The Disposition of the Night

[The Stealthy Pirate]

Me likey. I am epicz.

[Robert Ironcastle]

Cliffhangers...nuuuuuu.
But a great chapter

[Mr. Skiperdoo]

Chapter 12: Times of Confusion

Jack stormed in the room once he’d just received news that their lead had escaped. “If I get a hold of that little…” He said looking around the room for possible clues. “You sure he escaped through the front door?” He asked.

“Positive.” Ivan answered, leaning on the door. “Gone without a tra…” He said before remembering the piece of paper the scout had left behind. “Well, technically he left before I could ask him anything, but…”
He took out the paper from his coat. “He did manage to leave this behind.”

“Lemme see that!” Jack said swiping the paper away from Ivan’s hand. “Yep, it’s definitely a trap.” He said, throwing the paper on the ground where he presumed it belonged.

Ivan reluctantly bent over and retrieved the note. “You do realize that this is our only real lead to Reynard.” He said, hoping that Jack would follow through.

“What about Nathaniel? What about the Jacket? What about everything we’ve done so far? We don’t even know if Reynard’s on Del Fuego in the first place!” He said, trudging out of the interrogation room and soon after exiting the naval house into the grand cave system. “What about some support? What about more leads? What about…” He said but was cut off when his eyes met an old man tending to the area where Ivan had found the scout.

“Let me handle this…” He said, walking aggressively towards the old man.

The old man barely had enough time to see Jack walking up to deal with him, let alone react quick enough. Before he could even respond however, he was met with a response of Jack practically tackling him. “Listen!” He said, keeping the man in a hold to prevent him from escaping. “If you know anything about Marcus Reynard and whoever may be associated with him, speak now!”

The terrified man barely had enough energy to let out a response. “I- I don’t know anything about him! Honest!”

“I know your tricks pirate, you and the others were spying on us recently, now tell me where we can find him!” Jack said, still holding the man.

“I- I don’t know a- anything. Lord Beckett said there’d be no harassing in these mines!” The old man said miserably.

Jack heard these words but still held on and kept asking questions. After about a minute or so, he began to get strange looks from all around, and decided it was best to instead question him back in the interrogation room. “Come with me.” He said, only to notice Ivan sprinting up to meet him.

“Jack, what on earth were you just doing?” He asked.

“I’m bringing this madman in for interrogation; he must have every bit of information extracted immediately.” He said, being overfilled with madness.

“Jack, no. You don’t just take random people and expect them to have the answers to your questions.” Ivan said, walking over to the old man. “I’m sorry for the incident, this won’t happen again.” He said, letting the old man go.

“I… think I need to go lay down.” Jack said, stumbling in both speech and walk.

“Sleep? Now why would you need sleep?” Ivan asked.

“Well, remember last night at that inn?” Jack said, beginning to tell something Ivan could tell would be juicy. “Well it just so happens that the person in the room next to mine was terribly drunk, and started singing songs about… seagulls or something.”

“So?” Ivan asked curiously.

“Well, to put it shortly, I didn’t really sleep much last night.” Jack said, scratching his head.

“Oh great, now what, am I going to do, drag you along everywhere I go?” Ivan said, pacing around in frustration. “You do realize that we don’t have enough time to operate on such a slow pace, and…”

“My my, you two look even more tired than when I last saw you.” Said a familiar voice from behind.

“Nathaniel?” Jack and Ivan said simultaneously.

“I see you two have finally figured out my name after all this time.” Nathaniel said smugly. “Now then, I received some news that you two captured someone who was working for Reynard, is there any truth to this?” He asked looking at the Jack first and then Ivan hoping he may have an answer waiting.

“Well… yes.” Ivan said. “But, he’s the tricky fellow, and… he got away.”

“Did you get a name?”

“…Stealthy.” Jack answered, half asleep. “Just… Stealthy.”

“Interesting,” Nathaniel pondered. “Did you get any other piece of information that may be of use?” He asked hopefully.

“In fact,” Ivan said, retrieving the note from his coat. “We… I received this note instead of a conversation.” He said, handing Nathaniel the crumpled up note.

“Ah, this is definitely the work of Reynard.” Nathaniel said cheerfully. “In fact, this signature is almost perfect…” He said, putting the note inside of his own pocket. “We should report this immediately, at the navy outpost.”

“You hear that Jack? We’re finally going back to the outpost.” Ivan said eager to begin the walk back.

“Do they have candy there?” Jack asked.

“Yes Jack, lots of it.” Ivan asked, trying not to stay too far behind Nathaniel.

“Fine…”

~~~~~~~~~~

Howard walked through the strangely quiet streets of Del Fuego. His new tri-barreled pistols weighing his belt down. Now all that was important was finishing the mission he was given. Vague, cryptic, and maybe even impossible, he was very well one of the only people for the job. Sinking Reynard’s ship.

’Yeah, this is most likely impossible’ Howard thought as he walked all the way to the tavern at the top of the hill. Opening the door lead him into an environment vastly different from the one he was just in. The lively, partying feel inside the tavern was a dramatic change from the quiet empty streets outside. Howard walked deeper into the tavern until he reached a couple of guards standing next to a door.

“Reynard…” He said. Apparently, that was enough to make the guards shrug him off into the room. As he opened the door he felt a cold chill in front of him as he entered the room.

“Who’s there?” said a voice from the opposite side of the room. A man with his face half covered by shadows sat on a fine chair next to a table that certainly didn’t have enough light to properly operate on.

“’tis only me, the shipwright.” Howard said, trying to get on the man’s good side. “I couldn’t help but notice the poor state your ship is in, and for a small fine, I could change that.” He said, hoping his cover wouldn’t be blown.

“I know you’re looking for Reynard.” The man said. “Tell me, what do you plan on doing when you actually find him?” He asked, smiling with content.

“Find him? I thought Reynard came to you.” Howard said. “He’s supposed to be this mastermind of elusion, and that theory’s been reinforced time and time again.” Howard said, bringing his fist down on his other hand. “The only real question to ask me is am I checking up to see if he still exists.”

“I see.” The man said leaning back onto his chair. “Well because of your… family history Mr. Hood. I think it’s best if you stay out of this, instead of trying your hands at more pirate related business.”

“Family history?” Howard asked. “What do you mean by that?”

“Your brother.” The man said calmly. “I’m surprised you don’t remember what happened to his reputation.”

“I…” Howard said but couldn’t continue because of the intense pull on his heart. “How do you…” He said but wasn’t able to finish. He knew what the man was talking about. But how did he know? He wouldn’t be able to know unless. “You… you’re part of the order, aren’t you?”

“That’s a conversation for another time.” The man said. “Now run along and go hunt someone else for a change.”

~~~~~~~~~~

The familiar outpost neared closer to the group. It looked just like any other normal building on Tortuga, save for the fact that it had a sign: Royal Navy Shipment Outpost. Even in the afternoon environment it felt strangely quiet, but then again, when was the navy ever really that busy making sure there work was going along smoothly?

“Ah, here we are.” Nathaniel said, walking closer towards the run down navy outpost. “I’m sure you know proper protocol.” He said, looking around. “Now, where’s your tired friend?”

“I’m right here.” Jack said, struggling to keep up. “Ready for anything…”

“Yes, well.” Ivan said, opening a pathway leading to the door of the outpost. “I believe we’ll report this note once we’re in.” He said, motioning for Jack to follow. “As you can see, my friend isn’t in the state to… report in.” He said, watching closely as Jack nearly dozed off.

“Yeah, we need to tell that… Howell guy.” Jack said, returning to his method of doing as much talking as possible. “As soon as…”

Ivan sighed and walked over towards Jack in frustration. “Now are you coming with us?” He asked.

“Yes, just give me a second.” Jack said.

After about an entire second of waiting, Jack, true to his word, headed towards the door. Ivan followed directly behind, but for a strange reason Nathaniel didn’t move at all. At first Ivan wondered if he may have something to do, but if he’d come this far with them, he obviously didn’t have anything pressing at the moment.

“Hey, Nathaniel, are you coming or not?” Ivan asked.

Nathaniel swallowed deeply and took a deep breath. “I’m afraid the officer in control of the shipment house has some strange dislike towards anyone affiliated with the EITC.” He said, backing off. “I’m terribly sorry, but I don’t believe I can accompany you any further.” He said with a tip of his hat. And with that, he left just as quickly as an eager recruit forgets to use his bayonet.

“Glad that’s over.” Jack said, turning his attention back towards looking alert in preparation for meeting with another officer. “I don’t know why, but that guy doesn’t seem right.”

“What do you mean?” Ivan asked. “He seems perfectly fine to me. He’s just a bit afraid of… naval officers.” He said, emphasizing “officers”.

Jack rolled his eyes and pushed the door open to the shipment house. Once in, they were led to believe by sight that the entire front entry room was completely deserted.

“Strange.” Jack said. “Last time there were at least five people waiting in here.”

“Yes, well the good part is that we don’t need to wait to have an audience with…” Ivan said before he opened the door to a sight that only in the deepest parts of his mind he’d feared. There was very good reason why the front room was empty, for the main room was empty too. Or so they thought.

“There’s nobody here.” Jack stated as they walked in circles around the main table.

“But… where could they have gone?” Ivan asked.

“I don’t have a clue.” Jack said, shrugging. “Maybe the left some message or a note behind to announce their departure.”

Ivan and Jack then began to look in the desks and cabinets to see if there were any papers of importance lying around. The desks, empty. The drawers, empty. Cabinets, empty except for a couple pens and bottle of ink. Absolutely no signs of life were visible throughout the building.

“The place is… empty.” Ivan said as he turned around just in time to see the butt of a rifle come into contact with his face.

A man stepped over Ivan's body, he was wearing a rough tricorne hat.

