Ruger Tonnerre, Sailor Of The Hidden Sea

Chapter I - Family Visit

Bow and hull made of the spine and ribcage of some alien leviathan, sails of batwing leather, and rudder of unbreakable razor thin diamond—that was the ship The Maltese Nemo. Crewed by one man, the man as big as most giants, and as small as most men, his arms looked as if they were nylon stockings with watermelons squeezed inside, large plump ones.

Sweat streaked his sunburned forehead, as he guided his ship through the jagged reef of the Isle Of Forêt de Montagne. An island he discovered in the Bermuda Triangle, where he keeps one of his thirteen wives, and his bushel of children. Having visited his other twelve wives on the other islands, on his yearly journey to bring presents to his growing number of children, and do his “marital duties” to his wives.

Often he’d be asked to those he spoke of his family, ‘Why does he have thirteen wives?’

To that he respond with a bombastic deep laugh, and answer ‘If you’re going to have multiple wives, might as well aim for a unlucky number. When you love a women best you learn to enjoy courting with disaster.’

Bashir was his most recent wife, and thus only had five children to keep her company during his voyages. So he planned to give her another, as he aimed the wedge head of his ship to force open the salt barrier between the reefs. Salt accumulation was heavy on the coast of the island, and needed to be rammed through now and again, otherwise he’d have to go the long way around the island.

It was far easier, and quicker to just crash through the five foot thick salt barrier, the sound thundered through the air, a nostalgic sound that alerted his children on the island. Three girls, two boys, each one looking like their mother, as they roamed about the forest paradise of their home, they rush to get a view of the sea.

Whether it was from up on the spiraling trails alongside the colossal tree, or on a mountain peak, they looked out on the south-western side of the island, to catch sight of their father’s ship.

Eagerly they drop all activities, from hiking, mountain climbing, or studies to meet him as soon as he sails his ship ashore. After breaking through, The Maltese Nemo seemed to soar across the water as if it were a cyclone through the air, tearing up the waves as it sped by, till it’s hull ran aground on the beach, splitting aside sand into large mounds.

Lifting over his muscle full shoulders his sailor bag, he hopped over the railings of his boat, and started walking on the warm sands of the beach towards the chimney smoke of his wife’s dwelling. Before he even stepped on the dense grass of the island, he was swarmed by four of his five children, the youngest was too young to wander too far from her mother’s bosom.

Legs were tackled by his girls, who squeezed tightly around them as if they were boa constrictors, and his arms were swung on by his boys as if they were chimps. To this he let out a boisterous laughter as he continued one walker as if he was uninhibited.

‘A father’s welcome, nothing quite like it.’ then he saw his raven haired wife, carrying the youngest in her arms. ‘Then again there is a husband’s welcome.’ he stopped onto the grass, meeting his bemused wife. With his children on his limbs, he leaned forward and kissed her, melting away the sourness from her face to a begrudging warmness. ‘How are you wife?’

‘Better if you stick around for more than a couple weeks.’ she tried to sound scorned, but she was weak to his sailor charms.

‘Ha! And make the other twelve jealous, I’ll never hear the end of it.’ another good reason he kept his wives on their own islands, to prevent infighting, and fits of jealousy. ‘Come wife, children, father brings presents.’

With the children still on his arms and legs, and the baby somehow managing to crawl to the top of his golden blonde hair, he strode back to his families hut, a tropical mansion of sturdy stone and wooden walls. Having built it himself, and some private contractors from Building-Builder Island, it was large enough to house a family five times their size.

At the kitchen table, he lifted the babe off his crown, and handing her to his wife, before shaking lose the girls from his legs, and swinging his arms, sending his boys off flying, as they somersaulted in the air, and landed without harm.

‘Children, wife, I have just come from the Island Of Mort, and among the bones and thorn bushes I found your presents.’ then he opened his sack, and pulled out his gifts.

To each of his children he gave a sharp knife, used by sailors to cut rope, and cut through wood, a good thing since their last ones were getting dull. Even the baby got one, but it was withheld by the mother.

‘Oh Bashir, its best to learn when they’re young.’ to that she grimace with a mother’s skepticism.

‘It only takes one cut to end a baby’s life.’ she reminded her boyish husband. ‘Even you at her age you didn’t use a knife.’

Laughing at his wife’s remark he responded simply. ‘If I had, I’d be better than I am today, even if there’s a chance I wouldn’t be here at all.’ At that he handed out the next series of gifts, pearl necklaces for the girls, and carved bone charms from the boys. Finally to his wife he gave her a grand headdress covered in shimmering, rainbow scales from the Gallup Fish; a gigantic serpentine sea creature, whose scales are as priceless as gems, and twice as brilliant in color even in darkness.

‘Father will you be staying with us long.’ said one of his daughters.

‘As long as I need to be, and then I set sail.’ the sullen frown came to their faces, but they brightened when he smiled and let out a rolling cascade of laughter. ‘Till then we shall have the time to remember, until the next.’

From then on he fished with them, catching buckets of fish. He told them scary and perilous stories by the fire, and showed them all he knew about charting stars, and how to fight a giant octopus. Taking the family out on his boat, he sailed them around the island, pointing out different islands in the distance, and telling them of the world outside their island home.

