girl hiccuped before speaking, "because I don't want to see anyone."

"Not even me?" 

She shook her head. "I don't mind you, Jimbob," she muttered. Sitting up to rub at her eye. 

He turned her face to look at him and rubbed the leftover tiers off her cheeks. "Then why don't you want to see anyone else?"

She was silent for a little while and Jimbob waited until she was ready to talk, “Tom was making fun of me again.” He put his arm around her, “do you want to talk about what happened?”

She sighed, “Tom was making fun of my name again.”

“What? Why? Your mother picked it out for you.”

“I know!” she almost shouted, starting to cry anew. 

He squeezed her shoulder again and she sighed. “What’s wrong? You don’t usually act like this. What could he have ever said to you?” he muttered.

“He…he said it doesn’t fit me. He says I’m too much of a tomboy.” Jimbob ground his teeth, ready to say something when she stood up suddenly starting to pace. “I did everything I could think of. I grew my hair long,” she brought her hair forward and started to pull on the end of it while she was still pacing. “I wore dresses, I stopped doing things I liked. I don't know what else I could do." she stomped. 

"I know what you could do to stop them from hating you," he muttered, looking up at her.

Her eyes went wide "really what?" She sat in front of him, sitting forward a little. 

"You could stop hanging out with me. They only hate you because of that." 

Her smile turned into that of a grimace of anger. "No never. If they don't like you, I don't want to be friends with them. You're my best friend." 

Jimbob chuckled, “alright, alright. I won’t suggest that again.” She sighed as she sat next to him, leaning against his shoulder with her eyes closed. 

Jimbob rubbed her back lightly. “Well, since you won’t let me take care of Tom, what do you want me to do?”

The girl sighed, leaning more into him, “I don’t know.”

“Well then, why don’t we get you a name that does fit you?”

The girl looked at Jimbob sitting up properly, “we can do that? What could we do?”

Jimbob smiled, “sure we can.” He then covered his left eye, “we can be pirates.”

She thought for a moment, tapping her chin lightly as she did so, "how will that help?"

Jimbob sighed, shaking his head as if he expected her to know. "We use the title you get with your position as your new name, that way, it would fit you."

“Then what title will I have?"

"I'll be the first mate," he said, pointing to himself, "and you’ll be the captain."

She smiled, closing her eyes and leaning against him again, glad he was her friend.

~*~*~*~*~

Those same eyes opened, only much older. She only saw wood above her and felt her body rock back and forth slightly. She sat up to look out a window, only big enough for her to crawl through, and saw nothing but the ocean.

She still looked the same as she had in the past. Her hair was shorter, too short for a ponytail now, and a little curlier.

As she got up, she went over to her closet looking at the fancy clothing, most with short sleeves, and decided to pick out one of her oldest clothing. It was baggy pants and a brown vest with a white shirt underneath. She smiled as she felt the vest before heading to the door. Once out on the deck, the wind hit her, but she didn't really mind.

As she was walking along, she saw one of the other crew members. He is the chef of the crew. He looked up at her "oh Captain, just getting up?"

"Does it really matter, Mike?"

He chuckled then nodded "that's true." He watched her look around. "Looking for Jimbob?" she nodded "he's taking over Gary’s job as a lookout so Gary could help me with the inventory. We’re almost done, though.”

"I see. How is the kitchen doing, by the way?"

"I could use a little help but otherwise, fine. More than enough food to last us a few weeks still."

"Good." She then started to climb up to the lookout station. As she did, she looked down and saw some of the other crew members walking around. Jimbob had done as he said he would and helped her get a pirate crew, them all only knowing her as Captain.

She got to the top and saw only Jimbob. He looked similar though his hair was longer, pulled back in a short ponytail. He wore black pants that were somewhat loose, a white shirt, and a blue coat.

“Hey.”

He turned to see her and smiled at her "ah Captain, glad to see you are up."

"You know you can call me by my name. I don't mind if you do…at least when we're alone." She muttered, leaning against the railing.

Jimbob watched her for a moment then chuckled. "But don't you hate your name?"

"Yah, I know but…."

He smiled, moving closer to her, messing up her hair "thanks." When standing next to each other, Captain only came up to his shoulder. He looked at her "isn't that your old clothing? Why are you wearing that?"

Captain shrugged, "I had an old dream and just felt like wearing it." Before he could say anything else, she looked around. “I just passed Mike. Gary should be coming back soon.”

"Good, so I can get down." He looked behind the Captain. "Though it looks like I won't be able to do what I want."

The Captain looked behind to see another ship heading their way. "And I just got up."

"It's your fault for sleeping so late." The Captain stuck out her tongue at him.

~*~*~*~*~

It had been a quick battle, the other group being a much smaller pirate ship and crew. They had attacked first and soon found themselves in over their heads. Blood hit the deck, but that didn't matter to Jimbob. It was the enemy's blood and the enemy's deck. Jimbob looked around to see the crew finishing up the remaining enemies. He grabbed the closest member of his crew. "Where's the Captain?"

"She went to wash off the blood."

Jimbob nodded "Make sure to take everything before we burn it."

"Aiy aiy."

Jimbob went back over to their ship. He found the captain's quarters quickly, having been there many times before. He entered without knocking to see the bathroom door closed. Walking over to the bed, he sat down. He only had to wait a moment before the Captain came out. "You’re lucky I was done changing when you came in." Now she was wearing a large coat that covered most of her body.

"Doesn't matter anyways. I wouldn't have been interested in anything I would see" Jimbob said with a chuckle.

Captain glared at him, "do you want me to throw you overboard?"

That made Jimbob actually laugh instead of chuckling. "Like you would be able to do that. I've been your first mate since we were kids." It was then that Jimbob noticed her clothing, "isn't that one of mine?"

"Leave me alone." She said, crossing her arms, "it's the only thing that has long sleeves, and I don't want to go out in the wind since I’m still wet from my shower."

"It's okay. I don't mind, really." Captain sighed and sat next to Jimbob, leaning against him "you okay?"

"We almost lost a few people this time."

