Godfrey yawned and stretched his arms and wide wings as he was woken up by some hurried knocking on his cabin door. A grin stretched across his face—anyone knocking on his door at this time of night had to have a good reason for doing so. Cause they knew what would happen to them if they were waking him up for nothing. And there was only one thing he could think of that his crew would decide was important enough to potentially risk his wrath over.
“Heh, so we’ve found them, have we?” Godfrey said as he got up and started walking towards the door. “Or maybe they’re coming to warn me about a tidal wave coming right for us. Hah!”
He yanked open the door and stared down his Night Crew Chief with a glint in his eye and a smirk through his beak. “Well?”
“We’ve found them, Captain,” the barest hint of a smile appeared on the Chief’s face. As if he was almost afraid to do so.
Godfrey punched a fist into his palm. “Alright! Time to wake the rest of the crew and get back on their trail. Hehehe… they’ve got nowhere to run or hide this time.”
He strode past the Chief and walked towards the large, aft-most, mast on The Scourge. It was still the dead of night and almost pitch black outside, but there was something affixed to the mast that he could see clearly. A golden bell on a post. Wrought from heavy iron and when it rang the sound was so deep it rattled the bones of all onboard. The sound of it had conditioned all the ponies of The Scourge to shiver, as there was only one soul who was allowed to touch it—Godfrey himself.
His talon grasped the bell rope and the ponies already awake and on the top deck all covered their ears and shut their eyes.
DOOONG!
DOOONG!
DOOONG!
The low bass sound was like death, the ponies gritting their teeth and shaking each time Godfrey rung the bell.
Down below—eyes shot open, his pirate crew jumped out of their beds in a fright, and everyone scrambled to wake up and get busy. The time of night mattered not. Nobody had to be told directly to get into gear. The fear had been drilled into them—it was simple routine to know that they either obeyed the ringing of the bell… or they would suffer for it at the talons of Godfrey.
Up on deck, right by the bell, he could hear the scrambling about beneath. He could feel the ship shaking as every pony aboard suddenly sprung into action.
“Well, well, well, sounds like the drills are really paying off. Shoot, I should’ve brought a watch with me to time how long it takes everyone to get to their stations,” Godfrey cracked his neck and started walking towards the bow, waiting for his first mate to come up from below deck and fill him in on what’s going on. He glanced at his Night Crew Chief and smiled. “You know what? You put me in a good mood, I’m feeling generous tonight. Gather up the rest of your crew and hit the hay. Sea Shanty and the others will take over soon enough.”
“T-Thank you, Captain!” The Chief nodded and saluted. He quickly, very quickly, ran off and gathered up the rest of the Night Crew to tell them the good news.
Godfrey just chuckled and grinned as he looked out across the bow at the open ocean. By the time the sun was up they should practically be upon their prey once more.
The following morning found Rainbow Dash sitting in the crow’s nest on the Heart of Azure alone. The other thing besides just board games she had been given from the Meer’s Bounty was a single deck of playing cards. Right now she was “enjoying” a game of solitaire since no one, not even Gilbert, wanted to play cards with her right now after how all the games had gone last night. However, she was quickly finding that solitaire wasn’t exactly to her speed. It was almost like a chore and it was having the opposite effect when it came to being a way to fight boredom. This was like, the very, very, last thing she would ever want to do to try and kill time.
She almost felt like swiping all the cards away and just quitting. “Ughhhh… so bored.”
But it was still just early in the morning. If she quit at solitaire now she’d have nothing to do for the rest of the day, so Rainbow Dash kept at it. Making her columns and drawing cards to try and finish things up. Maybe after enough time she’d even come to enjoy it?
Maybe.
Down below it was Senax at the wheel while Daylight Gleam and Breakwater talked with each other and Gilbert stood at the bow. The griffon though was not looking straight ahead, but instead to the northeast where not too far away the sky was dark and the waters were rough.
They were about to sail directly south of the Strip of Storms. Here, Gilbert could see lightning crashing down from the storm clouds to the water, and darkness that hung low and made it impossible to see too deeply inside the ocean weather catastrophe. It was crazy to think how big that single storm actually was, how much distance it covered. Like a hurricane that was in the shape of a sword or spear instead of a revolving circle. Gilbert had seen it before while sailing out here and they had never gotten closer than this. The wind and waves it must kick up had to be dangerous at any closer distance. And they knew from experience that smaller storms sometimes split off from the Strip and caused havoc nearby.
