Skull And Bones
Ben excused himself from yet another group of pirates from the East. They were talking of their latest hijacking of a cargo ship containing silk clothing. They had killed twelve men in the process and it was when Ben heard this that he had lost interest in the conversation. Ben was a small time pirate, brought up in the lifestyle by his father who had given him his own ship when he was seventeen. He had started up his own crew immediately with people who had the same views and morals he had. Ben enjoyed the lifestyle, but did not agree with the unnecessary and brutal murders that so many pirates seemed to enjoy. Of course he had the rather beautiful pistol with an ivory handle on his belt and a knife hidden in his boots but as yet he had not needed to use them. In his twenty odd years of being a captain he had not killed a single sole. To be fair he had marooned a few colleagues when they had broken the 'no killing unless absolutely necessary' rule but that was the pirate punishment, and it kept the other men in line. He simply used threats and weapons to make the innocents on the ships to surrender the cargo and then leave them unharmed and cargo-less. It worked perfectly fine and he had just as much money as the next pirate. Ben sipped at his rum as he wandered across the deck. He had no idea why he had come to this pirate convention. It was being held on one of the largest pirate boats known in the community. He nodded at someone he recognised but could not remember the name of. Their clothes were stained with freshly spilt blood. Ben shuddered as he smoothed down his own moss coloured jacket and tugged at his white neckerchief. He was certain that if some of these men just washed and shaved they would look so much more appealing. Ben took pride in his hygiene and encouraged his men to do the same. He probably stuck out as one of the few men without a beard but that didn't bother him, beards were itchy anyway. "Ah Ben, there you are!" A large hand slapped him on his back and knocked the breath out of him. "Hi dad," Ben said to the scruffy man. He tried to ignore the stink of alcohol radiating from his father's breath as he shook hands with the man his father was introducing him to. "This is Tommy, from the North. We boarded the same ship at the same time would you believe it and instead of killing each other we joined forces for the day." "Nice to meet you," Ben smiled, although he wasn't really interested. "Killed nearly forty people that day, a personal best," beamed Tommy proudly; he was just as dirty as Ben's father and his few teeth were yellow and black. Ben forced a look of impressiveness, although all he felt was disgust. "What about you my boy, what is your personal best?" "Oh I don't keep count," Ben shrugged, "it's the treasure that interests me not the murder." At least that was true. Being unwilling to kill was frowned upon in the pirate society and so Ben did his best to avoid the topic as much as he could. Even his father, Captain Wallace Jailbird (or Will to his friends) did not know of Ben's lack of activity. Ben talked with his father and his friend for some time, talking of various successful and not-so-successful hijacks and adventures. He 'mmm-ed' and 'ah-ed' at all the appropriate parts but he spent most of the time waiting for the moment to escape. The moment came when Tommy and his father began to talk of something that had happened in the community before he had been born. Ben excused himself and rushed below deck to get away from the crowds. Below deck he slipped into a side cabin and sat on the floor in the corner so that if anyone were to enter, they would not see him in the shadows. He took off his stereotypical pointed pirate hat and ran his fingers through his hair. Why had he come? He hated socialising with pirates not like him. He leant back against the wall and shut his eyes, enjoying the quiet. Scratch, pat, thump. Ben looked around the dark room trying to work out where the sounds were coming from. The sounds got louder as he got closer to the wall. He pressed his ear against the wood and realise the noises were coming from outside. But that was impossible, on the other side of that wall there was nothing but the ocean. More sounds came and Ben jumped as a stone smashed the small round window from the outside. He ran and hid behind the desk as a figure pulled himself through the broken window with ease and rolled onto the floor, brushing off the broken glass from his clothing. Ben recognised the figure immediately. It was Bloodshed, the pirate of legends. He had heard all the stories of this madman who killed for the fun of it, even if it was one of his most trusted men. How he had stolen treasure of little worth, cheated other pirates, and was generally insane. He once attempted to attack the Navy single handed. Miraculously, he had survived and not been captured. There were even rumours that he had swam the rapids of the South, the rapids that destroyed any boat that tried to sail through, snapping the boat in half like a twig against the rocks. Any sane pirate was terrified of him and his lunacy. Ben gasped and then clasped his hands to his mouth to try and silence himself. But it was too late, Bloodshed had heard him. "Who goes there?" Ben bit his lip and stayed hidden, praying that Bloodshed would believe he was just