Finally despite the days seeming to last entire summers, the day came when Ruger Tonnerre had to leave to travel the sea. Despite the crying, pouting, and attempts to sneak aboard the Maltese Nemo, the children with their mother watched from the beach as their father set off to sea again.

As cheerful as a seal with a fish, he was not unsympathetic to his families tears, and made sure that each time he visit them was the best time he can make for them. However he was a skipping stone, and needed to keep moving, less he sink. As night came for his first night away from his family, he was light footed and relaxed, having made sure the next time he visited he’ll meet his sixth child of his thirteenth wife.

Pulling the sails taught, he set the rudder to sail the ship at a brisk speed, as he leaned to the side and began to sleep. As he slept however he was unaware he was being watched by another ship. The lantern he had lit on deck acted as a beacon, allowing him to be trailed by a sinister frigate with red sails.

Chapter II - Pirates With Red Sails

Back in the days where horrific bloodshed was common on the high seas, there was a pirate captain by the name of Rogerick Plegmghast, a hateful privateer who sailed with blood red sails. Leaving behind flaming wreckages of ships, and doomed sailors, he spread his carnage across the Caribbean, and to the south pacific.

Carrying with him the lucre that cost thousands of lives, his his hoard was the envy of all buccaneers on the high seas. Crown jewels, gemstones as a man’s skull, and golden coins bigger than any ever minted by king’s of them days, he was the target of many pirate hunter and any who flew a nation’s colors.

Chased by a fleet of ships, Rogerick’s ship the Scarlet Plague, a clipper ship armed with cannons and a menacing crew, reveled in the excitement of the pursuit. Until a storm hit, shredding their sails, and damaging their hull till it started to leak more than they could bail. All while they were being chased by the crown fleet of France, giving chase after he stole a King’s fortune in treasure.

Unable to escape, or fight back, they were bombarded by canons from a dozen ships, leaving them barely able to sail. Before they were boarded, a bloodied and mangled Captain Rogerick cursed the seas, along with all things beautiful, kind, and divine. For this some say angered the master’s of the sea, and as if Poseidon himself commanded it so, a whirlpool formed around the pirate’s ship.

Dragging all the dead and dying into its vortex, sinking it into a foamy, underwater grave—but before he sank fully, the Captain cried out an unnatural vengeance to be enacted on all mankind.

‘To those that sail the sea, I will never truly die! And will cut the throats of all who dare to sail the open waters!’ then he was swallowed up fully, and him and his treasure were lost.

Despite centuries later of treasure hunters searching for the legendary pirate hoard, none have found even a trace of it, however there are stories periodically of missing ships or entire crews found dead. Those reports sometimes say through the thick fog that a ship could be seen, a ship with blood red sails, looking as if it had come right out of the history books of the glory days of pirating.

These stories do little but provide fodder for ghost stories on dark nights, when the sea waves can be heard, and maybe something else out in the distance, that one can’t quite discern.

***

Ruger sprang to full wakefulness when he felt the footstep of the trespassing, trying to sneak aboard as he slept. It was still nighttime, and it was obvious they thought to catch him unawares. Lunging towards the trespassing cutthroat, he smacked aside the cutlass pointed at him threateningly, and with a herculean uppercut sent the stranger flying overboard into the water.

It seemed he was being set upon by a rowboat filled with brigands, all armed with cutlasses and pistols. One standing in the rowboat aimed his pistol, but Ruger as fast as a jungle cat, picked up a heavy oar on the deck, and flung it at the gun wielding pirate. It knocked him and several others off their feat and into the water, where they splashed about frantically.

As the clouds parted and moonlight streamed from the sky above, Ruger saw the faces of his assailants, and he paused to register the horror he saw. A worn, brine covered rowboat was filled with gray skinned men, in old time pirate attire. Each one had no eyes, but black empty sockets, and gray skin covered in jagged scales of salt. Looking as if they were buried under the sea for centuries, they smelt terrible, and had the unmistakable desire to capture him and his vessel.

After the moment of shock, he went back to battling them, picking up a fist sized cannonball he used with his swivel gun, he chucked it at the rowboat, making sure it crashed through the bottom of the boat. Water gushed upwards, and before they could climb aboard the Maltese Nemo, he used a hook pole to push them away from his boat.

Then he went to the rudder and guided his ship away from the sinking pirates, who roared in dismay as they were being swallowed up by the foamy waves.

As he tried to catch the wind in his sails, he heard a ear splitting explosive sound, that cracked through the sky as if it were a renegade blast of thunder. A impact soon hit near the Maltese Nemo, off the port side, a large orb struck the water, sending a pillar of water skyward, that then rained down onto the boat.

Pulling the rudder hard, he steered into the current of the ocean, that to his good luck caught a good gust of wind that pulled away Ruger’s ship from being blasted by a cannonball. The second shot missed by a few moments, but already his boat was a quarter league away from the pursuing ship, with blood red sails.

