Aboard the Jackdaw: Under Edward Kenway And The Black Flag

12: Pirates and Poetry

"Arsehole. I'd sell ya for a leaf."

It was funny how when Soap was mad, his Irish accent reappeared.

The pirates crouched down in the canopy with their pistols in hand, and kept their eyes scanning the trees. Joel turned against a tree trunk and noticed some tempting berries growing against the ancient bark,

"Doc, these safe to eat?"
Joel whispered.

John looked at the berries, and his eyes grew wide. He quickly scurried to the plants in question and carefully examined them,

"Fascinating..."
Dr. John trailed off.

"Well, is that a yes then?"
Asked Joel impatiently.

John simply nodded a yes, and was quickly distracted by other plants. He began examining them too,

"Fascinating."
The doctor mummbled again.

Anna nudged Soap,

"We must be in a botanists heaven, mate." She whispered.

"Oi, I've been inside a lot of things and people in my day, but a planty heaven is not one."
Soap giggled.

"Wait!! Stop!!" Hissed John. He grabbed Joel's hand as the greedy pirate was just seconds away from eating a berry.

John grabbed the berry from his hand and held it above him,

"This is not an dragon berry like the rest. Look at the bottom."
He hissed.

The whole group almost bumped heads as they peered down at the berry together. Unlike the rest of the tiny berries, this one had a bright red navel at the bottom.
John turned to Joel,

"Do ya know what this is, lad? Do you know what's in this berry?"
He exclaimed quietly.

Joel shook his head with dread. John held the berry in his face with an excited smile,

"This contains a cousin chemical of tetrodotoxin. Do you know what that is, lad?"

"Oo! I know!" Exclaimed Soap, raising his hand like a school boy,
"The Sleeping beauty roofie!"

Anna looked at Soap with a disgusted expression infecting her face.

"Aye! That's it, Soap, lad!"
Whispered Dr. John,"Many men have eaten this here thing, and fallen 'dead' so to speak. Their heart slows down so much, and beats so faintly, that even doctors can't tell they are still alive or naw! The eaters of this berry wake up a few days later perfectly fine, but many a men have been exhumed from six feet down under to find scratch marks on the inside of their coffins!"
He whispered eerily, like it was a ghost story.

John held the sleeping berry up to the light as the rest of the party looked at him discussed.

"Fascinating.." Dr. John trailed off as he combed through the berries for the "Sleeping Beauty' ones, and slid them into a glass collection jar.

The pirates sat for about ten minutes, listening to John quietly ramble about each plant before he retrieved samples for his lab.
Then, they heard the noise they were waiting for.

A swarm of monkeys swinging through the trees was fast approaching.

"Open season, mate!"
Yelled Joel.

The pirates war whooped out of the canopy and shot down one schreeching primate after another. When the tree stampede disappeared, the hunters were left with ten dead monkeys.

Between the four of them, it was a very successful hunt. They hauled their kill over their shoulders and decided to take a detour home to see the Mayan ruins.