The Chronicles of Delmaria Darkskull

[Captain Del]

After much thought, and advisory by my guildies, I have decided to finally take my underground story writing (The Journal of Delmaria Darkskull - my very own story ^_^) and post it on a thread, to allow it to blossom away from its secret chamber I call my blog The story was originally meant to explain how my pirate became who he is, but after setting the basic ground work, and filling in my readers what happened between the huge time interval, it then became a following of his adventures in the Caribbean. Of course, the story is already well on it's course - It's already had 19 previous installements! So, to avoid being lost in the dark, I suggest you read the previous stories before/after you read this one. You can head to my blog by simply going on to my profile, and heading to the Blog tab. Have fun

And now, for my next, 20th, and first thread chapter - Enjoy!

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June 13th, 1724
Outside the Town Walls, Padres Del Fuego
11:55 PM

Delmaria stood along the side of the Padres Town Walls, hidden by the shroud of the night. Only the sparkling lights of the stars lit the dark sand beneath his feet, and the small ponds of water adjacent from him, divided by spires of rock which jutted out through the shallows. It would have been much brighter, yet the moon sat hidden behind a group of dense clouds. After a few moments of complete silence, Wisdom came from around the corner, and silently stood next to the captain. He pulled out a small booklet, which inside it held a Writ of Passage. "There. These should get you through the Quarry without having to be stopped more than a few seconds."

Delmaria read down the small paper covered in elegant writing. "I can't imagine how much you had to rum up that scurge before you could weasel this from him. Where are the others?"

"Sailskull is bringing your ship over to the dock.. let's hope he doesn't sink it.. Grace is over with Valentina, she's been complaining of eerie feelings the entire day... the rest of us are up at the Thunder taking off a few rounds. Wish to join us?"

"Go right ahead. Grace and I are having a mutual feeling."

"Don't expect anything to be left." Wisdom slipped his way back through the walls. After a few moments of staring up at the clouds that swirled about the moon, Delmaria walked inside the Town Walls, in to a small corridor with a tree in the middle. He rounded it and was halfway up the walled-in staircase, when a light began to shine through the sky. Darkskull stopped, and moved himself up to the wall which cased the staircase, watching as the clouds swiftly parted from the moon. Yet it was different. It was not a pale, glistening white that sent off an aura through the sky. It was pale, giving off almost a green hue. And painted on it, was a terifying face. Roger.

A wave of pain instantly raced through Delmaria's body. His spine felt as though it had been stiffened, being stretched straight up. His leg muscles clenched, and he fell, rolling down the staircase in a heap of pain. He landed with his chest to the floor, and felt his entire body reeling with the burn of searing lava which poured from the volcano above constantly. He got up on to his hands, and watched in horror as a green mist smoked from his body. It engulfed his full view of vision, dark, thick. Doused in the smell of death.

As it began to clear, he looked back done to his hands. There was not heavily tanned skin. Only bone. Gray, hardened bone. The pain had stopped, but the fear had only begun. "MONSTER!" cried a shout from the top of the stairwell. Delmaria looked behind him, only to be shot in the back by a gleaming silver bullet. It shot through his entire back in a wave of pain, but he managed to crawl himself behind the small garden where the tree sat. He peered his head over it, to see his own mates, angry and horrified, running down the steps, blades wielded and pistols brandished. With instinct, he pulled out his cutlass and bursted out through the archway of the walls, making a dash towards the dock. However, upon leaving the town, he was instantly amassed in to a raging battle, between those both affected and unaffected by this disease of the moonlight. He turned to see how far his chasers had come, to be struck in the arm by a mistimed broadsword hack. Darkskull without thought returned the block, striking his own mate right across the chest. He looked to see who he had cut, only to find Buck lying on the floor.

Another mate of the pirate group, this time Andrew, ran foward, cleaving his sword down towards Delmaria. In defense, he swung his sword upward, catching the blow, and kicking Andrew away from him with a stern hit to the chest. He used this hit as a spring-board to run off in the opposite direction, back towards the dock. He danced his way through the masses of fights which covered the streets, often having to dodge his way out of a rogue dagger, or the usual out-of-place swing of a sword. He often stumbled over his bare feet as it smacked down on the hard rock floor, but he still outran his hunters by a good ten meters or so.