Looking back he saw the ship with worn, pallid wood boards, and scarlet sails, waving the colors of the skull and crossbones. A pirate ship right out of the seventeenth century, armed with cannons, and filled with pirates with those deadly gray faces. Forsaking those of its crew that were in the sunken rowboat, floundering around hoping to be rescued.

Speeding past their crewmates, the ship gave chase, and was quickly catching up, as a dense black fog seemed to steam around the vessel as it gave chase.

Estimating he would be overcome at the current course not long after midnight, Ruger put his thumb and forefinger to the sky and measured the stars. As the moon rose high, he realized he was not far off the coast of Elephant Island, a sand covered island, with a lonely rock island, surrounded by many narrow and treacherous to sail coves.

Keeping one of his grotto bases there, he set his course and steered towards it destination, just as the pursuing pirate ship began to fire its long ranged guns. Barrages of thunderous cannon explosions, soared across the sky and landed on either side of the ship.

Geysers of water shot upward, tilting the boat against the upturned waves, that might’ve capsized the boat. However he had faced more unsettled warts in great tempests that shake the entire ocean, tumultuous tidal waves caused by the yawn of leviathans, such things were nothing to be scoffed at by the courageous sailor.

‘I can throw better than you can shoot out of those cannons! In fact—!’ locking the rudder in place, Ruger went to the sack he kept his cannonballs, that were rolling around the deck of the boat.

Lifting one up, he rubbed his sun toasted palms against one another, rubbing intently till they hotter than a lit stove. Holding the cannonball in his hand as if he were a Olympic shot putter, he spun around, before launching the fist sized orb skyward in a large arc.

Ruger listened as he heard a loud crash come from the enemy vessel, and a commotion of surprise, as one of the masts fell over. Letting out a boisterous laugh of success, the sailor went to grab, another just as several cannonballs were fire upon him, but missed, he took the opportunity to aim his next shot.

Hoping this would cause enough damage to forestall enemy fire long enough for him to escape to his grotto. Taking aim, he spun around and with another throw he launched it, and watched as the black orb sailed in the sky and landed through the deck of the red sail ship. By the sound of a succession of breaking wood he smiled as he imagined he broke a hole right through the ship, which was now taking on water.

Returning to rudder, he set his course straight to the north side of Elephant Island, a mist rolled in over the waters approaching the landmass. A murky, silver fog that would’ve befuddled most sailors, but he put signposts in the water. Using scales from a Gallup Fish he marked rocks on the coast to help direct him in the dark and obscuring weather. Reading the dazzling letters of a obscure island language, he navigated through the maze of reefs and hidden rocks.

Wrecks could be seen through the fog, who believed the signposts all pointed to a safe route, unaware they also warned against dire pitfalls. Finally after the last bend, he came upon the hidden grotto.

Sailing into a gaping cave mouth, he sailed down the waving waters, till he came to a pool at its heart, where he built a dock. Leashing the Maltese Nemo to it, he walked onto the dock and climbed the stone steps to his hidden base, which was in a furnished cave above the grotto. With large round windows in the rock wall he was able to watch most of the island from there, as he fed fire into the fireplace.

As the fog was dense, he didn’t was sure the pirates wouldn’t spot the smoke from the fire, and using the supplies he and cooking utensils there, he put on a pot of coffee. Still nighttime out, it was barely past midnight, when the pirate’s ship ran ashore, having taken on too much water.

Despite being obscured through the fog, Ruger could tell they weren’t the ghosts of pirates, but rather pretenders hoping to use their horrific guise to frighten their victims in surrender. As he poured himself a coffee he watched as the pirates made a base on the island’s beach, ignorant of the enchantment placed on the island.

An enchantment that comes from the solitary mountain to the north of the island, where at its peak is built a fortress made of marble stone. Obscured by mist, its halls of polished stone house many secrets of sorcery of the old world, including animation of inanimate objects, like statues of elephants.

Roaming around the island during the night are marble elephants, having survived centuries after the death of their master, they stomp around the sandy island as if it were sand dunes of a great desert. Already Ruger could feel their vibrations as they headed southward on their trek around the island.

‘They sure do cause a ruckus.’ a abrupt but familiar voice said from the darkness. Turning around he saw in the light of the stove a familiar pointed hat made of violet satin, with those small aqua green eyes encircled by black racoon circles, long nose with rounded tip. Dressed head to toe in heavy mauve fur jackets that cover his feet, he looked as if he were a scavenger beast that learned to walk upright.

‘Mirekin!’ explained the large sailor who went towards his old friend, who barely reached his knees. He was a dwarfish, imp of a creature, that was not quite human, but not entirely dissimilar, who loathed being bound to one place for too long. ‘How did you end up here?’ Ruger was perplexed as he imagined his friend on his skiff would be rounding about the edge of the Hidden Sea by then.

‘Long story short, I was shipwrecked by those pirates.’ he pointed to the wreckage of the red sailed ship on the beach. ‘After they got sight of me as I was following the winds north, they fired upon me, and sunk my boat off the shore somewhere. Thankfully I was able to hold onto a scrap of my skiff that still floated, and I washed ashore here.’

The large sailor shook his head with empathy. ‘I hope it wasn’t too hard living on this island.’

