Chapter 5 - [The Friendly Pirates]
1972 Words
Nerina was awoken the next day by a loud knocking on her door.
“Rise ‘n shine Princess! We be eating breakfast now, you better hurry to the dining hall before all the food is gone!” Said a voice she couldn’t recognize.
She got out of bed and lazily walked to the door, opening it up and gasping when she saw a fat pirate with a large grin at her door.
“Come now, I don’t want to be starvin’ ‘cause I didn’t get me breakfast.”
Nerina hesitated but followed the fat man to the dining hall.
When they arrived, she was startled by all the noise.
“I win!” One pirate yelled as he jumped onto a table.
Nerina raised her eyebrow. She was so used to quite breakfasts that this seemed absolutely strange to her.
Everyone was either yelling or arm wrestling each other.
Nerina felt a little out of place, so she sat alone at a table, not knowing what else to do. She was then suddenly surprised by the blonde pirate who sat then next to her. “Good morning pretty princess.” He said.
She smiled at him. “Good morning…”
“You ain’t hungry?”
She nodded right away. “I am.”
The blonde pirate got up, walked over to another table, picked up a bole of untouched food and brought it over to her. “Don’t think imma come get you your food every day. You come here, and there should be a dish waiting for you.”
Nerina nodded as she picked up the spoon and took a sip of the breakfast that looked a little like porridge. It tasted good.
Another pirate came and sat in front of her. “Mornin’ lady.” He grinned a toothless grin. She then realized it was the older pirate who helped the blonde open the crate she was in.
She smiled hesitantly and nodded her head. “Good morning.”
The man laughed. “No need to be frightened, love! We ain’t gonna bite.”
“We ain’t but Sods over there might.” The blonde said as he pointed at a tall skinny man who was smoking a cigar. “Keep away from him, unless you want him to bite, of course.”
Both the blonde and the other man started to laugh, but Nerina didn’t understand the joke.
“Ay, little lady, we didn’t get your name, now did we?” The elder man said. “I think you mentioned it yesterday, be we didn’t catch it.”
“Oh.” Nerina started. “My name is Nerina… of Caspian.”
Both the men began to laugh.
Again, Nerina didn’t understand what was funny.
“Yer folks are quite smart, aint they?” The older man said.
“Definitely chose a perfect name for such a perfect girl.” The blonde said.
Nerina raised her eyebrow.
“Nerina means Water Nymph.” The blonde said.
“You know what them water Nymphs be?” The older man asked.
Nerina shook her head. She had heard the term before, but didn’t know the actual meaning.
“They be like ‘em mermaids. Except they be fairies.” The older man said. “They’re known for their beauty and ability to make men go mad with love and passion and pleasure.”
“Ay.” The Blonde agreed.
Nerina’s cheeks turned pink.
“You’re quite the girl. Not surprised that your name means Nymph.”
The older man nodded. “Plus, we men don’t need to be worrying. You Nymphs aren’t as bad as them mermaids.”
Nerina smiled. “I’m not a Nymph.”
“And thankfully, you aren’t a mermaid.” The blonde added. “Or else I’d probably be lickin’ your toes.”
Nerina looked at him, disgusted. “Why on earth would you do that?”
“Because mermaids can make men do that.” The older man said.
Nerina raised her eyebrow. “Really?”
The older man nodded and leaned forward. “Them mermaids be the only ones who can control us men.”
That made Nerina chuckle.
The man frowned. “Ya know, years ago, when I was the cap’n papa’s first mate, we met up with some mermaids.” He said. “It was probably the most difficult battle we had ever faces.”
Nerina listened carefully. She had always thought that mermaids were wonderful, beautiful creatures who were kind and helpful. But she always thought they were just mythical beings. She never thought they could be real.
“The mermaids of Caspian… yep, those were the ones.”
“Mermaids live in Caspian?” Nerina asked.
The man nodded. “Ay, and they be the worst of em all.” He said. “They have the ability to walk on land on nights when there be a full moon and nights when there be no moon. And that’s when they hunt.”
“Hunt?” Nerina asked.
“Ay, they trick men, take them to a bed, sleep with them and then kill them.”
Nerina looked doubtful. “Why would they do that?”
“Because they like to kill. The two things that mermaids live for is to seek pleasure and to kill.”
“What happened to you then?”
