He's A Pirate|banglo

Chapter 2

They had been on sea for two days and by now, Junhong had figured out that this was even worse than it had seemed on his first day. Back then, he would have described the ship as dirty, but now, he thought 'filthy' was a more accurate description. There was mold everywhere, even in the beds, rats everywhere - not that he minded rats but there was no piece of food left on the whole ship they had not eaten from - and the officers were the worst people he had ever met in his life, which surely meant something for someone who had worked in a bar and therefore encountered all kinds of pirated, bandits and other rude folks. The day before, he had witnessed one of his crewmates being beaten unconscious and thrown overboard after refusing to clean up someone else's puke.

Last night, they had gotten into a storm, not even a bad one according to Robin, and none of them had gotten any sleep. Still, the officers were making them work even harder than usual, as the ship had taken some damage. Due to the lack of sleep, their mood seemed to be extra bad today and Junhong was trying to stay out of their sight as much as possible.

It was in the late afternoon, Junhong was currently trying to fix one of the sails that had been damaged last night, when he heard yelling from the crow's nest.

Pirates.

The boy immediately stopped what he was doing and went to look over the railing. He could already see the ship. It was way bigger than theirs, with multiple decks and rows of cannons, the black flag waving proudly in the wind.

He felt his heart sink. He had been hoping this day would never come, that they would sail for a few days, maybe weeks, before going back home, not finding any pirates. He was aware that this was an unrealistic dream, but it was the only thing that had made him keep going. The slight hope that Robin would be wrong. That they would get out of there alive and he would get to see his mother again.

Junhong could not deny he felt a bit sick at the sight of the pirate ship approaching. It was obvious they did not stand the slightest chance.

A sudden slap against the back of his head pulled him out of his trance. It was one of the officers.

"ARE YOU DUMB?? FIRE UP THE CANNONS!!" The man yelled, pushing Junhong towards the entrance to the powder storage.

The boy stumbled down the stairs, entering the small room, when he heard a cannon firing. A second later, the whole ship shook and people started screaming. Struggling to stay up on his feet, he made his way to a corner and crouched down behind a few barrels.

He was close to crying. Maybe Robin had been right. Maybe he should have taken his own life before this started. Now, he would either be killed by a pirate, drown in a wreck or blow up when a cannon hit the barrels of powder surrounding him. No matter how, he knew he was going to die within the next few minutes. He could already hear the pirates boarding their ship.

The noises of the fight on deck were obvious. By now, he sat there with his eyes closed, just wishing for it to be over, when he suddenly heard heavy footsteps coming down the stairs. It sounded like two people, and judging by how calmly they walked around the room, they were not members of the crew.

"Damn, nothing but powder." A voice said, "Should we take it or just blow this whole thing up?"

"As much as we get attacked these days I guess it wouldn't be bad to take it. We can still leave a rest and have a firework though." The second voice laughed.

"Alright. You take the barrels over there, they should be done upstairs." The voice sighed. "I bet this was just another one of those distraction-ships. But I haven't seen a bigger one nearby. Let's hope they're not coming, I really need a break."

"Yeah, you can't even call this a fight. I almost feel bad for them."

Junhong heard how one of them approached his hiding spot and started panicking. He had no idea what to do if they found him, he did not even have a weapon of any kind.

Before he could think of anything, one of the barrels in front of him was moved and he saw a pair of black, worn-out boots.

"Oh, look what we have here."