‘Not too difficult.’ admitted the smallish gnome-man who went to Ruger’s dry preserves, opening a jar of peach plums, and swallowing its contents in a few gulps. ‘I found your markers and this safehouse. I’ve been surviving on the supplies you left.’

‘Good to know I manage to help a friend, even if I wasn’t around.’

‘Well now you are.’ the small man countered. ‘You can help me get off this island, the pirates will be landlocked here for awhile, we can take your boat and sail away from here.’ the suggestion put a smile on the large sailor’s face.

‘Yes we could, and we’ll do just that. Let me finish my coffee—’ he picked up the kettle and drank the scalding hot liquid in one swallow. ‘—and we’ll set sail tonight. Already I miss the sea.’

‘As do I.’ Mirekin gave his friend a shallow, but appreciated smile. As they started to pack for the voyage. Bringing crates and bags to the Maltese Nemo down in the grotto, they heard the approach of hundreds of enormous feet. The marble elephants finding trespassers on their island, did as they master bid of them while he was alive, force them into the sea. Before the pirates could load their cannons, and begin a desperate counter fire, Ruger and Mirekin climbed aboard the boat.

Untying to the dock, they carefully sailed out of the narrow streams leading to the grotto, as the mist began to lift, and the pirates could spot the Maltese Nemo start going out to sea. Unable to turn their cannons in time, the captain of the villainous corsair crew, told his men to concentrate fire on the stampeding marble elephants.

Who as they were a quarter league away, were blasted by a dozen cannons, filled with gunpowder the cannonballs as big as a narwhal soared across the sky, leaving a black streak of smoke. Upon impact they erupted in a hellfire of crimson and shrapnel that cracked many of the elephants, and crippled others, sending their marble limbs in all directions.

Some were knock off their feet, as some of them tried to rise their limbs cracked and fell off their heavy bodies. This did not stop their stampede, and compelled by a command far greater than they sense of safety, they regrouped and continued their charge, as the pirates reloaded their magazines.

Ruger and Mirekin watched from the Maltese Nemo, and both wanted to stay and watch, but neither wanted to give up on their head start in fleeing the pirates. Going with the wind, the dawn was fast approaching as they followed the current northward, into the shallowest part of the Hidden Sea.

Before dawn approached Elephant Island, and the sound of cannon fire and elephant stampedes were too far distant to be heard.

Chapter III - The Dark Shape In The Water

The Shallows were the shallowest part of the Hidden Sea, sailors who passed by it, would go there to fish since there was an abundance of them swimming about. Some believed it was a cross-section of ocean streams, where fish from around the world passed through from time to time.

As Ruger slept in the warm morning sun next to the rudder, having had the coffee worn out in his system by that time, Mirekin chewed on his bubble pipe as he began to fish. At first it seemed that nothing was biting, but as the water got warmer with the day, the fish began to swim about more lively.

The first one to bit his lure was a snapper, that devoured the bait but found itself stuck on the hook, as it flailed about, tried to free itself, but ended up in a bucket. Soon it was joined by another fish, and two others, before noon, he had captured a bucket full.

Pulling out his knife he gutted and descaled them, as he did so he tipped his hat back, and looked at the water, not for any particular reason, but when he did he saw a dark shadow move about the water. It was large and looked unnatural, as if it were neither made of solid shapes, but formed of many oblong constructs that writhed about itself as if they were strands of hair.

‘Ruger.’ Mirekin spoke in a uncertain voice, unsure of what he saw, but not wanting to appear childish to be afraid of nothing. ‘Ruger?’ he went to the portside of the boat, and looked at the dark shape, it was getting closer to them, and it moved, tendrils raised from the water, reaching for them. ‘Ruger!’

His small voice came out as a shriek of pure terror, as the large sailor sprang to life as if he awoke to his shoes watching on fire, his wide eyes were drawn to where Mirekin pointed.

‘Boy Charlie, its a squid!’ he exclaimed as he picked up a large harpoon from its holster on the ship. He tied the thick rope it was attached too around his forearm, then with the other arm aimed it at the dark shape. ‘This’ll hopefully scare it off.’

Before Mirekin could suggest maybe that would agitate the creature, the harpoon was launched as if it were a torpedo from a submarine. Water and air were parted as it cut through them, and landed stiffly into the shadow. From the dark shape came a black pool, clouding the water, and obscuring the shape as it moved about the obscuring blackness.

Roughly he tried to pull free the harpoon, but it was stuck tight, and it felt as if it was being pulled back. Mirekin wanting to help his friend went to look for a weapon to help, but he was too small to lift any of the large and heavy armaments Ruger used. Turning back to look how the fight was going, he saw Ruger in a tug of war with the squid, both sides pulling on the rope, neither side relenting.

Gritting his teeth hard enough to strain his square jawline, the sailor let out a prolonged revving growl, as he began to pulled back the rope, looping each foot of it around his arm. Legs pressed against the railing of his boat, he used the leverage to give him more purchase in the tug of war.

