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The Old Cat and the Hell Hound; [Short Story]
Topic Started: Mon Mar 18, 2013 7:30 am (218 Views)
Buddy
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"No." Said Gregor frankly.

"It's brilliant!" Responded Buddy with glee over the sounds of the groaning boat, of whom many said sounded like it was begging to be killed.

"No." Said Gregor again, in the exact same manner, despite the fact that he tripped a bit as he said it. Truly it was a skill to say something so deadpan despite fumbling with one's own feet.

"Say "no" if you think it's a brilliant idea." Buddy goaded, effortlessly swaying with the boat as the waves washed against its rotted hull.

"That's entrapment, captain." Gregor said, knowing his captain far too well to fall for such a blatant and sloppy trick, surely another sign that Holly's mind was slipping into madness.

"Well you can't exactly mutiny so--"

"We can. We should." Gregor responded, cutting Buddy off at the point.

"You can try, but you'll fail." Buddy said, trotting in front of his first mate with a wide, toothy grin on his pale face.

"And how is that?" Gregor asked, stopping abruptly and crossing his arms.

"Because I, Buddy Holly of a small fishing village from a world that is now long-enough dead. . ." He took up a somewhat heroic pose as he locked glare with stare with his first mate, "am Buddy Holly, Captain of a band of pirates in the wonderfully arcane-rich world that is known as Chaon. If a bunch of pirates who may or may not have magic at their disposal haven't managed to throw me and my-- as you state-- "Ridiculous ideas" overboard by now, and continue to follow me on the Gribbles-- of all ships-- then surely you won't be able to any time soon."

Gregor didn't respond, simply lowering his head in silent admittance of what Buddy said, though he refused to admit to such a clearly prosperous notion aloud.

"Robbing vessels is dangerous enough on this ship without assuring that they're loaded to the sails with weaponry and soldiers--"

"Mercenaries." Buddy corrected.

"--mercenaries who are more than willing and capable of defending the sickening amount of treasure they have on board. Please don't interrupt me again."

"I'm the captain and I was correcting you." Buddy said without remorse as he turned to face the moonlit ocean, fingers intertwined behind his back as he let the spray of the Moonsea hit his face, "And seeing as how I am indeed the captain with nobody really capable of mutiny against me, I can assure that this haul will be brilliant, that all of my crew shall survive the encounter, and that we shall all dock filthy. Stinking. Rich. The scent of gold permanently affixed to ourselves, even if we would be to-- somehow and against all odds-- manage to spend it all. Merchants never let down, and I refuse to fail."

"You fail all the time, captain." Gregor added, earning a glare of disbelief from Buddy, "And more to the point you usually give up when things get too rough. Usually you give up before things get too rough."

"It's not my fault that I'm capable of examining the possibilities in the time it takes you to not cure your bad breath each morning." Holly reacted, ruffling his coat in added reminder that he was the one with the lovely armored hide, "Halitosis, man! Have you never heard of it?"

"I'll have you know that it is my most effective weapon in your damned "don't kill the non-aggressors" schemes!" The first mate growled at his captain, as the Gribbles was one of few black flag vessels which would allow a subordinate to get away with such a thing.

"Too bad it still kills them then, isn't it?" Buddy spat, literally spat, back at Gregor, "Now give the orders to set sail North by North-East. We will intercept that vessel and we will become excessively rich!"

With that the argument was over, for the captain left no room for First Mate Gregor to reply as he turned around and began heading towards his cabin, stopping just short of his door as he shrank about three inches in the blink of an eye.

"The deck just gave under your boot, didn't it?" Gregor asked with a cocky grin on his bearded face.

"Wipe that grin off your face and shut it." Buddy responded, not even bothering to look back to see his first mate's expression. He knew what was there, he just didn't want to face it in such an unfortunate situation.