"Well done Ivan. I can see we are going to have fun." Stealthy grinned.

~~~~~~~~~~

EDIT: Comments?

[The Stealthy Pirate]

Good chapter mate! I like my last comment. I can be intimidating, cant I?

[Mr. Skiperdoo]

Chapter 13: Uh-oh…

Ivan rolled around on the floor, trying to grip the elusive clutches of consciousness. The ground was much too hard and uncomfortable for anybody to sleep properly in. However, as he struggled to lift his head up off the ground, he felt an stinging sensation rush through his head. “Ah! What’s going on?” He asked to the empty air around him. “I- my head.” He said, putting his hand on his forehead only to feel a slight bump that had just recently turned up. All he could feel now was the pulsing pain coming from his head. That, and the hard floor below him.

For some reason though, the floor felt different. Much different. He moved his head further from the floor. It was pretty murky but from what he could tell he was in a very dark room, with very dark floorboards, with very dark metal bars surrounding him.

“Great,” He said to himself. “I’m captured by possibly the most dangerous people in the entire Caribbean, and that’s not even counting my record with them.” He said, trying his best to get up onto his own two feet. Once his eyes were able to focus inside to dark, moldy brig, he tried his best to find any sign of Jack.

“Hello? Jack you there?” He asked with a scratchy voice.

“No, that’s not my name.” Came a familiar voice accompanied by nearing footsteps. “I’m surprised you still haven’t figured it out.” The voice said, coming closer.

“Who are you?” Ivan asked. “And what have you done to Jack?”

“Oh, the same thing we did to you.” The man said, finally reaching seeing distance between them. “Obscurely led him to our trap, knocked him out, dragged him out to our ship, and…”

“Just answer the first question.” Ivan said, recognizing the tricks frequently used to avoid answering certain questions.

“Ah, well I’m glad you asked… again.” The man said, walking into full light. “The name’s Stealthy, and before you make any foolish remarks, yes that is my name.” Stealthy said, introducing himself as if he were doing it at some sort of royal banquet. “And I’m pretty sure you’re none other than Ivan Hood, correct?” He asked with a smile.

Ivan reached and pulled his reserved energy and used it to properly stand up. The pain was still searing in his head but as long as he’d get some answers, he’d just have to fight through it. “Firstly,” He said, mustering up all his energy. “How could you possibly know so much, especially about me?” He asked. He had no idea how anyone could know him by name even though he’d only stepped foot on Port Royal only but a few days ago.

“How I’ve come to know you isn’t what’s important, is it?” Stealthy asked, pacing around while he was talking. “I believe the correct question is why.” He said, motioning his hands for Ivan to continue.

At first, Ivan was confused about what Stealthy was trying to get across, but once he realized it, he rolled his eyes and gave his predictable reply. “Ok then. Why do you know about me?” He asked, feeling surprisingly comfortable about speaking civil with someone he’d last seen disappearing into a trail of smoke.

“Nice question.” Stealthy said, as if he was waiting to answer the question for quite a long time. “But the answer is found inside the name of someone else.” He said with a vague meaning.

“Can you please just tell me what’s going on?” Ivan demanded, trying to understand what he meant despite the searing pain inside his head.

“Fine, fine, I’ll just do it the easy way and give you the details upfront.” He said, walking closer to Ivan’s cell. “Not that I’d want to do it, but because you assumed that I should do so, and because any other choice I may have might not be as convenient as to…”

“Just, tell me!” Ivan yelled. “You’re really, really good at avoiding questions.” He said furiously.

Stealthy suddenly grew serious as he began to clear his throat and find a more… cinematic positioning. “Reynard,” He began. “He’s a man of many different… styles I should say. Now the reason he has different styles is far beyond my understanding, but that’s beside the point. Now the way in which his styles are a little corrupt in the eyes of his peers.”

Ivan laid his hand upon his head while comprehending what had just been said. With some effort, he was able to understand the basic inner workings of what was going on. “What do you mean exactly when you say “peers”?” He asked.

“By peers, I mean people in a similar structural placing.” Stealthy said, sneaking away from the questions real intention. He knew very well what he meant, but he also knew he needed to get Ivan to ask even more questions than he needed to.

“Instead of telling me something vague and letting me contemplate it for myself, perhaps I could ask questions and you can reassure them, since you seem to divert from the conversation as much as possible.” Ivan said, waiting for a total of two seconds before Stealthy replied with a shifting nod. “I presume when you say peers you’re actually referring to other pirates, correct?” He asked, initiating a glimmer in Stealthy’s eye.

“Yes, that’s right, now go on.” Stealthy said impatiently.

“But, what do you mean by him being corrupt?” Ivan asked, still grasping his head.

“I honestly think the whole corruption theory is just a bit of over thought hysteria over him not wanting to follow the standard that most proper pirates follow.” Stealthy said, waving his hand around in the air.

“Standard? They have a standard?” Ivan sarcastically remarked.

“Yes, they do.” Stealthy scoffed. “Are you familiar with the code?” He asked.

“The… code?”

“Yes, the code. It’s a set of rules on how any good pirate shall act. However Reynard isn’t very fond of the code, and decides to ditch almost all of it.” Stealthy said, looking towards the ground. “That’s where you come in.”

“Me? But I thought you were trying to get rid of me.” Ivan said, confused.

“Get rid of you?” Stealthy said, bursting into laughter. “Trust me, if we wanted to get rid of you, you’d be dead on arrival.” He said, smiling and shaking his head. “No, no, Reynard has much better plans with someone of your… potential.” He said, causally glancing to see if Ivan was interested. “You see, Reynard sees something in you that he’s only seen within a few people. And if I’m correct, he needs you. Not just because you’re possibly one of the most able people out there, but also since you’re on neutral ground.”

“Wait a second.” Ivan said. “Are you saying that Reynard doesn’t have the best standing with anyone, navy or pirate, so he wants me to join him so I can resolve the issue?” He asked hoping for a strong reply from Stealthy.

“Pretty much.”

Ivan let his mind take a couple seconds so it could sink in. ’Well let’s see, on one hand I can reject his offer and most likely die, and on the other hand I can have one heck of a strange career being the friend of one of the most law destroying pirates in the Caribbean. Actually, that might not be that ba- WAIT WHAT AM I THINKING!’

“So?” Stealthy asked, bringing Ivan back into reality.

“So…”

A silence erupted over the two. None of them really knew what to say. Not just for the fact that the conditional enemies weren’t quarreling at the moment but also for the fact that they had almost nothing to say.

“Sorry about your head by the way, it was the least risky way to get you knocked out, since I don’t really know how strong you might be.” Stealthy said, walking over to the edge of the room. “I mean, don’t take it personal but it was my job to make sure you didn’t stay awake for the “transition” period.”

Ivan leaned back onto the metal bars of his 10x10 cage. “Oh, I didn’t really mind the nasty after-headache.”

“Good, because you wouldn’t believe what we had to do to your friend.”

“Wait, what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing… just… back to Reynard” Stealthy said. “Now, when we get to the island, I’ll instruct you on what you’ll need to do before we really take you to Reynard.” He said, talking to Ivan as if he’d know him for much longer. “But before that, I’m afraid we’ll have to-“ before Stealthy could finish, the door leading down the stairs creaked open.

“Hey Stealth, we’re almost there.” A man said from the top of the stairs.

“I’ll be right there Thomas.” Stealthy yelled back. “Just as soon as I finish with the Guest of Honor.”

“Alright, but be quick about it.” Thomas said, closing the door.

“Now then.” Stealthy began. “Just remember, whatever you do, don’t pretend like you’re actually with the navy, savvy?” He said, walking away from the cell and up the stairs. “Try and think about it for a few minutes as you get ready to meet Reynard.”

’Great,’ Ivan thought. Can’t wait to see how this turns out.

~~~~~~~~~~

Howard walked as far away from the hideout as he could. Now his job was to find more about Reynard’s ship, and once his ship was gone, he’d be completely stranded.

Now, as he walked aimlessly through the streets of Del Fuego, only his keen sense of direction could possibly lead him further into his investigation. He walked over to the real shipwright standing next to the dock and began asking him a few questions. “Excuse me, if I may. But would you possibly have any idea on when the next ship is coming?” He asked.

The shipwright looked at him as if he hadn’t seen a human being in months. “Most likely when they decide to find the right dock.” He answered.

“Decide to find the right do- what does that mean?” Howard questioned.

“Well, if you’re looking to meet up with some of your colleagues, I believe they’re taking the back way.” The shipwright said. “Unfortunately, you’ll have to find some way to reach the other side of the island, which isn’t as easy as it sounds.” The man said, looking deeply into the horizon. “May I ask what business you have here?”

“Oh, its just that I’ve waiting for an important shipment for days now and I’m afraid this is my last hope that they’ll arrive.” He lied, hoping the shipwright would unwittingly buy into what he was saying. “You see, the candles don’t work as well when you leave them out in the humidity for extended periods of time. They get all mushy and worthless and make writing with them a tedious and boring task.”

“So you’re a candle maker?” The shipwright asked.

“Why yes, in fact, I’m the most skilled candle maker in all of Scandinavia… well I was until I decided to bring my glorious candles further into the world by bringing them to far away places such as the Caribbean and beyond.” Howards said, motioning his hands to act out his words. “But that can only be achieved if swift journeys are taken to ensure the wax is properly vitrified. So that’s when the greatest of troubles occur, for candles shall be handled with the utmost care, instead of treated in such a way that is truly despicable.”

“That’s… beautiful.” The man said. “I… never knew candles were so important in the world.”

“That’s what most people think, but they choose to ignore the facts.” Howard said. “Now if only I could find some sort of shortcut that will lead me to the other side of the island. Let’s just say I’m not good with finding my way in caves.

“Shortcut? Oh yes.” The shipwright said, regaining his sense of direction. “Well, the fastest way I can think of is doing it by means of boat. Of course you’ll have to take the long way since the volcano’s decided to become especially active recently, so it’ll take you a few hours to get from here to there.” He said, leading Howard to a dock area with mostly small craft and a few larger frigates. “Just take one of these ferries, don’t worry, it won’t be that expensive.”

“Why, thank you good sir, and now I’ll be on my way.” He said, tipping his hat to the shipwright.

“Oh, and one more thing.” The shipwright said, regaining Howard’s attention. “Good luck with the candles.”

~~~~~~~~~~

The door leading down to the brig creaked open once again, soon revealing a tall strong looking pirate accompanying Stealthy on his walk down the stairs towards Ivan. As they neared closer, an unmistakable sound of keys clinking each other was coming from the hands of the other pirate. Once they got close enough, the tall pirate nodded to Stealthy and began fiddling with the keys in order to unlock Ivan’s cell.

“What are you doing?” Ivan asked, confused on why they were letting him go so easily.

“What does it look like? We’re taking you straight to Reynard.” Stealthy said, noticing his friend just now finished messing with the keys. “So,” He said once the door swung open. “You coming?”

~~~~~~~~~~

Comments? Reviews? I’d really like to know how you think the story’s going and maybe if I’m doing something not quite right? Anyways, hope you liked the chapter, because the next one’s going to be… big.

[The Stealthy Pirate]

Good as always mate!

[Mr. Skiperdoo]

*Clicks submit button and falls asleep*

Chapter 14: The Meeting

Ivan and Stealthy started walking with each other on top of the ship’s deck, with two guards following them from behind. A man walked up to Stealthy and soon began matching his pace. “You sure you know what to do?” He asked. Stealthy nodded and continued his way through the crowded deck. “Alright, but when the boss asks about how I’ve been doing, just remember to get a good word in for me ok?”

Stealthy shook his head up and down as he smiled. “I haven’t been working on my vocabulary recently, but I’ll scan my mind for a nice word to use.” He said, dismissing his friend. “That was Thomas. I believe you met him a couple days ago.” He said, prompting Ivan’s memories of meeting him in the tavern. It was strange how back then he seemed to be in control of things, but it seemed that Stealthy had a bit more power than he had.

Stealthy led Ivan to a small dinghy on the side of the ship. After a long period without initiative, they finally figured out it was time to get onboard and lower themselves down. Stealthy got in first with Ivan following directly behind. Once they were in, the other two guards whose job was to get them to shore climbed in, shaking the entire boat on the moment of their entry.

In the air, the dingy was very shaky and unstable, but once it touched the sea, it became more and more trustworthy. Stealthy and three other pirates were situated in the boat, the other two, oars in hand, began rowing towards the small beach on the back side of the island. The waters were dark and misty, not as much as some islands, but it certainly didn’t scream “Hello, come to this fun inviting island!” Ivan was surprised they didn’t need to tie him up or anything, but he figured whoever it was guarding him would most likely be able to take him out if they needed to.

Stealthy grabbed a bottle sitting at the bottom of the boat. “Always keep one handy.” He said, smiling as he popped the cork off. “And remember to plan for it beforehand.” He added, taking a large sip from the bottle. It wasn’t long before the nearly full bottle was drained completely, much to Ivan’s surprise. He let the bottle leave his mouth as he showed it to Ivan. “I’m guessing you didn’t bring any with you?” He asked. “Shame really.”

Ivan rolled his eyes and diverted the focus back to the task at hand. “Tell me where you’re taking me, and what you’re going to do with Jack.” He asked, folding his arms.

Stealthy looked back upon him with a disappointed look in his eye. It seemed to be that he didn’t like to be on the receiving end of questions. “First,” he said, closing the bottle and placing it below the large seat. “We’ll be taking you to meet Reynard.” He said, letting his hands reach farther apart from each other. “That is what you want, aye?”

Ivan leaned back further until he was nearly falling overboard. Why were they taking him directly to Reynard? What did they want? Whatever it was, he’d soon figure out, and if there was anything in short supply, it was answers. “Yes, that is what I’ve wanted.” Ivan answered, feeling like a black hole just appeared inside his stomach. “But… why?”

Stealthy grinned and turned around to view the dark waters below. “I believe I’ve already told you why.” He said, letting his hand touch the moonlit waters. “It’s because he needs someone like you.” Stealthy rested his chin upon his hand as he gazed back towards Ivan. “To answer your second question,” he said, turning back towards the main ship. “You’re friends welfare depends on how you handle yourself with Reynard. If it doesn’t turn out as expected, well…”

“Ok, enough about that.” Ivan said, ending the subject matter. He shifted his head towards the two people rowing them to shore. “How much longer will it be?” He asked, fearing that postponing his time until the meeting would only give him more time to think about it.

One of the giant pirates rowing on the opposite side of the boat stared off into the distance, trying to get a good estimate on the arrival period. “I’d say we have a good two minutes before shore.” He said, still rowing with the intensity he had when they began only a few minutes ago.