Mirekin could only imagine the strain the squid was under, trying to pull Ruger into the water, if the rope was triple weaved, diamond strand it might’ve snapped long ago, but it kept its tautness as the two sides struggled. Finally there was a movement where Ruger mistepped as he tried to reinforce his foothold, that was enough to for unrelenting undersea creature to pull the large man into the water.

‘Ruger!’ Mirekin cried as he ran to grab hold of his friend, but he was too late, he watched as the sailor splashed into the sea water, and his form was dragged to the pool of ink.

Grabbing the wheel of the ship, the little seaman turned the ship about, to face the dark pool, and unlocking the rudder, allowed the boat to start moving towards the inky pool. Where he planned to use pole he could use to poke around for Ruger, in hopes of giving him something to hold onto, and pull himself to the surface.

As the Maltese Nemo came over the inky pool, Mirekin picked the only pole he could lift with both hands, and went to the railings of the boat. Poking it into the inky pool, he swished it about, hoping to make contact with Ruger, but all he felt was empty water. Without giving up he continued to move about, back and forth, deeper into the inky mass, till he felt something grab ahold of it, he jumped in fright, thinking it was the squid.

The tightness of the grip around the pole scared him, but he didn’t let go, and as he pulled it back, hoping to free it from those tendrils, he was relieved to see Ruger spring of the water, holding the end of the pole. As soon as he pulled himself back on deck, he inhaled and exhaled at a steady pace, trying to get some good air back into his lungs.

‘What happened?!’ Mirekin was anxious, fearing the squid would reach for them again, if they weren’t careful. It wasn’t till he saw black goo dripping from Ruger’s arm, did he notice he still held onto the harpoon, and stuck to it was a long, black, squid tendril.

‘I got my harpoon back, and then some.’ he answered cheerfully after getting his breathing back in rhythm. ‘Good for a barbecue on deck.’

‘What happened to the rest of it?’ Mirekin was still worried of being attacked again.

‘Ah, it fled back to its cave in the shallows. I doubt it’ll poke its head out again anytime soon.’

Both of them relieved to have survived, they steered the boat to the edge of the Shallows, then as Ruger undressed to his briefs, so his clothes could dry in the sun, they prepared a firepit.

There they laid down a steel grill, and began to cook up the fish Mirekin caught, and the squid tendril Ruger got. As they ate, they told jokes, shared stories, and as the day turned to dusk, they sang songs and played music as the twilight turned to night.

Ruger with his jew harp, and Mirekin with his piccolo. Together they lulled one another into a dreary state, and they both slept with their bellies full of food, and their minds at bliss.

Chapter IV - New York City

Ruger looked to the stars one day, and believed it was time to go to New York City. Mirekin not having a boat of his own yet, and never having been to such a place, asked to go with him. Agreeing cheerfully for the company, both of them sailed to the edge of the Hidden Sea.

Going through a curtain of dense fog, perilous waters, and bypassing the gigantic sea serpent that guards the way into the Hidden Sea, they emerged out of the Bermuda Triangle.

Already Mirekin could tell the water was different, so was the air, and the sky, it all seemed different despite the similarities to those familiar to him.

‘Do you come out here often?’ Mirekin was amazed at what he saw, as he looked to the north-west through a telescope he saw a gigantic landmass, far bigger than any he saw before.

‘Not as often as I once did. I only come here to do my business, then I go back, there really isn’t much for me here anyway.’

Mirekin had heard Ruger speak that this outside world was where he came from, and was confused as to why he preferred to be away from it so often.

‘Is this place dangerous?’ the gnomish sailor was beginning to worry about the unfamiliar dangers they would come across in those waters.

‘It can be, but not like in the Hidden Sea. The most dangerous thing is not what’s in the water, rather what is on dry land.’

Mirekin was confused by those words, but he decided to wait and see what he meant, as they sailed most of the day towards the place called New York City.

As they travelled up the coast, he saw boats that looked far different than any he had seen before. Metal ones, ones larger than any he seen before, and ones that seem to be made just to look good.

Despite their strange looks, they moved a lot slower compared to the Maltese Nemo, which moved faster on the water, even when the wind died down. It was the leviathan bones that it was made out, it made the boat swim as if it were one, across the ocean’s surface. Before the afternoon, Ruger had taken them to a large dock made of horrible looking stone. Large ships were docked nearby, and there were moving about large metallic containers.

Mirekin never seen such a thing, and he wasn’t sure he liked what he saw.

‘What are they doing?’ he sounded a offended at what the dockworkers were doing.

‘They are moving in and sending out goods and other such things all over the world on those ships.’ he pointed to the tower metallic ships, as he docked the boat on a pier far off from the shipping dock.

‘I imagine its for a lot of people.’ Mirekin wasn’t sure what it was, but the whole procedure for loading and offloading the containers seemed wrong. As if there was a better way to do it, yet he couldn’t imagine what. ‘I can also imagine its for nothing really at all.’

‘Oh its for people alright. People who want to make money selling things they make, or to get parts to make things to sell.’ Ruger docked the ship on the isolated pier, and tied it up, before helping Mirekin to the wooden dock. ‘But if that offends you my friend, I don’t believe you’ll find much else to your liking.’

