Ocean Wave Necklace
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“This is not the way it was supposed to happen.”
He spoke as he stepped onto the deck, looking around at the men. He saw a few faces look over in his direction and immediately turned away.
“I’m sorry,” he muttered before walking past them, down the stairs.
The Captain of Ocean Wave Necklace had been a good man once; kind and understanding and fair. But the years had not treated him well and now, after the death of the last Captain of his ship, he found himself on this tiny ship with no real crew, just a few old sailors who’d taken pity on him when they heard he needed a job.
He sighed and looked up at the sky again. The sun was high and bright, shining through the scattered clouds that were drifting lazily along above him. They were heading for New York, which meant it was time to put into port for supplies and fresh water. He would then turn west towards the Caribbean, where the treasure of the lost ship still awaited him, though the rest of the crew were not so lucky: all dead, murdered by pirates, but he’d managed to escape with one young boy called Johnathan. That’s what he told everyone, anyway…
And that was when he spotted the pirate ship. A huge beast that looked like an iron fist rising from the ocean; a thing made entirely of black iron. He stood on the deck of the little ship and watched as it came ever closer. Its prow cut through the sea like a knife, its sails billowing out behind it. It seemed to be making for the small, wooden vessel, moving fast across the waves.
“What do we do?” asked the helmsman, coming over from where he sat beside the tiller.
Captain Tom shook his head. “Keep going,” he ordered quietly.
The two old sailors stared at him in silence for a moment before turning back to the tiller and steering their way away from the approaching ship.
They kept this up until the last minute, when finally the larger ship sailed past without even slowing, continuing on its way to the open ocean. As soon as the sound of the distant cannon fire faded and Captain Tom could no longer hear the screams, he turned around with a sigh, shaking his head at how close he’d come to being captured.
“You know,” said the helmsman slowly, looking at the Captain and then over towards the tiller where the boy was sitting, playing with the rigging, “this isn’t right.”
Captain Tom nodded and walked off the deck, down to where the boy sat. He knelt down beside him. “Yes, I think you’re right,” he said kindly. “That wasn’t right.”
Johnathan looked up at him, smiling happily. He reached out his hand towards the Captain’s chest. “Give me your heart,” he commanded. “Then let us both die together.”
Captain Tom sighed and closed his eyes. It would have been so easy to give in to such a temptation. To throw everything away just for one more moment with someone else. One more day. Just for an hour, he thought to himself, imagining all the things he wanted to say to her.
But he knew he couldn’t do it; that there was something much greater than herself out there – some purpose that only she was able to fulfill, and he could never stop her.
As he opened his eyes again he felt a sudden surge of strength flow through him, like a great rush of wind lifting the sails of an entire ship. He took a deep breath and pushed aside any regrets or sadness. All these thoughts were of his past life and nothing more, so why did he cling to them so strongly? Why not let go and move on?
It was then that he heard the first cannon fire and realized the ship was under attack. He leaped over the side and started swimming, heading for the nearest boat. The men on the deck of Ocean Wave Necklace were shouting and running about. He looked back and saw the black ship was coming in for another attack.
The other pirates were firing their cannons into the small vessel, while the smaller ship fired back with its own gun, hitting a few of the pirates as they jumped into the sea in an attempt to escape.
With a final burst of speed, Captain Tom swam faster than ever before and reached the closest boat, climbing aboard just as the pirates were pulling it up onto the deck. The men inside screamed at him to get off, but he ignored them and climbed onto the deck as quickly as he could, diving into the sea once again just as the black ship came into range.
He surfaced and gasped in the air as he waited to see if the pirates would make another attack.
He looked around the deck and smiled; there was nothing but chaos amongst the pirates. No doubt they were too stunned to realize their leader had escaped, so he took advantage of it, leaping on top of one of them and grabbing the sword that was sticking out of his chest.
He stabbed it upwards and ripped it from his body, then threw it aside. His victim fell backward and rolled over, clutching his chest.
The next pirate to turn around didn’t even look twice. Instead, he just ran to help his friend, reaching out to hold his arm before it collapsed and fell dead on the deck beside him.
Captain Tom was grinning wildly now; he’d done it. It felt good. This was what he’d been waiting for. He’d found purpose in his life again. He’d found something bigger than himself to fight against. He had found meaning, and with this new purpose, he was able to ignore the pain and hurt, the anger, and just focus on the task at hand.
All the same, however, he was still a bit shocked when a man suddenly leaped out of the water and landed directly in front of him.
“I can’t believe you survived!” cried a voice that sounded strangely familiar. “How are you even alive?”
Captain Tom turned around. A young man with sandy brown hair was standing behind him, his face covered in blood that dripped down his chin. “My name is Christopher,” he said, “and I’m the one who killed you.”
The words hit Captain Tom hard and he stepped back. “Wh-what?!” he stammered. “But I … You were supposed to …”
Christopher shrugged. “Well,” he said, wiping his bloody mouth with the back of his hand. “If I hadn’t cut you down you’d probably be dead now anyway. And besides,” he continued, looking at Captain Tom carefully, “I’ve never seen anyone move as fast underwater as you did.” He grinned proudly.
Captain Tom shook his head. “Why would you want to kill me?” he asked, confused.
“Because … because,” Christopher began, his face twisting into a mixture of anger and confusion, “because I thought you were a spy! But no matter,” he added hastily, trying to cover his tracks. “Anyway, we should really be going.” He turned to leave.
Captain Tom grabbed hold of his sleeve and pulled him to a halt. “Wait,” he said. “You’re not seriously thinking of leaving, are you?”
