The Depths of Courage

WRITTEN BY ACTUAL STUDENTS

THE DEPTHS OF COURAGE

BASED ON A TRUE STORY A swasbuckling tale of heroism and horror on the high seas

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Session 00

THE CHARACTERS

Session 01

THE BRAWL

Session 02

THE AUDIENCE

Session 03

THE BATTLE

Session 04

THE MONSTER

Session 05

THE TITANIC 2000

Session 06

THE PORT

Session 07

THE SHOWDOWN

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Session 08

THE MERCHANTS

Session 09

THE TRIANGLE

Session 10

THE TEMPLE

Session 11

THE OTTERS

Session 12

THE ASSAULT

Session 13

THE MADNESS

Session 14

THE FINALE

Epilogue

THE END

thank you, To all of my wonderful students, whose incredible imagination and beautiful enthusiasm enabled the success of this class.

And to Linkedkey, for taking a chance on such a bold and bizarre program

- Matthew thompson

Authors Colena Shan Eric Ren Jerry Lou Marysa Liu Rachel Zhou Sophia Deng Victor Zhong Vivian Liu

PRELUDE

The Characters

​

​ ​ My Character by:Vivian Liu

Hello there, My name is Vivian and I am a pirate. I came to the caribbean after

Spain lost a lot of money so yeah, I am Spanish!

I wanted to become something like a scientist or a doctor but unfortunately, I didn’t have a good education or enough money to become either of those but so far being a pirate is decent (except for the parts where I get seasick and puke) but I like ships ​A LOT​ so that makes everything better. I am the navigator of the ship because I am not tough enough to fight but if I ever get caught, I can be charming and sneaky in addition, I am BIG BRAIN​ that means that I am super, super, super, super ​SMART​! I had a masters degree in studying sea life until what happened to Spain (which is a bummer)! I am now an ex-pirate or former pirate so yeah. I quit. I know who Colena is. That is because she joined Charlie Vayne (my old captain) after I quit so yeah.

That is my current life.

Introduction Oh, hey there! I’m Eric. I'm a 20 year old Korean. It's the year 1695 and I like my life. Farming, feeding ducks with wheat, and other things. Also, if i didn't mention, I have a mom and dad (obviously) and a sister and a younger brother. We live on a small island near the Colonies just on the coast of it.

The Caribbean I really don't want to go here. I'm not the travel type. My parents and I own a sailboat. They really wanted to go to the Caribbean so I went with them. They like to explore the place with their sailboat, and they wanted to go to the caribbean for experience. I was just along with the ride.I mentioned I don't want to go to the Caribbean right? I wasn’t kidding. I don’t really plan to do anything here. Just go explore with my parents. Nothing unusuals gonna happen.

ME Me, I am a herbal medalist, I hate it when my herb stores are low and that is what’s happening RIGHT NOW! So, as I am already low on herb stores I need to get to this place called Nassau because it’s a trading port with ( probably ) a lot of herbs.

MY FRIENDS ( ? )

I have this wacky neighbor who’s a crazy inventor. I don’t know whether to trust her or not. She makes all sorts of random decisions and is currently trying to make some sort of blasting thing, as I hear from some more… credible neighbors. I might have been to her house one or two times. As far as I know, she doesn’t like nightmares and fears grapes and pillows.

Easy way to get out of her house filled with weird contraptions and smoking devices? Threaten her with grapes or pillows. Currently at the town of Freeport, There is a doctor. She is not very good at doctoring and fears big bugs, WEIRD! The reason why she’s not a great doctor is because she hates failure and always overthinks.

MAYBE A THREAT I have also heard of a pirate who could be here… Her name starts with V but that’s all I know! Are pirates scary? I dunno. Maybe if they’re good at fighting, I’m horrible at that. WHAT IF THEY GO ON THE SHIP TO NASSAU? Maybe pirates are scarier than I thought. I’m not really

narrow-minded about anything except herbs. I do need more Yarrow. It’s good for healing wounds. Arghh, just focus on getting to Nassau. Oh well, nevermind about this.

* crumbles paper and throws it into the trash can.

Rachael 1716

I’m sure all of you can read, so I don’t need to say what my name is as it’s written above. I have no idea how to start this introduction. Ok. So I was born as the only child of my parents in Frontenac, of which my mother died when I was young. My father raised me, and trained me as an apothecary’s apprentice. I’d learned English (I’m French) because Frontenac was an important trading route, and many of the English came and traded with us there. Then, when I was 12, my father died from tuberculosis, and I boarded a ship to the Caribbean to attend a school there.

I was new to the school there, so I didn’t know anything. They had a tradition to prank the new kids, which the teacher did not approve of, and so that’s what happened. It was October 23, 1711. We were in a chemistry class, and there was this girl by the name of Colena. October 23 was the teacher’s birthday, so we celebrated (yea apparently we were forced to toast her). Colena had beer, but instead of drinking it, she dumped it on me because I was new. I’d stumbled backwards, and a really foul-smelling unsuccessful concoction fell on me (the glass was also painful).

Colena had claimed it was an accident, but the teacher was strict and knew of the tradition. She was too busy with the deserts though. Some of the beer drops fell in them, and when she tasted it, she said: “Wow, this cake is beer flavoured?

Amazing!”

I stayed at that school and graduated last year, a month before my 18th birthday. Colena had left the school and gone somewhere when we were both 16, and I never saw her again until - I’m not spoiling it (sike!). I stayed in the Caribbean, doing my business and stuff. I was at Freeport when I ran out of stuff, so I am planning a trip to Nassau, an important trading place. I hope I don’t get blown up.

COLENA SHAN

My Character My character’s name is Colena. She was born on May 9​th​, 1697.

Colena was a good inventor. She was from the Caribbean. She liked inventing, hated nightmares, was sometimes absent-minded (but otherwise with great memory), and would freak out at the mention or sight of pillows or grapes. She was clever and agile.

Also, when her customers had grapes or pillows or asked for them or something similar and stuff, she had a special “Prevents from Freaking Out” invention hidden out of sight in her hair.

It was 1716, and she was on a ship going to Nassau. There would be a little stop at Freeport, but that was it. Colena had some but little experience on ship—she only traveled when she wanted a break from inventing.

As she was heading to Freeport, there was a violent storm. ​Crazy. C ​ olena got up from her cabin, lit a candle and hurried carefully but quickly to the deck.

On the deck, she saw a sailor waving at her.

“Fsssmffs!” he yelled.

Terrible screamer​, thought Colena. She shouted, much louder than the sailor, “WHAT?!”

He made no noise except for “mmpshs” and Colena sighed and she followed him. Then they were closing the sails. And then Colena fell backwards and landed hard but unhurt on her butt. Then she looked up; the rope had gone slack. The sailor had been tossed backwards too.

And then the ​whole ​mask broke. There was a ​big ​flash of lightning and then Colena saw a figure of something……​inhuman and massive.​ To the right— A ​HUGE ​tentacle. And a blink of a yellow eye, a ​huge ​eye, bigger than a human head.

Then teeth rose out of the water….and then it was all black.

As Colena regained her senses, she realized she was—​what? I’m underwater. How in the Caribbean did T ​ HIS ​happen?​ ​And—worse, what’s up and what’s down?

She soon had to release her breath, but when she breathed in again, water filled her lungs, but she didn’t seem close to dying, although it hurt a lot, like her lungs were on fire. Then she randomly picked a direction and propelled herself that way, but she didn’t seem to make any progress from her released breath’s bubbles.

Then—a voice. Inside herself. ​Choose.​

Colena paused, didn’t struggle and relaxed, waiting for what would happen next.

Good.​ The voice ​AGAIN.​ She sat there for a moment (well, stood, or sat, it’s difficult to tell underwater).

Choose.

And then above Colena, rays of light. The surface. She kicked her feet that way.

The surface got closer.

Then something pulled on her legs. ​Curses,​ she thought. ​What is that creature?

Serve​ ​or drown​.

Colena replied (by thinking it), ​Serve what?

The voice seemed to laugh. The noise echoed in her head. ​Me. Colena asked what “the creature” wants her to do. And the thing just replies ​SERVE. ​And tugged on Colena’s very tired legs.

I’ve got to stay still. I don’t want to drown, ​she thought.

Then everything went black. AGAIN.

HOURS LATER….

She coughed, and saw she was sitting on a beach. She heard voices, but not inside her head. Human voices.

There was a gathering of people a few hundred meters away. She gazed out towards the horizon. No sign of her ship. As she stood up, she felt something in her right hand. A sword. No, a cutlass.

Colena decided to ask the people where she was. She put the cutlass down (looking like she wanted a fight would only lead to trouble), but when it touched the ground, it just…​disappeared​. She frowned after it…

What? ​Then she headed towards the people.

“Hello,” Colena choked, coughing up water. “Where am I, exactly?”

A man looked Colena over. “Blimey,” he said. Then he grinned and said, “Where else would you be?

This is Freeport.”

After the people left, Colena checked her pockets. Some of her stuff was drenched, but most of her money and her tiny “portable inventing thing” was dry (don’t ask me how). Then she headed to the town, got some food and dry clothes.

She thought it would be ideal if she stayed away from boats that day.

The End

1

?/?/? ?/? 1716​

​By Marysa Liu

Dear Diary, At the moment I am on a ship that just got to Freeport.

You may ask “Why are you at Freeport?” well, at Freeport, I will be taking another boat to Nassau. The place that I will be doing some trading; more specifically I want to trade off some old medications for some new ones that they only have in Nassau that might come in handy one day. I Have taken this journal with me as a little something to write in to pass the time and to use when I come back to hopefully make a book about my journey there and the experiences in Nassau itself. Anyway, I will not be adding this page to my book but this is mostly made out of boredom, I will now write about my trip here to Freeport along with some other extra stuff. ~ ~ ~ I actually live here in the Caribbean, not in Freeport, of course, I live on the island of Saint Kitts. I got here by boat, my trip here not as interested as I hoped. Even so on my way there, I have met some interesting people. The first one was a young lady named Rachael, she is an Apothecary Apprentice, I feel like I met her before but I just can’t remember when. She is from the Colonies, more specific, Kingston. Rachael is quite the well-mannered girl, she’s very kind and is an enjoyable person to be around. This other person, on the other hand, is sort of Rachael’s opposite, still an enjoyable person to be around but in a different way.

Her name is Colena, she is an inventor, she also comes from

2

somewhere in the Caribbeans and is an independent, stong and sharp-tongued person. All her inventions are all very creative and very smart. As I am now acquaintances with both, they sort of have a problem with each other. I said before that those two are opposites and that sometimes gets in the way of a possible friendship. If those two could get along, oh boy, they could do great things. ~ ~ ~ Anyways, to be completely honest, I have not only come to Nassau to run some errands but also as a sort of break, I haven’t had a break in who knows how long and plus, might as well look around whall I’m there.

2 sharp 2 cool 2 tough 2 health

Name: Jeff From: Sparta Like: memes Dislike: Karens Fear: digging straight down Flaw: bad at math Profession: Sailor Species: human

My character is a human called Jeff, he was born in Sparta, he is a sailor,he likes memes,dislikes karens, he’s scared of digging straight down cause he can fall into lava. His flaw is that he cannot do any type of calculation cause he's not a nerd, he has another ability that i don't know about yet, and he is very good.

-BY JERRY

My character is a soldier from York,England. He is very professionally trained by the best general in England. He was born 5/29 1685. He loves running and has practiced aiming his musket while running, and can reload very fast. But his punches suck. And he doesn't like to be alone. He will always freeze when he sees a spider. He joined the army at the age of 16. He took part in the Spanish Succession, and was promoted to Private First Class, and now has been shipped to freeport for a mission, but has been shifted to a mission in Nassau and needs to get there. Luckily he thinks that the Sailor can help him. Also, he has medicine for diseases from the medicine guy.

SESSION ONE

Brawl at the Rusty Tankard

Brawl at the Rusty Tankard by:Vivian

Today I went to the bar. Where I met all of my friends. I shouldn't have gone because that’s where the giant FIASCO happened. We were all there and Bogs greeted me and I also saw a soldier who looks similar but I don't remember from where I think he is also from Spain. A bunch of other people who I have never seen before come to the bar. There is a person there who murders another person, and then Victor, the similar dude (I think that is his name) pulls out a rifle ready to shoot the guy who is about to stab him, the same violent, vicious guy who murdered the dude but THEN, Bogs sat on Victor which made things even worse now there was a whole fight going on in the bar with guns, chairs, you name something, it was there!!!!!!!!! The town’s guard caller went to ring his bell and went to call the guards and when the guards came, bOy oH BoY things got a whole lot messier. This guy shot a guard and then ran away, like is there something mentally wrong with him????????? So yeah, I was standing next to the dead guard X_X and when the other guards noticed, and they thought that I had murdered the guard so yeah ;-;. I managed to run away but this DUMB guard shot me when I was innocent AT LEAST I RAN AWAY SO DONT MAKE FUN OF ME. well on the other hand, only two other people ran away and everyone else was arrested, even Bogs. And the guards were brutal, one girl was shot by a guard and they didn't care that she got shot; they just were admiring themselves for catching her. And now I am very wanted by the guards. I hope I will escape, BYE!!1!

In the beginning, I walk into a bar, to waste some time for the night, since the boat leaves tomorrow. I sit next to a suspicious man to do some investigating. He asks me if he wants to play the knife game, I say no since I need fingers to shoot my musket, and because I was even more suspicious of this man. Then I move away to another table because I see that the man has a pistol. And to threaten others not to try and attack me, but that backfired. The Man tries to kill me with a dagger, but luckily, I see the dagger coming, and ducks.Then, the bard gos crazy and exclaims “GUN’’ and runs right at me, and tackles me, and so, I kick him in the nuts.While he was on me, the police caller rings for the Guards, and eventually, I get arrested.

So we went to a restaurant and lots of people ordered food, but i just ordered nothing and just sat there, i waited while the other people went through lots of drama, then i decided to order a coke and i decide to apply cyberbullying to a random person, but then someone killed a person, and some people started to run but i stayed, then the cops came and arrested everyone and i just went with them

Rachael 1716

I hate this so much. This is going so badly right now. Let me have the pleasure (perhaps displeasure would be a better word) to tell the story.

It was sunset. I hadn’t had dinner yet, and I was intending to. I made my way to the center of Freeport, where I saw a restaurant. It was near the place I was to board a ship to Nassau the next day. I stopped beside it, took a peek inside, and decided that this restaurant was not fit for me, walking past it shaking my head. Instead, I wandered randomly to the dock where the ship would be sailing away from. I stayed there, mostly staring at the ground, occasionally admiring the sunset until someone else came.

A woman, dressed in clothes that showed that she was in a middle-class family and aged in about her late 20s, came out onto the dock with a look that looked as lost as I felt. She didn’t say anything, and from her appearance, I could tell that she was from around here.

A while passed, and we stayed like that, silently staring at nothing until she turned and left. Some hours later, the sun now completely set, a different woman came in and straight up to me. She too was from the Caribbean, and she was dressed in all purple. She held a beer, which, I am sure, she got from that restaurant I passed. A few minutes passed, and she did nothing.

It took me a moment to recognize her as Colena.

Suddenly, as if she had suddenly gotten this idea, she drew her arm back, the beer sloshing. I knew what she was doing even before she let it go, before her fingers deliberately slipped off the beer, before the cup and the liquid came flying towards me. I threw myself sideways, letting it just miss me and shatter upon the deck behind me.

That’s when I heard it. Just after the beer splintered into pieces behind me, a bell started to ring. It was loud, like the bell of the town crier. There was shouting, and I could make out a single word: “Guards”. Something had happened. Something that had made this man shout for help, Colena turned on her heel and ran towards the sound. I hesitated for a moment and followed. That was most definitely not a good idea. I was plunging myself into a danger I had not foreseen.

I followed the sound to the restaurant I had seen before. There seemed to be some kind of scandal there. Ahead, I could see a single soldier-ish person(???) nearly at the bar. He moved up the porch cautiously, his gun out, and behind him, two more soldiers were running. Just as the soldier moved beside the door and said something, a gunshot echoed through the streets, and the soldier slumped to the ground, dead.

A woman stood at the doorway, wearing clothes I had never seen before. She had a look on her face that told me that she was about to flee, but that was when the other two soldiers arrived. They pointed their guns at the woman at the door.

“What is the meaning of this?” one demanded.

“I don’t know,” Colena said.

“Stand down citizen. We’ll take care of this.”

Just then, the woman I had first seen at the dock pushed out of the restaurant and the other soldier lunged towards her.

She slid past them and took off down the street. A figure all in black followed her and blended into the night. I caught up to Colena who had thrown the beer at me as we arrived at the restaurant. We didn’t say a word to each other.

The soldier who had his gun pointed at the woman at the door pressed the trigger. The shot rang in my ears as the woman thrust herself out of the way. The bullet hit her side, blood splattering everywhere. She took off in a rather staggering run, getting smaller as she sprinted into the distance.

“Get against the wall,” one soldier barked, pointing his gun at me. “No more funny business.”

Two people came out. One said something and the other hit him in the face, breaking the guy’s nose. I backed away, rooting through my pockets for something to help me escape. For some reason I decided to throw something at the person nearest to me. The thing I threw missed. That’s all I’m going to say.

Time slowed down, even more, when the soldier redirected his gun at me and drew his finger back. The trigger pulled back, the hammer fell, the flintlock sparked and the bullet was propelled out of the barrel. Time appeared to speed up again, and a jolting pain knocked me to the ground.

I thought of a poem from King Lear:

The weight of this time we must obey, Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.

The old one hath borne most: we are that young Shall never see so much, nor live so long.

Meanwhile, Colena who was with me had turned and ran, only to trip and fall. A soldier leaped on her, pinning her to

the ground.

“I just came to check the commotion,” she cried.

The soldier on top of her punched her in the face and she yelled: “Do you have any proof?” Four more soldier-ish people came in and arrested everyone except the guy who got punched in the face by the person next to him and some other people.

So basically, to sum this up, I got shot and arrested with a whole bunch of other people.

By Marysa Liu

Dear journal, Chaos, CHAOS, ​CHAOS​! That’s all that happened, it’s hard to put in words but I will try my best as I must warn you that even I am confused about what happened that day. ~~~ As I said in my last entry I had found a bar in hopes to get a quick snack before leaving for Nassau, I took a quick peek in the building and say that it was crowded with pirates making me shiver, I quickly walked away going to the dock were my next ship will be parked. I look up to see someone else there already, I lean against the railing of the dock as I hear another horrible rumble from my stomach. Looking over at the mysterious person I walked away over to the bar to hopefully get some food. As I got to the bar I take a deep breath as I walk inside, sound quickly filling my ears as all I could hear was the sound of talking. Most of the people at the bar were men and only a few women in sight. I saw one lady in particular, she seemed to be a pirate and looked friendly enough to talk to so I sat down ordered a “bur” (that’s how pirates spell “beer”) and started a conversation. If you were to ask me what we were talking about I would say it was not important because worst things were about to happen…. As Vivian (the female pirate I was talking to) and I were talking, I looked around the room and saw a strange figure in a corner. They were extremely scary with tattoos on their arms, a black jacket and a cigarette in month, the most confusing part was that I couldn’t tell their gender.

Soon the figure said “Bogs! How about some music” This “Bogs” person was a fat man fast asleep before the mysertious figure started talking to him. Bogs pulled out a violin and started playing, sooner or later the whole bar was filled with singing and drunk folks. I was beyond confused on all this commotion but laughed seeing how happy

everyone seemed. My laughter soon stopped as I saw a man stand up holding a gun, not even a minute passed and the bar became a battlefield, blood going everywhere and shouting too. My brain was trying to process what was happening when a man quickly swong a chair at me, luckly I was quicker jumping out of my chair seeing another man easily take out a drunkard. I picked up the closes chair and swong as fast as I could at the guy attacking me, my mind was once again trying to process what just happened, as for my heart which was racing in fear. I looked over quickly at Vivian watching as she just froze in place, I was too busy fighting the guy that swong the chair at me to be able to help her. Just as I managed to knock my guys out I heard a loud bell ringing as Bogs yelled “GUARDS!” I heard very faintly someone saying “WHY?!”

“GUN!!”

And the voices went silent, all the yelling in the bar raised over them. I was huffing trying to catch my breath as I heard “You probably don’t want to be here when the guards arrive!” ‘​Shoot, I should leave’ ​I thought to myself as another guys came trying to fight me. I kept fighting and heard a pretty loud “VIVIAN WHAT’S HAPPENING?!”

I turned my head to see where the voice had come from but in an instant gunshots came throught the bar, I ducked trying my best not to get shoot.

I quickly run to the door and run past Vivian as she just stood there.

Before I could say anything to her a guard came lounging at me, they just missed me and I ran in to the forests. I just kept running until I was sure no one was behind me “​what do I do?...’’ I​ whispered to myself trying to collect my thoughts.

Colena Shan

B​RAWL AT THE​ R​USTY​ T​ANKARD Colena headed for the “Worst Bar in Freeport”. She had nowhere else to go, and something—​something ​ (a nagging feeling) told her to go there.

Her purple skirt and shirt rippled slightly as she opened the door to the bar. She had a quick glance around, then walked into the bar, heading for the counter. Her face looked as if she’d gone throught some dreadful ordeal, and she ​did, ​in fact, just got out of a ​crazy ​storm on a ship.

In the bar Colena saw her neighbor, and “friend”, Sophia. As soon as Sophia saw Colena, she bolted as if her life depended on it. Colena stopped walking as Sophia passed her. Colena kept her face impassive, but inside, she was chuckling slightly. When Sophia was out of the bar, who knows where, Colena resumed her pace.

Colena ordered a beer, and noticed an odd-looking guy. She frowned slightly, and noticed another ​dangerous​-looking guy with a soldier. Then Colena went to the bar’s patio, which was

empty except for one random person with nothing in his hand and table. He seemed to be staring into empty space.

Some time later, she left the bar, untouched beer in hand, and headed towards the docks.

She just wanted to go there for no real reason.

When she reached the docks, she saw her e​ nemy, R ​ achael. Colena didn’t hate Rachael t​ hat much, but they certainly couldn’t be called friends.

Now why is ​she ​here? ​Colena wondered. ​Oh whatever. I’m just gonna throw the beer at her. ‘Cause she’s my enemy. Pretty lame reason but WHATEVER. Colena hurled the beer at Rachael, and Rachael ducked at the last second. ~[{(|)}]~ After a while, Colena and Rachael heard commotion at the bar. Both glanced at each other. As if in silent agreement, they bolted to the bar to see what was going on.

As they drew closer, Colena could hear a bell’s gong, faint at first but growing louder every passing second. Then, as the bar came to view, she made out a man, ringing a bell.

Then—two cloaked figures, the mysterious-looking one from the bar and (uh-oh!) the dangerous-looking one from the bar whipped past her and Rachael, heading in the opposite

direction. Colena looked back for a few seconds, and she saw them run into the night and disappear in the darkness.

What is going on……? This makes my curiosity even more overwhelming.

Guards were approaching. Colena then spotted a weak-looking pirate beside a dead guard.

Could she have killed him?​ Colena wondered. A ​ nd why does she look so weak?

“What’s going on?!” Colena shouted at the pirate. The pirate gave no reply. Then, a girl that looked like a surgeon burst out of the bar and ran away into the gloomy night.

What is going on? ​Colena wondered.

The pirate ran after the surgeon, and a guard shot her. But the pirate still managed to run away, because she hadn’t been hit on the heart. Still, she was bleeding, but she had escaped.

Maybe we should get out of here too—oh no, too late.

The guards turned to Colena and Rachael.

“All right,” barked a guard. “Against the wall! No funny stuff!”

Colena and Rachael backed up.

Oh no, oh no, oh JEEZ. He turned to Rachael first.

“Well?” he growled.

Rachael tried to ​fight ​the guard (he still has one pistol in his gun, Rachael!) but failed. The guard shot her (oh my goodness!) in the chest but (that was close!) not the heart. Rachael stumbled, then collapsed (Rachael ​seemed d ​ ead, but thank goodness she was not!). Now the guard had shot Rachael, both had unloaded guns. The first had shot the pirate, and the second had just shot Rachael.

Then the two guards then pointed their empty guns at Colena. They seemed tired, but Colena wasn’t (she wasn’t as stupid as the guards) gonna think they were too tired to fight her.

For all she knew, they could pin her down when she took a step forward to fight. She had to think—fast, fast, fast! QUICKLY!

Threatening me with an empty gun? Ha! Still, they might be trained in fighting, and I’m not. I only have my inventions bag, turned mini-sized. But I can’t get it without them seeing.

Should I take a chance and run perhaps? That seems like my best bet right now……Rachael will have to wait​. I​ ’ve got to do SOMETHING, rather than just stay here and let the stupid guards

arrest me. For all I know, they could just execute me the second I’m in the right spot to be executed. I guess I’ll run?

Colena tried to run away, but a guard quickly pinned her to the ground. He used his gun to hit her in the face. She didn’t wince, but still felt pain.

Ow! Oh great​. Just what I feared. I totally underestimated this dumb guard. Terrible in brains, but great in fighting. And that makes him dangerous. I hope he doesn’t arrest any more innocent people. Then again, only a few people that are innocent would know who is innocent and who’s not. And this idiot would probably be too stupid to listen or believe them.

“We’re innocent!” Colena coughed. “We just…we just wanted to see what’s going on!”

The guards seemed to believe her for a second, but in the end, they decided that Colena was lying. The guard hit her with the gun again.

Great, we’re going to jail, ​Colena thought, a​ ll because Rachael and I wanted to see what was going on. I used to think curiosity was a good thing, but now……I don’t know what to think.

I expect they’ll be too stupid to take us to trial and let us argue are case properly……they’re probably gonna take us straight to jail.

I hate those guards. Why are they so stupid? They definitely need to be educated on at least considering what people say. If only they caught the mysterious figure, and the dangerous-looking one.

THE END (for now)

THE RUSTY TANKARD SOPEA DANG/ SOPHIA DENG

I was at the docks. The boat was going at sunrise and I came early. I went into a bar. I’d been there before and I was smart enough to know that the drinks were horrible and food was even worse and the company was absolutely terrible.

I ate my own food at my house. Inside the bar, there is an old man. He only has one eye. Even though I had been here, the one eye always surprised me.

“Are you okay?” I asked him.

“Arrrrrrrrr” he said. I took that as a yes. He stared at me. Creepy. Then finally after a long moment, he turned away and went to treat someone else. A young man next to me asked for my name. He was handsome and didn’t look as mean or evil as everyone else did. I looked around before I replied. Everyone was sizing everyone else up as if for battle. That. Is. What. Always. Happens.

“My name is Sophia.” I said, answering his question. Before I could say more, the door burst open and Colena, the crazy inventor came prancing in. “Umm, sorry, but I’d better go…” I said to the guy next to me.

I dashed around Colena and out the door.

Outside, I took a walk. That is perfectly normal.

After walking for a while, I heard a bell ring and saw some guards running towards me. Uh ohhhhh. As they came, I quickly jumped away. That was an unsettling experience. I left towards a hotel. Totally nothing to worry about, I thought.

SESSION TWO

Audience with the Governor

Jail This palace is a nightmare. People locked up, people staring at us, guards staring at us, I hope we get out of here. Last time, we were arrested in the tavern. Some of us were lucky and escaped, the others, not so much. I’m part of ‘the others’. I hope someone helps us.

We got separated. They said screw it and put us in 2 people jail cells. I got put in with another person on my crew. “Look outside,” they said. They looked up into the sky. This reminds me of a poem I read about: ​“Two men looked out from prison bars, One saw the mud, the other saw stars.” (Poem by : Dale Carnegie).

The Titanic 2000 A day passed. No one was there to get us. Until one eventful evening, one of my teammates came to rescue us! He unlocked the door and we ran out. We ran towards the dock and we stood before a giant ship “This beauty is the Titanic 2000,” he said. We boarded the ship to see our teammates. “Well,” they said, “Let's get going” and off we went.

Audience with the Governor by:vivian Today we talk about how we left off at the bar, I kept on running until I was out of breath and guess what I surrendered to the guards and they give me a chance to explain where “i threw the gun’ and the other guard said he didn't see that I threw anything so he proved me PaRtiALly innocent but not fully so now I am not so suspected as a murderer but still am going to jail sadd. We all went on a cart to see the mayor or somethin and it was to prove our innocence to him and apparently we all went together on a cart and his house was giant. I AM NOT LYING it was GIANT. He had two couches and one was for the people who were treated badly in the jail and the other one was for the people who weren't suspected as bad guys so we told him about how we were just chilling at the bar and this guy stabbed someone. And the mayor asked us if that guy may have been blackbeard.

And he told us it was probably him and then told us that we would have 30 days to catch blackbeard and bring him to the mayor and so he let us live.

We decided to go see the people who died and I recognized the man who was stabbed, it was Bates, my former crewmate. And so that was it.

Prison

The guards quickly round us all up, and escorts us towards a worn down fort, which looked like it was 50 years old. Some of the stone bricks had fallen out, and the bricks that were left were all worn out. While the guards were escorting us, the prisoners, a little boy, who looked like he was about 9, threw an apple core at one of the prisoners, who tried to duck, but failed, and then the apple core hit him right in the face. A few minutes later, we arrived at the prison. It was very, very dusty. On one side, were supplies in boxes, and on the other side, was a jail cell with two people. One person was sleeping on the floor, and another person was sitting on the bench, singing songs to herself. The guards pushed all 4 of us into the cell, and locked it up. A few minutes later, one of the people that had managed to escape comes into the room, to try and get us out of jail. But one problem, one of the prisoners who got captured was about to die, and she needed to try and heal the prisoner. Luckily, she survived. Later, the woman that was singing discharges the command guard, and commands another guard to bring us to the governor. Which makes me very, very suspicious that she is undercover for someone. The guard then leads us towards the governor, and the other person that avoided capture tagged along. In the governor's house, we tried to sit on his couch, but he wouldn't let us, because we were “Criminals’’, and only let the two people that avoided being captured. We explained that we didn’t kill anyone, and that the person that did was wearing all black, and left right after killing two people. And so, he sent us to find him, who the governor says is Black Beard. We first try to find the bullets, which we only find one, and another that shattered due to it being made out of silver.

So we got arrested, then we got taken to jail. On the way, a kid threw an apple at me, luckily he can't kill me with the apple because i'm not a doctor. And when i was in jail i did barely nothing until someone escaped and rescued everyone, then we ran to the ship and started sailing. And we ran into a lot of stuff.

Rachael 1716

Uhh, so how do I explain this? This is confusing.

“Right! Get them over there,” one of the ‘soldiers’ said, pointing somewhere. “One of them ran off down the street.

You three!” He pointed at three ‘soldiers’ and sent them chasing after the lady who had escaped. I was just bleeding on the ground. I wasn’t dead yet, but I wasn’t feeling so great.

So we, er, got arrested, and I kind of wasn’t really able to do anything but still, I forced myself to stand. They put handcuffs on us and marched us to the streets while people stared at us like we were animals in a menagerie.

Some children decided that they would bully us and started to make fun of us. One of them jeered at us and threw an apple core at a sailor in the group. The sailor tried to duck, only to have his face make contact with the apple core. The boy and his friends laughed and continued to fire curses at us.

We were heading to the only stone building on the island. It was an old and rather shabby fort, looking like it had been here for about half a century. Just before we were forced inside, there was a shout. “Hey!” A woman about the same age as the woman who had first appeared at the dock was standing there, and in her hands was an apple core. She threw it at the sailor, and again it hit him in the face. We were led inside the building and suddenly, the air became quite cold, the chill filling me, settling deep into my bones. The Caribbean was rather warm, and this building was rather the opposite.

We were ushered into a large room with two large cells. One was crammed tightly with barrels and crates, the other had two people in it, a woman who sang absent-mindedly to herself and a man who was asleep in the middle of the floor. We were shoved roughly into the cell, the key turned the lock, and there was no escape.“Awaa doodle …” was all I heard.

“Awaa doodle spanie ladis - Oh! How’re you doing? Awwaa doodle…”

One of the ‘soldiers’ leaned into the cell through the bars and hissed to the woman: “Matilda. Best watch out for these ones. They’re ​murderers​.” “Awaa doodle…” continued as if the woman had not heard the ‘soldier’’\

About an hour later, a soldier-ish person entered with the woman who had appeared at the dock first. “You see

those ones in the cell with the singing and snoring person? You know, like the ones who aren’t singing and aren’t snoring? I think they’re pretty innocent.” she said.

“All of them?” the ‘soldier’ asked “They were just trying to help innocent people escape. I didn’t see them do anything bad.”

She peered through the bars, looking at everyone. When her eyes fell on me, I didn’t really think I could be alive anymore. I leaned against the wall, trying to stop the blood from pouring out of my bloodstream.

“Uh, excuse me, someone’s about to die there, can I go save them? I’m a doctor.”

I stared blankly at her, but on the inside, I thought: ​Thank God​. “I mean, we usually just keep them as is,” the

soldier-ish person said. O ​ h Lord, help me​, I thought. The soldier-ish person took his rifle down from his shoulder and

pointed it into the cell. “Right!” he said. “All of you, back against the wall.” There was a scrambling of feet as everyone in the cell backed away. The soldier-ish person (I’m just going to call him a guard now since ‘soldier-ish’ is not really right.) reached into his pocket and pulled out a key. He handed that to the doctor.

“Go get the- dead one.”

There was a faint ​click​ as the key turned the lock and the door swung open. The doctor came in. Just as she

approached me, there was movement. The man who was previously snoring was now awake, and the woman had stopped singing. The doctor turned in panic and ran out of the cell, stopping beside the guard. The flintlock sparked, there was a fizz of gunpowder going off, and the gun fired, the sound giving me a headache. The bullet whizzed over the man’s head, thudding into the wall above me.

The formally sleeping man made a run for it. He sprinted towards the door, but the formally singing woman stepped forward and planted her fist in his face. The man collapsed onto the ground. She shook out her hand and looked towards the guard. “Burtrent! Burtrent!” she shouted. A guard came running into the room. He said some gibberish I couldn’t comprehend because I was more focused on staying alive. “Relieve this idiot of duty.” She pointed at the guard. He said: “Take the- bleeding friend and let’s go.” And then they left, turning the lock once again.

I’m not entirely sure of what happened next, I just know that sometime after I’d been removed from the cell the bullet was taken from me with a probe (a medical thing that takes out bullets using a magnetic force. Now, I’m no medical expert so don’t get me started on that.). A few hours passed, la la la la la until it was about 4 a.m. We were led to the governor’s mansion. There, a group had gathered, all of them handcuffed. They were my fellow cellmates. Coming up the hill was the person who’d gotten shot while fleeing, and I noticed that, although she was guarded, she wasn’t handcuffed. She had a bandage on her shoulder and was moving swiftly as if she hadn’t been injured at all.

“What happened and why do you have all my friends?” A woman emerged suddenly from the darkness, startling everyone. “Woah!” the guards yelled and pointed their guns at the lady. I recognized her as the person who had thrown the apple core at the entrance to the jail. “That girl came out of nowhere!” “She’s with me, she’s with me! She’s a witness too!” the doctor said. “Do we shoot the witness?” the guard asked. Colena muttered something and the guard turned to her and hissed: “Keep that up and we’ll shoot you next, eh?”

“If you shoot me you’ll be shooting the wrong person, whether you like that or not.”

“If shooting you is wrong then I don’t want to be right.”

Two of the guards pointed their guns at her. The formally singing woman, who was irritated, said: “Idiots. Lower the rifles.” One by one, the rifles lowered. “You! Come here. Stop surprising armed morons.” she said to the lady who had just appeared.

We were led into a large sitting room as if it was meant specifically for the king. There were elaborate designs on the wall, and it was simply stunning. We were planted down on the sofa, but someone said: “Some of them are a little too dirty for the furniture, that one’s perhaps too bloody.” So some of us (including me, who else would be “too bloody”. My clothes were practically soaked in blood.) were forced to stand behind the sofas, while the cleaner ones got to sit.

A few minutes later, I heard faint footfalls coming from what seemed like a set of stairs. A light appeared, glowing prettily on a candle. A man came into the room, about in his mid-forties. His hair was a little gray around the edges, and he wore what seemed like the most boring type of pyjamas. His nightcap was equally boring. So boring that you could fall asleep just looking at them. They were beige, plain beige, that kind of glow in the dark chamber. Yet I couldn’t help but stare at him, my mind now imagining multicoloured pyjamas so that I wouldn’t fall asleep. He walked into the room yawning rather rudely.

The lady who had thrown the beer at me raised her eyebrows as if greeting him. “Good morning,” he said sleepily.

He walked over and put the candle down on the tea table. “Though I suppose it’ll still be the evening for some of you. Do you have any idea why you were brought here tonight?” “Is this supposed to be our makeshift court?” the doctor asked.

“Perhaps,” the governor replied. “No,” the person who had hurled the beer at me said. “Really. You don’t know why you’ve

been brought here?” he said. “I seriously don’t know,” she said. “It’s not like we’re criminals or something,” the doctor added.

“You’ve been brought here,” he began. “Because you were witnessed at the scene of multiple murders, including the murder of one of the King’s men, Lieutenant-” “Reganold,” the doctor interrupted.

He said that we were suspected to be agents of the Spanish Empire (which I have no connection to other than the language, they’re both Romance languages) and that, the person who committed the murders could possibly be Captain Blackbeard. There were several gasps around the room. He then gave us a task: We were to bring the governor Captain Blackbeard in 30 days, or he’d think that we’d fled and that we are conspirators (which we are not). This is so bad.

The first thing we did was examine the dead bodies. The doctor took out a probe and put it through the bullet hole of which the guard was shot. The hat, which was sitting above the bullet hole, soon started moving. We realized that the bullet had been shot so fast it had gone straight through the poor man’s head and thudded into the door. We also inspected the other body, which didn’t give us any clues except for the fact that he was killed by a slash in the neck.

We searched the bar too, and this time we also found rather unhelpful clues. The doctor, who’s name was Marysa, found a knife that was embedded into the wall. It was the knife that had been thrown at the soldier, who’s name was Victor. It was short, straight and well balanced, designed specifically for throwing. But it was the other property of the knife that raised eyebrows. The blade was made entirely of pure silver, ​pure silver​, basically made of a whole lot of money. The silver was polished, pristine, not a single mark on it. The next person who searched was the lady who had thrown the beer at me.

She looked for a while, and discovered a bullet. She’d dug it out of the door, and as she looked at it, she realized that this bullet was a standard British musket ball, but most definitely not one that the soldier had fired. From what I knew, he had not fired a single bullet. The other person who got shot, by the name of Vivian, was probably shot with this musket ball. It went right through her, like the bullet that was fired at Lieutenant Reganold.

I searched the tankard next, and I found one thing: Some bullet fragments. Some were embedded in the door, others were lodged into the roof. I pulled some of them out of the wall, and I realized that these bullet fragments were also made of pure silver. The gunpowder was missing, although that was expected. The bullet, when it had gone straight through the lieutenant’s head, had exploded when it made contact with air again.

This is so bad.. So I guess-

By Marysa Liu

Dear journal, I’m risking my life for some strangers. You may ask me why and that’s because I saw them, well at least most of them. They were all sent to jail and I know, I just know that each one of them (well at least most of them) are innocent. You may still be confused so let me explain ~~~ After I ran away into the forest I saw that no one had followed me so I sat down and caught my breath. I was panicking, I was confused, I had no idea what had happened. It made me feel uneasy and I was surprisingly burning with curiosity. Once my breath was caught, I quietly ran back to the bar to see what had happened after I escaped. Once the bar was in view I instantly heard talking, I hid behind a tree listening to what was being said. I wasn’t able to make out exactly what they were saying so I took a quick peek from behind the tree to see what was happening. I saw a line of people chained together ‘​ they must be going to jail’ I​ thought as I slowly start to recognize some of them ​“wait, why are they going to jail? Most of them didn’t even do anything bad” ​I whispered as the guards started to head to the jail. It felt so wrong to see innocent people go off to jail even though they did nothing, the thing that made me feel less guilty was the fact that I didn’t even know them. I spent a good 10 minutes deciding if I should do the right thing or if I should mind my own business, I looked down at my pocket watch and saw that if I do go out of my way to save them I would still make it on time to my final ship to Nassau. I sighed as I tried to form a plan in my head, who knows how long had passed before I remembered what Vivian had told me in the bar “The governor

Colena Shan

Audience with the Governor The guards brought them to jail. There was nothing Colena could do. The guards took the batch of prisoners to jail. Two people both threw apples at the same random person from the porch. She later learned his name was Jerry. The guards didn’t care.

Anyway, the annoying jail was empty except for barrels and crates and pretty much a few things you would find in a storage room. Also, there was one woman singing some nonsense and a man snoring in an apparently, very ​deep sleep.

And then the guard blabbed some nonsense to the woman and said so many untrue stuff, from “Here are some guilty prisoners” to “be careful, these are ​murderers​.” The woman continued singing her nonsense and the guard shoved them in.

Is that our stupid cell? ​Colena thought. ​That is like the, WORST cell ever. And we are certainly ​not murderers.​ And the cell is fit for evil animals or something. Not us.

A few minutes later, Rachael fainted.

Oh no, C ​ olena realized with horror, ​she’s suffering from that wound on her chest and hasn’t gotten any medical treatment.

Another few minutes later, a girl, accompanied by a few guards, came to their cell. She seemed very familiar—no wait, she was Marysa! Marysa was Colena’s old friend.

Marysa’s eyes fell on Rachael.

“Can I go help her? She’s dying,” Marysa said to the guards. A guard nodded, and another drew his gun.

“BACK! Against the wall!” he snapped. Colena crossed her arms, raised her eyebrows, and did as he had instructed. It could not have been plainer she was furious.

Anyway, Marysa was a doctor and healed Rachael (at least that was what Colena supposed) when the two of them left. Colena wanted to go with them, but as a guard had tried to lock Marysa in the jail cell, she doubted if it was a good idea.

Later, for how long I don’t know, Colena spotted the same weak-looking pirate from before, with a bunch of guards.

The guards drew their (finally loaded) guns on Vivian. Anyway, Colena forgot what, but she said something that made the guards turn on her instead.

“Shoot me if you like, but you’ll be shooting the wrong people,” Colena said.

“If shooting you is wrong, I don’t want to be right—” said the guard but then the woman who had been singing nonsense said something that made the guard change his mind and Colena to roll her eyes.

And then she saw Sophia again later, but she couldn’t remember details.

Soon she was escorted to talk to “the Governor” or whatever the guards called him or her. The governer seemed to have a very weird accent. Colena didn’t bother talking to him; she didn’t see anything at the bar except for the end of some murder and stuff and the “governor” seemed to want information on that. Marysa, on the other hand, and the soldier, yammered on and on so that Colena got so bored and tried to keep as much as the conversation from reaching her ears. “……you’re not talking about Blackbeard?” said the “governor”.

