Chapter 7 Old tales

Slowly, the sound grew louder as we awaited the ghost. Phil eventually stopped singing out of fear, realizing that his attempts to stop the spirit were futile. We screamed in terror at the sight of the shadow but were shocked to see the captain standing before us. It was too late for me to hide; he had already seen me. He appeared more shocked by my presence than by the terrified sailors.

"What in the barnacles is going on here? An intruder on the ship, a party thrown in the cabin, Phil singing some ear-bleeding song, and all of you huddled together," the captain exclaimed.

No one said anything and remained motionless. I desperately tried to think of a way to escape, but my mind drew a blank.

"So, none of you care to explain?" he asked angrily. "I suppose you're the ghost of the ship. Jules warned me not to believe in ghost tales, but I didn't listen. Who are you, and what are you doing on my ship?"

I remained silent.

"Answer me, young lady," he insisted.

Jules finally spoke up for me, "Captain, she is a friend of ours. We met her when we went to get some supplies for the ship. She asked to come along, and we agreed. She'll be getting off at the next stop."

"And why didn't you tell me? Or are you making up a story?" the captain yelled.

"Not at all," Jules lied. "We knew you would disagree, so we hid her from you."

The captain's anger subsided a bit, seemingly believing Jules. Jules was his first mate, and everyone on the ship knew the captain often listened to him.

"That only answers one of my questions. Why throw a party or not tell me she was feeling homesick? Were you trying to make her feel welcome? And you, Phil, what in the hell was that song? Were you trying to summon a spirit?" the captain interrogated Jules, who remained silent. He then turned to Phil and asked, clearly shaken by the talk of spirits.

"Not exactly, but I was trying to ward off the spirits of the Night Eagles. There may not be a ghost, but there are spirits on the ship," Phil responded, making the captain even more fearful.

"Stop trying to scare me, Phil. There's no such thing as spirits. And as for you, young lady, I don't want you near my supplies. Every night, you've been stealing my food and leaving the fridge empty. As for the rest of you, I want you back in your cabins immediately, and you, the food smuggler, back to your ghost chamber," the captain finally said, walking away. He kept looking back and occasionally getting startled by anything in his path, still seemingly frightened by the talk of spirits.

"That settles it then. Let's continue the party," Lucas exclaimed.

"With everything that's happened, let's calm down for now. I have to swab the deck in the morning, so I'm off to my cabin," Derrick said and left.

"Me too," Phil yawned. "All this talk of spirits and ghosts has worn me out. The party went well. See you in the morning," he sleepily said and walked out.

"Lucas, I suppose you want to head back to your cabin as well," Jules said to Lucas.

"If you say so," Lucas replied and quickly left.

"I guess it's just you and me," I said, sitting on one of the barrels.

"Yeah, or do you also want to leave?" Jules said, sitting in a barrel next to me.

"Not really. After all, those rats keep bothering my sleep. It's hard to stay asleep when

ants are crawling all over you," I said.

"I'm sorry for your discomfort. I wish there was an empty cabin where you could stay, but they're all filled with supplies. Now that the captain has seen you, you won't be able to stay there anyway. Maybe you can stay in the food cabin or come stay in my cabin," he said with a smirk.

I chuckled. "I suppose the food cabin would be okay. Your cabin might be too small for both of us."

"That's not a problem. The bed is big enough for both of us," he replied, moving his hands closer to me until he held mine.

"The bed might be big, but I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable," I said, watching his gaze.

He slowly moved his face closer and gently placed his lips on mine. Gradually, he kissed me, his hand caressing my face. The passion grew, and he began exploring my body with his hands. I wrapped my arms around his neck and savored the moment. He slowly pulled away, gazing at my face, searching for any sign of disapproval, but I gestured for him to continue. He started planting kisses on my neck as he removed his shirt. I could feel the intensity of his desires as he undressed me. He kissed me passionately, and soon, our clothes were discarded as we lost ourselves in the depths of desire.

The following day, I woke up and observed the figure lying beside me. He had well-defined abs, and as I gazed at him, I found him incredibly handsome. Memories of the previous night flooded my mind, and a smile formed on my face as I relished the touch of his hands. I quickly looked away, blushing. Zuko had never made me feel this way before. Being with Jules awakened a different feeling in me; he was incredible in bed. Lost in my thoughts, I felt a hand gently stroking my breast and kisses on my neck. Jules had woken up, and it seemed he had enjoyed the previous night and wanted another round.

"Why blush in secret when you can always tell me what's on your mind?" he seductively said, still caressing my breast.