Ivan sighed as he waited for the short journey to be over. When he met Reynard, he had nearly no idea how he was going to direct himself. His mission was to eliminate him, but some strange feeling in his gut (and no, it had nothing to do with the black hole) told him otherwise. It was almost like it was actually a good idea following through and joining him. All these thoughts eventually brought untold amounts of frustration into Ivan’s mind, as he tried to get rid of them. ’It’ll be over soon…’ He thought to himself, ready for what was about to come.

~~~~~~~~~~

Jack struggled while in the grasp of two men who both had more strength than he’d ever known. It was flat out horrifying to be under the custody of pirates, especially these ones. “Where are you taking me?” He asked them as they led him towards a dingy on the side of the ship.

“We’ll be taking you to the beach you navy scum!” One of the guards yelled, kicking Jack in the stomach. The blow was obviously intended to wreak pain upon the bearer, and it was felt as such. Jack stayed silent as he thought it would be best not to talk. His hands were tied up and even if he were able to somehow escape from their grasp, it would still be an impossibility to escape from them altogether. But now, in his pitiful state, the only thing he could do was wait for something to happen. They moved closer to the dingy as one of them climbed down the rope towards the boat. “Now how are we going to get you down there?” One of them asked, sending a horrible thought through Jack’s mind.

“No, wait… what going on AHH!” Jack was tossed down from the side of the ship and onto the waiting hands of the guard below. “Wow… that was actually a pretty decent catc- HEY!” He yelled once they instead dropped him onto the floor of the boat, much to his dismay. “You didn’t have to do it that hard.” He said, this time being answered with a quick elbow to the gut. Now would be the best time to keep quiet. Instead of looking for a comeback, he instead kept his mouth shut as the two guards both pulled out oars, and started putting them to good use. All he could do now was be absolutely quiet, as he waited for whatever would meet him on shore.

~Five minutes later~

Jack’s face (thankfully) fell onto the cool sandy beach, the guards obviously not caring about the manner in which way they tossed him. He struggled to his knees as the guards circled around the boat, trying to get control of the situation. “Now what?” He asked, looking all around for any sign of Ivan. All there was to be found was an empty dingy not too far from where they were, presumably where Ivan and Stealthy had landed. Jack knelt down and waited for them to tell him something… anything.

One of the intimidating pirates walked in front of Jack, causing him to initiate the “prepare for boot to the face” look. “Now, we wait for your friends to return.” One of them said, motioning for the other one to come closer.

Jack reflected briefly upon the sad, sad situation. Now his only hope was to wait it out, fearing trying to escape would only make things worse. His body slowly sunk into the wet sand, forming a mold where he was kneeling. The sand was as strange as it sounded, his only threshold of sanity. Everywhere else now was either certainly or most likely to be the death of him. In his weak state, unable to move, his eyes darted all around for something to grab his attention. But everywhere he looked, he saw a wide expanse of waves, crashing into the massive rocks at the side of the beach. Other than the constant pain coursing through his body from his recent bruises, he could now rest, everything was peaceful at last.

“Aye, did you hear that noise?” One of the pirates asked, prying Jack’s eyes open.

“I didn’t hear a thing.” The other one replied, searching all around the dark beach.

The first pirate scratched his head as he too started to look around for the source of the noise. Any small change in the environment was now visible to them. Jack knew something was amiss, so instead of trying to figure something out on his own, he instead stayed still as if nothing was going on. “I know I heard something.” One of the guards said, turning back towards the boat. “Maybe it’s an empty bottle rolling around in there.” He said, boosting himself up to get a good look. “No use, I’ll have to ge- Umph!” A swift and hard blow slammed into the pirates face, knocking him out cold as he fell onto the wooden boat below.

“What was that?” The other man asked, only to feel a knife sticking it’s way into his leg. “ARGHH!” He screamed out in pain, pulling the knife out and readying himself for another strike. The next one however wasn’t frontal, but instead focused on catching him off guard. Jack glanced over to see what was going on, only to see a dark figure wrestling with the injured pirate. Now since the pirates were unavailable to guard him, Jack sprung to his feet and began racing towards the struggling pirate to help finish him off. He ran towards the two fighters who were now struggling to get each other onto the ground, raising his head in time to see one of the massive pirates throwing the other person off his back, as the man landed perfectly onto the sand below. Jack sprinted towards the man to get a good understanding of what was going on. The man was in a dark coat, and an equally dark hat and boots.

Now that he was next to the man, Jack decided to lean down and speak some strategy. “You try running him from behind, we’ll surround him and he’ll have nowhere to turn.” He said, watching his unknown ally nod as they both readied themselves for the charging pirate. The pirate took out a cutlass that shined in the moonlight and showed off its sharp edge. Now that the pirate was armed he was much more dangerous than before. Jack backed away as the other man tried to get a good angle on him. Wherever they were however, the pirate allowed both of them to be one his side, so that no one could get behind him.

The pirates smiled as he charged for Jack. Jack knew he wouldn’t be able to outrun him, so instead he waited for him to get close so he could make his move. The sword was held in his right hand, this meant he’d most likely swing it across his left side. Jack, still clasped in irons, took advantage of this knowledge, and when he was close enough, sidestepped to the left, and away from his attacker. The attacker countered with another strong swing, this one managing to barely hit Jack, but enough to keep him from trying anthing. Fortunately, the attacker’s swing was so forceful that it took time for him to recover, enough time for the mysterious man to try tackling him onto the ground.

The pirate brushed the man off as if he was made of paper, sending the man flying back once more onto the cool sand. Before the man could get back onto his feet, the pirate took a pistol from his coat pocket, set the flint back, and aimed it at Jack. Jack closed his eyes as he wondered if this could be it, if his whole life had led to this moment where he was to be defeated by a mere pirate thug. His eyes stayed shut as he endured the longest seconds of his life. Everything in his life was not to be wasted by the pulling of a simple trigger. Jack had seen it happen before to other people, but now, it was about to happen to him.

He heard a loud bang, but oddly didn’t feel the sudden pain that would most likely accompany the shot that would drag him into death. He wondered if this may be because he wasn’t mortally wounded, but upon further examination, he discovered he wasn’t wounded at all! He looked back towards the large pirate as he slowly fell to the ground. A surprising look showed on his face as he realized what instead happened. The shot didn’t come from him, but it came from his mysterious ally. Relieved, he got back to his feet and walked over to the dead pirate, taking a key from one of his many pockets. He flipped the key over and started unlocking his own irons, glancing over to make sure his rescuer hadn’t already left.

He grinned, knowing that whoever it was that found him just saved his life. “Thank you kindly,” he said, walking over to greet the man. “I was wondering how I was going to get out of that one.”

The man walked closer and gave Jack a better view of him. His face was rugged yet had a smooth texture to it, his height matched Jack’s, at a solid 6”, and oddly enough, he looked somewhat like Ivan in appearance. They shook each other’s hand, and before long the other man started walking towards the dingy. He pulled the unconscious body of the man out of the boat, and started to check his pulse. “We’ve got an hour at most.” He said, letting go of the man’s hand. “In the meantime we should find the quickest way away from any more pirates.” He said, turning his attention back to Jack. “Now why were they keeping you hostage?” He asked.

Jack literally made sure the coast was clear, as they began walking up the ledge towards the rest of Del Fuego. “Most likely because they know who I am. And I’d be none other than Commander Jack Henson.” He said, taking pride in remembering that he was a Commander.

The other man opened his eyes widely as that seemed to clarify why they were holding him. “Well,” he said, nearing the top of the beach. “We’d better get you to Fort Dundee in that case.”

Jack shook his head. “No, I’m afraid I can’t report back until I’m finished with the mission at hand.”

“And what would that be?”

“Finding and eliminating Marcus Reynard.”

The other man seemed surprised at what he just heard. “Interesting, that task seems to be pretty popular these days.” He said, stopping in his tracks. “It just so happens that I’m tasked with doing that as well.” He said, scratching his head as he looked all around the seemingly abandoned part of Del Fuego. “Would you have any idea where he may be?” he asked, being replied only to the sound of a closing door off in the distance.

“I’d start there Mr…” Jack said, freezing mid-sentence.

“Howard, just call me Howard.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Stealthy led Ivan to a clearing in the middle of nowhere. To their right was a large tent like structure, and in front of them was a large building, only recently abandoned. Walking closer to the building, they could see a small light coming from the inside through a window. Stealthy opened the door and laid his hand out towards the inside of the building. “After you.” He said.

Ivan sighed as he too reached for the door, stepping inside to feel the warm air and see the moderate lighting inside the building. Inside the stuffy house was an entire group of pirates sitting around, either talking about whatever it is that decided to cross them recently, drink rum, or the more popular option which was lie around and do absolutely nothing. In an instant, everyone in the room started focusing their eyes on Ivan, as if he was the last bottle of rum on the entire earth.

“Keep walking…” Stealthy said, noticing the other pirate’s hostile nature towards the newcomer. “Don’t make eye contact, don’t look at them, and don’t even think about them.” He said, stopping in front of a door at the edge of the building. “Well of course you must think of them since I just mentioned them, and not thinking about something someone just told you about is nearly impossible if you’re not listening, and I hope you’re listening so…”

“I believe we have a job to do?” Ivan said impatiently.

Stealthy smiled and opened the door and closed it behind him. Moving both his arms in a certain direction, he announced loudly: “Behold,” he said, laying his hands out towards a figure slowly moving closer. “I give you…” He finally looked towards the figure who was obviously not whom he thought he was. “Wait who are you?”

The man gave Stealthy a confused look. “I’m certainly not Reynard if that’s what you’re asking.” He said, pointing behind his back towards the other door leading to a much darker room. “If you want to go in there, just remember he’s not in the best of moods.”

“Yeah, I’ll remember that.” Stealthy said, gritting his teeth. “Now then Ivan, are you ready?” He asked, approaching the final door.

Ivan cleared his throat and took a deep breath. Now was the moment he’d been waiting for. His job was to make sure Reynard never did anything ever again, but right now, it would be nearly impossible for him to get away with such a thing. Luckily, the enemy led him straight to him, only for the wrong reason. Ivan fixed his coat as he and Stealthy walked quietly into the room. In the middle was a table, lit by two candles sitting at the edge. The candles gave off a surprisingly bright glow, as it was the only light needed in the whole room. Behind the table was a chair, presumably holding Reynard. Facing away from them, it didn’t give the most welcoming look, but Ivan didn’t want to complain. Stealthy moved over towards Ivan’s right, and took off his tri-corne hat.

“Sir, I’ve retrieved the Hood.” He said, bowing towards the man even though he was looking away from him. “When shall I expect my next payment?”

Reynard rested his head upon his fist, and turned his head towards the side. “You shall expect payment the next time you keep from getting compromised.” He said in a deep voice. “But, until you’re able to avoid the enemy spotting you, I’m afraid your payment will have to be on hold.” He said, getting up from his chair and turning to face them both. “Now then, let’s discuss this further.” Reynard took off his hat, and placed it on the table.

Ivan suddenly came to the horrifying realization of whom his eyes were staring at.

“Nathaniel?”

~~~~~~~~~~

Comments? Had to get this one off before I went off into the Appalachian Mountains!

Anyways, hope you enjoyed!

[Mr. Skiperdoo]

Chapter 15: A Conversation With the Enemy

"Nathaniel?” Ivan stood completely in shock at who was in front of him.

“It’s good to see you’ve finally noticed.” Nathaniel (or Reynard) said, folding his hands. “All this time you’ve been so confused about how I’ve been watching your every move. When in truth you were inviting me at every turn.” He said, picking his hat up and placing it firmly on Stealthy’s head. “Now then, since your payments on hold, how about you go find a good place to hide from the legions of navy soldiers chasing after you? Or maybe you can go back to stowing away in crates like we found you.” He said with a smile.

Stealthy knew that saying something would just further complicate things, so instead he just clenched his fist and kept quiet as he closed the door behind him. Now, with only Reynard left with Ivan, an eerie yet strangely comfortable feeling found its way inside the room. Oddly enough, Ivan felt safer knowing that he wasn’t having to constantly watch his surroundings for anything that might attack him.

Reynard returned to his sitting position, and soon motioned for Ivan to do the same. “Finally, I have a chance to talk to you for real.” He said, resting his head upon his hand while looking upwards. “I’ve been waiting for the opportunity, and I’m surprised it happened so fast.”

Unmoved, Ivan tried to clear things up a little. “Nathaniel… or Reynard… Which is your real name?”

Reynard chuckled and answered as if he’d rehearsed it for an interview. “Reynard’s my real name. Nathaniel Callard’s been dead for three years. One of my favorite quirks is that I like to salvage names of the ones that believed they could somehow overcome me.” He said, leaning back on the desk in order to easily access one of its many drawers. “But for some strange reason I have yet to comprehend, ‘Ivan Hood’ doesn’t sound like one I wish to keep.”

Ivan observed Reynard very closely. ’Creepy’. He thought. ’But I’ll go with it’.

Again, Reynard turned his attention to one of the outside drawers. Opening it, he quickly found whatever it was he was looking for. Taking out a document, he held it up to the light in order to make sure it was the right one. After a nod of re-assurance, he placed the document directly on the table.

Ivan wasted no time in speedily examining the paper. Most of the stuff was beyond his grasp, but to his knowledge, it had to be some sort of legal document. “What’s this?” He asked, confused not only by the strange wordings of the complex document, but also by the sudden approach to bore him as much as possible.

“You don’t know?” Reynard asked, although he clearly knew the answer. “Well, how about I read the “Important” parts out loud?” He asked, simply being replied only by the “I really guess I don’t have a choice” look. Pleased, Reynard grasped the paper in his hand and began to speak the written words.

“During the night of December 17th, between the hours of 23:00 & 1:00 was when the occurrence took place. An unofficial group of private soldiers were assassinated inside of their own hideout. These men had recently committed numerous crimes, and were responsible for the specifically targeted murders of pirate hunters, among others.” Reynard momentarily put the paper back down, and looked back towards Ivan. “Sound familiar?”

