Chapter 2: The Voyage Begins

And thus, The Tempest left Frigid Heath after three days at port. The joviality of the crew was only undermined by the nervousness it now had due to the impending storm, foretold by the ominous Ox-Eye Cloud formations. A rough sea lay ahead of them, as well as a great trial for the Glacier Pirates. Will the crew of 50 be able to stand up to a pirates worst fear, mother nature?


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Hyouga sat at his desk drawing a map of Frigid Heath, something he never had the chance to do. He was a navigation expert, and thus quite the gifted cartographer. In a small stack by his side, were other maps of various islands in the North Blue. He sipped a small cup of tea and set it back down onto his desk. Watching the liquid, he saw the motion of the waves below mimicked in the contents of the cup. He noticed however, that the motion was steadily becoming greater. The tipping from side to side only showed that as the ship neared this storm, the waves were growing larger.

As he looked out from his porthole, he saw the dark sky above. Rain had yet to fall, and so far the wind was as normal as it could be. His quill resumed etching into the parchment map, scrawling in the details and numbers for longitude and latitude. He tuned his head and looked to his compass, they were heading in a straight direction, following the sailors True North Bearing.

They would continue on straight, until they broke through the storm... if they broke through the storm. All pirates knew that storms were their natural killer. Marines were regarded as the close second, much to their chagrin. All hands were currently on deck, some off duty, but either way, prepared to enter this ordeal.

Hyouga finished his map and set in upon a hanging line with clothes-pins to let it dry. He left his quarters and onto the main deck. Some of his crew stood upon the Cloud Rigging on the sides of the ship, looking far into the distance at the clouds. Hyouga looked around and saw that everyone was doing what they were supposed to. The sky was almost black, sunlight was scarce... a very bad sign.

He moved to the fo'c'sle and lay his hand upon the bulwark behind the ships figurehead, which was shaped like a leaping arctic wolf. The bobbing of the ships seemed to grow as he stood there, feeling the waves lap against the hull of The Tempest. Something wet hit his hand. He looked down to find a drop of water on the back of his hand. The rain had started, at first sporadic and slow.. but increased until it fell in sheets. The water on deck rolled into the sea through the bottom of the bulwarks. The waves started to grow larger as well. The storm had finally started to hit them.

"ALL HANDS ON DECK, HOLD FAST THE SAILS!"

One of the crew members knocked on the door. "All hands on deck, there's a storm brewin'!!" Zein left his weights on as he put his sword aside with the others. Setting foot out of the room, he got onto the main deck. Everyone was scurrying around and taking care of the sails. The waves were gradually picking up as the rain fell and the wind began to blow. The captain was at the bow calling orders.

Looking around at what to do, Zein took ahold of one of the ropes that were attached the the mizzenmast and held it steadily. Mother nature was always a worthy adversary. This was a chance to test himself. The sky was completely black as the rain fell harder. Waves crashed roughly along the port side of the ship and the lines were becoming soaked in water. Keeping hold was becoming harder, but that only motivated Zein to keep at it.

The Tempest was rocking roughly now. Listening to a heavy creaking sound, Zein turned his vision over. This wasn't good. "Incoming supplies rolling towards starboard!! Don't get knocked over!"

Emma strode onto the deck, Hyouga had just given orders to prepare for the storm and she intended to ensure they were carried out

''You heard the Cap'n! All hands on deck! Don't stand about like a bunch of buffoons! To your posts all of ye!,'' she shouted ''Some of ye may have seen some fresh faces about the ship!Their the new crew members the Cap'n picked up on shore and I want all of ye to give 'em the same treatment you give to the other members of the crew! If I catch anyone and I mean anyone get'in into a fight then it'll be the Cat 'o Nine tails for ye! Two lashings for each one of ye involved, is that un'erstood?''

She looked at the crew with her glare, all of the crew that had already served under her knew that she meant it and she planned on making sure that the new ones knew also. Emma then ascended to the fo'c'sle and took her place next to Hyouga

''Hopefully I didn't step to far out of line with that sir, and if'n I did then my apologies Cap'n, just thought it'd be best to clear that out of the way before the storm 'its.'' She said

Jeez, Cecil thought to himself as he tried to prevent some of the supplies from rolling offboard. That lady sure has an attitude! The waves were hitting them fiercely, drenching Cecil's clothes and knocking several people over at times. This was truly chaos, but Cecil was enjoying himself. The intensity made adrenaline flow through his body and it was very exciting.

Another wave struck the ship.

"Hang on boys!" he yelled to the people around him, grasping the mast for support. He didn't want any of the crew flying off board on his watch. Cecil braced himself for the oncoming storm...