"Let's leave before someone sees us like this," I said with a foolish smile, getting up, but he held my hand back.

"Why leave so soon? Let them see what they can do, but I won't let them touch you," he whispered in my ear.

I slowly removed my hand and picked up my clothes. He continued staring at me, and I felt uncomfortable getting dressed in front of him. "Turn away or at least close your eyes," I said to him.

"What do you want to hide? Am I not allowed to gaze at the beauty that made my night enjoyable?" he said, wanting to come closer.

It dawned on me that he was also undressed, and I quickly turned away, wrapping my cloth around my body. "For some reason, I feel naked," he said, picking up his clothes. I kept my back to him as he dressed.

"You can look now," he said, and I turned to see him dressed in his sailor clothes.

"Okay, I want to put on my clothes now," I said, trying to get him to leave.

He playfully refused to go and held onto my waist. He whispered in my ear, "You know where to find me if you need me," and kissed me on the cheek.

I blushed as he walked away.

Unbeknownst to me, it was the ship's anniversary that day. According to Phil, on the anniversary, they would recreate the first meal they cooked on the ship, which consisted of stale bread and fresh crab. The captain explained

that they had forgotten to bring some supplies, so they had to make do with leftover bread and fresh crab that they found on the boat. They had no means of cooking it, so they had to eat it raw.

"Why do you eat it raw every year when you have something to cook with now?" I asked, feeling disgusted at the thought of eating raw crab and stale bread. I held my nose to avoid gagging.

"Listen here, missy. It's tradition, and it needs to be followed, but that's not the main reason we celebrate our anniversary," the captain said.

"Then what is the main reason?" I asked, moving away from the food.

"Can I tell her the story, Captain?" Phil asked, imitating a pirate accent. It seemed he was about to sing, based on what I knew.

"Go on, tell her the tales of our ship," the captain replied, also using a pirate accent.

"Alright then,

Listen here, my dear friend, to an old pirate tale I'm about to tell,

On a rainy day I clearly remember, arrgh, the night we had crabs for dinner.

The boat kept rocking from side to side,

So did the crab, and we had to chase our dinner.

It scurried under the deck, inside the cabins, and led us to an old chest.

The chest was locked, and the ship kept rocking,

So we left the chest and went after the crabs.

Back on the deck we were, but we weren't alone anymore,

A bunch of pirates came along and demanded their crab dinner back.

Funny as it may seem, it was true-the crab belonged to them.

They even had tattoos of crabs on their bodies.

So we gave them back their crabs, but not without a price.

In return, we demanded lots of food.

That day, instead of stale bread and crab, we had a delicious feast.

But the chest still remained, and everyone had forgotten about it.

Except the captain-he went back to the cabin and found the key to open it.

Inside were jewels, golden coins, and plenty of diamonds.

We were rich, I tell you, and we sailed to shore to cash in.

We got our money, and to this day, we never lack supplies.

But on our anniversary, we gather to eat, not to be eaten, and we toss the food away after we play the pirate game."

"A chest full of treasures, pirates, a runaway dinner, and a pirate game," I said, amused.

"You've got it, mate. We all dress up like pirates and have fun," Lucas added in a pirate accent.

"So when do you throw the food away?" I asked.

"We do it when we've eaten half of it, and then Lucas and Derrick jump up like pirates and stop us," Phil said.

"But we take turns every year, and this year it's Lucas and Derrick's turn," Jules added.

"Can I pretend to be a pirate? It's much better than eating the food," I said, hoping they would let me.

"It's up to the captain," Phil said, turning to him.

I awaited his decision hopefully. "If you want to be a pirate, then go ahead. You'll be here for the next anniversary, so why not?" the captain said and left for the cabins.

"Lucky," Phil said. "I guess Jules and I will have to wait for our turn until next year," he added.

At noon, everything was ready. I held my breath as they began to eat the food. The captain appeared unfazed; he was used to it. I waited for Lucas's signal, and when it came, we jumped up, talking like pirates. We playfully fought with the others

and threw the food away. Laughter filled the air as we acted out the pirate game, pretending to search for hidden treasure and mimicking pirate accents.

As the sun set, we all sat on the deck, tired from our game. The captain was in a good mood, laughing and telling stories of their past adventures. It was a night of joy and camaraderie. The ship sailed smoothly under the starry sky, and I felt a sense of belonging among these sailors.

As I leaned against Jules, I whispered in his ear, "Thank you for making me feel welcome."

He kissed my forehead and whispered back, "You're part of the crew now, and we take care of our own."

And so, we sailed into the night, a crew united by the love for adventure and the bonds that were forged on the open sea.