Ivan, now sweating and nervous, could tell what was coming after only a few seconds of hearing Reynard speak. He knew very well he was talking about himself, and the paper was a report on possibly the most engaging night of his life. “Yes.” Ivan struggled as if that was all he was able to say. “But… how did you find out about that?”

Reynard smiled as his hand let go of the paper. “I know you don’t understand, but that’s reasonable.” He said, looking down upon the dark wooden desk. “There’s a connection here that… you’ve never fully understood.” He said, turning his head to the side, facing away from Ivan.

Ivan leaned closer to match Reynard’s detraction from the subject. “What don’t I understand?” he asked, suddenly becoming engagingly curious.

Reynard’s head turned back towards Ivan. “Many things, but specifically about your… father.” He said, staring deviously back at Ivan. “Tell me, what was his occupation?” He asked, causing Ivan to scan his memory for the right answer.

Ivan leaned back as he tried to recollect his father’s job. He couldn’t narrow it down partially due to it’s mysterious background, but he the only way he could explain it would be a mercenary, but definitely not a privateer. To his knowledge, he almost always worked alone, or even with Howard. But he never had a crew to back him up. But he couldn’t tell this to Reynard, for he didn’t know how much he really knew.

“I… he was a mercenary… like me.” Ivan answered.

“True, but what type of mercenary would you classify him as?”

Ivan silently looked back down on the table. “I… guess you could’ve called him a pirate hunter.” He said, being stunned by Reynard’s oncoming laughter.

“So you do know something.” Reynard said, stroking his sparse facial hair. “I hope you wouldn’t mind if maybe I elaborated?” he asked, knowing that Ivan wouldn’t mind. “Very well, let me tell you about what happened.” He said moving his chair into a more comfortable position. “Your father,” he began. “Was part of secret organization to…. help pirates. “Help” here means put them in the right direction, to set them in the right direction, or take down those who strayed from it. Your father did sometimes accept jobs from the navy. Whenever there was a pirate that needed to be taken care of, he’d always help that pirate start a new life, give him a new name; yank the navy off their backs.” He said, sliding his hand to the side, symbolizing something being pulled. “Unfortunately, that job didn’t come without a price.” He said, looking sad yet at the same time uncaring. “One that would eventually end him.”

“How do you know all about this?” Ivan asked, shocked that Reynard would know so much about Ivan.

“Because,” Reynard said, emanating another one of his creepy smiles. He knew something, but what? As he returned to his stable state, his mouth let out the last of his words. “He once went after me.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Stealthy paced angrily around the room, even slamming on one of the tables in his rage. “I swear, that’s the last time Reynard goes back on my ‘payments’.” He said with an angry tone. “How can I trust him when half of the time he doesn’t follow through? I know I do what I’m supposed to, I do all he asks, and still he refuses to acknowledge it!”

He stumbled to another large empty table at the opposite end of the room. “There must be a way to stop this from happening. I’m done working for that cheapskate. It’s up to me to make my own pay. I can do it, I’m good enough, but some people fail to realize that.” He said, walking over to the window to check and see what was outside.

“There has to be something I could do, instead of going from job to job working for these people. From now on, I’m going to have to make money on my own.” He said, gazing out the window. “How am I going to face hi…” Stealthy saw a strange assortment of people walking towards the building in an orderly fashion. “Strange time to go caroling… wait a second!” Stealthy dashed away once he noticed what he’d been watching.

~~~~~~~~~~

Jack walked up towards the seemingly inconspicuous door, not opening in fear that there’d be a crew of pirates waiting for them. “This is the only place large enough to hold an entire crew.” He said, scanning the area in reassurance. Other than the large tavern-like building, most of the other residences seemed far too small to hold a multitude of people. Most of the other buildings looked like they were completely abandoned, boarded up, or deteriorated. “This is the only place they could’ve gone.” Jack said, peeking through the window to try and make out what was behind it. All that was visible was a dim but still promising light.

“I think we shouldn’t make ourselves noticed.” Howard said, nearing away from the door. “For all we know, there could be more pirates lurking about, waiting to pounce on us at just the right moment.” He said, initiating interest from Jack.

“Good thinking, we better keep an eye out.” Jack replied, assuring their safety. “So… now what?”

Now the two were at a crossroad. One of the directions was fronted by an unknown sign, and the other with a danger sign. “There is one solution to the problem…” Howard said, recalling the navy teams scouting the area. “When I arrived, another team was sent through the Wilds and onto the other side of the island, meaning here.”

“Oh my, how will we get control of a bunch of navy soldiers?” Jack said sarcastically. “Well, if we’re going to find them, I suggest we go search through the wilds?” He asked, leading his hand in the direction towards an overgrown area.

“I’m sure finding a light source amidst the darkness won’t be too hard…”

~~~~~~~~~~

Ivan retained his composure. Not before had he been challenged in such a personal way, and now the random person he was sent to kill was withholding personal information that Ivan had scarcely known about. “He… was sent to kill you?” Ivan asked, confused since he knew his father died by the hands of the bandits he’d assassinated that night.

Reynard rolled his eyes. “Not really. He wasn’t sent to kill me, but instead to set me straight.” He said, causing Ivan to remember what Stealthy said about Reynard not having the best of reputations with other pirates.

“You mean because of the code.” Ivan noted, watching Reynard’s eyes fix themselves on a surprised emotion. “You weren’t properly following the code, and that’s why he was sent to… resolve the problem, by any means.”

Reynard gave another content look as he leaned back on his chair. “How about this: I tell you my story if you tell me about the time you murdered those pirates.” He said, making Ivan cringe at the mention of the word “murdered”.

“Alright, but you tell me your story first.” Ivan said, not wanting to miss out on such a juicy learning opportunity.

Reynard smiled, opening another drawer and pulling another hat out. Closing the door, he directed his smile back towards Ivan. “Now that the hat problem’s done with, I’ll begin.” He said, placing his hands firmly on the table…

~~~~~~~~~~

Reynard walked down the empty streets, rain pouring down from above. He moved right next to the door to the nearest building, and knocking on it, waited for a response. “Hello? Gregory, I sware this is the worst time to be pretending.” He said, knocking on the door even more. “D*** it!” He yelled, kicking the door open.

He ran inside, and turned around to find the door wasn’t even locked. His buddy had recently locked the place up to make sure nobody could get in except for him, but that didn’t seem to be the case, since the entire building was empty. “Gregory, where are you? I need to speak to you right now!”

The entire building was dimmed to a point where only a few corners of it were properly lit. The other areas would have to be judged fully on night vision. “This isn’t funny, come out now!” Reynard said, realizing his friend may not be available. “Greg?” He said, turning towards a sound coming from one of the darker corners of the room. A man wearing all dark clothing stepped out of the shadows, his dark appearance blended him in with the darkness.

“I had a feeling you’d come here eventually.” The man said, stepping further out until him and the darkness became two separate forms. “Who were you hiding from today? Was it the navy? Or was perhaps one of the hundreds of pirates who’d prefer to be rescued by anyone but you?” The man asked, seemingly knowing what Reynard had been through recently. “Or was it both? I fear whatever may be on the other side of that door would be best to keep a secret?” He said, lifting a large wooden plank and placed it on the door to bar it shut.

Reynard calmly stayed still as he wondered if whoever this was wanted him dead like almost everybody else, or genuinely wanted to help him. “What do you want?” He asked, hoping the man would be on his side.

The man sped towards Reynard, too fast for him to be able to fight back. He forcefully threw Reynard to the wall, and pinned him against it. “You and I both know what this is about.” The man said, not giving Reynard any free movement. “Now the real question is how should this all go down?”

Reynard struggled to break free from the position, but it was just a waste of energy. “What are you talking about?” He said, barely able to muster the energy to speak.

“You know very well what this is about.” The man said, not holding back. “Three days ago, you refused to hold up any decency as you mercilessly eliminated another one your “rivals”.” He said, forcing even more of his strength on Reynard.

Reynard struggled for air and felt if it went on any longer he’d pass out. “What does this have to do with BAH!” Reynard felt himself get thrown to the ground, feeling both pain from the fall and relief from being able to fully breathe once more.

He coughed wildly as the man approached him once more. “Now let’s try this one more time. Either you continue your life of fleeing from everybody, or you clear your name, start a new life, never let something like that happen ever again, and make sure that you never have to see Harold Hood ever again.” He said, placing the only two directions as towards him or towards the door.

Reynard thought carefully about the decision for a few seconds before coming to his conclusion. Still on the ground, he pulled out one of the pistols he always kept with him, and almost blindly pulled the trigger. A pain filled yell was all that was needed to verify the success, and with that, Reynard made a break for the secret entrance at the end of the room.

Harold was taken aback by the strange, quick, yet almost painless sting originating in his hand. He grabbed it with is other hand, realizing he’d just been shot point blank. “Ahh!” He yelled, recovering from the strange feeling, scanning the area to visualize where Reynard had run off to. Instead of going straight for the door, it looked like he’d instead decided to climb up on a bunch of stacked barrels, and had begun opening a trap door to the upper floor.

Opening the door, Reynard easily vaulted himself up and away from the room. Harold ignored the now searing pain coming from his hand as he too leaped up on top of the barrels. Reynard closed the door behind him, and quickly placed the nearest box on top of it in order to prevent Harold from opening it.

Harold slammed his good hand against the above door, hoping to make it fly open, but instead feeling resistance equal to that of pounding directly on the floor. Trying to open it now would just waste time, as the weight on top was too much for him to lift with only one good hand. Frustrated, he sprinted towards the door, hoping an external means to get upstairs was available. Opening the door, he felt the cold rain insist on making his day even more miserable than it already was. Gazing back upon the large building, he could make out that the upper floor was somehow connected to some other buildings, most conspicuously the dock house.

Recalling his limited knowledge of the dock house, he knew that every building connected to it was only accessible through the central hub, which if Reynard was going anywhere, it would have to be there...

Reynard scrambled to reach the door, if all was well, it wouldn’t be locked. Anticipating that it may be so, he nearly fell over after opening the door. Stumbling his way through the different dock supply crates, he mentally planned the near future. ’I need to make my way over to the ship.’ He thought, hurdling over another open crate of ropes. ’A shame I couldn’t get Gregory in time, we would’ve escaped together.’

Now that he was closer to the ship, he arrived at the house that had windows showing the outside world. Peeking through, he was relieved to see his ship prepared to leave port. He was now more than ready to escape this place. Turning his attention over towards the loading crane revealed by the opening inside the house, he ran over to inspect his next move.

“Well, it’s all or nothing…” He said to himself, leaping powerfully onto the crane. His hands grasped the rope as he slowly slid down. Rope burn decided to grab his attention, but once on the ground, a sense of relief overcame him as he saw just how close he was to the ship. Running towards the dock, he was able to see another one of his crewmates, waiting for him to arrive. “Get the ship out of here!” He yelled, motioning for him to cut the ropes.

Surprised, the man looked at Reynard with confusion. “Sir, where’s Gregory?” he asked, still following through with the orders and untying the ropes.

“Gregory’s unavailable, but that’s not important.” Reynard said, helping loosen the ropes.

Once the ropes were all untied, Reynard ran aboard the frigate and stared down at his crewmate. “We need to get out of here now!” He yelled, searching for Harold. “He could be here any mi-

A loud gunshot could be heard in the near vicinity, causing Reynard to duck for cover. Rising his head above the ships side, he came to the realization that Harold was much closer than expected. “Get aboard now!” He yelled, allowing the crewmate to run aboard via plank, picking it up behind him in order to keep anyone else from coming onboard.

Reynard turned back towards another one of his crewmembers, manning the wheel. “GET US OUT OF HERE!” he yelled…

Harold lowered his gun. It was too late to attempt anything now. Reynard had escaped, and was now headed to who knows where. A sore pain tugged at his hand as the adrenaline from the chase had worn off. Now all he could do was wait for his hand to heal…

Reynard leaned against the mast, catching his breath. The crewman he’d seen on the dock approached him. “Where do you plan on going now?” He asked.

Reynard smiled, looking off into the distance. “Away from here.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“And that is how I met your father.” Reynard said, ending his story.

Ivan somehow felt strange knowing that Reynard was once so vulnerable, but after having an encounter like that, it wasn’t surprising. He’d always thought of Reynard to be a all controlling pirate king of sorts.

“Now there’s still one more part we need to reflect on.” Reynard said, implying that Ivan’s turn was up. “Tell me about that night, tell me everything that happened, all those people you killed… everything.” He said, taking the legal document out once more.

Ivan felt his heart try and leave his chest. Now he’d be retelling the story to the enemy, the one he was sent to get rid of. Besides the obvious discomfort you feel when talking with your enemy, he also took discomfort in having to remember that moment, but at the same time he had to let it out… “Well,” He said, knowing there was no way to back out now. “If you insist…”

~~~~~~~~~~

Ivan listened into the conversation going on in the adjacent room. “I told you, we’re going after him tomorrow, we don’t want to do anything special while we’re still hot.” One of the men said.