Sidd sat in the galley, still sharpening his knives, when he saw a woman in an apron come down.

"Who're you?" He barked, "Don't remember seeing you in town."

Hyouga watched as the cannon were lowered by rope into the ship's Hold. There were ten in all, and all had to be stored safely. If any were to roll to the other side, that could have untold damage to the ships bulwark. Deckhands climbed up and down the lines and masts, trying to keep the sails in place. Hyouga grabbed onto a line connected to the Mizzenmast and pulled himself up. He put a free hand into the air. The winds had shifted and grown very strong, blowing sometimes at 80 miles per hour or more.

The danger of this was to the jibs and mainsails. If the wind shifted and increased in force, the sails could tear. Hyouga swore under his breath and ran to the ships bell. He rang it five times and yelled up to his crew on the lines and rigging.

"THAT'S IT! FURL THE SAILS, THE WIND'LL RIP EM' TO SHREDS IF WE KEEP EM' DOWN!"

At that moment, a long tearing sound could be clearly heard over the rush of wind and fall of rain. Hyouga looked up and fear and saw the front jib sail tearing. The boom at on the aft side of the ship started to creak with the pressure that the lines were bringing onto it. Through gritted teeth, Hyouga watched his crew jump to the spars and furl up the mainmast with great trouble. Once it was done, the same happened for the front jib. The sails were back up and tied to their spars, the sails were saved from the storm-forced winds.

Hyouga let out a sigh of relief at that moment, but knew that this was only the beginning of the storm. As a navigator, he had been prone to many different types of storms, and he knew this was no severe thunderstorm. His face took on a cold exterior. He slowly walked down the ladder to the main deck and looked to his busy crew.

"ALL HANDS... PREPARE TO ENTER THE HURRICANE!" Hyouga yelled, as much as it pained him to say.

Hyouga climbed up to the Top Gallant and secured the lines himself. His crew surrounded him on other masts or rigging, helping out. They all worked as a single unit, something that took long to master. Hyouga trained his crew well, and thus earned his reputation. He had only been in a Hurricane once before, and would admit is was the scariest moment of his entire life. He did not fear the water, even if he could no longer swim... but what he did fear, was the tremendous power behind the storm itself.... and for good reason.

Crow could see how bad the winds were and he knew they were going to be in for a hell of a hit. He knew this winds could rip people right off their feet, so he looked down to everyone below him and shouted loudly out to them over the gust of the wind.

" Everyone hang on here comes so wind. "

The wind would just be blasting even moving some of the crew members from the place they were holding onto and slamming the againest the back of the ship. These were powerful gust that sure did not want to let up. Crow just had his two blades slammed down through the Crow's nest holding him in.

Hyouga looked to the clouds far above. They were blackish green in color. The storm that they were now sailing into was very large, and very powerful. Sailors struggled against the lines and rigging. So far, none had fallen overboard. The fo'c'sle's bulkhead was now dented and in great need of repair, as many soldiers on the main deck had hit the waves and flew backward into the wall.

The waves were quite large now, and slapped against the hull of the ship. The rudder was no longer effective against the raging ocean, thus is was locked in a straight-forward lock. Hyouga continued to check the bearing of the ship, only to find that they had stayed to the True North. The Tempest creaked with each gust or wind or large wave. He was sure that by the end of this, Hyouga and the crew would have to pool money to make repairs.

As the ship went farther into the storm, the air started to swirl around the entire area. A rush was heard from the bow of the ship, Hyouga ran over to see what was the matter. His jaw dropped at what he saw. Far ahead, the waves followed the horrifying path of the clouds above. A giant maelstrom lay ahead, raging around into a dark hole in the center, do doubt leading sailors on a express-way to Davy Jones. Hyouga cursed under his breath and looked to his crew, who's expressions turned to terror. Even seasoned pirates have a strong fear for such things.

As shrill as he could, Hyouga whistled to get everyone's attention. He pointed, from the bow of the ship, to the maelstrom ahead.

"I will be taking The Tempest into the vortex! Once inside, all deckhands, unfurl the sails and have them facing starboard aft! If we get this wrong... this ship is heading to the bottom of the sea! READY YOURSELVES!"

At that, Hyouga ran to the upper-deck and took his place at the helm. His pale hands gripped the wheel. He unlocked the rudder, and soon struggled to steer straight. The maelstrom neared them, and the roar of the water descending was the only thing audible. He yelled as soon as they were pulled into the swirling current and rapidly turned the wheel hard to port. As soon as he felt the ship being sucked deeper into the current, he yelled at the top of his voice to the crew.