“Uh…maybe it was him…” said the soldier.

“Did he have tattoos?” suggested the “governor”.

“Um…well, I can’t tell; he was wearing long sleeves and long pants,” replied Marysa.

And then, Colena didn’t try to block out the next thing, because— “You have thirty days to bring me Blackbeard and if you don’t when the time comes, we shall suppose you are helping him and have fled,” said the governor.

Oh no, t​ hought Colena. ​The mysterious looking figure!

Then the governor let them go.

The eight of them decided to go back to the bar for clues and saw dead bodies; they had brief looks and then went to the bar.

Marysa found a knife made entirely of silver; the soldier, whose name was Victor, spoke up, “That knife was thrown at me by a hooded person. I managed to duck in time.”

Colena combed the bar and found a bullet, a musket ball sticking from a wall. Then Rachael found fragments of a ​silver ​bullet.

Huh, first a silver knife, now a silver bullet? Knives are usually steel, and who ever heard of a silver bullet?

PRISON? SOPEA DANG/ SOPHIA DENG Ummmmm… if I were going back to a hotel then why is a group of people with carts blocking my way?

Ohhhhhhh, they hand handcuffs, prisoners. There was a local prison, really ugly, really old too. What have they done to land themselves in that old place? I wouldn’t know. A boy came at them and threw a rotten apple core at them. It hit one of them hard in the face. That looked fun. I searched on the ground and found an apple core, I threw it. It hit the same person square in the face again.

I found Marysa, following them, more stealthily than I was doing. I guess throwing apple cores is not the most sneaky way to track someone.

We followed them all the way to the prison. Well, why? I wanted to see the outcome and I knew a good yarrow patch outside.

Once we got there, Marysa told me, “ Come on! Don’t you want to help them? They got here for doing nothing!” I don’t think I recognized anyone, I didn’t know why they were here either. Why were they here? I thought.

“ Wait, you know these people? How come? How did they get thrown into here? What do you mean they got here for doing nothing?” I asked.

“ Ohhhhh, yeah. They came here after you ran out! I can’t believe you missed it. I got away and I saw everything. I’m going to try to free them. I guess you can’t come cause you don’t have anything to do with it.” she said, a bit unhappy about the fact that I didn’t see anything.

“Why would you free a bunch of people you don’t know?” I asked.

“ I don’t know? You and I know one person. Your neighbor and the crazy inventor! Plus I don’t feel like they should be trapped in a cage like this for doing nothing.” she answered.

“ I don’t know about this, but yeah, I’ll stay outside. I’m very good at waiting.” I said.

“ Okay, thanks. Good luck to myself I guess.” She said, and went up to the guard standing outside the heavy, thick and bolted door.

I sat down. I could pick yarrow but.. ​* sigh​, it was too dark, how could I tell what was yarrow or weed?

Healthy yarrow or diseased? I lay down and began counting the stars, there were so many. I kept counting until I thought, did I count that one yet? Was I at thirty two or thirty one? It was like the sky was endless. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven ……

Okay, after like, my twelfth try on trying to count stars, a group of people came out. Including Marysa. I went down the hill to join them and a guard pulled his gun out and pointed it at my face. “ Ummmmm, hello?” I tried.

“ Hey! We are not supposed to shoot random people!” One of the guards next to him said.

“ She’s not random. She’s been following us. Probably a spy” The first guard said menacingly.

“ Wait! That’s my friend!” a voice came. Marysa! At least I wouldn’t die.

“ We are going to see the general, pretend you know everything and that you know exactly why we are here.” Marsa whispered quietly into my ear. I nodded and walked with her.

We walked and walked and walked. After like, 2000 years, we got to a big mansion. We went inside and I sat down on a comfortable sofa. A moment later an old looking man in pajamas came out of a door.

“ Dirty people! Off the couches. Why are you all here? No, nevermind, you were arrested.” He said before any of us could reply. “ Well, well, well. Who are you guys? Don’t lie. If you lie, you might as well stick your head in a pond to drown.”

“ I-I’m Victor. A member of your army,” someone said. “ I don’t know why I’m here if I’m in the army…”

“ Hmmmmmm…… sounds fishy… Why are you here. Tell me now.” The general commanded.

“ We were at a bar in the town. There was a shadowy figure in the corner. Someone tried to kill the figure and the figure killed him and the figure killed a guard and ran away. We didn’t leave and so the guards thought we killed the people and they arrested us.” Victor said.

“ I don’t believe that you did nothing and I don’t believe the entire story but you say… a shadowy figure?”

The general asked.

“ Yes, he was hooded and kinda scary.” Victor said.

“ Ohhhhhh yes. You might go free… Or, you might all die. This shady character. He might be Blackbead. If you can find him, bring him to me. You have thirty days to capture him. If you can’t, well off goes your head.” the General.

“ O- ok” Victor said.

“ Off you go!” the general said.

We went away. We introduced ourselves. Everyone else wanted to look at the bodies of the dead people. I looked away at those times. Creepy and disgusting.

SESSION THREE

Battle on the High Seas

Battle on the high seas. By me (VIvian)

The battle on the high seas :O. This one is interesting.

Let me tell you. So we went on our ship to start off our “fun” journey to find blackbeard. So basically, we went on the ship, I decided to sleep above deck just in case something happened so I could warn others easily.

Victor, he woke up suddenly and heard the storm and so he rang the bell. But then this guy, who looked like a drunk zombie, broke the bell and we didn't even know how he got on our ship. Then this giant crab ripped through the man and the crab was in the man. We were all like WTH and ewwwwwww. It was gross though.

Then there was this whole war, because these giant clam slimy disgusting creatures are attacking us. Then this ship came. At first it looked like it said “titanus Boom” but then we noticed it was the “titanic 2000”. It had arrived

Unexpectedly, we find that we have been teleported to a relatively small ship that looks very old, and with pudgy cannons, not really able to withstand a lot of cannons, and it looks like it's shaped for speed. It has an all italian crew. Sadly, no one speaks italian but me, so I have to do all the grueling talking. While the ship was sailing, I questioned my newfound allies, if they had any questions for the captain, and eventually figured out that Blackbeard is actually a Female. Suddenly, we enter a ROARING storm, able to knock the ship over if not for lowering the sail. Later, I hear the bell ringing, so I decide to ask the good captain what's going on, but on the way down the stairs, I see a crewmate taking the bell down, and I exclaim loudly, “Why are you taking down the bell?” but no answer. So, I exclaim again but louder, “ WHY ARE YOU TAKING THE BELL DOWN?” but this time, he slowly turns towards me, which is very suspicious so I draw my sword. But, when he fully turns towards me, he's not human at all!

Infact, he looks like a human crab smashed with an octopus! I stab it a few times, until it falls in the water. While I was doing this, my newfound allies found out, and came to help.

Unexpectedly, a gigantic ship starts shooting at us. While the crewmates were fighting, me and my allies were fighting once more of those crab monsters. A few hours later, we see Blackbeard's ship, now called the Titanic 2000, which makes me very suspicious that the ship to Nassau was a fraud. And the ship rams our ship…

We got on the ship and we started sailing. But then some unknown creatures climbed up the boat and attacked us, then i shouted sparta and killed them. Then we ran into a ship and we fired at it, and they fired back. Then we ran into another 5 million ships and we kept firing at them, but they fired back so we had to sail away. And someone else got stuck on a rock 1 foot below the sea surface and we had to pull him up.

Rachael 1716

It was a warm sunny afternoon and we were able to board the ship that was to take us to Nassau. The ship was called the “Short Hauler” and the captain was an Italian who spoke Italian, but to me, he was just speaking a whole bunch of incomprehensible gibberish. Victor, who was British and had once been stationed in Italy, understood the language, but the rest of us didn’t. There were many words that sounded like words from French but put together with the words that sounded like gibberish, it didn’t make any sense. The captain introduced himself as Captain Jacabo. I understood his introduction as a whole bunch of French with some accents. Marysa had gone to ask Mr. Bogs something related to whatnot.

I heard snippets of their conversation, but the time I heard everything was when we gathered around him to hear his story. “Blackbeard weren’t always a captain, “ he said. “In fact, he joined up with another individual, ‘bout 3 years ago. Man by the name of, uh, Charles Vayne. Captain Charlie Vayne. I usually don’t get to call him Charlie, but he’s not here to kill me, so I can call him Charlie.

“You see, Blackbeard n’ Vayne ran together for a couple years, couple very successful years, though I hear, I’m not a pirate, they made a lot of money, cruising around on one of the most terrifying vessels in all the Caribbean: The

Titanus Boom​. Absolute horrifying name. I, ah, understand that Blackbeard agreed, I don’t - I dunno. But either way. They were out on a job - I, the one that got stolen, as you pay attention, ah, not like some of these.” He gestured to nobody in particular. “Who can’t remember 30 seconds at a time. It seemed Blackbeard and Vayne, were out on a moonlit mission on one of those more mysterious islands, closer to the coast of Latin America. Down by Mexico. And, they found something.

No idea what it was, what I do know, is that - “ he was interrupted by someone.

“What did you find?” the person (who’s name was Eric) asked.

“I don’t know, I’m no pirate,” Bogs replied.

“Edward Teach,” I said.

“Ooo, there’s a name I haven’t heard in a while,” Bogs said. “No, Edward Teach was already dead. Blackbeard was a sort of, ah, honorific title.”

“Benjamin Hornigold,” I said.

“Benjamin Hornigold? Also dead, “ he said. “Anyways, problems ensued, and T ​ itanus Boom w ​ ent missing. And

Charlie Vayne found himself rolling out of Freeport in a little boat, all by himself, filled with anger,” “Wasn’t Vayne the one who tried to kill Blackbeard?” Marysa asked.

“I-I do believe that was Charlie,” Bogs answered.

Marysa went to ask the person named Will Darby, which I didn’t participate in since I was actually pondering about whether I should blow up this ship. Night came, and the first mate took the command of the ship. Jacabo came onto the deck of the ship, smoking a very long pipe.

Victor approached him cautiously and asked him something in Italian. The captain turned and said in heavily accented English: “I, uh, do not speak Italian.” Eric came up and said in English: “Do you know anything about Blackbeard?” Jacabo spoke some gibberish.

Seagulls soared high above the ship, screeching their shrill squawk. They circled above us in a swarm, as if they were a large swarm of bees. Their gray and white feathers landed on the deck, gray-white against the dark brown. The

captain turned to Victor and said something. The seagulls cleared after a while of squawking and cumulonimbus clouds appeared in the distance.

The wind was quite high in the seas, so the ship went quickly. We were at about a quarter of the distance to Nassau when the storm broke. The clouds, moving fast from the wind, were sailing through the sky like our ship in the ocean, were a dark gray. The wind howled and I’m not really sure if the crew took the sails down. A person named Will Darby was on the ship with someone named Mr. Bogs. They both went under the deck, along with Eric. It was more comfortable below deck, I knew, but I chose to sleep above deck. It was pouring, but there was a canvas canopy stretched out at the front of the ship. I didn’t really want to sleep, though.

After a bit, Victor went somewhere. A few minutes later, there seemed to be some kind of scandal going on at the prow of the ship. There was this kind of giant crab thing with a dead crewman on its back. It seemed to be interested in killing Victor because it ignored the rest of us. It charged and missed, tried again and charged. Victor struck it with his sword and it staggered away while Victor took out his rifle. Yet another gunshot went off, there was a fizz of gunpowder and a flash of light, then the bullet smashed into the creature.

Lightning ripped across the ship, letting me have my first good glance at this creature. It was impossible. Simply impossible. It looked like a crab, but it had fewer legs, and with those fewer legs, it looked like a giant bug. It was unthinkable in every way. The creature struck a million questions into my head as it disappeared into the black water below.

As we all stood there, I heard the ship’s bell ringing. But the bell, well, it wasn’t a bell anymore. It was on the ground, the iron that had once held it to the ship shattered into fragments. I looked up, and I saw the prow’s nest, where a second bell was ringing. I heard a sailor yell: “Something sighted in the mist!”. Someone said something I couldn’t comprehend. I peered over the edge of the ship, and there was indeed something looming towards the ship. It was dark, and the lanterns barely gave any light.

Several cannon shots went off, the cannonballs flying towards our ship. Lightning flashed through the air and there was a thud as one cannonball embedded itself into the side of the ship, shaking it on the unsteady waves. The ship turned, and returned fire to whatever was shooting at us. There were some distant thumps, probably because the cannonballs our ship fired hit its target.

“Did we hit it? Can you see? Can you-” Captain Jacobo was hit with a cannonball in the side. He collapsed in pain. Victor rushed over to him and one of them said some gibberish. Jacobo’s crewmates picked him up and carried him below deck. The wheel spun out of control as the ship was pushed about by the wind. Vivian and Victor both rushed to the wheel. Victor slipped in Captain Jacobo’s blood and flopped face-first onto the deck. Vivian spun the wheel, and righted the ship’s path. She looked at Victor and let out a laugh, looking more and more like a pirate. “Why’d you do that?” she laughed.

The whatever-is-doing-this moved closer and opened fire. It struck the ship in the hull. People started shouting:”Repair! Do something! We’re taking on water!” Water was pouring in below deck from a hole at the side of the ship. We took pieces of wood and began to hammer them over the wall. When that was done, we rushed above deck and began to throw buckets of water over the side of the ship. As we were doing that, the object submerged and disappeared below the inky water.

The ship moved forward and a massive thud echoed through the salty sea air from the starboard side. That was the same direction as whatever came from. I looked over the edge, and saw something that was even more impossible.

Something large was stuck to the side of the ship, several smaller figures climbing up the side. The smaller figures reached the top. There were 3 of them and they were difficult to make out in the dark, but they all looked rather nasty.

As they climbed over the side of the ship, they appeared to look - human, wielding swords. They swung towards several of us, snarling and baring their teeth. One of them looked towards Vivian and laughed like a maniac. It lunged, its sword in hand, and Jerry lunged in too, kicking it over the side of the boat. He looked over the side and laughed the exact same laugh at the monster. Victor grabbed a random dagger and tossed it to Vivian, who was steering the ship.

Marysa rummaged through her bag and pulled out the dagger that she found at the bar. One of the “humans” lunged towards her and pinned her to the deck of the ship. She tried to lift her left arm, but it was pinned to the deck by the thing’s sword. Marysa swung her right arm upwards and stabbed it. More impossible things happened. The thing melted into a puddle of seawater. The person who threw the beer at me rushed to pick him off, only to discover that he had “melted”.

Marysa told her what to do. Surprisingly, she managed to do it and bandaged Marysa.Vivian spun the wheel to the right and turned the ship. She shouted out: “FIRE IN ITALIAN!” and several cannon shots went off. The ship moved forward as the wind blew against the sails.

The bow was struck with a cannonball, along with the starboard side. The person who threw the beer at me tugged out the sword from Marysa. Again we had to repair the ship, and again something illogical happened. A pair of hands were reaching through the hole, attempting to get into the ship. Since a lot of people had to be above deck, only a few of us were below deck. I lunged towards the thing with a hammer (I know it’s stupid) and started banging on the whatever, trying to get it to go away. I also got a fresh source of seawater.

When I went above deck, the thing in front of us disappeared below the jet black waves. Four cannons hit the ship as the other thing began to move closer on the starboard side.

“Ship! Ship ahoy on the starboard side!”

I looked to the right, and indeed there was a ship-like shape looming out of the horizon. It was much bigger than the

Short Hauler​, clearly meant to hold about a hundred people. Its cannons lit up with fire, and there was a cannonshot as it opened fire towards us. One of the cannonballs hit the ship, but most of them slammed into the creature. It somehow “bursted”. It’s hard to describe. Chunks of it flew into the air and there was a large cracking noise and it sank below the surface, but not like the other one did.

We moved towards the other ship and repaired ours. There was a thudding noise as one of the creatures impacted the ship and Eric leaped off the front of the ship and disappeared overboard. Three more creatures climbed up the front of the boat just as I came up from below deck. I swung the hammer (vvveeeeeerrrrrryyyyy bad idea there, kids, do not try this at home) towards one of them and pain shot through me and I let go of the hammer, falling back onto the deck.

Bogs came charging up from below deck, took a look at the sword protruding out of me, and said: “Arh, you’re an ugly one!” The creature reached for its blade as Will Darby came up, grabbed the lantern that Bogs was holding, and smashed it into the face of the creature, its arm now on fire. Jerry lunged forward and sliced the arm clean off.

Colena pulled out a bow and nocked an arrow, shooting one of the other creatures in the eye. The arrow passed through the back of the thing’s eye and out of the back of its head. Vivian sliced the knife across its chest and it did not seem to care. It sliced its sword across her chest and she lost the wheel.

Marysa sliced her dagger across the one who attacked me and it turned into a puddle of seawater. Something large and dark loomed beneath the surface. Cannons continued to fire at us, but most of it was still going to the things. The other ship got closer and closer. The ship stopped rocking as Marysa lunged for the wheel and stopped its spinning. I reached for the blade in me, gritted my teeth, and yanked it out. I watched as it simply dissolved into another puddle of seawater.

Marysa gained control of the ship and yelled: “FIRE AT EVERYTHING!!!” I looked to the right, and a much larger vessel loomed out of the shadows and rammed into the ​Short Hauler​. It looked like it said T ​ itanus Boom, b​ ut it seemed to be scratched to ​Titanic 2000​?

I’m just going to leave it there. I know, I like my cliffhangers, don’t I?

The Battle We sailed for around 3 days. We had food, and (obviously) we had a water purifier, so we could purify the sea water so we basically had infinite water. So we were chilling on a boat in the middle of the sea.

One day, however, things didn’t go like that. IT was turning dark and we couldn't really see anything. But later, one of us spotted a rock that looked like it was moving.

Since these were weird times, we went towards it for curiosity’s sake. But we later on found out that it was a giant mollusk and there were multiple of them lurking around us.

WE prepared for battle and we saw another ship helping us defeat the giant clammy thingies. We got hurt, I was curious enough to jump into the water to see what it was and I found out it was a giant mollusk. SOme of my crewmates even risked their lives to get me out (one of them got stabbed in the back). THings weren’t looking good for the good people.

Colena Shan

BATTLE ON THE HIGH SEAS Colena glanced at her ticket. Not for the ​Shorthauler​. But she barely had time to read the name on the ticket when a man gave a swift glance at the ticket and led her on the ship. Colena’s eyes flickered to the paper on the boxes. It was published, if Colena remembered correctly, every two months and told of stuff going-ons in the sea and stuff Colena didn’t really understand much. But when she saw the date on the paper—​huh? ​1716! But the day she left to go to Freeport, it was in 1713!

She had an ​impossible ​thought, yet it was the only thing that fit. When she came to on the beach, she must’ve fainted for ​three years!​ But how did I survive without food? Unless it was something like hibernation? A ​long ​type of hibernation.

Bogs, William Darby, and the rest of the “arrested for crime” people boarded the ​Shorthauler as well.

Soon, she was listening Mr. Bogs, or so he was called, speak about Blackbeard, their quarry.

“Blah…blah…blah,” Mr. Bogs yammered on and on, “…blah…blah.”

“Edward Teach?” said Rachael unexpectedly.

“Aaaaaargh……haven’t heard ​that ​name in a while,” Mr. Bogs blabbed.

Colena learned that the ​dangerous-looking ​figure was Captain Vayne. And then she rummaged in her pockets for no apparent reason. And realized her bag of inventions was ​gone​!

I must’ve lost it on the ship​, thought Colena. ​And without it, this mission just got a lot harder.

Good news I still have my Stop-From-Freaking-Out-From-Grapes-And-Pillows.

Evening arrived, and Captain Jacobo came from, well, Colena couldn’t remember.

“Do you know anything about Blackbeard?” Victor asked in Italian.

“I, uh, do not speak Italian,” said the man in a ​really ​weird accent.

“Do you know anything about Blackbeard?” Eric said.

“Commanneeysee (that’s what it sounded like) Blackbeard?” said the man.

He told Victor something in Italian.

“What do you want to know?” asked Captain Jacobo.

“Blackbeard—” Colena didn’t hear the next bit “—Vayne comes from hell. Why do you want to know?”

After a long pause, he said, “Chasing death?”

“Do you know anything else about Blackbeard?” Victor asked.

“Cursed,” said the captain, “cursed by whatever is in the waters. Used t’be safe.” And then he spoke a bunch of stuff Colena tried to block out.

“Something dark…you have a good night Mr. Victor,” Captain Jacobo said. Then he walked away.

It was soon dark, and they all decided where to sleep. Colena stayed abovedeck, not wanting sleep because she wanted to stay alert for the ​monster ​(the monster from the ship). The monster that had attacked during a storm.

Rain came, which, Colena guessed, wasn’t much of a surprise because the captain had said a storm was coming.

Victor headed belowdecks. He did something there, but Colena couldn’t see what, because even though she had great eyesight, the rain blocked her vision.

But she was curious, so Colena and the rest of those that had stayed abovedecks rushed to where Victor was. He was now in close combat with a ​huge crab.​ Victor drew his rifle and fired.

Lightning flashed, and illuminated an ​impossible shape​. So many legs.

Victor told them he didn’t know what he saw. And then a bell rang. The ship’s bell. It was broken. And then a second bell was ringing.

A sailor yelled some Italian. And Victor translated something about a ​scary shape​.

BOOM! “WE’RE UNDER ATTACK!” yelled the rest of the crew (the Italians) in Italian. And then the crew started loading cannons.

Colena and the rest of her crew shot the creature and they heard ​THUD​!!

“Did you see? Did we hit—?” Captain Jacobo yelled, leaning over the deck but he was hit by a cannonball in the chest.

Victor rushed over.

Then Victor and Vivian raced each other to the wheel. Victor slipped on Captain Jacobo’s blood while Vivian easily snatched the wheel. She corrected the course.

“Why did you do that?” Vivian muttered to Victor, whose face was covered with Captain Jacobo’s blood.

The crew steered the boat forwards. And then the hull was struck with a deafening ​boom​.

“REPAIR!” yelled some people. Some rushed belowdecks. Water leaked from a hole. Then the creature, or more like the shapeless mass, disappeared below the sea. side.

And soon the ship was fully fixed. And then the ship ​lurched from the starboard. The right Something (or ​somethings​) clung onto the ship.

Colena grabbed her bow and hurried over to the side and had a look over at those stuff clinging on the ship. Colena snatched an arrow and shot.

Then a man tackled Marysa. The man stabbed her arm. Marysa stabbed him in his gut. And Colena rushed over and felt the man—​dying m ​ aybe? Marysa was also kind of bleeding.

Colena rummaged in Marysa’s bag, trying to find something to help Marysa’s wound. She found a bunch of stuff. She kept searching.

“What should I get?” Colena said.

“Bandaids, cotton balls, and poppyseeds,” replied Marysa.

Colena, as an inventor, didn’t know too much about medical stuff. She operated on Marysa, praying (even though she didn’t believe in god) that it would work. Luckily, Marysa got healed—sort of.

“FIRE!” screamed Vivian in Italian.

She knows Italian?

More ship damage.

Colena gripped the sword and tugged it out of Marysa’s arm. She did more medical treatment and ​phew!—i​ t was clear Marysa was gonna live. Colena kept the sword.

Best be prepared when fighting at a distance ​and​ in close combat​.

The storm raged on.

More cannons fired from the side.

A ship was in view! But nobody could identify it. And then—Colena realized the unknown ship was aiming at them! Some cannonballs hit the ship, but most hit the shapeless mass.

Which—​crackled ​and then ​exploded​.

Eric leapt off the ship.

What? Is he dumb? ​Colena thought. Jumping off a ship when you know there are plenty of monsters around is a really foolish thing to do, but Colena later realized that Eric wasn’t dumb, he was insane. Eric seemed to be fine, almost like he was on an underwater sidewalk. And then he punched it (the thing that was supporting him).

“What the—?” muttered Colena as she watched Eric doing something on the “underwater sidewalk”. Choppy waters barreled the ship again.

Colena saw Rachael get injured (stabbed, like Marysa, in the arm but by a knife). And then Will Darby and Bogs came out of nowhere.

Colena grabbed her bow and shot her arrow at a creature attacking the ship and hit the creature straight through the eye and right through, coming out of the back.

Gross​.

Vivian and Jerry both did some unsuccessful things that made Colena want to roar with laughter. And then Victor did something really stupid and then took some damage. Vivian and Rachael were looking bad too.

Then Marysa stabbed another creature, and it turned to slime.

And then Colena saw Eric see something underwater. And he seemed like he was ​greeting it with a hello.

Has he gone crazy? Must be a yes.

The mysterious ship approached.

Something large seemed to appear on the surface, bigger than the previous monsters.

Colena saw ​tentacles​. The ​monster​ that had spoken to her (that’s what she thought anyway)!

Marysa quickly healed Vivian. And then Marysa started driving the ship.

And then Sophia did something ​really f​ unny. She grabbed a map and the ink started to run.

And then, she grabbed a compass and it slipped in her hands. Then she put her hands in her pockets as if none of that had to do with her.

“FIRE AT EVERYTHING!” somebody yelled.

What the hell?

Then a giant ship appeared. It said, ​Titanus Boom! ​Colena could barely read it. But the paint was peeled off in places and paint was in places it wasn’t when it first was painted. And the result looked like:

TITANIC 2000

Colena had no time to think before the giant ship rammed the (starboard side I think) of the Shorthauler.

Holey grapes and pillows.

BATTLE Well, very nice day to me. Me and my new friends all got onto a ship named the stupid shot hauler. Or whatever. I made the stupid part up. Will Darby and Mr. Bogs are apparently coming with us too. I don’t hate them but I do think that Mr. Bogs would be rather useless.

One thing Mr. Bogs can do is: entertain people. He told us a story. “ Blah blah blah Blackbeard. Blah blah blah Peter…” I don’t know. Creepy stupid ( Probably) made-up stories are ​not ​for me.

After a long super boring day, I went to bed. It was raining. I still slept on the deck though.

Sooooooo… after a long rest, somebody shook me awake. Hmmmmmm, that someone needs to learn manners. Anyhow, it was Victor. He told me he’d been fighting this horrifying crab monster. That was just a tiny bit unbelievable. Well, this huge cannonball suddenly hit the deck and I squeezed my eyes shut. ​Please no more cannonballs​ I thought. Suddenly the ship rocks and I open my eyes. There were two weird slimy creatures that looked like humans but couldn’t be. I blinked. They were gone. Jerry was next to the place they had been. I guess he kicked them off. Well, the ship is in total chaos. I see Victor sliding in a pool of blood. I see Marysa pinned to the ground. I see Vivian steering the ship as cool as she can. She looked a bit like a pirate. I feel like I’ve seen this before. It feels like a horror movie. Eric was gone, Racheal was impaled. This couldn’t be happening. This just couldn’t. I squeezed my eyes shut, willing the horrible images to go away- they didn’t. Instead, they flashed like crazy. Hopefully this was a nightmare and I would wake up with the sun shining and the birds singing. Well, seagulls.

I opened my eyes again. Everyone was still fighting. I ran to the nearest map and picked it up, bad luck.

The rain had already smeared the ink, maybe I could still find a weapons room. I never knew if there was a weapons room on the ship. The map flew out of my hands. I picked up the nearest compass. It bounced on my palm and I tried to catch it. If you’ve ever had to play ball and keep it in the air by hitting it’s bottom you get the idea. It was probably cursed. It also flew out of hands.

I stood there frozen. There wasn’t anything useful I could do without getting stabbed. I closed my eyes again. A shriek came and I opened my eyes. A huge ship loomed out of the darkness. It was just‌ there. It was actually huge. I checked for its name. It said Titianus boom but some of the letters were crossed off. Now it said Titanic 2000. That's all I saw before a loud thump came and the ship crashed into us.

SESSION FOUR

Uka'To'ah

Colena Shan| Aneloc Nahs

Uka’ To’ah Colena gritted her teeth. Marysa steered the ship away from the ​Titanus Boom ​or ​Titanic 2000 or whatever.

All Colena remembered was that she shot an enemy, then let Will Darby take over fighting him and hurried to get Bogs to stop “steering” the S​ horthauler​. She raced to the wheel, and pushed Bogs, none too gently, out of her way. She started steering the ​Shorthauler properly​, and much more smoothly, forward, hoping to outrun the “Creature”. It was very likely it was the one that had faced her when she was sixteen (she still had trouble believing if she had fainted for three years) and stuff. Then Bogs did some ​more ​useless stuff.

Colena had no idea what happened next, only that Captain Jacobo had somehow lived, not died, and had immediately taken over steering the wheel. Colena let him do it; she had ​way ​less experience than a captain.

Colena relaxed, glaring at the sky, and it was ​still ​raining. Then she saw some stinky beer. And you just might ​have guessed what happened. Seriously, you should ​never ​do this (yup, Colena is a pretty bad role model). Colena threw a beer at Rachael.

Since Rachael was on the ground, s​ till i​ mpaled, Colena just had to make an effortless throw. A second later, Rachael was dripping stinky beer. Will Darby killed the enemy he’d been fighting and said something,

but Colena ignored him. (If you want to know, Will Darby was trying to give Colena a lecture on “What-The-Hecks” and “Don’t-Throw-Beer-On-People-Let-Alone-​Helpless​-People” and et cetera.)

Then the ​Titanus Boom ​or ​Titanic 2000 (​ actually, let’s call it the ​Titanic 2000 ​‘cause that’s what it looks like now) pulled up and a voice, unmistakably Blackbeard’s, the man the group had been hunting (or chasing, or looking for and then preparing to drag him to Governor Blake) said something.

And the next thing Colena knew, one of the crew members was welcoming them on the ship (except for Eric who made the stupid decision to jump off the S​ horthauler a​ gain, and Vivian, who was cowering ​still on the smaller ship). “….​Colena​….” said the crew member.

Colena nearly stumbled in surprise.

How does he know my name?

The crew member didn’t seem to know who anyone else was and then Will Darby came outta ​nowhere with a coat and offered it to Colena. Colena took it rather nervously, as there was a nagging thought in her head. She put it on.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

And then she spotted Bogs beside the anchor, leaning against a pole (that’s what Colena remembered anyway). He mumbled something about being “the master when it came to anchors”, and that was ​totally not

true​. Blackbeard’s crew treated him like he was a sailor too (Colena was pretty sure if Bogs had ever attended school for sailing and stuff, he most likely failed every quiz or examination or whatever else).

But Colena was totally freaked out when she realized that Blackbeard’s crew knew her ​last ​name. And, by the way, she hadn’t spoken about her last name ever since she had recovered from her “still-unknown-for-how-long” blackout, which got her suspicious too.

Vivian s​ till w ​ as gone, which made Colena have a dumb but possible thought that maybe Vivian wanted to drown or go with the hopeless thought of finding land and escaping Blackbeard—which, Vivian possibly thought was a very dangerous person wanting to kill them all. Oh yeah, the ​Shorthauler ​got gobbled up by the monster Colena had encountered in 1713 and Vivian had jumped off the boat just in time.

Blackbeard’s crew had actually tried to save Vivian, like they saved Eric, who, by the way, was nearly dead (see what a stupid idea he had in his mind? He had a mental breakout, right when he should’ve kept his cool), but Vivian escaped (Colena even yelled at her, and again, she had great yelling skills), kicking at the man who tried to help her (or maybe gain the group’s trust then​ ​killing them but anyway) and swimming.

Now, Colena knew Vivian was a pirate, but a ​weak ​one. Even though Colena barely knew Vivian (that’s what Colena thought), she hoped Vivian wouldn’t die.

Then the group took a while to reflect on what happened. Most of them had bad thoughts (like, this is my fault and stuff) but Colena realized more details about the monster that she hadn’t in 1713 but she was also rather preoccupied with the fact that Blackbeard’s crew seemed to know a few facts about her, and she could’ve sworn she’d never seen them before.

After some reflecting, Colena started to get worried about Vivian again.

And so, when Blackbeard offered them a boat to help their friend, Colena told them she would do it. A few others from her group joined her. Eric stayed behind, not wanting to go. Even if he wanted to search for Vivian, he was in no condition to go (it’s still raining out there by the way).

Keep swimming, keep treading water​, Colena thought, wishing Vivian could hear her, w ​ e’re coming​.

So we finished fighting and we boarded Blackbeard's ship. And he didn't kill us, which was sad because i wanted to commit suicide or die but he didn’t kill me. I also asked if i can commit suicide, but they wouldn’t let me for some reason. And someone wants us to capture blackbeard and that is good because I have a chance to die during the process.

Whoosh! Wam! I was standing near the captain, right after I brutally turned another sea monster into slush with my sharp, british standard sword. Suddenly, I realized that one of my newfound allies had tried to get back on the ship, but was slowly sliding off the hull of the ship.

And so, I bolt so fast towards the bow that you wouldn't be able to see me, and I try to pull him up, but one problem, I pull up the ally, but I almost fall off. Luckily, I pull myself together, and get back on the ship. Then, more combat. And Bogs takes control of steering. But Will tells Marysa to get to steering, because Bogs is not a good steerer. Suddenly, Bogs lets down the anker, and let us get captured by Blackbeard (who is a woman.) But, Vivian, a pirate stays on the ship, and a GIGANTIC sea creature tears our ship apart. While the pirate divers were searching for‌ something, one of them finds Vivian, but she just kicks him, and swims away. So, Colena, the inventor, and Jerry, the sailor, and me get on a ship to search for her...

BLACKBEARD? SOPEA DANG/SOPHIA DENG So in the middle of infinite chaos, I easily move to the back of the ship. Nobody attacks me or anything.

Suddenly, there is a pull and I fall over. Everyone turns to look at Mr. bogs except for me. “ Ummm… oh sorry.

I don’t know what I …” Bogs said. I guess Bogs put down the anchor. “Oh yes! Thank you Mr. Bogs!” an unfamiliar voice said. It was Blackbeard. The pirate. Bad news. “ Oh. Don’t escape. You may come onto my boat or you can stay and get devoured by this sea monster.” Blackbeard pointed to some unfamiliar big lump in the ocean. I see captain Yakabo or shakabo or whatever pulling up the anchor. But blackbeard wasn’t going to let us escape. He threw some ropes with hooks onto our ship. Slowly Colena and some other people get onto Blackbeards boat. I followed them. After most people got onto Blackbeards boat, we pulled away quickly. The dark shape got to our old boat and lifted it into a beak and ate it. My friends who stayed on the boat might have died. Might. I didn’t think so. It was terrifying to see the ship being eaten.

I go to sleep.

Rachael 1716

Marysa came and bandaged up my wound. Someone yelled: “Go steer the ship!” and Bogs went and steered. We pulled away from the Titanic 2000 and opened fire on the starboard side. They continued to fire as Colena pushed Bogs aside and took the wheel. I heard some unsteady footsteps and I saw Jacobo, now fully healed. He looked at me and asked: “Did you trip and fall?” I shook my head and he continued on.

Colena handed the wheel to Jacobo and walked away. She came back a few minutes with a beer and splashed in my face (Just so you know, I swallowed most of it accidentally; it burned). Darby walked up to her and said: “Colena, you may have taken that too far.” I was far too used to that, since it was nothing new as Colena and I had been together for 2 years until we parted, and I hated her because of many reasons I’m not going into right now.

Bogs was with the chain that was used to drop the anchor and when he saw all of us looking, he said: “I just- I- I don’t know!” But he had already dropped the anchor. The ship slowed and stopped. The Titanic 2000 caught up and ropes were tossed over the side of our vessel. Several people appeared, one who was wearing a hat with a feather and looked vaguely familiar.

“Excellent job Mr. Bogs, now we can quickly move this along as there is pressing business coming to us from the behind! Ladies and gentlemen and otherwise, you have now been boarded and captured by Captain Blackbeard.

Congratulations! Now please make your way onto my vessel before you are all consumed by a horrifying sea monster.”

Blackbeard said.

“What do you want?” Colena shot.

“The same thing I’ve always wanted, Colena. Get on board!” they yelled.

Bogs ran to the ship and climbed over. Darby looked towards Colena and said: “Which ship would you pick?” I hesitated, then Darby helped me to my feet and let me climb over the side of the ship to the Titanic 2000. Colena was also there already. Jerry, who somehow got unconscious, was picked up by Darby and handed to one of Blackbeard’s sailors.

Jacobo and his sailors were frantically hauling up the anchor to get the ship mobile again. Jacobo went and said something to Victor, who then climbed over the side to the Titanic 2000. Marysa hesitated, then did the same.

“Wow,” two crewmates muttered. Darby hopped over onto the ship after saying something to Vivian. Someone yelled: “Full volley starboard side!” and there were gunshots. I looked at the Short Hauler. The monster had almost caught up, and I thought of all those people on board and willed it to sail faster. Cannon shots went off on the Short Hauler’s fruitless attempt to fight off this creature. Two tentacles flailed out and slammed into the ship repeatedly until one of them picked it up and lifted it towards a sort of mouth. The vessel was pulled inside the mouth, the jaws snapping shut as 2 figures jumped from the vessel and I saw it no more.

The Titanic 2000 made its way back to about the place I last saw the Short Hauler. A bell was rung in the crow’s nest and yelled: “Port side, 200 meters!” The ship moved left and a crewman tied a rope to his waist and dived into the water. He came back 30 seconds later, carrying an unconscious and waterlogged Eric, and laid him out on the deck.

The ship moved to an approximation of where the Short Hauler went down and dropped the anchor. I saw Bogs leaning against the chain. He saw us looking, raised a drink, and said: “I’m a pretty good anchorman, eh?” The crew seemed to treat him as they would treat any other crewman. They give him drinks and a nice warm jacket, and they were really nice to him in general. Blackbeard strode across the deck and nodded towards us. “Mr. Bogs, Mr. Darby, Ms. Shan, good to see

you all again. Newcomers welcome to the Titanic 2000. Please try to make yourself comfortable, we’ll be carrying through our business here in just a few moments. Divers!” they said.

A group of crewmen came forward. They were carrying these large copper bells that had a glass window on the front. They went to the side of the ship and began to swim down with the bells on their heads. They’d attached two large bags to their hips to act as a weight and hoses were pumping air to their bells. Darby returned with a black jacket draped over his arm and he handed that to Colena, who put it on. He turned and disappeared from the deck of the ship.

Marysa walked over and slapped Eric on the face and pushed on his chest, but nothing seemed to be working. Eric eventually coughed up a whole lot of seawater and it splashed onto his face. He rolled over to his side and pushed away anyone who was trying to help him. Bogs walked over and draped a wet blanket over him.

After half an hour, I looked over the edge of the boat and saw 2 people surface. Their bells were hauled up carefully, a ladder descended and they climbed up. The heavy bags were gone, presumably at the bottom of the sea.

Everything that happened this night was impossible. Those sea monsters couldn’t possibly have existed and I got stabbed by them. Everything literally just dissolved. Nothing made sense.

A few minutes later, I heard a struggle going on. “Are you all right? Marcus, are you all right?” someone yelled.

“Yeah, there’s a girl! What do you want me to do?” the guy named Marcus replied.

I saw Blackbeard, their hand at the side of their face. The entire time, it had been very hard to determine what gender they were. This was the first time I got a good look at Blackbeard. They had pretty features and a rather strong jaw.

They sighed, illuminated by one of the lanterns on the deck.

“Is that one of yours?” Blackbeard asked. “Uh, sure,” Colena said. Blackbeard seemed surprised to hear her speak.

“Colena, would you like to collect your friend?” they asked. “I’ll try,” she said.

“Mr. Bogs, make ready the dingy! Colena, choose your waiting. Find your way with friends. We’re not losing one of the divers for this. Mr. Timms, get yourself back here quickly.”

They turned to Eric and said: “I’m not his mother.” Marysa, Victor, Colena and I climbed into the dingy and pushed away from the Titanic 2000.

The BAttle Continued Since I was under water, I couldn't see that most of us were in trouble. The only thing I could see was the thing in front of me, and that thing was a giant mollusk. The mollusk had one eye and it stared down at me. I had a feeling that i was gonna die right here right now. But then, one of my crewmates pulled me up on the ship and I was safe.

Most of us got hurt because some enemy pirates invaded our ship and they just went on a rampage.

The Return of Blackbeard When we needed help most, our friend blackbears came to our rescue. He and his crew healed all of the injured crewmates,and we carried on the fight. WE were actually winning this time.

Uka’ To’ ah by:Vivian We continued fighting off the DUMB monster who kept on attacking our ship like why does he have to attack us? Yeha its that dumb haha so funny! So then this EVIL monster caught me. It put me underwater and it was so sad! It was laughing at me with its evil beady eyes. And then blackbeard came. They were friendly to colena because I suppose she was on the crew.

I was also on the crew but I quit soooo sad.I jumped overboard and swam away and so did Eric but I think he drowned. The rest of us went onto Blackbeard's ship because they were being invaded or something. And so they went onto Blackbeard's ship to “work” there. And for some reason most of us did NOT resist. But the only person who started this is bogs who pulled the anchor for blackbeard to catch us.

SESSION FIVE

The Titanic 2000

The titanic 200 by :vivian It started off with Colena, Rachael, Marysa and Victor went off to find me. they eventually found me. We went back to the ship and Will Darby was in charge. And bogs were chilling there without being a control freak then Pamela came or whatever her name was. She was fat, that is all I remember. She tried to help victor and Jerry, I think. Me, Sophia and Marysa were surgeons, me and Sophia were noobs and Marysa was the pro. Funny story, i wanted to cut eric’s hand off because it was hurting but Marysa said the bandage was too tight

Break You remember Vivian, right? The one who swam away while I was under water?

Yeahh… we need her. She’s a surgeon and with all the wounded people, we need her.

WE searched and searched and searched for so long, i can’t even tell you how much we looked for. But we finally found her in the bar I was arrested at. She healed everyone of us (Including me) and we continued our day

The Crows nest After we healed everyone, Blackbeard told us to fix the crows nest because it was damaged in the battle. In the process, almost all of us died because we were bad at building and almost fell to our doom. WE are pretty dumb...

Colena Shan| Aneloc Nahs

Uka’ To’ah Colena gritted her teeth. Marysa steered the ship away from the ​Titanus Boom ​or ​Titanic 2000 or whatever.

All Colena remembered was that she shot an enemy, then let Will Darby take over fighting him and hurried to get Bogs to stop “steering” the S​ horthauler​. She raced to the wheel, and pushed Bogs, none too gently, out of her way. She started steering the ​Shorthauler properly​, and much more smoothly, forward, hoping to outrun the “Creature”. It was very likely it was the one that had faced her when she was sixteen (she still had trouble believing if she had fainted for three years) and stuff. Then Bogs did some ​more ​useless stuff.

Colena had no idea what happened next, only that Captain Jacobo had somehow lived, not died, and had immediately taken over steering the wheel. Colena let him do it; she had ​way ​less experience than a captain.

