Tails of the Deep [Major Editing]

Chapter 3: Port Rosemary

  years have passed since William Hail's first voyage as the ship's cabin boy. After two years, Bod had allowed him to emerge as a full sailor and he took on his first duty as navigator.

Through the seven years, the crew have ward off some pirates, made decent trades and killed off a few sirens. They have lost some men along the way, but also recruited some others.

"Not doing yer duties, Captain?" Bod coughed.

"I'm sorr-" William paused. "Wait, did you just call me Captain?" He looked at the big man in surprise.

Bod bowed his head, "Yer ready, son." He led William out on to the decks. They were facing the entire crew now.

The big man cleared his throat before announcing, "My fellow crewmen. We have seen Will grow from a wee cabin boy to a valiant sailor. Will, as most of ya know, is the son of our late captain, Jupiter Hail." There was a moment of silence at the mention of their late captain.

"As his first mate," Bod continued. "I shall now appoint Will as our captain." He looked back at the grown man behind him and said with a smile, "Welcome aboard, Captain Hail."

William took a step forward and looked around his crewmen. All of them bowed to him. He shifted his eyes back to his first mate. "What are yer orders, Captain?" Bod asked.

Captain Hail smiled and said, "We'll sail south. We need to dock at Port Rosemary to restock our supplies and pick up some shipment."

"Aye aye, Captain!" Bod saluted and turned to the crewmen, "Ya heard the captain! Head south!"

William turned to his new cabin – the Captain's cabin. The cabin has been untouched for sevem years since the Avenger's maiden voyage. When he entered the room, it was spotless. Bod had requested the new cabin boys to clean up the room before William's appointment as captain.

The new captain looked around and examined his room. There was a bed in the middle of the room. Towards the left was a bookshelf filled with tons of books of different adventures of previous sailors and legends of the ocean. Towards the right was a huge world map pinned on the wall and a big study table.

William walked towards the study table. There was a smaller map spread out on the table for planning. There was also a globe on the right corner of the table. All the stationery was neatly arranged.

He took a seat in the luxurious burgundy armchair and began to plan the ship's next route from Rosemary.

When he was done, William headed out to check on his crew. He observed the entire crew surrounding One-Eye. They seemed engrossed in something One-Eye was saying. Curious, William walked over and asked, "Is everything okay here, boys?"

The men turned and looked up at their captain, afraid that he would yell at them for skiving off. One of them answered, "Yes, Cap'n. One-Eye here, was just telling us 'bout some legend of the sirens."

Intrigued, William beckoned, "Well, let's hear it, One-Eye."

One-Eye nodded and began, "'Tis tale has been passed down fer many generations, from sailor to sailor. There was once a pirate called Lucas, and no matter how he was taught that sirens were enemies, he fell in love with one named Tiph'ny. Now, Tiph'ny was the princess of S'cria, a powerful siren kingdom, and they were so madly in love that Tiph'ny revealed the siren kingdom's most guarded secret.

"It is said that there lies a pearl, a magical pearl, which kept order and peace in the kingdom. Lucas promised he would never tell anyone about it, but y'know what they say... Never trust a pirate.

"Even when they were so in love, he told his crewmen about this pearl and news circulated among all sailors in the land. It was worth quite a sum of money back then. Many have tried to obtain it, but failed. With the increasing number of lives lost fer this pearl, its value more than doubled.

"It is believed that if the pearl is removed from its rightful place, the King of S'cria would not be able to rule the kingdom and whole kingdom would crumble away. To this very day, no one has been able to steal that pearl."

William nodded his head. Having this pearl would certainly help him in avenging his father's death. It would mean instant extermination of all sirens. "How does one obtain this pearl?" he asked.

"Cap'n, yer not seriously interested in stealing this pearl, are ya? It's way too dangerous, sir," One-Eye frowned.

"I have to. It's the only way I can put an end to this."

"B-but yer putting all of our lives at risk," One-Eye argued. The other crewmen agreed with him. They were all worried for their families back home.

"I fully understand, One-Eye. But this is something I have to do. This is what I came for, seven years ago. I won't force you to join me. I'll go alone if I have to," William said, turning around.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. "I'm with ya, Captain." It was Bod's voice. William turned towards to voice. "All the way," his first mate finished.

William dipped his head thankfully and looked around at the rest of the crew. The air was still. All the other men followed suit and chorused, "Fer Jupiter Hail, the greatest captain of all time."

The captain looked back at One-Eye, who was looking the other way. The one-eyed sailor then sighed and gave in, "I'm with ya too." He walked over to William and said, "There is a map that will lead us to S'cria, the siren kingdom. Traveling around on S'criaian waters is dangerous enough. Having this map would give us an advantage on how to go about entering the kingdom."

"And where can we get this map?" The captain asked, a scene already playing in his mind. He would bring doom to all sirens and make them regret ever developing a taste for human flesh.

One-Eye gave it a little thought before he replied, "Ah Will. Impeccable timing. The map can be found at Port Rosemary. I happened to have heard from the previous port that there was a person holding on to this map. He can be found in Humphrey's Inn and Bar. But I'm tellin' ya Cap'n, the price he's offering for it is far too high."

The sailor licked his lips. "Captain Hail, I don't even think we have enough gold for it. Perhaps we could locate S'cria ourselves? We could capture a siren and ask it, or something."

William dismissed him. "We'll check with that man first. We might be able to come to a consensus."

One-Eye nodded his head and the crew dispersed to their respective duties. The captain headed back to his cabin and looked at the map. Only two weeks to Port Rosemary.

William is now 25 years old