The Cavalcade of the Pied Piper Ch2

The Cavalcade of the Pied Piper

Ch. 2

     I watched as the bodies of my comrades were dumped overboard and the blood was mopped up in minutes. The insane captain with her flaming red hair and creepy smirk had gone back to her chamber and the crew of the Pied Piper was going about their normal day. It seemed I was lost in the shuffle. My previous captain from the La Nina, one of the Magistrate’s forgotten ships, was taken away to some cell below deck. I stood there, not really quite sure what to do with myself. Should I follow my previous captain to a cell? Should I ask what to do? One of the relatively harmless looking pirates was sitting on the side of the ship twiddling away on a piece of wood with a knife. I might as well ask him.

     “Um, excuse me, what--may I ask--am I supposed to do while, you know, before I have to kill--I mean--” I stammered on until it looked like he wasn’t going to answer. He gave me a look that pretty much said ‘shut up!’ and continued carving. Well, that wasn’t much help. Perhaps someone else? I looked around. Three men were currently doing various jobs and wasting time on the deck. Supposedly the rest were somewhere below deck. The one I had talked to obviously wasn’t of much help, and the other two looked equally unapproachable. One had a sword as long as my body that looked like a knife compared to his height and the other was thin and meager-looking but, given half a chance, would most likely slit my throat and steal my money. Neither were good prospects. But hey, what did I expect to find on a pirate ship? I decided to go with ‘all-brawn-no-brain’ rather than ‘shifty-eyes’, who was farther away.

     “Um, hello,” I said, starting to walk towards him.

     “Hullo.” he said in a very deep voice. “Ye ‘dat new shrimp ferm ‘dat magi’s ship, huh?” I was right, no brain. He gave me such a wide grin I swear I could see his molars, though I couldn’t be sure they were actually teeth because they were so black.

     “Um, yes, you see--” I started.'

     “Yeah, ye wond’rn what ye suppos’t ta do, right? Well, I’m Fin, Tail Fin. Clephin, right?”

     “Um, no, actually it’s Celvin, Celvin Van Arnam. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” I don’t know why I was bothering with formalities.

     He once again gave me the full set of teeth grin. “’Dat name sound smart. Ye learnt?” he asked.

     “Yes,” I said. I was gaining confidence with every word he said. It’s easy to make friends, or at least acquaintances with people with half a brain. “I have attended a very prestigious academy where--”

     “Very interestin’,” he said, not sounding interested at all, “You should meet Kilt.” Following this he whistled loudly, startling me. He shouted quickly down a hole to the inside of the ship for Kilt.

     “Kilt? As in the Scottish garb?” I asked.

     “Wha? No, no, no, no. Kilt, as in he kilt many peoples. Ye know?”

     This wasn’t sounding like a guy I would like to meet. As Kilt came around topside I got a good look at him. He was tall and thin with dark hair but seemed to have an air about him like he knew he could kill everyone within eyesight. That kind of confidence I’ve only seen in two people; the captain on this pirate ship and my training instructor from the Magistrate. There had always been rumours that he used to be a pirate. Since I’ve set foot on this ship that kind of confidence seems to stick to everyone I’ve set eyes on so far. Most likely those rumours were true. Fin’s talking brought me back from my thoughts.

     “Hey, Kilt! This kid say he learnt. Ye might have someun’ to talk ta. He really smarts.” Kilt gave me a look as if what Fin had said was impossible.

     “So, you think you’re smart, kid?” he asked.

     I squared my shoulders. No pirate could ever be as smart as I am. “Yes.” I looked boldly in his face.

     He chuckled. “Then I’ll ask you: What is the shape of the world?”

     Did he think I’m a fool or something? “Obviously the world is flat. What do you take me for?”

     Fin started laughing as Kilt collected the money that Fin gave him, smiling. Was there some bet on what I would answer?

     “Incorrect,” Kilt said, “The world is round. The sea can tell you that. How long have you been sailing, anyway?” My face flushed. My brain scanned over the facts so long ago back at my schooling. I clearly remember them teaching that the world was flat. That if you sailed straight you would…oh. There was no way to fall of the earth because obviously ships would all disappear left and right if they fell off the edge. Looking out at the ocean I realized another fact-- if the world was flat then you would be able to see every single country out there. It made sense.

I am such a fool.

     I stood there dumb-founded for several minutes while Fin continued to explain to me about the ship. I didn’t catch most of it but I got the overall concept. There were about sixty-three men and the captain, a fiery bit of work. Once she sets her mind on something, she gets it. They had recently been doing a series of jobs that paid out very well. Evidently the raid on my ship, the La Nina was just one of those jobs. The Magistrate stole a scroll from some emperor who found it important enough to pay fifty-six hundred gold coins for it. The Magistrate, unaware that they possessed something of such controversy, had given it to the captain of the La Nina. He had taken a fancy to it and he was in the Commanding Officer’s favour. We were now on a course for Cartannia where the emperor has a messenger with the gold for the trade. Cartannia was evidently like some hub for pirating jobs. And that, by the way, most of the people on this ship had gone through the same test of killing their previous captain to join the ranks of the Pied Piper. And not to worry during the fight that will be happening in just a couple of more minutes.

     “Wait--what?” I almost fell off the bucket that I had sat on during the long speech Fin was giving about the ship.

     “Ye don’t know? Fighten’ will begin in just a couple minet’s. No need to worry, all unarmed. No killen’ till oppenut on ground, defenseless.”

     “You mean I only have a couple of minutes to prepare?” This was news to me. I thought I’d have at least a day. Nobody ever told me anything.

     “Well, ye betta’ start now. Betta’ late than neva’.” Fin replied. He handed me a dagger.

     “What--What am I supposed to do with this?” I had never even held a dagger before except in training lessons at the Magistrate. The thing was as big as my forearm and weighed more than I had thought possible.

     “Ye kill wit’ it, obviously. Hey, I thought ye was learnt.” He replied snidely.

     “I am learnt, I mean--” I had spent too much time with Fin already. “Look, isn’t the fight supposed to be unarmed?”

     He looked at me, confused. “Sure, if ye wants to die. Hehe! Remebers, dis a pirate ship. Rules mean nutin’.”

     Staring at the dagger in my hand I glanced up at the ship’s deck. Slowly, as if someone had gone around and told them, crew members started to show up.

     “Well,” I said, “my old captain’s not a pirate and will honour the fight, so I will too.” I stabbed the dagger into the deck as if to make my decision final.

Fin looked at me as if I was crazy. I was trying to join a pirate’s ship, perhaps I was crazy.