The dock was a private dock Ruger paid to keep to himself, so when he returned to New York for business, he had a place to keep the Maltese Nemo. As soon as they left the dog, Mirekin was dazzled by the large buildings, and the amount of people walking about, in things he was later told were automobiles.

Before he could get a better look, he was pulled back by Ruger who saved him from being run over, as he was unaware of the rules about crossing the street.

After being told a few rules to survive navigating the city, Mirekin began to show a liking for the place, even though there were things he hated. The artificial stone everywhere, the tall metal buildings, and the terrible smell were the things he was most vocal about disliking.

Ruger agreed with his sentiments, and assured him that he only needed to visit the family lawyer’s office. The firm was situated downtown, so they took a taxi over.

Waving his large arms, the sailor called upon a taxi, and opened its doors to allow his friend inside. The driver and the inside of the vehicle scared him, but the hustle of city life didn’t tolerate hesitation, so Ruger lifted up the small man and tossed him into the backseat, where he joined him.

Telling the cab driver where to go, Mirekin looked out the window and watched the many sights of the city. Things like television screens, dazzling lights, and a police shooting. All these things were both familiar yet presented in a foreign way.

‘This is like those cities on the larger islands.’ Mirekin said, as he noticed the cab driver stealing glances at him.

The driver thought the small guy was weird looking, but didn’t want to address his thoughts, keeping his thoughts and opinions to himself.

‘Only less dirty and crowded, eh?’ Ruger pointed out, as he was pretty sure the advances of steel working and machinery was still a budding in the Hidden Sea.

‘I might want to come here again…though I won’t want to come to this city exactly.’ he took out his handkerchief and blew his nose, as he felt stuffy from breathing the harsh air.

‘I understand, New York as many other cities on the outside was have wonderful things. But once you come here, they make it harder for you to leave.’ Ruger smile faded as if he remembered something important. ‘Same with everything here, they survive by keeping people in one place, much like chickens in a pen.’

Mirekin wasn’t sure how that applied, he started to think the people there were cannibals, but then he looked at the cab driver, and started to think it was because they needed people to drive. Then he started to think they didn’t just need drivers, but dock workers, and sailors to sail the large steel boats, and people to do all kinds of things they don’t want to do themselves.

Thinking that way scared him, and he was hoping they’d leave soon, fearing of what they’d make him do for the rest of his life.

Eventually the cab stopped in front of a large building made of glass and steel beams. Opening the door, Ruger gave the cab driver some coins. At first the driver looked displeased with the payment, but his eyes recognized the weight and color of gold. Pocketing them, he thanked them for the patronage, and drove off, before Mirekin fully stepped onto the sidewalk.

Thankfully he wasn’t knocked off his feet. Ruger and Mirekin walked through the front doors, once inside, the small seaman shivered, feeling the terrible cold in the air.

‘That’s air conditioning.’ Ruger explained it was a machine used to keep the building cold.

‘I rather it kept the building warm.’ the gnomish man retorted, as he went to the elevators.

At first Mirekin was confused as to why they were sealed inside of a small room. It wasn’t till a button was pushed and they ascended did he understand what was happening.

Screaming in excitement the small man didn’t stop till the elevator reached the floor where they got off. Once there, they approached a desk where a woman sat. She was pressing operating the phone system, and typing on a computer, when she saw the familiar face of Ruger.

‘Its been a year already?’ she squealed as she stood up to embrace the large man.

‘Yes it is, and I brought a friend with me, its his first time in New York.’

‘Really?!’ she looked over and her face fallen into a confused look. ‘Hello there Mr.—?’

‘Mirekin.’ he responded holding out his hand to shake hers, it was as if a toddler had grabbed hold of her finger.

‘Its a pleasure, I’m Samantha. Ruger, Mr. Barrows would like to speak with you right away.’

After saying that they were shown inside of a large room filled with many smaller rooms, where people talked to one another.

Everyone was dressed in different colors but wearing the same basic outfit.

‘Is this a cult?’ Mirekin asked, worried they were about to be captured by devil worshipers or some such group. Both Ruger and the woman laughed.

‘No, my friend. This is a lawyer office. Where they discuss matters of law and deals.’ he explained. Such a concept was foreign to him, as they didn’t have lawyer in the Hidden Sea. Though Mirekin imagined like most things in New York, the Hidden Sea was most likely better off without it.

After a short walk they went into a officer, where they met with Mr. Barrows. Mirekin saw immediately he had a look in his eyes, one that wasn’t meant to be trusted. He wanted to leave, but didn’t want to leave Ruger behind.

‘Ruger, hello.’ the jackal toothed lawyer greeted, taking the large Sailor’s Hand in a limp handed shake. ‘How have you been, its been so long.’

‘Its been a year.’ Ruger replied with a smile that didn’t match his stern tone of voice.

‘Right. Tell me what brings you to our neck of the woods?’ Mr. Barrows licked the gold tooth that shone in his hideous mouth.

‘For the in person meeting I have to attend to keep myself being declared dead.’ Ruger responded bluntly, despite his friendly face, Mirekin could tell he didn’t like Mr. Barrows.

And from the wicked look in his eyes, he saw that the feeling was mutual.