“Does that even matter? I mean we’ve been chased for God knows how long. Everywhere we turn there’s another mercenary or pirate hunter waiting for us.”

“Oh look, little William’s afraid of some hired guns.” One of them said playfully. “If anyone, it was that person a few days ago that gave us any trouble. Unless there is more of him around, we won’t have any trouble taking out high value targets.” He said, obviously talking about his father.

One of the men walked over to the side of the room closest to Ivan. “You know, you lads better get some sleep.” He said, dismissing the others. “We’ve got a busy day tomorrow.”

Ivan could hear the unmistakable sound of a door being closed. Now all that was left was for the leader to check to see if everything was clear outside. Ivan readied his dagger, waiting for just the right moment. The door opened, and out came a rugged, dirty looking pirate. He didn’t notice Ivan until it was too late. He threw the dagger into his backside, in order to keep him from being able to evade his attack if he saw him. Once the target was dropped, re pulled the dagger back out, and continued onward inside the house.

The house was a complete and utter wreck. Order had trouble finding its way here. On the central table, notes and documents chaotically drew attention to themselves. Many of them were details about their future plans and such. One of the plans even described a plot to kill the town’s governor tomorrow afternoon. Ivan threw all the useless papers aside, and walked over to the next room in the house. Slowly opening the door, he soon came to realize that this is where they all slept, and today he was going to make sure they didn’t wake up. He tightly gripped his dagger, and neared his first victim…

~~~~~~~~~~ (Sorry that the part’s real short, but I didn’t want to write a bloody scene or anything )

Ivan finished retelling his real life nightmare, and looked up to see what unexpected act Reynard was doing: clapping. “Good, Good!” he said, seemingly proud at what he’d just heard. “So you do have potential…” He said, nodding confidently. “This is exactly what I wanted to hear.”

Ivan retracted from his position. ’Great, now the enemy sees me as a possible recruit.’ He thought, visualizing Reynard leaning forward.

“Ivan, I see something in you that I’ve only seen in a few people before. You… somehow are able to be the most competent yet inconspicuous person I’ve had the chance to know. Even though I was hidden in plain sight, you were still able to set your way towards your own goal, and somehow, against all odds, you’re able to pull through and actually give me a scare at times.” He said, moving closer to Ivan. “Mr. Hood, these are troubling times in the Caribbean. I would be honored if you’d work for me, to help these other pirates come to their senses.”

’HE ASKED ME TO JOIN HIM!!!!! That’s it! I reached the stage where I’m so bad that the man I was sent to kill personally asked me to help him! Hah! I still can’t believe I’m not dead yet!’ Ivan thought, while back in reality he couldn’t think of anything to say back. Interestingly enough, he didn’t feel like he wanted to kill Reynard, but instead, almost felt like he wanted to join him… ’NO! Stop… thinking… THAT!’ Ivan was now breathing heavily, pondering the seemingly impossible question. On one hand he could agree and become the second hand man of the nastiest pirate in the Caribbean. And on the other he’d most likely be thrown out of the building and have Jack killed.

Ivan dropped his head. “Mr. Reynard, I’m afraid it’s too much of a high risk job to accept. I understand your problem with the rest of the pirates, but the reason they give is a valid one, and I don’t want to have the entire world against me.” Ivan said in a way that was the safest he could think of. “You do realize I was sent to kill you. For me, there’s no way out of it. In the time I’ve met you, you seem to be a very civil and understanding person. However, I’m afraid the job you have to offer me is one that’s too dangerous to accept, and I want you to know that with all due respect, I can’t go through with it.”

Reynard at first said nothing. Taking it all in, he kept his cool, while still being disappointed. Before he was able to speak however, the door flew open, revealing Stealthy. “Sir, I think you should come see this…”

~~~~~~~~~~

Comments? I howpe yu awl lyke!

[The Stealthy Pirate]

Woo! I do want my 'payments'!

[Mr. Skiperdoo]

I decided to take a different take on this chapter. Its been a while since the last one, and this has a slightly different feel to it; moreover, this one contains the setting for the future plot. Sorry the chapter’s not that long; I didn’t really spend too much time working on it, so forgive me if it doesn’t feel complete. So enjoy another addition to DOTN! That’s an order!

Chapter 16: Unforseen Consequences

Reynard paced around with heavy footsteps through the crowded bar. Everyone inside quietly sat around waiting for him to make a final decision; he’d been pondering amidst the his own band of pirates for about five minutes now, but still hadn’t come up with a solution. The navy had a good dozen men positioned outside the tavern, waiting for the moment the rectangular wooden door would fly open. They all had their muskets in hand; any attempt to catch them off guard would surely be futile.

Reynard stopped once he reached the table next to where Ivan and Stealthy were both seated. He raised his strong hand up to his chin, and glanced over towards a group of able men. “You three,” he said in a commanding voice. “go get the barrels.” He pointed over towards the back door that led to a storage room. The three men nodded their heads and speedily headed over there.

Ivan laid is hands out in front of him. The uncertainty as to what would happen next was making him feel sick. He would speak up, but that would most likely cause more problems than it would resolve.

Stealthy had been sitting calmly the whole time, acting as if there wasn’t any danger outside of the building waiting for them. He turned his head over towards Reynard, who was taking a seat next to the two.

“So,” Reynard said over towards Ivan. “It looks like you’re not so incompetent after all. Not only have you managed to spend almost an hour with me and still somehow stay alive, but you’ve also been able to summon a squadron of navy personnel to surround the entire building! For this, I congratulate you.” He said with a wide reaching smile.

Ivan looked up from the table to meet Reynard’s eyes. “Honestly, I have nothing to do with that; the last thing I’d do is ask a navy man to help me.” He answered, only to remember the fact he’d gotten along with Jack pretty well.

“Well at least you managed to survive.” Reynard added, getting up from the table and directing his hands over towards a couple of small barrels brought in by those three pirates. “Unfortunately, I can’t say the same will happen for your little navy buddies.” He placed one of the barrels near the door, and kept the other one close by. He took out his sharp, glimmering cutlass, and plunged it into one of the barrels, spilling gunpowder out from its thin slit.

Ivan watched as Reynard continued by grabbing a nearby candle and placing it near the door. Oddly enough, he placed the candle right next to where the gunpowder was spilled; if the candle would fall, the gunpowder would then ignite, causing a massive amount of destruction.

“Now then,” Reynard walked over towards the center of the room. “Should we wait for our navy friends to enter? Or shall we make our own destination?” Everyone in the room save for Ivan and Stealthy gave an ominous grin after hearing Reynard’s question. Immediately, they got up from their chairs and piled through the storage room entrance.

“What are they doing?” Ivan asked, watching the last of the pirates stuff themselves into the small choke point.

Stealthy took a deep breath before facing Ivan. He knew what Reynard was doing, but what he didn’t know was how he was going to do it. “He’s…” his voice fell under the newfound emptiness within the room. “telling everyone to go through the back entrance. Every time we find a new base, we make sure there’s another means of escape.” He said, pointing towards the back room. The pirates were now mostly out of sight, with the only ones left waiting for Reynard.

Reynard walked over towards the two, and motioned for them to get up. “Would you like to stay here and wait for the navy to fall into my little old trap? Or would you two prefer coming with me?” He asked, making the two get up from their chairs and walk over towards the back room.

Ivan closed the door behind him. Now when the navy entered the house, they’d be met with an unwelcome surprise; one that Ivan could do nothing about. The group of navy soldiers would surely die, and it would all be the fault of Ivan. Reynard took a key from his pocket, and locked the door behind them. Now they’d reached the point of no return.

Over towards the end of the room were a couple of strong looking pirates guarding a gaping hole in the wall. One of the pirates held a torch in his hand, and the other one looked just like the man Ivan had seen digging back at the mines; the same man that he’d seen before discovering about Stealthy.

“Chester, Roald…” Reynard said as he opened his hand up. The two men promptly opened themselves up to let them through. They followed the two on through a dark rocky corridor. Reynard got up close to Stealthy. “This time, make sure nobody gets through.” He said, showing him a large cabinet near the opening.

Stealthy rolled his eyes and headed over towards the cave’s entrance in order to seal it. Ivan kept walking with Reynard further into the cave, and as they went further into the cavern, Stealthy’s torch slowly faded from sight.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Hold positions!” Jack raised his hand to keep the navy soldiers in check. They’d been waiting for five minutes now for any pirate to step outside the door. However, they hadn’t seen any sign of life inside the building, only a small beam of light crept through the fogged window, and the free swinging door hadn’t moved an inch. Getting the party under his command was the easy part; the hard part was making sure there weren’t any pirates lurking about, waiting for the opportune moment to ambush them.

The rustle of the trees accompanied with the cool night’s breeze made seconds feel like minutes, and minutes feel like hours. The soldiers kept their muskets held high, waiting for anything out of the ordinary to happen.

“What shall we do now sir?” Asked one of the navy soldiers.

Jack faced the waiting soldiers with an uncertain look on his face. He knew if anything, they’d most likely be storming the building instead of waiting for anyone to exit. On top of that, they all had no idea how many people were inside, or if they were armed or not.

“You should engage Sergeant, but not immediately.” Jack answered. “We still don’t know the extent of the danger we’re facing.”

The naval soldier nodded and returned to his recent position. Jack knew they’d have to go in all at once in order to make it look like they were a larger force than they really were. Jack looked over to his left to see Howard with his hands folded, and his eyes hazing upon the seemingly empty building. It’d only been about an hour since they’d met each other, yet they both felt as if they knew how each other worked, as if they’d fought before. Howard walked over to where Jack was quietly observing the scene.

“Any ideas?”

“Yes.” Jack took a deep breath as he readied his weapon. “Alright, men, let’s move in.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Ivan walked further through the long walkway. Reynard was apparently leading them to the other side of the island, judging by how far they were going. Reynard directed his torch over towards only certain areas within the cave. Even if the navy could somehow follow them, they’d certainly get lost in the complex maze.

Reynard motioned for the two guards to go on without them. He was planning to speak only to Ivan.

The two eventually moved out of sight, there light sources no longer making an impact on where Ivan was headed.

“I’ve been… searching for you for quite a while. Many records of your existence are either kept secret or have somehow managed to flee from existence.” He said in a dark, smooth tone. “Fortunately, I have ways of obtaining confidential information, and I especially have ways of retracting events from existence. What I really mean by this is that I’ve rarely seen anyone with such secrecy, yet such a reputation that is seen in you.”

Ivan looked over towards the cave ground. Now Reynard was speaking as if Ivan was on his side.

“Ivan, I know you’ve refused my proposal before, and I genuinely have no problem with that. Now I’ve shot your father before, and escaped from him after he tried to stop me. After that, I never saw him again, he disappeared from my life; true, I did hear about a few pirates encountering him from then on, but I never met him again myself. That is why I give you a new proposal.” Reynard led Ivan towards a fork in the path. Over the right a couple of pirates waited for them with torches in their hands. Over to the left was a mysterious dark expanse Ivan wouldn’t want to get lost in.

The intersection had a particularly warm feeling around it; presumably, it was because of the volcano, but perhaps it was just because Ivan was sweating so much. There were many things Ivan wanted to know about his father, particularly about the mysterious faction he was involved in. Ivan trembled under the nervous uncertainty of what Reynard would do next.

“My proposal is this: You go on your own, forget about me, the mission, everything. And in turn, you let me make my own way, let me follow the code as I please. Any pirate is out there for freedom, including me. Your father knew that very well, which is why he only hunted those that supposedly abused their freedom. Of course, everything I do is of my own freedom, which should be the entire basis of the code. It doesn’t matter what other pirates want me to be like, act like. It doesn’t matter that they all wish to change my ways, to make me different. But what does matter is when fellow pirates try to stop me, to make, me change my ways, to force me to be different. Every act a pirate commits these days is formed on the base of freedom, whether it’s plundering a naval shipment, or assassinating a naval governor, everything I do is perfectly fine.” He said, laying his hands out in front of him. “It’s my own choice to live the way I do, pirates should especially realize that.”

“But I wasn’t sent by pirates, I was sent by the navy.”

“True, true. But did you ever for one moment think about declining such a mission? Perhaps it would’ve been best for you to chase me like this, and I know the navy wishes me dead, but you must realize now that this wasn’t your fight to be fought; we have no real personal quarrel with each other. It is true that your father was in a similar position, but even he realized it would’ve been best to stay quiet and forget about the whole thing.” Reynard held up his torch, and moved towards where the two directions split up. “So what do you say, forget about the whole thing and act like it never happened? Or come with me and show the Caribbean the meaning of freedom?”

