Chapter 23: Breakfast with the Natives





A satisfied smirk crossed the pirate's face as Sol accepted the terms to their agreement, though Marty looked on in worry. This wasn't going to end well. He was sure of it. Rubbing his sunburned and slightly peeling nose with the coarse sleeve of his shirt, he followed Lily and Sol over to the fire where they sat down and leaned back against a large and dead tree trunk that was lying in the sand.

The boar was almost done, and the sound of the fresh meat sizzling over the fire made Marty's mouth water. The smell of it was even better though, and he found himself almost squirming in anticipation as he watched the large beast get turned on the spit. This was definately going to be a hell of a lot tastier than that half rotten food that he was currently getting. That high salt content couldn't be good for him.

"Ohhh...That smells really good." he groaned, which got a little laugh out of Kirra.

"And you said we'd be eating bugs while you got the cannons and the cool things. Looks like we've got the last laugh?"

Marty just whined in protest, knowing she was right. "Whatever! I'm hungry. Lets just eat." they couldn't help but agree with that, and more than eagerly awaited the food that Sol and the villagers were cooking up. A bit of wild boar, some freshly caught fish, and plenty of sweet fruits from around the island.

Kirra was the first to be given a carved out piece of wood similar in style to a canoe, filled with all the different food assortments. Alison followed, then Marty. There was obviously something sour between Tyler and Sol, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that they were jealous of one another. The first mate wasn't sure what it was about, but she figured it had to do with one of the girls.

Lily was the last to be served up a plate though, and it was obvious why. She'd attacked his village and hurt his people. He had every right to be angry at her. Instead of passing it to her, Sol just about dropped it on her head. Thankfully Marty was sitting next to her, as Lily couldn't raise that arm much to do anything about it. He was the only one game enough to sit near her, and everyone kept their distance from the temperamental pirate. In reward and thanks for having him grab the plate for her, she handed over one of her daggers so that he could use it like a fork to eat the hot food.

"You'd better not eat like that when we get home." Tyler frowned, eyeing his little brother.

"You be quiet. Forks practically don't exist here unless you're filthy rich." Marty grumbled, before happily tucking into his well-cooked breakfast.

Lily was having a wee bit more trouble with her food. It was extremely hot sitting out in that tropical sun, and the thick coat didn't particularly help her out. Rubbing some sweat off her brow by shifting her headband, she balanced that thing she'd dubbed a mini canoe in her lap, and stabbed a piece of the fruit with the tip of her dagger. Oh, that was juicy. The apple that Blackheart had given her a couple of nights ago was dry and bland like everything else upon that ship. So this was a real treat for the tastebuds. Unlike Marty, who was gobbling everything down, she took the time to savour it all, knowing she wouldn't be getting anything like this for a long time.

"Don't eat so fast. You'll choke." she grumbled to Marty as if she was his mother.

"Whoa, your table manners must be horrendous if you're getting corrected by a pirate." Alison crowed, her and Kirra giggling away to themselves.

"Ha ha. Real funny." the 15 year old rolled his eyes.

"Being a pirate has nothing to do with table manners. In fact I probably have more than you lot. Its simply that there is no need for forks when we could use the space for something that'll do us some good. Like more food. Manners have no place at sea, though when some gentlemen take to pirating they uphold said etiquette so as to show that they are cultured. But It'll do you no good to ask someone to 'Pretty please hand over your most prized possessions or we'll be forced to stick our pointy things in your wife. And we aren't talking about swords.' They'd throw you straight off the ship. So you rule with fear and intimidation. Not pleases and thankyous." Lily pointed out.

"And it's not that the runt doesn't have manners. Its just that if he keeps up that habit he'll do it on the ship. Stabbing yourself in the throat due to rolling seas isn't a pretty thing. Not exactly the preferred way to die either. You just look stupid doing that." Some more food items were stabbed onto the dagger like a kebab, and she happily ate them, letting it just melt in her mouth.

"Hey, aren't you hot in that?" Kirra gestured from a distance at the heavy black garment that the first mate was wearing. "Whose is it anyway? Its way too big to be yours. Who'd you steal it from?"

Lily looked up at the eldest of the 4 gamers, her already blue-grey eyes darkening. "No, and I didn't steal it. It's mine. Now shut your mouth before I cut out your tongue and have THAT for breakfast." they couldn't really tell whether she was glaring or squinting at them.

"Whoa. Touchy. Someone's got a hangover." Tyler spoke in a sing-song voice.

