A Middle Earth Story: The Corsairs of Oros

Chapter Two: Treasure Bound /Part One

"The world was young, the mountains green!" Oros belted over the cacophony of the crew assembling last minute supplies. The White Raider swayed gently in her sheltered docking with the comings and goings. Oros patted her railing comfortingly. The little brig was dwarfed next to the massive frigates and fully-rigged barques, but she was a worthy and faithful ship more than capable of handling anything the ocean threw at her.

"No stain yet on the Moon- Oi! Be careful!" Oros shouted at Morien who had dropped a large box onto the newly polished deck. "You'll be polishin' the deck if ya keep tha' up. Git movin'," he ordered. "Day's a'wastin'."

Morien grumbled unintelligibly and hoisted the box up, making sure to drag it along the deck a little first. He disappeared below deck just as Caston stumbled up. He tripped over the top stair in his haste. He was followed by a red-faced, livid, Livian. Calen followed close behind with a grin.

Oros grabbed Caston's arm as he ran past. Caston nearly flipped over when his momentum was abrupty stopped.

"What's the problem here?"

"You foul rat!" Livian screeched at Caston. "Give it back."

Oros looked at Caston questioningly. Inside his hand was a small sack.

"Boy, you best give that back," Oros warned. Caston glared at him.

"I'm no boy," he spat.

"Then stop behaving like one. Give the lady her things back before I throw you in the harbor."

Caston scowled and roughly tossed the sack at Livian. Oros let go of his painfully tight grip on Caston's arm. The Gondorian started to sulk off.

"Caston," Oros began. Caston stopped mid stride. "Start bringing the water on deck and put it by the fresh foods." Caston turned around and heading to the dock where the barrels of water waited.

He suddenly sprang back with a curse just as Fendwall came bounding up the boardwalk with a cheerful grin. The ship swayed.

"Yer cheerful," Oros noted dully. The Lossoth had been rather bitter the last three days over his failed attempts to find more crew members.

"Found something to cheer me up," Fendwall replied. He saw Caston sulking and frowned. Another person stepped lightly onto the ship and stood just behind Fendwall. One look at their face and Oros was immediately reminded of a corpse.

"Is that an Elf?" Livian asked.

"No. That's a Fendwall," Calen piped up. Livian rolled her eyes.

"Not the big brute," Livian sighed, "the other one."

"I know." Calen cackled madly, earning a light swat on her arm from Livian.

"Are you two done?" Fendwall asked, annoyance creeping into his voice. Calen clasped her hands behind her back and smiled sweetly at him, rocking back and forth on her heels. Livian nodded with a smirk. "Thank you kindly. To answer your question, Livian; yes. Dahari is an elf."

Caston suddenly spat on Dahari's hand. The Elf's eyes hardened as he deliberately flicked the gob of spit off his fingers. He stepped toward Caston who pulled himself to his full stature, which wasn't much in comparison.

"Caston," Oros warned, "back down."

Fendwall watched, curious to see what would happen. Neither of them seemed to be one to kill in cold blood, but then again, he didn't know either of them well enough to judge that.

"Who are you?" Dahari asked. The poorly hidden malice in his voice sent a cold chill down Caston's spine. Caston, however, wasn't easily intimidated.