Colena relaxed, glaring at the sky, and it was ​still ​raining. Then she saw some stinky beer. And you just might ​have guessed what happened. Seriously, you should ​never ​do this (yup, Colena is a pretty bad role model). Colena threw a beer at Rachael.

Since Rachael was on the ground, s​ till i​ mpaled, Colena just had to make an effortless throw. A second later, Rachael was dripping stinky beer. Will Darby killed the enemy he’d been fighting and said something,

but Colena ignored him. (If you want to know, Will Darby was trying to give Colena a lecture on “What-The-Hecks” and “Don’t-Throw-Beer-On-People-Let-Alone-​Helpless​-People” and et cetera.)

Then the ​Titanus Boom ​or ​Titanic 2000 (​ actually, let’s call it the ​Titanic 2000 ​‘cause that’s what it looks like now) pulled up and a voice, unmistakably Blackbeard’s, the man the group had been hunting (or chasing, or looking for and then preparing to drag him to Governor Blake) said something.

And the next thing Colena knew, one of the crew members was welcoming them on the ship (except for Eric who made the stupid decision to jump off the S​ horthauler a​ gain, and Vivian, who was cowering ​still on the smaller ship). “….​Colena​….” said the crew member.

Colena nearly stumbled in surprise.

How does he know my name?

The crew member didn’t seem to know who anyone else was and then Will Darby came outta ​nowhere with a coat and offered it to Colena. Colena took it rather nervously, as there was a nagging thought in her head. She put it on.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

And then she spotted Bogs beside the anchor, leaning against a pole (that’s what Colena remembered anyway). He mumbled something about being “the master when it came to anchors”, and that was ​totally not

true​. Blackbeard’s crew treated him like he was a sailor too (Colena was pretty sure if Bogs had ever attended school for sailing and stuff, he most likely failed every quiz or examination or whatever else).

But Colena was totally freaked out when she realized that Blackbeard’s crew knew her ​last ​name. And, by the way, she hadn’t spoken about her last name ever since she had recovered from her “still-unknown-for-how-long” blackout, which got her suspicious too.

Vivian s​ till w ​ as gone, which made Colena have a dumb but possible thought that maybe Vivian wanted to drown or go with the hopeless thought of finding land and escaping Blackbeard—which, Vivian possibly thought was a very dangerous person wanting to kill them all. Oh yeah, the ​Shorthauler ​got gobbled up by the monster Colena had encountered in 1713 and Vivian had jumped off the boat just in time.

Blackbeard’s crew had actually tried to save Vivian, like they saved Eric, who, by the way, was nearly dead (see what a stupid idea he had in his mind? He had a mental breakout, right when he should’ve kept his cool), but Vivian escaped (Colena even yelled at her, and again, she had great yelling skills), kicking at the man who tried to help her (or maybe gain the group’s trust then​ ​killing them but anyway) and swimming.

Now, Colena knew Vivian was a pirate, but a ​weak ​one. Even though Colena barely knew Vivian (that’s what Colena thought), she hoped Vivian wouldn’t die.

Then the group took a while to reflect on what happened. Most of them had bad thoughts (like, this is my fault and stuff) but Colena realized more details about the monster that she hadn’t in 1713 but she was also rather preoccupied with the fact that Blackbeard’s crew seemed to know a few facts about her, and she could’ve sworn she’d never seen them before.

After some reflecting, Colena started to get worried about Vivian again.

And so, when Blackbeard offered them a boat to help their friend, Colena told them she would do it. A few others from her group joined her. Eric stayed behind, not wanting to go. Even if he wanted to search for Vivian, he was in no condition to go (it’s still raining out there by the way).

Keep swimming, keep treading water​, Colena thought, wishing Vivian could hear her, w ​ e’re coming​.

So we stopped fighting and we all chose jobs, I picked to be a cannon guy because it's fun to blow stuff up. Then Blackbeard found our ship, which was good at first because i thought i was gonna get killed but he didn't kill me which was really bad. I wanted to commit suicide but i didnt. And I still want to capture blackbeard so I can die. Then we did surgery on erc which is bad because we are not doctors. Then we saw land and we arrived at a shallow port. And I'm planning on blowing it up with tnt.

Alright! I don’t care about you guys, so if you die, I don’t care! Anyways get a job, so ya get food.” After a few other people chose their jobs, I slowly raised my hand and decided that I wanted to be a boarder, so I could have a weapon, and eventually get control of the ship . But… A few hours ago, we had just been captured by Blackbeard's ship. Now, Me, the Private, Colena the Inventor, and Jerry, the Sailor set out to find the pirate, Vivian. After a few minutes, I spot a glimpse of Vivian. And because of this, I exclam towards Vivian “GET ON THE BOAT!” but she refused. Suddenly, a shark pops up right behind her, and Colena exclaims “ VIVIAN SHARK!” and so, she hops on the boat, and we quickly paddled back to the boat, to not get eaten by the shark. An hour later, Blackbeards announces uncaringly, “Alright! I don’t care about you guys so if you die, I don’t care. Anyways pick a job, so ya get food.” After a few other people chose their jobs, I slowly raised my hand and decided to be a boarder, so I could have a weapon, and eventually get control of the ship. But, the manager of the boarders, the traitor Will Darby wouldn’t give me a weapon, unless I could be proven responsible by carrying a stick as a weapon. A few hours later, my shift was over. And I came back to Will Darby, to prove my responsibility, but, I find out that I had lost the stick!

SHALLOWPORT SOPEA DANG/SOPHIA DENG So, when I wake up. Well, something I notice is Will is ordering people and Bogs is being ordered around. Marysa says we are going to a place named Shallowport. It was made by pirates and ruled by pirates.

Kinda creepy. Marysa askes Bogs what the monster is and he mumbles “ I-I’m not supposed to tell you. But, it’s name is Uka-Toa. A shiver ran down my spine. That’s what Yakabo or whatever said. He said it in the battle against ‘Uka Toa’.Then Bogs rambles on about some curse of Uka Toa. I went to bed before he finished.

The next day, we have a very boring day. Blackbeard made us pick jobs. I picked to be a doctor. On the first day, we helped Eric and he’s already looking a lot better. We get to the island a short while after. First I hear “ There’s an island.” Then I hear “ Call a hoe” or something. Colena, who was looking out, must be crazy.

The next moments pass by in a blur. I know Blackbeard kicked us off and then said something about surviving and another something about Shallowport. Poor me. Alone in a pirate city.

Rachael 1716

This is just getting worse and worse. I don’t even know what I’m supposed to do now. I got in the rowboat with Colena, Victor and Marysa, but I literally did absolutely nothing (SPOILER ALERT). The wind howled and the rain battered us.Then we got hit by a large wave, and everyone just snapped back to reality. Colena pulled out a spyglass to search for Vivian. “This direction! Over here!” she directed. Victor started rowing as Vivian burst out gasping to our left.

He reached an arm towards her and yelled, “Get on the boat!”

“I’ll give you all the money I have for you to let me go!” Vivian shouted over the waves.

“Vivian! There’s a shark behind you, I swear this is real!” Victor yelled.

Vivian decided not to commit suicide and began to swim towards the boat. Colena reached forward, tipping the boat with her as she extended her hands to reach Vivian. Her face and hands dipped momentarily into the water as she lifted Vivian out of the water. Suddenly, just as Vivian came onto the boat, the front lurched to the side, and a large fin shot through the water.

We returned to the Titanic 2000 with Vivian, who was rather wet. Will was looking rather worried, one foot on the railing. He yelled: “Dinghy ahoy! Starboard side, get ropes, get ropes!” The ropes were attached to the dinghy and we were pulled back onto the Titanic 2000.

Will looked like he was giving orders around the ship and Bogs looked, on the contrary, that he was being ordered around the ship. Will was talking with Colena. Bogs came and took us all below deck, to the lowest deck of the ship. The deck was below water level, and so the waves churned above our heads. “Um, so I don’t really want to go back to work, but any questions about the ship? Or about piracy? Or any questions about what happened tonight that old Mr. Bogs can spend some time answering instead of going back above deck where it’s cold?”

“Maybe,” we all said.

He raised his eyebrows.

“Who is Blackbeard?” I asked.

“To be honest, I don’t really remember their name. None of us got properly introduced to them, they just sort of came on board and brought us a tale. And, at that point, Charlie, Captain Charlie, former Captain Vayne, took Blackbeard onto the crew. And, in hindsight, that may have not been a very good choice for him, but it was a pretty good choice for us ‘cause we’re doing quite well now. Comparing the two leaders is hard, as they’re quite different. Vayne… he’s a hard man.

Blackbeard... equally ruthless, but we’re all a little bit more comfortable with him. Blackbeard looks after us. They take care of us in a way that Vayne never did.”

Bogs told us that we were going to Shallowport, which was a city run by pirates. “What was that sea monster and why was it chasing the other ship and not the Titanic 2000?” Marysa asked.

“Well, I’m glad you asked,” Bogs said. “That, I’m not supposed to tell you.” He looked around, lowered his voice dramatically, and motioned for us to come closer. “That, was Uka’To’ah. The great beast of the depths.”

“That’s what Jacobo was talking about,” Victor said.

Bogs said something.

“What is the thing that we stole, then?” Victor asked.

“What do you know about that?” Bogs said skeptically.

Victor said something about a curse.

“Ooo, you wanna talk about curses? The curse of Uka’To’ah,” he said mysteriously. “Ancient god, some say.

Ancient demon, say others. Just another part of nature, says I. I’m super natural about it. Just a little bigger than most sea creatures. So, Uka’To’ah. Terrifying creature, giant eyes, voice that speaks to you from the back of your head. Before any of our European friends came across the ocean, the folks here figured out how to do it. They sealed ‘em away, far beneath the sea. Under the rock, and magma, and salt, and water. They put ‘em away using three enchanted seals. Like a seal like a bow, not one of those aquatic dogs. Sealed away, so it could never get out and do any harm. And it’s rumored that if you bring them to the right altars, the creature will be unleashed.To destroy the whole world or something like that. The story goes that whoever collects the seals and does its bidding will be rewarded. Become a champion of Uka’To’ah. Extraordinary talent in the water. Unnatural ability in the water.They also possess weapons. Weapons of their own choosing. And they’re mighty hard to kill.”

Flash-forward to the next morning. We were ushered up to the deck of the Titanic 2000. Will led us to the mess hall and we were all served food (that I did not eat). “Welcome aboard the Titanic 2000, we are glad to have saved you from the horrifying sea monster that we encountered yesterday. Some of us have figured out how this is going to work,” he said, looking at Vivian, “The rest of us,” he looked at Eric and Sophia. “There’s no free rides out here in the Caribbean. In short, you’re all going to have to work if you would like any more of that d​ elicious​ food filling your belly right now. If you’d like a cot to sleep on tonight, if you want a boat to not drown on because, you know, you’re on the boat. So you guys will have to have your pick aboard the Titanic 2000. Would you like to hear your choices?”

“Sure,” Colena said.

The options were all rather terrible. They were either navigator, being a boatswain, quartermaster, surgeon, lookout, rig rat, and cannoneer. Colena became a lookout, Marysa, Sophia and Vivian became surgeons, Eric and Jerry became cannoneers, Victor became a boatswain, and I declared that they all suck.

“Well, take the rest of the day to think about it,” Will shrugged.

I just sat rather depressed below deck. After a while, a rather large woman came, and sat down on a bench in front of me. “Are you the one with all the weird herbs and stuff?” she asked. “In your belongings? I’m not going through your belongings. Are you the one with all the weird herbs and stuff?”

I didn’t feel like answering (very good reason indeed). “Listen. Listen, listen, listen,” she said. “Would you be interested in building bombs? Like, big ones? The sort of things that can really mess a guy up?”

“Bombs?” I said, trying to maintain a bored face but was really about to burst into laughter.

“Yeahhh, bombs,” she said.”Y’know, with the chemistry and stuff. What I want is something that when it gets near them, like it doesn’t have to hit them, when it gets near them it just [insert explosion noise] it just like explodes and maybe sets something on fire. Can we go for that? Also poisons, if you can do poisons. Oooo, we could do so many things with poison.

Oooo, imagine this. A cannon shoots, but instead of a ball it’s just a big glass jar. And the jar just [insert exploding jar noise].”

“I can do poisons,” I said, but I was thinking: W ​ hy don’t you just light a fuse on a cannonball and fire it so I can live in peace?

She just started going about on all the amazing things that could kill people when they had poison.

“That’s not how it works,” I said shortly.

“Ok. Well, you let me know how it works and we’ll go from there. Just, something that won’t kill all of us-” “It’s complicated,” I interrupted. My mind was literally saying: “You’re the stupidest person I’ve ever met in my whole life and I’ve met some pretty stupid people.”

“Mmmm, that’s good, you’re one of those thinking peoples.”

She went back above deck, leaving me looking really depressed, thinking: ​Why does life have to be like this?

Flash-forward again and it’s time to have another lecture. Blackbeard came onto the deck and said: “Welcome to the new crewmates, we have a bit of a tradition here. Once we are finished with everything that needs to get done here, we’re going to be arriving at the city of Shallowport. A city owned, operated and ‘policed’ by pirates. What we like to do here at the Titanic 2000 is we welcome crewmates to our vessel especially those who were part of the pirate persuasion before we arrived. With a bit of initiation, we’re going to let you go (plot twist) into the city of Shallowport, for forty-eight hours.”

“Why only two days?” Vivian said.

“Mmmm, don’t question the captain. If you’re alive, after two days, you get to join the crew! If not, you get to go free.”

“How do you know if we’re alive or not?” Colena said.

“Oh, if you show up,” Blackbeard said. “Y’know, when you show up when we leave. I mean I guess it would be possible to decide to run away and decide to live in Shallowport. I just don’t know anyone who would ever choose to do such a thing.”

“It’s not that bad,” Bogs muttered.

“No, Mr. Bogs, it’s pretty bad,” Blackbeard called. “It’s pretty bad there. I just - It’s a city of pirates, run by pirates. It’s - c’mon. I’m a pirate and I can barely stand you guys alright? Pirates suck. You don’t want to live in pirate town. Anyway, try not to die.”

“Uh, not to be rude, but can I know what gender you are?” Vivian asked.

“No.” Blackbeard clearly did not want to talk about it.

“Uh, so do we call you a boy or do we call you a girl?”

“You can call me Captain. That will do just fine.”

“Are we ready to go Mr. Bogs?” Blackbeard said.

“Er, uh, yes!” Bogs said (forgot to mention that we were on a little island with a whole lot of docks).

The ship traveled the last few hundred meters to the mainland. Goodbye now, I gotta go die on a remote island.

SESSION SIX

Surviving Shallow Port

Surviving Shallow Port by: Vivian  Today we went to shallowport and it was very harsh, not really but it was harsh because we had to go find things all on our own. We also had to go get our weapons on our own and it was soooo annoying I hated it. Every bit of it. Even the part where me and marysa went to get the medicine with the rest of the people. It was not so fun I guess .-. . I also decided to stay at the place and slept there with some other people. And these 3-6 people came here and they decided to attack us, of course we attacked them back because they were scary. But they beat us. They were mercenaries.

“ALRIGHT! DID YOU LET ANY OF BLACKBEARD'S CREW STAY IN YOUR INN?” yelled the Blackbeard Hunters demandingly, “No, no, I didn’t. Would you like to go up and check?” answered the receptionist foolishly, “Not again…” sighed the receptionist's sister disappointedly. BANG BANG BANG! 2 o'clock in the afternoon, we had just arrived at the mythical “Shallow Port” and Bogs answered some of our questions.

“How do banks work here?” questioned one of the captured people, Vivian, a former pirate.

“Well, it's quite different here, especially since it is run by pirates, so you won’t be able to use your old money here. So you could either earn some money, or use our old money at the casino.”

After a few more questions, Bogs told us the rules.

“One, don’t steal from people, or just don’t offend anyone. Two, err, actually, you only get one for now.” explained bogs suspiciously for not giving two and three.

“Aren’t you going to tell us the other ones?” questioned another captured crewmate.

“Err, no, that's all you need for now.” responded Bogs questionably.

And so, we decided first that we needed weapons. Luckily there was a weapons shop here. We walked all the way there unsuspiciously as possible which was a 5 minute walk.

“Why hello there! How can I help you today?” asked the owner and the person at the front desk.

“Hold on, we are just looking at our money.” I replied.

We figured out that, if we spent half of the money we could get 5 decent weapons and a good one.

If we spent a quarter of the money, we would have 4 decent ones and 2 good ones. And lastly, All of our money for 3 decent weapons and 3 good weapons.

A few minutes later, we decided to spend half of our money so we could also spend it on other things like food.

“Alright who is getting the good weapon?” asked the counter guy.

“Me.” I tell him in a regular voice.

“Ay! You look like a soldier!” Exclaims the counter guy.

“No, we were captured by blackbeard and forced to join his crew.” explains Colena uncharmingly.

She’s the inventor who was captured but had her memory erased and was actually a pirate. Not convinced, the counter guy pulled out a spoon and pulled metal out of a heater and explained “Ok the Soldier, put your hand here so I can brand you so you can’t join the army no more.” As I went to sit down, the counter guy exclaims “He's a spy I tell ya, a spy!”

After the other people pick up the weapons, Marysa hands me a sword, since I couldn’t get a weapon.

After a few more minutes, we arrive at the inn. As we walk in we realize that we can get 2 rooms on the 7th floor, the worst option, with half of our money or 1 room on the 6th floor for all our money. But, Colena figures out that the receptionist is not the smartest and manipulates him to give us the first floor.

While up in our room we realize one of us, Rachel, had run into the forest without us noticing. When we go back down stairs, the receptionist realizes that we are part of Blackbeard's crew and commands us to go back to our room.

A few hours later, we see a fire lit and Blackbeard Hunters barging into the inn.”ALRIGHT! DID YOU LET ANY OF BLACKBEARD'S CREW STAY IN YOUR INN?” yelled the Blackbeard Hunters demandingly, “No, no, I didn’t. Would you like to go up and check?” answered the receptionist foolishly, “Not again…” sighed the receptionist's sister disappointedly. BANG BANG BANG!...

Rachael 1716

We docked at the ports of Shallowport. We were abruptly hustled from the ship, and I knew something bad was going to happen. Several other crewmates from the ship also came, including Will Darby. He looked at us and nodded, then went with his crewmates into the distance. Bogs hung around, as if he wanted to talk to us (which he did, fyi).

Vivian approached him and asked something about whether there was police or not. His answer was: “Ayyyyy, well this is a city run and operated by pirates, so no, not as such. Uh, there is a controlling interest in this area, but it sort of moves around its various crews - it’s quite complicated you see. And I could explain it more in depth, except I don’t understand it very well myself. Basically, we’ve got a few rules, I think it’s three, but I’ll see if I can remember them all. Rule number 1: Never steal from a pirate.”

“Yeah I know that already,” Vivian said.

“Rule number 2,” He paused for a moment. “Just remember rule number one.”

“I have another question,” Vivian said. “How can I make money?”

“Eh? What’s your question?” Bogs said.

“How can I earn money?”

“How can you earn money? Well, from work o’course, or gamblin’... “ “How do they know me?” Colena asked.

“How do they know ye? Are you feeling okay?”

“Yes!” she replied indignantly.

“I know ye, because we sailed together for two years,” Bogs said slowly.

“I literally said that I had no experience on the ship!” she said, clearly irritated.

“So, when you go ashore here, try not to offend anyone that’s like, bigger than you or meaner than you.

Come to think of it as most of the people on the island. Try not to offend people, you see. Er, you can head over to Momma K’s. She’ll take care of you.You’ll get some room and board there, if you don't mind roughin’ it a little bit.

Er, try to steer clear of Ril’s Riders.”

Vivian asked something about something and Bogs somehow produced a map of Shallowport from his fat pockets. He pulled out a quill that somehow still had ink on it (or maybe he had an ink bottle in his pockets, in which case it would spill but *smacks self* no judging). In front of us was the building of Shallowport’s Shareholders Association, which, as I understood it, it was a place where successful pirates could invest in other pirates (what the heck), and it would create essentially a pirate federation or a pirate alliance sort of thing. From what I could see, that was the idea, but it hadn’t quite gone the way people had expected. It was only for people who had a lot of money, and in our case, we had like, a couple hundred dollars and that was it. Here was where you could kind of hire another ship.

Directly opposite of the Shallowport’s Shareholders Association was the Busted Barnacle, the main bar in the town. It was a wooden building sitting on the top of a hill overlooking the Bazaar, which was essentially a marketplace. The bar had been so overwhelmed with popularity that it had set up chairs in most of the Bazaar, and the various stands and carts that were selling stuff were along the sides. It wasn’t so busy now, as it was the middle of the afternoon, but it would be the busiest place in town during the night, when all swarmed in to party and drink.

We decided that we needed more weapons, as only a few of us were decently armed. Lozar’s Marine apparently was the weapons store (I thought it would sell sea animals because everyone knows what “marine” means). It was a collection of buildings, with a central one that I assumed to be the actual shop itself. We entered it to find a completely empty room, with no lanterns flickering in the darkness. We were blocked from the other side of the counter by a sort of chain net thing. There was a rather dusty counter in the room, and that was it. The

corners looked like they were covered in spiderwebs and the floorboard creaked under our feet.

Colena cautiously drew her bow, her hand in a position as if she were going to reach back to her quiver and nock an arrow. A voice, though quiet, was clearly heard in the room. “I would not do that if I were you,” it said.

Colena put the bow away, and said: “Hello?”

“Oh! Yes? Coming!”

There was a loud crashing noise.

“Oh! Comin’ ! Just a moment.”

A small old man came out from the back.

“Hello? Yes? Oh! Customers! Wow! A lot of you! You just kind of came in silently. Kind of weird.”

He climbed up a little staircase behind the counter (yes, you saw that right, he was too short to reach the top of his desk). He had large thick glasses that looked like goggles that magnified his eyes to probably 3 times its actual size. “Ok! How may I help you?” He grinned.

“Well, we’re here to get some weapons,” Marysa said.

“Oh! I have weapons!” He looked excited. “Our weapons come in a variety of - that mostly depends on the quality and how much gold you’re about to pay. How much gold are you able to pay?”

Everyone started arguing about what we should do and what we shouldn’t, and the man broke in saying: “Okay okay okay. You seem to be new here.Over here at Lozar’s Marine’s I’m in charge of outfitting a good, bloodthirsty pirate. And I take that job very seriously. And if you are able to give me some crummy weapons, I can give you some crummy weapons. Most of you will receive a sword and a pistol. If you’re willing to pay a bit more, I can either get you a better sword or a better pistol.”

“I thought we were going to get ​[Redacted because Sophia has traveled to the future, geez Sophia it’s 1716, we haven’t gotten to the new millenia just yet.]​ butter knives,” Sophia remarked. “​[Redacted]​? What’s that?” the man asked.

“Fine! Wooden butter knives,” she said.

We started to talk amongst ourselves again. Finally, we placed half of our money on the counter, which would get us one good weapon and some rusty stuff. Lozar (yes his name is Lozar) moved in and out from the back, which was probably a storage, bringing back a whole lot of pistols and swords and whatnot. The blades of the swords were a bit rusted but still sharp-ish, the guns looked like they would fire but they would explode if it jammed, and we could tell that these weapons were mostly from Spanish, Dutch, English, Prussian, Portugese, Ottoman and French ships that were pillaged by the pirates in this town. Lozar had done his best to fix them and make sure they don’t blow themselves up, but probably he wasn’t very good at it (he did not get an honorary degree from Oxford). Lozar asked for the person who would get the good weapon, and Victor stepped up. Lozar looked him over and said: “That’s not a pirate. Are you bringing in a spy, by any chance, you folks? Are you aware of this? This is clearly a soldier.You get that? Yes?” “He used to be in the army, but now he’s turned on them,” Marysa said.

“Ah, I see, I see. What’s your name?”

“Victor,” Victor said. “[insert gibberish] I will give you this weapon, Victor, but you will have to prove to me that you’re a pirate and not a spy through and through.”

“Uhh…” “Good. Okay, hold out your arm. Place it on the counter here.”

Lozar went into the back and brought back a much nicer looking pistol and sword. “We’ve got a very nice firearm right here, and a very nice sword.” He put them down on his side of the counter and went to the back. I think people were thinking of stealing it, but the chain net thing blocked us from doing that.

The room felt very hot, and I realized that it was coming from the back. A warm red glow was coming from the back, and it looked like Lozar was working on something. There was clanging from the back, then Lozar

came, holding a long, hot, metal stick. On the end was the letter P, also made of hot metal. “Are you ready, Victor?” he asked.

“Uhh…no,” Victor said.

If you want you can bite down on this little wooden spoon I have.” He offered a wooden spoon to Victor.

“No.” “You don’t want the spoon?”

“It could be poisonous,” Colena noted “What kind of weirdo are you? Who would give you a poisonous spoon?” Lozar said. “I’m going to brand it on his arm so it says pirate on his arm so he can’t go back to the army.”

Victor looked rather horrified at the thought and backed away from the counter.

“Oooooo, I told you he was a spy,” Lozar lamented (Lamentable).

“Well, bruh, I’d be killed anyway if I was a spy,” Victor replied.

“Ayyyy, he’s a funny spy, isn’t he?” Lozar laughed. “Anyone want his gun and sword? You can have one of them. You paid for it.”

“I’ll take it,” Vivian offered. Lozar glared at her (for some reason, people on this island really need something called common sense).

“You want the sword or you want the gun?” he asked finally.

“Gun,” Vivian said.

“Don’t you give that gun to that funny spy! Have a good day!” Lozar said, delighted.“I was really looking forward to branding someone today, well too bad,” he added to himself as he walked towards the back.

We walked out of the shop, and I realized how quickly time had passed. It was evening now, around 5-6 post meridian. It was colder too, instead of the more or less warm temperature of the middle of the afternoon.

Probably Lozar had given everyone on this island a gun and a sword (Maybe I shouldn’t blow myself up again).

As we walked, I saw people literally swinging swords above their heads and waving guns that probably had a good amount of gunpowder and ammunition.

More and more people flocked towards the Busted Barnacle as night drew closer and closer. Bogs, who apparently was still with us, said: “How’re you doing Victor?”

“Bad,” Victor responded dully.

“I’m heading off to the Barnacle, but I thought I’d hang around in case you had any more questions.”

I read Colena’s expression and it literally said: “You are dismissed, you may go, you are a useless fat slug.”

“You’re dismissed,” Colena said.

“Oh, ok. You’re just going to follow me though? That’s a little bit strange.”

Most of the things in the Bazaar were food and whatnot, some were clothing and weird pieces of jewelry.

We passed this cart with a purple velvet tarp on one side, engraved with “Madame Marigold’s Medicinal Stuff”.

Marysa walked up to it, and there was a very very (very very… I could go one forever with the verys) old woman snoring as she slept.

“Hello?” Marysa said.

“Hello, welcome to Madame Marigold’s Medicinal...Stuff. Would you like to buy anything?”

“Do you have any medical stuff?”

“Madame Marigold’s Medicinal Stuff, yep, that’s me, we have medical stuff. How much do you need?”

Marysa handed her half of our remaining money. All of it would have gotten us great medicine, half got us good medicine, and a quarter of it would give us sucky medicine that probably doesn’t even work. Then we started going what seemed like southeast, towards Momma K’s. On the way, I decided it would be nice to be alone for a bit and stop attracting trouble, so I slowed my steps until I was at the back, then took my chance and ran. I’d learnt to keep my head down and not attract attention, so I got through the crowd just fine. I sort of had no sense of

direction, and I found myself surrounded by rustling leaves. The forest would do for the night, but I knew I’d have to go out in the morning in search of essential needs.

I settled in at a dry spot in the town. It was near the edge of the forest, and I could hear shouts erupting from the town. I could also see a warm red glow, like a fire, emanating, and several people ran into the forest.

Something’s happening​, I thought, ​I think I’ve missed something​. The people who ran past me didn’t see me, and they weren’t looking for me.

Colena Y. Shan|Aneloc E. Nahs

Surviving Shallow Port Colena, Vivian, Eric, Jerry, Victor, Sophia, Rachael, and Marysa got off the ship. Bogs stayed behind to answer any questions, and Vivian asked some.

“Three rules for the island,” said Bogs. “#1: Don’t ​steal ​from pirates. And…er, I forgot the other two. Also, go to Momma K’s. And avoid Ril’s Riders Rest at all costs!”

Colena doubted if he really ​did ​forget the three rules, or if he just didn’t want to tell them.

“How do you know me?” Colena demanded when Vivian was done her questions (forgot them, sorry). Colena didn’t care if anyone else heard. She just wanted ​answers​.

Bogs frowned. “Are you feelin’ all right?”

“Um, yeah, I guess?”

“Well, we’ve journey for 2 years at sea,” said Bogs. “Not that you were any good at it.”

What? Oh, and if ​anybody ​is bad at sailing at sea, it’s B ​ ogs, ​not me. He does not know how to do anything except make things worse, and take up food.

Then they entered Shallow Port. First thing Colena did was to hand Vivian the sword. Colena was the only one with weapons, unless you counted the silver throwing dagger Marysa had.

“We need weapons,” muttered Vivian. It made sense. There were 8 of them, and there were only 2 weapons.

So they all headed to this shop called Lozar’s Marine, a weapons store. Colena pushed open the door and first thing she saw was a silver, dangling chain net. She peered through the chain and looked around. The shop itself seemed to be empty—no weapons, no person, ​nothing​.

Colena, being suspicious after fainting for however long (and possibly losing some of her memory), snatched an arrow from her quiver and took out her bow.

“I would ​not ​do that if I were you,” said a voice.

Colena put her bow and arrow away (still being suspicious, but they needed to speak with the owner of the store so she shouldn’t attack anybody, not yet anyway), and yelled, “HELLO?!”

“Coming!” yelled a voice. “Coming…​coming​!” Colena heard footsteps.

An old, small, and short man appeared. Colena guessed rightly the small man was Lozar.

“Ah…customers!” said Lozar. “Come in.”

The group awkwardly walked in, then Lozar said, “We offer a range of weapons, depending on how much ​money​ you pay.”

Colena dug into her pockets, looking for some pocket change. Vivian, Eric, Jerry, Victor, Sophia, Rachael and Marysa did the same. Lozar had a look at the money.

“Well,” he said, “for half I can give you all “regular” weapons. And one will get a “good” weapon.

For ​most ​of your money, I can give you two good weapons, and the rest regular. For ​all ​your money, I can give you ​three ​good weapons, and the rest, regular.”

After debating for a little bit, the group decided to give ​half​.

“We need to buy other stuff,” Marysa reminded them, as if nobody knew that.

“Yeah, but who’s gonna get the ​special ​weapon?” asked Colena.

“Victor,” Marysa said. “He’s a soldier.”

Colena didn’t think giving Victor the good weapon was a good idea after he’d lost a stick aboard the ​Titanic 2000 ​(well, that was just once but whatever), but she didn’t think it was a good idea to argue right now either, so she agreed.

They handed over the money, and Lozar disappeared into the back room, returning with a bunch of rusty swords and rifles. It became clear at once they were ​used ​weapons, probably given by pirates

who wanted new weapons. And it kinda became clear that pretty much everyone (or every pirate?) on the island got weapons from Lozar’s Marine.

Sophia muttered something about plastic butter knives (“I’d expected the “weapons” to be plastic butter knives.”), and Lozar frowned.

What ​is ​plastic? C ​ olena thought. Now, you might think Colena was pretty dumb; ​everyone ​knows what plastic is. But back in the 1700s, plastic hadn’t been invented yet (for those that are curious, plastic was invented in 1907).

“What’s plastic?” said Lozar. Then he lost all interest in whatever plastic was (definition: a synthetic material made from a wide range of organic polymers such as polyethylene, PVC, nylon, etc., that can be molded into shape while soft and then set into a rigid or slightly elastic form).

“Now,” said Lozar, “who will be taking the good weapon?”

Victor nervously stepped forward.

Lozar gave him a glare, then said, “You are no ​pirate​! You are a ​soldier!​ ​ A ​ re you a spy?”

“Uh, no,” said Victor unconvincingly.

Lozar said a bunch of things like “I need to brand you with the word P​IRATE​”.

In the end, Vivian got the good weapon. She got to pick between a nice sword, or rifle. Vivian chose the good rifle.

Colena took a used sword. When everybody got their weapons, they left the shop.

{|} “Well,” said Bogs (oh yeah, forgot to mention he’s still with the group), “we’re pretty darn close to where I need to go, the Busted Barnacle. Any other questions?”

“Um, thanks, but no thanks,” Colena said. “We’re good.” She said it like “You are dismissed,” but that didn’t really matter. Bogs left them.

“I need medical supplies,” said Marysa, once Bogs left. “I don’t have ​infinity​.”

Outside, the people/pirates of Shallow Port were walking in a pirate​-ish way, weapons over their heads.

Then the eight of them (I know I’ve written seven in the past, sorry, miscalculated) headed to the Bazaar.

A bunch of merchants were there, and Colena’s eyes flicked around.

Oo-kay,​ she thought, ​let’s just buy medical supplies and get the hell outta here​.

They walked deeper inside, and Marysa saw a cart. On it, it said,

Madame Marigold’s Medicinal Stuff Apparently, from what Colena could tell, the woman snoring by the cart was Mme Marigold. The woman had tried to make everything start with the letter ​M,​ but apparently couldn’t find a replacement for ​Stuff.​ It’d be better off as Madame Marigold’s Mini Medical Market if she wants all ​M​s, ​thought Colena.

Marysa approached the woman, saying hello quietly (“I’m gonna yell hello if she doesn’t wake,” Colena said darkly) and asked for some medicine. Giving half of the half money they had left (or basically a ​quarter o ​ f the original amount), Marysa got from Madame Marigold 2 good medicine.

Then the eight of them went to Momma K’s.

Momma K’s was seven storeys (or ​stories​?) tall, when the surrounding building were only two or three. The first three floors looked pretty stable, but the rest of the floors looked like it was gonna topple over in about three seconds. A guy told them the closer to the floor, the more money it costed.

“Ye can sleep on the roof fer free,” he’d said.

They went inside, and a sign in front of the front desk said:

MOMMA K’S ABSOLUTELY NO DEBAUCHERY OR DRINKING Colena was not planning to do any debauchery (which is basically causing mischief) ​or ​drink when she needed all her wits to survive. Though the “No Drinking” rule was kinda weird. Maybe Momma K, or whoever owned the inn, didn’t like the smell of whisky or beer.

Colena and her group went to the young man at the front desk. He said, “Uh, hello, welcome to Momma K’s. How can I help you?”

Plain accordian music played in the corner.

“We’d like some rooms, I guess,” said Marysa trying to make a good first impression. “​Some? ”​ the man said. “How much money do you have? Show me.”

Colena reluctantly showed him the money they had left, and he said, “Oh, um, on the 7​th floor, you can get 4 rooms with that money. On the 6​th​, 2 rooms. Or, on the fifth, 1 room.”

There was absolutely ​no way ​Colena was gonna sleep on such unstable floors, so she said, hoping to confuse Petar (that was the guy at the front desk’s name), “Right, listen. I want to get quite a few

things straight. Okay, so roof is free. And the floors, each one lower worths twice more than the one above it, right? At least, according to what you just said. I’m good at math you know, unlike some of my companions” (she meant Jerry, cause he couldn’t do math; don’t ask me how he became a sailor) “So, we could get half a room on the fourth floor, a quarter of a room on the third floor, one eighth of a room on the second floor, one sixteenth of a room on the first floor with our money. ​And ​if you had a few levels belowground, the one closest to the surface—we could get a thirty-secondth of a room, and then a sixty-fourth of a room on the floor below it, and a one hundred twenty eighth of a room on the room below. Then two hundred fifty six, five hundred twelve, one thousand twenty-four, two thousand forty-eight, four thousand ninety-six—” (the next ten numbers were 8192, 16384, 32768, 65536, 131072, 262144, 524288, 1048576, 2097152 and 4194304) Petar shook his head, as if he was confused.

“S-sorry, what floor again?” he said, clearly confused.

“Lowest floor,” smirked Colena, pleased that she had succeeded.

“How many rooms?” he asked.

“One hundred,” replied Colena.

“That can’t be right,” said Petar. “​No,​ we don’t ​need m ​ ore than eight,” muttered Marysa.

“Two then.” Colena shrugged, trying to play it cool.

“Oh, OK,” said Petar. “Abigail!”

Petar handed Colena two keys (the group tried hard not to laugh and Marysa muttered, “What?” and Colena had a smug look on her face now), and Colena, in return, slipped a few coins onto the counter (not enough for even 0.001% of a room on the seventh floor; Colena knows not to waste).

“Yes, dear brother?” called a voice, that probably belonged to Abigail, whoever she was (probably Petar’s sister).

“Abigail, it happened again,” said Petar, and he walked off into the back of, well, I dunno.

{|} Colena’s group settled into a fairly nice room; plenty of beds, big, and much better than any room in a Luxury Cruise Ship back then (I actually don’t know if there were any luxury cruise ships back then, but you get the idea, I hope).

They started planning.

“What’s the plan?” said Marysa. “Does anyone need to buy anything—or stuff?”

“Not right ​now​,” said Colena, plopping herself down on the floor. “But maybe later. So we should definitely save money.”

“Uh, can any of you guys give me a weapon right now? Thanks,” said Victor.

“I can give you my sword Vivian gave me,” offered Marysa. “I’ve got a silver dagger…”

“You should sharpen your dagger, Marysa,” Colena said.

“What’s the plan?” said Vivian.

“We could hide in barrels,” said Sophia.

“No​, no,​ ” said Colena firmly. “No way. That’s, like, the ​dumbest ​idea ever.”

“What needs to be bought, what needs to be done?” asked Marysa.

“I wish I knew. We ​at least ​should plan on if we’re gonna join Blackbeard’s crew, turn Blackbeard over to Governor Blake, or just be castaways,” said Colena.

“I don’t think we should turn him in now,” said Victor, “because I feel like Governor Blake’s gonna corrupt them.” Colena had no idea what that meant, but she kept silent.

“I say we just join Blackbeard,” said Marysa.

After a bit of loud talking and discussions and debating about what to do, they ​still ​couldn’t get a solid plan done.

“I mean, I could ​invent ​something,” Colena said. “But I’d need supplies, right?”

“I suppose so, yeah,” muttered Marysa. “Or are we gonna *blah blah blah*.”

“I think we should escape,” said Colena, gritting her teeth. “Leave the world, you know.”

“OK, so ​Colena ​wants to be a castaway, what does everyone else want to be?” asked Marysa.

“I don’t want to be a castaway,” said Sophia.

“Do you want to join Blackbeard’s crew?” pressed Marysa.

“Mmmm, maybe not that either,” said Sophia.

“Do you want to hand over Blackbeard?” asked Colena.

“Uuuuuuh, maybe not that either,” said Sophia.

“OK, then you literally have no other choice,” Colena huffed.

“Yeah…” muttered Victor.

“Victor, what do ​you ​want to do?” asked Marysa.

“I honestly don’t know,” replied Victor. “I’m just gonna see what other people do first.”

“OK, Vivian, what do you want to do?” Marysa asked.

“Pirate,” ​Colena muttered under her breath. “I’ll be surprised if she doesn’t want to join Blackbeard’s crew.”

“You’re a pirate,” said Victor; “what do you want to do?”

“I’m a ​former ​pirate,” said Vivian, as if that made much sense. “I want to capture Blackbeard, because he’s so…” She trailed off.

“Mean?” suggested Sophia.

Vivian said nothing else on her opinion.

“Capture Blackbeard,” muttered Marysa. “Okay. Jerry, what do you want to do?”

“Let’s blow stuff up,” said Jerry.

“Let’s blow stuff up?” ​Colena said incredulously. “Are you kidding me? We don’t want to attract too much attention to ourselves, and I don’t think you’ll enjoy being arrested again.”

“What does ​Eric ​want to do?” said Marysa.

Silence.

Eric ignored them and was probably doing some random, insignificant thing.

“ERIC STOP DOING WHATEVER YOU’RE DOING AND ANSWER US!” roared Colena, losing the little patience she had.

“My ears!” Sophia yelped.

“Oh,” said Eric.

“What do you want to do, Eric?” said Marysa patiently.

“DO YOU WANT TO BE A CASTAWAY, JOIN BLACKBEARD’S CREW OR TURN HIM OVER TO GOVERNOR BLAKE?!?!” Colena yelled ​im​patiently. Unlike Marysa, Colena had very little patience.

Sophia muttered something else about her poor ears.

“Should we stay together or split up?” asked Marysa.

“I think we should stay together guys,” said Victor seriously.

“ANSWER US!” Colena shouted at Eric.

“Jeez. Stop screaming!” Eric replied.

“I think we should stay together guys,” Victor said again.

“Okay, guys, since Eric isn’t gonna do anything, which, I dunno how is possible, we can leave him here at Momma K’s forever,” grumbled Colena.

“Okay, okay, okay,” said Marysa, collecting herself. “If we are going to ​stick together​, we have to agree on one thing. Are we gonna join Blackbeard, are we gonna all become castaways, or are we gonna…I dunno, hand Blackbeard in?”

There was some inaudible mutterings.

“Hand Blackbeard in,” said Vivian, sticking with her choice.

“I think this is a dumb idea, but I think we should go to Blackbeard’s crew, learn what his motives are; if he’s bad, we can make up our minds and drag him over to Governor Blake, or we could stay as a part of the crew,” said Colena.

“Wow,” said Vivian, “what a smart idea.” Vivian clapped.

“Are you being sarcastic or not?” demanded Colena, getting seriously annoyed. “It’s really hard to tell from you.”

“Guys,” said Vivian, holding back a few giggles from her sudden idea, “what if we assassinate Blackbeard?”

“Great!” Colena said sarcastically. “In front of his ​entire ​crew?”

“Why don’t we—?” Marysa never finished her sentence as they started arguing.

“We need to outnumber them, okay?” said Victor. “It’s the only way.”

“Oh, that’s easier said than done. And how do we outnumber them, exactly?” huffed Colena.

“Blackbeard’s crew outnumber us ​at least ​ten to one. Do you know what that means? It means each of us has to fight at least 10 people at once.”

“That’s true,” mumbled Marysa.

Then they started talking about the cooking job aboard the ship, which was a load of garbage and is not necessary to write down here.

“OK, I say we stay with Blackbeard for now,” said Sophia, “see how things are going, and we decide if we want to ditch him, like, run away, or arrest him.”

More shouting and debating.

“Which idea do you think is the best?” Vivian said. “Turning him in—or staying with him—or just running away from him?”

“Running away,” replied Colena. “I’m sticking to my decision.”

And then, ​everyone ​realized at the same time: Rachael wasn’t there with them, in the room at Momma K’s.