Jimbob smiled, wrapping an arm around her, "don't worry, everyone is fine. You did a good job" Captain nodded her head; both were silent for a while. Ever since they had attacked the other ship, the ship had stood still, as best it could on the sea. They felt the ship suddenly move forward.

"They'll want you to go and light the other ship."

"I know," they both stood up and Captain crossed her arms. 

"What's wrong?" Jimbob asked, stopping by the door. Captain muttered something, and Jimbob leaned over to hear her better. "What?"

"You shouldn’t be taller than me,"

Jimbob smiled and pulled her into a hug "don't be mad, I like you at this height."

Captain pulled out of his arms. "Well, I don't," with that, they headed on deck, the crew were waiting but with a kid. "What's this now?"

The child had black hair and wide green eyes. His height measured to the captain’s shoulder, which made her stand a little taller. The clothing he wore looked fancy though they were torn and dirty.

"He was in the brig of the other ship. Figured you wouldn't want us to burn him with the bodies." Captain nodded while looking at the child. The kid shivered at the mention of bodies.

“Looks like a rich kid,” she muttered.

The other shrugged and she turned away from him, crossing her arms as she looked at the pile of stuff they had got off the other ship. “Anything else?”

Gary nodded, “yeah, they had a map on them. Someplace we haven’t been before.” he held the rolled-up map out to her.

“Really?” she walked over to it, opening it up and while trying to get a lay of the land.

Before she could get a good look at it, she heard “Hey!” it was then pulled out of her hands. The person turned out to be the kid who held the map close.

Captain put her hands on her hip and leaned a little forward. “What do you think you're doing?”

“It’s my map, not yours!” he held the map a little tighter. 

“Your map?” she raised one of her eyebrows and looked over at Jimbob out of the corner of her eye, who shrugged. “We found that,” she pointed at the map, “on that,” she then pointed to the other ship. “How does that make it your map?”

“It was my fathers first, then those guys took it. I got on their ship before they could leave, but they then threw me in their brig.” Both Captain and the kid shivered. The brig was not something anyone wanted to spend time in.

“Should we trust him?” Captain asked, looking at Mike crossing her arms. When no one said anything, she turned slightly to look at Jimbob, “well?

Jimbob chuckled, “you're asking me? Aren’t you the captain?”

Captain glared at him before sighing. “You know what, I don’t want to deal with this. Just put him in one of the cells.”

Jimbob chuckled as he watched the kid dragged off. “So what now?” he asked, walking over to Captain and putting a hand on her head. She glared at him before hitting his hand off her head.

Captain lit the other ship on fire and then turned to her crew. “We should head to the closest town. I’ll plan what to do after that.”

~*~*~*~*~

Jimbob headed down to the cells with a plate of food. "Hey, how are you holding out, kid?"

The kid looked up, "my name's Andy, not kid!" he said with a huff "I'm fine, much better than the other ship,” Jimbob nodded, hearing what the kid had said before.

"Yah, not all pirates are kind to their captives." He opened the cell door to put the food on the floor before closing it.

"Why are you here?"

Jimbob looked confused as Andy picked up the food and started to eat rather quickly. "To give you food."

Andy swallowed before speaking. "Well yeah but, the captain asked you a question. That must mean you have some amount of power. You could have just told someone to bring me food."

Jimbob nodded, "That is true, but we're a little short on people right now."

"Why?"

Jimbob shrugged "the Captain has high standards, so we don't get many new people. The captain turns away most people who want to join us."

"What are the standards?"

"Well first, you can't ask her anything about her name" Andy opened his mouth, but Jimbob interrupted him. "She doesn't like her real name." Andy closed his mouth before starting to eat again. "The second thing is total loyalty, for the rest of your life, to her and I. The rest is mostly all about their morals."

"Why you too?"

"We grew up together." He shrugged "we're best friends. That's why I'm the first mate."

“Oh, so that’s why she asked you earlier.” Jimbob nodded. The two remained silent until Andy spoke up once again. “What morals do they need?”

Jimbob looked surprised, “you know what morals are? You're pretty smart, huh?” when Andy didn’t say anything, Jimbob sighed, “well, there are some things you can’t like doing. You can’t like killing kids, stealing from poor people. Nothing the captain thinks as low.”

Andy nodded "I could do that."

Jimbob snickered, "You're still a kid. I don't think you should be agreeing to that kind of stuff. Well I guess you can agree to the last one, but the loyalty thing would be bad."

"I'm not a kid," Andy muttered while putting down his plate, food already gone. "What's so wrong with me agreeing with that?"

Jimbob shook his head and sighed, "look, the problem is if you break the rules. If you do, the punishment isn’t something anyone can survive."

Andy’s eyes went wide, and he moved back a little, “you mean if I break the rules, I die?”

Jimbob nodded slowly, “yeah, that’s why Captain probably won’t accept you into the crew. It’s why she doesn’t really accept anyone. She takes only people she knows won’t break the loyalty rule because she doesn’t want to feel betrayed.”

“Oh…”Andy said, placing his fork onto his empty plate.  Jimbob took the plate with him as he left Andy to think.

The next few days, Mike was the person bringing Andy his food. On the third day, Captain was the one who brought food. Andy frowned at her “where is Mike?”

“One of the others got sick, and Mike is watching over them. I decided I would give you your food.” she placed the plate down a little roughly and flinched slightly about doing so, but closed the door quickly to hide it. 

She turned to head to the door when Andy spoke up, “wait, where are you going?”

She looked back at him. “I was going to head up.”

“Don’t you think you are forgetting something?”

Captain turned back to him “no. why?”

Andy tapped his plate while looking up at her. “I'm bored.”

Captain chucked “bored? You're technically a captive.”

“Yeah, but you all don’t seem to hate me.” he chewed his food for a moment “can you let me out?”

“Did you not listen to me?”

“You didn’t listen to me.”

Captain moved closer to his soul “ and what didn’t I listen to you say.”

“I’m bored.”

“And I said-”

“I’m bored, I’m bored, I’m bored, I’m bored, I’m bored, I’m bored, I’m bo-” Andy got louder and louder as he went on.

Captain covered her ears “alright!” she shouted, which made Andy stop.

“Alright?”