hearing things. "I said," Bloodshed produced a pistol and fired into the air, the sound of the shot rung in Ben's ears, "who goes there?" "Ah, good day sir," Ben said over-cheerily as he appeared from behind the desk. He pretended he did not know who this man was, but the fact that he could feel his heart beating at one hundred miles an hour in his ears did not help. "Are you here for the convention?" he asked pleasantly. "You could say that," said Bloodshed with a mischievous glint in his eye. "I was just having a rest from all the people," Ben said, pointing to the deck above them, trying to think of a reason why he would be behind the desk. Bloodshed grinned as he watched the nervous little pirate. "What's your name laddie?" "Captain Benjamin Gold." The 'Gold' had been given to him by Ben's crew as they would say he had 'a heart of gold'. "Do you know who I am?" Ben swallowed. "No." "I'm best known as Bloodshed." He waited for Ben to react, but Ben could not move. He could hardly deny that he had heard of him, but he did not want to do anything to aggravate him either for fear of being shot. He spied at least three guns on this man's belt. "N-nice to meet you." Stupidly Ben stuck his hand out and waited nervously to see if Bloodshed would take it (hopefully not literally). Bloodshed pulled a puzzled expression before taking Ben warmly by the hand and shaking it. He was wearing an appealing black and white number, Ben noted; white shirt and black jacket embroided with gold thread. His trousers were also black and his boots scuffed and matte. His hat matched the rest of his outfit and his messy black hair stuck out at odd angles from beneath. But it was the cape that made him stand out. It swooshed as he moved, making every action dramatic and graceful. He patted Ben on the back and pushed him to the door. "Have you been on this ship before Captain Gold?" he asked as they strolled through the ship. Bloodshed did not seem afraid of being seen or recognised. Ben considered that it must have been because although he was notorious for being someone you should be afraid of, he had done nothing against the laws of a pirate, and so had no threats to his life. "No sir, it is very grand." "Call me Mat," smiled Bloodshed. This smile was different to the one's Ben had seen before, it was warm and friendly, there was no sign of madness or recklessness that Ben had imagined. In fact, now that he thought about it, Bloodshed – no Mat's voice had changed too. When he had first spoken it had been deep, commanding and threatening. Now it was full of expression and pleasantness. When people talked of Bloodshed, Ben had imagined a drunken, dirty, crazy pirate that would kill every man he laid his eyes upon. But stood before him was a young, clean, pleasant fellow whom he would be happy to hold a conversation with. He was still wary though, expecting a sudden mood change and massacre. "Bloodshed was a name given to me by other pirates, I have never liked it." "Ben," he replied, feeling the need to return the gesture. "The ship was built in 1514, so fairly old considering," Mat said as he brushed his fingertips against the wood. "Oh," Ben said, surprised that Mat knew such trivial information. "Mmm, one of the largest cargo ships of it's time. It carried everything from fine silk to sugar! Rumour has it the pirate that first took over the ship pushed the Captain overboard using a wooden plank, that's why so many land men assume our most common punishments is 'walking the plank'. Oh this is beautiful!" he exclaimed suddenly as he got distracted by a painting hanging on the wall. Ben politely inclined his head as he examined the object for himself. "This painting," Mat explained, "is one of the few done of the great Ophelia ship before it was destroyed as it sailed into the rapids of the South. Such a tragedy." Ben was certain Mat was being sincere, and yet it was very odd to see the most feared pirate of the ocean saddened by a tragedy that did not involve him. "Not like you then," Ben teased. "I'm sorry?" "Well rumour has it you swam those rapids and lived to tell the tale." Mat half smiled. "So you do know who I am." Ben looked at his shoes, afraid. He said quietly, "How could I not?" "I'm afraid the rumours are not true," Mat sighed as he admired the artwork once more. "Rumours?" Ben enhanced the 's' sound. "I am painted as an insane, blood thirty devil, who cares for no one but himself." They resumed walking down the corridor. "Actually I hate killing unless my own life is at stake. I did swim a significant distance, I am quite a good swimmer, but there were no rapids. I have killed none of my own men as I have no men. I am a bit of a rogue pirate; I tend to slip on board a ship unseen, rob them, and then make a get away on the small boat I used to get there. Oh I stole a copy of this painting, it's lovely isn't it?" They discussed the second painting Mat had noticed for a little while before moving on once more. "What about the Navy ship you were said to have boarded?" "That's how it all started," Mat said with a smile. "The Captain of the ship was a childhood friend of mine. I was an unknown pirate, captured and taken to the Captain of the ship – my friend – and we were left to talk on our own. My friend, who was of a good heart, did not want to kill me but he also did not want to get into