The ship went silent as they all looked at captain Ian and then at the kid before breaking into a laugh. The crew mocked the captain calling the stowaway a love child. Ian was having none of it. He pulled out saber and asked," Can you prove it? We still have to feed the sharks."
The boy looked Ian in the eye, something no human has ever done for fear of igniting his temper, and said that his blood was the clue. The crew broke into another rave of laughter. The he said," If you use Saber to cut me down he will be able to tell if my blood and yours are of different properties."
The mood was now tense as they all glared at him. No one knows what the captain and his Saber were not capable but outsiders knew even less than the crew. Brill raised his muskets at the kid's face and asked the captain for his orders. Captain Ian was seen to be smirking. He then grabbed his forehead and started to chuckle with Saber. Then both broke into hysterical laughter. He moved his hair back and said," No one has ever bold enough to ask me to cut them down. You got guts kid. Tell you what, if it turns out you have my blood, I will make you a part of my crew. But if it turns out you are trying to swindle me, I will feed you to my kraken."
He said it with a grin that sent chills down the young lads spine as the crew itself cheered. Ian raised Saber and brought down the thunder. He cut him across his chest and gut. Blood spurted all over the poop deck as his guts seemed to be trying to escape from captivity. Ian then raised his blood soaked Saber into the air and waited for the verdict. Then Saber gave a satisfied sigh and said," This boy has traces of your blood but not on the strong side. He is at the bare minimum, a relative but a son is a big no."
Ian looked at the near corpse with eyes of wonder and asked the question," Who sent you here?"
" I escaped from the ship of the lieutenant after I met up with Miriam. She sent me to look for you," the boy said and the whole crew gasped.
Ian was about to ask yet another question when a canon sound was from a far. The blast landed in the area in the portside of the ship. Ian was caught off guard, he shouted at the crow's-nest," NEIL! WHO THE HELL IS SHOOTING AT US!"
The man in the crow's-nest turned his telescope and peered into the distance. He then shouted," IT'S THE IRISH, CAPTAIN!"
" ALL MEN TO THEIR BATTLE STATIONS ON THE DOUBLE!" shouted Ian jumping onto the helm to join John," I will deal with the stowaway once we escape this."
" Aye cap'ain," they called back moving to their positions.
John asked Ian what was the best evasive action. Ian knew fighting the Irish on their home turf was nigh impossible but he had always planned for this ahead of time. There has always been a canal-like pathway that many ship captains avoid and same path the Irish use to trap pirates. Ian called it," John, take us down Siren' pass."
The crew looked at the captain with a face screaming ' What the hell captain '. The captain simply looked at them and said," I don't have time to deal with some jolly green fat men. Remember what our target is or do I have to remind you."
They all smirked and grabbed the ropes attached to the sails. They then called out to the captain saying that they were ready. Saber scoffed as Ian's coat changed to a light blue. He took a big wind up and released a sword strike of high pressure air. It hit the main sails and pulled the Skull Diver forward quickly as John took the ship into the canal. It was the fastest way to go around the English islands via the north but still one of the most dangerous waters in the seven seas. Then, as the ship slowed back to its normal speed, Brill moved the ship crew to the lower deck handing each one of them earplugs. The boy was still in awe at the sheer coordination he was witnessing from pirates. In less than three minutes, the poop deck was empty and only captain Ian, first mate Brill, second mate John and the stowaway were still on the deck. Brill lay on the door slumped like a corpse. John over the wheel as if he were shot down. Ian tied the kid on the mizenmast and went to sit at the door leading to his quarters.
Ian stabbed the floorboard with Saber and placed both hands on his hilt. He then summoned strong thin films of wind around he and the men present, including the stowaway. The ship gradually entered a thick fog but shockingly the Irish ship followed them all the way. As they slowly approached the ship, the stowaway was still watching them when the wind around him warned him to not remove a sound and to not move. s soon as those words were heard, footsteps were heard on the poop deck. He peeked at it and saw human-like fish people with claws and fangs. They were sniffing Brill and Ian. Five of them were now on the ship. The stowaway was clearly fighting the urge to scream when the Irish ship crept up on them and docked itself next to the Skull Diver. The Irish captain was a short and fat man with a curly mustache. He was chuckling as he chugged a bottle of wine. The others slowly crept onto the ship careful to not make a sound but it was too late. Their own captain gave a big belch that echoed loudly in the foggy cliffs. The sirens attacked like piranhas jumping in and out of the fog. The few who were still on the ship tried to escape as their captain was dragged to the cold depths by three sirens. The others were attacked mercilessly as their screams filled the foggy air. Then, in an instant, the main sail bellowed pushing the ship forward at a good but high pace. The sirens were sure those were corpses so they did not bother chasing after the ship. In less than a minute, they were in the clear and now heading south of the English islands. The captain called for their victory and the others swarmed the poop deck to celebrate when Neil, who was still on the crow's-nest shouted," CAPTAIN! IT'S THE ENGLISH!"
Ian brought out his telescope and peered through. The sight of the English flag made him smirk.