"NOW, LET FLY THE SAILS, STARBOARD AFT!"

Lydia smiled even though the man's words seemed a bit harsh. She'd gained her sea legs quickly, even though it was her first time aboard a ship. Her hand gripped the beams inside the galley to hold herself steady as she looked the man in the eye.

"My name's Lydia, I'm the new head Chef, and you'll be showing me what I have to work with on this here boat."

She fixed a grin on her face, her eyes momentarily flashing in displeasure." You didn't see me in town because I only made occasional trips to that rotting hell hole."

Cecil gaped as they went into the swirling vortex of terror. This was chaos. Water splashed everywhere and people were running and yelling all over the ship, trying to stay on their feet and operate the ship at the same time. Cecil helped with the rigging and some other things, trying to be as useful as possible. Then the Captain yelled let the sails back out. Cecil jumped to the mast with the others and began to help untie the sails.

Cecil sighed as they finally made it out of that storm. It was a very short time that they were in it, but they were among the most terrifying moments of his life. He looked around to see that the ship was pretty beat up. There would be a lot of working to do around here and these sailors would have some poor morale. Might as well boost it a little, he thought to himself.

Cecil walked down to his cabin and grabbed his mandolin. He came back up and sat in a chair near the mast. He plucked a few strings, tuning the instrument and began to play. The music was very relaxing and encouraging. It was a nice working tune. Cecil grinned and continued to play his song.

Lydia had fallen during the rough waters of the storm. Her rather angry persona failing as she cradled a bruised elbow with her free hand. Tears slowly leaked from her round eyes, dripping down her face as she grimaced in pain.

Shot after shot of searing pain traveled up her arm from her elbow as well as from her ankle. She took a few steadying breaths as she tried to manage the pain, cursing softly under her breath.

After a few hours at sea, moving in a northern bearing, the Glacier Pirates had finally come onto calmer waters. Hyouga still stood at the helm. Every crew-mate on deck was soaked to the bones, and appeared ragged and weary. Men climbed down the shroud rigging at the sides of The Tempest and stood back on the main deck. From the upper-deck and the helm, Hyouga commanded the deck-hands to lower anchor.

The anchor fell into the water with a loud splash. The ship stopped moving except for the methodical rocking of the hull. The bilge was filled to the brim with sea water, which was hastily emptied by the bilge rats below. Hyouga climbed down to the main deck and ran his hand across the Mizzenmast with a look of one who was mourning the death of someone close. He looked around to all his crew with weary, bloodshot eyes.

"Any overboard?" He simply asked.

His response came as shaking of the head from his crew. Miraculously, they had lost not one sailor. He sighed with relief and looked to the sky. It was hard to believe that only hours before, the sky was as dark as night, and the wind tore the masts. Now, they were furled, although ruined, on the spars high above. The sky was dark, although in a natural way, as day was waning, and the moon was rising. Hyouga nodded his head with exhaustion.

"The First Mate is in charge... listen to her. I will have no interruptions while I am in my quarters." Hyouga stated as he climbed the ladder to the upper deck and over to the Captain's Quarters.

The doors shut silently behind him. He got out of his drenched clothes and hung them away to dry. He slowly got into his bunk and closed his eyes, allowing the well-deserved sleep to overtake him..

Sidd grabbed the chef by the arm and pulled her off the ground.

"It's Lydia, right?" he said, "Well, I don't expect this voyage to get any easier than that storm was, so, if you can't handle that," he went on, "I suggest you get off at our next stop, or you'll just get in the way. And I don't like people to get in my way."

Sidd made his way toward the deck.

Early in the morning, Hyouga awoke to the sound of seagulls outside. Getting out of bed, he stretched and yawned lazily. Dressing into his clothes and then brandishing his weapons, he walked out from the Captain's Quarters and onto the upper deck. The sky was of baby blue and was almost cloudless unto the horizon. The warm sun beamed down upon the ocean in all its brilliance.

Hyouga smiled as he gazed far up to the sky and felt refreshed after such an ordeal as was the day before. He slowly climbed down to the main deck, earning a couple of 'good mornin's' by his deck hands who happened to be on duty. All others seemed to be below deck sleeping away their exhaustion. Hyouga, feeling generous that day, allowed them to sleep until they woke up naturally.

By 8:00 AM, most of the crew mates had awakened and were out on deck. Those on duty climbed the rigging, adjusting the sails or standing on the spars. The rest grabbed chairs or sat where the could and chatted with one another, or headed down to the galley to grab a bite of breakfast. The Captain himself decided to join these men to eat.