Christopher shook his head and gave a short laugh. “What makes you think I’m going anywhere?” he replied, pushing Captain Tom’s hands off his jacket. “Besides, if I am your killer, how am I going to find you again?”
Captain Tom didn’t reply and watched as Christopher left the ship, walking towards the beach. As he got closer he could hear the sound of cheering and yelling coming from it. Christopher reached it and stopped, turning back to look at Captain Tom. “Well, it seems I’m not quite dead after all,” he said, smiling.
Captain Tom nodded. “It does seem strange, doesn’t it?” he replied with a grin of his own. “But I guess sometimes even assassins don’t know who they actually kill.”
“That’s right,” Christopher agreed with a sigh. “Now that this little incident has taken place I suppose I’ll have to take my revenge on someone else. Oh well,” he continued cheerfully, “you can’t win them all.”
Captain Tom laughed. “Yeah, you’re right,” he said, “it can’t be helped.”
He walked over to the nearest cannon and lifted the barrel out of the water and swung it over his shoulder. He placed it against the side of the boat and jumped aboard, placing the cannon in its position, then climbed to the top of it.
He looked down and saw that most of the men had finished their celebrations by now. Most of them were still standing around and staring at him blankly, some laughing at him, some crying, others just sitting quietly – like the pirates he had left on deck. The rest seemed to have gone inside.
He stood on the gun-mounting, watching as the last remaining few pirates made their way up to where he was standing and stared up at him curiously. Some of them waved, others just shook their heads. There was nothing but confusion and shock on their faces.
Captain Tom let his gaze wander around the deck until he spotted one man who he knew wasn’t shocked. It was the pirate who Christopher had stabbed in the back earlier that morning. He was standing near the mast with tears streaming down his cheeks; his body was trembling.
Captain Tom felt a pang of sympathy for him, knowing that no one deserved such an ugly death; especially not after he’d been so brave during battle. He wondered why, exactly, the pirate was here. Was he there for Christopher? Had he come seeking revenge?
Or was he simply a scared man who didn’t want to face Christopher alone? Either way, Captain Tom could see that this wasn’t going to end well.
He turned to go down the ladder to the boat when he heard a voice shouting out from below: “Hey!”
A large group of men appeared, running towards him. They surrounded him quickly. One of them shouted excitedly at him. “Look! We found our captain alive! Look what he’s done!”
“What’s that?” another pirate asked.
One of the pirates pointed at Captain Tom’s shoulder. “He took a saber to the shoulder, and it hasn’t even slowed him down!”
“We better finish this up quick before the bastard dies,” one of the other pirates said, grinning.
Captain Tom smiled grimly. “Well, if you insist,” he answered.
They all rushed him at once, punching and kicking and trying to pull him off the gun-mounting. He grabbed hold of one of them and pulled him close. Their eyes met.
“I told you,” he said, his voice full of hate and malice, “if I’m dead you won’t get your money.” He raised his arm, bringing it down hard. He punched him in the face so fast that there was barely a moment for him to feel the blow.
Blood poured from his nose and mouth as the pirate fell backward and tumbled onto the deck. Another pirate tried to punch him but his fist went right through Captain Tom’s chest, sending him crashing back against the mast. Then he did something that Captain Tom didn’t expect – he grabbed hold of Captain Tom’s shirt and began to choke him.
It was only after a few moments of struggling that Captain Tom managed to throw the pirate overboard, and then he threw himself off the gun-mounting after him.
The pirates ran towards him and surrounded him again. But now he had the advantage. He could easily pick them off one by one and watch them bleed out on the deck. But before he could do that, someone else came rushing towards them. It was the pirate who Christopher had stabbed – the one he hadn’t killed. He was still clutching his bleeding stomach. His eyes were wild with rage.
Captain Tom watched in surprise as the pirate pulled himself up onto the gun-mounting beside Captain Tom and swung his bloodied dagger at his head.
The blade passed straight through his skull and into the mast behind him. Captain Tom felt something hit his face and fall to the deck. He glanced down and saw that he was wearing his hat. He grabbed it and put it on. The pirates were looking at each other in disbelief, unsure of what was happening.
“You all know what this means,” Captain Tom shouted at them, holding his hands high, “he’s the rightful captain now. So if you’re loyal men then follow me and take your share of his booty.”
A few of them nodded. A couple of them even cheered. But most of them continued to look confused. The pirate who had killed him was lying unconscious on the deck, still clutching his belly with blood pouring out of him, his dagger still embedded in the mast.
Captain Tom sighed. What a mess, he thought. He couldn’t have hoped for a better situation than this one. The crew would follow him now and they would all be rich men. And if these pirates were half as good a fighter as he was, things would turn out much the same way for them too.
He looked over the railing and saw the other pirate ship already turning about to sail away from them – they obviously thought they had bested him, but Captain Tom was certain there was no chance of that. If anything, they would be finished, their ships burned, and their crew slaves or dead.
It might have been bad luck for Christopher to run into them, but it was good luck for him. He had made sure that this pirate would lead them into battle instead of Christopher.
He looked up at the rigging of the pirate ship. It seemed almost like fate that it should turn out this way – that he should die on Christopher’s ship after killing its captain – that he should die here at sea, not fighting on land where Christopher would never catch up to him.
As long as he was careful, as long as he got off his boat, everything would work itself out in the end. There was no point worrying about what was yet to come; there was nothing more that he could do.
He looked up at the horizon one last time before he jumped overboard and swam away to freedom.
The End