Lily just made a rude gesture at him. Though it left them a little confused. She simply balled her fist, bit the tip of her thumb and then gave a flicking motion with her hand. Marty was the only one who seemed to understand.

"Oooh. Harsh."

"How is that harsh?" Tyler raised his brow at his younger brother.

"Shakespeare. Biting the thumb is like saying fuck you." Alison pointed out before Marty could say anything. Though he did sit there with a smug grin upon his face that he knew something his brother didn't.

"...I don't think I even want to know why you read Shakespeare." the older boy sighed, and went back to his meal. Lily did the same, but with a smirk on her face. Placing the knife blade upon her tongue, she carefully drew it out of her mouth to lick the juice from the fruit off it. It was then stabbed into the meat and raised to her lips once more.


Due to the hangover, she didn't have quite the appetite that she usually had. The pounding headache she had was only aggravated by the bright sunlight in her eyes, and so she ended up giving the rest of her food to Marty. Drawing her legs up a little so that they were bent, she closed her eyes and rubbed at her temples.


"You look like shit." Marty commented innocently, before realizing what he'd said when she looked up at him with a glare. "But only because you've got a hangover, I mean! Not like-...yeah...you know." he added. "I'll just shut up now."

"Good idea, maggot. You're making my headache worse." with that said and done, Lily laid back and rested her head upon the log while waiting on Marty to finish off his food. Pulling the carmine headband over her eyes once more, she settled down quietly. They would have barely even known she was the enemy if it wasn't the fact that she was decked out in full pirate regalia and had been trying to kill them not all that long ago. Stretching out with a bit of a groan, she figured she'd just have to trust Marty to warn her of any possible sneak attacks. A bold move for a pirate.

But they were all snapped out of their reverie when up the beach marched Blackheart, Dougal, and several other pirates, all with swords drawn. All except Lily, whom after many years had been accustomed to his yelling and many other follies.

"Lily! What the bloody hell do you think you're doin' up here with that brat, huh?!" the old Captain growled, glaring at the back of her head as she laid there, unmoving. Marty gulped a little, and nudged her awake with his elbow. Needless to say, she wasn't too happy.

"Uh, Lily? Blackheart's here." he whispered, gesturing behind them as the hung over buccaneer pulled up her headband in annoyance. With her eyes almost closed, she raised her head and looked over towards the Captain and some of the crew.

"Ugh. What the hell do you want, old man? I've no mind for your idiocies with this headache."

"I said, what the bleeding hell are you doing here with the enemy?" he gripped his cutlass tighter.

"Who me? I was simply trading for some decent food. Which is something you don't see fit to feed your crew, who for the past 25 plus years have served you loyally and without question." Lily growled, standing up and dusting the sand off her clothing.

"Most Captains don't even last 5 years. You've got a lot to answer for, old man, seeing as how we kept you around that long, and you can't even provide us with a good meal every now and again." she stalked towards him, and poked him in the chest.

The other pirates stepped back a little, not particularly wanting to get in her way during one of her rampages. They'd tried that once before and it didn't turn out well for any of them. Blackheart was a little stunned at this sudden outburst, despite the fact that he was quite used to her ranting and raving. He'd never heard one quite like this. He leaned back a little, his light blue eyes peering at the first mate warily.

"To top it off, we've been sailing for months on end with little to no pay, because you can't even get the sodding directions right! Every time we go on some treasure hunt, it always turns out to be fruitless because you seem to think that every map leads to treasure!" she yelled at him, a wild streak in her eye. She then turned her attention on one of the others.

"You! What makes you think that this will be any different to all those other times we went to find treasure and there was nothing?!" Lily gave him a harsh prod, and moved on to Cannonball. "And you! You should know better! You've been here longer than I have! Why are we standing around here, fighting a bunch of CHILDREN for some ball that we don't even know really exists?!" Lily shrieked, waving her one good arm about.

"What the hell is wrong with you idiots?! You may not be educated, but even monkies know better than to be following this...this...gorbellied, fen-sucking skainsmate! All he's doing is leading us in circles, promising us gold and jewels and riches that don't even exist! And the longer he's in power, the more we're going to believe him! We're getting blown down for nothing! Our flagship can barely take out a rowboat with those guns that we have, and all because this buffoon doesn't see fit to find us any gold and silver to upgrade it!" Lily prodded Captain Blackheart again, who was now starting to look a little uneasy and ruffled.