Finally, he had pushed his way in to the bay of the volcanic island, which was in itself only a grander stage of true chaos. He looked outward, past the great battle which unfolded, and laid eyes on his ship, fixed and ready to sail - it would have been a beautiful moment, if not he were being chased down like a piece of game in the jungles. He ran further, towards the dock, pushing the groups of frightened townsfolk and confused pirates out of his way. As he ran down the dock, with narrowed as he enclosed on his ship, he saw the sea now turned green by the vile reflection of the sky. It was as though the sky touching the waters at the horizon had contaminated it. He at last reached his boat, running up the plank which connected it with the dock, jumping, and landing himself square in the center of the main deck. He looked behind him, out back towards the bay, and was modestly pleased to see his chasers had been lost, distracted by the further events on the island. Yet at the same time, he was heartbroken, knowing he had left his mates in the midst of danger. Alas, there was nothing he could do, so unless he wished to have himself killed.

The near silence of the ship, apart from the noise of the bay, as if there were different section of it, was broken by a faint yet heavy panting. It came up from the third and highest deck, where a shadowed figure, seemingly exhausted, hung himself over the railing, next to the wheel. He looked down at Delmaria, and struggled through his painful breaths, "So.. your part of the ones.. who did this to me.. who.. who CURSED.. me... ehh...?" He staggered himself past the rail, towards the stairwell of the War Frigate. As he walked in to the moonlight, his face began to materialize. It was the face of an undead, a pirate trapped in this curse. Only it was awfully too familiar.

"Sailskull! I foun..." Delmaria tried to convince Christopher, that it was really his captain, not a simple pest of the devil himself.

"AH, so they taught you my name? They sent you to kill me, while I was weakened? Well, your'll have another thing coming if you think to silence my freedom!" From his hand which had been hidden behind his back, he revealed a large, shining blunderbuss. He pulled it up in to a proper shooting position, and pointed it directly down at his misnamed captain. There they froze, merely a second, but only felt as though it were hours. In a sudden act of desperation, Delmaria rolled himself backward, then sliding himself across the floor as the shot rang out. While the cursed pirate began running towards Delmaria, at the same time reloading his blunderbuss, the captain ran up the nearby staircase, up towards an additional balcony covered by the tall, wavering sails of the Sea Dragon. By the time he had reached the top, Sailskull was already at the main deck, making his way over. Delmaria turned his attention to one of the two nearby cannons - it had wheels. He ran over and grabbed its barrel, and with all his might, pushed it past his side, rolling it towards the stiarwell. When Sailskull reached the top of the staircase, he was caught off guard by a heavy, metal cannon rolling towards him. He jumped off to his side, but it still managed to get brushed in such a way that his blunderbuss fell out of his hands. It fell down to the deck below, followed by the cannon, which made a sizeable hole, to say the least. For a brief second, Darkskull was distracted by this - after all, he was going to have to pay for that.

Sailskull unsheathed his broadsword, and took a large, winding spin at Delmaria. The cursed pirate captain lunged backward, hitting against the thick wooden railing of the balcony. He looked back to the mast behind him, and jump over, landing squarely on the slanted beam of wood. He quickly worked himself up in a disheveled manner, and Chris swiftly followed behind him. The two shimmied their way up the mast, until Delmaria had reached the very top. He turned himself fully around, still clutching himself to the beam. Sailskull smiled with utter joy. "I've got ye now, ye dog..."

Trapped, Delmaria had only a choice. The only constant choice he had was to jump over twenty feet to the bow of the ship below, althought it seemed much too much of an uncomfortable situation for him. So, he went the other route. "Ey, isn't that man trying to steal the ship!?" Sailskull turned his head in disbelief, looking to see if this was true. At this time, Darkskull flung his leg to the side of the beam, and wiggled his foot to allow his boot to become loose. When Christopher turned back, Delmaria kicked his leg, sending the hard, leather boot flying, and hitting the pirate square in the head. Sailskull lost his grip on the mast, and slipped over the side, landing with a loud, discomforting thud to the deck below. When Delmaria looked over, however, he had seen not the body of an Undead soldier, but merely the body of a flesh and blood pirate. "Uh oh.." Darkskull whispered.

Suddenly, the pain once again shrieked through his body, stiffening all his limbs. As he slid over the side of the beam, he caught a last glimpse of the Muertos Moon. It showed Roger's image slowly fading away. He was laughing.

The smack against the bow sent a final wave of pain through Delmaria, and through his nearly closed eyes, he saw his flesh once again. In a surprise, around the corner came the crew of pirates, all still in somewhat of a good shape. The sight of their captain and fellow crewmate laid out in a heap upon the wooden floor caused them to dash towards the both of them. The first to reach him was Grace, who lifted his head up off the ground, and easily poured a disgusting potion down his throat, without saying a word. After a brief spit to get the taste out of his mouth, he looked up and smiled. "This won't kill me, will it?"

They all laughed for a moment. They tried to pretend that all hadn't just happened.