V_______________________________________________________V

The next day the rickety old driftwood ship raised a Tarasian flag high into the sky, leaving no clear mark that it was a pirate ship. Rather it seemed just an old ship that should have sunken years ago yet, most likely due to some sentimental old sea dog, never went to rest where it should. Yet Buddy loved it, loved how beaten up and non-threatening it looked, even with the ballistae (being as the lower levels of the ship were deemed to frail and rotted through to dare hold something of such weight,) they seemed utterly helpless in any sort of conflict. That was perfect for a sneak attack. The Gribbles may have been slow, old and big, but what it lacked in maneuverability it made up for in sheer perseverance. For some reason the ship just hadn't given up, and that very look was what had aided the Sacred Heart Pirates, or SHP, to the successful raiding of many an undermanned vessel. Nothing beat surprise, and they would need all the surprise they had to pull off their next stunt.

Oh, yes. Captain Holly had this one planned thoroughly. Too many loose lips truly could sink even sturdy ships, and it was loose lips which had led the captain to the T.F.V. Fearless. Such an overused name for a ship, in the Ardanian's opinion, but the ship and its constantly shifting crew had more than earned the name. Sailing into storms, fighting through sea creatures which dwarfed their ship and most interestingly of all being somewhat renown for sinking the ships of sea-bound scallywags. Surely any captain who could command the ship responsible for making the T.F.V. Fearless look foolish would be known the world over, for better and for worse. So it was the plan and so the Gribbles' thought within his cabin to refine. Defeat the Fearless, steal its treasure, make sure that every seafaring sentient on every port across the Moonsea and the Enthia Ocean knew the name "Buddy Holly."

Never before had the captain thought so much in his life, examining every strategy, readdressing every flaw, exploiting every weakness and planning for every eventuality. Of course the obvious came into play: gauging the surely stark differences between the Gribbles and the Fearless, yet where such thoughts would typically force Buddy to shy away from the challenge, it merely drove him forward. If he did this then the world would know his name. If he managed this then there were no ends to what he could accomplish. All he had to do was over-think and over-analyze everything and plan for anything to go wrong that could. That was his job, he was the captain, and this would be the greatest trial he ever faced.

The Gribbles Vs. The Fearless. If the pirates won then they would become legendary. If they lost then they would be another memory.

Blue eyes wide, Buddy stood from his bed and exited his cabin. If the information they had received had been correct then they should be coming across their nemesis any moment, and no doubt they would be so used to pirates that they would keep their distance, and no doubt they worry if another vessel were under distress. This was the game of the old, dying alley cat versus the hell hound. Never before an analogy, but surely it would become such after this debacle.

"Fearless ahoy!" Called out the shipmate in what remained of the crow's nest above, calling forth an eerie silence over the entire crew. No man should ever attempt such a feat, yet they would. They were all mad, clearly, but Holly felt that they would leave happy.

V_______________________________________________________V

The ship was dead silent as they sailed towards the behemoth of steel that was the Fearless, and as Buddy looked upon it through his spyglass he could not help but wonder aloud. . .

"Is that a ship I spy. Or an Isla Torton?"

Sure enough did the mighty steel vessel have flippers, two to the side which the crew could see, surely two more on the opposite. At its front was a large head with a blunt beak, all smoothed together. Buddy had been sure to study on as many Chaon Sea-related things as he could, and he had seriously doubted that such things as Isla Torton in such a world as Chaon could possibly be simple myth. Nothing was every so simple.

The captain had read about massive tortons being tamed and having ships and civilizations built upon their shells. Other things of which he read spoke of massive golems which seemed as if though they were Isla Tortons, themselves. Either way, it meant that things had just become far more difficult. A torton, whether of flesh or of steel, meant that they would need fewer being to operate the ship and even more that could defend it. The Fearless was some trade company's flagship, and it looked just like it should.

Over the ship portion of the vessel, rather than sails, was a mighty tent to shade those on deck from the harsh beating of the sun upon their heads. Even from where Buddy stood he could tell that the mercenaries seemed to be comprised of mostly versatile races. Sea elves, sea demons, sea creatures with legs. They were chosen and hired to be able to defend a ship on the water and were most likely very good at it, but such things only bred hubris on a ship, and Buddy had known this well. Hubris meant bullying and underestimating. Hubris meant weakness.