Captain sighed, “I'll let you out to help the crew.”

Andy moved up to the bars, “only help out the crew?”

Captain frowned “what do you mean?”

He looked nervous for a moment before he took a deep breath and let it out slowly, looking at the Captain straight in the eye, "I want to join your crew."

"why?"

Andy shrugged. "I don't have any family, and even if you did bring me back to land, no one would really want to help me."

Captain frowned, "that's not a really good reason." She crossed her arms, “you could always join the navy. They will take you in if you tell them that you were kidnapped by pirates.”

Andy frowned, “but I don’t know any of them.”

Captain raised her eyebrow, “you don’t know anyone on this ship.”

Andy pointed to the stairs that left the cells. “I know some of you. Like Mike and Jimbob”

Captain’s eyes went wide, “you don’t know us. You have only talked to us once or twice.”

“That’s more than I know about the navy. And you guys saved my life. You’re not talking to me like I’m dumb.”

Captain shook her head, "there is another problem with you joining. You're way too young to be agreeing to our terms."

"I'm not a kid!" Captain moved back a little from how loud Andy screamed. She didn’t think he could get any louder than last time. After a moment, Captain moved to look Andy in the eyes once again.

“I don’t think it would be good for you to join my crew. You have to follow all of my orders. I could command you to do whatever I wanted, whether it was killing someone or stealing something. At least the navy doesn’t kill you if you fail an order. But if you fail to follow an order, then I don’t know if I can trust you.”

“But-”

“But nothing. If you don’t follow my orders, I can kill you.”

Andy rolled his eyes, “with how worried you sound, I don’t think you would order me to do that stuff.” he crossed his arms but moved a bit away from the bars, “or kill me.”

Captain sighed, “Well, yes, I guess I wouldn’t, but that doesn’t count for when you get older. It’s for the rest of your life. You can’t ever leave. That’s not something you can choose now, no matter what you think. You’re way too young. We’ll be dropping you off at the next port we stop at.”

Andy shook his head, "no, I want to join."

Captain sighed and stood up. "I'm sorry, but I can’t accept that. Like I said, you're too young.” She went and grabbed the keys. “But I'll let you help out the crew till we drop you off.” Andy sighed but was happy to be out of the cell. He picked up his plate and followed Captain up to the deck.

It was a month until they got to the next port. Over that time, Andy did any job he was given. Getting to know the crew as best as he could. It was Captain’s turn to steer the ship and she was humming softly to herself. As she did so, Jimbob walked up to her with a plate of food. She blinked at it for a moment before taking the plate letting him take over the steering. Captain took a bite and gasped.

“That good?”

“Yeah, did Mike make this?”

“Andy said the recipe was from his father.”

Captain sighed, taking another bite with a sigh, “he’s been doing practically every job.”

Jimbob smirked, "Hmmm, I wonder who he reminds me of starting out?"

Captain stood up straight, "I don’t know who you could be talking about."

Jimbob leaned closer to look down at her, who frowned. “Yes, I wonder.” she glared and shoved some food into her mouth, and he laughed.

~*~*~*~*~

Jimbob and the Captain watched as the others checked the ship hull and everything under it. Captain and Andy were still fighting over Andy joining the crew. The two were at a standstill, and no one wanted to discuss the subject since they got into a shouting match the last few times.

Currently, the others were teaching Andy how to take care of the ship. "So, what are you going to do?" Jimbob said, looking at Captain. 

Captain bit her lip, “You know we need to leave him here. It would be too dangerous.”

Jimbob shook his head, “you act like there would be no one to protect him.”

Captain glared at him before waving Andy over. He walked over before smiling up at her, “Andy, you should go get food.”

Andy crossed his arms and stomped his foot, “not until you let me join your crew.”

“Andy, don’t be like that,” Captain muttered, shaking her head.

“I won’t go get food until you let me join your crew!”

Captain sighed, shaking her head once again, “okay, okay. Fine, you can join us. Just go eat first.” She handed Andy some money.

Andy smiled, “Really? I can join you?” he took the money and looked at it for a moment. 

Captain smiled at him, “yes. It’ll take about three hours to load up all the supplies onto the ship,” Andy smiled and started to head off as Captain and Jimbob turned back to the ship. 

“Captain, we don’t need three hours to load up, only one,” Jimbob muttered.

Captain sighed, nodding her head slowly, “I know that Jimbob, no matter what he says, he doesn’t know what the life of a pirate is like. I can’t let him make that decision at his age.”

Jimbob chuckled, “didn’t you decide to be a pirate at his age.”

Captain glared at Jimbob, “yes, but I had you, and that makes our situations different.”

“And Andy has you. That makes them the same.”

“Doesn’t matter. He shouldn’t be making this choice.” Captain said, glaring at the ship, her fist clenched.

Jimbob moved in front of her, “so you’re making the choice for him?”

Captain looked up at him with a glare, “yes, yes I am!” she then stomped back to the ship with Jimbob following. Neither noticed the small shadow close to them.

~*~*~*~*~

Just like Jimbob said, they were loaded and on their way in an hour. Captain was leaning against the rail, looking back at the town, her elbows on the rail, her hands intertwined, and her head on her hands. 

“You miss Andy, don’t you?” Jimbob said, leaning on the rail next to her.

“Of course I do, it was only a month, but he was a good kid, hard-working even if he was a little stubborn.”

They both jumped when they heard a voice behind them, “then you shouldn’t have tried to leave me!” They turned to see Andy standing by the mass.

Captain looked shocked, “why are you here? You should be eating in a restaurant right now.”

“I heard your plans to leave me, so I got on the boat as soon as I could.” He said with a nod and a smile

“You shouldn’t be here!” Captain stomped her foot.

“I want to be a pirate on your crew.”

“You don’t know what you’re getting into!”

“Then tell me!”

“If we get captured, then pirates or soldiers won’t go easy on you!”

“I don’t care!”

“You should! You should be back in town, finding someone to take you in.”

“I don’t want anyone but you guys.” Andy started to tear up at that point, “After I lost my family, I tried to get back the only thing left of my family and then was captured by those other pirates, and I thought that I wasn’t going to be happy ever again. But then you guys saved me, and for a month, I was really happy.”

