Captain's Log #1: An Explosive Conclusion On The Cloud Seas [Part 4]

Job Information:

Cap'n Erik had cast the die by declaring he was going to take everything for himself - electing not to give up the Merloan Princess to the rival crew of seafarers. Erik's gamble and greed caused him to get stabbed by the sword of the captain of the other hands of the opposing ship. Now, the auburn-haired man had found himself leaning against the wooden mast of his vessel - taking cover from the barrage of gunfire that was being sent his way. “Teach always said I had a knack for getting myself into trouble for being too greedy.” He chuckled to himself as he winced a bit from the pain from his injuries and looked over at the stab wound. “Gonna have to wrap that up.” He said to himself as he reached with his right hand and ripped a bit of his shirt apart. He wrapped the fabric tightly around the wound to slow the bleeding. But even with the bleeding slowed down, there was still the issue here about being unable to move from his current spot.

For a brief moment, the gunfire had stopped hitting the mast on the ship and a voice rang out. “Hey! You on the ship! Don’t stand around with your mouth open! Go get the damn mermaid!” Erik then heard a few footsteps on the ships and was about to peak out when another shot was fired at the mast. Cap’n Erik let out a slightly annoyed sigh. It seemed that these men had gotten their act together and were over the initial shock of losing their captain and a few of the fellow crew members. But now, he was dealing with the fact that he was gonna lose the mermaid and possibly his own life if this kept up. His mentor’s words ran through his head constantly. ‘Think, Erik, think. You gotta realize that there is more to being a pirate than being handy with a gun or being strong. You gotta be more cunning than anyone if you want to make it out alive. Always be thinking. Always be plotting. The moment you stop thinking is the moment you are dead.’ Cap’n Erik shook his head and started to think that there had to be some way that he could get out of this situation. No, there had to be a way to win.

As Cap’n Erik leaned against the wooden mast of the ship, he pulled out the small bottle of rum from his jacket pocket. He popped the cork out of the bottle and brought it to his lips before he started to drink out of it - as he racked his brain on how to get out of this situation. Erik could hear a muffled scream from the captain’s quarter. He knew that the other man from the ship had broken into there and was attempting to abduct the mermaid from it. Cap’n Erik sighed a bit more. However, he kept on drinking and thinking. There had to be a way to get out of this situation. It was then like a sudden storm at sea it struck him.  The man on board of the ship must not have had a long-range weapon - a gun - or he would have come up and tried to shoot him while the others were keeping him pinned with covering fire. So, that was at least a bit of comfort in his mind.

Cap’n Erik finished guzzling down his bottle of rum and shook it. He wanted to ensure the bottle was empty. After all, this little bottle was the key to his entire plan. He pulled out the rest of his flintlock pistols and poured the gunpowder that was in there into the containers. Then he dropped a couple of the shells into the glass vessel. Erik hated it but he knew that he would have to sacrifice a bit more of his shirt for this idea. He ripped a strip of his shirt apart with his part hands and place part of the strip into the bottle. Erik then removed his jacket - taking the contents from inside of it and readied it. He would only have a single shot at this. Cap’n Erik pulled out his favorite lighter and lit a small fire. He brought it up to the piece of fabric and set it ablaze. He watched as it began to burn down.

3. 2. 1. He counted down inside of his head before he threw his jacket to one side of the mast and saw that motion had quickly gandered the attention of his enemies. Erik heard the gunshots starting to hit the area of the jacket. The aburn-haired man went to the other side and chucked the lit bottle filled with gunpowder and bullets toward the enemy ship. For this plan, he only needed the bottle to land on the ship. He ducked back behind the mast and took cover. Boom! A loud bang erupted over on the other ship and then he could hear the sound of screaming which was followed by silence. Cap’n Erik waved his hand out a bit to see if his plan had worked. When it wasn’t shot, he decided to peek out from the mast and lookout. He didn’t see the men on the opposing ship standing up anymore. Instead, he could see a few pools of blood scattered across the wooden planks of the opposite vessel. Cap’n Erik smiled a bit as he saw that his plan had worked - but it was still a bit of a risk since he was only lucky that he had completely dried the battle out and his whole shirt wasn’t blood-soaked

As Erik relished in the sweet taste of victory, he came back to his senses and remembered there was still another member of the rival crew on his ship. He grabbed one of his pistols and held it in his hand. Even without gunpowder, he could still shoot out a couple of bullets of magical energy due to the alterations to these pistols. He made his way to the way to his quarters and creaked open the door. His nose was assaulted with a familiar scent - blood. Did the man happen to kill the mermaid instead? Cap’n Erik was annoyed with the thought that the key to the Merloan treasure vault had been stolen from him. However, when he looked inside, he could see the mermaid sitting in the middle of the room. She had a closed-mouth smile plastered on her face - a smile that could only be viewed as complete satisfaction.

“Oh, land-walker. It seems one of the other land-walkers barged into here, but hearing that loud bang outside made him run out of here. I suppose he fleed to sea.” Arcelia told him. “Oi, lass, that doesn’t explain the scent of blood filling my lungs.” Cap’n Erik replied as his eyes narrowed on the mermaid princess as he looked around the room.  He searched but he didn’t find anyone hiding in the more obvious places on the ship. It would seem that his new companion was telling him the truth about the other person fleeing. It was possible since there was a window that could be open in the rear of the room.  Cap’n Erik didn’t just understand why didn’t the guy flee with his prize or at least attempted to, but maybe it was something that he wouldn’t be able to understand. After all, Erik’s greed was different than most. “Seems like you are telling me the truth, lass, but there is something we need to do before I go plundering that other ship for its treasure,” Erik smirked a bit. Arcelia’s mind then flashed back to the earlier conversation held when each side was offering their deals. “Landwalker, you plan on defiling my royal bosom once again.” Her smile turned into a scowl. “Of course, lassie, I told you before that I was taking everything that includes the treasures on that ship and the twin peaks you possess.” With that, Erik went back to enjoy himself. He expected the rest of his trip with this princess to be smooth sailing from here on out.

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Word Count: 1372/500