"Captain, it isn't too late to turn back." Gregor whispered into Buddy's ear from behind, knowing full well what possible things could dare silence the blonde captain.

"Do you know what they're doing right now, Gregor?" Holly asked in reply, not daring to take his eye off of the enemy vessel.

"Waiting to shoot us?" Gregor tried to answer, panic threading his voice with a tremble.

"No, not at all." Holly said calmly before taking a careful breath.

"Then what, captain?" The First Mate begged.

"They're coming over to visit us." He said, a smile creeping onto his face.

"You say that as if it's a good thing." Gregor swallowed nothing but air, the panic not alleviating with his captain's words.

"Oh, Gregor." Finally, Captain Holly lowered his spyglass to look at his first mate, "It is a very good thing."

V_______________________________________________________V

What were they? They were sort of half fish and half man, but not in the merman sort of way. From head to toe their golden scales were armored with steel, spikes, and yet still managed to remain hydrodynamic in design. They were some sort of deep sea creature which Buddy sure hadn't heard of, or perhaps they were coastal creatures that were never really visited. At any rate their accents were absolutely wretched. Every time it spoke it sounded as if they were half underwater, as if somehow they were created water, themselves. Maybe they were, maybe their armor was enchanted to allow them to breathe wherever they were, but it didn't help any sort of language barrier.

The two Fishmen of the Fearless got to hold the majority of the Gribbles' crew at sword-point, while their two counterparts, twin male sea elves, got to rummage the ship and search for anything which looked out of the ordinary. It was a nuisance, and no doubt they were stealing anything which wasn't hidden well enough, but a few boards shattering later and Buddy knew that they hadn't found much that would interest them.

The guards on deck said something again, which practically called Buddy to turn an ear to them to have them repeat what they said with their horrifically submarinal accents.

"Ship broken. Close to fearless. Crew healthy. Why?"

"Healthy?" Buddy called out, making his fellow pirates laugh aloud, "Clearly you haven't smelled Gregor's breath!" The crew began laughing even louder with that comment.

"Quiet! Silence!" The taller of the two fish-men shouted, "No jokes!"

"Come off it, sir." Buddy said through a chuckle, wiping some sweat from his brow, "Do we look like a threat to you?" He wasn't lying, technically. He was telling different parts of the true, but the lie of omission wasn't helping his deep-seeded and rather awkward sense of honesty and morality.

"No." The fish-man admitted as he shot a glance to the empty-handed sea elves as they made their return, "But what happen?"

"Pirates." Buddy sighed, "They make a mess, don't they?" He wasn't actually referring to what had happened to the ship, seeing as how he still hadn't really figured that one out, but the fish-people didn't seem to catch that and so they continued on.

"Stay away from Fearless. We not protect if in danger, but we shoot if too close." The fish-man said sternly before beginning to take its departure with its small party.

"Wait--" Buddy intervened, not allowing such a wonderful opportunity to slip through his fingers, "-- just wait. You didn't find our treasure, but we have some."

The fish people stopped for a moment, intrigued by the sound of hidden profit. The elves wouldn't dismiss the fact that they gave up looking around the deathtrap of a ship, any sane creature would have given up such a risky search, but they weren't about to interject with questions, and so their shorter companions weren't about to either.

"Yes, we have treasure." Buddy confirmed as he pulled a handful of coins from the pocket of his dark coat, "so please. . . tell your employers. I know that they're on the ship to safeguard their profits, with their own personal guard. I would like to purchase repairs for my ship, and surely the Fearless has supplies at the ready in case they ever need to repair, right?"