Ivan froze upon hearing Reynard’s words. To some extent, he even agreed with him. He certainly did have the freedom to do certain things. But another feeling that crept inside him was the one that made him wish he could end Reynard right now, to end the entire mess here and now. He wanted nothing more than to see the dead remains of Marcus lying on the floor in front of him. But there was also another confliction inside of him that wanted Reynard to live. Strange as it seemed, he almost wanted Reynard to go his own way, and never cross paths with him again. Alas, only the latter choice was possible at the moment, finishing off Reynard was certainly not an option now.

Ivan reluctantly took the torch from Reynard’s hand. He turned to face the mysterious direction that led away from Reynard’s.

“Good. I see this may be the last time we ever see each other.” Reynard said, lifting his hat off his head and waving it off towards Ivan. “But if its not, this is the only warning you’ll ever get.” And with that, Reynard walked off into the darkness, following the path lit by his colleagues’ torches.

Ivan sighed as he too turned over towards his own path. The only way to go now was forward; the past was behind him, and the path he chose not to take beside him. He went on his way, hearing soft sounds as he went.

He turned around to face another one of the periodic noises coming from behind him. He quickly examined the general direction.

‘I guess it was nothing…’

He turned around, but almost fell back once he saw something come into the light.

“Stealthy?”

“Yes, its me.” Stealthy said, stepping out of the shadows. “Don’t ask how I got behind you… or in front of you.” He casually remarked, leaning on a large chunk of volcanic rock.

“But… what are you doing?” Ivan asked, curious as to what Stealthy was up to.

“Well, I just thought that since you and I don’t have the best relations with Reynard at the moment, maybe we can… work together?”

Ivan looked down at the ground. It was true he wanted nothing more than to get Reynard. “Work together? Why would I trust you?” he asked.

“Truth is, you technically can’t. But since we’re aiming for the same goal, I think we can… earn a sort of mutual respect towards each other, to the point where we need to trust each other in order to advance.”

Ivan carefully examined the situation. Any other day he’d immediately perish the thought, but today, things had been going in a slightly different direction. Stealthy didn’t seem like the backstabbing type, at least in one sense. And he certainly wasn’t one to shy away in the face of danger.

“The friend of my enemy of my enemy of my friend is my enemy… or something like that…” Stealthy said, lighting the torch in his hand by bringing it up to Ivan’s.

“But what would you have to offer me?”

“Don’t you remember our little scuffle back at Tortuga?” Stealthy asked, approaching closer to Ivan. “I’m a pretty good fighter, and I know how Reynard operates. If you need anyone to take him down, I’m your guy.” He said, letting his hand out towards Ivan’s. “So what do you say, we both work our way towards a similar goal.

Ivan almost shied away from the opportunity, but after a quick re-think, he begrudgingly shook Stealthy’s hand. “So, you have any plans on what we should do first?” Ivan asked, walking along the rocky corridor next his new accomplice.

“Well,” Stealthy grabbed his chin and gave a devious smile. “First, I think there’s someone I need to meet…”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Sergeant, you’ve got your men in the ready position?” Jack asked, watching the navy soldiers conduct themselves closer towards the door.

“Yes sir, they’re all ready to open the door…” The Sergeant headed closer to the door as well, another soldier had his hand ready to force it open once the command came. “On your call.”

Jack looked towards Howard. They both nodded, and Jack yelled out the command. “Breach!”

The navy soldiers reacted quickly, forcing the door open. Something didn’t feel right though, once they entered, something just wasn’t natural.

“Back! Move back now!!”

Jack barely had time to understand fully what was going on, for in a split second, the soldiers disappeared in a bright, loud flash that engulfed them all in a fiery blaze. Jack flew back from his position, and watched the planks fly off of the house, many of them reaching much further than the ten meters Jack had distanced from the building. Jack felt every nerve in his body scream at the unmistakable feeling of burns erupting on his skin. All the naval soldiers that went near the door were now completely gone, whether it was the fire or the shrapnel, they were all no longer existing.

Jack fell heavily onto the soft sand; a couple of large planks barely missed where he was now lying. He looked over towards Howard, who seemed to be hit by one of the wooden pieces. He could see blood coming from his side, but he still appeared to be moving.

Jack felt his eyes closing in on him, and his head felt light, almost as if it were rising. He slowly accepted defeat, as he began to fade from consciousness.

The loss came swiftly, and without notice. There was nobody to tell him he lost, just himself.

Perhaps it was the steady breeze that made its way across the backside of the island.

Perhaps it was the newfound smoke on the island that wasn’t coming from the volcano.

Perhaps it was the knowledge that an entire squad of naval soldiers was wiped out within the span of a few seconds.

Perhaps it was the fact that his associate was now in the hands of bloodthirsty pirates.

Or perhaps, it was just the disposition of the night.

~~~~~~~~~~

Comments? Anybody really like this story? It would be good to know this stuff.

[The Stealthy Pirate]

Oooh! Good chapter!

[Mr. Skiperdoo]

This chapter’s kind of short, but I hope you enjoy it anyways. The next ones will sort of lead up to the ending, but don’t worry it’s not that close to being finished.

Chapter 17: Following Through

“So you’re saying we can trust this guy?”

“Not really, I mean yes… I mean… it’s complicated.”

“How do you know he’ll be helpful?”

Stealthy halted under a palm tree. “Trust me, I trust him to trust us to trust him.” He said, folding his arms. “That’s how we can trust him. I used to see him at least twice a week; we know each other pretty well.

“Yeah but, why are we visiting him anyways?” Ivan asked, adjusting his hat amidst the widely spread and lightly falling rain.

“Because, he knows a lot about Reynard’s… plans. You see, Reynard was onto something big, really big. And the simplest way for him to achieve his goal was for… more people to be on his side. Unfortunately, Reynard’s very unwilling to change his ways,” Stealthy said, tightening his fist as well as his face. “so the only way to do that is if he has someone like you.” He nudged Ivan a bit, but not with a threatening nudge, but an assuring one.

“So what exactly was Reynard up to?”

“Well…” Stealthy held his chin as he began to ponder the question. “Not even I was allowed to really know about it…” He said, now looking towards the ground. “It had something to do with… well I don’t know. All we were told to do was to keep ‘the crates’ hidden from everyone’s view. I don’t know what was in the crates to be honest; the entire operation was very secretive.”

“So how do you know whatever it is he’s keeping secret is important?” Ivan asked, intrigued but skeptical.

“I believe the numerous speeches about how the future will be changed by him is a good indicator.” Stealthy grinned as he changed the path they were walking on. He moved down a ridge in front of a few shacks and small houses. Almost all of these houses looked as if they’d been abandoned for years, all except for one which now looked like it had been used for extensive explosives training.. “Come on.” Stealthy moved his hand in order to direct Ivan to follow.

“Are you sure this is where he lives?” Ivan asked, unimpressed by the poorly managed structures. “It looks like-”

“Shh…”

“What?” Ivan watched Stealthy creep up beside a dimly lit window. “What are you doing?”

“Quiet!” Stealthy whispered, making sure his presence had not become widely known. As he moved further and further away from Ivan, he practically disappeared into the dark of the night.

“Stealthy… Stealthy!” Ivan called for him, but no answer came. He was now alone, as Stealthy disappeared right in front of his eyes.

He heard something go on inside the shack. It sounded like a scuffle of some sort, as he began to hear voices coming from inside the small house. “No no no! WE’RE CLOSED!” Ivan watched as a man stormed out the door, pointing his finger away from the house. He had black hair, as well as a black beard running down both sides of his face. He wasn’t too tall to say the least, and he had a decently average build. Ivan noticed the many scars that dwelled on his face; each of them looked like they had distinct names. “Leave now, I’ve got nothing to…” His eyes stopped once they saw Ivan. “Oh please don’t tell me you were sent here by… by him!”

“Relax Mikhail, he has nothing to do with Reynard. In fact,” Ivan stepped out of the door, speaking as he went along. “I’m no longer associated with Reynard, as well as my friend Ivan here.”

Mikhail breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh thank goodness, I thought you were here to collect my debts.” He said, patting Stealthy on the back. “So what is it that brings you two to my humble residence?”

Stealthy spoke up before Ivan had the chance to. “We’re here to get some information on Reynard. His… mission may become a success if we don’t act quickly.”

Mikhail hesitated a bit, but nodded once he seemed to fully understand what Stealthy was trying to get across. “Of course. I may know a thing or two.” Mikhail walked to the edge of the door. “Come inside, its dreadful weather this time of year, and inside its much more comfortable.” He walked inside, but Stealthy stood still until Ivan neared him.

“You know each other… pretty well?”

“I told you, it’s complicated.”

The two entered the softly lit room, closing the door behind them. Bookshelves lined the walls, as well as measuring instruments and theoretical papers. It looked like what one would imagine to be a condensed version of Leonardo’s workshop; a haven of knowledge and ideas.

“Take a seat, make yourselves comfortable. Sorry Stealthy, I don’t have any rum.”

Stealthy frowned.

“I know I have it somewhere…” Mikhail scanned a pile of similarly looking papers. “Ah, here it is!” He held up one of the papers to an area with a stronger source of light. “Every shipment record of Reynard’s favorite routes, all right here.” He handed Stealthy and Ivan the paper. It looked much like the paper Commodore Bishop showed Ivan upon his arrival.

Stealthy looked over to a small box next to where he was sitting. “What’s in here?” he asked.

“Uh no. That’s not important documents. Those are… no!!!”

Stealthy opened the box; at least twenty rum bottles were kept inside. “Hey! You lied!”

“That’s an… that’s an emergency stash… for emergencies!”

“You lied! You said you didn’t have any rum so you could just keep it from me!” Stealthy whipped a bottle out from the container. “And for compensation,” He popped the cork off the bottle. “You owe me one.”

Ivan looked over at the arguing men. “Can you two keep it down.” He said. I’m trying to see what it is exactly Reynard was looking for.”

“Look for the shipments from last week.” Stealthy said, taking a seat next to Ivan once more. “That’s when the ‘special shipment’ arrived.”

Ivan carefully examined the records from the recent dates. Most of the naval records pointed to common items such as supplies and munitions. A few had something the average pirate would seek, such as gold and silver; but the amount kept on those ships were insignificant and certainly not worth the risk.

Ivan was just about to lose hope until his eyes reached the bottom of the page. There he saw something that especially caught his eye. “Stealthy.” He motioned for the Stealthy partner to come closer. “I think you should see this.”

“What is it?” Stealthy asked as he moved closer. His face was perfectly normal up until the point where he too saw what Ivan did. Now a sense of shock came across Stealthy as his face grew immensely surprised.

“No way…”

~~~~~~~~~~

Jack stayed immobile on the wooden table; there he lay motionless and alone in the dark, unlit room. There was definitely something strange going on, but what? He opened his eyes only to be met with a perfect darkness, not a speck of light caught his eye. It even got to the point where he couldn’t tell if his eyes were indeed open. He certainly felt different when he moved his eyes, but there was no change in the light from when he closed them.

“Ahh, what happened?” He got up from his lying down position and felt the sides of the table. There was a great pain coming from somewhere within his leg. He directed his hands to comfort the sting he felt, and felt the smooth texture of a bandage. “Great,” he said, holding his leg tightly. “I bet I got drunk last night and passed out in someone’s basement.” He tried to get up from the chair, but he couldn’t see a thing. He didn’t know at all what the room looked like or if he could manage to walk in it with his disabled leg.

Not only did he feel a great pain in his leg, but in his chest as well. He led his hands up to feel his bare chest. It certainly wasn’t any normal cut or bruise, but something much different. It was a burn mark.

“Man, what did I do last night?” He looked all over the dark room for any sign of light. “I remember something about… Ivan!”

His head darted around in a desperate search for his colleague. “We were… ugh…” He now returned to his bandaged leg, which had now screamed for his attention by means of pain. “Hello? Is anyone in here?”

A few moments of silence came, and then a strange thumping noise erupted outside the room.

Footsteps, they had to be; the unmistakable thud of a pirate’s boots travelling down a flight of stairs.

He watched as a beam of light entered the room as a door opened on the far side of the room. An older looking man walked in and lit a nearby lamp. “Well look who’s awake.” The man said, smiling at the sight of a conscious Jack. “I was beginning to… worry, but it seems my… fear has been relieved.” The man spoke with short breaks after uttering off a few words.

Jack was now struck with an instant sense of relief. But there was still a lingering sense of confusion that forced him to look for more answers. What had just happened? Why did his leg and his chest receive their respective injuries? What did he do last night? “Where am I?”

The man nodded as he lit another lamp near a table of medical equipment. “You’re in… safe hands.” He said, fumbling to control a couple bottles of a mysterious liquid. “Unfortunately, I… wasn’t able to save some of your navy friends, they were… much closer.”