“Where’s Rachael?” said Colena, glancing around. “When did she escape? And why? Where did that insufferable​ a​ pothecary apprentice run off to?”

Well, I’m glad I dumped beer on her ​before ​she ran away, ​thought Colena.

“I dunno,” replied Marysa.

After a ​long, long ​time of discussing and debating, they went to sleep (they had yet to settle on a plan). Colena, Vivian, and Marysa were the night watchers.

Colena walked to a window, while Marysa watched from another. Vivian was like, in the midst of all the beds, while Eric, Jerry, Sophia, and Victor slept.

Faint voices reached Colena’s ears, and it wasn’t long before Colena saw a faint, red glow. She squinted, but still couldn’t make out more than some people talking and the glow. “​Aagh…​” Marysa mumbled from her window.

Maybe she’s a bit scared? No…that doesn’t sound right.

Colena gave Marysa a quick glance, then peered out the window again. She saw a few people, and on their arms, were the marks: P​IRATE​. The people, whoever they were, had added a line to the ​P ​in P​IRATE​, so now it looked like an ​R​. So the brand basically said: R​IRATE. “Monster!” yelled a girl’s voice. “​Monster! A ​ augh!”

“Marysa?” said Colena uncertainly. “What happe—?”

Colena saw that Marysa’s eyes had pure fear, in the moment she opened them.

Colena rushed over, and Marysa fell.

Colena peered out the window as Vivian shook everyone awake. Marysa had gotten herself off the floor now, and looked out the window.

Maybe the monster was in her dream, ​thought Colena. ​She probably fell asleep on the watch; being tired doesn’t help. But did she see a monster in the red glow? Oh, hang on a sec, I think it’s just a torch.

But—what—ex—actly—do—peo—ple—or—pi—rates—want—in—the—mid—dle—of—the—night?

The red glow was still there, but there was no monster in sight.

Cleared! It’s just a torchlight.

Suddenly, Colena heard hurried footsteps, and it wasn’t long before Petar and Abigail burst into the room.

Jerry, being a rather, let’s say, not-so-smart sailor, got up, drew his weapon and tried to ​stab ​Abigail (Jerry needs lessons on self-control, I know), but the rest of the group (except Rachael of course) held him back. “​Whoa!​” Abigail exclaimed, stumbling back.

“See, this is what I was saying!” Petar said to Abigail. Turning back to Colena’s group, he said, “You’re part of Blackbeard’s crew, aren’t you!?”

“What? Of ​course ​not!” Colena said, but her tone was very unconvincing.

“Yes you are!” Petar accused. “You—” “No, well—partly!” Marysa said, trying to fix things up. “We, um, got ​captured ​by Blackbeard and…” She explained some of the adventures and events the group went through and Petar and Abigail frowned, but believed her, partly, at least.

“Okay, but how do you explain this ​psychopath ​here?” said Abigail, nodding at Jerry, still keeping her distance.

“He…Well, we can’t trust anyone and we’ve always, um, been on our guard since we arrived,” said Marysa. “Some more than others.”

“OK, fine. I’ll try to delay them” grumbled Petar, “but ​don’t e​ xpect me to lie for you, that you’re not Blackbeard’s crew. You ​might ​be, and you might not be, but there is no way I’m not gonna say you are not!”

“Who are you talking about?” asked Colena, having a feeling she knew part of the answer, and she didn’t like it.

Probably those that work for people who want to capture Blackbeard and his crew.

“Those guys outside. Ril’s Riders. They’re mercenaries…at least they used to be. They look for Blackbeard, and try to capture him and his crew. They go out ​every ​night. They have a new leader, and well, I dunno” replied Abigail.

“How many Ril’s Riders are there?” said Colena.

“I don’t know,” said Petar. “A lot, lot, lot of them. All I know is they’ve spread over the entire island—or city.”

Could this “new leader” be Governor Blake? He ​wanted us to capture Blackbeard. So he must want Blackbeard captured, like the leader of the Ril’s Riders. Now I get why Bogs warned us of the place, Ril’s Riders Rest, ​thought Colena.

Then Petar and Abigail exited the room. Colena and her group returned to their room.

They drew the curtains and Victor peered out the window. He saw a bunch of Ril’s Riders surrounding Momma K’s, clearly not worried about the unsteadiness of the floors of Floor 4, Floor 5, Floor 6, Floor 7 and the construction of the next floor.

“H-hi,” stammered Petar’s voice three seconds later, sounding nervous. “W-what can I do for you tonight?”

He must’ve been talking to the Ril’s Riders. Colena listened hard hoping to hear something that might help them to survive. No such luck.

“​Shut up​, Petar,” said Abigail anxiously.

“Yup, yup,” said Petar, trying to sound calm and collected. “Shutting up.”

A few of Colena’s group were at the windows, Vivian at the door, preparing to talk and go *blah blah blah* to them (when it came to lying, she was the best), and the rest, including Colena, hidden and waiting in the shadows, bow, swords, and rifles out.

Then Vivian saw Petar fall backwards, and Abigail dragging her brother away, while the Ril’s Riders advanced, most going up the stairs to floors 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 (and ​maybe ​the roof; remember, sleeping on it is free, so maybe lots of homeless people/pirates go up there), but a few of them stayed behind to search the first floor. Colena silently reached down her right hand to get an arrow from her quiver, the left hand holding the bow so tight like her life depended on it.

Then a few Ril’s Riders approached the group’s door.

Colena sucked in a breath and nocked the arrow to her bow, her heart beating a thousand miles a minute.

Here they come​.

IN SHALLOW PORT In Shallow Port we went to Lozar’s Marine, it was a weapons shop. It’s an empty room, no one’s in there.

Colena pulls out her bow. “ I would not do that.” says an unfamiliar voice. A really tiny person comes out of another room. We give him half the money for some weapons. The small guy is measuring Victor’s arm. “ Are you sure he’s a pirate? He looks like a soldier.” I said “He’s a poopoo head!” Marysa shot me a look and said “ He abandoned the military.” The tiny man disappears.

Then he came back, He was holding a burned spoon. “Eat the spoon,” he said. Colena asks “ Is it poisonous?” at the same time Victor says “ No.” Vivian takes a gun and the sun starts going lower. We go to the bazar to get medicine next, Marysa uses half the money for good medicine and we go to mama k’s. Colena tricks Peter and we get a good room for a low price. Rachel is missing. I sleep. Vivian wakes me up and it’s still night time. There’s a faint red glow outside. Abigail comes over to check on us and Jerry honda a knife and tries to stab her. Thankfully vivian stopped him. Peter comes with his eyes wide and asks why we have a would-be murderer with us. We tell him “We never knew he was going to do that.” Also, why would he? He seems like he wants suicide. Peter says “Why do you have a phycopath then?” Marysa says “He is weird…”

Then a shout from outside. “Who is it?” Marysa asks. “The Ril Riders” Peter replies.

We got off the boat and we went on land, we went to a hotel and two people came. They are called Abigail and her brother, they came and I tried to stab Abigail because she’s annoying and she's trash. But then the other people stopped me and Abigail and her brother started talking about the Ril Riders. The Ril Riders kill Blackbeard’s crew, and we are a part of Blackbeard's crew so we will die if we meet them.

SESSION SEVEN

Showdown in the Busted Barnacle

Showdown in the Busted Barnacle by:Vivian Today we were at the busted barnacle well and we did not start off there. We all were there and Rills Riders came and I ended up ratting out where Blackbeard was. We then went to the busted barnacle and we saw Blackbeard. They said that we better leave if we did not want to be involved in the worst fight ever. They told us that Charles was gonna come to attack us and that we need Captain Jacobo's seal and he gave it to someone to hide. Then Charles was about to kill Blackbeard but I stopped him. And Marysa was trying to throw a dagger to kill Charles but instead hit Blackbeard. Then Blackbeard yelled to Bogs to break rule 3 which is do not shoot your bloody cannons into Shallow Port. In the end Blackbeard shot Charles. We left but as we left we saw Charles waking up coming to attack the ship‌ To be continued

Victor Zhong Bang Bang Bang! This was the place where we left off.

We find ourselves still stuck in that premium hotel room, stuck there because of the pirates killing blackbeard's crew. But suddenly, I noticed Colena, one of the people stuck with me in the room. Because of this, I slowly move to the left and she stops.

After a few seconds of them yelling, Marysa, another one of the trapped people decides to let them in. Slowly, the leader of the group slowly walks forward, and reveals that he was Vey, the person who almost killed me in the beginning. We see that I and the rest of the crew convince him that we aren’t part of blackbeard's crew, or we don’t want to be part of his crew. Because of this, Vey leads us to the bar on the island. Blackbeard, and Bogs were there, drunk as physically possible. I leave immediately, because last time we were with a group, well lets just say that didn't end well...

A few minutes later, Vey leads his group to raid the bar, and in a panic, Blackbeard calls the Cannons Master, “to break rule 3!” Since I left the bar, I couldn’t be hit by the cannonballs. Vey was shot by blackbeard, because Vey was trying to kill blackbeard again after the first attempt in Freeport. Vey looked severely injured with an arm cut off.

A few seconds later, Vey’s arm just regrew back again!... Then we bolted straight for the Titanic 2000, and got away from Shallow Port....

We leveled up with 2 points to use, I got 1 on sharp and 1 on charm. We tried not to die from the ril’ riders. Then we went into the forest to have a meeting, no one wanted to die except me

(I forget everything)

Colena Shan | Aneloc E. Nahs

Showdown in the Busted Barnacle Abigail was talking to the Ril’s Riders now, but Colena knew another Ril’s Rider was heading towards the door, with a couple of other Riders.

Creak. ​The door opened, and a Ril’s Rider said, “Hello. May I take up some of your precious time to chat?”

Colena fidgeted nervously.

Come on Vivian, you can do this.

“Um…okay?” said Vivian nervously.

“Me and the rest of the Ril’s Riders are looking for one particular person,” said the Ril’s Rider.

“Blackbeard and his crew.” He looked suspicious now. “You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

“Uh, actually, no,” lied Vivian. “And, er, also, nobody’s in the room.”

“You don’t know the whereabouts of Blackbeard?” pressed the Ril’s Rider.

“Well, ​no, I absolutely hate him and I want him captured and ​dead​,” lied Vivian, “but, er, um, I dunno where he is.”

“I see,” mused the Ril’s Rider (he seemed to believe Vivian’s lies), “anything else you want to tell me?”

“Well, I actually know where he is,” said Vivian. She told the Ril’s Rider where the ​Titanic 2000 was docked.

And then Colena heard whispers in her head.

Uh-oh.​ Victor has the thing you need desperately​, said a voice in her head. Colena shook herself, but nothing happened. She began walking towards Victor slowly, and silently, having no self-control over her actions.

Victor sidestepped to the left.

And then the voice ​again, When will you take the item?​ the voice asked.

Later.​ Colena tried to get the damn voice out of her head ​immediately, ​it receded for now.

“Well,” said the Ril’s Rider. “Sorry to bother you. Return to your normal activities.” Then he and the rest of the Ril’s Riders left.

Colena sighed in relief, and put her bow and quiver full of arrows away. Vivian looked like the guy who had just disappeared down the hallway was perfectly normal (he was not, but pirates aren’t known for their clever brains, are they?) and seemed totally unsuspicious. {}

Evening…

“I want to go to the bar,” said Vivian, long after the Ril’s Rider had questioned her.

“What bar? Do you mean the Bazaar? Or the Busted Barnacle?” Colena said.

“The Busted Barnacle,” said Vivian.

“All right,” said Colena, “let’s go.”

Outside……

Colena could tell that thanks to Vivian’s quick talking and lies, they had saved the streets from being searched by the Ril’s Riders.

Well, we got out of that hole, but did we fall into another one?​ Colena thought.

Colena, Vivian, Eric, Jerry, Victor, Sophia, and Marysa followed the inhabitants of Shallow Port to the Busted Barnacle.

Bogs probably still there, singing some random pirate-ish song.

They entered the Bazaar. In the morning, it seemed to be a place for merchants and sellers to sell their merchandise, but at night (right now it was the evening), it had been taken over by the bar. Plenty of tables, lined row after row, with a bunch of seats and stuff. Colena had a look around. The Busted Barnacle was directly in front of the Bazaar.

“Wow,” Colena muttered.

This place is cool. Why do I get the feeling something is amiss?

Colena glanced around again, and she saw that loads of Ril’s Riders were in the Bazaar, spread out, trying to blend in.

What are t​ hey ​doing here?

Colena suddenly spotted Rachael, and so did the others.

“Rachael?” said Colena, confused. “What is she—?”

Rachael was approaching the door of the Barnacle, and Colena saw Rachael glance over her shoulder.

So that’s where insufferable Apothecary Apprentice went​.

Rachael headed inside the Busted Barnacle.

Marysa flicked her eyes about, noticing some details.

Colena also saw some of Blackbeard’s crew.

“Blackbeard’s pretty drunk,” said Vivian. “Which is pretty bad.”

Colena noticed a sign: The Three Laws of Shallow Port Rule #1: No stealing from pirates.

Rule #2: Absolutely no settling of scores (no revenge) Rule #3: Don’t fire your bloody cannons into the town.

“So we can fire clean cannons in?” mused Colena.

Suddenly, Colena didn’t know where Marysa disappeared. Marysa was just ​gone​.

“Let’s go to the Busted Barnacle,” said Vivian. “I want to go see Rachael.”

“I’m going to Rachael,” agreed Colena. “The Busted Barnacle.”

Soon they arrived at the top of the hill, where the Busted Barnacle was.

Colena went straight in, with the others. Colena saw Blackbeard dangling and swinging on a chandelier. Bogs was singing about Death (“What? Pirates know poetry?” Colena muttered).

Banners were there, but the one that caught Colena’s eyes was a fairly altered one that said ​Titanic 2000​.

Sitting below the banner was Will Darby. He saw the group come in, and gestured to them to go to his table. Colena, having nothing else​ ​to do, went to the table and sat down.

Vivian spotted Charles Vayne, trying not to be noticed.

Blackbeard approached the ​Titanic 2000 ​table and sat down.

“Well, I’d expected you to be hiding right now. Perhaps in a ​barrel down by the docks?” said Blackbeard. “Have you found a place to sleep, or have you been hoping to stay in the Barnacle?”

“We’re fine,” said Colena.

“Fine?” repeated Blackbeard. “Fine? Not good, not wonderful, not flourishing—?”

Colena groaned.

“No “thanks for saving us from the monster and blah blah blah”? said Blackbeard. “Just fine?”

“YES JUST FINE!” yelled Colena.

“Okay, so I understand, you’re just fine,” said Blackbeard. “So, shall you buy us a drink, or shall ​we buy ​you ​a drink? How fine are you doing? Have you made money in this endeavor? Are you nearly broke? You didn’t take the roof of Momma K’s, did you? Cause that’s a death trap.”

“We got the ground floor for free,” Colena huffed.

“Oooh,” said Blackbeard. “That’s the kind of skills I remember you had, Colena.”

What?

“I notice you have weapons,” said Blackbeard.

“Yeah? So?” said Vivian.

“Did you steal them?”

“We got them at Lozar’s,” Colena said.

“OH!” said Blackbeard. “How is Lozar?”

“Boring and old,” said Colena dully.

“Did any of you happen to meet Jafar while you were there?” said Blackbeard.

“No.” “No, I suppose you wouldn’t unless you stole,” said Blackbeard. “Jafar’s that one individual I want on my crew but he keeps insisting his boots be kept on ​land.​ “Now, normally, you have to go through the initiation before you join the crew but it’s rather fortunate you arrived tonight, because we have a fight that’s about to begin.”

“Oh, god,” mused Vivian.

Colena groaned again.

Vivian and Sophia muttered something about Blackbeard breaking Rule #2.

“Somebody is about to try to settle a score with ​me​,” said Blackbeard. “Breaking Rule #2 you know. Probably in the next minute or so. I only question you: are you here to help me or betray me?”

“Betray you,” muttered Vivian.

“I just saved your sorry skins from the sea monster and you just come here to watch?” said Blackbeard.

“You did not save me from a sea monster,” Colena said.

“I dunno,” said Vivian.

Blackbeard glared at Colena.

“Colena, I don’t know what you knew or what you saw; I do know that when things start to go bad, you were nowhere to be seen,” said Blackbeard.

“That’s because I was underwater with that damn monster!” Colena snapped without thinking.

“What about underwater with the monster?” said Blackbeard.

“Nothing,” Colena said.

“Colena, you don’t often talk about…the monster,” said Blackbeard slowly.

“Colena,” said Vivian, “bad job.”

“How long has it been since you heard it?” said Blackbeard.

“Three years ago or two days ago or today!” said Colena. “I honestly don’t know.”

Vivian muttered something about Blackbeard being drunk.

“It’s been a year since I last heard it,” said Blackbeard. “And I had hopes that perhaps you were distancing yourself from it as well.”

“Uh?” Colena muttered.

Colena glanced around.

Blackbeard said, “Anyway, I have not heard it in some time. It’s a pity we lost Jacobo. I have a feeling he could’ve answered a lot. I also—” here he turned to Vivian. “Vivian,” said Blackbeard, “do you remember much about Jacobo?”

“Uh, no.”

“We need to get to his people,” said Blackbeard. “We need to find where he has hidden it. It’s insane to me that he wouldn’t have kept it on him. It’s so important. But we must find the seal in order to make everything all right.”

Victor has it​. ​Whatever it is. Jacobo ​did ​have it on him, but he gave it to Victor,​ Colena realized.

“All right,” said Blackbeard. “I’m gonna level with you. This is about to become the most dangerous location in the Caribbean. Those of you who are not interested, should probably exit the bar now.​ ” Colena stayed. Vivian stayed. Eric stayed. Jerry left.

“I’m gonna get out of here right now,” said Victor, leaving the bar. Sophia also decided to leave.

“We dived for it for an ​hour,​ ” said Blackbeard. “Nothing. We would’ve found it if it was there.

That leaves two possibilities. Either wherever the heck Jacobo used to be, or somebody is hiding it from me.” Blackbeard glanced at the leaving party meaningfully.

Vivian spotted Charles Vayne approaching the table. Vayne had a dagger that seemed to come from nowhere.

Blackbeard leaned in and said, “This is very dangerous—” Colena rolled her eyes at the obvious statement “—I’m telling you about how crazy things are. Listen, a former associate of ours—” here Blackbeard looked at Colena “—Charles Vayne is somewhere out in this crowd. He’s going to make his way here at some point—​augh​!”

A sword hit his shoulder, which came from nowhere. But Colena could tell: it was the sword she had given Vivian, and Vivian had given it to Marysa.

Then Vayne came out of nowhere and Vivian leapt up like a tiger pouncing before being ​stabbed ​(I know, too much stabbing in this madness chapter of life) directly on the shoulder.

Will jumped to his feet. Blackbeard got up and pulled the sword from his shoulder. Blackbeard looked at the group assembled at the table and said, “I may have messed up on the timeline, just a little bit. Mr. Bogs!”

“Aye, Captain?” yelled Bogs.

“BREAK RULE NUMBER THREE!” Blackbeard shouted back. Then Blackbeard approached Vayne, with his sword in hand (and, btw, Vivian is still getting stabbed and stuff).

Vayne had a surprised look on his face (don’t ask me why; I have no idea) when he stared at Vivian, as the pirate dropped down to her knees, looked up, and raised an arm (which one? Dunno), to block Vayne from Blackbeard and took the blow.

Colena would’ve freaked out from this sudden commotion, but her Prevents-From-Freaking-Out gadget seemed to do its work well. Blackbeard sliced off Vayne’s left arm (bloody blood!).

Vayne staggered backwards as Blackbeard waved his hand and a gun shimmered out of nowhere.

Blackbeard fired the gun, and the bullet sunk into Vayne’s chest.

As Vayne stumbled backwards into the crowd, a bunch of Ril’s Riders entered by the front door.

Bogs had disappeared, but Colena heard Bogs screaming, “BREAK RULE NUMBER THREE! PAM! PAM, BREAK RULE NUMBER THREE!” A cannonball broke glass in the Busted Barnacle, and Colena knew that Pam, the cannonball mistress, was firing cannonballs, breaking rule No. 3 (Don’t fire your bloody cannons into the town).

Oh great.

Blackbeard said, “Everybody to the ship! To the ship!” and then he bolted outside, heading to where the ​Titanic 2000​ was docked (or is it anchored?).

Colena, Vivian, Eric, and Marysa ran after him, having nothing better to do.

Will Darby yelled, “GO, GO, ​GO​!”

Blackbeard spun around, yelled, “DOWN!” and flung himself on the ground. Colena, knowing a cannonball was coming, ducked as a cannonball (undoubtedly fired by Pam) whooshed over her head.

“AYE!” roared Blackbeard. Then Blackbeard started shouting things at the harbor that Colena couldn’t comprehend. But Blackbeard was yelling at the ​Titanic 2000​.

Colena muttered a few swearwords (I repeat three times: Colena is not a good role model, do NOT copy her, ​ever.​ Colena is not a good role model, do NOT copy her, ​ever​. Colena is not a good role model, do NOT copy her, ​ever​.)

When Colena got close to the docks, Blackbeard turned again and yelled, “DOWN!” Colena ducked for the second time, and two cannonballs flew over their heads.

“AUGH!” yelled Blackbeard. “​Pam! ​All that woman wants to do is ​shoot ​things. She should only do it when I’m ​on ​the ship. Come on, get in the dingy.” A dingy is a wooden boat (I think).

Colena saw Pam, having a great day.

“See if I can hit Momma K’s next time. I’ve always hated that joint.” Pam shot another cannonball.

Colena jumped into the dingy.

“A successful trip, I trust, Captain?” said Pamela.

“Yes,” said Blackbeard. “Very little thanks to ​you​.”

Pam laughed a weird laugh.

Colena saw Rachael come, throwing away a red bandana, the one Charles Vayne wore.

Colena looked back at the Shallow Port island and saw Charles Vayne, his arm regrown.

He’s ​alive​?

GOING BACK Sophia Deng Peter says Ril Riders try to find Blackbeard’s crew in Shallowport and he’s not going to help us hide. I hide in a closet while what sounds like Vivan tries to talk with a Ril Riders guy but has to fight him. and When the coast is clear, I come back out. We go to the Busted Barnicle after some talking and there we find Charles Vane who’s talking to Rachel. Blackbread and Vane decide to fight each other so I get out of the room. Then a few moments later Blackbeard comes running out yelling ‘Break rule number three’ and I realize a bit too late that he means to fire cannonballs. We run to where Blackbeard's ship is docked and we get onto a boat and paddle towards the titanic 2000. We get on the boat and leave.

Rachael 1716

Yay. I am now stuck in a forest with nothing to do. I’m so happy. This is so great. Something was moving towards me in the forest, trying to be quiet. “Who’s there?” I called out. The figure was behind a tree. He stepped into the moonlight and all I saw for a moment was a deep red bandana. Their hand, with a collection of rings on it, reached up to rub their chin.

Then, the head lifted, and a pair of light blue eyes met mine with a smile, a gold tooth glinting in the moonlight.

“Charles Vayne, at your service”, he said, holding out a hand.

He walked towards me, hand still extended. I didn’t take it. He smoothed back his bandana.“Listen. You and I met in unfortunate circumstances. You seem to have found yourself in the middle of something much bigger than you can possibly understand. There’s a companion of yours, who is hiding something. He carries it, though he does not know its true value. “ “What is it?” I asked, curious.

“An item of immense power,” Vayne said. “You’ve seen Uka’To’ah, yes?”

“What is Uka’To’ah?” I asked.

“You may have not heard the name. Gigantic sea beast. Dragged people down to the depths.”

“Yes.” I saw it. A little too closely.

“There were a set of seals, fashioned to keep it in place. One of those seals belonged to a former compatriot of mine. Captain Jacobo. Now, the seal did not go down with Jacobo’s ship. That means it must’ve travelled here to Shallowport with one of your crew,” he said. “I know that you don’t carry it.” He sniffed the air briefly.

“This is easier if you come with me,” he said. “Come on. Let’s get a drink and we’ll talk about it.”

“No thank you,” I said, not trusting Vayne.

He sighed and seemed to be considering his options. He took a step back from me. “Don’t get left behind,” he said and faded into the darkness. “Wait. Do you know if Blackbeard is a she or a he?” I asked, though I already knew the answer. He didn’t answer me. Blackbeard was non-binary.

“Do you know Colena?” I asked.

“I,” he said. “Sailed with her for a few years. Back when my ship was still my ship. I advise you not to trust her.

Nearly got me killed.”

“Is there something wrong with Colena?” I asked (I know something is wrong with her, just I don’t know what).

He said something I couldn’t quite hear. “We have a common goal. And now, we have a common enemy. It would appear Colena has forgotten that fact. But, she may remember a time.”

“How did Colena get recruited?”

“I have somewhere I need to be. I can tell you on the way.”

I went with him because I was curious to know. “Three years ago, I pulled half a dozen half-drowned sailors out of the water. Colena was among them. Also among them, was an old sea dog. Fella had a map. Fella had a story. He also had a bag. Three little golden trinkets. Naturally, the boys and I were curious. Intrigued, you might say. But unfortunately, the old man died after barely explaining half of his tall tale.

“Blackbeard was interested. More than the rest of us, more than what was natural in my view. But it was said that the Aztecs had quite a bit of gold, and it was said the Spanish didn’t succeed in stealing all of it. So we looked, and we heard, and we listened.”

He continued: “You gotta admit, during this time, the Spanish really hated us. Doing their best to stamp out all the pirates in the region. Doing their best to bring back all the free people under their boot. And I wanted a way around this. I wanted a way out of this. I wanted to find a way to fight back. To protect our way of life. To protect my town.”

He gestured to the streets of Shallowport. “The place I was born, the place I grew up. We found something.” We plunged further and further into the town. As we did this, I heard people shouting, and figures with torches in the distance as we paved our way towards the Busted Barnacle. He continued with his story.

“Something amazing,” he said. “Something that would level the plane. Something that gave us a fighting chance.

We had a common enemy. All of us on the crew, all united to the same thing. Then something changed. Some of them - It’s hard to say. They got scared, they got greedy, Hard to know another person’s mind. All I know, all I know, is what I’m protecting.

“I’ve chosen my path. Blackbeard’s chosen theirs. The rest of you, all of us,” he said, looking around the city, “Will have to make a choice when the time comes. Perhaps we’ll speak of this another time. I understand if you don’t want your ‘captain’ to see you around me.”

“Won’t Colena have a memory of what happened after she was pulled out of the sea?”

“It all happened rather fast. I can’t, I can’t tell you what was going on with her head. But I can tell you, she tied my boot to a cannon and kicked over the side of my ship. I was wearing the boots at the time - she tried to kill me.”

And with that, he pushed open the door of the Barnacle and disappeared inside. It was loud inside. People were celebrating something, and as I peered through the door, I didn’t see Blackbeard from where I was standing. However, I could hear him singing. I couldn’t make sure what he was singing, but the tune sounded familiar. It reminded me of those days where life was normal.

I hesitated, then followed Vayne through the door. It was surprisingly big. Everything was made of this weird dull-gray-leather-wood material, but everywhere were colourful banners and signs and streamers and whatever. I could tell that each corner belonged to a different crew that was staying there tonight. That was probably to prevent the bar from turning into a whole battlefield. Hanging above the bar was a sign. It said:

The 3 laws of Shallowport: Law number 1: No stealing from pirates.

Law number 2: Absolutely no settling of scores.

Law number 3: Do not fire your bloody cannons into the town.

I nearly ran into Mr. Bogs, who was walking around playing music. I looked up and saw Blackbeard dangling from the chandelier by one hand and one boot, singing and drinking. “Ohhhhhh, is that Vayne? That’s Charlie Vayne. I think somebody’s about to break some laws,” Bogs said as he passed me.

Vayne went somewhere, and I went to a place where no one would see me. It was just far enough away from Blackbeard to not hear what they were saying, near a wall. The door opened and someone came in, but I was in a spot where I couldn’t see who came in the door. I could make out what Blackbeard was singing:

“I’ve had my bread, I’ve drank my wine, All awhile, as you bide your time.

Don’t make me beg, don’t make me plead,

‘Cause now I’ve made my peace.

Before I go, I go alone, Allow me this at one more song.

And I’m not actually going too cheap, Just relax, and let me dig this deep.

Pull the bow across my string, Is this really happening?

Be at rafe or be at shame, Death, she comes for all one day.

My body shakes, my fingers to ache, It’s not my fiddle, but my soul to take.

From sea to sea, and shore to shore, Ever is she waiting, at my door.”

At this point, he had finished the song. He flipped on the chandelier so that he was dangling from the chandelier by his feet. He released his feet, landing in a bow on the floor as the whole room erupted in an applause.The door opened soon after, but I didn’t see who came in until they approached Blackbeard’s table.

Blackbeard called out to Colena, who had just come in. The rest of the group stayed behind. They talked and talked, and suddenly, out of nowhere, a sword came flying towards Blackbeard. A second later, Blackbeard was moaning with a sword buried deep in his shoulder. At the same time, Vayne moved with lightning speed past me, pulling a dagger from nowhere. Vivian threw herself towards him and tried to attack him but it just simply failed (she got stabbed in the shoulder). By now, Blackbeard had pulled the sword out of his shoulder. He yelled: Mr. Bogs! Break rule number 3!” He swung the blade, which, despite being rather rusty, cut straight through Vayne’s arm. Then, like Vayne had pulled the dagger from nowhere, Blackbeard literally conjured a gun engraved elegantly with silver out of nothing. Literally. I’m not kidding here. There was a spark, the gunpowder fizzed (for like the seventieth time) and a bang as the bullet whizzed out of the barrel straight into Vayne’s chest.

Vayne fell backwards into the crowd as Ril’s Riders came storming in. The members of Blackbeard’s crew immediately jumped up, stashing their bandanas and drawing various weapons. “Alright! Everybody up against the wall!”

They yelled the familiar command. I was near a wall already. “I think not,” a person yelled. One of the Riders looked towards the left, and yet another gunshot (why does a gun have to appear everywhere) went off. Chaos broke loose in the bar, and I pressed myself against the wall to avoid everyone.

Suddenly, a cannonshot (cannons again) went off, the cannonball crashing straight into the floor of the Barnacle.

Blackbeard looked around and yelled: “Everybody to the ship! To the ship!” People surged past me as I pressed myself against the wall again. Ril’s Riders broke the windows from the back and chased them all the way to the Titanic 2000.

When they were long gone and the Riders had started their pursuit, another cannonball smashed into the Barnacle.

Everything started to get quiet as the battle pushed its way down to the docks.

I looked around the bar. I could see nothing moving except for myself (ok maybe that’ s not scientifically possible so whatever). I left my hiding place and made my way towards the back, when I heard a groan. I saw Charles Vayne struggling to his feet. But this couldn’t be real. He literally got his arm chopped clean off and shot square in the chest. He couldn’t be alive. He limped towards me.

“Rachael. Do you believe in ghost stories?”

“Depends.”

“Depends on what?”

“Depends on what kind of ghost stories.”

He smiled. “The kind about those who can’t die.” He raised his left arm, and I nearly retched. Everything grew back. Literally. All the arteries, and veins, and bones. All of it. Then a silver dagger appeared in his hand. He tucked it away. He looked at me and said: “Best catched up with your new captain. Wouldn’t want you to get stranded.” He’s not my captain, I thought, He’s an idiot. He pulled off his bandana. “That’ll get you past the Riders. Try not to get stabbed.”

“Are you against Blackbeard?” I asked.

“Well, I wasn’t trying to stab them for their health, was I?” I put on the red bandana and followed the Riders through the door. The Riders seemed to have lost sense of direction. They were chasing Blackbeard’s crew, but they hadn’t been in the Bazaar for a while, and they realized there were so many things to rob. They started attacking random people and sacking shops. Another cannonball whistled past and smashed into the Barnacle. I ran to catch up with Blackbeard. I reached them just in time to hop in the dingy, watching Pam. She seemed to be having a great day, firing cannonballs into town.

I got onboard the ship, still trying to keep hidden among the crowd. I looked back at the Barnacle, and I thought I could see Vayne, pacing in the flames of the Barnacle, watching as his former ship evaded his grasp once again.

SESSION EIGHT

Piracy on the High Seas

Session 8 vivian

I was on the ship just vibing and victor showed us this medallion it had a code on it so we solved the code.Yay we were on Blackbeard’s ship and we solved a code but Blackbeard and bogs did not want to go there so i had to play a game with Bogs and i won so we started sailing there it was the bermuda triangle and it was also U’katoah‘s temple and we had to find a code to let us in it took us like 5 hours i do not know why and if we did not get there we would not have lived it would have flooded. That is basically what happened

The ship was still the same, even through all of the shooting of cannons and guns. As we settle down, we sail away from Shallow Port as fast as a lightning bolt.

Suddenly, I spotted a white sail over the horizon. I was confused how Colena, the person who was supposed to keep watch, didn’t see it, but I didn’t question it.

“Is this something we should be worried about?” I exclaimed towards Will.

“Uh… no, no,” answers Will as he runs towards Blackbeard.

A few seconds later, Bogs tumbles around in a chest looking for the Union Jack, and raises it, And the “help” bell rings.

“Whatcha need?” questions the merchant on the other ship.

“Could I get directions?” answers Will.

“For what?” questions the merchant again.

“To your boody.” answers Will.

“Pirates!” yells the merchant.

Boom! Suddenly, a raging battle begins, just as our ship fires, the guard ship arrives and starts trying to shoot at our ship. Me being with Will, they start shooting at me. I hide behind a barrel, and start reloading, then stand up and shoot again. “AHH!” I shout, I had just been shot...

PIRATE-SEA SOPHIA DENG

Me and Marysa clear up a place in case anyone needs to cut off an arm or something. I don’t know, some people like Jerry are dumb and come here to cut a sausage. That dummy, go use the kitchen!!! Now it’s attracting a rat or two because of the scraps of meat everywhere. One day when I get a cat, all those rats will be sorry.

One day, on the deck I hear “A ship!” I have no idea who that is but I still go up to the deck. A British ship was incoming and Bogs was preparing. At first I thought he would just give us weapons and we would just shoot, but instead he went over to flags and pulled down our pirate flag. He then put up a British flag.

Then, once the British ship was here Bogs attempted to talk with them. “Hey fellas!!! Ummmmmmmm…

I’m definitely not mysterious and we definitely did not come here to blow you up and we ummmmmm… wanted to say hi and stuff.” You could tell at once it was a British merchant ship and not a fighting ship. The merchants were very bold and said “Who the heck are you and why do you have a british flag up? You are clearly not friends.” While the merchants were talking Bogs sneaked around the ship and passed out weapons. Then, “Shoot!” Blackbeard said. I hear gunshots and duck back into the bottom level of the ship.

I had bad dreams that night.

Rachael 1716

I always have no idea how to start writing this. Everything I start with just seems so off topic, and now this intro is even more off topic. I guess I should just get straight to the point. So the night shift people started to come out, led by Pam the cannoneer. Blackbeard, Will, Bogs, and everyone except Victor and I. I didn’t feel like eating anything; I was still thinking about what Vayne had said.

The next morning, everyone went to do their usual work. Pam had gotten some stuff from Shallowport because she wanted to make some knockout poison thing. I told her that it didn’t work like that. I told her that you don’t create poison (well at least not until the next century, which is 84 years away), you get poison. “Oh. I thought that like you were an apothecary, and so you would like, turn this stuff into poison,” she said. Some time passed, and the doors for the cannons opened. I could see another ship, presumably a merchant one, as I was below deck near the cannons.

Another ship was approaching, this one being a vessel. Two cannonballs whistled over the bow of the ship. “Pam, fire some cannons!” Colena shouted from the crows nest. Just so you know, the ship had gangplanks connecting it to the other ship, and therefore firing a cannon will fire it directly at the other ship.

I heard a splash noise. Apparently a pirate carrying a whole lot of scrolls and maps from the other ship had fallen into the water between the ships because a boatswain tripped him while he was about to go on the gangplank (very smart, considering that we wanted “directions”). Marysa yelled “Man overboard!” and threw him a rope.

Four more cannonballs from the vessel that was attacking us came. One hit the merchant ship, one hit the back of our ship and two sailed between the masts. Pam yelled: “FIRE!” and we fired at the merchant ship (the poor merchants).

Our ship moved forward, and so did the other vessel. The cannons fired, the one that Eric fired hitting water level and Jerry’s hitting right above it.

The other ship returned fire, and it also hit water level, so now we were also taking on water. There was a shout, as someone was injured, and Marysa, Sophia, and Vivian began clearing off the large table to treat people. Marysa and Vivian managed to patch up the hole, but then another cannonball came through the same place, and they had to fix it again.

The merchant ship was sinking a little, and people on there were trying to quickly repair the ship.

Colena apparently jumped down from the crow’s nest to come down and fix the hole. Eric tried to fire his cannon, which failed because something went wrong and the cannonball lazily flew into the water, leaving the cannon out of commision. Eric moved to another cannon as Jerry’s cannon decided that that was a great idea. Jerry burned the left palm of his hand, because he was not wearing super thick gloves like Eric.

The merchant ship was now on fire as many cannons fired. I’m not going into this because I don’t feel like it. The British ship circled back to the merchant ship, firing one more time at the back of our ship. One of the cannons striked the main mast. Ok, turn the battle music down, we’re done with the battle.

So Blackbeard gave a lecture (literally). “I know some of you are new, and are non-believers of Uka’To’ah, but, after what we’ve seen in the last several days, that you’d be surprised about an immortal man regrowing an arm. Surely you’ve seen worse things in your time, like the giant octopus monster with a giant yellow eye. I would like to remind of the things in play. Uka’To’ah, three seals, held in check by Melenia, was released last year, by us. Some of us, not a lot of us.

And we saw the elevation of Uka’To’ah’s Chosen. Which was supposedly three, but for some reason is only two. Some of us suspected it was Jacobo, but he’s super dead, so it’s probably not him. A reminder: Uka’To’ah’s Chosen have the ability to summon elaborate weapons.” A pistol laced with silver appeared in his hand. “Elaborate weapons laced with silver. Much

like the daggers that Vayne’s just hurling around all week.” He said something I didn’t hear. “I have a theory that if I chop his head off maybe it will kill him, but who cares at this point.Things can’t live without hay, isn’t that right Mr. Darby?”

“Yes,” Will said.

“Is that right Mr. Bogs?”

“Huh? What are we talking about?” Bogs said.

“So, another gift that Uka’To’ah’s Chosen possess is healing from near mortal wounds. Severed limbs, impaled shoulders, broken bones, those things just heal up with no difficulty whatsoever. It hurts like hell, but we get past it. Now, you may recall, we’re here to put the sea monster back, because it was a bad idea to let it out. This is what the seals are for.

That’s why we wanted a nice conversation with Captain Jacobo, our former and dearly loved colleague, who appears to not have the seal anymore. A pirate,” he said, gesturing to the pirate who almost drowned, “brought us some charts, and that’s why we called this meeting. Those charts have the location of Uka’To’ah’s temple on it. Now we know where the temples are.

Which is strange, should the British care or even know about their existence. This is clear evidence that the British are hunting for them as well as we are. Vayne does not appear to be looking for the temples, he is looking for the seals because he wants to keep them safe. Can’t tell you how important it is to put the seals away, to put the powers back.

“You all performed wonderfully today, I know half of you [insert gibberish] and the other half of you deserve half as much as you currently have.But, a fee has been paid, and I’m still honoured to sail alongside you. We just robbed a British merchant, fought off a British ship on the line, and not one of you idiots managed to get yourself killed. Hear hear!”

Goodbye.

Colena Shan | Aneloc Nahs

P​IRACY ON THE ​H​IGH ​S​EAS

Colena repositioned herself on the crow’s nest again. She smiled. Being on lookout on the crow’s nest gave her plenty of excuses to avoid sleeping (she absolutely hated sleeping, partly because of nightmares, and ​especially ​because of pillows), ​and ​she wasn’t bored. The view was nice, and she let most of her worries relax, but when she found herself thinking about a sword and waved her hand in a random way, a ​cutlass ​appeared. It was the very same cutlass from the beach at Freeport, and it had just appeared out of thin air.

What?! How in the Caribbean…??

Colena frowned; where could that cutlass have come from? To make sure she wasn’t dreaming, she used the cutlass to cut a teensy bit of wood from the rail. The wood came off, and Colena took it and poked herself.

“Ow,” she muttered. Then she waved her hand randomly again, and the cutlass disappeared.

How can that be possible? It’s not a dream…is it magic? But magic doesn’t exist, does it?

Colena found herself watching the sea again, still pondering how in the Caribbean could a cutlass appear or disappear. She’d seen Blackbeard and Charles Vayne conjure weapons out of nowhere too at

the ​Busted Barnacle​, but she’d assumed the silver dagger and gun had been hidden in their hands, as they didn’t wear long sleeves. Now, however, she wondered if they had actually gotten their weapons from the thin air…

Colena told herself it wasn’t too important, but she knew it wasn’t true. She looked out into the sea once more.

Not too long later, she spotted white sails on the horizon.

Should I alert the crew…?

Colena decided not to. Why, nobody has any idea, but soon enough, Victor, who was chatting to Will Darby, seemed to notice the white sails, and told Will.

“Don’t worry ‘bout it,” said Will, and then he shouted in a panicked voice, and Colena guessed that they ​should ​worry about the oncoming ship. “CAPTAIN!” yelled Will.

Blackbeard came from belowdecks, looking kinda sleepy. Rubbing his eyes, he said, “Yes?” Colena didn’t hear the rest of the conversation but watched. Bogs was now changing the flag on the ship. Then the British ship (yeah, it was British, and I also know perfectly well Great Britain was established around 1922 and we’re in the year 1716 but whatever) pulled up next to the ​Titanic 2000 ​or Titanus Boom​, and everybody crouched down.

“Hello!” said a guy on the British ship. “Do you need any assistance?”

“We want to loot your ship!” yelled Will Darby.

“Pardon me?” said the guy on the British ship.

“Maybe you didn’t hear me,” said Will. “We want to loot your ship!”

And at that, many pirates started going over to the other smaller ship, but Colena stayed behind, and so did Vivian, Eric, Jerry, Victor, Sophia, Rachael, and Marysa (yeah, they’re all cowards, but they’re new so don’t blame them). The pirates took charts and stuff, but Colena stayed where she was (the crow’s nest), but took out her bow as well (I think she had around a few centillion arrows in her Infinity Quiver, one of her inventions that could hold countless arrows, and btw, a centillion is 1 and 303 zeroes).

The pirates were looting some charts.

WHAT IN THE CARIBBEAN?! ​Colena practically ​screamed ​in her head.

