Chapter 20: Drunken Follies




Stalling Lily was a lot easier than he'd anticipated. She seemed quite happy to yap about the workings of the ship. Then again, that might have been the alcohol talking. After all, he DID keep filling that mug of hers up. She looked a bit more relaxed than usual, perched up upon the barrel, but if there was one thing he did notice was that she was always less tense on the ship than what she was off it. Strange that.

"But if you tie the wrong knot it's liable to cut your fingers off." the slur in her voice was barely evident, though he'd managed to catch it in some words. He watched as she teetered there precariously upon the edge of her seat, and he wondered for a moment whether she'd fall off. Not that she'd have far to fall. Her feet were only about 6 inches off the ground.

"Hey Lily?" Marty started up, figuring that if he was going to be listening to this most of the night he might as well hear something interesting.

"Yeah, pumpion?" she leaned forward, holding out the mug again. Marty had long ago brought the keg over to save himself the walk as he refilled the tankard with rum. Lily took a couple of quick mouthfulls as she waited on him to speak.

"What was your first fight like? I think you said you were born on this ship, so have you always known how to fight?" Marty was well used to them insulting him now, but it seemed that it had become toned down since she was drunk. Hell, she'd started calling him 'pumpion', which after he'd asked around he'd found it meant 'Pumpkin'.

"Of course I've always known how to fight. Stabbed a guy in the leg when I was 6, I did. That's what ya get for trying to kidnap me. The Captain wasn't too happy. Figured out the most painful punishments and dealt them out to the damn scurvy dogs who dared board our ship."

Lily put some more of the foul tasting rum into her system, and then slapped her hand down onto Marty's head. He'd taken a seat upon a small crate he'd moved in front of the barrel she was sitting on so that he had something to lean back against, and in doing so put himself within Lily's reach. At least this way if she ended up falling off that barrel he wasn't going to get in trouble for not making an effort to catch her. He gave a bit of a flinch at feeling her hand drop upon his head, but she was soon patting him as if he was a cat like she'd done twice in the past.

"Do you like being a pirate?"

"Aye."

"Why?"

Lily paused, not really knowing how to answer it. She'd never been asked why she liked being a pirate before, so it took a bit of thinking before she decided to respond. "Freedom, I guess. You're a lot more free out on the seas. You pay a price when you come into port, but as a pirate, you make up your own rules. If you don't like who is in charge, you vote them out. You can't do that on land. You get arrested."

"That can't be the only reason, can it?" Marty looked up at her, and in turn, she lowered her eyes to his own.

"There's also the fact that you have a chance to make your own fortune. We're blown down, fed maggot-infested food, we get sick and die young, but its better than what we had on land. We're compensated for our injuries, and we each have an equal say in how the ship is run. We don't get that otherwise."

"A democracy."

"Yeah."

Marty was silent for a while, but he knew that he had to figure out a different subject that would interest and distract her enough that he wouldn't have to talk about what he'd learned while on land. He hated lying. It was so hard for him to do.

"So what do you guys do when you have to go onto land? Do you sneak around, or what?"

"Hah!" Lily gave a snort of laughter. "That'd be stupid. Dangerous, too. We just make port in places that are going to accept pirates. Like Tortuga and Port Royal. All the way around the other side of the world." she swung her arm out before bringing it back so as to be able to drink more of the rum. "Basically what we do is we dry dock the ship so that we can scrape all the damn barnacles off. Stock up on supplies, and fix everything that can't be fixed at sea. Then we give everyone their pay and usually they spend thousands in a single night. That's why the idiots aren't rich like everyone thinks pirates are."

"What do they spend it on that costs so much?" he questioned, feeling her fingers rake through his hair again as he lifted his own mug of water to drink. It tasted a little salty, but he figured that was because of the fact that they were anchored there in the middle of the ocean.

"Good food, a real bed. But mostly booze and the favours of a woman." she smirked a bit, looking down at him, her eyes a little glazed even under the dim lamp lights.

Marty thought for a moment. "Then what do you spend it on? Since you're obviously a woman...and therefore...wouldn't need the last one." he quickly tacked on in hopes that she didn't get angry that he was implying anything.

"Mostly rum and real food, since I'm one of the only two people on this ship that have a bunk rather than a hammock. But I save my rum for the ship. It's safer for a woman to be wandering around sober in Tortuga. As for what else? Boots, clothes, and information." she smirked. Yeah, even though she was a pirate who had never worn a dress in her life, she was still a woman at heart and wanted to look decent. "Most of the time I'm stuck looking after my fa-...Nuh. Looking after Blackheart and Dougal." she corrected herself, blinking slowly a few times.