Captain sighed, walking over and pulling Andy into a hug. “Okay, okay, look, I still don’t like the fact that you would be put in danger, but I know I can’t change your mind.” She gave a small smile, “if you would do so much to stick with us, I guess I can’t stop you.”

Andy looked up at her, still holding on to her coat, “you’ll let me join?”

Captain sighed, “I won't allow that.” Andy looked like he was about to say something, but Captain covered his mouth. “You’re still too young. Once you become an adult, you can decide to join.” Andy’s eyebrows furrowed “but I won't try to kick you off anymore okay? It’s a compromise.”

When she removed her hand, he was frowning but hugged her “fine.”

~*~*~*~*~

Once they were out on the ocean again, they took a better look at the map to see where this island they were heading for was. It took them five months to get to the location of the island. While everyone else was checking the ship, Captain, Jimbob, and Andy looked over the map. “So what is this place? Do you know anything about it?” She would have asked him about it before, but she had been busy teaching him all he needed to know to be a pirate and felt she could deal with it if the island was there.

“It’s an island that has great treasure, but also great dangers like monsters and traps.”

“And?” said Captain, leaning on one arm.

Andy bit his lip, looking down, “that’s all I remember my dad telling me.”

Captain watched him for a moment, waiting for him to say more before looking down herself. She looks up again and messes up Andy’s hair. “It’s okay little Andy, don’t worry about it. We’ll have to be more careful, that's all.” Andy frowned at the nickname she had given him just because he was smaller than her, which made Captain smile a little more. “Okay then,” Captain picked up the map and rolled it up with a smile. “You should stay here, Andy.”

She started to head off the boat, and Jimbob followed her. Once her feet touched the sand, she turned to look at Jimbob, “you’re staying here.”

“Not on your life. If you get stuck in a trap, you won’t be able to get out.”

“I want you to stay here and keep the boat safe.”

“The boat isn’t going to get damaged here, but you might get hurt.”

Captain glared and stomped off. Jimbob smiled, following her, taking her silence as yes. When Captain was standing on the grass, she looked around to see a forest to her right and a hill of what looked like moss to her left. “which way? Hill or forest?”

Jimbob looked between the two before pointing at the forest, “let’s go check out the forest. Better place to hide stuff, if anyone did so.” Captain nodded, walking quickly into the forest, leaving Jimbob to keep up with her. For a while, nothing happened to them. When something finally happened, Jimbob pulled Captain back, just as she was out of the way, spikes came out of the side of the wood right where the captain had been.

She turned to Jimbob as he spoke, “see, this is why you need me” she rolled her eyes and pushed him. Spikes came out of the woods where Jimbob had been standing a moment before.

“Yeah, I really need you.” She said, putting her hands on her hips.

He glared at her and stood up, whipping off his clothing before looking at her once again, “you know you could have just told me it was coming. You didn’t need to push me.”  Captain just stuck her tongue out at him, turning from him and pulling out the map to see where they were. She then started to walk once again. “Brat,” Jimbob muttered, following her once again.

They went on for a while, but nothing else seemed to happen to them. Captain turned around to Jimbob with a sigh. “We should probably go back now, any farther, we’d be going too deep. I wouldn’t like to go that far without the rest of the crew.” Jimbob nodded, letting Captain pass by him. She smiled slightly but walked by, heading towards the ship.

Once the two stepped out of the forest, Captain started to head towards the ship, “everything okay?” she shouted to the few who were looking her way. It was with that yell that the hill they had seen before started to move. It turned to face them to reveal a four-legged creature that had moss covering its entire body. Once it faced them, it gave a deep roar.

Captain and Jimbob turned around as the rest of the crew ran towards them. Both were too shocked to move until the creature shot a ball of green slime at them. Jimbob thought fast enough and pushed the Captain out of the way. The Captain landed on her side and turned around only to see Jimbob getting hit himself. The crew didn't give it time to attack again, they attacked it in force, and while a few of them got hurt from it clawing at them, they attacked its neck first, taking it down quickly. By the time they had killed it, the slime had sunk into the ground leaving only the bones of Jimbob.

Captain looked at the body. The only thing moving was the one hand that rose to her mouth. She crawled over to his body and slowly reached to touch the skull. A dark shadow seemed to cover her body, but when the rest of the crew blinked, it was gone as if it had never been there. That was when the tears started to roll down her cheeks. Her whole body started to shake. She reached out her other hand and picked up his skull. She looked at it for a moment before pulling it close to her chest and let out a wail, bending over crying into her knees. The crew came over to her and tried to comfort her, but she just ignored them.

“We should get her back to the ship and leave this place. Nothing good would come from her staying here,“ muttered Mike. Gary nodded and started to pick her up.

“No!” she reached out, as if trying to grab Jimbob but only managed to grab his jawbone before Gary had completely picked her up and started walking back to the ship. She held both bones close to her, muttering to herself stuff the other crew couldn’t make out.

Andy stayed behind only long enough to bury the rest of the body. It only took them a little while longer to get off the island. Captain spent the whole time in her room.

~*~*~*~*~

It was a few weeks before anyone saw Captain again. They left food outside the door,, and when they went back to check on it they saw that it had been eaten. When she did come out, they were quite shocked to find she was carrying around Jimbob’s skull. She had somehow managed to attach the jawbone to it, with some screws she had found somewhere. The others were worried about her as she seemed to have forgotten everything about the island and what happened on it. Andy swore that when he stared at it long enough, he could see a light coming from its left eye socket, but when he blinked, it was gone.

What worried them the most was that she started to talk to the skull as if he was alive.

“Captain?” Mike asked, coming up to her.

She turned to him with a smile holding the skull close to her chest. “What is it, Mike? Is there a problem in the kitchen?”

Mike shook his head, “no, nothing like that.” He muttered, looking at his feet. 

She watched him for a moment, looked at Jimbob before nodding, “then what is it?”

“I was wondering if you could help me get something out of the hold?”

The Captain smiled “is that all? Sure.” She placed Jimbob's skull on a barrel, “sorry Jimbob, I need to keep you here because you can’t help. I’ll be right back, though.” She nodded at it before following Mike to the hold.