And you may have predicted what happened next. Colena spotted a ​new ​set of sails, and​, rather than ignoring it this time, told her “friends” (I’m just calling them friends because I don’t know how else to separate them from Blackbeard’s crew, yada, yada, yada).

Bogs started to lower the pirate flag, but in his haste to do so, it got stuck, and the thing that makes flags go down got ripped off its thingamajig (I have a bit of experience with ships, but the naming for some places is kinda complicated).

{|} Soon, a fight was going on. Jerry and Eric, ​finally ​knowing how to shoot a cannon properly (I’ll give a bit of thanks to Pam, and now that Jerry and Eric are good, Pam’s asking Rachael, the apothecary’s apprentice how to make poisons and Rachael’s either acting or actually clueless), shot cannonball after cannonball at the British ship (the smaller one, the big one hadn’t caught up to them yet), Marysa and Vivan repairing the ship.

“Holy,” Colena muttered. She shot a few arrows at the bigger, oncoming ship, but all of them sank harmlessly into the water. The ship was not in range…yet. Colena cursed and swore (I ​told y​ ou she was a horrible role model), something you should never do, unless you’re in a situation very much like hers…in danger and hearing the ​kooms ​and​ booms w ​ hen the cannonballs found their mark.

After the bigger ship pulled up alongside the ​Titanic 2000, ​and the smaller ship was on fire (looks like Eric and Jerry paid a bit of attention to Pamela’s lessons; I’m saying “a bit” because Eric smashed a cannon to the side while shooting a cannonball, and Jerry didn’t wear gloves and got his hands burned), Colena decided to go below​ ​deck​s​ to help repair the ship.

Remember, she’s on the crow’s nest, so Colena made the “smartest” (Notice the quotation marks, I’m speaking sarcastically) decision ever. You know what she did? She jumped right off of the crow’s nest (about 300 meters, maybe), not bothering to use the stairs to the main deck. And guess what? ​She survived with no injuries​. Yeah, you’re probably thinking “this is bending reality” or “how the hell?” and stuff, but Colena survived anyway, and she even ​landed on her feet​. (After reading this, dear Reader, don’t

think it’s a good idea to jump off crow’s nests, for ​any reason,​ even if you’re super brave or some nonsense like that. JUST DO NOT DO IT.) “Uh, shouldn’t you be dead?” said Will, and then Colena collapsed (​☺​).

Colena felt a bit of pain in her left shoulder. She gave it a quick glance, jerked her arm, and it was much better (​¯\_(ツ)_/¯​). Then she went down the stairs leading below ​deck (she actually jumped the last ten steps but whatever) and sank ankle-deep into the water. She sploshed her way to the hole that a cannonball had made and helped Vivian and Marysa repair.

Update on how everyone is doing……

Colena, Vivian, Marysa: Repairing the ​Titanic 2000 which had a huge hole and taking in less water now that it’s getting patched up.

Eric, Jerry: Firing cannonballs repeatedly at the British ship (the big one now).

Victor: Shooting a bullet from his rifle and dodging bullets from the British ship, and the people on the ship have their rifles out and shooting.

Sophia, Rachael: Doing absolutely nothing except for watching the others, not helping, but at least not making things worse either…

Crow’s nest is​ ​completely unoccupied.

As soon as the hole was fixed, and the ​Titanic 2000 ​wasn’t taking in water anymore, Colena, Marysa, and Vivian went to the cannons. While Marysa and Vivian helped shoot cannonballs, Colena took out her bow and quiver, and let loose an arrow. The arrow struck a man in the shoulder. Sophia was now doing something useful (​finally​, that took long enough), firing cannonball after cannonball. Eric and Jerry continued to fire cannonballs. Victor shot a guy with his reloaded rifle. And guess what the last member of the group was doing? ​Nothing​. Rachael did ​absolutely nothing​. Colena wanted to yell at the girl (or woman, since there’s no kids here) to do ​something​, but Rachael and Colena had bad history, and Rachael would probably still do nothing. {|} And here we come to a short episode of a man falling overboard (​finally ​a man fell overboard). A man fell overboard (WHOO-HOO!) and ​nobody s​ aid, “MAN OVERBOARD!” and nobody erupted into chaos. This pirate was eventually rescued. {|} I’ll finish this chapter with the conversation the entire group had (including Blackbeard’s crew).

It was about Vayne. Plenty of pirates were worried, because they saw their captain ​shoot Vayne in the chest, and Charles Vayne had lived. Vayne had also regrown an arm​, and fairly quickly too—not like, OK, cool, I recovered after one month. ​No​. ​Nothing l​ ike that. In less than an hour, and that was CREEPY. Rumours spread around, and Blackbeard was trying to address these rumours.

“I know some of you are new, and I know some of you are none-believers of Uka’ To’ah,” said Blackbeard. “But I can’t ​believe t​ hat after what we’ve seen from the last several days you’d be ​surprised to know about a mortal man, regrowing an arm. Surely you’ve seen worse things in your time, like the giant octopus monster with one giant, yellow eyeball.”

Colena had seen the “giant octopus monster with the one giant, yellow eyeball”. She knew she’d seen it before she fainted for three years. It was beyond the word ​creepy​, and she didn’t know any words to describe the octopus monster.

“I will remind you of the current state of play,” said Blackbeard. “Uka’ To’ah held in check for millennia by three seals. He was released last year. By us.”

Oh, so that’s how Uka’ To’ah was here. Amazing! And ​Blackbeard ​himself released the monster? What a brilliant idea​.

“By not all of us, but many of us,” Blackbeard said. “And we, of course, saw the elevation of Uka’ To’ah’s ​chosen​.”

Who’s Uka’ To’ah’s chosen?

“Which,” said Blackbeard, “was supposed to be three, but for some reason there were only two.

Some of us…had thought it was Jacobo, but he’s ​super dead​. Super dead, so probably not him. A reminder: Uka’ To’ah’s chosen has the ability to summon elaborate weapons—” and Blackbeard waved

his hands and a silver pistol appeared— “—elaborate weapons laced with silver. Much like Vayne’s daggers that he’s hurling around all day.

“If ye see an individual pull a weapon out of nowhere, there’s a chance they’re tied to Uka’ To’ah, like myself. We believed, that the ​silvery ​of our weapons was there because perhaps that we can use it to kill each other.”

Yeah, makes total sense for a pirate.

“But,” Blackbeard said, “as Mr. Charles Vayne demonstrated the other night, that doesn’t quite work. I have another theory: I think maybe if I chopped his head off that I might rid of him for good, but who knows at this point? Things can’t live without a head, isn’t that right, Mr. Darby?”

“That’s right, Captain,” said Will Darby.

“Isn’t that right, Mr. Bogs?” said Blackbeard.

“What are we talking about?” said Bogs, confused. “Yeah, ‘course. You’re always right, Captain.”

“So,” said Blackbeard, “the other ​gift Uka’ To’ah’s chosen have received is the ability to heal! Very rapidly. From near mortal wounds, severed limbs, impaled shoulders, broken bones. Those sort of things just heal up. In almost no difficulty whatsoever. It-it hurts like hell, but whatever. Now, you may recall we’re here to put the sea monster ​baaack”​ (he sounded like a lamb on that word) “because it was a bad idea to let it out.”

“As if we didn’t know that,” Colena muttered.

“But,” said Blackbeard, “this is why we were hoping to have a nice conversation with Captain Jacobo, our former and dearly departed colleague who appears to not have his seal anymore.

“Mr. Barnes,” said Blackbeard, gesturing to the pirate who almost drowned, “was so good to find us some ​charts ​which is why I would call this meeting. Because these charts have the locations of Uka’ To’ah’s temples. Now, we know where the temples are.What’s strange is why the British have any interest in them whatsoever, or would even be aware of ​it. It is clear evidence that the British are hunting Uka’ To’ah, like we are. Vayne is certainly looking for the seals, because he wishes to keep them safe.”

As much as I don’t trust Vayne, I have trouble believing that he wants Uka’ To’ah out forever​, Colena thought.

“Can’t tell you how ​important it is t​ o find the seals. First, so we can put the sea monster ​away​.”

Blackbeard talked in a weird manner. “We can get our powers back. Y’all performed amazingly today, *blah blah blah*.”

Colena wasn’t listening anymore…she had been thinking, ​What if I’m Uka’ To’ah’s chosen? My shoulder healed exceptionally fast today, and I can summon a cutlass from thin air. Haven’t inspected the engravings though………o ​ h no.

THE END ​(for now)

SESSION NINE

To the Bermuda Triangle

Colena Shan

To the Bermuda Triangle Colena was just doing some random thing when she realized Victor had the seal out (the one Captain Jacobo gave to him) and was frowning at some symbols carved onto the seal. Victor then went to Will Darby and Bogs and asked them about the symbols, which was Greek writing.

They chatted for a bit.

“I don’t know Greek,” said Bogs.

“Colena knows Greek,” said Will.

HUH? I do not!​ ​At least, I only know the basics…wait, huh?​.

Later, the eight of them (Colena, Vivian, Eric, Jerry, Victor, Sophia, Rachael, and Marysa) were trying to decipher what the note said, Colena trying desperately to rack her brain for the little Greek she knew.

δονοτγοηερε

Colena frowned. “The first letter is ​d​,” she said.

“So…is the next letter an ​o​? It looks like one,” said Sophia.

“Yeah, maybe.” So far, all they got was Do_o_ _o_ _ _ _.

“The one that looks like a ​v ​is actually an ​n​,” Colena said, “and the one that looks like a ​t ​is a ​t​.”

So… “Do not,” Colena muttered. “Something something. The one that looks like a ​y ​is a ​g​.”

“Do not go…” Sophia muttered.

“Near?” suggested Victor.

“No…the ​n is actually an ​h​. And the ​p ​is an r,” said Colena. “The ​e​-like thing is an ​e​. ​Do not go here. But where is that?”

Victor flipped the golden seal over. More Greek writing:

τςεντυ φοθρ σεωεντυ ονε

/

“ ‘​twenty four’​ ,” Colena read, “ ‘slash ​minus seventy one​. Are those coordinates?”

μινθς

“Probably!” said Sophia.

“Longitude and latitude?” Colena suggested.

“Should we tell Blackbeard?” said Victor.

“Vivian, since you’re the best at persuading people, you go. We all want to go there—to the place it says ​do not go,”​ said Colena. When there’s a sign that says ​Do not go ​or ​do not do this​, the stuff people do is to ​go or ​do​.

Yeah, weird, but kindly don’t ask me why people don’t listen to ominous signs.

The others agreed. “You’re the best at lying!”

“Uh…​fine,​ ” said Vivian, and she headed to the main deck.

Later, Colena found herself in the Navigation Room, where Bogs was sleeping, sprawled over a lot of maps.

Vivian yelled at Bogs to wake up and he stammered, “Uh what?”

Vivian told Bogs about the coordinates and Bogs did ​not l​ ook too happy about it. Colena wondered if the coordinates were in the Bermuda Triangle, and Bogs, being the very stupid navigator he is (the old navigator, a guy named Derrick, someone Vivian knew, had died, cheating in a card game according to Bogs), needed the group’s help locating 24, -71 on a map.

Finally, the conversation with Bogs ended, but Colena now knew the location was somewhere near or in the Bermuda Triangle, and that didn’t make her feel better…

On the main deck, Bogs was talking to Blackbeard. After a bit, Blackbeard walked to Vivian and said, “Scissors always beats Paper.”

Then Bogs walked to Vivian and said, “We have a way of making decisions, other than ​killing ​each other.

How about this: on the count of three, you make the ancient sign for Rock, Paper or Scissors. If ​I ​win, we don’t go to the place you want to go; if ​you ​win, we all go to the Bermuda Triangle and die.”

Very cheerful​, Colena thought. ​How about we go there for vacation?

Back to the game of Rock, Paper, Scissors but pirate-style, you might say: “…three,” said Bogs.

“Do a scissor, Vivian,” Colena and Marysa said.

Bogs did a paper, and Vivian did scissors (remember what Blackbeard told her?).

“What?!” Bogs cried. “But…paper ​always ​wins! Everyone does Rock first!”

“Clearly not ​everyone​,” Colena muttered under her breath.

}|{ After two very uneventful days on the crow’s nest for Colena…with Will Darby on edge, Bogs uneasy, a few crew members complaining about their destination… at around mid-day (on the second day), Blackbeard called out, “We’re here. At least, we’re close. Mr. Darby!”

Will looked up. “Yes, Captain?”

“What’s the time?” Blackbeard yelled.

Will got a silver watch and gave it a glance. “Soon!” he said.

Blackbeard walked up to Colena, Vivian, Eric, Jerry, Victor, Sophia, Rachael, and Marysa.

“Well, I sense you have something to ​hide​,” said Blackbeard. He talked about secrets and stuff, but Colena wasn’t listening.

Then Uka’ To’ah’s temple appeared.

So this is why Blackbeard and Bogs didn’t want to come​, Colena thought. ​The temple belongs to the monster they released.

“Well, captains first,” said Blackbeard, as he leapt into the dingy.

Colena, Vivian, Eric, Jerry, Victor, Sophia, Rachael, and Marysa lowered themselves into the small boat.

Will Darby and Bogs stayed behind.

}|{ Colena and the rest of the group went into Uka’ To’ah’s temple. It was dark and damp, but nobody needed a light source.

Colena was second, behind Blackbeard and she barely stopped herself, slamming into Blackbeard who had his hand up in an urgent ​stop ​sign. The other ​seven slammed into ​her​, Colena wincing in pain. Having seven humans bump into you is ​very ​painful.

They slowly made their way down the stairs, and soon came to a weird room. On a wall, there was a sign, in Greek​.

AGAIN?

Πασσςορδ “It says ‘password’!” Colena said, looking down at her notes which told her which letter was what. “This isn’t actually Greek. It’s just English, with the ​letters ​Greek letters. The first letter is a ​capital ​P.” Beside the password thing, there was a 14-block thing. Scattered on the floor were blocks of every letter in the Greek alphabet, all lowercase of course. There was a closed door.

“What’s the password?” said Blackbeard. “When I came, it was already done!”

“Check the seal!” somebody said.

“How does ‘​Do not go here​’ and ‘​twenty four/seventy one​’ help us?” Colena said.

“Try ‘​how did you get here​’,” said Marysa.

Blackbeard put the blocks in, and the blocks receded.

“Look,” said Blackbeard triumphantly, “it worked!”

“Uh…I wouldn’t say that,” Colena said. A pool was bubbling, and Blackbeard eyed it apprehensively.

“I’m sure it’s perfectly normal,” said Blackbeard. Colena rolled her eyes.

“YOU!” Blackbeard suddenly shouted.

“What?” said Colena, trying to rack her brain for possible passwords.

“YOU!” said Blackbeard.

Colena had a look at the password blocks. All of the letters were bright red, except the υοθ, which was dark green. “ ‘You’ is correct!” Colena realized.

“Yeah,” said Sophia.

After trying many combinations, Marysa finally said, “Try all a’s except for the ‘you’ part!”

“Good idea,” said Blackbeard. “That’s bound to get us somewhere.”

“Why would all a’s be the password for a temple of a monster?” Colena asked. But Blackbeard was already collecting the blocks with the symbol α.

Colena glanced down at her notes: Α α = capital a, lowercase a Ββ = capital b, lowercase b Ψψ = capital c, lowercase c

Δδ = capital d, lowercase d Εε = capital e, lowercase e Φφ = capital f, lowercase f Γγ = capital g, lowercase g Ηη = capital h, lowercase h Ιι = capital i, lowercase i Ξξ = capital j, lowercase j Κκ = capital k, lowercase k Λλ = capital l, lowercase l Μμ = capital m, lowercase m Νν = capital n, lowercase n Οο = capital o, lowercase o Ππ = capital p, lowercase p :; = capital q, lowercase q Ρρ = capital r, lowercase r

Σς = capital s, lowercase s Ττ = capital t, lowercase t Θθ = capital u, lowercase u Ωω = capital v, lowercase v ΅΅ς = capital w, lowercase w Χχ = capital x, lowercase x Υυ = capital y, lowercase y Ζζ = capital z, lowercase z Meanwhile, Blackbeard had just put in the last α block.

Only three of the blocks were green (the ‘you’), the rest still red. The water in the pool was bubbling more, and Blackbeard was inching away from it, despite his confident remarks about it being “perfectly normal”.

“GUYS STOP!” Colena yelled, but Marysa said, “Try all ​i​’s!”

“Yeah, I like that plan,” said Blackbeard, taking out the α blocks and putting in the ι blocks.

This time, their luck was different. One of the red slots turned green! However, the water bubbled ​up ever so slightly.

Here is what they had so far:

__ __ __ __ __ __ υοθ __ __ ι __ __.

Colena realized when they put all the same letters, the temple got angry somehow. But when they put different letters, the bubbling was sort of slower. The water was rising to their ankles now…

R must be tried out. But what else? S… “Try ​r​ then ​s​ then ​r​ and then ​s ​and so on!” Colena yelled. “Over the ‘you’ and the ​i​!”

Blackbeard got the ρ and σ blocks. He put them into the empty slots.

“The first one turned green!” Colena shouted. Sure enough, the first slot, with an ρ (r in Greek) had turned green. But the others didn’t.

“Try ​r a​ nd ​s ​again!” yelled Colena. “This time the ρ blocks will be in different slots. Same for the σ!”

The group obliged, and then another two slots turned green!

“YES!” Colena screamed. ρ __ __ __ __ ρ υοθρ __ ι __ __ “Try ​u ​and ​n​ after the first ​r​!” Marysa said. “​Run​.”

Blackbeard put a θ and ν block and they both turned green!

“Run for?” Colena suggested.

The φ and ο blocks were put in, and they turned green too.

“Far?” suggested Victor, and Blackbeard took the correct block out and added an α.

“That has to be wrong,” said Colena. “Earlier, you guys did all ​a​’s and none of them were correct. Plus, we already know it’s ‘for’! Do ‘for’!”

Blackbeard put the ο block back.

“RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!” Colena, Vivian, Victor, Sophia, and Marysa yelled at the same time, realizing what the password was.

“Wait, wait! I think the password is ‘run for your life’!” said Blackbeard.

“Didn’t we just scream that?” Sophia muttered.

The blocks were put in.

The Final Result: ρθν φορ υοθρ λιφε The door opened, and the water was waist-high now.

“Ugh,” Blackbeard grumbled. “That sucked.”

What will we find beyond that door? Colena wondered. ​I’m literally shivering in excitement and nervousness.

Victor Zhong “We need to find what the Greek letters say!” After the battle, we stayed on the ship. As we stayed in the cabin, I remember that Jakabo gave a golden something that looked like a donut.When I observed it a little, I noticed that it had Greek on it. Not wanting to let Bogs know what was going on, I wrote the Greek letters on a sheet of paper, got some beer, and asked Bogs.

“Nice drawin there. What? That's a language? I don’t know how to read.” answers Bog Drunkenly. So I had to go ask Will.

“Hey! Whatcha up too? Oh that’s Greek! No, I don’t know Greek.”

We eventually figured out what it said. “Do not go here” was on the front. And the back said “24/-71”. Will was very interested now, so I had to lie that I found the text at Newport. We figured the back were coordinates. We convinced Blackbeard to go to the coordinates, but we could feel he was hiding something.Then we convinced the navigator, who we thought was one-eared Derick, but he died so Bogs was the navigator. Blackbeard explained that they don’t duel on the ship. Instead they play “Rock Paper Scissors.” He also gave us a clue. “Scissors beat paper.”

“If I win, I get to know why you want us to go to the middle of the ocean. If you win, we will go there.” exclaims Bogs.

We agreed. Vivian chose Scissors while Bogs chose paper. But before we could tell Blackbeard about the results, he had already started sailing to the location.

3 hours later, we had arrived. We stepped into the chamber, and… it started flooding.

“We have to open the door! But I don’t know the password because the door was already open.”

After 8 minutes of trying to solve the password, which was also written in Greek, the water was at our shoulders, but we figured it out. It was “run for your life.” the chamber door opened and…..

TO THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE Sophia Deng One normal day, we all come together and Victor shows us a medallion he had and we all found Greek writing on it. We slowly deciphered it. It said ‘do not go here’ and there was a pair of coordinates on it, 24/-71.

Vivian decides to ask BB to go to the coordinates. She gets us going and in 2 days we get to the coordinates.

Once we are at the coordinates BB tells us about Uka To A or whatever and the monster had temples or something. Then the temple rises out of the water. It’s kinda ulgy with a person attached to a bow of a stone ship that’s on a dome, that’s on the temple. Then we go in.

The doors or what looks like doors close behind us. A puzzle is in front of us. It said ‘Run for your life’. A door opened in front of us and we did not ‘Run for our lives’. We went in.

Rachael 1716

Victor had found that Jacobo had given him one of Uka’To’ah’s seals. We’d opted not to tell Blackbeard about it just yet, and the only people other than our group who knew about it were Will and Bogs. The gold thing had engravings on it in Greek, which apparently Colena knew a lot of. It looked like this:

δονοτγοηερε

The code was deciphered as “Do not go here” which confused us for a moment before we found another etching, also in Greek:

τωεντψφουρ / μινυσσεωεντψονε

It was deciphered as “twenty four / minus seventy one”. We figured out that this was longitude and latitude, so Vivian, Colena, and I think someone else went to see Blackbeard about it. Apparently Blackbeard would only let us go there if we could convince the navigator (which turned out to be Bogs) to let us go there. It seemed like Blackbeard knew something about it, and wasn’t particularly excited to go there. Vivian, Colena, and I think Victor managed to convince Bogs to go there, and probably it had something to with it being in the Bermuda Triangle (You’re probably thinking: Wasn’t the Bermuda Triangle found in the 20th century? Well, I guess pirates can find a lot of stuff that isn't reported. Now look who’s traveled to the future, too bad it’s still 1716, they’ll have flying cars by the 21st century {totally *sarcastic noises*}).

We sailed for 2 uneventful days to the Bermuda Triangle. The Titanic 2000 cut a clean rapid path through the waves, and Blackbeard was cheerful, although I was sure that something bad was going to happen. Blackbeard appeared to be the happiest he’d been since we’d joined his crew. On the contrary, Bogs was swigging large amounts of rum, beer, champagne, wine, whatever every night, bringing with him a gloomy mood every morning. Will was more on edge, demanding perfection and even the slightest mistake bothered him (I feel for Victor). He was preparing for something, we all sensed it, and it would be reckless, dangerous. The crewmates seemed to complain like seventy times more often, but nothing had changed, other than the ship’s path.

It was around noon when a bell rang on deck. The ship slowed down as the anchor dropped, and Blackbeard called out: “Heave to! We’re close enough.” But as we looked around, it appeared to just be some open sea. “Time, Mr. Darby?”

Blackbeard said to Will. “Nearly there, Captain,” he replied. “Steady on,” he added to the men. Apparently everyone had been prepared for something, especially us, presumably to go ashore, but nothing was there, just endless water.

Blackbeard approached our group and said: “It is my suspicion that some secrets are being kept on board this ship.

That’s alright. Everybody brings with them their own stories, their own history. Lord knows I certainly have my own baggage. Where we’re about to go requires a certain degree of trust. You don’t have my back. You don’t trust me to have yours. I think very few of us will see the sunset today. Is there anything anybody would like to bring to my attention now? I open the floor to you.” Blackbeard stood there awkwardly and yelled something at the seagulls. “Mr. Darby, what is the -” He was cut off by a loud rumbling noise. Blackbeard’s crew didn’t seem surprised or distressed by this. The ship began to

pitch back and forth. Several members of the crew reached out to grab on something. “Mr. Bogs, did we overshoot it?”

Blackbeard called.

“No, well, you told me to come-” “Thank you, Mr. Bogs.”

Around 100 yards from the ship, something was emerging from beneath the waves. I stared at it, along with the rest of us, and I realized it was a woman’s face. Her skin was pale, with no colour, and her eyes stared like those of the dead. As the rest of it rose, I realized she was tied to the bow of a ship rising out of the water. I relaxed as it was a carving made out of some kind of smooth stone. It was intricately carved, and immediately I saw that it was probably by someone who had the skills of carving. The woman continued to rise, and she rested on a small, bony mountain covered with coral and seaweed.

There was also a fish, flopping around aimlessly, which had presumably not been sensible enough to get out of the way in time.

The waves swept across the waves of what appeared to be- “The first temple of Uka’To’ah,” Blackbeard said. He looked at the rest of the crew. “Captain’s first,” he said, leaping over the side and into the dinghy. Only Blackbeard and us were going into the temple. This is going to suck, so be prepared (It starts off well). Someone grabbed the oars, and paddled the short distance between the dinghy and the temple.

The temple looked sort of like an island that also looked like the bottom of the sea. Coral was scattered over it and seaweed was draped over carvings and whatnot. The fish eventually succeeded and flopped back into the ocean, leaving a frustrated seagull who wanted to eat it.

The island was slippery, and we gingerly made our way across it. Blackbeard checked a watch, turned and said: “No time to lose.” and walked off into the darkness that appeared to be the temple itself. Shortly after, he disappeared completely. We followed him and realized that there was a staircase that went underground. It became unbearingly dark as we continued down the slippery staircase, and my mind trailed off to the reason why Blackbeard hadn’t lit a torch or a match or a candle, moving mostly through there with touch.

Suddenly, we stopped, barely avoiding crashing into the person in front of us’s back. Blackbeard paused, and walked into the room, where Blackbeard was pacing around the outside of a light blue pool of water, which emitted light.

Blackbeard seemed rather careful not to step into the water. Blackbeard reached towards their face, reached towards the wall and back. “This- This I don’t remember,” they said, looking towards the wall. In front of them was a doorway. They didn’t seem particularly surprised by that; instead, they were surprised by the empty place that was hollowed above it.

Strewn across the floor were blocks, each with some kind of piece of art. Mermaids and whatnot, one of them even being a bright yellow eye. Blackbeard reached down and picked one up. “Well, it’s a code, you see. You put in the right blocks and you get in. The thing is, when I was here, the door was open. The blocks were put in, and uh, we don’t have a lot of time to lose,” they said, checking their watch again. They turned the block over. I noticed a Greek letter etched into the side, along with everyone else.

There were some Greek letters scrawled on the wall, and to the right of that, there was blank space. There were a lot of blocks across the floor, all of them having one Greek letter. We figured out the Greek alphabet first, then we figured out the Greek letters written on the wall. It meant “Password”.

“Makes sense. What’s the password?” Blackbeard said. “Try ‘open sesame’” “What?” Colena said.

“Use those Greek blocks and write open sesame! What’s open sesame in Greek? Opa loopidy!” Blackbeard exclaimed.

“It’s not open sesame! It wouldn’t be open sesame if it was Uka’To’ah’s temple!”

“It is Uka’To’ah’s temple,” Blackbeard pointed out.

We tried “why are you here” too, but only 3 of the letters decided to cooperate.

“You!” Blackbeard yelled over and over again.

“What!” Colena was clearly irritated.

Blackbeard clapped her on the shoulder and pointed to the board as the three letters sunk in like the puzzle was accepting them, and said: “You!” again.

“Aha! Now we’re getting somewhere. Things are going well,” they said.

As people started changing around the letters, the water in the pool began to rise. I didn’t really pay attention to anything as the water rose to our knees, and finally we figured out the password. It was “run for your life”. The door swung open, and Blackbeard disappeared down the steps.

Session 9 by:Vivian We wandered the cave or temple. We still hid to blackbeard the medallion that Victor had and it was a good thing that Blackbeard did not suspect us. We walked though and saw many creepy carvings in the wall.Some people were absurd by doing dumb things and it was also very dark.

We had to go through a whole maze of things that were annoying. I disliked it very much. We also got scared half the time by some people who frightens us. Then we split up.

SESSION TEN

Inside the Temple

Session 10 by vivian So we explored the cave more and we also split up a lot of the time. It was fun and not fun at the same time. Me and Colena sure had lots of fun. We split up with some of the other people.

We swam this tidepool river with each other and we crossed. We got into this room. And before that, Colena got stabbed by a skeleton. But the rest of the people came, well, not all of them.

We found a hole and there was a missing quarter where the medallion Victor had fit. So while I distracted Blackbeard, Victor put it in. We finally exited the cave and Colena and Blackbeard crashed onto the deck but the others went into the water. It was so unfair.

Victor Zhong CRASH! PLUNK! PLUNK! Previously, we had luckily figured out the password to the temple of Ukatohah just 2 minutes before the room flooded.

Now that we were inside, we needed to figure out what to do. “I think we should go out in the open!” “No! We should go sneakily!”

After a few minutes of arguing, we decided we should go sneakily. We went one person at a time so we were less detectable, and got to the next room.

After going to a few rooms, Colena and another person wanted to hang around in the temple. So, the other people went to the next room. Suddenly, we found a chest, with a dead snake in it…. like the person hiding the gold under the snake forgot to feed it.

After even more rooms, we found a room with the same pattern on my seal, which Blackbeard was aware of. So Marysa asks for the seal, then everyone looks at it while Vivian distracted Blackbeard was dancing and other things. Suddenly, Marysa runs to the chest in the room and puts the seal in the chest. Then, the room lights up with blinding lights and Blackbeard yells “WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE! THERE MUST BE A BACKDOOR!” And so, we ran to the next room, and we saw that we were followed by 2 Slimy Monsters, with golden axes.

I think they were Ukatohah’s monster friends. “Ay Victor! Why don’t you fight? Since you're the boswane!” So, I start fighting the two monsters. Vivian helps too.

After a few minutes of battling, I defeat one and get its golden axe. It was as heavy as an elephant. “Give me the axe!” yells Vivian condescendingly. “No,” I reply. At the end of the room, there was a whirlpool, and we all jumped in. CRASH! PLUNK! PLUNK! That crash was Colena crashing onto the ship. I just realized that the seal was still in the temple....

UKA TOAZ TEMPLE SOPHIA DENG

There is a very long tunnel behind the opened doors. We go down the tunnel. When I get to one of the rooms I see Vivian gulping water from a bowl. Colena gets sus so she tastes it, nothing happens. Rachel does it too and she does the same thing Vivian does. After that weird incident we go down the tunnel until there’s a path to the left and one to the right. We take the right except for Rachel. Nobody wants to ditch Rachel so we wait for her. After a few moments she comes back and drops a bag of gold and then gets crushed by a big boulder.

After some tries to get Rachel out from under the boulder a final push and the rock comes free- for a moment. Rachel uses the time wisely and gets out. We keep going.

There are a lot of boxes and skeletons around. Creepy.

After a while we reached a whirlpool. BB throws a ladder to get across the water. Rachel goes on a different path, Jerry and Eric decide to stay behind. When we cross over to the other side Colena says something about cave tanning and we go on.

In the main chamber there is a box and Colena and Vivian open it. Victor makes sure BB can’t see and he puts the seal in. The room glows bright yellow. All the black crates burst open and skeletons come out. BB shoots one and runs back to the whirlpool. “Come here” they say. I get to where BB is and watch as a skeleton with an axe-sword thing hits Vivian and Vivian’s wound turns into emeralds. On the other side Victor defeats two skeletons and gets a sword-axe thing. Colena gets jealous and demands the sword or else she will kill him.

Then I hear shouts from the other side of the whirlpool and I see Jerry throwing a sausage at a skeleton.

Seriously? All Jerry thinks about is food.

The room turns red as the light’s color changes. Then I’m falling from the sky. I land gracefully in the water as Colena and Vivian land head first onto the boat. ​That looks fun, I​ thought sarcastically.

Rachael 1716

This is a horrible idea. A totally horrible idea that I swear is going to be so embarrassing. I’m pretty sure I’m going to blow myself up today (I did, [spoiler alert]). So we followed Blackbeard down the stairs, again not lighting a single torch or lantern or whatever, and I heard a rumbling noise. But it was pitch black, so I didn’t see anything. Blackbeard looked at us and said: “We should advance carefu- where’s Colena?” I caught a glimpse of her slipping away, like a shadow. We all followed her.

There was a sort of clanging and shambling noise in front of us and the rumbling noise got louder. Vivian peered down the tunnel, and said: “There’s this weird figure with jumbled rib bones down the hallway.”

“A skeleton can’t hurt anybody, Vivian. Sure, they’re gross, but they’re dead,” Blackbeard hissed.

“But it looks strange.”

“Strange how? ‘Cause like, I look kind of strange. What do you mean strange?”

“Strange means strange. I mean, I know it’s dead, but it looks alive.”

“Well good thing we brought a boasin then,” Blackbeard said, clapping Victor on the shoulder. “Victor, you care to go protect us from the strange alive looking dead thing?”

“Why is it always me?” Victor said indignantly. “‘Cause that’s what you signed up for. I mean, we could send surgeons in, but that’s not really their area of expertise. Look well - does anybody hear that?” The rumbling noise grew and there was a slight vibration in the walls.

We moved down the hallway more. The skeleton let out a low rasping noise. In its right hand, it held a sword. A gunshot accompanied by a fizz of gunpowder went off, and a bullet whistled out of Vivian’s barrel, which hit the skeleton on the hand that was holding the sword. The hand separated from the skeleton, and the sword dropped with a clang. The skeleton hissed, raised its stump of an arm and charged as it were holding a sword.

Colena stepped in front of it, and was impaled by the skeleton’s stump in the chest. I didn’t want to do anything, so I just stood there, a bit stunned. Jerry reached for his sword, but thought better of it and took out the hammer that he carried as a cannoneer, smashing the skeleton, therefore giving us a (totally *sarcastic noises*) wonderful pile of bones.

We reached an intersection, and Blackbeard said: “This way!” , pointed to the right and (I don’t know why I did this, I guess I was just curious or whatever) I pointed to the left and yelled: “This way!” and walked off (extremely bad idea). I reached a dead end, and there was a sort of pot thing. I lifted the lid and nearly dropped it, as there was a dead snake inside. Underneath it was some gold, so (I felt like it) I picked up the gold and went back. The rumbling noise was getting louder and louder.

I came back into the intersection just to see a boulder come crashing down. I dropped the gold, which scattered over the floor (I don’t think I wanted it anyways), which was useless as the boulder crashed straight into me and pinned me against the wall. ​[Redacted]​.

“Ohhh, what a bad way to-” Blackbeard started. I made some sort of sign that I was alive, and Blackbeard said:

“Oh she’s alive! Let’s do something!”

Everyone started trying to push the boulder aside, but Colena slipped as the boulder was wet and found herself next to me. “Hello Rachael!” she said cheerfully. Victor put his leg up against the wall and pushed, making quite some progress,

and Sophia slipped too, joining Colena and me behind the boulder. I pushed and reached out to grab Marysa’s hand, and I was wrenched free of the boulder.

“We’re doing fine,” Colena said, still quite cheerful (This is an example of a person who needs common sense).

Blackbeard sighed. “Well then, let us hope that there’s a back door to the temple, hm?”

Then I realized that the boulder had wedged itself firmly in the passageway that we’d used to come in (yes, [Redacted]​ it). “I also should have mentioned that the temple only remains above the water for one afternoon every three weeks,” Blackbeard added solemnly.

“That’s not good,” said Victor.

“Yes Victor, that’s not good.”

Vivian threw herself against the boulder as an attempt to break it as Blackbeard said: “I couldn’t have asked for better companions to suffocate to death with.”

“At least we’re doing something,” Colena observed.

“Yes, that’s true Colena. Very good. ‘At least we’re doing something’.”

“Guys, let’s push the boulder!” Victor said.

“Can’t we just go forward and hope there’s a back door?” Sophia suggested with a bit of irritation.

“Yes, that’s our only option,” Blackbeard said. “Well, we could leave some of you behind to push the boulder, but if we find a back door, then you - die. I propose that we stay together.”

There was a weird noise that I heard. It was the same clattering that we’d heard before, and I remembered that there were shambling skeletons in this place.

“Yes, we will stay together,” Blackbeard said firmly. “Does anybody know Kalaripayattu?”

“Me!” Vivian said.

“Really?”

“No.” “Is that what you were trying to do on the wall earlier?”

“Probably.”

We walked for a moment, then reached another intersection.

“I think left, we might just go back up,” Colena remarked.

“Possibly,” Blackbeard lamented.

“Try left!”

“There are things we need to accomplish down here, but I think being- not dead - is more important.”

Colena and Vivian went to the front for whatever reason. The pathway was sloping upwards, and there was a faint dripping sound. We emerged onto some sort of plateau and the path that we had come up was beneath it. In the wall were some sort of cubicles and there was something in it. Colena quickly moved forward and ripped off the cloth, revealing another skeleton, who’s head immediately fell off and landed in front of her. Vivian was hesitant behind her. Blackbeard followed.

“That’s nasty,” Blackbeard said shortly. “Marysa, could we borrow you for a moment?”

Marysa sidled over and inspected it.

The dripping sound continued. We moved to the other room. There was also a painting on the wall, but it looked too elaborate and detailed to be it. It was a whole bunch of tentacles, like an octopus, except they were black, and they swirled around a large yellow eye glaring out of the painting. It was like it was once alive, and it was pressed into this wall and

turned into a painting. In front of it was a pedestal, and on it was a bowl. A single drop of water dripped into it. Most of us stayed back, but Vivian walked towards the bowl. Colena reached for the bowl to throw it, but it was carved into the pedestal, the remains of a stalagmite. There was, however, a stalagmite above it, and water dripping from it. Vivian reached into the bowl and touched the water, and immediately collapsed onto the floor.

“Why did you make her touch that? You know that she would touch that!” Blackbeard said rather angrily. They walked up to the water, and considered their options. “What if it’s poisoned? Marysa, can you fix poison?” (At this point he’s just saying I don’t exist). Blackbeard walked over to Vivian and sort of opened her eyes. “If I pass out, do something,” he said, and dipped his finger into the water. He then did something with it and said: “Saltwater. No, I have no idea what’s wrong.” Colena also touched it. Nothing happened. I walked forward and touched it.

Suddenly the room around me was completely empty. The air around me felt thick around me. I realized I was sort of holding my breath, so I inhaled to try to breathe. It felt like I was inhaling water, and my lungs burned as it filled them. I somehow got this thought that I was underwater and proceeded to try to swim up. I realized that the room was, in fact, filled with air and a large boulder was blocking the entrance to the room. “What am I supposed to do?” I muttered to myself. A voice filled my mind. It said: B ​ reathe​. But nothing was in the room to do that. The tentacles appeared to be infinitely moving and the yellow eye glowed, but there was nothing that had to do with speaking. The pedestal was there too, the bowl still

carved on top. This time, however, I noticed the eye carved into the bottom, but it wasn’t coloured. The voice said: ​Drink​.

I walked towards the pedestal and I began to dizzy from lack of air. I needed to breathe soon, or I would suffocate.

I cupped some of the water, and instead of water flowing into my mouth, air went in. ​Again​, the voice said. As I leaned

towards it, I felt a pull, an urge, to continue drinking it. I don’t know what I was thinking but I submerged my whole face in it.

Suddenly, air filled my lungs again and I found myself surrounded by my startled companions (​[Redacted]​, that was weird). I think I coughed up some saltwater, because the floor around me was a bit wet, and Vivian jolted awake.

The iris of the eye in the bowl opened, and a blinding gold light streamed out. A whole lot of gold sprayed over the floor. We scooped it all up and headed back, with Blackbeard saying: “Well, that was educational.” We moved towards the right this time. There were more of the skeletons wrapped in black cloth as the path widened into the main room. This was the brightest area we’d been in so far and there was the sound of rushing water. There appeared to be a natural stone bridge and as we moved towards it, I could see rapid water currents that were being fed by a water source. There appeared to be no way across this room without going into the pool or repairing the bridge.

Colena and Vivian stepped into the pool, and the warm blue light changed into a cold yellow glow. It appeared to come from inside the pool. Blackbeard ran up the stone bridge and leaned over to watch their progress as they swam across the pool. They made it to the end, and the light became a shade of a sort of calm blue. Vivian and Colena headed deeper into the path. Blackbeard leaped across the bridge and regained their footing on the other side. They reached into the darkness and I lost sight of what he was doing.

There was a clattering noise and I turned around, along with everyone else, to see Eric being tackled to the ground by a skeleton holding a very rusty dagger. Eric ducked into a roll, and part of the skeleton touched his leg. Jerry took out (apparently he had it with him) his lunch and threw it at the skeleton, yelling what seemed like: “Just take it!” The skeleton seemed to be uninterested and stabbed Eric in the arm with its tiny dagger. As it was busy stabbing Eric, a silver dagger plunged into its eye socket (Marysa threw that). There was a crash behind us.

Blackbeard had laid down a ship’s ladder across where the bridge once was, and yelled: “Stop wasting time!

We’ve got work to do!” Victor went on the bridge and fell into the pool, treading. Jerry decided to eat a sausage that he somehow had, and Eric decided to stay with him. Sophia pushed Victor back on the ladder and ran across it herself. I didn’t

feel like staying with someone who was eating a sausage, nor going with Blackbeard, so I headed up the river as Marysa crossed the river.

I hoped there would be an exit there, instead, I found a room with those weird etchings that were on skeletons (Did I mention that? Well now you know) and a waterfall. I hopped across the river to the side opposite of the room. The rock was wet, and I didn’t think that there was a back exit there, with the risks of getting stuck being quite high. I hopped back across the river and went up the platform, where there was a nook, but instead of containing a skeleton, it had an inscription in the weird language that was on the skeletons. I found a torch with a charred end, and I figured I could use that as charcoal. I reached into my bag and pulled out a piece of linen, putting it on the inscription and dragging the charcoal across it. I could, however, definitely see the remnants of blood. It was a brown splotch here and there, probably from a long time ago. A lot of it was right on the edge of the water, and as I peered down, I saw a skeleton, with silver things glinting on its wrists. I slipped on the wet rock, falling down towards the bottom of the waterfall. I reached up to grab hold of something, and my arm dragged across a jagged rock.

I landed in the water, the salt stinging in my fresh wound. I opened my eyes in the water, and the skeleton was in front of me, thrashing. On its wrists were sort of silver handcuffs and on the end of each one was a large stone block. It appeared that whoever this was was chained to these blocks and dropped down the waterfall. Its skull had a large dent, as if they’d suffered some kind of head wound while falling down here. I tried talking to it like a maniac, but nothing much came from it. It appeared to want to be freed from the handcuffs. The handcuffs were a pristine silver, but the chains were made of rusted iron. I hacked at the iron with the sword I’d gotten from Lozar, but I didn’t have any success. I tried again, and this time it a​ lmost​ broke. The saltwater around me was turning red. The pace of the water picked up, and I knew that I had a few seconds before I was swept down river. I tried to hack at the iron again, but it just won’t break. As I made to try again, a torrent of red water washed me down river towards the whirlpool The whirlpool was now glowing red, and there was the noise of ripping fabric. I heard Blackbeard say: “Where’s Rachael?” Colena responded: “On Earth.” I got one gulp of air before I gave in to the current and I was swept down the whirlpool. My vision went dark for a moment, and I opened my eyes to see myself falling from the sky. My companions appeared next to me. Colena and Vivian smashed onto the deck of the waiting Titanic 2000, Eric narrowly missed the ship and belly flopped into the water. Sophia and I landed in the open sea, with Jerry a little closer to the ship (Jerry also got a skeleton bird). Marysa also landed next to Jerry and Pam looked disapprovingly from the ship.

