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after a week of sailing, the lookout spots a ship
"captain ship on the horizon"
"markings?"
the lookout peers through his spyglass
"its a french merchant man"
the first mate comes up to me,
"sir not much interset in a merchan man" he says,
"they're not prized and dont carry cargo of much worth"
"aye, but the crew is itchin for a brawl"
i turn to the crew on deck,
"ARENT YA MEN!?"
there was an uproar of cheering in agreement
"well then" i said turning to the first mate
"bring out the sweeps",
"BRING OUT THE SWEEPS!" he calls
and the jolly roger rises to the mast of the ship, through his spyglass, the lookout can see the crew of the french vessle,seeing the jolly roger, they begin running frantically about deck

the wind is with my ship, and it quickly closes the gap between the two.
"READY THE CANNONS!" i yell
my ship is just aft of the french vessle, suddenly
the merchantman turns starboard!
"TO PORT, TO PORT!" i yell
the helmsman releases the wheel and the ship turns sharply
the ships are now set
"GIVE 'EM A BROADSIDE!"
the maiden's furys' starboard cannons, loaded with grapeshot pepper the french deck, immediately killing some, and knocking others overboard.
"BOARD!"
my crew swings over to the ship just as she releases a barrage of grapeshot herself, that kills few, because most are already on her deck.

the sound of swords clashing, and men screaming fills the air,
i board the ship, and am met with the sword of the first mate of the merchentman. he swings and i arch my back, avoiding his blow, he follows through with an overhead chop, which i meet with my cutlass. i deflect the blow and follow with a slach across his chest, causing him to fall to the deck, dead.
suddenly the french surrender(big suprise), and they lay down they're arms.
"well that wasnt much of a fight" one of my crew complains"
"no, but we got something even better" my first mate says as he comes from beneath deck.
"what have you got?" i ask
"its ironic, i said this merchantman was like any other and was wothless, and yes down below theres a healthy haul of dubloons!"
the men start ta cheer and laugh
"seems they knew that any pirate worth his boots would've let a merchentman be, so they hid it aboard thinking it would be left alone"
"aye" i say
"but i'm in piracy for more than just silver and gold"
i order one of my officers and some crew to man the french vessle, while we lower the surviving french into a rowboat.
"what happens to you is up to the sea now" i call
one of them said something in french, i dont know what it means, but im sure it was something about bad.
"change of plans" i say
"set course for San Jaun"
"sir" says the first mate
"weren't we already headed for San Jaun?"
"yes, but we were headed there to take the treasure ship, now before we get on bad terms with the spanish, i would like to sell this merchentman to the shipwright, and THEN take the treasure ship"
the men began laughing
"so we get gold for the ship at their port, then turn around and take their treasure ship?"
"aye" i say
"i think they're not goin' to be too happy" he said grinning
"aye, that they're not" i say as i begin laughing
we opened the sails of both ships, and began to make way.

we sail till night, the moonlit sea is silent and calm, my first mate comes up to me.
"sir?" he says
"aye?" i reply
"just out of curiosity, ive noticed that you carry a flintlock with ya"
"what about it?" i ask
"well sir, through all the engagements that i have been part of since joining, i dont think ive ever seen you use it, not once."
"that you havn't, truth be told i dont care to much for these new-fangled weapons, i prefer the blade"
"then why carry it sir?"
"cause if and when such a time comes that i should be bested in combat, i will only use this pistol to gaurantee that there wont be a man alive who can say that he killed me"
"well sir, i think i speak for the rest of the crew when i say that, being under your service has brought forth more adventure, and wealth than we had ever hoped for. and many of the crew, myself included, have been under your service since the beginning"
"aye, that you have, a captain is only good when he has a loyal crew"
"well sir, were as loyal as they come"
i give a nod, and we hear the laughter, and cheering from the galley
"seems the men are celebrating even though we only captured a merchantman" i say
"aye, but they know that this is only the beggining"
the first mate walks beneath deck to join the festivities, i stay on deck and look out to sea.

after a few days of rough water the red ruby finallys sites some ships ahead.
"aye i wonder who that could be" says the captine
"Well just have to find out miss" says the first mate

"straight a head" captine yells

"aye aye" yell the crew

we commence sailing with the morning wind. ahead the sky grows dark, the black clouds linger over the sea. the first mate comes up to me,
"sir?" he says
"aye?"
"the lookout has spotted mist aft to our ship, strange for this time of year?"
"aye, it is, but thats not regular mist"
"sir?"
"weve been followed since we left new horizons' waters"
"should we turn and fight?"
"no, they're not a threat, but those clouds up ahead are"
the first mate looks ahead
"looks like a pretty bad squall"
i nod in agreement
"we should find a port soon"
"well sir, were almost to San Jaun" he says
"thats what i was thinking" i reply
"even though they're not a threat, should we allow that ship to follow us?"
"well probably lose them in the storm, besides weve got three ships to they're one"
the first mate looks at me confused
"sir, three ships?"
i grin
"aye three ships"

**Captain, its confermed. They are infact heading for San Juan.
**ALL HANDS ON DECK, RAISE THE SAILS AND PREPARE FOR BATTLE. THEY WILL NOT REACH SAN JUAN ALIVE. I WANT THAT SHIP DESTROYED. PREP THE THE SHIPS WEAPONS AND GET READY TO FIRE A WARNING SHOT.
**Sir, we've got the ship in sight, awaiting orders.
**Fire the warning shot on my command. Aim it just over their heads... FIRE!!
*A massive blast of sound came from the side of the ship making the water tremble.