Gary waited a moment before taking the skull to the kitchen. Most of the other crew was waiting there for him.

“What are we going to do with it?” Andy asked, leaning on the table to see the skull. He moved back slightly, seeing that it was looking at him. Again he saw the light, but after another blink, it was gone. He shook his head and looked at Gary.

Gary sighed, “We need to free Captain from its curse.” He brought out a hammer and shook his head, “sorry Captain” he muttered before bringing the hammer down on the skull. Which wasn’t affected by it at all. Everyone watched as he hit it a few more times with no change. He growled at it, “looks like we need to try something heavier.” He walked out of the room, and when he came back, he had a cannonball in his hands. “This should work,” he grunted, lifting the cannonball above the skull. He let it go and watched as it fell on the skull, making the table break. When the cannonball rolled off, they saw that the skull had once again been unaffected.

Gary frowned as he picked up the skull. “What happened to this?” he shook his head before putting the skull back where the Captain left it before she realized what happened. Later that night, when everyone was eating, she asked what had happened to the table, and they just blamed a small amount of fighting. She gave them a quick lecture, and they all listened as it felt like they had the old captain back.

~*~*~*~

Months passed and the crew watched as Captain went on talking to the skull. She also seemed to have a memory problem forgetting whole events. The crew acted as if those events didn’t happen, worried that if they brought it up, they would harm Captain.

Captain was in the bathroom while Jimbob's skull sat on her bed. She walked out and sat next to it, picking it up "Sorry to keep you waiting." She was wearing the same big coat she had worn the day of his death. She smiled after a moment, "yah, I did need to clean up," she laid back, lifting Jimbob up so she could look him in the eyes. "Sorry, your jaw is loose. There isn't much I could do,” she stopped for a moment then smiled, “maybe in the next port I can fix it."

There was a knock on the door and the Captain sat up. "Come in." The door opened to show Andy. "Hi, little Andy. How is everything going so far?"

Andy let the 'little' part drop. He had other worries now, "It's good, Captain," he said, coming in and letting the door close.

"Is everyone being kind to you?"

She had asked him that every few weeks, forgetting the last time she had asked. This was the third time she asked him. "Yah." He answered with a small smile, which made Captain smile more.

"That's good. Jimbob and I were worried they would be mean to you, weren't we, Jimbob?" Captain made Jimbob nod his head. Andy tried to not look at the skull. The slime had changed it somehow. Not only was it really strong, it now glowed when in the dark. "Did you hear me, little Andy?" Captain asked. 

He looked up at her "No, sorry I didn't."

She smiled "that's okay. I was saying Jimbob, and I wanted to make a deal with you."

"A deal? What kind?"

"It's quite simple" she stood in front of him. He still only came to her shoulder, so she leaned forward so she could look him in the eye, "if the ship gets attacked, I want you to hide till the fighting's done. If whoever attacked us won, tell them we forced you to work for us, okay?"

Andy’s eyes went wide and he took a step back, "What, why?"

She smiled. "Jimbob and I don't want you to get caught up in this yet. You still aren’t old enough, and that might mean they treat you better."

He frowned then, "I still want to join the crew. That hasn’t changed. I'm already caught up in this."

Captain smiled. "I know, but you're still a kid. If you're part of a pirate crew, they’ll have no mercy and will kill you. If you claim we forced you, they probably won't kill you."

"Probably?"

"That's the best we can do. I'm sorry." Andy looked into her eyes and saw her old self in them, no craziness, and no sadness, just concern. He nodded, not knowing what else to do. She ruffled his hair "thanks. Now, why don't you go off and see if the galley needs help, okay?"

Andy frowned, "I know what I have to do. It's not like I haven't worked on this ship for a year."

"Right, sorry," she said with a smile. 

He started to head for the door but turned back as he opened it. "Captain?"

"Yes?"

"Take care of yourself, okay?"

Captain chuckled. "You sound like something bad is going to happen."

"Something bad already has," he muttered, looking down.

"What?"

"I was wondering if you would get rid of the skull?"

The Captain's eyes went wide. "I couldn't get rid of Jimbob. He's my first mate." She hugged the skull close.

"I don't think he would want this," he said, turning from her.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. I didn't say anything," he said with a smile turning back to her.

"Well, if you're sure. Run along now and be careful."

"Sure," he nodded. Andy's promise to the captain and Jimbob's skull didn't take long before he would have to follow it. Only a month later, the navy attacked the ship. The only thing known was that Captain and her pirate crew fought against them, only gaining death.

~*~*~ *~

It has been twenty years since then. Most of the pirates demographic had been killed off though a few were struggling to remain. A group of twenty soldiers were getting ready to sail, early in the morning, planning to set out soon. Three were talking to the dock owner to make sure everything was set and paid for. 

The three men were wearing their uniform; as such, their clothing was exactly the same, all a dark green color and losses so that they didn’t get in the way. They also were very plain because they only wore them when they were fighting.

The dock owner shook his head, "You shouldn't go out tonight."

The leader of the little group looked at him. "Why?"

"Because the head pirate is out tonight."

"Head pirate?"

"It's just a ghost story," muttered the second pirate.

The dock owner shook his head, talking as if the second pirate never spoke, "It's the story of pirates who got killed by the navy, now they say the captain, who was stabbed through the heart, travels the sea on her ghost ship. She holds the head of her first mate."

"What's her name?" asked the first one.

The owner shook his head "no one knows. She was only known as Captain. It seems she didn't like her real name."

The third one started to pay attention at this point. He looked at the boat owner in the eye, his left eye lost during training, "What does she look like?"

"You can't really tell what she is wearing because she is wearing a huge coat." the soldier with the eye patch looked down.

Their chief officer came up to them. "This is not the time for chatting if everything is done, we should be leaving."

"Yes, sir" the three chanted while saluting. They climbed on the ship and started to sail away. The dock owner shook his head, doubting he would ever see them again.

~*~*~*~

They had been sailing for a while, long enough for it to become night. It was starting to get foggy as they sailed, making it even harder for them to see in front of them. The chief officer placed one man in the front of the ship to look ahead. "Sir, I think I see something," he said. The chief officer came over and stood next to him.