The pirate smiled. “We were faced with mermaids when they were at their strongest, while they are still fish like.” He said. “They hypnotized our men and got them to jump out to sea with them, and then drowned them. But if it weren’t for our skillful captain, who was thankfully already madly in love with another woman, our whole crew would have died.”
He had Nerina’s complete attention. “And that captain is who? This rude one’s father?”
“Ay.” The blonde said. “He was quite a man.” He sounded like he meant it with all his heart.
“Really?” Nerina asked.
“Yes ma’am. Son’s growin’ up to be just like him too.”
Nerina scoffed. “The captain? The rude one who I met? Him?”
The blonde laughed. “You don’t know the cap’n. He’s a good man.”
Nerina pouted. She didn’t feel the same way, at all. The only thing she thought of him was that he was rude and hateful and impolite. Nerina decided to change the subject. “So, what are your names?”
The old man grinned. “I be Salty Sam.” He said.
“… Salty?” Nerina asked.
He continued to grin. “Ay, I like salt.”
Nerina laughed and then turned to the blonde. “And you?” She asked.
“Richard Henry the third, at your service. But you can call me Rich. I like that.”
Nerina smiled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you two, and thank you for being very kind, unlike your captain.”
They both smiled, but then Nerina was startled by a voice behind her.
“What about the captain?”
She turned around and was surprised to see Captain Edward standing behind her.
“Ey, Eddy. ”Richard smiled. “Do ya know this girls name means Nymph?”
The captain simply shrugged, not caring much about it.
Richard rolled his eyes.
Nerina watched as the captain walked over to his breakfast, looked at it and then turned away.
“Not hungry, captain?” One pirate asked.
The captain shook his head and walked away.
Richard got up. “Edward?” He called. He then looked at Nerina. “Excuse me, Princess.”
Nerina smiled and Richard ran after the captain, she then turned to Sam. “For a pirate, Richard has some good manners.”
“Richie here wasn’t born a pirate.”
Nerina raised her eyebrows. “What does that mean?”
“It means his father wasn’t a pirate.”
“Oh.”
Sam nodded. “He an’ the captain be mates since they were crawling little babes.”
“But didn’t you say that the captain’s father was a pirate? I didn’t know pirates got along well with… non-pirates.”
“The captains mother was a landlubber.”Sam said. “One beautiful landlubber she was. And Richie’s mum was a very close friend of Ed’s mum.”
Nerina nodded. “Oh, I see. But I’m very surprised that a pirate and… a landlubber… were allowed to be together.”
Sam laughed. “Edwards mum’s papa was the governor of her town, you see, so they didn’t like the fact that she was in love with a pirate. So she ran away with the man, the captains father.”
Nerina found that sweet. “Where is she now, now that her husband is dead?”
“She be dead.”Sam said, sadly.
Nerina’s eyes widened.
“Ai… She was killed protectin’ her little boy, only moments after her hubby was killed.”
“What killed them?” Nerina asked.
Sam sat back. “Em sea monsters. We lost em to that, and we almost lost the ship too.” Sam sighed. “After the battle, we took the sinking ship to land and found a couple who was willing to take care of Eddy for us, since us pirates didn’t know how to raise a nine year old child. And then it took us six years to completely repair our ship… but when we were done, Captain Edward was already prepared to take his fathers place.”
“At such a young age?” Nerina asked.
Sam nodded, proudly. “That be our captain.”
Another pirate walked up to the two right then. “Talkin’ about the captain, I see?” He asked.
Nerina held back a shudder when she looked at him. He was tall and looked filthy with his black hair a mess and his beard long enough to be tucked into his belt. Not to mention the fact that his left eye looked to have been gauged out.
She smiled though.
Sam nodded.
“You takin’ interest in him?” The man asked.
Nerina shook her head immediately. “No! Of course not!”
He and Sam laughed. “What a surprise.” Sam said. “Till this very day, all girls we have ever met have always been openly attracted to the Captain.”
“Very attracted.” The man added with a sigh. “Captain always gets all the fun.”
Nerina bit her lip, unable to deny the fact that this captain was definitely attractive.
The man then grinned at her. “Jones Jr. at your service!” He said, holding his hand out.
Nerina hesitated but then took his hand. “I’m Nerina, of Caspian.” She said.
“It’s an honor to be touched by a princess.” He grinned. “Us pirates don’t really get smiles like that.”
Nerina continued to smile, feeling a little flattered.
The only thing she could think of right then was how happy she was that some of these pirates were actually friendly.
- Writer
