HoloPirates: A Tale of Adventure

Approaching the Rifts

The wind picked up, ripping and whipping at my hair as I stood up in the crows nest. I extended my spyglass again, and I saw that up ahead, through the squall line, I couldn't see anything that looked like a whirlpool, which is what Marine said the Rifts looked like. So far, I couldn't see anything through the rain cloud that wrapped around the rolling storms.
The wind picked up again, and I grabbed onto the rails of the crows nest, still holding the spyglass up to my eye as I scanned the horizon. So far, there weren't any ships out there, except for this fleet of merchant frigates that were sailing away from the storm, escorted by a handful of brigantines, their guns gleaming in the sun as they stuck out the side of the ship. I turned my attention away from them, and I looked down at the deck of the ship, focusing the spyglass to look at the crew. I focused it on the bow of the ship, where Marine had one foot on the deck, and the other one propped up on the base of the foremast as she scanned the squall line in front of us. The ship rocked over a wave, and I grabbed the rail of the crows nest again, keeping the spyglass trained on Marine. She folded and put away her spyglass, then looked up at the crows nest, and she locked eyes with me before giving me a smile and a wave. I waved back to her, then put away my spyglass and turned around in the crows nest, then got onto the ladder and slid my way down the mast, going past all of the crew as they were adjusting the sails to keep the ship moving. I slid down the rest of the mast, then hit the deck as sea water sprayed through the air. The ship rocked over another wave, and when it slammed back down in the water, I started going towards the front of the ship, heading up towards Marine. As I passed up the second mast, the wind picked up, and I pulled the pirate's jacket that I was wearing around myself, trying to keep myself warm even thought it was sunny out.
"Hey Micheal." Marine said. "Did you see the Rift?"
"Actually no. Isn't it supposed to be around here?"
"Aye, it should." She said, then turned to the crew. "We are approaching the Rift!!! Batten down the hatches and prepare for the storm!!!"
"AYE CAPTAIN!!!" They yelled back.
Through the Lattice Hatch on the deck, I saw that below the decks, all of the crew were tying down the barrels and boxes of the food that we had left, and the other crew members were pulling the cannons out of the cannon ports and shutting the hatches to keep the seawater and mist out. The crew in the masts rolled up the sails, then, with a loud roar and a puff of black smog, the engine fired up, chugging the paddles through the water and pushing the ship forward at a high rate of speed.
The wind died down suddenly, then, it picked right back up, blasting towards the storm instead of away from it. I walked back up to the foremast, then sidled up next to Marine as we both stared out at the storm. I looked over at her for just a second, and I saw that in her eyes, especially her normal red one, there was the particular shine of fear.
"You okay?" I asked.
She gave me a nod as she closed her eyes, and I felt her grasp my hand in hers.
"Aye, I am, but I'm scared as well." She said. "Jansen and I have been talking about this forever, but I never believed that we would actually be doing it."
I nodded, thinking over it, and the wind picked up again, threatening to blow Marine's captain hat right off of her head as her twin tails flapped in the wind.
"Well, I guess there's no going back now, is there?"
"Aye." She said, nodding. "No going back."
We chugged along, the paddles pushing us through the water, and we got closer and closer to the rumbling storm. As we got closer and closer, the waves became more and more frequent, and they became increasingly more violent, rocking the ship with more ferocity as we got closer and closer. I looked over at Marine, and she had an absolutely terrified look on her face, both of her eyes shining with fear.
"Micheal, I'm really scared." She said.
"I don't blame you." I said, then sidled up right next to her. "But we'll be fine. We got all those upgrades, remember?"
"Of course I remember, but it doesn't make me feel any better, you know?"
"Aye." I said, without thinking.
She gave me a funny look, then burst out laughing.
"I guess we made an impact on you didn't we?"
"Yeah I guess so." I said, then, I prepped my voice to do a rather horrible impression of Marine. "Aye, I guess so."
Her jaw dropped, and slapped me on the arm, rather hard.
"That hurt!!" I said.
"And that impression was pretty horrible, what's your point?"
I shrugged my shoulders, and we turned back to the storm, which looked like it had significantly worsened. The storm clouds rolled and boiled over each other, the dark clouds being intermittently lit up by flashes of lightning.
"Guys?"
Both of us turned around, and there was Amelia, standing with the girl that still had the mask on, who just stood there silent as the wind whipped at their hair. Amelia brushed her hair out of her face, then gave us a smile.
"Her voice is repaired, and while she can make simple sounds and words, she is lacking advanced verbal communication."
"Can you dumb that down for us?" I said, pinching Marine on her arm.
She swatted my hand away with a slacked jaw, and Amelia cracked a little smile as she looked back and forth between Marine and I.
"Aye." She said. "She can speak in broken sentences, but don't expect to have a deep conversation just yet. Given enough time and exposure, she should practice talking and she should have an improvement in her skills."
"Thats good." Marine said, then turned to the girl. "Can you tell us your name?"
".....C-Chloe." She said, pronouncing the name awkwardly.
"Chloe? Thats a nice name." She said softly. "You're not in pain from speaking, are you?"
She shook her head.
"I.....just need.....help." She said slowly.
"Aye, and you'll be better with time." Marine replied. "For now, just follow the crew, and do what they do, alright?"
She gave a nod, and Amelia looked up at the rolling line of storm, her eyes showing their own storm that was brewing in her mind.
"You have that tooth at the ready, aye?"
"Aye." Marine said, pulling it out of the pocket on her skirt. "Once we get near or in the Rifts, it'll activate, right?"
"Aye, it might." Amelia replied. "I'm heading back down to the Medical Bay. Send me anyone who needs help."
"Aye, will do. Thank you Amelia."
She left without another word, and I turned back to the rolling line of storms.