trouble himself, so I suggested we made it look like I had threatened him and I took over the ship. I even faked this drunk and insane character for it, I don't know why, just for fun I suppose. Now everyone believes I am a monster. It is empowering and yet rather lonely." He suddenly stopped in his tracks. "I don't know why I am telling you this." Ben suddenly became aware of how odd the situation was, the great Bloodshed was divulging all his secrets and refuting his reputation to a man he had only just met. "In my twenty odd years I have never killed another man, I do not agree with mindless murder," Ben admitted, hoping the telling of his own secret made them equal. Mat looked very surprised. "How have you managed that?" he asked, well aware of the prejudices of the pirate world. "I have a very small crew, all men who agree with my point of view. Fear is enough for us and we earn a good living." Mat was impressed. "I'd love a life like that," he said dreamily. "You are more than welcome to join us," Ben blurted out. Mat just smiled at him, still looking dreamy. They approached the steps that led up to the desk and Mat clapped his hands together. "So these are the infamous snake banisters!" He eagerly touched and inspected the staircase. The wood had been carved to make it look like snakes were coiled around it and their faces had skulls on. "This staircase was requested by the original Captain, he wanted something to make the ship unique and extra grand." "What about these skulls? They don't seem of as high quality artistry as the snakes themselves." "They were added later by the pirate that took over the ship, he wanted to make his mark." He then lowered his voice and pressed his chin to his chest as if he were impersonating the said pirate, "had to claim my territory of course." Ben laughed and Mat chuckled with him. "How come you know so much about the artwork here?" asked Ben, fascinated by this character, completely forgetting about how terrified he was of him when they had first met. Mat shrugged. "I just appreciate the arts. You pick up these things here and there. I like to know the history of things I've stolen. I read a lot of books as well." "You read?" Ben stood open mouthed. "I wasn't born a pirate," explained Mat, amused at Ben's expression, "I ran away when I was young. Before that I was a lawyer's son so I had a pretty good education." "I wish I could read," sighed Ben. "If our paths ever cross again I'd be happy to teach you." "Oh," Ben suppressed the sadness he felt. If our paths ever cross again. He did not want to say goodbye to this man. He coughed. "Yes, thank you." "It was good to meet you Ben," Mat said suddenly as he placed his hand on Ben's shoulder and gave it a little squeeze. He then took the half drunk bottle of rum from Ben's hand that he had been drinking and rushed up the stairs two at a time. Ben followed quickly, unprepared for this sudden goodbye and blinked as the sun blinded him momentarily as he reached the deck. Mat was standing a few steps in front of him, his whole persona changed. He swayed on the spot, his shoulders hunched and the bottle clasped tightly in his hand. He looked drunk. His bright and happy face drooped, his eyes squinting as they searched every face in sight. They suddenly focused on a man in the crowd. "Doggy!" he cried in a way you would call a friend when you were drunk in a bar. The pirate he had just called turned and froze at the sight of Mat. No, Bloodshed, Ben corrected himself, this is not Mat. "I think," he said slowly, continuing with his drunken persona, "you owe me." His voice was ruff and no where near as articulate as Ben knew it to be. One by one, the other pirates had noted Bloodshed's presence and slowly the chatter died down and everyone turned to face the legendary pirate. The pirate known as Doggy cleared his throat. "I owe you nothing Bloodshed," he squeaked. "I do believe," he said very politely, "that I assisted you in the apprehension of a ship's worth of tea. And then," he laughed, "you threw me overboard to increase your share of the treasure." "How did you survive?" Doggy hissed. In one swift move Bloodshed pulled his pistol from the holster and pointed it at the man's head. "I am a very good swimmer," he snarled. He threw the bottle of rum to the ground and it smashed to pieces. Everyone jumped. "You owe me." "The tea of which you speak is no longer within my possession." Doggy was trying to keep his voice even as he said this. "Oh I am willing to take it's value in any currency. Be it gold, sugar, or," he looked the pirate up and down, "clothing. Now give it to me or," he jabbed his weapon in the direction of Doggy to express the threat. BANG! Every man on the deck turned to see where the loud noise had come from, and watched in horror as a pirate who had been standing in the corner swayed and fell to the floor, a bullet in his chest. Ben stood frozen, still in the position of aiming his weapon, however his hands were now shaking fiercely as the realisation of what he had done sunk in. Every pirate was looking at him in disbelief, but it was Mat's expression that Ben feared the most. The Bloodshed persona had completely disappeared and it was once more Mat standing there, straight backed and perfectly stable. His eyes and mouth wide as he pulled a puzzled expression at Ben. "He… he was