Pirate's Tail

Chapter Nine

Ace awoke and found himself on the main deck. It was a dark, moonless night, and the winter storm that they appeared to have outrun had caught up with the F.S.M. Visp. The waves were thrashing the vessel and it was a struggle for Ace, who was sleeping under the open sky on the main deck, to stay in his hammock. The waves rocked the ship and sent Ace flying out of his hammock on two occasions.

In frustration, Ace grabbed his hammock and went below deck. He looked desperately for a spot to hang it, but the rest of the crew was ahead of him. The crew pitched their hammocks wherever they could when it was time to sleep, and all the room below deck to hang a hammock had been claimed. They were crammed together, fast asleep. Ace had no choice but to return to the main deck.

Ace resigned himself to sleeping on the wooden deck to keep from being flung from his hammock for the third time. Sleep never came to him on the hard deck of the Visp, and he was wide awake when the first bell rang.

Ace's job as cabin boy was severely limited for the day, due to the difficulty of moving about the ship. He was given the pleasure of cleaning Blassy's droppings, which had made quite a mess in the captain's cabin because of the high seas.

Just after lunch, about mid-day, Ace glimpsed the Farobian Islands for the first time. It appeared as nothing more than a sliver of land on the horizon as the Visp was thrown around on the volatile seas. As time passed, more details of the island emerged. It appeared to be densely forested. Ace grew excited by the thought of seeing another piece of the world.

There was a grumble in his stomach, and Ace felt his stomach stir violently. He rushed to the gunwale and threw up the remains of his maggot-infested biscuit, which he'd eaten for lunch. He was trying to figure out if he'd gotten sick as a result of the food or the sea, when he heard a cry.

"Off the starboard side!" yelled the voice.

Ace's stomach dropped, fearing the shipmate was referring to Ace's seasickness. Embarrassed, he wiped his face and turned about to face the crew. He looked around and noticed that the crew was paying him no attention. Their focus was fixed on the horizon, well beyond Ace.

A ship emerged from the now large Farobian Island. It was a good-looking vessel about the size of the Visp. The mystery ship took an interception course toward the Visp, and havoc broke loose on the Menquin war vessel's deck.

Orders were being shouted as men scurried about the deck, trimming the sails and getting into fighting positions, should the unknown vessel open fire on the F.S.M. Visp. Ace had no idea what his duties were should there be a fight so he elected to get out of the way and attempt to find Captain Alphs.

"Move, kid! We gotta get into position!" the man who spotted the mermaid shouted at Ace, who eagerly got out of the man's way.

Ace found the Captain busy running around the deck shouting orders at his men. Ace was quickly told to stay out of the way, which he was happy to do. He found himself a nice piece of deck near the bow of the ship and parked himself there.

The Visp approached the island, who continued to reveal its secrets to the ship. It looked lush and green. There appeared to be no beaches, at least none on this side of the island. It all looked like sheer cliff face, being thrashed by the sea. Ace couldn't understand where the other ship had come from. There must be a hidden harbor in the cliff.

Then it happened. The mysterious vessel was finally in range of the F.S.M. Visp, and it opened fire with its main guns. Mr. Bahnhoff, who was in control at the helm, steered the ship hard to port in an attempt to dodge the cannon fire. The deck of the Visp tilted sharply, and a few of the sailors on deck lost their footing. The maneuver dodged the cannon fire, but it couldn't dodge the wave. A large wave pelted the Visp as she made her turn and engulfed her deck in whitewater. All crewmembers were forced to grab what they could to prevent themselves from being swept overboard.

Ace wasn't so lucky. He'd been watching the approaching mystery ship that had just fired upon the Visp when Mr. Bahnhoff made the turn. Ace was caught blindsided as the wave swept over the deck. The wave engulfed him and, unable to grab anything substantial, the cabin boy was swept from the deck of the F.S.M. Visp and deposited in the tumultuous sea.

Ace rolled around in the surf, completely disoriented. He finally found the surface of the water and filled his lungs with air. The Visp continued its turn and opened fire at the mystery ship. The ship appeared unscathed, but answered the Visp's call with a volley of cannon fire of its own. The F.S.M. Visp turned away from the mystery vessel and headed back the way it had come, toward the open ocean.

He was abandoned in the middle of the sea, with waves well over eight feet tall crashing around him. He swam in the direction of the ship, but after a few strokes Ace knew he'd never catch up to the Visp. The wind and waves were too strong to swim in that direction, or any direction for that matter. His only hope was to stay above water. He prayed the sea would bring him to the island. Ace treaded water, fighting to keep his head above the waves.

The Farobian Island grew in size as the ocean forced Ace closer to the islands. The situation looked desperate for him. Just as he'd seen from the deck of the Visp, there was no beach on the island to land on. It was all cliffs. Ace knew that the cliffs would tear him apart when he got close enough, and there would be nothing he could do about it. The Oraonic Ocean was just too powerful.

The cliffs loomed ahead, the seas crashing high off their faces. Ace looked desperately for the hidden harbor or anything that he might hide in to seek refuge from the sea, but he saw none. The situation was hopeless. The Visp had abandoned him for the refuge of the open ocean, and Ace was certain that it was upon these cliff faces that he would meet his death.

In the whitewater near the cliff face, Ace noticed the hull of an overturned wooden catamaran rolling in the surf. Desperate to save himself, Ace did what he could to swim over to the small overturned vessel. A wave pushed him up on the wreckage and, once upon the catamaran, Ace steadied himself. The hull was covered with barnacles, and Ace hardly noticed as the small, sharp animals sliced into his skin. He stood on all fours, hoping that he could stay on the catamaran until the storm passed and the seas subsided.

These thoughts were short-lived as another wave rocked the wrecked hull and swept Ace into the ocean for the second time that day. The situation was futile. The backwash of the water away from the cliff face pulled Ace downward under the water's surface.

Ace turned his head toward the surface and kicked furiously. It was impossible. He couldn't escape the ocean's grasp. He opened his eyes and saw the outline of the hull of the catamaran being thrown around in the surf. He was running low on air. It was over. Ace saw his life flash before his eyes. He saw his life growing up in the orphanage, his life with the Harrises, his time aboard the F.S.M. Visp, his short time in Jayoria, the dolphins, the face of a beautiful woman, himself and the woman leading a group of warriors into battle, Menquin rebuilt after the Great War. Oh, what a life it could have been.

Ace fought one last time, praying with all his might that the ocean might release him from its death grip, but the ocean held him firmly under its surface. Ace felt as if his lungs were going to explode, and his vision began to cloud. He looked up to the surface one last time and felt death encompass him with her strong, beautiful hands.

She pulled him closer, and Ace saw she had the most beautiful face, framed by long golden hair. She pressed her wet lips to his, and he felt the strength begin to return to him. He ran his hands down her bare back and paused near her waist. Her waist felt strange, almost fishlike. Fear engulfed what consciousness remained in him. The mermaid continued her kiss, and he was unable to escape. He succumbed to her powers, and his world turned to darkness in the beautiful mermaid's arms.