Breakwater was right that it really had to be the dumbest thing any sailor out here could try going through. Gilbert doubted even Rainbow Dash would want to chase the thrill of potentially sailing through it instead of just going around.
He glanced up at the crow’s nest. At least unlike her he had a much easier time dealing with boredom and just taking things as they came. But she herself was also a constant source of entertainment and humor for him to watch—so maybe that was cheating.
“I really should go play cards with her or something...” Gilbert mused. “But losing every single game is a little… humiliating.”
Gilbert sighed and strutted over to Daylight and Breakwater to see what they were talking about.
“Hello my friends! How goes your day?” He asked them.
Daylight shrugged. “Same as always. Breakwater and I were just discussing the early mapping of the Grand Ocean. When the sextant was invented it really helped them determine the latitude and longitude of several key places, but what really made sailing and oceanography easier was-”
Gilbert stared at her and nodded his head at appropriate times but in essence all he really heard was “Blah, blah, compass, blah blah, almanac, blah, blah, barometer.” Pretty much everything was going over his head. Despite the time he had spent on the Grand Ocean and despite his life as an adventurer.
“I see, I see. Sounds like you’re having a good time,” Gilbert smiled at them.
“Gotta know this stuff if you’re captain of a ship,” Breakwater shrugged. “I don’t mind giving Daylight a history lesson or two.”
Gilbert coughed. “Yes, well, the two of you can continue your conversation, I shant bother you any longer.”
He walked away from the two and over his shoulder he heard them quickly resume talking about… whatever it was they were talking about. So he decided to now go up and bother Senax. She was always open for any sort of conversation, always a friendly and polite merpony. Gilbert gave her a little wave as he walked up to the helm.
“Hello, Senax! Good sailing?”
She smiled at him. “Of course! I think I’m really getting better at this.”
“It feels just as smooth as when Breakwater’s at the wheel, I can’t tell any difference.”
She giggled. “You don’t have to flatter me like that...”
“It’s not flattery, dear Senax, it’s the truth! You’re becoming wonderful at the helm, almost like you were born to do it.”
“Which is silly to think of since Merponies can swim and breathe underwater. If it was just me out on the ocean I’d probably never use a boat at all.”
“But here you are with us and here you are performing a great service,” he reached over and patted her on the back while he stared ahead. “Adventures need friends, that’s what I believe after spending those years alone and then finding you and Daylight.”
“True. I couldn’t—and wouldn’t want to—do this alone.”
“Daylight may act like the sensible mare with the plan, and Rainbow Dash may act like a leader who can do anything, and it may be Breakwater’s boat, and I’m… um… hm… but we’re here for you and your people. And here you are helping us out, even though nobody would bat an eyelash if you just wanted to relax inside the cabin or enjoy yourself swimming. You still act as our helmsmare because you want to be a big help and contribute to the adventure! And you’re doing an excellent job of it!”
The helm was quiet for a moment and Gilbert raised an eyebrow as he looked over at Senax.
She was wiping a tear from her face and smiling. “You know...” She stuttered. “I forget that sometimes you can say something that isn’t stupid.”
“I forget that as well,” Gilbert smiled.
He patted Senax on the back one more time and walked to the back of the ship to stare out at the wake it left behind. Putting his talons up on the wood and leaning over the stern with a peaceful smile on his face. Lifting his chin up he looked out further beyond to the west.
He froze. Blinking once, then twice.
“Oh dear, that might not be good,” Gilbert said.
“Huh? Did you say something?” Senax asked.
“Rainbow Dash!” Gilbert quickly turned around and shouted up to the crow’s nest. “Rainbow Dash! Get the spyglass and look behind us!”
Rainbow’s head poked out of the crow’s nest. “What?”
“Look behind us!” Gilbert shouted and pointed, meanwhile Daylight and Breakwater were running up to him as well.
Rainbow Dash frowned and did as he said, looking out far behind their ship. Her jaw immediately clenched. A dark ship was approaching from afar. A dark and familiar ship. There was no doubt in her mind as to the vessel’s identity, but she grabbed the spyglass to make sure of it. Extending it out she looked through it and clearly saw the black sails, dragon’s head bowsprit, and griffon-skull Jolly Roger.
“Tch, I should’ve been paying more attention up here...” She grit her teeth and put away the spyglass before flying out of the crow’s nest and joining everyone at the back of the boat. “It’s The Scourge. Godfrey’s found us again.”