Jack tried to understand what the old man was really saying. “What do you mean? What happened? Who are you?”

The man examined Jack closely. “All in good… time my friend, all in… good time.” He said as he approached Jack with a bottle of what appeared to be water. “But for now, you may… call me Peter.” He said, lowering his lamp and raising the bottle in his hand. “Peter Yohansen.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Short, I know. But hey, at least I decided to scrape the dust off of this story. This is really more of a turning point in the story; I’ve decided the ending would come much sooner than previously planned. I’m afraid if I drag this out too long I’ll never getting around to finishing it.

So yeah, I know I’m not Del when it comes to writing, but I know that my style has definitely improved since the earlier chapters. So please comment and tell me how you think the story’s going.

[Mr. Skiperdoo]

Ok ok, before you read this chapter I have an important announcement:

Since I probably won't be updating very frequently, I've decided to end this story ASAP. Of course, there are still some loose ends to tie up and a climax to... exist, so I'm sure you'll all be waiting to see the true ending in another say... 6 chapters? Ok enough of my psa's, enjoy!

Chapter 18: No Way

Stealthy backed away from Ivan as if he were carrying a highly contagious disease. “You mean…” He stared at the shipment orders of a high profile journal. The orders went further into description by detailing the account that Ivan’s father held so closely. The description was shocking to say the least; Ivan had wondered if his father had been involved with illegal activity for some time, and he even remembered Howard saying something about it, but of course, he didn’t believe it until now.

The room fell into a quiet state amidst the predetermined aftermath of an unwanted discovery. The last thing Ivan wanted was to think about it any longer; just the thought of what his father did sent a shock through him every time it came to mind.

“I guess so…” Ivan commented, looking back at the paper. Immediately, Ivan threw the paper to the ground and proceeded to stomp on it with great force. With every intense pounding, the paper broke and shriveled up as if he were trying to throw away old memories. He sat down and put his head between his knees. He wanted to just pretend as if this entire week had never happened.

Stealthy took a quick glance at the crumpled up piece of paper, and sat down next to Ivan. “You know… this may actually be a good thing…” He said, trying to somehow comfort his new partner.

In a fit of impulsive fury, Ivan lifted himself back to his feet. “Good thing? How can this be a good thing!?! Everything I’ve ever thought about my father was- is completely destroyed! How could he! How could he carry through like that? I still can’t believe that my father was actively engaging in…” He lowered his head as he neared one of the few windows in the house. “piracy…”

Stealthy moved closer to Ivan, patting his back with one hand and holding a half-empty rum bottle in the other. “Have you ever considered that being a pirate might not be so bad after all?”

Ivan stared blankly back at the stealthy pirate.

“I think this not only brings up some interesting questions, but it also raises some intriguing possibilities.”

“And what do you mean by that?” Ivan asked.

Stealthy turned around and headed towards a silent and confused Mikhail who was observing from the corner of the room. Stealthy motioned for Mikhail to leave the two’s presence. “Trust me, you have no idea what’s going on.” He said, looking up towards the ceiling. “Why don’t you go down to the basement and bring us a few… presents.” He said with a foreboding smile. Mikhail dutifully exited the room and disappeared under a large trap door.

“You may be confused on what his motives are, but I’ve known them ever since I started working for him. Reynard’s only in it for power and control; however, with you taking a similar job to your father’s, he’s afraid you may be the greatest hindrance to his efforts.” He said, handing an empty rum bottle to the strange, dark haired man. “He’s right though, you did manage to pose a serious threat to his efforts. And that’s why he thought of the best way to fix his dilemma, and that was by getting you to join him.”

“So this was all a convoluted plan to make me work for him?”

“Precisely, and once we… he had you in his hand, he’d be pretty busy making his enemies er… disappear.”

Ivan put his right hand on his forehead. The stress of knowing his father held a secret life as a pirate sent chills down his spine every time it crossed the pathways of his mind.

“I’m sure Reynard’s been studying your father’s journal; he probably wants to know how his opposition works. And if I’m correct, I bet you’d be pretty interested in finding that journal yourself.” Stealthy remarked, raising an eyebrow as well as an eager smile.

“And you know all this because?”

“Intuition, I can see it in your eyes. Reynard wants it because he’ll know everything about people like you, and you want it because… because you want to follow in your father’s footsteps.”

“If my father was truly a pirate…” Ivan fought himself to continue. “I don’t know what to think of him anymore.”

Stealthy rolled his eyes. “You’re really clueless aren’t you?” He said, grabbing Ivan’s attention. “Being a pirate isn’t all about killing and pillaging and creating chaos, that’s the ideals that Reynard held forth. No, being a pirate is something much greater than that; it’s the freedom from tyranny, the will to act in accordance of you and your fellow shipmates. Being a pirate is still much more than that. The only way to describe it is to be one yourself.”

Ivan kept the same emotionless look on his face as he pondered the statement Stealthy had just made. Being a pirate? Ivan had never even imagined such a thing. Well maybe a few times, but that was different, that was when he was a child, pretending to be a warlord who just made off with a hefty sum of loot. But in all reality, Ivan would always sweep away any such nonsense, but after hearing about his father, it shed a different light on the subject.

Could Ivan really be a pirate? Would his father ever object to it if he were still alive? Ever since childhood, Ivan’s sporadic desire to join the navy was strategically suppressed at every turn. Ivan knew his father never liked the navy very much, but he never fully knew why. The excuse was that the navy had a certain disliking towards pirate hunters; however, the exact opposite turned out to be true.

“So?” Stealthy looked eagerly towards his newfound partner with his arms spread out.

Ivan took a deep breath before turning to face The Stealth. “There’s only one way I can see this ending.” He said, speaking in an almost empty tone. “we need to find that journal.”

“Ah, that’s the spirit… but how are we going to find Reynard if he’s already left?”

Mikhail decided it was best to put himself into the conversation at that moment. “I think you of all people should know where he’s headed.”

“True, although I believe only him and his top navigators know where he’s headed next. But from what I can tell, he’s trying to get away.”

“But away to where?” Ivan asked.”

“Where no one else would expect him to be.” Mikhail commented. “Away from the Caribbean.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Well Peter, I must say I never expected you to be such a successful doctor.” Howard said, noticing the fine handiwork the man conducted on his arm. “Now that it’s all bandaged up, you think maybe I can head outside and see the clouds?”

Peter Yohansen laughed at the injured yet able man. “few people see death firsthand, and even fewer are able to… cope with it to the point where they forget about it entirely.”

“Goodness no! I think of it all the time! I can’t get it out of my mind. The truth is that I’m able to handle such things… I’ve seen them many times before, and while they still haunt me, I no longer fear it.”

“I see… Well it doesn’t matter, you won’t be able to see any clouds today, It’s all… foggy and you can’t see ten feet in front of you. Del Fuego is especially harsh during fog too, it may be difficult to… breathe due to all the…”

Howard got up from the operating table. “I wasn’t going to go see the clouds Pete; that was just a cleverly placed cover-up. I was really intending to see how my friend Jack is doing.” He said, swinging his good arm joyfully with a fake smile plastered onto his face.

“Ah… very well, I’ll be in here… mixing the pot- I mean medicines.” Peter said, smiling back at his acquaintance.

Howard left the room with surprising ease. He’d met Peter back at Port Royal; there he was tending to a high profile figure at the time, even though his residence was stationed at Del Fuego. Howard neared the door to the other medical room, and slowly creaked it open.

Inside was a shirtless Jack sitting down on one of the wooden chairs. His chest was riddled with burns he attained from the explosion, and on his face he had a nasty scar where he was cut with a flying piece of wood.

“Hi…”

“Hi.”

“So what do we do now?” Jack asked, still not looking anywhere higher than the floor.

“Well,” Howard grabbed his chin. “We still haven’t caught Reynard yet. Perhaps we could still catch him?”

“Heh, maybe we could tried chasing him down.”

“He’s probably far from the island by now.”

“So you’re saying we should get a chase boat?”

“In this weather? You must be joking.”

Howard took a seat next to Jack. “We may still have time… if we make haste.”

Jack grit his teeth. “If only we could figure out where he’s going… then maybe we could meet him there.”

“Where could he go though? Tortuga’s the only place other than Del Fuego where he-”

The door to the medical room flung open, Peter Yohansen stood behind with a strange look on his face. “I’m sorry to interrupt but…” He looked over his shoulder and back towards the entryway door opposite to the room. “I believe there are some people who say they’ve come to visit. For what purpose I don’t know.”

Jack and Howard exchanged unsure glances riddled with unaware confusion. Why would somebody want them? How would they even know where they were for that matter?

Peter awkwardly left as the two stayed still. “I don’t like it…” Jack said, struggling to get up again.

“I don’t either… what do you think?”

“I… don’t… like it.”

“Oh yes…”

Howard got up from his chair as well and headed for the door. Jack looked pretty beat up; walking for him was a difficult task, but with Peter’s remedies, it nulled the pain to the point where it was no longer existent. Jack grabbed a shirt and followed onwards toward the door.

As they neared closer, there was a strange sense that both of them felt. They’d each felt it before, but they couldn’t describe it; they felt like they were walking through a pattern being replayed, or a dance they’d memorized the steps to.

They moved into the area of the house where they could both stand side to side and they didn’t have to squeeze together just to fit. They moved closer and closer to the door until finally, Howard’s hand met with the deadwood slab Peter called an entryway.

The two both took a deep breath, as Howard swung the door in his direction.

Outside, they saw two men standing side by side, their arms folded and their faces stone still. They wore dark EITC uniforms, and stood with a proud posture. They both looked at Howard and Jack as if they’d just discovered a new ice cream flavor.

“Where did you get those burns?” One of them asked.

“And why would you want to know?” Jack asked the suspicious duo.

One of the men moved closer to Jack. “The East India Trading Company is not interested in answering questions with questions. Half of the Caribbean is now under full watch. Any ship going in or out is required a full escort, and the man you were so keen on finding has now disappeared from existence, as we now have no records whatsoever of him. The entire Caribbean is under lockdown, and it’s all because the efforts to apprehend Marcus Reynard have evidentially failed, and all persons involved are hereby discharged with their respective missions.”

“What does that mean? That we… drop it entirely?” Jack wondered.


The second EITC man stepped forward. “Precisely. At the rate this is going, we cannot afford to let any more people die at the hand of an anarchist. The EITC has issued an order declaring that all people involved drop the case entirely. The best method now is to essentially wait it out, and make sure that all of our ships are properly prepared to face Reynard if needed.”

Howard shook his head. “Shouldn’t this be reported to a higher authority? Surely the EITC doesn’t get to pick and choose when they follow British rule.”

“That may be true, but England is too busy to settle petty colony issues. Besides, they even tried fixing the problem themselves, but that has proved itself to be useless.”

“But what about Commodore Bishop?” Jack asked. “He gave me-”

“us…” Howard added.

“gave us the mission ourselves. Surely he should have a say in thi-”

“Commodore Bishop is no longer relevant.” One of them said, now with a much darker emphasis in his words. “We’ve made sure that everyone who does not co-operate shall be handled accordingly, and we’re not afraid to continue the job with any more naval officers.”

Jack couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He’d always held the EITC to a certain standard, but after hearing this, he was ready to throw down.

“We suggest that you consider the issue carefully, and that you-” A full sized dagger sped between the two, only to be fully realized once it got stuck on the wall behind them.

The two EITC messengers threw their hands up in frustration. They turned around to face a soft silhouette standing in the thick fog. “&#%@ it Hyde, I didn’t give any signal!” The man that just spoke realized he’d messed up. “Forget it, we’re compromised!” he yelled out loud.

Jack and Howard watched as the EITC men threw their coats off to the side. They each unsheathed a dagger from their coats, and positioned themselves in a fighting stance.

“Great… so not only are you trying to pretend it never happened, but you’re also killing off anyone who doesn’t agree to leave it be?” Howard asked, ready to defend at any sign of a sudden strike.

“Don’t worry, It’s just business.” The man on the left thrust his sharp at Howard, who narrowly evaded it with a quick sidestep. Howard grabbed the man’s arm, and twisted it, causing him to drop the knife.

“Aghh!” The man screamed, forgetting about the pain in his right arm and instead attempting to hit Howard with the other. Although weak, the man’s fist was able to graze the side of Howards face, enough to knock him back a little, providing time for his next move.

When Jack saw all this going on, he turned to the other man, and even though he felt great pain due to his burns, he ripped the dagger out from the wall behind him, and proceeded to duel with the man.

Although he was clearly no master, Jack knew the basics of knife fighting. Each quick strike was met with an equally forceful retaliation, each close block was met with a brisk push, and each curse was met with a low groan. Instead of the graceful act of sword fighting, knife fights were often kept in closer vicinities, with each person trying to out position the other. Instead of the fancy footwork an strict discipline it took to fight with swords, the two battled it out with the quick razor slashing of a close knife fight.

