Here we are my friends! Chapter three! I hope you enjoy it!
Chapter 3: Sailing for the Cove
Davy didn’t tell his friends about his encounter with Joanna in the woods. Something held him back. He knew something was wrong, and he didn’t want to frighten his crew. Pirates are a superstitious bunch, and even simple ghost stories can cause even a loyal crew to become a group of mutineers. He didn’t want to tell them, but deep down he knew it would have to be revealed sooner or later. He just was trying to avoid it, but he knew it was inevitable that it would be found out.
The days after that were simple, consisting of Davy and his friends resting up, stocking up, and of course, drinking up. The officers of the Shadow King had filled it with all of the necessary supplies for a several month voyage the day before they left. All was ready by the time the crew started boarding again. As they walked up the ramp onto the deck, Davy greeted each one of his crewmates, and thanked them for joining him for yet another adventure. They had been his crew for ten years now. Most crews would have moved on to other captains, other ships, and other adventures by this time. Not Davy’s crew though. They were a loyal bunch, and they were all his brothers and sisters in all but blood.
Right before dawn, the Shadow King left the docks once again, on a brand new voyage. Davy was at the helm, steering the mighty ship out of Tortuga Harbor, like he had so many times before. Finally, the Shadow King was out of the harbor, and sailing into the open sea. Davy, like he always did, addressed his crew.
“Ahoy Sorcerors!” Davy yelled out to his crew.
The crew yelled back, cheering and throwing hats.
“Well my friends,” Davy said. “It is time for yet another adventure! Now, I am sure you have all gotten bored of raiding merchants, and challenging ourselves against the Navy, aye?”
“Aye!” the crew cried out. Davy couldn’t help but laugh. He continued on.
“Well my friends, we are going to be doing something… different this time around. I recently, erm, had a feeling. I’m sure many of you remember my stay at Raven’s Cove after one of our unsuccessful battles with The Harkaway? You do? Good. Well, I recently had a feeling, that something awaits us back at Raven’s Cove. I’m not sure exactly what it is yet. Perhaps an infinitely valuable treasure, or an exciting adventure! Either way, we have our heading! Set a course for Raven’s Cove!”
The crew cheered, throwing up hats. As always, they scattered after about a minute and went to their regular duties. Davy stood by the stairs, up near the wheel of the ship. Kate came up to join him.
“A feeling?” she asked.
Davy gulped, “Aye… you could say that…”
“What else could you say then?”
“Kate, now’s not the time… I’ll explain everything when the time is right.”
“And when is that time?” There was now a stern tone in her voice.
“When I see fit,” Davy replied firmly.
Kate raised an eyebrow, and walked off. She knew something was strange. Kate was not stupid. She could see that Davy was hiding something, and he knew that she would try hard to find it out.
Can’t worry about this now, Davy thought to himself.
Right now, I need to worry about who this patriarch is that Joanna mentioned, and what is going on with all the dead rising…
The sun had risen now, illuminating the ship, and making the sea sparkle. The sky was a bright blue, with a few wispy clouds scattered across the sky. The sea was sparkling, glowing with beauty and light. Davy looked behind him, and saw the lush island of Tortuga. By now, the town would be just waking up, and starting its daily routine involving cursing, gunfire, and the consumption of enough rum to kill the average man.
“Amazing how the world can be so beautiful in such dark times,” a voice said.
Davy whirled around, and came face to face with the ship’s doctor. His true name was unknown, but he went by Witchdoctor Dan. He was not too tall, sort of short in fact, but his personality made up for his small size. He was extremely clever, able to figure out how to get out of almost any situation without any problems. He was also a powerful user of voodoo. He didn’t use it to fight as much as he used it to heal, see current events, and predict future ones. Most of all, he was a grump. Whenever the strange man smiled, it always meant he was up to no good. The first time Davy had seen that smile was after he had put a worm in Zolina’s rum (her reaction was priceless, but that was another story). His usual expression was either one of annoyance (he always had something to be annoyed at) or completely neutral. Davy had asked his crew secretly, and nobody had ever seen him happy or satisfied before.