Colena Shan

Inside the Temple The door opened, like I said, and then the nine of them filed inside. They walked down what seemed to be a downhill tunnel.

“Do you hear that?” said Blackbeard after a bit of silence. Colena listened. A weird noise……but that wasn’t strange as they were in a ​monster’​ s temple.

*** “I see something!” said Vivian suddenly. “A skeleton—” “Uh, Vivian,” said Blackbeard, “you know skeletons are ​dead​, right?”

“It-it looked alive,” said Vivian.

Oh great.​ Next thing Colena knew, they were fighting the skeleton after Vivian provoked it in whatever way.

Colena got “stabbed” by the skeleton’s hand (like literally—its bony fingers fell off of its body and it pierced Colena’s skin); and then Vivian finally shot the skeleton with her rifle on the head and the skeleton collapsed.

And there are ​skeletons roaming about? Oh come ​on​. Why would Uka’ To’ah’s temple be filled with skeletons—and ones that fight too?​ ​This is way worse than a​ ​stack of pillows and a plate of grapes​.

Colena, being surprisingly stupid, kept the bone where it was, instead of pulling it out. Marysa and Sophia looked at her as if she was crazy, which of course she was.

“Huh,” said Vivian, “perhaps there is a secret passage. Let me check.” Then she charged at the cave wall.

SLAM! My goodness, Colena thought​. Is it just me or has everybody gone insane? There she goes again, slamming into the wall. Sigh​.

It wasn’t too long before they came to a crossroad—left or right? Rachael parted from the group (as usual) and went left while the other eight headed right.

It wasn’t too long before Colena and Vivian (and, I think, Marysa) decided to see what was up with Rachael, and it really didn’t take long before they saw her—Rachael was being chased by a boulder (the boulder wasn’t running, but rolling towards her) and she was carrying something that looked like treasure—and the treasure was definitely ​slowing Rachael down.

“DROP IT!” Colena yelled. “The gold—whatever you’re holding!”

“NO!” Vivian screamed. “Keep it—don’t drop the precious treasure!”

Vivian is definitely a pirate—greed for gold.Ah well, good thing ​she ​didn’t go left.​ Rachael did the right thing: she dropped the treasure and ran. Too late. Now she was stuck against the wall because of the boulder. She was not in ​danger​, but she was stuck.

“The treasure!” Vivian moaned.

How can she think of treasure at a time like ​THIS​?

“I’m gonna karate-chop it!” Vivian said.

“WHAT’S KARATE?” Colena screamed. “You guys! First the plastic knives, and this made up nonsense?

What—” In case you think Colena’s dumb, karate was invented in 1868.

“Does anyone know Kalaripayattu?” Blackbeard said. Kalaripayattu is the oldest martial art—invented (counting in 21​st Century) some 3000 years ago (or, in the Early 18​th Century, 2700 years ago) but anyway, in the B.C. E.s (​B​efore ​C​ommon ​Er​ a).

“ME!” Vivian yelled. Vivian never got to karate-chop the boulder—but whatever.

Colena quickly started pushing the boulder, but almost as quickly the boulder became too heavy for her—she slipped and found herself with Rachael—stuck.

“Hi Rachael!” Colena said brightly. “How are you doing?”

Sophia soon joined them—and a few minutes later—FINALLY, they were free.

“Well, let’s hope this temple has a back door or something, or we’ll ​drown​,” Blackbeard said. Colena glanced at the boulder again; it was blocking the way back!

“This place is above the water from noon to sunset every three weeks,” Blackbeard continued, “so I’d be grateful if we don’t drown.”

Real cheerful.​ Colena and Vivian decided to check out the place Rachael had been exploring, and found little cubbies.

Inside each cubby was a skeleton.

Colena examined a skeleton, but apart from seeing some weird sketches or pictures on the bones, she discovered nothing else.

“Hmm,” said Blackbeard, “Marysa? Can you come here?”

Marysa walked over and had a long look. She figured that the pictures were carved there ​before the skeletons were removed from the bodies.

“Welcome to Kindergarten, everyone! Please pick your cubbies!” Marysa said.

I believe everyone has gone insane​, Colena thought.

*** Later, the nine came to a weird stalagmite, with a bowl on top. A drip of water fell into the bowl.

Drip​. ​Drip​. A few more drops of water fell into the bowl.

I so badly want to grab the bowl and smash it…

Vivian walked to the bowl—intending to smash the bowl…only to realize that the bowl was carved into the stalagmite.

“Touch the water,” said Sophia excitedly.

Vivian obliged, and she fainted (​☺​).

“There’s poison in the water?” somebody asked.

Blackbeard walked up to the bowl. “If you see me faint, help me.” Then ​t​he​y dipped ​t​h​eir​is fingers into the water, then frowned. “Just plain old salt water,” ​t​he​y​ said.

“I’ll try,” said Colena. She touched the water. Nothing whatsoever happened.

Weird…why did it happen to Vivian?

“Sophia—you try,” Colena said.

“Oh no way,” said Sophia, backing away in uncertainty.

“Don’t be a coward,” Colena said.

“No thank you, no thanks,” said Sophia.

Coward​. ​But maybe the Chosen of Uka’ To’ah are immune to the water’s effects?

“I’ll go,” said Rachael. She touched the water and immediately fainted, around the time Vivian came to.

Yeah…maybe the Chosen are the only ones immune to it​. ​This is getting CREEPY. “You want to try, Sophia?” Colena asked.

“NO WAY!” Sophia screamed.

Rachael eventually came to, and the nine continued deeper into the cave. Then they saw a whirlpool.

“The swim of death!” Colena yelled. “WHOO! I’m going straight in! Once in a lifetime! WHEE!” Yep, she’s totally insane.

“YEAH!” Vivian cheered.

Colena jumped right into the pool, with Vivian who also was so glad to go in (for some reason). ​SPLASH! Sploosh! T ​ he other seven hung back. Colena ignored them.

The center of the pool—a hole, apparently, seemed forbidding. Colena and Vivian didn’t need to try to stay away from it—the water was like pushing them back from the hole. Eventually, the two made it to the other side, talking about cave-tanning and stuff.

Soon they came to a chest, box, or something like that, and that thing ​also ​had water. Guess what happened?

Vivian touched the water, and Colena heard a voice in her head.

Welcome home​, said the voice.

“Uh, thanks?” Colena said uncertainly.

Although this cave is ​not ​my home​, Colena thought.

Soon Marysa, Sophia, Victor, and Blackbeard arrived. Rachael, Eric and Jerry weren’t there.

Marysa examined the box and Vivian checked out the bed.

“I need to get the seal,” Marysa whispered. “Vivian, can you go distract Blackbeard? I don’t think it’s a good idea to show him the seal—who knows what would happen?”

“Got it,” said Vivian, “should I smash into the wall to search for secret passages again?”

“Sure,” said Colena.

“Uh…maybe just say you found the passage out?” said Marysa.

“OK,” said Vivian, and she walked over to Blackbeard, speaking some nonsense.

“Victor!” Marysa hissed. “Give me the seal.”

Victor gave Marysa the seal, and Colena heard a gunshot behind her. Probably Vivian or Blackbeard’s rifle.

Vivian came back and saw the seal too. Marysa studied the box, and found a place where the seal might fit.

“PUT IT IN!” Colena and Vivian said.

“I don’t know…” Marysa hesitated.

“Just ​do ​it!” Colena said. “Or ​I w ​ ill!”

“Fine, oh fine,” grumbled Marysa.

She inserted the seal into the fitting spot and then a bright red/orange/yellow glow lit up the room.

“Uh-oh,” Marysa muttered.

“Keep the seal ​in​,” said Colena firmly.

*** The next thing that happened? More skeletons! And yes, the fighting type. Colena and Vivian fought one. Vivian provoked the skeleton and Colena tried to grab the sword and grabbed it (oof) on the blade. She winced as drops of blood fell to the ground. ​Her ​blood.

“Victor give me your axe!” Vivian yelled.

“No way you’re getting my axe!” Victor replied. “It’s ​mine​!”

“THAT’S NOT EVEN YOURS!” Colena yelled. “YOU GOT THE AXE FROM A SKELETON!” Her scream seemed to do little effect, and Colena cursed as Victor and Vivian started arguing like 5-year-old kids. Blackbeard had run away like a ​coward​ (clearly not all pirates are brave) and then…

It was all back at the whirlpool.

*** Blackbeard looked at them and said, “Where’s Rachael?”

“Somewhere on Earth?” Colena suggested.

Rachael suddenly appeared.

She looks bad.​ “The center of the whirlpool is the exit!” Sophia said.

“Then let’s try it,” Colena said grimly. She jumped into the waves for the second time and then felt herself free-falling.

“SKYDIVING!” Colena yelled. “AMAZING!” The other eight appeared, also free-falling.

“YAY!” Vivian cried.

“Just in time,” Blackbeard said. It was sunset.

SLAM! BAM! KABOOM! SPLASH!

Colena literally ​smashed ​onto the deck of the ​Titanic 2000​, and got up and screamed, “AWESOME!” TOTALLY insane of course. Vivian also smashed onto the deck beside her. Jerry and Eric fell into the water, and so did the others. Colena grinned.

Oh, and by the way, she still had the skeleton bone protruding from her shoulder (from the first fight with the skeleton, remember?).

Maybe I should heal​, Colena thought. Pam and Bogs were helping the others getting onto the ship.

To Be Continued……

SESSION ELEVEN

The Otter One

Colena Shan | Aneloc Nahs​ Στιλλ Λιωινγ (Still Living)

The Otter One (​although my character hasn’t got much to do with sweet sea otters​) When Colena fell from the sky and smashed head-first on the deck of the ​Titanic 2000, ​she felt a teensy tiny bit of pain. But she immediately leapt to her feet; no problem.

“AWESOME!” Colena shouted (yes, I mentioned this before), just like any insane person would do.

Vivian, meanwhile, seemed to have trouble getting up.

“NOOOOOOOO!” Vivian suddenly screamed.

What the—??

Will Darby was able to get everyone back on the ship and Colena ​finally ​popped the skeleton bone from her

shoulder and tossed it over the side of the ship.

Colena was getting healed when she heard that they were going back to Shallow Port.

Why are we going back? Oh well, whatever. I don’t care about life anymore​. ​I ​could ​consider killing Vayne​.

*** At Shallow Port, Colena checked her pockets: plenty of money (Blackbeard’s crew robbed quite a bit from the British ship), and so she and her friends walked into Shallow Port.

The first thing Colena realized about Shallow Port was that there seemed to be a “little” destruction; a cannonball-sized dent here and there, and some cannonballs sticking out of buildings. Apparently, Shallow Port wasn’t rebuilt after Pam’s doing of her favourite hobby.

“Who did this?” “Who caused all of this?” Colena heard.

“You guys! It’s ​Pam​!” Colena screamed.

“We fired our bloody cannons into town!” said Rachael. “We broke the law!”

“We fired our ​very clean ​cannons into town!” Colena corrected.

Sophia laughed. “True.”

*** Marysa wanted to go get some medicine from the Bazaar.

The eight of them marched up the hill to the Busted Barnacle, where they knew the Bazaar was. In the Bazaar, they easily found the purple cart belonging to Madame Marigold.

MADAME MARIGOLD’S MEDICINAL STUFF Marysa easily got two “great” medications.

“I have two good medications and two great medications,” bragged Marysa. “I should have some horrible medicine to feed to my enemies.”

“If you can ​call ​that medicine,” Colena said.

Colena saw Rachael running away into the crowd.

Not letting her get out of my sight again,​ Colena thought as she ran after Rachael.

The last thing Colena heard after ducking after Rachael was Marysa blabbing about a “bird” or “birb” whatever the hell that was and “OY!”

*** Colena didn’t stop bolting after Rachael. Colena soon discovered that Rachael was heading for the Ril’s Riders Rest.

Normally, I wouldn’t go there with ​VAYNE ​there, but I can’t let Apothecary Apprentice out of my sight. Not again. Grr…

Why would she go talk to Vayne? I ​need ​to find out. Well, at least I won’t have to suffer through Vivian’s nonsense about karate, Sophia’s nonsense about plastic butter knives, and I don’t have to deal with the rest of them. Temporarily, sadly.

Rachael was still holding the red bandana, and Colena found herself in Ril’s Riders Rest. Colena was able to blend in easily without Rachael spotting her, and Colena’s eyes were quite good at finding Rachael, one second Rachael was gone—the next Colena found her again.

Colena saw a few people with red bandanas, but she ignored them. She almost tripped—on— Whoa!

There were riches scattered round the ground.

Colena followed Rachael until she came to a shrine. It was kinda gross, the smell of salt water and ​blood reaching Colena’s nostrils.

Why do I get a feeling there may be more than a few deaths on this adventure? ​Colena thought as she followed Rachael from a distance. She got her cutlass from out of nowhere and slipped behind a bush, watching Rachael go into the shrine.

The walls of the shrine were painted. Octopuses, tentacles, and a huge yellow eye on the back wall.

Near the yellow eye was a stone pedestal with a bowl on top.

In front of the stone pedestal, was a man kneeling. Colena recognized him at once: Charles Vayne, the person she’d seen regrow an arm, get shot in the chest, yet lived.

Vayne lifted both his hands up, and a silver dagger appeared in his left hand. He cut his right hand and Colena saw drops of bright red blood fall into the bowl. Vayne squeezed his hand and there were more drops of blood until it eventually stopped. He made a weird movement and the dagger disappeared.

Colena frowned. “What is he doing?” she muttered quietly to herself.

Colena saw Vayne’s mouth move, but she couldn’t hear anything. Vayne wiped his bleeding hand on a white cloth.

Rachael and Vayne started talking, but Colena only saw their mouths move. She also was, let’s say, not-so-good at lip-reading, so she didn’t make out much.

“What is going on?” mused Colena. She drew an arrow from her quiver and stabbed the dirt impatiently, trying to figure out what they were saying.

By now, she figured nobody would try to creep up on her and kill her, so she made the cutlass disappear.

Augh, I don’t dare get closer. WHAT ARE THEY SAYING?! ​Colena yelled in her head.

Vayne’s mouth stopped moving. Then he looked towards Rachael, and he said something, and this time, Colena managed to hear the last bit, “Batten down the hatches, storm’s coming!”

Vayne suddenly made eye contact with Colena. He smiled unpleasantly.

Rachael looked really clueless and confused.

Vayne marched up a hill, deeper into Ril’s Riders Rest. Colena kept her eye on Rachael, but her mind was somewhere else, imagining the horrors of what might happen.

What if Governor Blake is here? What if Governor Blake kills us?

Colena got up, very quietly, and went back to the Bazaar.

As she was running through the crowd, she heard whispers, saw Ril’s Riders tapping each other on the shoulders, passing each other messages.

Please don’t say my worst fear has been confirmed.​ Colena spotted Vayne and more Ril’s Riders passing weapons to pirates.

Oh no, oh no, oh no.

Colena arrived at the ​Titanic 2000 ​with Rachael and Sophia, who, apparently, had been following her, with no good reason. Vayne and his Ril’s Riders were a little behind, but Colena couldn’t care less.

After a little bit, Colena, Rachael, and Sophia met up with Will Darby. Vivian, Eric, Jerry, Victor, and Marysa were also there with a person Colena had never seen before.

Will looked up, and he looked very calm and collected. He looked like he was having a great time, quite oblivious to the fact that most of the pirates of Shallow Port were anxious and armed, as if expecting some bad things to happen.

Vivian, Eric, Jerry, Victor, and Marysa seemed kind of nervous too, as if they heard news they didn’t like.

Victor was also wearing a weird helmet, and Eric had a blue parrot.

The sun was beginning to set. Colena glanced at it with an anxious feeling.

“Ah!” said Will Darby. “How are we doing today? Have you enjoyed the spoils of your first daring pirate raid?”

Colena yawned in response, but it wasn’t because she was tired. She was ​bored​, and quite impatient.

“Momma—what’s the place? Momma Murphy’s, whatever the heck the place is called—,” Will began.

“MOMMA K’S!” Colena screamed.

“Well, of course I know that place,” said Will. “I’m here ​all the time, after all! Momma K’s has rooms available if you’re interested in staying tonight. ​I ​plan to party the ​entire ​evening. Look, what a lovely sunset.”

“And ​I ​plan to tell you we are in ​danger​!” Colena growled.

“Danger? Colena, what danger? We’re always in danger, from the moment you step out your front door,” said Will, still oblivious to the anxiety of the pirates of Shallow Port.

“WE’RE IN DANGER!” Colena screamed.

“Whatever! Is it gambling deaths, have you offended somebody—?”

“WE’RE IN DANGER OF GETTING ​KILLED​! ALL OF US!” Colena screamed.

“Ah,” said Will, “look at the horizon. You can barely make out……a surprising number of sails.”

Governor Blake’s ships? Oh no.

“Colena, tell me more about this danger,” said Will.

“Um, I think Governor Blake is coming,” Colena said.

“Who?” Will asked.

“Governor Blake—,” “OH!” said Will. “OK, he doesn’t know—first of all, well, the British know this place ​exists, ​but they’ve never been here before—they don’t know where we are. And second of all, Governor Blake would never come here personally.That’s insane.”

“Well, maybe ​everyone ​has gone insane!” Colena yelled.

“Eh,” said Will. “A decent theory. Perhaps this is all a ​dream​. Maybe a simulation of some sort. Anyway, God, that’s a lot of sails.” He looked at the horizon again.

“THIS IS NOT A DREAM!” Colena yelled. “THOSE PEOPLE ARE COMING TO MURDER US!” “Those are the British,” said Victor.

“WE’RE GONNA GET MURDERED!” Colena shouted.

“That’s a pity,” said Will. “I’ve been thinking about buying that boar, but there’s no time now, cause we have to go kill some soldiers. Mr. Bogs, do me a favor and get the lads. Perhaps you should get back to the ship.

Let the captain and the whatnot know. We must, we ​must ​let the captain know before Pam does something rash.

And we know Pam’s favourite thing is to do things that are rash. So, one sec, hold up. Who’s the cop?” He looked at the unknown person.

“Listen, my boy,” Will said to the unknown person, “it’s not that I don’t like you. It’s just, you’re an old cop.”

“I’ve disguised myself as a cop so I can spy on things,” said the unknown person.

“You’re—hang ​on—you’re disguised as a cop disguised as a pirate?” said Will. “Absolutely insane. I do think that’s quite clever though. You want to join the crew? Don’t buy too many pets. Although birds are allowed.”

“I like my helmet,” said Victor.

“I ​don’t ​like your helmet,” said Will, “but I love the bird. Mr. Bogs, have you gotten the lads yet?”

As he finished, Ril’s Riders came down the path, carrying bright torches. They made their way into the Bazaar. Vayne walked to the head of the group and looked at them, and walked by.

“NEIGHBORS OF SHALLOW PORT!” Vayne called. “My friends.”

There was plenty of grumbling, and Colena was sure none of them were Vayne’s friends.

“We may have had our differences in the past,” Vayne said, “but there is something we can all agree on.

Colena, how are you doing tonight?” Vayne suddenly looked towards her.

“Uh, normal?” said Colena uncertainly.

“We can agree on one thing, one principle, one concept,” continued Vayne, “the one thing that bonds us all together as brothers and sisters. A commitment to ​freedom​. And gentlemen, I have ​terrible ​news, for those who care for freedom. A man’s come to take it away.” Vayne gestured towards the harbor.

“I urge you to fight, as you’ve never fought before,” Charles Vayne said. Then he turned to Colena again.

“How is it that you’ve survived this long?”

“Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuh?” Colena said.

“Must be your way with words,” said Vayne. “Talking your way out of problems.”

Talking my way out of ​unneccessary ​conversations​, Colena thought.

Ril’s Riders proceeded to town to spreadthe word about the attack and raiss the alarm.

Suddenly, Mr. Bogs appeared, and said, “Right, we’ve got the lads, but what are you doing here? Aren’t you the one warnin’ the captain?”

Bogs looked REALLY drunk. “Anyway, we set sail?”

As the group walked down to where the ​Titanic 2000, they passed Lozar, who was handing weapons to people. Beside Lozar was a dark-skinned person with dark clothing.

Must be Jafar.​ Jafar had a scimitar on his hip and was helping Lozar hand out weapons.

As they reached the docks, they got on the ​Titanic 2000​. Colena drew her bow and arrows, and Colena saw a fleet of ships.

“PAM FOR GOODNESS SAKE!” yelled the unmistakable voice of Blackbeard. “AUGH! FOLKS GO DOWN THERE! GET THE CANNONS READY! DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT! YOU SCAT THAT, YOU

MUST SIMPLY STOP YELLING. Calm down.” Blackbeard turned around and they were holding two ​adorable sea otters.

“AWWWWWWWWWWWW!” Colena and Marysa said.

As the group boarded the ​Titanic 2000​, Blackbeard said, “Can anybody, ​anybody​, take these while I have pirate-captaining duties to do?”

“I’ll do it!” said Marysa, and got the two.

“You have ​no idea how much some fellow wanted me to charge for these things,” Blackbeard said as ​t​he​y handed Marysa the ​adorable ​sea otters. Blackbeard waved their hand and got their gun from nowhere. “It’s useful having magical powers.”

Colena nocked an arrow to the bowstring.

“This is gonna end badly,” Colena told herself.

TO SHALLOWPORT AGAIN SOPHIA DENG After falling from the sky, I hear Colena shout “yay” and Vivian yells “nooooo”.

After planning some, we decide to head back to shallowport.

At shallowport Colena breaks off the group and I follow her. She enters Ril Rider’s Rest. Not the best place in town…

The BB comes and we get on the ship. I know it’s not a lot but on a boring day, what can you write?

Rachael 1716

This is going to start funny. Colena, who had just crashed onto the deck of the ship, immediately got up and screamed: “Awesome!” Vivian looked in much worse, and did not get up. “Noooo,” she said. Will was able to get everyone back on board the ship.

We docked at Shallowport and literally, the whole crew spilled off the Titanic 2000. I looked around, and there was “a little bit” of destruction near the docks. There were cannonballs wedged into the dock (duh because we just fired a few cannonballs into town then left) and the Bazaar was a whole mess. Moreover, it was recovering well from being shelled for ten hours (not literally). I followed my ‘friends’ up to the Busted Barnacle, where the whole stupid mess had started up like 2 days ago.

We found Madame Marigold’s cart because Marysa wanted to buy better medicine than the one we had spent a large portion of our (at that time) little money on. I slipped away into the crowd and hoped that I wasn’t being followed. I knew where I was going to go, and no one could see (ahem, I need privacy now).

I moved through the crowds and gathered information that Charles Vayne had taken residence in Ril’s Riders’ Rest, the place that Bogs had told us to avoid. I pushed through the crowd, following them down the curved path towards Ril’s Riders’ Rest. The place looked intimidating, but it was not as rough as the other parts of town, where people were getting their teeth broken from the various fights. Everyone was wearing red bandanas or red something or red I don’t know what they’re wearing.

I broke off when I reached Rillian’s Shrine. The crowd had thinned by then, with most people heading to White Caps Corner. I’d somehow figured out that Vayne was here (don’t ask me how). Rillian’s Shrine looked a bit I n T e R e s T i N g. There were valuables strewn across the ground, and all sorts of carvings made of wood, coral, whatever. It was open to the sky, and it smelled of saltwater and blood. I’m sure this is familiar to you: The wall was covered with tentacles, occasionally an octopus, and there was a large yellow eye. In front of the eye was a pedestal, and kneeling next to the pedestal was Charles Vayne. He raised both hands into the air, did a subtle movement with his hand, and a dagger appeared.

He dragged it across his hand, drawing blood. The blood dripped into the bowl on the pedestal, and with another subtle movement, his dagger disappeared. He pulled his hand into a fist, and the bleeding increased, then stopped. He stood up.

“Rachael,” he said. “Didn’t expect to run into you here.” He wiped his hands on a white towel and set it down.

“What brings you to my small piece of the Caribbean?”

“We went to the temple of Uka’To’ah,” I said.

“Did you return the seal?”

“Yes. Why did you ask?”

Vayne told me (I’m not going to go into this) a whole lot of stuff about how Blackbeard was afraid of Uka’To’ah and about how he wanted for everyone to be free to do whatever they wanted to do.

“Does Colena have the seal physically?” I asked.

“No, but she has the abilities because you will only get the powers when you remove the seals from the temple. If you went to the temple that you just went to and took out the seal, you would get the powers. Colena, Blackbeard, and I took the seals and got the powers. The way I got kicked off the ship was that before we knew that we could have these particular

abilities, Blackbeard, Colena and I had an argument. I lost, so I got kicked off the ship by Colena, and had something to do with tying my boot to a cannon.”

The conversation ended abruptly, with Vayne snapping his head back and saying: “Best get back to your ship.

Batten down the hatches. Storm’s coming.” He looked at something behind me, but I didn’t see. Vayne pushed past me and headed up what appeared to be a hill. I walked back towards the center of the town. Ril’s Riders were going around, passing messages. A large group of them had assembled, with Vayne amongst them, passing out various weapons.

I found out that Colena had been following me, but I didn’t really care. As we made our way past the Bazaar, we found Will. He looked relaxed. “Ah! How are you doing today? Are you enjoying the spoils of your first pirate raid?”

Colena yawned. Will just started mixing up what Momma K’s was called. “There’s some rooms there if you need residence.

I plan to party all night - look at that sunset.”

“I plan to tell you that we’re all in danger,” Colena said.

“What do you mean, we’re in danger? We’re always in danger. We’re in danger when we step out the front door.”

Will started going on about all the dangers by other pirates.

“We’re in danger of being killed! Like all of us!”

“Look at this sunset. You can barely make out a surprising number of sails. Colena, tell me more about this danger.”

“I think Governor Blake is coming,” she said.

“Who? Oh. Oh. Well, first of all, they don’t know where we are, and second of all, Governor Blake would never come here personally - that’s insane.”

“Well maybe everyone has gone insane.”

“Well. A decent theory. It might be a stimulation of some sort. Anyway, that’s a lot of sails.”

“The British are coming to murder us,” Victor said. By now everyone was together, at the front of the Bazaar.

“Right! Lads,” he said something I didn’t hear.

“What did you say? “ Colena said.

“I was thinking about buying some board, but there’s no time as some people are coming to murder us. Mr. Bogs, do me a favour and round up the lads. You should go back on the ship to warn Blackbeard and whatnot, we must, we must get the captain on board before Pam does something rash. We know Pam’s favourite things are things that are rash.

“Also, also, who’s the cop?” Will added, looking at the British person, Daniel, who most definitely did not look like a pirate. “Listen my boy, it’s not like I don’t like you, it’s just your whole thing is cop.”

[I’m not including this part, it’s redacted because it’s just so untrue, Daniel is British and that’s that.]

“Mr. Bogs, have you found the lads yet?” he called. Rils Riders moved into the Bazaar, holding torches. Vayne was at the front, looking a little bitterly at our group.

“People of Shallowport, my friends,” he began, “We may have had differences in the past, but there is something we can all agree on.” He looked towards Colena. “Colena, how are you doing tonight?”

“Normal,” she said.

“We can agree that one principle, one concept that bonds us all together as brothers and sisters, is commitment to freedom. Ladies and gentlemen, I have some terrible news for those who are committed to freedom. They’ve come to take it away.” He motioned to the harbour. “A flotilla of lily-lithered boot-lickers is on its way to Shallowport as we speak, and I urge you to fight as you’ve never fought before.”

“Oh, so I can fight really badly because I’ve never fought really badly,” Colena said.

“How is it that you’ve survived this long?” Vayne said, addressing Colena.

“Uhhh....”

“Must be a way with words. You talk your way out of problems and whatnot.” Rils Riders spread the word throughout town. Mr. Bogs said something, moving past us with his face beet red. Lozar gestured for people to come to his shop, and along with Jafar, started handing out weapons. Jafar was dressed in dark clothes, with a nasty looking weapon that had a barb at the tip of its blade hanging casually on his belt, with no sheath.

We got aboard the ship. “The cop’s with us,” Will said, as Daniel had drawn quite some looks from the crew. I certainly did not think that he was a pirate. Blackbeard started calling out one hundred eighty-seven thousand nine hundred fifty-three orders around the ship. “Pam for goodness sake - cannons over there, folks come down from - no don’t worry about it baby - Ok, everyone - you scared them, you scared them, you must simply stop yelling. Ah Mr. Darby, Mr. Bogs, thank you for taking your time.” Blackbeard, who was usually an imposing figure, seemed rather vulnerable as they were holding two little sea otters.

As we boarded the ship, Blackbeard called out: “Can anybody take these while I have pirate captaining business to attend to?” Marysa took them from them. Blackbeard had probably given one of their endless amounts of silver pistols to the person who sold the otters. Six masts were on the horizon, looming towards Shallowport.

By Marysa Liu

Dear journal, This has been so far the best and worst day of my life. It brings both pain and joy explaining the events that have taken place that day but I will manage I guess. ~~~ As the crew’s supplies were running low we all decided to stop by Shallowport to stock up on some items. I looked in my medical bag to see that I needed some more medicine as I’d been giving a ton of medical assistance to everyone. I walked up to the medicine shop as I spent a little more than half my money on some pretty decent medicine, I looked over at Jerry as his skeleton bird gave a small squawk. I in fact loved animals and no matter how much I tried to deny it, I could feel the sense of jealousy. The group and I continued to walk around Shallowport as I soon stumbled upon a small stand that seemed to sell animals. All my worry and doubt quickly washed away as I told my friends that I would be right back as I wanted to get myself a new companion. The stand had quite a number of animals, all different types. My eyes scanned the variety the shopkeeper had when they locked on to four parrots. The shopkeeper walked up to me explaining that two of the parrots could speak as the other two could not, I heard the talking parrots saying things like “Walk the plank” and other pirate-related phrases. I wasn’t that fond of the talking parrots as I had already had enough pirate talk in my life (sorry parrots), I looked over at the non-talking ones which included a red and blue parrot. I walked over to the blue parrot and handed it some seeds as a peace offering., It took them with no fuss and I could feel a bond between us from then on. I paid for the bluebird as my mind was filled with the thought of sending my new friend to war by making it peck people’s eyes out. As I was about to go catch up with my friends I saw two little baby otters. Mind you, I FRICKING LOVE OTTERS! They are so

cute and fluffy and I instantly fell in love. I asked the shopkeeper what the price was for those adorable things and once they told me I was filled with grief as I didn’t have enough money to buy them. In desperation, I asked all of my friends if they were willing to help me pay but all of them had told me that they either already spent the money or had plans to. My heart dropped as I was very close to just go on the ship and ask Bogs if he had any extra cash but decided it was too risky. As I went back to the stand I saw a gigantic cage in the corner with a drape on it ‘​what is that?...’ ​ I thought as a big nose was visible sniffing its surroundings.

Excited, I asked if the thing in the cage was an elephant and in response, I was told that in fact, the animal was not an elephant but a boar. Boars are very cool animals but I doubted that it would fit on the ship and I was already trying to get the otters. I have no idea when or how but I was too drowned in sadness as the shopkeeper of the animal stall told me that the otters have been sold. I sighed as my friends dragged me from the animal stand to Lozar’s weapon shop. We bought all of the weapons we needed, left and we walked to who knows where when we all heard a faint “hi”. We all turned around to see a boy standing there. He gave us a letter which Victor read out loud and in the end, he read out a “G.B”. I was quickly confused by what it meant before ‘shoot’ I realized it stood for Governor Blake. Deanna was the name of the boy that we had met and quickly took him to Blackbeard’s ship to warn him about Governor Blake.

We all discussed this situation and things didn’t look good...

Victor Zhong All you have to do is turn in Blackbeard, and you will be pardoned!” announced Governor Blake smoogly. Last time, we had just escaped Ukatoah’s temple. Some unfortunate people landed on the ship, and some very fortunate people landed in the water.

“Awesome!” screamed Colena, as if she was turned dumb by the unfortunate fall on the ship.

A few hours later, we arrived back at Shallow Port… but, EVERYTHING HAD HOLES IN IT! “PPPPAAAAMM!” screamed Blackbeard so loud, that I’m pretty sure everyone on the island heard it. As we get off the ship, we meet this boy, who then takes out a letter, which has very, very fancy writing, nothing a pirate could write.

Suddenly, someone notices that the signature says “GB”, and realizes that it's supposed to be “Governor Blake”.

“Hey! Come here.” Someone whispers to the boy, “Uh ok” replies the boy, “what?”

“Why are you here? If you don’t tell me i’ll… shoot you!”

“Fine, it's because Governor Blake is trying to get you guys to turn in Blackbeard.”

“Can we meet him?” askes the person So, she goes to meet Governor Blake.

While this was happening, we went to Lozars (the Weapons place). I bought this helmet that wrapped around my head, while Vivian bought a grappling hook. Then, we go to a pet shop, and Marysa spots some very, very cute otters. “I want it!” exclaimed Marysa, “Urm, come back later please!” says the shopkeeper. While some other people bought parrots.

A few minutes later, we learn that the British plan to attack from Rills Riders, and the person who went to Governor Blakes.We explain this to Blackbeard. “HEAD BACK TO THE SHIP!� As we bolt back to the ship, we notice that Blackbeard had bought the seals! Just as we get onto the ship, white sails appear on the horizon...

By vivian the otter one So we arrived back there and we decided to go to the pet shop where we bought pets. I did not buy any pets but other people did. For example, Marysa has bought a parrot and so has someone else but I don't remember. There were three otters but Marysa is too broke to buy all three otters so hahaha.Then I went to buy a grappling hook but when Marysa went back to the pet store, the otters had been bought by someone else. After that we met this dude that was acting very weird. He told us to follow him and so we did. He led us to Governor Blake and he told us that there was this huge attack going on. Then we went back to our ship and the weird dude decided to follow us. Will Darby asked him if he was working for Governor Blake because he acted like a cop, but the weird dude decided to pretend like a cop when he was not. Then Blackbeard came in and Marysa saw that he had bought the otters and then we got attacked .-.

SESSION TWELVE

Assault on Shallow Port

Assault on shallow port by : Vivian So we got attacked by the British army and Victor still helped us even though it was his own army. There were the British ships hitting us everywhere and a lot of people on the British ship were very serious with their jobs. Since ERIC exploded a cannon, we had a lot more fighting to do and also. I found out something very interesting. I want to know how. It’s a very short story but here is how it goes.

I was fighting with my fellow crewmates. When I had given up, I decided to find the nearest shelter and it was still on the ship. I decided to go there with my grappling hook and there I stayed. I eventually got bored and looked into my spyglass. There on the British ship, I saw Governor Blake.

What was he doing here? After all Blackbeard said that he never went to battle. Oh so bizarre! I decided not to warn Blackbeard in case he would get aggressive... after all, he was a pirate so I decided to betray Blackbeard >:)))) I am not scared

SO THAT IS WHAT HAPPENED!!

Victor Zhong Shink! Splurt! A few minutes ago, we had just escaped Shallow Port once again! But this time, we are fighting… the redcoats as their frigates, who outnumbered us 3:1, tried to encircle us, BOOM! CRASH! As cannonballs from one of the frigates shot at our ship, wind splintered everywhere​, and cut multiple people.

Right after, someone exclaimed FIREE! As the cannon-shooters readied up to shoot, “BAM!” As I darted my eyes to look at what had happened, I realized that Eric’s cannon had mysteriously exploded! “Probably too much gunpowder” I thought in my head. The humongous battle raged on, with more and more frigates joining the fight, Marysa took charge and implied a new strategy:fleeing the battle. As the frigates shot at us, more and more cannonballs hit us, and somehow, a ship who must’ve had an INCREDIBLE crew shot from about 60 ft away, and hit our ship.

A few minutes go by with no cannonballs hitting, but suddenly, a British frigate runs on to land, and after 5 minutes, it goes up to flames. “Maybe, the people on the island lit it up?” I thought optimistically.

Unexpectedly, it was my turn to steer the ship. In my shocked state, I was freaking out about what to do. I decided to heaveee the wheel and turned the gigantic ship,which now looked like cheese from Tom and Jerry, and continued fighting. Marysa who was pushing us almost to flee, just to turn back around.

All at once, a frigate RAMS into our ship.

“Someone take over for me! I’m boarding the ship!” I exclaimed.

Just as abruptly, 4 “redcoats” board our ship, and one, stabs me in the chest! Somehow, I survived the hit, and after the redcoats were down, Marysa heals some people, not including me, and then, me and Colena board the frigate.

Aboard the frigate, were even more redcoats, and one impaled me with a sword. As I lay there, on the rough wood, Colena reveals her secret weapon: cutlass and kills every single redcoat.

Instantaneously, a glowing light shines like a beacon, a giant eye, then black…

What seemed like hours later, me and Colena woke up, to see Blackbeard drenched in water.

“AWSOME!” screams Colena, like it's her trademark. As I get up, I see that Shallow Port is up in flames...

We left Shallow Port and Colena wanted to die. I was steering the ship, and I just kept eating sausages. Then we ran into some other ships, so we started firing at them, but Eric blew up a cannon and Colena almost died. But I kept eating sausages until we got away. And I want to die as well, but I can't die because the other people won’t let me, so I'm extremely sad. I hope I will eventually die.

BATTLE Sophia Deng Back on the ship nothing bad happens until we see two ships. Their cannons were aimed at us. At first some shooting goes on and a battle starts to form. Somehow whoever is steering the ship is either crap or lost control because the ship is now going awry. I go over and steer the steering wheel. Lots of weird people think battle is all cannons and whatever but there has to be strategy. There was a ship ahead on the right and one ahead on the left. I made the ship go right past them. I heard a ton of cannons and knew that people were taking the opportunity to fire. Also the best part is that one of the ships shot a cannonball at us and I pulled over. The cannonball hit the other ship ​ !

đ&#x;˜ƒ

I look behind me and hear a whizzing sound. I ducked. A bullet missed me by inches. Rachael appeared behind me. “Sophia why the f*** are you hiding? We are in battle you know.� She said. “Just duck!� I yelled as another gun firing sound came. The bullet missed Rachel and Colena came up and shot the person with the gun with her bow. Wow. That’s what you call accuracy. So after some fun with that some, well, a lot of grape balls come flying. A lot of people get hit but I don’t. The cannonballs keep firing and it seems that the fight will go on forever. Sadly it doesn’t.

The ship that was hurt left and went back to Shallowport. The ship that was not hurt came at us. Directly at us. It crashed into us. The people on deck charged onto our ship and that equals combat. I defeat a person with no weapons. Too bad for him.

After that fight UKA TOAH arrives and helps us. We get away easily. End of story. I do not like monster so I will not go into further explanation and detail because that includes a whole ship being eaten. Wait- that’s description. WHOOPS...

Rachael 1716

Ok, just so you know, everyone gets shot a bunch today (I also did, as usual *rolls eyes*). Jerry took the wheel first and Colena and Vivian went up to the Crow’s Nest. Jerry had some kind of obsession with sausages, and for some particular reason he yelled: “Sausages are fun!”

Bells were rung in the city as everyone began to get armed to repel the invasion. Rule Number 3 was broken twice as two vessels fired their bloody cannons into town. Jerry steered the ship southeast (I think, I don’t have much sense of direction) as if he were trying to avoid the British ships. A cannonball whistled past me and ripped through the rails, sending a piece of wood on fire into the ocean. Eric pointed his cannon at one of the British ships and lit the gunpowder, but nothing happened (It jammed). As he leaned down to do something about it, the cannonball burst through the side and into the ocean, destroying the cannon.

Marysa leaned towards the broken railing to examine the damage, and another cannonball whizzed past, heading straight for the (poor) railing. The wood flew from the impact, some of it landing on Marysa. Some also sailed towards Jerry. He moved aside, but that meant losing the wheel. Sophia, who was near the wheel, took it at Bogs’s encouragement.

Sophia spun the wheel, sailing the ship towards Dockyard Island and a whole round of cannonballs splashed into the sea.

Will began to yell (yes again) orders to get more people on the cannons.

Eric, Vivian and Marysa each took a cannon. Vivian and Eric both lit the gunpowder and hit the main mast of the nearest ship, which immediately slowed down as the mast, with the sails, collapsed onto the deck. Marysa fired a cannonball that hit the hull of the ship at around water level, which probably meant that the ship was taking on water. “Good job people!”

Colena shouted from the crow’s nest. The crew cheered as the other ship burned, and a ship beared down behind us. Someone fired a bullet towards Sophia, who ducked at the last moment, keeping the wheel that now had one handle shot off.

I ran over to Sophia, who was crouching behind the wheel, along with Jerry. Sophia looked at me and said: “Duck!” For some reason, instead of being sensible and actually ducking, I thought about dinner because ducks are edible when cooked. Another bullet fired into the air and a ​whoosh​ noise as Colena fired an arrow from the crows nest, hitting the sharpshooter. He fell from the crows nest (*sarcastic noises*) comfortably.

I yelled: “I don’t think I’m qualified to steer the ship!” (because I ain’t) and Marysa came running. She took the wheel from me and I retreated to a corner beside the steering wheel. Marysa steered the ship towards the Sentry Towers, and the one ship still moving pursued us. The one that we’d partially blown up probably couldn’t steer and was going to crash on land.

Colena yelled something over the cannon fire, but it was hard to hear. Two cannonballs from the other ship fired at us, and one splintered on something near the crow’s nest and Colena was hit by the wood. Daniel looked rather confused before she died from a cannonball (well nearly).

Marysa steered the ship in between two other British ships that were coming. Will yelled: “Full volley, starboard side and port side!” (Starboard and port are right and left on a ship). Blackbeard was climbing up the mast (What was he thinking?!?!?!?!). Victor took a cannon since there were no ships to board anyway. Colena leaped off the crows nest and landed somewhere painful. She then limped to a cannon. Sophia went to a cannon too.

A cannonball decided to kill Victor and exploded some wood stuff in front of him. Another one decided to murder Eric but hit the barrel beside him and exploded. The ships decided not to kill our ship and instead kill the people with little silver pellets. The first round hit Colena, who was busy rubbing her ankle from jumping off the crows nest. She collapsed

onto the deck (I am not healing a person who assaulted me with beer 3 times in my life). A second round hit Marysa and barely missed me. I was pondering whether to fire a cannon or not when they flew past me, and my mind said ​whew​ while my eyes said ​A lot of them just hit Marysa! I’d better check if she’s okay​. Another cannonball decided to kill Eric (wow looks like Eric owes them something) and I. I was looking to see if Marysa was okay, when the cannonball hit right beside me.