"What is it?"

The soldier pointed ahead. "I see a ship." The ship he was pointing at slowly came into view. The mass of the ship was leaning to the side, there were holes in the body, and the sails were ripped up, but it seemed to still sail fine. The soldier's eyes went wide "it's the ghost ship!" the soldier took a step back in fear, shaking his head as if he didn't believe it.

The chief officer looked back at the soldier with a glare. "It's probably a fake, they faked the holes.”

“But the holes look real, sir.”

The chief glared at him, “there could be a smaller ship inside holding this fake ship up." With that, he turned to the rest of the men, “We need men to travel over to the boat and bring out the fakes.”

"Sir?" the soldier that had found the ship spoke up. "Why must we? Can't we leave it?"

The chief glared at him once again, "no, we can't." he pointed to the flag that was blowing in a wind that wasn't there. "It's a pirate ghost ship. The people faking this ghost ship are pirates. Since we're the navy, we need to take care of them." He turned to the rest of the ship. "Ten men are going up there to check it out." ten men agreed to climb over. This included the one with the eye patch from the small group before. The captain went over as well, not trusting his men to do the job right.

As the soldiers climbed over to the ghost ship, they landed on the deck. Looking around, they saw it was covered in bodies. Most were decaying, and some looked like they were only killed a week ago. There was one thing they all had in common. They were all missing their heads. "I see they are willing to go through a lot to make this look like a ghost ship. Look around, see if you can find anything." Before they could learn anything else, though, a voice spoke up.

"Look, Jimbob, more people to join our crew." They looked to their left. Everything was dark, as if the moon couldn't reach there. All they saw was a glowing skull, it's eyes dark watching them. A moment later, it started to move closer to them, soon they saw two hands holding it up. A bit later, they saw it was a girl holding it. She was wearing a large coat. The left of it was stained with blood that came from a hole in her chest where her heart would be.

She came closer, and almost all the soldiers stepped back. The only one who didn't was the one with the eye patch. "So many members Jimbob, we might need another ship too." It was then that she noticed the ship they came on. "Your right, Jimbob. We could use their ship," she chuckled, which seemed to echo in the cold night. She appeared in front of the chief officer. "So, who wants to join first?"

The officer growled, "none of us!" he brought his sword down as if to slice her head. Her arms seemed to move on their own, and she brought the skull up to defend herself but when it blocked the sword, she looked at the skull. "Jimbob, you don't have to defend me. That's what the crew is for." It was then that the soldiers noticed the skulls and swords floating around them. Quickly they seemed to solidify into bodies of the old crew that died on the ship. All the soldiers started to attack them out of fear, except for the one with the eye patch.

He just shook his head, watching as the others fought in vain. “It shouldn't be like this,” he muttered. The pirates didn't attack him either, though when he felt something cold grip his left arm, he looked to see it was dressed in an apron. This made him frown. When he looked back, he saw that the rest of the soldiers were dead. He watched as Captain stepped over the bodies.

"This is interesting isn't it, Jimbob? Unlike the others, this one isn't attacking." She came up right in front of him. He was taller than her, but because he was slouching, he was looking her in the eyes. She looked at him for a while, then shook her head. "I can't figure any reason, can you, Jimbob?" she put the skull right in the soldier’s face, who then backed away slightly. It freaked him out to look into the black eyes of the skull. They stayed like that for a while. The soldier swore he could see that light in the left socket, Nothing made a sound besides the waves before the Captain smiled. "Really, Jimbob? It's little Andy?" she pulled the skull back down and looked Andy in the face again. Andy followed the skull, but as soon as it had moved, the light was gone. Andy assumed that she had probably realized who he was when she had first looked at him but wasn't sane enough to realize it without help. "It is! I couldn't tell with you growing so tall and the eye patch. Where have you been?"

Andy frowned at that. "You mean you don't remember, Captain?" Captain shook her head.

~*~*~*~*~

Andy was walking along the deck heading towards his room when the first wave of navy soldiers came on deck. He was going to help but then remembered his promise to Captain. Quickly hiding in a barrel on the deck, he climbed into it ignoring the food that was still there. He could see a good amount of the deck through a hole in the side of the barrel. 

The battle was chaotic. When one person died, another took their place. Captain came out of her room with a sword in one hand, Jimbob in the other. As soon as Captain joined that battle, sailors started to fall left and right. Captain didn't even seem to be breaking a sweat. Soon she ended up in front of the barrel that Andy had used as a hiding place. She was looking for her next opponent when the two heard clapping. Both her and Andy looked to see it was an officer. "Tom," Captain growled.

"Hello to you too, Captain, or should I call you by your real name?"

"Don't you dare!"

Tom looked hurt, "We grew up in the same town, and you won’t let me call you Anne-?" The grip on her sword grew even tighter.

"You're not allowed to call me that!" She interrupted him.

"Oh right, only Jimbob is," he sneered. It was then that he noticed the skull, "carrying around skulls now? Are you going for the morbid look?" he pulled out his sword, "because if you are, that skull is the worst one I've ever seen."

"Don't insult Jimbob!"

"Oh, so that's what happened to him, is it?" Tom chuckled, "suits him," Captain swung at him, but he stepped out of her reach. "It's all your fault, you know." Captain froze for a second, and Tom swung at Jimbob, Captain without thinking, moved it out of the way. "Are you trying to keep him safe?" he swung at Jimbob again and again. Captain moved it away again without thinking, this time in front of her chest. Tom shook his head "fool!" he thrust his sword at Jimbob, which again Captain moved away, but this time Tom wasn't aiming for him, he was aiming for the Captain's heart. The sword hit its mark, and Andy gasped.

Tom smiled as he removed his sword from her body. She fell to her knees, as tears started to roll down Andy's face. Her body hit the deck, and Tom walked over her body, looking for his next victim. The Captain's last words were only heard by Andy, "don't worry, Jimbob I'm fine. After I get up, we can start sailing around again." With that, she died with a small smile on her face. A darkness seemed to seep out of her and into the deck before condensing into her body once again. With a blink, the darkness was gone.