“That is… not good,” Daylight swallowed.
“He’s got us out in the open,” Breakwater frowned. “He can open his cannons up on us soon and there’s nothing we can do about it.”
“Camouflage?” Gilbert raised an eyebrow at Daylight.
“They already know right where we are, by now Godfrey and his crew have to be able to notice the slight fluctuations in the water and air to still follow us at this distance...” Daylight shook her head. “I can still do it to make things tough for him but I feel like it might only delay things at best.”
“So then what’s the plan? Fight?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“I hope not. That doesn’t sound like a very good plan,” Senax said.
“Senax is right. We’re just too badly outnumbered, and there’s Godfrey onboard. It won’t be like trying to fight that Boschese Junk and its soldiers.” Daylight said.
“Well what else can we do then? If we can’t run, and we can’t fight, then what? I’m not rolling over and giving up,” Rainbow said. She frowned as she looked to The Scourge. “Will he even fire at us like last time? He still wants Senax alive, and probably that magical horn thing too.”
“Believe me when I say that my brother would likely still be happy to blow our ship to smithereens and just search through the wreckage to see if any of us survived. And if not he’d just go looking for a new source of fun. If losing the game is an option, he’d rather smash the board instead,” Gilbert said.
“Great,” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “And he’s almost close enough to do that.”
Daylight started tapping her hoof on the back of the boat. “Just let me try and think of something...”
“Actually, um...” Breakwater coughed to get their attention. “For once… I’ve got a really dumb idea for a change.”
“Huh?” Daylight asked him.
“Well...” Breakwater grimaced and looked to the northeast.
Straight at the Strip of Storms.
“Oh no. No, no, no, no,” Daylight Gleam shook her head. “That’s stupid. Breakwater, you’re the one who’s always said how dangerous the Strip of Storms is. How it’s suicide to attempt to sail through it. How it’s more than worth the extra time to sail around it because you could never just go directly through it.”
“I know, Daylight,” Breakwater was stalwart. “But right now I think it’s the only option we have to escape from Godfrey.”
“So we’re choosing either certain death or just almost certain death?” Gilbert said.
Senax groaned in discomfort.
“Hey—almost certain death isn’t a bad choice. I’m game,” Rainbow Dash shrugged.
“Of course you are,” Daylight rolled her eyes.
Rainbow Dash snorted. “Look, you wanna know my honest opinion? I think Breakwater’s right. The Strip of Storms is the only place we can go. But uh… are we expecting Godfrey to not follow us in? Cause from what I know of him, and I feel like I kind of get how he is, he’s going to come in after us anyways. Forget about the danger. He won’t be afraid.”
“I figured he would too,” Breakwater nodded. “But the wind, waves, and currents in the Strip of Storms will make it difficult for him to follow right after us and keep a direct line of sight. His ship will be rocking so much that using the cannons effectively won’t be easy. It’s possible he’ll lose track of us altogether, if we’re lucky.”
“I wouldn’t count on that luck,” Daylight said.
“Neither would I. But at the very least the Strip will make things difficult for him,” Breakwater said.
“S-So am I actually…?” Senax asked.
Breakwater looked at the others. “We in agreement on this? If there are any better ideas I’d love to hear them.”
“Nope, I think we need to go there too,” Rainbow said.
“I have to agree with you and Rainbow Dash. It seems our only and best opportunity to escape from my brother,” Gilbert said. He looked over at Daylight.
The unicorn sighed and lowered her head, rubbing a hoof on her forehead. “This is so crazy.”
“Sounds like a consensus to me,” Rainbow grinned. “Let’s do it.”
“Alright. Senax? Take us northeast, head right for the Strip of Storms,” Breakwater said.
Senax gulped. “R-Right.”
As the Heart of Azure turned and began heading towards what they so recently were trying to avoid, the crew stood together at the helm, with a mix of excitement and deep trepidation between them. An unsteady grin on Rainbow’s face, as her heart beat strongly with anticipation—but also worry for her friends. A stony expression on Gilbert’s face as his thoughts once more went to his brother tailing them. Fear and hesitation on Breakwater’s face as he worried if this was really the right decision to make. Resignation and a frown on Daylight’s face while she mused on why this sort of thing always seemed to happen. And simple fear—but the courage to keep going—in the eyes of Senax.