Two more ships came, and two ships left the harbour. The ship that we’d blown up ran aground and burst into flames. Marysa went over to Eric and tried to heal him, but she screwed up (that’s ok I guess everyone screws up). She then came over to me and tried to heal me, which succeeded. She went around and healed Vivian, Eric, Victor and (much to her ungratefulness) Colena.

Since Marysa had gone around healing everybody, Victor ran over after he got healed and took the wheel. Victor plunged us straight back into battle, turning the ship around. Two cannonballs came, trying to kill Jerry and Vivian.

Blackbeard was shouting something on top of the mast, yelling: “Ahoy!” over and over again. He was fixing a flag below the Jolly Roger and all the piracy things, a flag with the letters ‘BB’ written on it for Blackbeard. Another ship started sailing into a ship ram towards us. Victor yelled: “Fire!”

Eric, Sophia, and Vivian all fired towards the ship. The ship rammed itself right beside Sophia, and Sophia got out of the way just in time. British people leaped aboard the ship, swords drawn and guns loaded. Victor left the wheel to board another ship, and Colena took the wheel.

A person was trying to bayonet Vivian, but she pulled out this hand held cannon thing and fired it at a piece of wood, and she went up, leaving a very surprised British soldier (Ok, I’m officially in 2020 for ten seconds, that was a grappling hook. Now I’m back to being an old-fashioned brat). Blackbeard shot someone in the face with his weird summoning gun pistol thingy.

Colena somehow managed to steer the ship so that we could fire a volley of cannons into the other ship. Victor was now engaged in a very intense sword fight that I don’t feel like going into. Marysa wrapped a rope around her silver dagger and threw it at someone. It missed the target. It landed in the ocean, and she immediately started winding back the rope (she caught a fish too). Sophia did something to get rid of her assailant and Marysa threw the dagger at the same person. The dagger hit, and her facial expression as she winded back the rope said “Wow that’s awesome”.

Colena and Victor climbed aboard the other ship. I looked out past the ship that was ramming us, and saw two things rise out of the ocean. They were taller than a ship’s mast, and were moving in a flexible manner before sinking below the surface. I knew what it was (I don’t feel like spoiling it though :D lol). Will took a cannon and fired, along with Eric.

The other ship shook as a full broadside was sprayed onto it.

Marysa took the wheel and sent her bird to the British soldiers, where it started (hilariously) harassing the British soldiers. The rest of the ships were interested in going into Shallowport, and two were harassing us: one that was chasing us and one that just rammed us. Marysa steered the ship farther away from the ship that just harassed us, leaving Victor and Colena behind.The sun was setting, so we didn’t get a lot of light. But the ship that ran ashore had burst into a whole lot of flames, and the water around us turned black as if something had passed beneath it.

Two tentacles sprouted from beneath the other ship, lashing back and forth, cracking the ship in two. Colena and Victor came back, unconscious. They both looked really messed up. We gathered around them for a bit and they woke up.

Both coughed up large amounts of saltwater. Blackbeard was on their knees, soaked (like Victor and Colena) and panting.

They said: “Where are my otters?” Marysa handed them back over. Blackbeard leaned back and said: “I love this job.

Where else would you get something like this?” There was clearly a battle raging at Shallowport.

The ship that was pursuing doused all of its lanterns, and we could see none more of it. Let’s stop for now, shall we? I think that’s enough for today.

Colena Shan| Aneloc E Nahs | ​Στιλλ Λιωινγ (Still Living)

Assault on Shallow Port Colena hurried up the crow’s nest with Vivian. She wanted to get a good look at the battle, and she figured that, since it was likely she was Uka’ To’ah’s ​chosen​, she was probably not gonna die anytime soon. Colena decided that she would do her best to get injured—to see if she would die or not, but not commit suicide. That would just show she was a coward and couldn’t face life.

Colena and Vivian chatted a bit while cannonballs hit people in the face and Eric blew up a cannon while shooting and missing completely.

KABOOM! A cannonball smashed the rail. Marysa went to examine it, otters still in hand, when a cannonball hit her.

“WE NEED MORE CANNONS!” yelled Will Darby from somewhere. Vivian was going to shoot a few cannonballs.

Later, after completely wrecking a ship, Colena got hit by a cannonball.

Yes! ​she thought. ​My health is damaged. More cannonballs on my head please!

Colena looked around. She could see quite plainly, more British ships coming!

“We’re about to go to war!” Colena yelled. “The best part of life because you die—at the very least, you get badly injured unless you hide like cowards! WHOO!” Yes, Colena is ​still ​going crazy, and don’t expect the craziness to stop anytime soon. She’s gonna go ​mental​. ​Insane​. Whatever you like.

Colena still had her arrow nocked onto her bowstring, and was longing to release it, so she did, and it hit the heart of the captain on one of the British ships.

Not too long later, a bullet whistled past Colena’s ear, missing—but Colena soon realized she wasn’t the intended target. The bullet was going straight for Sophia, whom Colena disliked because all Sophia did was steer the ship—which, I guess was pretty important, but lately, that was the only useful thing Sophia had done.

Sophia successfully ducked, and when Rachael came up to the wheel, Sophia yelled, “Duck dinner!”

Then Colena decided to get injured even ​more​, because so far, “only” one of the cannonballs of the opposing army hit her—which wasn’t enough to get her to near death like she wanted. So, she jumped off the crow’s nest ​again​, and this time, she flailed on purpose, and fell hard. Colena lost even ​more ​health, which, I guess, was a pleasure to her.

YES!! ​Colena practically ​screamed i​ n her head.

Another cannonball hit her while she was still on the ground. And more of her health was gone! If anyone else was in her body, they probably would’ve groaned and moaned and stuff. But you already know by now that Colena is crazy, insane, and doesn’t care about life anymore, so she just said, “Aweso—oof!” The last part was because she was so low on health, she couldn’t get the last letters out.

Colena was now ​stunned​, meaning she couldn’t do anything. After a bit, her head cleared, and she could think, but not move.

Well, this is amazing! Colena thought—not sarcastic at ​all.​ ​I’m near death. I need one more cannonball to hit me! But unfortunately for Colena—Marysa was a doctor and decided to heal people. Colena cursed in her head and thought, ​DON’T HEAL ME! DON’T HEAL ME!

Marysa approached Colena first.

DON’T YOU DARE HEAL ME! ​Colena yelled in her head. Marysa frowned for a moment, then walked away.

Yes! She’s not healing me! ​Colena cheered, still in her—uh, stunned state. But Marysa was gonna come back to her later…

Like I said, Marysa came back to Colena and healed Colena. After getting out of her stunned state, Colena got to her feet, swearing and cursing Marysa. Marysa looked rather pleased with herself, as an enemy ship pulled up alongside the ​Titanic 2000​.

Wanting as much danger as possible, Colena bolted to the wheel. Marysa had recently stopped steering—to heal as many people as she could. Well, Colena thought, maybe it was for the best Marysa healed her. This way, she could put herself in even ​more ​danger.

Colena steered the ship left, so that the British ship rammed the side of the ​Titanic 2000​. Then Colena decided to go onto the ship, thinking maybe she’d get a few bruises or injuries at the very least.

Vivian had now brought out her grappling hook, which she had gotten while Colena was pursuing Rachael.

No longer hesitating, her mind clear, Colena leapt onto the enemy ship, intending to kill some British people.

As Colena hurled herself to the other ship, the waters turned murky black, as if something gigantic was underneath the waters.

Not caring that Uka’ To’ah was probably there, Colena fought a British man. Victor had also gotten onto the other ship and loaded his gun—then shot another British man.

Colena whirled out her cutlass, if you don’t remember, it was the weapon she can get from nowhere. Then she fought another British ​man with a sword. Colena swung her sword, and the British man brought up his sword to block it. But, Colena made the cutlass disappear, then reappear, and slashed the British and there was plenty of blood.

Colena knew that Victor had seen the cutlass disappear and reappear—and her secret was revealed.

“My secret has been exposed,” Colena said to nobody in particular, as the ship jolted suddenly.

Uka’ To’ah, ​Colena thought​, what brings you here?

“And my favourite monster is here!” Colena added, delighted. Well, that wasn’t entirely true.

Since we can classify Colena as a very insane monster too, I believe that Colena’s favourite monster would’ve been herself. But anyway, Colena and Victor were pretty terrified, and they blacked out.

*** The last thing Colena saw before she had a second blackout was a huge, unblinking, yellow eye.

Of Uka’ To’ah’s​.

*** The next thing Colena knew, she was on the deck of the ​Titanic 2000​. She was ​drenched​.

“What happened?” somebody asked, though Colena was unsure who.

Colena opened her mouth to say a crazy comment and a lot of seawater poured out of her mouth. Victor also spat a lot of seawater out.

Gross​.

“Eww…disgusting!” somebody said.

Blackbeard appeared next to them, also drenched in seawater.

“Where are my otters?” Blackbeard demanded.

“Here,” said Marysa. She sounded a little sad; maybe she wanted to keep the otters.

“I look awesome,” said Colena, glancing at her drenched clothing. You might’ve thought getting drenched and meeting a monster would stop Colena from being so ​insane but I’m afraid to say that she’s crazier than ever. And you haven’t even seen the craziest of her yet……

SESSION THIRTEEN

Madness by Moonlight

Madness by moonlight by vivian Hi again so we landed back on our ship and yes it is not fun. The British ship with Blake on it was behind us. Here's the whole battle:

So we attacked the ship and it was a bloody mess. First, we fought together against the British soldiers at the very top, then Eric and I went up.lackbeard and the rest of the people went below deck. So the people above the deck were failing first, they collapsed, then I collapsed and then Eric finally defeated someone. I was happy but dying, it was a weird feeling. Then the people below deck were doing well. Blackbeard killed a bunch of soldiers and Colena did too. We all went on the main level where we found Governor Blake. He was being a coward and hiding. He tried making us a deal. It was so annoying so what we did next would cause a lot of damage. Colena and Rachael put gunpowder in the cannon and then fired Governor Blake there. It exploded half the ship and then the people who were injured went on this weird healing boat. After a while, we found out that Colena was one of Uka’To’ah’s chosen ones.

That is what happened, bye!

Victor Zhong “​HOW MUCH GUNPOWDER DID YOU PUT IN?” Last time, the British Army of the

Carribean started a siege on Shallow Port, and we had narrowly escaped from Shallow Port, just to be chased by the ​BEST​ ship of the Royal Navy.

“Ok so, should we turn around and go stealthy, or aggressively?” questions Blackbeard.

“STEALTHY!” exclaims everyone, except for Colena.

“AGGRESSIVELY!” she screams, but then she realizes she's the only one that yelled it.

A few minutes later, we launch little tiny row boats, and start quietly rowing towards the British battleship. As we row, led by Will Darby, Rachael just jumps off the boat, and starts swimming. As we were off track, only I noticed that the ship was only a few feet away, and as I tried to yell to stop, we CRASH into the ship. SHU! SHU! SHU! We climb up the rope as stealthy as a snake, and hide behind a pole.

Minutes later, PEW! PEW! CRASH! PEW! Led by Will, and Blackbeard, we charge the lines! But, sadly, in the process, Will gets wounded hard, and lays on the ground, sluggishly.

Then, Blackbeard somehow blows a hole in the middle of the ship, and jumps in.

It was as if there were 1 million bullets, Blackbeard takes on about 10 soldiers by themself.

Looking like they needed help, most of us jumped in to help in the fight. Except a few, who go up, and fight the other British soldiers above.

Suddenly, WHOOSH! As a bullet passes straight through my chest, I stagger to the ground, helpless. As the other people go on ahead, I slip between conscience.

What seemed like hours, I was finally healed, and the first words I hear are, “HOW MUCH GUNPOWDER DID YOU PUT IN?” After 10 minutes, we were almost near the Titanic 2000, BANG! The boat almost tipped over!

“SHARK!” I yell frantically, luckily, the boat reached the Titanic 2000 before the shark could try and eat us, and the crew pulled us up.

“OH COME ON! I HATE REGROWING TOES!” exclaims Blackbeard.

After a few seconds, we arrive in Blackbeard's Office. “Where are the Seals?” questions Blackbeard, as Marysa passes over the seels. Inside one of their mouths, is a Seal of Ukatoah.

When we were waiting for something to happen, Blackbeard starts telling a story. It is too long, but here is a summary. Captain Charles Vane wants a world ruled by pirates, and unleashes a horrific beast. Realizing that Vane has done something wrong, the crew mutinies and launches Vane off the ship. The seals were held by Colena, Blackbeard, and Vane.

10 seconds later, we arrived.

MADNESS? NO, EVEN WORSE SOPHIA DENG So after the confrontation which I helped in, No Colena, I am not a coward. Just because I don’t take stupid risks doesn’t mean I’m a coward. Oh I just hate the look she shoots at me. She’s prancing around on one leg while the other is… I dunno… Holding her cup of coffee? Anywayyyyy… there’s news. BB wants to return a seal. He’s found one. I dunno how but he’s found one. There’s a huge battleship behind us so… we want to defeat the battleship first. A group of people including me are included on a “stealth” mission. It works, sorta. We get close to the ship and BB throws a rope up and we climb. This part is not stealthy. A fight. I miss all of it when BB makes a hole in the deck and jumps in. I decide to jump in too. Inside I see BB charge into two people and mow them over before shouting “YOU!” and running off again. After a while, BB comes back with Blake and is dragging Blake. It’s kinda funny. We are going to steal his ship and that is fun. On his way up the stairs, hitting every one, Blake makes an offer to me “Free me and I will give you a whole island Sophia.”

“No way. What would I do with an island?” I replied loftily. He makes a bunch of request that are all stupid.

BB ties Blake to a cannon and Rachel prepares to shoot the cannon into the water so Blake would drown. I don’t know what will happen so I get onto a dingy. There’s a huge explosion. The whole ship is wrecked. A while on the ship and a shark comes at me. I hit it back but I still feel bite marks. Stupid sharks!

Then right while I was trying to bandage the stinging scrapes, another shark came at me. I punch it in the nose.

Haha!​ Then the first shark rams into me and takes a bite. ​I guess it’s not a time for celebrating…​ Right at this time, Colena comes onto the dingy which is sinking from shark attacks. She looks horrible and she should be dead but she isn’t. ​What the heck What the heck What the heck What the heck What the heck What the heck What the heck What the heck.​ Her right arm was skeletal and her other one was burnt and missing a hand.

The worst part was… she didn’t have legs! Then I saw she was regrowing them. Uka toah’s chosen. Yeah, it wrecks my life, doesn’t it? Poop to her. BB comes on the dingy and the first thing he says is, “ How much gunpowder did you put in the cannon, Rachel?” His foot was gone. “Oh how I hate to regrow toes” he says, then he looks at Colena “You must sympathise right?” Having immortality is worse than it seems I guess. We go back onto the ship. Climbing a rope, how fun…

On the boat BB tells us of Colena’s life… it's not about crazy inventions...

Rachael 1716

Now that the wind had picked up, we escaped Shallowport efficiently, with a single ship pursuing us. We weren’t sure where it was, however, because it had snuffed out all of its lights but we were sure it was there. There was barely any sunlight, only a pale glow coming from the sun, which would soon disappear beneath the waves.

We gathered in Blackbeard’s quarters, a stately room that had a side door to the bedroom. In here, the walls were lined with shelves, and they were filled with books of every size. There was also a shelf filled with a variety of beverages, beer, wine, tea, whatever (I’m not a waitress, I’m not an expert on drinks). In a chair in the middle of the room, with their boots, upon the desk was Blackbeard, looking out the window to the endless sea of water. It was the first time I’d been here.

Will spoke first, leaning over the table. “Listen,” he said. “[some gibberish that I didn’t quite hear].

Must’ve been.” Blackbeard didn’t seem to notice or make any sign that they heard at all.

“The flagship of the British Expeditionary Force is behind us, right now. Captain, does that not disturb you, even the little bit?”

Again, Blackbeard did not respond. ​The British Expeditionary Force​. I shivered for the fact that I was

of French ancestry, considering that Anglo-French relationships were not at all well. Will calmed down a little and turned to us.

“Marysa, how is it that you managed to spend so much time steering the ship, and also save everybody’s lives?”

“Uhh-” Marysa stammered.

Will smiled. “Truly a superhuman feat. A toast to Marysa.”

Many of us toasted, but I didn’t. I was just not in the mood to.

“Now, we’ve got sea monsters, we’ve got British [gibberish] and we’ve got a heading out into the middle of nowhere. I hate to say it, but we’re kind of screwed.”

I’m already screwed​, I thought, ​Nothing’s going to change that.

“I’m open to ideas though,” Will said.

“We could go to Shallowport,” Colena suggested (It was a horrible suggestion for the others, but I still wanted to go to Shallowport).

Blackbeard turned to Colena. “Where the monster is?”

“Sure, why not?”, Colena replied.

“Er- You might have a tough sell convincing the rest of the lads to sail back towards that thing,” said Will.

“Are you afraid of Uka’To’ah?”

“I’m very much afraid of Uka’To’ah.”

“We had a plan - Captain, stop me if I’m revealing too much information - We’ve got another seal. It needs to be returned to where we took it so that we can put this genie back in the bottle, put the monster away, end the curse, all this good stuff. Unfortunately, the most fearsome warship to ever be constructed is behind us right now.

It’s faster, has more guns, and has a thicker hull.”

“Uka’To’ah is a cute creature,” Colena said.

“Is a what?”

“A cute creature.”

“Doesn’t Uka’To’ah eat ships?” Sophia asked.

“I don’t know if he eats ships, I think he [insert crunch noise] and eats the people,” Will replied.

“I think that’s the same,” Sophia said.

Will went back on topic. “As I can see, the only thing that’s keeping them from blasting us to pieces is the darkness. When the sun comes up tomorrow, we’re a sitting duck.They can engage us, they can engage and disengage as much as it likes, we’re in the open sea.”

“The ship behind us. You said it’s the strongest ship on the seas.” Marysa said.

“The Man of War, yes.”

“How is this thing built? Like, you know how ships have sails and there’s like a big pole? So, is that part of the ship also really strong or is it -” She cut off.

“It’s one of the biggest things to come out of the British shipyards. It’s massive. Lots of cannons. Thick hull.”

Suddenly everyone just started throwing out suggestions (which I absolutely did not pay attention to).

Blackbeard slammed their hand down on the table. “It’s a good day to almost die,” they said with a hint of sarcasm. They settled back down and got up from behind the table.

“No, I don’t think it is,” Will protested.

“I, Mr. Darby, think it is,” Blackbeard snapped.

Blackbeard walked out and began (yes, again) yelling nine hundred sixteen thousand seven hundred eighty-four orders around the ship (not literally). The lanterns on the Titanic 2000 were blown out. The sails were pulled down to hovering position as we stood at the edge of the ship with the dinghy. “Mr. Bogs, the ship is yours,” Blackbeard said. Bogs nodded and went to the steering wheel.

One of the dinghies were lowered,, and a rope was attached. It pushed away from the ship with everyone in it except me. I decided to swim (horrible idea) and slipped into the water. It was freezing, a pitch black sea of ink. The sun had fully set, and around me was half shimmering with moonlight. I was sure, when I peered down into the pitch-black sea, whatever was down there could quite clearly see me, but I couldn’t see them.

I swam through the freezing water and I soon saw the ​Man O’ War​. It was a bulky shape, 3 decks, with

(indeed) a very thick hull. Flying steadily on the mast was a British flag, its bright colours duller in the dim light of the moon. The wood was a solid brown, the sails furled and all the lights off. I caught a glimpse of several people on the deck, pacing. I glanced down every now and then, thinking I saw some shadows swimming towards me.

My head hit something hard. It was sudden, and it rang in my ears. I looked up to see the bow of a ship looming over me. I spluttered (not on beer this time) and treaded water, attempting to find a hold so that I could get on the ​Man O’ War​. I found something that I could have a steady grip on that went around the outside, and pulled myself out of the water. I was soaked, and the air stung for a moment. I realized that I was at a gunnery door, which was firmly closed (Nah, I don’t feel like dying today).

I heard a crunch behind me as I scrambled onto the ship. The dinghy was being pushed under the silent waves by the bow of the M ​ an O’ War​. I watched in the darkness as my ‘friends’ came onto the ship. The dinghy no longer existed; silent waves swept the wood pieces up and carried them away. A piece attached to the rope began

moving farther and farther as the Titanic 2000 unfurled its sails and let the wind and the waves carry her away.

Blackbeard gestured to the left, then to the right. I saw several men marching up and down, peering into the ocean for anything that might be a potential threat. Several other people were pulling on ropes and they hadn’t yet noticed that we were on the ship.

We split up, Blackbeard leading one team and Will leading another. They looked at each other, and it seemed that their movements synchronized. They motioned for us to draw our weapons, and silently, I drew the sword I’d taken from Lozar’s, trembling. I followed Blackbeard, and I could faintly hear them singing to themself:

“Pull the bow across my strings, Is this really happening?

Blackbeard did a subtle movement with their hand and a pistol, engraved with silver shining in the moonlight, appeared in their hand.

Be at wraith, or be at shame, Death, she comes for all one day!

A gunshot rang in my ears, and my mind whirled for a second. Blackbeard had fired at a man in front of them, and now blood was dripping down his chest, his eyes staring at nothing more. I shuddered as Colena yelled some gibberish as a battle cry (where the heck did she get that from?). She dived on the nearest person, and I knew it was going to be a bloodbath.

Most of us got wounded in some way, mild injuries for Marysa, Victor and Eric, the rest of us except Jerry and Colena had wounds that would probably give a lot of work to Marysa. Moreover, we had gained custody of the deck. A group of soldiers had martialled around the steering wheel, drawing various weapons - guns, swords, pistols, muskets, axes - and aiming them towards our group. I heard faint motions coming from below deck, and I guessed that more soldiers were oiling their guns, getting gunpowder, and reloading.

I looked towards the middle, and there was a cargo net, which was used to raise heavy things like cannons and whatnot. Blackbeard turned and yelled: “Do something about those!” They then pointed their gun at the crane

holding the cargo net, and fired. Once again, a gunshot rang. Blackbeard grabbed a rope and climbed up it.

Simultaneously, the cargo came crashing down, smashing the doors in front of them. In a split second, Blackbeard had also landed (very heavily too), falling through the hole in the middle of the ship.

As soon as that happened, a great uproar burst my eardrums from below deck. There were the deep voices of men yelling and gunshots fired continuously (see, I did tell you it was going to be a bloodbath). I heard the ​sching​ of swords being drawn out of their sheaths and the ​click-clack ​of guns being loaded. Will, meanwhile, yelled something at the captain and began to rush up the stairs.

Vivian and Eric bolted up the stairs after Will. I watched as they slipped up and out of sight as the sound of muskets firing ensued. Jerry stood frozen, petrified with fear as Colena, Marysa, Victor, Sophia, and I slid down the rope and dropped into the room. The fighting was thick, blood spurted and gunshots sounded. I could barely see what was happening and who I was hitting, and I could only hope that I wasn’t hitting any of my companions. A few meters away, I saw Victor fall back, bleeding profusely, but there was nothing I could do. He was too far away for me to get to.

Sophia and I were both wounded, but not quite as much as Victor. After some very intense fighting, we emerged into the main room. Dead bodies were everywhere, staring blankly at nothing. There wasn’t any sign of Blackbeard, who had probably killed all these people. There was more fighting in the adjoining room, but I slipped away from the group to head somewhere else.

Gunshots exploded as I darted through this deck of the ship. I turned a corner and found myself facing an open door with a massive stock of gunpowder (yay!). I took some and spread it around the ship below deck, and went back for the grayish black powder when I needed to. I didn’t put it everywhere, but I made sure there were no spaces between the small piles that I made.

I lit the fuse in the place where I found the gunpowder because the majority of the gunpowder was still there. I made sure it was the longest I could find, which was not very long but not short. I somehow did not lose my flint and steel, so I used that to light it. There was a burst of flame, and the fuse started burning. I ran back above and slowed to a walking pace so it didn’t look like I was panicking too bad. “Get off or you die!” I called. I picked up my pace again and jumped over the side of the ship onto the dinghy, giving Marysa, Victor, Vivian, and Jerry a very painful experience. Blackbeard and Colena were going to fire a cannon to explode Governor Blake, and Eric had the wheel. Blackbeard looked satisfied that we finally had two ships (yeah right). As Marysa turned to me to do whatever she wanted to do, Sophia landed in the dinghy and it fell five feet into the water, making us all nearly vomit.

I heard Blackbeard whooping about how we have two ships (SPOILER ALERT: One exploded).

The cannon fired, and I saw Blake pitch into the ocean. I could faintly (yeah, everything is faint now) hear Blackbeard asking: “Colena, how much powder did you put in that -” Then the ship exploded in a brilliant volcano of fire and wood.

Now I had realized that Eric had joined us and Marysa was back on the ship. Fire burned on the remaining pieces of charred wood on the ocean, the masts scorched to a blackened crisp. I felt a twinge of regret,

as Colena, who I’d known for 5 years, was on the ship. The scorched shape of the Man O’ War tilted upwards, and was slowly pulled into the sea, swallowed in the inky black water.

A bell rang in the distance. Some lanterns on the Titanic 2000 were lit, and (Finally!) we had light. Five hundred meters away was the Titanic 2000, slowly turning back to pick us up.

I dove into the water because I knew I couldn’t heal people as well as a certain person. I found Marysa and swam her back to the ship, doing my best to heal her wounds. I think I did a good job, because she started panicking like she usually does when so many people are injured.

I peered out to the place where I (totally by accident) killed everyone. I could see several bodies, some of them looking like British soldiers. One of them was moving and I took the paddle to move the boat towards them.

Marysa fixed a leak that apparently none of us noticed (no wonder our boots were so wet). I rowed closer and we could see Blackbeard, floating on their back. They looked towards us and I could see blood running down his ear.

“Hi I guess,” I said.

They hung on to the side of the boat, looking ok, but not entirely there. “How much powder did we put in the canon?” Blackbeard asked between breaths. I told him that I blew up the ship and he responded: “You did what with a sandwich? Now is horribly the time.” Eric (don’t ask me why) lowered himself into the water as Jerry healed Vivian. Suddenly, the boat rocked (giving Victor a very painful experience), and a massive fin moved past. “Shark!” Victor rasped.

Marysa tended to Will, who looked around and asked: “Have we sunk?”

“Not yet,” Marysa replied.

“Oh, that’s good.”

“But there’s kind of a hole in our boat or our dinghy.”

Wil groaned. “I keep telling Bogs he should worry about the holes in the boat.” He coughed up a bit of something. Then he said something (I didn’t hear).

“Lovely night for a swim?” Will called. “I don’t suppose we have any dry - where’s my sword? Lovely.

Just lovely.” (He did not find his sword.)

The dinghy wasn’t full of salt water anymore. It was full of red salt water from all the blood everyone had shedded and there were some sharks that were quite hungry. I was still scanning the ocean for Colena. I saw a tiger shark with a rather long stream of bubbles coming from its mouth. I watched as it carried Colena off until darkness engulfed them and they disappeared.

There was a glint of silver in the distance as suddenly, there was a silver blade in the shark. I dove into the water (once again) and caught up with Colena, grabbing her and pulling her up the surface. Her legs, just like Vayne’s arm, were regrowing their skeleton and I knew soon it would get more disgusting. She coughed up a whole bunch of saltwater that I hope did not touch me as it was rather disgusting. We both looked up and saw the bow of the Titanic 2000 and its lanterns coming towards us. Several voices yelled “Man overboard!” and some ropes were thrown out towards us. I reached towards one, hung onto Colena, and pulled her over the side of the ship (Geez that was exhausting).

Several of the crewmates moved towards us then backed away as their eyes locked on Colena. I heard one of them most definitely vomiting as Colena regrew her arteries, veins, and skin (I was trying so hard to not burst out laughing). Nothing happened for several minutes. Then, Marysa, Sophia, Vivian, Victor, Jerry, and Blackbeard were rescued with another yelling of “Man overboard!” and with Blackbeard yelling “Come on! Do you know how much I hate regrowing toes?” He looked towards Colena. “Well you’ll probably be able to sympathize, I think.”

As the sun came up, a flock of seagulls flew towards the wreckage of the Man O’ War. Shallowport, which had been just on the horizon the night before, had disappeared completely. There were no sails on the horizon and it didn’t appear that we were being followed by anyone. The crew didn’t really have a meeting or whatever until the afternoon, when everyone recovered enough. We were in Blackbeard’s quarters again, who had his feet up on the desk and only one of them was wearing a boot; the other was wrapped in a rather heavy bandage.

“Where are my otters? Otters please, where are the otters? Otters?” Blackbeard demanded.

Marysa gave the otters to Blackbeard. One of them was holding something, and Blackbeard took it away. It was a coin, with a little piece missing from it. All of us recognized it immediately; it was one of the seals of Uka’To’ah. This one looked like it had submerged underwater for quite some time. “Well, is it time to go back to Uka’To’ah’s temple again?” Victor asked. “Different temple, but yes,” Blackbeard replied.

“Unfortunately, this one doesn’t somewhat rise out of the ocean, so we’re going under the ocean,” Blackbeard said.

“Who cares? It’s going to be fun!” Colena said.

“Fun is one word for spooky AF, but sure.”

“Who cares if it’s spooky, it’s still going to be fun!”

“Well, Colena, we’ve got some memories back here. This is actually, uh, the last time we served under Captain Charles Vayne.”

“What actually happened?”

“Oh, yes. Charles released a monster. We followed Charles because we loved and believed in Charles.

Charles released a monster.”

Someone asked something about Governor Blake.

“Governor Blake is super dead, isn’t he Colena? Anyways, Charles released a monster, and we did the unacceptable thing. We killed Charles and stole his boat.”

“He’s not dead,” Colena retorted.

“Well, duh, Colena. Of course he’s not dead - he’s one of Uka’To’ah’s chosen, much like you and I. Colena here, tied his boot to a cannon and [insert sound of cannon firing] launched him over the side of the ship.

We took the boat, repainted it, and turned it into the Titanic 2000. That was a much better name, much better crew, and then a massive octopus monster started haunting all of our dreams.” He held up the seal. “These were supposed to be treasures. But they are keys.Put the last key back, and perhaps the monster will go home.

“Right, so we had three. Myself, Colena, Charles. Colena left us. A short while after we left Charles, presumably at the bottom of the ocean. Here one night, gone the next. See, that’s not crazy, or important, or

something. But Colena, just left in the middle of the Caribbean Sea. Here one day, gone the next. Listen, this sort of thing happens. People go crazy and pick up a cannonball, take a short walk - a long walk - a long walk or a short walk - forgive me, I got blown up yesterday.” He looked at me (I was, again, trying not to look amused). “A long walk off the shore plank, plomp, you’d be at the bottom of the ocean. Colena didn’t really seem the type, but that was the only thing that could’ve happened. And naturally we assumed, you know, she was dead-zo. Until we ran into Charles again. And he shot me in the face. Honestly, I don’t begrudge him, it’s, y’know, I’ve shot him in the face a couple of times since then. And I woke up. It was around that time I realized Colena must still be alive too.”

I spilled the beans about the fact that I’d been talking with Vayne. I was rather surprised to see that Blackbeard did not summon a gun and blow me up this time, instead, they looked rather interested. “He still talks to the monster?” they asked.

“Yes.” “He believes in it. Entirely. He started telling us about how we’re going to stop the authority. How we’ll all be free, and y’know, the same rubbish every pirate captain says to every other pirate. But this guy meant it. He actually thinks that the best way to run the world is with a pack of pirates. And his way to protect that is unleashing the most terrifying thing the world has ever seen. I’m sure he would argue differently.”

“Why don’t you want freedom? If you can control it -” I cut off because I knew that would be impossible.

“That’s the problem, right Rachael? It’s an ancient god or something. Listen. Blake was greedy. Blake wanted money. That was all that Blake cared about. Maybe he was going to put the monster away, maybe he was going to drive it around. I don’t believe that it can be controlled. That’s why I have to put it back. That’s why I have to keep these powers back, that’s why I have to end this curse. So we can stop being skeleton pirates with no feet.

Vayne wants to stop me. And the truth is, he might win. So far, guess how many seals we’ve returned.”

“One,” Colena said.

“Yeah. One.” “Three”, Vivian said.

“That’s very kind of you Vivian. No. One.” “Why do we need seals again?” Victor asked.

“To put the monster back! The first doesn’t really do anything, right? Like, you lock two doors and the third one’s still open. It’s no use. Plus, I don’t really know if sealing the thing will put the monster away.”

“Nobody cares about the monster,” I spat. Y ​ ou have been diagnosed with your opinion sucks​, I thought.

“What do you mean, nobody cares about the monster?”

“I don’t care if the monster is loose or not,” Colena said.

“Right. Anyway, the idea was, the seals were dangerous and so we split them up. Colena, we gave yours to Jacobo. And when I figured what had happened, we wanted to put the monster back, so I tried to find Jacobo.

Who got eaten by the monster. So presumably, he knows what we’re doing and wants to stop us.”

“He? Jacobo wants to stop us?” said Colena.

“Jacobo is super dead.”

“Ok.”

A whistle sounded, a bell rang, and we felt the ship come to a stop.

“Ah. We’re here,” Blackbeard said.

“Where are we?” Colena asked.

“The - sunken - temple of Uka’To’ah.”

Colena said something about having a higher chance of dying and Victor said, “Don’t we need a third seal?”

“It’s underwater, Colena, and yes Victor, we do need a third seal. Any idea where the third seal is?”

“With Vayne,” Colena said immediately.

As Blackbeard said that, I remembered something. Vayne had worn a medallion around his neck, a shimmering gold one with some engravings on it. “I don’t know,” I lied.

“Charles has it. Maybe on his person, maybe he buried it somewhere. Or maybe he ate it. He’s a little bit - out there. Like more than-” He looked towards someone in our group (I don’t know who, could’ve been me). Victor said something and Blackbeard said: “Like you know, piracy.”

Let’s just leave it there. I still like my cliffhangers.

Colena Shan | Aneloc E. Nahs (Νεαρλυ Δεαδ βθτ ​Στιλλ​ Λιωινγ | Nearly Dead but ​Still​ Living)

M​ADNESS BY ​M​OONLIGHT

First thing you should know: Madness is an understatement.

I told you, in the last chapter, that you haven’t seen the craziest of Colena yet. Which is true. If you had checked the name above the title, you would see that it has changed from “Still Living” to “Nearly Dead ​but ​Still Living”, and yes, Colena nearly got herself ​killed​, in part thanks to Rachael, who blew up the ​Man o’ War​, and you probably have no idea what the ​Man o’ War ​is right now.

(Also, Colena didn’t blame Rachael because she was so glad to get hundreds of injuries. )

*** Well, you know what happened earlier. The ​Titanic 2000 and all of the people on it escaped the fight like cowards and nincompoops and stuff, and yeah. This is what happened after that.

It all began when the people just escaped from the battle of blood and all those stuff small, boring battles bring. A British ship was pursuing them, but the lights were put out soon and so nobody, not even people with great eyesight, could see the British ship.

Then some people went to Blackbeard’s Captain’s Quarters. There were plenty of shelves round the wall, each shelf holding loads of books. There was also a shelf with drinks. Colena had an uncomfortable feeling, but she held a drink in her hand. Drinking nothing though.

Blackbeard was sitting at their desk, boots on the desk table. They were looking out the window.

Vivian the Pirate from Europe, Eric the Random Person from the Colonies, Jerry the Sailor from Europe, Victor the Soldier from Europe, Sophia the Random Herbal Healer from the Carribean, Rachael the Apothecary Apprentice from the Colonies, and Marysa the Doctor (who, by the way, was still holding the two otters) from the Carribean were also there. They were all in really weird moods, too weird to describe.

Everyone—except Colena that is, got healed. Colena was pleased.

“Listen. It had to have been the ​Man o’ War​. Must’ve been,” Will Darby was saying to Blackbeard. Blackbeard just kept staring out the window.

“The flagship of the British expeditionary force. Behind us,” said Will. “Right now. Captain, does that disturb you, even a little bit?”

Blackbeard was silent.

Will turned to Colena, Vivian, Eric, Jerry, Victor, Sophia, Rachael, and Marysa.

“Marysa,” said Will after a few seconds of silence, “how was it, steering the ship away from harm? And also, save everybody’s lives?”

Colena turned to Marysa.

“Uh?” said Marysa.

“A superhuman feat,” said Will. “A toast to Marysa!” He raised his glass.

Colena, not wanting to look suspicious, lifted her glass and dumped (purposely) some beer onto the otters, so there would be less liquid in her glass, as if she actually drank. Nobody took notice so she smirked.

Everyone toasted, except Rachael of course.

“Refused,” Rachael muttered.

“Hooray!” said everybody (except for Colena and Rachael. Colena didn’t say “Hooray” because she wanted to go back and fight).

“Now. We’ve got sea monsters, British armies, and we’re heading out to the middle of nowhere,” said Will. “It feels like we’re kinda screwed. I’m open to ideas though.”

“We could go back to Shallow Port,” said Colena, wanting to fight and go crazy as usual.

Blackbeard turned to Colena. “Where the monster is?”

“Sure! Why not?” Colena said.

“Uuh, you might have a tough time convincing the lads to go back,” said Will.

“Are you afraid of Uka’ To’ah?” Colena said.

“I’m very afraid of Uka’ To’ah.”

“Such a coward,” Colena muttered. “Uka’ To’ah is pretty cute.” Actually, Uka’ To’ah was—​is a monster that had scared the living daylights out of Colena for more than a few times. But she was the typical crazy everyday.

“Listen,” said Will. “We had a plan. Captain, stop me if I am revealing too much information.

We’ve got another seal. Needs to be returned to where we took it, so that we can put the genie back in the bottle, put the monster away, end the curse, all this good stuff. Unfortunately, the most fearsome ​warship to have ​ever t​ o be constructed is behind us ​RIGHT NOW​. Faster, more guns, thicker hull.”

“Uka’ To’ah is a cute creature,” Colena said.

“Is a ​what​?”

“A cute creature,” said Colena.

“Who’s gonna eat the ship,” Sophia added.

Will.

“I don’t think he eats ships. He probably goes KRR, and then eats the people on t​ he ship,” said “Same thing,” said Sophia.

“NOT,” Colena said.

“The way ​I s​ ee it, the only thing preventing them from blasting us to pieces is the darkness.

But as soon as the sun rises tomorrow, we’re a sitting duck.”

“How cheerful,” Colena muttered.

“We can swim,” Rachael suggested.

“How was the ​Man o’ War​ built?” asked Marysa.

“It’s one of the biggest ships to come out of the British shipyard,” said Will, which didn’t really answer Marysa’s question. “Massive. Loads of cannons.”

“Do you think we can use the cannons to blow up the ship?” said Victor.

“That was what I was thinking……” Eric said.

“I say we go on the ship and see if it really is the strongest ship,” Colena said. “I bet we could kill everybody in less than an hour.”

“Who wants to board the ship?” asked Victor.

“ME!” Colena yelled. “The more blood and killing, the more I want to be there!”

“Let’s do it!” said Marysa.

BAM! Blackbeard slammed their hand on the table. “It’s a good day to almost die,” they said.

Almost? It’s a ​perfect ​day to die​.

“We’re going! And maybe hopefully get more than a few injuries!” Colena said.

“It’s settled then,” said Blackbeard, getting up from their seat.

Will looked alarmed. “NO! I don’t think it is—!”

Blackbeard started yelling out orders.

Well, Colena thought​, at least we get to get some lovely injuries. Wonder if our blood will attract sharks?

The lanterns on the ​Titanic 2000 w ​ ere put out and the sails were pulled down.

“Bogs, the ship is yours,” said Blackbeard.

Oh, he’s giving the ship to ​Bogs​, of all people? Another very “smart” move​. ​Bogs is so stupid.

Guess that boosts our chance of dying.

Bogs nodded and marched to the steering wheel.

Colena waved her hand and her cutlass appeared. This was going to be fun. Then they debated on whether going stealthily or really loudly. Colena preferred loud so they could be heard and there would be more chance of dying. Unfortunately (for her I mean), everybody else chose stealth.

Rachael chose to swim instead of going into the dinghy. The dinghy was tied by a long rope connected to the ​Titanic 2000​.

“Hey guys,” said Victor. “I have an idea. Why don’t we just blow up the whole of the ship?”

“Sure, and we’ll probably get loads of injuries,” Colena said.

Remember the stealth plan? Colena was actually the quietest one. Which did ​not ​please her in the slightest.

The dinghy was getting closer to the ​Man o’ War​.

SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! A loud snapping noise was heard behind the group. The dinghy was being pulled underwater. It had struck the bow of the ​Man o’ War​. Realizing that it was the British ship, Colena leapt out of the small dinghy and flung herself on.

No dinghy to bring us back? Good. Should stay that way​.

Everyone was really wet.

“I want to kill as many people as possible including the captain. I’m ​violent​,” Colena said.

“Yeah!” Vivian cheered.

“Anyone have bombs?” asked Victor.

Blackbeard gestured to the ​right and the left, where there were quite a few men looking at the ocean as if they expected underwater firework shows to happen. Then again, fireworks weren’t invented yet, but you get what I mean. More importantly, the men did not notice the group which had just snuck on the “greatest ship ever to be constructed”.

Blackbeard and Will led teams to the left and right. Everyone drew their weapons.

The few moments before death is always pleasing.

Colena was right behind Blackbeard with her cutlass out. And that’s when Blackbeard started singing, or rather, humming a tune.

“Pull the bow across my string, is this really happening?” Blackbeard said. A gun appeared in his hand.

Blackbeard shouted, “DEATH SHE COMES FOR ALL ONE DAY!” and fired their gun.

Some British dude fell to his knees.

Colena made a really weird battle cry, but it was extremely loud. At that, everyone started fighting a British​ ​soldier.

I?”

Colena immediately leapt at a British ​soldier and yelled, “I made things ten times better, did

“No!” cried Vivian, who was suffering terribly from a wound and cursing. Colena stabbed the British​ ​soldier she was fighting and cheered.

Nearly everybody got injured. Except for Colena, Jerry, and Blackbeard. Colena was just getting warmed up.

Blackbeard fired their gun at a crane holding a cargo net.

“UP!” said Blackbeard. The cargo net smashed a huge hole in the ship. Blackbeard jumped through the hole and Colena heard plenty of fighting, gunshots, and all that really cheerful stuff that happens when war is less than 1/42234 of a second away.

“Arrrrrrgh!” yelled Blackbeard.

Will suddenly appeared and hurried up somewhere.

Colena jumped after Blackbeard with her cutlass and immediately started slashing and stabbing.

“MORE BLOOD!” Colena yelled as Victor, Sophia, Rachael, and Marysa also came down.