‘Of course. I just have a few things for you to sign.’

‘I gave power of attorney to my brother.’ Ruger said in a clear, yet cold voice. ‘Anything he can sign. I am here to prove I am still alive.’

‘So you are.’ Mr. Barrows clicked his tongue, and deepened the nasty look in his eyes, while keeping the friendly smile, that looked less friendly the longer he held it. ‘Any chance you can stay awhile, help run the family estate?’

‘No. I have a family to get back to.’ with that he left Mr. Barrows office, as he tried to get his attention, but the lawyer gave up once the large sailor was out the door.

He spoke friendly to Samantha as they headed to the elevator, engaging in police conversation, till he pressed the button for the doors to open.

‘It was nice talking to you Samantha.’ he said with a genuine smile.

‘Likewise, Ruger.’ she embrace him gentle, before waving goodbye and returning to her desk.

Once both Mirekin and Ruger were inside the elevator, and the doors closed, he pressed the button to return to the lobby.

‘Why do you come back here?’ Mirekin asked, noticing the rare look in his friend’s eyes of utter dislike for Mr. Barrows.

‘To make sure, he doesn’t get what he wants.’ Ruger stated flatly. ‘Do you want to stay in the city, and look around a bit?’ he asked suddenly as if out of obligation to the newcomer to the big city.

‘No.’ Mirekin answered. ‘I don’t think I like New York. I rather we go back to where its warm where it should be.’ with that they went straight from the lawyers office to the dock, where they boarded the Maltese Nemo and left without incident.

Chapter V - The Kraken’s Eddy

After returning to the Hidden Sea, Mirekin and Ruger spent a few weeks on the Island Of Stuw. One of the largest islands in the sea, where the native people built a large city for bartering foodstuffs and tools.

Made of a collection of straw huts, stone stalls, and large sturdy buildings made of wreckage of ships. One such business was The Point Hub, there sailors would go to drink grog beer and tell stories, and the best storyteller of the day would get his drinks for free.

Ruger was more often than not the winner, as he had many stories tell, some were nice, calming stories of days with his family, others were risky, adventures tales of battling sea monsters. What he told the patrons that evening was his recent visit to New York, despite the mundane tale his descriptors of such a foreign place won him the evening, and Mirekin and Ruger drank their fill.

Afterwards they slept on the Maltese Nemo that was in the dock, and spent the following weeks doing much of the same. Eating at food stands, and drinking at the Hub till the haze of merry drunkenness was lifted by the sober need for adventure.

So on the last day, Ruger traded some rare oddities he gathered on his voyages, and gave the money to Mirekin, who accepted it with unhindered by arbitrary feelings of obligation. With the money he bought material to build a new skiff, and sailed to the northern waters of the Hidden Sea.

Once there they found a small, unnamed island, and together built a new skiff for him, which they finished in three days. After it was built and the midday sun was high, they shared one last meal together before Mirekin prepared to sail off.

‘I appreciate all the help, and the time we spent together.’ the gnomish sailor shook the larger man’s hand with appreciation. ‘If I ever find myself marooned again, I hope it is you who finds me.’

Ruger let out a booming laugh, before telling his friend, ‘I hope you are not in such a predicament again.’ With that they said farewells, and sailed in their own directions, which happened to be in opposite ways.

Ruger needed to start heading south to start the tour of visiting his thirteen wives again, as Mirekin was following the northern currents eastward, to get some more fishing done.

As he started to plot the course with his sea charts, Ruger had set the rudder in place, and was setting the direction on the wheel, when he heard a deafening crack echo in the air. Turning about just as a explosion of water nearly capsized his boat, he saw he was under attack by the Red Sailed boat.

The hull was mended, the sailed were stitched, and the pirate crew were crying for his blood. He was so preoccupied planning his tour, he didn’t realize the pirate ship coming up at his stern.

Quickly he set a new course, so the Maltese Nemo would be carried by the current, despite its naturally speed, his boat wasn’t faster than the pirate’s ship. It wasn’t till it was half a league away did he heard the familiar grind of machinery, that was when he realized it was a steam engine!

The pirates could easily outpace him, unless he took drastic maneuver. At first he considered throwing more cannonballs to sink the ship, but he saw they had reinforced the ship with metal plating. He may dent it, but even he wasn’t strong enough to puncture iron plating with a cannonball.

Setting the course on the wheel, he went to the rudder, to guide the boat to the only place he had a hope to escape the pirate ship—The Krakens Eddy. Sandwiched between two rock cliffs, rising from the sea, the foamy whirlpool was home to a terrible leviathan that had littered its domain with the wreckage of many ships.

Heading towards the distant cliffs to the north east, he hoped to escape the bombardment of cannonballs that shot all around him, upsetting the waves, and cracking his stern—the only part of his boat unfortified by leviathan bones. Grabbing the steering wheel, he fought against the pressure the rising waves put on his boat to steer it off course, but he kept to the heading. The cliffs grew in size as he got closer, as the snarls of the pirates behind him seem to be just over his shoulder, as they fired their full magazines, trying to sink his boat.

