The Façade of 1728

Grey Shadows

Low and behold, Francis stood his ground as he stared ahead at the rising sun on the horizon. The small shadow of a black ship growing nearer caused the hairs on the back of Francis's neck to rise.

"He's here already?" Francis huffed out.

"I know, how he was heading here, but still..." Antonio said right before bursting into laughter, "Wowza, amigo, life sure isn't going as planned for you, is it?"

Francis frowned, "He's not here yet. Let's just find those three, apparently that moron Justin also vanished somehow.. And if Arthur does get here before we can find them, I'll stall him while you and the others keep searching, okay?"

"Si, si, okay, maybe I should start searching for them back at one of the diners? Who knows, maybe they're hungry?" Antonio smiled.

Francis let out a long sigh, "Don't be lame, Toni, they're not stupid, the last place they'd want to be on this island is a diner where they are risking other people seeing them."

-- And meanwhile at some diner--

"So are you gonna eat that or...?" ________ asked as she looked over at Alfred's plate with glistening eyes.

"OF Fucking Course MISS, it'S MY fOOD, MISS." Alfred sassed.

I frowned as I turned my head away quickly, towards my empty plate, "I was just asking ALFRED."

We sat in silence for a moment as he finished whatever he was eating before we both burst out laughing.

"Here, I'll give you this half of my food." Alfred said childishly as he cut the steak in half with my fork while holding it in place with his.

(Incoming "I'm a vegan and I find this offensive." Comments.)

I smiled as I looked down at it, he'll yeah I wanted it, but I couldn't just let him know that.!

"Well, if you insist.." I said, hiding my smile as he handed me my fork and let me take it.

"So what are we going to try today? There's a ship, I hear, that takes people to the the Newfoundland once every few weeks. But, I don't know when it'll come by again." I said, upset by that fact.

"We'll find out later... I think for right now though, we should try to find out where Justin's gone off to. I haven't seen him since yesterday." Alfred said.

"Justin.! Oh right, do you think Francis is perhaps keeping him on his ship as a prisoner because we ran off?" I wondered.

"Nah, you know, I actually wouldn't worry about Justin too much, I mean, you know as well as I do that he's pretty much all talk no do. Besides, I'm sure he's out there having a blast, he's good on his own." Alfred spoke, standing up now that he was done eating, "Why don't we just worry about ourselves for now, m'lady?" He smiled as I reached over to take his hand in mine.

"Why," I smiled, "Let's just see what trouble we can get ourselves into whilst blaming Sir Francis on it." I joked.

"Works for me. And while we're at it, I say we find some way to mess with him, seeing as we are probably high on his wish list.!" He smiled.

We headed towards the door and walked outside to have the morning sun shine our way.

"Lead the way, I'll follow." I said, glancing down at my blue poofy dress, this might be a bit too much today as I imagine we'll be running.

"Alfred. Did we pass a clothing shop at all these past few days?" I asked, glancing down the semi busy streets of the town.

"I don't know, do you want to find one? Why? I think your dress looks fine as it is." Alfred replied.

"Well sure, it's fine, but I can't run very quickly in this." I admitted.

"I'm sure we'll be able to find some store around here, that just means we'll have to blend in for a while so we don't get caught out in the open." Alfred replied.

I wrapped my arm around his, "I'll let you lead the way then." I said as we turned and began walking through the town in search for my new outfit.

--- Third Person POV ---

"You sail with some eagerness." Commented one of the many pirates to their captain to make small talk.

Arthur's gaze was still as he let out a light laugh, "Aren't you eager to land as well?"

"Is that a joke, sir? You do see what I see on that island, right?" The pirate asked with confusion as his eyes set on the French flag.

Arthur nodded slowly, "Yes, however I have his word he won't do a thing and we shan't either. However I do have a spy aboard his ship to tell us of any of his plans before he can move on them."

"You mean that scary one? What was his name again?" The pirate wondered.

"His name is Osiris and while he's not exactly on my side, he is a spy and he is doing what I've asked him to do..." Arthur sighed, "Considering all we've been through over these years, you'd think he'd be kind enough to offer me his services for free.."

The pirate was now confused, "Services? Captain, is he a prostitute.?!"

Arthur frowned over at the pirate who was legitimately confused, "No! I mean he's a spy! Have you not been paying attention to what I've been saying?!"

"Sir, you forget I didn't have a proper education, that's why I'm here and not elsewhere such as in the parliament."

Arthur let out a frustrated sigh, "Just get the ship prepared to dock, we'll be arriving shortly."