Victor immediately got a nice little injury. Colena and Marysa were the only ones with absolutely no injury or wound.

When Colena reached the main room, Colena saw loads of dead bodies and, of course, blood.

There was no sign of Blackbeard, but Colena didn’t care. She was having too much fun and wishing that she could switch health with Victor. What was the point of having health when you didn’t need any?

Rachael rushed past Colena and went down somewhere.

A blur rushed past the group, heading for two British ​soldiers behind the group. Blackbeard stabbed both British men. The door slammed behind them (yes there was a door) and of course more gunshots were heard.

Colena decided to follow Blackbeard, and Vivian also wanted to go. So did Marysa. The three of them headed for the door when it opened and a figure was flung into the room.

“Ugh!” the person grunted. The person collapsed. And when Colena looked at his pained face, Colena could tell it was Governor Blake, the person who had threatened them to death.

Well​, he can’t threaten us ​now​, can he? I wonder what it’ll be like when we kill him. I think I should do that RIGHT NOW! Colena waved her hand, and when the cutlass appeared, she looked at Governor Blake.

“Hi!” she said. “Have a nice day, or rather, night.” She made to stab him when Vivian knocked it aside at the last second, while Marysa just froze, staring.

“VIVIAN—” Colena shouted when Blackbeard came out of nowhere and yelled, “Arrgh!

Don’t kill the prisoner! Come on now, ​Colena!​ That’s not how we do it!”

Marysa ran away, leaving Colena and Vivian to deal with Blackbeard.

Blackbeard turned to Vivian. “Vivian,” he scolded, “it’s not nice to turn our swords against our friends. Either help carry him or get out of the way.”

Both Colena and Vivian got out of the way, glaring at Blackbeard as they dragged Governor Blake up the stairs. Colena and Vivian did not help in the slightest.

Governor Blake was calling back to Colena and Vivian.

“I can—I can still get you a deal! No—wait—my word is law here! Wait—hold up!” Governor Blake screamed.

Like I’m ever gonna accept a deal from h​ im​, ​Colena thought, ​I got arrested because of him.

Delayed my death considerably. Not going to help anytime soon​.

“Have a nice day!” Colena said.

Then she and Vivian followed Blackbeard, and, as Blackbeard moved into the moonlight, Colena could see quite clearly their wounds healing. Blackbeard was smiling.

“Sophia! Sophia! Sophia!” Governor Blake was saying. “I can make you governess. I can give you an entire island. Sophia—​do something​!”

“I HATE ISLANDS!” Sophia told him.

“Wrong person to beg for help,” Colena said.

As Blackbeard emerged above ​deck, they glanced at Eric, then they walked to the right, still dragging Blake behind him.

“Augh! Oof! Derrick!” Blake yelled. “That was you right? Derrick, I can make you like a ​king.​ Derrick, shoot this person!”

“DID YOU JUST CALL ME DERRICK?!” Eric yelled, offended.

“Learn everybody’s name before you plead for their help,” Colena muttered.

Blackbeard looked towards Colena and Vivian.

“Well,” they said, “one last time for good ol’ days, they say.” Blackbeard pulled a length of rope off one of the railings and began tying up Governor Blake’s boot. Blackbeard attached the rope to a cannon.

“Now listen!” Blake yelled. “See here. We could ​negotiate.​ The British empire will curse you!

DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!”

To Colena, it seemed rather ridiculous to be threatening your enemies when they could just kill you in a second with no remorse. Apparently, Governor Blake had ​not ​been expecting this. And that just made Colena want to fire the cannon more.

“Well, yes I obviously know who you are,” Colena said. “A dummy.”

Blackbeard stretched. “Right. Get the wounded onto one of the small boats. We’ll row back to the ​Titanic 2000​ and then we’ll have two ships. Everything will be ​fantastic​.”

Victor and Will went onto the dinghy. Vivian did too. Jerry went on too.

“Can I fire the cannon?” Colena asked.

At this, Blackbeard smiled. “Colena, you told me you lost your memories, but they seem to be coming back!”

Colena walked over and broke the cannon free of whatever was holding it in place and positioned it in an odd way so that if fired, it would roll over the edge of the ship. Colena loaded up the cannon with black powder.

Rachael came from below ​deck, winded. The expression on her face was of pure fear, and she gave a brief look at Governor Blake, then she turned back to Colena and Sophia.

Eric jumped off the ship and onto the dinghy.

“GET OFF OR YOU DIE!” yelled Rachael. She bolted, then hopped over the edge of the ship and crashed into the dinghy. Sophia followed, also landing hard as the dinghy fell five feet into the water.

“Die?” Colena repeated blankly. “Oh. Well, that settles it. I’M STAYING!”

She looked at where her friends were. On the dinghy. Victor was clutching his wounds while Marysa was telling him, “Stop complaining, you big baby.” All Victor did was groan some more.

Blackbeard shrugged at all the commotion and lit the fuse.

“Colena. Colena. Don’t be stupid now,” said Blake. “Don’t you know who I am? If I drown, the entire weight of the British—” Blake never finished because Blackbeard stuffed something in his mouth.

“I know you’re a dummy,” Colena said impatiently. “There’s no need to tell me.”

Governor Blake squirmed around desperately trying to get free. Blackbeard, unconcerned, said, “This is why I like being a pirate. Where else would there be a night like tonight, ah? Look at this, this ​entire s​ hip is ours. We have ​two ​ships! Do you have any idea how wonderful that is? Do you hear that, Governor?”

The cannon fired. Blackbeard frowned. “How much powder did you put in the—” BOOM! Colena heard a second large explosion.

Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes.

Blackbeard looked around anxiously. BOOM! The whole side of the ship exploded.

A massive explosion lit up the night. The ​Man o’ War ​was completely wrecked.

I k​ new ​this wasn’t the strongest ship ever to be constructed! C ​ olena thought triumphantly as she went flying and blacked out.

*** Here’s when Colena discovers she’s nearly dead: When Colena opened her eyes, she was unsure of where she was. She glanced around. All she spotted was darkness.

Squinting, Colena could see, in front of her, Governor Blake.

I’m gonna stab him in case he’s alive​.

Colena stabbed Blake with her cutlass. The body just bobbed forwards and backwards. Blake’s blood drifted above him.

Dead.​ her.

Colena turned, and saw several (or a ​lot lot lot lot)​ of shapes in the darkness, heading towards

It only took Colena a second to figure out that those shapes were sharks. She knew sharks were drawn to blood. Colena wanted to get away really quickly, because sharks could kill, and yes, that was what Colena wanted—to be dead—but she wanted to see what happened to the others as well.

So she tried kicking her feet in a random direction and ​go,​ like she did in 1713, but when she tried it this time, she figured soon that she didn’t make much progress.

Huh? Colena glanced at one of her hands, and the hand looked like it had some bad burns. Colena felt pain, in plenty of places, but her legs were totally fine. Colena glanced at her left hand, and she was shocked but happy. Because it was ​skeletal​. The flesh was just ​gone.​ “COOL!” Colena said aloud. “COOL!” It was cool, I guess, but really bad at propelling Colena through the water. As Colena tried to kick her feet faster, she realized there was nothing where her legs should’ve been. Basically, she had no legs.

“AWESOME!” Colena screamed.

***

Colena wasn’t making much progress, but when she looked to the left, she saw a tiger shark approaching her. Colena immediately relaxed because, well, she thought it’d be ​awesome ​if she got bitten by one.

Soon, Colena found herself in the jaws of the shark. She smiled, even though it was a “little” painful.

Colena thought for a moment. She wanted to get out of the jaws of the shark, because getting out of it meant she had more freedom to put herself in ​more ​danger. So she sighed, and the cutlass appeared, skewering the tiger shark’s head. The shark immediately stopped moving.

The cutlass disappeared and Colena started kicking her legs (yes she had skeletal legs now, regrowing by itself).

Soon, Colena felt a hand lifting her to the surface. It was Rachael.

As soon as she broke the surface (yep she was underwater), Colena breathed. She hadn’t really breathed in a ​long ​time. But she had lived another day.

Colena soon discovered that Rachael had blown up the ​Man o’ War​.

“Well I’m glad you did,” Colena said. “I was getting tired of listening to Blackbeard brag about having two ships, one ​definitely n​ ot one of the greatest ships ever to be constructed.”

As Colena glanced to the right, she saw the lit bow of the ​Titanic 2000 moving towards the two, wondering how far she’d gone after the explosion.

“MAN OVERBOARD!” Colena heard plenty of that on the ship. Ropes were thrown towards Colena and Rachael. The two grabbed the ropes (and believe me, it’s not easy to grip hard on a chain, let alone rope), and were soon over the side of the ​Titanic 2000.​ As Colena and Rachael got onto the deck, some people moved towards them, but immediately drew back from Colena.

One person threw up in the corner, watching Colena regrow all her flesh that was gone—like really, really quickly.

*** “MAN OVERBOARD! CAPTAIN’S IN THE WATER!” More shouts.

Colena watched Vivian, Eric, Jerry, Victor, Sophia and Marysa treading water, Sophia looking like she was gonna die not too long later, as she was suffering from multiple shark bites.

The last person who got onto the rope was Blackbeard. While Blackbeard was being lifted up, they groaned, “Arrgh!” As they got onto the deck, they complained, “Come ​on​!”

Colena saw that their boot was missing, and​ ​their foot was bleeding.

“Arrgh!” Blackbeard said. “You know how much I hate growing toes?” They looked at Colena. “Well, maybe you’ll be able to sympathize, I ​think​.”

Colena shrugged. “I think getting injured is pretty great. And all types of regrowing is awesome​. Once fully healed, you get to put yourself in ​more ​danger. Isn’t that the way of life?”

*** Afternoon was a little discussion. Back in the Captain’s Quarters.

Blackbeard was again sitting at their desk, feet on the table. One foot had a boot, while the other was heavily bandaged and there was an ice pack-like thing on that injured foot.

“Where are my otters?” Blackbeard said. “Otters, please. Where are the otters? Otters?” They kept demanding for their otters, until Marysa nervously gave the otters to Blackbeard.

“Oh, there they are, there are my babies,” said Blackbeard. One of the otters was holding something. Blackbeard took it. It looked like a coin with something missing from it.

The seal​. ​Or rather ​a ​seal​. ​Not the one Victor had though.

Blackbeard rolled the seal in their hands.

“Is it time to go to Uka’ To’ah’s temple again?” Victor asked.

“Different temple,” Blackbeard said, “but yes. Unfortunately, that one doesn’t “rise” up, out of the ocean so we’re going underwater.”

“Who cares?” Colena yelled. “It’s still gonna be fun!”

“Fun’s one word for it,” Blackbeard said. “Spooky A. F. is how I prefer to describe it. But sure, fun.​ ” “WHO CARES IF IT’S SPOOKY? IT’S STILL GONNA BE FUN!” Colena screamed.

“Well, Colena, we have some memories back here,” said Blackbeard. “This is actually the last time we served under Captain Charles Vayne.”

“What ​actually​ happened?” Colena asked, curious to know.

“Ah yes,” said Blackbeard. “Charles released a ​monster.​ We followed Charles because we believed in him and Charles released a monster. Governor Blake is super dead. Isn’t that right, Colena?”

“Yeah,” said Colena.

“YAY!” screamed Victor, who had often complained that Governor Blake was really annoying.

“So Vayne released the monster, and we did the sensible thing,” said Blackbeard. “We killed Charles and stole his boat.”

“Uh he’s still alive,” Colena said. “So we didn’t kill him.”

“Well, ​duh​, of course he’s not dead, he’s one of Uka’ To’ah’s Chosen like you and I!” said Blackbeard.

Confirmed true: I a​ m​ one of Uka’ To’ah’s Chosen.

“Colena here,” Blackbeard continued, “tied Vayne’s boot to a cannon and launched him over the side of the ship. We took the boat, repainted it, ​Titanic 2000​, much better name, better crew, betters and betters, and a massive ​octopus monster​ started haunting all of our dreams.”

Does it matter what the name of the ship is?​ Colena thought.

“These were supposed to be treasure. These are keys,” Blackbeard said, “put the last key back, and perhaps the monster will go home.”

“Perhaps?” Colena muttered under her breath. “Oh, that’s reassuring.”

“Right, so we had three,” Blackbeard continued after a long pause, “myself, Colena, Charles.

Colena………left us. A short while after we left Charles, certainly at the bottom of the ocean. Just here one night, gone the next. See, that’s not ​crazy​, or important, or something. But Colena just left

in the middle of the Caribbean sea. Here one day, gone the next. Listen, this often happens. People go crazy at sea, they pick up a cannonball, take a short walk off a long, what’s it called? A long piece of wood—forgive me, I got blown up yesterday.”

“Walking the plank?” Colena suggested.

“A long walk off the plank and ​ploomf​, straight to the bottom of the ocean. Colena didn’t really seem the type, but that was the only thing that could’ve happened. And naturally, we assumed, she was, you know, ​deadso​, until we ran into Charles again! And he shot me in the face,” Blackbeard said. “Which I think is fair. Y’know, I’ve shot ​him in the face? A couple of times since then! And I woke up. It was around that time that I realized that Colena must still be alive, too.”

I wonder what ​really ​happened to me.​ “Um, Vayne still talks to Uka’ To’ah,” said Rachael unexpectedly.

Blackbeard looked interested. “He still talks to the monster?”

“Yeah,” said Rachael.

“Yes, that would make a lot of sense,” said Blackbeard. “That’s why he’s always ahead of me.”

Maybe that was what Vayne and Rachael were talking about​.

“He…believed in it,” said Blackbeard, after a little pause, “entirely. Started telling us, ‘We’re gonna stop the authorities and we’ll all be free’, y’know, the same rubbish every pirate captain tells young pirates, but this guy ​meant ​it. He actually thinks the best way to run the world is with a bunch of pirates. And his way of doing that is unleashing the most ​terrifying ​monster the world has ever seen, letting it eat anyone who isn’t him. I’m sure he would argue differently. That’s the big problem, right, Rachael? It’s like an ancient god or something.”

“What about Governor Blake?” somebody asked.

“Oh,” said Blackbeard, “Blake was easy. Blake wanted money. That’s what he cared about.

Maybe he would try to put the monster away, maybe he was gonna “drive it around”. That’s why I have to put it back. That’s why I have to give these powers back, that’s why I have to end this curse, be a skeleton pirate with no feet.” Blackbeard looked at Colena, who just rolled her eyes.

Blackbeard continued, “Vayne wants to stop me…and the truth is, he might win. So far, guess how many seals we’ve returned.”

“One,” Colena said, remembering how she had fallen from the sky and screamed, “Awesome!”.

“Yeah,” said Blackbeard, “​one.​ ” “Wait—wait,” said Victor. “Why do we need the seals, again? I forgot.”

“To put the monster back!” Blackbeard said. “​Also I​ don’t really think putting the seals back will put the monster away—” “NOBODY CARES ABOUT THE MONSTER!” Vivian yelled.

“Yeah, nobody cares about the monster!” Rachael said.

“What do you mean, nobody cares about the monster?” said Blackbeard.

“I really don’t care whether the monster is loose or not,” Colena said.

“Anyway,” said Blackbeard, “the idea was, the seals were dangerous, we split them up.

Colena, we gave yours to Jacobo. Then I figured out what had happened, and I wanted to put the monster back, so I tried to find Jacobo, who got eaten by the monster. So he knows what we’re doing and would like to stop us.”

Didn’t Jacobo fall overboard, not get eaten by the cute creature? ​Colena thought.

“Jacobo wants to stop us?” Colena said.

“Jacobo is super dead,” said Blackbeard.

As soon as Blackbeard finished, there was a ringing of bells, and the ​Titanic 2000 ​stopped.

“Ah!” said Blackbeard. “We’re here.”

“Where?” Colena asked.

“The second temple of Uka’ To’ah. The ​sunken ​temple of Uka’ To’ah,” said Blackbeard.

“Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh, I suppose we’ll need the third seal?” said Victor.

“So there’s a higher chance of dying in the second temple than the first?” Colena asked.

“It’s underwater, Colena, and yes, Victor, we do need the third seal. Any guesses on where the third might be?” Blackbeard said.

Colena glanced at Rachael, who seemed to know where it was.

“I don’t know!” Rachael told Blackbeard.

“Charles has it,” said Blackbeard. “Maybe with him, maybe he buried it, maybe he ​ate ​it.”

What? Eating a seal? Maybe I was right. Everyone ​has ​gone insane​.

“I’m so glad I didn’t die,” said Victor.

“I wanted to die and I didn’t. That’s ​mental​,” Colena grumbled.

If I don’t die, I am gonna buy heaps of grapes and mountains of pillows when I get to go home, Colena decided. ​And destroy my Prevents-From-Freaking-Out Gadget. Then maybe that’ll work.

SESSION FOURTEEN

Journey's End

Colena Shan Σηοθλδ’ωε Διεδ, βθτ σηε ςας Θκα’ Το’αη’σ ​ψηοσεν​, σο σηε διδν’τ.

Translation: (Should’ve Died, but she was Uka’ To’ah’s ​Chosen ​so she didn’t.)

(Title) If you’re sick and tired of Colena’s craziness, but still want to read on to find out what happened, then you’re in luck. This is the last chapter in which Colena goes crazy. I ​promise​.

Colena reluctantly accepted some medical treatment from Sophia, but she made sure Sophia didn’t fully heal her. She was near full health though, and that did not make her any happier.

Later, the group was above deck, and Bogs was looking very pleased with himself. There was some stuff behind him, and Colena was in a corner, barely listening. Bogs claimed that his inventions were gonna “keep them alive”, but Colena was far from trusting him.

Bogs was showing them his “invention”, something that could let them breathe underwater.

Apparently, you put on some really heavy thing connected to a tube. The tube was connected to

something that “gives” air to anybody wearing the “invention”. It looked like it ​could ​work, but Colena thought it looked rather uncomfortable and prevented whoever wore it from looking down, the general direction they would have to go. “…ballast tanks…remove them if you want to come up quickly…”

Jerry was now showing signs of wanting to stab somebody. Colena, who wanted to get more injuries, waved him over, but after each stab, the wound immediately closed up.

Curses,​ Colena thought, after healing for the sixth time, ​this is ridiculous​.

“Well, I like our ​almost ​foolproof plan,” Bogs said.

“Almost?” Colena muttered under her breath. “Amazing.” Then, louder, Colena said, “What if we drown? And what if something bad happens? What if something really bad happened? What if something horrible we could’ve avoided happened?”

“Let’s look on the bright side!” Bogs said. He said a bunch of ridiculous nonsense.

Colena watched Blackbeard grab a golden underwater-breather thing, put it on, and dive down, a tube connecting him to the ​Titanic 2000.​

“Try it on!” Bogs said. Colena took one of Bogs’s underwater-breathers and put it on. It was extremely heavy. The goggles (or what Colena assumed were supposed to be the goggles) clouded her vision a bit. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Bogs attached heavy cannonballs to their hips.

“This’ll get you down in a jiffy,” Bogs said.

“WHAT THE HECK!?” Colena screamed, though the scream was slightly muffled, however, it was still really loud. “THIS IS PLAIN RIDICULOUS!” “Can I eat a sausage?” Jerry said.

“No, no, that’ll attract sharks!” Bogs said.

Vivian, who probably also found the underwater-breather ridiculous, took her underwater-breather off, threw it to the ground, and ran over the side of the ship, jumping down into the water. Rachael followed, and also took her underwater-breather off when she landed in the water.

Colena didn’t want to look like a coward, so she took off her underwater-breather as well, and jumped over the side of the ship before anyone could stop her. She did ​not ​trust Bogs’s “invention”, and scowled as she landed with a ​splash in the water, immediately sinking because she had not taken off the cannonball.

I’ll live​, Colena thought, holding her breath, ​I won’t die. I can’t believe I can’t die. Even when I wanted to! S ​ he swam a little deeper. ​Will we need to solve another puzzle? Too bad I can’t scream at

my companions. We’re underwater. ​Colena kicked down, following Blackbeard’s tube, as a figure passed her, going the opposite direction. It was Vivian.

*** Not too long later, Colena saw Rachael encounter this huge tentacle. It looked a lot like Uka’ To’ah’s, but when Rachael ducked, Colena realized it was just a statue.

Colena kept going down, losing oxygen every passing second, but she was able to hold her breath for longer than any normal human.

Soon, she came to this giant maw. She spotted Blackbeard’s tube—Blackbeard had ​gone​went in not too long ago. Colena swam inside, but a bunch of debris appeared and knocked her to the sandy floor.

Oof. ​Colena turned and saw Rachael, along with Eric, Jerry, Sophia, and Marysa. Vivian and Victor were nowhere in sight, but Colena wasn’t going to ask where they were. She was ​underwater​.

Colena swam into the huge mouth and it wasn’t long before she felt something like stone.

What is that? ​Colena thought, and then she broke the surface, gasping for air. Vivian and Victor had appeared at the back of the group.

The cave in which they were in was oddly familiar. It looked a lot like the first of Uka’ To’ah’s three temples. Colena took a deep breath, then kept swimming after Blackbeard’s tube as the cave was lit with a bright yellowish-orangish-red (I’m pretty sure that’s not a word but you get the idea, I hope) glow.

*** After swimming for only a few minutes, Colena and the rest of the group caught up with Blackbeard.

“We need to find the chest before we encounter the residents of this place,” said Blackbeard.

“Will there be a bloody battle if that happens?” Colena asked.

“I’d like to avoid that,” said Blackbeard.

“I was thinking just the opposite,” Colena said.

Plus, maybe the residents of this place could give some of us deaths, or, at the very least, injuries​, Colena thought.

The nine of them searched the cave, but nobody could find the chest where the seal had once been. They went in a direction they’d never gone before and came to a crossroad. Blackbeard moved to the left, and when the others moved to the left as well, ​t​he​y​ made a signal with ​t​h​eir​is​ hand: ​Stop​.

Aha! Maybe there’s residents of this place here? I ​gotta ​pick a fight with them​.

Colena pushed past Blackbeard and sure enough, found two shark-people. Those creatures had a hammerhead shark’s head, but the rest of its body was human. Colena waved her hand, and her cutlass appeared. She poked one of the shark-people with the cutlass.

Wakey wakey​.

The two shark-people woke, and Colena slashed at one with her cutlass. Vivian had jumped in to fight as well, firing her rifle.

Two boring minutes later, the shark-people were dead, and Colena followed the group to the right. And there, blocking their path, was a familiar boulder, two skeletons crushed beneath. The familiar boulder was the one that had crushed Rachael in the first temple. And Colena and Sophia.

Vivian started yanking at one of the skeleton’s arms, desperately trying to rip it off for some reason. More ridiculous things started happening, and Colena, bored and angry because she hadn’t gotten any new injuries, and wanting to see what was beyond that boulder, climbed the boulder easily and jumped down​.​ Vivian followed​ ​suit; a few of the others followed​ ​as well.

Colena had only walked a few meters when she spotted a chest which was saying something seeing how dark the cave was. She walked closer, and a silver dagger appeared. Colena paused, but she knew who was there.

What does ​Vayne​ want?

“Hello,” said Vivian loudly. “You’re stinky.”

The rest of the conversation with Vayne was really loud, because everyone was screaming (well, Colena, Vivian, Blackbeard and Vayne were screaming, and those four were the only ones that talked—er—​screamed​ anyway in the conversation).

“UKA’ TO’AH IS SUPER CUTE!” Colena yelled.

“I WANT TO HAVE IT AS A PET!” Vivian yelled.

“So do I,” said Vayne, “but…”

“UKA’ TO’AH IS A ​MONSTER​!” Blackbeard screamed.

“YOU’RE INSANE, BLACKBEARD, IT’S THE CUTEST CREATURE EVER TO EXIST!” Colena shouted.

Colena finally cracked after a few minutes, so she flung a silver knife at Blackbeard and a groan of pain told her the knife had found its mark. Then she heard more groans of pain and the sound of somebody being stabbed again and again.

I suppose Vayne is stabbing Blackbeard?

Everyone left the room—everyone but Vivian and Colena. The two of them wanted to stay behind for some reason. Colena didn’t remember much from that point. The last thing Colena saw was Blackbeard having some really bad wounds that weren’t healing like it should’ve and then it was all black.

*** Colena found herself glancing at Blackbeard, who was dragging Vivian to the chest, and placing her hand on the seal.

Am I even ​alive​? ​Colena wondered. ​But if I’m dead, I shouldn’t be able to feel myself, shouldn’t I? DAMN! I tried so hard to die this time! Can I even ​die ​now? For sure not by injuries.

But what about dying of old age?Don’t think so…

*** The next thing Colena knew, she was swimming towards the ​Titanic 2000​. She had reached the ship before Vivian and Blackbeard. Holding onto some wood so she wouldn’t fall (and keeping out of sight), Colena heard some parts of conversation still going on.

Firstly, Vayne had a dramatic way of saying good-bye.

“I won’t bother you if you don’t get in my way,” Vayne was saying to Will, Bogs, Victor, Sophia, Rachael, Marysa, Eric, Jerry and the other pirates of Blackbeard’s crew, and he waved at the sea when one of Uka’ To’ah’s tentacles came out of nowhere and Vayne walked onto it and disappeared.

Then, Colena saw the memorial stuff for Vivian and herself. Vivian’s memorial had something wrapped in a Spanish flag, and Colena’s had (Colena cursing Marysa and Sophia under her breath when she saw it, because it was undoubtedly their idea) a lot of grapes in a pillowcase.

“I’m not afraid of anything anymore,” Colena muttered to herself, “because it can’t do me much harm. What a waste of perfectly healthy fruit.” She took off her “Prevents-From-Freaking-Out-Gadget”, got her cutlass out, and sliced it in two. Then she dropped the two pieces into the water.

Will walked towards the railing, carrying Vivian’s memorial.

“Vivian was a pirate who was tough and could’ve lived more dangerous adventures,” Will said, “but she seems to have gone this time.” Then he threw Vivian’s memorial into the water.

Rachael, meanwhile, was trying to jump off the ship and into the water, saying, “I hate you, I hate you, I ​hate ​you,” to anybody who was trying to restrain her.

Bogs stepped forward holding the pillowcase filled with grapes. “Colena will be remembered for throwing generous amounts of beer at people,” he said.

“Did I do that often?” Colena wondered. “I thought I only did it twice, once in 1711 and once in 1716.”

Now, you might be wondering, ​What about the 1711? ​Well, I’ll tell you (so we can cast aside this subject).

Colena and Rachael became enemies because of what happened on October 23, 1711. They were both 14, and Rachael was new that year at the school, and it was tradition at Colena’s school to prank the new kid. Not serious injuries or similar stuff, mind you, but funny pranks that weren’t too serious.

Anyway, since Colena was one of the older kids in her grade, she offered to do it. On October 23​ , it was the Chemistry teacher’s birthday. Everyone had a cup of beer in hand (the school allowed any student who was 12 or older to drink alcohol. I know, I know, not good at all, and you guys seriously shouldn’t drink alcohol if you’re younger than 18), and Colena took advantage of the distraction when everybody was singing “Happy Birthday” to dump beer on Rachael. rd​

The teacher didn’t get mad, mainly because she didn’t notice (she was much too busy with her cake and didn’t even notice drops of beer dripping in her cake). Rachael stumbled back, spilling the contents of a tube containing something not ​toxic​, but really nasty. Still, nobody noticed.

“Who made this cake?” the Chemistry teacher asked. “​Delicious. ​Beer-flavoured!”

Well, now you know why Rachael and Colena are enemies, so let’s get back to the story (and yeah, that last sentence was ​totally ​unnecessary to add but whatevs).

Will and Bogs got Blackbeard’s coat, and Will muttered something before he and Bogs threw Blackbeard’s coat into the water.

Will and Bogs muttered some things Colena didn’t really hear. Blackbeard and Vivian had caught up now, and Blackbeard got onto the deck first, saying, “Death she comes to all one day.”

Will and Bogs turned, and looked very surprised to see their captain, very much alive, and clearly ​not ​dead.

“Well, it’s bloody cold, isn’t it?” said Blackbeard. “Anyone seen my coat?”

Colena tried very hard to keep a straight face, and she managed to look totally cool and unsuspicious, avoiding lots and lots of awkward questions.

“Er…Rachael?” Will said. “Rachael, go get the coat!” He nudged Rachael and gestured to the water.

After a brief argument with Bogs (who seemed too stupid to know that dead people couldn’t speak), Colena followed Rachael, jumping into the water, just in time to hear Blackbeard yell, “WHERE’S MY COAT?!”

The surgeons decided to heal some people and Colena was one of them (Colena rage quitted). Then when diving and we all want to take our helmets off so we can die. I dived and I started eating a sausage, then some sharks came and they were attracted to the meat and they became my pet, and I was petting my sharks. But one of the crewmates kicked the sharks and they swam away, and I rage quitted. And i don't care what happened next, this is the important part. ​

RETURNING THE SECOND SEAL Sophia Deng

After the sharks and the blow up thing and Blake dead, we all decide to return the seal of Uka toah. As we get to the underwater temple, Bogs shows us his invention to get us to the temple… It’s pipes… “What the heck! You expect us to survive on pipes?” I ask. But Bogs is rambling on about attaching cannonballs. *Sigh.

Then when we go in and put the thing on. It works but you can’t move your head. A while later I landed on the ocean floor. We go inside the temple. It looks like the other one! The place we came in the temple was the old whirlpool. But when I looked around the tunnel Rachel went into didn’t have a waterfall and there were no skeletons. So maybe this was new… BB gestures us to go to a room and inside there’s an air bubble.

“We can talk… It’s an air bubble. It’s not going to last for long though…” BB says. “We have to move fast, we want to return the seal as quick as we can. Bog’s machine won’t last forever. This temple looks like the last one. It might even be the one last time.” He leaves the air buble and goes down another tunnel. I shrug and follow him. It’s a tunnel, very normal, what’s not normal is that there’s a shark-human. The thing is a shark except for the arms and feet. Weird. Colena obviously thinks it's cool and starts to shark it. BB has bubbles coming from his mouth. Probably yelling ‘What? Are you insane?’ A while of Colena pummeling the shark dude, he wakes up. He bites a few of us but BB kills it. We keep going into the tunnel and it seems familiar.

Then there’s a boulder. It also looks familiar. The one that nearly crushed Rachel! The space is too small to go through with the air gear. I take it off and squeeze through.

I thought it’d be hard to hold my breath for long but on the other side there is air! Then a voice calls “Hey!” and then Vayne comes out. BB and Vayne talk about Colena’s past and yeah. Her past is so confusing I wonder how she forgot it all. Someone throws a knife and everywhere is chaos. Even the water’s temperature seemed to rise. Wait, I wasn’t imagining it. The water surface was rising too. Quickly I swim out and squeeze past the boulder. I grab swimming equipment just to find acrid smoke. I get to the whirlpool and I get dragged down. I black out.

When I wake up I find myself in front of a huge eyeball. Then I see a mouth. It’s pretty scary. Actually it’s really scary. Not very nice. I thought of when Uka Toah ate our old ship, short hauler. So it’s not nice to be eaten. Or end your life. A squishy tentacle lifted me up to its mouth. Uh oh…

Now I think I really woke up but I can’t tell. Rachel’s next to me and Jacabo. Wait. Jacabo is dead.

“Where are we?” Rachel asks. “I don’t know… Are we in the past or is this just a super vivid dream?” I answer.

Jacobo says “Fire the cannons.” I fire it once and I hit an enemy ship. It says titanic 2000. That is definitely the start of panic. Then Jacobo turns into a skeleton. ​Time for panicking​, I thought. Then I suddenly understand.

Uka Toah was making it look like we were attacking a bad guy but we were on a bad guy ship. “Rachel! I’ve figured it out. This… skeleton of Jacobo is telling us to shoot the titanic 2000. We are still alive! And not in a dream. Just in a super duper bad position.” I whisper to Rachel. “So what now then?” Rachel asks. “I don’t know but I think we have to escape these skeletons and get onto BB’s ship over there, OK?” I asked back.

“Sure…” Rachel replies. “Well then bye!!!” I yell as I jump off the ship and into the water.” Commotion on the old short hauler. Then jacobo’s head falls into the water beside me. ​Ewwwwwww…​ Me and Rachel swim back to titanic 2000 and we are rescued… Back home. ​Wait no… not home.​ There they are saying goodbye to Colena, Vivian and BB. They remember Colena with pillows and grapes and her ability to dump beer on

people, Vivian for a dagger and BB for his coat. About 2 minutes later BB and Colena and Vivian come out of the water. BB asks for his coat‌ After a reunion, BB says we can do whatever we want. Also Vane seems to be missing...

Rachael 1716

Now this is just- why does life have to be like this. One moment I’m having a perfectly normal life and then the other this happens. “Unfortunately, this temple does not surface,” Blackbeard said. “So we will have to go down to it.” Bogs took out some diving bells (apparently they were an invention by Bogs, which was surprising because I’m not sure if Bogs has the brain to do that, he probably has an IQ lower than [lets be in real life right now] my music theory exam score, which I’m not including [now we’re back in the 18th century]). Blackbeard took one with the gold top. Each of them had a tube connected to help you breathe (they’re going to pump oxygen).

Blackbeard went down first, before anyone was ready, and Bogs was like: “Start pumping!” Colena, Vivian, and I decided for some particular reason that we were going to go down without a source of oxygen (very smart and I have great cardio, I can totally hold my breath for ten hours*sarcastic noises*). Everyone had these bags full of rocks tied to their hips (or, in some cases, cannonballs covered in canvas) that would help us sink faster (along with the diving bells and just so you know, air pressure and water pressure apparently does not exist {jk, jk}) I went in after Vivian, and sank slowly to the bottom. I don’t feel like writing a lot, so let’s fast forward to when I encounter the temple itself. So there were these sort of stone tentacles, and Blackbeard moved past them and Colena followed (Vivian decided to swim up to the surface). I, however, landed on the tentacles (I don’t know why). The tentacles were in a circle, and there were (I think???) eight of them. I waited until everyone else passed me, and followed them down.

We emerged into a room that looked like the room that we’d been swept down the whirlpool from. Ok I still don’t feel like writing much so let’s flash forward.

So we went to a room with the same engravings on as the bones of the skeleton

Victor Zhong 12/21/20 ​

Session 14

“​ ​Need… air…​” I think, as I slowly drown.

“Hey! What's that?” Vivian questions Bogs as we walk onto the deck of the Titanic 2000, “Well, this’ll keep ya from drownin!” answers Bogs, as he slaps a silver colored Helmet, with a tube attached to it. “This is how it works. Ya put charcoal in here, which will power the machine, which will push air into the tube, giving you air.”

“I don’t really think that's safe…” exclaims Rachael worriedly, “Don’t worry! The only way you're in trouble is either the tube gets cut, the machine stops working, or you breathe too much air.” answers Bogs, “THAT ISN'T SAFE!” exclaims Racheal frustratedly, A few seconds later, Pams comes running in with… cannonballs and boulders?

“What are cannonballs and boulders for?” I sputter out, “Well ya see, the helmets make you float, so I have to attach boulders to yato make you fall.” explains Bogs. “Now sit on the ledge!”.

As Bogs is attaching the boulders and cannonballs there is a SPLOOSH! As I look around, I see that Blackbeard, the captain, had disappeared, but also that the golden Helmet, had also disappeared.

Blackbeard had already jumped into the ocean!

“Hey, since Blackbeard jumped in, let's jump in too!” yells Colena crazily.

For some reason, Colena jumped in without a helmet. “​Probably because she is so confident she won’t die, because the Ukatoah chosen one thingy”​ I think.

Only a few seconds later, Rachael also jumps in without a helmet. ​“Wait, why? Why? I don’t understand!” ​I think confused.

A few minutes later, in what looked like a lot of thinking, Sophia slowly puts on the helmet, and SPLUNK! Jumps in the water. “FINALLY! Someone jumps in with a helmet!” exclaims Bogs, as he starts the engine with a SPRV!

“​I mean that actually makes sense!” I​ think, “​I should probably get in now.”

​Putting on the helmet is complicated. A strap here, a strap there, and look! Another strap here!

Finally, after what seemed like a few hours, I was finally able to go into the water and, WHY CAN”T I MOVE MY HEAD? Turns out that the helmet limits your movements. SPLOOSH! As I tilt my head as high as possible to look at who jumped in, I spot something in the distance… “​eh, probably nothing” ​I think.

After a while, when I look up again, I see that the person above me was Jerry, and he's eating a sausage?

Does he have a portable sausage or something? But when I have a closer look, I see that the shadows I saw were actually two of the creatures that attacked us on the tiny boat with Jakabo. I let go of the cannonballs and swim up. Along the way, I see that Jerry’s tube was leaking, so I patch it up and go alert the crew. On the surface, Vivian was also there.

“Huh Huh! Creatures… surrounding… Jerry…” I sputter. Then I swim back down without boulders. I keep pushing myself down, since I have no boulders attached to me.

What seemed like days of pushing, I finally made it to the temple. I just lay there, not having enough strength to do anything.

After a few minutes of Sophia, Colena, Rachael and Vivian searching around, loud noises interrupts my resting. I get up to look at what happened, to see Vayne standing there. I get up, and take out my sword, but then my memory got fuzzy, I get pushed into the whirlpool, and my lungs fill with a lot of water, I seemingly drown, and the are back on the Titanic 2000, but Blackbeard, Colena, Vivian, Rachael and Sophia are all missing.

Suddenly, the Man O'War is resurrected from the sea, still with the damage we did to it. It looked physically impossible to still be floating. Boom! Blam! Shoom! Cannonballs are fired on Vaynes command. I fire one, but then the Man O’ War just… disappears.

After only a few seconds, BLFW! ​“Oh hey it's Rachael and Sophia!” ​As Will tries to rescue Rachael, she tries to go under again. But Will doesn’t let her. Then, she pushes Vayne off the ship.

“You thought I would drown?” Questions Vayne, as he is riding the tentacle of Ukatoah, he rides into the sunset and disappears. “We need a funeral for Blackbeard, Colena, and Vivian!” exclaims Bogs. After thinking for a while, we decide what to throw in the ocean commemorating them. SPLUNK! Down goes Blackbeard's coat. SPLAT! Down goes some grapes and pillows. And finally SLIP! Down goes a spanish flag.

After a few hours of sitting there, sad, a voice appears.

“Hey! What are you guys doing?” I recognize that voice, it's Blackbeard! As I turn around, I see that Blackbeard, Colena and Vivian are still alive. “Can I have my coat? It's cold after spending hours under the sea!”

“Uh…” murmurs the people holding the funeral, “Hey, how's Vivian alive?” I exclaim, “Long story” answers Blackbeard...

Epilogue

Epilogue by Vivian :)

It's me Vivian and today I will be explaining how I kind of died so yeah! Basically we landed back in another Uka’toah temple because Blackbeard needed to return the last seal… I think.

SO basically we all got stuck there most of us escaped except for me, Blackbeard and Colena here is how it ALL happened…

So basically we were in the temple by then and Vayne was there. I tried shooting him but it did not work but I did stab him. So now we have Blackbeard and Vayne arguing whether to return the seal or not. Most people voted to return it and so Colena got mad and stabbed Blackbeard. And then me and Colena stayed inside the temple but we fell into the dark lake thing. While we were “dead”, Vayne was the other’s captain and he commanded the ship. And then Vayne left because he was not welcome and how he left? He went below the ocean on Uka’Toah. There was a funeral for me, Colena and Blackbeard.

But just then we returned, we were alive again because I had the medallion on me and so I was Uka’toah’s chosen one and they also threw Blackbead’s coat in the ocean since they thought he died but we returned.

So that is what happened! BYE!

Victor Zhong 12/22/20 Epilogue

After the incident where we thought that three people had died, I had to go back to Britain, cause after a while I got seasick, but I had to stay undercover. Thi was because after sinking the Man O’War, the British government put a bounty on my head. I stayed lowkey, changing into different professions to keep suspicions down.

My character will eat sausage and suicide

I leave it to you to decide.

Ps. Colena, don’t you dare say I went home and sat down and slept for like, forever or else I will find you and punch you in the face.

Rachael

I’m actually not sure what to do. All I know is that I got Blackbeard’s coat for him, then somehow I’m going to go back to Frontenac. I haven’t been there for 5 years, so I’d want to see how that’s changed. I also think I should patch up my relationship with Colena, so I don’t get splashed by beer again. And now… Blackbeard is raging at Will and Bogs for throwing his coat overboard. Geez, I wish they would just calm down about it, it’s a bit loud. I have no idea what to do other than that. Bye and sorry for the shortest thing I’ve ever written, I really don’t have anything to write about.

By Marysa Liu

Dear journal, The adventure has finally come to an end. Now it was time for stories to be told and legends to be made, I have already written my share of the story-telling in this book but the rest is not mine to say. My time with Blackbeard and his crew changed my life drastically and it was one heck of an experience. At the end of the journey, my body was aching and all I wanted to do was collapse on the ground. My eyes felt heavy, my hair was dishevelled, my clothes haven’t been washed in days and were all dirty and my legs and arms or more like my whole body wanted to give up and just stop working. When I was set free from the dreaded place Shallowport I went straight home to rest, I let all my bruises and cuts to heal and made sure to get plenty of sleep. When I was fully recovered I bought myself a small boat and started travelling the world with my parrot, at one point I even bought myself a pet otter!

Colena Shan

EPILOGUE “Will and Bogs threw your coat into the water, Blackbeard!” Rachael shouted as Colena splashed into the water beside her.

Blackbeard seemed to believe Rachael, and immediately started raging at Will and Bogs.

Colena could still hear him shouting as she and Rachael swam away.

“Goodness,” Colena muttered, “such a fuss over a dirty pirate coat.”

*** Colena spent the next 1000 years relaxing. She was rather mad that she couldn’t die, but she got over it. She also found out what karate and plastic were, but she wondered how Vivian and Sophia knew about them in 1716. Also, Colena kept her habit of dumping beer on unsuspecting people (which isn’t a good habit) and swearing (and this is a ​horrible​ habit, so don’t swear, people).

Nothing really exciting happened during the 1000 years, except for the fact Colena blew up a city (that’s her way of “relaxing”), and that Colena blew up ​herself ​in hopes of dying (it’s rather boring to live forever), and she failed miserably.

OK, the Epilogue is over, but before you turn the page, I want you to know this. And I suppose it’d be better if it was in a huge font, in a colour that stands out, and probably on the first page, but it’s small and black and [near] the end of this book. Anyway, please note that this is ​not ​a history-based book. I mean, it half is, but most of the stuff that happened never actually happened in real life. So please don’t use this as your history source if you’re doing a project about pirates or what happened in the 18​th Century. I can tell you that Kalaripayattu ​is ​the oldest martial art we know today, created 3000 years ago, and that karate came to existence in 1868, but that’s about it.