"There it is, men," Admiral Smollet declared, his loud voice carrying itself easily across the first rate's deck. "The great war fleet of Avalon. This great nation produces more than just able knights, as Noyr and Sworden will soon discover."
Jack looked up from his mop, gazed ahead, and nearly dropped it. Several hundreds of yards away, floating in the open ocean, was a massive forest of tall, wooden masts, sails furled. Bearing these sails were hundreds of war ships of various sizes, many of them huge ships of the line. Much like the one he stood on, those ships bore several cannon decks with scores of cannons protruding from either side and crews numbering in the hundreds of men. They were the slowest of ships but were by far the deadliest.
Alongside them were the much swifter, though less powerful, brigs, sloops and frigates. The faster ships were to harass the enemy's largest and to pursue, and perhaps destroy, any damaged ships leaving battle. They were also quite capable at blasting away at the larger ships' sails, reducing their already abysmal speed. In the confusion of battle the smaller ships could also be used as interim flagships to relay the admiral's signals to the dueling ships that could not see them, thus ensuring tactics and strategy could still be employed amidst the chaos. All around the ships were longboats rowing every which way, like bees buzzing from flower to flower in a vast meadow. Jack had never seen so many ships and boats in one place before and had to remind himself to breathe.
Captain Hook walked up from below decks, appearing as grumpy as ever. He and the admiral had not gotten along for a single day during their journey north. The latter had threatened to throw him overboard if he did not cease his insubordination and since then the captain had decided to remain below decks. Jack was grateful to see him out and about again.
"We've arrived, Cap," he said to him, offering him a smile.
Hook glanced at him and forced a smile. "It's about damn time. If we hadn't been aboard the slowest ship in Faeryum we might have arrived a month ago..."
"Ah, James, you are awake," Admiral Smollet said with a smirk, gazing down at Hook from his position at the quarterdeck. "I had worried you'd be forgotten below decks. Such a pity it would have been to leave for battle without having given a ship to the great Captain Hook."
Jack saw the captain clench his fist but was glad that he did not reply. Now was no time for another fight. They were so near to being off this miserable ship.
"Which one is mine?" Captain Hook asked the admiral without looking at him.
"What, are you so eager to leave Avalon's most powerful ship?" the Admiral asked him in his haughty and grating voice. "Would you take it if I were to offer it?"
"Not in a million lifetimes would I take this overdecorated snail of a ship!" Hook growled, finally looking at the Admiral. "It will be the first to sink, admiral, and I will be safe aboard my vessel when it happens. Now which one is it?!"
Admiral Smollet's eyes narrowed. "I am of the right mind to not give you any ship, captain..."
"I was told by King Arthur himself that I would be given one, admiral, and you'd best remember that. You may be his master of the seas but he remains your superior and any scenarios you may be conjuring at the moment in being rid of me would be swiftly deciphered by Merlin. There is no taunting or threatening me, Smollet."
Even from where he stood, at the far end of the main deck, Jack could tell the admiral's lips were pursed and a vein bulged on his forehead. And the victory goes to Captain Hook, he thought proudly.
"One of the frigates is yours," he mumbled after a few wordless minutes. "May it sail you astray, pirate hunter."
"May your watery grave be peaceful, old fool," replied Captain Hook without missing a beat.
"A frigate?" Jack asked excitedly, approaching the captain. "Just like Jolly Roger, Cap!"
Captain Hook shook his head and smiled genuinely for the first time since leaving New Avalon. "There will never be a ship like Jolly Roger, Jack." He then eyed him sidelong and winked. "But a frigate will do just fine."
The two stood and watched as their lumbering beast of a ship approached the hundreds of other Avalonian warships floating in wait. Once the admiral's ship, the fleet's flagship, sailed to the leading edge of the fleet, Captain Hook and Jack boarded a longboat with one of the admiral's crewman and, after given the frigate's name, set about rowing in search of it. They didn't care that the admiral hadn't even given them a general direction of where it was. They were both glad to be away from him.
All three men took turns rowing and after their arms were burning with weariness and their throats dry of thirst, they finally found it, bobbing lightly near the back of the fleet. Surprisingly, it even looked like Jolly Roger.
"So here she is," Hook said, his smile wide.
Jack was smiling too, though after a moment he grimaced and said, "But did she really have to be called the Floating Log?"
"It's just the admiral trying to insult me, Jack," Hook said unworried. "Names can be changed."
"What will you call her?" Jack asked as he rowed the longboat toward the frigate's hull.
Hook shrugged. "I will leave that until later, my boy. I have yet to see how she handles. Perhaps she is aptly named."
"Hopefully not..."
Upon arrived to the ship, a rope ladder was tossed overboard, and the two friends climbed up to the deck as the admiral's crewman rowed the boat back to the flagship. Stepping foot on the main deck, they were met with surprisingly familiar faces.
"It's the old crew!" Jack exclaimed in shock. "But how?"
One of the men—a large, robust fellow—approached them and said to Hook, somewhat shyly, "We's felt terrible for leavin' you after Pan blasted Jolly Roger to bits so as soon as we's heardin' that a great fleet of warships was massin' in Avalon we all made our way there. Not everyone came, captain, but there's enough of us who sailed with you that it'll almost be like old times."
