A Pirate's Life For Me

Chapter Eight; Attack on The Ship

It's been a few weeks after the Nordic ships appeared, and they have yet to leave. Alfred was currently sitting on his bed, in the room he had cleaned and repainted. He was getting annoyed, but was hiding it for the sake of Arthur and Peter.

'Mathias never shuts up, Tino is too cheery all the time, Berwald never talks, and all Lukas and Emil do is brood in silence.' Alfred thought to himself, a frown on his face. 'And ever since they showed up, Arthur barely has any time to talk to me! Everything would be better if they just left already!'

Alfred was about to continue his mental rant, but was stopped by the the ship suddenly stopping, throwing him to the floor in the process. He quickly stood and looked around in panic. 'What was that?' He asked himself mentally, not sure what had caused the ship to move. He made sure his feet were steady before walking out of his given room and towards the captain's chambers.

Once out of the room, Alfred ran into multiple crew members who were all rushing in the same direction. Confused, Alfred started to slowly follow after them. He was being pushed forwards by multiple people, until one picked him up and placed the younger boy on their shoulders. Looking down in panic, he recognized the familiar red locks of Allistor and calmed down.

"What's happening? Why is everyone rushing? And where are they even going to?" Alfred asked, gently grabbing onto Allistor's hair to comfort him from the fact that falling was very quite possible.

"Other ships are attacking, and Arthur needs everyone on beck to help out. He told me to bring you to to the safety room with Peter. Now can you let go of my hair? I can't help but feel like you're going to yank some out of my scalp." Allistor replied, still jogging down the long halls.

Every once in awhile, Allistor would make a turn that caused Alfred to pull on his hair in fear. Quickly nodding, Alfred let go of the man's hair. He slowly moved down so Allistor was giving him a piggy-back ride, and wrapped his arms around the Scotsman's neck.

Allistor groaned, pausing to move Alfred to a more comfortable position before continuing to sprint down the halls. After a few more turns, Alfred noticed Peter running around in confusion. He yelled at Allistor to stop, and pointed to the wandering boy. Sighing, Allistor quickly ran over and picked him up by the back of his shorts. Lifting him up, he turned back around and continued to push people out of the way. After a lot more turns and halls, along with Peter yelling curses loudly, Allistor paused in front of a rug-like painting that hung on the wall.

'Huh..' Alfred thought quietly, looking at the hanging object. 'I don't think I've ever seen this before.' He added on, tilting his head like a puppy would. Allistor looked back and forth in the hall, before quickly lifting the rug. Behind the rug was a dark, dusty looking room. Allistor quickly shoved both of the kids inside and shushed them when they both complained.

"Shush. This is the safest place on the ship. Not even the crew members know about it, so keep it that way." He informed, waving away some dust that was getting too close to his face. "Now, stay here, be quiet, and don't get caught." Allistor ordered, pointing a finger at them with a glare. The two boys nodded, causing him to smile slightly and nod. "Good. I have to go now. Just, don't get killed."

Alfred chuckled slightly, smiling even though the ship he depended on was currently on attack. Allistor smiled back, although worry shown in his eyes for a mere second before it was pushed away. Standing up from his crouching position, Allistor stood up with a simple nod. Looking left then right, Alfred saw Allistor's eyes widen before he grumbled something along the lines of "Arthur's gonna have to owe me."

Allistor suddenly started jumping up and down, yelling random words as he dropped the cover to the hidden room. Alfred heard him groan before running away. A few seconds later, more footsteps followed him down the hall, causing Alfred to shiver.

"What was that?" Peter asked quietly, one of the first things he had said to Alfred that day. Alfred shrugged before shushing the other blond quietly. Alfred felt Peter nodded in the darkness, wrapping his arms around himself quietly.

Alfred sighed, taking a similar pose that Peter had. Leaning against a wall, he began to think. 'Is there anything I, the Hero, can do right now?' He thought hopefully, but sighed when he found no ideas. 'This can't be right. The Hero always has an idea at hand. Why can't I?' As he sat in silence, he began to frown. Just as he was about to give up, a lightbulb hit him.

Literally. One had fallen from the ceiling above him.

Yelping, Alfred reached up and began to rub his aching head. Glaring down at where he thought the light bulb had landed, he frowned again. Peter began to say something, but Alfred interrupted him with an idea.

"How about we go help Arthur and the crew by attacking the attackers?" Alfred asked, excited as always. "We can set up traps and everything! How about it, Peter?"

Alfred noticed that Peter was hesitant to answer, but eventually nodded in the end. "Yeah! We can help save my family too!"

At the mention of the other boy's family, Alfred deflated slightly. Not that he didn't like the idea of saving his family too, it's just that: Alfred didn't like them as much as the other crew members did. But Alfred continued to shrug that emotion off, and was relieved that Peter hadn't noticed.

"Yeah!" He replied back, equally as happy. "We can even save Allistor!"

Both boys cheered loudly, forgetting that they were supposed to stay hidden and quiet. A few seconds into their cheering, the cover to the room was pulled way and someone reached in and grabbed the back of Peter's shirt. As Peter was being lifted away, all Alfred could do was stare in shock. The man who had grabbed Peter began to laugh loudly before talking.

"Hahaha! Wonder why this little kiddie be on the ship? Maybe he'll be worth a buck or two?" The man wondered aloud, his voice deep and raspy. Alfred shivered and, without thinking, jumped out of his hidden spot and tackled the taller man.

Said man had a long black beard that was uncombed and needed to be trimmed, along with his hair. His hair was a dark brown, but might have only been like that because of the low amount of washings (Alfred could tell he hadn't showered anytime recently because of his horrid smell). His hair was also being held back by a black fabric of some sort, which allowed Alfred to see the man's eyes. Which wasn't quite a good thing, because all they held was burning hatred.

Realizing his position, Alfred quickly let go of the man and shakily stepped away. The man smirked evilly before grabbing Alfred's forearm and pulling him closer. As the man leant in closer, Alfred could smell his terrible breath and gagged loudly. The man moved back in confusion, giving Alfred a chance to escape.

Alfred quickly turned and bolted, but was grabbed by the collar of his shirt. He stopped after being choked by the collar like a dog running on a leash, and was pulled backwards and onto the ground. He hit the hardwood harshly, causing him to lose his breath for a second. The older man sneered down at him before kicking him, causing pain to explode through his arm and shoulder. Alfred whimpered and reached up to rub his already bruising arm. The man laughed before grabbing his shirt and dragging him down the hall, Peter still struggling in his arms.

Both Alfred and Peter struggled to get free, but couldn't escape from the man's harsh grip. The man eventually made it to the deck of the ship, where Alfred could see Arthur struggling to fight off a group of men. Yelling out his name, Alfred saw Arthur quickly turn towards them with wide eyes. Just as Alfred was about to call out again, the man growled and hit the butt of his sword against his head, causing Alfred to almost instantly pass out.

The last thing Alfred saw was Arthur yelling something out, which he couldn't hear, and Peter struggling from the man's grip to help him. He weakly reached out for Arthur, but ended up with blackness taking over his vision instead.