In the middle of breakfast, a yell came from the main deck. The scout, high up in the Mizzenmast's crows nest had spotted something in the distance. Hyouga walked out to see what they had found. From far into the horizon, the shapes of three large ships, presumed to being battleships, slowly sailed straight for their bearing. Hyouga smirked as he looked though a pair of binoculars and found the fateful symbol on their large white main sails.

The symbol of the Marines approached, a blue seagull design on an all white background. The ships were not Battleships, thankfully, as Hyouga identified them. They were Naval Class Cruisers, fast ships, but well armed nonetheless. Hyouga ran up to the upper deck and unlocked the rudder. With a loud shout, he called all hands to deck.

"All hands prepare for battle, we have the Marines at three-o'clock!"

The deckhands scrambled onto the deck and opened two large doors leading into the ship's Hold. Using a small mechanical lift, five of the cannon were hoisted onto the deck through a complex system of pulleys and rope. Three men would roll the cannon into their gunners ports and started to prepare for firing. Hyouga stood at the helm, laughing with a sense of delight and revelry in the entire matter of battling the Marines. He spun the wheel to Starboard. The Tempest swerved in a long arch and headed straight for the enemy.

Cecil immediately came to attention. He jumped on to the deck and helped pull the cannons up onto it. The guns were soon set up and the whole gunning team was ready under Cecil's command.

"Alright, boys," Cecil said to them. "This is your time to shine. Let's load those guns! Split up into teams for each of the guns! I want some powder monkeys carrying that gunpowder over here pronto!"

Cecil went to one of the guns himself. He aided them in loading the cannon. First they inserted the gunpowder, wad of paper (which is usually the package the gunpowder is in), then the shot, and then they would push down the muzzle with a rammer. It was easier said than done. After a while every team had their cannons ready to fire.

"On my command," Cecil said, waiting for the ships to come closer, "Unleash hell on those ships! Those sea-dogs will regret running into us after we are through with them!"

Cecil awaited to give the commands to fire, watching as those fast ships came closer and closer. When Cecil deemed that they were in range, he grabbed a match.

"Fire!" he yelled. Cecil lit the match and ignited the cannon, causing a loud explosion as the shot flew through the air towards one of the Marine ships, hitting a few of the Marines on deck. The cannons pelted the ship they aimed at, creating holes in some spots, but not doing any major damage.

"Reload!" Cecil yelled to his men. It felt good to be commanding the guns again. There was nothing like the smell of gunpowder in the morning.

Hyouga gritted his teeth as he brought the ship closer and closer to the Marine vessels. The Tempest had received fire back from them as soon as it neared. With ever cannon blast from the main deck and below, the Tempest lurched to the portside.

"FIRE AT WILL!" Hyouga yelled from behind the wheel.

The ships were close to use boarding ropes. They were thrown from both sets of ships to each other. blasts of black powder muskets, blunderbuss', and flintlock pistols pierced through the air, only to be muffled by the roar of the cannon. Grapeshot from the enemy cannon ripped into the side of The Tempest, causing an audible cracking and splintering of the wood.

Grapeshot from their own cannons ripped through the enemies ships. Debris and smoke was everywhere, marring the area between ships. Musket balls ripped through sails or embedded themselves into the masts. One Marine fell into the water with a scream, a burst of shot from a blunderbuss into his chest. A Glacier Pirate fell to the deck in a growing pool of blood.

The ships stopped in position, they floated stalwart in the water, pelting each other with shot. Hyouga stomped his boot hard onto the deck, getting the attention of a Deckhand, who simply nodded and went down a hatch to the mid-deck below. Small hatches on the hull below were opened, cannon barrels slid out and took aim after prep. The loudest roar one could encounter came from the heavy cannon... large cannon balls shot out and into the side of the Marine Vessels. Explosions could be heard and large chunks of the hulls were taken down.

Cecil looked behind him as bullets smacked into several pirates on the ship. This is getting dangerous, Cecil thought to himself. About time! I was getting a little bored! Cecil ordered his gunners to move faster. As one of the mates was about to put the shot in the muzzle of the cannon, a bullet smashed through his head, causing him to drop it, making a dent on the board.

"Dammit!" Cecil yelled. He ran forward, pushing the dead body aside and plunging the shot inside the cannon himself. "Fire it!" he yelled, diving forward, barely dodging a few bullets.

The cannon boomed and the shot smashed into the side of the boat, making a few splinters that sprayed into some of the enemy. Suddenly a few marines jumped over onto the ship via rope, swords in hand. Cecil ducked just in time, almost getting his head cut off.

He took the frying pan hanging from his side and smacked a Marine in the back of the head, making a loud ringing sound and knocking to poor sap out. Cecil smiled. He loved improvising.