"Had a bit much to drink?" Marty teased.

"Oh you. Shut up." she slurred, and flicked the back of his ear. Downing the rest of the rum, she flopped back against the ship and yawned.

Unbeknownst to the two of them, there were several faces peering over the edge of the deck watching them. Tyler, Kirra, Alison and Sol had all paddled a large canoe out to the ship that they could see due to the lanterns, and had heard the sounds of the snoring drunks upon it. It was a good chance for them to steal the younger sibling back from what they were sure was a horrible life. However, they were quite surprised to see Marty lapping up the attention he was recieving from the scarlet buccaneer as they hung there from the rope ladder that the pirates had forgotten to pull up.

Was it a good time for them to hop up on deck? Most of them looked like they had passed out. There were only a few still awake, and most of them were fairly unsteady on their feet anyway. Even Lily looked like she was having a hard time staying awake. It wouldn't take much to get the boy and get the hell out of there. The musicians looked like they were the only ones that were even remotely sober, but after they finished the final song they'd stopped and packed up for the night.

"Lets go. I want to hear what they are saying." Tyler whispered, and crawled up onto the ship, much to the horror of the others. But they quickly followed him, and sneaking over the sprawled out and sweaty bodies of the drunken men, they used the shadows to their advantage and were then near enough and well hidden enough that they couldn't be seen unless one went looking.


Kicking her legs up either side of Marty's head, Lily stretched them out as they were getting a bit stiff. She then dropped them lightly over his shoulders so that her boots were resting on either side of his chest as she slumped there. Her eyes were only opened a crack when she felt him tapping her foot, but she soon figured out he was simply brushing off the sand that was upon it. Giving him a little pat on the head, a lazy smile crossed her face as she sank down once more. It caused her headband to lower down over her eyes as the back of it was pushed upwards, and she then laced her hands across her stomach, intent on falling asleep even though it was barely 10 at night.

So they liked starting early. Big deal. But he knew he had to keep her awake. Even though she was drunk, she still had her duties to perform. "Don't fall asleep." he murmured, reaching up to poke her in the the right leg from where he was sitting. Lily simply gave a grunt and brushed his hand away with her left arm, though she did sit up and straighten her headband once more. Rum was good, she concluded. Her arm didn't hurt so much.

Doing her best to clamber off the barrel, she recieved a little help from the young gamer in doing so. Standing there unsteadily for a short while, she licked her lips and kept her right arm in the same position. Even as a drunk she had some sense of reasoning, and knew if she moved it it would hurt something shocking when she sobered up.

"Y'know what these islands need?" she questioned Marty, looking out at the glowing red fires upon the shore. She didn't let him answer. "A tavern. A big one. Like at Tortuga. That'd be nice." she waved her good arm about to attempt to describe how big it was. "That way I could get a half decent crew and have my own ship. Wait...No. I want this ship." she pointed at her feet and then turned to him to continue speaking. "Just...Not with Dougal on it. Kick him off. Blackheart too." she slurred, and then gave a laugh. She ended up spinning here and there, halfway between dancing and attempting to walk while completely inebriated.

Sitting there, Marty watched this display with the tiniest whisper of an amused smirk upon his face. If there was one thing he liked about drunk people it was that they did things that were stupidly funny, and told him just about anything. The bad thing about it was that they were unpredictable, and he had no idea how Lily would react if she got angry in this state. He decided to keep talking with her.

"So what's Tortuga like?"

She stopped her drunken swaying, and turned to face him. "Lots of crime. Lots of rum. Lots of prostitutes. Lots of pirates. Lots of rum." she counted them off on her fingers.

"You said that already." he pointed out.

"I know. There's lots and lots of rum." she then started laughing, even though her 'joke' wasn't all that funny. Despite that fact, Marty couldn't help but crack a smile at seeing the one upon her face. "You should just forget about those...clapper-clawed apple johns you call friends and come to Tortuga when we get out of here." she suggested, pointing at the boy before tossing the tankard at him again. Barely managing to catch it, this time he only filled it halfway before getting up and bringing it to her.

"You'll learn plenty about pirate life there. 'Course, it'll take a few months before we get there. Who knows? Maybe by that time you'll actually have something here." she teased, wrapping an arm over his shoulder and tickling his chin to tease him about his lack of facial hair. Marty simply rolled his eyes and handed over the booze. Over behind the stairs, Tyler snickered to himself.