Matt had found him one day on Tortuga, drunk in one of the smaller bars. He wouldn't have paid any attention to him, if it weren’t for the fact that his drink was floating three inches above the table. Matt immediately knew that he would make a good recruit for the Shadow King, and took him, much to Dan’s protesting, to Davy. After he was able to talk sense, Davy found out that he was a Witchdoctor, and asked him if he wanted to join the Shadow Sorcerors. He had accepted, for better or for worse.
“Oh, hello Doctor,” Davy said. “I didn’t see you there.”
“Of course you didn’t ,” the man said, not making eye contact with Davy. Normally Davy would find that disrespectful, but he knew that if he brought that up to Dan, he would be turned into a frog in a heartbeat.
“What was this that you were saying about dark times,” Davy asked nervously. He knew too well that Dan could read into the minds of people. It was something Davy found irritating.
“Please Captain Fireskull,” Dan stated, yawning. “I know what happened to you the day we arrived at port. I see all you know.”
Davy didn’t know what to say, but Dan didn’t wait for a response. He kept going.
“You met a ghost, Joey Anne was it? Strange name for a girl—”
“Joanna…” Davy said, but he didn’t notice.
“—She said something to you about some big bad person rising from the dead, with a bunch of his other dead friends. I have felt something too. Something has been stirring in the Caribbean lately. I’m not sure what it is, but something is just… wrong. You understand right?”
“Not really, but go on.”
“Captain Fireskull, dark works are going on right now in the Caribbean. You’ve been to that hell hole known as Raven’s Cove before, and you know what its like to an extent, aye? I’ve never been there, thank God, but I know that strange things happen on that island. That ghost you spoke to knows that, and now you are leading us into something, and you have no clue what this something is.”
“Do you?” Davy asked, trying to hide a small smile.
Dan paused for a moment, then spoke, “No, I do not. But anything that involves Raven’s Cove cannot be good. That island is not natural, and I would stay away from it if I were you. You could easily get us killed in horrible ways by doing this. I really should tell the crew exactly why you’re doing this.”
“But you won’t.”
“Exactly! For several reasons. First and foremost, I like watching people fail, and if you end up regretting this choice and we all die, at least I will be able to have a good laugh at you knowing that you have failed miserably in your quest. The second is that I too am quite curious as to what is going on in our lovely Caribbean, and with things like the dead rising, Raven’s Cove is a good place to start. The third, is that that ghost came all the way from Raven’s Cove to speak with you. Joey wouldn’t do that unless it was very important, so I think that we might as well do what she wishes for now.”
“Very well then,” Davy said, nodding. “Well Dan, you have succeeded in your mission.”
“What mission?” Dan said, puzzled.
“In making my head hurt. I assume that the crew can perform their duties without me for a while now, so I believe I shall head into my cabin and take all this in. If you need me, you know where to find me.”
“Unfortunately I do,” Dan mumbled. “I shall see you soon.”
Davy headed down the steps, into his cabin, wondering why in the world he hadn’t marooned Dan yet.
~~~~~~~~~~
Davy stayed in his cabin, writing in his log for a bit. After that, he pulled out some maps and took note of any reefs, trading routs, or islands that they would come in contact with on their voyage to Raven’s Cove. The trip to Raven’s Cove would be about a week, assuming there were no delays, such as storms, fights, or bad currents. He continued working in his cabin for a few hours on whatever needed to be done. Will Seaeagle knocked on the door once and asked about something on the ship, but it didn’t take very long.
By now it was early afternoon. Most of the crew had just eaten their lunches, and were chatting a bit, as their jobs were mostly done until evening. Davy had dozed off a bit on his bed, and had just gotten up. He was still stretching when he heard a knock at the door.
“Come in!” Davy said, rubbing his eyes.
The door flew open, and Meg looked in with wide eyes.
“Davy, you had better come on deck,” she said urgently. “Navy Ship of the Line approaching us with full colors!”
“A Navy ship?” Davy asked, puzzled. “Impossible! We’re nowhere near their patrol routes!”
Sam ran into the room. “It's there alright. Not just any Navy ship either. it’s the HMS Invincible, and you had better take a look at her.”
----------------------------------------------------
There you are mates, are you feeling the suspense yet? Questions, comments, concerns, praise, rum? Especially the rum.