The Voyage

Chapter 9

Scarlet woke up the next morning and went up to the deck, fully dressed and ready to take on the day. Lux had a table set up, tattooing their Jolly Roger onto Dio's upper arm. "Good morning Scarlet," Dio greeted while Lux was too busy paying attention to the task at hand. "Good morning,"she greeted cheerfully. "Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes," Pince called out from the kitchen. "How long till we get to the next island," she asked as she sat on the railing. "We should get there by sunset if the wind keeps up," Dio answered. "If not we can make that air head shipwright use that hot air he tends to waste by running his mouth to get us the rest of the way there," Pince yelled out. Brian glared as he came out on deck, "Care to say that to my face you useless cook?" Pince stuck his head out the window, "I'd fucking love too. If I left the kitchen though, our breakfast would burn and you're not worth burning perfectly good food over." "You're damn right I'm not, so get back to it," Brian said. "I'm not in the mood to eat burnt crap." "Did they just agree on something," Lance asked as he came on to the deck while cleaning his glasses. Scarlet nodded, "They did." "I must still be dreaming," Lance said. Brian then pinched his arm. 

"What was that for," Lance asked while rubbing his now sore arm. "You said you thought you were dreaming," Brian said with his hands in the air. "I didn't say pinch me," Lance told him. "God you're loud first thing in the morning," Muris said as he came on to the deck. "Good morning Scarlet." She smiled, "Good morning Muris." "Why do you only ever greet Scarlet when you first wake up," Brian asked him. "I'm not the only one," Muris told him. "The other's greet her too." "Why doesn't anyone ever greet me first thing in the morning," Brian asked, hands on his hips. "Because you cause us to have bad mornings," Pince yelled from the kitchen easily. "Oh screw you," Brian snapped. "Sorry buddy, but you're not my type," Pince told him. 

"Plus Scarlet is well, she's Scarlet," Lance told him. "It'd be rude not too." "She didn't greet you when you came up," Brian pointed out to him. "That was because we were too shocked by you and Pince agreeing with each other," Scarlet said with shrug. She then looked at Lance, "Good morning Lance." Lance smiled, "Good morning Scarlet." 

Brian gestured with his hands, "What? What was that?" "Breakfast is ready," Pince declared, interrupting Brian who glared at Pince for it, but wasn't going to complain since it was because of food. Lux smiled as he finished Dio's tattoo and stood, "Great, I'm starving." The rest eyed Dio's mark and smiled. "Looks good," Muris said. "Me next," Brian said while raising his hand up. "Give the man a break," Dio said. "It took him hours to work on this." Lance made sure it wouldn't get infected before they joined the others for breakfast. 

"So what kind of treasure is rumored to be on the island we're going to," Lance asked curiously. "Apparently a temple is in the center of the island, containing an item called the golden claw," Dio replied. "The temple and land surrounding the temple is filled with thousands of traps that have killed many who have tried to get to it. Of course no one is stupid enough to brag if they do manage to get their hands on it, because then it would make them a target here. Many in the Forbidden Lands like to wait till others have gathered treasure, then steal it from them. They're not fans of doing the hard work for themselves." Lux scoffed, "No sense for adventure. Bastards are only in it for the treasure. Makes me sick. Treasure should only be a bonus, not the reason." "I agree," Scarlet said with a nod. 

"Does a map of the island exist," Brian asked next. "No one has braved enough of the island to make one," Muris answered. "Most who tried either were killed by the monsters that reside on the island or they were scared and retreated." "In the morning, we'll have Scarlet fly over the island, then report back with what she sees," Lux told them. She nodded, "Sounds good." 

"We'll then break up into teams," Lux said. "Brian, Lance, and Muris will check out the East part of the island." "Can't I stay on the ship, where it's safe," Lance asked in a soft whine. Brian patted him on the back, "It's gonna be a blast." "I'm sure it will be," Lance said as he imagined them stepping on an explosive trap that will send them sky high. "Dio and Pince will check the West side of the island," Lux said, continuing on. "While Scarlet and I go through the center of the island. If either team has any trouble, shoot the flare gun and the others will come running." They all agreed then finished their breakfast. 

They spent the rest of the day relaxing and readying themselves for when they get there. It was just past sundown when they made it to the island. There was smoke from a fire, letting them know, they weren't the only ones on the island. Lux took his spy glass to see the ship's Jolly Roger. When he saw the Jolly Roger wearing a pathetic red cowboy hat, "It's the Rodeo Bulls Crew." "Last thing we need are a bunch of pathetic rodeo clowns who can't find their way out of a wet paper sack," Pince said while rolling his eyes. "I met them once," Lance told them. "It was before I was a pirate. They stopped at my home island. They were harassing a few of the women there and I tried to step in. I ended up with a drink poured on me, and made into a laughing stock because I kept stuttering. I only stuttered cause I had a gun pointed at me, and I was barely even drinking age."  "It's okay Lance, not everyone can have balls of steel," Brian commented, earning himself a smack to the back of the head from Pince. Brian glared as he rubbed his head. 

"They have a reputation of being uncivilized asshats," Scarlet said while crossing her arms. "Hopefully the unpredictable weather and monsters will keep them too busy to worry about us," Dio said. "Any give you problems, take them out," Lux told them. "For now, let's get some rest." 

Scarlet was laying awake in bed when there was a knock on her door. She opened it and saw Lux on the other side. His eyes trailed over her small nightgown, "You and your scandalous sleeping attire." She rolled her eyes as she stepped back to let him in. "What brings you by so late," she asked him as she shut the door. "With the Rodeo Bulls on the island, I don't want you flying over it. I don't want to risk them taking shots at you as you're flying. Your wings can be bullet proof, but when you wrap them around you, you're unable to continue flying, resulting you in possibly falling right into them. I don't want to take that risk. It's best to just go straight in, and risk fighting them on the ground instead," He told her. 

She nodded, "Ever the worrying Captain." "It's my job to worry," he told her. "If I didn't then so much shit could go wrong, and I can't have that happen. After all, if that happened then I'd be a very shit Captain." "And we can't have that happen can we," she asked him. He chuckled softly, "No we can't." "So why did you pair the two of us together tomorrow," she asked as her eyes trailed up his bare torso to his dark brown eyes. "I wanted to be with someone not so annoying," he told her. "You don't mind, do you?" She nodded with a smile, "Not at all." He nodded as he turned to leave, "Good night Scarlet." "Good night Lux," she said before closing the door to her room.