"At the very least, you'll learn how to be a man when you're in Tortuga. Plenty of places to test your skills out. Arm wrestling, tavern brawls, rum, pretty little lassies. Everything a man needs, apparently. But you have to be careful of the thieves. They like to pinch things without you knowing. So hold onto your purse, whether you're on land or on this ship. Unless you plan on using it of course, Pumpion. A pirate is never adverse to making a little money on the side."

Lily gave Marty a sordid grin that made him blush quite deeply at what she was implying that he do with any money he may have. Especially since technically she was supposed to be the only female on the ship. It didn't really help that she was drunk and had her arm wrapped around him. He couldn't exactly escape.

"Hah...um-...I-...er-..." he cleared his throat nervously. The others were practically stepping on each other in disbelief at what the first mate was telling Tyler's little brother, as they were all eager to lean in closer to hear it.

Lily burst out laughing again, which caught the attention of some of the nearby crew members who were still awake. At seeing the look on her face, they shook their heads. She'd done the same thing to all of them when they'd first started working on this vessel.

"Pay her no mind, lad! She's just teasin' ye! She may be a woman in scarlet, but she ain't a scarlet woman! All talk and no walk, if ye know what I'm sayin!" a pirate called out, which got a laugh from those sitting around the little card and drinking table that they'd made. They hooted and hollered for a moment.

"Ah, shut your mouth, ya ruttish buffoons." she laughed, leaning into Marty somewhat as she lost her balance for a brief moment. "You're just jealous because you can't have me." another swig of her drink followed, though it took her a little while to get it all down.

"Nay, it's just because we don't want you." he shot back.

"Hah! Liar! You're a liar and you know it." she crowed. "Oh well, if you don't want me I guess I'll just have to stay over here then. Marty thinks I'm HOT." cackling a little, Lily leaned down. In a successful attempt to rile the other pirates up, and to make Marty feel even more uncomfortable, she slowly ran her tongue up the side of his neck and all the way to his cheek, which made him jump and blush even further. Snickering to herself, Lily pulled away and finished off her rum. Slapping the mug against the boy's chest, she then drunkenly staggered off to her cabin. There was no way in hell that she was going to be able to wander around the ship in that state without passing out along the way.

Marty was left standing there with his mouth slightly hanging open, as was his brother and the others in their hiding position. That was a bit weird. Staying where he was for a while, the young boy blinked it off and sat the mug down before rubbing his hand through his hair. Stepping over a body, he then made his way towards the hatch before he was grabbed by Sol, a hand across his mouth as they dragged him into the shadows behind the thick mast. Marty struggled for a moment before he realized what was going on.

"What the hell are you guys doing here?" he hissed quietly.

"Just decided to see how the party was coming along. Looks like you're having a good time." Tyler snickered.

"And don't forget the fact that you oh-so-obviously stole something from us." Alison added with a glare. He just gave them a sheepish grin.

"Captain's cabin?" Sol then questioned in his thick accent, and Marty simply lowered his eyes and pointed in the direction.

"I gave your piece to Lily. We got the others fair and square."

"I know. And now we are going to steal all three so we can get the hell out of here. Blackheart should be asleep, so lets get the two pieces first. We can trick him. We have fakes." they started off towards the cabin, quietly slinking here and there and taking Marty with them. When they got to the door, they opened it just a tiny bit and were greeted with snores.

Kirra and Alison were the ones to crawl inside and along the floor though, searching for the map. Tyler, Sol and Marty crouched by the door, keeping an eye out for the other pirates. They had no idea where Dougal was, or if he was drunk, so they had to be careful. It wasn't long before the girls came back out.

"Okay. We've got them. Lets go."

This time, Marty led them through the lazaretto. They couldn't all completely stand up as it was only a low headroom, so they went through it bent over. It allowed them to bypass the pirates while still being able to look up through the grates and see what was going on. The moonlight filtered down through the iron slats so they could see where they were going. Popping up through the hatch at the other end, Marty looked around before giving the all clear.

Within moments they were all standing in the warmth of Lily's cabin, protected from sight by the wall. Marty peeked around it a moment and saw that she had passed out in a rather uncomfortable looking position, face down on the bed.

"Shh..." he whispered, and then snuck over to her desk. Taking a seat, he quietly rifled through some of the papers on top of it. No, Lily wasn't that daft. She'd lock the map piece up. Doing his best to open the drawers without a sound, he eventually came to one that was locked. "It must be in here. Get her keys." after the noisy ring of metal was passed over, the drawer was opened and the piece retrieved. It wasn't really the map that caught Marty's attention though.



It was what was beneath it.

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