The battle ended soon after that with the death of the rest of the crew. The sailors found Andy quickly, and he kept his promise to the Captain, saying he was forced to work for them. The sailors believed him because he was crying. He had joined the navy after because he didn't have anywhere else to go, just like he told the Captain and Jimbob's skull.

When they took him back to port, they signed him into the navy quickly. Tom suggested Andy join his unit, but Andy lied and said he was afraid of Tom and his uni because of the bloodbath they created. 

For years Tom tried to keep in contact with Andy as he got higher and higher in rank. It wasn’t until Tom was sent to check on the head pirate and never came back did Andy have peace.

~*~*~*~

Now knowing that Captain was the head pirate made Andy almost smile. Knowing she got revenge for what he did even if she didn’t remember it. Andy watched the Captain as she thought for a moment. He didn't know if she would believe him or not. Sadly she shook her head, "no, I don't remember, sorry, little Andy."

Andy cringed at the nickname. It was weird to him since he was taller than her now. Another crewmember grabbed Andy's other arm, making him look that way quickly because of how cold the touch was, seeing it was Gary before he looked back at Captain. "But this is wonderful," she put Jimbob's skull on top of her head as she came closer to Andy. She touched his cheeks with a smile; her hands were warm, making Andy move back a little in surprise, which only made her move closer. "You can join our crew again. Now everyone can sail together again."

He shook his head, "but I'm not like you, Captain." he whispered, feeling like any louder would cause something to happen.

"What do you mean?" she started to frown.

"I'm not dead!"

Captain shook her head, “I’m not dead. I told you I don’t remember dying.”

Andy looked around frantically, trying to find a way to get out of this situation. His eyes landed on the skull. “Can I talk to Jimbob?”

Captain sighed as she took the skull off her head and held it out in front of Andy. “Okay, but only for a little while.”

“No, I mean the real Jimbob!”

Captain looked at Andy for a moment before speaking, “this is Jimbob. Are you okay?”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s always been a skull.”

Andy’s eyes went wide, “No, he hasn’t!”

“Yes, He has! If he wasn't, that would have meant Jimbob had died.” Her hands shook slightly.

Andy frowned, “I’m sorry.” He muttered before kicking the skull. It flew out of her hands and over her head. As it bounces, it was the only sound that was heard as it skids to a stop.

Captain was frozen until the skull had come to a stop. She looked at the ground, "that wasn't very nice little Andy." She muttered, but Andy wasn't listening to her. He was busy watching as the skull started to float. The light in its left socket was back in full force and seemed to flow out of it, filling into a full body. 

Captain turned around to pick up the skull. She walked to where it was only to see feet instead. She looked up to see Jimbob standing in front of her.

She glared at him, “who are you?!”

Both Andy and Jimbob looked surprised, “you don’t recognize me?” Jimbob asked.

Captain pulled out her sword, pointing it at Jimbob’s neck. “No, I don’t know you. Who are you!?”

“Captain, that's Jimbob!”

Captain turned to glare at Andy, “no, he isn’t! He is a skull. That’s how he has always been.”

“No, he hasn’t! He died before you!”

Captain’s eyes went wide, and she shook her head, taking a step back. She dropped her sword and kept taking step backs till she bumped into the rail. She fell to her knees and covered her ears. The two could only catch a few words like “Jimbob,” “died,” and “no”.

Black smog seemed to cover her as another ghost came out of her body. “Ha, do you think she would listen to you?”

“Who are you!” demanded Andy.

“I don’t remember my name anymore. It’s been so long since I’ve had to say my name.”

“What did you do with Captain?” Jimbob demanded himself.

“I am a ghost, I possessed this girl's body when you died” she said, pointing at Jimbob, “It was so easy with all her sadness. She wanted to get rid of that sadness, so I did so by taking her memories.”

Andy’s eyes went wide, “that’s why she didn’t remember things.”

“She also doesn’t remember you.” She pointed towards Jimbob.

“Well, bring them back!”

The ghost laughed, “Like I would do that.”

It was then that Captain looked up. She then quickly glared at Jimbob, “you stole Jimbob give him back.”

Jimbob looked shocked, “What?”

Captain stood up and started to march towards Jimbob. “Give back Jimbob!”

“You better hope she doesn’t grab that skull hidden inside of you. If she does, you'll go back into your skull form. I’ll make sure of that, just like I always have.” The ghost laughed

“What are you talking about?” Andy said, starting to struggle to get out of the Mike and Gary’s ghost grip.

“That skull was the best way to control her. As long as I talked to her through that skull, she would do what I said. Why wouldn’t I let him break free.”

“What?” Andy said, looking at the ghost. It was hard since it was still attached to Captain, who was walking slowly towards Jimbob, who was backing up, looking at what was around.

“He,” the ghost said, pointing to Jimbob, “tried to break free a few times, but now that she died with the wish ‘to keep sailing with everyone,’ I'm stronger than ever before. It has not been completed since it has no ending. When a ghost wants something, it is stronger.” The ghost chuckled, “and she is never not wanting.”

Andy shouted towards Jimbob, struggling against the ghost again. “Hey, I need some help!” Jimbob grabbed the sword that Captain had dropped, throwing it to Andy. While Andy did catch it, the ghost seemed unaffected by the sword. “It’s not working!”

Captain turned to glare at Andy before turning back to Jimbob. They were on each end of the deck and her in the middle. She turned to Andy “stop hurting them.”

He blinked, looking to see he hadn’t done any damage. Her glare was fiercer, and she took a step towards him. When he dropped the sword, she smiled at him before turning back to Jimbob.

“Andy.” Jimbob called, pulling his attention. “There is one thing, but I don’t know if it will work. If it doesn’t work, you’re going to need to kill her yourself.”

Andy’s eyes went wide, “I can’t do that!”

“You're going to have to if my plan doesn’t work.”

Andy took a deep breath before nodding his head. Jimbob nodded his head, then looked back at Captain. She glared and ran at him, reaching for his head. Jimbob grabbed her hands and leaned close to her. “Annebell,” he whispered.