The ship went silent for a moment, and somehow Buddy believed that he could feel the piercing eye of somebody on the Fearless watching him, and so he turned and twisted his hand in hope that the coins would catch sun and shine back to the targeted vessel, just to let them know that something was going no. If his studied into the average sentient psyche were accurate then surely this would compel them to inquire about the coins they saw. Again, the boarding party didn't take notice and the shorter of the two fish-men walked up and took the handful of coins, as would surely be divided evenly among his current companions.

"We see. We tell." Buddy wasn't sure, but he could have sworn that the fish-with-legs tried to smile, "Promise."

V_______________________________________________________V

Panic was beginning to set in; the whole "make-it-up-as-you-go-along" strategy was leaving Buddy to constantly question his own choices. He didn't know what he was doing, he didn't know how to lie, all he knew was that he needed to do something if his dreams were to come true.

"Captain, breathe."

So then he found himself cursing the fact that his dreams just had to go ahead and include taking on one of the most powerful ships on Chaon's seas with the absolute worst ship on Chaon's seas. It was a horrifically lopsided battle that would depend so heavily on surprise and speed that it wasn't even funny.

"Captain. Breathe." Now Holly even found himself questioning the skill of his own crew, because surely they couldn't possibly have nearly as easy a time cutting through the hordes of fish-people and water elves and aquatic demons. Was one of them a dragon? Probably! There was no telling any more, they were all hidden inside of the fortress, not to mention any additional troops which may have been hidden underwater at the time.

"Captain!"

Buddy started at the shout and looked around to find the source of the noise before resting his troubled eyes upon his first mate whose hands were planted firmly on his shoulders.

"What?" Buddy managed to squeak in reply, failing to notice the fact that he was hyperventilating at the moment.

"Breathe." Gregor said, staring his captain dead in the eye, "Otherwise we're all dead."

"Right." Buddy said, nodding before he looked back to the Fearless, being sure to cover his mouth to try and filter his breathing.

There it was, mere meters away was one of the largest vessels on the Moonsea. The Ironclad Galley known as the T.F.V. Fearless. His confidence had been drained by seeing the rainbow assortment of eyes aboard the vessel, by realizing that some of the aquatically themed species may not even require sleep, yet a crew of thirty would be expected to fight a force of two-hundred plus! Sure, Buddy might have known some magic, especially magic that wouldn't have hurt the Fearless in any obvious way, but the Gribbles would be sunk. Would that mean that he would be stuck with the Fearless? He actually didn't find himself wanting the large mental chunk of torton shell! Again, he had to stop himself and focus on breathing. At the moment he was sweating buckets and it wasn't from the heat of the sun, it was from pure fear.

The grappling ramp of the Fearless dropped down like a hammer onto an anvil, shattering the planks with ease, but Buddy couldn't focus on that, not as he stared at the arsenal that the ship had of weapons on board. Simply pointing in the direction of the Gribbles were four weapons peeking from their holes, almost hidden by the mercenaries aboard who stared out at the wreck of a ship, pointing and laughing. Somehow, that managed to calm Buddy down. He wasn't sure why, but if he were to speculate then he would guess that it was their insulting reaction which fueled the flames of his plan.

Right. First, let them repair his ship. Second, wait until nightfall. Third, surprise them with acid rain. Fourth, come up with a plan for the weapons and everybody below deck. It all seemed rather reasonable in Buddy's mind, and watching the tubby merchant march his way from the Fearless, fearless as he was, only made him want to laugh and insult him, but he didn't. No, insults could always come later.

V_______________________________________________________V

It turned out that an army of fish-men could work rather quickly when it came to fixing up boats. Too bad for them that they wouldn't get to keep the treasure for very long. Holly smiled to his crew as the moon crept its way into the sky, as the sun set itself into the horizon and as Gregor came to him with the lunar bow of which he once despised with such mysterious clarity. As long as he aimed for the victims' vital points they wouldn't die under any normal circumstances. His lack of skill made him happy, for then the "survivors" could spread the tale of how a blond pirate with twenty men and a ship made of rotten wood could overpower even the T.F.V. Fearless.

