Once a Pirate, Always a Pirate: Part 1

 ~A Pirate's Life for Me Series~

~Once a Pirate, Always a Pirate: Part 1~

Written by Willow{assisted by Darrion}

Characters:

Warren-Age 17
Willow-Age 16
Darren-Age 15
Darrion{D}-Age 14

"Yo, ho. Yo, ho. A pirate's life for me..." The haunting tune melted into the wind. I crouched up in the Crow's Nest, singing quietly to myself, attempting to drown out the song being sung below me. "Three hundred six men on a dead man's chest! Yo, ho, ho, and a bottle of rum! Three hundred seven men on a dead man's chest! Yo, ho, ho, and a bottle of rum!" crowed Darrion at top lung.
 Darrion is my little sister. She also happens to really like pirates. "Three hundred eight men on a dead man's chest! Yo, ho, ho, and a bottle of rum!" She had been singing that song for about, well, however long it took to sing, 'Fifteen men on a dead man's chest! Yo, ho, ho, and a bottle of rum!' continually two hundred and ninety three times. "Three hundred nine men on a dead man's chest. Yo, ho, ho, and a bottle of rum!" Her cheery voice rang out below me. "Three hundred ten men on a dead man's che-" Then another voice interrupted her, "Darrion! Would you please stop singing that?! I can't hear myself think with that stupid song ringing through my brain!" Warren yelled at her, breaking off her song. D narrowed her dark eyes at him, until they were mere points of brown on her face. "It's a pirate song, Warren. What do you expect me to sing, 'The Wheel's on the Bus'?" D sniffed. I rolled my eyes.
Warren clenched his jaw. "You could attract.... things that we wouldn't want to attract."
"Like what?" D persisted. She wasn't the sort of person to lose an argument. Or let anyone get the last word in on anything.
She tossed her short, almost black hair over her shoulder sassily into the wind. Warren rolled his eyes. "Like, oh, I don't know. A Kraken?! Haven't you heard any pirate lore be-"
"Seriously? A cracker?" D interrupted. "Why would you be-"
"A Kraken. You are so.... never mind." Warren wrested control of his temper. D rolled her eyes.
"Three hundred eleven men on a dead man's chest! Yo, ho, ho, and a bottle of rum!" Warren closed his grey eyes, and muttered something to himself. Probably praying. I thought. Not that I would blame him.
 By the time D had gotten to four hundred men on a dead man's chest, Warren had finally had it. "Darrion, why don't you go check on Darren? I haven't seen him for a while." He asked through clenched teeth.
"Eh, why not. It's better than sitting around singing!" D hopped off of her barrel and flitted over to the stairs to the inside of the ship, humming. Her humming finally faded away once her head disappeared from view.
 I sighed. We had been on this boat for about a day now. We had first been given this mission by Philan, the Codebearer Head Commander. At least that was what Warren said. I had been being my diplomat self, representing the Codebearers to the Rebel Counsel. D had been cavorting off into different parts of the Galaxy, to who knows where. Darren {the fourth member of our group} had been assisting Philan aboard The Valiant, the Codebearer's flagship. Warren had been busy with 'Top Secret' stuff. Guys and their secrets. Humph. He, of course, hadn't bothered to tell even me {whom I believe to be the most trustworthy of the four, along with Darren}.
 I was startled out of my musings by D pounding on the Captain's Cabin door. Oh brother. I thought, rolling my eyes. Darren must have locked himself in the Captain's Cabin to get away from her.
"Darren! Why did you lock the door?" D called, still a-pounding. I strained to hear Darren's reply. It sounded like "Because." "'Cause why?" D persisted.
Warren rolled his eyes again. "Willow? Could you take the wheel for a sec while I deal with this?" He called up to me.
"Sure." I leapt gracefully off the Crow's Nest railing, landing with a forward roll on the freshly scrubbed deck {Hey, the Author's Force is powerful stuff!}. "Showoff." D muttered under her breath. I tossed my dark curls over my shoulder & trotted up the steps to the wheel. Grabbing the knobs sticking out from the wheel, I casually held it, as if I knew what I was doing {now let me make clear, I am no ship expert}. Warren knocked loudly on the Captain's Cabin door. "Darren! We know you're in there! Come out!"
He demanded. "No." Came the reply.
"Why not?" Warren was obviously getting impatient. One look at D told me that she'd past the impatient mark ages ago.
"I look appalling." Darren confessed. Darrion rolled her eyes again.
"It's just a pirate costume, Darren. We went shopping for it, I saw it. Ooh, scary." The lock turned & Darren emerged. He was dressed head to toe in pirate gear. I didn't think he looked particularly weird, but D burst into laughter anyway. He glared at her. She slapped her hand over her mouth, still spluttering out giggles. Warren squinted at her. "Darrion, go take over the wheel for Willow. Please." He obviously wanted her distracted, so as not to tease Darren. She shrugged, her hand still plastered over her mouth.
 Then, letting her hand drop, she bounded up the steps to where I stood. "Warren said I could steer." She told me smugly. I could tell that she'd wanted to steer since we came aboard, but Warren insisted that he was Captain, and I was First Mate, so D was stuck waiting for her big break. I shrugged, moving aside so she could steer. Pure delight showed on her face.
 I leaned over the railing, closing my eyes to take in the smell of the sea, the whistling of the wind, the shrieking of the gulls. Ahhh... Splash, thunk, Ahoy, there matey! There be a ship ahead, Captain!... Wait, what?!?! I jerked my eyes open. A normal looking ship was sailing almost neck-and-neck with us. I would have paid it almost no mind, it I hadn't seen the flag. A white & red hourglass on a black background. Pirates.... {we hate those guys}

To be Continued.... 

{What do you like about it? What do you think will happen?}