Jack knew the other man was at an advantage, his knife was primarily designed for throwing, meanwhile the other man’s was designed purely for slashing. Jack dodged the periodic leaning swipes the man gave, and retaliated with his own confusing strokes.

He looked back to see Howard and the other man fighting not with knives, but with their hands. By the looks of it, Howard clearly hand the upper hand, due to his greater strength.

Jack felt the man pushing him back with every fleeting swipe, and Howard with every engaging push. They each went to the point where they were nearly back to back, and then, they did something none of them would ever expect them to do.

Their backs touched each other, as they both felt the shared fight they were going through. They immediately switched around, retaining the fight with their individual strengths.

Jack flew towards the unfortunate fist fighter, who had no chance once he saw his very friend’s dagger plunge into his own body.

Howard shuffled back with a forceful strike to the man that held a knife. Without warning, the man found himself completely knocked out by Howard’s precision strike.

The two slowly turned towards each other as they realized they’d committed fighting epicness.

But the fighting was not over. Jack looked back at the silhouette in the distance. He was only a good ten meters away, but the fog made it look like he was much further off. Jack picked up the only clean knife from the man whom Howard had just fought. He brought it up to head level, and prepared to use it if necessary.

However, the dark figure stood still, and for nearly a moment, hunched over. A small sound came from the shadow, as it soon scurried off into a general direction.

Now… all was silent.

Howard turned to face Jack. “What now?”

“Well… if the EITC has decided to pretend as if nothing’s wrong…” He looked back at Howard with a smile. “Then we’ll just have to get Reynard ourselves.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Well isn’t this great? Mysterious pasts, confusing futures, EITC cover-ups; isn’t this what you want in a pirate story? No?

Oh and whatever happened to that tri-barreled pistol Howard had?

Maybe you can wait and see...

Well I hope whoever read this enjoyed… reading it! Please review as I tend to get rabid infections every time I don’t get feedback, so plz give luv!

[Robert Ironcastle]

Just got caught up...it's developing nicely.

[Mr. Skiperdoo]

Chapter 19: Interdiction

Stealthy brandished the fine dagger in his hand. “I think I’ll take this one, mine’s getting a bit rusty…” he said, shuffling through the assorted chest of weapons.

“I’m glad you like it.” Mikhail commented as he dropped another heavy box down on the floor. “How about you peek through these fine hats Ivan?”

Ivan was quietly sitting at the darkest corner of the room. He was searching through piles of old shipping records, searching for anything that led to his father’s journal. “No, I’m fine with what I have now.”

Mikhail held up a paper Ivan hadn’t seen before. He had a twinkle in his eye, as if he were planning something strange. “Well hats are fun, but if we’re ever going to catch Reynard, we’ll need a method of transportation.” He drew the paper back behind him. “But I’m sure the dock schedules for every ship coming and going is completely irrelevant.” Mikhail smiled when Ivan leaped to his feet and swept the paper out of his hand.

Ivan immediately sat down and began examining the document. Scanning through, he found a few ships leaving at exactly this time today. One of them was an EITC frigate bound for Port Royal. That certainly wasn’t an option. The other one was a navy-EITC hybrid vessel preparing for a common patrol. The third one was a merchant ship that was headed to an unspecified location.

“Reynard…”

Ivan gripped the paper tightly. “He’s escaping right under their noses.”

Stealthy took a look at the paper for himself. “I guess our only option is to climb aboard that patrol ship and somehow convince them to go after Reynard…” He grinned as he faced Ivan. “Of course, you’ll be able to convince them since you’re actually supposed to find him, and I’m sure the navy would be happy to oblige taking down a high profile pirate such as Reynard.”

“So it’s a win-win.” Said Mikhail, grabbing his chin as he thought of catching Reynard. “But that still doesn’t narrow down where he’s going.”

“True, and with this weather, who knows how hard finding him will be.” Stealthy noted amid the silence.

“He has to deal with the same weather as everyone else.” Ivan added. “Reynard should be making his way over… to wherever he’s headed. But how could we find out?”

Stealthy emitted a smile that carried throughout the entire room.

“When I was with Reynard, he’d pick the one of us with the least amount of luck to stay behind and cover his tracks. If I’m correct, he’s probably left behind the least favorable of his bunch to clean up his mess.” Stealthy got up from the chair and headed over towards the small shack’s foggy window. “If we’re going to catch up to him.” He said in a dark, musty voice. “We need to head off and find him… immediately.”

“So do you have a plan?” Ivan asked.

“A plan?” Stealthy perked up at the opportunity to present his ingenious idea. “Oh yes, I have a plan all right.” He turned to face his comrades, this time with a face of excitement. “It involves stealth and deception, two traits which I can easily provide.”

“You know what? I kind of like this plan.” Mikhail said, closing the last open weapons chest. “Would you be so kind as to elaborate further?”

Stealthy grinned.

“Gladly.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Lieutenant Cabe! Lieutenant Cabe!”

A loosely positioned inkwell spilled at the shifting hand of the surprised Lieutenant. Upon positioning it back up, he proceeded to slam the table in frustration, only to knock it down once more. “What is it this time Corporal Lowe?”

“Sir, it’s the EITC, they’ve commandeered our ships and made sure that nobody exits the docks without an escort!”

Lieutenant Cabe looked solemnly back at the lowly Corporal, wondering if he should trust him this time. Even though the Corporal wasn’t famous for lying, he was famous for over-exaggerating. Every time he was ordered to file in a letter he would fall on his hands and knees in hopes that a superior officer would write their own recommendation of promotion.

“So? Isn’t that what they always do?” The Lieutenant asked, chuckling.

“This is different. They’ve been disrupting our operations completely, and they’re answering to no one.”

“Have you informed Commodore Bishop about this?”

“Uh… sir…” A fearful look made its way onto the Corporal’s face. “Bishop, Rutherford, Mays… they’re all gone…”

“GONE!” Lieutenant Cabe yelled as he jumped out of his desk. Immediately, he trudged up the nearby stairs leading to the door of the dockside financial office. “I’m getting to the bottom of this!”

The two wooden doors flew open. Lieutenant Cabe felt the warm Port Royal sun softly bathe his face, and the smooth Caribbean winds brush across his body. The sight in front of him was not favorable one however, as he saw dozens of EITC men in the area, and that was never a good sight for him. He always had a strange distrust towards EITC, but he didn’t exactly know why. Perhaps it was because of the continuous aura of secrecy that shrouded their every act.

Naturally, the Lieutenant headed for the nearest EITC affiliate he could find, with Corporal Lowe following directly behind him.

“What is the meaning of this!?!” Lieutenant Cabe caught the attention of the nearby man.

The EITC man, however miffed at the arrival of the Lieutenant, stayed calm as he replied with a courteous tone. “Sir, I’m told to advise you to stay out of this.”

“Stay out of this?” Lieutenant Cabe threw his hands up. “What do you mean stay out of this? I have every right to-”

A nearby EITC officer inserted himself into the conversation. The other EITC backed away at the sight of his superior. “You have nothing to add to this operation.” The tall, formidable, and somewhat experienced officer stepped up and into Cabe’s face. “Our orders are to make sure the entire area is sealed off for the time being.”

“Well my orders are to make sure nobody disrupts normal port activity, and all I’ve seen you EITC dogs do is-” Lieutenant Cabe’s words were interrupted when he saw a strange sight leaving one of the ships.

Without hesitation, the Lieutenant launched himself at the officer he previously conversed with. The EITC officer retaliated with a long swing with his right hand, but The Leiutenant was prepared for the move.

Dashing over to the side, Lieutenant Cabe caught the man’s arm just as he was pulling back. Using his own momentum, the Lieutenant pushed forward and the man flew to the ground.

Corporal Lowe stood in shock. “How did you-”

“No time, just fight!”

“Who?” The Corporal looked around him to see nearly a dozen EITC soldiers who were beginning to take notice of the situation.

“Everybody!”

What came next was practically a blur. The main blow of the assault group targeted Cabe, whereas Lowe received the shorter end of the damage. They came hard and fast, surprisingly hostile for a group who would normally try cracking jokes with them on sight.

Lieutenant Cabe grabbed one of the men and threw him aside into another oncoming soldier. One of the saw his friend go down and bent himself on not making the same mistake. He waited until Cabe was busy fighting another soldier and charged at his backside.

Cabe felt a heavy blow to his spine. Even though he was busy fighting one of them hand to hand, he still managed to retrieve a long lost technique he learned at a riled up tavern. He pushed himself back and threw himself to the wall, knocking the soldier into place. An elbow to the jaw and a fist to the chest made sure he wasn’t ready to fight more anytime soon.

He turned just in time to see a swordsman approaching fast. Cabe grabbed a nearby wooden board and threw it at the swordsman, temporarily disabling him so he had enough time to rush him and knock the sword out of his hand. The former swordsman was surprised at this move, and retaliated with a few punches of his own.

Corporal Lowe stood in awe of Cabe’s work. He’d never expected such incredible fighting from him; instead, Lowe thought the best thing Cabe could fight was paperwork. The static awe lived shortly though, as another EITC man chose not to fight the man who’d already taken out a few of his buddies.

Lowe almost fell back at the sight, but regained his balance once he saw a weakening in his defenses. He ran to go grab a musket that happened to be lying around next to one of the shipping crates. Oddly enough, it was loaded, and it even had a bayonet, which was more often than not the true weapon.

He thrusted at the EITC soldier, hoping to catch something solid, but instead he caught nothing but an off balance center of gravity. A kick in the back was an immediate reminder for him to do better, and he fell to the ground with the musket pointing straight down. The musket’s bayonet got stuck into the ground on the way down, preventing Lowe from easily picking it back up.

Still on the ground, Lowe turned around to face up. There he was, an EITC soldier ready to wreak havoc on the lowly navy Corporal. The man approached closer and closer until he was only a few feet away from Lowe. Lowe grabbed the musket and threw it so that the back end hit the EITC soldier, knocking him back and giving Lowe the tactical advantage.

He didn’t feel as if it was right, but he knew the EITC soldiers attacked them willingly. He’d done this countless times in basic training, and he figured eventually he was going to have to use it. He held the musket in both hands and looked towards the injured soldier.

Cabe finished off the last of the EITC men with impressive speed, and after a quick scan of the area, regrouped with the Corporal.

“What… what was that all about?” Corporal Lowe asked, catching his breath.

“What? The reason they attacked us, or my fighting?”

“Both! First of all, where did you learn to fight like that?”

Lieutenant Cabe accepted a proud smile to come onto his face. “When marines get bored, they box.”

Corporal Lowe nodded. “So what do you think the EITC are trying to do with all this?”

Lieutenant Cabe gazed toward the nearby ship indefinitely docked under EITC control. “I… don’t know… but what I do know is that we have to find someone who does know what we don’t know.”

“Doesn’t anyone that knows what’s going on want to kill us? I guess this doesn’t get us anywhere.”

“No I guess it doesn’t.” Lieutenant Cabe lifted his hand and motioned to approach the EITC controlled ship. “But we’re not going to figure out standing here.” He signaled to move forward. “Let’s go.”

~~~~~~~~~~

A fast moving shadow slipped through the corner of the room, catching the eye of the desk sitting guard.

“Who’s there?” The guard stood up and reached for his pistol. He knew there was a strange spark of familiarity mixed in with danger near him. Still, the unsure thought hit him straight in the chest, throwing him to the wall in the process.

“Do you usually keep your pistol empty?” The dark figure pushed harder against the surprised guard, making him let go of the weapon.

“I… Ugh! Who are…” The man finally realized who was in front of him. “S- Stealthy? But I thought you were…”

“Gone? In a way. I thought Reynard would leave you behind to cover his tracks, so I hid from your sight as long as I could. Even then, I don’t know if it was for the better.”

“You… want to find Reynard?” The man’s face drew a sick smile. “I doubt that’s even possible, not even the navy’s top navigators could find him now, he’s on a one way trip.”

Stealthy pushed the man aside. “Listen Dahl, I’m giving you the chance to be free of Reynard forever, don’t you want that?”

“Maybe, maybe not.”

“If you don’t tell me where he’s going I’ll.”

The door to the room swung open, and a man with a bunch of papers walked in.

“Hey Dahl I found those charts you were looking for…” He looked up to see Stealthy at the throat of his comrade.

“Great…”

~~~~~~~~~~

It’s been a long time, and I’m afraid the story’s nearing its end. It’s been fun writing this, but it’s also starting to feel difficult to place myself in front of the keyboard to continue writing this.

But puppies are still adorable, kittens are still cute, and aardvarks are… well aardvarks…

And yes, I’m going to finish this eventually.