Captain's smile was greater than ever. He adjusted his tricorn hat and straightened himself. "We aren't hunting pirates this time and yet you all decided to come back? I won't be the ones paying you for this, lads, if any of us are left to get payment, that is."
"You was the best captain we ever did had," said a tall, lanky man. "I knows I speak for all of us when I says that we'd be happy to die at your side."
"We took down plenty of pirates together," said a short, stocky man. "We'll show these entitled Avalonians what a real pirate hunting crew can do!"
"Aye, aye!" shouted the others.
Captain Hook nodded. "I admit I was disappointed in having lost you all after Jolly Roger's destruction but it is good to see familiar faces upon my deck again. You all had lives to live and some of you had families to support. I hold no grudge against any of you. All that I ask is that you follow my orders and sail this Floating Log as well as you did Jolly Roger. Do that for me, men, and it'll be like nothing ever happened between us. As you said, it will be like old times."
The captain then walked over to the quarter deck and, with eager fingers, set his hands upon the wheel. He shut his eyes and smiled warmly, relishing the feeling. After a moment, he opened them and had a closer look at the wheel. "This wheel looks as if it doesn't belong with the rest of the ship. It feels so familiar in my hands..."
One of the men approached and said, a great smile on his face, "Elario blessed Jolly Roger with a mighty powerful wheel, captain. I was able to find it under a few feet of water in Our Lady's port. Looks like Pan's explosion couldn't break it."
Hook eyed the man with wide eyes. "This is Jolly Roger's wheel?"
He nodded, grinning toothily and showing what few teeth he had left.
Hook looked ready to give the wheel a great hug but he restrained himself with some difficulty. Jack stood at his captain's side and gazed down the deck at the crewmen standing to attention, waiting for orders. "The old crew is back and this ship carries a piece of Jolly Roger with it. It's almost back to how it once was, except for one thing."
Hook, his hands still on the wheel, glanced at Jack with a raised eyebrow. "What would that be, lad?"
Jack, eyes half-lidded, glanced at Hook sidelong. "A quartermaster."
Hook's face reddened slightly and he looked away. "Aye, that would seem so."
"Were you ever going to tell me what happened to Sinbad?"
The captain sighed slowly. "Aye, I was." He waited until the crew began to resume preparations for sailing to battle and then let go of the wheel and faced Jack, speaking low. "He was sent in secrecy, Jack. No one can know where he went, not even you. It's not for lack of trust between us, lad, but the fewer people that know, the better. Just be assured that if he succeeds on his quest then whatever happens in this war, we have a chance of making everything the way we want it to be."
Jack had so many questions but he knew better than to ask. He was certain Hook would tell him to be grateful that he told him what he did and to leave it at that. It did indeed sound like an incredibly sensitive quest that, if successful, could change everything. How Hook came across such information he didn't know but he assumed it was during the many travels the captain and Sinbad had together before he ever joined the crew. Jack felt slightly hurt at not being included into the secret circle but didn't fuss about it. He trusted Hook with his life and if the captain wanted things to remain secret then secret is where they'd remain.
Jack watched him return to the wheel and couldn't help but smile with utmost pride. Captain Hook looked giddy and excited, like a child given something it always wanted. Sinbad may not be with them but Jack would do all he could to help his captain with whatever he needed. He was no quartermaster but that wouldn't stop him from taking on the duties of one.
Hook eventually left the wheel and called one of the crewmen over. "Tell me, what should I know about this ship?"
The man hesitated but when Hook didn't look away from him, cleared his throat and said, "Well, sir, the hull's right plastered with barnacles, three of the twenty five cannons don't fire, some of the riggin' is frayed and in need or replacin', the shrouds are missing one too many ratlines, the main mast's fighting top's looser than me ex-wife, and to be truthful with you, the food is mostly spoiled."
Jack watched Hook's face closely, getting ready to take a step back in case he exploded in fury. The crewman did the same, wringing his hands nervously.
Surprising them both, Hook pulled his head back and laughed. Jack exchanged a glance with the crewman and furrowed his brow in confusion.
"Marvelous," the captain said. He eyed Jack and smiled. "Now, Jack, my boy, it is like old times. The times before you, Sinbad, and even Jolly Roger, when I was just a young landlubber struggling to get wind into his sails. The admiral thinks he can subdue my spirit and make me beg for something better but that won't happen. I'll show him a captain's true strengths, when he can take a literal floating log and turn it into the fleet's more renowned vessel. Are you with me, Jack?"
"Always, captain," Jack replied immediately.
"Good," Hook said with a nod. "Now let's get to work making this barge a right proper warship."
Jack hurried off as Hook began instructing his crew on their new duties. Listening to his booming voice, he couldn't help but smile. This was where Captain Hook belonged, aboard a frigate with his true family. The joy Jack was experiencing was almost enough to not make him think of Selvina.
Almost.
I'll come back to you, he promised, his heart suddenly heavy with longing.