However by the grace of the sea, sheer luck, and a unbending hand on the wheel, Ruger the sailor steered the Maltese Nemo through the opening between the two cliffs. Once inside, he was swept away by the emerald whirlpool, that boomed and splashed about the water, trying to swallow its new prey into his black portal at the center of its vortex.

Wrestling with the wheel, he had to keep from getting drawn to the center too quickly, crabbing a pole he jammed the wheel to give him time to search for a grappling hook and rope, and a swivel gun. Loading the barrel with gunpowder, he stuffed in the grappling hook, and some rope, then tied the end of the room to the skull mast of his boat.

Just then came a unison of frightening sounds, the growl of the leviathan under the waves, and the sound of the scarlet sailed ship crashing through the tight opening in the cliffs. Unaware they were sailing into a whirlpool, the pirates let out terrible cries of fear and dismay, as they were pulled into the center of the vortex. The metal reinforcement made them too heavy, and as they sank into the whirlpool, a crimson mass of gnarled, twisted flesh, and tendril limbs rose from the whirlpool.

Eyes as brightly burning as molten sulfur looked all about in a thousand different directions. Looking too long at the kraken would drive even the most sane sailors incurably mad, so Ruger turned away, as he aimed his swivel gun, but before he did, another ghastly sight pulled his focus.

As the Maltese Nemo was being pulled down into the whirlpool, shadows began to form in the water, and soon he saw them crawl on the side of his ship—pirates, only these were real undead pirates. Ghostly, zombies drowned centuries ago, have been captured in the next of the kraken, brought to life by the promise of another living soul to reap.

‘Vile brigands! Take this to the depths!’ cried Ruger who picked up a cannon ball in one hand and flung it at the closest undead fiend. The skull cracked leaking foamy, green brains, and sending the creep into the whirlpool where it was swept away. That was when the other undead pirates stayed back into the water, just as the fake undead pirates were being succumbed by the kraken’s wanting embrace.

Then in the pause of their advance one pirate came on board the Maltese Nemo, though Ruger didn’t know him, it was Rogerick Plegmghast back from his briny hell.

‘To the depths I’d be taking this vessel, says I.’ the wicked undead pirate captain sneered, showing his lipless gray mouth, and seaweed beard. ‘Have at you.’ he lunged forward with his salt encrusted cutlass.

Ruger dodged aside, and picked up a large thick piece of wood leftover from helping Mirekin rebuild his skiff. With it he fended off some of the pirate captain’s fiercest sword strikes, but eventually the wood piece was hacked to pieces. Leaving Ruger to grab the nearest weapon, the pole he used to jam the steering wheel, as the boat started to rapidly spin with the vortex, Ruger battled captain Rogerick.

Deflecting sword strikes, and hammering the pole into the skeletal chest of the pirate, he heard a moist crackling sound each time he struck the grotesque buccaneer. Foams and green oozed foamed from the zombies mouth, as it tried to claw at Ruger. The ship was getting dangerously close to the Kraken which was just finishing off the fake undead pirates, he needed to get rid of the undead captain soon.

With all the force he could muster he rammed the pole into the captain so hard, it impaled the undead fiend, and he ran to pick up a cannonball. Just as the pirate hack the pole on both ends, so it didn’t inhibit his movements, Captain Rogerick gave a wheezing, raspy warcry as he charged with his cutlass held high.

No sooner did he aim the shot, that Ruger threw the cannonball at hard and fast as he could, launching it nearly as well as a real cannon. The black orb penetrated the zombie’s chest, and with the lift of a giant eagles wing flap, he launched the fiend up off the dead, and sent him flying into the air, right into the dead centre of the whirlpool.

Disheartened by their captain’s defeat, the other undead pirates returned to their watery graves, not long having the stomach for a fight. Without much time left to save himself, Ruger went to the swivel cannon, and as his boat began to be submerged into the whirlpool, he took aim at the cliffs, and fired.

As the foamy water touched the heels of his shoes, the grappling hook shot up, and latched firmly onto the rocks. While the Maltese Nemo began to swirl about, Ruger went to the steering wheel and directed the boat towards the cliffs.

The tightness between the whirlpool and the cliffs tested the limits of even the thrice woven diamond rope, but as the tension reached its limit, the whirlpool relented only a bit, but enough to send the Maltese Nemo flying into the air. Swinging in the air, the boat flew as if it were a lopsided seagull where it skidded and skipped across the water, before the piece of the skull broke off. The thrice woven diamond rope was lost, snagged on the cliffs of the Kraken’s Eddy.

Skipping along the water for three good hops, the boat finally jerked back as if time had finally caught up to the boat’s acceleration. Falling forward, Ruger nearly went flying overboard, but his foot got caught on the railing. Breathing hard from physical exhaustion, and getting over the shock of his fantastical escape, he began to take slow but deep breathes, as he heard the Kraken let out one last gurgling roar before returning to the depths.

Safe, and free from the pursuit of pirates both living and dead, Ruger set the course to his first wife, to hopefully spend two wonderful weeks at his families side. First however he had to stop by Giant Shark Island, to get presents for the wife and kids. With a broad smile he went to the steering wheel and set his course.