Scurvybones Origins: Part 6

Scurvybones Origins

Chapter 6

The voice from across the waves


"Oh Scurvy, asleep on the job are you?"

The young pirate was startled. He could only feel a fleeting conciousness but for some reason it was as if he was wide awake. The voice spoke to him again. It was a soft voice, almost like a mother speaking to her child.

"You have much to do my young friend, there is no time to be lazing about"

Although he could not see its source, he felt the warm glow of a smile upon him. He decided to speak this time.

"I can hear you, but I cannot see you. Who are you that can speak to me in my dreams?" he asked

"A friend is what I am, and a rather dear one at that"

"A dear friend? Forgive me but I do not recognise your voice 'friend'" Scurvy responded.

"Well, we are indeed friends, but we have not met yet"

"A friend who I haven't met yet? Well then surely you should reveal yourself to me so that we can indeed meet" Scurvy said, getting more and more anxious to discover who or what this voice was.

"Patience young pirate, patience. It is a virtue, although not one you were gifted with, of this I know"

Scurvy heard the slightest hint of a chuckle in the voices tone as it continued.

"We shall meet soon enough, but until that time you must live on. You will do great things my friend so long as you hold true to the oath which you swore to yourself"

"The oath I swore? You mean the one about Jess, yeah?" He asked

"Indeed, so long as young Jessica is kept safe, you will become great... no, that's wrong. So long as Jessica is kept safe, you will become a legend"

Scurvy's eyes shot open. He was concious once more. The voice had vanished and retreated back into the mists of obscurity. What it was he did not know, a maelstrom of questions rushed through his head but for now he needed to get his bearings. He could feel sand underneath his back, he was on a beach. He also could feel the warm sun beating down upon him. This meant one thing, he had managed to swim to safety, Jess was clearly fine and he had succeeded. This of course raised the question as to where Jess was. As he became more concious he figured out the answer, she was bent over him and had her lips pressed against his.

Scurvy was now very much concious, Jess was kissing him! Or was she, upon closer consideration she was trying to perform some form of mouth to mouth, but failing at it abysmally. This then raised a further problem, he had been concious for about a minute now, how exactly could he explain the fact that he'd been letting her do this to him. He tried to think of something, but it was too late as Jess then began to speak.

"You're awake, aren't you?" she asked, her lips still pressed against his

"Yeah... sort of" He responded in the same muffled tone as she did

"You been awake for long?" she asked

"A couple of minutes maybe" he said

"You do know that I'm going to start hurting you now, don't you?" she said and took her lips off of his

"Yeah... I know" he sighed and allowed her to land a swift jab into his stomach

The last of the water in his lungs was expelled thanks to this action as he then rolled over and began to cough loudly as Jess cracked her knuckles. At this point he wondered how he could become a legend if the person he was supposed to protect was about to beat him into a bloody pulp. He felt her hand grasp the collar of his shirt and she dragged him to his feet. He flinched as she moved in closer to him, ready to receive pain, but what he got instead was a hug. He was mildly shocked at this.

"Thank you Scurvy, truly. You saved my life, I am eternally in your debt"

"Y-you're welcome" he responded hesitantly.

She released her embrace and then turned to face the island on which they stood.

"Welcome to Cuba Captain Scurvybones, home of the voodoo users"

Scurvy stared in awe at the huge island that stretched out in front of him. The golden sun beat down upon the palm trees which parted slightly to reveal a dirt path. He could see the rooves of houses peaking out over the tops of the trees not too far away, but what caught his eye most was the tower. In the middle of the island stood a grand pillar of stone, it stood what seemed to be a mile high. The young pirate looked at it in awe before turning to Jess, she was already ahead of him with the explanation.

"That's the so called 'Voodoo Tower', not the most creative of names but it was named by pirates, who aren't exactly the most creative of people"

Scurvy was taken aback by this "well excuse me princess, but we pirates are creative!"

"Is that so?" she chuckled "well then 'Scurvybones', master of creativity, I shall bear that in mind" she then continued with her story "well that tower is known as the centre of all knowledge of the voodoo arts and is said to be impenetrable. It stands tall as a beacon of freedom in an ocean of oppression and upon its peak sits Sven Gunflint, the wise and noble voodoo master. It is him who we must seek so that we can obtain a voodoo user for our crew"

Scurvy nodded but then a thought hit him "Jess, what about the crew? Amby and Jack and Tobias! Do you think they made it here all right?"

Jess smiled "don't worry captain, Tobias was with them after all, I have no doubt that they made it here and if they did then they would have gone to that tower, which is where we too must go."

Scurvy smiled "yeah, you're right, Tobias would have gotten those two here in one piece. I guess we need to head to that tower then, no point dawdling around here for no reason now is there?"

"Yeah, so shall we go?" she smiled

"Oh yes! Onwards!" he grinned and the two marched towards the tower, both feeling rather exhausted.

It was about fifteen minutes of silent walking before either of them said a word, both were thinking about the incident on the beach. Jess was wondering whether what had happened counted as her first kiss, Scurvy on the other hand was wondering if he should tell Tobias or not. If he told him then he would get a High-5. Was losing Jess' trust really worth a Hi-5 from Tobias? It was a very close call with many pros and cons but in the end he decided that it would remain a secret.

The mirror of silence was then shattered by a voice from the side of the road which they walked along. The voice made the two travellers jump a little as they turned to see who it was.

A girl with long black hair, garbed in brightly covered rags sat with her back against a tree. She was surrounded by bottles of all kinds containing strangely coloured liquids.

"Hello" she said to them

Scurvy looked at her for a moment and then responded "hello" he said and then paused "how are you?"

"I am good, how are you?" the girl asked

"Fine, fine, can't complain" he said back

"Do you know something?" she said

"I know lots of somethings, which particular something are you referring to?" he asked

"I am referring to the fact that a veil of destiny surrounds the two of you"

"Is that so? Did you hear that Jess? Destiny" Scurvy said, half amazed "what kind of destiny? Can you tell me?"

"I can" the girl replied "and specifically to you Scurvybones, I can see a fall in your near future"

"A fall eh? What sort of fall?"

"What do you mean what sort of fall? The sort of fall from a large peak that will end in your death, that sort of fall" the girl barked at him, her thick Caribbean accent poking through

"Ah... that sort of fall, right" he said, rather upset to hear this

"But worry not" she responded and put her hand to a vial and handed it to him "this potion will cure you when this event comes to pass"

"The potion will cure him from the injuries he sustains from falling from a great height?" Jess asked sceptically

"Yes" the girl responded

"We're leaving"

Jess took Scurvy by the hand and dragged him on along the dusty path. Scurvy looked back at the girl and began to make the motion to throw the vial back to her. The girl then smiled and shook her head. With that last glimpse Scurvy rounded a corner and she was out of sight.

The girl sat on the ground and grinned "Oh you will need that potion Scurvybones, and you will be amazed by what it will do to you. Keep it and use it when the time is right my dear friend" and with that, the girl was gone.

To Be Continued