going to shoot you… he… he had his gun out and was aiming it at your head," he spluttered. The explanation was for Mat really but when Ben heard the wail come from Doggy he realised there were still hundreds of other pirates on the ship. "He was my brother," cried Doggy as he hunched over the dead body, "he was only protecting me from this lunatic!" He pointed an accusing finger at Bloodshed, whose stooping drunkenness had returned. The sound of large expensive boots hitting the floorboards drummed through the air. The crowd parted as a huge man with thick black facial hair that swamped every other feature made his way to the scene. He was the Captain of this vessel. "I will not have fighting on my ship," he bellowed, making clear his authority. "Seize him!" So Ben was about to die, on a ship that wasn't even his, during a convention that he didn't even want to go to , for killing a man that was about to shoot someone he had only just met. Yup, this all made perfect sense. He drew his weapons, a gun in one hand and the knife in the other. There was no chance he would survive, but he would go down fighting. He readied himself, his feet spaced apart and his eyes darting around, when he saw Mat out of the corner of his eye. Mat looked afraid, truly afraid, and Ben suddenly felt sick to his stomach. All this happened in a split second. The pirates were about to charge when Ben ran to Mat and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and kissed him full on the mouth. It was not the first kiss he had imagined, he had wanted it to be soft and sweet, an expression of shy emotion, but this was just despair and desperation. But this was his last chance and so he took it. Mat looked stunned as Ben pulled away. "You… you killed for me." "It was you or him," Ben shrugged apologetically. "Goodbye Mat," he smiled sadly before he turned and swung his blade at the man who was about to grab him by the shoulders. The men came charging at him, but with both his weapons raised none would be the first to lunge at him for fear of being killed. Ben struck out at every man who twitched and the stand off began. "Get him! I want him too!" The Captain was pointing at Bloodshed, who had slipped away unnoticed and was now half way up the mast. Some men began to climb up after him but Bloodshed just cackled an insane laugh. "So long boys!" he called and with one swift stroke, he cut the rope he was holding ion to and swung like Tarzan into the air. He let go and half spun in the air before diving into the ocean beneath. Ben's heart felt very heavy. It was like all the energy and life had disappeared overboard along with Bloodshed. He realised that a small part of him had hoped Mat could have saved him, but then he remembered how Mat had told him all those stories were exaggerations and that he was a risk taker not stupid. The weapons in his hands became very heavy, and he was no longer strong enough to hold them up. They dropped to his side and immediately a crowd of pirates jumped on him. He did not struggle as they bound and gagged him and presented him to the Captain of the ship. "Tomorrow you shall be marooned as punishment for your crimes. Lock him away and set sail to the nearest island." Ben allowed himself to be pushed to a room no bigger than a cupboard and shoved to the floor. He did not attempted to make a break for it when the men left him, and the sound of the key in the lock was a relief more than anything. Tomorrow he would die, and he did not care at all. Ben's sleepy eyes blinked open as he adjusted to the darkness in the room. There were no windows and so the only light source came from the crack underneath the door. Ben could have easily wriggled forward and peeked through the gap, but he did not have the energy. His time would come and it would all be over. Seconds, minutes, possibly hours passed and Ben just stayed exactly where he was, lying on the floor with his hands tied behind his back and his feet bound. If it weren't for his heavy breathing you would believe him to be dead. He did not flinch when the pirates finally entered. He did not tense up when they picked him up and carry him off the ship and onto the shore. He did not bother to stand up when his hands and feet were untied. The only sign of life he showed was the movement of his eyes as they looked up and focused on the Captain. "Captain Benjamin Gold, as punishment for shooting and killing a man on my ship you will be marooned on this island until death. Samuel," he said to a man beside him, "the rum and pistol." The items were thrown on the sand in front of Ben, who made no attempt to pick them up. "Starvation or suicide is your choice. Goodbye Captain." Ben watched helplessly as the pirates boarded ship once more and left him alone to die. When the ship sailed off into the distance, Ben finally sat up and looked around. The island looked like it would go on forever, nothing but sand and moss. A few bits of dry shrubbery stuck up here and there but there were no trees for shelter or fruit to eat. He picked up his two only possessions, the rum and pistol, and began to wander around. He would not kill himself immediately, he would enjoy one last day to himself, taking in the beautiful scenery and making the most of the calm, and then tomorrow morning at dawn he would shoot himself. Ben took off his shoes and let