The Fearless' owners wouldn't allow the Gribbles' crew on board their own vessel, but it didn't matter. They didn't need an invitation to take what clearly wasn't theirs.

The captain turned to his crew and raised his glowing bow high to the sky in victory before calling out.

"Raise the black!" Buddy called out, and so his crew did. In the place of the Tarasian flag, as Buddy began his incantation, rose the flag of the Sacred Heart: A skull with a thorned heart clenched in its teeth, sideways, and two swords actually piercing the sides of the skull's design. By the time the Fearless realized what happened, the rain began to fall, and the Gribbles' crew began to rush the Fearless. There was no time to think, no time to stop and fight with the mercenaries, they would simply have to get aboard and get within or risk being turned to half-dissolved shadows of their former selves.

The fish-man guards tried to lash out against the pirates, but the acidic rain burned through their tent and fell upon their heads and shoulders, striking them with too much pain to complete their swings with any accuracy. The portals for the massive ships' weaponry were held shut by the grappling ballistae, both wheeled over to one side, and the Fearless was left questioning what was going on. Holly's pirates knew that they would need to rush, they knew that they couldn't waste any time getting below-deck if they wanted to get at that treasure, and they knew for absolute fact that they didn't want to die as collateral to their own captain's magic.

Luckily, none of the Gribbles' crew were harmed by the acidic rain, unfortunately the same could not be said for the dozens or so of guards on the deck of the Fearless or in the water surrounding it, nor could the same be said for the poor Gribbles nor of its ballistae, but they all did their job beautifully. One way or another, Captain Holly would be sure that he would come out victorious, or die trying. . . He prayed deeply for the former option.

The rush was quick, unexpected, and perfectly as planned. The guards below deck, at first, had no realization that they were being raided by the Gribbles, of all ships. Yet that only lasted for about another dozen armed aquatic individuals, the rest were not so easily caught off-guard, but Buddy still knew what to do.

The Sacred Heart Pirates were pinned down behind whatever could they could find to avoid being hit by anything the Trade Federation Vessel guards could throw at them. They were fine with hiding, yet not so much that their captain was looking for any holes he could find to slip through in the bare hopes of finding the owners or captain of the ship. It was a long-shot, especially without knowing anything about the layout of the Fearless, but that's exactly what buddy was: fearless. If he was to be consumed by fear, then he may as well lay down and die, and he did not survive Arda just to die on some other magical world at the hands of a bunch of corrupt businessmen who were trying to keep form sharing their wealth with the Pirates of the Sacred Heart!

Okay, fine, that wasn't fair or realistic, but it didn't matter, because they won. Buddy tripped, literally, over the very chubby individual of whom he was searching for. The little, fat halfling called "Little Viddle" of all things. His personal guards were caught unaware, leaving them perfectly open to be electrocuted by Holly's blades, and in one fell swoop of domination over cowardice, the legend, as Buddy hoped, began. Little Viddle surrendered almost immediately, and Captain Holly could barely contain his excitement as he led his captive through the corridors.

"Look at this, Fearless and Gribbles alike!" Buddy commanded with a victorious laugh, "Little Viddle at my mercy! I'm sure he's who's paying you, am I right?" And so he was. A few, more foolish of the mercenaries tried to rush the pirate captain, to their own misfortune. Finally he had gotten to use his bow, pulling back on the ethereal string and letting lose an arrow of beautifully white, shimmering light into their hides. All shots were non-fatal, of course, seeing as how Buddy was actually trying to make sure there weren't by trying to make sure that they were, though that only made sense to the crew of the Gribbles.

Unfortunately, as the treasure was loaded onto the Gribbles at Little Viddle's obviously influenced orders, Buddy discovered that his ship looked much as it did before meeting the Fearless on the sea, however he found it might be best to simply leave while he was still ahead rather than asking for any sort of additional repairs to his vessel from the very beings which he had just managed to best. He was over-joyed, but not stupid.
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