HoloPirates: A Tale of Adventure

Storm

BOOOM BARROOMMM!!! The crack of thunder woke me up, and I sat straight up in my hammock. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, and I felt the ship suddenly slam down in the water, crashing down and cutting the water with the bow. Suddenly, I heard the sound of Senchou yelling orders at the crew to batten down the ship, close all the cannon ports, and then bring up al the sails and go on engine power. I rolled over in my hammock, then suddenly, as the ship rolled upward, another wave smacked the tip of the bow. And that single motion threw me off the hammock and down onto the floor, where the motion of the ship rolled me farther and father back through the crew quarters. I went ass over elbow, all of my body parts smashing into the beams that held up the gunnery deck, until my head finally crashed against the rolling stock of a barrel, bringing me to a grinding halt against the wooden and metal surface. I flailed to my feet, then was thrown forward by another lurch of the ships motion, the sudden force throwing me against the beam that was in front of me. I reached out and caught myself, then, as the ship rolled back, I tightened my grip on the beam and muscled my way over to the stairs. I climbed up to the gunnery deck, and then I held onto cannons and the beams and got my way back up to the top deck, where I saw that the ship was being pounded by rain, the sheets of falling water coming down in waves just like the ocean was. I gripped the guardrail on the side of the ship, and when I looked up to the aft castle, I saw Senchou up there, looking over the waves, but something caught her eye up in the mast. When I looked through the sheets of rain, I saw that the topsail wasn't furled. It was just sitting there, taking the wind and threatening to tip us over.
"JANSEN!!!!" Senchou roared at the wheel of the ship.
"AYE?" Jansen roared back.
"SECURE THE TOP SAIL! MICHEAL!!! GET UP HERE NOW!!!!"
I raced to the top of the aft castle, then, I grabbed the wheel and held it from Jansen as he raced to the top of the mast. He leapt to the ladder, then scrambled up to the top of the mast, his arms sprouting tentacles from the sleeves of his wet jacket. The tentacles gripped the ropes of the ladder, and they boosted him up along the mast.
"Micheal, I need you to hold that wheel like its your life!!" Senchou yelled.
I nodded, and I gripped that wheel like it would be the death of me if it wasn't. It pulled and pulled, trying to force its way to roll starboard, but I yanked and pulled, holding that thing with all of my strength and refusing to let it go. The ship bucked and rocked, then slammed back down into the water and threw everyone forward. My chest slammed against the wheel, and my grip tightened as the rain whipped at my hair. I brushed the strands of my hair out of my eyes, then strained against the wheel, keeping the ship on the correct course. We crested another wave, and when that happened, another thunder crack shook the ship, and then, there was a loud BOOM.
"Thats not thunder!" Senchou yelled.
BOOM!! Suddenly, through one of the gigantic waves, I saw this flash of light, and something popped out through the wave.
CRASH!!! A part of the bow exploded, sending sharp shards of the rails flying all over the deck and into everyone's eyes. I ducked under the wheel, then looked up at Senchou as the ship rocked over a wave again. She pulled out her spyglass just as we crested a wave, and she spied a ship off in the distance.
"PIRATES!!!" She yelled. "CREW!!!! MAN THE GUNS AND AWAIT MY COMMAND!!!!"
"Pirates?" I yelled to her.
"Aye! The bloodthirsty lot of them must've seen the steam engine! Now they want to take the ship!"
"We cannot let that happen!"
The Storyteller came rushing up the stairs to the aft castle, and he looked straight at Senchou.
"Do NOT let them take this ship. Fight to the last breath!"
"Aye, that's what I plan to do!!!"
We crested another wave, and that's when the pirate ship, a black painted brigantine with red sails, was fully visible. I heard a chorus of yelling from the other ship, and I noticed that the captain of the pirates had glowing blue eyes.
"He's an Ether!!! We got a fight ahead of us boys!" Senchou yelled.
The crew cheered, and they pushed the barrels of the cannons out of the cannon ports, readying for battle.
BOOM! Another cannonball was lobbed from the enemy ship, and it struck the hull of our ship, spraying the decks below with a cloud of splinters and hot steam. The crew screamed, and then went right back to the cannon and pushed its barrel back through the little window that showed to the outside of the hull. The enemy ship crested a hill, and then, they showed us the gun ports, aiming the cannons right at our ship.
"Oh shit." I said.