Captain blinked a moment before struggling against his hold, “let go of me!”

“Annebell,” he whispered again, looking her in the eyes.

“What! What are you doing!” the ghost shouted. It seemed with every repeat of that name, the ghost became more and more detached from Captain.

“Annebell,” with that last call of her name the ghost flew out of her. 

Captain blinked for a moment “Jimbob?” she whispered back. 

He smiled at her. “Been a while. Sorry for being late.” her eyes went wide before she hugged him tightly, he returned it resting his head on top of hers.

Their cute moment was interrupted by the shouting of the ghost. “NO! NO! NO! NO!” It turned to the two. “How dare you fight against me.” It then laughed, turning to Andy, who was still being held by Mike and Gary’s ghosts. “But that’s fine. I have another chance at life.” The ghost quickly floated towards Andy, and he flinched back, actually able to bring his arms up to defend his face even if that wouldn’t help. When the ghost cried out in pain, Andy opened his eyes to see Mike and Gary’s ghost sword drawn now defending Andy. “What!” the ghost was holding its chest, a dark smoke pouring from a cut now there.

“Before, when you controlled me, you controlled my crew.” Captain said as she pulled away from Jimbob, who couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her. “But now, things are different.” she turned, fully drawing her sword that came from nowhere. Andy looked down to see the one he dropped was gone. “Mike, Gary, and Andy are my crew.” She pointed the sword at the ghost. “And my crew would never betray each other.”

“Why….why...why…”the smoke that poured out of the wound seemed to disperse, as it did the ghost seemed to fade away, as the ghost was fading away so were Mike and Gary “why...did...I...die?...I...want...to...liv-” with that last word the ghost was gone. 

All that was left were Andy, Jimbob, and Captain. Before they could say anything, the ship rocked to the side, starting to sink without the ghost’s influence. Andy was thrown to the railing while Jimbob and Captain weren’t affected. 

“You need to go, Andy.” Andy looked up at her as she moved closer “you need to leave this ship.”

He pushed against the railing to try and stand straighter “but what about you, Captain?”

Captain chuckled. “I'm a ghost, Andy. You don't have to worry about me.” she looked back at Jimbob, who smiled at her. “I’ll probably rest finally.”

“But I just got you back.”

“You're part of the navy now. You have an even better crew than we were.”

“You’ll always be my crew,” Andy shouted over the crashing sound of the mass falling over.

Captain touched his face softly with her cold hands. “And we are very proud of you.” she whispered. It seemed to be the only sound he could hear. “But this is not where you belong anymore.”

Andy closed his eyes, trying not to cry, “no I refuse. I've alway belonged here with you all.”

“And we will meet again. Someday, but for now-” before Andy could say anything more, Captain pushed him off the deck. He reached out to her as he fell plummeting into the water. He swam up to the surface. Once he did, he was immediately pulled into a dingy by some of his fellow soldiers. When he looked back over to the ship, it had mostly sunk into the sea, the deck now bare.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Epilogue

It had only been ten years from that night. Andy had been promoted to officer for solving the case of the head pirate and now commanded his own ship. He had claimed it had been fake ghosts like his commander had suggested keeping it a secret that he knew who it was. 

They had sailed wherever they wanted, helping the people and taking out the rest of the pirates. They only had one more group to fight and all the pirates would be gone. Finally, the people would be free from fear.

They had to look for the pirates for a while, only finding them when night fell; it had been a clear night, so Andy hadn't been worried. The battle had started off good but had slowly gone downhill for him. His crew was winning the battle, but one of the pirates had gotten a lucky shot at him and hit him close to the heart. He chuckled at the irony of it all. It was almost like when the Captain died.

Even now, ten years since last time seeing them, he still thought of her. While he had been in the Navy for so long, his unit had grown so big and changed so many people that he didn’t feel close to any of them. He was closer with the crew that he spent a year or two rather than anyone else he had met.

He lay on his back, slowly bleeding to death, having no strength to do anything else. He could see the men fighting around him and saw his group was winning. He knew he wouldn't be able to join in the celebration when it was all over. He wouldn't last that long. He was getting tired but didn’t want to close his eyes just yet, blinking a few times. 

What he saw after another blink was a hand reaching out for him. He reached for it with the little strength he had. His body failed to touch it, hitting the deck with a cold thunk, but his soul grabbed the hand firmly, letting it pull him forward. When he opened his eyes, he saw Captain crouching in front of him. "I'm glad you didn't forget about us." The next thing he noticed was he could see out of both eyes and touched his left eye.

He felt a hand ruffle his hair; he looked up to see Jimbob standing there. "Good to see you again, kid."

"Kid? I'm thirty-seven years old."

"Yah and? If I was still alive, I would be older than you. Stinks for you, but you'll always be kid."

"And to me you'll always be little Andy." Captain chuckled. Her smile fell when they both stood up, and he was taller than her. “No fair.” She turned to Jimbob. “He's too tall. I don't like it. He should be little like when we met. Fix it.”

Jimbob laughed at that, “and how am I supposed to fix that?”

Captain crossed her arms before she smirked, turning to Andy. "You're back in the kitchen." 

"What! I was captain of a ship."

“It’s punishment for growing taller than me.”

“I couldn’t help that.”

“Don’t care, Jimbob, show him where the kitchen is.”

“I know where it is,” he muttered, turning towards it, and Jimbob followed.

“It’s only for a little while.”

“Hm?”

Jimbob gave him a sad smile, “while Captain and I know we can trust you. You were in the Navy for a while, so we want to give the crew some time to trust you again.”

Andy frowned, “do they not?”

Jimbob shrugged. “They weren’t there for when Captain was freed, so they don’t know you still cared. They’ll come around soon enough.” he tapped the kitchen door, “so you’ll be working with Mike while you wait.” Andy sighed, nodded knowing it was the best course.

They heard Captain shouting from the deck. “Back to work. Come on, we have great treasures to find and great battles to fight." Jimbob smiled before heading back onto the deck, sneaking up behind Captain and pulling her into a hug. Giving a kiss to the top of her head. The rest of the crew had to go about their work, trying to look like they weren’t watching with a smile at the Captain’s happiness.