"Now now, Liliana..." he held his hands up, using her full name in an attempt to calm her a little. "I think you're being a tad unreasonable. After all I've done for you..."

"NO! SHUT UP! You've done nothing for me! NOTHING!" her chest heaved as she yelled at the top of her lungs, looking like a savage hyena ready to rip the entrails from its prey as she stood there. "And you've done nothing for your crew either! You're just an ale-soused, washed up sailor who takes his crew for granted! If I was Captain we'd be in Tortuga by now with a purse full of gold and a flagon of rum under our arms! I wouldn't be leading us on some expedition that is destined to fail! I'd be making damn sure there was something there before we set sail!"

"Hey! That's mutinous talk! Another word outta you and you'll be punished severely." Blackheart warned.

"Go ahead! They know its true!" Lily turned to face the crew. "What are you all sailing for? Are you sailing because he wants you to, or are you sailing for the treasure that he promised but never delivered?"

"She's got a point, Captain. You did promise us treasure that we haven't yet got. We've been to three ports already, months of sailing and still we haven't gotten any loot to divide." one of them piped up.

"See? I was right! They-..." Lily was cut off abruptly and her eyes glazed over. As she dropped to her knees, and then onto her face in the sand, Marty rushed over quickly, not knowing what was wrong. Dougal stood behind her though, his pistol raised. He'd clubbed her over the back of the head with it to knock her out. They didn't need a mutiny way out here in the middle of nowhere.

"Good work, Dougal. And for the rest of you. I'll hear none of this talk or it'll be 100 lashes each!" the Captain threatened. "Cannonball. Carry her back to the ship. Lock her in her cabin until I figure out what to do with her."

The large master gunner frowned, but scooped up the unconscious first mate and shook her a little to get the sand off her. Marty stood next to them, a worried look upon his face. He'd had no idea whether that was actually Lily saying how she felt, or whether she was living up to her end of the bargain with Sol. Whichever one it was, he knew she'd be pissed off when she woke up. That knock to the head would probably only make her temper worse. And whatever Blackheart had in store for her wasn't going to be good. Oh, they were going to kill him for this!


"They stole the map pieces!"




The pirates stopped dead in their tracks and Dougal stalked up to Marty, grabbing him by his shirt and pulling him close. "What did you just say, runt?" the boy gave a gulp.

"My brother and the others...They stole the map pieces and replaced them with fakes. Me and Lily were trying to get them back." well, at least it was a half truth. They didn't look like they believed him though. "Have a look!"

Eying him suspiciously, Blackheart removed the pieces from his pocket and attempted to join them together. They didn't fit like they had before. "Get them!" pointing vigorously at the group of children, it didn't take long for them to be overpowered and intimidated by the pirates and their sharp weapons. "Sorry mate. But these brats are coming with us." the captain sneered at Sol before they started backing off, the group of three children kicking and struggling to no avail. Lily was the only one flung over a shoulder that didn't struggle, as she was out cold.

"Nice going, Marty! You idiot!" Tyler yelled angrily at his brother, who was walking alongside Cannonball.

Upon reaching the ship they were all herded into Lily's cabin, with the unconscious first mate being unceremoniously dumped upon her bunk in a heap. Marty followed them in, deciding to stay there by choice, rather than punishment. It was safer for the lot of them to be in the cabin, as anyone with keys had access to the brig.

Wincing at the position Lily was in, he ignored the harsh words of the three other gamers as they were locked in, and he went about rolling her over once more and straightening her arm into a comfortable position so that she wouldn't be in agonizing pain when she woke up.

"I call top bunk!" Tyler then yelled, knowing they'd be there for a while. Making a beeline for the left side of the room - as far away as he could get from the woman dressed in scarlet, he gave a gasp as Alison cut him off and jumped up there first. "Hey! I called it!"

"Too bad." she smirked, and settled herself on the edge of it after climbing up the ladder. Turning around, he then went to go over to the other top bunk, but found Kirra had already nicked it.

"You snooze you lose."

Rolling his eyes, the second eldest in the group settled for the bottom bunk under Alison's, which left Marty standing there without one. "And just where do you propose I sleep?" he placed his hands on his hips.

"On the floor, dweeb. You aren't sharing with any of us." his brother grumbled.

"Yeah, traitor."

Sighing, he rubbed his hands through his hair in exasperation. It would be a long day cooped up in here with all of them, and considering that they'd just only eaten breakfast it made the day seem like it was going a lot slower. Feeling the ship groan and start to rock a little more than before, they knew that they were setting sail.

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