the warm sand soothe his toes. He paddled in the sea to cool himself during the midday sun and cloud gazed in the afternoon. As the evening came, Ben sipped on his rum and watched the sun go down, surprisingly content with his life. There was only one thing missing. Mat. The thought that he would not be able to watch the sun rise with Mat's hand in his plagued his mind more than the pistol in his pocket that was weighing him down. If I can't see the sun rise with him, then I can't watch the sun rise at all. He took the gun from his pocket and held it up in the air so that the metal glittered in the moonlight. He smiled as he pressed the barrel to his temple and hovered his finger over the trigger. "Don't you dare." Ben jumped as a hand snatched the gun away from him and pulled him to his feet. "Mat? H-how?" Ben could not get his words out. Mat smiled seductively, his eyes shining as the stars reflected in them. "I told you, I am a very good swimmer." Ben dived at him, wrapping his arms around his small frame so tightly that Mat could hardly breathe. "But you could not have swam from the ship to this island, we were sailing for hours! And besides, even if you did, we are still both stuck here with no hope of escape." "Do you have no faith in me my friend?" grinned Mat. "I told you how I have a small boat that I use to sneak on board ships. How else do you think I managed to get on board the largest ship in our community unnoticed? My girl is over there." He pointed off into the distance and in the darkness Ben could make out the outline of a small sailing boat. "She doesn't look like much but we've had some wild times together." Ben matched Mat's grin as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "So what do you say, shall we get out of here?" Ben nodded and Mat led him to his boat, putting him arm around Ben's shoulder which made Ben's heart flutter. "I've thought about your offer," Mat said as he looked up into the night sky, "and have decided to make my own. How would you like to travel with me? You would have to leave your crew and ship behind, but I can ensure you I am just as much fun. The two most feared pirates working together, we'd be unstoppable!" "The two most feared pirates?" Ben repeated, "I'm not even feared by my own men!" "My dear Ben don't you see? You're about to survive being marooned on a desert island and no one is going to know how you did it. And then you start travelling with Bloodshed, the lunatic pirate who is not afraid to take risks! Well, you can't blame them for being afraid." Ben thought about it, all the things they could do together, all the riches they could gain without spilling any blood, they could watch every sunrise and sunset happy and content in each other's company. "I'd love to." Mat clapped his hands together. "Perfect! Watch your step." Mat helped Ben onto his boat and handed him some food. "Thank you," Ben said quietly once they were settled, "for coming back for me." He fiddled with the cuff of his jacket. "You saved my life," Mat replied, equally as awkwardly. "Thank you, for that. I'm sorry you had to go against your morals for me," he added sincerely. "I didn't have to, I wanted to. Not that I wanted to kill anyone," he bumbled, "but when the choice was you or him, well, I made my decision didn't I?" Mat still could not made eye contact with Ben, ashamed of the fact that he was the reason Ben had blood on his hands and why he had been marooned on an island. But Ben mistook the avoidance as the memory of the kiss he had stupidly planted on the man's lips. "I'm sorry about the… er… kiss… thing…" he waved a finger at his mouth, "I... er… I thought I was going to die and… um… it wasn't-" "It wasn't what I wanted our first kiss to be like," interrupted Mat as he finally looked at Ben out of the corner of his eye to watch his reaction. Ben was doing quite a good impression of a gold fish and that made Mat laugh. "I had planned to find you one day, possibly join your crew, and one evening," he looked wistfully at the moon as he pictured what he was saying, "watch the sun go down. And as the red sky turns black, take your head in my hands and pressed my lips to yours softly, pecking kisses all over them until you took control and gripped me by the hair and wrestle me to the ground." He looked at Ben through his eyelashes and Ben flushed a bright red colour. "I know the sun has already set," he began, "but who says we can't do that now?" Mat raised his eyebrow and Ben responded with a smug look. Mat edged slowly across the boat, closing the gap between them, and used his thumb to lightly push Ben's chin upward slightly. He looked Ben directly in the eye, memorising every shade of blue and grey in them before tilting his head to the side and gently going in for the kiss. It was only a peck on the lips, but as soon as he pulled away he went in for another one, and then another, and then another. His body burning with desire, Ben took Mat in his arms and pulled him closer so that he could not pull away from the kiss this time. Mat cupped Ben's face in his hands as Ben ran his fingers through Mat's hair and used his body to push Mat back until he was lying on the ground and Ben was crouched on top of him. "Ready for an adventure Captain Benjamin Gold?" whispered Mat. "Let's do this," Ben replied, as he sealed the deal with a kiss.